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by Brent Gwatney
From marinas to hotels to public parks, design/construction professionals are looking for higher-performance decking options in commercial applications. Wood-plastic composites (WPCs) are increasingly a material of choice for demanding exposures, including docks, beachfront decks, and submerged access ramps.
Many manufacturers across North America produce composite decking; quality varies greatly. In the past few years, choosing an appropriate product has become more difficult as the range of options has exploded, including the introduction of capped composite boards.
Performance factors
When specifying composite decking, it is important to consider how products differ from one another, and how they compare and contrast with traditional wood decking. Key performance factors for specifiers to consider include the following:
- moisture absorption;
- insect resistance;
- weight;
- flammability;
- surface temperature; and
- structural considerations.
Moisture absorption
How long a decking material lasts largely depends on the degree to which it resists water. Moisture absorption can lead to rot in both wood and composite decking, along with mechanical damage from shrinking and swelling. Class-action lawsuits involving composite decking failures have addressed rot, mold and mildew growth, surface flaking, and cracking. Composites with any exposed wood fiber are susceptible to moisture absorption.1
Manufacturers have developed two methods to protect composite decking from water. The first, and most effective, way is to fully encapsulate the wood fibers in water-resistant plastic, such as polyethylene. Full encapsulation defends against moisture to the board's core, and allows installers to cut, drill, screw, and nail the boards without creating a pathway for water intrusion. As it is difficult to achieve full encapsulation, many manufacturers have moved from composite-only boards to making decking with a composite core and a protective cap (i.e. 'capped composites' or 'cap stock').
Capped composites rely on a thin outer layer of polymer plastic to keep moisture away from the composite core. Caps can be an effective enhancement for deck boards, but are not sufficient on their own to prevent moisture damage when the core is made of a composite that has exposed wood fibers. There are three reasons for this:
- some capped composites only have a cap on three sides, leaving the bottom of the board vulnerable to moisture;
- even if the cap is on all four sides, both board ends remain unprotected; and
- most importantly, jobsite crews breach the cap in many spots when using screws or nails to attach the decking.
Newly developed boards combine the added durability of a cap with the moisture defense of composite cores that have fully encapsulated wood fibers. In this case, the cap is used for enhanced resistance to staining, fading, and scratching; it is not primarily for water protection since the composite core is already moisture-resistant.
When choosing any capped decking, it is important to evaluate how well the cap is attached to the composite core. Some manufacturers use proprietary techniques that integrate the cap more completely with the core, which helps prevent delamination.
Insect resistance
Traditional wood decking requires treatment to avoid destruction by termites, carpenter ants, and other damaging insects. Composites, which are made of substantial amounts of inedible plastics, are impervious to insect attack and therefore do not require treatment. Additionally, composite decking with fully encapsulated wood fibers can have direct ground contact and still withstand moisture and insects. This is an important specification criteria, as untreated wood in contact with the ground is a primary pathway for insects to bore into other parts of a deck or structure.
Depending on the product, composite decking weighs about 45 percent more per unit than the redwood boards used on many home decks, yet is about 45 percent lighter than the ipe hardwood often installed on commercial decked surfaces (Figure 1). In commercial projects, designers therefore typically do not need to make substantial structural modifications to carry the dead loads of composite decking compared to those of ipe and similar hardwoods.
WPCs have a fire behavior very similar to, or better than, comparable timber products, according to Tangram Technology, a UK-based consulting engineer firm.2 There are some manufacturers introducing capped boards with a Class B fire rating, but, composite decking commonly carries a Class C fire rating, which is similar to the wood structural members commonly used for decks.
Surface temperature
Anecdotal reports indicate dark-colored composite decking, especially more dense products, can become uncomfortably hot for bare feet in direct sunlight. A similar effect happens with dark wood decking. To mitigate this in sunny climates, building professionals can specify lighter color decking. For composites, this includes grays, tans, and other similar hues.
Structural considerations
Composite deck boards are less stiff than wood decking, so they are not suitable for use as structural members. However, a typical allowed joist spacing for composites—406 mm (16 in.) on center (oc)—is comparable to wood decking. To prevent sagging, it is important to confirm the allowed joist spacing, and allowed cantilever distance, for a given composite deck product and board profile dimensions.
Installation in demanding exposures
Due to the superior moisture resistance of high-performance composite decking, the product is being specified for lasting durability in demanding exposures. Examples include marinas, fully submerged access ramps, waterpark decking, and beachfront hotels.
Port Royale Marina
The owners of the 500-slip Port Royale Marina, on Georgia's Lake Lanier, are installing moisture-resistant composite decking as part of a multi-million dollar facilities upgrade. Composite decking applications throughout the marina, include the:
- main deck;
- docks;
- access bridge;
- raised walkways;
- finger peers;
- restaurant deck; and
- children's spray park.
Composite decking was specified for its more manageable maintenance, long-term durability, and aesthetics. Previously, 2×8 pressure-treated lumber was used. The moisture resistance of high-performance composite decking made it an ideal choice for Port Royale Marina's decking, which is subject to high-moisture exposure from Georgia's humid climate and frequent contact with the lake water.
One of the marina's amenities receiving especially intense water exposure is the children's spray park. As it includes several water fountains that spray up from the surface, the space required decking that would withstand continual soaking.
In addition to moisture resistance, Brent Pearson, operations manager at TEI Industries, the marina's owner, noted the high-performance composite decking is a cost-effective choice. Alternatives such as fiberglass are more costly; ironwood or ipe have incredible strength, but can be twice the price of composites.
"It's easy to work with, and obviously easier to fasten in place than ipe or concrete—its workability is similar to wood," Pearson said.
Blue Run of Dunnellon Park
Defending decks, docks, and boardwalks from rot and damaging insects often means keeping boards high and dry. This is not always easy in moist climates such as Florida, and especially for an in-water access ramp to serve canoes, kayaks, and inner tubes.
When the Marion County Florida Parks & Recreation Department built a new river access at the Blue Run of Dunnellon Park in 2012, it chose high-performance composite decking with fully encapsulated wood fibers for a durable deck surface. The water- and insect-resistant deck boards enabled the county to extend a 3.7-m (12-ft) wide ramp directly into the Rainbow River without worries of degradation.
"In Florida, we have a challenge when it comes to dealing with outdoor construction: heat and humidity join to really test any material," said Jim Couillard, PLA, ASLA, a landscape architect with the Marion County Parks & Recreation Department. "Lumber does not last as long as you would think, so composite decking is a smart choice."
The county designed the Blue Run river access ramp to make it easier for the approximately 40,000 paddle craft enthusiasts and tubers that use the park annually to get in and out of the water safely, without eroding the riverbanks. The 24.4-m (80-ft) long ramp includes a 4.6-m (15-ft) portion extending into the river. Attached railing enhances safety and is part of providing accessibility for handicapped people. The splinter-free deck boards also provide comfort for barefoot park users.
"We believe in using long-lasting, durable materials that will lessen our long-term maintenance costs," said Couillard. "With high-performance composite decking we are able to avoid sanding, staining, or sealing the surface decking, thus enabling staff to focus on other aspects of their day-to-day activities."
Lake Rudolph Campground and RV Resort
The Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort in Santa Claus, Indiana, is a popular destination for families throughout the Midwest, hosting about 3000 visitors daily. One of the resort's more demanding decking applications is for the stairs and platforms on the water slides at its Santa's Splash Down waterpark complex.
The resort owner chose moisture-resistant composite decking to withstand the repeated splashing from the waterslides, and to provide a splinter-free and slip-resistant surface for park users. Composite decking also provides an attractive and comfortable outdoor surface for the resort's 53 Rudolph's Christmas Cabins.
Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa
After a fire ravaged the outdoor space at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa, the resort on the Gulf of Mexico looked to composite decking to create an expansive new 1580-m2 (17,000-sf) multi-purpose deck.
After careful consideration in choosing a new decking material, including appearance, availability, and performance in the coastal environment, the project team specified high-performance composite decking.
In numerous cases, the composite decking industry had a bumpy start, with notable product field failures. However, appropriately manufactured composite decking and railing can withstand the most demanding requirements. As a result, it is important to check the manufacturer's track record to ensure specification of a high-performance product.
In addition to performance, the decking's appearance is another important factor for many design professionals and project owners. Composite decking manufacturers have become sophisticated at producing attractive materials. For example, composites are available in a multitude of color options, including variegated hues with the look of exotic hardwoods. Many boards also have realistic-looking embossed wood grain patterns.
For building teams seeking a green project rating, composites can contain up to 95 percent recycled content, which can help earn rating points in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and other green building programs.
Due to composite decking's performance, aesthetics, and use of recycled content, market researchers predict strong growth for the product segment. For example, business research company the Freedonia Group reports WPC and plastic lumber decking materials will grow at double-digit rates, far outpacing the wood segment.3
1 See "A Technology Review of Wood-Plastic Composites," by Michael P. Wolcott and Karl Englund at the Washington State University Composite Materials and Engineering Center. (back to top)
2 See "Wood-Plastic Composites: A Technical Review of Materials, Processes and Applications, Tangram Technology," at www.tangram.co.uk. (back to top)
3 See The Freedonia Group's "Wood & Competitive Decking: Industry Study with Forecasts for 2016 and 2021" at www.freedoniagroup.com. (back to top)
Brent Gwatney is senior vice president for sales and marketing at MoistureShield composite decking, and serves on the North American Deck and Railing Association (NADRA) board of directors. He has specialized in the building industry for more than 30 years, working with manufacturers, dealers, design professionals, contractors, and building officials. Gwatney can be reached at email@example.com.


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The SkyDance V dress rehearsal and press preview went off swimmingly despite the complete failure of Second Life voice chat following the Jan 16 updates. Switching to Skype voice chat has added an extra level of reliability just as the original switch to voice did in 2008. (prior shows will "called" entirely in IM text!)
At this time congratulations are in order for all the SkyDancers: Assistant Director Anhinga Chaika, Tatiana Kurri (role of Gopus Bülie), Angel Menoptra (role of Hereau) and Buffy Beale, Pielady Smalls, Wytchwhisper Sdofsky, Juji Kumsung, Neena Botanical and Dot Pellazi. (all role of Sufolla)
A special welcome to our new House Manager: Unbelievable Destiny! Destiny's first show was a trial by fire. Not knowing exactly what to expect didn't slow down Destiny in this sometimes difficult but critical role, her experience and professionalism are awe inspiring. Welcome! SL readers who want to book seats, please contact Unbelievable Destiny in SL to reserve your seats!
Also, congratulations to Pielady Smalls who has been appointed Assistant Producer of the ZEROG SkyDance production. Thank you for being there when it counts and for your steady hand and cool head Pielady!
Kudos also go to Juji, Neena and Dot who flew their maiden SkyDance on January 23! Welcome to a very rare club indeed! Your commitment and enthusiasm for the SkyDance is much appreciated and you can tell by the response of the audience how your work was perceived!
Last but not least, the entire SkyDance production would like to thank our sponsors the Linden Endowment for the Arts for providing us a safe and secure place to do our work!

subset: commoncrawl


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Grand old time at Brooklyn's Great Irish Fair
The Murphys were there — as were the Kellys, Donohues, O'Briens, Quinns and Farrells.
This weekend's 31st Annual Great Irish Fair in Coney Island at MCU Park was a grand family reunion for the thousands who came to celebrate their Irish heritage, listen and dance to Irish music, feast on Irish food and have a sip or two of good Irish ale.
"God blessed the Irish with wonderful weather," said Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello told the crowd. Gigantiello said that the money raised from the fair benefits Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese. "We're giving the same educational opportunities to new immigrants that our parents and grandparents had," he said as he urged attendees to buy raffle tickets.
A sound stage, vendor booths and tented pubs – complete with flat screen TVs – were packed with old friends, families and cheering football fans.
Older eyes grew misty as Andy Cooney and the Band of Rogues performed "When New York was Irish." Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones had the crowd on their feet and their fists in the air with foot-stomping songs about the crimes of the English.
"We come every year and have a very good time," said Maureen Kelly, who originally hails from Dublin. Her husband Kevin Cumminkey was sick Sunday ("I love him to death!" Kelly said) so her friend Frank Farrell accompanied her to the fair. "When mom would hear the song 'When New York Was Irish' she would sing along," Farrell said. Farrell's dad, age 90, hails from Dingle Kerry. "When mom was alive they always went to Irish dances. I try to keep up my Irish tradition," he said.
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn came to celebrate her authentically Irish roots. "The weather's perfect, it's a wonderful crowd, good food and all for a good cause. It's a great day all around," she said. Senator Charles Schumer, Irish for the day, came to hob nob with the crowd as well.
The kilt-wearing Richmond County Pipes and Drums band – performing with bagpipes and drums– has performed at the fair every year since it started, said piper Laurence Ronan as he prepared for the group's grand entrance with Sean Waters, Mike Walsh and his son Brendan, age 11. "We were at the first Irish Fair underthe Brooklyn Bridge in 1981," Walsh added.
Children were major participants in the fair, with girls in Catholic school uniforms selling cupcakes and raffle tickets and groups performing on stage. Young dancers from the O'Malley Academy thrilled the crowd with precision step dancing and other styles, including a salute to Fosse.
Taylor Powers, Saint Saviour High School Class of 2012, was honored as Colleen Queen of the fair. Taylor is the second Colleen Queen named from Saint Saviour High School in the past five years.
Other 2012 honorees include:
Chief Brehon: Robert Benya
Paul O'Dwyer Award: Rosemary Lombard
Father Mychal Judge Award: Reverend Monsignor Joseph Finnerty
Edward Byrne memorial Award: Sgt. Ed Mullins
Thomas Moore Award: Sean Crowley
Kathleen Slattery Award: Sr. Briege Lavery, RSM
Captain Timothy Stackpole Memorial Award: Chief Kilduff
Thomas Cuite memorial Award: John J. Walsh
Jerry Forest Memorial Award: Michael Flynn
Celtic Cross Award: Bob Murphy
Round Tower Award: Dr. Geraldine Chapey
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A lot of people have Dreamcast systems sitting in their basement gathering dust. Even longtime users of the system may not know everything the hardware is capable of, and how easy it is to unlock the potential of the Dreamcast. Want to know the type of things you can do? Hit up this extensive list from DCemulation.com. If you can do it with the Dreamcast, there's a link here to explain how.
From hacking your VMU so you can power it with AA batteries, to the best way to paint your system, this has some great ideas to trick out your old DC. Just remember not to go crazy and end up with something like this. There's even some good information on how to fix common issues with the Dreamcast hardware. Keep in mind that this list mostly includes things to do with the hardware, interesting software hacks can be found elsewhere on the site if you're interested in emulation or playing divx files.


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I probably receive one or two credit card offers per week in the mail, and typically just shred and recycle them. Recently, though, I've been considering getting an additional card. To really understand these offers (and determine if they're too good to be true), I turned to the Federal Reserve for help.
What I learned to look for:
1. APR. This is the Annual Percentage Rate i.e. the interest (also called the "finance charge") that you'll be charged if you don't pay your bill in full every month. Some cards will waive this fee for six or 12 months as part of an introductory offer. What they don't tell you: Offers don't list the average going rate for all credit cards (currently it's about 14 percent), so you don't have any context for whether the offered interest rate is a fair deal. See bankrate.com, which updates these rates regularly.
2. Balance calculation method. This is how the credit card issuer determines the balance on your card, upon which it charges interest. Most use "average daily balance (including new purchases)." What they don't tell you: This is the most advantageous method for the company (and most costly if you carry a balance), because new purchases immediately become part of the debt (meaning you're immediately paying interest on them). Cards that use the "adjusted balance" method are the best deal--interest is based on the balance at the beginning of the billing cycle. To see some numbers crunched and a few other balance calculation methods, click here.
More From Good Housekeeping
3. Grace period. This is the amount of time you have past your
due statement date to make a payment before you're hit with finance charges and late fees. If a card offers one, by law it must be at least 21 days long. What they don't tell you: If the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, you have until 5 p.m. the next business day to pay up and avoid a late fee.
4. Cleverly named fees. If buzzwords like "annual," "activation," "acceptance," "participation," "monthly maintenance" and/or "account set-up" precede the word "fee," you'll be paying simply to own the card. What they don't tell you: These charges are deducted from the credit line--if a card has a $400 limit and a $100 fee, your available credit is $300.
For more smart advice about credit cards, check out our "4 Credit Card Rules You Need to Know."


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Fully understanding product requirements and assessing potential failure modes allows us to anticipate risks in the early design phases and implement the right solutions.
The Failure Mode Knowledge Matrix, introduced by the electronics consortium ZVEI and the American Electronics Council in 2005, provides a methodology for capitalizing on our experience and sharing our knowledge of failure modes.
In ST, we use it to capture, store and transfer in-depth knowledge and expertise so that we are able to reuse the best available knowledge and prevention solutions. We use this information during product and technology design at the level of the device, die, IP, package, subsystem, and interactions among components. The FMKM covers random, transient and design failures as well as mechatronics (MEMS), medical devices and safety application items.
Information about risks and prevention solutions is gathered during technology platform qualification, product development, qualification and ramp-up, including feedback from manufacturing and the field. Expert teams submit contributions to a steering committee, which validates proposed entries. Other experts can then access this company-wide expertise through the Failure Modes Knowledge Matrix, allowing them to identify and mitigate critical risk factors.


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Are you familiar with guyets? Not to be confused with it feminine cousin, the diet, a guyet is, you know, for dudes. Because when men diet, it's different.
The Ethical Adman's Tom Meggison sent along a new ad campaign by Molson. The campaign coins the word "guyet," a supposedly masculine alternative to "diet."
If dieting is working out in order to be thin, then guyeting is "working out to justify eating the foods you love… Bacon, nachos, and burgers."
There's a very simple thing going on here: things associated with women are NOT-FOR-MEN, so anything that rings feminine must be
covered in bacon, dipped in beer batter, and fried masculinized. See, for lots of examples, our Pinterest page on the phenomenon with almost 100 examples.
Importantly, this isn't just about maintaining a strong distinction between men and women, it's about maintaining gender inequality. We disparage and demean femininity, which is why men want to avoid it. Listen to the tone of voice that the narrator uses when saying the word "diet" at 21 seconds.
Dieting is stupid 'cause girls and everything associated with girls is stupid. Guyeting is awesome 'cause guys are awesome.
The reverse doesn't apply. Women who do things men like to do — drink whiskey, play sports, become surgeons, have dogs, etc - somehow rise in our esteem. Men's worth, in contrast, is harmed by their association with femininity. This is a layer of gender inequality above and beyond sexism, the privileging of men over women; it's androcentrism, the privileging of the masculine over the feminine. Since women are required to do femininity, it means being required to do trivial, demeaned, and disparaged things. Meanwhile, men have to come up with stupid excuses for participating in basic healthy activities like going for a jog.
More posts on androcentrism: "woman" as an insult, being a girl is degrading, making it manly: how to sell a car, good god don't let men have long hair, don't forget to hug like a dude, saving men from their (feminine) selves, men must eschew femininity, not impressed with Buzz Lightyear commercial, dinosaurs can't be for girls, and sissy men are so uncool.
Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
This piece originally appeared on Sociological Images. Republished with permission.


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Ward Bennett
Products by Ward Bennett
Ward Bennett's story is a remarkable one. His career began at age 13, when he quit school to work in the garment district in New York City. At 15, he designed his first clothing collection; at 16 he left for Europe, where he continued working on fashions.
While in Europe, he attended art schools in Florence and Paris, but he was mostly self-taught, with skills that ranged from illustrating, sculpting, and jewelry-making to furniture, interior, and home design. "I learn from people," he once said, referencing a long line of influences, including Hattie Carnegie, Hans Hoffman, and Georgia O'Keeffe.
Bennett eventually settled back in New York, where his reputation earned him some of the day's most affluent clients: David Rockefeller and Chase Manhattan Bank, Tiffany & Co., Sasaki, Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner. Another—former President Lyndon Baines Johnson—asked Bennett to design a chair for his presidential library that would be "a cross between a barroom chair and a courtroom chair with a little Western saddle."
Simplicity and comfort were always his goals, and Bennett says he learned a great deal about lumbar support, the importance of chair arms, and designing the right "pitch" from working with the doctor who treated John F. Kennedy's bad back.
Indeed, Bennett designed more than 150 chairs, many of which have become classics, such as the Landmark chair, reintroduced by Geiger in 1993. (Bennett began working with Geiger in 1987, following his collaboration with Brickel Associates.)
"I learn from people."
- Ward Bennett
Bennett, who died in 2003, is also considered the first American to use industrial materials for home furnishings, well before the high-tech look of the 1970s became popular. He was hailed by the American Institute of Architects for "transforming industrial hardware into sublime objects."
"There was nothing superfluous about Ward's designs, nothing 'extra,'"says Tim deFiebre, Bennett's former assistant and keeper of his legacy. "They were always honed down to their bare essence, and that is what his work is about."
Many of Bennett's designs are in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection as well as in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; he is also in Interior Design magazine's Hall of Fame.
"I think it's a real testament to Ward's work that a product 40 years old—the H frame storage—won Best of NeoCon Gold in 2004," says deFiebre. "When I give talks about design, I always say, products may go in and out of favor, depending on the foibles of fashion, but good design is always good."


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LAS VEGASMicrosoft had Justin Timberlake. Yahoo had Tom Cruise and Ellen DeGeneres. Google? Try a robot car and Robin Williams.
Google cofounder Larry Page rode onto the stage at the Google keynote this afternoon at CES on the bumper of Stanley, the winning entrant in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. After dismounting, he shared his vision of a future defined by open standards and interconnectivity. He then showed off a couple of prototype products and officially unveiled the Google Pack and the beta (natch) of Google Video.
Driving Google Earth
Page showed off a prototype developed with automaker VW that basically brings Google Earth into your car. Using a dashboard display, you can get driving directions, perform a destination search, or local search using an onscreen keyboard. It's still in the prototype phase, with no indication given of when it would come to market.
Google also announced a version of Google Local for Mobile for the BlackBerry platform, which is available today, as part of the demonstration of Google's cell-phone-friendly services.
Staying interconnected: open standards
At first glance, Google seems to be a bit of an odd fit among the companies giving keynote addresses. As the final keynote speaker of the CES, Page was preceded by Microsoft, Intel, and Sony, all of which fit easily and comfortably into the consumer electronics universe. While Google is on par with the companies in terms of influence, brand awareness, and any number of other metrics, it's not thought of a consumer electronics company. So Page made the case for why Google belongs in the CES mix.
Describing the CES as a geek convention, Page bemoaned the fact that he can't easily connect a camera with a "pocket hard drive" because of a lack of software and open standards. He encouraged manufacturers and developers to embrace open standards to allow devices to interoperate easily and to work the same, no matter where you plug them in.
Google Pack
As expected, Google has officially made Google Pack for Windows available for download. According to Page, Google Pack "makes having the right software on your computer as easy as going to the Google home page." Included in Google Pack are:
- Mozilla Firefox
- Ad-Aware SE Personal
- Norton AntiVirus 2005 Special Edition
- Adobe Reader 7
- Google Earth
- Picasa
- Google Desktop
- Google Toolbar
- Google Talk
Optional software such as Trillian, GalleryPlayer HD Images, and RealPlayer is also available for inclusion in the Pack.
An assistant then ran a demo of the Google Pack download and installation process. It's very simple: click to download, assent to the obligatory license agreement, and then download an installer program. According to Page, the installer works in the background to avoid hogging your bandwidth. The apps included in Google Pack will supposedly be updated automatically, and Page trumpeted the fact that there's no nagware includedyou won't be bugged for upgrades, and you won't have to worry about the programs in Google Pack changing your system settings without your approval.
Google Pack will likely prove to be a hit. The combination of anti-adware and anti-viral software could make it a popular choice for those who aren't inclined to stay on top of security. All that's missing is a word processor and a spreadsheet, two applications that have been the subject of rumors when it comes to Google.
Google Video Store
Robin Williams helps introduce Google Video Store
Page was joined onstage by Robin Williams to talk about Google Video. Launched about a year ago, Page described it as a "weird and innovative" service and claimed to be happy with it, but said that the company needed to monetize the service. The result: Google Video Store.
The Google Video Store will be "available soon" and will launch with over 3,000 titles online. More will be added every day, according to Page. Initially, the content will come from the likes of CBS, the NBA, Classic Media (owners of the rights to such classic cartoons as Rocky & Bullwinkle and Tennessee Tuxedo, as well as VeggieTales producers Big Idea), Charlie Rose, Porchlight Entertainment, and Sony BMG. Page said he believed the videos were 640x480, which if true, would be a big improvement over the 320x240 videos found at the iTunes Music Store.
Kenny Smith, formerly of the Houston Rockets and currently of TNT, came onstage to help pitch Google's agreement with the NBA. For US$3.95 per game, consumers will be able to purchase all NBA telecasts 24 hours after they have aired as well as some classic games.
CBS is throwing its hat in the ring with Google as well. Episodes of CSI, Survivor, The Amazing Race, and other CBS programming will be available for 24-hour rental, for US$1.99. In addition, classic series such as Star Trek (think Kirk, not Picard), the Brady Bunch, and I Love Lucy will also be available. Sony BMG plans to offer a number of music videos through the service as well.
Users will be able to see 30-second previews of the programming and will be able to purchase (or in the case of CBS, rent) the videos without interrupting the preview. Although Page didn't discuss the payments system at length, he did say that it was developed in-house and customers will pay using a credit card linked to the their Google ID.
Currently, the Google Video Store is available for Windows only. However, a Mac version of the video player for the Google Video Store is functional and "hopefully will come out soon." Page also indicated that support for other operating systems (presumably Linux) was on its way. He said that in general, Google "has not done as good a job as we should" when it comes to support OSes other than Windows, and wants to see that change.
Restrictions such as whether the program will be available for online viewing only, a defined rental period, or permanent purchase will be left up to the content creators. That's why CBS programs will be rental only and NBA games can be stored and viewed indefinitely. As to the question of DRM, again, it is at the content creator's discretion, with Page claiming that Google has no control over that end of the game. He did say that the DRM is a Google productso throw another DRM system into digital media ring.
Content will be US-centric to start with, and some restrictions will be in place to keep content like Survivor away from countries where it has yet to air.
Towards the end of the keynote, Page opened up the floor for questions, with the assistance of Robin Williams (who made fun of most of the questioners). Predictably, the first question was about a Google PC, which failed to make an appearance as some analysts had expected. Interestingly enough, Page seemed a bit evasive when answering the question, which is in marked contrast to the rest of his time on stage. Feel free to draw your own conclusions on that.
He also said that creating a two-tiered Internet as advocated by the likes of Verizon and other ISPs "would be a horrible thing for the world." Of course, it would also be a bad thing for Google, which would find itself at a competitive disadvantage against the likes of AT&T (old SBC) and Verizon.
Throughout its relatively brief history, Google has enjoyed an excellent reputation with the computer-using public. Its services have been for the most part free, easy to use, and widely available. But now the company is treading in the murkier waters of video sales (or rentals, as the case may be). For the first time, Google is selling a product with digital rights management, which it developed in house. While Page made it clear that the restrictions that are in place on how long a video can be viewed and whether it could be downloaded or only viewed online, are at the discretion of the content creators, the truth of the matter is that Google is now complicit in the whole DRM mishmash that Sony Chairman Howard Stringer bemoaned yesterday.
For all of Page's talk about the beauty and desirability of open standards—a stance I agree with—DRM is by definition closed, and by launching the Google Video Store, Google is stepping away from open standards and interconnectivity. Will charging money for DRMed content take some of the luster off of Google's squeaky-clean reputation? That remains to be seen. Either way, Google has come a long way from being merely a search engine with a simple interface.


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CHESTER, Pa., June 29 (UPI) -- Blas Perez scored deep into stoppage time Saturday, salvaging a 2-2 draw for FC Dallas against Philadelphia.
The Union had grabbed a 2-1 lead in the 87th minute on Aaron Wheeler's first career goal, a tally off a crossing pass from Sheanon Williams.
Then in stoppage time, Williams preserved Philadelphia's lead with a desperate clear of a Perez try off the goal line, even though replays showed it may have crossed the line.
But Perez got another chance in the 97th minute and this time made it count when he directed a header into the net after Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath couldn't haul in a free kick.
Walker Zimmerman also tallied for Dallas (8-3-6).
Amobi Okugos scored and Williams supplied two assists for Philadelphia (7-5-5).


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The global software market grew 4.7% in the first half of this year to $167 billion, with CRM (customer relationship management), virtualization and collaboration coming in as the fastest-growing segments, according to figures released Wednesday by analyst firm IDC.
Economic difficulties in Western Europe dragged down the market overall, but software sales in the U.S., Latin America, Russia, China and other areas showed growth, according to IDC.
Applications software was the fastest-growing segment overall, with a 5.1% uptick, "largely driven" by collaboration and CRM software, IDC said.
Within collaboration applications, team collaborative and enterprise social software "stand out with strong growth rates over the last two years," according to IDC.
Enterprise social software's share of the segment has grown from 3% in 2008 to 11% this year. Team collaborative application sales rose 15% in the first half of 2012, according to the report.
Three of four CRM market subcategories showed double-digit growth so far this year, with contact center applications seeing a single-digit increase, IDC said. Customer service, sales and marketing had a roughly 12% growth rate overall.
Some of this growth can be reflected in the performance of Salesforce.com, the industry's largest pure cloud software vendor, which has products in all four CRM categories and is nearing $3 billion in annual revenue.
CRM is also driving new license sales as companies replace aging on-premises systems with cloud-based offerings from Salesforce.com and other vendors. Some 59% of Constellation Research's clients are considering a CRM system replacement, said analyst and CEO Ray Wang in a recent interview.
On the infrastructure side, virtual machine and cloud system software grew 17.8% in the first half of this year.
"Virtual machine software unit shipments still remain healthy and growing, but have seen some slowdown in mature markets that have high virtualization rates," IDC analyst Gary Chen said in a statement. "Business models are shifting as well, with the hypervisor drawing less direct revenue and increasingly becoming an embedded feature of operating systems and cloud system software."
Other factors impacting the virtualization market include stiffer competition for VMware from the likes of Red Hat and Microsoft, as well as the rise of open-source cloud software such as OpenStack, according to Chen.
Despite the gains in these software categories, this year is "the beginning of a more conservative growth period with gains in the single digits, down slightly from the growth experienced in 2010 and 2011," IDC said in a statement.
Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris' email address is firstname.lastname@example.com


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Since our services are optimized to be conducted online and worldwide, You are more than welcome to contact our departments through our website. Our customer support works on regular daily basis and we will answer your email in 1 to 12 hours!
How Do You Ship
We ship our products world wide and all packages are shipped very discreet
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– The size of our packages are never larger than what would cause unnecessary suspicion. If the order is too large to fit in one package, it will automatically be divided into two or more packages (all for one Shipment&Handling charge).
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What is the cost of shipping?
- We have only one method of shipping for now. Regular mail – 19 USD (NOT AVAILABLE), Express – $49 USD ( USA, Canada, Europe and rest of the world ).
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- If you wish to make changes to your order, simply place a new order and disregard your former order number (it will automatically be cancelled and removed from our system if payment is not made within 60 days). NOTE! Since order cancellations are not accepted once payment is received, you must make necessary order changes before payment is made.
How long is the whole process of ordering and shipping?
- Order confirmation with instructions for how to make payment is sent to your email i automatically and immediately after you submit your order. Once payment is received, we process and dispatch your order within 1 business days. Shipping time is normaly between 4 and 7 business days and for very remote countires up to 15 business days! PLEASE NOTE that BUSINESS DAYS are only monday to friday so before you order you should have that clear in your mind! Delivery time includes time necessary for international regular airmail, which must also pass your customs, so we expect you to accept this as NORMAL DELIVERY TIME and respect it! Please check your ORDER HISTORY online first and count business days before writing to us about delivery time! If its over 15 business days, PLEASE CONTACT US and together we will find the reason and the solution!
How successfull is delivery?
We ensure that all packages are shipped with maximum discretion. Products are packed with extreme care and precaution. Our organization name is not indicated on any package and shipments are sent from various shipping points in Europe, established in different countries, to ensure maximum discretion and highest probability of successfull delivery.
With customs we have 99.9% success to USA, 99.5% success to Canada, UK and Europe and 97% to South Africa. Even if products get seized ( 1% possibility based on our statistics through years), we cover 100% of the loss.
Can I buy your products through another way aside from the website?
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Is this company legit and am I safe to do business with?
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New York — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide technical assistance to the Buffalo Sewer Authority to expand the use of green infrastructure to reduce water pollution and improve Buffalo's resilience to the impacts of climate change. The EPA will assist Buffalo in assessing paved and unsightly vacant lots, which contribute to stormwater runoff and pollution of local waters. The newly announced assistance augments a $500,000 grant provided to Buffalo in March 2014 to help fund green infrastructure projects in the city. The projects are expected to prevent nearly 5 million gallons of stormwater runoff per year from flowing into Lake Erie.
"The EPA is very excited to assist the Buffalo region in assessing how vacant lots across Buffalo contribute to stormwater pollution," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "The expansion of green infrastructure on vacant lots will promote sustainability and expand projects to improve water quality and withstand the increasing impacts of flooding related to climate change."
The EPA will assist the Buffalo Sewer Authority in developing a method for assessing vacant lots throughout Buffalo to better understand how much polluted rainwater runs off these areas and how it impacts Buffalo's combined sewer system. These assessments will evaluate conditions such as site grading, vegetation, impervious surfaces and stormwater retention. This will allow Buffalo to prioritize work to aesthetically improve vacant lots and dramatically reduce polluted run-off by making them part of the overall green infrastructure plan for the city. The plan to revamp vacant lots will help the Buffalo Sewer Authority reduce combined sewer overflows into the Niagara River and will serve as a model for similar communities that manage both large-scale demolitions on vacant lots and combined sewer systems.
The announcement comes just weeks after the EPA approved the Buffalo Sewer Authority's 20-year plan to reduce the amount of sewage and stormwater run-off that flows into the Niagara River. This plan includes a $93 million investment in green infrastructure as part of an overall $390 million plan to control stormwater runoff.
Green infrastructure is an environmentally friendly technique to manage stormwater. It uses vegetation, soils, and natural processes to manage water and create healthier, more resilient urban environments. This type of infrastructure can replace more traditional "gray" solutions using pipes and concrete. Green infrastructure, which includes green roofs, permeable pavement and other surfaces, rain gardens and restored wetlands, mimics nature by soaking up and storing water.


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Last week was a great one for cable news watching.
Not because any one channel did such outstanding work, but rather because several stories clamored simultaneously for the camera's attention. The choices that a channel makes in such situations are usually one of the best barometers of where it really lives.
After two days and nights of watching CNN ping-pong back and forth on location from the Cleveland captivity story to the Jodi Arias trial in Arizona, I can say for the first time since Jeff Zucker took over as president in January that I have a pretty good idea of where his CNN is headed day-to-day. And the ratings last week say that direction might be a good one — at least, in a business sense.
Besides watching multiple stories compete, developments last week also highlighted the ways in which the Internet and social media are interacting with and changing TV.
The topsy-turvy world of media got a little topsier and turvier when Arias, who murdered her boyfriend by stabbing him 27 times, shooting him in the head and cutting his throat ear to ear, used Twitter to try and seize the moral high ground from Nancy Grace, the HLN show host famous for playing judge and jury on-air in covering the cases of women on trial for murder.
"Nancy DisGrace has set back the cause of all women who have survived domestic violence," Arias tweeted through a friend who used her @Jodiannarias account. "Her circus makes a mockery of something very serious."
The tweet was sent while the jury deliberated — a deliberation that resulted in a first-degree murder conviction Wednesday.
Arias also tweeted that the trial was a "disaster" and that the prosecutor was a hypocrite and liar.
As I read her tweets, I couldn't help thinking of Baltimore's Frank James MacArthur, the cab driver and citizen journalist known on Twitter as Baltimore Spectator.
He was released from jail Friday after pleading guilty to having a sawed-off shotgun in his home. Police say they found the gun after a Dec. 1 standoff that began when they came to serve a warrant at his Waverly home in connection with another gun charge.
I am not comparing the crime MacArthur pleaded guilty to with the actions Arias was convicted of last week. But MacArthur tweeted and live-streamed throughout the standoff — criticizing the Baltimore police and media, much as Arias did the prosecution and Grace during her trial.
I wonder if we're going to have to call Arias a citizen journalist now as well. Maybe just a citizen media critic.
That's the role MacArthur was assuming in one of his first tweets Friday — a response to state Del. Jill P. Carter, who in welcoming him back commented on the "widespread corruption and dysfunction" within the prison system.
"Wait till you hear the real deal on what the mainstream is totally missing in this story," MacArthur tweeted back to her, referring to coverage of a federal indictment alleging Black Guerrilla Family control of the jail. "I WAS THERE!"
He followed up with: "Was way more than just #DrugsInJail. Let them stick to their press release regurgitation. I'll give you the inside scoop."
For me, the most striking moment in all the cable news and social media coverage last week came at 8 p.m. Thursday when CNN, Fox News and MSNBC each launched their evening of prime-time programming. You could not have asked for a more focused snapshot of the differences among the three.
"The O'Reilly Factor," with Bill O'Reilly, the highest-rated show on cable news TV, opened the night for Fox with the Benghazi story. While Benghazi became big news Friday thanks to the outstanding reporting of ABC's Jonathan Karl, Fox's slant on the hearings about the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya was political and highly partisan. Opinion and spin as opposed to the hard journalistic work Karl was doing Thursday night to break a huge story on Benghazi spin doctoring Friday.
"Many on the left echo Hillary Clinton's assertion that it doesn't matter who screwed up in Benghazi, Libya," O'Reilly said. "But there is no doubt that the hearings yesterday were embarrassing for the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton."
On MSNBC, meanwhile, Chris Hayes opened his "All In" show with a look at President Obama's trip to Texas on Thursday to highlight the Texas economy as a possible model for creating jobs. This, too, was political and highly partisan — and perhaps questionable in terms of news judgment at MSNBC. (Obama is coming to Baltimore on Friday to talk jobs.)
After explaining that Obama has done poorly in Texas in the last two elections, Hayes went on to say, "But more and more, Texas is being seen as potentially winnable by Democrats … It's also a state that has seen some not inconsiderable economic success… And the president in traveling there today is trying once again to his credit to drag the nation's attention back to the arena of jobs and the economy despite the best efforts of our collective attention to wander off into grandstanding and conspiracy theorizing about the Benghazi attacks or the culmination of salacious murder trials."
The "salacious murder trials" reference was a shot at CNN, just as the "grandstanding" on Benghazi was a rip on Fox. And it's understandable that MSNBC is trying to take cheap shots, because MSNBC is getting shredded in the ratings by Fox and the new CNN.
In fact, Tuesday night, CNN had more viewers in the key demographic of viewers 25-54 years of age than any cable news channel.
Between 4 and 5 p.m. Wednesday, the time of the verdict in the Arias trial, Fox led everyone with twice as many viewers as CNN. But CNN had twice as many viewers as MSNBC, a channel that is heading south in the ratings as Zucker's network starts to make its way north.
There is nothing new about CNN's formula. The basic idea is to use CNN's superior manpower and journalistic infrastructure to flood the zone on high-impact stories. And when there is more than one big story, cover as many of them as you can that way. And never underestimate the public's appetite for sex, murder and mayhem.
So, at 8 p.m. Thursday, CNN had Anderson Cooper doing his show standing down the street from the home of Ariel Castro, who is charged with kidnapping and raping three young women in his home in Cleveland. The prosecutor is going for an "aggravated murder" case based on statements alleging that Castro starved and beat one of the women to force her to miscarry. You can bet CNN will be all over that trial with everything it and sister channel HLN have — just as they had been doing all week in Phoenix.
Is it great TV journalism?
Of course not. It is the way most big local TV stations around the country, like Baltimore's WBAL or WJZ, try to cover major stories in their cities. It leads to such silly shots as a reporter standing in front of Baltimore City Schools headquarters at 11 p.m. with the word "live" flashing on the screen as she reports on something that happened seven hours earlier inside the now-darkened building.
Jon Stewart had fun with the formula last week, highlighting video of an interview between CNN's Ashleigh Banfield and HLN's Grace that was presented as if the two were in different remote locations. But when Stewart's producers split the screen and put the two reports up side by side, viewers could see Banfield and Grace appeared to be standing in the same parking lot outside the courthouse in Phoenix. It seemed as if they could have practically reached out and touched each other.
I wonder how Jodi Arias, citizen media critic, missed that one in her Twitter reviews.
Last week was a great one for cable news watching.


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Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas,
1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma mountbăt´ən [key], 1900–1979, British admiral; great-grandson of Queen Victoria and uncle of Philip Mountbatten, duke of Edinburgh. He entered the navy as a cadet in 1913 and saw service as a midshipman in World War I. At the outbreak of World War II he was a commander in the dangerous destroyer service until he returned to England to become adviser to and later director (1942–43) of combined operations; he directed the commando raids upon Norway and France. In 1943 he was appointed to head the Southeast Asia Command and commanded Allied operations against the Japanese in Burma. As the last British viceroy of India (1947) he concluded the negotiations for independence and the creation of the states of India and Pakistan. He then served briefly (1947–48) as governor-general of the dominion of India. He was created an earl in 1947. As chief of the defense staff (1959–65), he worked to integrate the various branches of the armed forces. He became governor (1965) of the Isle of Wight and then lord lieutenant (1974). In 1979 he was assassinated by terrorists affiliated with the Irish Republican Army.
See D. Butler, Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy (1986); P. Ziegler, Mountbatten (1986); A. von Tunzelmann, Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire (2007).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: British and Irish History: Biographies


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Rule 4701-2-04 | Accessing confidential personal information.
(A) Personal information systems of the board are managed on a "need to know" basis whereby the information owner determines the level of access required for an employee of the board to fulfill their job duties. The determination of access to confidential personal information contained in a personal information system. The board shall establish procedures for determining a revision to an employee's access to confidential personal information upon a change to the employee's job duties including, but not limited to transfer or termination. Whenever an employee's job duties no longer require access to confidential personal information in a personal information system, the employee's access to confidential personal information shall be removed.
(B) Upon the signed written request of any individual for a list of confidential personal information about the individual maintained by the board, the board shall do all of the following:
(1) Verify the identity of the individual by a method that provides safeguards commensurate with the risk associated with the confidential personal information;
(2) Provide to the individual the list of confidential personal information that does not relate to an investigation of an individual pursuant to section 149.43 of the Revised Code or is otherwise not excluded from the scope of Chapter 1347. of the Revised Code; and
(3) If all information relates to an investigation about an individual pursuant to section 149.43 of the Revised Code, inform the individual the board has no confidential personal information about the individual responsive to the request.
(C) Upon discovery or notification that confidential personal information of a person has been accessed by an employee for an invalid reason, the board shall notify the person whose information was invalidly accessed as soon as practical and to the extent known at the time. However, the board shall delay notification for a period necessary to ensure the notification would neither delay or impede an investigation of the circumstances and involvement of an employee surrounding the invalid access, nor jeopardize homeland or national security. Additionally, the board may delay notification consistent with any measures necessary to determine the scope of the invalid access, including which individuals' confidential personal information invalidly was accessed, and to restore the reasonable integrity of the system. Once the board determines notification would not delay or impede an investigation, the board shall disclose the invalid access to the person. Notification provided by the board shall inform the person of the type of confidential personal information accessed and the date(s) of the invalid access, and may be made by any method reasonably designed to accurately inform the person of the invalid access, including written, electronic, or telephone notice.
(D) The executive director shall designate an employee of the board to serve as the data privacy point of contact. The data privacy point of contact shall work with the chief privacy officer within the office of information technology to assist the board with both the implementation of privacy protections for the confidential personal information the board maintains, and compliance with section 1347.15 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted pursuant to the authority provided by that chapter. The data privacy point of contact shall timely complete the privacy impact assessment form developed by the office of information technology.


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Wearing a bright red hat embroidered with "Make Software Great Again," Box CEO Aaron Levie took the stage at the BoxWorks customer conference on Wednesday to serve as emcee for the unveiling of massive redesigns and upgrades to the company's cloud storage and content services products.
Box's web interface is getting a complete redesign, with new organization, search and preview capabilities. The company is launching a new desktop app to help Windows and Mac users access their files. It's also coming out with a desktop app for users of its Box Notes collaborative document editing service.
It's all part of what Levie called the "all new Box," aimed at modernizing the company's services to meet the needs of customers.
Box's web interface is getting an overhaul designed to load pages up to 30 percent faster and let users upload files up to five times faster. The redesigned interface also includes a new search feature that lets users select a few parameters that describe what they're looking for and find files without having to remember an exact name.
There's also a "Recents" tab in the interface, which gives people quick access to the files that they've been working on most recently. Users looking through folders full of photos will also be able to use a new media view that provides a digital lightbox for them to flip through.
The redesign will finally give users the ability to view 3D models and HD video in the Box interface on the web, after Box announced those capabilities last year. On top of that, the company also revealed new support for viewing 360-degree video and images inside the Box web interface, just as more and more companies are working with that content.
The redesigned interface is available Wednesday. Administrators can opt their organizations into it, and registered Box users can try it out for themselves here.
On top of the web interface, Box will also launch a new desktop client for PCs and Macs. The app will stream data from the cloud to users' PCs and Macs; the data will show up alongside users' other files in Windows's file explorer or MacOS's Finder.
But all of the files they have stored in Box won't have to take up space on their device. It's also a boon for data access control, since users' devices will have less company data on them.
However, users will be able to save key documents to their devices so that they can access them offline. On-demand cloud data access from the desktop is a feature that Dropbox has also been working on and touting as Dropbox Infinite, but hasn't launched yet.
The new desktop software may be somewhat concerning for administrators of Mac computers, since it requires installation of a kernel extension, which has a lot of access to what goes on in a user's system. Box will let administrators continue using the old Box Sync product for the time being, but says that it plans to shut that down at a point that's "probably far off."
The new Box desktop kernel extension is based on FUSE, an open source tool for building file systems in OS X that is also used by a bunch of other tools.
Box Notes, the company's collaborative document editing service, is also getting a new desktop app. The app, which is slated to launch later this year, will let users quickly access their notes from a Mac or PC. Next year, Box will update the app to support offline editing, so that users can edit notes while away from an internet connection and sync them to the cloud when they get access to the web.
All of these capabilities are aimed at keeping Box competitive in the rough and tumble enterprise file storage market. The company is facing a ton of competition from the likes of Google, Microsoft, Egnyte, Dropbox and a host of others.
The news comes a day after Box announced Relay, a workflow product that it launched in partnership with IBM. That service, also a part of the Box revamp, is aimed at helping users build flows that help them manage processes like contract approvals and getting new employees started at a company.
Box also announced that it's working with Google on a new partnership that will let users of the storage service keep documents, spreadsheets and presentations from the Google Docs suite inside Box.
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