text:
WASHINGTON, May 21 (UPI) — The depletion of groundwater from one of the largest aquifers in the United States since 2001 was faster than during the entire 20th century, the USGS finds.
The U.S. Geological Survey reviewed groundwater data from 1900 to 2008 and said the annual rate of depletion was accelerating. The Ogallala Aquifer, which covers more than 170,000 square miles in the middle of the United States, declined rapidly because of the high rate of water use for agricultural, industrial and municipal water needs.
"The depletion during the last eight years of record [2001-2008] is about 32 percent of the cumulative depletion in this aquifer during the entire 20th century," the USGS said in a statement.
The USGS said groundwater depletion has increased steadily since the 1950s but has accelerated more quickly in the last eight years.
"Because groundwater systems typically respond slowly to human actions, a long-term perspective is vital to manage this valuable resource in sustainable ways," acting USGS Director Suzette Kimball said in a statement.
The World Meteorological Organization said there was a global level of sustained drought last year. Groundwater sources are replenished in part by rainfall and other forms of precipitation.
Copyright 2013 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).


text:
Thousands of movies, TV shows, ebooks, and audiobooks, instantly available for streaming or temporary download on your mobile device or computer.
With hoopla, instantly access thousands of movies, TV shows, ebooks, and audiobooks. Watch, listen, and read the newest blockbusters and bestsellers through hoopla's easy-to-use app, and you'll never need to worry about returning your borrowed titles on time. If you're using a tablet or mobile device, log in with your library card barcode and PIN on the hoopla app.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Over the Edge Newspaper Society Collection
- 2005.5
- Collection
- 1993-
This collection consists a nearly complete collection of issues of the UNBC student newspaper "Over the Edge" dating from its first newsletter type issue from 1993 onwards. This includes the first volume of the bi-monthly complimentary arts magazine "Edge".
Issues contain articles, photographs, letters, and editorials dealing with university life, politics on campus and university events, entertainment and news. As well, local Prince George events and some national and international events pertaining to student life are also included.
Missing issues: v.2 i.5 (Nov. 1995); v.5 i.11 (Feb. 1999); v.9 i.11 (Feb. 2003); v.9 i.12 (Mar. 2003)


text:
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Sometimes the simplest things in life are the most complex. The same goes for NORRA by Skovby.
Even though it may seem a simple and light construction on the outside, Norra is designed with the precision and care of good solid craftsmanship.
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Skovby #60002 wooden top panel fits to two NORRA modules.
With NORRA you can design your own storage system as you see fit! Try our designer right here
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Skovby Sanding Sponges
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Skovby furniture design builds on 80 years of experience with furniture production and a solid and strong opinion on raw materials, production and design. Our company is 100 % danish and our furniture 100% danish design.


text:
Top Items:
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
Android G2 Hands On: Close to Perfection — HTC and Google are getting closer to perfection with the new Android G2, the HTC Magic. Nice finish, great form factor. Check out our video, including the obligatory comparison with Apple's iPhone, and hands-on impressions:
Paul Miller / Engadget: HTC Magic in-depth hands-on, with video!
Charlie Sorrel / Gadget Lab: HTC, Vodafone Show World's Second Googlephone
Rob Jackson / Android Phone Fans: HTC Magic: First Impressions
James Kendrick / jkOnTheRun: Android HTC Magic (G2) unveiled
Jose Vilches / TechSpot: Vodafone unveils Android-powered HTC Magic
Vodafone and HTC unveil Android-powered HTC Magic — Vodafone extends world-class range of Internet phones with latest Android™-powered smartphone from HTC — HTC Magic smartphone exclusive to Vodafone customers initially in UK, Spain, Germany and France (SFR) and non-exclusively in Italy.
Greg Sterling / Local Mobile Search: HTC Android Vodafone 'Magic' Is Better than G1
Miguel Helft / Bits: Vodafone and HTC Team Up on New Google Phone
Matthew Aslett / 451 CAOS Theory: 451 CAOS Links 2009.02.17 — Red Hat and Microsoft make nice on virtualization.
Andrew Fairbairn / Neowin.net: Android phones announced by more manufacturers
Erica Sadun / Ars Technica: Android, take two: HTC Magic to launch sans keyboard
Rob Jackson / Android Phone Fans: HTC Magic Press Release
Jodie Andrefski / Gadgetell: Vodafone and HTC make Magic together
Simon Sage / IntoMobile: Vodafone Announces Android-Powered HTC Magic
Andrew Nusca / The Toybox: Google Android-powered HTC Magic debuts
Jason Palmer / BBC:
Second 'Google phone' is unveiled — Science and technology reporter, BBC News, Barcelona — A second phone based on Google's operating system Android has been unveiled by Vodafone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. — The touchscreen HTC Magic will feature a 3.2 Megapixel camera …
Discussion: Music Ally, Agence France Presse, dot.life blog, MarketingVOX, Gizmodo and TUAW
Rory Cellan-Jones / dot.life blog: Palm and HTC hope to do magic
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo: Why Do the Android Phones Have Chins?
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
50% of Charges Against Pirate Bay Dropped — What has been shown in court today is that the prosecutor cannot prove that the .torrent files he is using as evidence actually used The Pirate Bay's tracker. Many of the screenshots being used clearly state there is no connection to the tracker.
Discussion: Slyck, TechCrunch, Techdirt, Technologizer, NewTeeVee, GMSV, Contentinople, IFPI, Digits, DSLreports, Ars Technica, Obsessable, The Register, Digital Daily, Music Ally, Download Squad, Mashable!, TECH.BLORGE.com and Pulse2, Thanks:salmosri
Thomas Mennecke / Slyck: The Obligatory Pirate Bay Article
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch: Half The Charges Against The Pirate Bay Dropped, But The Circus Ain't Over Yet
Michael Masnick / Techdirt: Prosecutors Drop Half The Charges Against The Pirate Bay
Chris Albrecht / NewTeeVee: Vid-Biz: Pirate Bay, Mobile Video, Keystream
John Murrell / GMSV: Pirate Bay prosecutors get a kick in the booty
R. Scott Raynovich / Contentinople: News Bits: 50% Charges Against Pirate Bay Already Dropped
Andrew LaVallee / Digits: Some Pirate Bay Charges Dropped
Kelly Fiveash / The Register: Pirate Bay prosecutor tosses infringement charges overboard
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily: It Was Hard Enough to Take You Seriously With the Word "Phonograph" in Your Name...
Stan Schroeder / Mashable!: Charges Against The Pirate Bay Partly Dropped
John Lister / TECH.BLORGE.com: Pirate Bay prosecutors drop some charges
Amit Chowdhry / Pulse2: Due To Weak Prosecution Evidence, 50% Of Charges Dropped Against The Pirate Bay
PC World:
Pirate Bay May Sail Away, Scot Free
Pirate Bay May Sail Away, Scot Free
Discussion: the Econsultancy blog and Digits
Patricio Robles / the Econsultancy blog: Some charges against Pirate Bay tossed in copyright mega-case
Marisa Taylor / Digits: Pirate Bay Trial Begins With Theatrics
Introducing Yahoo!(R) Mobile - Your Starting Point to the Internet — Improving Consumers' Ability to Use Their Phones to Discover, Stay Connected and Stay Informed — Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced the upcoming launch of its new Yahoo! Mobile service - a highly-personalized mobile starting point to the Internet.
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, Webware.com, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Between the Lines, Profy, Unwired View and Local Mobile Search, Thanks:profy
Frederic Lardinois / ReadWriteWeb: Mobile News: Yahoo Mobile, Skype on Cell Phones, Second Android Phone, and More
Josh Lowensohn / Webware.com: Yahoo rolls up mobile products into single service
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch: Microsoft Updates Windows Mobile To Make It More Like The iPhone.
Svetlana Gladkova / Profy: Yahoo Announces Yahoo Mobile Hoping To Revolutionize The Way We …
Greg Sterling / Local Mobile Search: Yahoo! Upgrades Mobile Experience with New 'Yahoo! Mobile' Application
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Yahoo Reorganizes, Rebrands Mobile Offerings As "Yahoo Mobile"
Yahoo Reorganizes, Rebrands Mobile Offerings As "Yahoo Mobile"
Discussion: Computerworld, PC World, mocoNews.net, Search Engine Watch, InformationWeek, TheAppleBlog, HotHardware.com News, WebProNews and eWeek
Matt Hamblen / Computerworld: Smartphones becoming prime platform for app makers
Dianne See Morrison / mocoNews.net: @ MWC: Yahoo Rejigs Mobile Offering With Yahoo Mobile
Nathania Johnson / Search Engine Watch: Yahoo! to Launch New, Comprehensive Mobile Portal
K.C. Jones / InformationWeek: Yahoo Mobile Out In Limited Beta
Darrell Etherington / TheAppleBlog: Yahoo Mobile Coming, Google Likely Doesn't Care
Daniel A. Begun / HotHardware.com News: Yahoo! Mobile for iPhone and Other Smartphones
Mike Sachoff / WebProNews: Yahoo Rolls Out New Mobile Service
Darryl K. Taft / eWeek: Opera, Yahoo Team to Deliver Opera Mini Browser
Zach Spear / AppleInsider:
Apple absent from universal phone charger push — Although AT&T and several other iPhone partners joined an industry initiative to standardize mobile phone chargers over the next few years, Apple has yet to follow suit and may remain committed to its proprietary dock-connector interface .
Discussion: The Register, NEWSFACTOR, Between the Lines, Reuters, GSM World, Gadget Lab, BBC, Electronista, Obsessable, TECH.BLORGE.com, The iPhone Blog and Gearlog
Rik Myslewski / The Register: Mobile phones to get universal charger
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines: The universal mobile phone charger is great! Wake me up two phones from now
Niclas Mika / Reuters: Mobile Phones to Have Universal Power Chargers by 2012
Brian X. Chen / Gadget Lab: Mobile Industry (Minus Apple) Embraces Universal Phone Charger
Stephen Schenck / Obsessable: Cell phone makers agree on universal charger interface
John Lister / TECH.BLORGE.com: Cellphone charger confusion could come to an end
Brian Heater / Gearlog: MWC 2009: 17 Mobile Companies Adopt Micro USB Standard
Richard Wray / Guardian:
Universal mobile phone charger unveiled
Universal mobile phone charger unveiled
Discussion: PC World, Gizmodo and Agence France Presse
Jon Swartz / USA Today:
New tech start-ups can rise from the economy's ashes — SAN FRANCISCO — It's boom — and bust — for Silicon Valley companies these days. Literally. — Facing their worst economic climate since the dot-com bust in the early 2000s, high-tech companies are treating 2009 with dread …
Discussion: Mercury News
LG Brings Its Stylish New 3G LG-X120 Netbook to Barcelona — Barcelona, Spain, February, 16, 2009 - LG Electronics, a worldwide technology and design leader in mobile communications, today announced the launch of its smart and stylish new netbook, the LG-X120.
Discussion: SlashGear, Electronic Pulp, Liliputing, GottaBeMobile.com, The Toybox and Engadget
Chris Davies / SlashGear: LG LG-X120 HSPA netbook detailed
David Gonzales / Electronic Pulp: LG's 3G-enabled LG-X120 netbook showcased in Barcelona at MWC
Warner Crocker / GottaBeMobile.com: LG Unveils New X120 Netbook
Andrew Nusca / The Toybox: LG launches 3G-connected X120 Netbook
Donald Melanson / Engadget: LG gets official with 3G-equipped X120 netbook
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:
SEC Charges Research in Motion and Four Senior Executives With Stock Option Backdating — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 2009-27 — Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Limited (RIM) and four of its senior executives for stock option backdating.
Discussion: SiliconBeat, Tech Trader Daily, CNET News, Tech Daily Dose and Silicon Alley Insider
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily: RIMM Execs Settle SEC Options Backdating Case
Tom Krazit / CNET News: SEC fines RIM executives for option backdating
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
MySpace's Google Gravy Train Set to Stop Next Year — Midway through next year, Google's $900 million, 3.5-year search advertising deal with News Corp. and MySpace expires. What are the odds that Rupert Murdoch's social network gets anything close to that with a new contract? — Very, very low.
Greg Sterling / Local Mobile Search: MySpace Putting New Emphasis on Mobile
Guy Griml / Haaretz:
Microsoft in talks to acquire local startup 3DV Systems — The first Israeli exit of 2009 is hitting the road. Software giant Microsoft is negotiating to acquire the Israeli startup 3DV Systems for about $35 million, despite the alarming condition of the global economy and grim forecasts of more pain to come.
Discussion: TechFlash, CNET News, Between the Lines, paidContent.org and Silicon Alley Insider
Daniel Terdiman / CNET News: Report: Microsoft in talks to buy Israeli VR firm
Andrew Nusca / Between the Lines: Microsoft in talks to acquire Israeli VR startup
Kevin Poulsen / Threat Level:
Anonymous Caller? New Service Says, Not Any More — A new service set for launch Tuesday allows cellphone users to unmask the Caller ID on blocked incoming calls, obtaining the phone number, and in some cases the name and address, of the no-longer-anonymous caller.
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Not Quite a Blog and Boing Boing Gadgets
Eric Krangel / Silicon Alley Insider: Did Kevin Mitnick Sell A Telephone Hack?
Sam Diaz / Between the Lines:
Analyst: Declines in Mac, iPod sales isn't so bad — When is negative growth a positive thing? In this economy, any growth that stays in-line with Wall Street expectations can be viewed as a good thing - though it's still too early to call. And that's how one analyst is looking at Apple's current quarter.
Discussion: Apple 2.0 and Silicon Alley Insider
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Apple 2.0: Mac sales off 6% in January; iPod off 14%
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
SynthaSite Gets A $20 Million Boost For Simple Website Creation Software — There have been simple, browser-based website creation tools available on the market ever since the WWW turned mainstream, but there's clearly still a significant demand for this type of services, especially with the way the web is evolving.
Discussion: David Rusenko and VentureBeat
Eric Savitz / Tech Trader Daily:
Google: The Case Against A Second Half Recovery — Time to take profits in Google (GOOG), advises ThinkEquity analyst William Morrison. — Morrison this morning cut his rating on the stock to "Source of Funds," from Accumulate, and reduced his price target to $300 from $350.
Discussion: WebProNews and Network World
Doug Caverly / WebProNews: Google Stock Downgraded
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
With a King's Ransom in Cash, Why Is There Still No Buying Spree in the Tech Space Yet? — Even in the midst of the economic meltdown, consider these mega-billion-dollar cash hordes of big tech companies: — Microsoft (MSFT): $20.7 billion — Cisco (CSCO): $29.5 billion — Apple (AAPL): $25.6 billion
Discussion: The Enterprise System … and The Open Road, Thanks:atul
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Tech Layoffs Surge to 300,000 — Layoffs in the tech sector are accelerating. It took exactly three weeks for tech layoffs to surge to 300,000, according to our Layoff Tracker. Since late January, when the tracker hit 200,000 layoffs, another 100,000 job eliminations have been announced or completed.
Discussion: Industry Standard and Cheezhead Recruiting, Thanks:blogfisher
Paul Boutin / Industry Standard: Chart: 300,000 tech layoffs
Vanessa Dennis / Cheezhead Recruiting: techcrunch findings underscore severity of layoffs
John Markoff / New York Times:
The Cellphone, Navigating Our Lives — The cellphone is the world's most ubiquitous computer. The four billion cellphones in use around the globe carry personal information, provide access to the Web and are being used more and more to navigate the real world.
Xeni Jardin / Boing Boing Gadgets:
South Park iPhone App a No-Show in Apps Store; Cartman Blames Kyle's Mom. — Remember back in October when I blogged about a new iPhone app from the South Park guys? Not sure what the whole story is on this one, but our friends at South Park tell us the app has long been completed — so, well, where is it?
Discussion: Ars Technica, VentureBeat, MacRumors iPhone Blog, iPhone Savior, Gizmodo, CNET News and Pulse2
Chris Foresman / Ars Technica: South Park iPhone app rejected as "potentially offensive"
Mr. Besilly / iPhone Savior: Apple Kills South Park App For iPhone
Tom Krazit / CNET News: Apple nixes 'potentially offensive' South Park app
Amit Chowdhry / Pulse2: South Park Application Declined By Apple
Andrew Kameka / Google Android Blog:
Important notes on Android Market — Google's Android Market is now a pay-to-play venture for U.S. and U.K. cell phone owners. Android enthusiasts will have to deal with paying for new applications and even some of the once-free apps that made the T-Mobile G1 such an attractive product.
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, MacRumors iPhone Blog, Gizmodo, CrunchGear, IntoMobile and Neowin.net
Sean Fallon / Gizmodo: Android Market Policy Details: You Can Return Apps
Devin Coldewey / CrunchGear: Android Market return policy, porn policy, and more
James Falconer / IntoMobile: More Android Market Policy Details
Sam Symons / Neowin.net: Android Market allows 24 hour trial period
Jake Soriano / TrendLabs:
Another Exploit Targets IE7 Bug — Cybercriminals are actively exploiting a critical vulnerability in Internet Explorer 7, which arises from the browser's improper handling of errors when attempting to access deleted objects. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary codes on a vulnerable machine.
Robert McMillan / PC World: New Attack Singles out IE Flaw
Thord Daniel Hedengren / The Blog Herald:
The New b5media Revealed — The times are changing and so are the blog networks, something that appeared to be a solid business model a couple of years back, but now deemed a rough one if you want to succeed. One company above others are being mentioned whenever blog networks are branded as a failed idea, and that's b5media.
Martin Peers / Wall Street Journal:
Future Shock for Internet Ads? — What does the Internet display-ad market have in common with Zimbabwe? — Both are printing nearly-limitless amounts of their main currency, vastly diminishing its value and undermining their future. The currency, for Web sites, is their ad inventory.
Discussion: Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim and WebProNews
Chris Crum / WebProNews: Too Much Content Bad for Online Advertising?
Adrian Covert / Gizmodo:
Linksys Routers Now Have Built-In Internet Security — Linksys is teaming up with Trend Micro to put the Home Network Defender internet security software into the their routers, helping to block out unsafe sites before they reach any computer on your network.
Discussion: Ars Technica and Yankee Group Blog
Brian Caulfield / Forbes:
How HP Mastered The Pain Game — CEO Mark Hurd's skill at making tough choices could comfort investors Wednesday. — BURLINGAME, Calif. - Wednesday would be a really bad day for Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Mark Hurd to break his winning streak. Central bankers around the globe are sweatily trying to revive faltering banks.
What Caused the Tech Sales Crash? — It wasn't consumers that slammed on the brakes, they just tapped them a little. — Earnings season for the past month has been more painful than a root canal with no Novocain. On earnings calls, one hardware supplier after another recounted sales …
Alan Patrick / broadstuff:
DO FACEBOOK'S LATEST TERMS OF SERVICE CONTRAVENE THE EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION ACTS? — Looking at the brouhaha surrounding Facebook's latest TOS changes, I wondered if they contravened the EU laws on Data Protection. At first blush they probably do in a number of areas.
Discussion: Between the Lines and Scobleizer, Thanks:bhc3
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer: User data ownership on Facebook and why it doesn't matter
Aaron Wall / Learn. Rank. Dominate.:
Mahalo Caught Spamming Google With PageRank Funneling Link Scheme — Jason "SEO is dead" Calacanas, founder of Mahalo, used "SEO is dead" as a publicity stunt to help launch his made for AdSense scraper website. In the past we have noted how he was caught ranking pages without any original content …
Spammers break Live Hotmail's CAPTCHA yet again — The battle by Microsoft to secure its Live Hotmail system from spammers appears to have failed yet again with the news that the latest version of its CAPTCHA authentication system has been broken. — According to a detailed analysis …
Discussion: Ars Technica
Emil Protalinski / Ars Technica: A quick look at Windows Live security
Prince McLean / AppleInsider:
iPhone dominates Mobile World Congress 2009 without Apple — While reports have suggested that Apple may attend next year's CES to "sit amongst its competition" in consumer electronics, the company has elected not to attend the GSMA Mobile World Congress being held in Barcelona this week.
Discussion: CNET News, Digital Daily and Roughly Drafted
Marguerite Reardon / CNET News: Apple is top of mind for execs at MWC
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily: GSMA Mobile World Congress? More Like GSMA iPhone World Congress...


text:
File No. 763.72/1764a
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Germany ( Gerard )
1664. Please call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and, after reading to him this communication, leave him with a copy:
In view of recent acts of the German authorities in violation of American rights on the high seas which culminated in the torpedoing and sinking of the British steamship Lusitania on May 7, 1915, by which over 100 American citizens lost their lives, it is clearly wise and desirable that the Government of the United States and the Imperial German Government should come to a clear and full understanding as to the grave situation which has resulted.
The sinking of the British passenger steamer Falaba by a German submarine on March 28, through which Leon C. Thrasher, an American citizen was drowned; the attack on April 28 on the American [Page 394] vessel Cushing by a German aeroplane; the torpedoing on May 1 of the American vessel Gulflight by a German submarine, as a result of which two or more American citizens met their death; and, finally, the torpedoing and sinking of the steamship Lusitania, constitute a series of events which the Government of the United States has observed with growing concern, distress, and amazement.
Recalling the humane and enlightened attitude hitherto assumed by the Imperial German Government in matters of international right, and particularly with regard to the freedom of the seas; having learned to recognize the German views and the German influence in the field of international obligation as always engaged upon the side of justice and humanity; and having understood the instructions of the Imperial German Government to its naval commanders to be upon the same plane of humane action prescribed by the naval codes of other nations, the Government or the United States was loath to believe—it can not now bring itself to believe—that these acts, so absolutely contrary to the rules, the practices, and the spirit of modern warfare, could have the countenance or sanction of that great Government. It feels it to be its duty, therefore, to address the Imperial German Government concerning them with the utmost frankness and in the earnest hope that it is not mistaken in expecting action on the part of the Imperial German Government which will correct the unfortunate impressions which have been created, and vindicate once more the position of that Government with regard to the sacred freedom of the seas.
The Government of the United States has been apprised that the Imperial German Government considered themselves to be obliged by the extraordinary circumstances of the present war and the measures adopted by their adversaries in seeking to cut Germany off from all commerce, to adopt methods of retaliation which go much beyond the ordinary methods of warfare at sea, in the proclamation of a war zone from which they have warned neutral ships to keep away. This Government has already taken occasion to inform the Imperial German Government that it can not admit the adoption of such measures or such a warning of danger to operate as in any degree an abbreviation of the rights of American shipmasters or of American citizens bound on lawful errands as passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nationality; and that it must hold the Imperial German Government to a strict accountability for any infringement of those rights, intentional or incidental. It does not understand the Imperial German Government to question those rights. It assumes, on the contrary, that the Imperial Government accept, as of course, the rule that the lives of non-combatants, whether they be of neutral citizenship or citizens of one of the nations at war, can not lawfully or rightfully be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruction of an unarmed merchantman, and recognize also, as all other nations do, the obligation to take the usual precaution of visit and search to ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in fact of belligerent nationality or is in fact carrying contraband of war under a neutral flag.
The Government of the United States, therefore, desires to call the attention of the Imperial German Government with the utmost earnestness to the fact that the objection to their present method of [Page 395] attack against the trade of their enemies lies in the practical impossibility of employing submarines in the destruction of commerce without disregarding those rules of fairness, reason, justice, and humanity, which all modern opinion regards as imperative. It is practically impossible for the officers of a submarine to visit a merchantman at sea and examine her papers and cargo. It is practically impossible for them to make a prize of her; and, if they can not put a prize crew on board of her, they can not sink her without leaving her crew and all on board of her to the mercy of the sea in her small boats. These facts it is understood the Imperial German Government frankly admit. We are informed that, in the instances of which we have spoken, time enough for even that poor measure of safety was not given, and in at least two of the cases cited, not so much as a warning was received. Manifestly submarines can not be used against merchantmen, as the last few weeks have shown, without an inevitable violation of many sacred principles of justice and humanity.
American citizens act within their indisputable rights in taking their ships and in traveling wherever their legitimate business calls them upon the high seas, and exercise those rights in what should be the well-justified confidence that their lives will not be endangered by acts done in clear violation of universally acknowledged international obligations, and certainly in the confidence that their own Government will sustain them in the exercise of their rights.
There was recently published in the newspapers of the United States, I regret to inform the Imperial German Government, a formal warning, purporting to come from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington, addressed to the people of the United States, and stating, in effect, that any citizen of the United States who exercised his right of free travel upon the seas would do so at his peril if his journey should take him within the zone of waters within which the Imperial German Navy was using submarines against the commerce of Great Britain and France, notwithstanding the respectful but very earnest protest of his Government, the Government of the United States. I do not refer to this for the purpose of calling the attention of the Imperial German Government at this time to the surprising irregularity of a communication from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington addressed to the people of the United States through the newspapers, but only for the purpose of pointing out that no warning that an unlawful and inhumane act will be committed can possibly be accepted as an excuse or palliation for that act or as an abatement of the responsibility for its commission.
Long acquainted as this Government has been with the character of the Imperial German Government and with the high principles of equity by which they have in the past been actuated and guided, the Government of the United States can not believe that the commanders of the vessels which committed these acts of lawlessness did so except under a misapprehension of the orders issued by the Imperial German naval authorities. It takes it for granted that, at least within the practical possibilities of every such case, the commanders even of submarines were expected to do nothing that would involve the lives of non-combatants or the safety of neutral [Page 396] ships, even at the cost of failing of their object of capture or destruction. It confidently expects, therefore, that the Imperial German Government will disavow the acts of which the Government of the United States complains, that they will make reparation so far as reparation is possible for injuries which are without measure, and that they will take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence of anything so obviously subversive of the principles of warfare for which the Imperial German Government have in the past so wisely and so firmly contended.
The Government and the people of the United States look to the Imperial German Government for just, prompt, and enlightened action in this vital matter with the greater confidence because the United States and Germany are bound together not only by special ties of friendship but also by the explicit stipulations of the treaty of 1828 between the United States and the Kingdom of Prussia.
Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in case of the destruction of neutral ships sunk by mistake, while they may satisfy international obligations, if no loss of life results, can not justify or excuse a practice, the natural and necessary effect of which is to subject neutral nations and neutral persons to new and immeasurable risks.
The Imperial German Government will not expect the Government of the United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the performance of its sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment.


text:
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text:
Yemen: Fighting in south kills 50 militants
SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni artillery and military aircraft backing pro-government tribesmen pounded al-Qaida fighters trying to battle their way into a strategic town in the country's south on Wednesday, while a suspected U.S. airstrike killed at least 12 militants, officials said.
The fighting near the town of Lawder started over the weekend when al-Qaida attacked an army post, sparking resistance from Yemeni troops and from armed tribesmen.
The military claims that at least 165 militants have been killed in the past three days, including 38 on Wednesday, as al-Qaida continues a costly but determined assault aimed at expanding a swath of the south under their control. The officials said six civilians fighting alongside the army was also killed.
Another 12 militants were killed when a vehicle stolen by al-Qaida from an army post in recent days was hit by an airstrike. Residents said the vehicle took a direct hit, leaving it totally destroyed with bodies strewn nearby. They and the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
U.S. officials could not immediately be reached for comment. U.S. drones have targeted al-Qaida leaders in Yemen in the past.
The fighting is the latest in a series of bloody confrontations between government forces and al-Qaida-linked militants in southern Yemen, where the militants control a patchwork of towns taken mostly last year in the chaos that surrounded the popular uprising against longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The Defense Ministry said in a statement those killed Wednesday included two senior members of the militant network in the area. It identified them as Imad al-Manshaby and Ahmed Mohammed Taher. Other security officials said the dead also included Saudis, Somalis and a Pakistani. They did not specify how many were foreigners.
Often the fighting in the south has gone against the government, with demoralized and unprepared Yemeni army garrisons taking heavy losses from determined militant assaults.
In some cities like Lawder, the army has received critical help from residents who have become fed up with the government's inability to protect them and, in a country where most adult males possess weapons, have taken up arms to protect themselves.
There are an estimated 300 mostly young men armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades who have joined the government side in the fight. But they are running low on ammunition and food supplies, according to one of their leaders, Jihad Hafeez. Many of the town's residents have left the city to escape the fighting, he said.
Military officials say that al-Qaida appears determined to take the town despite the losses it has suffered. It lies on a key highway that links Abyan province's capital Zinjibar, an al-Qaida stronghold, with other provinces further east like Hadramawt, Bayda and Shabwa where the group is also active.
Al-Qaida was once present in Lawder, but in July residents drove them out. The militants have since been trying to regain their foothold in the town, which has a population of about 30,000.
Al-Qaida have become the de facto government in the towns they control, and in some places appear to be implementing a harsh version of Islamic law. In the town of Rada in Bayda province, militants beheaded a woman on allegations that she practiced witchcraft, two security officials said on Wednesday. The head of the 35-year old woman was later hanging on a door in the city as a warning but her body remains missing, the officials said.
Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the movement's most dangerous offshoots.
Saleh, who left office in February as part of a U.S.-backed deal, was Washington's longtime partner in the fight against the terror network's branch in this impoverished Arab nation. But Saleh was frequently found to be unreliable, turning a blind eye to the growing strength of militant groups as part of an elaborate balancing act to maintain his grip on the fractured nation located in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
Yemen's popular uprising, which was inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere, succeeded in pushing Saleh from power. His successor and former deputy, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was later rubber-stamped as president in a single-candidate nationwide vote that was part of the power transfer deal.
Washington hopes that Hadi can bolster the government's authority and make good on his pledges to fight al-Qaida. But in addition to his war with the militants, he also faces a challenge from Saleh loyalists and a crippled economy.


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We got a sneak peak at the 2010 Ford Fusiona while back, but now on the eve of its reveal at the LA Auto Show, we can bring you the complete details on Ford's latest salvo in the battle for America's sedan-buying hearts and minds. The new Fusion brings sleeker styling, more fuel-efficient and powerful engines, and a higher quality interior. That says a lot as the original Fusion was pretty strong on most of those fronts to begin with. Complete analysis, details, and more pictures below.
Beginning at the front, Ford has drawn the now standard razor blade grille out above the trapezoidal headlights, visually broadening the front of the car while stretching it a bit further down in the fascia. This freshened grille is combined with lower bumper styling elements reminiscent of the Euro-only Ford Mondeo along with a character line along the hood which all combine to creates new faces that's substantial without being too flashy, though there's an awful lot of chrome up there. We're not so sure about the tail end which mimics the shape of the headlights on the flagship Ford F-150. It's not offensive, but the sleek nose with the geometric shapes on the rear don't jive real well for us, but we can deal with it. Inside the interior gets materials upgrades in the dash, door panels, center console and the the new seats are a pretty comfy place to be. Cars equipped with the navigation screen get an upgrade to a huge eight inch touch screen with optional Sirius Travelink (which is the bees knees). Noise gets knocked down with the addition of an acoustic windscreen but pretty much everything else we like on the inside stays the same with a bit of a styling update. On the mechanical side the Fusion is much improved, with upgrades to the four cylinder, the V6, the transmission and the suspension. The base inline four gets bumped up from 2.3 liters to 2.5 liters along with output moving up to 175 HP and 172 lb-ft of torque. That engine can be had with a six speed automatic transmission or a six speed manual (Let us take a moment to declare "Woo Hoo!). That I4 combo package gets at least five miles per gallon better fuel economy than the outgoing 2.3 liter. The 3.0 liter Duratec V6 gets a one to two MPG bump in economy but more important it goes from 221 HP to 240 HP and 222 lb-ft of torque (250 HP on ethanol). That's nice and all, but hold onto your hats cause Ford is adding a Fusion Sport model to the lineup with a 3.5 liter V6 with 263 HP and 249 lb-ft of toque, that's going to be a spicy meatball. Unfortunately both of the V6's are only available with the six speed automatic. Suppose you can't have everything in life, at least the auto gets "Select Shift" so you can pretend you're a big boy with a real transmission. All models begin pushing into a more modern age with electric power steering while the suspension gets tweaks to improve ride and handling and to deal with the differences from that electric power steering. The cars also gets new gadgets like blind spot detection, a voice activated nav system, rear facing camera and that "Easy Fuel" capless filling system. All in all, the new Fusion is an impressive upgrade to an already good car and we'll get a closer look when it's unveiled at the LA Auto Show. We can't wait to get behind the wheel of the Sport model and that I4 with the six-speed to try out what will probably be a hugely entertaining passenger car.
Check out more on the Ford Fusion from CarandDriver.com
NEW 2010 Ford Fusion offer leading fuel efficiency, smart new technologies LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19, 2008 – Ford's new 2010 Fusion is set to shake up the cut-throat mid-size sedan segment when it goes on sale early next year, bringing an all-new hybrid that will deliver the best fuel economy of any sedan in America, unsurpassed 4-cylinder gasoline fuel economy, more power, class-exclusive technologies including a blind spot detection and warning system and Ford SYNC, plus the kind of proven quality and reliability that has been recognized by the top consumer groups and magazines. "With the new Ford Fusion, we are offering consumers more choice, even better fuel economy and the leading quality and reliability that they have come to expect," said Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president of Global Product Development. "But that isn't all – we weren't satisfied with just matching the competition in the segment, we wanted to give consumers even more by delivering engaging driving dynamics and technologies that make the in-car experience more comfortable and connected." Designed to stand out Ford's attention to detail with the freshened Fusion begins with a new design that gives the car a look that is both sportier and more upscale as well as improved aerodynamics. The car's newly designed front end, including a powerfully domed hood, and new headlamps, grille and larger fog-lamp area further enhance the sporty nature of the 2010 Fusion. Aerodynamic enhancements and new underbody shields further boost Fusion's fuel economy. Overall, the wider, sportier look aims to make Fusion even more appealing to customers eager for a fun-to-drive mid-size sedan. With all models, the interior design team created a more contemporary, technical look with metallic new finishes on the instrument panel that carry through on the center console, doors and steering wheel. The all new instrument panel is finished with a soft upper and lower skin and has much less hard plastic than Japanese competitors. The instrument panel displays and switches have also been updated with a contemporary iced blue lighting. A redesigned leather wrapped steering wheel with form fitting palm swells, a new shifter, and wrapped and padded armrests increase the Fusion's sportiness and comfort at all key driver touch points. The seats received a makeover, as well. The seat contour has been revised, with more side support and overall a more comfortable seat with smoother bolsters and more-textural inserts. The seats also feature contrasting stitching and leather inserts to give the Fusion even more attitude, befitting this mid-size sedan. The gauge cluster has been designed with day time backlighting, a black lens, and 3-D elements to create a high tech jewel-like appearance, similar to a fine watch. Drivers will be greeted by a new "welcome" sequence that makes the Fusion seem as if it's coming to life. Gauge needles sweep back and forth as the lighting and new chimes come on. The ambient lighting system offers the option of illuminating the front and rear footwells and front cup holders. Fuel-efficient and more powerful powertrain lineup Both the inline four-cylinder and V-6 engines are upgraded for both improved fuel economy and power. The standard Fusion S model equipped with Ford's new 2.5-liter I-4 engine is expected to deliver at least a 5 mpg improvement versus the 2009 model on the highway, resulting in fuel economy that is at least 3 mpg better than the Honda Accord and 2 mpg better than the Toyota Camry. The 2.5-liter I-4 engine horsepower and torque also have been improved from the car's outgoing 2.3-liter 4-cylinger engine, jumping to 175 hp and 172 ft.-lbs. of torque from the previous 160 hp and 156 ft-lbs. As a result, 0-60 performance improves by more than a second, now topping Camry and Accord. The 2010 Fusion features an all six-speed transmission lineup, including for the new 2.5-liter I-4 engine, which is available with either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. The previous 2.3-liter I-4 in the Fusion was available with only five-speed transmissions. The additional gear on the I-4 provides better drivability and performance as well as fuel savings, said Matt Hettenhouse, Powertrain Team Leader for the Fusion. "The gear ratios and the overall span of the transmissions allow us to have a more-efficient and higher performing shift schedule," he said. The first gear can be made a little deeper, which provides smoother acceleration. At the top end, a higher gear allows the engine to run slower in highway conditions, which also aids fuel economy. Ford's proven Duratec30 3.0-liter V-6 engine was also improved on the 2010 model, delivering highway fuel economy gains of at least 1 mpg city and 2 mpg highway. Horsepower in the 3.0-liter V-6 also increased to 240 hp and 222 ft.,-lbs, up from 221 hp and 205 ft.-lbs. in the previous version. The 3.0-liter engine is now Flex Fuel-capable and can run on E-85 ethanol, which delivers even more horsepower – up to 250hp. For maximum performance, the Fusion Sport features a 3.5-liter V6 that has 263 hp and 249 ft-lbs of torque on runs on standard unleaded fuel. Front-wheel drive and on-demand all-wheel drive are available with models with a 3.0-liter engine and with the new Fusion Sport 3.5-liter engine. Both V6 engines are also available with SelectShift for individual gear control. The versatility in the powertrain systems creates a wide range of options for customers designed to fit every need. The 2010 Fusion now comes equipped with Electric Power Assist Steering (EPAS) system on 2.5- and 3.0-liter models, improving the driving dynamics of the vehicle while delivering greater fuel savings because the steering system is operated by the electrical system rather than the engine. Additionally, EPAS provides customers with improved steering feel and reduced low-speed efforts that when coupled with a nearly 1 foot smaller turning circle for 2010 makes parking a cinch. Fusion's front stay bar and rear suspension link geometry have been revised to improve steering, handling, and ride. The suspension springs, shocks, and sta-bars have also been retuned to take full advantage of the revised geometry and new steering system. In addition to improvements in the 2010 Fusion's steering, handling and improved brake pedal feel, the Fusion team also took a look at how to improve the comfort of the car, including reducing wind noise and road noise. Acoustic windshield, thicker front door glass, new hood insulators, inner and outer dash absorbers, and carpet, revised sealing baffles, additional sound deadening in the trunk, and new interior headliner absorption material are among the improvements made for overall sound level and quality. Improved body and door sealing also contribute to Fusion's best-in-class standing in wind noise. Overall, the reduction in wind noise and road noise puts Fusion near some of the best luxury cars in terms of quietness and best-in-class speech intelligibility. Wind noise, for example, is 3 sones better than Camry and Accord. Models with the I-4 engine are class leaders in wind noise. New Sport model The base 2010 Ford Fusion already is a fun-to-drive mid-size car. With an even sportier look, a bigger, more-powerful engine, special 18 inch wheels and upgraded suspension tuning to go along with a distinctive interior, the new 2010 Ford Fusion Sport is a dynamic, welcome addition. "We're maintaining the fun-to-drive elements that made the Ford Fusion such a huge success and building on those," said Chief Engineer J.D. Shanahan. "Our 2010 models are even more fun to drive with better steering and handling. It's all exemplified by the Ford Fusion Sport with its 3.5-liter engine, 18-inch wheels and sport tuning." The 263-horsepower V-6 Duratec engine is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with SelectShift. Front-wheel drive is standard, with all-wheel drive available. The sport-tuned air intake system provides the fun-to-drive, powerful and sporty powertrain sound attributes expected in the 2010 Ford Fusion Sport to complement the driving experience. Building off the improvements for the Fusion line, the 2010 Ford Fusion Sport also features a unique lower grille for a more functional look, larger beveled bright-tip dual exhausts, side rocker moldings, a decklid spoiler and unique Sport badging. Eighteen-inch painted aluminum wheels are standard. The interior reflects its sporty nature as well. As with the base models, the Fusion Sport's instrument panel and center console deliver a more-technical, content-driven look. Fusion Sport includes a Charcoal Black interior with a high tech soft touch dark gray finish available. Sport Blue or Sport Red interior accents are also available, depending on exterior color selected. These give the instrument panel and console a sportier look as well, which carries over to the seat inserts and contrast stitching. Overall, the Fusion Sport is a driver's car that is both comfortable and exhilarating at the same time. Exclusive technologies keep consumers connected New technology features available on the 2010 Fusion include: Blind Spot Information System (BLISTM) with Cross Traffic Alert, which can help provide extra confidence to drivers in parking lots by alerting drivers sooner of nearby traffic while backing out. It uses two multiple beam radar modules, which are packaged in the rear quarter panels. The radar detects moving objects within a 65-foot range from either side of the vehicle. The radar identifies when a vehicle enters the defined blind spot zone and illuminates an indicator light on the corresponding side-view mirror providing a warning that a vehicle is approaching. An audible alert is sounded as well. SYNC: The voice-activated hands-free in-car communication and entertainment system developed by Ford and Microsoft. The system fully integrates most Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones and digital media players, providing customers hands-free cell phone and music selection capabilities – plus new 911 Assist and Vehicle Health Report provided with no monthly fees. 911 Assist: When a phone is properly paired, turned on and connected to SYNC, the system is ready to assist in placing a call directly to a local 911 emergency operator in the event of an air bag-deploying accident. The key advantage of SYNC 911 Assist is speed, as calls are placed directly to local 911 operators. Vehicle Health Report (VHR): SYNC gathers relevant information from the major vehicle control modules and packages diagnostic data into a usable format in a matter of minutes. That data packet is sent to Ford via an 800-number automatically dialed using the customer's paired and operable mobile phone. Voice-Activated Navigation, which integrates several functions including voice recognition destination entry, climate control and SIRIUS satellite radio into one easy-to-use system, displaying them on an 8-inch touch-screen display. The navigation system's text-to-speech function calls out street names while in route to a destination and reads incoming text messages when the system is linked to SYNC. The integrated DVD player is capable of reading CD-Audio, MP3 CDs, DVD, DVD-Audio and DVD-ROM (for digital map updates). A music jukebox function stores more than 150 hours of music. The screen even can be customized with personal photos. SIRIUS Travel Link™, an industry-leading technology that, when combined with the voice-activated navigation system will provide users with real-time traffic data with accident and incident information, coast-to-coast weather data including current conditions and five-day forecasts, and fuel price information for over 120,000 gas stations. Travel Link also offers sports scores and schedules and a listing of more than 4,500 movie theaters with movie times, theater addresses, movie synopses and more. Reverse Camera System, which mounts a small camera on the decklid that is activated when Fusion is shifted into reverse, giving the driver a clear view behind the vehicle. The video image is displayed in the optional navigation screen on Fusions equipped with that option or in the self-dimming rearview mirror vehicles without navigation. Ambient Lighting System allows drivers to customize the interior lighting to suit their mood through seven base colors – ice blue, purple, blue, orange, red, white and green. Sony-branded audio system. The Ford Fusion is the first mid-size sedan in North America to offer a Sony-branded audio system with surround sound and Sony DSP processing as a factory option. The Sony-branded audio system features 390 watts and 12 speakers that make substantial use of high-quality speaker materials, including polypropylene cones, three-layer soft dome tweeters and large neodymium magnets for most speakers in the system. EasyFuel™ Capless Fuel-Filler System also is standard. This industry-exclusive feature eliminates the need to touch dirty gas caps and helps to reduce evaporative emissions that create smog and global warming. When fueling is completed and the fuel pump nozzle is removed, the system automatically seals shut. Cabin Air Filter is standard for the first time on the Ford Fusion. The filter removes respiratory irritants and toxins caused by traffic and industrial pollution. The filter also provides an additional safeguard for the climate control system. With a bolder new design, class leading and unsurpassed fuel economy and performance depending on model, a host of segment-exclusive new features and technologies, improved drivability and comfort and even more choice across the lineup, the 2010 Ford Fusion is poised to win over even more mid-size car customers. Ford Fusion is built at Ford's Hermosillo (Mexico) Stamping and Assembly Plant and will be in dealer showrooms in spring 2009.
[via Ford]


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Tool-building hacks #1: audible pings
I think I'm genetically a tool-builder. My dad and uncle both take great pleasure in carefully selecting and buying or building tools for their workshops, my mum's an expert woodcarver with a fair array of sharp pointy things, and these are not the only examples in the family. For me, the habit has manifested in electronic form, and I really enjoy programming new scripts etc. to help me work more efficiently. In fact I've collected such a vast array of them over the years that I had to start tracking them under version control back in 1999. (CVS did me proud for many years, but it did not age well, and I finally migrated them to git a few months ago.)
I can't claim to be remotely unusual in this respect though – there's a whole subculture of programmers ("hackers") who can relate to this mindset. Sometimes when I build a new tool, I get the impulse to share it with the world in case it turns out to be of use to anyone else. In the past, these hacks have ended up on my software web page, but I think this blog might be a better medium.
So, without further ado, here's a cute hack I just built: bping, a wrapper around
ping(8) which makes it do a lot of beeping 😉 – one beep per packet received, with pitch going up an octave for every doubling of the response latency. (See below for installation instructions.) Why did I want this?
I use ethernet over power to connect the machines in my bedroom to the equipment in the lounge. In a high-rise apartment block with about 100 wireless networks fighting over the same spectrum band, this is (normally) a much more reliable option. However yesterday the connections in my home network started behaving very weirdly. I tried pinging various machines on the network from each other to narrow down the problem, but it was annoying to have to keep going between rooms to visually monitor the output from the various pings when it would have been quicker to be able to hear the quality of the connections being tested. So I wrote
bping, which also turns a laptop into a sort of Geiger counter for wifi.
bping uses bip (here's a suggested approach to installation) which in turns uses sox to make the beeps. This works fine on Fedora 15 but unfortunately for some reason takes longer than one second to run on Ubuntu 11.10 and openSUSE 12.1, regardless of how short the beep is. I think it's something to do with pulseaudio, but I haven't bothered to figure it out yet. Answers on a e-postcard please …
By the way, many of my hacks are already publically available on my github account, but most aren't documented yet. The current exceptions are:
I'll try to document some of the others soon. Watch this space!


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Why Costco is so addictive
A day with Jim Sinegal, the Merchandising Maestro who gets shoppers to buy 2,250-count packs of Q-Tips and mayo by the drum.
(Fortune Magazine) -- A man who looks like Wilford Brimley moseys into the Costco warehouse store in the Seattle suburb of Issaquah, Wash., on a bright Columbus Day morning, easily blending into the throngs of shoppers picking up Cheerios, toilet paper and cashmere sweaters.
But as soon as Costco CEO Jim Sinegal crosses the threshold of this vast, 150,000-square-foot theater of retail, it's abundantly clear that he's not just a spectator - he's the executive producer, director and critic. "Jim's in the building!" crackles over the walkie-talkie of warehouse manager Louie Silveira. In the apparel section, Silveira's infectious grin morphs into a look of slight panic.
A sudden hop in his step, Silveira, who can log 15 miles a day walking the aisles, scurries over to Sinegal. Unsmiling, hands in his pockets, a coffee stain on his $12.99 Costco shirt, Sinegal turns out to be a no-nonsense connoisseur of detail. He greets his manager with a barrage of questions: "What's new today?"
"We just moved this $800 espresso machine to an end-cap," Silveira responds, meaning he moved it out from the middle of the aisle to a more prominent location at the end.
"How are in-stocks?"
"We're good there."
"What did we do in produce last week?"
Wielding a bar-code scanner like a six-shooter, Silveira answers each query to Sinegal's satisfaction, but evidently that's not often the case. "When he starts looking at an item too long," Silveira confides later, "I say, 'Oh, s***.' "
Sinegal makes a beeline for a table full of $29.99 Italian-made Hathaway men's dress shirts, located just off the "racetrack," which is retail lingo for the U-shaped path along the perimeter - down one side, across, and back up the other side - that most shoppers follow upon entering the warehouse. He takes a shirt out of the box, fingers it, ponders a moment then puts it back. He walks away, but soon returns to the table. He looks concerned.
In keeping with Costco's low-price, limited-selection philosophy, the Hathaway shirts are all the same size - a 34/35-inch sleeve. Today, at least, if you want a more precise length, you're out of luck. "I'm anxious to see how it does," says Sinegal, bending to pick up a bit of trash off the floor.
Sinegal needn't worry. The shirts, like everything else at Costco (Charts), will no doubt sell out within days, to be replaced by another item in the company's carousel of ridiculously priced high-quality inventory.
With $59 billion in sales from 488 warehouse locations, Costco, No. 28 in the Fortune 500, is the fourth-largest retailer in the country and the seventh-largest in the world.
In the 23 years since Sinegal co-founded Costco with Jeff Brotman (now chairman), it has never reported a negative monthly same-store sales result. Yet he's modestly compensated - Sinegal earned $450,000 in salary and bonus last year, chump change by CEO standards. Add in his stockholdings and he's worth $151 million. (One note on that: On Oct. 12, Costco disclosed that an internal review of stock-option granting identified one grant to Sinegal that was "subject to imprecision" and "may have benefited [Sinegal] by up to $200,000." Sinegal says he takes "full responsibility.")
The company counts nearly 48 million people as members, and those customers are not only slavishly devoted (averaging 22 trips per year, according to UBS analyst Neil Currie), but surprisingly affluent as well (more than a third have household incomes over $75,000).
While Wal-Mart (Charts) stands for low prices and Target (Charts) embodies cheap chic, Costco is a retail treasure hunt, where one's shopping cart could contain a $50,000 diamond ring resting on top of a 64-ounce vat of mayonnaise. Despite having 82 fewer outlets than its nearest rival, Wal-Mart's Sam's Club, Costco generates about $20 billion more in sales.
Clearly, Costco is doing something right - but what? And how? To figure that out, we shadowed Sinegal, who has spent 52 of his 70 years in the retail business. He got his start working for Sol Price, who created the warehouse-club format, and left Price to launch Costco in 1983.
Over the years, he's become a merchandising grand master, an exceedingly shrewd practitioner of the unglamorous but elusive art of getting the right product in the right place at the right time for the right price.
When Jim Sinegal told Sol Price that he was launching a warehouse club to compete with Price's own Price Club, "Sol was pissed," recalls Sinegal, sipping Starbucks coffee (black) in his modestly appointed office at Costco headquarters in Issaquah.
Price had a point: His erstwhile prot�g� was now his top rival in the fast-growing warehouse-club business. Wal-Mart launched Sam's Club that same year; Price Club and Costco later merged, in 1993.
Price competition
And what a strange business it is. Costco refuses to mark up any item more than 14 percent, in contrast to supermarkets and department stores, which often carry markups of 25 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
"We always look to see how much of a gulf we can create between ourselves and the competition," Sinegal says. "So that the competitors eventually say, 'F*** 'em, these guys are crazy. We'll compete somewhere else.' "
To illustrate, Sinegal recounts a story about denim. "Some years ago we were selling a hot brand of jeans for $29.99. They were $50 in a department store. We got a great deal on them and could have sold them for a higher price, but we went down to $29.99. Why? We knew it would create a riot."
Low markups may create excitement, but they also mean lower profits: Costco ekes out pretax margins of around 3 percent. Despite the microscopic margins, Costco earned $1.1 billion last fiscal year through its membership fees - $50 per year of pure profit - and its spartan approach to costs.
The company doesn't use pricey ad agencies. Products move right from the delivery truck to the charm-free concrete sales floor. Signage looks like it was made with a cheap laser printer. There are no commissioned salespeople. There aren't even any shopping bags. The only cost that Costco doesn't skimp on is wages and benefits, which are the envy of big-box employees nationwide.
And yet Costco's card-carrying legions come in droves, waiting anxiously in fancy foreign cars on Saturday mornings for the store to open. Carts in hand, they display a fervor not usually seen outside of houses of worship. Why? Because we all love a bargain, and Lord help us if we miss one.
"We only carry about 4,000 items," says Sinegal, "compared with 40,000 in a typical supermarket and 150,000 in a Wal-Mart supercenter. Of that 4,000, about 3,000 can be found on the floor all the time. The other 1,000 are the treasure-hunt stuff that's always changing. It's the type of item a customer knows they'd better buy because it will not be there next time, like Waterford crystal. We try to get that sense of urgency in our customers."
(It should be mentioned that showing up on the sales floor of a discount emporium doesn't necessarily fit the marketing strategies of your Waterfords and Calvin Kleins and other high-end brands. Whatever those companies think, Costco wants to sell their products and makes a practice of acquiring them - legally - on the gray market.)
The limited-variety approach isn't for everyone, though. Sinegal explains: "We carry a 325-count bottle of Advil for $15.25," he says. "Lots of customers don't want to buy 325. If you had ten customers come in to buy Advil, how many are not going to buy any because you just have one size? Maybe one or two. We refer to that as the intelligent loss of sales: We are prepared to give up that one customer. But if we had four or five sizes of Advil, as grocery stores do, it would make our business more difficult to manage. Our business can only succeed if we are efficient. You can't go on selling at these margins if you are not."
The more efficient the product sourcing, the more latitude Sinegal can give his store managers in how they lay out those big bottles of Advil. "There are certain merchandise displays that all warehouses do," he says. "TVs are always in the front, for example.
But the intent is not to tell these guys how to run their places. Our managers are entrepreneurs, not somebody who just comes in and unlocks the doors." Indeed, with some locations doing upwards of $300 million in sales a year, each warehouse is a mini-corporation, and each manager a de facto CEO.
Costco differs from other retailers in many ways, but it's not as if Sinegal feels he has nothing to learn from them. "Whole Foods (Charts) has a lot of theater to it," he says. "It's difficult to walk in there and not buy something."
He also learned a lot from Stew Leonard's, a supermarket chain in the Northeast: "When we did our fresh foods, we studied them closely." And Target: "They have high standards, but they do that without being boring. That's the trick."
Sinegal has taken Costco where no warehouse club had gone before - pharmacy, fresh bakery and meat, store brands one could be proud to serve in the home and international expansion. Sinegal's son Michael is currently heading Costco's Japanese operations. Will he run the company someday? Sinegal won't go there.
Being a CEO was the last thing on 18-year-old Jim Sinegal's mind when he took a job unloading mattresses at Fed-Mart, Sol Price's precursor to Price Club.
"It wasn't that great a job," Sinegal recalls. "I was getting a buck and a quarter an hour. But it was exciting. Sol was a major part of that excitement. He was not big on compliments, but you never doubted what was on his mind. Ever. He was always able to discover everything we were doing wrong. He just had a knack for it."
Price saw that the young Sinegal had the knack too, and chose him to overhaul Fed-Mart's flagship store. "When I was 26," Sinegal continues, "Sol made me the manager in the original San Diego store, which had become unprofitable. I was supposed to narrow down the selection and get out of troublesome categories like apparel. We had way too much apparel. So here I was, this kid, and I was given a tremendous responsibility. As a result of simplifying the process, we were able to get it back into the black."
Sinegal embraced Price's iconoclastic approach. "An awful lot of what we did at Fed-Mart was counterintuitive to people who were in the merchandising business at that time," Sinegal says. "We didn't advertise or accept major credit cards. It was all self-service. Also, you had to be a member of the club. People paid us to shop there."
Most counterintuitive of all was Price's stubborn refusal to wring an extra buck from his customers. "Many retailers look at an item and say, 'I'm selling this for ten bucks. How can I sell it for 11?' We look at it and say, How can we get it to nine bucks? And then, How can we get it to eight? It is contrary to the thinking of a retailer, which is to see how much more profit you can get out of it. But once you start doing that, it's like heroin."
Sinegal works diligently to prevent that addiction from entering Costco's bloodstream. Now that he's in Price's role - retail sage - how does he impart what he's learned, and how does he know who his best students are? Step one is obvious: Hire smart young workers.
"One of the first places we recruit is at the local university," Sinegal says. "These people are smarter than the average person, hard-working and they haven't made a career choice." Those who demonstrate smarts and strong people skills move up the ranks.
But without merchandising savvy - that ability to know what product would sell best on an end-cap on any given Saturday - an employee has no chance to become warehouse manager. "People who have the feel for it just start to get it," says Sinegal. "Others, you look at them and it's like they are staring at a blank canvas. I'm not trying to be unduly harsh, but that's the way it works. They are not going to become a Louie."
Back in his warehouse, Louie Silveira is perhaps wishing he'd become someone else. He's still facing an Issaquah inquisition from Sinegal, who's convinced he saw a digital piano - $1,999 at the Issaquah warehouse - priced lower in one of his Florida locations the week before. He's not sure which, but tells Silveira to track it down. Silveira checks on a few, but they are all priced the same as his. Sinegal isn't satisfied.
The following day, after hours of boring budget meetings, Sinegal finds, to his delight, that the piano was indeed marked down to $1,499 in the Kendall, Fla., outlet. No victory is too small.
"Every time you go someplace, you see something that excites you," Sinegal says. "I was just in the South of France, and there was this gelato stand. I could not believe the excitement it created. I haven't figured out how we will do it at Costco, but it's in my noodle."
Jenny Mero and Dana Castillo contributed to this article.
Sam's Club 'WOW' gifts: diamonds and jets
Wal-Mart to slow growth in United States


text:
Get Moving
Victor "Easy Street" Gallegos: 6 p.m. Jerry's Cafe, 2515 S. Grand St. No cover. 806-374-4335.
Jason Patrick: 6 p.m. Pescaraz Italian Restaurant, 3415 Bell St. No cover. 806-350-5426.
Los Cuatro Compadres Mariachi Band: 6:30 p.m. La Frontera Restaurant, 1401 S. Arthur St. No cover. 806-372-4593.
Liz Whitfield: 7 p.m. American Legion Post 54, 617 S.W. Seventh Ave. Cover $5. Nonsmoking. 806-373-7630 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 806-383-2729.
Bob Hopkins: 7 p.m. Austin's Pub, 3121 S.W. Sixth Ave. No cover. 806-373-7470.
Charlie "Sugartime" Phillips and The Sugartimers Classic Country Dance Band: 7:30 p.m. Amarillo Senior Citizens Association Hall, 1220 S. Polk St. Cover. 806-374-5500.
Agave Posse: 8 p.m. Amarillo Club, 600 S. Tyler St. 806-373-4361 or www.amarilloclub.net.
Grass is Green and Orca Team: 9 p.m.The 806, 2812 S.W. Sixth Ave. No cover. 806-322-1806.
Slushbox: 9 p.m. Friendz Bar & Grill, 711 S.W. 10th Ave. No cover. 806-331-7305.
The Randall King Band: 9 p.m. Lowery's Dance Hall and Saloon, 609 Independence St. Cover $5. 806-467-8500.
Bakersfield Twang: 9 p.m. Western Horseman, 2501 E. Interstate 40. Cover $3. 806-379-6555, ext. 2999.
The Rockin' Plowboys: 9:30 p.m. Rounders Club, 2801 Virginia Circle. Cover. 806-352-3317.
Don Todd & Wounded Coyote: 10 p.m. Golden Light Cantina, 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave. Cover $6. 806-374-0097.
The Tommy Gallagher Band: 10 p.m. Hoot's Pub, 2424 Hobbs Road. Cover $5. 806-358-9560.
Bleu Edmonson and Thieving Birds: 10 p.m. Midnight Rodeo, 4400 S. Georgia St. Cover $8 in advance, $10 day of show. 806-358-7083 or www.midnightrodeoamarillo.com.
Bipolar Echo: 10 p.m. Skooterz, 4100 Bushland Blvd. Cover $5. 806-355-6600.
The Prairie Dogs: 1 to 4 p.m. Maxwell's Pumpkin Farm, 12908 S. Bell St. $8.50 per person; children under 2 free. 806-373-9600.
Rob Carter: 8 p.m. Amarillo Club, 600 S. Tyler St. 806-373-4361 or www.amarilloclub.net.
Tiny Duncan & The Country Gentlemen: 8 p.m. McLean Dance Club, County Road Z. 806-205-6022.
The Average Joes: 8 p.m. Smokey Joe's, 2903 W. Sixth Ave. No cover. 806-331-6698.
Leftmore: 9 p.m.The 806, 2812 S.W. Sixth Ave. No cover. 806-322-1806.
The Randall King Band: 9 p.m. Lowery's Dance Hall and Saloon, 609 Independence St. Cover $5. 806-467-8500.
Buc & The Goodtime Music Machine: 9 p.m. Silver Creek Sports Bar, Interstate 40 and U.S. Highway 83 in Shamrock. No cover. 806-256-1313.
Bakersfield Twang: 9 p.m. Western Horseman Club, 2501 E. Interstate 40. Cover $3. 806-379-6555, ext. 2999.
Red & The Vityls: 10 p.m. Golden Light Cantina, 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave. Cover $7. 806-374-0097.
Big Casino: 10 p.m. Skooterz, 4100 Bushland Blvd. Cover $6. 806-355-6600.
Victor "Easy Street" Gallegos: Noon to 2:30 p.m. Jerry's Cafe, 2515 S. Grand St. No cover.
Synapse Defect, Smells Like Someone Died and Never the Victim: 6 p.m. 12052 Event Center, 4901 S. Washington St. Continues Sunday. Cover $7. 806-318-3910.
Will Banister & The Mulberry Band: 6 p.m. VFW Post 1475, 1401 W. Eighth Ave.Cover. Amarillo Area Singles Dance Club. Ages 39 and older. Nonsmoking. 806-679-2044.
Lee Scheetz & Borderline with Mike Chism: 9 p.m. Whiskey River, 4001 S.W. 51st Ave. No cover. 806-367-6163.
Smoking Rabbit: 8 p.m. Crush Wine Bar and Deli, 701 S. Polk St. No cover. 806-418-2011.
Stew Moss: 6 p.m. Cowboy Gelato, 2806 S.W. Sixth Ave. No cover. 806-376-5286.
Andy Chase Cundiff: 6:30 to 9 p.m. 575 Pizzeria, 2803 Civic Circle. 806-331-3627.
Andy Chase Cundiff: 6 p.m. Blue Sky, 4201 W. Interstate 40. No cover. 806-355-8100.
The Stew Moss Show: 6 p.m. Pizza Duo, 1055 Coronado Circle, Borger. 806-274-7200.
Jak Thurmond: 7 p.m. Cowboy Gelato, 2806 S.W. Sixth Ave. No cover. 806-376-5286.
Joe Ed Coffman: 9 p.m. Skooterz, 4100 Bushland Blvd. No cover. 806-355-6600.
Slim & Stevie B: 6 p.m. Blue Sky, 5060 S. Coulter St. No cover. 806-322-3888.
The Prairie Dogs: 6 p.m. Cowboy Gelato, 2806 S.W. Sixth Ave. No cover. 806-376-5286.
Amy Coffman and Betsy!: 6:30 p.m. Fire Slice Pizzeria, 7306 S.W. 34th Ave. No Cover. 806-331-2232.
Kickshikers: 7 p.m. VFW Post 1475, 1401 W. Eighth Ave. Cover. 806-373-3521.
Jill Cohn: 9 p.m. Leftwood's, 2511 S.W. Sixth Ave. No cover. 806-367-9840.
Tommy Gallagher and Jonathan Torres acoustic: 10 p.m. 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave. Cover $5. 806-374-0097.
212 Club: Hot mainstream music from Lil' K, Fri.-Sun. Also, Friday Nite Follies and Sun. cabaret-style show, 2 p.m.-2 a.m. daily. 212 S.W. Sixth Ave. 806-372-7997.
Club Baloo: Tejano dance and country music, 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 2600 Linda Circle. 806-331-3999.
Coco Locos Tejano Nightclub: DJ Manyoso. Tejano, country and cumbia music. 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 1005 N. Fillmore St. No cover. 806-282-1994.
Da House Teen Club: DJ RoRo 7 p.m. Wed.-Thu. 2805 Hobbs Road. Cover.
Dugout Sports Bar: Live DJ, 9 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 3705 Olsen Blvd. No cover. 806-367-8999.
Duke Tracy's: DJ Doughboy, 9 p.m. Thu. 3101 S.W. 26th Ave. No cover. 806-351-0757.
Le Chateau: Flashback Fridays, the return of S.R.O., new wave, '80s with DJ Frenzy and DJ Oni, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Fri. Top 40 dance and mash-ups with Tommy the Hacker, DJ Frenzy and DJ Andy, 9 p.m.-4 a.m. Sat. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Sun. with DJ RoRo, 711 S. Polk St.
Old Buster's Lounge: Tejano, top 40, hip-hop and R&B Wed.-Sun., 2204 S.E. 27th Ave. No cover. 806-379-8100.
Oscar's Mexican Grill and Cantina: Tejano and country DJ's 9:30 p.m. Thu. and Sat. 4214 S.W. 45th Ave. No cover. 806-350-4400.
Rounders: DJ Element, 10 p.m. Wed. 2801 Virginia Circle. No cover. 806-352-3317.
Tatum's Night Club: DJ RoRo 8 p.m. Sat. 805 S. Polk St. Cover.
Western Horseman Club: Tejano Nights with DJ Tino, 8 p.m. Sun. Cattleman's appreciation night and country and western music, 7 p.m. Tue. No cover. 806-379-6555.
WildCard: 9 p.m. Sat. 715 S. Polk St. 806-350-6596.
The 806: Game night 8 p.m. Mon.; open mic night 9 p.m. Wed. 2812 S.W. Sixth Ave. No cover. 806-322-1806.
Bailey's Shed: Karaoke 9 p.m. Fri.-Sun., Wed. and Thu. 7101 S. Bell St. No cover. 806-468-9669.
Buckles Lounge: Karaoke 9 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 6800 E. Interstate 40. No cover. 806-370-6951.
Buffalo Wild Wings: Karaoke by All About Music 10 p.m. Sun. and Tue. 5416 S. Coulter St. No cover. 806-359-4386.
Cactus Bar: Karaoke 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 4831 S. Western St. No cover. 806-356-6369.
Cattleman's Club: Karaoke Kings with Frank and Resa 9 p.m. Wed.-Sun. 3808 E. Amarillo Blvd. 806-383-9053.
CP's Sports Bar: Inferno Production Karaoke 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Fri.-Sat. 1803 Lakeside Drive. 806-335-1561.
D'Vine Wine: Open mic 6-9 p.m. Thu. 2600 Wolflin Ave. No cover. 806-467-9463.
Dugout Sports Bar: Karaoke 9 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 3705 Olsen Blvd. 806-367-8999.
Duke Tracy's: Songbird Karaoke with Linda 9 p.m. Sat., and Wed. and Fri; open mic 8 p.m. Thur. 3101 S.W. 26th Ave. No cover. 806-351-0757.
Friendz Cocktail Lounge and Grill: B-man's Karaoke 9 p.m. Sat. Open Jam 7 p.m. Sun. 711 S.W. 10th Ave. 806-331-7305.
Lowery's Dance Hall and Saloon: Pink St. Karaoke 9 p.m. Wed.-Fri. 609 Independence St. 806-467-8500.
No Dogs Allowed: Karaoke with Ashlee 10 p.m. Fri. and Sat. 700 S.W. 10th Ave. No cover. 806-373-3647.
Old 66 Lounge: Karaoke by Kenny and Donna 9 p.m. Fri. and Sat. 5316 E. Amarillo Blvd. No cover. 806-433-5815.
Oscar's Mexican Grill & Cantina: Open mic night. 9 p.m. Tue. 4214 S.W. 45th Ave. No cover. 806-350-4400.
Palace Coffee Co.: Open mic night.8:30 p.m. Fri. 420 15th St., Canyon. No cover. 806-476-0111.
The Pine Shed: Karaoke by Brandon 9 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.; Karaoke by Joe, 9 p.m. Sun. 5342 Canyon Drive. No cover. 806-352-2446.
Pizza Hut WingStreet: Inferno Productions 8 p.m. Mon., 2509 S. Georgia St. 806-467-1555.
Skooterz: Open mic with Casey Berry. 8 p.m. Skooterz, 4100 Bushland Blvd. No cover. 806-355-6600.
Western Bowl: Songbird Karaoke with Linda 9 p.m. Mon. 5120 Canyon Drive. 806-352-2737 or 806-359-5211.
Western Horseman Club: Karaoke with Sheila 8 p.m. Wed. 2501 E. Interstate 40. 806-379-6555, ext. 2999.
Whiskers: Songbird Karaoke 9 p.m. Wed. 1219 S. W. 10th Ave. 806-371-8482.
Amarillo Botanical Gardens: 1400 Streit Drive. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun.; admission $5 adults, $4 seniors, free children 12 and younger; 806-352-6513 or www.amarillobotanicalgardens.org.
Amarillo Zoo: Thompson Park, 2401 Dumas Drive. 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. $3 adults; $2 senior citizens; $1 children 3-12. Free admission on Mon. 806-381-7911 or www.amarillozoo.org.
Bar H Dude Ranch: Three miles northwest of Clarendon, on Farm-to-Market Road 3257. Features chuck wagon dinners, horseback riding and more. 800-627-9871 or www.barhduderanch.com.
Bar Z Winery: Seven miles south of Loop335 on 19290 Farm-to-Market Road 1541. Features wine tasting and a location for parties. 806-488-2214.
Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge: Three miles south of Umbarger, on Farm-to-Market Road 168. Admission fee. 806-499-3382 or www.fws.gov.
Cadillac Ranch: West of Amarillo on West Interstate 40. Free.
Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway: Three miles north of Quitaque, on Farm-to-Market Road 1065. Admission fee. 806-455-1492 or www.tpwd.state.tx.us.
Copper Breaks State Park: Thirteen miles south of Quanah on Texas Highway 6. Admission fee. 940-839-4331 or www.tpwd.state.tx.us.
Don Harrington Discovery Center and Space Theater: 1200 Streit Drive. 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon-4:30 p.m. Sun. Admission fee. 806-355-9547 or www.dhdc.org.
Greenbelt Lake: Four miles north of Clarendon, on Texas Highway 70. Admission fee. 806-874-5111 or 806-874-3650.
Historic Route 66: Southwest Sixth Avenue, between Georgia and Western streets. Offers shopping, dining and live entertainment. www.amarillo66.com.
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area: Fifty miles northeast of Amarillo, near Fritch. Free admission. Area includes Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument. 806-857-3151, www.nps.gov/alfl.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park: 12 miles east of Canyon, on Texas Highway 217. Admission fee. 806-488-2227, www.palodurocanyon.com. Area includes: The Elkins Ranch, 806-488-2100, www.theelkinsranch.com; Old West Stables, 806-488-2180; Timber Springs, 806-488-2799.
River Breaks Ranch: 10 miles northwest of Amarillo. Features chuck wagon breakfasts and dinners, wagon rides and more. 806-374-0357 or www.riverbreaks.com.
Texas Panhandle War Memorial: Interstate 27 and South Georgia. Free.
Wildcat Bluff Nature Center: 2301 N. Soncy Road. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Admission fee; donations accepted. 806-352-6007 or www.wildcatbluff.org.
Amarillo College Natural History Museum: Ordway Hall, Room 116, 22nd Avenue and Washington Street. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Thu., or by appointment. 806-371-5938.
Amarillo Museum of Art: 2200 S. Van Buren St. Featuring "George Rodrigue: Blue Dogs in Texas" through Sun. and "Dust and Depression: Farm Security Administration Photographs from the 1930s" through Oct. 28. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thur.; 1-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Free. 806-371-5050, 806-371-5392 weekends or www.amarilloart.org.
American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum: 2601 E. Interstate 40. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. "America's Horse in Art" through Nov. 10. General admission $6. 806-376-5181 or www.quarterhorsemuseum.com.
Amarillo Railroad Museum: 13000 E. U.S. Highway 60. 7:30 p.m. first Thur. of month; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. second and fourth Sat. Appointments available. 806-335-3333 or www.amarillorailroadmuseum.com.
Armstrong County Museum: Art exhibition by Connie Maness through Oct. 31. 120 N. Trice St., Claude. Noon-4 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Free. 806-226-2187 or www.armstrongcountymuseum.com.
Buttel Railroad Museum: One mile south of Amarillo. Rail cars include a caboose, boxcar, passenger car, cattle car, and more. 806-670-1314.
Carson County Square House Museum: Texas Highway 207 and Fifth Avenue, Panhandle. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun. Free; donations encouraged. 806-537-3524. www.squarehousemuseum.weebly.com.
The Citadelle Art Foundation: Features "Winfred Rembert: Amazing Grace" through Dec. 16. 520 Nelson, Canadian. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat.; 1-4 p.m. Sun. $10 adults; $8 for 65 and older; free for 18 and younger. 806-323-8899 or www.thecitadelle.org.
Collingsworth County Museum Art Center: 824 East Ave., Wellington. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., or by appointment. 806-447-5327.
Deaf Smith County Historical Museum: 400 Sampson St., Hereford. 10 a.m.-noon, 1-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Free; donations accepted. 806-363-7070 or www.deafsmithmuseum.net.
Devil's Rope Museum:100 Kingsley St., McLean. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 pm. Sat. through Nov. Free; donations accepted. 806-779-2225, www.barbwiremuseum.com.
Eastern New Mexico University Museums: Blackwater Draw Museum, Roosevelt County Historical Museum, Natural History Museum, Miles Mineral Museum, Miles Anthropological Museum. Hours vary. ENMU campus in Portales, N.M. 575-562-2202 or www.enmu.edu.
Floyd County Historical Museum: 105 E. Missouri St., Floydada. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., or by appointment. Free. 806-983-2415.
Freedom Museum USA: 600 N. Hobart St., Pampa. Noon-4 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Free; donations accepted. 806-669-6066.
Harrington House 1600 S. Polk St. Features the fall traveling exhibit. Tours by appointment 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., every 30 minutes Tue. and Thu. through Dec. Free. 806-374-5490 or www.harringtonhousehistorichome.org.
Herzstein Memorial Museum: South Second and Walnut streets, Clayton, N.M. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Free; donations accepted. 575-374-2977 or 575-374-9639.
Hutchinson County Museum: 618 N. Main St., Borger. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sat. Free; donations accepted. 806-273-0130.
J.B. Buchanan Windmill Park: Texas Highway 207, south of Spearman. Free. www.spearman.org/windmillhistory.html.
Julian Bivins Museum: Old Tascosa Courthouse, Cal Farley's Boys Ranch. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Free. 806-534-2211.
Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian and Performance Center: 9151 E. Interstate 40. 1-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.. $5 adults; $3 children. 806-335-3175. www.kwahadi.com.
Lake Meredith Aquatic and Wildlife Museum: 104 N. Robey Ave., Fritch. Noon-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., or by appointment. 806-857-2458.
McLean/Alanreed Area Museum: 116 N. Main. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Fri. Free; donations accepted. 806-779-2731.
Mesalands Dinosaur Museum: 211 E. Laughlin St., Tucumcari, N.M. noon-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Admission fee. 575-461-3466 or www.mesalands.edu.
Muleshoe Heritage Center: West American Boulevard, Muleshoe. Mon.-Fri. Free guided tours. 806-272-5873 or www.muleshoeheritagefoundation.org.
Museum of the Plains: 1200 N. Main St., Perryton. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun. Free; donations accepted. 806-435-6400 or www.museumoftheplains.com.
No Man's Land Museum: 207 W. Sewell St., Goodwell, Okla. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Free. 580-349-2670 or www.nmlhs.org.
Old Jailhouse Museum: 415 Main St., Silverton. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Free. 806-823-2123.
Old Mobeetie Jail Museum: Courthouse Square, Mobeetie. 1-5 p.m. daily, except Wed. Free; donations accepted. 806-845-2028 or www.mobeetie.com.
Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum: "Frocks and Togs: Children's Textiles" through Jan. 5; "Another Day, Another Dollar: The Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Texas Panhandle" through Feb. 2; "Collecting Art History: Taste on the Southern Plains" through Feb. 16; "American Indian Treasures: The Dr. Charles E. Linck and Dr. Ernestine P. Sewell Linck Collection" through March 2; and "Taste Makers on the Southern Plains: Furniture and Decorative Arts from the Bugbee Collection," through April 6. 2503 Fourth Ave., Canyon. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. $10 adults; $9 seniors; $5 children 4-12. 806-651-2244 or www.panhandleplains.org.
Parmer County Heritage Pioneer Museum: 218 W. Sixth St., Friona. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon. and Fri. Free; donations accepted. 806-251-1552 or 806-265-7282.
Pioneer West Museum: 204 N. Madden, Shamrock. 1-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., or by appointment. Free; donations accepted. 806-256-3941 or 806-256-2548.
River Valley Pioneer Museum: 118 N. Second St., Canadian. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Fri. (closed noon-1 p.m.); 1-3 p.m. Sat. 806-323-6548 or www.rivervalleymuseum.org.
Roberts County Museum: 120 E. Commercial St., Miami. 10 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Tue-Fri.; by appointment Sat.-Mon. at 806-868-5811. Free; donations accepted. 806-868-3291.
Saints' Roost Museum: 610 E. Harrington St., Clarendon. 1-5 p.m. Wed.-Sun. Free; donations accepted. 806-874-2546 or www.saintsroost.org.
Santa Fe Steam Locomotive No. 5000, The Madame Queen: Southeast Second Avenue and Lincoln Street. Guided tours $25. 806-674-0472.
Stationmaster's House Museum: 30 S. Townsend St., Spearman. 1-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., or by appointment. Free; donations accepted. 806-659-3008.
Swisher County Archives and Museum: 127 S.W. Second St., Tulia. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Thur. Free; donations accepted. 806-995-2819.
Texas Air & Space Museum: 10001 American Drive, Amarillo. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Free; donations accepted. 806-335-9159 or www.texasairandspacemuseum.org.
Texas Pharmacy Museum: 1300 S. Coulter St., inside Texas Tech University School of Pharmacy. Guided tours 1-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., or by appointment. Free. 806-356-4000, ext. 268.
Tucumcari Historical Museum: 416 S. Adams St., Tucumcari, N.M. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Admission fee. 575-461-4201 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Turkey Roost Museum: 111 Main St., Turkey. 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays or by appointment. 806-423-1240 or www.turkeyroostmuseumtx.com.
White Deer Land Museum: 112 S. Cuyler St., Pampa. 1-4 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Free; donations accepted. 806-669-8041 or email@example.com.
Window on the Plains Museum: 1820 S. Dumas Ave., Dumas. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Free; donations accepted. 806-935-3113 or www.dumasmuseumandartcenter.org.
Woody Guthrie Folk Museum Center of Pampa: 320 S. Cuyler St., Pampa. 1-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat., or by appointment. Free; donations accepted. 806-669-3241 or www.woodyguthriepampatx.com.
Wolf Creek Heritage Museum: Texas Highway 305 and Main Street, Lipscomb. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Free; donations accepted. 806-852-2123 or www.wolfcreekheritagemuseum.com.
XIT Museum: 108 E. Fifth St., Dalhart. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Free; donations accepted. 806-244-5390 or www.xitmuseum.com.
The 806: 2812 S.W. Sixth Ave. 7 a.m.-midnight Mon.-Fri.; 8 a.m.-midnight Sat.; 9 a.m.-midnight Sun. 806-322-1806.
Abraham Family Art Gallery: Wayland Baptist University Mabee Learning Resources Center, Plainview. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 2-5 p.m. Sat. Free.
Against the Wall: 4310 S. Western St., Suite B. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 806-359-9255.
Amarillo College: Gallery 102, Russell Hall, Washington Street campus. Free. 806-371-5282.
The Art Center: 1810 S. Dumas Ave., Dumas. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Free. 806-935-5312 or www.dumasmuseumandartcenter.org.
Blue Sage Pottery and Art Gallery: 3300 and 3302 S.W. Sixth Ave. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 806-374-6568.
Canadian River Art: 312 Main St. 806-323-8250 or www.canadianriverart.com.
The Colony Frame and Gallery: 2606 Wolflin Ave. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Free. 806-352-2782.
Corner [Artspace]: Hastings, 2020 S. Georgia St. 806-352-4151.
Cornette Library: West Texas A&M University, Canyon. 806-651-2227.
Gallery At The Palace: 420 15th St., Canyon. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 806-340-3626.
The Galleries at Sunset Center: 3701 Plains Blvd. Hours 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Tues.-Sat; 1-5 p.m. Sun. Free. 806-353-5700 or www.sunsetartamarillo.com.
The Ground Cafe: 600 S. Tyler St. 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Wed., 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Thur.-Fri. 806-367-7399 or www.thegroundcafe.com.
Hobby Time: 3601 Airway Blvd. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 806-352-9660.
The Home Mercantile Building: Second and Leo streets, Nazareth. 9-11 a.m. Mon.-Thu., or by appointment. Free. 806-938-2529.
IC Gallery: 1501 S. Washington St. By appointment. 806-373-5380.
Ben Konis Gallery: 712 W. 17th Ave. By appointment. Free. 806-373-8458.
Jean Marlow Gallery: 807 S. Lamar St. By appointment. Free. 806-352-5515 or 806-220-0803.
OHMS Cafe & Bar: 619 S. Tyler St. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 4-10 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 806-373-3233.
Panhandle Art Center: Lone Star Pastel Society regional show and Tri-State Artist Association Fall Show through Oct. 27. Sunset Center, 3701 Plains Blvd., Suite 135. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Free. 806-351-2322.
Process Art House: "Deconstruction of the Artist as Person: A Tale of the Texas Panhandle" by Shawn Kennedy through Tue. 700 S. Van Buren St. 806-681-4337.
Roasters Coffee and Tea: 1818 S. Georgia St. 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun. 806-331-6563.
Roosters Espresso Cafe: 3440 S. Bell St. 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri.; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. 806-353-7309.
Southern Light Gallery: Lynn Library, Amarillo College Washington Street Campus. 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thu.; 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri., 2-6 p.m.; Sun. Free. 806-371-5400, 806-371-5272.
Jim Ward Western and Wildlife Art Studio: 6600 W. Cemetery Road, Canyon. By appointment. 806-655-3972.


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This document discusses implementation details that should be helpful to understanding how to satisfy the requirements of "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [UAAG10]. This document includes:
In an effort to improve the readability of this document, some information from User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 has been copied here:
In an effort to reduce the size of the current document, some information that is in User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 has not been copied here:
The current document includes a list of references and resources, some of which are not part of User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
"Techniques for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" and the "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" are part of a series of accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). These documents explain the responsibilities of user agent developers in making the Web more accessible to users with disabilities. The series also includes the "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [WCAG10] (and techniques [WCAG10-TECHS]), which explain the responsibilities of authors, and the "Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [ATAG10] (and techniques [ATAG10-TECHS]), which explain the responsibilities of authoring tool developers.


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Grilled Gruyère with Green-Olive Tapenade
Green-Olive Tapenade
• 2 cups pitted green olives
• 1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
• 1 anchovy fillet (optional), chopped
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• 4 ciabatta rolls, about 3 by 3 inches
• ½ lb. Gruyère cheese, cut into 12 (?-inchthick) slices
For the tapenade, combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to a spreadable (but not smooth) consistency. Reserve ½ cup for this recipe; cover and refrigerate the remainder for another use.
Split the ciabatta rolls in half. Lay one slice of cheese on each of the bottom halves. Spread with about 2 tablespoons tapenade. Cover each with 2 more slices of cheese and set on the top halves.
Heat a cast-iron skillet or grill over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles. Place the sandwiches on the skillet or grill and weight with another heavy skillet. Cook until the cheese begins to melt, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the sandwiches and cook until the cheese is runny, 2 to 3 more


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In just the past few weeks and months, we have generated powerful traction in the fight against corrupt mega corporations like Monsanto and others — and it all comes down to consumers refusing to purchase additive-loaded food products, deposit cash with banks that are spying on them, or tune into the latest propaganda news hour on MSNBC.
Ultimately, we are all no longer 'consumers' but 'activists' in the sense that we can no longer sit by and watch as our food supply and freedoms are tarnished at the same time by a merger of corporate and government corruption. A merger that is historically fatal to the heartbeat of any nation that allows itself to be swallowed by the bloodthirsty psychopaths who currently hold many high level positions in both of these sectors.
And our activism is paying off.
On the food freedom front, we have already seen major corporations like Kraft and Subway make a 180 degree shift towards removing toxic substances from their food following major outcry from activist consumers. In fact, Kraft's act to remove artificial preservatives from their highly popular 'cheese singles' signifies the reality that these corporations know that they are quickly going to lose their entire customer base if they do not start removing the synthetic garbage from their food.
Even larger in scope, it was Subway that announced it would be removing a rubber chemical from its bread just 24 hours after the issue was brought up on The Alex Jones Show with a food activist. And that is just on the food front.
We have been contacted by legislators who have revealed that thanks to exclusive information leaked via Storyleak, such as the reality that Bank of America is actually spying on 'anti-government' protesters for the feds, legislation has been launched to protect our privacy in an entirely new way on statewide levels — and it's expected to pass.
This is how real change is made, and this is how reality is broadcast around the world through the domination of media headlines. Altogether, 2014 is shaping up to be a true year of reality, and in just a few short months we have already been highly successful in enhancing the message of reality through resisting corporations like Monsanto and Bank of America. As long as we continue the proverbial charge, nothing can stop a calvary rush of truth.


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On Friday we talked about the small cars that Chevrolet is bringing to the SEMA show in Las Vegas. The company will also section off some its display for its do-it-yourself-inspired Shop Talk presentation.
The Shop Talk display will feature four garage bays, each demonstrating a different part of Chevy's performance division. The company is building on the success of last year's engine-building demonstration.
The first garage bay will feature Chevy's Crate Powertrain Systems. Show goers will see Chevy Performance engines, transmission and controllers, as well as a new powertrain installed on an open chassis of a 1988 Chevy Monte Carlo. The crate engines packages will now come under one part number including engine, trans and controllers to simplify ordering.
The second bay will be dedicated to Chevy performance parts and accessories other than the crate engines. New Camaro ZL1 and 1LE performance upgrades will be available, for both V6 and V8 trims of lower models. A selection of interior and exterior visual upgrades will be displayed as well. Technicians will be on hand installing the parts and answering questions.
The third garage will show off the Chevy Sonic performance parts we learned about on Friday. These consist mostly of bolt-on modifications such as suspension, brakes and wheels, and other Z-Spec upgrades. An Inferno Orange Metallic Sonic will be the guinea pig.
The last bay will be dedicated to building a crate engine. Technicians will be putting together LS7 and LS9 engines, showing the steps customers can take if they choose the Engine Build Experience option when ordering a Camaro or Corvette.
GM VP Jim Campbell was confident the display will inspire some shade-tree mechanics.
"Chevrolet Performance is the direct line from the factory for performance and personalization parts and the SEMA Show gives us the chance to show everything our engineers have been working on," said Campbell. "From Sonic to Cruze, to Camaro, Corvette and Silverado, we offer more parts and accessories than anyone in the aftermarket."
In case attendees need a bit more motivation, a matte blue Chevy Malibu Turbo Performance concept will strut its stuff near the garage. This could be the most exciting Malibu we've seen from the company in recent memory. It gets a medium-height rear wing and a body kit in the same matte blue. The fog lamps and grilles are customized as are the taillight bezels. Night Rider chrome wheels sit at the corners, wrapped in Pirelli PZero tires.
The engine of the "Heroic Blue" Malibu is unchanged, making 259 hp, leading to a sprint time of 6.3 seconds to 60 mph. The suspension is fortified with a concept HiPer Strut front suspension and rear springs, as well as six-piston front brakes and cross-drilled rotors.
Come back next week for the rest of Chevy's plans for SEMA, which include a pro race car driver and some nostalgia for the classic bowtie.