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Greens honor daughter by reaching out to Newtown
Tucson-shooting tragedy helps John, Roxanna assist other victims
PHOENIX -- After the horrific events at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., on Friday morning, Roxanna Green flew into action. As a mother and now an activist who lives with her family in Tucson, Ariz., Roxanna sensed she was needed 3,000 miles away."I think it was something she felt like she had to do," said her husband, John, when reached by phone on Tuesday in Tucson. "I'm glad she did it, too."John and Roxanna were the parents of Christina-Taylor Green, the vivacious 9-year-old elementary school student killed during a 20-second shooting spree in Tucson that took the lives of six people and wounded 13 others, including then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, nearly two years ago.Christina came from a family with a solid baseball lineage. Her father, John Green, is a scout and national crosschecker for the Dodgers. Her grandfather, Dallas Green, had a long career as a manager and general manager, and at 78, is still a valued executive for the Phillies, the team he managed to its first World Series title in 1980.Their son, Dallas, is 13 years old, and as a player with a live arm, is keeping the family's baseball tradition alive. Even Christina, once the only girl playing in the Canyon del Oro Little League, dreamed of becoming the first female Major League player.Roxanna was invited to New York on Monday for the news conference hosted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg highlighting the efforts of the group "Mayors Against Illegal Guns," that is trying to legislate assault gun restrictions. She was there with a number of parents, whose children recently have been killed because of gun violence. Roxanna then made an unscheduled trip to Newtown. She wanted to console parents who were dealing with the immediate stages of the painful grief she had not so long ago experienced."I just wanted to tell [them] that things will get better with time," she said when interviewed by CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday night. "Unfortunately, it's a pain that never goes away. I have a hole in my heart and I will forever. But I'm just praying for them that they find some kind of peace."On her lapel, Roxanna wore the memorial pink pin with embossed metal baseball stitching that surrounds Christina's "CTG" initials.The morning of Jan. 8, 2011, it was so chilly that Roxanna sent Christina back into the house for a sweatshirt before she left with a family friend to the nearby shopping center where Giffords was staging the first neighborhood gathering of her second term in Congress.Much like the 20 children who left for school on Friday in Newtown, that was the last time Roxanna saw Christina. She was born on Sept. 11, 2001, set against the backdrop of the terrorist attacks on the U.S., and died as the result of another tragedy."This has been pretty tough watching all this," John Green said. "This stuff keeps happening. After [the shootings this summer] in Aurora, we really thought about getting involved. The first year, year and half after Christina was killed, we just tried to take care of ourselves. I would say we're doing pretty darn good considering the circumstances. Now we're starting to look at the rest of the country and how we can contribute."We don't have an exact prescription of just what should happen. It's going to take a lot of effort and some people are not going to like it. But you know what? We can't allow our children not to feel safe going into schools, churches and communities. That's just a basic part of American life we just shouldn't take for granted."They started by founding a memorial foundation in Christina's name to fund school projects and help children in need. Roxanna wrote a book, describing the agony of Christina's death and immediate aftermath entitled, "As Good As She Imagined." A beautiful picture of Christina's smiling face is on the cover. The Greens were bent on keeping the memory of their precious daughter alive.Through the 9/12 Generation Project, the Greens have sponsored a film and curriculum for middle school and high school students that gives them the tools to reach out in their own communities when any traumatic event transpires. The pilot program places that curriculum in every middle school in Arizona, every middle school in the five boroughs of New York and one in each of the other 48 states, John said.And this week, Roxanna is in Newtown, trying to soothe the pain she knows all too well. "I'm proud of her," John said. "I wasn't sure if she wanted to continue on because of the constant reminder. This really brings it all back. It really does. It's tough to take and it certainly brings back those days when we were really struggling. In a way, she found by writing a book and having the foundation it keeps Christina close to our hearts."But when you look at the tragedies that have happened, then you see the hope, the community involvement and people who really care, it lifts your spirits up, too."Barry M. Bloom is national reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Boomskie on Baseball. Follow@boomskie on Twitter.


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Texas, Our Texas
In the clip above, Leslie, a star of the reality show "Big Rich Texas" — filmed in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, naturally — offers tips on how to stage a stylish baptism in one's backyard swimming pool, where the water may be cleaner than those messy church fonts. She uses the made-up word "baptee" (= candidate for baptism), and offers this sage advice to women vesting for the beginning of a new Christian's eternal life: "This is not the time to be boobalicious."
She is serious.
There will always be a Texas. There has to be.


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Portland, say hello to the most convenient way to pay for parking – the PassportParking® app! What are the benefits of using PassportParking?
How do I pay for parking with PassportParking?
Park. Pay. Be On Your Way.TM with the PassportParking app!PLEASE NOTE:The app will be available to use in Portland beginning Saturday, June 16. It will only be available on any meters that have the Passport decal on them. Parking staff will be installing the decals between June 16 and June 18. Once all the meters have decals, it will be available for use on all meters.


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Mayor: Time for Pittsburgh's 3rd renaissance has come
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl details plans to revitalize downtown corridors
For Pittsburgh, the time is here, and it's now.
That was the message conveyed by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl at a Wednesday news conference outlining his vision to revamp the city's Golden Triangle in the coming years.
"The message of the strategy is really short and simple: Pittsburgh here and now. This statement acknowledges and embraces the direction and momentum of the city and its many assets. Our time has come and the rest of the world has taken note," said Ravenstahl.
For the past year, the mayor's Downtown Stakeholders Working Group has been developing a 3-year plan, known as the Downtown Action Strategy, to attract and retain retail businesses by revitalizing the city's key corridors, such as those along Smithfield Street, Forbes Avenue and Wood Street.
"Going forward, this will be a partnership between local government and the private sector. Today is about a vision and what we want to see happen. From there, that vision will be fulfilled through funding sources," said Ravenstahl.
The mayor said the issue isn't so much about the money, but rather having a vision for what downtown can become.
"To have all these retailers working together in a way they haven't before, I think is important and a great step," he said.
Ravenstahl said adding trees, lighting and other amenities will first improve street infrastructure and encourage more foot traffic in targeted areas.
"Right now, some of our primary corridors in downtown Pittsburgh do not provide the atmosphere that encourages people to walk around and to enjoy the quality of shopping and dining that's available," he said.
The mayor acknowledged that competing with malls in suburban areas won't be easy, but cited Market Square's renewed success as an example of what the future could hold for other areas.
"That's why we want to create that environment -- the walkable streets, the good areas where folks can come together, like we've done in Market Square -- because there is a sense of community when you're in an urban core like downtown Pittsburgh. That's really the attraction, we think, that we can have versus a suburban mall experience," he said.
Ravenstahl said another important step would involve the creation of a Downtown Retailers Association to encourage businesses to communicate and work together on joint marketing.
"One of the things that surprised me was that all of these retailers had their own marketing plan, but never seemed to coordinate with one another," said Ravenstahl.
The mayor said the Downtown Action Strategy also calls for creating a database of space, vacancies and lease statuses in the city, as well as targeting locally-owned businesses to invest in downtown.
"We're not just talking about mom and pop stores, though they are targeted business as well. Pittsburgh is home to great, large retailers -- places like American Eagle and GNC and others -- and we're encouraging them to consider downtown as a great place to continue to invest," said Ravenstahl.
When asked about parking in the city, he said they're aggressively working with the Pittsburgh Parking Authority to find creative ways to attract people to downtown.
It currently costs $5 to park in the city after 5 p.m. during the week and on weekends.
"A $5 fee in the evenings or on the weekends, to us, isn't really an impediment. Sure, it's a small fee, but to have the experience you'll get downtown, especially during the holiday season, is something we think folks are willing to pay if we provide them with good service when they get here," Ravenstahl.
But the mayor acknowledged none of the details mentioned in the 3-year plan will matter if they can't convince people that the time for Pittsburgh's newest renaissance has truly come.
"Unless we sell downtown, nobody will buy it," he said.


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Kim Kardashian (In a Wedding Dress) + Kanye West Finally Get Vogue Cover
The proverbial "they" said it would never happen -- that Vogue editress Anna Wintour would never, ever kave, (er, cave) and give Kim Kardashian the Vogue kover, (er, cover) that celebs like her so desperately desire.
But Wintour did, and Kim got her cover -- albeit a joint cover with her baby daddy and fiance, Kanye West, who was likely the architect of this whole thing, since he has risen through the ranks and is considered a fashion influencer.
The cover shoot for the fashion bible was rumored, and now it's real.
Let's be honest. Kimmy looks absolutely ravishing and bride-like in her cream-colored, strapless dress with sweetheart neckline. Her hair is slicked back in a bun, and her smoky eyes and nude lips are expertly done, while Kanye cradles her from behind.
A handsome couple? Yes. This looks like a wedding portrait to us.
In the behind-the-scenes video, Kim and Kanye are shown snuggling with their precious daughter, North, who will be 1 in June, and they pose in a variety of sexy locales, looking at one another longingly throughout. The love is there -- no question about it.
But let's continue to be honest. This is definitely a move that will anger Vogue subscribers and Kardashian haters, given Vogue's long, storied and rock solid reputation as a publication that avoids common and junk culture, which is comprised of reality shows and sex tapes.
However, notice that the cover tag is hashtagged #worldsmosttalkedaboutcouple. Is this the new Vogue, catering to the digital age? Could be.
Also, one could argue that Brangelina are more discussed than Kimye, but... whatever your opinion about Wintour's decision -- which will be hotly debated and questioned in the fashion blogosphere, the fashion press and beyond -- it is what it is, and that's a pretty picture.
Watch Kimye Vogue Photo Shoot Behind-the-Scenes Footage


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Setting a Flawless Table
Follow these timeless tips to create an impeccable tablescape.
• Plates belong about 2 inches from the edge of the table, centered in front of each guest's chair, with ample room between settings (about 24 inches from plate center to plate center).
• A service plate or charger may be set underneath the dinner plate, and a soup bowl may be placed on top of the dinner plate.
• Set salad plates to the left of the dinner plate, just above forks.
• If serving bread or rolls, place a bread plate to the right of the salad bowl.
Designer's Tip:
Mix and match. Plates and napkins of different hues add a colorful element to the table. Vary textures for each place setting. Use acrylic, glass, wood, and metal to create a variety of patterns and reflections.
• A water goblet belongs to the right of the plate, directly above the knife.
• Arrange wineglasses in the order in which they will be used, to the right and slightly below the water goblet.
• If you serve coffee with the meal, place the cup and saucer to the right of the place setting, with the coffee spoon on the right side of the saucer.
• Set other beverages to the right of the water goblet.
• Arrange utensils in the order you'll use them, from the outside of the place setting toward the dinner plate. Space silverware uniformly to keep the table balanced.
• Knives, spoons, and any special utensils, such as a seafood fork or fish knife, are placed to the right of the dinner plate. The knife belongs closest to the plate, with the cutting edge facing in.
• Place forks to the left of the dinner plate in the order they will be used. Usually, the salad fork is on the outside left edge, with the dinner fork next to the dinner plate.
• Lay butter knives across bread plates with blades pointing toward the table's edge.
• Set dessert utensils horizontally above the dinner plate, with the fork handle and the bowl of the spoon facing left.
Caterer's Tip:
It's acceptable to skip the flatware if serving finger foods.
Other items:
• You can place napkins to the left of forks, or fold them and set on top of the dinner plate or in a wineglass.
• Name cards belong to the left of the drinking glasses, above the dessert utensils.
Designer's Tip:
Enhance the table with one or more centerpieces. Keep floral arrangements loose, and place citrus fruit in wide-mouth vases to secure bright, seasonal flowers. Use shells and sea glass as place markers and centerpieces.


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Weather forecasters are saying the East Coast could be in for another wind-whipping storm season, but is New York City prepared?
It's been less than 10 months since hurricane Sandy sent surges of flooding saltwater into city streets and tunnels, devastating coastal residences and shutting down much of Manhattan's southern tip.
But while the city continues to work tirelessly to clean up Sandy's ravages – helping more than 20,000 residents rebuild, distributing more than 3 million meals, and clearing nearly 700,000 tons of debris – it is still sifting through a dizzying host of recommendations, both large and small, as it tries to make the nation's largest metropolis more resilient to future storms.
RECOMMENDED: The 10 most expensive US natural disasters
Yet most of these efforts remain in planning stages – or rather, as discussion topics. To date, city agencies have been able to do little more than shore up existing emergency procedures.
"The City has done an enormous amount of planning, and there are a number of concrete steps that have been taken, including the new evacuation zones and the reconstitution of our stockpile for our shelters," says Christopher Miller, spokesman for New York's Office of Emergency Management. "But some of the larger mitigation efforts will take more time."
In June, Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined a massive and far-reaching series of steps the city could take to protect itself from the threat of rising sea levels – as well as the kind of storm surge seen last October. The 438-page report had over 250 recommendations, including systems of levees and flood walls and long-range improvements to the city's infrastructure – a $20 billion plan Mayor Bloomberg himself called "incredibly ambitious."
"You have to realize that we're only 9 to 10 months since this all happened, and the universe of New York City can't change that quickly," says Dan Wurtzel, president of property management at FirstService Residential New York, which oversees about 600 residential apartment buildings in the city. Nearly 50 were damaged and 75 more lost power in last October's storm.
But the city has been doing smaller, less-ambitious preparations, such as shoring up its beaches with higher sand dunes, revamping its evacuation zones for more efficient first responses, and restocking emergency supplies for city-wide emergency shelters.
And as the city rebuilds, officials are writing new codes for more hurricane-resistant buildings – especially for older structures. Mr. Wurtzel explains, "If your building is located in a flood zone, you may have to relocate your equipment above the ground floor, or you'll have to put it in a watertight room. These are things that will probably come into effect, if they haven't already done so."
Yet experts continue to say that informing people how to prepare themselves remains a key part of hurricane preparation.
"Last year people had no idea in the Northeast that there is such a thing as a hurricane season," says Alan Rubin, a government relations specialist with Cozen O'Connor, a New York-based law firm. "So at least now there's information about it.... I think [the Bloomberg administration] has done a very good job in letting people know the hurricane season is here, what they should do, and people are paying attention to it."
But Mr. Rubin, also a former vice president with the Miami-Dade Economic Development Agency, where he led major reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, believes that in addition to stockpiling electrical generators, water, and ready-to-eat food supplies, the city should also have a more decentralized structure to deal with the fog of emergency situations.
"We should have command centers in the boroughs that are independent of a central command center, because sometimes those communications are damaged," he says. "You should also be dealing with the utility companies, to make sure that they have set up a separate command center for first responders."
In the end, however, New York may be at the mercy of Mother Nature this summer. "They took real steps before Sandy last year," says Wurtzel. "Then the storm hit and it was a mess afterwards."
"The fact remains, if you live near water, and you get a bad storm, you're going to feel those effects," he continues. "There's not much you can do to prevent the water from coming up, and we have to recognize the fact that we may be prone to a very strong hurricane that inflicts damage."
RECOMMENDED: The 10 most expensive US natural disasters
Related stories
- The 10 most expensive US natural disasters
- Bloomberg details NYC plan to combat climate change (+video)
- Hurricane Sandy released billions of gallons of sewage
- Gov. Cuomo's grand plan post-Sandy: give some of New York back to nature (+video)
Though experts say the likelihood of another Sandy-like storm hitting New York is minuscule, on Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there was a 70 percent chance this year's Atlantic hurricane season would be "above normal," predicting about six to nine hurricane-grade storms with sustained winds topping 74 mph. More ominously, the agency also said three to five of these storms could develop into major hurricanes, with winds of 111 mph or higher churning up the Atlantic Ocean and potentially threatening US coastal communities.
Want your top political issues explained? Get customized DC Decoder updates.
"I think if we had another Sandy this summer, I think there's no question that the city would be better prepared," says David Reiss, a professor at Brooklyn Law School who teaches the impact of climate change on cities. "But I don't think they've made massive changes to how we do things – they have just dealt with it once, and know what the challenges are, and can be better able to implement and execute [emergency procedures.]"
In May, the city released its "After-Action" report, an extensive review of how well city agencies were able to implement such procedures, offering suggestions for improvements. Among these were improving the city's 311 and 911 services, expediting the purchase of public safety equipment, and developing more comprehensive power backups for street lights and city residences. But most of these recommendations are simply that: recommendations.


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Sound Waves
Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- Hosted by Todd Kennedy
Since January of 2006, radio listeners on the Space Coast have been enjoying Todd Kennedy's great music selection on Sound Waves. The show carries a lively mix of contemporary music, independent labels and rock classics. Sound Waves is also one of the few programs on the Space Coast that features live, in-studio sessions and interviews with local and national bands.
Enjoy Sound Waves, your source for new and independent music, online or on your dial at 89.5FM, Melbourne, FL.


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By Crawford Hart.Part 1 of this series provided an overview of some of the generally accepted approaches to the problem of achieving perfect skin. The techniques themselves aren't glamorous, though the results can be. They tend, rather, to be boring, repetitive, simple procedures, tasks in which the operator must do most of the work. Grunt work, in other words.
Part 2 (the one you're reading now) and Part 3 (to come) will shift over to those effects in which Photoshop does the work and we just add up numbers and push buttons, though a little bit of delving into the esoterica of Photoshop, how it works under the hood, will be called for. But the payoff is definitely worth it.
The ideas behind the process discussed here certainly did not originate with me; they can be found on other forums all over the web. I've provided my own particular slant, as I would expect you to do, once you're comfortable with the basic ideas.
photoshop tutorialphotoshoptutorialskinenhanceenhancingretouchretouchingblurhigh pass filterlens blurguassian blurlensguassianblemishes
What we're going to do is take this image, generously donated for this purpose by ricbuchner, from its original state...
...to here, without lifting a clone tool or healing brush, without dodging or burning or patching or anything else. Now, it must be said, the image we are starting with comes in pretty good condition, both in terms of the photography, and in terms of the skin quality. No scars, ridges, bumps or gross discolorations. So, of course, we're going to degrade things a bit before embarking on the restoration.
This shows the result of some channel blends that I've been playing around with, splitting up the R, G, and B channels and blending them back into the image in various modes to create more dramatic contrast. These blends and their possibilities will be covered in Part III, but, as you can see, including the blue plate to add weight also brings out imperfections that were mostly yellow discolorations in the original. An ugly mess. if we could just get rid of the blotches, the gain in contrast would definitely be worth it. It's out of the question to try to dodge and burn them away, and the healing brush would just stir up the soup. In fact, it's such a disaster that the idea of even trying such a move probably would never come up in a normal work flow. Better to just rely on curves for contrast, though I've found that they don't do the job quite as well.
And of course, blurring is a rigid taboo. Any blur that could get rid of the blotches would certainly lose any useful detail. Wouldn't it? Turns out, the answer is "Not necessarily."
The theory sound simple enough: blur the big stuff and leave the small stuff alone. We want to lose the blotches but keep the pores and other fine details that make skin texture believable, and, the lack of which, conjours up the dreaded judgment "AIRBRUSHED!!!"
But if it sounds simple, it also sounds impossible, until we actually explore the relationship between blurring and sharpening in Photoshop, specifically between the Gaussian Blur filter and the High-Pass filter.
Rather than get into an elaborate discussion that is ultimately beside the point, try this yourself with any image you wish. Or you can just watch me as I play around.
NOTE: If you chose to pull the example images posted here, your numbers will be different than mine. I worked with an original Hi-res image; these are scaled down for the purposes of illustrating the steps.)
Start by duplicating an image twice into new layers. Leave the original alone. We'll use it for comparison.
To the first copy apply a Gaussian Blur such as you see here. The radius will vary, depending on the image size and resolution. The goal is a broad blur that wipes out all fine detail, leaving only areas of color. In this case I used a radius of 25, but the numbers aren't important. Getting rid of the details is the point.
While the Gaussian Blur filter is well-known, the High Pass Filter is a little stranger, less user friendly and not so easily understood. It is often used for various sharpening moves. Depending on the radius, it reveals fine detail against a 50% gray background. The larger the radius, the more detail is exposed.
When used as a sharpening tool, the idea has been to combine the resulting layer with the underlying image in one of the modes that both lighten and darken, based on the value of the pixels on the top layer. The usual modes are Soft Light, Overlay and Hard Light, modes for which 50% gray has no effect and so only work on the level of detail revealed.
Go now to the top layer in your file and choose Filters>Other>High Pass.
Like Gaussian Blur, there is only one value to set, and it too is a radius. Use the same value that you used for your Gaussian Blur layer. It will look more or less like this.
Note how each layer contains precisely the information that the other is lacking. It might have been more helpful had Adobe extended the Audio metaphor of the High-Pass filter and called the Gaussian Blur filter a Low Pass filter.
Note how effectively the High-Pass layer can restore detail to the blurred layer underneath, when used in the modes previously mentioned. All of these are at 100% opacity. If you turn off the blurred layer, so that the High-pass layer is blending into the original image, you will see how the filter can be used as a sharpening method. It's effective, but not nearly as effective as it will be once you understand what is really happening and can exploit the effect to its fullest potential.
Turn the blurred layer back on
Set the blending mode of the high pass layer to Linear Light, and the opacity to 50%. (The math isn't relevant to using the modes correctly; it's enough to know that Linear Light has a much stronger blending effect than any of the other modes. It is the same as using Additive in Calculations or Apply Image.)
With the exception of the very lightest highlights, which have gotten lost in translation, we have not only restored detail, we have virtually returned the image back to its original state. Toggling back and forth from the bottom layer alone to the two layers on top will quickly confirm this.
You can experiment with the opacity of the High Pass Layer: raising it above 50% sharpens the image, lowering it softens, a nifty trick in itself. But not the one we're ultimately interested in.
What this demonstrates is that High-Pass and Gaussian Blur are simply two sides of the same operation. Gaussian Blur is the low pass filter, blocking out all the fine detail and only allowing the largest, most basic areas through. The level of detail is based on the radius setting.
The High-Pass filter works the same way, but in reverse. It blocks the lower bands of detail and only allows the higher bands of information, the fine detail, to pass through.
The radius is the key. Different kinds of detail are maximized at different radius settings. The trick will be to isolate those different "frequencies" of detail, emphasize the ones we want, and minimize the stuff we want to get rid of.
Let's return the image now to the state it was in before we applied the High Pass Filter. You can go the the history palette and click on the level just before the one that says High Pass Filter.
(If, for some reason, your history has gotten scrambled, just set up your layers as before: original on bottom, blurred layer next, and a copy of the original on top)
This time around, we're going to set our blending mode and opacity BEFORE applying the High Pass Filter.
Go to the top layer (the copy of the original) and set blending mode to Linear Light, and opacity to 50%. It should look something like this.
Open the High-Pass Filter and and pull the radius slider all the way to the left. The value is .1 pixels.
The image to the right is magnified to 400%. Note how the level of detail changes as you increase the radius. Your readings will vary somewhat, depending on the resolution of your image, but the same thing will happen as you raise the setting. Different levels of detail will become more pronounced.
What we are left with, after this somewhat complicated demonstration, is really a simple idea: Various settings of the High Pass filter emphasize different levels of detail. Some of that detail is desirable. Some, we want to get rid of. It's actually pretty simple to accomplish.
It's always a good idea to apply some conventional retouching to the image before embarking on this procedure; large blemishes, warts, brusies, lines and discolorations should be minimized as much as possible. But you don't need to be a fanatic about it. As I said at the outset, I performed no retouching on this image before taking it through these moves, though, as I mentioned, the skin was in good condition to start with. Sometimes, though, it helps.
Copy the original (or merged layers) into five new layers.
Name the first layer Blur and leave it in Normal mode at 100%.
Change the other four layers to Linear Light mode and set their opacities each to 50%. Turn them off for now and return to the Blur layer.
This is the step that wipes out everything, in order that we can selectively replace only what we want. We've used Gaussian Blur so far in our examples to accomplish this.
The advantage with using Gaussian Blur is that it is precise. Knowing the radius of your blur provides you with a guide for measuring the radius for your high-pass filters. The disadvantage is that it is sloppy and hard to control. Color bleeds from one area to the next and with skin that becomes obvious next to dark backgrounds, hair, clothing and shadows.
One way to get around this has been to create a skin mask like the one to the right. Then, using it as a selection, the skin gets copied to a new layer and the blur gets applied to that. This works better, in that dark regions adjacent to skin don't bleed their colors into skin tones. But it creates a softness at those edges anyway, simply from blurring. There are ways around it, but I prefer a different method altogether.
The Lens Blur filter was introduced in PS7, I believe, and its primary function is to mimic depth-of-field effcts. It uses a grayscale alpha channel to determine how much blurring to apply to different parts of the image. A properly applied gradient from white to black can create a believable effect of blurring increasing with distance. It is far cleaner than trying a similar operations with the gaussian blur. It adheres to the mask precisely, with no pixel/color bleed. And we're not using gradients. Our only concern is with black and white areasto blur or not to blur.
I've been using a Lens Blur in place of Gaussian Blur, with superior results. The downside: the radius settings don't seem to match those of the Gaussian blur, so you will need to work a bit more intuitively. This, as it turns out, is not too hard to do.
So, shiny new skin mask in place as one of your alpha channels (named, hopefully, skin mask, or something to identify it), let's see how it works.
When you open the Lens Blur Filter, there is an impressive and daunting array of parameters. I haven't found much use for any of them other than Radius, Shape and Distribution.
At the top under Depth Map, select the alpha channel with your mask (which, if named properly, will be easy).
Leave the Blur Focal Distance at 0. If your preview shows the blurring happening in reverse, check the Invert box.
I use the Hexagon shape because it seems to be stronger. It's not really important. Choose to taste.
ª At the bottom I check Gaussian for Distribution.
It's the Radius slider that is of interest. By now you should know what it is we're looking for with this step. Vary the setting until you have those smoothly blurred areas of color.
If you see that you are losing some shadow detail, or that you are getting some color drift from shadow areas into skin tones, click Cancel and return to your mask and paint them out. Notice how in the mask I drew, I excluded the nostrils.
Once your preview is to your liking, apply the filter. It takes a bit longer than a normal Gaussian Blur, and the result is a little strange. Sharp eyes and mouths in a smooth sea of washed out skin. But that will change.
Up until now, the steps have been pretty straight-forward, and the goals clear. Now it becomes slippery, in that there are an infinite number of ways to set the appropriate values to get the effect desired. It's a matter of taste and preference. I'll take you through the settings that I chose, and try to explain why (not always an easy thing) but it's not as important to match my approach as to become comfortable with what is actually going on. Keep in mind, your numbers will be different. In fact, were I to do this again, my numbers would probably be different. And any of these parameters can be enhanced, modified or expanded.
We have four layers to work with. The goal will be to apply the High Pass filter to each of them, with a distribution of radius settings that more or less evenly captures a full range from small to large detail. Once we determine the initial radius, we can then determine the settings for the remaining three layers by simply reducing the settings each time by an equal value. But what should that initial radius be?
Recall that with a Gaussian Blur, we knew the setting that would return the blur to its original state: it was the same as the Blur radius. We don't have the same precision here, but it's pretty easy to increase the radius of the High Pass filter until the image looks more or less like the original. Our starting radius will then be a value lower than this. (Remember, we're trying to minimize the large detail.
For this image, a radius of 30 pretty much replicated the original state. So I reduced the setting to 20 and that became my starting value, the results shown here. Compare it with the third image (the starting image) and you can see that we've already begun smoothing some of the blotchiness away.
Our ending value will almost always be a radius of 1 pixel (occasionally less, but not often), so it's simple arithmetic to figure out the intervening settings. I chose 20, 13, 8 and 1 as the settings for each of my High-Pass Layers.
This is how it looks after all four layers have had the High Pass Filter applied. Things look pretty ugly; but now we start playing with the layer opacities.
We will drastically reduce the opacities of the layers with the largest radius settings, and increase the overall effect of the layers with the smaller settings.
Here is the arrangement I ended up with. The layer names reflect the High Pass settings each used. I arrived at this by pure trial and error and might well have chosen different values. But these work. Trust your eye.
The opacities are as follows:
20: 20%
13: 80%
8: 80%
1: 100%
I then grouped the two top and two bottom layers into their own layer sets, and adjusted the opacities of these as well.
Low End: 20%
High End: 75%
Finally, I applied a Gaussian Blur to each of the High Pass Layers, to return things to a realist focus. The blur radius increases as the High Pass radius increases. I stayed conservative. Experiment to see what works.
1: .5
8: 1
13: 3
20: 6
And, finally, I grouped both layer sets, along with the blur layer into a master layer set and applied our original skin mask to everything.
NOTE: there's nothing hard and fast about using four detail layers. Any number could be appropriate. You might want to cluster detail layers towards the smaller bands. Each image will have different characteristics and requirements.
And here is the result of all this dithering with opacities. Not too shabby, I think you'll agree.
The color's death warmed-over, but these curves...
...provide a nicely bronzed tone to the skin.
And the addition of a pleasant facial glow (also covered in Part III) completes the effect.
For all the convoluted explanation, the actual procedure takes about 15 minutes.
The variations are infinite. Depending on the opacities of the various layers you can create a crisply focused look or a soft fuzzy look. If the underlying image is fairly well retouched, the entire set of smoothing layers can be reduced in opacity to blend back into the original. Another approach would be to cluster the High-Pass settings towards the smaller end, rather than spacing them out evenly over the full range.
They all add up to the same thing: bluring the big chuncks out of existence, keeping the small bits and making them the focus.
Discuss this technique on Dgrin, here.


text:
"Means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek."
It all started from there. Those simple words became my everyday mantra/philosophy. As I was writing this song, my goal was to inspire and unite people. "I Need You" really means "we all need each other". Only "us" can make a difference.
Here is an acoustic version of a song from the "Our Revolution" album. Always loved the song and what it meant and I felt it was the right time to record and release this more intimate version. I hope you guys like it.
2015 is behind us, it has been a tough one but I still wanna believe that 2016 will bring freedom, peace and happiness for all.
When life brings challenges, it also brings opportunities. "Time is always right to do what is right!"
Let's make 2016 a great one!
With love,
Click here to watch the Lyric Video.


text:
Inventory of the Bennet M. Berger Papers
Collection Contents
Series 1 Bennett M. Berger 1950-2005
Scope and Content Note
Series 1.1 Correspondence 1969-2005
Scope and Content Note
Quadrangle Books, Inc. 1969-1971
NIMH Documents 1970
Correspondence re: communes 1970-1977
Correspondence 1971 1974 1977
University of California Press and Correspondence 1971-1972 1974 1976-1977
Correspondence: McClung, William J. 1972
Correspondence: UCLA 1973
Institute of Human Values Booklet and Letter 1975
Correspondence: Coast Community College 1975
Bennett Berger's 50th Birthday Celebration 1976
Commune Work of Students, Assistants, etc. 1974-1975
Commune Notes, Papers, Correspondence 1974-1975
Pacific Consultants Papers and Letters 1976
Correspondence, Susan Rags 1977
American Pastoralism Manuscript; Critiques; Correspondence 1977
Ruth, David J., Correspondence and Manuscript 1977-1978
Untitled Manuscript and Correspondence 1979
Bruce Hackett Retirement and Misc. 1987-2003
Correspondence 1989-2000
Adolescent Psychology Conference 1991-1992
Correspondence 1995-1999
Fetzer Conference 1995-1996
UC Press Correspondence 1996-2000
"Fragments: A Series" and Correspondence 1999-2002
Correspondence: Horowitz, Irving Louis 2002-2004
Correspondence: West Virginia University; Manuscript 2004-2005
Series 1.2 Manuscripts 1950-2004
Scope and Content Note
Proletarian Suburb: A Study of a Working Class Version of Suburbia 1950 1959
Remarks at Pacific Sociology Meetings 1972
Age Grading in Rural Communes: American Pastoralism 1974
Manuscript for USA and T.V. 1976
Definitions and Validity Issues in Field Research on Fad Drugs 1977
Essay (Berger, Bennett) 1980 1987-1988 1993
Recent Manuscripts 1993
Attention Deficit Disorder 1998-2003
Generation Talk 1999
ICL Talk 2004
Manuscript: Ideological Work in Counterculture Communes (incomplete) undated
Child Rearing Practices of the Communal Family (Draft) undated
Manuscript Draft undated
Book Manuscript Fragments undated
Unidentified Manuscript (incomplete) undated
[Chapters] From Unknown Manuscript undated
Untitled Manuscript undated
"Models" undated
American Pastoralism, Suburbia, and the Commune Movement (incomplete) undated
"Introduction to the Transaction Edition" undated
Progress Report to NIMH undated
The Journal of a Counter Culture undated
Pastoralism Manuscript Drafts undated
Decline of Age Grading in Rural Communes undated
Miscellaneous Manuscripts 1998-2004
Guggenheim Draft Application 1977
Communes in the Counter-Culture - Book Review by Berger undated
"Country Life" undated
"Introduction" undated
"The More Things Change" undated
First Drafts of Chapters undated
Book Layout undated
Series 1.3 Notes 1954-2004
Scope and Content Note
Index Cards: Notes 1954-1971
"Abstracts of Papers on Youth..." 1960
Commune Grant: Official Documents 1967-1971
Outlines; Organizations 1970
Field Notes; Commune Research 1976
Table Mountain Papers; Notes 1970
Field Notes: TMR 1971
Questionnaires 1972
Commune Study Notes 1970-1976
Application for Senior Fellowship 1973
Commune Bibliography 1973
Notes 1994
Curriculum Vita 1998
Michael Rizzo Memoriam 1999
Pacific Sociological Association 2000
Notepads undated
Bibliography undated
Miscellaneous Papers and Notes undated
Notes re: Communes undated
Notes on Commune Book undated
Children's Rights Notes undated
Unknown References undated
French Lessons undated
Interview Transcript undated
[Journal Photocopies] undated
Series 1.4 Articles 1970-2003
Scope and Content Note
"The Lands" 1970
"Sinatra" 1998
"'Patch Adams' and the Movies" 1998
"The Evolution of 'Cool'" 1999
"Well" 1999
"Enron: Conspiracy and Other Clichés" 1995-2002
"It's the Categories, Stupid" 2000
Counter Culture Definition for Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences 2000
"Who Is a Jew" 2001
"Go Figure" 2003
"Geezer Talk: An Emeritus Professor Looks Back" 2004
"Counterculture" undated
"I Hear Ringing and There's No-One There" undated
"The Aging of Popular Music" undated
Series 2 Other Authors 1963-2003
Scope and Content Note
Series 2.1 Correspondence 1976
Scope and Content Note
Series 2.2 Manuscripts 1963-2003
Scope and Content Note
Master's Thesis 1963
Mungo, Raymond, "Total Loss Farm" 1970
Coran, Sheri, "The Joys of Childhood" 1970
Hackett Papers 1970
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, "Getting It All Together" 1971
Paul Kagan Papers 1971
Sherri Caran 1970-1971
Youth Subculture 1972 1975
Other's Manuscript 1973
Preliminary Case Report II 1972-1973
Annual Report: Structure, Function, and Impact of Urban Communes 1972-1973
laFargue, Michael, "The Redbird Commune" 1972-1973
Kanter, Rosabeth and Bronfman, Joan "The Ravensreet Commune" 1972-1973
Lofland, John, "Diversity in Reporting Qualitative Field Research" 1973
McDermott, Richard "The Magpie Street Commune" 1973
Zablocki, Benjamin, "Communes and the Future of America" 1973
Progress Report to NIMH: Rosabeth Moss Kanter 1973
Jaffe, Dennis T., "The First Four Long Years of a Family Commune" 1975
Field Study Report: PCP as a Fad Drug 1976
PCP Report for Pacific Consultants 1976
Wallis, Roy, "Sex, Marriage and the Children of God" 1977
Hawkins, J. David, Dissertation and Correspondence 1978
Gardner, Hugh, "Children of Prosperity" 1977
[Vinod's] Contacts 1971
Yolanda Cohen Project 1989-1993
Damiell, Joseph, "This is a Think-Piece About Bennett Berger" 1991
Sabbatical Request 2002
Caran, Sherri, "Hippies of the Redwood Forest" Outline undated
[Millar] Manuscript undated
Jaffe, Dennis T. undated
[...in Rural Hippie Communes] undated
Hawkins, David J., "Dynamics of Conformity in Communal Groups undated
"Against Essentialism" 1999
Others' Work 2001-2002
Zablocki, Benjamin, "The Genesis of Normative Systems in Rural Hippie Communities" 1973
Untitled Others' Work undated
Book Proposal undated
Christopherson, "Free Shchool" undated
Cononer, "Alternate Institutions and Alternate Society" undated
Hall, John R., "The Ways Out..." undated
Miller, Henry, "On Drugs, Hippies, and the Radical Left" undated
Poney, Walter W., "A Comparative Analysis of 19th and 20th Century Communes" undated
Unidentified Author, "The Acquisition of Sexual Identity" undated
Kagan, Paul, "Search for Community" undated
Series 2.3 Notes and Publications 1999-2002
Scope and Content Note
Interview Transcript undated
Articles, Newspaper Clippings 1998-2000 2002
Articles, Book Reviews 1992 1997-1999
Synanon Foundation Literature 1968
"This is the Farm Book" 1974
Communal Societies in America 1970-1971
Newspaper Clipping Photocopies (Sociology Interest) undated
Power and Civility: Elias, Norbert 1982
Playboy 1976 1981
New York Times Book Review: Article by Berger undated
Directory of Intentional Communes 1978
Communities: Journal of Cooperative Living 1977
Film Ad 1978
Ogilvy, Jay and Heather, "Communes and the Reconstruction of Reality" undated
Article/Newspaper Clippings undated
International Society for the Sociology of Knowledge 1978
Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 1975
Publication: Think 1970
Jaffe, Dennis J., "The Healer, The Community, or the Bureaucrat" 1974
Greene, Felix, "Visit to a Rural Commune" undated
Jerome, Judson, "All in Common" undated
Series 3 Audio Visual 1985-2004
Scope and Content Note
Video: Culture Cross Cultural Communications 2002
Video: Culture Identity Behavior 2004
Photographs of Berger and His Family 1985-1997


text:
Facilitating the spread of knowledge and innovation in professional software development
Back to login
Ballerina is an open source programming language, which focuses on improving the productivity of the latter group by providing necessary abstractions, tools, and platforms to create cloud native applications.
In this podcast, Lin Sun, senior technical staff member and master inventor at IBM, and Neeraj Poddar, engineering lead and architect at Aspen Mesh, sat down with InfoQ co-host Daniel Bryant. Topics discussed included: the evolution of service mesh data planes and control planes, the new Istio 1.5 architectures, Istio WebAssembly extension support, and the future of service mesh technology.
Michael Shtelma discusses methods and libraries for training models on a dataset that does not fit into memory or maybe even on the disk using multiple GPUs or even nodes.
Dr Michelle O'Sullivan, clinical psychologist, provides mental wellbeing advice for technology people. Particularly in these difficult pandemic conditions where remote work is the norm. Practical researched tips to help you stay performing to your best.
Kaimar Karu introduces the basic concepts in Cynefin and describes its applicability to IT management and DevOps.
Software Dev Conference
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Apr 29, 2009
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ROCKFORD — Business owners who have been holding their breath since the start of construction can finally exhale now that both lanes of traffic are open in the roundabout at Auburn and Main streets.
Sunday marked the completion of the roadwork portion of the project.
Crews still have some landscaping work to do, but it puts to rest more than five months of lane closures, road closures and limited access to the restaurants, bars and businesses along North Main.
Pennies in Your Pocket Resale, a small store that buys and sells electronics, necessities, furniture and other household items, had to close on Mondays during the construction. Owner Merri Kellems is looking forward to the return of a full schedule.
"You imagine that sales are going to drop," she said. "But ours dropped to a fourth of what they were before (construction). We've been blessed that we've been able to pay our bills."
The $10 million project was funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
One lane of the roundabout has been open since Sept. 24. No accidents have been reported in the intersection's first month. Drivers no longer need to wait for lights that had only allowed one direction of traffic through at a time.
Traffic has been getting through the intersection quicker, said Tim Hanson, director of public works.
"It's still going to back up a little, but now traffic keeps moving," Hanson said. "It's not like before where at rush hour you'd have to sit through three red lights to go through the intersection. It's easy to navigate, and we think a lot of people are going to be pleasantly surprised."
Landscaping work will be finished in the coming weeks.
A new brick wall is up and grass has been planted in front of the businesses on the western side of North Main, including Altamore Ristorante and the Rockford Billiard Cafe.
"It looks a lot more appealing now than before, and we hope this is going to attract some new business out there," Hanson said.
Greg Stanley: 815-987-1369; firstname.lastname@example.com; @greggstanley


text:
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This 14 part anatomically correct human torso is an educational tool of true quality. The torso is hand-painted true to detail and made of high-quality plastic. This classic torso was developed and modeled in Germany. Whether you are student studying human anatomy in a biology classroom or a doctor explaining something to a patient, this human torso is a valuable tool.
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text:
Jason Biggs might be known for his flair for comedy, but his wife, actress Jenny Mollen, has just as much of a sense of humor, as evidenced by her recent baby shower. The couple married in April 2008 and announced Mollen's first pregnancy in July 2013. The mother-to-be celebrated with close friends and family on Oct. 27 at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. and had some specific requests. Here the future mother shares exclusively with Us Weekly what her baby shower was like.
When my mother and sister told me they wanted to throw me a baby shower I was skeptical. I hate games, large groups, and being gifted shoes that I can't fit into.
On the flip side, the shower was to be a high tea at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, and I love a good scone. So I reluctantly accepted.
Samantha, my sister, is a Libra (but also sometimes an annoying Virgo) so obviously everything needed to be perfect. She did custom floral bouquets of pink carnations down a long table for 30 guests. Each place setting included a name card and a black beanie with the words " Je t' aime" written across. In between the large three tiered trays of scones, tea sandwiches, and desserts were little glass bowls filled with my three favorite candies: mini Reese's cups, Tootsie Rolls, and Hershey's kisses.
I gave little to zero input as to what I wanted for the event aside from insisting no gifts were opened in front of people (awkward), and if we were going to hire strippers, they needed to dress like sexy babies.
The shower was held on a Sunday, October 27 at high noon, and Jason, my wife, popped in around one to work the room, taking photos of everyone at high angles to make them look skinnier.
Teets, my dog of nearly 13 years, one of the great loves of my life, and possibly the father of my unborn son, sat on my lap eating whipped cream while simultaneously pretending to be a service animal, there to assist with any arising psychological issues.
My requests for absolutely no games and "no making me open gifts in front of people" were honored. Sadly, my request for baby strippers was ignored. Next time.
Jenny Mollen is recurring on this upcoming season of Girls and has a book titled I Like You Just the Way I Am: Stories About Me and Some Other People being published by St. Martin's press available June 17th, 2014. Follow her on Twitter at @jennyandteets.
Jason Biggs currently stars in the Netflix series Orange is the New Black.
For access to all our exclusive celebrity videos and interviews – Subscribe on YouTube!


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Hi my name is clint from Tx i own my own business Mortons Collision Repair since 08 and have been doing
it for 20+ yrs.I am currently a lv1 decoy and learning more every day i have a heeler mix he has his
cgc and is currently doing bitework.
iluvk9 wrote:Can we call you Clint Eastwood?
Welcome. My DIL's family owns an autobody shop, here in NY.
Do you own any horses? I love the way they smell.
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text:
Fangs Of Ulfrich
Fangs Of Ulfrich
Kill Team
The background and lore of Warhammer 40k in a fast paced skirmish game. Pit 3 to 20 models against your opponent for honour and glory across multiple Killzones. Fight viscous fire fights and brutal hand to hand combat in the cramped confines of a Kill Team board. Sabotage your enemies supplies, assassinate their leader or escape from their territory carrying vital information with you.
Warhammer 40000
In the Grim Dark future there is only war! The Imperium of Man clashes against hordes of Orks. Fights against the ever living Necrons. Battles with the ever hungry Tyranids. And worse than all that is the ever present threat of Chaos.
In Warhammer 40000 you control an army of unbelievably detailed models against your opponents as you fight in a universe that has some of the richest background in the wargaming industry. Collect your army. Pant it. And forge the narrative in this expansive universe.
Here at Leodis Games we can provide you with everything you need to play cheap Warhammer 40000 at a discount whilst maintaining excellent levels of customer service.
This item can only be shipped to:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.


text:
Discussion about key facts in energy, environment, the economy, and politics. Tired of ideological junk? This is your place.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
American Rivers Mistakenly Designates Susquehanna Most Endangered River
The Susquehanna does face pollution challenges like many rivers, but those are mainly pollution run-off from agricultural lands, sewer plant discharges, run-off from urban areas, and fertilized lawns.
All of these real threats to the Susquehanna are stable or declining. For example, in the case of sewer discharges, over a 150 municipal sewer plants discharging to the Susquehanna or tributaries have installed improved pollution controls since 2008 or will be doing so shortly. The amount of poorly treated sewage going into the Susquehanna is declining.
Progress is being made on reducing pollution running off land. Thousands of miles of new riparian buffers have been installed. Huge amounts of cover crops are now planted in the Susquehanna River Basin area.
The riparian buffers and the cover crops are just two of many practices required by the Total Maximum Daily Load Limit or pollution limit that has been in place since December 2010 for the entire Chesapeake Watershed that includes centrally the Susquehanna River. EPA and the federal courts are enforcing the TMDL. So with the TMDL in place, the Susquehanna has never been better protected by law than today.
So if the major, existing threats to the Susquehanna are stable or declining, what about gas drilling? American Rivers points to two factors that concern it about gas drilling: water withdrawals and discharges of drilling waste water to the river.
Water withdrawals for drilling from the Susquehanna and all of Pennsylvania's streams have been tightly regulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission since the fall of 2008. Since then, when drillers apply for a drilling permit, they must file a water plan specifying from where water for fracking is coming and how much will be used. The withdrawal is only approved if it would not harm a stream in a drought condition. A drought is assumed to be an all the time condition.
Total withdrawals of water from streams for Marcellus drilling is about 2 million gallons per day. Sounds like a lot. But 9.48 BILLION gallons are withdrawn every day for all purposes in Pennsylvania. Marcellus drilling accounts for less than 0.2% of all water withdrawn each day.
Water withdrawals for drilling are not threatening at all the Susquehanna River.
But what about disposal of frack fluids without treatment for Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) to the Susquehanna river? Is not that a threat?
The one plant that was discharging frack fluids not treated for TDS to the Susquehanna stopped doing so on May 1st. And the August 2010 new, strong TDS rule that drinking water companies and environmental groups all fought successfully to get passed will stop any new treatment plants from disposing frack fluids without completely treating for TDS to the Safe Drinking Water Act standard at the pipe to the river. All new plants must comply. Eureka is one such company that treats frack fluids completely to the Safe Drinking Water Standard and operates daily in Williamsport.
Moreover the August 2010 rule puts in place a watershed, cumulative standard requiring DEP to prevent the waters of the Susquehanna and all other watersheds from reaching the 500 mg/liter Safe Drinking Water Standard.
American Rivers should also know that at least 70% of frack fluids are treated by recycling plants and then reused in gas wells. The recylcing water technology did not exist in 2008 but is now widely deployed.
Frack fluid recycling reduces water withdrawals and manages safely frack fluids.
In addition frack water that is not being recycled or treated is being injected into deep underground caverns that are thousands of feet away from ground water and that are regulated by the EPA.
Frack water is not being discharged into the Susquehanna River and won't be.
In fact, tomorrow May 19th could be the day when Pennsylvania nearly reaches or does achieve an important milestone. That milestone would be reducing frack fluid discharges into our streams below the levels that existed prior to the first Marcellus well being drilled in 2005.
DEP has asked the few, old plants anywhere in the Commonwealth that have been discharging drilling fluids without TDS treatment to stop doing so. If they do so or DEP makes them do so, less frack fluids will be going into our streams than in decades.
All this is good news and means the Number 2 river on the American Rivers list is actually America's most threatened.
2 comments:
- AnonymousMay 19, 2011 at 12:57 PM
You say with such confidence:ReplyDelete
"Water withdrawals for drilling are not threatening at all the Susquehanna River."
So American Rivers has no need for their concern:
"The seriousness of the threat to the entire Susquehanna watershed cannot be overstated. Industry estimates indicate the potential for 400,000 wells across the Marcellus Shale – a number that would require, conservatively, 1.5 times the annual flow of the Susquehanna River to sustain. As part of the hydraulic fracturing (or 'fracking') process to extract natural gas, massive amounts of water are withdrawn from rivers and streams. Many of the streams being used for Marcellus Shale water withdrawals provide critical habitat for trout – a concern, especially during summer months when stream flows are already low."
I assume their estimates of a potential 400,000 wells might well be excessive. But just 1000 wells x 2 million gallons...is a lot of water.
And what about their concern: "Already, spills from trucks hauling wastewater, leaks from lined fluid holding pits, and cracked well casings have contaminated private water wells. The potential for future environmental and public health catastrophes along the Susquehanna will only increase, considering the number of new wells projected and the amount of toxic wastewater produced."
I am sorry but I would rather go with their recommendation – "Pennsylvania, New York, and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission need to announce a complete moratorium on water withdrawals and hydraulic fracturing until there are comprehensive regulations in place for natural gas development or they will put public health and drinking water at risk." – and wait until the studies are in. Is it just casement leaks on the upper levels that cause migrations of shallow gas into aquifers and home water wells? Because the fracturing explosions are 1 mile + down, are they really safe and not disturbing the environment in a harmful way? You too easily dismiss the inherent dangers, and thereby promote a reckless industrialization of Pennsylvania.
I appreciate your comment. It engages seriously with the numbers about water withdrawals. Please see the April 5th posting on this blog entitled: "See the Top 9 water users and where drillers rank." The data comes from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and has been endorsed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. In one sense 2 million gallons is a lot of water. But 2 million gallons withdrawn by drillers in terms of the total water withdrawn every day from rivers is the proverbial drop in the bucket. Again it is LESS than 0.2% of all water withdrawn. 2 million gallons is even a smaller percentage of the total daily flow of water in our rivers. The Susquehanna itself has an enormous total flow, in the trillions of gallons each year. Also again water withdrawals are tightly regulated and have been since 2008 when a water plan must be filed with the drilling permit. And again the water withdrawal decision is based on a protective standard. The standard assumes that streams are ALWAYS in drought or low flow. Only if the withdrawal would not damage a stream in drought is it approved.ReplyDelete
In terms of frack fluids returning from depth to contaminate ground water, the Duke study joins many other data points confirming that has not happened.
In terms of spills and leaks, all companies within the industry must achieve excellence. The rate of spills and leaks must be reduced. Companies must pay to prevent them and pay to clean them up. More companies are adopting practices designed to prevent spills and leaks like placing liners at gas well sites. These practices should become regulatory minimums if not now required.
Again the Susquehanna has never had more legal protection in the form of the TMDL, the August 2010 TDS water rule, the sewer plant clean ups, the drilling standards rule.
Finally, it is also important to understand comparative risks. Less gas means more coal and oil. The environmental impacts from more coal and oil in the mining or drilling process plus the combustion process exceed gas by an enormous amount. We need to drive down the impacts of drilling through regulation and companies developing true culture of safety. But we also need to remember what happens if gas stops. Decisions about one energy source impact other energy sources. It is a reality.


text: There's something of a "me too" air about the Renault DeZir concept. Or is it purely accidental that the silver stripe before the rear wheels resembles an Audi R8? Never mind, at least this cool coupe concept might make European roads more interesting if it goes into production, perhaps as an all-electric vehicle with a mid-mounted motor. And if it does get released, it could be as a dedicated Renaultsport model. However, here's another little kicker: There is a rumor about a limited run going on sale in the United States, badged as Nissans.


text:
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Re: Return/Enter behaviour from Ex when cursor in doc comment
I am having a problem with Return/Enter behaviour when the cursor is in a C# documentation comment (three forward slashes). If I go into ex mode and issue a command (such as :w), pressing return inserts a line break rather than completing the ex command. Strangely this problem *doesn't* present in regular code comments (single or multi-line).
(Sounds similar, but not identical, to the issue described here: http://www.viemu.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=435, but that is for an earlier version and is reportedly fixed.)
* Viemu 2.5.7
* Visual Studio 2010
* Resharper 5.1.1742.13


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Hemi-arthroplasty for a hip joint usually involves replacement of the ball in this ball and socket joint. This procedure is very infrequently used for treatment of a symptomatic, arthritic hip joint and most commonly employed in treatment of a displaced femoral neck fractures.
Newer hemi-arthroplasty implants have replaceable parts and can be, if needed, later converted from a hemi-arthroplasty to a total hip replacement (please see below).
Hip resurfacing is based on a concept which is very similar to the concept of a tooth crown. On the side of the femur thfe ball is not replaced but covered with a cap. This is not a new procedure unlike some people are led to believe. It has been used in one form or the other since early 20th century. The biggest improvement for this implant has been in development of new materials and new manufacturing processes. This technique recently became popular for younger and more active patients, but there are significant limitations in the ability to correct deformities, availability of strong bone to support the cap and increased byproducts of metal shavings in the blood stream. The long term advantage of this procedure over the modern total hip replacement has not yet been proven.
Left: X-ray of the pelvis after both hips replaced by prosthetic implants. Right: Hip replacement
Total Hip Replacement is the most widely used procedure for treatment of advanced painful hip joint destruction. Much advancement was made in the designs of the implants, fixation options of the implants to the bone, implant and materials and the bearing surface materials.
The implants can be fixed with and without cement. In the past most of the joint implants were cemented into the pelvic and thigh bones, however over the past twenty years biologic or "cementless" (without the use of the cement) fixation of the implants became progressively more popular. Until recently cementless implants were reserved for the younger patients (< 60 years old) mainly because it was believed that the bones of the older patients (> 65years old) did not have potential for the biologic fixation, cementless fixation required protective weight bearing and the cemented prosthesis were more expensive. On the other hand it was observed that the use of cement was not infrequently associated with potentially concerning drop in blood pressure during the surgery, especially in older patients, and an increase in postoperative confusion. Also if the hip implants had to be revised, removal of cement usually resulted in more extensive procedures, an increased bone loss when compared with the cementless implants revision.
Arthroscopic surgery most commonly used in patients with mild to moderate arthritis for removal of portions of torn menisci. It can also be used for removal of loose fragments of cartilage or bone similarly to hip joint. The procedure can be very effective in improving the symptoms.
Knee Anatomy
Unicompartmental Joint Replacement (replacement of only one compartment of the knee joint) was available before the total knee replacements more the 30 years ago. It was minimally used in the US over the past 25 years but remained very popular in Europe. With improvements in the implants and the instrumentation as well as the current trend to replace only damaged portions of the joint, the use of this type of implant dramatically increased in the US during the past 5 years. The surfaces of the femur and the tibia are replaced only in the damaged portion of the knee joint with metal parts and either fixed or mobile plastic spacers is placed between the metal parts.
Partial knee replacement
Total Knee Replacement (TKR) has become the most frequently performed joint replacement procedure. There has been significant improvement in the implant design, implant materials and surgical techniques for the TKR. The weight bearing surfaces of the joint are replaced with metal components and a polyethelyn insert is placed to decrease the friction.
Knee Replacement x-rays
Computers and Robots
Computer navigation and "robot assisted" techniques for total knee replacement had been developed. These techniques are promising; however they had not yet proven to improve the functional outcome of the TKR. Currently the use of this equipment usually results in prolonging the surgical time for the primary TKR. There also is an increased risk of fractures through the holes drilled for the placement of extra pins for the computer navigation. The risk of infection may also be increased due to longer procedure time and presence of extra equipment and personnel in the operating room. These technological advancements may prove themselves very useful when a TKR needs to be redone.
Source: "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Shoulder, Hip and Knee Arthritis but Didn't Know What to Ask" by M.D. Alexander D Rosenstein, M.D., William D Ratnoff, M.D. and Stehpen S. Yang.


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This year's prizewinners are Pär Kurlberg, Bernhard Mehlig, Yi Luo, Johan Elf and William Agace.
During the formal gathering, Christer Fuglesang returned the Wargentin Medal, which accompanied him on his journey into space.
Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin was an astronomer and the Academy's permanent secretary from 1743 until 1783.
Find out more about the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.


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There are certain people we will encounter in our lives who will just get at our core anger.
I really need help here because I want so badly to make her life miserable and I know that this would only make me look bad. I feel I have already made a fool of myself and frankly I do not want to think about it anymore. I just want to forget about this person and go on.
The story:
Last summer my husband and I were going to our neighborhood tennis courts, while driving there I was eating a lovely freestone peach. It was extraordinarily yummy, however at the end there is this pit right and as I exited the car I tossed the pit into a pile of leaves at the edge of a fence. I do not agree with disposing of all biodegradable materials in plastic bags that will fill up land fills. The pit would be properly cleaned by ants and if we are lucky perhaps a tree will grow. But no, across the way there was a woman who decided it was her neighborly duty to point out that I was littering. She yelled "That is not very nice." and I said, "No worries it is only a peach pit." At which point she said "It doesn't matter you are still littering." I explained that a peach pit is biodegradable and that she should not worry herself over this, was not her business anyway. Well she decided to get even more unpleasant and I decided to get in her face and try and explain what biodegradable means and then I suggested she take more walks. I was not very nice at this time and frankly I am not proud of myself. She told me she was going to call the police and I asked her what her complaint would be if she did call them. She then said that she was going to report me for littering. I then handed her my cell phone and told her to go ahead. She took the phone and then handed it back to me and stalked off. Thinking this would be the end of it my husband and I had a hearty conversation about the obvious ignorance of some people and started playing tennis.
About ten minutes later two patrol cars roll up with four officers and they approached the fence. The lady never returned to the scene to meet with the police and when they showed up they asked what the problem was and I confessed that I had thrown a peach pit into a pile of leaves. They looked disgusted and asked where the person who made the call was and I shrugged my shoulders and suggested that she was hiding at home. They left and we continued with our game. I was a bit miffed at this point because she was surely abusing 911 for such a silly thing.
Okay so today we show up at the tennis courts and there she is again. My husband got out of the car and she asked him if he was a resident and my husband then replied yes and then I got out of the car and asked her the same thing and she went off like a bomb and shouted. "I am the president of the Home Owners Association!" I said, "Oh yeah, you are that, whats her name?" I was not being nice here because she is just into making a scene. I think she enjoys this kind of thing. Power tripping and all. Okay so I got in her face and told her a few choice things and she told me she was going to have me banned from the common areas. I told her that she was welcome to do so, I can handle it.
Frankly I can't handle it. She is a confrontational moron and she has a reputation for being a bitch and how she got elected HOA president is beyond me. Her husband or someone living at her house owns a lawn care business and displays his signs very prominently in her yard for advertisement which is in violation of the covenant. I do not really care about this I would normally allow them enough time to hang themselves with their own ropes and that is what I would like to do in this case. So I need some moral support here please.
I have mentioned this to two other people who live in the neighborhood and they just smile and say..'Oh that is just the way she is." You can't change her. Well I don't want to change her I just don't want to be accosted when I go to the tennis courts.
I do not feel like being nice to this person, I am a generally good person. I do not work,so I volunteer at the school and the animal shelter and I pretty much keep a low profile and mind my own business. I hate to be dragged into a petty neighborhood bitch fest but this woman has gotten under my skin. Any advice?
Views: 370
Wow, and I thought my neighbor was slap ass crazy for screaming and cussing and coming at me when I was walking my dog and he saw my dog pee in his neighbor's yard. I do not let my dogs pee anywhere, where, I do not have permission from the yard owner. I know exactly where my dogs are allowed to pee or not when I walk them. I said I was sorry and walked away only because he was a big, fat, crazy, disheveled looking scary man.
Otherwise, I would have probably told him to fuck the hell off, mind his own goddamn business, and bite me (but in an conversational tone of voice because that's the way I like to talk to people like that).
You win. Good luck. You are going to need it. Some people are A-holes and there is not much you will ever be able to do about it.
Anyone who would call the police over a fucking peach pit needs therapy. Maybe it will make you feel better to know that usually, people like that are very unhappy and in need of therapy.
If you answer a fool according to his folly, you will be like him. Instead, answer a fool as his folly deserves and he has no chance of seeing himself as the wise one in the situation.
If one humbles oneself, he will find an open door to peace with others, but if one stands proudly in circumstance, he will surely be opposed and the door to peace will closed, locked and fortified.
If you want the situation to be resolved peacefully and maybe even gain the utmost respect and favor of the President of your homeowners' association, I would encourage you to, in your heart and mind: 1) forgive her for her ignorance and ridiculousness, 2) forget about who is right and who is wrong and then 3) humble yourself in the situation and seek reconciliation. This could look like a small gift, flowers, cookies, a nice card asking her to forgive you and saying that you didn't realize she felt so strongly and that it will not happen again...maybe even suggest how impressed you are in her dedication and diligence regarding your 'hood. Or maybe an act of service after identifying a need she may have...I am sure you can think of something appropriate :)
I didn't say this suggestion would be easy, but it is sure to work. I confidently say this because I have utilized this process many times in my relationships and even though it is tough, it always goes really well.
1) Forgive the offender
2) Forget who is right/wrong
3) Stand accountable for my part
4) Decide what I could do different given a similar situation in the future
5) Actively seek forgiveness from other party while sharing with them my level of accountability, my plan to see that it won't happen again, and a loving peace offering to show I are serious.
If this process is executed with a genuine heart, the interaction will be free from anger, hatred, and accusation from you and the other party will sense your sincerity. The results are amazing and life changing.
My $0.02...
Leave it or take it...no worries and good luck! :)


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Color My World Lemon Combo Pack Contains 31 Embellishments and 8 Backgrounds VERSION 2 OR HIGHER
*** Please refer to QuickMix download speeds/times before purchase:
1. This QuickMix design is a downloadable purchase only. Download times may vary.
2. MemoryMixer Software required. Buy MemoryMixer Software Now.
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30 members5 Likes
Paul Goduto has not received any gifts yet
Hi Paul, I was talking about messages. Comments on the other hand show on the member's page. Many members choose to moderate comments (approve them before allowing them on their page.)
Hi paul,
there is a link for your inbox toward the top right of this page, in there you will see a tab for outbox. hope this helps. M :)
© 2020 Created by Mark / The Mayor. Powered by


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December 14, 2009
When Grundfos Group President, Carsten Bjerg, met Danish Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, on 12 December at the Bright Green exhibition in connection with COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009, the distribution of roles was clear.
The politicians must confirm the climate agreement whereas the private companies will take care of the technological and responsible solutions.
Grundfos was by no means alone in sending this message, however, and Grundfos was very pleased to note that when you speak loud and clear, you'll be heard.
This was also the case for all those who contributed to Grundfos' petition, "Future Now". People from around the world have expressed their anxieties about the climate in more than 300 1-minute video clips on the Internet. Another 12,500 have signed a declaration asking the politicians to act now.
The well-meaning requests were handed over by Mr. Bjerg to Lars Løkke Rasmussen with a firm handshake and a wish to intensify the dialogue between the Danish business community and the political decision-makers.
The Grundfos stand on the Bright Green exhibition received a visit from three royal guests when Crown Princess Victoria from Sweden, Crown Prince Haakon from Norway and Crown Prince Frederik from Denmark spent several minutes absorbing knowledge about energy and the climate at the Grundfos stand.


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NEW YORK (AP) - Americans really love their snacks, but will they pay to have them delivered to their mailboxes?
NEW YORK (AP) � Americans really love their snacks, but will they pay to have them delivered to their mailboxes?
That's the bet behind new snack delivery services that want to inject an element of surprise into the snacking ritual. Rather than letting people pick what they want, the companies usually assemble packages based on the customer's general preferences.
Martin Abrams, marketing director of the 301 innovation unit at General Mills, likened the company's new Nibblr snack delivery service to the music subscription service Pandora, which offers personalized radio stations based on music people like. He called it the attraction of the "controlled surprise."
Personalization and surprise are especially desired by Millennials, the generation in their 20s or early 30s, Abrams said. That's why snack delivery services also often offer unusual flavors that might not be found in a vending machine.
Here's a look at what three services promise:
GRAZE: www.graze.com/us
HOW IT WORKS: The company started in the United Kingdom in 2008 and arrived in the U.S. late last year, where CEO Alexander Fletcher says it already has 100,000 subscribers.
People pick whether they want a regular or a calorie-counter box, with the latter option delivering only snacks that are 50 to 150 calories. There are only four single-serving snacks per box.
There are about 100 different snacks in the rotation, including dried fruit, nuts, savory snack mixes and miniature granola bars.
You can't pick the snacks you want, but you can log onto your account to say whether you "like," ''love" or want to "try" them. As you continue rating the snacks, Graze says it will get better at guessing what you like.
Graze says the snack lineup is continually refreshed so people don't end up getting the same snacks over and over again.
DELIVERY: The boxes, which fit into standard mailboxes, are delivered weekly, every two weeks or once a month by the U.S. Postal Service. Delivery isn't available for Alaska or Hawaii.
The company makes a point of saying it's easy to pause and restart service.
PRICE: $6 a box, including delivery. With four snacks to a box, that works out to about $1.50 per snack.
NATURE BOX, www.naturebox.com
HOW IT WORKS: A box is delivered each month that contains five, 10 or 20 bags of snacks. These snacks don't come in individual portions; each bag is 4 to 6 ounces and contains what is supposed to be three to five servings.
"We try to keep it under 150 calories (per serving), but that's not the main focus," said Ken Chen, chief marketing officer. "Our main focus is providing wholesome, natural food."
Many customers are moms looking for better snacks for the family who don't live near a health food store, he said. Unlike Graze, the service also lets subscribers choose the snacks they want.
Those who want to be surprised can still indicate preferences such as "no sugar added," ''vegan" or "gluten conscious." Chen notes the last one isn't an official gluten-free certification and that wheat products are made in the same facilities.
The company, based in San Carlos, Calif., launched in early 2012 and doesn't disclose how many subscribers it has. But last year, Chen said it shipped more than 1 million orders.
DELIVERY: Monthly deliveries are made by the U.S. Postal Service.
PRICE: A box with five snacks costs $19.95, 10 bags cost $29.95 and 20 bags cost $49.95. Deliveries outside the continental U.S. have additional shipping fees.
NIBBLR, www.nibblrbox.com
HOW IT WORKS: The concept from General Mills seems modeled after Graze. The boxes also fit in mailboxes and are delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.
Customers can't pick which snacks they want, although the company is considering adding that option. But people are encouraged to rate snacks they've tried so that the deliveries can be better tailored to their tastes.
There are 59 snacks in the rotation, including mixes of nuts or dried fruit, although the company is looking to boost that number.
There are four single-serving snacks per box, as with Graze. About 70 percent of the options are 150 calories or less.
The boxes also come with a "reality bite" card intended to make people smile or laugh. One shows a kitten and the text "Research shows that looking at cute animals can increase productivity."
Abrams wouldn't say how many people have signed up for Nibblr since its launch in November. But he said many of the subscribers are young working women who want healthier alternatives at the office.
It doesn't hurt that the white, rectangular boxes are reminiscent of a Russell Stover box of chocolates.
"The box literally looks like a gift � that was intentional," Abrams said.
DELIVERY: Boxes are delivered weekly, every other week or once a month.
PRICE: One box is $5.99. Paying for four boxes at a time costs $23 or 12 boxes at a time for $66.
There are four snacks to a box, so that works out to a little less than $1.50 or less per snack.
Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi


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When Colin Kaepernick throws his first touchdown pass in the 2014 season, the star San Francisco 49er quarterback will be playing in what one Twitter user dubbed it as "the field of jeans."
That's right. Field of Jeans.
In a joint news conference on Tuesday, the CEO of Levi Strauss and the 49ers announced that the new $1.2-billion football arena in Santa Clara will be called Levi's Stadium.
Levi's CEO Chip Bergh said that his San Francisco-based company will enter a 20-year, $220-million contract to buy the naming rights to the San Francisco 49ers new stadium in Santa Clara.
Bergh called the merger a "great partnership" between "two iconic" institutions: Levi Strauss and the 49ers, noting that the denim company first made jeans for the Gold Rush 49ers who panned for gold in San Francisco.
"This is a great day for the 49ers and for the Bay Area," added 49er CEO Jed York, who acknowledged that the new name - and influx of cash - comes just before the Super Bowl bid announcement, which Santa Clara is vying for.
Before the announcement was made, many fans were offering up their suggestions on the new stadium name, including Denim Stadium and Skinny Jeans Stadium. Jokes about "button fly" touchdowns and "Section 501" needing a "zipper fly" abounded.
But York, who is prolific on Twitter himself, said: "The best thing I've seen on Twitter was 'Welcome to the field of jeans.' "
Jed York: "Welcome to the field of jeans." #LevisStadium — San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) May 8, 2013
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews were also in attendance at the news conference. Both said they were happy with the partnership. The NFL football team is leaving San Francisco's aging Candlestick Park stadium, for a modern, high-tech one in Santa Clara. Despite the move, the team will still bear the name the San Francisco 49ers.
"Every time a fan turns on their television to watch a 49ers home game from Levi's Stadium, the entire region will be on center stage," Lee said. "And, in a few short weeks, we are hopeful that we will host Super Bowl 50 or 51 and experience the enormous economic boost and lasting legacy for the entire Bay Area."
Matthews added that the $220 million is is a "large amount to pay down the stadium."
"As powerful advocates for our communities, we share a vision for the new stadium constructed on the pillars of innovation, sustainability and an unparalleled entertainment experience," Matthews added.
City councilwoman Teresa O'Neill, a past skeptic of financing the new stadium, agreed that for a naming rights deal, this is "excellent' and does help pay down the overall cost.
However, O'Neill noted that under the agreement provided to the city council, Levi's will pay $154 million to the Stadium Authority. And in a separate contract, Levi's agreed to pay $66 million to the football team for sponsorship benefits.
The city of Santa Clara still has to vote on the deal. A special meeting will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. Read the full terms of the stadium naming rights plan here. (PDF)
About the new Santa Clara Stadium:
The Santa Clara stadium will not only be the new home to the San Francisco 49ers, but it will also serve as an outdoor sports and entertainment venue. It was designed by HNTB and is being built by Turner/Devcon in Milpitas, Calif.. The $1.2 billion venue will have 1.85 million square feet, seat approximately 68,500 and will feature an expected 165 luxury suites and 8,500 club seats. It was designed to be a multi-purpose facility with the flexibility to host a wide range of events, including domestic and international soccer, college football, motocross, concerts and various civic events, and will be expandable for major events such as the Super Bowl. For more information, go to www.newsantaclarastadium.com.
NBC Bay Area's Lori Preuitt contributed to this article.