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Med Center's largest project to be named the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
The University of Nebraska Medical Center and The Nebraska Medical Center announced today that their cancer center project in midtown Omaha has a name: the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
The cancer center will be named for Fred and Pamela Buffett in recognition of a gift from Pamela Buffett, through her foundation, the Rebecca Susan Buffett Foundation, to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Pamela's husband, Fred "Fritz" Buffett, died in 1997 after fighting kidney cancer. Fred Buffett and Warren Buffett were first cousins.
"We could not be more grateful to Pamela Buffett for her monumental gift," UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said. "This is truly a transformational project that will enhance our international reputation and elevate our cancer program to a whole new level."
"The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center places Nebraska firmly at the leading edge of cancer care, research and education," University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken said. "This will allow us to attract the best and brightest faculty and students, and build on our significant strengths in cancer research to serve the people of Nebraska and the nation."
"Few times, if ever, do we have the opportunity to embark on a project as ambitious as this," said Glenn A. Fosdick, FACHE, president and CEO of The Nebraska Medical Center, UNMC's hospital partner. "This center is critical to our community and region, and Pamela Buffett's gift will help to provide the very best care to untold numbers of cancer patients from Nebraska and around the world."
The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center includes three areas dedicated to cancer: a 98-laboratory research tower, a multidisciplinary outpatient center and a hospital with up to 108 beds. In all, the cancer center's construction will cost $323 million, the largest project ever at the University of Nebraska. At the request of the donor, the gift amount will not be disclosed. The NU Board of Regents will formally vote on the naming at its June meeting.
"Fritz fought a courageous cancer battle until the very end," said Omaha philanthropist Susie Buffett. "It is truly exceptional for Pamela to make this gift in his honor, for the benefit of potentially thousands upon thousands of cancer patients worldwide. These patients will benefit from the research advances that will be developed here, as well as the outstanding patient care that will be delivered."
Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Eppley Cancer Center, said the proximity of researchers and clinicians will hasten the transfer of scientific discoveries from the lab into new treatments benefitting patients.
"The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center will allow the brightest minds in cancer research and care to collaborate on finding tomorrow's cures, specifying those treatments to each patient based on their unique condition," Dr. Cowan said. "In this facility, medical scientists will discover the next generation of cancer therapies targeted toward molecular changes in tumors, resulting in a treatment regimen individualized for each patient.
Already, public support totaling $90 million has been pledged toward the project by the state of Nebraska, the city of Omaha and Douglas County. Private donors also have shown great support for the cancer center project, said Mike Yanney, chairman of the UNMC committee of the University of Nebraska Foundation's comprehensive fund-raising campaign, Campaign for Nebraska: Unlimited Possibilities.
"Pamela Buffett's gift is extraordinary and reflects the tremendous support for this project," Yanney said. "The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center is another example of the tremendous public-private partnerships from which many worthwhile Nebraska projects have benefitted."
Brian Hastings, president and CEO of the NU Foundation, said that the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center not only would house the best cancer physicians and researchers in the state, "it also will help us attract even more of them to Nebraska to find a cure.
"I am grateful to Pamela Buffett for her gift and commitment to what will hopefully one day be an end to cancer," Hastings said.
The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center is the largest facility of a $370 million project that also includes plans for updated ambulatory (outpatient) services at the Med Center. In all, the project will provide 4,657 new jobs to the metro area, infusing $537 million annually into the economy.
Currently, planners are analyzing how the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center's floors and spaces will match up with space in adjacent buildings, including the Durham Outpatient Center and Durham Research Towers. The facility will be constructed at Dewey Avenue and Durham Research Plaza (45th Street), where Swanson Hall currently is located. Demolition of Swanson Hall will begin later this spring, with construction of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center to begin in the summer.
More information about this project can be found at www.cancercenternebraska.com


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Hoopes Vineyard
Once a year the rarest new Napa Valley wines become available under one roof at Premiere Napa Valley. Wineries throughout the Napa Valley are given one task to participate: create a one-of-a-kind wine for this event to be purchased by one lucky bidder. This event is only open to select members of the wine trade and the successful bidder is the sole owner of this unique wine.
Hoopes Vineyard
Cases: 5
Varietal: Red Wine
Vintage: 2018
Release Date: October - 2021
Appellation: Napa Valley
To purchase this wine or check on availability contact:
Wine Watch
johns island SC

subset: commoncrawl


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Recent Posts
Additional Arts Coverage
Tags+aRt 1970's Abstract Expressionism abstraction AICA Armory Show CATM Clement Greenberg con artist nyc CUE Art Foundation curator curatorial excellence Deconstructivism Edo period feminism film floating world free arts nyc graffiti installation Irving Sandler Japanese art Minimalism mint and serf Mira Dayal Otaku painting Painting and Decoration Pattern and Decoration performance art photography place post-war Postmodern RackGaki Robert Storr sculpture Shane McAdams street art superflat That Is Then. This Is Now The Chelsea Chapter ukiyo well hung Yoshiwara
Daru-Jung Hyang Kim at Art Mora
by Jonathan GoodmanDaru-Junghyang Kim. Invisible Shine. 2014 – 2016. Oil on canvas. 72 x 96 inches.
Daru, a veteran Korean-born painter who has spent many years in New York, offered a beautiful collection of paintings recently at Art Mora in Chelsea. Inevitably, when we see work like Daru's in a place like New York, we are faced with a matter of influence—does her subject matter and style come from … Continue reading »
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A Really Good Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art
by Jill Conner
Art critic Stefan Haus, based in Croatia, recently published A Really Good Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art, presenting old and new art terminology that call into question the paradoxical pillars of Modern and Contemporary art. Over the course of nearly 200 pages, Haus provides lively editorial meaning to terms such as White Painting, Trouble, Ambition, Graduation and Xenophobia.
In response to the fast-paced art market that … Continue reading »
Posted in Conversations Tagged #ContemporaryArt, #Croatia, #Dictionary, #Haus, #Modern, #ModernArt, #NewYork, #Stefan, #StefanHaus, contemporary Leave a comment
Gerard Mossé at Jill Newhouse Gallery
by Jonathan GoodmanGerard Mossé. Vellum Painting F9. 2015-2016. Oil on Vellum mounted on Matte Board. 17″ x 13″. Image courtesy of the Artist.
Gerard Mossé is a mature painter who has spent nearly thirty years in New York City, maintaining his studio in Tribeca. As noted critic David Ebony says in the catalogue introduction, Mossé's paintings are primarily about light, in the form of sentinels or monuments. Light is … Continue reading »
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FAPE goes West for its 30th on June 23rd
Diana Walker, President Ronald Reagan laughs at a joke told by Queen Elizabeth II at a state dinner held in her honor at the M.H. de Young Museum in San Francisco, California, on March 3, 1983. Chromogenic print, 16 x 20 inches. Gift of the artist with additional funding provided by Bank of America.
The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) will continue to celebrate its 30th Anniversary … Continue reading »
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Paris June 10, 2016
AICA Incentive Award For Young Critics recognizes emerging voices in art criticism around the world. This year the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), invites art critics to submit an article or a review on any subject (an exhibition, a biennale, a profile of an artist, etc.), which deals with the subject of contemporary art produced in South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
AICA's … Continue reading »
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Art is a Calling
from the studio of John TomlinsonJohn Tomlinson. 2016. Courtesy of the Artist.
Is art a profession or a calling? June 4, 2016
John Tomlinson
The question asked by the title is asked universally by artists, art educators, students, critics – just about everyone engaged in the arts, in this case, the visual arts.
As common as it might be, it is a big question that merits addressing by all … Continue reading »
Posted in Conversations, Features Tagged #DaveHickey, #DominiqueNahas, #JohnTomlinson, #KarenMorris Leave a comment
Chi-Gil Jang's "As the Wind Flows"
Tenri Cultural Institute of New York 43A West 13th Street New York, NY May 4 – 14, 2016
by Jonathan GoodmanChi-Gil Jang. Tongyeong's Special Melody. 2015. 67.5x 48 in. Pigment, Korean Paper on Panel.
Chi-Gil Jang is a Korean painter based in Korea. He most often makes use of Korean themes or imagery in his art. It is not always easy for the Western viewer to understand the implications … Continue reading »
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text: During her two years at the Home Office, Lynne Featherstone did great things to promote the equalities agenda, even if she and Theresa May did not always see eye to eye. The Equal Marriage consultation was a real win for the LibDems within the Coalition, and to his credit David Cameron "got" the issue, even if some of his backbench headbangers didn't. So there was initially some disquiet among LibDems when Lynne was moved in the ministerial reshuffle earier this year to the Department for International Development (DfID). However, as Lynne made clear at an informal briefing to the International Relations Committee (IRC) of the Liberal Democrat Party in Westminster this evening, she has taken equality issues along with her (with the PM's blessing), and it is especially important that she is able to champion the central role of women in development. She has just returned from a mission to South Sudan, which was rather jumping in at the deep end, though other states she has visited this year include Kenya and Uganda, and Africa is now central to her remit. DfID has of course been directed to phase down its involvement in India (now one of the BRICs) but Africa remains a main area of concern, not only for the traditional problems of famine and disease (including HIV/AIDS) but also for the way that women are excluded and often oppressed within many African societies, including through the persistence of female genital mutilation (FGM). It was interesting that FGM was a major topic in the discussion after Lynne's presentation at the IRC, but then it is a quintissentially Liberal issue, relating to human rights and gender matters as well as to health. Lynne was a shadow International Development Minister some years ago, so she is not entirely fresh to the field. But it is clear that Africa is offering her a steep learning curve, from which both she and Africa's development should ultimately benefit.


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I have a great writing mentor – she encourages, she inspires, she challenges. Her name is Virginia Woolf, and she's been dead for 70 years.
Here are a few reasons why all you writers out there should invoke the literary spirits of your own dead mentors…. or maybe, this Halloween, your dead mentor will find you.
1. Dead mentors help you see beyond the buzz
We've seen it time and again – one book's success inspires a thousand emulations. Helen Fielding's "Bridget Jones's Diary" was a runaway bestseller; the popular new genre chick lit was born. Stephenie Meyers's "Twilight" hooked readers of every age, promptly spawning the teen vampire lit multiplying on young adult bookshelves.
It's easy to be dazzled by current success stories because they are, clinically speaking, hot. More often than not, though, hot trends cool. The fame of fewer and fewer books withstand the passing of time. After all, how many of us can name more than five authors – other than Shakespeare – from the Elizabethan era?
Focusing on an author from the past, even if her style is different, allows the writer to look at essential qualities of writing. A romance writer could improve dialogue by reading Jane Austen's banter between Elizabeth and Darcy; a sci-fi writer could improve setting by reading George Orwell's descriptions of Room 101. It's not about who just scored the biggest deal from Random House. It's about the truth and talent that transcend time.
2. Dead mentors are recession-proof
That eight week novel-writing class taught by a hip author might seem like the answer to all of your writerly prayers, but times are tough. Classes and conferences can be great, but they're also expensive, and after a while, they add up.
Not only are dead mentors are free, but they are forever at your beck and call. No need to spend a month's mortgage payment on a pricey class. Just jump in your sweats after dinner to find inspiration from "The Outsiders" and remind yourself that if S.E. Hinton can write a great book at 16 years old, so can you at 37.
3. Dead mentors help you help yourself
Though it's tempting to throw a freshly written story at a mentor and plead, "What do you think? What should I change? What should I keep?", it's also a little self-serving. This places the burden of reflection on the mentor instead of the writer taking responsibility for her own work. Dead mentors can't answer specific questions; rather, we can use their thoughts and words to answer our questions for ourselves.
Erica Wagner, literary editor of "The Times," does just that with her own dead mentor, Washington Augustus Roebling. "He once said that '[y]ou can't get out of the work life lays on you,' and that's something I think of often," says Wagner, who has most recently authored the novel "Seizure." "If I am struggling, if I feel like giving up on something – whether it is my writing or something in my life – I think of Washington and what advice he would give me. 'Keep trying,' he'd probably say. 'You will find a way. Look clearly at your situation and work towards a solution.'"
In the same manner, Virginia Woolf's diary is a lifeboat for those writers drowning in despair. "I foresee," Woolf wrote regarding "Mrs. Dalloway" on June 13, 1923, "… that this is going to be a devil of a struggle. The design is so queer and so masterful. I'm always having to wrench my substance to fit it. The design is certainly original and interests me hugely. I should like to write away and away at it, very quick and fierce. Needless to say, I can't. In three weeks from today, I shall be dried up." Any writer can find solidarity in Woolf's excitement and confidence mixed with insecurity. The benefit is twofold. We can read "Mrs. Dalloway," admire its strength, and strive to write as effectively as Woolf. Yet we also can connect to her as writers in reading her diary entry by sharing in the often confusing, uncertain process of writing. In this way, she becomes the best mentor, the best teacher: someone who sets standards of production high as well as someone from whom we learn the importance of process.
The job of the writer is to think, What would my mentor do in this situation? What would he say? and take ownership of her problems and solutions, as Wagner does with Roebling and as Woolf offers with her diaries and literature – as opposed to calling a living mentor with a frantic "Solve my plot problem now, today!"
4. Dead mentors help you to become a better reader
In her book, "The Faith of a Writer: Life, Craft, Art," Joyce Carol Oates writes, "[I]f you read, you need not become a writer, but if you hope to become a writer, you must read." Translation: in addition to daily writing, working a day job, cooking dinner, and sustaining real-life relationships, writers are expected to read voraciously if they hope to succeed.
Living mentorship often takes place in the form of phone calls, emails, coffee dates, and time-consuming writing classes. Save your time and kill two birds with one stone. Looking to your dead mentor for advice means that, nine times out of ten, you'll be reading. Whether it's your dead mentor's novels, poems, letters, diaries, or biographies, "interacting" with literary ghosts accomplishes two goals: you get your advice while honing your close reading skills – which, according to Oates, will make you a better writer.
5. Because the "prose" say so
Accomplished writers agree that leaning on the words of authors past is essential. "I have a zillion dead mentors," says Helen Schulman, American novelist and recipient of numerous awards, including a Pushcart Prize. "That's what a lifetime of reading does." Francine Prose also makes the case for dead mentors in the first few pages of her book, "Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Like Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them." "Long before the idea of a writer's conference was a glimmer in anyone's eyes, writers learned by reading the work of their predecessors," she writes. "They studied meter with Ovid, plot construction with Homer, comedy with Aristophanes; they honed their prose style by absorbing the lucid sentences of Montaigne and Samuel Johnson. And who could have asked for better teachers: generous, uncritical, blessed with wisdom and genius, as endlessly forgiving as only the dead can be?"
– Jessica Rosevear blogs at JessicaRosevear.com where she focuses on the intersection of teaching and writing.


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User talk:AzureAzulCrash
|Welcome to the world of Pokémon, AzureAzulCrash!
|Welcome to Pokémon Wiki, and thank you for your contributions! There's a lot to do around here, so I hope you'll stay with us and make many more improvements.
I'm really happy to have you here, and look forward to contributing with you!
|Your administration: Ciencia Al Poder (talk) • Crimsonnavy (talk) • Jäzzi (talk)
- -- Crimsonnavy (Talk) 00:38, March 26, 2012


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Regarding a recent Observer article about tree removal in Fayette, I do agree some trees need to come down immediately. I also agree, since the sidewalk issue was not very well orchestrated, some roots need ground off so citizens can finish the sidewalks. My "no" vote was in regards to taking money from the already underfunded street fund to cover tree removal which the village knew was an issue several years ago. Proper planning goes a long ways. If we would have removed several of these bad trees per year, we could have had them all removed without depleting any fund.
I asked council to look at removing the worst trees this year and in subsequent years remove more so we did not short this fund. They voted to remove them all at one time and deplete the already meager fund.
Now we will have to underfund the street department for the next eight years to pay this off. This on a project that did not make the top five most important list as streets did.
We need to be responsible and have better foresight with issues and with money. When money gets this tight, we need to prioritize. We have over $4 million worth of streets in Fayette, second only in sewer lines in cost, yet we skip maintaining them. Not spending a little now to spend a lot later will get a "no" vote from me every time.
- Tom Molitierno, council member
Main Street, Fayette


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- Description
- Product Reviews
- Supplement Facts
Natural Calm, the top selling magnesium drink, was originally developed to help with sleep and relaxation, and to aleviate many physical problems associated with a deficiency in magnesium. A magnesium deficiency is quite common. Caffeine, drugs, stress and dietary factors contribute to this. It is one of the most important nutrients for the body and is involved in over 300 metabolic reactions. It helps the body in so many ways, it is probably easier to say what it doesn't do.
Bone health - Magnesium is even more important for bones than calcium. In fact, calcium cannot even assimilate into the body if there is not an adequate amount of magnesium available. Approximately half of the body's magnesium is stored in the bones. Magnesium works with calcium and vitamin D to help create strong bones.
Nervous system - Magnesium helps calm the nervous system. Without sufficient magnesium, the nerve cells cannot give or receive messages and become exciteable and reactive.
Cardiovascular Support - Magnesium works with calcium to pump the heart. The heart, a muscle, contracts thanks to calcium and then it releases thanks to magnesium. This maintains a normal heart beat.
Detoxifier - Magnesium is necessary for the production of glutithione, the "master antioxidant" of the body. Chemicals, environmental toxins and heavy metals have a hard time taking hold in the body if there is sufficient magnesium.
Digestion - Magnesium acts as a coenzyme and helps break down food and assimilate nutrients. It aids in production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
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- Blood pressure balancing
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These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Suggested Use: Individual needs may vary. Start with one half teaspoon (1 g) daily and gradually increase to 2 teaspoons (4.5 g) as needed. When bowels are comfortably loose, this is the optimal amount. Natural Calm can be taken with or without food.
For best results, divide your daily amount of Natural Calm into two servings.
Directions: Place powder in a mug: add 2-3 oz of hot water. Let it fizz, then stir until dissolved. Fill with warm or cold water and enjoy. You can also simply add Natural Calm to a glass or bottle of cold water. Use only as directed.
Ingredients: Ionic magnesium citrate (created from a highly absorbable proprietary blend of citric acid and magnesium carbonate).
For children under 4, or pregnant or lactating women, consult with your doctor for dosage.


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Over the last few months, you undoubtedly have heard a lot of crazy sounding stuff in the news, from National Security Agency (NSA) leaks from Snowden, cryptography, hackers, threats, vulnerabilities, and more.
I want to start by saying it doesn't matter what political side of the fence you are on, the purpose of my column this week is just to put things into perspective, make you aware how it can potentially affect and impact you.
Not that terribly long ago, the best cryptography had to offer was the infamous ENIGMA Machine, an electro-mechanical rotor cipher machine invented by the German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I, and used extensively by Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Germans were convinced that Enigma output could not be broken, using it for most military communication on land, sea, and sky.
Big mistake, as they were about to learn.
Enigma enciphered texts were first broken by the Polish Cipher Bureau, in December 1932 by three Polish cryptologists, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski, and Marian Rejewski, who literally "reverse-engineered" Enigma, using theoretical mathematics.
So what does this have to do with what is happening now? Well, the important take away, is not to trust passwords, encryption, or anything that is supposed to be "safe".
Passwords don't really mean anything anymore. As I mentioned in the column wrote back in April, (Password? No Barrier For A Hacker. ) hackers / crackers can get through just about any password you have.
It got this way due to the fact most people have horrible passwords, use the same password everywhere, and now even more complex passwords really aren't a barrier to the massive computing power of the systems they use, and the botnets they have access to.
What the lone hacker / hacker group doesn't get into, imagine the resources a government has access to, for example the major threat that China poses with their armies of hackers.
Then, of course, Governments want to know what is going on, keeping tabs on enemies and domestic issues, using massively powerful systems and software, such as CARNIVORE for example. A major tech site, Ars Technica, has a full in depth article ( NSA attains the Holy Grail of spying, decodes vast swaths of Internet traffic), while Pro Publica outlines in their column (Revealed: The NSA's Secret Campaign to Crack, Undermine Internet Security ). Yes, there are many ways the government can legally obtain your data.
Where is all this going? Again, this article isn't judging the reasons why, just discussing that like it or not, the facts of life today are that you should assume that your accounts, information, and communications can be compromised, accessed, or eavesdropped upon.
Act accordingly.


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Your analysis of your local problem should give you a better understanding of the factors contributing to it. Once you have analyzed your local problem and established a baseline for measuring effectiveness, you should consider possible responses to address the problem.
There is no nationally recognized protocol to address 911 misuse and abuse. Rather, there is a patchwork of federal, local and private responses. They are detailed below, along with other suggested responses, to provide a foundation of ideas for addressing your particular problem. Some forms of the problemsuch as phantom wireless callsmust be addressed at the federal level, but this will occur only if local agencies combine their efforts to highlight the extent of the problem. Conversely, landline 911 problems are best addressed at the local level. It is critical that you tailor these responses to local circumstances, and that you can justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing several different responses. Police responses alone are seldom effective in sufficiently reducing or solving the problem. Do not limit yourself to considering what police can do; give careful consideration to who else in your community shares responsibility for the problem and can help police better respond to it.
For example, see the Stop Accidental Calls website at www.StopAccidentalCalls.com.
For additional information on this initiative, contact Diane Chupinski at email@example.com the five-week trial, the average waiting time for a dispatcher to answer a 911 call dropped from 93 seconds to eight seconds. However, lawyers for one of the wireless carriers objected, suggesting they might sue, and representatives of the deaf community asserted that the system was not friendly to the community's needs. The Highway Patrol ultimately abandoned the project.
Telecommunications devices for the deaf, commonly referred to as TTY, send out certain tones that 911 center computers recognize, allowing for written responses. However, these devices cannot be used with wireless phones.
The United Kingdom has instituted a similar initiative, dubbed "Silent Solution." Cellular calls are answered with an automated message: "If you require any of the emergency services, press 5 on your keypad two times now." If the caller does not do so, the recording resumes: "Nothing has been heard. Operator, please release the line." If the caller presses 55, the automated attendant immediately reroutes the call to the police on the highest-priority line, and it is the next to be answered.6 Using this system, U.K. emergency communications officials discovered that of the more than 14,000 cellular calls to 999 per day, only about 25 are true emergencies.
If wireless carriers remain unresponsive to the FCC's request, and to police requests for reform, police agencies could use a funneled phantom call system. This approach requires some refinement to address the deaf community's needs. In addition, it would be wise (although difficult) to prenotify the area's wireless users about the system. There is a slight risk that a wireless caller in a life-threatening situationsuch as someone being attackedcould not respond, and the call would be terminated. However, this risk also exists when no one responds to a 911 hang-up from a pay phone call, and a number of police agencies no longer dispatch officers to such calls.
Several years ago, officials from the California Highway Patrol and the Reno, Nevada, Police Department separately met with carriers whose phones made phantom calls. Several carriers changed their handset designs. Some agreed to stop preprogramming their phones to autodial 911; however, many have not done so. The Highway Patrol had greater success than the Reno police. Only one carrier agreed to meet with Reno officials to discuss the issue, and that carrier did not have the largest share of Reno's wireless market. Handset manufacturers rejected the idea of a product recall, and phone owners can still program their phones to autodial 911. The yearly increase in wireless users, coupled with the use of older phones that make phantom calls, has offset any gains achieved by the few manufacturers who no longer preprogram phones.
A more coordinated effort involving national police organizations and the FCC may be needed to effectively address the problem.
Putting 911 on speed dial increases the risk of misdials due to accidental pressing of the button.
Some people mistakenly dial 911 instead of 011 (the international access code) when phoning someone in a foreign country.
Several years ago, a police agency employed a clown to visit elementary schools to teach children how to use 911 correctly. Thereafter, some children called 911 to speak to the clown.
Pinellas County employs a 911 public educator to address the misuse and abuse problems arising from its more than 500,000 annual 911 calls. Misdials and hang-ups accounted for over 10 percent of all 911 calls. The educator found, from a study in one of the county's cities, that children were responsible for only 10 percent of the misdials and hang-up calls, so efforts were geared toward adults. The initiative reduced the average annual number of misdials and hang-up calls by more than 12,000 over a three-year period.
For more information about Pinellas County 911 and the public educator's role, contact firstname.lastname@example.com.
In Marion County, Mo., first-time violators receive a letter describing the call, as well as information on what constitutes a true emergency. Second-time violators are informed that they will face prosecution if another false or nonemergency call occurs; the county's prosecuting attorney has agreed to follow through in such cases.
In 1994, San Diego police Officers Patti Clayton, Bob Smith and Miguel Flores, and Sgts. David Contreras and Rudy Tai, noticed that a high volume of 911 hang-up calls were coming from pay phones in the 700 block of East San Ysidro Boulevard, in the city's Southern Division. This area abuts Mexico and has the busiest border crossing in the worldmore than 70,000 vehicles and pedestrians cross during an average day. Due to this heavy border traffic, officers were sometimes spending over an hour responding to the calls, invariably finding no reason for them.
Officer Clayton surveilled the 20 pay phones on the block, phones belonging to six different owners. She also spoke with community members, taxi and bus drivers, and business owners, and determined three main causes for the hangups:
The police team met with business owners, alerting them to the severity of the problem. The owners, realizing that police were being diverted from crime-ridden areas to respond to the false calls, agreed to remove 10 of the phones and to relocate several others. Officer Clayton installed signs above the phones that read, "It is a crime to dial 911 to make a false police report." With the owners' consent, she also posted "no loitering" signs next to the phones. The sign messages are in both English and Spanish.
To address Mexican travelers' misdialing, the team asked the phone manufacturer to install differently shaped 9 keys in the phones, but this proved cost-prohibitive. As an alternative, Officer Clayton painted all the 9 keys red, and repainted them weekly to make up for wear and tear.
As a result of the team's efforts, the number of 911 calls from the phones dropped by 50 percent. The initiative also resulted in lower response times to other calls.
By analyzing 911 hot-spot data, St. Petersburg, Florida, police Sergeant Charles Burnette determined that pay phones near a convenience store had accounted for 71 hang-up or "playing on the phone" calls over a five-year period. The call times coincided with the time students were released from school. Sgt. Burnette noted that foliage blocked natural surveillance of the phones, and that the phones were unlit, compounding the problem. He met with store management, who agreed to monitor the phones, and asked city staff to trim the obstructing foliage and install lights by the phones. As a result of this initiative, the false calls stopped.
The convenience store owner initially had the phones placed on the property's perimeter, rather than near the store's entrance, to discourage loitering. However, the phones' remoteness, along with the obstructing foliage, prevented the staff from monitoring them.
Sgt. Burnette reviewed other pay phone hot-spots and during his analysis discovered that five percent of all of St. Petersburg's 911 calls were either hang-up or "playing on the phone" calls. Pay phone calls appeared to account for some of the problem. Because the calls did not cluster solely around student release times, Sgt. Burnette surmised that adults were also responsible. He recommended CPTED surveys of pay phones and developed an ordinance requiring that phones be maintained to CPTED standards. The ordinance also requires that signs notifying callers of the penalties for 911 misuse be posted near pay phones, and provides a fine structure for phone owners who violate the ordinance. At the time of this writing, the ordinance remains under consideration.
You may order free bound copies in any of three ways:
Online: Department of Justice COPS Response Center
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
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Sorry if this has been covered before.. I did a quick search and didn't see this exact question.
I own, and use quite frequently, what I believe is the last installment of Animation Shop (version 3.10). It's starting to get glitchy on my Windows 7 Pro system (haven't tried it on hubby's Win10 yet). I did see the posts about ULead Gif animator, but also read that it's no longer available for purchase.
Will Corel EVER offer any type of replacement software for Animation Shop? I would prefer a stand alone program that's compact and simple to use like Animation Shop.
Thanks in advance!


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U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
Public Roads
This magazine is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information.
|Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-05-003 Date: January/February 2005
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-05-003
Issue No: Vol. 68 No. 4
Date: January/February 2005
Border Planning for the 21st Century
by Jill L. Hochman
Multiagency partnerships, innovative strategies, and new technologies are improving the safety, efficiency, and security of overland ports of entry.
by Jason Harrington
FHWA and the agency's partners are engineering high-quality pavements using reclaimed materials.
Improving Signalized Intersections
by Joe G. Bared
FHWA's new guide will help State and local agencies plan, design, and install appropriate facilities to improve safety and traffic operations for all users.
by Sande Snead
Software from Virginia helps manage this complicated process from start to finish and provides real-time customer service.
by Samuel S. Tyson and David K. Merritt
Synthetic binders could help designers create more aesthetically pleasing roadways.
Keeping Traffic on the Right Side of the Road
by Gary Stasburg and Lisa Crist Crawley
North Carolina saved lives by installing cable barriers on freeways where the median width is less than 21 meters (70 feet).
Evaluating the Field Performance of Asphalt Mixtures In the Lab
by Leslie Ann Myers and John D'Angelo
FHWA is assessing the Simple Performance Tester to determine its effectiveness for use in the field.
Signs Show the Way to Cost-Effective Rural Safety
by Gib Peaslee
A county in California recently showcased a low-cost and successful program for saving lives on secondary roads.


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CH Vin-Melca's Voyager
The Contra Costa Kennel Club took over the Solano County Fairgrounds today and asked Elliot Weiss to choose his Best from ueste4rday's BIS winner, the Weimaraner, CH Silhouettes LifeInTheFastLane, the Norwegian Elkhound, CH Vin-Melca's Voyager, the Doberman Pinscher, CH Protocol's Veni Vidi Vici, the Smooth Fox Terrier, CH Slyfox Sneaks A Peek, the Pomeranian, CH Powerpom High Performance, the French Bulldog, CH Bayhill Celebrate, and the Bouvier des Flandres, CH Avalon Frontier Sleepnlady Webber. His best was the Elkhound, the first this year for the five year old. Congratulations to breeder/owner Paatricia V Trotter.


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In a historic judgment by Supreme Court of Pakistan , the judges have ordered an action against Malik Riaz (real estate mafia lord), Salman (Son in law of Malik Riaz) and Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry (Chief Justice's own son).
We salute Chief Justice and Supreme Court for showing us that, at least in their eyes, no one is above the law.
SC orders action against Riaz, Salman and Arsalan
Source: http://www.geo.tv/GeoDetail.aspx?ID=54275
ISLAMABAD: A two member bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif have concluded hearing of the Arsalan Iftikhar suo moto case and issued its short order.
In the short order the Supreme Court directed Attorney General Ifran Qadir to take strict action against Malik Raiz, Salman Ahmed (Riaz's son-in-law) and Arsalan Iftikhar according to the law. The court said that the three had the right to a transparent trial.
The court ruled that Malik Riaz tried to buy justice, adding those giving bribes and those taking it were both sinners.
The two member bench also rejected the plea of Malik Riaz's counsel Zahid Bukhari to form a commission or send the case to an investigation agency.
The short order was written on the basis of statements recorded by parties in the case along with those of Hamid Mir, Kamran Khan and Shaheen Sehbai.
Shaheen Sehbai admitted that the son of the CJ was targeted to hatch a conspiracy against the judiciary.
The order further said that Malik Riaz had accepted that despite spending more than Rs340 million he could not get relief. The media should not be used by such persons who do not respect the law and constitution, the order said.


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Contact Us
Utah State University Extension is pleased to provide online financial tools to help you better manage you money. We are very interested in experience with these tools and would appreciate your comments, questions or recommendations.
If you have questions or comments, please call (801) 477-7391 or (385) 468-4820 or submit the form below:


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I've been following Steve's exploits trying to learn the podcasting business and we usually talk about it once a week or so, just me as a sounding board/podcast skeptic. We were talking yesterday about the podcasts and I had mentioned something about making a note for my blog, and he responded that he had just looked at it for the first time. I'm famous!
Well, perhaps not quite yet. I think it does point a weakness on the SSC side that they don't bring blogs into the fold as much as maybe they should. To be fair that weakness goes back pre Red Gate. Still, I'd like to see all the SSC blogs at least considered for inclusion on the front page and daily newsletter. Don't know if automaticaly inclusion would work because not every blog entry - perhaps especially this one - aren't likely to be of interest to the general community.


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Description & Behavior
Harbor seals, Phoca vitulina (Linnaeus, 1758), are the most common seal species and contain 5 subspecies. Alaskan and western Pacific harbor seals are significantly larger than seals in the Atlantic and southern areas of the eastern Pacific. Generally, adult males measure 1.4-1.9 m in length and weigh 55-170 kg, while the slightly smaller adult females measure 1.2-1.7 m in length and weigh 45-105 kg. The coat consists of thick, short hairs ranging in color from white with dark spots to black-dark brown with white rings on the dorsal side. These patterns are unique to each seal, which helps to identify individuals during observational studies. In the San Francisco Bay area, harbor seals often have reddish coats caused by iron oxide deposits in their coat, the cause for which is unknown.
Their pectoral flippers have 5 webbed digits with claws used for scratching, grooming, and defense. Their hind flippers also have 5 digits, but these vary in length. The 1st and 5th digits are long and wide and the middle digits are short and thin. Their hind flippers are used to propel the seals forward using a side to side motion. These seals also move by undulating their body on land.
Male harbor seals live an average of 20 years of age compared to the female life span of 25-30 years.
World Range & Habitat
Harbor seals are also the most widely distributed pinniped. They are found in temperate, subarctic, and arctic coastal areas on both sides of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. Five separate subspecies have been identified, each common to a specific coastal region.
The 5 subspecies include:
- Eastern Atlantic harbor seals, P. vitulina vitulina (Linnaeus, 1758), (aka the common seal) has an estimated population size of 88,000-93,000 and is found in Svalbard, Iceland, the British Isles, the southwestern Baltic Sea, and on western European coasts from northern Norway to France, including the Kattegat and Skagerrak. A few individuals have been found wandering as far south as Portugal.
- Western Atlantic harbor seals, P. vitulina concolor (DeKay, 1842), is found from the eastern Canadian Arctic and Greenland down to New Jersey, with individuals occasionally found wandering as far south as Florida. There is no reliable population estimate for the small Greenland population, but the American and Canadian populations are thought to total about 60,000-70,000 seals.
- Eastern Pacific harbor seals, P. vitulina richardii (Gray, 1864), consists of an estimated 285,000 seals, distributed from the Pribilof and Aleutian Islands in Alaska as far south as Baja California.
- Western Pacific harbor seals, P. vitulina stejnegeri (Allen, 1902), (aka Kuril or insular seal) is a small population, <4,000 seals, ranging from the western Aleutian and Commander Islands south to the Kuril Islands and Hokkaido.
- Ungava seals, P. vitulina mellonae (Doutt, 1942), (aka Lacs des Loups Marins harbor seal), lives in freshwater lakes and rivers on the Ungava peninsula of northern Quebec. This subspecies feeds exclusively in freshwater and is the only known harbor seal to live in freshwater year round. The number of Ungava seals is unknown but is estimated to be 100-600 individuals.
Harbor seals are found in groups only during haulouts for breeding and molting. Aggressive behavior is demonstrated by growling and snorting, which only occurs when threatened, waving foreflippers, and thrusting the head.
Population estimates are poor, however the global population is estimated at 400,000-500,000 seals.
There is much variation in the appearance, physiology, and behavior of harbor seal species. They generally haulout in small scattered groups, although in protected bays and estuaries haulouts can number over 1,000 individuals. Ungava seals haulout in small groups during spring but alone or in pairs at the end of summer. A variety of habitats are used for hauling out, including rocky shores, reefs, sand and gravel beaches, intertidal mud and sand bars, piers, and, ice floes. Haulout sites are selected for protection from land predators, access to deep water and proximity to food sources, and protection from wind and waves. It is thought that harbor seals haul out in groups for protection against land predation.
The timing of haulouts is often dependent on tidal cycles so that seals can haulout during low tide. In the absence of tides, the time of day is the major influence on harbor seal haulout behavior. Haulouts are most common during warmer months. Individuals of the species tend to stay in the same area all year round, however juveniles are known to travel long distances up to 500 km to feed. Harbor seals tend to stay within 25 km of the shore but individuals are occasionally found 100 km or more offshore.
The time of year and duration for molting varies between populations and subspecies, and also varies within populations with individuals of varying age, sex, and reproductive status. Harbor seals haul to molt for an average of 12 hours each day compared to 7 hours per day when they are not molting. The metabolism of harbor seals is reduced while they are molting, therefore less time is needed foraging for food in the water.
Feeding Behavior (Ecology)
Harbor seal diets vary seasonally and regionally. They primarily feed on crustaceans, mollusks, squid, and fish. The food is torn into chunks and swallowed whole. The molars crush shells and crustaceans for swallowing, but food is generally not chewed. Adults consume 5-6% of their body weight or 4.5-8.2 kg of food per day. The diet of Ungava seals has not been well studied, but they are known to prey on salmonids such as small brook trout. Feeding usually takes place near the shore in shallow water <200 m deep, most often <100 m for periods of a few minutes. However, harbor seals have sometimes been known to dive more than 500 m for more than 25 minutes.
Life History
Most male harbor seals reach sexual maturity at 5-6 years of age at a weight of about 75 kg. Females reach sexual maturity earlier at 2-5 years or 50 kg. Mating season varies between subspecies, but generally in the warmer months. Females are ready to breed about 6 weeks after they give birth. The gestation period lasts between 9-11 months, and usually only 1 pup is born each year measuring 70-100 cm in length and weighing 8-12 kg.
Unlike other seal species that molt after they are born, many harbor seal pups are born with their adult coat, having shed their light-colored woolly coat before birth. Some pups however, most often pups of younger mothers, are born with their pre-natal coat and molt shortly after birth.
Harbor seal can crawl and swim almost immediately after they are born, often within an hour of birth, which is useful for pups born in intertidal areas. Pups are nursed mostly on land but also in water for about 4 weeks during which time they will gain 0.5-0.7 kg per day. The mother makes short feeding trips while she is nursing, for longer periods of time as she begins to wean, which is either abrupt or gradual. After weaning, pups disperse often traveling long distances like other seal pup species.
Unlike other seal species, mating takes place primarily in the water. Adult males gather in potential breeding areas and compete by performing aquatic displays, underwater vocalizations, and fighting takes place as demonstrated by neck wounds commonly seen during the breeding season. Some researchers believe that the males maintain underwater territories. Males lose up to 25% of their body weight during the breeding season from the energetic requirements of competing and breeding.
Pupping and Molting seasons:
- Eastern Atlantic – Pupping: June to mid-July. Molting: June-September.
- Western Atlantic – Pupping: mid-May to July. Molting: July-August.
- Eastern Pacific – Pupping: February-March in Mexico, March-June in California, and progressively later northwards up to British Columbia and Washington (June-September). May-July in Alaska. Molting: May-October, progressively later for northern populations. July-August in Alaska.
- Western Pacific – Pupping: mid-May to July.
- Ungava seals – Pupping: mid-April to mid-May.
Conservation Status & Comments
Harbor seals are hunted primarily for their skins, oil, and meat. Their tendency to remain in the same area year-round puts them at greater risk for hunting. The Lake Ontario population was exterminated by the early 1800s, and the Greenland, Hokkaido, and Baltic Sea populations are currently under severe threat. In the Gulf of Alaska, populations have declined dramatically during the last 20-30 years.
Harbor seals are thought by a few to "compete" with commercial fisheries for food sources and unfortunately this myth results in many harbor seals being killed by humans needlessly. Like other seal species, Harbor seals are threatened by entanglement in fishing nets, particularly in gillnet fisheries. Like the gray seal, it is apparently legal to shoot harbor seals to protect fisheries or fish farms in several countries, such as Canada, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Reporting shootings is not required in the United Kingdom under the "Fisheries Defence Clause" of the Conservation of Seals Act and therefore the scale of shootings in the U.K. is uncertain. Official statistics show that more than 60 harbor and gray seals were "legally" shot by Scottish fishery boards during the year 2000, the most in more than a decade. The estimates by conservationists, however, number several thousand seals shot under the Fisheries Defence Clause each year in Scotland. Conservation groups are also promoting the development and use of humane non-lethal seal deterrents such as anti-predator nets on fish farms for this species as well. In addition, the transition from open sea cage fish farms to land-based closed loop systems is being encouraged. Illegal killing of harbor seals also takes place throughout the species' range.
Like other seal species, harbor seals are also blamed for reduced fish stocks and culls are requested. Culling of seal populations has not been proven effective given the complexity of the marine food web and would likely have the opposite effect. Overfishing, habitat destruction, and marine pollution are the more likely candidates to blame for reduced fish stocks. In fact, many harbor seal populations are only recently recovering from bounty schemes and culling operations that ended in the 1970s.
Like other seal species, harbor seals are threatened by environmental contaminants such as organochlorine pesticides which harm their immune systems and decrease reproductive capacity. Oil and hydrocarbon contamination is also significant in harbor seal populations. Harbor seals have also been killed by being trapped in the intake pipes of power plants in the United States.
Diseases also threaten some harbor seal populations. Brucellosis has been documented in harbor seals in both California and Washington State. A new virus that was similar to a bovine pneumonia was also reported in harbor seals in Point Reyes, California following the sudden death of over 100 seals during a 3-month period in 1997. The eastern Atlantic harbor seal experienced an epizootic (an outbreak of disease affecting many animals of one kind at the same time) of phocine distemper virus (PDV) in 1988. A virus similar to canine distemper virus killed more than 18,000 seals from the Kattegat to the North Sea, through the Wadden Sea, because of secondary infections, particularly bacterial pneumonia. It is thought that the virus was transmitted to harbor seals by harp seals. In New England between 1979-1980, about 445 harbor seals, mostly juveniles, died of acute pneumonia due to an Influenza A virus of avian origin.
Human activity has also caused problems in harbor seal populations near coastal areas where activities such as vessel traffic, development, and recreation take place. Pup mortality can increase in such areas because of separation or abandonment, and haulouts that experience disturbance may be abandoned completely.
Hunting of harbor seals still takes place in Iceland and Norway. The Baltic Sea population was severely depleted in the 20th century by hunting, pollution, and the PDV virus. In 1998, a survey estimated only 580 harbor seals were left in the Baltic Sea, with no detectable increase in the population size since 1994. The eastern Atlantic harbor seal is listed as an Appendix III species under the Bern Convention, and the subpopulations in the Baltic and Wadden Seas are listed as an Appendix II species under the Bonn Convention. The species is also listed as a protected species under Annex II and Annex V of the European Community's Habitats Directive, and several important sites for the harbor seal have been proposed in EC member countries as Special Areas of Conservation.
Western Atlantic harbor seals: Fisheries and aquaculture-related mortality of this subspecies is high. An estimated average total of 873 seals were killed each year by fisheries in the United States between 1994 and 1998 by entanglement in nets in the Gulf of Maine. In Canada, harbor seals are entangled in nets of groundfish and salmon gillnet fisheries. A number of seals have also been entangled in nets of the Spanish deep water trawl fishery off Canada. When the Greenland salmon gillnet and Atlantic Canada cod trap fisheries ended in 1993, the number of entanglements decreased. The Canadian government has implemented a pilot program to allow aquaculture installations to shoot seals. Inuit natives also kill small numbers of seals in Canada.
The seal population in Greenland is also vulnerable to hunting and disturbance. Populations there are declining even in protected areas. The harbor seal is prized by locals for its meat and fur, and in fact, harbor seal skin is part of Greenland's national costume.
Increased sightings of various seal species, including harbor seals, have recently been reported along the eastern seaboard of the United States possibly due to a cleaner habitat and/or reduced hunting. Increased commercial fishing may also be forcing seals to migrate further south in search of food. A number of seals in need of rescue were reported, mostly undernourished pups and injured adults.
Eastern Pacific harbor seals: There has been a significant decline in the harbor seal population in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands since the 1970s. Tugidak Island and Prince William Sound populations have decreased by 90%. The cause for this decline is unknown, and is suspected to be associated with decreases in the Steller sea lion and northern fur seal populations in the region. The Bering Sea population is thought to be declining, however populations from California to Washington are either stable or increasing slightly.
The species is preyed upon by orca (killer whales) and sharks. Polar bears are known to be predators of Western Atlantic harbor seals. Pups may also be preyed on by coyotes, foxes, and large birds of prey. Harbor seals in the Pacific are known to be killed by Steller's sea lions.
El Niño events can decrease food availability which impacts harbor seal populations. For example, reproductive activity was reduced by half in Point Reyes, California during the 1997-98 event.
Alaskan native subsistence hunting of harbor seals is estimated at more than 2,500 seals each year. Northwest Indian tribes are developing regulations for the ceremonial and subsistence killing of harbor seals, and plans for commercial hunting of the species was reported by one tribe.
In 1999, the U.S. federal National Marine Fisheries Service recommended that the Marine Mammal Protection Act be amended to authorize state and federal wildlife managers to kill harbor seals preying on endangered fish species in Washington, Oregon, and California. Authority to kill seals that pose a threat to public safety and property at locations such as docks and marinas was also recommended as well as authority for commercial fishermen to kill seals that destroy their catch or gear, a policy that was withdrawn in 1994. Conservation groups argue that effective and humane non-lethal deterrence methods should be developed and that the problem of overfishing should be addressed.
The Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska killed an estimated 33% of the harbor seal populations using haulout sites contaminated by the oil spill. The seals were coated with oil and suffered from the inhalation of volatile substances and oil absorption into seal tissue resulting in abnormal behavior and pathological brain damage.
In March 2001, the California Coastal Commission approved an application by the San Diego City Council to renew the 0.4 hectare Seal Rock Marine Mammal Reserve established in 1994 in La Jolla for another five years. The California Coastal National Monument was created in 2000 providing federal protection to the species' habitat on thousands of islands, rocks, exposed reefs, and pinnacles up to 19 km offshore along the California coast.
The harbor seal population in Mexico is fully protected under the Ley General de Vida Silvestre NOM-059-ECOL-1994 which forbids the killing, collecting or possession of the species or any part or product obtained from the species. Unfortunately, harbor seals are still killed as bait for sharks by long-line fishermen in Baja California.
Western Pacific harbor seals: Due to entanglement in fishing nets, particularly salmon trap nets, the small population in Hokkaido, estimated at 300-400 seals, is threatened by a mortality rate that exceeds the birth rate. Pollution is also a problem.
Ungava (harbor) seals: Ungava harbor seals are cited as Vulnerable by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, which describes them as a "unique endemic subspecies of Harbor seals with limited range and low numbers, making it vulnerable to human impact and natural catastrophic events." The population currently has minimum legal protection in Canada and none of its habitat is protected, but fortunately the Québec government is considering legal protection for part of the habitat. The Ungava seal is listed as Lower Risk on the IUCN Red List.
References & Further Research
Seal Conservation Society (SCS): Harbour Seal, Phoca vitulina
Alaska Harbor Seal Census – Feature Article OND1999
Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island
David Hall's Encounters in the Sea
Sable Island Green Horse Society
Research Phoca vitulina @
Barcode of Life ~ BioOne ~ Biodiversity Heritage Library ~ CITES ~ Cornell Macaulay Library ~ Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) ~ ESA Online Journals ~ FishBase ~ Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department ~ GBIF ~ Google Scholar ~ ITIS ~ IUCN RedList (Threatened Status) ~ Marine Species Identification Portal ~ NCBI (PubMed, GenBank, etc.) ~ Ocean Biogeographic Information System ~ PLOS ~ SIRIS ~ Tree of Life Web Project ~ UNEP-WCMC Species Database ~ WoRMS
Search for Harbor Seals @
Flickr ~ Google ~ Picsearch ~ Wikipedia ~ YouTube


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Lauren Alaina's 'Like My Mother Does' Video Premieres [VIDEO]
Your long wait is over, Lauren Alaina fans: the video for her first single, 'Like My Mother Does,' is finally here.
The clip premiered Monday and, like the song, it's a sentimental affair, featuring scenes of Alaina reminiscing as she leafs through family photos — and finishing with a shot of the 'American Idol' runner-up and her real-life mom.
The third time is the charm for 'Like My Mother Does,' which was previously recorded twice: in 2010, by Atlantic Nashville artist Jesse Lee, and in 2008, by fellow 'Idol' contestant Kristy Lee Cook. Neither of those versions cracked the Billboard country charts, but Alaina's recording debuted at number 49.
Alaina is currently on the road with this year's American Idols LIVE! tour, which runs through the end of September. She's also working on her first album for Mercury Nashville.


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Thanks to GeneaBloggers and Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog for these prompts.
Week 4: Home. Describe the house in which you grew up. Was it big or small? What made it unique? Is it still there today?
I'm using the same photos, again, because they show our house, as well as our cars!
In this first one, you see the house as it was during the 40s, with the old porch on the right. In about 1948, the old porch was replaced with the "New Porch" which was an extensive "family room" - Fireplace and bookcases on the far end, on the right, in the photo below.
This one is the family standing in front of the fireplace - bookcases on both sides. About 1954-5. Love that Motorola TV, as well!
The house, on the farm, has been gone more than a decade. The farm is no longer in the family, either... near Coon Rapids, in Greene Co, Iowa.
Families are Forever! ;-)


text: The series contains records of taxes assessed on personal property and land owned by residents of Mississippi counties. From 1818 until 1841 the personal property and land taxes were recorded in a combined roll. After 1841 the two were split into separate rolls. Types of personal property that were taxable changed several times during the time period covered by these tax rolls and included such categories as slaves, livestock, horses, carriages, musical instruments, watches, jewelry, guns, knives, cash, securities, clocks, bowling alleys, theatres, racetracks, and furniture. The images were created by FamilySearch onsite at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 2011.


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When Staunton prosecutors levied eight felony obscenity charges against the owner of After Hours Video in November, obscenity cases were few in Virginia. Now it appears Staunton may have started a statewide trend, as police in Virginia Beach are going after a national apparel vendor for a risqué display in its window, and a state legislator made a fuss about former porn stars taking the stage in Williamsburg.
The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday, February 3, that Virginia Beach police confiscated two blown-up photographs from an Abercrombie & Fitch store in the Lynnhaven Mall and cited the store's manager for obscenity. One of the photographs is described as three young men with their backs to the camera, one of them sporting his dungarees just low enough to expose the top of his derriere. The other reportedly shows a shirtless woman using only her hands to cover her nipples. Police officials say the manager refused to take down the display even after being warned he might be charged.
Already the story is getting national attention. On Monday, February 4, Internet news aggregator the Drudge Report posted a link to the Virginian-Pilot article, and the New York Daily News, United Press International, and the Associated Press published items about the citation. Perhaps Virginia Beach police felt the media heat, because by Monday, they had dropped the charges against the Abercrombie manager.
Staunton Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Robertson says that while he has no problem going after the porn purveyors in his town, the Abercrombie ads don't sound like obscenity to him. "I haven't seen the ad," he says, "but I would say that wearing the jeans so low that your crack shows wouldn't get me hot and bothered."
Obscenity charges might have been filed in Williamsburg, too, if Del. Brenda Pogge (R-York) had her way. She came out against the Sex Workers' Art Show, a touring exhibition featuring former prostitutes and adult film stars sharing their professional experiences in a cabaret-style performance, which had a planned show at the College of William & Mary Monday night. In a pre-show letter to William & Mary president Gene Nichol, Pogge wrote, "Not only has this controversy brought considerable embarrassment to our community, but in my estimation this will inflict damage to the dignity and decorum that the college enjoys."
According to the tour's website, the show "offers a wide range of perspectives on sex work, from celebration of prostitutes' rights and sex-positivity to views from the darker sides of the industry." Nichol did not agree to Pogge's request to cancel the show; however, he did ban any and all photography during the performance, including by members of the media.
But that's not enough for Pogge. She wanted Williamsburg police to stand by ready to arrest the performers if they violated the state obscenity statute, a la Jim Morrison's arrest for indecent exposure at a 1969 Doors concert in Miami. Pogge wrote to Nichols she wanted the police presence because she believes the performance "violates the standard of decency that the citizens of this area uphold and wish to maintain."
Pogge got her wish: William & Mary police officers swarmed the show Monday night. While nobody at the Commonwealth Auditorium got arrested, performers complained from the stage that they were being forced to perform a censored version of their show. Additionally, troupe leader Annie Oakley told the crowd that just before showtime, she had received a call from Attorney General Bob McDonnell. After the AG had helped to negotiate the Sex Workers' contract with William & Mary, McDonnell told Oakley that the group could not sell their merchandise on school grounds.
Oakley displayed her displeasure by leading the crowd in the chant, "Bob McDonnell loves naked ladies."
Staunton's chief prosecutor thinks the police were justified in watching the touring act closely. "I wouldn't go after Hair, because that has artistic value," Robertson says, "but this sounds bad because prostitution is illegal, and if you've got someone saying people ought to prostitute themselves, then they ought to prosecute because that's inciting someone to commit a crime."
Robertson is glad to see his fellow law enforcement officials keeping a close eye on potentially obscene materials. "I'm elated that they're going after this stuff," he says. "If it's patently offensive and doesn't have any literary, political, scientific, or artistic value, it's serious stuff.
"Not only," says Robertson, "is this stuff degrading to women, it leads to AIDS and STD epidemics, teenage pregnancy, and it goes hand in glove with drugs, because in both cases it's people looking for a high, and they need a worse and worse version to get the same high."
As for the first case in Virginia's recent rash of prosecutions, Staunton's After Hours bust, Robertson says he's preparing for a March 6 hearing on pretrial motions. Those proceedings will feature a few new players who've come on board since After Hours Video owner Rick Krial was in Staunton Circuit Court on November 20. Judge Thomas Wood is taking over for Judge Humes Franklin Jr. who determined that his recently retired colleague would probably have more time to devote to the cumbersome case than Franklin, who still has a full docket.
Matthew Buzzelli, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, will co-prosecute the case with Robertson. While Buzzelli would not speak about the specific details of the case, he did say that it's unusual for him to become involved in a case in which there are no federal charges. However, "[Robertson's] a nice guy, and it's close by for me being in Washington, and it looked like I could be helpful," he says.
After Hours cashier Tinsley Embrey has also been indicted on six felony counts of obscenity, and his indictment has brought another high-profile attorney to case. Three months after Larry Flynt attorney Paul Cambria signed on to represent Krial, fellow Flynt counselor Louis Sirkin has agreed to defend Embrey.
The Cincinnati-based attorney is known not only for his successful arguments on the Hustler publisher's behalf, but also for winning one of the most famous obscenity trials of the last 20 years: the 1990 Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center case. There, director Dennis Barrie was tried and acquitted by an Ohio jury that found an exhibition featuring sadomasochistic pictures taken by famed photographer Robert Mapplethorpe did not constitute "pandering obscenity."
So what brings Sirkin to Staunton?
"Every First Amendment case is important and significant," he says. "If I'm given the chance, I'll get involved."
Sirkin says that while it's not common for a cashier to be charged in these kinds of cases, it's not the first time he's seen it. What is surprising to Sirkin is the presence of the Justice Department.
"I've been doing this 35 years," he says, "and it's the first time I've seen them get involved in a local case like this."
This won't be the first time the legal dream team of Sirkin and Cambria have tried a case together, and in Sirkin's recollection, this double team has never lost.
"If we did, it was his fault," Sirkin laughs, "but I'm sure he'd say otherwise."
Prosecutor Robertson says he's looking forward to taking on his highly touted opponents. "Let's tee it up," says Roberson. "The bigger they come, the harder they fall."


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Careers in photography
Become a fine art photographer. Become a gallery director. Become an art director. Photography is the art of putting a frame around the world. As a SCAD student, you'll sharpen your skills, both in shooting and in post-processing, and emerge thoroughly prepared to excel in the competitive professional world.
Launch your career as a professional:
- Fine art photographer
- Gallery director
- Art director
And get recruited and hired by the best of the best:
- Vanity Fair
- National Portrait Gallery
- Harper's BAZAAR
Alumnus An Le, owner of An Le Studio
At SCAD, we provide students with the tools they need to excel in the most fast-paced environments, in the most prestigious roles. An Le (B.F.A. photography, 2012) describes how SCAD gave him opportunities to show his talent and complete his degree remotely as he launched his career in New York City with an internship at Art + Commerce.
"[SCAD] gave me the opportunity to do everything I wanted — to do my internship, to take classes and finish up school — and then I also had time to do my own photoshoots on the weekends."An Le | Owner of An Le Studio
SCAD will see you to success
We support our students both within the classroom and beyond. As part of that effort, the SCAD office for career and alumni success offers students and graduates an array of career-building services, including:
- Résumé development
- Portfolio building
- Mock interviews
- Self-promotion
- Assistance finding internships and employment opportunities
With professional guidance and one-on-one advising, SCAD will help you kick-start your creative career.


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Michelle Obama Hilariously Breaks Down Why Melania Trump's Inauguration Gift Exchange Appeared So Awkward
The former FLOTUS also explained to Ellen Degeneres how Barack stepped in and saved the day.
MONACO (AP) -- The IAAF said Friday it has received the results of gender tests on South African runner Caster Semenya but is still reviewing them and will not issue any final decision until November.
The International Association of Athletics Federations did not confirm or deny Australian newspaper reports that the recently crowned women's world 800-meter champion has male and female sexual organs.
"We would like to emphasize that these should not be considered as official statements by the IAAF," the federation said in a statement regarding the reports that first appeared in News Limited and Fairfax newspapers.
The Australian newspaper reported in its Friday edition that medical reports on the 18-year-old Semenya indicate she has no ovaries, but rather has internal male testes, which are producing large amounts of testosterone.
"We can officially confirm that gender verification test results will be examined by a group of medical experts," the IAAF said in a written statement. "No decision on the case will be communicated until the IAAF has had the opportunity to complete this examination. We do not expect to make a final decision on this case before the next meeting of the IAAF Council which takes place in Monaco on November 20-21."
After dominating her race at the world championships in Berlin last month, Semenya underwent blood and chromosome tests, as well as a gynecological examination.
Earlier, in an e-mail to The Associated Press, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said Thursday he couldn't confirm the Australian news reports.
"I simply haven't seen the results," Davies said. "We have received the results from Germany, but they now need to be examined by a group of experts and we will not be in a position to speak to the athlete about them for at least a few weeks.
"After that, depending on the results, we will meet privately with the athlete to discuss further action."
Semenya's father, Jacob, expressed anger when contacted by the AP on Friday morning, saying people who insinuate his daughter is not a woman "are sick. They are crazy."
He said he had not been told anything by the IAAF, Athletics South Africa or his daughter.
"I know nothing," he said.
Davies said the newspaper's report "should be treated with caution."
The IAAF has said Semenya probably would keep her medal because the case was not related to a doping matter.
"Our legal advice is that, if she proves to have an advantage because of the male hormones, then it will be extremely difficult to strip the medal off her, since she has not cheated," Davies wrote to the AP. "She was naturally made that way, and she was entered in Berlin by her team and accepted by the IAAF. But let's wait and see once we have the final decision."
Leonard Chuene, the president of Athletics South Africa, told the AP that all he has heard from the IAAF is that the test results will be available in November.
"The results are not in the country yet, so we cannot comment on anything," Chuene said.
The former FLOTUS also explained to Ellen Degeneres how Barack stepped in and saved the day.
"When my teacher asks me a question thinking I'm not paying attention, but I get it right."


text: Hi! I'm Mariano, qualified Spanish native teacher. I have worked in several schools for almost 10 years with students of any level, age and nationality. I offer private classes one to one or little groups. You can choose: your place, my place or even on line. The classes are always focused to your needs. I hope to hear from you soon! Thank you, https://speakspanishbarcelona.com Mariano


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Afasic England
Afasic is the UK charity representing children and young people with speech, language and communication difficulties, working for their inclusion in society and supporting their parents and carers.
African AIDS Helpline
The African AIDS Helpline gives you the time and a confidential space to explore your feelings, seek advice in confidence, without prejudice and get the help you need. We will answer your enquiries over the phone as well as send you written information. The helpline…
Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA)
Africans Unite Against Child Abuse is an organisation concerned with cruelty against African children. With offices in London and Manchester, the premier charity promoting the welfare of African children in the UK. AFRUCA work in partnership with other organisations in Africa and across Europe.
Afrobeats Dance Advanced
Mondays 6-8pm; closed 1-5 April 2019; open during Easter holiday and May Half-Term; closed Bank Holidays
These vibrant classes are taught by Patience from the amazing GOP Dancers. You will: learn the fundamentals whilst grooving and having fun improve your stamina and work on your creativity expand your knowledge and dance vocabulary We work towards performing at end of term shows,…
Afrobeats Dance Beginners
Thursdays 5.30-7.30pm; closed 1-7 April; open Easter Holiday and May Half-Term; closed bank holidays
These vibrant classes for 13-19 year olds are taught by Micah learn the fundamentals whilst grooving and having fun improve your stamina and work on your creativity expand your knowledge and dance vocabulary We work towards performing at end of term shows, community festivals and…
After Adoption
After Adoption offers a wide range of services and provides information, support and advice to all those affected by adoption. We work with children, families and adults and offer support throughout the adoption process. This can involve helping a birth parent to overcome the loss…
After-school Pottery at 1A Arts
Term-time only; Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 4pm to 5.30pm
Our after school Pottery Class for 6 to 12 year olds is a lot of fun and makes use of our fantastic facilities at 1A Arts. We have a pottery studio, complete with kiln, allowing kids to explore their creativity. Colleen is our very talented pottery…
Age UK Islington
Coronavirus Update Age UK Islington is currently providing the following services: Wellbeing calling service. This will run Weekdays, 9am – 5pm. Phone number: 0207 281 6018 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usual Service: We provide free information and advice on a range of issues for over 55s, we…
The Age UK Personal Alarm Service
Help on hand 24 hours a day.The Age UK Personal Alarm Service gives users the freedom to live independently in their own home, safe in the knowledge that if there is an accident or they have a fall, they can get help quickly.Personal alarms offer…
AGLOW (Association Of Greater London Older Women)
Campaign for improved status, rights and services for older women. Challenge ageism, sexism, homophobia, racism, disableism and much more. Hold conferences and workshops on health, social care and education issues. Use drama based on our members' experiences to raise awareness and promote good practice. Perform…
Aidis Trust
Aidis Trust specialises in assistivecomputer technology for disabled people. Our aim is to help people, regardless of their disability, to gain the most from today's computer technology. We are an independent charity with over 35 years of experience working with assistive computer technology. The Aidis…
Aikido of London
See website for details; Beginners courses on Thursday, 7-8pm and Saturday, 2-3pm.
Aikido is a non-competitive Japanese martial art that uses throws, locks and pins to neutralise an attack. Like many modern martial arts systems it develops fitness, flexibility, strength and focus. Aikido also encourages development in a co-operative environment that is suitable for young and mature, male and…
Air Pollution
Air quality in Islington is monitored by King's College and posted on the London Air Quality Network website.
Akademi South Asian Dance runs education and community projects in Islington and the surrounding area for children and young people in schools and local arts venues.
Akina Mama Wa Afrika
Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) is an international, pan-African, non-governmental development organisation for African women based in the UK with an Africa regional office in Kampala, Uganda. Translated from Swahili, the name means 'solidarity among African women', signifying African sisterhood. AMwA was founded to create…
Al-Anon Family Groups
Al-Anon Family Groups provide support to anyone whose life is, or has been, affected by someone else's drinking. We believe alcoholism affects the whole family, not just the drinker. We are an international organisation with over 800 support groups in the UK and Republic of…
Al-Anon, Family Groups UK and Eire
Al-Anon is a worldwide organisation which offers understanding and support for families and friends of problem drinkers, whether the alcoholic is still drinking or not. Alateen is a part of Al-Anon and is for young people aged 12 to 17 who have been affected someone…
Asperger London Area Group ALAG is a monthly support group for adults with high functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome living in the Greater London area. The meetings are based in Islington and referrals come from any service or indivuals can self-refer.
Alamo Housing Co-operative
Tenant controlled housing co-op. Aims to help homeless single people by using short-life property which it manages while the owners await funding to rehabilitate it.


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UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Drogba fights poverty in a new advertisementJul 14, 2009
Didier Drogba, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador, is teaming up against poverty on a new UNDP advertisement to garner support for achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa. World-renowned photographer Rankin photographed the football star for this series of UNDP pro bono advertisements. The advertisement is part of a campaign that revolves around the concept of "Teaming Up Against Poverty" to achieve the MDGs. It features celebrities from the worlds of sports, arts, fashion or business portrayed by top professional photographers.
The series of advertisements are being produced through the generous donations of their time by renowned photographers and celebrities. Hundreds of newspapers and magazines across the globe have published the earlier series of anti-poverty advertisements and have started publishing this new advertisement.
The new advertisement is linked to the celebration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, in light of the fact that it is the first time that Africa is hosting one of the greatest international sporting events. Football star Didier Drogba seeks to make public opinion aware of the potential that Africa has to reach the MDGs, without forgetting that several hundred millions of people still suffer from a dramatic humanitarian situation because of extreme poverty.
Despite the progress made, "we still have a long way to go. Half the people in sub-Saharan Africa are still living in extreme poverty," declares the ad. "An African woman dies in childbirth every two minutes and more than 15percent of African children will not reach their 5th birthday." Climate change also poses a particularly daunting challenge to many developing countries, especially the poorest. With the 2015 target date fast approaching, it is more important than ever to track the progress of the international community working together to fight poverty and achieve the MDGs.
Didier Drogba invites the general public to team up with him to participate in the efforts needed to reach the MDGs . The London-based agency Leagas Delaney has created the campaign and has produced the new advertisement pro bono.Contact InformationAziyadé Poltier-Mutal, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com, tel: + 41 22 917 83 68


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ProtoWizard is a rapid prototyping CAM system. ProtoWizard creates up to 4 axis toolpath from STL files. ProtoWizard has special features for the Jewelry Industry...especially Ring manufacturers! ProtoWizard creates 3 sided ring programs automatically..it even has build in Core and Support parametrics. ProtoWizard is one of the fastest toolpath generators on the market, creates extremely optimized NC files, and machines the rings in less time with superior quality!
Don Wiesmann, Cutting-Edge Applied Technologies, LLC
(513) 367-4556


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You should recognise their captain, Dick Tärnström.Lancer wrote:So Jensen will go to Stockholm AIK is he doesn't make the Canucks out of training camp. Slightly surprised it wasn't MoDo due to the connections with that team.
Hey Per, what would you say about this development? How do you think Stockholm AIK will be as a developmental experience for Jensen? I don't recognize anybody on their roster, what can you tell us?
Other than that, they don't have that much of a team, imho. Ended 7th this season, 8th the year before that, in a twelve team league, so... Bottom half, I guess. Eight teams make the playoffs though, and both years they did score an upset in the quarter final, but were eliminated in the semi final.
Couple of other familiar names from their past: this is where Börje Salming winded down for a few years after leaving the NHL. Thomas Gradin and his brother Peter, Kent Nilsson, Mika Kiprusoff, Tim Thomas (sic!)...


text: Molto Grigio 14oz Natural reusable ecoffee cup £9.00 £7.00 Coming Soon An environmentally responsible reusable made with naturally organic bamboo fibre. It's BPA and phthalate free and at just 135g, it's light, sturdy and best of all, biodegradable when you're finished with it. It's also dishwasher safe and has a fully sealable non-drip lid. That's why Ecoffee Cup is the Natural Reusable. Not suitable for microwave. Features: 400ml/ 14oz Naturally sterile: no flavour-taint Resealable 'no-drip' lid Reusable over and over Biodegradable base material Cuts daily consumer waste Fully dishwasher safe Made with naturally organic bamboo fibre


text:
Hi all,
I am in need of a routine that can read a very large matrix from an external file and distribute across a processor grid for use with various pblas routines.
Typically this matrix would be too large to store on a single node prior to redistribution so could someone explain:
(1) if the PDLAREAD routine can read from a file and redistribute without constructing the full matrix on a single node prior to redistribution?
(2) which file format is expected for the input matrix i.e. unformatted or formatted file formats?
Thanks in advance,


text:
Jane is dragging Maura to bed. Wait, stop. Let me rephrase that. Jane is dragging Maura into helping her in bed. Wait, let me rephrase that again. Jane is dragging her new bed into her apartment and begging Maura to help her. Damn. No matter how I say that it just sounds so gay.
Maybe that is because it is so gay. Here is Jane, in her weekend uniform of tank top and sneakers. She's carrying her wallet in her mouth because she's a damn butch who of course only carries a wallet. Though, I must say, slightly bad form on not having pockets. You couldn't get pants with at least one cargo pocket, honey? And then here is Maura, in her weekend uniform of a form-fitting designer skirt-top ensemble with matching open-toed kitten heels. She is carrying a purse because she's a femme and of course she carries a purse. Though, I must say, slightly bad form on not putting Jane's wallet in your purse. You couldn't at least make the cursory offer to carry it like a good girlfriend, sweetie?
Jane implores Maura to help her as she pulls the bedframe box into her living room. Maura whines back, "I'm in my brunch clothes." Jane snaps that they have to build her bed before she gets dragged to boutiques. So then Maura relents and makes the most adorable little, "But I am the femme. I don't wanna do physical work. WAH."-face you have ever seen.
Jane pulls out the instructions which tell her to slide something into a hole in the appropriate size and my mind drifts off to a special place where the bed is already assembled and a sweaty Boston homicide detective and Massachusetts chief medical examiner are sprawled across it. Right, so now your mind is there, too. By all means, take your time and enjoy. I'll wait.
Waiting impatiently is Jane, who wonders aloud where Frankie and Frost are with her new mattress. Aw, was it a double brunch date? Rizzles and Frostie out on the town together? And they say lesbians and gay men don't socialize enough. She finds Frostie working together, naturally, but not to carry up her mattress. Instead they're carrying the couch of Jane's new next-door-lesbian, er, I mean neighbor. Come on, she's all tatted up and wearing a vest as a top. And her name is Riley. And she looks suspiciously like Mandy Musgrave's character Ashley from South of Nowhere. You could see how I would make the mistake.
Jane definitely notices, and gets jealous when Maura compliments her body art and perhaps smiles a little too much smile at this new girl. Maura even gives the new girl a little Totally Gratuitous, Totally Gay Touching as she admires her female koi fish tattoo. Mama Rizzoli gets in on the new-girl worship and gives all of Jane's non-stick cookware away to her. I wonder if this is Mama R's way of not-so-subtly pushing Jane into making more of a commitment with Maura. Give away all her stuff and they'll have to move in together, right?
Jane is having none of it, but the fellas are more interesting in becoming best lesbros with the new girl than bringing up her mattress. Just when Jane can take no more her phone rings and it's murder time. Jane really is having a bad Saturday. Buys a new bed, can't break it in with her girlfriend. Meets her new neighbor, can't keep her girlfriend from flirting with her.
At the So In Love Wedding Chapel, our very bloody dead bride is very bloody and dead. Jane is complaining about the place's tackiness. No doubt when she gets married to Maura it will be a lavish and classy affair with nary a fake flower. But mostly she's just complaining that her mattress is still on top of her car. And Maura isn't on it. The victim was a Croatian exchange student. Maura breaks out a little Serbian and every lesbians' pants fall off. What? It's true.
All the detectives are like, "Dude, is there anything you can't do, Dr. Isles?" And she's like, it's an easy language, no big deal. Jane tries her hand at it, which sounds so cute you just want to give her a Scooby snack. Frost decides to call Frankie to have him "help" on the case, but mainly it's because he doesn't want him to become besties with Riley before he can.
Back at the precinct, the detectives learn the bride had a younger sister, who is now missing. They track them both to a non-profit group called Samaritan Girl which helps young Balkan women come to the United States. Maura calls it an odd name, because the girls aren't the Samaritans. Jane wonders why her girlfriend is giving grammar lessons instead of doing the autopsy. It's because the van is stuck in traffic. But also because she wants to be where Jane is and Jane is not in the autopsy room. And then Maura starts talking about "empirical spatial temporal features" of traffic congestion and Jane's gives her the "I love you, you enormous nerd"-face.


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The two chipmakers are vying to set the communication standards for the Internet of Things, the booming market for everyday devices that can communicate with each other and connect to the Web.
(Oregonian photo)
Intel rejected an attempt by rival chipmaker Qualcomm to set technological standards for the next generation of connected electronic devices, instead signing up companies for a competing specification.
Intel said this week it is setting up the Open Interconnect Consortium, with the backing of Samsung Electronics Co., Dell and Broadcom Corp. Last week, Microsoft said it joined Qualcomm's group, the AllSeen Alliance, following companies such as Cisco Systems.
Risking a repeat of technology's most famous compatibility failures -- including Sony Corp.'s promotion of the Betamax home-video standard against JVC's VHS in the 1970s -- the two chipmakers are vying to set the communication standards for the Internet of Things, the booming market for everyday devices that can communicate with each other and connect to the Web.
Both sides agree that without standards, it will take longer to reach a point where consumers can use their smartphones to remotely control their refrigerators, for example, or to use their computers to power up their air-conditioning units or to send data to their utility providers. Neither company is that impressed with its rival's approach.
"We've looked at what's out there today," said Doug Fisher, head of Intel's software business. "Certainly if those met the needs of us and others we would have participated there. Based on what we understand, that's not the right approach. We're going to continue down this path."
Four Years
Qualcomm, which has been working on its open-source standard for four years, said it hasn't heard from Intel and would be happy to discuss working together to incorporate its efforts. The San Diego-based company is concerned the competing groups will cause confusion among consumers and developers deciding which standard to support in their devices, said Rob Chandhok, senior vice president at Qualcomm and president of the company's interactive platforms division.
"I'm a little puzzled," he said. "I don't understand how we couldn't have solved this within the existing alliance and framework rather than saying we have a completely different approach and fragment the market, because I don't think that will be best for consumer and businesses."
Intel, whose processors run more than 80 percent of the world's computers, has lost billions of dollars in its business unit aimed at breaking Qualcomm's grip on mobile-phone chips. More than 90 percent of smartphones that currently run on the fastest phone networks contain combined Qualcomm processors and communications chips. At the same time, Qualcomm hasn't yet fielded processors that have hurt Intel's dominance in computing.
Devices using the Intel-sponsored standard will start to appear next year, Fisher said. The Santa Clara, California-based company projects that the market will reach the billions of devices.
-- Dina Bass and Ian King, Bloomberg News


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Here. We. Go.
Space News...
The test flight astronauts for Crew Dragon and Boeing's StarLiner. No flight assignments yet.Crew Dragon completes thermal vacuum tests ahead of first test flight
CINCINNATI — The first SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft has completed a series of tests at a NASA center that may put the spacecraft one step closer to an uncrewed test flight later this year.
In a speech at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Propulsion and Energy Forum here July 9, Janet Kavandi, director of NASA's Glenn Research Center, said the spacecraft recently left the center's Plum Brook Station after a series of thermal vacuum and acoustics tests.
"They just left yesterday or today," she said in her remarks at the conference. "They've been out there twice, at least, at Plum Brook Station." She didn't disclose the outcome of the tests, and SpaceX did not respond to an email requesting comment on the status of the test.
The company previously indicated that the testing at Plum Brook was the last milestone before the spacecraft was shipped to Florida for final testing and integration with its Falcon 9 rocket. "Once complete, Crew Dragon will travel to Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of its first flight," the company said in a June 20 Instagram post about the tests that were ongoing at Plum Brook.
Jessica Jensen, director of Dragon mission management at SpaceX, also said the Plum Brook tests were the last before the spacecraft is shipped to Florida for launch. "Once it leaves Plum Brook, it's going to come down to Cape Canaveral for final launch processing," she said at a June 28 briefing at the Kennedy Space Center about the launch of a Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station.
Crew Dragon DM-1 vehicle
Diameter: 3.7 m (12 ft) with Trunk
Height: 8.1 m (27 ft) with Trunk
Pressurized volume: 10 m3 (350 cu/ft)
Unpressurized volume (Trunk): 14 m3 (490 cu/ft)
Same DM-1 vehicle minus the nose cone, thermal panel bolt sealant and Trunk thermal radiator covers.
Crew Dragon launch abort system test flight. 8 SuperDraco engines, arranged in redundant pairs with fratricide protection and multi-redundant plumbing. Full thrust in 100ms.
SuperDraco thrust (each): 71,000 N (16,000 lbf)