text:
Upgrade the Airport Experience for the 21st Century
More than 92 million people flew through Atlanta in 2011, giving it the dubious honor of world's busiest airport. This year is already looking bigger and better, thanks to a new terminal that can save up to 45 minutes in travel time.
Atlanta's $1.4 billion Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal is one of the much-needed new airport terminals whose innovations address the modern air travel experience—with its complex security procedures, crowded-to-capacity flights, and expectations of Wi-Fi and enough diversions to withstand delays.
"Passengers are spending up to an hour longer inside the airport than they did just a decade or so earlier," says Tom Theobald, architect and principal at Fentress Architects, which specializes in airport design. He noted that even as air travel has changed dramatically, too often that added time is spent in airports built in the '60s and '70s.
Forward-thinking city and airport officials worldwide understand that investing in infrastructure lures more tourists, and at least some are taking action to introduce new terminals, overhaul old ones—or, as in Doha, reclaim a piece of land and start an airport from scratch. A common goal is to improve passenger flow and efficiency, while considering aesthetics, sustainability, and the needs of today's jet-setters.
You don't have to go far to be able to charge your smartphone at Sacramento's International Airport Terminal B, for instance. It was unveiled in October 2011 with 140 tables of two USB ports and a two-plug outlet each—more than any other U.S. airport, according to PC World.
At Liberia airport in northwestern Costa Rica, a new international terminal provides another kind of convenience: easier access to the beaches of Tamarindo, the Nicoya Peninsula, and national parks. It opened to meet growing tourist demand. Instead of assigned ticket counters, any airline can operate at any ticket space or gate location using pioneering common-use terminal equipment.
Even as they introduce new technologies, some terminals and airports are also incorporating decidedly local design elements and vendors. "Not only are the selections healthier, but airports like LAX are bringing in local spots, like Pink's Hot Dogs, that you wouldn't find anywhere else in the country," says John DiScala, who spends 220 days a year on the road and founded JohnnyJet.com.
Ready to upgrade your next trip? We've listed the airlines that serve these new terminals, including LAX's T6, and the innovations that will help make your airport experience more pleasant.
To see the rest of the Coolest New Airport Terminals, visit TravelandLeisure.com.


text:
It's a new experience for Dan Langfield, and it's a frustrating one.
The Somerset High graduate — a 2012 third-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds — has been sidelined with a shoulder injury. He remains at the Reds' spring training camp outside Phoenix, Ariz., where his baseball life is downright dull. He said the injury has been diagnosed as an "internal impingement" in the pitcher's right throwing shoulder.
He said he first felt it in January and his agent notified the Reds. Langfield said he easily passed every strength test on his right arm, but the pinching persisted.
"It's frustrating not being able to be out there and not doing my job," he said.
Rehabilitation has involved a lot of stretching and a buildup of distance throwing from 45 feet to, he hoped, 90 feet by the end of last week.
"I've got a little ways to go. I'm not rushing anything. I want to avoid any surgery at all. ... Running and rehab. That's about as fun as it gets."
Langfield has been back throwing for about a month and he's hoping to be back in action within a month-and-a-half, but, he confessed, "there is no official timetable. We'll let it run its course."
Langfield last fall was named by baseballamerica.com as the 10th best prospect in the Pioneer League, the rookie league in which the righthander pitched very well this summer.
Shoulder injuries are obviously the worst kind of hell for a pitcher. Hopefully, rehab carries the day, but it's not encouraging that he's passed every strength test and still can't get past the impingement.

subset: commoncrawl


text: It's interesting to hear people who know the Lohans — but who aren't the Lohans — talk about the Lohans. On last night's episode of Living Lohan, Ali was supposed to go in the studio with Jeremy, the sleazy, self-promoting hip hop producer who exploited a "relationship" he was having with Lindsay to get some attention from the press. Jeremy was having a discussion with Ali's vocal coach about Ali's work ethic and the two agreed that even though Ali is 14, she seems 27. And they think this is a good thing! Clip above.


text:
Blogged By: La Tray
Source & Story Credit: Yahoo Malaysia – Casey Lee
Photo Credit: jpopthailand.com
Posted: Saturday June , 2012 @10:10 p.m. PST
It was all a case of misunderstanding when Speed memberUehara Takako was spotted holding the hands of a child at the Naha Airport while she was visiting her hometown in Okinawa.
According to Tokyo Hive, a rumour started spreading that Ueharahad a child out of wedlock with fiancé ET-King member Tenn, when an airport staff had mistakenly identified the child to be hers. When Uehara first heard about the rumours from her mother, she clarified on her official blog that the child was not hers, but was her nephew.
However, Uehara was flattered that she was mistaken as the mother of the child, saying:
"If it looked like I was at ease holding my nephew, I am happy. I guess I looked like a mother."
Uehara added that she would let everyone know 'when that time comes'.


text:
Consistently Inconsistent, Yanks overcome Jays
Tonight had a warm, fuzzy, nostalgic feeling; in a way it's almost as if we were brought back to 2009, a year that the Yankees won the World Series. A year that wasn't that long ago, yet right now seems it was ages ago.
The Yankees were 1-18 when trailing after eight innings coming into tonight's game, and as fate would have it, they were down 4-3 in the ninth inning at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays in tonight's game at home. It looked as if they would be 1-19, but the Yanks made up their minds: they weren't losing.
Following a double by pinch-hitter Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson came to the plate and came up with a clutch, two-out base hit to tie the game at four, bringing home Chris Dickerson, who pinch-ran for Posada.
Granderson promptly stole second base setting up the moment.
Mystique and aura made an appearance when Mark Teixeira stepped up to the plate and squeaked a hit past Jays' first baseman Juan Rivera. The ball trickled into right field as Granderson made his way to the plate, giving the Yanks a 5-4 walk-off win over their division rivals.
A pie to the face for Teixeira and a win for the Bronx Bombers.
In the eighth inning the Yanks scored two runs, receiving an RBI double off the bat of Robinson Cano which plated Granderson. Russell Martin then singled to bring home Cano.
The Yanks got their first run in the third when Martin crushed a solo home run into the left field stands, his ninth of the season.
CC Sabathia did a nice job on the mound tonight, tossing a complete game to save a depleted bullpen (ask Rafael Soriano, who is going to see Dr. James Andrews and is now shut down indefinitely).
He gave up four earned runs on eight hits, walked one batter, and struck out three. Really the only blemish on his ledger was a 3-run fourth inning, but he retired the last 16 batters he faced.
Sabathia hasn't been as overly dominant this year, but nonetheless is now 5-3 with an ERA of 3.17. His struggles have defined the Yankees' play as of late:
It's really not a stretch to say the Yanks have been playing very inconsistently lately. After dropping six games in a row – the longest losing streak since April of 2007 – they came alive with three consecutive wins. Then they lost one to the Mets, only to win their next two.
Following their Subway Series win, they dropped their series opener to the Blue Jays yesterday, only to win in their final at-bat tonight.
If that doesn't define a hot-cold streak, I don't know what does.
It's easy to point out some of the losses that rest on the shoulders of the offense. The one that sticks out like a sore thumb is Friday May 20 vs. the Mets, a 2-1 loss. Freddy Garcia, the Yanks' starter, gave his team a quality start: seven innings pitched, two earned runs on five hits, two walks and two Ks.
Not for nothing, it was a good outing. The offense on the other hand was a different story.
The Yanks left seven runners on base and were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Each time they had a chance to score, it somehow got away from them – and I will be the first to say the Mets' pitching did a solid job of holding the Yankee hitters down. They knew the Yanks were scuffling in terms of scoring runs and took advantage.
My friend's dad went as far as saying the Yankees made R.A. Dickey look like Bert Blyleven.
But other games, like yesterday's 7-3 loss to Toronto, are more or less on the shoulders of the pitching. Bartolo Colon seemed to be cruising, despite surrendering a first inning home run to the Blue Jays' version of Mickey Mantle, AKA Jose Bautista, MLB's leading home run slugger.
Joey Bats took Colon deep in the first, but the Yanks recovered and tied the game at one in the fourth. However the Blue Jays exploded on Colon in the sixth, scoring five runs and putting the Yanks in a hole they were never able to climb out of.
Colon's line: six innings pitched, six earned runs on seven hits, four walks and eight strikeouts.
Other than the eight Ks, it's not a pretty sight.
The bottom line is, the Yanks collectively have to step up if they want to win it all this season, they way they did in 2009. The AL East is not going to be an easy division to claim and this three-horse race (among the Yanks, Rays, and Red Sox) could even become a four-horse race.
The Blue Jays are 24-24, only 2 ½ games out of first place. If they continue to keep their heads above water, and play the way they did against the Yanks yesterday night, they may have a shot to raise a few eyebrows and finish near the top of the division – not saying they will win the east, but at the very least, they could create problems for the Yankees as a spoiler team.
Heck, even Baltimore is only 3 ½ games out at 22-24, as they won their game over the Kansas City Royals tonight. This really could be anyone's division to win if things keep going the way they are now.
But time will tell our division winner.
As for tonight…tonight reminded me of 2009. Only because the Yankees did not die when they had odds and numbers stacked against them. The '09 Yanks recorded walk-off victory after walk-off victory, and it never mattered if they were down late in the game.
In a close game, you could not beat them in the late innings. And tonight, they were down in the late innings…and they didn't get beat.
Tomorrow afternoon the Yanks will look to win the rubber game vs. Toronto and will get a much-needed day off on Thursday.
Garcia (2-4, 3.12 ERA) will gun for the win, opposed by Jo-Jo Reyes (0-3, 4.07 ERA).


text:
Popular destinations
Latest fares and offers
Travel extras
Corporate and business travel
Cathay Pacific Visa
Watch your miles take flight with everyday purchases
Manage your trip
Prepare for your trip
Baggage information
Travel apps
Discover our destinations
Before your flight
Flying with us
Rewards and partnerships
Move Beyond
Experience the new Airbus A350
AboutOnline Casino Reviews
Member account
RedeemCasino Listings
Club offers and updates
JoinOnline Casino Reviews
Contact us
You are on Membership holiday until #membershipHolidayEndDate#
To find out what's on your flight, enter the details for each flight segment separately.
Flying A350? We offer an additional selection ofCasino Online to enjoy
Show additional entertainment on the A350, or
Log in to Manage my booking to see if you are flying on the A350.
Choose from our great selection of TV programmes. See all TV shows.


text:
Credit card skimming devices put on Md. ATMs | News
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - Montgomery County Police say credit card skimming devices were placed on ATMs at banks in the Bethesda and Chevy Chase areas.
Police say the devices, which recorded account numbers, were put on ATMs several times in August.
Officers say the account numbers were later used fraudulently.
Detectives urge consumers to inspect credit card readers at ATMs, gas pumps and elsewhere before using them. People should check for parts that are loose, crooked or damaged, or for scratches or adhesive or tape residue on the device.


text:
Social Responsibility
Sustainable Development
CN Innovations is a science and technology company with strong sense of social responsibility and environment protection. We paid great effort for environmental protection and energy conservation apart from pursuing economic efficiency.
Resource conservation
Resource conservation is one major aspect of environment protection in CN Innovations. Various measures were adopted for continuous reduction of energy consumption.
For water conservation, we invested more than 100 million yuan to create a water reuse device which can effectively transform the industrial waste water into the ordinary tap water via a series of processing equipment (sterilization, disinfection, filtration, RO, reverse osmosis membrane, etc. ). In addition, we had continuously improved our production process and equipment design to minimize the use of water. As a result, the water consumption reduced about 143,520 tons per year while the industrial wastewater discharge is also reduced to a great extent.
For electricity conservation, we adopt the quality management approach to improve production efficiency and stability, thus enhance economic efficiency while reducing the energy consumption. Furthermore, we take the initiatives to set up energy saving plans and targetsregularly, such as installing energy saving lighting system, air-conditioning system, and so on.
Environmental Protection
Environmental protection is the root of the corporate mission of CNInnovations, and this mission has been accomplished with evidences all over the world. In the United States, the self-developed low-emissivity film technology has been widely praised; in the United Kingdom, we investedin biological sciences for developing green and non-polluted medical products; in Hong Kong, the development of "green electric car" greatly reducing diesel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions; in Sichuan, we invest to protect the rare Gongga Mountain red rocky natural resources; in Shenzhen, through technological breakthroughs, we adopt laser etching instead of chemical etching in producing the touch panels.


text:
Gender and Diversity
The Equal Opportunities Officer and her deputies represent the three status groups at RWTH Aachen: non-academic staff, academic staff and professors. They are the people to contact on issues relating to male and female equality at the university.
The Equal Opportunities Officer provides information, advice, support and training measures.
The services provided by RWTH Aachen's Equal Opportunities Office can be found on their webpage.
Faculty for Georesources and Material Technology's Equality Officer:
Monika Andreas
Faculty for Georesources and Materials Engineering
Intzestr. 1, Room 100.3
52056 Aachen
Tel.: +49-241-80 98790
Fax: +49-241-80-92370
Promotion of Women Plan
The North Rhine-Westphalian Equal Opportunities Act of 1999 requires all places of business in the state with more than 20 employees to prepare a women's promotion plan every three years. RWTH Aachen complies with this statutory requirement by preparing plans for each faculty, the central institutes and the university administration. One objective of these women's promotion plans is to identify any underrepresentation of women across the pay groups functions in order to take appropriate measures to remedy the situation.
The Promotion of Women's Plans of the Faculty for Georesources and Materials Engineering:


text:
With no real basketball on this weekend, now is as good of a time as any to sit back, relax, fall asleep, wake up all pissy that you fell asleep mid-afternoon, woke up when it was dark and now you don't know whether you're comin' or goin', decide that Razzball is as good of a way as any to re-center your brain and look at some player comparisons of like-skilled fantasy options.
We compiled the Game Scores of each of the following 10 players, including any games missed due to injury, and set them right on top of one another. Some players are incredibly streaky, some match-up closer than you might think and others are Kevin Love. Kevin Love's just awesome.Game Score is a stat that approximates a player's productivity for a single game. All the normal fantasy categories in addition to TOVs and PFs are included, while minutes per game are not. Generally, 12-15 is average, LeBron's 51-point game earned him a 46.7 GmSc, this year's league high.
Take a gander and I'd be happy to entertain matchups that haven't been drawn up here, so suggest them in the comments.
Click any of the graphs to enlarge them.
First up, two of the three most prolific rebounders in the game: Kevin Love and Zach Randolph. The first thing you'll notice is the weak start both players had to the season. Love, due to playing 30 minutes only once in his first seven games and Randolph due to injuring himself five games into the season. You'll also notice that, although Randolph has had a great season, his weaker free throw shooting and lack of long-range jumpers (and Rudy Gay), halt Z-Bo from besting Love from week-to-week.
Jrue Holiday vs. Darren Collison.
What struck me is how overrated Frank Vogel's impact on his young PG has been after 10 games. There was a definite spike around Game 46, as he had the fourth-best game of his season. After that? Back to normal, then ended with some of the worst performances of his season. Holiday, however, has played better and more consistent than Collison in his last 15 games. Despite spending only 13 games above the 15 Game Score line, that's still two more than DarCo.
Wesley Matthews vs. Nick Young
Without looking closely, it's clear these two can't be counted on to go eight games without completely pooping the bed for a game. Young went from a 23+ GmSc in his 19th game and buzz-sawed down to a negative game score two games later. Two solid games, one bad one. Rinse. Repeat. Matthews showing a glimpse of consistency in November and December, Young showing a bit of it in January. Young a bit more, Matthews a bit better.
Dorell Wright vs. Carmelo Anthony
Wright is among the biggest bargains of the season, while Anthony was widely chosen with one of the first 15 picks in this year's draft. By that rationale, the fact that this graph isn't completely awash in baby blue is great for anyone who took the plunge on the Golden State SF. That said, besides a 6-game stint in early December and two weeks after that when Anthony went down with an injury, Wright really hasn't matched Anthony with the consistency that hype sometimes suggest he had. Wright's producing like a top 50 player, no doubt. But 'Melo's scoring and efficiency proves that top 15 is just about right for him.
Roy Hibbert vs. J.J. Hickson
Oh, how I long for the first six weeks of Roy Hibbert's season. Both players have had similar rises and falls, both hitting a stride in the last 10-20. This matchup, more than any other (even Rose vs. Westbrook) should end in a real barn-burner. Both seem to understand something that eluded them in December and January.


text:
Method for searching by expertise, or finding expertise
The Data.gov CONOPS provides a great deal of information regarding the governance and advisory support made available by "POCs" and "Data Stewards" and other roles engaged in populating and supporting data on the site. The CONOPS also describes how Personally-Identifiable Information (PII) is protected, both for submitters and those engaged in the governance process. As well, some existing community forums are referenced... more »


text:
Mechanical Ballot to Elect Next President (Nov, 1932)
Mechanical Ballot to Elect Next President
by Earle W. Gage
Hoover or Roosevelt—which will be our next president? Millions of voters will cast their ballots in November on a new ingenious machine which will baffle crooked voters and minimize the delay in learning who has been elected. Here is told the fascinating story of this machine and of its forebears devised by inventors of ancient times.
TRULY, magic-working mechanical wizardry shall select the next president of the United States, as millions of voters march to the election booth in November to cast their ballots.
"50,000,000 Votes for President!" is the popular slogan. Thanks to the genius of the engineer, who has perfected voting machinery of marvelous accuracy and precision, it is now possible to tabulate the greatest popular vote in history, announce the result and flash the news to the remotest hamlet in less than sixty minutes after the polls close.
Ancient Methods of Voting
For countless centuries man sought to devise some method of quickly and accurately counting the votes of the people. During this long struggle to cause the voice of the people to be heard, many methods have been used in voting—by acclamation, by markings on paper or leaves, and by stones and pebbles, until our own day, when the perfected voting machine has been adopted, by the large centers of population.
In the powerful republic of Athens, decisions were rendered by secret ballot. Two ballots were given each voter—two beans, metal disks, or black and white pebbles. Thus originated the modern "black ball." Two urns were placed on a table— the master urn of brass or copper, and the other of wood. Into the latter were cast lesser ballots. The voting completed, the tokens were spilled on the table and the votes counted. This is the earliest known occasion for "spilling the beans."
In 139 B. G. the first written ballot was introduced into Rome, the great discovery which the ancient world handed down to the present, to blaze the way to political freedom. During this long and romantic struggle to permit the people to decide the fate of government by secret ballot, several men of inventive minds sought to perfect some sure, fair, infallible method of voting and vote counting by means of a machine which would work automatically, be foolproof and withstand the tampering of those who might seek to "swing an election."
Edison Pioneer Inventor of Voting Machines
Thomas A. Edison was a pioneer in this field. On June 1, 1869, the first patent for which he had ever applied and for his first invention, was granted. This pioneer of voting machines, Edison perfected with the hope that it might be used in Congress, permitting several hundred members to cast a ballot in not to exceed two minutes. But it was rejected, and was Edison's only noncommercial and unsuccessful invention, though the idea blazed the way to the ultimate perfection of the present voting machine.
In 1896 Daniel Davis and Etna H. Davis, of Elmira, New York, patented a voting machine which is shown in an accompanying drawing. The first voting machine built and actually used in an election, however, was the Myers machine, invented by Jacob Myers, and was used at Lockport, New York. So successful became this machine that it was widely adopted, to be improved upon by S. E. Davis and A. J. Gillespie, and thus blossomed into the present day voting machine.
This machine, seen on the first two pages of this article, has an upright keyboard, on which are rows of keys, each of which represents a party candidate, arranged in horizontal lines across the face of the machine. At the left of each party row is a lever which, pulled down, may be used to vote a "Straight Ticket." Or, the keys may be moved separately to a voting position, to vote for any desired candidate in any party row.
In order to obtain and maintain secrecy, before the voter can cast his ballot he enters the booth and pulls a lever over against the face of the machine which closes a pair of curtains around him, thus preventing anyone from knowing how he votes.
How Mechanical Ballots Are Cast
In voting, he pulls either a party lever for a straight ticket, or a candidate's lever to vote independently. As each voter makes his egress, the votes cast are automatically added to the total already recorded by voters that preceded him.
Thus, when the polls close only the total vote for each candidate appears, leaving no identifying marks, disclosing how any voter has voted.
Each voting machine is in charge of an official, and is equipped with lockout devices which are operated to prevent particular voters from voting for offices or on questions on which they are not entitled to vote.
Just back of the rows of keys is located the counter compartment which contains the registering devices for each candidate. The automatic recording feature of the voting machine, as in various other calculating contrivances, assures an immediate compilation of the authentic results as soon as the polls close.
This method of securing election returns is in striking contrast with the dilatory procedure involved in ascertaining the true count under the obsolete paper ballots. Eager contestants, political factions, election officers and the press are particularly jubilant over the dispatch with which returns are made available by the machines.
The preservation of election returns is another paramount advantage afforded through the use of machines. The retention of the true count is especially valuable in the event of a recount or litigation. There are a number of safeguards embodied in the machine which makes it impossible to alter the returns, or perpetrate election irregularities that are attendant under the old system of balloting. The sanctity of the ballot is greatly appreciated by the American voters and governmental officials.
Other noteworthy benefits resulting through the employment of the mechanical ballot are: Easy and speedy voting, an accurate count, reduction of election expenses and the elimination of spoiled and vitiated ballots.


text:
Difficulty getting our Roadster serviced
Difficulty getting our Roadster serviced
They just set up a service center in Houston, and the garage had 10 model S and three Roadsters when I dropped it off the first time. I made the appointment a week in advance, and they kept it for three days ( only one tech for Roadsters) and didn't get all the work done!
I picked it up as I had an event I wanted it for, and they did detail it and drop it at my house. Then they picked it up, and got the work done inside a week (had to order parts).
Because of the Texas Dealer lobby, they had to route service calls thru California, but they have always been responsive, I think they are overwhelmed with new cars being sold and delivered thru these service centers.
I fear the Roadsters will always take a second place to the S, but eventually there will be third parties that can work on them...
Well, horses for courses. There are as many Roadsters in the US as MSes delivered in about a month. You want TMC to be a mass market maker? Be careful what you ask for. You might get it.


text:
12WBT members can choose from over 900 recipes that are nutritious, delicious and super simple to make. Featuring vegetarian, gluten-free and lactose intolerant meals, everyone has a tasty, healthy option. You won't need to hunt down any special ingredients - simply choose your favourite breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks and then hit up the supermarket with your helpful 12WBT Shopping List. Simple.
Some of the recipes will ask you to make an extra portion and refrigerate it for leftovers (great for those nights when you just can't be bothered cooking).
Each recipe displays cooking instructions, preparation and cooking time, as well as calorie and nutrition information. It has never been more convenient or easier to eat healthy. No matter how naughty it looks, it's all nice. So go ahead, check out a recipe and get stuck in!


text:
Is someone you know missing the warm balmy days of summer already? If so, this
Care Free Day postcard, our pick of the week, might be just the thing to whisk them off to a happy mini-summer "getaway."
It's one of the many free postcards from BlueMountain.com that are so easy to send
or share in an email or as a post on Facebook.
You'll find a large assortment of other postcards there as well, and if you're looking for something a little different, you'll find many styles of "just because" ecards that are
perfect for letting others know they're in your thoughts today.


text:
Know the status of shipments at any time, see where, when and why problems occur, and act before the perishables are compromised or damaged.
ColdChain is an end to end solution to monitor temperature of remote assets based on WEBFLEET.
The temperature in the vehicle is constantly monitored by the sensors, sent via GPRS to the TomTom data center, and from there to the operations center.
Information about vehicle's position and temperature is available in near-real-time; the fleet manager has a tool to act in a timely manner, in addition to recording data for transport quality certification.
GeneGIS GI srl operates for over a decade in Geographic Information Systems and more generally, in the field of geo-spatial computer applications, developing custom projects for every need and every client.


text:
Card Template Online with 2550x1650 Resolution
Card Template Online
Card Template Online is free HD wallpaper. This wallpaper was upload at January 10, 2018 upload by Jejaka in Pictures.
Send your best wishes when you create your own personalized greeting Card Template Online with one of our free greeting card design templates. Open Canva and select the Card Template Online design type. Choose from hundreds of professionally designed layouts. Upload your own photos or choose from over 1 million stock images. Fix your images, add stunning filters and edit text. Save and share.
Create a physical Card Template Online and market it through various sites (listed below). Want an impressive business card but lacking in inspiration? Our free business card templates will help you create a card with ease. Customize your Standard Card Template Online with dozens of themes and colors. Do you want to design a business card for yourself? If you're a photographer, you may want a creative Card Template Online to give out to potential.
Get a free printable snow globe template to create your own DIY snow globe Card Template Online. Check out our Card Template Online Templates for Fast and Easy Editing. Our Templates Come with Margins for Prepress File Preparation. Did you know that you can copy pretty much anything in Trello? Checkout the article Card Template Online, boar. Design stunning thank you cards from our wide selection of templates you can freely personalize, even without professional experience. Show your appreciation with a unique Card Template Online you created yourself. Start with a Card Template Online template and express your gratitude!
Card Template Online is high definition wallpaper and size this wallpaper is 2550x1650. You can make Card Template Online For your Desktop image background, Tablet, Android or iPhone and another Smartphone device for free. To download and obtain the Card Template Online images by click the download button below to get multiple high-resversions.Tags :
Pictures gallery of Card Template Online
DISCLAIMER: This image is provided only for personal use. If you found any images copyrighted to yours, please contact us and we will remove it. We don't intend to display any copyright protected images.


text:
Check out this story posted at Eric Wittenberg's blog about an effort to relocate Gettysburg's Electric Map to a site near its old home. I'd like to see it up and running again, simply for the sake of nostalgia. I think the question is whether the map would be enough of a draw to anchor an entire museum. I suspect it would be, since it's got quite a history of its own.
As much as I love the exhibits in the new Visitor Center, I do miss the opportunity to see the whole battle play out at once that the map provided. I know it was badly outdated, and I understand that space was a factor in leaving it out of the new facility. Still, I wish the new exhibits included an updated version. Cowpens National Battlefield has a smaller and more up-to-date map presentation; I think it uses fiber-optic lights instead of electric bulbs, so it has a much cleaner look and operates more smoothly. The Electric Map was well past its prime, but I think the basic concept remains the most effective way to illustrate the ebb and flow of a battle.


text:
Lily Allen and Jessie J Brits Makeup and Hair
Cartoon Hair and Corpse Lips: The Surprise Brits Beauty Looks
The Brit Awards always bring out the creative side of musicians, and this year has been no exception. While some stars, like Rita Ora and Iggy Azalea, opted for more classic looks, others stars chose to risk the wrath of social media and try out some more experimental beauty looks. Lily Allen took her cue from a Telephone-era Lady Gaga, adding comic book yellow extensions to her long ponytail to lift her all-black look. Jessie J was even more risky, picking a very pale lilac lipstick that gave her lips a washed-out, corpse-like look. The question is, did either of these looks work for you?


text:
The Master's University and Seminary Stats, Info and Facts
|Religious affiliation:
|Institution Type:
|Private not-for-profit
|Campus Setting:
|Far West Large suburb
|Highest Degree Offered:
|Doctor's degree - research/scholarship
|Level of Institution:
|Four or more years
the master's college and seminary is a place of intense learning. the classes are academically challenging, the professors are endearing, and the students are all so very nice. this institution…
Attending this college was an amazing experience academically, socially, and spiritually. I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about their faith, but still wants to receive a quality…
This college seems like a place devoted to teaching about God as well as preparing you for life. …
Establish lasting relationships with fellow students and instructors who care about you. Instructors are willing to spend time tutoring students in their classes. Beautiful campus.…
This is school that desires to see its students grow academically and spiritually. The faculty and staff on campus are very friendly and encouraging. Dorm life is very unique and…
I have learned so many thing about God, I don't think I could be useful in ministry at all!Read More
Several of my friends have gone here and it would be a wonderful, Christ-centered environment with good teaching and a great atmosphere.Read More
The Master's College has a great way of fellowshipping among other students. The College endorses strong relationships among students and teachers. If students are in need of help, faculty and students are encouraged to help you. As a future student, I have a comfort of knowing that I can find trust in them and not seek to hide from them. A little fun fact, I was also told that 80% of those who attend the Master's College get married to a strong Christian spouse so if your looking for a spouse, The Master's College encourages true biblical courtship and marriage.Read More
The atmosphere is really nice and it is easy to make friends. Because the school is only about 1,000+ students it is easy to get to know the majority of the people there. The small size also allows for a good sense of community and fellowship. The dorms are also pretty nice. They're not fancy, but they're in good condition and have lots of storage space. Getting a good roommate is also not too hard because the RD's match students based on your habits and preferences. When it comes to the cafeteria, the food is rated at some of the highest in the nation. There's variety and most of it tastes good. If you're used to a healthy, organic diet, you'd find it to be a bit different from home. Also, if you have pesticide allergies you will find it difficult to eat fruits and vegetables there without reactions. However, the vast majority of people would be fine. Some people even say the food is better than their mom cooks.Read More


text:
This year's International Music Fest, featuring music, dance and food from various cultures, will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Fort Morgan High School on Saturday, April 27.
Providing entertainment at this year's event will be Martirizo, local Spanish music at 11 a.m., followed by Candy's Dance Academy at 12 noon. At 12:30 p.m., the Wild Mountain celts will provide Irish/Celtic folk music, with the Pioneer Choristers and The Marquez Girls to perform at 1:30 p.m. The final performers will involve Japenese drumming by Denver Taiko.
People can not only enjoy listening to music and watching fabulous dances, but they can purchase authentic international cuisine provided by the diverse community members.
To date, food will consist of Mexican tamales, Salvadoran pupusa, German-Russian cabbage pockets and Ethiopian sambas and more.
Another feature this year will be the "Passport Adventure" where individuals can pick up a blank passport, travel around to all of the countries, get their passport stamped and enter a complete passport in a drawing for a cash prize.
Doors open at 10:30 a.m. and admission to this year's music festival is free.
Serving as sponsors are the City of Brush, Morgan County Tourism Panel, Northeast Colorado Broadcasting, OneMorgan County, Welcoming Colorado, Candy's Dance Academy, Colorado Energy Management, Colorado Plains Medical Center, Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center, Furniture Mart, Korf Continental, Ladelle Dilli, Mary Kay Cosmetics-Karen Daniel and Karen Temple, Phil Pietrowski Photography, Ruppel's Plumbing, Sailsbery Supply, Tio Charlie's, Gloria Mosqueda, Associate Broker at Zwetzig Realty, LLC, KCI-Kentec Communications, Inc., Morgan Federal Bank, Timmy Fritzler and Holistic Health Center.
For more information, contact Brenda Zion at 970-370-6478.
Music Fest is April 27 at FMHS
This year's International Music Fest, featuring music, dance and food from various cultures, will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Fort Morgan High School on Saturday, April 27.


text:
Canucks have crested interest in grooming talent
Resources abound to aid in developing Vancouver's NHL hopefuls
Vancouver Canucks prospects listen intently to former NHLer and team scout Dave Babych on Friday during a morning practice at the South Okanagan Event Centre in Penticton.
Photograph by: Ward Perrin , PNG
PENTICTON — They have a combined 76 years in the professional hockey business so Lorne Henning, Vancouver Canucks assistant general manager, and Stan Smyl, senior adviser, have seen a few things along the way.
As players, they learned to train themselves without the benefit of a support system.
"Basically, you did everything on your own," Smyl, 55, said. "The game has changed a lot since then. Now, from the day players get drafted by us, they come into our environment right away. We take them and talk to them and get them in our training program.
"We see where they are physically. We bring them in to let them see the city. We talk to them about how to take care of their lifestyle, how to handle the media and all these things."
TOP 10 CANUCKS PROSPECT PHOTOS HERE, or if you're using a mobile app, tap the story image and swipe.
In the salary-cap world of the National Hockey League, developing your own talent is paramount to having success. The Canucks spend countless hours scouting players, both for the entry draft and through free agency, and then they spend to ensure these players have the resources necessary to prepare for their seasons, whether they are still in junior, heading to the American League, or getting ready to challenge for a spot on the big club.
Henning, who broke into the NHL with the New York Islanders in 1972 (and has never left), noted that the ownership's backing has enabled the hockey department to hire specialists for all manner of things, from positional coaches, to skating coaches, to nutrition experts and sleep doctors. If it helps turn one player into a game-breaker and leads to a Stanley Cup, then the mission has been accomplished.
"It's the one thing our organization has always done," Henning, 61, said. "We've always spent money to get better if it's to the cap, or developing players or finding players. You want to build up your organization to where you have a foundation and you're good year after year after year and you just have to tweak a little bit. That's the way you want to go."
The entry draft is the obvious way to bring fresh talent to the club. Free agency is another, especially from the U.S. college ranks where players have often fallen through the cracks. It's how the Canucks discovered Chris Tanev, now a regular on their blue-line. But it wasn't a fluke.
Among other things, Smyl is responsible for scouting the NCAA free agent market and he has no less than three scouts reporting to him. Their most recent catch, six-foot-six checking centre Kellan Lain, had 10 teams pursuing him. Lain signed last March after three years at Lake Superior State.
"The three guys who work underneath me — Jonathan Bates, Brett Henning and Neil Komadoski — identify players and then I'll go in to see them," Smyl explained.
"Let's take Kellan Lain as an example. Every one of our pro scouts went in to watch him two or three times. Lorne went in to watch him. We interviewed him twice, I think.
"We believe if you can find one or two players to sign out of college, you can really fill some holes. It's like you're getting a free pick in the draft. In Kellan Lain, we needed someone with some size and some muscle and that's what he is, a third or fourth-liner. I know from talking to agents, we're probably one of the more aggressive teams in the U.S. college free-agent field. Now it's getting a lot more competitive."
Defenceman Frank Corrado has been a Canucks prospect since 2011 when he was selected in the fifth round. He's been through three summers in their system and is a big believer in the resources made available to aid in his development. He is convinced it's been a factor in his dramatic rise up the depth chart.
At age 20 still, he has already appeared in seven NHL games and has a solid chance to make the big club this season, or at least be a first call-up.
"The Canucks do so much for you," Corrado said. "As soon as you're drafted, you're in their system right away and they care about you. You go from the draft to their development camp and you get a little more familiar with the culture around the Canucks. There is a certain way you have to carry yourself as a Canuck and they make you very aware of that right away.
"During your season, they're calling you every so often and they come to watch you play and they're there, not to rip apart your game, but just to tell you what your game is looking like and giving you pointers here and there."
In the summer, the Canucks have consultants and specialists available to the players. Skating coach Ryan Lonsberry is based in Ancaster, Ont., so the Canucks prospects living in southern Ontario have a resource without having to fly halfway across the country. Corrado, who is from Toronto, has found Lonsberry to be extremely helpful in his development.
"A lot of the Ontario guys skate together with Ryan and he basically does drills that are tailored for our seasons and our positions, stuff the Canucks want to see," Corrado said. "It's a great resource to have on the other side of the country. Some teams might not want to do that and just leave it up to you.
"The Canucks basically give you all the tools. By the time you come to camp, you know what to expect and you know you're prepared.
"I'm a big fan of what they do for us. Obviously my progression as a player shows that. If you buy in to what they're preaching, I think you can get a lot out of it."
The five-team Young Stars prospects tourney, conceived by the Canucks, is another step along that path. It's in its third year and Smyl swears by it. For some players, he noted, it's a reality check, and for others a launching pad into main camp.
"You never want to take players' dreams away from them," Smyl said. "They always think they're ready right away and this gives them the opportunity to see the reality of their situations. They realize where they're at when they play competitive games against other organizations.
TOP 10 CANUCKS PROSPECT PHOTOS HERE, or if you're using a mobile app, tap the story image and swipe.


text:
Pear, Pecan and Sweet & Spicy Bacon Salad
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
Dash cayenne pepper
3 slices bacon6 ounces spring greens
1 pear, sliced
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola
Balsamic vinaigrette
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix together the sugar and spices, then lightly coat bacon with the spice mixture. Lay on a baking sheet and cook until crisp.
Meanwhile, toss together the spring greens, pear, pecans and gorgonzola. Add in the cooked bacon and dressing, then toss to combine.
Enjoy as a light meal or pair with your favorite bread or salad for something a bit heartier.


text:
On the surface, you wouldn't necessarily think that a fake shopping mall disaster area courtesy of Michael Ruglio-Misurell, a somewhat spare solo show of text-based drawings by Kay Rosen, and a rotating group video program addressing the subject of individual artistic agency would have so much to say to one another. Yet in many ways, the accrual of meaning from one show to the next makes Gallery 400's current exhibition lineup work even better as a whole than each show does separately. All three exhibitions in one way or another address the making and unmaking of worlds, whether by choice or consequence. Ruglio-Misurell's Project #12 is an all-encompassing environment of found junk put together in a manner that evokes a shopping mall eatery that's been abandoned by consumers and taken over by squatters. Evidence of human efforts to make this disaster zone habitable, if not functional, abounds. Amidst the rubble, there are signs of human intervention and pathetic forms of "making do": a makeshift tent/sleeping area, plastic trays linked together to form temporary walls and, perhaps, zones of privacy. Who is making use of the food court? Vagrants? Crackheads? Teenagers looking for a covert place to fuck?
To be sure, Project #12 evokes a certain economic timeliness, given the U.S.' current climate of consumer reticence coupled with the whole dead mall phenomenon. Recalling the sculpted chaos of Tomoko Takahashi's or Jason Rhodes' discard landscapes and perhaps to some degree Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe's more recent Black Acid Co-Op crack-den environment at Deitch Projects, Ruglio-Misurell's installation speaks to the uses to which people put "dead" commercial spaces after the latter's primary functions have been economically effaced. Yet one would be hard-pressed to find anything joyful, much less Utopian, in Ruglio-Misurell's apocalyptic vision, despite those discrete moments of sculptural clarity that the artist inserts into the chaos. No, Project #12 evokes the desperation of Katrina-like scenarios, where individuals, abandoned by the State in one form or another, are left to rot in their own filth and fend entirely for themselves.
In contrast to the in-your-face spectacle of Ruglio-Misurell's disaster zone, Kay Rosen's show is quiet and almost withdrawn (for this artist, anyway, whose text paintings can be billboard-bold in their effects). The walls are sparsely hung, the show consisting of a rarely-seen video shown on a small flat screen monitor, a collection of collage pieces housed in a glass vitrine, another smallish collage and a collection of altered book covers from mystery writer Sue Grafton's bestselling Alphabet Mysteries in which letters spelling out the word 'hijacked' have been excised.
Rosen's sly wordplay is always a delight to engage, especially when she makes you work at getting the joke. (I'm embarrassed to admit I still haven't figured out how the missing letters from her Hijacked collage actually spell out the word "hijacked," though I'm sure it's staring me right in the face). The works chosen for this show are meant to provide material for a fall drawing class at UIC led by Julia Fish that explores the play between text and image, which, of course, is Rosen's specialty. The works here are small in scale and unflashy, emphasizing the readerly aspects of Rosen's approach over her (often less engaging) descents into one-liner territory (as in works like this one, a postcard piece which isn't in this exhibition).
Rosen's work is quite literally about reading between the lines, and its filled with sweet little epiphanies for word-nerds like myself. Yet Rosen's work goes beyond those little moments to say something much larger about the role of language in shaping our world. We don't have to search far and wide for alternatives to the status quo, her works seem to argue. They're already there, everywhere around us, we just need to be willing take a few liberties with the governing text — "small shifts in perception," as Anthony Elms puts it in his essay on Rosen's show — to see the way out.
I visited all of these shows twice, both times on a Friday, the day when Andrea Zittel's "Little Liberties" is the featured video (other artists in the video program include Phyllis Baldino, Alex Hubbard, Glenn Ligon and Patricia Esquivias). No doubt the juxtaposition of Zittel's work with the others colored my impression of the three shows' overall coherency, but I suspect that, given the video program's overarching focus on artistic agency, any of the other rotating works would have resonated with the nearby shows in equally eye-opening ways. I've seen numerous examples of Zittel's "designs for living" before, but always in museum or gallery settings that frankly tended to kill much of their impact for me. All of Zittel's work is geared towards the goal of self-sufficiency via the design, fabrication and use of structures, systems and practices that bypass or simply slip through the cracks of dominant systems. To the extent that it's possible, Zittel tries to live "off the grid," and "Small Liberties," a video that takes the form of a textually narrated slideshow, provides a rather straightforward introduction to Zittel's work and the ideas about sustainability and independence that guide her practice.
It's a silent piece, consisting of a series of photographs and short narrative vignettes about the people who have purchased Zittel's A-Z Wagon Stations — custom built units that are a cross between a covered wagon and an air stream trailer for those seeking a space of contemplation and creativity that's entirely their own.
The idea of "small liberties" neatly encapsulates the essential pragmatism that characterizes Zittel's approach to everyday life and to social change. It's not radical with a capital R (though it must certainly look peculiar to some)–it's more of an incremental, "little r" radicalism that seeks not to coerce or co-opt opinion but simply to be left to one's own devices. Whereas I imagine the invisible inhabitants of Ruglio-Misurell's trashed food court are there because they have nowhere else to go–the State, as it were, has abandoned them — Zittel's community of A-Z Wagoneers are bucking the system by choice. They want to carve out a space where the State leaves them pretty much alone (or at least, that's the stance they are affecting). If this trio of shows works on you in the way they did me, you'll leave slightly more convinced that these small moments of resistance are in fact where some of our most powerful choices lie.
Claudine Isé
Latest posts by Claudine Isé (see all)
- Michelle Grabner, Anthony Elms, Stuart Comer Named Curators of 2014 Whitney Biennial - November 29, 2012
- New Fielding Practice Podcast on the Art21 Blog! Episode 16: Summer Review-O-Rama! - July 19, 2012
- Tom Sanford is a Busy Man…Here's Why - June 12, 2012


text:
Beryl was officially "just" a tropical depression when it moved off the Carolinas coast Wednesday, but it caused quite a ruckus with its departure.
The storm had near-hurricane force winds when it made landfall last weekend near Jacksonville, but it lost much of its wind power as it meandered over inland Florida and Georgia for two days.
By late Tuesday, Beryl was on the move, pushing with increasing speed across eastern South Carolina and then sweeping over southeast North Carolina on its way to sea. Its top sustained winds were 35 mph, but Beryl was probably back to tropical storm force as it moved ashore.
The immediate Charlotte area escaped with little impact from the storm. A couple bands of heavy tropical showers moved over the region, and there were scattered reports of an inch or more of rain. But as Beryl moved northeast late Tuesday and early Wednesday, several bands of heavy rain and thunderstorms circulated around the center of the depression.
That rain drenches places like Florence and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, and Fayetteville and Wilmington in North Carolina. The closest heavy rain to Charlotte was in eastern Chesterfield County in South Carolina and Scotland County in North Carolina.
|A look at the waves triggered by Beryl at Wrightsville Beach
|(Ryan Lyttle photo)
The strongest wind gusts I saw measured officially were 56 mph, at 4:30 p.m. at Jennette's Pier in Dare County; 55 mph, at 6:48 p.m. at the U.S. Coast Guard Station on Hatteras Island; and 54 mph at 4:30 p.m. on Piney Island in Carteret County.
The feeder bands around Beryl triggered an EF1 tornado, with 110 mph winds, that damaged or destroyed about 70 homes in Carteret County.
Rainfall measurements included 4.6 inches near Whiteville, in eastern North Carolina; almost 4.3 inches in Nichols, S.C., east of Bennettsville, near the Carolinas border; and 4.14 inches in Dare County. About 3 inches fell in Myrtle Beach and 2 inches in Wilmington.


text:
Urban development increased by 30% since the prior update. Vineyard development helped offset irrigated farmland losses in some areas of the state.
California land use conversion reflected the strong economy and specific agricultural trends of the late 1990's. Statewide urbanization exceeded 90,000 acres for the first time since 1990-1992. Prime Farmland accounted for 19% of the 91,258 new urban acres, and other irrigated farmland categories comprised an additional 8% of new urban land. While Prime Farmland decreased by 44,126 acres, vineyard development in coastal counties contributed to a net gain in Unique Farmland during the two year period.
Complete report (large PDF file--2.6 mb)
Report split and compressed to facilitate download-
Introductory Materials (330 kb): Acknowledgements; Table of Contents; Executive SummaryMain Report (two files): The Program; 1998-2000 Improvements; Understanding the Data (650 kb) and Land Use Conversion, 1998-2000 (580 kb)Appendix A (250 kb): County Conversion Tables* Appendices B, C, and D (450 kb): 1998 and 2000 County Acreage Tallies; County and Regional Conversion Summaries; Farmland of Local Importance Definitions
*Report tables are in PDF format- Excel 2000 versions of the same tables are also available for download. You may need to update Acrobat Reader if you get error messages.
Paper copies are also available by contacting FMMP.


text:
|When is surgery necessary?
Surgery may be considered if you have back pain from a herniated disk, spinal stenosis, or sciatica that does not respond to medication or physical therapy. Even though surgery is an option for these conditions, treating them without surgery is better whenever possible. In fact, 90% of people with a herniated disk can be treated without surgery.
Laminectomy and laminotomy
Operations that remove all (laminectomy) or part (laminotomy) of the arch of the vertebrae may be used if you have spinal stenosis or some other vertebral abnormality pressing on a nerve. This surgery may also be considered as part of a larger procedure to remove a tumor on the spine. Like diskectomy, many people will feel immediate relief after the procedure. However, recurrent back pain is very common.
This surgical procedure removes the disk that is causing your pain. By doing this, pressure on your spine is relieved. There are now ways to perform this surgery with as little invasion as possible. For example, very small incisions may be used.
|In a diskectomy, part or all of the disk is removed, which reduces pressure on the spinal nerve.
While there may be an immediate relief from pain following this operation, it is not clear whether this provides any more long-term improvement than treatment with medications, physical therapy, exercise, and the other measures discussed in this guide.
Following the procedure, you may develop scar tissue, which could cause back pain itself. You will need to do a lot of resting for 3 - 4 days after this surgery. But, it may take 4 - 6 weeks to fully recover.
Spinal fusion
When motion between two or more vertebrae causes severe pain, your surgeon may recommend spinal fusion. Spinal fusion may also be done, if you have surgery to remove a disk or some bone, to prevent motion from occurring between two vertebrae.
This procedure eliminates motion between the bones of the back by eliminating the joints between the bones and forming a solid bony bridge. This is usually done by using a combination of metal implants, like screws and rods, and grafting bone onto the spine from another part of your body. The bone often comes from your pelvis.
Recovery from this procedure usually takes longer than from diskectomy or laminectomy. Your surgeon may recommend you wear a brace after surgery as the bone heals. This type of surgery is usually for people with chronic back pain that has not responded to other treatments. Spinal fusion may also help people who have instability of the spine, a condition that occurs when the connections between the vertebrae have deteriorated. The procedure allows vertebrae to slide back and forth against each other.
Disk replacement
The artificial disk is a newer method of spine surgery. This implanted device is an alternative to fusion for some people.
Sometimes, a degenerated disk that is causing back pain needs to be removed through surgery. However, when a disk is removed, the vertebrae in that area of the spinal column must be re-connected. Typically, surgeons will use spinal fusion to reconnect the vertebrae, which eliminates motion between the vertebrae. The artificial disk, however, preserves motion between the vertebrae.
While experts believe there are many advantages to preserving motion, no long-term studies prove that replacing a disk with an artificial one is better than spinal fusion. Some surgeons are waiting for the results of more research, particularly longer-term follow-up of more patients to make sure there are no serious complications, before recommending this new technology.
Review Date:
Reviewed By: Andrew W. Piasecki, MD, Camden Bone and Joint, LLC, Orthopaedic Surgery/Sports Medicine, Camden, SC. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.


text:
This is a programmable 4-port serial-over-IP device (a.k.a. device server) with RS232/422/485 ports, designed and built using Tibbo Project System components.
The system will come completely assembled in an enclosure with DIN rail mounting hardware, looking similar to this (but with four DB9M interfaces along the bottom, orange part):
The labeled areas on the box are paper with plastic protectors over them. You can remove the protectors, write connection details on the paper labels, then replace the protectors.
In this system configuration, you will have no control of the shutdown line, so the power supply always will be enabled.
Socket S27 does not provide control line A, so having Tibbit #09 there means you will have no control of the shutdown line, thus the power supply always will be enabled.
High-level objects simplify your code and allow you to create a data-transport application with just a few lines of code:
View Tibbo BASIC Introduction Videos.
View the TIDE, TiOS, Tibbo BASIC and Tibbo C Online Manual.
View a video of the Serial-over-IP application showing WiFi support.
View a video of the Tibbo Connection Wizard showing how to create a Virtual Serial Port and link it with the Device Server.


text:
LAKE FOREST — Bears players and coaches all agreed Wednesday that the starting offensive line showed the most improvements from the first preseason game to the second one on Monday night.
LAKE FOREST — Bears players and coaches all agreed Wednesday that the starting offensive line showed the most improvements from the first preseason game to the second one on Monday night.
It didn't produce a win, or many points, but it certainly gave quarterback Jay Cutler some renewed confidence in his line.
"The Giants game was a huge confidence booster for not only the offensive line," Cutler said, "but for me, and in their ability to protect me."
The Bears led the league in sacks allowed last year, and surrendered nine to Buffalo in the preseason opener. The quinlet of center Roberto Garza, tackles J'Marcus Webb and Gabe Carimi and guards Chris Williams and Lance Louis gave Cutler plenty of time to throw in the first half of Monday's game, however, and he was sacked just once and wasn't hit again.
Briggs, Adams miss more time
Linebacker Lance Briggs (knee) and defensive tackle Anthony Adams (calf) are not going to play in Saturday's road preseason game in Tennessee, and they both could be held out of the rest of the preseason. However, it's all for "precautionary reasons," according to head coach Lovie Smith, and neither injury is expected to limit them in the regular-season opener on Sept. 11.
On the other side of things, Zack Bowman returned to practice Wednesday from a head injury he sustained in the preseason opener, and the battle for the starting cornerback spot opposite Charles Tillman can resume.
Tice will stick with OL
Offensive line coach Mike Tice said he will start the same five linemen he started in the first two preseason games on Saturday. He would not, however, commit to that group to start the regular-season opener against Atlanta.
"Wow, I never said," Tice began to answer when he thought the question was about the regular-season opener. When he realized it was whether the same five would start Saturday's game, he stopped and then replied: "Absolutely."
Tice also said he didn't like all the praise raining down on his linemen after a solid performance in Monday's game.
He's worried they will "start feeling too good about themselves, and that's not a good thing. So it's my job not to let them."
Cutler returns to college town
Cutler is a little extra anxious for Saturday night's game in Tennessee because the Bears will take on the Titans right down the road from where Cutler played his college ball at Vanderbilt University.
Cutler, as well as WR Earl Bennett and LG Chris Williams, starred for Vandy, which is based just outside of Nashville.
"I had a great experience there. It was a good 4 ½ years," Cutler said. "We had a great group of coaches, a great group of guys, so it's going to be fun to get back there."
Reach staff reporter Jay Taft at 815-987-1384 or email@example.com.


text:
When Wizards of the Coast moved on to Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, I was certain that D&D 3.5e was doomed to a slow, painful death. I foresaw that publishers who were previously releasing products under the 3.5 SRD and OGL (Open Gaming License) would see their audience vaporize in favor of a new and shiny system. The 3.5e enthusiast, I thought, would be consigned to a play a stagnant system with a bookshelf full of books that weren't even remotely compatible with the newest version.
But, in March 2008, Paizo made it their mission to keep the third edition alive, announcing their intention to create the Pathfinder RPG that would expand on the SRD and OGL and would continue to be the official system for their now burgeoning Pathfinder Chronicles and Adventure Path products. To be honest, I wasn't certain how I felt about this at first. At first it seemed awkwardperhaps even blasphemousfor a company other than Wizards of the Coast to publish a core rulebook for Dungeons & Dragons, but then again, WotC wasn't the original publisher of D&D, either. So, a year and a half later, I am pleased to say that Paizo has really delivered.
Weighing in at nearly five pounds and spanning over 576 pages, the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook combines all of the rules that were previously split between the D&D 3.5 Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide. It is everything that you are going to need to play except for the Pathfinder Bestiary, which is not scheduled to be released until October 2009. Until then, you'll need to break out your old 3.5 edition monster manuals or use the monsters in the d20 SRD. You can download the SRD for free over at wizards.com, or for an easy to use online version, check out the Hypertext d20 SRD online at www.d20srd.org.
The Core Classes of Pathfinder
Paizo put a lot of effort into spicing up all of the original 3.5e classes with new and exciting abilities. Many of the classes now have multiple paths that a player can follow to help make distinguish their character from the teeming masses of other adventurers of the same class. This is very reminiscent of what Fourth Edition did, and it is one of the things I really liked. You'll especially see this featured with the druid, cleric, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard classes.
I was also impressed by how much the game rewards the player who sticks it out and levels his character through all twenty levels of his core class. In the past, there has often been very little incentive (or sense in some cases) to do so. With Pathfinder, not only does your character receive an extra hitpoint or skill-point every level just for leveling in his favored class, but the game does an excellent job of providing all kinds of cool abilities at the highest levels. Many of the classes have awesome payouts for making it all the way to twentieth, including:
- For Barbarians there is "Mighty Rage," which gives them an impressive +8 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution while they are raging.
- Bards are able to give a performance so stirring that they can cause their target to simply die from overwhelming joy or sorrow using their "Deadly Performance."
- High level druids are no longer fettered by their natural forms, and can transform themselves at will with no limits on the number of times per day.
- Fighters gain "Weapon Mastery," with one weapon. Thereafter, whenever using his chosen weapon, all critical threats are automatically confirmed, their critical multiplier increases, and the fighter no longer has to worry about being disarmed ever.
- The monk eventually ascends to the point of becoming a magical creature, gaining a healthy damage resistance (10/chaotic). Oh, and he'll now be opening that can of whoop-ass with seven attacks per round with an attack bonus that nearly rivals the fighter's.
- Paladins who stay the course of righteousness become "Holy Champions" of their gods, gaining a substantial damage resistance and the ability to possibly banish any evil outsider who is his smite opponent. (By the way, if you haven't read about the paladin's new smite and mercy abilities already, you'll want to check them out. This is one of the classes that they really spent a lot of time on, and they have succeeded at making the paladin an extremely valuable asset to your team!)
- The twentieth level ranger isn't someone you are going to want on your tail when he achieves the status of "Master Hunter." He'll now be able to track his favored enemies while moving at full speed, and when he does catch up with him, her, or it, he can execute a single attack that has the chance of slaying his target outright.
- Meanwhile the rogue gains "Master Strike," which allows him to possibly put his target to sleep (if he's feeling nice), paralyze his target (if he's feeling not-so-nice), or assassinate his target on the spot (if he's feeling really pissed off).
This only begins to scratch the surface of the enhancements to the core classes in the Pathfinder RPG. However, if you're interested in reading more, I'd recommend checking out the previous below from the Paizo blog.
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #2 - The Fighter
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #3 - The Sorcerer
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #4 - The Ranger
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #5 - The Cleric
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #6 - The Paladin
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #7 - The Bard
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #8 - The Druid
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #9 - The Monk
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #10 - The Barbarian
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #11 - The Rogue
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #12 - The Wizard
The System
Overall, Pathfinder plays and feels like classic Dungeons & Dragons 3.5. There are a few subtle, but very helpful enhancements to problematic and hard to remember rules. The simplification and rebalancing of all of the rules surrounding grappling, tripping, sundering, and bull-rushing into one unified system, for example, means no more having to flip open the book to figure out how to resolve these actions every time they come up while wishing hellfire and brimstone upon the head of your player's monk, no doubt.
Skills have been cleaned up, consolidating some and completely removing others. This will make it much easier for your character to focus on a core set of skills that really matter to him.
Spells seem relatively unchanged from their previous versions with a few notable exceptions, such as with polymorph being split into multiple distinct spells. The biggest difference I noticed was cleric domains, which got a very nice overhaul. Oh, and cleric fans, your new group heal class feature is going to let you actually be able to use more of your spells for something other than healing even at low levels "Divine Favor" anyone?
Using Pathfinder with Other d20 Products
Although there have been a lot of enhancements to the classes and tweaks to the rules, the Pathfinder RPG remains compatible with other OGL/3.5 supplements. This is a big selling point for Pathfinder, as there is already an extensive library of supporting products. The core classes in Pathfinder are a little more powerful than their third edition predecessors, so if you're using monsters from other sources, you may need to adjust their challenge ratings down just a smidge. There are no specific guidelines in the final rules, but the beta version suggested adding a few extra feats, powers, skills and hitpoints to your villains; adding more monsters to your encounter; or otherwise building encounters as about one challenge rating level higher. I suspect this advice still holds true.
There are a couple of other on-the-fly changes you will need to make when using third party sources. Some skills have been combined or changed, so you'll need to be familiar with the new skill list and determine the equivalent skill in Pathfinder. The rules for grappling and other maneuvers such as tripping, bull rushing, and sundering have also changed. This means that you'll need to determine the Combat Maneuver Attack and Defense scores for any 3.5e creatures you use. Luckily, these statistics are pretty straightforward to figure out.
Artwork and Print Quality
Cover to cover, this is a visually appealing book, with all of the artwork presented in full color. The inserts between chapters are especially amazing; I would love to have some of these as posters in my gaming room. Flowing watermarks swirl around the edges of each page, giving the book an ornate feel without obscuring the text or making it difficult to read. The binding also feels sturdy, which is necessary for this many pages. Out of curiosity, I gave the text a good rub to see if it shared any of the notorious smudging problems of Fourth Edition, and I was relieved to find that it did not.
My Thoughts
The one thing that I think this book really could have been improved by was more callouts. As a longtime player of Third Edition, I tend to want to skim over the parts that seem familiar and go straight to the changes. I started to do this with this book, and found immediately when I made my first character that I had missed a well-hidden rule that explained how first level hitpoints were generated. It had been tucked away in the terms and definitions section which I had been quick to skip over. With so many subtle changes to the rules, callouts that pointed out key changes from 3.5e would have made jumping into this new edition a lot easier.
Nonetheless, after having played a couple of sessions using the final rules, I could scarcely be happier with what Paizo has done. The rules flowed nicely, and most importantly kept out of the way until needed. Combat was also quick and easy, and the Pathfinder RPG has made it easier than ever to keep the action flowing without a lot of downtime. This system is an excellent choice for any fantasy setting, and I am confident that if you enjoyed Third Edition, you're really going to love what they've done with this game.
Want to hear more about Pathfinder? Check out these other articles:


text:
SongoftheDay: SLOW DEATH (live 1972) by FLAMIN' GROOVIES
One of America's greatest, most influential, and legendary cult bands, Flamin' Groovies came out of the San Francisco area in 1965 playing greasy, bluesy, rock & roll dashed with a liberal sprinkling of British Invasion panache, in an era soon to be dominated by hippie culture and hyperextended raga-rock freakouts. Caught in a double bind of playing the wrong kind of music at the wrong time (as well as not looking the part), the Groovies were almost completely forgotten as the Fillmore/Avalon Ballroom scenes, dominated by the Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, et al., rendered them anachronistic. The plain truth, however, was that despite not being in tune with the zeitgeist, the Groovies made great music, and managed to sustain a career that lasted for over two decades.
Sneakers [EP] What made the Groovies such a formidable band was the double dynamite supplied by guitarist Cyril Jordan and singer/wildman Roy A. Loney. Together they formed an uneasy partnership that guided the band through its most fertile period, from 1968-1971. In 1968, for next to nothing, the band recorded a seven-song EP entitled Sneakers. This little bit of DIY ingenuity resulted in a contract with Epic and the huge sum of 80,000 dollars (1968 dollars, mind you) to be spent on their debut recording, Supersnazz. It was a great album that didn't sell, but did get them dropped from Epic. Quickly signing with Kama Sutra, the Groovies closed the '60s and started the '70s with two terrific records (Flamingo and Teenage Head), but public apathy and the increasingly tempestuous relationship between Jordan and Loney led to the latter's departure for a solo career in 1971. Jordan, now free to run the band as a "benevolent" dictator and indulge his passion for a more folk-rock (read: Byrds) focus, hired guitarist/vocalist Chris Wilson, curiously added the apostrophe to their first name, and in 1972 moved the band to England.
Shake Some Action Oddly enough, the Groovies had a larger, more enthusiastic following in Europe (especially in England and Germany) than they did in the States, and it seemed perfectly reasonable to assume that if great rewards were to be reaped, it would happen in Europe first. Hooking up with Dave Edmunds, who was keen to produce them, Jordan and company recorded a handful of songs as early as 1972. However, this seemingly natural collaboration yielded little until 1976, when the Groovies released their finest post-Loney effort, Shake Some Action. Loaded with ringing guitars, great covers, and Edmunds' spongy, bass-heavy production, Shake Some Action became a well-received album in punk-era Britain, as was the fine follow-up, Flamin' Groovies Now. This new notoriety brought renewed interest in the Groovies in America, but the string of good albums ended abruptly with the mostly covers and mostly forgettable Jumpin' in the Night, in 1979. Clearly, the band had run out of gas. That fact, however, did little to convince Cyril Jordan that Flamin' Groovies in any form were no longer viable.
So, after five or six years of no new music — there were instead countless repackagings, anthologies, and lousy bootlegs — the band ended up in Australia, now reduced to Jordan and a bunch of unknowns (with the exception of longtime bassist George Alexander), shamelessly covering '60s material and living off the band's legend. It should be noted that after his departure in 1971, Roy Loney, after a couple of music industry jobs, made some wonderful records with his band the Phantom Movers (with ex-Groovies drummer Danny Mihm). Loney occasionally worked behind the counter at Jack's Record Cellar in San Francisco, and recorded with the Young Fresh Fellows.


text:
Britannica School High
- Coverage Dates: Current file
- Update Frequency: Daily
- Audience: High school students and teachers
Britannica School High provides teachers and students access to encyclopedia articles, images, videos, editorially-selected websites, and more that support the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards. Users are able to select the reading level of their articles. Students also have access to research guides to help them learn about the research process
Database Provider: Encyclopædia Britannica,
Express Link (bookmark): http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zehs


text:
The C.W. Worth House Bed and Breakfast receives prestigous award
C.W. Worth house Bed and Breakfast has received the 2011 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. TripAdvisor awards this certificate to properties who consistently receive excellent ratings from their members. A rating of 5 is something that all businesses on TripAdvisor strive … Continue reading


text:
Gear ring rope winches for optimum rope pull forces
At extreme rope pull forces, the use of Liebherr gear ring rope winches speaks for itself. The advantages, among other things, are a redundant drive system and new, rope-safe winding mechanism. The clever design results in high operational safety and longevity.
Optimum rope speeds and rope capacities
Our gear ring rope winches are distinguished by a compact design and well-engineered safety equipment. At the same time, Liebherr gear ring rope winches enable high rope speeds and rope capacities. Output torques of up to 2,500 kilonewton metres (kNm) are achieved here in the most cost effective way via a gear ring from several externally located electric or hydraulic slewing drives. High energy efficiency is assured by the optional Pactronic system from Liebherr.Liebherr Pactronic: optional hybrid-based drive system
Safe, available and durable
With a tare weight of 180 tonnes the ZSW 2400 is the largest and heaviest rope winch offered by Liebherr.
Due to their redundancy, the slewing drives of Liebherr gear ring rope winches offer reliable operational safety. A new type of rope-safe winding mechanism contributes towards the high availability and longevity. Moreover, Liebherr has developed a patented system safety geometry. Subsequent damage from overload in the drive system is prevented in this way.
Gear ring rope winches for individual requirements
The ZSW 1400 gear ring rope winch is used as a hoisting winch in the largest LR 13000 crawler crane ever manufactured by Liebherr.The image shows the crawler crane on a special assignment in Bremerhaven.
With Liebherr gear ring rope winches, the focus is on individual solutions: a range of different output torques, transmission ratios and dimensions are available. The version is chosen according to the project and application. The seals and cooling are also adapted to the specific needs as required.
Intensive engineering support as well as approval inspection by certification authorities enhance the range of services offered by Liebherr.


text:
Suddenly Slim will help you lose weight and reshape your body! Whether you've got excess pounds, excess body fat, or excess inches—Suddenly Slim is your weight loss solution!
Each Suddenly Slim Program contains specially formulated, all-natural products that provide inner body cleansing, detoxification, and fat burning properties to help you achieve the weight loss results you desire.
Any Retail Customer not completely satisfied with our products, for any reason, can return them within 30 days of purchase for a full refund, less shipping and handling, no questions asked.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.
†When used in conjunction with the Suddenly Slim Program | Menu Guide, which includes diet and exercise products.
These results are not typical. Weight loss varies with each individual depending upon a variety of factors. All testimonies may or may not be representative of the actual weight you can lose with FirstFitness Nutrition products.


text:
While the act of selecting an everyday writing utensil seems to be a simple enough task, scientists have found that it actually could shed light on complex cultural differences.
Psychologists Toshio Yamagishi, Hirofumi Hashimoto and Joanna Schug from Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan used the seemingly simple task of pen choice to determine if Japanese and American cultural differences are a function of social constraints. According to the scientists, previous psychological research on the topic has been flawed since it tends to attribute an individual's culture-specific behavior to their inherent preferences.
"In this perspective, preferences are the dominant determinants of behavior only in a social vacuum where individuals do not need to consider the reactions of others," wrote the authors in the June 2008 issue of Psychological Science, a publication of the Association for Psychological Science. "And we believe cultural psychologists would agree that culture-specific behavior does not occur in a social vacuum."
The psychologists hypothesized instead that individuals may be maintaining culture-specific behaviors by repeatedly relying on proven social strategies. For example, what appears to be a person's preference for conformity in Japanese culture alternatively might be an individual's avoidance of a social stigma.
To support this theory, the scientists arranged a series of studies designed to disprove, or at least argue against, the widely accepted stereotype that Americans prefer qualities of uniqueness while the Japanese intuitively value conformity. American and Japanese participants were presented with various scenarios that asked them to select, actually and hypothetically, a pen from a cup filled with four pens of one color and one pen of another, alternating between green and orange. The results show that both American and Japanese participants were more likely to select a majority pen over the uniquely-colored pen if they had been previously monitored by other participants or asked to choose with an experimenter present.
The results also revealed that the American and Japanese participants reacted similarly in situations that had a clearly defined impact on others--as was the case with purchasing a pen, which obviously did not affect anyone else. And only the scenarios in which the social relevance was ambiguous, such as hypothetically selecting a pen to take a survey, did Japanese participants choose the majority, and Americans the unique, pens. The findings not only suggest that innate cultural differences were not the deciding factor, but that the default reaction for pen choice may be strongly correlated with differences in social constraints.
As Yamagishi explained, "What is typically interpreted as differences in the 'preference' for uniqueness and conformity among Japanese and Americans is actually a reflection of how people interpret ambiguous situations. By default, Japanese tend to view situations as ones in which they are under surveillance from others, whereas Americans tend to view the same situations as ones in which no one cares about their choices."
Author Contact: Toshio Yamagishi firstname.lastname@example.com
Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information. For a copy of the article "Preferences Versus Strategies as Explanations for Culture-Specific Behavior" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Katie Kline at 202.293.9300 x133 or email@example.com.


text:
First, let me offer my condolences to former CFP Board chairman Alan Goldfarb and the other two (undisclosed) members of Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission who resigned last Friday after a "special committee" found "sufficient merit" in the also undisclosed allegations against them "to refer them for further proceedings" under the Board's disciplinary rules (see Melanie Waddell's Nov. 12 article for AdvisorOne: "Shake-Up at CFP Board").
It's a lamentable way to end a public career of service that culminated at what some would call the top of the financial planning profession. To their credit—and like former NAPFA chairman Ron Rhoades—the accused advisors voluntarily left their positions so as not to further tarnish the Board, the CFP mark and the planning profession.
Is there a lesson here? Who knows? Unlike Mr. Rhoades, who resigned over an inconsequential disclosure delay which he himself brought to light, Mr. Goldfarb et al.'s infractions remain a mystery due to the Board's medieval closed door disciplinary proceedings. That disciplinary process doesn't merely invite, but seemingly begs for speculation, which is damaging both to the reputations of the accused and to the credibility of the CFP Board itself.
Personally, I have little sympathy for Board under the theory that any failure to disclose can easily be construed to signal a coverup of the worst possible behavior on the part of those refusing to disclose: anything less would only enable the non-discloser.
Here's how Board CEO Kevin Keller explained the situation in an email to Ms. Waddell: "Because of [the Disciplinary Rules and Procedures] confidentiality provision, CFP Board cannot disclose details related to allegations against CFP professionals," adding that "if a public sanction is warranted, it will be made public once the process is complete."
So let me get this straight: the charges in question can't be disclosed by the Board because the Board says that such charges can't be disclosed, and they'll be made public when and if the Board makes them public. In Mr. Keller's defense, this kind of double talk does seem to be all the rage in Washington, D.C. these days. Still, I can't help but think that the financial planning profession—not to mention the inside-the-Beltway perception many of us have about the CFP Board—might benefit from appearing less as if the Board is simply hiding its dirty laundry under a rug (sorry for the mixed metaphor).
Here's a crazy idea: maybe the Board could adopt a system similar to the one that emerged in Europe during the 18th century. Disciplinary proceedings could be held out in the open, with the charges clearly stated, some evidence of the same and finally a decision made. Oh, all of which is publicly recorded and published so that other members of the profession—and the public—can benefit from knowing exactly what kind of behavior is and isn't tolerated in a CFP. Just a thought.
Still, just when I start to wonder whether a profession of financial advisors couldn't be in worse hands, The American College of Financial Services wades into the fray. Apparently not content to watch the CFP Board stumbling over its own tail, Dr. Larry Barton, president & CEO of The College, felt compelled to issue a "special message": "This is a very sad day for our friends at The CFP Board of Standards," he wrote. "…These are serious allegations, of course, and we hope that our profession is not damaged by the charges behind them… …This should be a time for all of us to reflect on how the various organizations that support financial professionals can support one another in a meaningful manner."
This, of course, is exactly the kind of "support" the CFP Board encourages through its lack of disclosure of any facts: "These are very serious allegations." Are they? As far as I know, Mr. Goldfarb and the other two board members may have committed the heinous infraction of leaving the registered trademark "R" off the CFP on their business cards. And this from the organization whose competing, but failing, Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) mark was magnanimously grandfathered in by none other than the CFP Board. That won't stop every financial salesperson (not that there's anything wrong with that) from here to Kalamazoo from inferring that financial planners are a bunch of crooks, from the top on down. (I would like to personally congratulate Dr. Barton for finally endorsing a '40 Act fiduciary standard for insurance agents and registered reps of insurance BDs, when he wrote: "…we should always put the interests of our clients above out own.")
If the CFP Board truly wants to be the regulatory body of the financial planning profession (as it lobbied for during the writing of the Dodd-Frank Act), it needs to introduce some transparency into its bureaucracy, so CFPs and the public alike can see that they are, in fact, being protected. Such transparency could also allow Alan Goldfarb and the others accused to have their good names cleared—or not—from what he described as "a misunderstanding."


text:
is pretty well known, they have delivered 44 wordpress themes in to the commercial theme market. I wanted to ask a few questions to the guys about where things were headed with business and personal life. Mark and Magnus were kind enough to answer some questions.
Just in case people don't know, could you list the names and roles of persons involved within Woo?
WooThemes was started by Adriaan Pienaar in Cape Town, South Africa, Magnus Jepson in Stavenger, Norway and Mark Forrester in London, England – with the internet being the life blood of the company.
It's quite evident that WooThemes has a very big voice amongst the web community and beyond, if you're ahead of the rest, what is keeping you motivated to achieve great things everyday?
Mark: I think all 3 of us are quite competitive, both amongst ourselves and our competitors. We are always trying to knock each other off top spot for best selling theme, or studying our web traffic and blog posts were we are mentioned and planning how we can strengthen our position online with great themes, content and competitions. I think that definitely helps in achieving bigger things each month.
We also are lucky in the fact that we can collaborate with industry leading designers, so we get their personal styles infusing with ours to really create unique and trend-breaking designs.
Magnus: I think the advantage we have over "the competition", is that we have a unique team composition, and that we all want to apply our ideas, to make Woo an inch better. Both Mark and Adii have also felt the heat, since my first themes proved to be the most popular 🙂
Adii has recently been involved in an interview stating that 90% of the marketing activities are down to him, would you say that your known more for quality themes or your marketing activities?
Mark: Definitely a combination of the two. Marketing poor quality themes wouldn't exactly work in our favour especially with our rather viral Twitter profile. We pride ourselves on unique designs, built on a very stable theme framework boasting lots of useful functionality.
Magnus: We have all found the parts that we enjoy the most in Woo, and Adii has a knack for marketing, as I have a knack for doing support, so people sometimes only think Adii is running Woo, as his voice is so prominent 😉
Woo2 was hyped to the max, has your marketing since the Woo2 launch increased your hits/turnover?
Mark: Definitely. Woo2 launched with a much more competitive pricing structure for the club membership, that coupled with a far more sexy and usable company website has definitely done wonders for our traffic and sales.
Magnus: Yeah again I think the marketing we did through ads, twitter and other interactive marketing was spot on, and it's really helped take us to the next level.
What would you say are the reasons why you have such a good reputation in the industry?
Mark: We were lucky enough to have got in early to the commercial theme market, that said it was not all down to luck, we identified a big gap in the market and pounced on it. We were therefore mentioned quite a bit online amongst the early WordPress adopters.
We are also extremely vocal as to our plans, we love engaging with our community and getting their feedback on our next moves. This is directly related to our reputation. We adapt and mature quickly, but always do so to offer something better for our loyal users.
Magnus: I think the advantage we had at being early in the game, and having a great team has made us get a good reputation. I also believe that our designs, both self produced and those done by top designers, have elevated our themes above the rest.
44 Themes and more on their way, where do you see theme design going?
Mark: We are exploring so many different types of themes at the moment – business, multimedia, magazine/news, and personal themes so there is definitely not one direction we are moving in. That said more and more businesses are turning to WordPress for an affordable and very usable content management system so with every theme we try produce something breaking the traditional blog format of WordPress themes.
Magnus: What amazes me is how good the first few themes like Fresh News and Gazette are still doing. These themes have become the building blocks for us, and I think our main focus will still be around magazine, business and multimedia themes, but I'd like us to explore more niche themes as we keep growing. I think our customers crave updated designs, but with similar functionality, so that allows us to reinvent our older theme designs, while not reinventing the functionality behind them.
The Magento themes seem to be on the back-burner, what are the reasons for that happening?
Mark: We at WooThemes are big on ideas and quick on communicating them to our users. Sometimes probably a little too quickly. We've certainly learnt to take things one step at a time, developing 44 WordPress themes and now entering the Drupal market is a huge amount of work. Now that the platform has been built with Woo2 to support the sales of different CMS themes we can focus our attention to Drupal and Magento, with Drupal being the guinea pig.
Magnus: We like to think big, and it all sounded so good when we discussed it, but in retrospect I think we should have focused on taking one CMS at a time, and not promise to evolve to 3 other CMS off the bat. Hopefully we'll get there in the end though.
On a personal level, how much time do each of you spend on Woo work, as most of you have your own little businesses behind the scenes?
Mark: All three of us are very entrepreneurial, but WooThemes is our day job and passion. Being internet based we have the flexibility of working the hours we want. Usually we work far too many, but we try to take it easy on a friday, and of course always find time for an XBOX session 🙂
Magnus: I actually find myself working way more now than when I had a 8-4 job. It's just so much more motivating to spend time working than sitting in front of a TV. I probably spend anywhere from 6-12 hours a day working on Woo.
What are the three top goals for Woo over the next 12 months, considering you're already reaching 1 million page views per month!?
Mark: 5 million page views per month. No, on a serious note we are not only drived by traffic and sales figures. We want to cement ourselves in the web design industry as the leading theme development company, but all the while having fun, doing what we enjoy, and to keep impressing our awesome community of users.
Magnus: I'm always eager to see growth and stability, as I hope to be working on Woo for years to come. Page views isn't a goal in itself, but I think that is a result of our hard work with continuously pumping out quality themes. I'd like to continue on that path… Why change a winning formula?
Thank You
Thanks go to Mark and Magnus for answering the interview questions on behalf of WooThemes.