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You have a great example for any eulogy you might give in Maya Angelou's 2006 eulogy for Coretta Scott King. "But she's a writer--of course she's eloquent," you might say. And while that's true, not all great writers are great speakers. This is a cogent eulogy, one that's short, knowing, humorous, stirring. Here's what I like and notice in this famous speech:
- It helps us picture the departed person: Early in the eulogy, Angelou begins a description of Mrs. King using simple words, but adds this deft analogy that lets the audience picture her in their minds for the rest of the talk: "In times of interior violent storms she sat, her hands resting in her lap calmly, like good children sleeping." That image, so familiar to those who knew her and those who only knew of her, gives the audience something on which to focus during the descriptions that follow.
- It uses words to bring the audience together: This was not a small funeral, and included a wide range of people--all races and political views and faiths. Angelou uses several devices to unite this disparate audience. She begins and ends by singing the words of a hymn that says "I'll see what the end is gonna be," a reminder of our common mortality. She spends a paragraph acknowledging the different groups of people Mrs. King championed, a subtle way of recognizing people in the audience who belong to those groups.
- Once united, she gives the audience a call to action: In fitting tribute to Mrs. King, Angelou tells the assembly, "those of us who gather here, principalities, presidents, senators, those of us who run great companies, who know something about being parents, who know something about being preachers and teachers -- those of us, we owe something from this minute on; so that this gathering is not just another footnote on the pages of history. We owe something." Then she leads them through a list of five simple wishes for justice and fairness, using the rhetorical device anaphora--a repetitive phrase at the beginning or end of a series of sentences. In this case, it's "I mean to say I want to see" with the wish following.
- It's blessedly short, but packs a punch in every paragraph: This is a eulogy with 17 paragraphs, 8 of them a scant sentence long. The entire speech, including the singing, runs just over 7 and half minutes. It's full of active verbs and concrete nouns, and no wasted words. Would that we all could do so much with so little.
- It makes a saint into a human: It would be easy to consider Mrs. King a martyr of sorts, but Angelou brings her back to earth with personal stories only she would know--a card that every eulogist should play, if she can, because it offers novel content that will grip the audience's attention. Like this story: "On those late nights when Coretta and I would talk, I would make her laugh. And she said that Martin King used to tell her, 'You don't laugh enough.' And there's a recent book out about sisters in which she spoke about her blood sister. But at the end of her essay, she said, I did have -- 'I do have a chosen sister, Maya Angelou, who makes me laugh even when I don't want to.' And it's true. I told her some jokes only for no-mixed company." That in turn made the audience laugh, providing a needed moment of emotional relief during a solemn and sad occasion--something eulogists should plan on doing when possible.
Here's the video of the eulogy, a must-watch-and-listen so you can hear Angelou sing, listen to the cadences of her speaking, and understand how all those one-sentence paragraphs help her to pause for effect--a good demonstration that you can write a speech to aid the speaking of it. You can read along with the full text at the link above.
Use the Evernote clip button, above, to save this post in an Evernote notebook. Go here to subscribe to Step Up Your Speaking, my free email newsletter that looks at a different speaking topic in depth each month...then become a fan of The Eloquent Woman on Facebook and join the conversation with thousands of other women (and men) about public speaking skills and confidence.


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When Lady Gaga first broke, I heard decent but not unique Pop. Then the The Fame Monster and Born This Way came and suddenly, she was some sort of icon for outcasts. Her fanbase was called 'monsters'. The myth was, Pop was a genre with zero originality and weirdness dominated by conformists. Lady Gaga brought a revolution and made Pop accessible for the nerds, goth kids, ugly people and so forth. If you were ever bullied in school or didn't fit in, Lady Gaga was here to elevate you.
I never bought that. Sure, her music videos featured a lot of weird outfits. They were also always sexual outfits. Lady Gaga confirmed nicely to the 'sexy woman' imagery. No matter how weird an outfit was, it always provided people something sexy to jerk off to. She didn't look weird or dress weird. Her music was even worse. It was as generic as Pop can get. Lady Gaga has a nice, smooth voice with no real personality. She sang about sex, but so did everyone else. All her teasing and tough girl posturing are hardly any different than what Rihanna or Katy Perry did.
Lady Gaga isn't just unconvincing because beneath lyrics of 'be yourself', she's as conformist as you can get. Her image is misguided. She took desirable traits – strength, beauty, dancing – and wrote songs about them. What defines outcasts are undesirable traits – vulnerability, weirdness, perversion, anger, intellectualism. 'Vulnerability' is a key trait. Vulnerability is undesirable for evolutionary reasons. A vulnerable individuals is a burden on the pack, and we learn to hide our pain and weaknesses so we won't get cast out of the tribe.
Artists who did sang for outcasts, or at least had such a fanbase were proud of this. Compare her to Marilyn Manson who also predicted his fame in Antichrist Superstar. His stomping anthem, "The Beautiful People", is hateful, angry and a cry of distress. He sang from a position of weakness, of being ugly and undesired. His whole image is about that. His look is, on purpose, disfigured and often androgynous. While Gaga sang about the virtue of sex, Manson mocked us with "User Friendly" and "Slutgarden". Manson also had a raspy, slightly mechanical voice so that every song he sang would sound odd. The newbie that is Melanie is another great example. Song like "Cry Baby", "Dollhouse" and "Pity Party" take all these undesirable qualities and bring them to the surface. When Martinez makes strength anthems, she takes pride in admitting how vulnerable she is. Lady Gaga never does it. She's everything we expect from a Pop star – in love with guys, perhaps girls, having a lot of sex and dancing at parties.
Imagine if the excellent "Government Hooker" was performed by Manson or Tove Lo, artists with a better sense of darkness than she. Songs like that hinted that perhaps there was a weirdo there waiting to come out. There is aggression flowing through that song, chopped vocals and a sense of dread that the sex isn't all positive.
The new song is ironically titled "Pefect Illusion". It describes Gaga perfectly. All my suspicions about her were confirmed. She got tired of posturing like a party girl, pretending that drinking and sex is new. So now she imitates Sia. Sia was already a pale imitation of Lady Gaga, singing with ultra seriousness, showing off her voice without a hint of emotion ("Chandeliar" isn't about alcoholism but about Sia's 'awesome' voice).
Lady Gaga looks back on the disco songs of heartbreak and triumph. She takes the sound and themes with none of the fun. The song barely has a melody or a chorus. The hook is a repetition of "It wasn't love/it was a perfect illusion" and behind it only a banging drum. If this sounds minimalist, it's not on purpose. You're supposed to dance to that dull drum. Gaga sings with technical finesse, pointing out that she's, in fact, not that hurt at all. Heartbreak may have been tough, but she can still try to impress the judges at American Idol.
Truth is, even if she brought actual pain to the song it wouldn't be anything original. A little after Gaga came Lana Del Rey, who was sexier, more vulnerable and more dangerous. She was also a party girl, but she stared straight at the dark side of it too. If "Perfect Illusion" was the comedown from her image, she'll just be running against Lana. That's a race she can't win, since Lana has a concept she develops and plays with. Lady Gaga has anthems of strengths and seriousness, like any other Pop star.
In the past, Lady Gaga at least tries to be weird. It was easy to see through, but there was effort. "Bad Romance" had scat singing. "Government Hooker" has already been mentioned and it's quite excellent. She took influence from Latin music on "Americano" and other songs – "LoveGame" and "G.U.Y." were unbashedly about sex. It wasn't subversive, but it wanted to be and if you're unfamiliar with Pop music it is attention grabbing. "Perfect Illusion" is a regression to "Just Dance", a song so unimaginative that it becomes memorable because of that. Remember, that song had the lyrics of "Just dance, gonna be okay, dodododododo". I love songs about dancing, but they need to be passionate about dancing.
To her defense, it's better than her competition. If Lady Gaga tries to amaze me with her voice, she does a decent enough job. There is vulnerability in that song that's startling and more naked than Sia. She doesn't hide the weak lyrics. Hearing her bellow out "I can still feel blow" sounds like she's dying to be over it. Although her singing is triumphant, there's something very noisy about it too. Some said the song is about a recent break-up, which wouldn't surprise me. It's generic, derivative and nothing original but Gaga occasionally sound like she's trying to heal herself with singing. Maybe that's why it's so original. It's a vehicle for Lady Gaga to vent. At least she beats the horrifying Sia in her own game.

subset: commoncrawl


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Moog Acquires Broad Reach Engineering Company
2 January 2013
East Aurora, NY - Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A and MOG.B) announced today that it has acquired Broad Reach Engineering Company (BRE), located in Golden, Colorado. The purchase price is approximately $48 million, including $37 million in cash, a $6 million note payable and a $5 million potential earn out payment, based on the achievement of certain financial targets.
Broad Reach, founded in 1997, is a leading designer and manufacturer of spaceflight electronics and software for aerospace, scientific, commercial and military missions. The company also provides ground testing, launch and on-orbit operations. Trailing twelve month revenues were approximately $27 million.
"The acquisition of Broad Reach brings several very strong products to our space portfolio, as well as an experienced team of individuals," said Jay Hennig, President of Moog's Space and Defense Group. "Their engineering team brings extensive spaceflight heritage, industry expertise and entrepreneurial spirit to Moog. Our ability to provide complete solutions to our customers is strengthened by Broad Reach's avionics, software and mission design heritage."
Sales are expected to add approximately $32 million to Moog's 2013 fiscal year ending on September 28, 2013. The acquisition is expected to be neutral to Moog's 2013 earnings per share due to first year purchase accounting adjustments.
Moog Inc. is a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and integrator of precision control components and systems. Moog's high-performance systems control military and commercial aircraft, satellites and space vehicles, launch vehicles, missiles, automated industrial machinery, wind energy, marine and medical equipment. Additional information about the Company can be found at www.moog.com.
Cautionary Statement
Information included or incorporated by reference in this report that does not consist of historical facts, including statements accompanied by or containing words such as "may," "will," "should," "believes," "expects," "expected," "intends," "plans," "projects," "approximate," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "outlook," "forecast," "anticipates," "presume" and "assume," are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to several factors, risks and uncertainties, the impact or occurrence of which could cause actual results to differ materially from the expected results described in the forward-looking statements. These important factors, risks and uncertainties include:
• the markets we serve are cyclical and sensitive to domestic and foreign economic conditions and events, which may cause our operating results to fluctuate
• we operate in highly competitive markets with competitors who may have greater resources than we possess
• we depend heavily on government contracts that may not be fully funded or may be terminated, and the failure to receive funding or the termination of one or more of these contracts could reduce our sales and increase our costs
• we make estimates in accounting for long-term contracts, and changes in these estimates may have significant impacts on our earnings
• we enter into fixed-price contracts, which could subject us to losses if we have cost overruns
• if our subcontractors or suppliers fail to perform their contractual obligations, our prime contract performance and our ability to obtain future business could be materially and adversely impacted
• contracting on government programs is subject to significant regulation, including rules related to bidding, billing and accounting kickbacks and false claims, and any non-compliance could subject us to fines and penalties or possible debarment
• the loss of Boeing as a customer or a significant reduction in sales to Boeing could adversely impact our operating results
• our new product research and development efforts may not be successful which could reduce our sales and earnings
• our inability to adequately enforce and protect our intellectual property or defend against assertions of infringement could prevent or restrict our ability to compete
• our business operations may be adversely affected by information systems interruptions or infringements
• our indebtedness and restrictive covenants under our credit facilities could limit our operational and financial flexibility
• significant changes in discount rates, rates of return on pension assets, mortality tables and other factors could affect our earnings, equity and pension funding requirements
• a write-off of all or part of our goodwill or other intangible assets could adversely affect our operating results and net worth
• our sales and earnings growth may be affected if we cannot identify, acquire or integrate strategic acquisitions
• our operations in foreign countries expose us to political and currency risks and adverse changes in local legal and regulatory environments
• unforeseen exposure to additional tax income liabilities may affect our operating results
• government regulations could limit our ability to sell our products outside the United States and otherwise adversely affect our business
• the failure or misuse of our products may damage our reputation, necessitate a product recall or result in claims against us that exceed our insurance coverage, thereby requiring us to pay significant damages
• future terror attacks, natural disasters or other catastrophic events beyond our control could negatively impact our business
• our operations are subject to environmental laws, and complying with those laws may cause us to incur significant costs
• we are involved in various legal proceedings, the outcome of which may be unfavorable to us
These factors are not exhaustive. New factors, risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time that may affect the forward-looking statements made herein. Given these factors, risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as predictive of future results. We disclaim any obligation to update the forward-looking statements made in this report.


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Cupcake Ranking: 4 Cupcakes
I have to admit. I was very skeptical. Apples? In between layers of a molasses cake? I dunno. But, my sister in law came into town and brought a bunch of dried apples (thanks Sam). Anyway, surprisingly DELICOUS. I guess this is a traditional cake in Kentucky. The cake was like a big chewy gingersnap and the apples tasted like really quality apple pie filling. For some reason, between the gingery chewey goodness of the cake and the tart cinnamon apples, it worked and reminded me of a bread pudding or fruit crisp. We served with whipped cream and I swear we had it for breakfast the next day.
5 C Dried Apples (about 3/4 pound)
5 C Apple cider
1 2/3 C Granulated sugar
1 C (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened, plus more for pans
3 C sifted all-purpose Flour, plus more for pans
1 large Egg
1 C unsulfured Molasses
1 C Buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Bring apples and cider to a boil in a large pot. Reduce to a simmer; cook, stirring occasionally, until apples begin to soften and liquid has reduced, 40 to 50 minutes (This took me about 35 minutes). Add 1 cup water; cook, mashing apples slightly, until liquid has reduced, about 10 minutes. Add 2/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water; simmer until apples are very soft and coated in syrup, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter parchment. Dust with flour; tap out excess. Set aside.
Put butter and the remaining cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; mix in egg, molasses, buttermilk, baking soda, flour, spices, and salt.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean and tops spring back when lightly touched, about 35 minutes (This took me about 21 minutes). Let cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans to loosen; invert to unmold. Remove parchment; reinvert onto racks. Let cool.
Using a long serrated knife, cut each cake in half horizontally. Place 1 bottom layer on a serving platter. Top with 1/3 of the apple mixture, spreading to edges. Stack 1 top layer on top of apples, and top with another 1/3 of the apple mixture. Repeat with remaining cake bottom and apples, and top with remaining cake top. Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour before serving (This step is super important. If you don't let the cake soak up some of the apple-y goodness it will seem a tad dry). Sift confectioners' sugar over top of cake.
Rach's Tips:
As I mentioned before, this cake seems kinda different. But it is a home-y warm feeling cake. We really liked it with whipped topping and would be great in the fall or winter. It tasted very old fashioned and reminded me of Sunday nights with my family when I was growing up.


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Installing EPrints 3 on RedHat Enterprise 4
Download EPrints Releases: http://files.eprints.org/view/type/release.html
New improved for Release Candidate 1
- 1 Installing EPrints 3 on Redhat Enterpise 4
- 2 Install Prerequisites
- 3 Installing Eprints Version 3
- 4 Configure Apache
- 5 Set up the indexer as a linux service
Installing EPrints 3 on Redhat Enterpise 4
This guide has been written by combining the instructions for Eprints version 2, other contributions written by previous authors (Thanks guys!) and my experience with installing on my system. Please feel free to add, edit and put right anything I have got wrong!
It's a work in progress, which will be constantly updated, I will rewrite and move some of this once I have RC1 live next week.
Install Prerequisites
OS Updates
Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and the latest Updates available through Red Hat Network. If RHN is working, use it to get all the required packages:
up2date --nox -u httpd wget gzip xpdf lynx unzip up2date --nox -u mod_perl perl-DBI perl-DBD-MySQL perl-XML-Parser
Note: you will need to make sure your machine has the "Extras" channel in RHN or install mysql-server from the 'extras' disk, even if you selected to install MySQL in the menus:
up2date --nox -u mysql-server
If you want the LaTeX functionality install a TeX system and ImageMagick:
up2date --nox -u tetex-latex ImageMagick
You will needthe glib-devel and libxml2-devel package for GDOME
up2date --nox -u glib-devel libxml2-devel-2.6.16-6
I have found that the RHEL mod_perl version 2 is of course not version 2, but beta 1.99. RH offer mod_perl 2, but only in the Web Application Channel. This should be OK, on RHN alter your channel subscription and include :
Red Hat Web Application Stack 1.0 Beta (for AS v. 4 x86)
Then from the command line :
up2date --nox -u mod_perl
This will install mod perl 2.02 (latest) and un update to Perl.
Once loaded please alter the channel subscription back to your normal list.
Other Perl Modules
You can use CPAN with the automated script which comes with eprints; run "cpan" and answer the questions.
cpan perl -MCPAN -e shell install Data::ShowTable install MIME::Base64 install Unicode::String install Term::ReadKey install Readonly ******NEW******* install MIME::Lite install XML::LibXML install CGI (This is an update as I found RHEL dist has a bug for something else)
Accept and requirements, but don't worry about any modules already installed, then exit cpan (type exit) and run the perlmodule installer which came with EPrints.
Make sure apache & mysql start when you reboot
/sbin/chkconfig mysqld on /sbin/chkconfig httpd on
Installing GDOME and the perl GDOME interface
I found I needed this for eprints to work, so maybe it is essential now!
This is not essential. Non-RH RPMs are available at http://linux.reb00t.com/RPMS/
libxml2 should already be installed.
Install the GDOME rpms.
cd /root wget http://gdome2.cs.unibo.it/rpm/gdome2-0.8.1-1.i386.rpm wget http://gdome2.cs.unibo.it/rpm/gdome2-devel-0.8.1-1.i386.rpm rpm -Uvh gdome2-0.8.1-1.i386.rpm gdome2-devel-0.8.1-1.i386.rpm
(You can get more recent versions if they are available).
Fix the bug in gdome-config
When I installed gdome-config it appeared to have a slight error when it installed.
To see if the bug is a problem run:
gdome-config --libs
If you get something like:
/usr/bin/gdome-config: line 86: --libs: command not found /usr/bin/gdome-config: line 87: --cflags: command not found
then you need to fix the bug. Don't worry, it's easy.
As root edit /usr/bin/gdome-config
vi /usr/bin/gdome-config
Around line 88 find these two lines:
the_libs="$the_libs -L${exec_prefix}/lib -lgdome ` --libs` `xml2-config --libs`" the_flags="$the_flags -I${prefix}/include -I${prefix}/include/libgdome ` --cflags` `xml2-config --cflags`"
And change them to this:
the_libs="$the_libs -L${exec_prefix}/lib -lgdome `/usr/bin/glib-config --libs` `xml2-config --libs`" the_flags="$the_flags -I${prefix}/include -I${prefix}/include/libgdome `/usr/bin/glib-config --cflags` `xml2-config --cflags`"
Install XML::GDOME
note: you need the RPM glib-devel installed for this to work. (Possibly "up2date glib-devel" will sort this if up2date is set up)
Do this from source, not via CPAN as one of the tests is broken.
cd /usr/local/build wget http://cpan.uwinnipeg.ca/cpan/authors/id/T/TJ/TJMATHER/XML-GDOME-0.86.tar.gz tar xzvf XML-GDOME-0.86.tar.gz cd XML-GDOME-0.86 perl Makefile.PL make make install
If you want you can run "make test" before install, but don't worry about the "SAX" test failing.
Installing Eprints Version 3
Download Latest Version :
cd /usr/local/build wget http://files.eprints.org/130/01/eprints-3.0-rc-1.tar.gz
Unpack the distribution and compile (note I am running as apache user not eprints):
tar xzvf eprints-3.0-rc-1.tar.gz cd eprints-3.0-rc-1 ./configure --with-smtp-server=smtp.adastral.ucl.ac.uk --prefix=/var/lib/eprints3 --with-user=apache --with-group=apache ./install.pl
Obviously you should use setting relevant to your site, a complete list of options can be generated using the command:
./configure --help
Configure Apache
Edit the apache config:
vi /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
add this to the end:
Include /var/lib/eprints3/cfg/apache.conf
Configure SELinux
If you haven't disabled SELinux, configure it as documented on the troubleshooting page, or apache will not be able to write data files.
Set up the indexer as a linux service
To make the indexer into a service which starts and stops on reboots etc. like httpd and mysqld do the following (as root):
ln -s /var/lib/eprints3/bin/epindexer /etc/init.d/epindexer chkconfig --add epindexer chkconfig epindexer on
The epindexer script runs as root, changes user to "apache" (or whatever uid your eprints install runs as) and then calls indexer.


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I have a question about he qiraat of yaqub. I noticed that when stopping on certain words....
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
Jazakallahu khairaa for creating this website. I have a question about he qiraat of yaqub. I noticed that when stopping on certain it is stopped with a haa attached to the final nun. For example in the first ayah of surah fatihah yaqub would end with "3aalameenah" rather than with a sukun on the nun. I could not find this rule in my books on this qiraat and I am not an expert on the qiraat related by the durrah and tayyibah so I would like to know the name of this rule.
Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
The rule you are referring to is in Tareeq At-Tayyibah. When there is a regular male plural noun and you are stopping on the word, Yaqoob reads it with an attached "ha' sakt" as one of two allowed ways. The is read with a sukoon on it, no vowel at all, and only when stopping. The is not present when continuing. The other allowed way is the normal way we stop on words, with a sukoon on the end with no attached sakt.
There is also in the recitation of Yaqoob outlined in the Durrah as well as in the Tayyibah a " sakt" when stopping on nouns ending with a female represented by a with a shaddah, preceded by a , as well as when stopping on either of the two words. There are some other instances too, but these are the most common.
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I think I'm going to puke! It's the return of the silver figures just painted black instead! I guess I can skip this one since I can aim a spray can at a stromtrooper just as well as hasbro.
Well I'm gonna see about getting a few. I can hear PMundheim thinking like me in that he'll want a "team". But probably can't justify buying a whole platoon. I'd like 4 if I can get them... one if that is all I can get though I guess.
Page created in 0.098 seconds with 18 queries.


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Join the Crowd. Sell Some Stock.
Tips for attracting equity investors to crowd-funding sites
How do you get people to buy stock in your company on crowd-funding sites? The same way you get them to give money for anything else.
As soon as the final rules are hammered out, the JOBS Act will kick in and let small businesses sell equity stakes to big groups of average investors online. It's a lot like the crowd-funding model sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo offer, except the backers get shares in the company.
The best way to get ready for this new setup is to take a look at what works in crowd funding right now, say entrepreneurs and experts. There are time-tested strategies that help a money-raising campaign succeed, they say—and those rules will hold true for stock sales.
Offer perks to your backers, for one thing. Make videos that sell your idea. Network with potential investors. And keep pushing for media attention.
Here's a closer look at those strategies.
Dangle Rewards
Small-business owners must make sure they offer some incentive to backers, says Slava Rubin, co-founder and CEO of Indiegogo. Businesses that offer their products as perks as part of their campaign "are not only raising funds, but are also getting market validation and direct feedback from their contributors on what's working and what's not," he says.
Andy Krafsur, CEO of Spira Footwear Inc. in El Paso, Texas, saw that firsthand. Mr. Krafsur spent years developing athletic shoes with special springs that allow people to run faster and longer with less fatigue.
His original goal was to raise $25,000 in 30 days, but he got the funds in half the time on Rockethub. His strategy? Offering rewards depending on the level of contribution. Ten dollars got you a free subscription to the company's news, while bigger contributions—up to $5,000—brought discounts of 40% to 60% on shoes. "You have to give people something they really want," Mr. Krafsur says.
One caveat, though: While the rules for equity crowd funding are still being hammered out, offering stock as a perk isn't allowed now.
Show, Don't Just Tell
According to Indiegogo, campaigns with a pitch video raise 114% more money than those without one. Brian Nunnery of In.gredients, a grocery store that focuses on healthy food sold without packaging, says his company always saw video as an essential part of its fundraising campaign. "When people go to an Indiegogo page, they want to see and hear and experience who you are," Mr. Nunnery says.
One key point was to keep things short—around a minute, he says. People "want to quickly skim and find things that they like," he says.
Brian Meece, CEO of Rockethub, says successful videos also need to feel authentic. "They show excitement the entrepreneur has for making the business a success, and tell the story of why an endeavor matters," he says. "We've found the most successful videos address how their company will have a positive impact on their community or the world."
Build Your Contacts Book
Before the process of crowd funding even starts, small-business owners must develop contacts who might fund the company, argues Tara Coles, CEO of Totem Blu Inc., which sells art and custom paper and paper goods. "You have a limited amount of time, and you can't waste your time starting from scratch, or you're going to end up not being able to raise all the funds successfully," she explains.
She says she spent two years building up a list before launching her campaign on Peerbackers, in which she raised $3,500 more than the original $2,000 goal. "It wasn't as if I launched this campaign, and I had just come out with the idea the previous week," she says.
Ms. Coles adds small-business owners need to be methodical in the way they engage with their network. She first sent a personal email to friends and family explaining the vision of her company and the goal of the crowd-funding campaign. "I didn't want this to be a spam," she says.
After a couple of days, she posted her campaign on social-networking sites and followed up with well-connected people, asking them if they could send the pitch out to their own networks. She then explained how often she would be communicating and gave people the chance to opt out of updates.
Get Some Press Coverage
Once Oscar Lhermitte started his campaign for the Albatros, a bookmark that automatically saves your page, he didn't just wait for money to come in: He contacted blogs and news sites daily to keep momentum going.
"They like to write articles about new products and original things," says Mr. Lhermitte, who raised more than $44,000 on Indiegogo, far beyond his original goal of $3,000. And "as soon as one blog posts something about this product, all the small blogs actually follow the big blogs."
But he advises businesses to practice restraint. "I was being very careful not to over-email people," he says. "Some blogs won't even reply to you and won't post anything. If you send them 10 emails asking them, 'Can you please post this?' they will hate you."
Mr. Espinoza is a London-based staff reporter with The Wall Street Journal Europe. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8


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yield to maturity(redirected from Yield-to-Maturity)
Yield to maturity
The percentage rate of return paid on a bond, note, or other fixed income security if the investor buys and holds it to its maturity date. The calculation for YTM is based on the coupon rate, length of time to maturity, and market price. It assumes that coupon interest paid over the life of the bond will be reinvested at the same rate.
Yield to Maturity
The rate of return on a bond if it is held until maturity. This is expressed as an annual rate; the calculation of the YTM includes the coupon rate (if any), length of the bond, market value, and face value. Bond quotes are made in terms of the YTM, but an individual investor's yield may be different if he/she does not hold the bond, or if the bond is called before maturity.
yield to maturity (YTM)
The annual return on a bond held to maturity when interest payments and price appreciation (if priced below par) or depreciation (if priced above par) are considered. When a bond sells at par, the yield to maturity is the same as the current yield because price appreciation or depreciation is zero if the security is held to maturity. Bond quotations are generally on a yield-to-maturity basis, although an investor who sells a bond before maturity may earn a yield different from the yield to maturity as calculated at the time the security was purchased. See also internal rate of return, maturity basis.
Yield to maturity (YTM).
Yield to maturity is the most precise measure of a bond's anticipated return and determines its current market price.
YTM takes into account the coupon rate and the current interest rate in relation to the price, the purchase or discount price in relation to the par value, and the years remaining until the bond matures.
yield to maturity (YTM)
The internal rate of return of an investment, taking into consideration all incomes and expenses and their timing.


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Julie Clark flipped on the lights in Doma International's new offices in a pocket of the Downtown YMCA.
Julie Clark flipped on the lights in Doma International's new offices in a pocket of the Downtown YMCA.
"Wait until you see this. I'm so excited," Clark said, as if she had just unveiled the greatest present she'd ever received.
Fair enough. The anti-sex-trafficking organization moved into the space - complete with an massive kitchen (more on why it needs that soon) - last month after years of doing business wherever worked at the moment. Like Clark's car.
"I could get Wi-Fi out there," she said, laughing.
Clark is a co-founder of Doma, which supports human trafficking survivors in Columbus by working with CATCH Court, a Franklin County specialty court created to address the needs of women charged with prostitution. Doma provides resources for things like health care, employment, rehabilitation and tattoo removal for women who request it.
There are also Doma-sponsored projects overseas and a 10-week class called Abolitionist U that teaches locals about how to fight human trafficking.
In the next year, Clark hopes to find a place to offer temporary housing for the women in Doma's recovery program and also further the scope of Doma's social entrepreneurship engine, the Freedom a la Cart food cart. (Remember that big kitchen? Voila.) Clark and her team are mapping out plans for - fingers crossed - a rooftop restaurant that employs trafficking survivors and helps fund Doma projects.
"These women teach me something every day," Clark said. "I've learned the power that comes from having a loving, trusting relationship with someone and what you are able to accomplish if you have that sense of security."
There are, of course, trafficking survivors who refuse Doma's help. Clark can't help everyone, but she can keep trying.
"Love loosely," she said of how she handles the fact that seeing the effects of trauma is just another day at work, "but love hard."Artist: Stephanie Rond >>


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Autorobot Finland Oy» Back
Vehicle fastening and support
Research and Development at Autorobot has focused particularly on innovative vehicle fastening and support equipment, the results being quick and easy bench mounting and accurate repair work. Presently, Autorobot's patented system offers the quickest one-bolt sill clamps for pinch-weld fastening available on the market (approx. 80% of vehicles have pinch welds), and our Starblock fastening set for cars without pinch welds or for full-frame vehicles.
Autorobot offers various adjustable support and bearing jig sets. These jigs hold new parts in their correct position as the vehicle is pulled to it and/or hold replacement body and frame parts to the vehicle for welding.
Fastening sets
» Chassis fasteners
» Starblock -fastening sets for the vehicles without pinch weld and for the full frame vehicles. See the specified fastening sets for each car model in the chart.
» Fastening chart for vehicles without pinch weld and for full frame vehicles (pdf-file)


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Eat your heart out Jason! Melissa has clearly moved on as she shows of her new boyfriend Tye Strickland at a red carpet event this week.
The new couple walked their first red carpet together at Us Weekly's Hot Hollywood party Wednesday. The two walked hand in hand as Melissa was being honored for her new glam style since her breakup with Jason. "I feel like I am a normal girl in L.A. now!" said Melissa who was also spotted practicing some moves with her DWTS partner Tony Dovolani in their booth throughout the night. "It's weird. It's awesome. It's so surreal."
Kudos to Melissa as Ty seems to be a definite upgrade from Jason.


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It's 100% my understanding.holdingoutforjacob wrote:Hmm. Is that for sure, or is that your understanding?
I wondered too if the fact they're mother and daughter had anything to do with Bella's shield not working to protect her from Nessie.Amanda Beth wrote: That is a THEORY though since the only shield it's been test upon is Bella's, which whom she's already blood related with.
I think the fact her powers work on Bella is the most important clue to how they really work... we need to have a serious conversation with Stephenie


text: I've read the previous thread "Grid Loses Selection and Scroll Position On Data Store Load" and tried the way to restore scroll position after ds.load. It works, but "However there is still a visible twitch in the grid as it scrolls to the top and then back to the restored position.", I also tried :I think the option to turn off redraw grid while only update data in it is very important requirement. The typical usage such as real time stock quotes display has to have this option, or it can't work well, obviously. So can Ext team put some effort on it?Code:grid = new Ext.grid.Grid('guests', { ds: ds, cm: colModel, view: new Ext.grid.GridView({ focusRow: Ext.emptyFn, ensureVisible: Ext.emptyFn }) });


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Should be near the floor on the drivers side (under the dash and to the left of the steering column)
Do mother birds really abandon their chicks if a human touches them?
Are Danny Devito and Joe Devito related?
Mrs Smith has nine children half of them are girls . how can this be true?
What is the Answer to rebus puzzle 1 knows?
Did Elvis have a big penis?
Many southern states try to block school segregation by?
What is knee light light?
What times what equals 7?
What's the "Bastille" in Bastille Day?
If you could make one change to the education system, what would it be?
Is it safe to take a shower during a thunderstorm?
Why is the clock tower in London called Big Ben?
Why don't satellites crash into earth?
Where is the origin of the Panama hat?
Have you ever crashed a wedding or had your wedding crashed, if so what happened?
How many times did Joe Biden run for president?
Who did Emmy Ann Wooding play on law and order special victims unit?
What does a Markup tag tells the web browser?
Who is the dubbing artist for raghava Lawrence in Telugu?
What are lil webbie twin daughters name?
Is best defined as the total weight of persons gear equipment stores fuel and motor assembly found on a vessel?
Does a queen mattress fit in a Chevy Equinox?
Where do you find the PCV valve in a mistsubishi 4d56 engine?
Why glider pilots gain height by flying over large ploughed fields?
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Chris Rusin gets the start on Wednesday against Mike Leake and the Cincinnati Reds. The game is set to start at 7:05 on CSN. Here is a look at the rest of the Cubs lineup.
DeJesus – RF
Barney – 2B
Rizzo – 1B
Soriano – LF
Castro – SS
Valbuena – 3B
Castillo – C
Jackson – CF
Rusin – P
Go Cubs!!


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The Oder-Neisse Cycle Route follows the two rivers along the German-Polish border. The route is marked by its excellent signposting and low traffic volumes.
The river Neisse rises in Nová Ves in the Czech Republic. Almost all of the cycle route runs along the German-Polish border, all the way to its final destination in Szczecin Bay. Attractions along the way include the old quarter in Görlitz and Prince Pückler's country park at Bad Muskau. The town of Guben in Germany and Gubin in Poland were a single entity until 1945, when the border was established between them. From here, the route continues to Eisenhüttenstadt and Frankfurt an der Oder, before crossing the Oderbruch marshland and the Lower Oder Valley National Park. Near Mescherin, the Oder proceeds into Poland, while the cycle path in Germany veers off towards Ueckermünde.
Terrain: mainly asphalt route along the banks of the Neisse and Oder rivers, mostly car free. You can cross into Poland at many points along the way.
Scenery: riverscapes, shady forests and hills along the Neisse river, meadows along the Oder river, nature conservation areas, the Lower Oder Valley National park and Szczecin Bay.
放大: +
缩小: +


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And the worst part is that the 4 regional winners finished 1 2 3 4 in the national finals.
Stupid race. Not real cross country. The best runners actually performed as expected. This is not at all like they do it at worlds.
I bet all these guys wish they had run at Nike. This race is finished - total joke.


text: I am using a 12v Parmax 3 ( 40 psi) pump to pump my water system at a cabin. The pump connects to a small Bosch W125k propane water heater.. All worked well until I had a freeze up... So after replaving the pressure switch on the pump and diaphram on the heater, it does not work like before. Pump and heater work however I cannot keep a steady stream of water from my shower unless I also turn on another tap ??? It seems like if there is not enough demand, the pump does not generate enough pressure to keep the propane demand heater lit so propane flares up and down and the water does as well...UNLESS I turn kitchen tap full on .. Any ideas on what I can adjust to correct this as same system worked fine before I screwed it up by forgetting to drain it ..


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Feminism | Posted by Kaitlyn K on 08/25/2012
Saturday Vids: Teach Safe Touch
Teach Safe Touch advocates for the health and dignity of all by challenging the current Minnesota sex education curriculum to include masturbation as a safe-sex alternative.
We created Teach Safe Touch to promote healthy and fulfilled sexual identities. Our mission is to engage, inform, and mobilize our community to challenge limiting sexuality education for our youth. We know that healthy choices and respectful behavior are the products of a mind which has been nourished by knowledge and confidence in oneself. Teach Safe Touch exists to create opportunities for everyone to enjoy the benefits of healthy sexual expression, self-assurance, and a guilt-free dialogue.
We created a petition to challenge the Minnesota legislature to include a more comprehensive sex-ed curriculum and to include language on masturbation in this comprehensive curriculum. We created a documentary of our process (below) and we would love your feedback on our project.
Read other posts about: abstinence only sex education, Feminism, masturbation, Minnesota, Minnesota legislature, Minnesota sex education, sex education, Teach Safe Touch


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The topic for the 41st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: If you could have dinner with four of your ancestors who would they be and why? Would you have dinner in the present day or in one of their eras? Would you dine out or opt for a home cooked meal? What would you discuss at the dinner table? What would you most like to share with them about your life?
After reading about the next Carnival topic, I came to the quick conclusion that I would have to get together with all four of my mother's Norwegian-born great grandmothers. I actually got tears in my eyes on the drive home that day while thinking about meeting them. It will never really happen, of course, but I feel a little closer to it by fooling myself with my own imagination.
Why so much emotion? Some of it might be attributable to mid-life hormones, who knows. But, you see, I've never had a grandmother, and the thought of meeting four at once is pleasantly overwhelming. My own grandmother passed away when Mom was less than two years old, and her presence in our lives has been sorely missed.
But first, let me introduce you to my maternal great-great-grandmothers: four Norwegian immigrant pioneer women who sacrificed all for the benefit of their families. (The child that is my great grandparent is in brackets.)
|Thibertine Johnson Winje
Thibertine (Bertina) Johnson Winje
Born: Thibertine Olsdatter Lassemo,
Grong, Nord Trondelag, Norway; 8 Jan. 1841.
Died: Detroit Lakes, Becker CO., MN; 15 Feb. 1930 (age 89).
Spouses: Baard Johnson (1835-1872); Eric L. Winje (1850-1930).
Ten children: [Ole M.], Julia, Regina, Louis, Lena, Emma M., Emma T., Edward, Hattie, and Annie.
Immigrated to Goodhue County., MN in 1866.
|Kjersten Vigesaa Larson
Born: Kjersten Olsdatter Stromstad,
Helleland, Rogaland, Norway; 15 June 1823.
Died: Granite Falls Township, Chippewa CO., MN; 28 Jan. 1917 (age 93).
Spouse: Erik Vigesaa Larson (1808-1891).
Seven children: Severine, Karen, Louis, Ole, Andrew, Ivar Ludwig, and [Malla].
Immigrated to La Crosse County, WI, in 1862.
|Karen Bue Berge
Born: Karen Olsdatter Bue,
Faaberg, Oppland, Norway; 19 Aug. 1839.
Died: Yellow Medicine CO., MN; 4 Sept. 1914 (age 75).
Spouse: Gulbran Olsen Berge (1835-1882). Seven children: Othilie, [Ole Benhart], Gunda C., Gunda Caroline, Bertha, Jorgen, Sophia.
Immigrated to Chippewa County, MN in 1869.
|Anne Vaterland Sloan
Born: Anne Thorsdatter Vaterland,
Faaberg, Oppland, Norway; 20 May 1833.Died: Chippewa CO., MN; 11 Jan. 1918 (age 85).
Spouse: Hans Thorsen Slaaen (1826-1898). Six children: Thor H., Mathia, Karen, Thorvald, John T., and [Anne Marie].
Immigrated to Coon Valley, Vernon County, WI in 1853.
I selected these ladies for several reasons. Having lived in Norway, they would have a living memory of people and early conditions there--the "old ways." They would also be able to tell stories about the risk-filled, eventful transatlantic journeys aboard disease ridden sailing ships and reveal trials and successes they encountered once on American soil. And, if I did skip over the chance of meeting my great grandparents in favor of the next eldest generation, I would still learn about them because my g g grandmas would certainly be willing to talk about their own children. Also, if no men are within earshot during our visit, they might even reveal a few foibles about their husbands and brothers, too.
I would choose to go back in time to about 1900, when each tippoldemor (great grandmother) was old enough to have lived a pretty full life, but young enough to be vibrant and clear in their memory. Why not bring them into the future? Because the object is to get to know them and their ways, and not to scare them silly.
We have seen more change over the past few decades, since my parents first marveled at "I Love Lucy" coming through our old Packard Bell television set, than our pre-20th century ancestors experienced over centuries of rural living in Norway, with the exception of perhaps the steam engine. Malla Larson Johnson (daughter of my g g grandma, Kjersten Larson) was actually afraid of electric lights when they finally arrived on her Clearwater County, Minnesota farm in the mid-1940s. Power lines were a long time in coming because it took many years for work crews to dig holes for all the necessary light poles in rural areas. Can you imagine the intense stimulation and fear someone from the past would feel if dropped into our century, especially an elderly person? I have to close my eyes and grimace at the thought.
Dearest Grandma, Hyggelig å møte deg? (how are you)?
This is a phrase I might never be able to use, since I would choose to learn about my little grandmas by blending into their time period as much as possible. Sure, I would probably mangle my masquerade as a good Norwegian-American pioneer girl, but let's give it a whirl.
Chippewa County, Minnesota is the location where my four g g grandmas eventually all settled with their husbands and family. Thank goodness, or my great grandparents would never have found each other. I have always loved the transitional feel of September, when the lowering afternoon sun shines like fire through tree branches, and the mornings are misty and mild. A Sunday in mid-September would be perfect. Though summer was the busiest season of year on a homestead, it was also the time that farming families could enjoy good weather and make rounds of visits with friends and relations.
I would invite each grandma to kaffe on a Sunday afternoon when they are more relaxed than normal, let's say, Sunday, September 16, 1900. Scandinavian-Lutheran pioneer women aspired to keeping the Sabbath holy, since the other six days of the week were sure to include endless rounds of back-breaking work. I'm not sure how they succeeded, but that was the general goal.
For the first meeting, I would put on some comfortably-worn blue calico, pull my hair back, and remove all of my jewelry. I would pretend to be a distant cousin who is, surprisingly enough, related to all of them through an ancestor who left Norway many years before they did. Due to my lack of the appropriate accent, I'd probably have to say that I was born in the wild west... which is the truth, come to think of it.
Do you think they would buy it? I'm sure they would be skeptical. They would be stiffly polite at first, but sweet, and they might ask a few indirect questions. I think they would at least be curious to see what this newcomer has to say, and whether or not she is full of herself and should be avoided in future (now, there's an interesting thought).
My mother grew up on a Minnesota farm belonging to her Norwegian-American grandparents, and although she did not personally know the generation of which I am writing, she had a few pointers for me on how my g g grandmothers might react. You bet I'm going to take advantage of her as a resource! Mom says that if the ladies are shy, like most Norwegian farm women she ever knew, they would probably not accept an invitation from a stranger, even if I claimed to be related. I surmised that the invitation would have to be extended by a mutual friend of theirs, perhaps someone they went to church with.
Dear Mrs. [Berge],
Would you be so kind as to join me and several other ladies for coffee on Sunday, September 16, at 2:00 p.m.? A relation of yours will be staying with my family for a few days, and I am hoping to introduce you to her. Please r.s.v.p. to me through the post office, or at church next Sunday.
Respectfully yours,
Mrs. Lars Petersen
Surely there must have been a "Mrs. Lars Petersen" somewhere in Chippewa County. At the home of Mrs. Petersen, I would set a buffet table with some offerings a Norwegian might expect to find, including some of the following: vafler (waffles) with lingonberries, goat cheese, hard-boiled eggs, lefse, breads, ham, herring, fruit salad, and Norwegian cookies and cakes, including fattigmann and krumkaker. Oh, and plenty of kaffe, of course!
On a separate table, I would lay out all of my old photographs in the hope that some unknown persons might be identified. The photos could also serve as props for conversation. The problem is that coming from the future, these photographs are bound to look a little worn. This might lead each of my grandmas to raise an eyebrow ever-so-slightly and sneak glances at one another, wondering how I could take such poor care of my belongings. "Strike One" for the wannabe Norwegian-American pioneer girl.
You may notice that all four of my g g grandmas look quite similar. I'm sure they were similar in their ways, as well. They were all Norwegian, all about the same size (around five feet in height), and all of a quiet, measured countenance... shy, even. They all wore their hair pulled back with the part in the middle, as was the practical custom for Scandinavian females in the 19th century. They lived hard lives, and it showed in their faces. They owned no cosmetics, used no fine lotions, had no botox treatments, and consumed no vitamins or fortified drinks to help protect their health. They spent countless hours outdoors in the wind, sun, rain, and snow. Caffeine may have been their only vice, since Norwegian-Americans learned at an early age to love coffee. It was a luxury seldom available in Norway, but it was easily attainable in the United States.
Pioneer living was especially hard on women, and even though it colored every nuance of their physical expression, it does not mean that Bertina, Kjersten, Karen, and Anne were not capable of great warmth, generosity, and even humor when appropriate. But, when they were motivated to set things right and see the work done, they could probably also be a bit critical, aloof, or demanding. They had 24-7, never-ending jobs in caring for their children, feeding and clothing their families, and supporting their husbands, neighbors, churches, and community: all from scratch. There was no "time out" for good behavior, no day at the spa, no weekend with the girls, no new spring wardrobe, and sometimes, no shelter or food either. What they had in abundance was know-how, determination, strength, faith, and sheer resilience.
I would want to hear what my grandmas have to say about their lives and families--telling their stories with those wonderful rolling accents and funnily adapted Norwegian-English phrases--and take my cues from there. Firing off questions like a reporter would be taken as prying, and I'm supposed to be a good Norwegian-American pioneer girl, remember?
I'd like to hear from Bertina about her transition from homesteader's wife to town life as the wife of an attorney and judge, and how she managed to keep on going after the loss of so many children. Karen would, no doubt, tell me of her husband's wild and woolly experiences aboard the Hannah Parr, the emigrant ship he sailed on from Bergen to Quebec in 1868. The ship was devastated in a storm and had to limp back to Limerick, Ireland for month-long repairs. Aside from the near catastrophe, this was a rather jolly stopover for some of the Norwegian travelers. You can read about it in The Irish Adventure of the Hannah Parr, my 8/10/2007 blog entry. Kjersten's life in America began in a La Crosse area sod house around the time of the southwestern Minnesota Indian massacres. Whenever her husband had to make a trip into town, some of the children would sit on the roof to watch for hostile Indians. She would have plenty of early homsteading stories, I'm sure. And, last but not least, Anne, about whom I know the least, can tell me what it was like to give birth to my great grandmother in a covered wagon as the family moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota. She would also have a lot of information about one of the earliest Norwegian settlements in the midwest: Coon Valley. I can tell right now that it's going to take longer than one afternoon!
Not too long ago, I had the experience of meeting some of my Berge cousins for the first time. I have not met many relations from this family line, and before a word dropped from our mouths, I felt like I knew them. I am hoping that this same sort of genetic attraction will take hold and draw my little grandmas into feeling immediately at ease with me. Then, I can come to know a bit about their world and how it fits into the perspective of history, but also how it fits into the here and now, and with who I am--a crumb of truth and understanding sought after by all genealogists and family historians.
When all the kaffe is gone, and everyone has had their fill of pastries from the floral china platters, how successful do you think my masquerade might have been? My guess is that my little grandmas might be willing to meet with me again. In the meantime, they would spend hours discussing my spotty Norwegian sensibility, as well as the mysterious family connection. I can hear them now: "Ja, she was nice enough... but, goodness, how nosy!"


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The speech that caused an uproar before it was even delivered is out, and once you read it, you might wonder what all the fuss was about.
President Obama's planned 18-minute speech to the nation's schoolkids stressing self-responsibility, hard work and setting goals. It notes a couple of famous folks who overcame early failures to become names the nation's students will recognize: "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling and basketball great Michael Jordan.
"These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you," President Obama plans to tell kids in the speech, which will be televised in many if not most of the nation's schools.
U.S. & World
Obama asks kids to cut down on TV watching and video games and, mindful of swine flu, to wash their hands a lot. He also tells students he and their teachers are working hard to give them the resources and instruction they need, but that ultimately, their success depends on their own attitudes and work ethic.
"So don't let us down – don't let your family or your country or yourself down," Obama concludes. "Make us all proud. I know you can do it."
Obama's plans to speak to kids has angered some conservative parents and pundits, and the uproar led the White House to release the transcript. The White House also backed off plans to ask teachers to assign lessons that included writing a paper on how they could help the president.
On Sunday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that parents who are threatening to keep their children home Tuesday to avoid Obama's speech were being "silly." Duncan, however, noted Obama's speech is not unprecedented. President George H.W. Bush delivered a nationally televised speech to students from a Washington school in fall 1991, encouraging them to say no to drugs and work hard. In November 1988, President Reagan delivered more politically charged remarks that were made available to students nationwide. Among other things, Reagan called taxes "such a penalty on people that there's no incentive for them to prosper ... because they have to give so much to the government."
Get more: WhiteHouse.gov, CNN


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By taking two historic Art Deco movie houses and adding the latest in digital technology, Theatre D Digital has created two state-of-the-art facilities for post production, exhibition and live events.
The Royal Cinema and Regent Theatre are the two largest mixing, colour, and screening facilities in Toronto. The infrastructure provides filmmakers with an unprecedented opportunity to edit, mix, colour, and screen in a real movie theatre. Theatre D Digital consults with top industry professionals to create a world class multimedia centre.
The design and infrastructure of Theatre D continues to meet the highest standards of the international film industry.
The Royal Cinema also offers unique opportunities for concerts and multimedia events.
It is a 400-seat venue with a stage and lighting grid that can handle 3D shoots, and live-to-air broadcast capabilities.
We are proud to combine our digital audio, mixing, projection, colour timing and grading capabilities with these historic venues. A "must be seen to be believed" experience.
Recently, Theatre D Digital has expanded with two new television mixing theatres. These innovative state-of-the-art rooms reside within Creative Post; one of Toronto's foremost post production facilities in downtown Toronto.


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To read the full detailed article with sound samples see: Fender Modern Player Marauder & Jaguar Review
This time, Fender comes from an unexpected direction! The Fender Modern Player series includes four different guitars (Marauder, Jaguar, Telecaster Plus, Thinline Deluxe) and three different bass guitars (Jazz Bass, Telecaster, Jaguar), while trying to distinguish itself from the countless Standard Stratocaster and Telecasters variations available either as reissue or special versions (with different neck width, wood type or pickups combination).
The Modern Player is Fender's entry series. Manufactured in China, these guitars can be considered Super Squier models: for instance, we noticed that Fender was not as thrifty with the lacquer layers… Today, we will review the Gibson-inspired Jaguar and the Marauder, a wink to the instrument that never saw the light of day back in 1966, but equipped with the brand new Fender Triple Bucker. We won't review the Telecaster Plus (three pickups) nor the Thinline (P-90) nor the bass guitars. All instruments are available at the same price $400 (except for the Jazz Bass that sells for $500).
Marauder, the stillborn baby
After launching many products in the early 60's (Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Mustang, …), Fender assembled two different guitar prototypes to create the Marauder, a new instrument based on a Jaguar and a Stratocaster that never hit the stores. The first prototype was equipped with a tremolo bridge, three pickups and nine switches for tone variations! The second prototype had a hardtail bridge and the pickups were hidden behind the pickguard! The Marauder had already been announced, photographed and included in Fender's product catalog. It had even been ordered… Like the '57 Gibson Modern, the Marauder remained a mystery due to its high manufacturing costs. The legend says that there were eight Marauders actually manufactured, making it Fender's rarest guitar…
Let's go back to our Marauder Modern Player! You'll immediately notice that the guitar didn't inherit the myriad of switches from the original instrument. You get two pickups: a Jazzmaster-type single-coil in bridge position plus a triple-coil on the bridge controlled by a Strat-type five-way toggle switch. Yes, you read well: you get a real triple-coil pickup, not a single-coil+humbucker combination — it's almost like having a volume control going up to 11 on your amp. Here is an overview of the different pickup combinations provided by the toggle switch. A, B and C refer to the three coils of the Triplebucker (A next to the bridge), while N refers to the neck pickup:
- Position I: A + B
- Position II: A + B + C
- Position III: C
- Position IV: C + N
- Position V: N
The other features are less original… The maple C-shape neck has a rosewood fretboard, 22 Medium Jumbo frets and a 25.5″ scale length. The headstock is equipped with vintage-type machine heads requiring you to cut the extremity of each string and insert it into a hole before winding the string up. Two controls (Tone and Volume) and a Strat-type tremolo bridge…and that's it! There is another unusual detail caught our eye: the body is made out of Koto, an African wood rarely used for guitar manufacturing, at least not often enough to have fans or detractors. Certainly Fender used this wood for cost reduction reasons. However, I noticed nothing unusual when playing the guitar. As a summary, you face a guitar based on two legends: the body recalls the Jaguar, while the electronics and tremolo bridge are inspired in the Stratocaster.
I had no problems except for the tuning stability of the tremolo bridge. But with a new guitar this is rarely a problem: don't forget that a classic and simple tremolo bridge can work perfectly if you pay attention to the friction points on the bridge and the nut. Consider carving them a bit so that they match the thickness of your strings (this also applies to very expensive instruments) and rubbing a pencil on the friction points (graphite helps the strings to slide better through). Apart from that, nothing seems to be fragile or improperly made on this Marauder. The neck feels very pleasant and inspiring, although the combination of a long-scale neck and a Jaguar body is pretty surprising. All five pickup combinations are pleasant, appealing and special. The sound ranges from very thin and twangy (position 3 is the least twangy) to full and rich (especially with position 4 combining all three coils of the Triplebucker). To wrap it up, this pickup combination recalls a HSS Strat with the center pickup next to the bridge pickup and the bridge pickup of a Jazzmaster to produce a rather low-level output and a very contoured sound.
Now let's take a listen…
Both guitars are definitely modern instruments conceived for Brit rock and pop: the different pickup combinations aren't suited for high distortion because they turn too noisy. The Marauder has something special to it — an extra that will please beginners, experienced players and even pros looking for a "small" guitar with a real sound personality both for live and studio applications. As a summary, the Marauder has something "Asterix"-like to it… What's that you say? It reacts fast and bravely, and the electronics are really clever! Plus, owning a guitar with a triple-coil pickup can be lots of fun! The Jaguar is also a good guitar but it seems to have less personality compared to the Marauder. Considering the price ($400), there's no risk in buying a Modern Player guitar, but you'll have to decide which one. Don't forget to give the Modern Player Telecasters a try, especially the Tele Plus and its three pickups. The Tele Thinline equipped with P-90 pickups can be an excellent alternative to the Jaguar.
Technical note:
The sound samples were recoded using an Egnater Tweaker amplifier head and a Two Notes Torpedo VB-101 speaker simulation.
- Value for money
- The Marauder is amazing: a real breath of fresh air!
- Nice finish
- Triplebucker on the Marauder
- Marauder: for this price, nothing! …Except maybe for the unusual look of the pickguard
- The Jaguar is not inspiring
- Volume control position on the Jaguar


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Old SQL Database
Years ago, Microsoft came out with a free SQL database server called MSDE. I recently encountered a program that uses this database and the user had locked themselves out (somehow locking out other users as well). Luckily, we were able to find an admin user that still knew their password to log in and reset the other user's password.
Now, I'm thinking to myself "If everyone got locked out and there was no default login, they would have been up the creek without a paddle."
No, MSDE is an MSSQL database, NOT MySQL, and I don't know how to access MSSQL databases. If you know, please tell!
I was having a hard time finding any free software that would give me any sort of interface with the MSSQL database that wasn't strictly command line.
Lo-and behold, there is an alternative if you have Microsoft Access! You can create an ODCB connection to the MSSQL database (under Administrative tools) which in turn can be opened with Microsoft Access.
If you would like help doing this, drop me a line!


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Monday, March 2, 2009
16 comments:
Your thanking us? Officer McCoy, I graduated a few months ago. Your blog was what pushed me over into becoming a police officer. Thank us? No, Thank You! I love being a police officer with HPD. If you have not applied yet, you need to! You will not regret it.
- March 2, 2009 at 7:23 AM
Officer McCoy,I wanted to say thanks for the great Houston Police Blog Website. The information is extremely helpful and the layout is easy to navigate through. I've already applied with the Houston Police department and currently going through the application process. The recruiter I've been assigned to is Officer Villarreal. I've found Officer Villarreal exceptional in communicating the application process with me; she is truly doing an excellent job recruiting.
Again, thanks for the great blog and I look forward to working for the Houston Police Department.
George Z.
- March 2, 2009 at 7:27 AM
Informative, insightful, funny and heartfelt. Why would it not be popular. This is a great blog. Thank you HPD.
- March 2, 2009 at 7:38 AM
Congratulations, Officer McCoy. You have managed to keep this blog funny, creative and informative for the past 365 days and you have not missed one day posting an entry. Today's story on Officer Houston is really great. He looks like the nicest person anyone would ever want to meet. I like meeting the recruiters and other officers through this blog. Great angle - keep up the good work. Get Chief Hurt to write something for your blog.
- March 2, 2009 at 9:54 AM
I try to read it everyday. I have been an officer for about one year now and HPD is the place to be. Thanks!
- March 2, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Your posts have convinced me more than you know. Your passion shines through. Your blog inspired me to join. Thank you.
- March 2, 2009 at 1:31 PM
Awesome blog sir.
- March 2, 2009 at 1:32 PM
Thank YOU!
- March 2, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Love this blog. I hope to be a police officer very soon. Hopefully in the May class. Thanks for all your work on this blog. It truly has influenced me.
- March 2, 2009 at 5:33 PM
- Officer McCoy said...
I am humbled and appreciative of all the nice comments today. This is a team effort here in recruiting and HPD affords me the opportunity to reach out to individuals to join us and our family. Without everyone's input, including applicants, this blog would not be successful. You may have been influenced by this blog, but I know you will be blown away, once you start your career with us. Many officers come up to me after they have been on the street for awhile and shake my hand to thank me for such a great career. In reality, the career is what you make of it. It's exciting, challenging and most of all rewarding. Stay strong, stay positive and most of all Stand Up.
- March 2, 2009 at 5:42 PM
Great blog. I know you work hard at it everyday. If you just look at the old posts from back when, you can see your passion. You are always current and always positive. I love the sprinkles of laughter. It makes HPD human.
- March 2, 2009 at 5:45 PM
Congrats on a job well done!
- March 2, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Love the blog. We should be thanking you!
- March 3, 2009 at 12:21 PM
HPD is the only one doing this sort of thing with the blog, at least with this quality. I commend you Officer McCoy. I see your passion with every post!
- March 3, 2009 at 1:38 PM
As I was looking at Police Departments to find one that I was interested in applying to I came across this Blog. I knew that I wanted to be a police officer before looking at the blog but I did not know which departments I wanted to apply to since I was looking out of state. This blog drew me and and I knew I had to take the opportunity to try and become a HPD Officer. I am currently in the process and hope to start! The information this provides to potential candidates is excellent. Thank you to the recruiting staff for taking the time to keep up the info!
- March 3, 2009 at 2:21 PM
In response to your comment, "Why haven't you applied yet," I have. When I met you at the career fair and you answered all my questions and gave me the link to this great information. Thank you.
- March 10, 2009 at 3:24 AM


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Small Mark Hill Huggie Earrings in 10ct Rose Gold
$299 $499 List Price
DescriptionA constant reminder to believe in your dreams and that you deserve to fly. These huggie earrings in 10ct rose gold are a modern design that rewards you for what you make happen every day in your world. Exclusive to the Mark Hill Collection. Dimensions 13.20mm x 7.50mm
Product Details
- Collection Mark Hill
- Metal content 10 Karat
- Metal colour Rose
Delivery & Returns
FREE standard shipping for all orders over $70. Orders under $70 will be charged a flat fee of $9.90.
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If for any reason you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase, you may return it online or in-store within 30 days of delivery for an exchange or full refund. Subject to meeting the requirements of our refund policy.
For more information, visit our FAQ page.
Find In Store


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If you are considering a planned gift to ALA, or one of our divisions, round tables, offices or programs and would like to share this information with us, please complete the form below. If you prefer to communicate by email or on the phone, please contact the ALA Development Office at:
ALA Development Office
American Library Association
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611-2795
800.545.2433, ext. 3259
or 312.280.3259
I am interested in learning more about joining the ALA Legacy Society through a planned or estate gift. Please contact me at the below listed information.


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Perhaps this is the greatest asset in the Pinball Arcade arsenal. Although its digitized ports don't do much to shake up the genre, they contribute to what's becoming a growing trend and worthwhile new obsession on Xbox Live Arcade. It's bringing back the origin of species to show fans new, old, or undiscovered why pinball rules.
Given their heritage, the Ripley's Believe It or Not, Black Hole, Theatre of Magic, and Tales of the Arabian Nights machines don't share the luxury of modern pinball boards. At times, the dense, garish imagery obscures the ball locations.
In digging through the menus and discovering the original ads and information about each, it's clear this was always the case. A lesser developer prioritizing accessibility over preservation may have cleaned this up a bit. Farsight Studios is clearly committed to the history, even if it means an imperfect gameplay experience at times.
Even then, the issues are microscopic. There are only three camera options, none of which are static; tracking the ball can be disorienting. The ball slips by the flippers or through the sides with suspicious regularity, which gets frustrating. Quests end with unceremonious praise. Such issues only stand out because there aren't any upsetting issues worth addressing in Pinball Arcade.
After all, these tables are awesome. The joyous warbling and ding-dong sound effects, appropriate physics, and through instructions for each table meet the mandatory minimum expectations.
Meanwhile, the inner-workings of the complex table designs present a deep and satisfying challenge for players dedicated to completing elaborate goals. Each table has an advanced tier for hardcore players who seek additional goals -- hitting holes, ramps, and objects in a time limit, for example. The usual stuff, as expected, since these are the tables that inspired what we now understand as the basics.
Welcome back.
Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He's also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.
The Pinball Arcade is a reminder and a reassertion. It establishes itself as a major player in a mostly monopolized space on XBLA. Farsight aims to release more real-world machines in digital form long-term, and for tournament play, and it's clear why: We're going to want to play these.
It's an admirable goal: The developer is manufacturing a museum full of terrific, timeless proxies. Whether you're obsessed with the old-school or still waiting to discover it, playing four pieces of history for $10 is absolutely worthwhile.
In This Article
The Pinball Arcade Review


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JobbeschreibungJob Summary:
Speak Danish and want a fresh start here in Berlin?
Join the international team in Customer Service today for an award winning employer here in Germany - this is a customer service job with a twist as you will mainly be working on online content management and ensuring that all online customers experience excellent customer service. For more keep reading & don't forget to click apply now.
What will you do in this job?
Your day to day duties will look something along the lines of delivering excellent customer service to all customers via online chat and possibly email as you will not need to be on the phone at all - what great news huh?. You will be responsible for the daily management on online content and making sure that each and every customer has a amazing online experience.
Who will you be working for?
Our client is an international outsourcing giant, one who employs a number of multinationals in Germany and in many other countries in the European Union. Currently they are looking for a fluent English and a near native Danish speaker to work in their Online Customer Service Department in Berlin, Germany.
Who are we looking for?
As the next Danish Customer Service Representative, we are looking for a near native Danish speaker, who also has a good level of English. We are looking for someone who has excellent written communication in both languages. Not forgetting that working in Customer Service, you will need to be friendly and patient with customers, so we are looking for an extremely customer focussed Danish speaker. You have a strong eye for detail and have good PC and typing skills as working on a computer will be a part of your daily routine.
Where would you be working?
For this Danish speaking customer service job you will be working in Germany's capital city - the wonderful Berlin - Today it is seen as one of the biggest art scenes with a great night life and amazing modern architecture. Berlin is the place to be so check it out today now.
Interview & Salary
A great advantage here for this Danish job in B2B Customer Service is that the interview takes place over the phone with a recruiter, which is then followed up by an in-depth chat with a team leader and lastly an official language check.
Your annual salary will be €1639 (gross per month) along with a monthly bonus up to €150 and with this contract there is a great relocation package for those outside or Germany, where you could receive up to €800.
Hurry and send you CV to us in English, you could be the next Danish Customer Service Representative here in Berlin Germany.


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SU7600 : Sands to the south of Longmere Point, Thorney Island
taken 4 years ago, near to West Thorney, West Sussex, Great Britain
When seen on the map, Thorney Island looks to be a peninsula on the southern coast of England sandwiched between Hayling Island to the west and the Manhood Peninsula (containing The Witterings and Selsey) to the east; along with two other stubby peninsulae, those containing respectively, Chidham and Bosham.
The southern section of this peninsula is indeed an island however as it is separated from the mainland by a reasonably wide channel known as "The Great Deep". This channel is bridged at both eastern and western coastal extremities by the Sussex Border Path which hugs the coast of the entire peninsula. A third bridge (slightly to the west of its centre) carries the only road onto the island across this channel. This road is only open to approved traffic as the entire island (south of the Great Deep) is owned by the Ministry of Defence (M.O.D.)
The Military's presence on the island was established in 1938 when the RAF built an airfield here (see Link ); the flatness of the island making it eminently suitable. The airfield played an active part in the Battle of Britain, and was bombed and strafed by the Luftwaffe.
The RAF abandoned the site on 31st March 1976, and an etched clear glass window in the ancient church of St Nicholas in the island's only village of West Thorney (confusingly situated on the east side of the island) commemorates their time here.
In 1980 the site became temporary home to many of the "Vietnamese Boat People" who had been accepted for settlement in Britain. Two years later, the Royal Artillery took over the site, and several regiments have been stationed here, and continue to occupy the site. In 1986 the site was renamed "Baker Barracks" which is its current appellation.
As a result of the M.O.D.'s presence, not only is road access strictly limited, but the coastal footpath passes through controlled gates in razor-wire topped metal fences. Walkers press a button on a yellow box and presumably are checked over by army personnel via the pole-mounted CCTV cameras. Access to the island is then granted (or presumably denied if they don't like the cut of your jib!) by remote control of the gates. Notices advise walkers not to stray inland from this coastal footpath, as they will be prosecuted, or may come up against guard dogs; not to mention the possible dangers of unexploded munitions. The exception is the church of St Nicholas which may be visited, and dating originally from Norman times is very interesting and worth a visit. The presence of this ancient church speaks of the long history of the island for the many centuries before its comparatively recent military use.
Physically the island is very flat and low-lying, ranging from just 2m to 4m above sea level. The area of the island (south of the Great Deep and excluding Pilsey island and the extensive tidal sand off the south coast) is about 487 ha (just under 2 sq.miles) - the entire peninsula is about 680 ha (c.2.6 sq.miles) depending on where you consider its northern border to be.
The Thorney Channel to the east of the island is characterized by mud flats, whereas to the south of the island are extensive sands; to the west, the shoreline adjoining the Emsworth Channel is more shingly than the eastern side, but also with extensive mud.
The peninsula to the north of the Great Deep is heavily reeded and is cut through with waterways both natural and man-made. The whole of the peninsula and its surrounding mudflats are very popular with wildlife especially wading birds and geese.
The human population of West Thorney (the island's only village) was 1,183 in 2011 up 10% from 1,079 in 2001 - presumably mostly military personnel and their families.
To the south of Thorney Island and now linked by a sandbank is Pilsey Island, an RSPB nature reserve, to which public access is prohibited to protect the birds there.
Change to interactive Map >
- Grid Square
- SU7600, 14 images (more nearby )
- Photographer
- Rob Farrow (find more nearby)
- Date Taken
- Saturday, 7 January, 2017 (more nearby)
- Submitted
- Thursday, 12 January, 2017
- Geographical Context
- Primary Subject of Photo
- Subject Location
OSGB36: SU 7661 0083 [10m precision]
- Camera Location
- View Direction
- South-southwest (about 202 degrees)


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The game was also a turnoff for fans in New Orleans and St. Louis, both of whom feel jobbed by the NFL for different reasons.
Bulls & Bears: Patriots rise in Super Bowl yawner where Sugar didn't sweeten halftime
Bulls of the Week
When it comes to the bullishness of team success, no one can hold a candle this week to the New England Patriots.
They won their sixth Super Bowl last Sunday, tying them with the Pittsburgh Steelers for most in NFL history and putting ageless quarterback Tom Brady, genius head coach Bill Belichick and role model owner Robert Kraft into several leagues of their own.
Love them or hate them, no one can deny the Patriots are the quintessential professional sports dynasty of this generation.
This was their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance, fourth in the past five and ninth in the Brady-Belichick-Kraft era; a period in which the Pats have won rings in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017 and now in 2019. They have made the playoffs 10 consecutive years on the strength of 10 AFC East divisional titles.
Their track record of success is impressive compared to any era in professional sport, but what Brady, Belichick and Kraft have achieved in the salary cap era is almost unfathomable. It's little wonder that Brady — a four-time Super Bowl MVP and three-time NFL MVP who was the 199th selection in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft — is considered among the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
At an enterprise value of US$3.8 billion according to Forbes Magazine, the Brady-led Patriots are the second richest franchise in the NFL, third in all of North American sport and sixth in the world behind only the $5B Dallas Cowboys, $4.1B Manchester United, $4.09B Real Madrid, $4.06B FC Barcelona and $4B New York Yankees.
Bears of the Week
No matter how impressive the Patriots are in the category of winning, they cannot turn arguably the worst Super Bowl of all-time into a television ratings winner.
Their defensive 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams was the lowest-scoring game in Super Bowl history. One lone touchdown late in the game is hardly the stuff of compelling football entertainment and that translated into the poorest Super Bowl ratings in 11 years.
It was a remarkable anticlimax after the two overtime games in the conference championship round two weeks ago and a post-season that saw audiences for the wild-card weekend up 12 per cent, the divisional games eight per cent and the conference finals north of 10 per cent.
The Patriots-Rams' yawner scored an average U.S. national audience of 98.2 million on CBS and a total audience delivery of 100.7M when one includes live streaming.
In Canada, a total of more than seven million tuned in, with 4.45M on CTV, CTV2 and TSN and the balance on the direct CBS feed. It was a far cry from the 114.4M U.S. viewership and the more than eight million combined Canadian audience in 2015 when the Patriots stole victory from the jaws of defeat against the Seattle Seahawks.
Yet the dull affair on the field in Atlanta was not the only factor in the ratings decline. The halftime show — typically the most-watched part of the game and a strong springboard into the second half — underwhelmed with Adam Levine and Maroon 5, despite singing their hits Sugar, Girls Like You and Moves Like Jagger.
The game was also a turnoff for fans in New Orleans and St. Louis, both of whom feel jobbed by the NFL for different reasons.
The Sport Market on TSN 1040 AM rates and debates the bulls and bears of sport business. Join Tom Mayenknecht Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. for a behind-the-scenes look at the sport business stories that matter most to fans.
Follow Tom Mayenknecht at: Twitter.com/TheSportMarket
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We'd like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email firstname.lastname@example.com


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Best Buy Hires E-Commerce President
Best Buy Co. named former Expedia President Scott Durchslag as president of its online and global e-commerce business, a move the consumer-electronics chain said will boost its online transformation.
The appointment is effective Monday.
Mr. Durchslag, who has more than 25 years in the technology industry, resigned from Expedia in January after a little more than a year at the online travel company.


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Andrew Revkin's post reminds me of my time at Notre Dame. He quotes Michael Sandmel, who is graduating this year from NYU:
We had around 140 attendees from universities around the country. Many of us study in mainstream neoclassical economics departments where interdisciplinary ecological-economics, and the questioning of G.D.P. growth as a primary (or, depending on who you ask, desirable) objective, is still very much fringe thinking. I don't attempt to speak for all of my peers, but I know that many of us share an enormous frustration with the way in which our supposedly leading institutions teach us about the economy in a way that is myopic, ahistorical, and devoid of nearly any critical conversation about sustainability or human well being.
This is particularly troubling as we regularly see our schools accredit future leaders in business, finance, and government, sending them into a world of 21st century problems with a 20th century toolkit.
Well said!


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"Downton Abbey," the British import that made it cool again to admit watching PBS, marked a milestone of sorts on Super Sunday when it placed second to the Super Bowl in the ratings (albeit by 106 million or so viewers). But the show reached a perhaps more significant benchmark the night before when "Saturday Night Live" lampooned the period drama, repackaging it as a guy-friendly show on Spike TV called "Fancy Entourage."
"There's a MILF and a dad, and they've got three daughters named 'Hot,' 'Way Hot' and 'The Other One,'" the announcer says. "And they all hang out with this old lady that looks like a chicken. We hated her at first, but then we got high and she made us crack up."
The bit, which oddly accurately summed up "Downton Abbey" and part of its appeal to both sexes, helped cement the show's place an unlikely pop culture mini-phenomenon. The humor and the show's growing popularity came during the season that "Downton Abbey," poised for a dramatic two-hour finale Sunday, got deadly serious.
If there's a theme to Season 2, it's death – both literally and in the prolonged terminal illness of a way of life on a now post-World War I English estate where once the uneasy symbiotic "Upstairs Downstairs"-like relationship between the gentry and servants (or "a whole bunch of tuxedo people who live in the basement and their lives suck" in "SNL"-speak) has been irreparably cleaved by change.
Scenes of the war and the heartbreaking loss of the kind, if self-deluded, young servant William, offered powerful moments. But the joy at the end of the Great War has been tempered by new turmoil swirling at the Grantham estate. The manor was converted to a hospital for officers – one of whom fathered a servant's baby, spurring a bitter, class-driven tug-of-war over the child. Sybil, the youngest daughter (aka "Way Hot"), revealed her plans to marry the socialist Irish chauffeur. Robert, lord of the manor (the "dad") and the moral center of the show, found himself falling into the arms of a servant amid his growing confusion about his place in the world – not to mention the growing haughtiness of his American wife (the "MILF") who's beginning to act like his dowager mother (the "Chicken Lady").
Maggie Smith, as the aforementioned Chicken Lady, provides humor to the show, which has proven key as "Downton Abbey" has taken, at times, turns toward outright soap opera. A disfigured alleged amnesiac claimed to be the estate heir lost on Titanic. We've seen Matthew, the apparent true heir, return home from the war paralyzed, only to experience a miracle recovery. Not as fortunate was his selfless fiancée Lavinia, both the Sydney Carton and Melanie Wilkes of the show, who succumbed to the Spanish Influenza pandemic – and perhaps a broken heart, threatening to finally kill Matthew and Lady Mary's (aka "Hot") festering love. Then there's haunted manservant Bates and Anna, Lady Mary's maid, finally finding brief happiness in marriage just before he's arrested on suspicion of murdering his shrew of an estranged wife.
The appeal of the show, as the "SNL" spoof crudely suggests, rests greatly in the attractive young cast and the wonderful Smith. But the show's draw also comes from strong writing – and from being both of its time and timeless. The class conflicts echo the split between the 99 Percent and the One Percent, and the complicated love story is a perennial that's proven compelling from Jane Austen to Stephanie Meyer.
Thankfully, there's no choice between "Downton Abbey" on PBS's "Masterpiece" and the Super Bowl this Sunday. Check out a preview of the Season 2 finale below:
Watch Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 7 Preview on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.
U.S. & World
Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multi-media NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is the former City Editor of the New York Daily News, where he started as a reporter in 1992. Follow him on Twitter.


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Al Franken had to establish residence in Minnesota to become Minnesota's unfunniest former humorist and junior United States Senator, declared the winner of Minnesota's 2008 Senate election by a margin of 312 votes in at the conclusion of the recount proceedings in mi-2009. His victory played a significant role in the passage of Obamacare without any Republican support as he became the sixtieth Democratic vote in the Senate.
Today Al Franken (or "Al Franken") sent out an email to our man "Hind" — "Franken" is on a first name basis with "Hind" — under the heading "No easy way to fix it."
You can say that again: "No easy way to fix it."
Now you tell us.
Oh, wait. He should have been talking about Obamacare and its Healthcare.gov portal, but of course he wasn't. He was talking about "Washington," where he is just an innocent bystander: "If there were an easy way to fix everything that's wrong with Washington, I'd be emailing you about that," he says. "But there's no easy way. Only a hard way. The hard way involves organizing. It involves patiently building a grassroots coalition capable of taking on powerful special interests. It involves making just a little bit of progress every day until we get the country we want."
And that's not all! "[I]t [also] involves fundraising."
According to Franken, or "Franken," he has to raise $150,000 this month. And if he's going to stay on track, he needs to raise the first $15,000 by midnight. He's asking "Hind" to pony up $5.00 pronto.
Why does "Franken" need to raise $150,000 this month, or the first $15,000 by midnight? If you really need an explanation, you just wouldn't understand.


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Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia.
Related to round: round up, Round tripping
round,in music, a perpetual canoncanon,
in music, a type of counterpoint employing the strictest form of imitation. All the voices of a canon have the same melody, beginning at different times. Successive entrances may be at the same or at different pitches.
..... Click the link for more information. on a tune that returns to its beginning in which all the voices enter at the unison or the octave. An example is Sumer Is Icumen InSumer Is Icumen In
[M.E.,=summer has (literally: is) come in], an English rota or round composed c.1250. It is the earliest extant example of canon, of six part music, and of ground bass. Four tenor voices are in canon and two bass voices sing the pes, or ground, also in canon.
..... Click the link for more information. . Rounds were popular in 17th-century England when the catch reached its height. The catch was originally just a simple round, e.g., Three Blind Mice, written in a single line with the effect gained by having another singer come in ("make the catch") at the right time. Later, comic effects, often quite bawdy, were added, using the interweaving of the parts. The Rounds, Catches and Canons of England (1864) by E. F. Rimbault is a comprehensive collection. The term round was also used to designate a dance performed in a circle and, by extension, to the tunes for such dances.
A series of shots fired either simultaneously or with delay periods between them.
To pass and alter direction of travel, as a vessel rounds a cape.
A single munition, missile, or device to be loaded on or in a delivery platform, vehicle, or device for purposes of expenditure; the configuration of the round may vary.
1. A wood plane for cutting grooves.
2.See round molding.
3. A cylindrical metal rod.
round molding, round
A fairly large molding, the section of which is circular (or nearly circular) and convex.
1. Maths
a. forming or expressed by an integer or whole number, with no fraction
b. expressed to the nearest ten, hundred, or thousand
2. in the round Theatre with the audience all round the stage
3. a playing of all the holes on a golf course
4. Archery a specified number of arrows shot from a specified distance
5. Music a part song in which the voices follow each other at equal intervals at the same pitch
6. a sequence of bells rung in order of treble to tenor
7. a dance in which the dancers move in a circle
roundTo eliminate rightmost digits in a number when absolute precision is not required or used. One of the most common uses of rounding is with dollar amounts, which can result in more than two decimal places after a division. Following are four of many rounding methods:
Round Half Up 3.455 -> 3.46 3.454 -> 3.45 Round Half Down 3.455 -> 3.45 3.456 -> 3.46 Round Up 3.456 -> 3.46 3.453 -> 3.46 Round Down 3.458 -> 3.45 3.453 -> 3.45
|Rounding and a Lot More
|For more ways to round numbers than you can imagine, as well as to learn how computers perform mathematical functions at the circuit level, read the entertaining and informative book, "How Computers Do Math" by Clive "Max" Maxfield and Alvin Brown. (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2005).