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Difference between revisions of "Historical:Google SoC 2007"
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===RAW conversions / HDR / tonemapping / other digital photo techniques===
===RAW conversions / HDR / tonemapping / other digital photo techniques===
Panorama presents some unique challenges to the standard image processing workflow in modern digital photography.
* distorsions and their effect on RAW conversion.
* higher dynamic range across the image.
* higher dynamic rangeacross the image.
===freepv panorama viewer===
===freepv panorama viewer===
Revision as of 00:17, 24 March 2007
We are passionate about our images. We look for students passionate about their code to help us make better images.
Next Deadline
- March 24: Students applications
- [1]
Want to participate? We want to help you be a successful candidate.
- Deadline: March 24
- join the mailing list
- read Applicants Guide and check if you qualify.
- prepare the answers to [2]
- read below about our software universe.
- read the projects ideas.
- if you have an idea that is not listed there, please propose it to the mailing list.
- if you see an idea there that you like, take ownership of it.
- Contact the mentioned mentor and/or the mailing list if no mentor is mentioned.
- refine the idea, add detail, describe what you intend to do and how, work with your mentor and with the steering committee at fleshing your project out so that Google's Open Source Program Office will accept it.
- on the idea page add a short bio, motivate why you are interested in taking up that particular idea, your relationship to panorama making in general and to hugin in particular.
- apply to Google before March 24. We will do our outmost to help you to a successful application.
- if your application is accepted by Google, be ready to submit a detail work plan with the sub-tasks of your project and the time you intend to allocate to each of them. We will help you shape that too.
Project Ideas / Our Software Universe
feel free to add / specify the projects ideas.
While we might consider application from students to write code in related fields / other application, our interest is to recruit students to work on these tools:
hugin is the hub of our activity. It is the most advanced OpenSource GUI to create stitched panoramas from 360°x180° full sphericals [3] to gigapixel size stitched images. Moreover it has some unique features such as the correction of chromatic aberration or (soon) HDR stitching. Project page
panotools is the library powering the magic. It's an extremely versatile library and can be used not only to seamlessly stitch images, but also correct many lens distortions or remap images to different projection.
Initially developed by Professor Helmut Dersch in 1998, this set of tools to warp and stitch images was born ahead of their time. Only a decade later competing products of equal versatility and functionality started to appear.
A number of proprietary GUIs have been commercialized for the panotools, notably PTgui, PTassembler, and PTmac.
Control Point Generator
One of the critical tasks of stitching images is to register the position of each image to another with so called control points. hugin works with a plug-in for that. The most popular are autopano and autopano-SIFT.
Once the images are registered in space and warped by panotools, the seams are still visible and need to be blended. Again, hugin works with a plug-in for that. The most popular is Enblend
RAW conversions / HDR / tonemapping / other digital photo techniques
Panorama creation presents some unique challenges to the standard image processing workflow in modern digital photography.
- lens distorsions and their effect on RAW conversion.
- higher dynamic range across the image.
freepv panorama viewer
The resulting images are 2D, but a full spherical 360°x180° panorama can be reprojected to create a VR. There are a number of technologies to view VR and freepv is an effort to build a universal viewer
We have successfully applied as mentoring organization
- Pablo, d'Angelo, Germany
- Herbert Bay, Switzerland
- John Cupitt, United Kingdom
- Daniel M. German, Canada
- JD Smith, USA
Our Organizers
- Yuval Levy, Canada
- Alexandre Prokoudine, Russia
Steering Committee
We have a steering committee of experienced industry and community leaders to advise the Mentors and Students.
- Don Bain, USA, University of California Berkeley, co-founder of the WWP and board member of IVRPA.
- Aldo Hoeben, The Netherlands, devloper of the SPi-V shockwave panorama engine, and board memberf of IVRPA.
- Erik Krause, Germany, a well-known member of the user community around PanoTools.
- Mickael Therer, Belgium, Photographer.
- Ken Turkowski, USA, of the original QuickTimeVR team.
- Luca N. Vascon, Italy, professor at the Multimedia Laboratory of IUAV university in Venice.
Community Backing
This organization is supported and endorsed by these people and organizations.


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© 1996-2021 The Vegetarian Resource Group, PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. (410) 366-8343. Email: [email protected]
The contents of this website and our other publications, including The Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.
Any page on this site may be reproduced for non-commercial use if left intact with credit given to The Vegetarian Resource Group and each page linked to www.vrg.org
Web site questions or comments? Please email [email protected]
Design modified from Vita

subset: commoncrawl


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Mais bon
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Father in hot car case had prior DUI with same kids in car
A Waterford father charged with leaving his two children in a dangerously hot car Tuesday was charged earlier this year with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs with the same two children in the car, according to a bail commissioner.
John R. Morgan, 60, of 7 W. Strand Road was arraigned in New London Superior Court Wednesday afternoon on two counts of risk of injury to a minor. New London police said they arrested him Tuesday after an officer spotted two children, ages 6 and 9, sitting in his parked car on State Street, dripping with sweat and with reddened faces. The police said windows were rolled up and the temperature inside the car was 100 degrees.
"They were actually opening the door, trying to get some air in," said prosecutor Rafael Bustamante.
Police set Morgan's bond at $150,000 Tuesday. A state bail commissioner reviewed the case and Morgan's criminal history late that day and released him on a written promise to appear in court. Wednesday, Judge Kevin P. McMahon ordered a bond hearing due to the disturbing trend of children being left in hot cars in New London County and nationwide. He set the bond at $45,000, saying he had taken into consideration two similar cases that have occurred in the past two week and Morgan's background.
"I think the bond should reflect the problem," McMahon said. "People have to be aware this is a real problem."
Morgan, who wore a suit and tie to court, was taken into custody briefly while his wife arranged to post the bond. He left the courthouse a short time later without commenting to print and television reporters.
During the bond hearing, defense attorney Dean J. Golembeski argued that Morgan, who has his own business teaching exam preparation courses and writing books, is a law-abiding citizen who should be released without bond. He said Morgan volunteers in the schools, is a historian and Cub Scout leader and has no criminal record.
Morgan had just serviced his car, and the air conditioning had been running before he turned off the car and left the children for 5 minutes to pick up supplies at his State Street office, according to Golembeski. He disputes the police allegation that they were on site for 10 minutes before Morgan returned to the car and said the temperature could not have been 100 degrees.
"He's extremely sorry, and you'll never see him again," Golembeski said.
Morgan was granted a diversionary alcohol education program in his DUI case, according to Bail Commissioner Timothy Gilman, and is set to have the case dismissed in January 2015 if he successfully completes the program. Golembeski said the state Department of Children and Families investigated and said there was no need for the agency's further involvement. He said the agency would likely investigate again as a result of the new charges.
"It bothers me a lot where he's had a similar incident in a car with the same kids where he exercised bad judgment," the judge said.
McMahon, noting this is the third local case involving children left in cars in two weeks, said he's never seen anything like it in his 21 years on the bench.
On July 1, a Groton father was charged with leaving his 6-month-old daughter in a car outside the New London ShopRite supermarket after becoming distracted with text messages and forgetting the child. Police said the car's interior temperature had reached 130 degrees. The child was treated and released from Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.
On June 27, East Lyme police arrested a man and woman who they said left an 11-month-old and a 3-year-old locked in a running vehicle at the Stop & Shop. The children were upset but unharmed.
Tragedy has struck elsewhere in the state and country. On Monday, a 15-month-old boy died in Ridgefield after his father left his vehicle parked outside his workplace with his son inside, police said. Police in Georgia allege that Justin Ross Harris murdered his 22-month-old son Cooper, who died of hyperthermia after being left in his father's SUV for seven hours on June 18.
Fifteen children across the country have died of hyperthermia in 2014, according to state police, who issued a reminder Monday that leaving children of any age unattended inside closed or locked vehicles during the summer is dangerous and can be fatal.
State law forbids adults from leaving children under 12 unsupervised in a car "for a period of time that presents a substantial risk to the child's health or safety." It is especially dangerous in the summer when car interior temperatures can get extremely hot in a short period of time.
State police have urged members of the public to call 911 if they see a child left unattended in a car.


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Sun City Center
Call Magic Mops Cleanings for a Clean & Shiny Home
What Makes Magic Mops Cleaners The Best Cleaning Service in Florida?
What our clients are saying about us
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View Toward Milford
Please contact Candace by product inquiry below for exact dimensions.
1 in stock
Category: Large Canvas Tag: landscape
Additional information
|9 lbs
|28 × 2 × 22 in
Product Inquiry
All works are original and have not been and will not be reproduced. Copyright is reserved to the artist. Most of the works are acrylic paint on stretched gallery wrap canvas which is painted on the side. Exceptions to this are noted. The gallery wrap canvases are 1.5 inches deep unless otherwise noted. They are wired to be hung. Contact the artist by email for details about a specific piece. She can provide photographs of the artwork as seen in an interior setting and give exact dimensions. Also photos of several works shown together can be provided.
Romantic Landscapes
- Summer Dusk 1 $225.00
- Larkspur 2 $225.00
- Spring Tree Yorktown $1,500.00
- Flame 1 $225.00
- Hummingbird Dawn $225.00


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Why you should hire pros for any emergency roof repairs! Fanwood, NJ 07023 (855) 916-2991
Are you facing any type of roofing issues that need to be fixed right away because any delay could increase your loss – and you're thinking of doing this urgent roofing repair work yourself? Although it's understandable for you to want to save money when faced with unexpected roof repairs, you need to realize that a person like yourself who doesn't have any roofing experience would probably take much longer to do any repairs and leave those urgent roof problems open to subsequent damage if another storm hits before you can complete any roof repair work. Professional roofers on the other hand would not take that long and could get your roof completed repaired a fraction of the time it would you to do the same job – and have your secured from subsequent damage a whole lot sooner.
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Metal roofing is fast becoming the material of choice for many homeowners thanks to its many benefits. Chase Roofing is a roofer that offers metal roofing options; today we share a few reasons to invest in metal:
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Nokia Free Unlock Code Calculator 5230
Unlock Nokia 5230 for FREE with Unlocky Tool in 3 minutes. Using our unlocker you can generate an permanent Nokia 5230 unlock code which helps you to sim unlock your cell phone. Please read carefully below if you want to know how to unlock Nokia 5230 by IMEI with Unlocky!
Follow these 5 steps to make your Nokia network free 1. Turn on the phone without any sim card 2. Enter the following sequence (#pw+unlock code+1#) on your NOKIA just like a phone number. Characters p, w, + will appear after pressing the.(star) symbol a couple of times 4. Press # at the end to confirm the code 5.
On this page you'll find the best way to unlock Nokia 5230 absolutely free, with our unlocky tool. So don't wasteyour money on other servicesto unlock your cell phone. Our Nokia 5230 unlock codes are permanent, taken from manufacturer's database and are based on your cell phone's IMEI (check your IMEI by dialing *#06#). We'll only ask for your IMEI, your country and network provider which your cell phone is locked to.
Unlocking Nokia 5230 is very costly these days, some providers asking up to $100 for an Nokia 5230 unlock code. That's one of the reasons we created unlocky, an awesome unlocker tool which allows you to get free unlock codes for Nokia 5230 or other brands such Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Apple, LG and more (on this moment we can handle +150 cell phones brands and over 20,000 models). With unlocky tool never been easy to Nokia 5230 sim unlock!
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Metal Underground.com Forum
Please view the forum rules before posting. Spamming, trolling or personal attacks may result in deletion of messages, loss of membership privledges, and/or a permanent ban.
Non-Metal Music Discussion
Discussion of any other music outside of metal, hardcore, and other genres covered in the other forums. (1 conversations)
Start New Thread/Post Message
You must be logged in to post a message in our forum. Please log in to continue, or sign up for a free membership.


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Moderna, Inc. (OTCMKTS:MRNA) shares have moved 23.03% on the week. The stock closed the most recent session at $286.43 after seeing 41,239,722 shares trade hands. This represents a change of 3.59% from the opening.
The closing price represents the final price that a stock is traded for on a trading day. It's the most up-to-date valuation until trading begins again on the next day. However, most financial instruments are traded after hours, which means that the the closing price of a stock might not match the after-hours price. Regardless, closing prices are a useful tool that investors use to quantify changes in stock prices over time. The closing prices are compared day-by-day to look for trends and can measure market sentiment for any security over the course of a trading day.
Stock exchanges work according to the invisible hand of supply and demand, which determines the price where stocks are bought and sold. No trade can occur until someone is willing to sell a stock at a price that another is willing to buy it at. When there are more buyers than sellers, the stock price will rise because of the increased demand. Conversely, if more individuals are selling a stock, the price will decrease.
On any given trading day, supply and demand fluctuates back-and-forth because the attractiveness of a commodity's price rises and falls. Because of these fluctuations, the closing and opening prices are not necessarily identical. A number of factors can affect the attractiveness of a stock in the hours between the closing bell and the next day's opening bell. For example, if there is good news like a positive earnings announcement, the demand for a stock may increase, raising the price from the previous day's close. It follows that bad news will negatively affect price.
Let's take a look at how the stock has been performing recently. Year to date Moderna, Inc. (OTCMKTS:MRNA) is 174.17%, 67.69% over the last quarter, and 120.81% for the past six months.
Over the past 50 days, Moderna, Inc. stock's 9.65% off of the high and 99.52% removed from the low. Their 52-Week High and Low are noted here. 9.65% (High), 428.37%, (Low). The technicals indicate that there is still some upside room as Covid vaccines and additional booster shots will continue to be in demand.
Technical analysts have little regard for the value of a company. They use historic price data to observe stock price patterns to predict the direction of that price going forward. Analysts use common formulas and ratios to accomplish this. Moderna, Inc. (OTCMKTS:MRNA)'s RSI (Relative Strength Index) is 79.62. RSI is a technical indicator of price momentum, comparing the size of recent gains to the size of recent losses and establishes oversold and overbought positions.


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Forming a limited company
The provisions relating to company formation are contained in Parts 1 to 7.
Types of company
The following legal entities may be formed, trade as a company and are subject to this legislation:
- Limited company - where shareholder liability is limited to any the share capital
- Unlimited company - where there is no liability on members
- Public company - is a company whose certificate of incorporation states that it is a public company and in relation to which the requirements of the 2006 Act, or the former Companies Acts, so far as registration or re-registration as a public company have been complied with.
- Private company - is any company that is not a public company
- Company limited by guarantee and having share capital
- Community interest company
The following information in the required format is required to be submitted to the registrar in the appropriate jurisdiction - England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland:
The memorandum of association together with an application for registration of the company. The application must state:
- The companies' proposed name
- The situation of the country in which the registered office is to be situated
- Whether member liability is limited, and if so whether by shares or guarantee
- In the case of a company that is to have a share capital, a statement of capital and initial shareholdings
- In the case of a company limited by guarantee, a statement of guarantee
- A statement of the company's proposed officers
- The registered office address
- A statement of compliance that the requirements of the Act have been complied with.
Subject to the registrar's satisfaction, a signed certificate of registration will be issued.
Power of directors to bind the company
In favour of a person dealing with a company in good faith, the power of the directors to bind the company, or authorise others to do so, is deemed to be free of any limitation under the company's constitution. For this purpose:
- a person 'deals with' a company if he is a party to any transaction or other act to which the company is a party
- a person dealing with a company, is not bound to enquire as to any limitation on the powers of the directors to bind the company or authorise others to do so, is presumed to have acted in good faith unless the contrary is proved, and is not to be regarded as acting in bad faith by reason only of his knowing that an act is beyond the powers of the directors under the company's constitution.
Please refer here for further information regarding:
- Constitutional limitations: transactions involving directors or their associates
- Constitutional limitations: companies that are charities
Formalities of doing business under the law of England and Wales or Northern Ireland:
- Company contracts
- Execution of documents
- Common seal
- Execution of deeds
- Execution of deeds or other documents by attorney
Formalities of doing business under the law of Scotland:
- Execution of documents by companies
- Official seal for share certificates etc
- Pre-incorporation contracts, deeds and obligations
- Bills of exchange and promissory notes


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Hurry up! Sale Ends indayshoursminssecs
Blue, gray, Pink, Yellow, Navy Blue
One Size
If your order hasn't arrived within 25 days of the date of original purchase, contact our support team for a full refund of your purchase.
(1). To return your product, please send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com first.
(2). After you contact customer service,please send the product back to the Ruturn Address.
(3). You will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item. Shipping costs are non-refundable.
(4). By purchasing on this website you fully agree and understand this return & refund policy.
Addressee: COSMARTO
Tel:(570) 980-1534
Return Address: 1140 River Road Apt 7095292,New Castle,Delaware,United States


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Chances are, the thought of Christmas shopping gives you hives. And if it feels like the holiday season has started earlier than ever this year, it's because it has and we said that last year. We weren't even finished handing out candy corns when the first Christmas commercials and Mariah jingles started ringing out.
By the time you're actually ready to start holiday shopping, you've already been inundated with, like, 4,526,931 Christmas ads. So it's almost impossible to figure out what to buy and what you want. Make your Christmas a little merrier this year and browse VIBE's 2013 Gift Guide, filled with smartphones, apparel, games and something for everyone on your list, including yourself, 'cause like Drake said, you deserve it.
Compiled by Chris Yuscavage and Mike Dawson


text:
We have never pretended to be a slick, quick, operation although many of our customers find our service great. We are at the opposite end of the spectrum to people selling Top 20 products. Our aim is to provide a genuine service helping people to find recordings that are often ignored and sometimes well hidden. We have over 3,000 items listed on our files. Some of them are many years old, yet as fresh musically as the day they were released. For many people we have been the Last Chance Saloon for a special recording.
Many of the recordings we list are released by tiny labels or by individual artists with no effective commercial distribution. If we do not list them, the danger is they become invisible, yet if we do list them there can occasionally be supply issues including occasional delays. We have currently chosen to list some items based on musical rather than strictly commercial reasons.
Although we keep physical stock of most of the items listed, sometimes when we have to order or reorder we encounter delays. Occasionally some items will have been deleted and may prove to be impossible to source. In the past we did not charge people until we supplied the goods, now, for security reasons, payments are processed through a PayPal / Credit Card Gateway and money is taken at the point of ordering. If items are delayed or prove to be impossible to source we will advise you and you may cancel your order and be refunded or we will advise you on suitable alternatives.
We produce a music magazine called The Living Tradition, and have done this since 1992. We operate from a physical address in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, although most of our correspondance is through a Post Office Box address.
You can contact us at: The Living Tradition, PO BOX 1026, KILMARNOCK, KA2 0LG, Scotland. Our physical address is 16 Annandale Gardens, Kilmarnock, KA2 0LE. Our telephone number is 01563 571220 email: firstname.lastname@example.com
RETURN ADDRESS: The Living Tradition, PO BOX 1026, KILMARNOCK, KA2 0LG, Ayrshire, Scotland.


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Choose a home product from the following categories...
You can also try our directory of Apartments or Contractors.
Homes Inc's goal is to provide information on everything related to the home, including real estate agents, mortgages, and remodeling. We may receive compensation from the services we rate and/or link.
All brand names used on this website other than Homes Inc, are used without any claim to the trademark, copyright, special relationship and/or other rights of the owners of such names.


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For years, Nemecio 'Nemo' Lopez approached portrait drawing the way any tattoo artist would: line for line. And then his teacher showed the 25-year-old Sylmar man how a real artist breaks it down into stages. 'It's like he was sculpting a face, giving it dimension and life; all that good stuff,' said Lopez, who put the lesson to his realistic black-and-gray tattoo work at Needle Pushers in Van Nuys and got surprising results. 'Now I'm knocking down a portrait faster than before, and it doesn't look flat,' he said. Call it a lesson learned. A growing number of established tattoo artists like Lopez are sharpening their skills and increasing their marketability at fine art schools, and for good reason. The tattoo, once relegated to the gritty side of the street, has transcended its cliched past in recent years much in the way like graffiti has. 'It's no longer fringe and ghetto,' said Lorenzo Hurtado Segovia, a professor at Otis College of Art and Design, where a number of his students are tattoo artists and former street taggers pursuing fine art careers. 'It's made the leap to becoming mainstream and fashion.' Consider Ed Hardy's colorful tattoo imagery of skulls, tigers and geishas on everything from T-shirts to blow dryers and lunch boxes. Kat Von D, star of TLC's 'LA Ink,' has launched a line of cosmetics at Sephora and written three New York Times best sellers – 'High Voltage Tattoos,' 'The Tattoo Chronicles' and 'Go Big or Go Home.' More recently, Oxygen's popular tattoo competition series 'Best Ink' returned for a third season with colorful characters all vying for $100,000 and a cover story in Tattoo magazine. What's more, PTA moms to doctors are paying top dollar to go under the needle. 'The money is there in an incredible way,' said Sergio Sanchez, a tattoo artist and fine art painter who teaches at different art schools around town. 'People will let go of $3,000 or $4,000 no problem, but if you try to get the same individual to buy an original oil painting for the same amount, it isn't happening.' The challenge is standing out from the crowd. To step it up a notch, tattoo artists are taking the money they earn on clients and applying it to learning the fundamentals of shape, value, edge and color. 'The fundamentals are the only things that you can control to re-create an image no matter what style you work in,' said Sanchez, who has seen an influx of tattoo artists pass through his classes on any given day at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art in Van Nuys, Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. and Laguna College of Art and Design in Laguna Beach, Calif. Some tattoo artists enroll in single-session classes to become better at drawing, while others like Camila Rocha set out to make the transition to fine art. Rocha, 31, got her start in Sao Paolo, Brazil, 13 years ago as the first female tattoo artist there. But she always dreamed of becoming an artist. When she got to Los Angeles, she enrolled in an arts program through LAAFA and studied with different artists on the side while working for Kat Von D's High Voltage Tattoo shop in West Hollywood, Calif. (where 'LA Ink' is filmed). She's now at the New York Academy of Art pursuing her master's in painting and drawing with the goal of teaching and leaving tattoo art behind. 'Tattooing is a giving experience as an artist, but I always felt there was a part of me that wanted to be more expressive, and tattooing was not fulfilling that professionally,' said Rocha, whose tattoo style has gone from old school imagery to Japanese mythology. 'As soon as I went to become a fine artist and I was in that environment, and I was expressing myself and I was finding myself, I knew it was the right choice.' The irony is some of her classmates are following the opposite trajectory and entering the world of tattoos after art school. 'Tattooing is about grabbing an image, tracing it to the best of your ability and putting it on skin,' said Edgar Marquez, the 35-year-old co-owner of Long Beach Ink Assassins and tattoo artist. 'There are some hard-core tattoo artists who want to stick with it, but then there are other tattooers who are pushing it to another level because they know what fine art is.' Although he doesn't have a lot of free time on his hands, Marquez, who tattoos to support his family of six – including his two children, ages 4 and 9, and his wife's twin 13-year-old brothers – has been picking up art classes here and there for several years. More recently he studied with figurative artist Sean Cheetham at 3Kicks Art Studio in Pasadena and creates classical-style paintings of luchadores and other cultural references to his Mexican-American upbringing. His paintings are a separate expression from his colorful tattoo work, which ranges from realistic to cartoon-y. But that's not the way Shay Bredimus sees it. The 34-year-old consciously lets them influence one another. 'Some people come in to see me specifically because I have an art background and they want a painterly style of tattoo,' said Bredimus, who is a tattoo artist at the influential Outer Limits in Long Beach (formerly Bert Grimm's World Famous Tattoo Shop now owned by Kari Barba) and classically trained fine art painter with a master's in fine arts represented by the Koplin Del Rio gallery in Culver City, Calif. Tattoo artists usually transfer the design to skin and fill in the lines dark to light. With the painterly style, Bredimus starts at the bottom left corner of his design and works his way to the top, 'brushing in' color with the needle and tightening up the composition as he goes along. He adds pattern and layers pigment on pigment over the course of several sessions, allowing the skin to heal between ink saturations. 'Everything gets deeper and darker and smoother,' he said. 'You can really see the difference. The surgical precision of tattooing is likewise translated in his studio work. Bredimus is currently putting together a show called 'Seni Horoscope,' a re-creation of 17th century astrology cards created by Giovanni Battista Seni – an Italian oracle who served Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, a major figure in the Thirty Years' War. In creating the cards, he uses tattoo ink and wax crayon on drafting film. Jewelry maker Diana Ishimizu Erskin of Long Beach recently hired Bredimus to design a mythological 'mermaid princess,' wrapped in octopus tentacle hair. It's her first tattoo by the artist whom she sought out because of his technical precision combined with a fine arts background, though it's her fifth overall inspired by ocean and nature. 'His pieces are intricate and well thought out and highly designed, which I find somebody with a degree would have more ability to achieve than somebody who hasn't gone to art school,' says Erskin, 30, who has spent upwards of $2,000 total on skin art by different tattoo artists in the last six years. They include a 'mom'-style heart tattoo with the name of her 3-year-old daughter, Amelia, emblazoned on a banner filling the upper half of her right arm. Also for her daughter: a small dreamcatcher to ward off evil spirits. Her maiden surname, Ishimuzu, is tattooed on her back for her grandmother – 'She was my favorite person in the world,' Erskin says – accompanied by a sea turtle and birds. They share her back with a starfish, her first tattoo. 'I would pay more for a tattoo than I would for something for my wall just because it's on my body,' Erskin says. 'It's something that you have to look at every day so you better sure it's what you want.'
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We'll be putting all our GIFs for the day here, from the happiest person you'll ever see on the receiving end of a ball from Cam Newton, to the Cowboys onside kicking in the third quarter, and failing. We'll update the post as the later games conclude, so stay tuned.
Dallas 23, Cleveland 20: It seemed, for a stretch, like this game would be the perfect incarnation of the 2012 Cowboys, who have tortured their fans to a remarkable extent on their way to 5-5. The 2-8 Browns came in, went up early, and then, even after the Cowboys came back to regain the lead, got one last excruciating touchdown. In the end Tony Romo (who threw 50 times today) and some defensive pass interference got the Cowboys close enough to tie it, and a good punt return gave them the field position to win in OT. The LOL-Boys equinox was narrowly averted. Still, the game gave us some wonderful GIFS, like the Cowboys, down 10, onside kicking to the Browns in the third quarter:
Or Trent Richardson hurdling a couple of Cowboys:
And for Browns fans, one of the best moments of the season: After a big punt return from Josh Cribbs (aided by a penalty for a horse collar tackle), the first play from the line of scrimmage, Weeden to Watson to put the Browns up 3. It didn't help in the win column, but, seeing as Brandon Weeden is on his last legs, this was a moral victory:
Green Bay 24 , Detroit 20: Down six with four minutes left, Aaron Rodgers led the Packers 82 yards down field (including one 40-yard pass) and put his team up one with about two minutes remaining. Three plays and one false start later, Matt Stafford gave it one last heave on fourth and 15 on the Lions 20 yard line—but it was not to be. Then the Packers kicked a field goal, just to be sure, gave it back to the Lions, and Calvin Johnson fumbled on the final play of the game. The Packers escaped Detroit (and escaped dropping to 6-4) just beneath the wire, which is how good teams escape things sometimes. Here's Matt Stafford drawing a roughing the passer call on 3rd and 8, which was good for the Lions. He went on to throw an interception the next play, which was bad for the Lions.
Cincinnati 28, Kansas City 6: The second straight game in which the Chiefs have held a lead! We won't dwell on this one, but to say damn: that's how you run in a touchdown, Jermaine Gresham. Not in a literal sense, as the replay official somehow determined that Gresham's knee was down at the one. He didn't get the TD that Andy Dalton ran in on the next play, but he gets his shine here. At least five Chiefs try to make a play on him, and about all five were necessary by the end:
New York Jets 27, St. Louis 13: The Jets! The Jets? The Jets. Sometimes you just have to find the right opponent, play them at the right time, and perform better than you have at nearly any other point during the season. If you can do that, you're golden. Mark Sanchez played a controlled game, the team carried the ball 41 times, and a takeaway off of a Muhammad Wilkerson sack/Bart Scott fumble recovery helped turn the tide early. Of course, it wouldn't be a Jets game if it didn't produce a hilarious GIF of Tim Tebow, here seen gaining negative yardage on a bizarrely designed fake punt:
Atlanta 23, Arizona 19: A game of runs, and mostly a game of borng runs. The Cardinals started with 13 straight, the Falcons answered with 13 straight, then field goal for field goal (yawn) until, finally, one team kicked a field goal and the other team responded with a touchdown. The teams' two elderly stalwart kickers, Matt Bryant and Jay Feely, had a big impact on the game, so, naturally, we aren't doing a GIF of them making field goals. Matt Ryan threw five (5!) interceptions, but Atlanta's 9-1 anyway.
Washington 31, Philadelphia 6: Nick Foles may not be the savior Eagles fans had hoped for. Granted, it was the first start of his career, but he looked...shaky? Foles threw two picks and fumbled thrice—but he didn't lose any of the fumbles, so, pretty good ball retention percentage there, in a sense. Foles's performance is extra bad news for a team whose starting quarterback can't drive, sleep, or keep his lunch down, and whose coach treats running plays like vegetables.
But all was not lost for fans of strong quarterback play: RGIII provided the highlights in what was, at the beginning of the day, merely a matchup of 3-6 NFC East teams. Griffin III had a perfect-passer rating of 158.3, and he threw four touchdowns on the day. This one? This one was about half Santana Moss:
Tampa Bay 27, Carolina 21: After allowing 21 consecutive points, finding themselves down 11 in the middle of the fourth, and finishing a two-point conversion with :12 on the clock to pull even in the fourth, a walk-off win for the Bucs in overtime. Doug Martin was great again—he had 47 yards on 4 carries during the only drive in OT, and 138 total—and Josh Freeman found Dallas Clark in the end zone to finish off the abject Panthers. The Bucs are now winners of four straight. Below, the first quarter random heave from Josh Freeman to Nate Byham that accounted for the difference:
Houston 43, Jacksonville 37: Yet another game tantalizingly close to being a near-historic upset for an awful team, only for the superior team to pull it out in overtime. The Texans made the critical error of knocking Blaine Gabbert out of the game, meaning non-hopeless back-up Chad Henne had to come in and show his stuff. Show it he did: 354 yards and four touchdowns against one the most fearsome defenses in the league. Were it not for the connection between Matt Schaub (43/55 for 527 yards and 5 TDs) and Andre Johnson (14 receptions, 273 yards), the Jaguars might have won this thing.
Jacksonville, not exactly known for its offensive outbursts, gave them a little of this action, Henne to Shorts for 67 yards:
And even late into overtime, it didn't seem like things were going the Texans' way:
But they pulled it out. After trading field goals and four-and-outs in OT, the aforementioned Andre Johnson took a short pass 48 yards and to the house. The Texans move to 9-1, Chad Henne and the Jaguars celebrate their best loss of the season by far.
New Orleans 38, Oakland 17: Drew Brees only had seven incompletions on the day. He finished with 219 yards and three touchdowns. The Saints defense added a touchdown as did Mark Ingram. The most memorable score came on Lance Moore's second touchdown of the day, late in the third quarter when this lady flipped off the whole world. Good times in the black hole.
New England 59, Indianapolis 24: Good lord, this was ugly. I think Julian Edelman returned every single punt to the Indianapolis five-yard line. Gronk had 137 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Andrew Luck was picked off three times. Tom Brady was a crisp 24-35 for 331 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. The Colts were dominated, as the saying goes, in all three phases of the game. To celebrate, here is one of Edelman's 15 punt return touchdowns.
Denver 30, San Diego 23: Peyton Manning got himself into second place all-time for touchdown passes and Broncos outlasted the Chargers. Manning had 270 yards and three touchdowns, his second of which was this 31-yard hookup with Brandon Stokley, just inside the two-minute warning.
Philip Rivers continued his flirtation with sub-mediocrity with a 253 yard, two touchdown and two interception performance. He also lost one fumble (at least). The game ended, as it is in vogue, with a Philip Rivers strip sack (though play-by-play says it was merely a sack, Rivers definitely fumbled, though it was unclear who recovered). It was the fourth sack of the day for the Broncos. Here is a without-doubt-Philip-Rivers-Sack-Fumble.
Baltimore, 13 Pittsburgh 10: Byron Leftwich got the scoring started early and he did it with his feet. Leftwich trotted 31 yards to the endzone in the first minute of gameplay to give the Steelers an early 7-0 lead. Here he is scooting down the sideline, throwing a nice head fake as though he's going out of bounds and proceeds to split the Baltimore defenders.
Later in the first, Jacoby Jones returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown and did this. It is something. This pushed the Ravens ahead, 10-7. That would be the only scoring of the half.
The third quarter was thrilling. The teams traded field goals. Moving along to the fourth quarter, on third down and just seconds before the two minute warning, the Steelers took their final timeout (they previously burned two in that shootout of a third quarter). The plan was to stop the Ravens and get the clock stoppage of the two-minute warning before the punt. They got the stop, but two Steelers jumped offside and ruined everything. It cost Pittsburgh almost a full minute of time with the ball and, without any timeouts, they were doomed.
As promising as the game started for Leftwich and the Steelers, it ended with Leftwich being unable to make a throw to a wide-open man downfield. Most likely because he spent the previous 59 minutes and 30 seconds getting his ass kicked. Luckily for everyone, they get to play again in two weeks.


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Lab-made hamburger grown from stem cells
They bit, they chewed, but had hoped for more flavor.
Two volunteers who participated in the first public frying of hamburger grown in a lab said Monday that it had the texture of meat but was short of flavor because of the lack of fat.
Mark Post, whose team at Maastricht University in the Netherlands developed the burger, hopes that making meat in labs could eventually help feed the world and fight climate change. That goal is many years distant, at best.
Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, appeared on a video shown at the event and announced that he funded the 250,000-euro ($330,000) project because of his concern for animal welfare.
"I would say it's close to meat. I miss the salt and pepper," said Austrian nutritionist Hanni Ruetzler, one of the volunteer tasters. Both shunned the bun and sliced tomatoes to concentrate on the meat.
"The absence is the fat, it's a leanness to it, but the bite feels like a conventional hamburger," said U.S. journalist Josh Schonwald. He added that he had rarely tasted a hambuger, as he did on Monday, "without ketchup or onions or jalapenos or bacon."
Monday's taste test, coming after five years of research, is a key step toward making lab meat a culinary phenomenon. Post called it "a good start."
Brin expressed high hopes for the technology.
"We're trying to create the first cultured beef hamburger. From there I'm optimistic we can really scale by leaps and bounds," he said on the video.
Post said it's crucial that the burger has the "look, feel and taste like the real thing."
Despite the tasters concern about flavor, scientists say that can be tweaked.
"Taste is the least (important) problem since this could be controlled by letting some of the stem cells develop into fat cells," said Stig Omholt, director of biotechnology at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Adding fat to the burgers this way would probably be healthier than getting it from naturally chunky cows, Omholt said before Monday's test. He was not involved in the project.
Post and colleagues made the meat from the muscle cells of two organic cows. The cells were put into a nutrient solution to help them develop into muscle tissue, growing into small strands of meat.
It took nearly 20,000 strands to make a single 140-gram (5-ounce) patty, which for Monday's taste test was seasoned with salt, egg powder, breadcrumbs, red beet juice and saffron.
"I'm a vegetarian, but I would be first in line to try this," said Jonathan Garlick, a stem cell researcher at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston. He has used similar techniques to make human skin but wasn't involved in the burger research.
Experts say new ways of producing meat are needed to satisfy growing carnivorous appetites without exhausting resources. By 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organization predicts global meat consumption will double as more people in developing countries can afford it. Raising animals destined for the dinner table takes up about 70 percent of all agricultural land.
The animal rights group PETA has thrown its support behind the lab-meat initiative.
"As long as there's anybody who's willing to kill a chicken, a cow or a pig to make their meal, we are all for this," said Ingrid Newkirk, PETA's president and co-founder. "Instead of the millions and billions (of animals) being slaughtered now, we could just clone a few cells to make burgers or chops."
Post and his colleagues had tasted the meat in the lab, and he said they cooked a test burger on Sunday.
"The first (lab-made) meat products are going to be very exclusive," said Isha Datar, director of New Harvest, an international nonprofit that promotes meat alternatives. "These burgers won't be in Happy Meals before someone rich and famous is eating them."
Only one patty was used for the taste test, and the testers each took less than half. Post said he would take the leftovers home and let his kids have a taste.


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Special Report: Americans' skill sets, good-paying jobs mismatched
Four years after the Great Recession, jobs remain scarce and unemployment painfully high.
Yet good jobs that do exist can go unfilled for lack of qualified workers, employers say.
The best jobs — jobs that pay well with benefits — are in health care, high-tech manufacturing, social services, finance and construction. All require sophisticated training or years of school.
The challenge is to find workers with the right skills, or quickly provide those skills, to nurture the economic recovery and lift the long-term unemployed out of a deepening hole. So far, that challenge is not being met.
One bright spot, public and private partnerships for job retraining, offers some hope for a solution, at least anecdotally. But the commitment to an overall solution is necessary to reverse some alarming trends.
Long-term joblessness was at a six-decade high in August, nearly 38 percent of all unemployed, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington. The federal government defines long term as 27 or more weeks without work.
The longer people remain unemployed or underemployed — working in low-paying jobs without benefits or opportunities for advancement — the harder it will be for them to land good jobs. National studies of hiring practices show that six months of unemployment can hurt prospects for good job offers. And workers 55 and older have less time to recover in what should have been peak earning years before retirement.
Without aggressive public and private investment in job retraining, experts warn of a permanent underclass of workers trapped in low-skill, low-wage jobs. Long-term costs to the economy, health care, social services and communities will be high, according to private and government forecasts.
Federal spending on unemployment benefits was estimated at $99 billion for the federal fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2012. About half was for emergency and extended unemployment benefits, according to an analysis by Pew Charitable Trusts. Similar spending was running at $33 billion before the start of the recession in 2007, and rose to $159 billion at the height of the economic crisis in 2010.
Long-term unemployment forces workers to postpone the very schooling needed to improve job skills. Research also shows that the long-term jobless are especially at risk of chronic unemployment or underemployment. Families are at greater risk of falling into poverty. Small businesses are less likely to expand and hire when consumer demand is soft.
The Great Recession was unlike any other since World War II, said William Dickens, interim chairman of the economics department at Northeastern University in Boston. The usual pattern of recovery-then-hiring surge did not happen. As of August, the nation was 1.9 million jobs short of prerecession levels.
Older and better-educated workers were least likely to be laid off in past recessions and were the first to return to work when recessions ended. The numbers of unemployed have risen for both groups this time.
Older workers still on the job are staying longer to make up for the losses from the financial crisis.
Low-wage retail, restaurant and service jobs have accounted for much of the job growth since the end of the recession, according to federal data. Millions more are working part time who would prefer to work full time. Demographers say underwater mortgages have made it difficult for workers to follow the jobs.
"We had a big shock," Dickens said, "that was different than shocks we had before."
The sheer depth of the Great Recession shattered the old patterns. Jobs disappeared fast and for good as technology left industries struggling to adapt. Even as the economy picked up and callbacks began, the workforce numbers were smaller.
Jobs moved where workers could not, in some cases overseas, and the good jobs that remained required new skills.
Rick Christie, 40, was forced to close his martial arts and fitness business in Decatur when many of his students lost jobs. Fitness training was a luxury they would no longer afford.
He still entertains the idea of self-employment. But Christie, too, is back in school, studying machine-tool operations.
"At a certain point, I just had to close it down and recoup from that," he said. "I decided to go back to school and complete my education."
The federal government has placed new emphasis on job training and education at community colleges as one way to provided targeted help quickly. Federal spending on community colleges runs about $9.9 billion a year. In 2010, $2 billion in federal money was approved to help community colleges retrain workers displaced by the recession. Early this year, President Barack Obama proposed spending $8 billion more.
Federal job-training money helps, educators say, but it is a relatively small component. The largest portion of their college budgets comes from state funding. Money for education was cut by states struggling with post-recession budgets.
Public-private partnerships have emerged as another source of support for retraining workers. Companies will help colleges offer job training specific to their industry and often hire the graduates. Microsoft, Caterpillar, Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railroad, McDonald's, the Gap, United Technologies and energy giant PG&E are a few of the companies involved in job training.
Community college job-training programs take months, not years, to ready workers for the most promising fields. Displaced workers must be willing to commit time and money, often switching to new lines of work. Assembly-line workers become nurses. Former small-business owners learn high-tech manufacturing. Older workers facing retirement study bill coding for health care providers.
The future of many workers, communities and regions will depend on how quickly people seeking new careers can make the transition.
Long-term unemployed
At the end of 2012, The Urban Institute policy research center in Washington studied the demographics of the long-term unemployed — people without a job for 27 weeks or more. The findings presented a new portrait of the unemployed as older and better educated compared with past recessions.
The study collected demographic data from 2007, at the start of the recession, to the end of 2012.
The young, poor, minorities and the less educated — traditionally the most vulnerable groups — were hardest hit by the recession.
But there were also a growing number of older workers among the long-term unemployed.
Comparing education levels among the long-term unemployed also revealed new trends. According to the Urban Institute study:
n Long-term unemployed with less than a high school education fell from 23.5 percent in 2007 to 18.1 percent in 2012.
n Long-term unemployed with some college education rose from 24.2 percent in 2007 to 28.6 percent in 2012.
n Long-term unemployed with a bachelor's degree rose from 11.4 percent in 2007 to 12.7 percent in 2012.
People with more education were having a harder time finding work, in contrast to previous recessions where education was an advantage. Urban Institute analysts said faster growth in low-wage jobs drove the disparity.
Getting people back to work has been hard. As of August, joblessness among workers 55 and older remained lower than the general population at 5.2 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the number of unemployed 55-and-older workers continues to rise.
Older workers also have more trouble finding a new job.
Also in August, teen unemployment was at 22.7 percent compared with the 7.3 percent overall rate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment for blacks was at 13 percent, Hispanics at 13 percent and whites at 6.4 percent.
Without aggressive intervention, the trends threaten to tip entire classes of workers — older, better educated, the young, poor and minorities — into a long-term cycle of unemployment and underemployment. Even worse, they give up.
'Kind of hard out there'
For Troy Neal, two manufacturing layoffs in three years and a futile yearlong job search left him no choice but to retrain. At age 41, he is back in school at a community college in Decatur.
Neal expects to graduate from a two-year program in 2014 qualified to operate automated machine-tooling systems that have taken over the assembly-line work he once performed.
"It's kind of hard out there," he said, "but I found I'm good at this."
National surveys and individual employers say good jobs are available, but sufficient numbers of qualified workers are not.
Express Employment Professionals, one of the nation's largest private staffing firms, released a report this summer that 3.8 million U.S. jobs were unfilled for lack of qualified workers.
Pay ranged from $11 to $30 an hour in such hard-to-fill jobs as manufacturing engineers, welders, machinists, accounting, sales, commercial truck drivers, information technology, engineers, health care and social services, and office administrative assistants.
The company based its estimates on federal data.
"If we had 10,000 welders, we could probably put them to work tomorrow," founder and CEO Robert Funk said.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts millions of new jobs will be created in health care, social services, construction, education, high-tech manufacturing and retailing in the next decade. Nearly all require training beyond high school.
Funk, who served in 2006-07 as chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, said community colleges have more flexibility than four-year institutions to provide the short-term training required for new jobs. Local colleges, he said, often work directly with employers and high schools to design curriculums tailored to specific industries or jobs.
In his call for $8 billion in job training funds, Obama set a goal of 5 million additional community college students by 2020 to meet the skills demands.
Filling jobs can create more jobs. The National Manufacturing Institute this summer estimated filling 600,000 openings nationwide would create 406,000 additional support jobs.
The institute also warned that failure to provide American workers with the right skills could result in billions of dollars in economic losses to foreign competition.
The other side of the coin
Not all economists and workforce experts agree on the skills gap. Employers, according to critics of the theory, say the notion is just an excuse to postpone hiring, hold down wages and shift training costs to taxpayers.
Marc Levine, founder of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Economic Development, has released a series of papers on the topic. He says a real skills gap would force employers to compete for scarce workers by raising wages.
The true culprits, he says, are slow economic growth, offshoring of U.S. jobs and corporate unwillingness to invest in workers.
Looming over the debate is the threat of individuals and families trapped in a cycle of unemployment and underemployed, unable to contribute significantly to the local, state and national economies.
"Unemployment can become a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Josh Mitchell, a researcher at the Urban Institute, "where being unemployed makes it less likely employers will even consider you."
Retooling workers
Rapid retraining and return to the workforce is vital for workers with obsolete skills and the long-term unemployed, say workforce experts and educators. And the sooner those workers are back on their feet, the faster the larger economy will recover.
At Spoon River College in Canton, diesel-mechanic students can earn certification to work on train engines in just two semesters. The program started this fall through a partnership with Carl Sandburg Community College in nearby Galesburg.
Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railroad donated mock engines, pieces of locomotive engines, special tools and replacement components to the colleges. College president Curt Oldfield said the railroad donations covered about half the $300,000 to $400,000 start-up cost.
Most importantly, he said, jobs should be waiting for graduates.
"BNSF said we're going to have a pretty massive turnover pretty soon, once the economy picks up and people start retiring again," said Oldfield. "It's really industrywide."
Spoon River is just southwest of Peoria, home of Caterpillar, and about 80 miles south of Moline, home of John Deere Co. Oldfield said diesel-mechanic training traditionally focused on heavy construction and agricultural equipment produced by Caterpillar and John Deere.
Oldfield said, in addition to traditional students, the diesel mechanic classes are popular with laid-off manufacturing workers from the region.
The value of community college job training programs was also on the mind of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in September, when he paid a visit to Richland Community College to promote the president's proposed $8 billion increase in funding for job training programs. Durbin said the additional money would allow businesses and two-year schools to retrain 2 million workers for high-demand jobs.
"Our programs, particularly online courses, allow adult students to have the freedom to take courses from anywhere," said Pete Willging, director of marketing and communication at HCC.
The central Illinois community of 75,400 has been hit by a series of manufacturing layoffs this year, including Caterpillar. The 13.1 percent unemployment rate in July was the highest in 30 years and seventh highest among 372 metropolitan areas nationwide.
John Jackson is vice president of operations for Barton Manufacturing in Decatur. The company provides machine tooling, fabrication and assembly work for major manufacturers such as Caterpillar. Barton also partners with the local community college for classes in technical skills needed by the company.
Jackson said the partnership works well in providing workers trained for jobs at Barton. But he said the private and public sectors must do more to reach workers in need of new skills.
"We can be better than we are," said Jackson.
Along with more community college programs, the federal government wants to help support technological innovations that can be quickly turned into new businesses.
In Youngstown, Ohio, Darrell Wallace is vice president of the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. The not-for-profit institute is coordinating research into the use of 3D printer technology that would transform 3D designs into finished products. The process would further speed replacement of traditional assembly lines.
The president has proposed a network of 15 such research institutes nationwide to move technical innovations from the lab to commercial production and create more jobs.
Wallace said long-term economic recovery requires a new workplace model. The old concept of the workplace as a fixed location with fixed production processes can be replaced, with the right technology, by more fluid processes and decentralized production, even mobile production. Products designed in Ohio can come off the line as finished goods in Illinois.
Wallace said the fastest job growth based on new technology likely would be at small- and medium-sized suppliers to major manufacturers. No smokestacks or sprawling production facilities required.
"It might be some guy named Bob with three printers in his garage," said Wallace.
Denise Kirgan is an HR manager for Cook Medical Inc. The family-owned medical device manufacturer based in Bloomington, Ind., has 15,000 employees worldwide. The company makes 16,000 products for 40 medical specialties.
Kirgan said new jobs in her industry require strong reading, writing and math skills. Workers must be able to interpret technical manuals that run to 40 pages. There is frequent training on new processes.
"All of our manufacturing work has become very detailed," she said.
Competition for the jobs is tough. Kirgan said Cook received 1,000 applications for the first 30 jobs when Cook Medical opened a new Canton plant in 2009. The plant now has a work force of 180.
The cost of delay
The challenges of retraining workers in a rapidly evolving, global economy are difficult, say work-force experts, and time is short.
Consistent state and federal funding is a major challenge. State budgets have begun to stabilize, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, but the return to pre-recession levels of education funding will take time.
The federal government, meanwhile, lurches from budget crisis to budget crisis.
Changes in technology and global competition seem to come faster than new training programs can be designed. But waiting adds to the cost of catching up.
Some analysts believe the permanent class of unemployed and underemployed workers is already a reality, and is hurting the economic recovery.
Among 4,800 fictitious resumes submitted to prospective employers, workers identified as out of work for six or more months seldom were considered, regardless of qualifications.
Add that to that the $10.3 billion in unemployment insurance claims, $17.6 billion in lost income taxes and $6.6 billion in lost corporate taxes.
Two-year and shorter programs are an interim solution for putting the unemployed back to work as quickly as possible, according to workforce experts. Partnerships shown to work must be expanded.
But there must be a fundamental, long-term rethinking of jobs and job training — accompanied by a strong public and private commitment — to reverse the costs of millions of workers already falling behind.
Tim Landis, business editor for the State Journal-Register in Springfield, spent four weeks researching the skills gap for a GateHouse Media national reporting project.


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As college and university students return to campus this month, a number of them have received scholarship assistance from the North Carolina 4-H Development Fund. The foundation has awarded $117,075 scholarships to students from 40 of North Carolina's 100 counties.
The 4-H scholarships awarded this year include renewable academic scholarships, cash awards through 4-H cumulative records programs and scholarships to attend national 4-H competitions. These scholarships are made possible by 4-H alumni, retirees and friends through their endowment or annual gifts to the foundation.
Academic scholarship winners are listed by county, along with their age, parents' names and hometowns, scholarships received, intended majors and institution they plan to attend in the fall. Scholarships are awarded to 4-H'ers, based on 4-H excellence, academic record, recommendations and need. Scholarship winners must be full-time students.
The 4-H program is the youth education program of North Carolina Cooperative Extension, based at North Carolina State and North Carolina A&T State universities. More than 237,000 young people between the ages of 5 and 19 participate in North Carolina 4-H activities each year with the help of 20,780 adult and youth volunteers. Laura Hutchins, 18, daughter of Glenda Hutchins and the late Brian Hutchins of Winston-Salem, received the Carolyn Smith Ivey 4-H Scholarship. A recent graduate of Hutchins Academy, she will attend High Point University to study music and communications. The Carolyn Smith Ivey 4-H Scholarship is awarded to a 4-H member in the West or North Central districts.
Nathan Barrick, 19, son of Michael and Melinda Barrick of Winston-Salem, received the State 4-H Officer Scholarship. Barrick attends High Point University to study graphic design.
Cooperative Extension retirees contribute to the 4-H Development Fund Scholarships for each district. The State 4-H Officer Scholarship is awarded to our four state 4-H officers each year.


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Mason Dining TableRegular price $2,889.00
The Mason Dining Table wood finishes are light and thirsty. We've added natural elements like rope and metal on select pieces. Form and function are important. Pieces can be mulit-purposed. Scandinavian style stands alone or can mix with other personas so easily.
Number of Leaves: 2
Table Type: Double Pedestal Tables
Features: Two 20" leaves extends table to 124" long
Finish: Light Wood
Material: Acacia Solids and Acacia Veneers
Dimensions: W 84"D 44"H 30"
How much does shipping cost?
Our shipping fees are calculated by total order weight. Once you place your items into the cart and proceed to checkout you can view your order shipping fee.
Where do you ship to?
Most of our products are available for shipping within Canada and the continental United States.
When will my item arrive?
Please allow 2-4 weeks for in stock items. Please note that you may receive multiple deliveries per order. Delays in shipping and delivery with our third party partners can happen for various reason and are unfortunately out of our control. Artwork, upholstery and casegoods are made to order and typically ships 6-8 weeks from the date of your order. Lighting typically ships 2-6 weeks from the date of your order. And, most of our rugs are subject to availability and typically ship between 2-4 weeks from the date of your order. Bedding and Décor typically ships between 2-6 weeks from the date of your order.
Can I cancel my order?
Once you place your order you have 24hrs to cancel. In certain cases a 15% restocking fee is applied.
Any custom-made items are not eligible for cancellation after 24hrs.
We do have limitations on returns for cost, space and sustainability reasons!
What if my order is backordered?
Our team works hard to update our site often to reflect most accurate stock and estimate shipping time frames. Changes to estimated time frame attributed to a delay in product may occur. Furniture, lighting and artwork, rugs, and décor, ordered cannot be cancelled due to back order. Once an item has been ordered it is sent to our manufacturer. Once the item is processed and confirmed with the manufacturer it cannot be cancelled. Our team will notify you if one of your items has been backordered.
What currency does your store operate in?
You can shop our website and checkout in USD or CAD.
Do you have a showroom?
Yes! We have two showrooms, 12,000 square feet in total. Located in Aberfoyle, and Oakville, Ontario Canada.
Do you stock all items on your website in your showroom?
Not everything! Most small decor is stocked. Select furniture pieces, art and lighting from our online collection are showcased.
Do you have a Trade Program?
We sure do. Please apply here. For any inquiries, please contact us at email@example.com.
What measurement units are used on this site?
All measurements are in inches unless otherwise noted.
The product name on the box I received doesn't match what I ordered?
We use over 100 different suppliers and we rename most products on our site to names unique to us. Some packaging may arrive with the supplier's product name on the box instead of ours.
When is my card charged?
All orders are charged in full at checkout.
Due to impacts on the global supply chain with COVID-19, we are experiencing longer than usual shipping times for large furniture items and artwork. We will continue to update our customers on shipping ETA's and changes to the best of our abilities. Accents for Living is not responsible for any delays.
Shipping Lead Times
Lead times are current estimates and are subject to change.
Select Lighting, furniture, rugs and large art ship directly from the manufacturer to you. Each item and manufacturers have specific shipping lead times. Once you place an order we will contact you within 48hrs to give you an approximate lead time. Once your item is shipped you'll receive a tracking number where you'll be able to track the package and know its exact delivery date. Orders with multiple items may have multiple tracking numbers and different arrival dates. Most items in stock ship within 2-3 weeks.
Artwork: 8-12 weeks
Lighting: 2-8 weeks
Furniture: 12-20 weeks. After your order for select furniture items have been placed, you will be contacted by our concierge team. At that time we will confirm your delivery and provide a quote for shipping costs. To verify shipping costs in advance, please email email@example.com.
Items are shipped via Courier (Purolator, UPS, Fedex or Canada Post). Our larger items are considered oversize and may be shipped with a freight carrier. Please note STANDARD DELIVERY IS DOOR STEP ONLY. The carrier does not enter the home or assemble the furniture. If you live in a building it would be brought into the lobby and no further. Depending on the item you purchased, it may need to be fully assembled. Please ensure you are comfortable bringing your item to its desired destination in your home or contact us to upgrade to White Glove Delivery. White glove service may be requested in certain areas at an extra cost. The service includes unpacking, minor assembly and garbage removal. Please contact us at email@example.com for details.
Local Pick-Up
We offer free local pick up from our Guelph and Oakville stores. Please ensure you bring the proper support to move the item. Store hours are from Monday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday 12 pm to 5 pm. We will contact you when your order is ready and pick up should be made within 7 days of being notified. Storage fees may applied if a product is warehoused for an extended amount of time.
CANADA & USA Clients
USA shipping fees are calculated by total order weight. Shipping prices are subject to change. Some oversized pieces may be subject to additional shipping charges due to size and distance. If your order requires extra fees, you will be contacted by our concierge team within 48hrs with a quote. Duty or customs charges on international orders are the buyers responsibility.
Order Notes
Please utilize the order note section during checkout to specify unique situations the delivery company may encounter during delivery, such as no elevator, small doorway, etc. Please ensure items being order fit into their desired destination prior to ordering. If an item does not fit this is not our responsibility. Feel free to contact us with any questions about sizing!
We do our best to feature in stock items but in some instances, products can sell out before we have the chance to update our website. If you purchase an item that is out of stock we will contact you with an estimated re-stock date. If the re-stock date is not suitable we will fully reimburse you or suggest a similar in-stock item. If needed, please contact us prior to ordering to find out specific lead times.
Delays in shipment or delivery can be caused due to holidays, busy season, weather or various other reasons. These delays are out of our control and can push the delivery window past the 2-4 weeks or lead time given at the time of ordering. We ask for your patience during these times as we do our best to ensure all items get to our customers as quickly as possible!
All of our shipments are sent via third party delivery companies. Once we have sent your parcel, we will notify you of the appropriate shipping company and tracking information. Accents for Living is not liable for any product damages after the product has left our warehouse or boutiques. Any damage that occurs in transit that is discovered after the fact and not recorded in writing on the bill of lading will prohibit a damage claim with the according shipping company. It is the responsibility of the receiver to inspect all items before signing off on the BOL or allowing the driver to leave. If your order arrives damaged, please contact us immediately at email@example.com with your order number and images of the damages. Accents for Living will accept responsibility for defective or damaged products if determined to be a manufacturing or quality issue from our suppliers. Otherwise, it is the receiver's responsibility to contact the shipping company to receive a credit towards the damaged product that occurred during transit.


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Your Lake Villa Apartments Search Guide
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