What do you do when ants on a log just aren't cool anymore…?
Let me start this story by saying how much easier it is when babies are infants to get them to eat their veggies. Both my kids always loved mealtime and would eat anything I gave them – even crazy concoctions of kale and spinach. But somewhere in the change from infant to toddler, things shifted a little and now veggies are.. well – "yuk" in his words..
Since he thinks he's too cool for ants on a log and carrots with ranch, I discovered a new way to get veggies in him and actually have him LIKE it. Meet Garden Lites – a muffin made with 1/3 of veggies! But that's not all – it's also gluten-free, egg free and HUGE on taste.
Since he turned up his nose at my ants on a log snack, I gave him a chocolate muffin but didn't tell him it was made with veggies. He thought it was his lucky day to get a chocolate muffin over a plate of veggies and devoured it in about 27 seconds. After he was done, I told him "I just made you eat your veggies!!" He laughed out loud and didn't believe me until I showed him the package. Score!
Ok, so you're probably thinking, "This is made with 1/3 veggies, gluten free and egg free… It must taste terrible!" I have to admit even I was skeptical to try them because I don't usually find gluten free foods to be the best tasting stuff. Then I tried a bite… and "wow" was the first word I could think of.
I even got the banana chocolate chip flavor – Do you see the green bits of veggies?
If you want to try these (and I highly recommend it, especially for picky kids) you can find these at Kroger, Target and a few other grocery stores. Check their store locator to find a shop close to you that carries them. They will be in the freezer section, so look for them there.
Try the new Wholotta Box from Taco Bueno & win a $25 gift card!


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Sanger D. Shafer (October 24, 1934 – January 12, 2019), better known as Whitey Shafer, was an American country songwriter and musician. He wrote numerous hits for stars such as George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, and George Strait. He was also a recording artist. His highest single "You Are a Liar", under the name Whitey Shafer, reached No. 48 on the Billboard country chart, in 1981.

Life

Born and raised in Whitney, Texas, Shafer's musical career began in his hometown of Whitney where he played in a school band. In the following years he toured the U.S., performing with, among others, the then-unknown Willie Nelson. In 1967 Shafer moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he signed with the Blue Crest Music Publishing Company. There he wrote two songs for George Jones, "Between My House and Town" and "I'm a New Man in Town", along with many other tunes for lesser-known acts. Shafer signed contracts with Musicor and RCA as a singer, but he was never as successful as he was as a songwriter.

In the early 1970s Shafer signed an exclusive contract with Acuff-Rose Music. In the following years he wrote many songs which went on to become successful on the U.S. country charts, including several No. 1's. His songs included "The Baptism of Jesse Taylor" for Johnny Russell, "Tell Me My Lying Eyes Are Wrong" for George Jones, and a series of hits for Moe Bandy. He had a longstanding friendship with Lefty Frizzell, whom he had met at his record label. He and Frizzell wrote the song "That's the Way Love Goes" together, a hit for Johnny Rodriguez and also Merle Haggard in 1983; they also wrote "I Never Go Around Mirrors" (which Frizzell recorded in 1973 and turned into a top 25 country hit a year later) and "Bandy the Rodeo Clown" for Moe Bandy, which became a major hit shortly after Frizzell's 1975 death. After Frizzell's death Shafer wrote the tribute song "Lefty's Gone" recorded by George Strait for his Something Special album.

Three divorces helped him with his song writing in the 1980s when Shafer wrote "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" (1985; with Darlene Shafer) and "All My Ex's Live in Texas" (1987; with his fourth wife Lyndia J.). Both of these were No. 1 hits for George Strait, and both were nominated for CMA's Song of the Year. "All My Ex's Live in Texas" was also nominated for a Grammy Award, for Best Country Song (lost to: Paul Overstreet & Don Schlitz for "Forever and Ever, Amen").

In the middle of the 1980s Shafer released two albums, I Never Go Around Mirrors and So Good for So Long, containing his greatest hits. In 1989, Keith Whitley chose the Shafer penned, "I Wonder Do You Think of Me", as the title track and the first single released after Whitley's death and went to No. 1. Also in 1989, Shafer was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Shafer continued to write for musicians such as John Michael Montgomery, Lee Ann Womack, and Kenny Chesney. In 2004, Shafer's recording of "All My Ex's Live In Texas" appeared on the soundtrack to the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Death
Shafer died after a long illness on January 12, 2019, at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife of 19 years, Tracy Shafer.

References

1934 births
2019 deaths
People from Whitney, Texas
Singer-songwriters from Texas
American country singer-songwriters
Country musicians from Texas
American male singer-songwriters

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Home Lifestyle Study finds out, Twitter is the most engaging platform for conversation during COVID-19
Study finds out, Twitter is the most engaging platform for conversation during COVID-19
India: With the countrywide lockdown and people practicing social distancing, digital media is the only platform left for the brands and businesses to keep up the conversation with their stakeholders and consumers. From small scale entrepreneurs to reputed brands, today everyone has started taking digital media as the most powerful marketing tool to stay competitive in their respective sectors. Germin8, a leading social media intelligence company has come out with two reports on the 'Brand activities during Covid-19 outbreak' and 'Twitter Influencers on Corona'.
The report on 'Brand activities during Covid-19 outbreak' highlights how brands all over the world have consciously stepped away from their traditional marketing and advertising efforts and now is focusing on digital mediums and there has been a significant rise in the use of video-conferencing apps and content streaming apps. Whereas social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat took serious steps to curb and content sharing platforms (eBooks, audiobooks, music, podcast) have allowed free access to their content to help people cope with social distancing. The finding also states how most reputable organizations have shared informational content on hygiene, social distancing, addressing misinformation and also using the platform for reaching out to the consumers during the times of pandemic and how brands globally an in India have been using their social media handles to make people aware.
The report on 'Twitter Influencers on Corona' highlights how Twitter has become and is playing a major source of Covid-19 news. It states that, Twitter Influencers majorly shared their views on measures taken by various countries and their governments, and also statistics related to coronavirus spread and influencers from USA and India were the ones that majorly posted during the specified period. While media houses like CNN Indonesia and Detikcom tweeted the most on the pandemic, whereas the study also found out that political leaders and news anchors were the drivers of the conversation in India. Twitter users in India also tweeted about the eeconomic impact due to Corona Virus, how political propaganda is being spread and people also tweeted about their personal experience. Speaking on the reports, Dr Ranjit Nair (PhD AI), CEO and Founder of Germin8 Solutions said, "Our study shows how brands are creating awareness about highlighting preventive measures, building and retaining trust with their audience by their digital media activities during these challenging times. Today, digital media is the only channel of communication that is not experience a slowdown."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Kerala Board has release DHSE 12th Class Date Sheet 2019.
Kerala Board 12th Examination will be held from 6th March to 21st March.
The DHSE HSE exam will be held from 10 am to 12.45 pm for subjects without practicals and for subjects with practicals expect Biology and Music will be conducted from 10 am to 12.15 pm.
All Students can check complete DHSE Kerala HSE Time Table 2019 through below provided table.
The Directorate of Higher Secondary Education has Published the Kerala Plus Two Time Table 2019 standard. DHSE Kerala 12th Time Table 2019 is available on our website https://www.fastresult.in. Students can visit the official website to get the link of the timetable. The separate timetable is available for the other core subjects and for the Arts stream. The date sheet is also different for the different streams.
According to the Kerala Plus Two Time Table 2019, the exams will begin from March 06, 2019. The first exam will be of Business Studies/ Chemistry/ Journalism. After 21 days, the tests will end. The last date for the board exams is March 27, 2019. The last exam will be of Computer Application/ Electronics/ Geology/ Home Science/ Philosophy/ Statistics.
For the Arts students, the DHSE Kerala has released the separate date sheet. The exams for them will be held from March 06 to March 21, 2019. The first and the last exams will be conducted of Aesthetic, and Part-I English respectively.
The timings for the exam is different for the various subjects. For the subjects without practical, the timing is 10:00 am to 12:45 pm. Subjects with Practical's except for Biology & Music will be held from 10:00 am to 12:15 pm. For Biology, the timing is from 10:00 am to 12:25 pm and for Music, 10:00 am to 11:45 am.


Looks a great price for this camera. I'll let you click the link for the specs as always but I think I may just go beyond my original search (for a fairly simple compact ) and seriously consider this one at this amazing price . Though I'm sure you can get it cheaper than £449 -I cant find it anywhere close to £250.
Beautiful camera, oozes quality, fantastic price!
Waiting for the Sony A6000 to drop personally.
Yes it oozes quality but I found it terrible to use, even with updated firmware. Made my x100 feel like a speed demon. Good price though if it's really what you want.
My 400D broke. Would this use existing lenses? Does this also record video, can anyone comment on quality?
My 400D broke. Would this use existing lenses? Does this also record … My 400D broke. Would this use existing lenses? Does this also record video, can anyone comment on quality?
No this uses M lenses. However I am selling my 600D, I'll PM the link!
Technically no, but there is an official adapter. Not sure about video though.
Excellent kit if you want a compact video setup. Full HD 1080 24 Touch screen Control. Use of EF lenses with adapter and external mic (with hotshoe). Same sensor as the 650D.
Not so great for photos as the AF speed is laggy. Much Improved with latest firmware but still no match against competition.
Great Camera. On the issue of Auto-Focus I own both an EOS M and a Nikon D5200. The EOS AF it is not fast by any means, but, post firmware update I was surprised that it really is not that much slower than my Nikon DSLR....at all. Hot from me.
What's the video quality like? Is it auto focus?
I have one of these and use it to compliment my 5D. At this price it is good, although I would not have paid full price. The M lenses that are available get an excellent write up and the included 18-55 kit lens is good, better in my opinion than the 18-55 kit lenses bundled with Canon SLRs.
There has been a lot of criticism, but I think if you are buying this camera have a good look at the comments on dpreview.com and then buy with open eyes. I haven't regretted it.
Canon missed the bus as far as mirror-less cameras go.
Any good deals on the x20?
Had one of them before, was a load of crap.
Love the build quality & the image quality, but the AF is too slow for me, even after latest firmware. Mine got extremely hot too so I returned it in the end. I think it's a good price and the lenses are great but the auto focus still lets it down.
For under £250, an excellent deal.....I notice John Lewis and Jessops are doing it for £50 more.
Only ( possibly ) major downside to it is the slow AF, according to most reviews.
Same with Nikon, both companies seriously fearful of harming their SLR sales with mirror-less - in the their big USA market where size is everything, compact system cameras are still treated with some suspicion.
Since the latest firmware the AF really isn't that slow at all, it's actually pretty good and always bang on, unlike DSLR phase detect. Not really suitable for action photography, but not many mirrorless cameras are really.
All your Canon lenses work perfectly with the official EF-EOS-M mount adapter as pointed out above.
At £250 this is a lot of camera for the money.
Hi all. I've got his camera from the Black Friday sales and it is a great bit of kit for the money!! The lack of viewfinder isn't a biggie for me and a couple of spare batteries of amazon for £20 negate the extra battery drain from using a LCD. With the latest lens and camera firmware it's not bad on the AF but you can enable AF+MF or go to full MF if you want to too.
Compared to other " basic 1000 series cameras or even 600/700s it's not bad and the price saving is great!
Also sorry to the Op for reposting this: beat me to it!
Given that the M2 isn't even being sold in Europe, I'd guess that these are so cheap because they're pretty much giving up on the platform.
I got this as a second camera to my 60d about a month ago, can't tell the difference in image quality. Its really really worth it!
... Forgot to say,the 18-55 kit included with this is very high quality too, as is the 22 f/2.
Great camera, have one myself as an alternative to my DSLR's. Focus is not as fast as the other mirrorless cameras but according to various reports that didn't stop it becoming the 2nd most popular CSC in Japan last year! As others have said quality is fantastic as it has pretty much the same insides as a 650D minus the mirror. Fairly sure it's the same sensor that Canon have been using for year throughout their entry level > enthusiast product line.
Also worth getting MagicLantern installed on it if you intend to use any manual focus lenses. I've been using a range of M42 and old L39 glass on mine lately with some fantastic results!
Went for it. Any good deal for the 22 f/2?
Some ridiculously low prices on eBay.
Around £77 for UK stock split from a kit (available from quite a few sellers upto 60 Day Warranty).
£98 from CEX (with their 12 Month Warranty).
Around £77 for UK stock split from a kit (available from quite a few … Around £77 for UK stock split from a kit (available from quite a few sellers upto 60 Day Warranty).£98 from CEX (with their 12 Month Warranty).
£57, (or lower if you make an offer) if you're prepared to go for an import, I would.
Now were talking. This is the deal of the century. Not suitable for fast moving sports, pets, etc. But suitable for everything else.
I purchased the EOS-M a few months back from Jessops. £349, less £50 Canon cashback at the time. Offer included the genuine Canon EF mount adaptor, (£100 value) so in real terms, a body cost of £200.
I use the 7D as my main camera system. However, it is mainly used when I know I won't be too far from my car.
The EOS-M is my hiking / walkabout camera. I have the 18-55 kit lens, which is optically superior to the lens bundled with most Canon entry level DSLR kits, but I also own the 11-22mm and the 22mm prime. It is with these lenses that the EOS-M really comes into it's own. It is easily a match in virtually every respect for the 100D, the DSLR model with similar specification.
As other posters have commented, focussing is not as quick as a DSLR, but that is typical of most mirrorless designs. The current firmware did make a significant difference, and folks who base their judgement solely on reviews should be clear what firmware was in place when the review was written.
I have only used the EF lens adaptor on a couple of occasions, but have found it very easy to work with.


What Are Micro Credentials and How Can They Benefit You?
Now more than ever, the job market has an urgency for Micro-Credentials – these mini qualifications and learning experiences are becoming the forefront of professional skill sets, with 95% of human resource managers actively seeking micro-credentials from potential candidates.
Especially as a result of this technological age, employers must ensure that their team is fully equipped with a combination of both hard and soft skills. Microcredentialing solidifies this need, for both employers and employees.
Micro credentials are certification-style qualifications that individuals choose to study to improve a skill found in a particular industry area. They are short, low-cost online courses that provide learners with a digital certification or a 'digital badge' when complete. This new learning concept continues to gain recognition and is highly sought after within the professional landscape.
The key difference between microcredentialling and other qualifications offered by higher education institutions – such as certificates or bachelors – is that micro credentials are delivered as 'bite-sized' chunks; illustrating the proficiency in a particular skill. They are developed with its particular industry in mind, ensuring that the qualification meets industry-specific needs, is relevant and is recognised by future employers. This new approach to professional development is personalised and generally transferrable.
A Digital Badge is an authenticated, online representation of a skill, quality or ability. Digital Badges can be earned in a variety of learning environments via a micro-credential course.
They are a new means of recognising and certifying peoples' skills, knowledge, capabilities and accomplishments, and allow learners to connect with recruiters and new opportunities.
On successful completion of a micro-credential course, learners can then share their digital badges on their social media platforms, particularly LinkedIn.
Micro-credentials are important as they are beneficial to both sides of an organisation (employer and employee), as well as students who are looking to break into a particular industry post-graduation. As disappointing as it is, a degree as a result of a four-year postgraduate course may not always be enough for a specific role. This is where micro-credentials come in. They help to mould specific skills with additional mini qualifications, in an informal learning style which aligns with the needs of an industry or sub-industry.
As a result of this, employers will then reap the benefits. These more modernised, industry-relevant qualifications will see more informed, better-equipped employees in entry-level positions. Due to most industry areas existing in a continuous state of fluidity, to stay afloat amongst these changes in technology and guidelines, anyone in any stage of their professional career can gain from narrowed educational micro-credential courses to develop their abilities.
This is not to say that only students can profit from micro-credential courses. Those who are currently in the workforce would have already been exposed to steady changes, as industry areas progress as a result of collaboration, globalisation and technological advancements such as automation. By upskilling with a micro-credential, current workers can tighten the 'skills gap' that continues to grow between them and their fast-paced industry; ensuring that their professional growth remains continuous by keeping up-to-date with relevant and emerging practices.
Overall, micro-credentials hold authority in the professional landscape as they help candidates to stand out in the recruitment process and enhance employability potential, and offer a narrow skill to an industry-area that is valued by employers.
what does it generally entail?
Do Micro-Credentials Demonstrate Soft or Hard Skills?
Micro-credentials can help to formalise both soft and hard skills.
Knowledge-based, or 'hard' skills are learnt from education and experience, and are generally a required skill that contributes to an overarching skill set for a specific role.
Soft skills are transferable skills that you can adapt and apply to many jobs – they are equally as important as hard skills. Soft skills are imperative in driving business outcomes; they are a significant contributor to team efficiency, suggesting that the solidification of soft skills via micro-credentialing could see dramatic improvements in the way a professional practice functions.
By participating in the micro-credentialing process, you are exposed to a more systematic style of learning and training. It is a common occurrence that job-learned skills aren't acknowledged, as there has never been a simple way of solidifying this knowledge via a recognised qualification or 'badge'. Through the ability to build on these skills via a cumulative outlook, employees are provided with a structured approach in which they can measure and formalise the knowledge and skills learnt with ease.
This kind of professional learning provides a continuous progression for employees, both in their present role and in their professional career.


Vahana, the all-electric, self-piloted, VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft from A³ by Airbus, has successfully completed its first full-scale flight test, Airbus reports.
The aircraft reached a height of 5 metres (16 feet) before descending safely. The test was completed at the Pendleton UAS Range in Pendleton, Oregon. Its first flight, with a duration of 53 seconds, was fully self-piloted and the vehicle completed a second flight the following day.
Vahana is a project developed at A³, the Silicon Valley outpost of Airbus. The company says Vahana aims to "democratise personal flight" and tackle urban mobility challenges using the latest technologies in electric propulsion, energy storage and machine vision.
Following these successful hover flights, the team will turn to additional testing, including transitions and forward flight.


FX Fiberglass helmets are designed to give firefighters that extra edge.
Featuring contemporary styling, the FX incorporates recommendations from fire professionals around the world. The result is an integrated assembly of advanced materials and quality components that provide outstanding head protection, superior comfort, durability, and proven on-the-job performance.
A low center of gravity provides both models with a balanced and stable fit, increasing overall comfort. Adding to the helmet's comfort and security is a natural leather ratchet pad.
Bullard's Sure-Lock ratched headband adjusts to the wearer's head with a quick turn of the knob. Additional adjustment points permit custom fit, personalized balance and interface with the SCBA.
The outer shell of the FX is made of fiberglass and is more resistant to chemical attack and more stable at extreme temperatures than those made of thermoplastic. The FX model has the color molded through the shell.
Bullard helmets are designed from the start to make maintenance simple and cost effective. For example, the browpad can easily be removed and cleaned. Competitive helmets have the brownpad sewn into the headband making for awkward cleaning and very expensive replacement.
FX helmets feature 3M Scotchlite striping which retains reflectivity to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). That makes Scotchlite the toughest material available for helmet markings. FX helmets also feature the unique R330 optically-correct faceshield. The R330 eliminates distortion and reduces eye stress and fatigue.
Certified to meet NFPA 1971: 2013 Edition.
In Alberta the goggles and face shield need to not only be NFPA certified but also need to be CFA certified. Are they?
Is the blue on the the same as the baby blue (EMS) color? the same as the Cairns Metro 660c?


As congenital heart disease awareness week winds down, one local family is hoping their son's story will help shed light on the disease.
Little Beckham Collins has spent nearly half of his life in the hospital. The 7 month-old has spent about as much time in the hospital as he has at his own home. He's confined to his McDonough home because of the flu outbreak and almost no one is allowed near him.
His parents, Dustin and Kelsey Collins, say it's hard to tell his family members no when they want to spend time with him.
"We're not allowing family and friends over right now," says his father Dustin. "He already has a weakened immune system. If he were to get the flu, it would not be good news. It's hard to say no to grandparents and aunts and uncles. We're definitely family-oriented and we love to share our kids with our family."
Beckham has spent most of 2018 at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The Collins' wanted to visit family in Texas but had to end the trip early after Beckham came down with a nasty cold.
Complicating Beckham's recovery is the fact that he was born with a weak heart. Doctors only discovered it a few days before he was born. The family spent 28 days in the hospital by his side.
"There were a few days where we thought it was over," said Beckham's mother Kelsey. "It was awful to see him like that. It was scary."
Beckham is back home now and continuing to get back to his everyday routines but the constant threat of the deadly flu season has changed everything.
Family tells story of son's rare heart disease while "Fighting like a Hogan"


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Tag Archives | planning
TriMet and the Trust Gap Part 3: The Planning Role
By EngineerScotty on October 28, 2010 in JPACT, Metro, Milwaukie LRT, Transportation Funding, Transportation Planning, TriMet
Today, TriMet held an informal planning session, at which point it was announced that in order to fund MLR, an additional $20 million of operating revenue may be needed to build Milwaukie MAX, as reported by Michael at PortlandAfoot.org. A key word is "may".
This column address a broader issue; that of TriMet's role in planning.
In short: Is the tail wagging the dog?
Originally, Part 3 on this series was going to be all about TriMet's finances–but that subject will now appear in Part 4, which won't likely appear until after the election. As Chris notes, today TriMet held an informal planning session, at which point it was announced that in order to fund MLR, an additional $20 million of operating revenue may be needed to build Milwaukie MAX, as reported by Michael at PortlandAfoot.org. A key word is "may".
Comments on the merits of this particular decision should go on Chris's thread. This column address a broader issue; that of TriMet's role in planning.
Planning and policy
There are many facets of planning; some of which are clearly within TriMet's scope and area of expertise:
Tactical and operations planning. Things like making preparing detailed schedules, for both regular operations and special events.
Detailed design input. Assisting policymakers with the technical details necessary to make informed decisions on strategy.
But there's a whole other part of the planning process–strategic planning, where TriMet is intimately involved–but may well be, to quote President Obama, above the agency's proverbial pay grade. Things like:
Infrastructure planning. Budgeting, financing, route-planning, and design of major new infrastructure projects, including (but not limited to) transit lines.
Service allocation. Determining, in a limited-revenue environment, where and how to allocate resources.
Now TriMet, as part of its technical expertise, ought to be a major contributor to both of these. But it ought to own neither of these–in my mind, these are policy decisions which ought to be made by policymakers, not by a transit agency; especially one whose board is appointed in Salem, as opposed to reporting (directly or indirectly) to Metro-area voters.
Of course, TriMet doesn't do these things all alone, and as Lenny Anderson noted in an earlier thread, TriMet gets blamed for a lot of decisions which are made by Metro or by JPACT (the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation). However, today's meeting didn't involve Metro or city or county leaders–it was the TriMet board and staff. And the decision as to whether or not this money should be diverted from transit operations to the capital budget is a decision which ought to, in my mind, be made by policymakers; not TriMet.
In short, elected officials in Metro and the city and county governments are the ones who ought to be making this decision. It's a, after all, a policy decision. (And perhaps the relevant policy decision has already been made, and the directions issued to TriMet are that MLR takes priority over everything else).
But either way, the decision ought to be owned by all the region's leaders–who ought to take responsibility for it. If the City of Portland, Metro, the counties, and the other players in the region can't publicly endorse the tradeoff of service cuts for MAX construction, then they ought to find a plan that they can endorse and implement.
Who should run the projects?
A related issue is that of project management. Clearly-defined roles and responsibilities are important, as is having project leadership that is competent to the task at hand. If you don't have this, you have chaos–the Columbia River Crossing is a fine example.
When the first MAX line was being planned, one big question facing leaders was: who would build and run it? TriMet, which had only existed for a decade or so at the time, was generally regarded as a bus company and nothing more–an organization which was good at driving, maintaining, and dispatching busses, but which had little experience with capital projects, and none with rail. Yet the decision was made for TriMet to own the line; and nowadays the agency has extensive experience in capital project management and rail operations. As such, its role has grown.
Projects (successful ones) go through several phases–planning, design, construction, and operations. MLR is nearly exiting the design phase; the first shovel of dirt is scheduled to be turned next year. Metro generally oversees planning activities, but for transit projects, TriMet essentially "takes over" when the design phase starts. And in some ways, this makes sense–the agency is the repository of Portland's experience in running these projects.
But there is one caveat. In the design phase, many policy-based decisions must be made. This is the phase where funding is secured, NEPA documents (DEIS, EIS) are prepared and reviewed, the necessary research is done, and the project engineering commences. In this phase, things like budget and scope are still very much in flux, and as we all have found out (and TriMet should have known better), things happen to affect what can be delivered. Managing issues at this point still requires a great deal of policy decisions to be made. While TriMet staff are the best qualified to carry out the design activities (those that aren't contracted out to other design professionals), a good argument can be made that at this point in the project, Metro might be a better agency to act as overseer.
In particular, Metro is better situated–and has the better policy perspective–to arrange for funding.
What do PT readers think? Should TriMet's role in strategic and policy matters be reduced, allowing the agency to focus on operations? Is the present arrangement satisfactory? Or–to play devil's advocate–should TriMet's role in transit planning increase (and Metro's role reduced to long-range strategy and inter-modal decisions)? Where should the line be drawn–what level of service change ought to require consideration by agencies other than TriMet? Would your opinion change if TriMet's board was locally elected, rather than appointed by the Governor?


St. Luke's Rehabilitation: Boise, Apple St.
Christine Panagos, PT, DPT, SCS, CSCS is a board certified sports physical therapist who provides pre-operative assessment and post-operative management of all sports-related injuries. Christing emphasizes education and injury risk reduction.
Christine completed her physical therapy training at Northeastern University in Boston. In her free time she enjoys cycling, running, and spending time with her family.


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Politkovskaya gets posthumous press award
18 Sep, 2007 22:46
Journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been posthumously given the 2007 Press Freedom Award. She was picked by U.S. National Endowment for Democracy for promoting press freedom and independent media in Russia.
The award was handed to her colleagues from the Moscow newspaper Novaya Gazeta where Politkovskaya worked for seven years before she was killed in October last year.
"I present this award to honour her heroism, her passionate commitment to free and open society, and to her undying desire to see Russia as a democratic society," Tom Lantos, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, declared.
Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead near her Moscow apartment last October.
During the last months of her life, she's thought to have been investigating human rights violations in the Chechen Republic.
Her former colleagues have suggested her activities in this area could be connected to her death.
Ten people, including former police and Federal Security Service officers, have been held over the murder.
The Prosecutor General claims the murder was most probably ordered from outside the country.


The ladies of Monterey are headed back to your television screens. HBO has officially confirmed that the second season of Big Little Lies has been confirmed.
Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman return to co-star but they will also both executive produce this time around. Witherspoon commented via an article released by HBO on Friday, December 8th.
"I'm thrilled to be bringing back this talented team of artists. It gives us the opportunity to delve deeper into the lives of these intriguing and intricate Monterey families and bring more of their stories back to the audience who embraced and championed them," said Witherspoon.
The first season of the show was based on the book by Liane Moriarty. The second season will obviously be a completely unique storyline as the first season ended where the book did. But there are so many potential possibilities for the characters and the personalities that fans grew to love over the course of the first season. Notable praise was often given to the type of gorgeous music that accompanied many of the scenes. Music production was one of the strongest aspects of the show.
The seven-episode season will be directed by Andrea Arnold who has produced some stunning and interesting work with women at the center. The show is also introducing four new characters and in keeping with the mysterious tone of the first season, someone may be involved in some sort of tragedy.
A new teacher will be added, Mr. Perkins, who teaches the kids about global warming which causes Renata's daughter, Amabella, to have a panic attack. There is a new employee in the school's administration office that befriends Jane, the two become very close and learn about each other's "deepest secrets".
To round off the new characters will be Bonnie's parents, whom she has a precarious relationship with. Her mother, Elizabeth, though outwardly very zen and poised much like her daughter, is actually very controlling and abusive. Her father, Martin, is typically very emotionally distant.
Looks like this next season will be quite the dramatic exploration on many fronts. Big Little Lies was a major runaway hit in its first season and they're back for more!


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Seattle City Council repeals 'head tax' weeks after enactment
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amazon is seen on a building in San Jose, Costa Rica March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate
By Eric M. Johnson
SEATTLE (Reuters) – The Seattle City Council on Tuesday repealed a newly enacted "head tax" on the city's largest companies, including Amazon.com, in the face of seemingly insurmountable big-business opposition to a revenue measure meant to combat homelessness.
The 7-2 vote in favor of repeal capped an acrimonious public hearing interrupted by chanting supporters of the tax, conceived in response to a local economic boom that has driven up real estate costs at the expense of the working class.
The council's stunning reversal came as momentum was building for a referendum drive against the measure, just weeks after it was unanimously adopted by the council and signed into law by the mayor.
"This is a cowardly betrayal of the needs of the working people," Councilwoman Kshama Sawant, a leading proponent of the tax who voted against repeal, said to thunderous applause moments before the council completed its vote.
But Councilwoman Lisa Herbold said she was reluctantly voting for repeal rather than drag the city through a protracted political fight she called "not winnable at this particular time."
"The opposition has unlimited resources," she added.
Amazon.com , the city's largest employer, was at the forefront of a coalition of businesses running a well-financed campaign to place a repeal referendum on the ballot for the November elections.
Amazon Vice President Drew Herdener hailed Tuesday's vote as "the right decision for the region's economic prosperity."
The tax would have applied only to the city's largest companies by revenue, those grossing at least $20 million a year. It was expected to be borne by about 500 companies.
Opponents had already collected nearly 46,000 signatures from voters in support of a repeal initiative, well more than the 17,000 needed to qualify for the ballot, according to the Downtown Seattle Association, a business group which led the petition drive.
The effort quickly raised $300,000, including contributions of $25,000 each from Amazon and coffee retailer Starbucks , another major Seattle stalwart, and $30,000 from a grocers trade group, said Jon Scholes, president of the Seattle Association.
HELP FOR THE HOMELESS
The measure, passed on May 14, would have levied a tax of roughly 14 cents per employee per hour worked within the city to raise at least $45 million over five years. The revenues were earmarked to build affordable housing and furnish support services for the homeless.
Sponsors of the tax said Seattle's biggest-earning businesses should shoulder some burden for easing a low-cost-housing shortage they helped create through an over-heated real estate market that has left the working poor and many middle-class families unable to afford to live in the city.
Opponents branded the measure a "tax on jobs" and said they feared it would spark an economic backlash.
Amazon had threatened to abandon plans for a major downtown office building if the head tax was approved. After Tuesday's vote, Herdener said Amazon was committed to "being part of the solution to homelessness" and would continue to invest in nonprofit groups addressing the problem.
Advocates for the poor say that rampant homelessness in the city is an extension of a larger crisis in affordable housing.
They cite data showing Seattle's median home prices have soared to $820,000 and that 41 percent of renters ranked as "rent-burdened," meaning they pay about a third or more of their income on housing.
The Seattle metropolitan area is home to the nation's third-largest concentration of homeless people, nearly 12,000 counted in a January U.S. government survey and almost half of them living on the streets.
The debate has been closely watched by politicians in major cities nationwide. Last month, about 40 elected officials from across the country, some from local governments vying to host Amazon's second headquarters, published an open letter to Seattle in support of the head tax and expressing concern that Amazon opposed the measure.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Additional reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Leslie Adler)


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We promote the preservation, enjoyment and enhancement of Lake Park in the spirit of Frederick Law Olmsted.
Great news – it's official! The Milwaukee County Parks Department announced at the Milwaukee County Board Parks, Energy & Environment Committee meeting yesterday, January 29, that the Ravine Road bridge will be rehabilitated. Read the full post here.
The dilapidated Rustic Wooden Bridge, located just south of the playground in Lake Park, was torn down by a demolition contractor, who was hired by Milwaukee County Parks. Lake Park Friends will be hiring a building contractor by the end of April, with plans to construct a new bridge in Fall 2019. But, this depends on how successfully we can raise the necessary funds that are needed, which is approximately $150,000. At this point, LPF has raised $77,000. If you are interested in donating to the Rustic Wooden Bridge project, or have any questions, please contact our office at 414.962.1680 or lakeparkfriends@sbcglobal.net.
What do Lake Park and New York's Central Park have in common?
Frederick Law Olmsted was the leading landscape architect of the second half of the 19th century, and the architect of Lake Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Olmsted is perhaps best known for the design and creation of Central Park in New York and the U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C.


peterwellsblog.: The obtuseness of the physical envelope.
I began to question my search for physical evidence.
The prison was opened in 1862, and only closed in the 1990s. It used to be a backpackers. Today it is a kind of free enterprise museum, promoted by the Lonely Planet's 'Blue List'as 'good value'.
It was an overcast morning, a thin veil of cloud occluding the sun. I was pleased about this, as the weather recently had been oppressively heavy. I listened to the sound of the waves as I stood there, waiting.
It was still that low tide time of the year, when everything is exhausted by the aftermath of Christmas and New Year.
A young man came out, dressed as a prison guard.
Having paid my $20 the guide turned out to be a pleasant young woman with a strong foreign accent. In fact the people running the museum seemed to be migrants. I thought about what this meant: obviously the prison tour business seemed to be an 'opportunity'. And true enough, on a holiday morning, probably twenty people turned up. There were two tours a day.
I was anxious, of course, to see the old part of the prison. I wanted to imagine myself back to December 1871 when Kereopa Te Rau was brought to the prison, then put on trial for the murder of the Reverend Volkner at Opotiki.
Kereopa Te Rau was notorious as a 'Hau Hau'. He seemed to be high priest of the bloodbath proceedings, following Volkner's hanging. He swallowed Volkner's eyes, one for the Queen and one for the State. He choked on the second eye and he believed this was an omen leading to his downfall.
The entire killing of Volkner was drenched in hysteria, omens and rituals. Historian Judith Binney, in her customary role of Savanorola, always talks of Volkner's death as an 'execution'. Volkner was a 'spy' giving information to the government on hostile Maori forces. He was also a pious and somewhat naive German who thought he needed to get back to his flock, to help them through their latest bout of sickness. So it was slightly more mixed up - more human - than Binney makes out.
Also I kind of doubt that an 'execution' incorporated beheading, drinking of the blood of the dead man, the swallowing of his eyes and the contemptuous throwing of his corpse into a latrine to be eaten by dogs.
Kereopa Te Rau became a kind of terrorist in the mind of Pakeha settlers. But not all.
Enter William Colenso who wrote a long and passionate defence of Kereopa in a letter to the papers called 'Fiat Justitia'. His motto was 'see the other side of the story' and he tried to say that, by 1871 (six years after Volkner's death), others had been pardoned for the offence, that vast land confiscations had subsequentlty taken place as well as a lot of Maori deaths - 'what more could be done?' he asked, by way of retribution.
British power was at its peak in the nineteenth century. It was the global superpower. But in this pamphlet Colenso argued passionately for a different understanding of justice.
The jury was out a token ten minutes before the 'death by hanging' verdict was brought in.
Kereopa spent the long days of Christmas and New Year in Napier prison, awaiting his execution.
So what did I hope to find by going there on the day of his execution, 139 years later? (He was executed at 8am. I was there at 9.30am) I wasn't sure. In some ways it took the form of a pilgrimage. I hoped to gain some insight, some sense of otherness by simply standing on the spot. X marks the spot, once again. Also, simply by going to a place, you are paying homage to the past. You are trying to connect up with that most fugitive of things - the past.
But my problem became immediately apparent, once the tour took off.
The prison had altered a lot since 1872. The outside wall was created as late as 1906 and the interior of the prison is a hotchpotch of buildings, some dating from the 1980s.
I was always searching for the oldest layer.
The old wooden building, I thought, had the look of early Napier.
And then I saw the very back wall, made of stone which looked like it might even have been imported from Australia.
Later we were taken through into the 'graveyard'. I noted the cautionary note over the door, to placate Maori sensibilities.
It was ignored - or was invisible to the people passing under it.
Outside the guide talked about the people buried there.
I knew Kereopa Te Rau was not buried there. Nevertheless I obediantly marked the spot in the contemporary manner: by taking a photo.
I noted the interesting differences in the story-telling. Here the eyes represented his dead children, killed by Pakeha soldiers. He became a kind of family man seeking justifiable revenge. Or was that Russell Crowe in the Gladiator? It's easy enough to get things confused.
Finally, and as the last frisson, we were taken through to the part of the prison where people were hanged.
A somewhat rudimentary hanging device was placed there.
The guide talked about how people attended the hangings, as one attended a particularly good theatrical event. There were steps to the right of the entrance which allowed people to walk along to the top of the walls, and get an excellent view downwards.
I wondered how much entrance to this 'front seat in the circle' position cost.
The young man in prison guard uniform seemed particularly agitated about this area. When he spoke he revealed he was an Englishman. He had those beautiful cornflower blue eyes which must have been so astonishing to early Maori - to whom blue was an especially rare colour.
He told me that the hangman, an Irishman called Long, had his own hanging device, in a kind of kitset assemblage, which he took from hanging to hanging. The spine was quickly broken so the death was relatively painless. He was knowledgeable about the way the actual noose was callibrated. He seemed excited by his knowledge and I wondered about the sort of person who enjoyed sleeping in a cell, at night, listening, as he said, to strange sounds.
I had no particular feeling from being there on the spot on the exact day so many years later. When I mentioned to the young man, in passing, that today was the day of the execution, he said he knew. He had thought it was yesterday.
I thanked the young guide and asked her where she was from. Argentina, she said, immediately oplogising for her slightly clotted English.
I left soon after that, uncertain about exactly what it was I had obtained by going there. But in one way it is too soon to know. These things have a way of lying in the subconscious, like a body in the tide, being pulled to and fro, before being dleivered to their resting place.
There was a weight of greif in that building though, of lost souls and souls removed from the body of their family and landscape. People were isolated and brutalised there. They were there, after all, to be punished.
Some of this tragic intensity still lingers.
Colenso had tried to stop the unstoppable. He had tried to articulate a conscience at a time the majority of Pakeha had no interest in hearing 'the other side of the story'.
Today we sometimes seem to only hear 'the other side of the story'.
It is one of the fascinating things about William Colenso: he tried to walk the knife-edge of the difference.
Little wonder that occasionally, when he slipped and fell, he got his legs and arms - and perhaps a more tender part of his anatomy - almost sliced off.
And I guess that is why I ended up in Napier prison, five days after New Year - in search of the faintest reverberation of a long ago - and seemingly almost forgotten - hanging.
As I left the waves sounded louder.
My Mother used to work as a tourist guide at Napier Prison. She never said, but I got the impression that only a rudimentary amount of research was done by the current owners and that most of the "facts" used in the tour presentation are selected more for their theatrical effect than their accuracy.
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Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig
June 24, 2016 June 24, 2016 dfurchtgott1 Comment
My very dear readers, yesterday I offered you something simple and perfect: a very pared-down biography. Basically, I gave you the perfect rice pudding: creamy, smooth, wholesome, and altogether dreamy. Today, I'm giving you the reverse: I'm giving you ice cream with everything in it and on it, right down to the chocolate fudge sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. It's fun, it's intelligent, it's beautifully illustrated by one of my very favourite artists working today– it's Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig, written by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by Charlotte Voake. (Be careful: that link includes this, along with other art by the genius. I wantsss it, my precioussss… One day, one day.)
Actually let's take this out of the parentheses. Have I told you my dream? My dream is that one day I'll have a study for writing and reading. A perfect, strong desk for writing and doodling. A perfect, deep armchair for curling up with a book. And walls lined with two things: Books, of course, but also art. Art from Charlotte Voake. Art from Charles Vess. Art from Edward Ardizzone. Art from Steve Light and Liz Wong and Paul O. Zelinsky and all the people who do such marvellous, beautiful work every day out there. Art is one area where I just never learned the ropes, but looking at it helps me work, and my dream-study isn't complete without lovingly-framed gorgeous art from the people who inspire me on a daily basis.
Which brings me back to this beautiful ice cream sundae of a book, which is just like my perfect dream-room: it has everything, and something for everyone.
I mentioned yesterday that I felt the dangers of writing a book about Beatrix Potter aimed at children, particularly one illustrated in watercolours, was that you might end up with something derivative and a little cheap. I am so impressed by the different ways David McPhail, Deborah Hopkinson, and Charlotte Voake all worked to make their books consistent and individual masterpieces. In this case, I want to draw an apologetic analogy to Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. Like The Force Awakens, Deborah Hopkinson and Charlotte Voake had to do two things: a) play into a history of nostalgia and affectionate memories; b) create a new story with both new and old characters, good dialogue, and a full, consistent tale of its own. And, in my humble opinion, like The Force Awakens, they succeeded in both aims extremely well. As you can see from the cover posted above, the style, font, and format remind readers of the Beatrix Potter books, but the rich story is very much Deborah Hopkinson's own, and Charlotte Voake's art is definitively in her own style.
Let's get into more detail. The story is aimed a little bit older and has a slightly broader focus than Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box. Two key differences are: a) It has a richer and punchier narrative, as opposed to the soft and delicate walk through Beatrix's life David McPhail provides; b) Instead of the very close story of Beatrix's art, Deborah Hopkinson talks a lot about her more varied interests, including both her art, nature, animals, stories, and her friends. I'd say that the plushier story gives a more rounded and fuller picture of Beatrix from this book, and it's a hell of a lot of fun.
The story goes like this: Young Beatrix and her brother lived in a house in London with their family, but also with a complete menagerie of pets. This complete menagerie is laid out very fully in the first few pages of the book, and just look at these illustrations:
Now, what Beatrix does not have is a guinea pig. And she dearly would love to paint a picture of one. Therefore, she betakes herself to a neighbour's house to ask for the loan of one of her loveliest guinea pigs so that she can draw it. The loan is granted, and off goes young Beatrix with the guinea pig. (Can you guess what's going to happen? I bet you can.) Beatrix sets to work and everything is going along splendidly until she's called away from her work. She leaves the guinea pig on the work area, rather unwisely. The guinea pig looks around, and begins what Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman term a "crude forensic examination" (Good Omens) of the materials on the table. Paste, paper, everything is nibbled up. These prove unhealthy for the poor beast, who expires. Beatrix is shocked and heartbroken, but brings the painting of the poor, dead guinea pig to her neighbour, who is not notably mollified. The book ends with an appeal to the neighbour to find out whether she has kept the illustration, and indicating that it would have been a very good idea if she had held onto it since it has decidedly appreciated in value since the time it was drawn.
We must all agree that it's not often that you hear me talking about a funny story where a little girl killed her neighbour's pet, so you can tell from this that the story is extremely well-told. What helps here is perspective. David McPhail had an extremely sympathetic narrator, but it was a third-person omniscient narrator talking about a little girl named Beatrix, for all that. Talking sympathetically, talking lovingly, but talking about her. Deborah Hopkinson works differently. Her narrator is constantly looking through Beatrix's eyes. When Beatrix wants a guinea pig, so does the narrator, and so do we. When Beatrix realizes what's gone wrong, we're all horrified together. It's an extremely close relationship, and what distance comes into the relationship works like Charlotte Voake's elegant pen strokes: it's in the outline. Any distance is in the author delineating the lines of the story, and giving the historical perspective. That's where the affectionate humour comes in, that's where the bright, dark lines of the story are drawn, and of course these appear in the introduction and conclusion, especially.
I want to conclude with just a word more about Charlotte Voake's illustrations, which I love almost too much to dare to talk about. She works in a style uniquely her own, but in a British tradition of pen and watercolour which goes back pretty far. I mentioned Edward Ardizzone above, but there's also Marcia Brown, who comes to mind. I, personally, associate Charlotte Voake with Elsie Piddock Skips in her Sleep, and thus with Eleanor Farjeon, but her work goes far beyond that. What I'm saying is that she's a host in her own right: part of a tradition, but her own unique force. What her style lends this book? Oh, Lord. It brings a softness and a richness at the same time: the warm sweetness of watercolour, much as Beatrix Potter herself worked, bolsters the warmth and gentleness of the tale. But the pen and ink lends vigour and activity, humour and spirit. I cannot think of a more perfect accompaniment to Deborah Hopkinson's text.
I've been told I should practice writing pull quotes, and it's something I'm terrible at, but I'll try here for once, mostly because I really want to give you all a message to walk away with: For warmth and humour equal to Beatrix Potter's own, this is a perfect book for parents and children to share.
And that's it, folks. One story of Beatrix Potter's own, and two perfect little gems about her, each for a different age group. Go forth and read, and have a wonderful weekend!
Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box
The Perils of Procrastination
One thought on "Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig"
The Children's Bookroom says:
[…] Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig: This might be my absolute favourite book of the month. A perfect balance of nostalgia and originality, Deborah Hopkinson and Charlotte Voake evoke Beatrix Potter's own tales while presenting a wholly new one which gives readers a flavour of the famous author-illustrator's childhood and personality. Children will love the illustrations of animals and emphasis on the pets she kept. (Parents may be forced to come up with an answer to requests for snakes and lizards!) Parents and children alike will love the humour and honesty of both the story and the illustrations. And let's not forget that it's just an excellent story. […]


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X "4th Of July" (1987)
Posted on July 3, 2019 July 29, 2019 by Bill G.
Last year's Independence Day choice was a tuneful ditty named "4th of July" by Shooter Jennings. This year, another song with the identically appropriate title by the simplest group ever to alphabetize in your record collection: X.
X was an L.A. band, among the first wave of late '70's punk, and had as it's original members some of the best rock names I know: vocalist Exene Cervenka, bassist/vocalist John Doe, drummer D.J. Bonebrake, and guitarist Billy Zoom. Their first album, "Los Angeles," was produced by Doors keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, and both of their first two records have been listed by Rolling Stone as among the 500 greatest albums of all time. By the time this not exactly celebratory song was released in 1987, however, Billy Zoom had sped out of the band to be replaced by Dave Alvin, on leave from The Blasters, who wrote it for X and recorded it with them (but does not appear in the accompanying video). X's '4th of July' track also gained notoriety after appearing on The Sopranos, where it played over the end credits of the 2006 episode "Live Free or Die" in the show's final season.
May everyone's 4th of July day realize a better fate than that found by Tony Soprano at the end of his last scene (whatever that actually was).
Posted in Pop/Rock, Roots/AmericanaTagged Pop/Rock, Roots/Americana
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers "The Last DJ" (2002)
Tedeschi Trucks Band "I'm Gonna Be There" (2019)


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OUTRBBYSNEMSFTGMESATCQTechnology
GameStop Posts Fair Earnings but is Optimistic on Upcoming Console Releases
Jacob Harper Follow
| Thursday, 22 August 2013 14:09 (EST)
Retailers in general are moving away from physical media towards the digital model, as companies like Best Buy Co. Inc (BBY) devote less and less floor space to CDs and DVDs and Redbox operator Outerwall Inc. ($OUTR) desperately scramble to branch out into other services. It looked like used video game retailer GameStop Corp (GME) was no different, and would likewise have to adapt or wither away.
A superficial look at their second quarter profits from 2013 suggests they are indeed going the way of the Blockbuster Video. In their second quarter 2013 earnings report, the game retailer revealed profits fell 50 percent for the company. Additionally, same store sales dropped 11 percent, suggesting the sea change to digital is indeed killing the company.
However, GameStop beat earnings expectations, and revealed positive news on two fronts. Digital receipts for the company grew 17 percent. Also, the retailer voiced optimism concerning one area of physical media that can't be replaced by digital. It's an area where they expect to shine through the rest of the year: video game consoles.
According to the retailer, over half of gamers expect to buy a new console this year, and GameStop's CEO Paul Raines expects "a lot of energy" in that industry that should prop up the company for the foreseeable future.
So while physical content might have rocky future, the release of consoles like Sony Corporation's (SNE) Playstation 4 and Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Xbox One should more than compensate. Indications from Microsoft and Sony seem to confirm this.
On Aug. 20 Sony said preorders for Playstation 4 had already topped a million, exceeding their own expectations. The company announced on Aug. 21 that the console will hit stores on Nov. 15.
Microsoft will release the anticipated Xbox One sometime in November. The tech giant previously reversed controversial gaming restrictions, which would have severely hampered the ability of GameStop to sell used games, which significantly invigorated the retailer's outlook.
GameStop outlook continues to brighten. The retailer calls for earnings to increase significantly in the coming quarter, and expects same-store sales to rise between 11 and 15 percent.
For their second quarter 2013 earnings report, GameStop reported a net profit of $10.5 million, or $0.09 per share, versus the net profit of $21 million, or $0.16 per share, from the same period a year ago. Revenue for the quarter was $1.38 billion, as compared to $1.55 billion from the previous year. Analysts were expecting a profit of $0.05 per share on revenues of $1.36 billion.
GameStop is up 10.88 percent to hit $52.80 a share.
(image of GameStop courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
DISCLOSURE: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of equities.com. Readers should not consider statements made by the author as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. To read our full disclosure, please go to: http://www.equities.com/disclaimer.
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Rise in teenagers being admitted to hospital due to self harming in Northants
Rise in teenagers being admitted to hospital due to self harming in Northants There has been a sharp rise in the number of 15 to 19-year-olds being admitted to Northamptonshire hospitals due to self harming.
Latest figures revealed in the county's annual public health report show that 485 young people were admitted to a hospital after harming themselves in 2016/17. The number of hospital admissions has almost doubled in the past five years. Exam stress, social media pressure, bullying and confidence issues have been identified as some of the reasons why more and more of the county's 15 to 19-year-olds are hurting themselves. Northampton Chronicle & Echo
Public Health and Board Reports: Director of Public Health Annual Report Northamptonshire County Council
KGH appoints new chief operating officer
KGH appoints new chief operating officer Kettering General Hospital has announced the appointment of its new chief operating officer. Joanna Fawcus brings a wealth of valuable experience from within the NHS. She is currently deputy chief operating Officer at James Paget University Hospital Foundation Trust and has worked for the NHS for over 20 years, holding senior positions both in acute trusts across the East Midlands and in NHS Improvement. Joanna replaces Rebecca Brown who left the trust in June to take up the position of chief operating officer with University Hospitals of Leicester. Northamptonshire Telegraph
Life expectancy gap between rich and poor in Northamptonshire
Life expectancy gap between rich and poor in Northamptonshire Men living in deprived areas of Northamptonshire are dying nine years earlier than those in affluent areas, according to a newly published report.
The life expectancy figures are revealed in the 2017/18 annual public health report written by the county council's director of public health Lucy Wightman.
The report also records that those living in more deprived areas of the county spend 13 fewer years in good health than those in richer areas. The average life expectancy for a Northamptonshire woman is 83 years and 79 years for a man. Northampton Chronicle & Echo
News story: SACN publishes 'Feeding in the first year of life' report
News story: SACN publishes 'Feeding in the first year of life' report Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has published its report on 'Feeding in the first year of life', providing recommendations on infant feeding from birth up to 12 months of age.
The last review of infant feeding was undertaken by SACN's predecessor Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) in 1994 and formed the basis for government recommendations in the UK.
SACN recommends babies are exclusively breastfed until around 6 months of age and continue to be breastfed for at least the first year of life. Additionally, solid foods should not be introduced until around 6 months to benefit the child's overall health. This represents no change to current government recommendations. SACN concludes breastfeeding makes an important contribution to infant and maternal health. This includes the development of the infant immune system, while not breastfeeding is associated with a higher risk of infant hospital admission for infectious illness. Gov.UK
Independent report. Feeding in the first year of life: SACN report Gov.UK
Too many babies overfed, experts fear BBC News - Health
Official guidance for parents confused over what to feed their babies Mail Online
Fish oil for a healthy heart 'nonsense'
Fish oil for a healthy heart 'nonsense' Taking omega-3 fish oil supplements is often touted as a simple way to protect your heart - but experts say the evidence that it does any good is flimsy at best.
Cochrane researchers looked at trials in over 100,000 people and found little proof that it prevented heart disease.
They say the chance of getting any meaningful benefit from taking omega-3 is one in 1,000. Eating oily fish, however, can still be recommended as part of a healthy diet. BBC News - Health
Scientific expert reaction to Cochrane Review on omega-3 fatty acids Cochrane
Buy more vegetables instead of omega-3 supplements to improve heart health, report says The Telegraph
Intervention review: Omega-3 fatty acids for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease The Cochrane Library
Veterans in Crisis: 'We must find out if international suicide rates are reflected in UK'
A psychologist at a leading veterans charity says it is important that more research is carried out in order to find out if a spike in military veteran suicides among the UK's allies is also reflected among British ex-service personnel.
Dr Dominic Murphy, a senior clinical lecturer at Combat Stress, says that the lack of data on the issue is a "red light" for those concerned about veterans' welfare. Northampton Chronicle & Echo
Veterans in Crisis: Northamptonshire coroner supports our appeal to log ex-military suicides Northampton Chronicle & Echo
NHS trusts face worryingly high levels of senior vacancies
NHS trusts face worryingly high levels of senior vacancies A near-toxic mix of pressures facing NHS organisations, coupled with a culture of blaming individual leaders for failures beyond their control, means NHS trusts are facing significant difficulties in recruiting and retaining senior leaders, according to a new report from The King's Fund and NHS Providers. King's Fund
Leadership in today's NHS:delivering the impossible (report) King's Fund
NHS trusts facing leadership crisis as senior posts go unfilled On Medica
NHS spending to strain public finances for next 50 years, OBR warns
NHS spending to strain public finances for next 50 years, OBR warns Extra health funding for an ageing population will add to deficit, Treasury forecast says.
Extra health funding and a population that is ageing faster than previously expected will add to the burden of spending over the next 50 years, according to the Treasury's independent forecaster.
The £20bn boost to the health budget by 2021-22 promised by Theresa May, coupled with falling immigration – which will cut the number of young and working age people – will increase the public deficit unless the government moves to increase taxes or take other measures to reduce spending, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said. The Guardian
Guidance: Learning disabilities and CQC inspection reports
Guidance: Learning disabilities and CQC inspection reports In 2014 an interim analysis examined the main Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection reports of 63 trusts and reported relatively little mention of people with learning disabilities within these reports. Subsequently, the CQC has changed their inspection regime to include specific questions and follow up questions regarding the care and treatment of people with learning disabilities in acute hospitals. Gov.UK
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Another show where we extol the virtues of the sublime elixir of the vineyard. C'mon, who doesn't love wine?
061: New Blood Test for Cancer, and so much more!
Continuing the momentum after the return from the forced hiatus. we talk about everything from a new blood test for cancer, wandering sea snakes, to Donald Trump's science report card.
In early October the Tubbs Fire overtook and destroyed our beautiful home in northern California. The fire not only destroyed our home, but incinerated our entire neighborhood of 1,200 homes. Sadly, four of our neighbors were killed in the awful conflagration. Today the Blue Streak Science Podcast resumes operations. Thanks to our wonderful audience for sticking with us during these difficult times. We're back!


I'm winding down my high school teaching career this week. My final day of teaching high school classes, perhaps for good, is this Friday. I taught high school full time for the past three years. If you want to know why I am deciding to leave this glamorous and rewarding career, check out my latest posts at dawnsbrain.com.
I've seen a number of blog articles lately which list which WordPress plugins the author is using. These are very useful articles. But I thought I'd share with you what I've tried and ditched. And why.
All of these plugins have their place. Unfortunately, it's not at BluLob.com.
I got an email this morning from a former Web design student of mine. He was asking for a copy of a document I used to have on my previous design Web site and is long gone. Fortunately, I still have it in my files. And I've updated it and posted it here.


text:
    A loosely based Material UI module

    mui-text.lua : This is a wrapper for creating text widgets.

    The MIT License (MIT)

    Copyright (C) 2016 Anedix Technologies, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

    Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
    of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
    in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
    to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
    copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
    furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

    The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
    copies or substantial portions of the Software.

    For other software and binaries included in this module see their licenses.
    The license and the software must remain in full when copying or distributing.

    THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
    IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
    FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
    AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
    LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
    OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
    SOFTWARE.

--]]--

-- mui
local muiData = require( "materialui.mui-data" )

local mathFloor = math.floor
local mathMod = math.fmod
local mathABS = math.abs

local M = muiData.M -- {} -- for module array/table

-- define methods here
function M.createText(options)
    M.newText(options)
end

function M.newText(options)
	if options == nil then return end

    muiData.widgetDict[options.name] = {}
    muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["type"] = "Text"
    muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["options"] = options

    muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["text"] = display.newText( options )
    muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["text"]:setFillColor( unpack(options.fillColor) )

    if options.parent ~= nil then
        muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["parent"] = options.parent
        muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["parent"]:insert( muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["text"] )
    end
end

function M.getTextProperty(widgetName, property_name)
    if options == nil then return nil end
    return muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["text"]
end

function M.removeWidgetText(widgetName)
    M.removeText(widgetName)
end

function M.removeText(widgetName)
    if widgetName == nil then
        return
    end

    if muiData.widgetDict[widgetName] == nil then return end

    muiData.widgetDict[widgetName]["text"]:removeSelf()
    muiData.widgetDict[widgetName]["text"] = nil
    muiData.widgetDict[widgetName] = nil
end

function M.newEmbossedText(options)
    if options == nil then return end

    muiData.widgetDict[options.name] = {}
    muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["type"] = "EmbossedText"
    muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["options"] = options

    muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["text"] = display.newEmbossedText( options )
    muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["text"]:setFillColor( unpack(options.fillColor) )
    if options.embossedColor ~= nil then
        muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["text"]:setEmbossColor( options.embossedColor )
    end
    if options.parent ~= nil then
        muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["parent"] = options.parent
        muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["parent"]:insert( muiData.widgetDict[options.name]["text"] )
    end
end

function M.getEmbossedTextProperties(options)
  return M.getTextProperties(options)
end

function M.removeEmbossedText(widgetName)
    if widgetName == nil then
        return
    end

    if muiData.widgetDict[widgetName] == nil then return end

    muiData.widgetDict[widgetName]["text"]:removeSelf()
    muiData.widgetDict[widgetName]["text"] = nil
    muiData.widgetDict[widgetName] = nil
end

return M

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
> :warning: The last release contains a version of `System.Drawing.Common.dll` which contained a security vulnerability.
> I tried upgrading, but I have not done .NET stuff in a long time and running into weird errors.
> So past releases have been removed and project has been archived.

BlpFiletype
===========

This is a Paint.NET filetype plugin for loading (not saving) BLP images as used by several Blizzard games (e.g. World of Warcraft)

The plugin is just a tiny wrapper around the excellent SereniaBLPLib which does the actual BLP file reading.
SereniaBLPLib is available under the MIT license at https://github.com/WoW-Tools/SereniaBLPLib

To install the plugin perform the following steps:
 * Put the DLL in the <Paint.NET>/FileTypes directory (default location is C:\Program Files\paint.net\FileTypes)
 * Restart Paint.NET if you have it open

If you are interested in writing Paint.NET filetypes you might want to take a look at the following:
 * Basic filetype plugin: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/23898/Creating-Paint-NET-FileType-Plugins
 * Filetype template that can provide options in the save dialogs of Paint.NET: http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/26034-propertybasedfiletype-template-using-indirectui/
 * More on IndirectUI: https://www.isimonbrown.co.uk/using-indirectui-rules/


text:
In Case No. 2:09-cv-13616, Dennis Black, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Defendant, Judge Tarnow issued the following ruling on July 21, 2014:
ORDER OVERRULING DEFENDANT'S [PBGC] OBJECTIONS TO MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S ORDER OF AUGUST 21, 2013.
By this ruling Judge Tarnow orders the PBGC to release all documents to the Delphi Salaried Retirees. This is another significant and positive ruling for Delphi Salaried Retirees who lost much of their pensions through the processes of the GM and Delphi bankruptcies in 2009. The retirees' attorneys will immediately take action to obtain documents from the PBGC.
Judge Tarnow's Order Doc #257
Judge orders PBGC to turn over documents in Delphi pension suit article
Delphi retirees cheer federal ruling article
Published: Thursday, 19 June 2014 23:25
U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
Today June 19, 2014, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued a significant ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, DSRA et al., effectively ordering the U.S. Treasury to produce all relevant information related to the Treasury's involvement in the PBGC's assumption of the Delphi salaried pension plans in 2009.
The DSRA's attorneys will move forward immediately to obtain all related information from the Treasury.
Order Denying Motion to Quash | Memo Opinion Denying Motions to Quash
Related article and links April 4 2014, background
Published: Thursday, 29 May 2014 12:15
In Case No. 2:09-cv-13616, Dennis Black, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Defendant, Judge Tarnow issued the following ruling on May 27, 2014:
Objections of the Defendant Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to the Magistrate Judge's Order of March 9, 2012 (ECF No. 209) are DENIED as moot.
Judge Tarnow's Order | Related: PBGC Notice re Objections | DSRA Motion to Deny PBGC Objections | Motion for Status Conference
Published: Sunday, 13 April 2014 18:22
Sen. Portman again supports Delphi salaried retirees in their fight for their pensions.
In his weekly column this week, Senator Portman (OH) again wrote in detail of the plight of Delphi salaried retirees who have lost significant amounts of their pensions and health care benefits in retirement:
« Last week, we were able to win a small, but important victory for the 20,000 families of Delphi salaried retirees who lost up to 70 percent of their pensions because of the actions of the Obama Administration. I was able to secure an amendment in the Finance Committee that will extend the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), legislation that will help Delphi retirees attain affordable healthcare. Often the HCTC serves as an important bridge for older Americans who lost their pensions until they become eligible for Medicare benefits, covering 72.5 percent of their premiums. But on January 1, 2014, that tax credit expired.
Extending this credit is the least we can do for these families who lost everything as a result of the auto bailout. In the summer of 2009, as the government took GM into bankruptcy, the Obama Administration terminated the pension plans covering thousands of Delphi workers. ~~ »
Read more - Sen. Portman's full Weekly Column
Bicameral, Bipartisan Support for Extension of HCTC
Reply Filed in Support of Motion to Dissolve Stay
PBGC Files Motion to Strike DSRA Motion To Dissolve Partial Stay
Surreply In Opposition To Treasury's Motion To Quash


While this data is (or can be) synced with iCloud, there is really no way to view, download or otherwise access most of that data other than by syncing it to an Apple device. This is why we made Elcomsoft Phone Breaker. With time, we were adding support for more and more categories. iCloud Keychain was particularly tricky as it features an advanced protection mechanism; we were able to work aroundit just months ago.
iCloud Photo Library was another highlight. We discovered that Apple did not actually remove photos users deleted from their library.
We were also the first to extract call logs, which, despite the lack of a dedicated option in iCloud settings, are still synced with other device with no obvious way to disable the (quite controversial, according to many users) feature.
What's so interesting about the newly added categories? In many cases, there's more to them than meets the eye.
Account/User info: this includes comprehensive information about the owner of the Apple Account including their phone numbers and street address. In addition, here you will find the list of the user's devices including their serial numbers and OS versions. As a bonus, you will often find information about devices that used to be registered on the user's account (but not anymore).
iBooks: why would you want to read somebody else's books? The thing is, it's not about the books at all. The new category includes documents (in particular, PDF documents) that were opened or manually added by the user. Since iBooks can handle PDF files, many iOS users (myself included) won't bother installing a third-party PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat. By downloading the "iBooks" category, you can gain access to PDF files, e-books and documents the user opened with the iBooks app.
Wi-Fi information includes wireless access point names, which device they were added from, as well as their MAC addresses. Notably, this data cannot be removed from the device without doing a hard reset. By tracing down the location of those MAC addresses, it becomes possible to determine the user's whereabouts at the time the access point was added.
Wallet may contain a lot of essential evidence including air tickets, hotel bookings and car rentals with full information, boarding passes, bonus programs and club cards, movie and railway tickets, and so on and so forth.
Last but not least, Apple Mapsis probably the most undervalued category. It's common belief that Google is the evil one, collecting excessive information about the user and tracking their every step, while Apple is privacy-minded and does not track its customers. Well, think again: Apple Maps deliver just as much data about the iPhone user as would be available for an Android user in their Google Account. While Google allows its users to see exactly what the company knows about them and fully or selectively delete any of that data, Apple keeps things in secret. Want to access your location history? Google users can navigate to their Timelineand instantly see what Google knows about their location. iPhone users, on the other hand, don't have such luxury. The only way to access historic geolocation data would be using Elcomsoft Phone Breaker and download "Apple Maps", then viewing the data in Elcomsoft Phone Viewer. Routes, places, favorites and searches are available.
This time, we didn't "break" or "hack" anything. You still need the user's iCloud/Apple ID authentication credentials to access iCloud data, be it the login and password or an authentication token extracted from the user's computer. Alternatively, you can use an iCloud authentication to access synced data. When using authentication tokens for accessing synced iCloud data, neither the password nor the secondary authentication factor is required. When used for accessing synced data, iCloud authentication tokens do not carry a defined expiry date.
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 8th, 2018 at 11:59 am	and is filed under Did you know that...?, Elcom-News, General, Industry News, Security, Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


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text:
New developments in d-cinematography
Nowadays, it seems, a camcorder is for life. David Fox reports.
By David Fox
Sony has unveiled a new HDCAM SR camcorder that it says is the most future proof camera it has ever made. The new SRW-9000 is Sony's answer to the Arri Alexa (TVBEurope, November, page 18) and the Red Epic. It is a modular design that can have 2/3-inch or 35mm sensors, and record on to tape or (by 2011) new solid-state media.
"It's the camcorder for the future, with the media of the future. It's the camcorder for life," said Olivier Bovis, Sony's general manager, product marketing. "The F900 has lasted ten years and we want the 9000 to last as long." Buyers' return on investment was a key factor in its design, and Sony wanted its first one-piece SR camcorder "to be as affordable as possible", so it costs 7% less than the F900 (at about Eur50,000), "which is astonishing, because this product is amazing," enthused Bovis.
To make it a practical proposition for restricted drama and documentary budgets, Sony also needed to make HDCAM SR media cheaper, so SR tape prices will be cut by 40%. The SRW-9000 will also be able to act as the baby brother of the F35, because a 35mm migration path (late 2010) will allow owners to swap out the initial 1920×1080 2/3-inch 3-CCD block for a 35mm (single CCD) block. The digital signal processor will remain the same. "This is the first time we've created such a modular system," he said.
Bovis believes the camera will be "a good natural history camcorder, as it can have the high frame rates and long lenses made possible by 2/3-inch, and it can be used for top-end drama with the 35mm block." By 2011, users will also be able to upgrade the SRW-9000 further, by replacing the tape recorder with a solid-state drive. This will be able to take new SR memory cards, but where its SxS cards have a maximum throughput of 880Mbps, the SR media will be able to record in excess of 5Gbps, allowing one to record eight streams of HD (or one of 4K) – although whether it will record eight streams will depend on how Sony builds the recorder.
Sony hopes to be able to offer a 1TB card, which could record six hours of SR quality, but there will probably be lower capacity cards too, depending on the price point. It will also be the first non-linear media that is RAID 5 protected, which is an important consideration for insurance companies on movie productions, and will be able to record up to 240 frames per second, 1080p 3D and 4K. It will, however, require a new card reader as it won't fit an Express Card slot (unlike SxS).
The SRW-9000 has been designed to be very heat efficient, enabling it to use a very slow speed fan for cooling, so it should be quieter than even the F900R. It is available now, with the first units in Europe being delivered to TopTeks and Band Pro.
"The advent of a mid-range priced camcorder with a 2/3-inch chip and variable frame rate at full resolution [1-60fps] has been requested by our clients for many years and this kit can do exactly what they want," said Top-Teks Sales Director and Co-Owner, Mike Thomas. It also "important and reassuring that there is a future proofed path to 35mm and to solid state.
"Achieving the right weight and power consumption to operate handheld was always a concern of our customers. With a physical size equivalent to the HDW-F900 weighing approximately 6.5kg with a battery, Sony has managed the trick of packing nearly all the performance of an F23 while adding greater flexibility to location work," he added.
An Epic production
The new Red Epic 5K camera should start being delivered to its first buyers soon, although Stage One customers will get what is essentially a prototype shipped as separate components as the parts are ready. They will be beta testers. "It will be somewhat of a pain," admitted Jim Jannard, Red's founder.
Stage One is only open to existing Red customers. They won't be able to trade in their Red One cameras and will pay $28,000 for the Epic X S-35, including camera head, PL mount, a viewfinder, Redmote, one Compact Flash module, a module adaptor, Pro I/O module, Pro Battery module, two batteries and a travel charger. Stage One users will also be able to upgrade their Red One with the new Mysterium-X sensor for $4,500 and get it first.
Further delivery dates are uncertain (as they typically are with Red). "Things will be released when we are finished, and finished properly," Jannard told members of Red's user forum. Once full production starts, in early 2010, existing Red One owners can buy them for S19,500, with a slightly lower spec package than Stage One. Sometime later, a trade-in programme for the Red One will enable them to buy an Epic for $10,500.
Eventually, presumably when all the existing Red owners have received their purchases, anyone will be able to buy an Epic X S-35 at $28,000, for the 2.72kg camera head only, although a full camera, with all the necessary components will cost a lot more, depending on what sort of configuration is needed.
The almost 35mm (30mmx15mm) CMOS Mysterium-X sensor will capture 1-100fps at 5K, 1-125fps at 4K, 1-120fps at Quad HD, 1-160fps at 3K, 1-250fps at 2K, and 1-60fps at 1080p (scaled from full frame). It promises increased dynamic range, reduced noise, time lapse, frame ramping, ISO 200-8000.
"The images coming out of the new Mysterium-X sensor have exceeded expectations. The flexibility of the modular system has surprised all of us. The system is significantly better now than when it was first announced," added Jannard.
Each module is individually upgradeable, and the camera will record both stills and video to Compact Flash, 1.8-inch solid-state drive, Red Drive or Red Ram, using the Redcode 250 codec.
Further versions of Epic and the lower-cost Scarlet system are in development, although the capabilities of Scarlet are being improved (and its prices will be higher).
A 16mm film camera could becomes the perfect digital capture device. P+S Technik and Lux Media Plan have developed a new digital film magazine that will turn an old Arriflex 16SR 16mm film camera (up to an SRIII) into a digital camera. It includes an N16-size 16:9 sensor and will record lossless compressed RAW HD and 2K to HDD or SDD removable drives. It records up to 30 frames per second in 2K initially, although 75fps recording is planned, and should be available early 2010 for under Eur35,000.
The camera works just as usual, without any film stock, as the 16digitalMag has been designed to be as similar as possible to working with a film magazine, particularly important as the SR16 is so well liked by film crews. Any changes are non destructive and completely reversible. This means that cameras and accessories keep their value, but the postproduction process is dramatically simplified. All Camera functions remain untouched.
The power supply of the 16digitalMag is performed by the camera itself. External power supplies are not necessary for the magazine. An HD-SDI output will be available for video assist. P+S Technik will manufacture the housing, while LMP Lux Media Plan is handling the manufacture of electronic components.
One of the most interesting launches at IBC2008 was the Ikonoskop A-cam dII, a tiny 2/3-inch digital cinema camera recording RAW HD to solid-state cards. However, it is only recently that a camera was shipped to the first buyer – and it was a prototype.
Prototype 2.1 was delivered to Australian cinematographer, Nick Paton (ACS), who has been shooting some test footage, and loves its small size. "I can't believe I can carry an uncompressed 1080p camera, memory cards, batteries, zoom, 9mm prime and filters in a backpack," he said. "The camera's fundamentals are strong, with a low noise sensor recording uncompressed images all in a great form factor. There is a shopping list of improvements already in the works so I can't wait to see where the final product might take us all."
The A-cam dII uses a Kodak CCD, and its 80 GB memory cartridge will record 15 minutes of video, audio and metadata. It should run at up to 60fps (which the sensor supports), but is currently working only up to 25fps.
F800's dramatic entrance
The PDW-F800 is the Sony's latest to its 50Mbps XDCAM HD422 range, and is particularly interesting for drama production as it can shoot at 24p and be over- and undercranked. It can also record in 1080i and 720p and in various older formats (MPEG IMX, DVCAM and 4:2:0 HD).
An image inverter feature enables the camera to be used with cinema lens adaptors, and gamma settings include HyperGamma and user-selectable gamma curves. A focus assist bar-graph display is visible on the camera's viewfinder, and users can record proxy data to USB removable media to make transferring data easier and faster.
It also has auto tracing white balance, output markers such as safety, aspect, and centre on the HD-SDI output, slow shutter, interval recording, picture cache recording (up to 30 seconds), disc exchange cache and shock-less gain control. Option boards are available to enable pool-feed operation.
It can also be used with an upcoming Wi-Fi module (that will also work with the F700), which will allow broadcasters or productions to send planning metadata to the camera, and also allow the camera to send a live feed to a mobile phone or laptop, for shot logging and metadata addition on location. The metadata then stays with the disc.
www.ikonoskop.com
www.luxmediaplan.de
www.pstechnik.de
www.red.com
www.sonybiz.net
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