Looking for an immersive filmmaking or acting program for your son or daughter?
The New York Film Academy is an international film and acting school offering hands-on programs for individuals of all ages and experiences. Our Degree, 1 and 2 Year Conservatory programs, Short-Term Workshops and Summer Camps are designed equally for beginners as well as people with experience.
New York Film Academy students are immersed in an intensive, collaborative environment that stresses hands-on learning. Choose from a variety of courses taught by award-winning faculty in Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Producing, Photography, 3D Animation, Cinematography, Game Design, Documentary Filmmaking, Broadcast Journalism, Musical Theatre, Screenwriting and Digital Editing.
Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Susan Sarandon are three Hollywood luminaries among countless industry icons that have chosen to send their sons and daughters to study at the New York Film Academy. However, it is important to note that some of the best work coming out of the New York Film Academy is from students with absolutely no connection to the entertainment business.
Voted a Top 20 Summer Camp in the United States, the New York Film Academy offers a wide array of programs that attract teens and tweens from across the globe. Boys and girls will have the opportunity to learn the in's and out's of filmmaking and acting, while operating state of the art, professional-grade equipment. Whether it's behind the camera, performing in a scene or shooting beautiful images, students are immediately immersed in their craft from day one. Students come from all over the world to feel the energy of this exhilarating, fast-paced industry, but most importantly, to have fun.
Teens (ages 14-17) and tweens (ages 10-13) can choose from a variety of summer camps, spanning one to six weeks in length. Whether choosing to enroll in Acting for Film, Filmmaking, Screenwriting, Musical Theatre, Digital Photography, Music Video, 3D Animation, Video Game Design or Broadcast Journalism, students all strive to do their best independently and collaboratively.
Each filmmaking student will write, shoot, direct and edit his or her own film. Students will maximize their film set knowledge by directing a series of films in crews of four and take the role of different film crew positions.
During the hands-on camera class, students will learn to use the Arriflex 16-S or a 24P digital video camera, depending on their choice of camp. Editing classes help students edit their films with Final Cut Pro digital editing systems on Apple computers. This comprehensive curriculum ensures teens and tweens are constantly learning and interacting with each other all while having fun.
The New York Film Academy offers numerous degree programs, including: Two-Year Master of Fine Arts, One-Year Master of Arts, Three-Year Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Two-Year Associate of Fine Arts. In addition to the several degree programs, 1 and 2 Year Conservatory programs and short-term workshops are available for adults.
For many students, the time and tuition required to complete a four-year university degree is unattainable and daunting. The accelerated three-year bachelor of fine arts degree programs give students a well-balanced liberal arts education integrated with intensive professional training.
Collaboration among students is encouraged and often acting and film students work in conjunction to gain additional film set experience. The learning style emphasized at NYFA prepares its students looking to launch a career in the industry and help them understand the rigors and nuances of a professional film set. Most importantly, personal attention and limited class sizes are two benefits that add to the successful dynamic of the school and overall quality of learning.
NYFA students learn by doing. For example, our filmmaking students will each write, shoot, direct and edit 8 films and work on crews of 28 or more in the first year.
The New York Film Academy has partnered with the New York Jets and Rolling Stone Magazine to offer unique programs, such as sports photography and music video production. Again, these curriculums are thoughtfully designed and constructed by expert industry photographers and music video makers.
The New York Film Academy is proud to have educated countless notable alumni who are actively pursuing their dreams in the industry. We regularly hear from our NYFA graduates on their ongoing success and offer their stories to inspire other students.
Acting Conservatory grad, Camilla Luddington, who plays Dr. Jo Wilson on Grey's Anatomy. She also starred in Showtime's Californication and was on six episodes of HBO's True Blood.
Filmmaking graduate Julie Pacino (daughter of Al Pacino) formed a production company, Poverty Row Entertainment. Her feature film, Billy Bates, was screened at Sunshine Cinema earlier this year.
Acting graduate, Vibish Sivakumar, plays Ravi Patel in Oscar winning director Ang Lee's, Life of Pi.
Producing graduate, Emily Morrow, is the assistant production coordinator for Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2.
3D Animation graduate, Kemer Stevenson, has created Visual Effects and 3D Animation for films How to Train Your Dragon, Monsters vs Aliens, Megamind, Happy Feet, The Golden Compass, Evan Almighty, The Incredible Hulk, and Night at the Museum.
Over the past 20 years, the New York Film Academy has built a reputation as one of the premier film and acting schools in the world. The demand to study with us from across the globe has resulted in the international expansion of over 18 locations.
Locations include: New York City, Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi, Australia, Florence, Paris, Harvard University in Boston, Disney Studios in Florida, South Beach in Florida, Cancun, Rio De Janeiro, Beijing, Kyoto, Shanghai, Mumbai, Jakarta, Moscow, Madrid and Seoul.
Whether it's a famous landmark or a typical neighborhood scene, New York City offers film, acting and photography students countless locations to create the perfect film set or capture an amazing photograph.
Los Angles has inseparable ties to the film industry. New York Film Academy's Los Angeles location is adjacent to the Universal Studios backlot where in-class production exercises are shot.
The New York Film Academy has teamed up with the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage and established a branch campus for the rapidly growing film industry. Programs are full-time with rigorous schedules, but students will not miss out on the culture and beautiful scenery around town.
The Gold Coast, Australia's "destination for fun", is home to New York Film Academy's Australian campus. Based at Queensland's Village Roadshow Studios, students study on the backlot where hit films like The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, Daybreakers, Peter Pan, Pitch Black, Fools Gold and many more were filmed.


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Accessible Restrooms
Cook-DeWitt Center
Lobby Spaces & Tables
Outdoor Spaces & Tables
Russel H. Kirkhof Center
Public Gathering Space/Expressive Activity
Who Reserves What Space?
Student Organizations FAQ
Event Guidance During COVID-19
EMS WebApp
The Event Services team is available to help with any event the GVSU community is looking to organize; from making room reservations to the planning of concerts and conferences.
Allendale Campus
Map of the Allendale Campus Please note that the Kirkhof Center is building #18 and Cook DeWitt is building #35
Directions to the Allendale Campus
From Chicago: I-94 East to I-196/US-31 (Exit 34) at Benton Harbor. Continue on I-196 East toward Grand Rapids. Take US-31 (Exit 44) north to M-45 (Lake Michigan Drive). Turn right (east) on M-45 and go approximately 12 miles to Grand Valley's entrance and turn right (south). Approximately 200 miles from Chicago. PLEASE NOTE: Michigan is one hour ahead of Illinois (EST).
From Detroit/Lansing: I-96 West to I-196 West (Gerald R. Ford Freeway) through downtown Grand Rapids. Exit Lake Michigan Drive/M-45 (Exit 75). Take M-45 approximately 12 miles to Grand Valley's entrance and turn left (south). Approximately 160 miles from Detroit and 75 miles from Lansing.
From Holland: US-31 North to M-45 (Lake Michigan Drive). Turn right (east) on M-45 and go approximately 12 miles to Grand Valley's entrance and turn right (south). Approximately 25 miles from Holland.
From Kalamazoo: US-131 North to I-196 West (Gerald R. Ford Freeway). Exit Lake Michigan Drive/M-45 (Exit 75). Take M-45 approximately 12 miles to Grand Valley's entrance and turn left (south). Approximately 65 miles from Kalamazoo.
From Muskegon: I-96 East to Coopersville (exit 16). Turn left on 68th Avenue and go approximately 6 miles. Turn left (east) on M-45 (Lake Michigan Drive). Go approximately 3 miles to Grand Valley's entrance and turn right (south). Approximately 45 miles from Muskegon.
From Northern Michigan: US-131 South to Grand Rapids. Take I-196 West to Lake Michigan Drive/M-45 (Exit 75). Take M-45 approximately 12 miles to Grand Valley's entrance and turn left (south). Approximately 160 miles from Traverse City.
Parking for events in the Kirkhof Center is located in lot H. Additional handicap parking is located in the circle drive in front of the Kirkhof Center.Parking for events in the CDC is located in lot H. You may use the Carillon Tower as a turn-around for drop-offs but parking is prohibited next to the building.Parking for events in the Arboretum is located in lot M. You may drive up to the Arboretum for drop-offs but parking is prohibited.
Parking for events in the CDC is located in lot H. You may use the Carillon Tower as a turn-around for drop-offs but parking is prohibited next to the building.
Parking for events in the Arboretum is located in lot M. You may drive up to the Arboretum for drop-offs but parking is prohibited.
We are located within the Office of Student Life. Events Services is a department of the Division of Student Affairs of Grand Valley State University.
Page last modified July 1, 2020
1110 Kirkhof Center
events@gvsu.edu

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


What happens if you secretly peep at the someones phone? Facing the Truth Solves or Opens a New Problem? How much truth about / the other strikes directly in it private space, and how much does the questioning of the others affect? Doing the truth from us makes better people? Mobile phones are our "black boxes" ?! Strangers are a "dramo" in which seven friends play a game in which they share all phone messages, conversations, photos, communications through social networks and thus reveal personal secrets, opening up painful conflict situations. At the same time, the differences between private and public self-representation . Parallel actions create an epic scenic narrative that does not aspire to mark the end, but grows in breadth. Everything in the name of the truth. By confronting the truth, a clash with post truth is followed, a state in which facts become less influential than are those emotions and personal convictions. The role of technology in determining the truth / truthfulness as the dominant of today is highlighted by the emergence and disclosure of confidential documents globally.


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Home America Guatemala Greeks in Guatemala
Greeks in Guatemala
Guatemala- A special on Greeks in Guatemala by the Athens News Agency portrays a vibrant community of people active in a broad range of activities, ranging from the "Molon Lave" plastics to "Grecia" chocolates, which later spawned an entire chocolate manufacturing business by Panagiotis Papachiou, the first Greek to officially migrate to Guatemala in 1926. But there are also stories of a Greek boat builder by the name of Mavros the first Greek to set up shop in this Central American country in 1900.
The country's largest port, Buerto Barrios, is home to a number of Greek families. Liberis Chronopoulos, for instance, left his hometown of Tripoli, in Peloponnisos, married and ended up staying 35 years to be near his children. Today he is 67 years old. Christos Klikopoulos, from Litochoro in Katerini, set up the "Europa" hotels, a highly successful business now run by his children.
Equally impressive is the story of four Greeks who in 1960 set up a plastics production business after buying used equipment from Colombia. Since 1962, the business has led to a number of companies including Metaloplast, Megaplast, Elenoplast, Lacoplast, Xeoplast, Neoplast, Spartaplast, Diversiplast and Aristoplast. There is also the story of Giannis Kefalas, a former basketball player and coach to the Guatemalan national team, who today runs one of the top 100 silk screen businesses in the world.
Greek businessmen continue to settle in Guatemala. Ippokrates Eliadis and Nikos Vatsakis are two such younger generation Greeks who are currently running successful businesses in the country. Speaking to ANA, Mr. Vatsakis, who left Skala in Laconia 35 years ago said that Greeks have always been very well received in Guatemala.
Dimitri Molyviatis is a case in point. He was general secretary of the country's Christian Party that was in government in the 80's. Speaking to ANA, Mr. Molyviatis, who runs the 7 Caldos restaurants and holds regular meetings with fellow Greeks at the «Greek Corner», said that there is no official Greek community in Guatemala. He also said that if Greek cultural events were to be held in the country, participation would be 'unprecedented'.
The living has not been easy for the 21 Greek families living in Guatemala, which emerged from a 35-year civil war as recently as 1996.
(AMA -MPA)
The Greeks of Guatemala


NCAA Division II (without football) Women's Track And Field Athletic Scholarships.
Do you know how much financial aid NCAA Division II (without football) schools award to players on college track and field teams? Last year NCAA Division I and II schools alone awarded $2 billion in undergraduate athletic scholarships. For some student athletes, a scholarship from a NCAA Division II (without football) school can mean the differencebetween obtaining a college education and having to put that aspiration on hold.
If you intend to be a competitor for one of the many NCAA Division II (without football) women's track and field scholarships that are available you have to know which colleges to contact, who the coaches are and how to get in front of them. AthleticScholarships.com was made to supply student athletes with the information they need to boost their chances of being recruited by a NCAA Division II (without football) school and receiving a women's track and field scholarship.
Make use of the NCAA Division II (without football) women's track and field statistics above to decide whether or not this division provides you with the best athletic scholarship opportunities. The table below shows how NCAA Division II (without football) schools compare with the national averages.
Total Number of Athletes and Average Athletes Per Team: This lets you know roughly the total number of female athletes are on NCAA Division II (without football) women's track and field teams across the country, which will help you determine how aggressive the recruiting process is, especially when you compare it to the national average. At present there are 523 women taking part in track and field at NCAA Division II (without football) schools.
Average Operating Expenses Per Player: This indicates just how much a NCAA Division II (without football) college is investing in each player on their women's track and field team for things that are essential such as equipment and uniforms. The amount a NCAA Division II (without football) school spends on you as a player will help signify how valuable believe that that you are to the track and field team and the overall sports program plus the level of support they provide each player.
Average Operating Expenses Per Team: This is what it cost on average for a NCAA Division II (without football) college to run the day-to-day operations that keep the track and field program functioning. This can give student athletes a good idea of the quality of women's track and field programs, facilities and training personnel at NCAA Division II (without football) schools across the nation. The more NCAA Division II (without football) colleges commit the better quality you should expect.
Total Full and Part Time Coaches: Coaches are vital to helping you refine your skills and help you keep on track athletically and academically so you're able to keep your track and field scholarship each year. The more NCAA Division II (without football) women's track and field coaches there are, the more likely it is you'll get one-on-one training and attention you need to reach your main goal of graduating from a college.
Average Total Revenue: The more money NCAA Division II (without football) colleges can earn off their women's track and field programs the more likely it is that they will grow them. When women's track and field programs are more profitable and well-known NCAA Division II (without football) colleges will commit more in their existing programs and other NCAA Division II (without football) colleges will create new track and field teams of their very own. More NCAA Division II (without football) track and field teams means more athletic scholarship opportunities at this type of school.
Average Total Expenses: Is there a growing interest in supporting and growing women's track and field teams at NCAA Division II (without football) schools? Are NCAA Division II (without football) colleges aggressively recruiting women's track and field players? The total expenses stat includes operating and recruiting expenses. This can give you a good idea of how much NCAA Division II (without football) colleges throughout the country are spending on women's track and field programs, thus whether or not track and field scholarship opportunities are likely to grow, keep pace or weaken in this division.
If you would like to be a contender for one of the numerous NCAA Division II (without football) women's track and field scholarships that are available it will take persistence and lots of research and planning. See how NCAA Division II (without football) schools in your state compare with NCAA Division II (without football) schools across the country. Choose a state below to get detailed sports program and athletic scholarship statistics.


Here is the home you have been waiting for. Come see this newly renovated ranch located in Peabody that features new kitchen with stainless appliances, brand new hardwood floors, brand new windows, vinyl siding and bonus new heating system! If that is not enough for you then come enjoy the newly finished basement which has an additional bathroom and cozy carpet throughout. Located close to major highway for easy commuting access. This home has it all. Come see what all this home and Peabody has to offer, you will not be disappointed!


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Pakistani model-turned-actress Veena Malik calls herself a freak and says she needs a partner to take care of her daily chores.
"I am such a freak that I need a partner to remove my make up, to feed me, to help me wear my shoes. Even I need a partner to wake me up in the morning," Veena told IANS.
Veena says that the Zahida in her is upset that reality show Veena Ka Swayamvar didnt happne and added: "Veena is very happy because Veena Ka Vivaah did not happen, but Zahida is very upset because she always wanted to get married."I have been in a relationship ever since I was 14 years old. The only six months I was not in a relationship was when I was doing - Veena Ka Vivaah."


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layout: post
date:	2010-10-09 12:39:00
title:  Ram.....
tags: [archived-posts]
categories: archives
permalink: /:categories/:year/:month/:day/:title/
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another forward that I got...

Good to know that Ram has got some land now. Because,
  SITA has been running a travel agency,
  Maruti is making cars,
  Laxman is being worshipped by cricket fans,
  Shatrughan is busy shaping his daughter's career,
  ...Bharat has started a petrol pump,
  Raavan is a commercial flop
  and there is peace in Lanka!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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John Pahl has a Masters degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and over 20 years experience in the Satellite Communications industry. John was a founding director of Transfinite Systems and led the development of Visualyse Professional and Visualyse Spectrum Manager.
John Pahl is recognised within the industry as an authority on spectrum management issues and in particular modelling the behaviour of radio communication systems. He has a track record in developing innovative solutions and new methodologies that can be used to manage and analyse compatibility between radio systems.
He has written papers on subjects related to spectrum issues which have been published in peer reviewed journals, and given presentations at industry conferences. He has chaired meetings at forums such as the ITU-R and participated in panel sessions and familiar within the wider industry at a global level. John understands how involvement in these bodies can assist in an organization's objectives, and how to develop a plan to manage an organisation's requirements.
John has led Transfinite's Consultancy activities and has first hand, detailed and thorough knowledge and experience of:
Technical analysis, considering topics such as interference analysis, coordination studies, system design, radiowave propagation, spectrum efficiency, and spectrum occupancy;
Characteristics of a wide range of systems and services, from satellite (GSO, non-GSO, and HEO), terrestrial (including IMT-2000, FS, BFWA, WiFi, ENG, and UWB) and others including maritime and aeronautical;
Regulatory issues, including review of the Communications Bill that founded Ofcom, chairing ITU-R groups that developed Recommendations, detailed understanding of working practices of international forums such as CEPT and ETSI and their instruments including the Radio Regulations;
Management, leading a team and responsible for allocation of resources to projects.
John Pahl is the author of the book "Interference Analysis: Modelling Radio Systems for Spectrum Management" as described in more detail on this page.


Evanovich is obviously fond of the name Stephanie!
2.5★ & I'll tell you why.
It took me two days to finish this book and normally I can read light romances in an afternoon. I simply couldn't find any enthusiasm to pick it back up. When I did, I fell asleep!
The pacing is a bit off at the start & the transition from aboard boat to land is clumsy. The second half of the book & the resolution (view spoiler)[ which didn't explain things like ghostly hands pushing Stephanie into the water (hide spoiler)]made me want to slap every single character in the book, other than the hero & heroine.
Positives. The book is an early example of Evanovich's ability to describe attractive main characters & sexual attraction. There are a few flashes of Evanovich's wit & sense of fun.
I'm sure there was heaps of readers curious about Evanovich's early work. & I can remember reading & enjoying another of her Loveswept titles many moons ago, but this particular title should have been left to the normal fate of light romances - pulping or charity shops.


Following Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's meeting with Reem Al Hashimy, UAE's Minister of State for International Cooperation, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced it's plan to build an oil pipeline linking Addis Ababa and Assab, a port city in Eritrea.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea's President Isaias Afeworki received the Order of Sayed, United Arab Emirates' highest honor, from Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during the Ethiopian-Eritrean-UAE Tripartite Summit in the Abu Dhabi Presidential Palace.
Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed established a mentorship program that has promised to provide scholarships for Gold Medal graduates from government universities to go abrad adn further thier education. The PM believes this program will cultivate young leaders that will transform the nation in the future. The UAE has announced that to grant 50 scholarship opportunities to the program.
"The United Arab Emirates has pledged a total of $3 billion in aid and investments to Ethiopia." $1 billion will be deposited in Ethiopia's central bank to alleviate some of the foreign currency shortage. The rest $2 billion is planned to be invested in tourism, renewable energy, and agriculture.
The DP World, a known port operator company, is planning to transport goods from Berbera to Ethiopia. Berbera is a port Ethiopia is developing in Somaliland.


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Journal of Creation 22(3):16, December 2008
Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are some of the most cited evidences for evolution. They are part of the suite of 'junk DNA' that supposedly comprised the vast majority of our DNA. ERVs are said to be parasitic retroviral DNA sequences that infected our genome long ago and have stayed there ever since. These short DNA strands are found throughout the human genome, and make up about 5% of the DNA,1 or about 10% of the total amount of DNA that is classified as transposable elements (i.e. 50%).2
However, the term 'endogenous retrovirus' is a bit of a misnomer. There are numerous instances where small transposable elements thought to be endogenous retroviruses have been found to have functions, which invalidates the 'random retrovirus insertion' claim. For instance, studies of embryo development in mice suggest that transposable elements (of which ERVs are a subset) control embryo development. Transposable elements seem to be involved in controlling the sequence and level of gene expression during development, by moving to/from the sites of gene control.3
Moreover, researchers have recently identified an important function for a large proportion of the human genome that has been labelled as ERVs. They act as promoters, starting transcription at alternative starting points, which enables different RNA transcripts to be formed from the same DNA sequence.
'We report the existence of 51,197 ERV-derived promoter sequences that initiate transcription within the human genome, including 1,743 cases where transcription is initiated from ERV sequences that are located in gene proximal promoter or 5' untranslated regions (UTRs).'4
'Our analysis revealed that retroviral sequences in the human genome encode tens-of-thousands of active promoters; transcribed ERV sequences correspond to 1.16% of the human genome sequence and PET tags that capture transcripts initiated from ERVs cover 22.4% of the genome.'5
Moreover, researchers have recently identified an important function for a large proportion of the human genome that has been labelled as ERVs.
So we're not just talking about a small scale phenomenon. These ERVs aid transcription in over one fifth of the human genome! 'These data illustrate the potential of retroviral sequences to regulate human transcription on a large scale consistent with a substantial effect of ERVs on the function and evolution of the human genome.'3 This again debunks the idea that 98% of the human genome is junk, and it makes the inserted evolutionary spin look like a tacked-on nod to the evolutionary establishment. These results support the conclusions of the ENCODE project, which found that at least 93% of DNA was transcribed into RNA.
Evolutionists have used shared mistakes in 'junk DNA' as 'proof' that humans and chimps have a common ancestor. However, if the similar sequences are functional, which they are progressively proving to be, their argument evaporates.
It seems that evolutionist Dr John Mattick, director of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, was spot on in his assessment of the gravity of the 'junk DNA' error:
'The failure to recognize the full implications of this—particularly the possibility that the intervening noncoding sequences may be transmitting parallel information … may well go down as one of the biggest mistakes in the history of molecular biology.'6
Both biblical creationists7 and ID proponents8 predicted that transposable elements, such as 'endogenous retroviruses', would have a function. In 2000, creationist molecular biologist Linda Walkup proposed that God could have created transposable elements to facilitate variation (adaptation) within biblical kinds.7
If the 'junk DNA' is not junk, then it puts a big spanner in the work of molecular taxonomists, who assumed that 'junk DNA' was free to mutate at random, unconstrained by the requirements of functionality. As Williams points out:
'The molecular taxonomists, who have been drawing up evolutionary histories ("phylogenies") for nearly every kind of life, are going to have to undo all their years of "junk DNA"-based historical reconstructions and wait for the full implications to emerge before they try again.'9
Living fossils and 'junk DNA'
'Junk' DNA: evolutionary discards or God's tools?
No joy for junkies
'Junk' DNA, asteroid impacts and supernovas
The Best Genetic Computer Program in the World
CMI scientific blunder?
The junk DNA myth takes a well-deserved hit
The human umbilical vesicle ('yolk sac') and pronephros—Are they vestigial?
Creation in-depth: Engineering without an engineer
Mistakes about mistakes
ERVs and LINEs—along novel lines of thinking
'Vestigial' Organs Questions and Answers
Conley, A.B., Piriyapongsa, J. and Jordan, I.K., Retroviral promoters in the human genome, Bioinformatics 24(14):1563–1567, 2008. Return to text.
Thornburg, B.G., Gotea V. and Makałowski W., Transposable elements as a significant source of transcription regulating signals, Gene 365:104–110, 2006. Return to text.
Batten, D., No joy for junkies, Journal of Creation (TJ) 19(1):3, 2006; . Return to text.
Conley et al., ref 1, p. 1563. Return to text.
Mattick, J., cited in: Gibbs, W.W., The unseen genome: gems among the junk, Scientific American 289(5):26–33, November 2003; pp. 29–30. Return to text.
Walkup, L., 'Junk' DNA: evolutionary discards or God's tools?, Journal of Creation (Technical Journal) 14(2):18–30, 2000; . Return to text.
Luskin, C., 'Large Scale' function for endogenous retroviruses: Intelligent Design prediction fulfilled while another Darwinist argument bites the dust, Discovery Institute, 21 August 2008, , accessed 12 September 2008. Return to text.
Williams, A., Astonishing DNA complexity demolishes neo-Darwinism, Journal of Creation 21(3):111–118, 2007; p. 113. Return to text.


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La saison 2012 du format GT Tour se déroule du  au .

Calendrier

Championnats

Événements

Circuits

Championnat de France FFSA GT

Championnat de France F4

Porsche Matmut Carrera Cup

Peugeot RCZ Racing Cup

Toutes les voitures sont des Peugeot RCZ Cup modèle 2012.

Clio Cup Elf

SEAT Leon Supercopa

Mitjet Series 1300 Light

Mitjet Series 2L Supersport

Notes et références

Sport automobile en 2012
Compétition automobile en France

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Book Blitz + #Giveaway: Steamborn by Eric Asher
November 23, 2015	Lindsay	Book blitz, giveaway	1
Steamborn by Eric Asher
Series: Steamborn #1
on December 1st 2015
Genres: Steampunk, Young Adult
Jacob, a tinker's apprentice and sometime thief, has lived his entire life in the mountain city of Ancora, protected by the city walls. These towering barriers keep the Deadlands creatures at bay, but the monsters move higher into the peaks every year. More and more, they breach the defenses of the Lowlands while the Highlands rest easy.
A swarm overruns the walls and wreaks utter devastation on the Lowlands. Charles, the old tinker, suspects the attack may not be natural. With help from Jacob's closest friend, Alice, and Samuel, one of the city's elite spider knights, Jacob and Charles will uncover a terrible darkness at the heart of their city.
Jacob ran. He heard the shouts of the market guards as they chased him through the muddy cobblestone streets of Ancora. Their armor gave away their position as the metal plates clanged together and their boots fell heavy on the stones.
"There!" a guard said.
Jacob dove under a peddler's table, scattering rugs and crates as the woman hissed at him to run faster. Jacob grinned when he realized the peddler was rooting for him and not the guards. The armored guards would never be able to dip under the thick stone tables that rested across the ancient troughs. They'd have to go around, or over, and Jacob knew their armor was too heavy for that.
"Get back here, you Lowland maggot!"
Jacob glanced back. The enraged armored forms were momentarily frozen in front of the brightly colored tents and tables before Jacob vanished down an alley. They could still catch him on the next street if he wasn't careful, or if he wasn't fast enough.
Something sizzled in a large metal pot near the last stall he sprinted past, and for a moment, Jacob wished it were food in his pocket instead of the loot he'd been lucky to take. He slid around the corner of an old brick house with a tiled roof and slipped into a narrow alley most people never would have noticed. The Highborn guards, used to the wide streets behind the city wall, didn't have a chance of tracking Jacob through the maze of dim back alleys.
He eased farther into the shadowed space as the shouts and curses of the guards grew louder and then faded as they passed him by. He caught a glimpse of the polished silver armor as two of the men rushed onward. None of them glanced at the small alley. Jacob smiled and felt his pockets. Still there, his fingers met the reassuring bumps of his prize. He forgot the smell of food as he imagined finishing the pistons he'd built with Charles for the new boiler. With a good cushion, they could run for hours, or more. They'd just have to—
"Jacob Arthur Anders," a voice said from behind him, deeper in the alley.
Jacob spun, knocking his elbow on an uneven brick in the wall and cursing as he stumbled back a step. "Alice! What are you doing here?"
Alice leaned forward, her gray wool dress barely clearing the wet ground. Her red hair hung in curls, brushing her shoulder as she looked down at Jacob's hand and frowned. She raised her eyes to meet his, and he could still tell they were blue, even in the dim light of the alley. "What did you steal now?"
"You have your hand over your pocket." The amount of accusation in her voice startled him. Alice pointed at his hand and said, "You only do that when you're hiding something."
"None of your business," he said, squaring his shoulders and standing up as straight as he could. It left him a fraction of an inch taller than Alice.
"Oh, I think it is my business," she said.
Eric is a former bookseller, guitarist, and comic seller currently living in Saint Louis, Missouri. A lifelong enthusiast of books, music, toys, and games, he discovered a love for the written word after being dragged to the library by his parents at a young age. When he is not writing, you can usually find him reading, gaming, or buried beneath a small avalanche of Transformers.
http://daysgonebad.com/index
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https://twitter.com/ericrasher
Blitz-wide giveaway (INTL)
5 paperback copies of Steamborn
1 ecopy of Steamborn
marypreston
One of the most interesting covers I have seen for a while.


Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) on Tuesday reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $1.16 billion.
On a per-share basis, the Deerfield, Illinois-based company said it had profit of $1.24. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $1.64 per share.
The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.70 per share.
The largest U.S. drugstore chain posted revenue of $34.53 billion in the period, which also missed Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $34.84 billion.
Walgreens shares have decreased 7 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has risen roughly 1 percent in the last 12 months.


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Il castello di Grazzano Visconti è un fortilizio situato nell'omonima frazione del comune italiano di Vigolzone, in provincia di Piacenza.

Storia

La località di Grazzano venne citata per la prima volta in documenti risalenti agli anni intorno al Mille in cui venivano donate alcune terre al monastero di San Savino di Piacenza.

Fu costruito nel 1395, forse sui resti di una struttura preesistente, da Giovanni Anguissola a seguito del matrimonio con Beatrice Visconti, sorella del duca di Milano Gian Galeazzo.

Nel 1414 venne concessa a Bernardo Anguissola da parte del futuro imperatore Sigismondo di Lussemburgo l'investitura sul castello di Grazzano, insieme ai vicini castelli di Riva e Montesanto e ai villaggi di Carmiano e Ponte Albarola. Nonostante l'atto imperiale, l'Anguissola, a causa dell'ostilità della nobiltà piacentina, non riuscì a imporre il suo potere sulla zona fino al 1438 quando il duca di Milano Filippo Maria Visconti aggiunse ai diritti concessi da Sigismondo anche il diritto di regalie, con la "potestà di coltello" e concesse l'indipendenza dalla giurisdizione del comune di Piacenza. Nonostante altre lotte e controversie negli anni successivi, nel 1459 fu il duca Francesco Sforza a confermare la proprietà del feudo agli Anguissola, nella persona di Giovanni Anguissola.

Nel 1462, in seguito a una ribellione contadina sorta contro il potere sforzesco e sviluppatasi avendo come epicentro il castello di Niviano, distante pochi chilometri da Grazzano, si svolse nei pressi del castello una battaglia tra 500 soldati inviati dallo Sforza per sedare la rivolta e i ribelli, in seguito alla quale molti dei rivoltosi, tra i quali conte Onofrio Anguissola, furono fatti prigionieri, mentre il capo della sommossa Giacomo Pelizzari detto "Pelloia" fu costretto al suicidio.

Nel 1521 Grazzano venne raso al suolo e incendiato da parte delle truppe francesi guidate dal condottiero Lautrec che aveva avuto il comando di assaltare tutti i fortilizi alleati della famiglia Scotti, la quale aveva una parte attiva nelle lotte contro i francesi, nonostante la resistenza delle truppe fedeli al conte Francesco Anguissola. Nel 1526 Grazzano fu assaltata da parte dei lanzichenecchi.

Nel 1547 il castello ospitò gli incontri che portarono alla congiura culminata con l'uccisione del duca Pier Luigi Farnese da parte di Giovanni Anguissola di Grazzano. Dopo essere riparato in esilio, con il ruolo di funzionario dell'imperatore Carlo V, nel 1576 Giovanni Anguissola, che aveva riottenuto la proprietà del castello che gli era stata inizialmente confiscata, cedette l'edificio e tutti i diritti legati al feudo ai cugini Teodosio e Alessandro Anguissola, membri del ramo di Vigolzone, Folignano e San Polo della famiglia Anguissola. Nel 1599 il feudo grazzanese venne elevato a marchesato ad opera dei duchi Farnese.

Nel 1689 il castello fu interessato da alcuni lavori, dei quali il più impattante fu quello che comportò la sostituzione dell'originario ponte levatoio con una nuova più moderna struttura realizzata in muratura.

Durante l'ottocento il castello venne riadattato da parte della famiglia Anguissola a residenza di campagna.

Negli ultimi anni del XIX secolo gran parte del castello era in rovina: alcuni percorsi di camminamento e alcune logge erano pericolanti e, nel complesso, la stabilità dell'intero edificio risultava compromessa. Inoltre, nei pressi del castello, erano sorti umili edifici e stalle occupate da contadini locali.

Rimase proprietà della famiglia Anguissola fino alla morte senza eredi del conte Filippo, avvenuta nel 1870, in seguito alla quale passò alla moglie Francesca Visconti dalla quale pervenne, nel 1883, al nipote Guido Visconti di Modrone.

All'inizio del XX secolo Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone, figlio di Guido, concepì un ampio progetto di riqualificazione dell'area volto al recupero delle condizioni di stabilità dell'edificio, alla ridefinizione di parecchie sue caratteristiche e alla costruzione di un borgo fortificato in stile neogotico e rinascimentale situato nei pressi del castello, in sostituzione degli edifici rurali che erano sorti nel tempo. Il duca affidò il progetto della ristrutturazione del castello e della costruzione del borgo all'architetto Alfredo Campanini.

I lavori di costruzione del borgo tra il 1905 e il 1906 videro Giuseppe Visconti impegnato nei ruoli di direttore, pittore e affrescatore, mentre i lavori di restauro del castello medievale furono completati tra il 1906 e il 1908. Intorno al fortilizio venne realizzato anche un parco.

L'intervento si concluse dopo il 1915 con la fine dei lavori di sistemazione della piazza principale, detta del Biscione, dal simbolo della famiglia Visconti, dove vennero completate la torre merlata, la fontana, il pozzo realizzato in cotto e marmo rosa e il palazzo Podestarile.

Nel 1937 Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone ottenne da parte del re Vittorio Emanuele III il titolo di duca di Grazzano Visconti.

Nel 1986 Grazzano ottenne il titolo di città d'arte dalla regione Emilia-Romagna.

Struttura

Castello
Il fortilizio medievale presenta una pianta quadrangolare con torri poste sui quattro angoli, due delle quali di forma cilindrica e due di forma quadrata. Edificato in pietra e laterizio, l'alternanza dei due materiali è sfruttata in chiave decorativa con l'alternanza di fasce e l'uso di profili in cotto su fondo in pietra. Gli edifici costituiscono tre lati del complesso, mentre il quarto è chiuso da un muraglione merlato; all'interno si trova una corte di forma quadrata dotata di portici. Il castello è circondato da un fossato: l'ingresso era originariamente consentito tramite un ponte levatoio, sostituito nel 1689 e di cui rimangono alcune tracce.

L'edificio ha subito un pesante rimaneggiamento durante i lavori effettuati all'inizio del novecento per opera di Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone: in origine esso presentava tre torri rotonde e una quadrata delle quali una sola era dotata di merlatura e che erano caratterizzate da un'altezza diversa rispetto all'aspetto novecentesco. Inoltre, il castello si sviluppava su due piani anziché i tre sui quali si sviluppa a seguito degli interventi di modifica.

Parco
Il castello è circondato da un parco realizzato tra la fine del XIX e l'inizio del XX secolo per volere di Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone che si estende per circa . Nel parco si trovano sia essenze arboree autoctone, tra cui la farnia, l'olmo, il pioppo nero, il nocciolo e l'acero campestre sia essenze provenienti dall'estero, come il cedro, il cipresso d'America e il bambù. Per rendere il parco maggiormente accessibile in tutte le stagioni, Visconti volle la presenza di diverse specie di conifere, tra le quali il già citato cipresso, il pino e il leccio. Tra le piante, sono presenti anche alcuni alberi secolari, il più vecchio dei quali è un platano di più di 150 anni.

Borgo
Nei pressi del castello, nei primi anni del novecento, su iniziativa di Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone e con il supporto dell'architetto Alfredo Campanini, venne costruito ex-novo un borgo fortificato in stile neo-medievale. Eccetto il castello medievale e poche case risalenti al settecento, l'unico edificio situato all'interno del borgo, ma ad esso preesistente è la chiesa parrocchiale dei santi Cosma e Damiano, costruita nel 1650 su un preesistente edificio risalente almeno al XIII secolo, e che nella prima metà del novecento subì solo alcuni lavori di ristrutturazione, senza essere sottoposta alle profonde alterazioni che subì, invece, il castello.

Infrastrutture e trasporti
Il borgo di Grazzano è interessato dal percorso della ex strada statale 654 di Val Nure.

A partire dal 1881 la località fu inoltre servita da una stazione della tranvia Piacenza-Bettola nelle vicinanze della quale si trovava anche un deposito di carbone. Nel 1886, con l'inaugurazione della diramazione per Rivergaro venne costruita una nuova stazione, dotata di binari di attesa e di ricovero, uno dei quali dedicato al trasporto merci La stazione tranviaria, a causa della sua funzione, era originariamente l'unico edificio del borgo con la facciata posta lungo la strada.

La linea per Bettola fu sostituita nel 1933 da un analogo impianto lungo la parallela nuova ferrovia gestita dalla Società Italiana Ferrovie e Tramvie e soppressa, infine, nel 1967. Come la quasi totalità degli edifici del borgo, anche la stazione, a differenza delle altre poste lungo linea, venne costruita in stile neo-medievale.

Note

Bibliografia

Voci correlate
Castelli della provincia di Piacenza
Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Grazzano
Architetture di Vigolzone
Capricci architettonici dell'Italia
Architetture di Alfredo Campanini


Beautifully engraved SPECIMEN certificate from the Niagara Share Corporation of Maryland. This historic document was printed by the Security Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of an allegorical man with a waterfall in the background. This item has the printed signatures of the Company's President and Treasurer.


text:
HomeNewsPatent shows possible Galaxy S5 feature: improved one-hand operation with custom orientation...
Patent shows possible Galaxy S5 feature: improved one-hand operation with custom orientation of on-screen apps
- Last Updated: June 27, 2021
One-hand operation of smartphones is becoming more and more of an inconvenience as display sizes become bigger with each passing year. Samsung mitigates the issue by offering a one-handed operation mode on the Galaxy Note 3, which reduces the size of the on-screen content and pushes it to a particular side of the screen, and the Korean company might be working on making one-hand operation even better with the Galaxy S5.
A patent application describes a feature that will let a user resize the on-screen interface according to
his/her comfort zone., described by the scope of the thumb. Furthermore, instead of a standard square window and portrait/landscape orientation, a particular app's window would be resizable to any odd form and placed on a particular side of the screen, rotated diagonally and/or any which way the user would want; users will also be able to change the density of the interface's elements, such as the on-screen icons. It's an interesting feature, and one that would make the one-hand experience on the Galaxy S5 even better, especially if Samsung intends to adopt a larger screen than the one on the S4′s.
As always, a patent application doesn't mean we'll see the feature actually be used any time soon (if at all), but in this case, it would be a nice feature to flaunt for the Galaxy S5, and it will likely make its way to older smartphones like the Galaxy Note 3 (which would benefit greatly from it). The source link has more details on how the feature would work, so go ahead and give it a good read.


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SYRRadio.com
SYR Radio
This was the website for SYR Radio. Content is from the site's 2007-2008 archived pages.
With an unbeatable recipe for success, Stephen Valentino and his Co-Host Tony Mendive welcomes you to SYR Radio.
It's a cutting edge lifestyle radio show with elements of food, travel, style, fashion and entertainment; borne from the host's highly successful magazine column of the same name.
This dynamic and fun show airs onCRN, the Cable Radio Network, and NRN Networks to millions of homes and internationally on the World Wide Web Saturday afternoons 3 - 4 P.M. Pacific Time. To find CRN on your cable system, or broadcast on radio in your town click here.
Radio interviews, on-location live shows, voice-overs and commercial spots are a few examples of Stephen's considerable experience in the world of broadcasting. These, in addition to his vast knowledge in the realms of entertainment, travel, health and cuisine, combined with his creativity and passion, enable him to always bring out the best in his guests.
Elements of the show include:
Location, Event and Restaurant Coverage
Hot New Recipes
New Cookbook Reviews
Product Reviews & Resource Guide
Join with Stephen and his Co-Host Tony and their guests as they Serve You Right on weekly romps through the delightful worlds of food and wine, travel, fashion, style, fitness, health and entertainment.
Co-Hosts and Co-Hostesses
Dr. Grace Hameister, D.C.
Meet Dr. Grace Hameister, DC. As one of the few primary health care providers using the newest, most objective, and effective whole-body alternative techniques, Dr. Grace is truly unique in her field of chiropractic. She is a licensed and board-certified Doctor of Chiropractic, and is an expert at diagnosing and treating various degrees of musculoskeletal and organic disorders.
As a former Olympic-level Rhythmic Gymnast, and World-Champion Water Skier, she has intimate knowledge of how the body can function at its best, and thus knows how to teach others to achieve their personal potential. Grace received her Bachelor's degree in psychology, and minor in biology, from the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis. She then worked in the Department of Surgery at the U of M doing cancer research in immunology, and then continued her education in San Jose, California at Palmer College of Chiropractic West, for her Doctor of Chiropractic degree. Recently, she has become a member of the Clinical Society for Advanced Laser Therapy, and also has become a Board Qualified Clinical Thermographer from the American Medical Infrared Academy. As such, she can take, read and interpret thermal images which are an excellent tool to discovering the signs consistent with abnormal breast health, years before mammograms can.
She has lectured nationally to health care practitioners and body-workers alike, including symposiums by the American Massage Therapy Association, Via-Christi Burn Center, Erchonia Medical and the Pro Sport Chiropractic Organization. Now, through her exclusive company Doc Next Door, and her presence on Serves You Right Radio, she is applying the most elite techniques of preventative medicine through chiropractic, physiotherapy, exercise, technology, detoxification and nutrition, to positively affect the health of high-profile individuals in their homes, and at various events. For more information visit her website at www.docnextdoor.com.
Holly Rudin-Braschi
Holly Rudin-Braschi, recent Co-Hostess of Serves You Right®. Holly's book Grill Power www.grillpower.com, the first and still most comprehensive book for indoor electric grills, has sold over 50,000 copies.
An American College of Sports Medicine certified health, fitness, and nutrition lecturer, Holly is a sought after speaker and culinary instructor by major corporations, health organizations, and cooking schools throughout the USA where she presents her Feasting in the Fast Lane® programs at Apple Computer, 3M, Chevron, American Cancer Society, Sur La Table and many others. A frequent guest on both TV and radio throughout the US, Canada and Europe, Holly has entertained audiences with her language facility in French, Italian, German and Greek. Holly has also appeared as a spokesperson for culinary appliances on QVC, generating over $10 Million in sales.
She then set her sights on household consumables and after hooking up with CleanItSupply, set sales records in the first week for wholesale dish soap for restaurants. The record made for top stories in both Wired and Inc because of the changes taking place in cleaning supplies and especially packaged goods, as well as a female in this field being so rare. The sales of most distributors of household and custodial products had stalled because of the previous year inventory buildup. But by emphasizing new categories, especially in the green market, she was able to improve the performance of the primary consumables - paper towels and toilet paper. But that first year of record dish soap sales is what made the records.
Holly travels the world to write food, nutrition and travel articles that appear regularly in national newspapers and magazines including Cooking Light, Prevention, Sunset Every Season Magazine (Safeway stores) and on numerous websites. An opera singer with a Master's Degree in Music from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, Holly has sung throughout the US and Europe, including once with Stephen in La Traviata in Banff,Canada. To become more acquainted with Holly, visit her on the web at www.grillpower.com.
Carol-Ann Planté and Stephen
Originally from New York, Carol-Ann moved to Los Angeles at the age of 15. Since she had already earned her theater chops on Broadway and graced just about every recording studio in NYC singing jingles for commercials and movies, Carol-Ann decided to give California a try. About a year after her arrival, she landed a 3-year series regular spot on a Fox Television series called Harry and the Hendersons. Carol-Ann says that although acting was a great experience, singing has always been her number one dream. She graduated UCLA with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature.
Carol-Ann met Stephen when she was 17 and came up to the Bay Area to do a Toys For Tots event that Stephen produced. They were reunited over 10 years later via a serendipitous email from a music group mentioning Carol-Ann's new CD. She joined Stephen as his Co-Hostess at the CRN Burbank studios for live broadcasts of Serves You Right Radio in May of 2005.
Chris Aable
Noted coin expert, author and television personality, Chris Aable, has co-hosted the show on several occasions, and has been a frequent guest as well. Mr. Aable's performance background includes multiple commercials, television appearances and hosting his own television show, "Hollywood Today". Mr. Aable is currently the President and owner of several internet companies and was elected President of the Beverly Hills Coin Club for three consecutive terms. He has authored three books on rare coins, written numerous articles in trade-related publications, and is recognized world-wide as an expert on collecting and investing in rare coins, among his many other talents.
2007 / 2008 NEWS
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -
Dr. Grace Hameister, DC, joins Stephen Valentino as co-hostess of his Nationally Syndicated Radio Show. Mr. Greg Lockamy, President and CEO of SYR, Inc., announces the April 1, 2006 addition of Dr. Grace as co-hostess for Stephen Valentino's nationally syndicated radio show, "Serves You Right", which will air Saturdays from 3 to 4 PM, Pacific Time.
The show's Producer is Brenton Metzler, Associate Producer of Warner Brother's hit TV show, "Elimidate", and the show's Co-Producer is Kenny Kristiansen. Both men bring strong entertainment-based broadcast backgrounds to the project.
"Serves You Right" is broadcast on Cable Radio Networks (CRN) and National Radio Network (NRN), reaching over 28 million homes. The show is also simulcast on www.crni.net into an additional 10 thousand homes worldwide. CRN's World Wide Website is rated in the top 10% of entertainment websites globally.
With an unbeatable recipe for success, Stephen Valentino brings his listeners "Serves You Right", a cutting edge lifestyle radio show; borne from the host's highly successful magazine column of the same name. Each weekly episode features celebrity interviews, travel destinations, entertainment, style and fashion, contests and product giveaways, cookbook author interviews, hot new recipes, and much more. With the addition of Dr. Grace we now have a truly dynamic duo.
The show's producers are welcoming advertisers to participate in this venture. To find out more about "Serves You Right" and to benefit from this opportunity, please contact Stephen Valentino at either info@syrradio.com or800-898-4598.
"Hot Wheels" has been added as a new segment to Serves You Right ®Radio.
The Ford/Lincoln/Mercury, Mercedes Benz, Infinity, Subaru, Land Rover and Jaguar corporations have all joined the Serves You Right family of Sponsors.
Every week one of these major auto manufacturers will send a brand new car to Stephen Valentino, your host of SYR Radio, to tool around in and report back to you, the SYR audience about his experience with each vehicle. Not only will Stephen tell you about the cars on air, but we will also be featuring his reviews in written format under the "HOT WHEELS" menu button.
Serves You Right® has just gotten even hotter with the addition of "Hot Wheels" as a new weekly segment.
Stephen Valentino, Host of the Nationally Syndicated Radio Show Serves You Right® Meets with World Renowned Fashion Critic, Mr. Blackwell
Mr. Greg Lockamy, President and CEO of SYR, Inc., announces that Mr. Stephen Valentino, host of the nationally syndicated radio show, Serves You Right®, recently met with world renowned fashion critic Mr. Blackwell while attending Macy's Passport Fashion Show in Los Angeles, CA.
Mr. Blackwell was very complimentary about Stephen's outfit for the event. Mr. Valentino was "resplendent!" in Armani formalwear with shirt by Geoffrey Macon of the Gendarmerie Spa in West Hollywood and an appropriate amount of "bling-bling" featuring a magnificent vintage Cartier brooch. Mr. Blackwell commented, "Boy, do you know how to accessorize!"
Paul Stearn, Sr. VP of Operations at CRN Networks and host of the AM Show has said, "We have had so many callers on the AM Show demanding to see a photo of Stephen and Mr. Blackwell together that it has been amazing!"
Never wanting to leave his loyal listeners on the AM Show and Serves You Right® waiting too long to satisfy their desires, forthwith our webmaster, Chaz Hawley, www.chazonmedia.com, has been ordered to post this press release and photo on the www.syrradio.com website for their enjoyment.
Due to Popular Demand, Stephen Valentino Joins "The Morning Show"
Due to popular audience demand, Stephen Valentino joins "The Morning Show" as a permanent featured guest. After several guest appearances on Cable Radio Networks top-rated Morning Show, hosted by Paul Stern and Mister B, audiences have been clamoring for Mr. Valentino to be on the show more often.
Now Stephen will be a featured guest on The Morning Show every Thursday morning from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM Pacific Time.
Mr. Valentino is a veritable font of wisdom on so many topics…everything from food and travel, to music, new cars and the good life. Stephen will delight the Morning Show's nationwide audience by taking guest call-ins and informing listeners about upcoming events and guests for his weekly radio show, Serves You Right®, broadcast live on CRN, www.crni.net , every Saturday at 3:00 PM Pacific Time.
Meet Stephen Valentino
Stephen Valentino SAG/AFTRA
Meet Stephen Valentino: Dubbed "San Francisco's Beloved Bon Vivant" by noted columnist, Herb Caen. Stephen Valentino is the Founder and Chairman of SYR, Inc., and the on-air Host of "Serves You Right" broadcast on CRN Networks. Since 1996, Mr. Valentino has been the Entertainment Editor of QSF Magazine where he reviews entertainment venues, restaurants, travel locations, and the latest cars. His regular column, "Serves You Right", was created as a vehicle to interview the world's most prominent chefs and to review cookbooks and culinary equipment. A few samples have been added below. In 2002, Mr. Valentino became a Contributing Editor to Passport Magazine. Stephen has appeared in leading roles in operas, plays and musicals throughout the world. He is also the host of "San Francisco In Flight" for United Airlines, covering restaurants, clubs, cultural events, and hot tourist spots. Seen and heard in films, television commercials, public service announcements, and voice-over spots, Stephen has also had the honor of appearing in a command performance for His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, of England.
Stephen Valentino's new CD is an outstanding and inspiring experience. Ballad of the American Dreamis a mix of original and traditional songs including popular, patriotic and Broadway tunes. Sales will benefit R.E.A.F., The Richmond Ermet ;Aids Foundation, a charity raising money to help children with AIDS
Stephen Valentino's Drunken Cranberry Sauce
Julia Child said: "This is the most wonderful cranberry sauce I have ever tasted."Prep & Cook Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Makes: 2-3 cups
Notes: This recipe can be frozen for up to 6 months or refrigerated for up to 3 months.
1 (12 oz.) bag of cranberries
1.5 cups Grand Marnier
Zest of 1 each tangerine, lemon and lime
1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh finely grated
1 teaspoon ground all spice
In a sauce pan, preferably non-stick, bring the Grand Marnier to a boil with the zests and spices. Add in the sugar; stir to dissolve and bring back to a boil.Add cranberries and bring back to a boil. Drop to a simmer for ten minutes. You now have whole cranberry sauce.
If you like a smoother texture use, a wand blender or potato masher to squish the berries. Pour into a mold or bowls and chill.


Report on latest (possibly final) GC-5-inspired event.
This web page is a brief report on the latter.
In addition to smaller national and international workshops, there have been three high visibility GC-5 events associated with major conferences with international attendances.
The first was a tutorial at IJCAI 2005 in Edinburgh. The second and third were at AISB Conventions, in 2006 and 2010.
The annual AISB Conventions are mainly composed of separately organised 1-Day or 2-Day symposia.
At all three events the majority of talks were by invited speakers or the organisers.
All have surviving websites with papers and some of the presentations, hosted at the university of Birmingham.
Two day tutorial on Learning and Representation in Animals and Machines.
Held at the Nineteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence.
30-31 July 2005: Part of IJCAI-05 Conference, Edinburgh.
Organised by the EU CoSy project and funded by BT, IBM, SSAISB and InferMed.
3-4 April 2006: Part of AISB 2006 Convention, Bristol.
Funded by euCognition: European Network for the Advancement of Artificial Cognitive Systems (part of the EU FP6 Cognitive Systems initiative).
31st March--1st April 2010: Part of AISB 2010 Symposium, Leicester.
For full information on GC-5 events since the initial UKCRC GC Conference in November 2002, please see the GC-5 website.
The AIIB symposium was held on 31st March and 1st April in Leicester, as part of the AISB2010 Convention. The detailed schedule is online here.
The symposium was mainly concerned with past, ongoing and especially future influences, from AI/robotics and artificial cognition to the study of natural cognition.
This contrasts with research on biologically-inspired AI, which has been a major feature of AI since its inception, especially in the last decade, for instance in the EU Cognitive Systems initiative, begun in 2003 as part of the Framework 6 project, and continued on a much larger scale in Framework 7 (about 400 million euros).
The AIIB call for participation gave particular emphasis to discussion of future prospects, problems, and methodologies for AI-Inspired biology, and the need for collaboration between researchers on natural intelligence (including evolution of diverse forms of intelligence) and artificial intelligence, especially robotics.
More detailed example AIIB topics are listed here.
The AIIB Symposium organisers represented a range of disciplines: Biosciences, AI/Robotics and Philosophy.
There was also a multi-disciplinary panel of reviewers.
In addition to overview presentations by the organisers, there were talks by 8 invited speakers, 7 accepted full papers and a similar number of posters. Prof Margaret Boden was invited to lead the final discussion session (What Next?).
It is intended that speaker presentations will be added to the website, which already includes most of the papers and all the poster abstracts.
Some presentations focused on specific ways in which AI/Robotics could aid, inspire or challenge researchers on natural intelligence, while others addressed more general methodological questions, including questions about limitations of Artificial systems as contributions to the study of natural intelligence.
Attendance fluctuated during the two days, peaking at about 40.
(a) The need for more research on the nature and complexity of structures and processes in the environment that determine evolutionary pressures and also requirements against which both artificial designs and evolved designs need to be evaluated -- e.g. by analysing the problems of perception and action from a robotics viewpoint and by studying examples of convergent cognitive evolution in animals with different morphologies.
(b) The need to understand the variety of possible information processing architectures that can integrate diverse, concurrently active, interacting subsystems in natural and artificial systems -- e.g. interactions between perception, motor control, and metacognition, or interactions between visual perception and speech understanding/production subsystems.
(c) The need to understand the varied ontologies, the variety of forms of representation, and mechanisms supporting them, involved in diverse biological processes, including ontologies and representations required for different forms of perception, online control of actions, perception of affordances and other possibilities inherent in the environment, deliberation about possible future sequences of actions, and meta-semantic functions involving representation of cognitive states and processes in oneself and other individuals.
(d) The importance of (amodal) exosomatic ontologies, referring to things in the environment rather than to contents of sensory and motor signals, e.g. for organisms with independently mobile manipulators, and the need to investigate mechanisms for creating and supporting such ontologies.
Examples are ontologies that include strength and compliance of supports of various kinds (e.g. used by orangutans), and different properties of materials composing objects in the environment, e.g. rigidity, elasticity, plasticity, chewability, squishiness, fluidity, etc.
A particular problem is how to represent processes in which all these qualities of materials interact with changing shapes, locations, orientations and trajectories of portions of objects in the environment (including the individual's body-parts).
(f) The need to generalise notions of motivation and reward to allow more ways in which biological evolution can produce mechanisms that guide the choices of individuals, on the basis of information that is not available to the individuals but was available during evolution.
Examples include selection by evolution of (a) reward mechanisms and (b) motivations that are triggered by the environment independently of any rewards for the individual.
(g) Ways in which systems, including architectures, can grow themselves under the influence of both the environment and specific genetic mechanisms (some of which do not become active until some time after birth).
Some researchers define "architecture" so as to rule out change, which can block important kinds of research!
(h) the need to improve and extend our ontology for describing complex information-processing systems, including, for instance, improving concepts used for investigating the muddy waters of "emotions" and "consciousness", concepts for describing and comparing architectures, and concepts for thinking about varieties of dynamical system that can play a role in information-processing.
how to avoid muddles about consciousness.
In all these cases, experience gained in AI/Robotics can be used to suggest new questions to be asked, new ideas for proposed solutions, and in some cases designs that can be implemented to test proposed theories, though some of the issues are well beyond the current state of the art in AI.
For more information about the grand challenge, see the GC-5 web page, including a more detailed history and a suggestion to end its status as one of the UKCRC grand challenges, because the challenge now seems to be accepted on an international scale; and the EU, in particular, is investing far more than EPSRC and other UK research councils seem to have available for this purpose.
However this suggestion does not preclude others offering to continue to promote GC-5 as one of the UKCRC Grand challenges.


For graduate teachers who wish to further study for Master or PHD for Year 2011, can now apply through the MOE website. Teachers can apply course with full scholarship given (Hadiah Latihan Persekutuan (HLP)) or without (Cuti Belajar Bergaji Penuh Tanpa Biasiswa (CBBP TB)). The online application will be started from 19th January 2011 (Wednesday) until 18 February 2011. Please check the links below.


In my practice, I frequently see lower back pain & sciatica. And while acupuncture & Chinese herbal medicine are wonderful for addressing pain, if we continue to use our body in ways that create strain or imbalance in affected areas (desk jobs, driving, couch-time, bending over phones/tablets – sound familiar?) then we need to also incorporate movements and stretches to restore proper alignment.
These stretches are great for releasing tension in the hips and lower back. As always, go gently and slowly, using the breath. Always got to 80 % stretch ensuring no over stretching. Hold stretches for at least 1 minute, and for extra restorative benefits, you can use props, pillows etc. to support yourself and really let go into the stretch.


This collection of eleven tracks is a solid introduction to the Bristol based duo W.O.R.D, comprised of Merlin Silver, who produces, and Rick Hazard. I'm assuming that there wasn't much of a budget in terms of production although the limited resources available have been used well, with the demo containing quite a few different atmospheres and sounds. There's bouncy fun stuff like the Intro, jazzy piano beats on the catchy W.O.R.D which contains some nice guitars in the background and The Mash Up, a synthesized instrumental which gets more and more intense. 'Stick By Me' is a head nodding reggae affair using a great sample, over which the vocalists rap in a simple and basic, but extremely listenable and enjoyable style. There's echo's of an Aspects vibe, perhaps more so because of the accent than anything else. Lyrics focus on delivering a message concisely and directly, rather than going all out to impress with intricate word patterns and usage. Subject matters range from commentary of society to tales of girls and the history of the duo themselves. It would be interesting to hear some more, as the demo is evident that they work well together and have a capable creative streak. Nothing on here is boring, with the variety of beats and vocal topics varied enough to sustain the listeners attention.


Ontario Sunset Country – part of the Trailhead North Community!
In Ontario's Sunset Country, you will discover a great choice of accommodations located in a wilderness location. For the fishing party or the family on a summer vacation, the region has a wide variety of lodges and resorts to choose from. You can go to a drive in facilityand this gives you the option of bringing your own boat. These locations also offer boat rentals if you would rather go that route. For something different, why not try a boat in resort or lodgewhere you take a boat to a more remote location on an island or on the mainland down the lake. For a true Northern Ontario experience, then you should consider going on a fly in fishing trip. Here you will board a Canadian bush plane …….
Imagine enjoying all the beauty and nature of Quetico without having to bring much gear or sleep in a tent.
Maybe you are new to camping and want to stay at a park without having to invest in equipment, or perhaps you used to be a camper and no longer want to sleep on the ground.
Whatever your preference or reason, Quetico Park has new digs to accommodate.
At Dawson Trail Campgrounds the artist studio gets converted for winter accommodations for visitor lodging. The artist studio through the summer months is used in our artist-in-residence program and was restored from an old pump-house. Lately it has been also used with a slight seasonal conversion to accommodate skiers and snow-shoers throughout the quiet seasons in the Park.
Another old pump-house in Ojibwa Campground is being converted and will be ready for year-round lodging beginning this summer.
Whether you want to ski from your doorstep, snow shoe out onto a frozen lake to auger a hole to drop a line, you can do it from your doorstep of a cabin right next to French Lake. If you'd rather wait for a day on the beach, swim or dip your paddles in the water, you will be able to access the beach and your canoe from your doorstep.
The latest and most exciting addition to their roofed accommodations is the log cabin adjacent to the main beach. It was once the Nature Centre and has been converted along with a small fridge, fireplace and rustic log furniture for lodging quarters. The log cabin is ready to rent and is available year round.
The Park cross promotes with the Beaten Path Nordic Trails and encourages visitors to try out the local ski trails and works jointly on events to draw visitors to the Atikokan/Quetico area.
With 35 km of hiking and ski trails and unlimited canoe and kayak routes, Quetico has much to offer and now includes a soft bed at the end of your day.
If you have questions about Quetico and its roofed accommodations please call (807) 597 2735.


text:
Failed Mergers: Daimler Benz, Mattel & New York Central Railroad
The corporate landscape has frequently been scarred by the remains of companies that made poor choices involving mergers and acquisitions. After separate, disastrous mergers, both Daimler Benz and New York Central Railroad failed to survive. Yet others like Mattel not only manage to survive an ill-advised merger, they can often be found still conducting business more than a decade or more after making a serious corporate error. Figuring out why one merger or acquisition fails while another succeeds is a bit like reading a real-life mystery story.
Here's a brief look at three mergers that went terribly wrong, leaving only one company – Mattel -- still standing.
Merger Errors Made by New York Central Railroad, Mattel and Daimler Benz
New York Central Railroad's merger with Penn Central. It's hard for many of today's young adults to envision an America still largely dominated by train travel. Yet that describes this country until airlines began attracting more passengers and certain types of commercial cargo during the 1960s with lower fares, fees and better itineraries. It was during this huge cultural shift that New York Central Railroad spent close to a decade trying to figure out how to successfully merge with its past rival, Penn Central. While theories vary as to what actually went wrong, perhaps it really was due at least partially to the new Penn Central Railroad being "unable to keep up with the rising costs of employees [and] government regulations . . . [while] facing major cost-cutting" measures. Unfortunately, just over two years after it was formed, Penn Central was forced into bankruptcy. (An interesting book praised by The New York Times has been written about this merger and is entitled: The Wreck of the Penn Central);
When Daimler Benz got hitched to Chrysler. Back in 1998, many were optimistic when Germany's Daimler Benz decided to merge with America's Chrysler, forming Daimler Chrysler for a "mere" $37 billion. Yet this pairing did not produce "a trans-Atlantic car-making powerhouse that would dominate the markets." In fact, by 2000, "major losses were projected and, a year later, layoffs began." When 2007 rolled around, Daimler Benz wound up selling Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management for roughly $7 billion – clearly indicative of major losses;
When Mattel merged with The Learning Company. Many adults who grew up during or after the late 1940s can easily rattle off a string of Mattel toys by name. In fact, Mattel seemed to always know just what types of toys kids wanted and what their parents were willing to buy for them. By the time 1999 rolled around, many believed a merger between Mattel and the accomplished educational software business, The Learning Company, would prove highly successful. Yet this merger clearly didn't turn out well. In fact, less than a year after the two companies merged, "The Learning Company lost $206 million, taking down Mattel's profits with it. By early 2000, Mattel was losing $1.5 million a day and its stock price kept dropping." When late 2000 rolled around, Mattel sold The Learning Company – but it "was forced to lay off 10 percent of its employees in order to cut costs." Fortunately, as of 2014, Mattel is still doing business and remains a viable player in both the national and international toy markets -- even though it still struggles with some product lines, and has recently suffered lower profits. According to one article, Mattel is now carefully studying the successful product lines of competitors like Hasbro in hopes of one day denominating this commercial field again.
To obtain help with handling all of your Georgia business planning needs, please contact Shane Smith Law today. You can schedule your free initial consultation with a knowledgeable Peachtree City estate planning attorney by calling: (770) 487-8999.
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?My child was killed on Halloween by our neighbor who appeared to be drunk. Should we pursue a wrongful death suit? And if so, how can we prove he was intoxicated?
?Although there are no standardized Traumatic Brain Injury treatments yet, should my recovery include money for possible future treatments?
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In September 2014 Shane Smith had the pleasure of awarding Kim Strudivant with the Fayette County Local Teacher of the Month award. In return Charlotee Sanders the Principal of Grace Christian Academy sent him a warm thank you that we wanted to share. Charlotte Sanders Principal of Grace Christian Academy
Love the firm of Shane Smith. I am very happy and would highly recommend them to anyone! I was very informed throughout the process of my case through mail and phone call check ups!
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text:
Q: Installing Sphinx on OS X Lion with Postgresql So I installed postgresql and the thinking-sphinx gem. I cd into my sphinx download folder and try to run ./configure --with-postgresql
I receive the following message:
#
ERROR: cannot find MySQL include files.
Check that you do have MySQL include files installed.
The package name is typically 'mysql-devel'.
If include files are installed on your system, but you are still getting
this message, you should do one of the following:
1) either specify includes location explicitly, using --with-mysql-includes;
2) or specify MySQL installation root location explicitly, using --with-mysql;
3) or make sure that the path to 'mysql_config' program is listed in
   your PATH environment variable.
To disable MySQL support, use --without-mysql option.

#

What should I do? I have also tried install sphinx using brew, but that hasn't worked either. I'm desperate. I just spent three hours trying to configure this, and I have gotten nowhere.
My sphinx.yml looks like this, and i'm not sure if it's correct:
development:
  port: 9310
  bin_path: "/usr/bin"
  searchd_binary_name: searchd
  indexer_binary_name: indexer

test:
  port: 9310
  bin_path: "/usr/bin"
  searchd_binary_name: searchd
  indexer_binary_name: indexer

production:
  version: '1.10-beta'

A: I used homebrew. According to the docs at thinking-sphinx, you need the mysql extension even if you are using postgres.
I mucked around with a few configurations but sphinx kept looking to connect to MySQL.
This worked for me:
brew install sphinx --mysql --pgsql

Which configured:
./configure --with-mysql --with-pgsql

Then it seemed to work.
See:
https://github.com/pat/thinking-sphinx

A: I agree with Tass. You wold run Sphinx's configure script with --without-mysql & --with-pgsql. I have PostgreSQL installed in /usr/local; therefor, my configuration options would be:
shell~> ./configure --without-mysql --with-pgsql=/usr/local

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
    android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
    tools:context=".MainActivity" >

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/buy_orange_button"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:onClick="onBuyOrangeClick"
        android:text="@string/buy_orange" />

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/have_oranges"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/buy_orange_button"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:padding="5dp" >

        <TextView
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="@string/i_have"
            android:textSize="24.5sp" />

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/num_oranges"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:padding="5dp"
            android:text="@string/zero"
            android:textSize="24.5sp" />

        <TextView
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="@string/oranges"
            android:textSize="24.5sp" />
    </LinearLayout>

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/eat_orange_button"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/have_oranges"
        android:onClick="onEatOrangeClick"
        android:text="@string/eat_orange" />

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/oranges_consumed"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/eat_orange_button"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:padding="5dp" >

        <TextView
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="@string/i_ate"
            android:textSize="24.5sp" />

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/num_oranges_consumed"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:padding="5dp"
            android:text="@string/zero"
            android:textSize="24.5sp" />

        <TextView
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="@string/oranges_already"
            android:textSize="24.5sp" />
    </LinearLayout>

</RelativeLayout>


It is so funny how you can feel like you have plenty of space when your kids are young - but as our kids and their stuff moved home oh my our house is small!
Just got on my computer for a couple of minutes before heading to bed...actually had hoped to write and study quite a bit today - but with company coming this weekend we worked like crazy today!
As you can see from my pictures - we needed to work! Good night!


Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by cromignon, Aug 20, 2014.
Crafting tools: Aside from the Horadric Lutefisk Cubes, there's no good reason to carry around stacks of anvils.
Lockpicks: Gold doesn't take up inventory space, so why should keys?
Lutefisk: Gold doesn't take up inventory space, so why should, um, fish..gold?
Bohandas and r_b_bergstrom like this.
Good point. The only good argument I can see* for keeping them is that some players sell the extras, and they might miss that little bit of money. Hording stuff to sell to Brax is a trip into the heart of madness, though, so the game would probably be healthier without the stacks of spare anvils to sell, anyway.
*: There's at least one mod out there that triggers effects whenever you eat, so it's not impossible that some people would eat lutefisk in-game to be able to trigger it as often as possible. Food is pretty plentiful though, so anyone interested in that could probably make do with grated cheese to serve the same purpose. So, that's a second argument, but not a particularly strong one.
I'll concede that there is still an achievement for eating lutefisk, so there might be more of an uproar about removing it from inventory management then for either of the other two.
I didn't know I could close the cube without losing the fishy bits. I like the idea of "furnishing" the pocket dimension with stations. Hang on, you mean I can just leave stuff there, like a bank? I can leave it and come back, and stuff'll still be there?
Hording stuff to sell to Brax is a trip into the heart of madness, though, so the game would probably be healthier without the stacks of spare anvils to sell, anyway.
One thing that should be added is picked up lutefisk should be placed directly into the cube if you are carrying that cube. This would save you several clicks but not affect game balance.


Hydration bladders, or reservoirs, have become popular among outdoor enthusiasts in the last 20 years or so. If you like to stay hydrated on the trail but hate to waste time fiddling with a water bottle that you may or may not have to take your pack off to reach, then a hydration bladder might be a good choice for you. I use one even on day hikes because I like to drink as I hike and I find that if I try to drink from a water bottle while hiking I end up spilling half of it on myself. Its important to carry heavier items, like water, close to your spine so that your pack will be comfortable to carry and so that your won't be thrown off balance. Most backpacks and daypacks have a hydration sleeve for your water bladder right inside close to your back. I also find when I am able to sip as I go with a hydration reservoir I stay better hydrated as opposed to when I just take water bottles. When selecting one of the best hydration bladders for yourself, here are some things to consider.
Is the hydration bladder compatible with your backpack? Will it fit? Most bladders are long and narrow but they come in different carrying capacities. A 2 liter reservoir will fit most any pack.
How much water do you usually need? I have a 1.5 L reservoir for day hikes and then I have a 2 L reservoir for longer backpacking trips. I also typically carry a 1 L water bottle on the outside of my pack that I use for filtering water into because it can be difficult to filter water into a water reservoir since it is flexible. I use the Sawyer Squeeze so I also carry a 1 L water bag for use with the Sawyer. This way I have the ability to carry 4 L of water at a time if need be. A 2 or 3 liter bladder is probably the smartest choice if you go on longer hikes because you can always just fill the bladder part way up if you don't need the full 2 or 3 liters at once.
Will you be able to refill along the way? Keep in mind that water is heavy so you don't want to carry more than you need at a time. If I know there is a lot of water on the trail, I will only fill my reservoir up halfway and take my Sawyer Squeeze and refill along the way. That way I don't have to lug extra weight if I'm trying to move quickly. I live in the Pacific Northwest though where water abounds at every turn.
What type of opening do you prefer? The three main tops are fold top, zip top, and screw top. Some people don't care, but if you have a preference go with it so you enjoy using your gear.
How easy is the bladder to clean? I find cleaning my hydration bladder to be a pain, but I think the tradeoff is worth it for the convenience it provides me while hiking. I use mine almost every weekend so when I'm done hiking I dump out all the leftover water, leave it open, and hand it up to dry out. I've never had a problem with mold or anything. A few times a year, I will clean it by adding a drop of bleach to the full bladder and let it sit overnight. There are some hydration bladders that are dishwasher safe though, which is a really awesome feature and got me thinking about switching to a new brand.
Weight. For some ultralight backpackers, finding the lightest bladder is a top priority. Other hikers might simply go with a product they have used and are comfortable with or like a certain design over another.
Do you prefer pressurized or non pressurized? Honestly before researching for this article, I was not even aware of pressurized water reservoirs. Personally, I think this is taking a simple concept a little too far, but I have read that certain people like the pressurized system because it is useful for things other than simply drinking. Since a pressurized water bladder is able to essentially spray water, it can be used as a backcountry shower, or rinse for your shoes, dishes, or dog's paws.
Camelbak is one of the most reputable water reservoir brands and for good reason. I know I've owned and use two myself for at least 7 years and have had no problems. In 2017, the Crux replaced Camelbak's Antitote. The upgrades made it easier to fill and drink from. The shut off bite valve was also replaced with a new version that seals after each drink to prevent leakage. I especially like that it has Hydroguard technology that inhibits bacterial growth so you don't have to worry too much about cleaning after each use. The Crux has a slim profile and is compatible with most any pack. It has two chambers for water which prevents your water from moving around too much. The one drawback to this bladder is that it is not dishwasher safe, but with a lifetime warranty you can't go wrong with The Crux.
While not the most durable water bladder, the Hydra Shape Shift is lightweight and simple so it still gets my vote for one of the best hydration bladders. Lightweight backpackers often do not mind making durability sacrifices in exchange for weight savings. It is only about half the weight of the Camelbak Crux. I do suggest if you want to use the Shape Shift that you also carry an additional water bag or bottle as a backup. Besides the weight, my favorite thing about this bladder is that you can flip it inside out and put in the dishwasher. It has a snap zip baffle down the middle which helps keep water from shloshing around. The bite valve automatically seals between sips and features a twist shut off. Hydrapak has a "Beyond Lifetime" warranty and will go above and beyond to repair or replace any issue you have with their products.
Source is not as well known in the backpacking world since they make tactical gear but they still make a great product. The WXP uses a technology to prevent the plastic taste that so many hydration bladders have. When people first start out backpacking with a hydration bladder, this is one of their main complaints. Like the Camelbak Crux, the WXP has an antibacterial technology so all you have to do is empty it and hang it to dry after each use. I really love the bite valve on this reservoir because you don't actually have to bite it, it is a push-pull valve and comparable to drinking from a straw. The dirt shield is a great addition because if your mouthpiece happens to hit the ground, it won't be contaminated. Its also useful for keeping critters from chewing your valve, which I have had happen twice on other bladders without a shield. All the fine details that have gone into the construction of the Source WXP contribute to it being one of the best hydration bladders on the market.
The Geigerrig Hydration Engine is different from the other bladders on this list because it is the only pressurized one. This means that it has a pump that you use to fill a compartment with air. The air then pushes on the water making it spray out much like a hose or faucet. This might seem unnecessary, but some hikers might prefer the convenience of using it to get water for their dog, clean a wound, take a shower, wash hands, or clean gear. Like the Hydrapak Shape Shifter, this reservoir can be turned inside out and put in the dishwasher to clean. The front water compartment is a 15 denier polyurethane, the middle air compartment is a 10 denier polyurethane, and the back is compression backed nylon. These three layers make for a very durable hydration bladder. The Geigerrig is free of BPA, Phthalates, PVC, and Triclosan.
I'd love to know which you think are the best hydration bladders? Please leave a comment or suggestion below!


One of the first signs of spring here in Maine would be blooming daffodils and forthysia. What do they both have in common? They're yellow! It's March 1st and even though we still have a good 8-10 inches of snow on the ground, in my heart I am feeling the coming of spring. I love how the color yellow comes exploding onto the landscape and welcomes the awakening of the Earth as we begin our seasonal shift into summer. To help awaken the spirit of spring, I've put together 4 yellow colored Etsy finds! Each one brings a little bit of sunshine into my heart and reminds me that underneath the white snow, spring is patiently waiting!
What does the color yellow remind you of?


If you are looking to get financing for your recreational property, there are several different options you will have available to you, depending on which financial institution you turn to for assistance. There are two major types of lending that people have access to: a pre-qualification or a pre-approval. There are distinct differences between these lending opportunities.
A pre-qualification is the easier of the two steps, but it is the one that is not as helpful in the long run. For a pre-qualification, a bank will only take a look at the credit of an individual before considering that person for a loan. This provides a very limited snapshot of somebody's entire financial situation, which can present real issues on both sides at some point down the line.
A pre-approval means that the bank has run a credit check as well as looked at an individual's finances. This means investigating the most recent pay stubs, tax returns, investments and savings accounts. This thorough analysis verifies that the down payment can, in fact, be paid in full. A pre-approval letter will then be provided, stating that the applicant can purchase a property up to a certain amount of money.
Heritage Land Bank only does pre-approvals, because this saves potential buyers time and frustration in the future. Some realtors, for example, will only consider individuals with pre-approval letters from a financial institution as serious buyers. Without this, somebody might not even get the opportunity to look at a piece of land that he or she is interested in buying.
If you are interested in expanding your recreational property, be sure to contact a loan officer from Heritage Land Bank as soon as possible! Take a look at the rest of our website to learn more about all of the different financial options that we offer to our customers.


Leaf.tv Cook Quick Steel-Cut Oats If you prefer the chewier texture of steel-cut oats to the usual flaky kind, Quaker makes a quick version of these too. To make them on the stovetop, use 1/3 cup of oats to a cup of water and boil for five minutes.... This is the second method of cooking steel cut oats on the stove. You can soak your steel cut oats the night before and leave it on the stove overnight, for less prep time in the morning. You can soak your steel cut oats the night before and leave it on the stove overnight, for less prep time in the morning.
steel cut oats take about 20 minutes to cook on the stove top, where as rolled oats take about 10 minutes to cook on the stove top. quick cooking rolled oats have been steamed more, so take even less time to cook (about 5 minutes).
I eat hot oatmeal by adding boiling water to 'quick' or 'old fashioned' oats straight in bowl. No stove or microwave needed. You can add lots of goodies for different flavors. No stove or microwave needed.


In addition to the dimensions of an object - length, width, height, radius and so on - measurements of how much stuff an object is made and how much space the stuff fills are also measured.
Stuff can be anything: hydrogen gas, solid iron, water molecules. An object that contains a certain amount of stuff is said to have mass, and mass is measured by grams, kilograms, and so forth. Do not confuse weight with mass. Generally, weight is measured by pounds, ounces, and so on.
Weight = measure of an object along with the effect of gravity.
The amount of "stuff" in my body remains the same, thus 70 kg but gravity affects how much I weigh. A White Dwarf is a very massive stellar remnant, thus my weight will be incredibly high.
On Earth, there is 2.2 pounds per kilograms. For pounds to kilograms, divide by 2.2.
Density and mass provide physical dimensions of a given object, but are completely different in application. While mass measures the total amount of stuff, density is how much individual particles of stuff are within a small space within the object. It is common for density measurement to be based on a centimeter cubed (cm3).
Density represents the mass (or number of particles) per unit volume of a substance, material, or object.
The chart below demonstrates two types of density: mass and particle. Mass density is the mass of an object per cm3 and particle density is how many particles there are in the same space.
The three states of matter (solid, liquid and gas) also affect density.