Crestwood Park officially reopens, as Birmingham Mayor William Bell stumps for support of bond initiative

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Birmingham city officials and residents of the Crestwood neighborhood turned out this morning to formally re-open Crestwood Park following a $2.56 million renovation project.

The park, which dates to the 1940s, was revamped over the past 10 months. It opened earlier this month, but an official ribbon-cutting was held today.

Improvements include new wildflower plantings, a children's playground, a "tailgate lawn" for picnicking and updates to the pavilion, patio, pool, tennis courts and walking track.

Mayor William Bell and Councilwoman Valerie Abbott both called for support in the Oct. 9 referendum on a $150 million bond initiative for city projects, including parks, street improvements and economic development.

On the ballot, citizens will be asked for their support of bond money in different categories; if approved, the Birmingham City Council will decide specific projects.

Bell asked for support of the measure "so we can make sure Birmingham continues to grow and all of our parks look like this wonderful park."

Whit Macknally of Macknally Land Design and Kris Nikolich of Design Initiative, both Crestwood residents, spoke about their firms' work on the park.

Macknally said natural, strong and sustainable materials were used in the construction, so it would hold up amid frequent use. There also was a concerted effort -- through flyers, emails and Facebook -- to gauge residents' opinions on the new features.

"Our whole design philosophy was to make it a reflection of its neighborhood," he said of the park.

Sister Mary Oliver, secretary of the North Crestwood Neighborhood Association, gave an account of its history.

The city bought the land for the park, on Crestwood Boulevard, in 1946. Nothing happened until the early 1950s, when civic groups began collecting money for it.

The city got involved then, clearing land for the tennis courts, a baseball diamond and other features. Residents also pitched in, building barbecue pits and doing other work.

Years later, a grassroots effort in the neighborhood prompted the most recent renovations.

"This has been a neighborhood project since its? inception," Oliver said. "From the beginning, it's been a joint effort between the neighbors and the city."

Source: http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2012/09/crestwood_park_officially_open.html

the bourne legacy roland martin suspended lake vostok montgomery county public schools the river dr dog ke$ha

Rare September Tornado Hits Near Pittsburgh, Pa.

September 29, 2012; 9:06 AM

Video shot by Matt Whyel
Posted to Facebook by the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh

A tornado touched down in Eighty Four, Pa., on Thursday around 4 p.m. The tornado did minimal damage; however, there was no tornado warning out for the area. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh gave a detailed explanation of why the storm that produced the tornado did not meet the criteria for a warning:

"A surface low pressure system was moving across the upper Ohio Valley towards the Pittsburgh area associated with showers. As the system moved over Allegheny County, however, it strengthened and spawned heavy rain with windy conditions. The system then moved east and weakened. The greatest instability for thunderstorms to develop was well to the south along the Mason-Dixon Line. Thunderstorms did indeed occur in parts of West Virginia and Maryland in the evening.

The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issues Tornado Watches and Severe Thunderstorm Watches. There were no watches issued for our forecast area. In fact, the Pittsburgh area was not even in a Slight Risk area for severe thunderstorms. The nearest Slight Risk area issued by SPC was to our southeast over parts of WV, MD, and VA.

So you're probably wondering what happened with all these reports of flooding, wind damage, and possibly a tornado and what defines a severe thunderstorm. By definition the National Weather Service defines a severe thunderstorm as producing at least 1 inch in diameter of hail, winds of at least 58 mph, or 1 or more tornado (the result of a tornado would be a Tornado Warning). The "huge swirl" on the radar some of you may have seen was the actual surface low pressure spinning counter-clockwise associated with vorticity maximum within the shortwave crossing the region.

Again, the feature was best seen as it was crossing Allegheny County when the system was its strongest and the radar had the best view. Some of the winds had mixed down with the heavy showers causing sporadic areas of damage. Notice how I mentioned heavy showers and not thunderstorms. The reason for that is that there was no lightning and no thunder with the system spinning through the Pittsburgh area! There was however, one (the only one) strike of lightning in Moon Township near our office but that was it. Two areas of heavy rain moved across the Pittsburgh metro area causing some street flooding mainly due to poor drainage areas. Along with the heavy showers, the wind in some areas around the West End region caused several trees to fall, maybe due to the fact that the ground was very saturated from the recent rain in the last week.

At this time, several Special Weather Statements had already been issued to inform about high wind gusts up to 50mph and heavy rainfall that could potentially cause minor flooding and ponding on roads. A Flash Flood warning had been issued for the Pittsburgh Metro area to account for rapidly rising water on roads due to poor drainage. Certainly, severe weather is not very much expected to occur over western PA in late September, especially when the environment is not [capable] of even producing a thunderstorm with almost no instability. The velocity signatures seen on the radar were adequate enough for statements to be issued especially if funnel clouds were reported.

What's the difference between a funnel cloud and a tornado? A funnel cloud is when a rotating column of air does not make it to the ground and a tornado is a rotating column of air that extends from the cloud to the ground. It can't be certain from the video above that the funnel cloud actually made it to the ground due to certain obstructions. The storm survey will give a better indication of what happened and whether the damage done was caused by a tornado or a microburst (rapidly sinking air producing wind damage that is similar to, but distinguishable from, tornadoes)."

Below are radar images of the Washington County, Pa., tornado. The storm was a small supercell with rotation as shown on radar. A supercell is a type of storm that has rotating winds. Tornadoes usually come from supercell storms.

The two images to the left show the wind fields. Wind fields show weather the winds are moving toward or away from the radar. The reddish dots show strong winds.

The top right image is the radar data. The bottom right is an image showing where the strongest wind rotation is in the storm.

Source: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/western-pennsylvania-tornado/80695

bobby brown arrested the happening jennifer lawrence black panthers mauritania mark sanchez obama open mic

One Connect programme launched in Marine Parade Cluster

SINGAPORE - Private estate residents in the Marine Parade cluster, which includes Marine Parade GRC, Mountbatten SMC and Potong Pasir SMC, will now have a one-stop hotline to help deal with municipal issues such as drainage and cleanliness.

The programme, called 'One Connect, was launched in the cluster this morning by Acting Minister Tan Chuan-Jin. He was joined by grassroots advisors for the area Mr Seah Kian Peng, Mr Lim Biow Chuan and Ms Tin Pei Ling at the event.

The programme will provide residents with a hotline which will help connect them to the relevant Government agencies, an issue which many residents in the area had difficulty with before this service, according to Mr Willie Ho who will head the task force.

The 'One Connect' programme was first rolled out to Ang Mo Kio GRC, Sengkang West SMC and Moulmein-Kallang GRC in July this year.

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120930-0000026/One-Connect-programme-launched-in-Marine-Parade-Cluster

Heptathlon London 2012 shot put London 2012 Track And Field Jordyn Wieber michael phelps Kerri Strug Ledecky

FEMA flood mapping back in the news

By Jeri Packer, Staff Writer

?http://www.voicenews.com/articles/2012/09/22/news/doc5059f48a08cbb608060259.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Hurricane Isaac hit Louisiana at the end of August at almost 80 miles per hour, spread out over an area 200 miles wide, the National Hurricane Center reported. It reached shore the evening before the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The hurricane center said a storm surge, which is a wall made up of accumulated water that a storm pushes ahead of itself, was almost nine feet in Louisiana. Not Katrina?s 15 to 20 feet, but a very real threat to the region.

How those numbers translate to the communities on the Great Lakes would be the same as comparing apples to oranges.

Chuck Miller, president of the Harsens Island St. Clair Flats Association, has been active in opposing FEMAs skewed numbers for years.

?Their prior models relied on a hurricane-driven storm surge and wave conditions in salt water along the Gulf coast, not Great Lakes fresh water environments,? said Miller.

Community leader Artie Bryson, and possibly the next Clay Township supervisor come November, said the only similarity between flood insurance premiums paid out in St. Clair County and those in Louisiana is they both are being used in the southern region of the country.

?It?s a money grab to help fund the cleanup down south,? he said. ?That?s a lot of money going out of the county.?

Bryson said FEMA pulled over $32 million out of St. Clair County in premiums and only brought in about $1.5 million in FEMA relief.

?And that was for tornadoes, not flooding,? he added.

When FEMA began re-defining the flood zones for Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River, it put hundreds of homes in the flood zone that earlier were not. This made homeowners responsible for purchasing flood insurance required by mortgage companies and mandated by federal law.

If a resident?s elevation certificate showed they were out of the flood elevation zone, they were then required to send a letter of map amendment, called a LOMA, to formally ask to have their home removed from the flood plain. To add insult to injury, homeowners were not reimbursed for the surveyor to document that they were not in the flood plain or for the unneeded insurance premiums they had been paying.

A big campaign was launched, headed up by leaders, including U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller, then-State Rep. Phil Pavlov, then-Clay Township Supervisor Jay DeBoyer and Chuck Miller.

After all that, FEMA announced it was going to remap the region using more sophisticated, hence more accurate, instruments.

?I am in favor of authorizing FEMA to use the new method of digitizing the old, outdated maps with state of the art satellite technology,? said Congresswoman Miller in an earlier interview. ?The real issue is the federal government needs to get out of the insurance business.?

Chuck Miller said he?s concerned that no new monitoring stations have been installed by FEMA in the Lake St. Clair region and believes some of the data from other existing stations remains ?questionable.?

?I am not optimistic that the ?outcome? will be any different in 2014 than it was in 2010,? he said. ?FEMA has the technical fire power of the entire Corps of Engineers at their disposal on the taxpayers? dime. To effectively argue their conclusions, we the people must marshal a cadre of quality scientific experts of our own? The cost will probably be significant and require real incisive leadership from our elected officials. The deck is stacked against us.?

Bryson said, from what he has heard, the state of Michigan is not required to be part of the National Flood Insurance Program. But, if it does pull out, the flood insurance rates are doubled.

?It looks like the mortgage companies are in bed with FEMA,? he said.

A few years back, a local surveying company, Project Control Engineering, found that 80 percent of the homes they surveyed in the Clay Township and Algonac area were out of the flood zone. President John R. Monte said it cost these homeowners more than $200 to document their home?s location outside the flood plain so they could avoid unnecessary flood insurance premiums.

St. Clair County Commissioner Bill Gratopp agrees that Michigan premiums are being spent outside the state. He said he and other officials are ?keeping an eye on? what the federal agency is doing at every level, he said. He and Commissioner Geof Donaldson attend the regular FEMA Discovery Meetings to keep informed, he said.

FEMA officials put together an extensive form for community leaders to fill out to help contribute the data they need for the flood zone mapping. Called the ?Community discovery coastal data request form,? participants were asked to fill them out to help FEMA in obtaining coastal-specific data for their communities for the Great Lakes Coastal Flood Study.

The introduction on the form read: ?It will provide important information to help FEMA understand coastal flood risk issues in your community and to work with you in increasing your community?s resilience to coastal flooding through implementation of the Risk MAP program.?

FEMA requested detailed information, like base map data that included topography, building footprints, parcel data and tax assessor?s data. The discovery form also requested information on coastal data, historical flood data and risk assessment, flood mitigation information and community plans and projects.

The form was also used to prepare participants for the Discovery Meetings scheduled for St. Clair County.

?This discussion will allow us to better identify local coastal flood hazard needs and subsequent Risk MAP regulatory and non-regulatory products and datasets that can be delivered during the Risk MAP project,? the data request form stated.

Contact Jeri Packer at (586) 716-8100, ext 302; jeri.packer@voicenews.com or on Twitter @JeriPacker.

Source: http://candice-miller.com/2012/09/28/fema-flood-mapping-back-in-the-news/

x factor results the hobbit movie trailer xfactor frankincense cloudy with a chance of meatballs the hobbit movie hanukkah

Social Media Harvesting Communications Connections for the ...

The marriage of agriculture and social media likely conjures up images of crop seeding on Farmville, but socially savvy agribusinesses are proving that the connection runs much deeper than the popular Zynga game.

A 2011 study by the American Farm Bureau Federation revealed that of the 98% of farmers and ranchers ages 18-25 who have internet access, 76% of them use social media. The agribusiness industry often gets a bad rep for being ?behind the times,? an assumption that couldn?t be further from the truth. In reality, agribusinesses have taken social media by storm as a channel that is revolutionizing both B2B and B2C communications for the industry.

Education a Key Driver

The agribusiness social media movement is in part due to the efforts of groups like the AgChat Foundation whose mission is to ?empower farmers and ranchers to connect communities through social media platforms.?

The Foundation serves as an educational resource designed to equip farmers and ranchers with the necessary skill set to engage with both businesses and consumers via social channels. The Foundation?s website is full of useful tips and information that can benefit anyone from Twitter newcomers to blogging veterans looking for a new ways to use social media to interact with fellow farmers and consumers alike.

The takeaway is that sometimes it isn?t a resistance to technology that keeps a group or industry out of social media, but rather a lack of knowledge of how to productively use digital outreach for tangible business benefits. Marketers working in notoriously non-social media-friendly industries can learn from the way AgChat has made social channels not only accessible, but as a means for focused outreach.

Compelling Chats

One way the AgChat Foundation is working to get people talking is through weekly #AgChats on Twitter, held Tuesdays from 8 to 10 p.m. Eastern time. These chats have seen more than 2,000 participants from seven countries and four continents.

#AgChat is moderated by a different agricultural professional each week, with recent chats being led by industry leaders like prime rib and hamburger farmer Darin Grimm (@kansfarmer) and #AgChat founder and agriculture advocate Michele Payn-Knoper (@mpaynknoper). #AgChat serves as a helpful forum to share stories, discuss the future, and learn more about the status of current issues.

From an agribusiness marketing perspective, joining these Twitter chats provides participants great insight into the industry, and also gives farmers a chance to prove their thought leadership in a public forum. For farmers trying to build their businesses, looking into moderating, or even just participating in these chats can be a great way to network within the field and gain respect and recognition from peers, a lesson that certainly transcends the agricultural industry.

Kickstarting Digital Development

Beyond the blogosphere and Twitterverse, farmers have tapped into other marketing channels to raise awareness for their causes. Maryland?s largest organic farm, One Straw Farm, has taken to Kickstarter as a way to harness digital influence and online fundraising for the development of two mobile apps.

The first app would provide a way for farmers to communicate with consumers on a weekly basis throughout the harvest season, while the second app would assist farmers with keeping records. No enterprise is immune from the need for record-keeping, and for an industry where the bulk of time is spent in the field (literally), this app would alleviate issues with recording procedures by enabling farmers to update their records from anywhere.

While, unfortunately, One Straw Farm?s campaign has fallen short of its fundraising goals, a simple search for ?farm? on Kickstarter shows that numerous other agribusinesses are having success using the platform to raise funds for farm-related business endeavors. Even when a campaign fails to reach its fundraising goal, Kickstarter is still a valuable platform for increasing visibility of a business as a whole.

Personal Connections

The media onslaught condemning the use of ?pink slime? has made clear the growing focus on the farm-to-table movement, giving those in agribusiness yet another reason to turn to social media.

Ecotrust?s desire to connect professional buyers and sellers is what sparked the creation of its popular social networking platform FoodHub. FoodHub?s purpose is to provide an online community that connects farmers and ranchers with buyers and distributors. With this connection, buyers (who can range from chefs to school dining service directors) can easily obtain background information and stories about specific farmers and ranchers, and their operations.

While the network is currently only available in the westernU.S., FoodHub presents a great opportunity for all types of buyers to capitalize on the farm-to-table movement by hand-picking the farmers and ranchers they want to work with.

In addition to using platforms like FoodHub, farmers are also using social media on a personal basis to tell their farm?s story, give updates during the harvest season, promote upcoming farmers? markets, answer consumer questions and more.

Self-described ?Farm Girl? Erin Ehnle has spent all of her 20 years living on a farm, and now uses multiple social media platforms to share her experiences. Part-photographer, part-writer, and full-fledged farmer, Erin shares stories about her family?s central Illinois farm with more than 13,000 Facebook fans and a loyal blog following. Through photos, tweets, infographics, Pinterest, heartfelt blog entries and sharing informative articles,Erin proves the value of social outreach for farmers and small business owners alike.

Far beyond Farmville, agribusinesses are taking their experiences from farm to Facebook, showing that social media plays an important role in the industry?s B2B and B2C communications. By prioritizing the education of farmers and ranchers on the merits of embracing digital communications, the agriculture community has quickly taken advantage of social media to conduct outreach on a budget.

# # #

?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Carolyn Baumgarten is the community manager for SociaLogic, a Chicago-based full-service social media marketing agency and sister firm of the full-service creative advertising agency Plan B.? Carolyn has extensive social media experience in multiple industries including the arts, environment and entertainment. SociaLogic works with brands to create a forward-thinking social media culture throughout their enterprise ? one that can be tracked, monitored, and measured. The agency creates integrated campaigns and custom content designed to get everyone talking about and interacting with brands via an expanding number of consumer touchpoints. Additional information is available at SociaLogicMarketing.com.

Source: http://socialmediatoday.com/socialogic/851351/social-media-harvesting-communications-connections-agriculture-industry

miss america 2012 hgtv dream home patriots vs broncos contraband denver vs new england denver broncos vs new england patriots cruise ship sinking

Review: 'Life of Pi' Doesn't Quite Reach the Sublime ? | Film.com

?Who trusted God was love indeed/And love Creation?s final law/Tho? Nature red in tooth and claw/With ravine shriek?d against his creed? ? Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

?I?m on a Boat? ? Foursquare.?

Talk about high expectations. ?This story will make you believe in God,? narrator Irrfan Khan promises listener Rafe Spall. The former, a relaxed, middle-aged man with sadness in his eyes, making some lunch in his nondescript Canadian home. The latter, a blocked novelist following a tip on a tale too good not to write about (and, perhaps, too good to be true.)

We open in Pondicherry, a former French section of India, and its colors and architecture burst off the screen. Director Ang Lee uses every corner of the frame to create an outstanding tapestry of images, quickly assuaging any fears that the use of 3-D is an exhibitor?s cash grab. (Most will agree this is the best use of stereo since Martin Scorsese?s ?Hugo,? or, perhaps, ever.) Our young hero is named Piscine Patel, named for a particularly gorgeous French swimming pool, but after schoolyard torments he changes his name to Pi.

He ceremonial self-appellation, math jokes included, is one of a number of marvelous, joyous sequences in the emotionally resonant first act. The Patel family owns a zoo, and this closeness to animals is a part of Pi?s upbringing. Pondicherry is a diverse neighborhood, so he?s exposed not only to his inherited Hinduism, but Catholicism and Islam, as well. He is a boy that is receptive to the notion of God, but cannot choose which faith to go with. He, therefore, takes aspects of them all, to the mild consternation of his secular humanist father.

Pi?s childhood faith-shopping is quite beautiful and respectful, and something quite under-discussed in cinema. Some may question what this lengthy prologue has to do with the bulk of the film, but, tonally, it is key to setting the course of the story.

The Patel family?s finances force them to pull up stakes and sail for Canada, taking their zoo animals with them. Pi, a teenager now, and a little bit defiant, allows his sense of invincibility to take him out to the ship?s deck during a major storm. Turns out this works in his favor, as he is one of the few creatures to survive. He finds himself on a lifeboat with an injured zebra, an orangutan, a rat, an angry hyena and the gorgeous and regal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

The tiger?s name is explained in the story, but it is actually a reference to well known victims/survivors of shipwrecks. Eventually, it is just the two of them in the boat, well, the three of them, if you count God, and you should, as ?Life of Pi? is one of the more vehemently pro-faith films you?ll see that doesn?t star Kirk Cameron.

The God of ?Life of Pi? is tough to pin down. One image of Pi in silhouette against the magic hour sky as he shouts ?No!? to the fighting beasts is a postcard from Deist thought. There are no loaves, but man are there multiplying (and flying!) fishes. But the bulk of the picture studies the Hindu belief of animals having souls. The way Lee photographs Richard Parker?s deep, penetrating eyes leaves little doubt, but there?s enough fight in the film and its portrayal of animal instinct and indifference to let the opposing view make its case.

Pi and Richard Parker have the standard survivalist struggles, variants of those you can find in everything from ?Mutiny on the Bounty? to Peter Weir?s ?The Way Back.? The spin here is Lee?s visual exuberance and alacrity. Unlike ?127 Hours,? there are few cutaways into Pi?s mind, making Lee?s achievement perhaps even more extraordinary. There isn?t a dull moment in the film, and there are about 300 worthy of a ?wow.?

Unfortunately, much of the dialogue (both spoken or narrated) is a tad too earnest for my taste. When moments of levity do come they are as welcome as a pail of rainwater at sea. ?Life of Pi? is also one of those movies that has to end by telling you what a great movie you saw. This device works in, say, Milos Forman?s ?Amadeus,? because, yes, that is indeed a thick, juicy story with outrageous characters and fascinating reversals. ?Life of Pi? is a gorgeously filmed, fictional tone poem about a guy and a tiger on a boat thinking about God. Not quite the same.

Though I consider myself a secular humanist, I don?t begrudge or shun artists of faith who put their devotion into their work. I?ll cite Denys Arcand?s ?Jesus of Montreal? and Xavier Beauvois? ?Of Gods of Men? as two films I adore, and those are just the ones in French. ?Life of Pi,? however, doesn?t quite reach a sublime level. At the third act twist, where things become a bit fantastic, it comes apart, and then ultimately whimpers off like a drenched cat. The flat ending is quite a letdown, especially in comparison to just how much the rest of the film resonates.

If you come to ?Life of Pi? looking for answers, I think you will be very disappointed. (Or, if you do find answers, you are a very easy mark.) As filmmaking, however, it is a knockout, and there are moments, one in particular only a jerk would spoil, that should be included in every ?iconic images in cinema? moments for the rest of time. In short, get on the boat and drift a while.

Grade: B+

?

Categories: Movies, Reviews

Tags: ang lee, life of pi, Life of Pi

Source: http://www.film.com/movies/review-life-of-pi-2012

city creek center andrew luck pro day josh johnson kim kardashian flour matt forte jeremy shockey new orleans saints

Solatium Academy

A hidden school for anything not human? It's an elementary, jr. high, high school, and college in one? Haha, like such a thing could exist... Right?

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Solatium Academy?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

---

---

Post a reply

RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.

If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.

Who is online

Registered users: AceofSpade, Addrinvan, Ahri*, aipsylon*, akashi*, Alexander Hamilton, Angel's Whisper, Aniihya*, Arch_Demon666*, arteech0kee, AshleighC, Augustinsect*, Blazewind*, blondy45, Breyerluv, Bromander Shepard*, CaesarTheSeventh, Calvazara, Carcino, CherrySwirl*, Child of the Winged*, Chuckles, cirrus_sd, ColeMaibara, Colonel_Masters, DA_SHADOW_PHOENIX*, Dark Star*, dig17*, draketemple*, DuskFire35*, Dwarf*, Exabot [Bot], FallenShadower*, Flexar*, Frozen Soul, FrozenShard*, Furry Dragon*, Gamer_Templar, Gasmask, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Google Feedfetcher, Hazezon*, Hinechan*, infernadragon*, jackrules158*, Jadeling Hawkins*, kexia, KitKit*, KittyKLL, KulasLightShadow*, Kyrie, Leli, Leon21, Little Troll*, Lufia*, macheteshark, MarchHare*, Marco Chain*, Mela, Memento-Mori*, Misdemeanor*, Miss_Dreamer*, Monochrome*, MSNbot Media, mummydove, MusicLover, NotAFlyingToy, Noxize, Patcharoo*, Porecomesis*, Princess Awinita*, Purpl3_Flam3s*, R3lly*, Raidose*, ReaperGirl4, RedWolfe*, Runika, S1mon*, Sage Akia*, sasha-jen*, Seirei*, shadereen*, ShadowsoftheNine*, Shan?*, Shaodow, shrubvera, smrtazz13, Snow, Sokka25*, Something?*, Steppin' Razor, TaniaSoulEater, Tanman*, TechScience*, TemplarWarden*, The Great Thundorz*, The Illusionist*, The*Lucky*Teacup, TheFlag*, Thorait*, tornadofan2*, TRUE-ASSASSIN, Tsukiakari*, Verum Umbra, WalterF, WhySoSerious?*, wolfoftheage*, yuri-chan1018, Zammy*

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/MEqL8LrnQso/viewtopic.php

lamichael james lamichael james derrick rose acl earthquake los angeles unemployment 2012 nfl draft grades

Movie review: Not many laughs in 'Hotel Transylvania' | The Salt ...

This film image released by Sony pictures shows Dracula, voiced by Adam Sandler, left, and Johnnystein, voiced by Andy Samberg in a scene from "Hotel Transylvania." (AP Photo/Sony Pictures)

Does everything Adam Sandler touch these days turn to crap? Even when he?s a voice in a cartoon, as in "Hotel Transylvania," Sandler?s one-take, everything-I-say-is-funny attitude spoils the fun.

Sandler provides the voice to Count Dracula, here a worried single dad who has built an exclusive resort hotel that caters to human-fearing monsters and provides a haven for Drac?s daughter, Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez). For her 118th birthday, Mavis wants to spread her bat wings and see the world from which Dracula has shielded her.

?

HH

?Hotel Transylvania?

Opens Friday, Sept. 28, at theaters everywhere; rated PG for some rude humor, action and scary images; 91 minutes. For more movie reviews, visit nowsaltlake.com/movies.

As her birthday party gets rolling, a stray human hiker, Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg, Sandler?s "That?s My Boy" co-star), wanders into the hotel, and Dracula works to keep him from scaring the monstrous guests. (Any similarity between this plot and Pixar?s "Monsters, Inc." is, no doubt, coincidental.)

Director Genndy Tartakovsky (the creator of "Dexter?s Laboratory" and "Samurai Jack") keeps the computer animation lively, with some inventive touches and a constantly moving camera view to highlight the 3-D effects.

The voice casting is uninspired, as Sandler assembles his cadre of buddies (Kevin James voicing Frankenstein, David Spade as the Invisible Man, Steve Buscemi as the Wolfman) for recording sessions that were probably more fun for them than they are for us.

movies@sltrib.com; nowsaltlake.com/movies

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/54964388-223/sandler-hotel-dracula-iframe.html.csp

the fray national anthem dallas tornado ncaa basketball oikos kentucky wildcats oakland school shooting nike nfl jerseys

Daytrading, Stock Trading, Investing and Forex Trading ? What We ...

As you enter the stock exchange, you may notice that there are a good deal of fine quality investments available for you and with this, you can right away turn your little investment into a massive fortune in a short time period. In the present years, market daytrading has been fast rising in appreciation and plenty of individuals became keen to bet with it. Nevertheless for you to make this occur, you want to meticulously understand the law of demand and supply to be able to think up secrets that may work for your own benefit. A good goal for you is to have 3 times more profit in place than what your maximum amount you are prepared to lose actually is. If you are new to stock exchange day-trading these are some things to help get going.

When it is slowing down and you spot that there are not as many customers, that's when you would like to sell. One zone of weakness for many with stock option daytrading is knowing when to get out. Don?t hold out thinking you can squeeze bigger profits out of it or you might finish up losing money at the end. While margins for most traders are generally around half of the worth in traders account, day traders can face levels as low as twenty five percent. This indicates that a trader can by we could say, $1000 worth of stock from an account of only $250. Tips for surviving and flourishing as a stock trader The 5 most typical secrets adopted by day traders who attempt to make are profit are * Trend following ? utilised by all trading firms this tactic presupposes that stocks that having been constantly increasing may continue to rise. * Playing reports ? this plan of action is to buy stock in a company that has just reported excellent news * Range Trading ? here's where stock which has been rising and falling is purchased close to the low price and sold as it hits the serious price range. Refusing to endure and correctly handle trades that do not work leads to trading blunders. It's the lack of ability to deal with the inescapable losing trade that causes traders to chop winning trades short, move stops in the middle of a trade, cling on to losing trades, average down, and fail to pull on the trigger on sound trade setups. Learning how to accept and cope with trading loss could be equally as important as making good trades.

You want to gain from the loss ( that's its price ), so get it down. Include how you viewed the market at the time and the way the market action and your signals seemed to meet the standards for a sound trade set up. So what does the ?true? jobless rate look like, when you dump the seasonal corrections, and you consider ALL classes of jobless and underemployed employees? How does 18.0% sound to you? That is right, the non-seasonally altered, ?true? jobless rate, including ALL classes of the un- or under-employed, is an enormous 18.0%. Guage the trade : Once the trading day is over, return to what you wrote and see what can be learned. And it increased by 0.9% from December 2009! That is miles away from the 9.7% released by the govt.

The information released earlier in the month would prefer you to believe the economy must be improving. Hopefully it is not something that malign. But if you glance at the real information, how could you doubtless decide that? How could you actually believe, after critically considering this info, the Economy is headed in the correct direction? So that the question then becomes, WHY does the governing body work out and release the information in this format? Are they intentionally deceiving the U.S.

Source: http://traders101.com/2012/09/27/what-we-should-ask-ourselves-daytrading-2/

gotye divine mercy cabin in the woods the legend of korra three stooges the three stooges the bee gees

RIM refutes reports of subscriber losses, says people are still buying BlackBerry phones

'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"US"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"2145480762","ps":"LREC,MON","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'c89c1653-1a8d-3bd8-b9a4-724efd065ea9\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a077000000IqVvZAAV\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'2299500;2319500\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}'),"em_orig":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'c89c1653-1a8d-3bd8-b9a4-724efd065ea9\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a077000000IqVvZAAV\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'2299500;2319500\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}')}}};var _createNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);var nodeHTML;if(center && !node){nodeHTML=_conf.nodes[nId];center.insert(nodeHTML);};};};var _prepareNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-ad-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);if(center && node){center.set("innerHTML","");center.insert(node);node.setStyle("display","block");};};};var _darla;var _config=function(){if(YAHOO.ads.darla){_darla = YAHOO.ads.darla;_createNodes();};};var _fetch=function(spaceid,adssa,ps){ if (typeof(ps)!='undefined') _conf.events.fetch.ps = ps;if(typeof spaceid != "undefined") _conf.events.fetch.sp=spaceid;adssa = (typeof adssa != "undefined" && adssa != null) ? escape(adssa.replace(/\"/g, "'")) : "";_conf.events.fetch.em=_conf.events.fetch.em_orig.replace("ADSSA", adssa);if(_darla){_prepareNodes();_darla.setConfig(_conf);_darla.event("fetch");};};Y.on("domready", function(){_config();});;var that={"fetch":_fetch,"getNodes":_conf.nodes,"getConf":_conf};return that;}();/* Backwards compatibility - Assigning the latest instance to the main fetch function */YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.fetch=YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.photoslightboxdarla.fetch; }); Y.later(10, this, function() {YAHOO.namespace('Media.Social').Lightbox = {}; }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.Media.Article.init(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.AuthorBadge(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.Branding(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.on("load", function () { YUI.namespace("Media.SocialButtons"); var instances = YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances || [], globalConf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.conf || {}, vplContainers = []; Y.all(".ymsb").each(function (node) { var id = node.get("id"), conf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.configs[id], instance; if (conf) { instance = new Y.SocialButtons({ srcNode: node, config: Y.merge(globalConf, conf.config || {}), contentMetadata: conf.content || {}, tracking: conf.tracking || {} }); vplContainers.push( { selector: "#" + id, callback: function(node) { instance.render(); instance = conf = id = null; } }); if (conf.config && conf.config.dynamic) { instances.push(instance); } } }); Y.Global.Media.ViewportLoader.addContainers(vplContainers); YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances = instances; }); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(Y.Photos && Y.Photos.LightboxModule) { var lightbox5fa156bb79d986fcfdde8c936737c5d0 = new Y.Photos.LightboxModule('{"spaceid":"2145480762","ult_pt":"story-lightbox","darla_id":"","images_total":0,"xhr_url":"/_xhr/related-article/lightbox/?id=c89c1653-1a8d-3bd8-b9a4-724efd065ea9","xhr_count":20,"autoplay_if_first_item_is_video":true}',[],{"spaceid":"2145480762","total":1,"photoby":"Photo By","xhrtype":"slideshow","slideshow_id":null,"slideshow_title":null,"slideshow_title_baked_html":null,"slideshow_desc":null,"slideshow_rev":null,"slideshow_plink_vita":null,"photos":[{"type":"image","url":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/lXKfD97wrnFRfUKwVm4UZA--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zNjY7cT04NTt3PTY1Mg--\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_US\/News\/BGR_News\/rim-blackberry-sign-97.jpeg","width":652,"height":366,"uuid":"bd9355af-9c08-3b91-8254-e758ffe42027","caption":"RIM refutes reports of subscriber losses, says people are still buying BlackBerry phones","captionBakedHtml":"

RIM refutes reports of subscriber losses, says people are still buying BlackBerry phones","date":"Fri, Aug 10, 2012 3:20 PM EDT","credit":null,"byline":null,"provider":"BGR News","photo_title":"RIM refutes reports of subscriber losses, says people are still buying BlackBerry phones","pivot_alias_id":"rim-lay-off-3-000-employees-starting-next-photo-190814804","plink":"\/photos\/rim-lay-off-3-000-employees-starting-next-photo-190814804.html","plink_vita":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/photos\/rim-lay-off-3-000-employees-starting-next-photo-190814804.html","srchtrm":"RIM refutes reports of subscriber losses, says people are still buying BlackBerry phones","revsp":"","rev":"68d08460-e320-11e1-bfbf-74e8b863aaa8","surl":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/dktJVEHdQ3EhqSnsXHBdRQ--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD01NjtxPTg1O3c9MTAw\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_US\/News\/BGR_News\/rim-blackberry-sign-97.jpeg","swidth":100,"sheight":56}]}); } if(Y.Photos && Y.Photos.LightboxModule) { if (lightbox5fa156bb79d986fcfdde8c936737c5d0.checksupport() !== false) { var lightbox_div = Y.one('.lightbox5e90cd496df63db1de2208216d6250f1'); if (lightbox_div !== null) { lightbox_div.on('click', function(e) { e.preventDefault(); lightbox5fa156bb79d986fcfdde8c936737c5d0.slideShow(e, 'bd9355af-9c08-3b91-8254-e758ffe42027'); }); } } } }); Y.later(10, this, function() {YUI.namespace("Media.Article.Lead"); YUI.Media.Article.Lead.config = { playerUrl : 'http://d.yimg.com/nl/ynews/site/player.swf', autoPlay : 0 }; }); Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.RelatedArticle({count:"2",start:"1", mod_total:"10", total:"1", content_id:"c89c1653-1a8d-3bd8-b9a4-724efd065ea9", spaceid:"2145480762", related_count:"-1" }); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function(d){ d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(d.createElement('script')).src='http://d.yimg.com/oq/js/csc_news-en-US-core.js'; })(document); }); Y.later(10, this, function() { if(!("Media" in YAHOO)){YAHOO.Media = {};} if(!("ugcrate" in YAHOO.Media)){YAHOO.Media.ugcrate = {};} if(!("Media" in Y)){Y.namespace("Media");} YAHOO.Media.ugcrate.ratings_58bba3c72e99dd4d5f9c98587f7a5329 = new Y.Media.UgcRate({"context_id":"0b9243e1-31dc-47b6-8465-59893ae147c6","sCrumb":"","containerId":"yom-sentimentrate-58bba3c72e99dd4d5f9c98587f7a5329","rateDimensions":"d1","appLang":"en-US","sUltSId":"2145480762","sUltProperty":"news-en-US","sUltCampaign":"","sUltPlatform":"ugcwidgets","sUltIntl":"US","sUltLang":"en-US","selfPageUrl":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/rim-refutes-reports-subscriber-losses-says-people-still-190543411.html?_esi=0","artContentId":"c89c1653-1a8d-3bd8-b9a4-724efd065ea9","sUltQstnTxt":"Are you considering purchasing the Windows 8 phone?","artContentTitle":"RIM refutes reports of subscriber losses, says people are still buying BlackBerry phones","artContentDesc":"Struggling Canadian smartphone vendor Research In Motion (RIMM) is widely expected to post its third consecutive quarterly loss on Thursday after the market closes. Following the company\u2019s dismal first fiscal quarter report in which it said it lost $0.37 per share and announced plans to lay off 5,000 workers, RIM is expected to post a wider loss of $0.45 per share for the second quarter. As the company struggles to survive until next year when it will finally release its first BlackBerry 10 smartphones, a pleasant surprise emerged during Tuesday\u2019s BlackBerry Jam conference: RIM isn\u2019t losing subscribers. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins revealed during his keynote presentation that the company\u2019s total global subscriber base grew\u00a0to 80 million users last quarter. RIM","sUltBucketId":"test1","sUltSection":"sentirating","sUltBeaconUrl":"","sUltRecordPageviews":"1","sUltBeaconEnable":"1","serviceUrl":"\/_xhr","publisherContextId":"","propertyId":"2fcd79b5-b3a3-333e-b98e-722536a6698f","configurationId":"435db9ee-c55e-3766-b20d-c8ad3ff889d1","graphId":"","labelLeft":"No way!","labelRight":"I can\\'t wait!","labelMiddle":"","itemimg":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/a\/i\/ww\/met\/yahoo_logo_us_061509.png","selfURI":"","aggregateRatingCount":"39126","aggregateReviewCount":"0","leftBlocksNum":"33800","rightBlocksNum":"5326","leftBlocksPerCent":"86","rightBlocksPerCent":"14","ugcrate_apihost":"api01-us.ugcl.yahoo.com:4080","publisher_id":"news-en-US","yca_cert":"yahoo.ugccloud.app.trusted_proxies","timeout_write":"5000","through_proxy":"false","optionStats":"{\"s1\":26397,\"s2\":1865,\"s3\":1632,\"s4\":2055,\"s5\":1851,\"s6\":5326,\"s7\":0,\"s8\":0,\"s9\":0,\"s10\":0}","l10N":"{\"FIRST_TO_READ\":\"You are first to read this. Share your feelings and start a conversation.\",\"SHARE_YOUR_FEELINGS\":\"You too can share your feelings and start a conversation!\",\"HOW_YOUR_FRIENDS_THINK\":\"Thank you for sharing your feeling on this article!\",\"PRE_SHARE_MSG\":\"Your Facebook friends on Yahoo! can see how you responded to this question. To share your response on Facebook, click on the Facebook share option.\",\"START_THE_CONVERSATION\":\"Start the Conversation\",\"THANKS_FOR_SHARING\":\"Sure, that's how you feel... But what do your friends think?\",\"POLL_HEADER\":\"SOCIAL SENTIMENT\",\"SERVER_ERROR\":\"Oops there seems to be some error, please try again later\",\"LOADING\":\"Loading...\",\"SHARE_AFTER_COMMENT\":\"Your response has been shared on Facebook.\",\"UNDO\":\"Undo\",\"UNIT_PEOPLE\":\"People\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_DISAGREE\":\"disagree with your opinion.\",\"READ_MORE_TEXT\":\"Read what they have to say.\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"WHAT DO YOU THINK?\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_VERB_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"DRAG\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_THANKS_VOTING\":\"Thanks for voting\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 39,126 people have answered this question\",\"ONE_PERSON_ANSWERED\":\" 1 person has answered this question\",\"TWO_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 2 people have answered this question\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s1\":26397,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s2\":1865,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s3\":1632,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s4\":2055,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s5\":1851,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s6\":5326,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s7\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s8\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s9\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s10\":0}","fbconfig":"{\"message\":\"undefined\",\"name\":\"undefined\",\"link\":\"\",\"source\":\"\",\"picture\":\"http:\\\/\\\/l.yimg.com\\\/a\\\/i\\\/ww\\\/news\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/27\\\/yahoo-tc.jpg\",\"description\":\"\",\"captionLeft\":\"undefined\",\"captionRight\":\"undefined\",\"app_id\":\"196660913708276\",\"redirect_uri\":\"\\\/_xhr\\\/ugcratefbredirect\\\/\"}","template_id":"LONG_SLIDER_SOUTH","obj_id":"ratings_58bba3c72e99dd4d5f9c98587f7a5329","opt_count":"6","opt_color1":"","opt_color2":"","template_html":"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rim-refutes-reports-subscriber-losses-says-people-still-190543411.html

game of thrones season 2 wrestlemania 28 dierks bentley kenny chesney blake shelton academy of country music awards brad paisley

5 Tips To Bounce Back From A Breakup [EXPERT] | CEO Marcia ...

Ready to bounce back?

Boost your resiliency with these five tips!

Join American's Dream Coach Marcia Wieder on our Facebook page Thursday, September 27 at 2 p.m. EST to ask all of your questions about love, life and loss!

Resilience won't get rid of the heartbreak, but it will help you cope with the loss ? whether it's a break up, death, end of a friendship, job loss or any other setback you might experience. If you look deep within yourself, you can find the power to deal with your inner-ache and bounce back stronger and smarter.

How will it make you smarter? Because every time we face a challenging situation, we come away with knowledge and experience to cope better the next time. While it may seem futile during your heartbreak, afterwards, you can take comfort in the fact that you are growing emotionally as a person.

It's possible to obstruct the grieving process by ignoring your true feelings. Grief is the appropriate response to loss as is experiencing the natural realm of emotions; anger, sorrow and pain are an integral part of healing.

The important thing is that you continue to function physically and psychologically. Building resilience isn't about dealing with things on your own. As a matter of fact, asking for support from others is a critical way in which we improve the resiliency of our emotions. How Having Faith Can Help You Find True Love [EXPERT]

A bump in the road of your love life doesn't have to break you. These five tips for building personal resilience can be your guide to an easier healing process:

1. Find comfort in the discomfort. Allow yourself to feel. Experience the full gamut of emotions during your loss without any denial. Something important to you ended and you need to acknowledge that without placing blame on anyone or anything, even yourself.

2. Take care of you. Eat healthy, get adequate sleep, exercise, hydrate and take the time to put yourself first. Pamper yourself without feeling guilty about it. Go out and do something just for YOU.

3. Learn from the experience. You need time to heal from your loss. This timeframe can be different for each situation and individual. Take this time to reflect on what went wrong (being honest to yourself is key) and what you can do next time to course-correct. Few things are as valuable as a lesson learned.

More breakup advice from YourTango Experts:

Want more expert advice?

Source: http://www.yourtango.com/experts/ceo-marcia-wieder/break-5-ways-boost-your-resiliency-expert

dancing with the stars modern family george strait green bay packers Lady Gaga New Girl Avalanna

Mozilla And The National Science Foundation Challenge Developers To Build ?Apps From The Future?

In June, Mozilla and the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the Mozilla Ignite challenge. During the first phase of this $500,000 challenge, the two organizations invited anybody to submit ideas for applications that could make use of ultra-fast, next-generation networks. These ideas had to be related to education, healthcare, public safety, clean energy, transportation, workforce development, and advanced manufacturing. Today, Mozilla and the NSF announced the eight winning ideas and launched the second phase of the program, which focuses on putting these ideas into reality.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/D87KQ7nQyK4/

ufc 144 james jones james jones aladdin black forest ufc 144 fight card ufc 144 results

Sennheiser announces U 320 gaming headset | Expert Reviews

Posted on 27 Sep 2012 at 16:18

Audio specialist Sennheiser has officially announced a new universal U 320 gaming headset, promising compatibility with the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, Mac and PC platforms.

Designed to provide comfort during extended gaming sessions, the U 320 uses an open-acoustic design to create a broader sound - an improvement over full closed-ear headphones - while the 'CircleFlex' soft-padded ear pads are designed to adjust automatically the the contour's of the listener's head. Weighing 284g and with a Frequency response rated at 15-23,000Hz, it's well equipped for gaming audio.

The built-in noise-cancelling microphone designed to cut out ambient sounds for improved recording clarity - a key feature of headsets designed for in-game voice chat - includes an automated mute function which kicks in when the microphone's boom-arm is raised. A volume control is included on the cable, providing control of both the earphone volume and the microphone volume, while a side-tone switch allows the player to monitor his or her voice while playing.

The headset's biggest feature is its promise of cross-platform compatibility. Unlike some gaming headsets, which need to be purchased for a specific platform, Sennheiser's U 320 is compatible with all major gaming platforms including the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and PC.

"The U 320 ensures the best conditions for enjoying your favourite game," Christian Ern, Sennheiser's product manager, said at the unveiling. "We've worked hard to develop a consistent sound, regardless of the platform, and believe that our efforts will contribute to players everywhere enjoying a better sound experience."

A 4m cable with 2.5mm connector for use with the Xbox should be long enough for most armchair gamers, a pair of RCA jacks for connection to a TV or games console and USB connectivity for the PlayStation 3, PC or Mac.

The Sennheiser U 320 is launching this month, priced at ?109.99.

Author: Gareth Halfacree

Source: http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/headphones/1294915/sennheiser-announces-u-320-gaming-headset

csco big bend national park leon russell meredith vieira prop 8 larry bird maria menounos

Dragster sets speed record with cheesy biofuel

2 hrs.

John Roach

A dragster powered by biofuel brewed from cheese-making waste has set a blistering land-speed record for a one liter, two cylinder engine of 64.4 miles per hour.?

?That, in that class, is fast,? Lance Seefeldt, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Utah State University, told NBC News on Tuesday.

Since no record existed for that size engine prior to Seefeldt's cruise down the Bonneville Salt Flats earlier this month, the the professor and his colleague first?set the ?record with petroleum-derived diesel.

?Then we backed it up with the biodiesel we made from the waste cheese process,? Seefeldt said.?

The waste is sugars that a yeast strain converts into oils that are then developed into biodiesel with a patent-pending procedure, he explained.

The team is also making biofuels with bacteria as well as microalgae, which convert carbon dioxide into fuel with energy from the sun.?

They?ve tested all three in the lab and found them to ?match commercial biodiesel in every way and, in some ways, they are even superior to petroleum diesel,? Seefeldt said.

For example, they burn cleaner and thus produce fewer air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, he said.

While the process to create the fuels is currently at the lab, proof-of-concept stage, the team can produce the yeast-derived version in gallon quantities.

That?s enough, they reckoned, to test the fuel in a small engine, so they built the Aggie-A-Salt dragster and raced at the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association?s 2012 World of Speed event.?

Check out the video below for raw footage from the speed test.

Now that the record is set, the team is back in the lab scaling up the bacteria and microalgae processes to produce enough fuel to race with them next summer.

?We want to run them head-to-head against each other at our top speeds, which we?re confident will be much faster next year,? Seefeldt said.

If all continues to go well, he added, the raw materials to produce these fuels at commercial scales is readily abundant.

The cheese factory where the team sources their waste material, for example, produces enough in a day for 66,000 gallons of fuel.

?You could multiply that across the country and different waste streams and, so it is infinitely scalable,? Seefeldt said.?

If the?technology is also able to compete in price with fossil fuels, then our future really could be cheesy.

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/dragster-sets-speed-record-cheesy-biofuel-1B6102915

joe avezzano kanye west theraflu joey votto the masters live mega millions winner holy thursday chris stewart

Computers match humans in understanding art

ScienceDaily (Sep. 25, 2012) ? Understanding and evaluating art has widely been considered as a task meant for humans, until now. Computer scientists Lior Shamir and Jane Tarakhovsky of Lawrence Technological University in Michigan tackled the question "can machines understand art?" The results were very surprising. In fact, an algorithm has been developed that demonstrates computers are able to "understand" art in a fashion very similar to how art historians perform their analysis, mimicking the perception of expert art critiques.

In the experiment, published in the recent issue of ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, the researchers used approximately 1,000 paintings of 34 well-known artists, and let the computer algorithm analyze the similarity between them based solely on the visual content of the paintings, and without any human guidance. Surprisingly, the computer provided a network of similarities between painters that is largely in agreement with the perception of art historians.

The analysis showed that the computer was clearly able to identify the differences between classical realism and modern artistic styles, and automatically separated the painters into two groups, 18 classical painters and 16 modern painters. Inside these two broad groups the computer identified sub-groups of painters that were part of the same artistic movements. For instance, the computer automatically placed the High Renaissance artists Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Michelangelo very close to each other. The Baroque painters Vermeer, Rubens and Rembrandt were also clustered together by the algorithm, showing that the computer automatically identified that these painters share similar artistic styles.

The automatic computer analysis is in agreement with the view of art historians, who associate these three painters with the Baroque artistic movement. Similarly, the computer algorithm deduced that Gauguin and C?zanne, both considered post-impressionists, have similar artistic styles, and also identified similarities between the styles of Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, and Giorgio de Chirico, all are considered by art historians to be part of the surrealism school of art. Overall, the computer automatically produced an analysis that is in large agreement with the influential links between painters and artistic movements as defined by art historians and critiques.

While the average non-expert can normally make the broad differentiation between modern art and classical realism, they have difficulty telling the difference between closely related schools of art such as Early and High Renaissance or Mannerism and Romanticism. The experiment showed that machines can outperform untrained humans in the analysis of fine art.

The experiment was performed by computing from each painting 4,027 numerical image context descriptors -- numbers that reflect the content of the image such as texture, color and shapes in a quantitative fashion. This allows the computer to reflect very many aspects of the visual content, and use pattern recognition and statistical methods to detect complex patterns of similarities and dissimilarities between the artistic styles and then quantify these similarities.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Lawrence Technological University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Lior Shamir, Jane A. Tarakhovsky. Computer analysis of art. Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 2012; 5 (2): 1 DOI: 10.1145/2307723.2307726

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/XEZiSaWwwBY/120926094546.htm

sturgis sturgis whitney houston laid to rest daytona bike week amazing race maya angelou mary kay ash

The Real Cost at the Pump

It is no secret to AltRight readers that diversity leaves a path of destruction wherever it rears its ugly head, but a less observed causal relationship of the heterogeneous utopia we now live in is the negative impact diversity has on family values. If family values are a cornerstone of viable liberal democracies, then multiculturalists have yet another weapon in their arsenal for razing America to the ground.

One of the earliest voices in American history advocating for the societal benefits of family values was Alexis de Tocqueville who believed the domestic hearth could instill morality into children and modulate the fevered materialism that infected democratic peoples:

?When the American retires from the turmoil of public life to the? bosom of his family, he finds in it the image of order and of peace. There his pleasures are simple and natural, his joys are innocent and calm; and as he finds that an orderly life is the surest path to happiness, he? accustoms himself easily to moderate his opinions as well as his tastes.?

Tocqueville?s admiration for the mores of family life is echoed by social scientists today who blame poverty,? crime, and moral depravity on the demise of the nuclear family unit and the subsequent decline of family values in society. However, the triumph of materialism in even the most? traditional? of? American? households? has? discredited? Tocqueville?s? assertion? that? the domestic hearth could serve as an effective bulwark against the insatiable desire of acquisition. Instead of impeding the market, the American family has been colonized by materialism and ultimately eroded by it from within.

Christopher Lasch has explained this invasion as the natural outcome of uniting materialism with egalitarianism.? In The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy, Lasch argues that "The? sentimental? veneration of motherhood,? even at the peak of its influence in the late nineteenth century, could never quite obscure the reality that unpaid labor bears the stigma of social inferiority when money becomes the universal measure of value. In the long run, women were? forced? into? the? workplace? not? only? because? their? families? needed? extra? income? but because paid labor seemed to represent their only hope of gaining equality with men.?

Egalitarianism has undoubtedly enhanced the impact of materialism on the female gender, but the? argument? that? women? are? fleeing? the? chains? of? motherhood? because? they? feel? like exploited labor is only a partial explanation for the deterioration of the traditional family. What Lasch casually mentions in passing may actually be more useful in terms of explanatory power: Women are forced into the workplace because their families need extra income.

Since the 1970s, only forty percent of all jobs in America have paid enough to support a family. Lasch? attributes this? to? ?the? collapse? of? the? family? wage? system,? under? which? American enterprise, in effect, invested in the single-income family as the best way of domesticating the working class and forestalling labor militancy.? Depressed real wages are certainly an important part of the equation, but labor politics alone do not account for the preponderance of working mothers in America. Consumerism, inflationary monetary policy, and rising gas prices have also made it extremely difficult for single-income families of all classes to meet their financial needs. Yet each of the aforementioned explanations pale in comparison to the unmentionable causal factor.

More than anything else, what has forced women from the home in search of extra income has been the increasing price at the pump for the vehicles of white flight. Diversity has spread to all corners of the country? which means escaping the perils of multiculturalism requires greater wealth than ever before. White families? need White mothers working so White families can afford to live in safe White neighborhoods and send their children to White and Asian schools and thereafter to White and Asian colleges so that they too can repeat? the? cycle of: Make enough money for my family to live removed from diversity.

The heavy financial burden that white flight places on American families has produced two significant? consequences. First,? the? transference of child fostering to institutional? day care centers which are incapable of acculturating children with family values. Next, the strategically low birthrates among Whites frantic to avoid the increased contact with minorities that large families with greater expenses are far more likely to have.? Peter Brimelow offers a similar analysis in Alien Nation when he says that illegal immigration must be understood as a cause of low birthrates among Americans rather than merely a consequence.

Understanding the relationship between diversity and low fertility rates requires little more than basic? arithmetic. Kids cost money. And if they cost too much money, the entire family suffers because? poverty no? longer means living in a safe working class neighborhood of solidarity and trust. It means living in a multicultural hellhole consumed by suspicion, intimidation, and? violence.? Strategically low birthrates are thus the common practice of responsible parents who limit their breeding to the number of children they? can afford to support in a life of self-segregation. The long-term impact of this strategy is producing an irreversible? demographic? metamorphosis? of? America.? Birthrates? of? Whites? will? continue? to decline in? response? to the increasing number of market-rejected diversity workers that are hired by the government and provided with salaries enabling them to penetrate all regions and layers? of? society.? Moreover,? the? expanding? number of immigrants in America will further diminish fertility rates among Whites and accelerate the deterioration of family values.

It is always amusing when forward thinking conservatives like Larry Kudlow argue that diversity actually increases family values because Hispanic immigrants will ?become a much-needed churchgoing blue-collar middle class . . . that is crucial to a healthy America.? The myth of Hispanic family values has been debunked even by neoconservative outlets like the National Review. What has not been given due consideration is that in addition to transporting harmful values into America, immigration is destroying the family values of Americans? by forcing responsible parents to breed? fewer children and spend less time at home so they can accumulate the funds necessary to subsidize the great white pilgrimage.

?

?

Source: http://www.alternativeright.com/main/blogs/malinvestments/the-real-cost-at-the-pump/

rajon rondo sunoco titanic ii babe ruth new jersey nets nba playoff schedule rondo

get a payday loan no checking account required - LiveJournal

How do you receive bank loan or even loan?

Rating Score :

A?proval : 95 %.

Get Cash in : 60 Minute.

Benefits : No fax , No credit check , Real fast money ... and more !

Based on your problem associated with house, job status as well as revenue, you are able to be entitled to that loan of up to $1500, and some creditors may give a maximum of $500. You will have a opportunity to observe how much you be eligible for prior to agreeing to any loan contract.

There's an important lawful big difference between a present along with a loan. A really generous relative or perhaps buddy may offer you $5000 for vehicle repairs, as an example. If there's no hope associated with repayment, the amount of money can be viewed as a present. The provider couldn't file suit with regard to payment after within a city suit. However, if the credit provider designates the amount of money like a bank loan and also the consumer pays back a buck, the cash can be viewed a real bank loan as well as the loan provider may need payment anytime. Little statements courts spend a lot of period determining no matter whether the deal which include money would be a present or loan. Because of this documents is essential when creating personal lending options to pals or even family.

The needs to get a loan are quite obvious. If you are employed, having a regular monthly income involving $800 or higher, this will let you bank-account, you fulfill the fundamental requirements. Some creditors within our network may have extra needs.

Cash financial products tend to be unsecured financial loans removed upon the following wage. Since they're short-term financial loans, they may be small; varying from $100 to $1500 and payment arrives in the next pay day. They could be very useful regarding conquering a brief financial urgent situation, however shouldn't be thought to be a long-term financial option.

fast payday loans no faxing

Many home loan programs are usually addressed by finance institutions or any other expert lenders. They may use a various conditions to find out if the potential client is actually skilled for a financial loan. Earlier credit score is nearly usually regarded, together with existing income as well as assets. The objective of the borrowed funds can be a good issue-a set up expense chance could have more appeal when compared with an misguided idea for any new restaurant. One particular essential consideration may be the revenue in order to debt ratio in the client. Can the customer manage to pay the bank loan back again interest? Professional loan companies generally 'sell' cash, consequently consumers must be aware simply how much funding truly 'costs' with regards to a real income.

Related topics:

Payday Advance Loans No Checking Account Fast Cash Loans Cash Advance Payday Loans Online. Selecy your zip e.g. 33072 FL

Loan Monthly Repayment Payday Loans 1500 Payday Loans In 15 Minutes. Select state 83626 ID

Payday Cash Advance Stores Are you looking for quick loans same day? Select state 71828 AR

Source: http://vikcheroky.livejournal.com/18726.html

whitney houston autopsy results obama trayvon jim yong kim michael bush the host trailer whitney houston cause of death marquette university

Iran official urges boycott of 2013 Oscars

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? An Iranian official said Monday his country should boycott the 2013 Oscars and not field a candidate for the foreign film category in the wake of the anti-Islam video that was made in the United States and that denigrates the Prophet Muhammad.

Javad Shamaghdari, head of the government-controlled cinema agency, said Iran should "avoid" the Hollywood festival. He is quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as urging the committee in charge of selecting Iran's choice to take a step back.

The committee, which works under the cinema agency, already picked "Ye Habbeh Ghand," or "A Cube of Sugar" ? a film about a family wedding turning into a funeral when the groom's relative dies ? to run for best foreign film.

The government has still to endorse the selection for it to become official.

Shamaghdari said the Oscars should be boycotted until the organizers denounce the anti-Islam film entitled "Innocence of Muslims," which has prompted outrage among Muslims around the world. At least 51 people, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, have been killed in violence linked to protests over the film, which also has renewed debate over freedom of expression in the U.S. and in Europe.

Shamaghdari has in the past been known for his calls to "deprive" Western film festivals of movies made by the Iranian cinema industry.

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi in February won the Oscar for best foreign film for his movie, "A Separation" ? the first such prize for Iran.

Tehran officialdom welcomed the Oscar, especially as Farhadi beat an Israeli film and three others in the foreign language category, describing it as a conquest for Iranian culture and a blow for Israel's perceived outsized influence in America.

But Iranian hard-liners were also upset by the movie's exposure of the troubles in Iranian society through the story of a collapsing marriage.

Iranian authorities have long had an uneasy relationship with the country's filmmakers and influential clerics have often denounced the domestic cinema as dominated by Western-tainted liberals and political dissenters.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-official-urges-boycott-2013-oscars-100916401.html

fabrice muamba collapse prometheus trailer patrice oneal shamrock slainte the quiet man yellow cab

Making Easy Child Friendly Home Improvements | My Blog

Posted by crafty88 on Sep 25, 2012 in SPORTS | Comments Off

When you paint interior rooms during a home improvement project, allow extra drying time if your house is new. Newer homes are usually built with extremely effective (nearly air-tight) separation between the interior and exterior. While this is an advantage for you as a homeowner in most situations, when you paint inside, your paint will take longer to dry than the paint manufacturer might claim.

Here is a home improvement for working with contractors! If you are having work done, be sure to inform the head of the crew if you are not happy! In the ideal world, everyone would understand and do exactly what you want, the way you want it done! If that is not the case, speak to the head of the crew! You are paying the bills, and you are in charge. If you aren?t happy, speak up. If things don?t work out with that contractor, there are lots of others to choose from.

Dirty ceiling vents can make your home look bad. You can purchase and install new ceiling vents, giving your home a cleaner and neater look.

If you are doing any home improvements on the roof of your home, make sure you wear the proper shoes so that you keep yourself safe. Many accidents in home improvements happen from people falling off their roofs. Be careful up there by wearing the right shoes and tie yourself off whenever possible.

When wanting to make a living out of home improvement, it is important that you have great people skills. If you do not have great people skills, when dealing with your clients it is very likely that you would lose quite a few jobs. It is better to be a people person, and make the money you want!

Begin the installation of your new kitchen cabinets by drawing a horizontal benchmark line around the perimeter of your entire kitchen. This level line will provide a reference point for you to measure from when installing your wall and base cabinets. Your benchmark line should begin at the highest point of your floor.

New wallpaper can transform a room. Before you add wallpaper, you need to find out what type of wall is under the existing wallpaper. Usually walls are either drywall or plaster smoothed over lath. You can figure out what kind of wall you are dealing with by feeling the wall, plaster is harder, smoother, and colder than drywall. You can also try tapping the wall, drywall sounds hollow while plaster does not.

Smoke detectors are required for safety in your home. Many homes only put them in certain areas. You can increase the safety in your home, by installing additional detectors in places like bathrooms, kitchens and basements. These areas can sometimes be overlooked, though prone to fires as much or more than the rest of the house.

Soak your hands in salad oil after completing an oil painting job. The oil will help release the paint from where it has splattered on your hands. Salad oil smells better and is a lot safer than the typical cleanup choices of mineral spirits or kerosene.

When getting ready to prime a room that is going to be painted, have your primer tinted so that it is the same color as the paint you are using. The primer will still do its job, but instead of needing three coats of paint, your walls will require only two.

Removing wall paper is something that may sound easy, but it actually takes some skill. You need to know what type of wallpaper you need to remove, and what type of wall you have. Based on the wallpaper you have, you then either need to dry-strip it or soak it and scrape it off. Make sure you do your research to determine what needs be done.

In summary, there are some obvious ideas that have been tested over time, as well as some newer techniques that you may not have considered. Hopefully, as long as you follow what we suggest in this article, you can either get started with your home improvement project or improve on what you have already done.

Deanna Claybon weblogs with regards to Chicago Roofing Contractors (8)

Source: http://funclub24.com/2012/09/25/making-easy-child-friendly-home-improvements/

donald driver robin thicke mariana trench transcendental meditation trayvon martin obama care miss universe canada