The New Hampshire Legislature is a mirror, reflecting what goes on in Washington. In Washington, petty obstructionism is the order of the day. The same is true in the People’s House here in the Granite State.
The loon and lead sinker bill is a good example. SB 89 was aimed at ending the use of lead sinkers and jigs weighing an ounce or less. These lead sinkers are the leading cause of death in the adult loon population. They’re also littering the bottoms of our lakes and ponds. We don’t use lead in water pipes any more, or in paint because now we know that lead is bad. The wrangling over this bill went on for well over an hour, because the liberty crowd is convinced that this bill has something to do with Agenda 21. Rep. Al Baldasaro opined in April that this was a UN attempt at getting fisherman off the lake. After enduring what one can only assume was copious public and private ridicule, he’d changed his tune by session day, and told media that this was just a “feel good bill.”
Rep. Burt of Goffstown openly mocked the concerns of those who supported the bill, dismissing the idea that lead was dangerous. The loonkillers lost, and the bill passed on a roll call vote (yep, they wanted this enshrined in the public record) of 225-142. You can look up your representative’s votes on the House website. This whole process took nearly 2 hours — and the loonkillers lost, big time. What else can we call this but obstructionist theater?
The big vote last week was on SB 152, the casino bill. That debate lasted for a little over four hours, but that debate was justified. The result of the vote was destined to have a big impact on the state no matter which way it came down. We all now know that the House voted down the bill. The why of it isn’t being honestly being told. All of the New Hampshire media seems united in presenting this as legislators being either for or against gambling. No nuance need be discussed. While sitting through the committee vote, and then the four-hour debate on the House floor, I heard plenty of nuance expressed. The real problem with the bill is that it was bad. Many representatives who support expanded gambling voted against it because it was a raw deal for the state.
SB 152 ensured that New Hampshire would get 30 percent of the take from the machines of Millennium Gaming, the gaming corporation that the state is courting. In 2012, a similar bill gave NH 49 percent of the take. In 2008 it was 50 percent, and in 2004 it was 55 percent. Pennsylvania gets 55 percent. Thirty percent was a great deal for Millennium — but not so great for the state. Millennium was also given the opportunity to write the regulations governing the casino. Putting the fox in charge of the henhouse has never been successful, but our state senators were keen on trying.
A commission authorized by Governor Lynch a few years back found that the regulations for a casino should be in place before any negotiations with a company began. There was money put in the budget to put that regulatory infrastructure into place. It was never done. The idea of letting the casino write the regulations defies all common sense. The bill was voted down on a vote of 199-164. A motion to reconsider failed on a vote of 212 - 152.
There were nearly a dozen bills that were unheard in last week’s session, and so were brought forward this week. The N.H. Liberty Alliance (essentially a front for the Free State Project) hands out gold (naturally) sheets to folks heading in to Representatives Hall. These sheets give the Liberty perspective on bills, and generally provide a blueprint for how much obstructionism to expect on any given bill.
SB 96, a bill aimed at curbing vexatious litigants (nuisance lawsuits) was deemed Anti-Liberty. Given the Free State Project’s propensity for filing nuisance lawsuits, this came as no surprise. In Randia we will all be able to sue each other all the time. Gold! Austria! The bill passed, despite the protestations of the residents of Libertopia.
SB 100, was a bill to allow employers to stop issuing paper checks, and give wages on cards — like debit cards. The problem here is that those cards (issued by companies like Visa) have fees associated with them. This is a mode of payment that is reserved almost entirely for low wage workers. Carl Nelson does not get his paycheck in the form of a plastic card with user fees attached. This benefits employers at the expense of employees. It also benefits banks and credit card companies, all who want a piece of the low wage pie at the expense of workers. Shameful. The bill was defeated on a vote of 235 -93.
The most interesting fight of the day was over SB 11, a bill allowing municipalities to work together on water and sewer infrastructure projects. Sounds sensible, right? What you don’t know is that this is a sneak attempt by the United Nations to achieve global domination through your toilet. The John Birch Society and other wearers of tinfoil berets decided this bill (written to aid Stratham and Exeter in particular) was part of the nefarious Agenda 21. This is a bill that came out of committee with a recommendation of ought to pass on vote of 18-0. Normally it would have been put on the consent calendar, but this legislature isn’t exactly normal. All who were present donned their sunglasses to block the glare of 100 tinfoil berets.
A motion to table the bill failed. Rep. Jane Cormier of Alton gave a one-woman filibuster against the bill that included all manner of bizarre assertions (well stealing, property takeovers) including her belief that “the EPA now considers rainwater a pollutant.” A move to recommit the bill (send it back to the same committee that unanimously passed it) failed.
Rep. Abrami (Republican from Stratham) finally had the chance to speak, and pointed out that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hadn’t visited Stratham, and that the bill had nothing to do with Agenda 21. He also said, “I’m a conservative guy. You think I’d stand up here and allow the state to steal our wells?” The bill was finally passed on a roll call vote of 254-74, after all that posturing and bloviating. With each vote (table, recommit, final vote) the tinfoil crowd lost votes. Their goal isn’t winning — they know better. Their goal is posturing and obstructing. Just like Congress.Click on their website www.smartcardfactory.com for more information.
2013年5月30日星期四
2013年5月28日星期二
Senior citizens struggle with mounting debt
It used to be that many Americans entered retirement having paid off their mortgages and most of their other debts. This should have been senior citizens' Golden Years.
Nowadays, more and more people over the age of 65 are struggling with mounting debt levels, fueled primarily by mortgages and credit cards. The average debt held by senior citizens has ballooned to $50,000 in 2010, up 83% since 2001, according to Federal Reserve data crunched by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
"They had more debt in their working years and they've carried it over into retirement," said Craig Copeland, senior research associate at the institute.
Much of this is due to an increase in housing-related debt. Families headed by someone at least 60 years old had the largest increase in average mortgage debt, in terms of percentage, between 2000 and 2012, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
It's not because more older Americans bought homes, said Bill Emmons, an economist with the St. Louis Fed. Instead, they borrowed big against their houses. Some took out home equity loans, while others refinanced and took out cash, but also extended the term of their mortgages.
Money was easily available before the credit crisis in 2008 and it was cheap. Some senior citizens used the funds to make home repairs, pay for vacations or help their children, while others put the proceeds in the stock market, figuring they could make a lot more smartcardfactory.
Only 24% of homeowners over the age of 62 had mortgage debt in 1992, but that figure soared to 45% in 2010.
"Virtually everyone borrowed more because of availability and incentives," Copeland said. "Surprisingly, older people got the bug too."
Credit card debt has also become more pervasive among seniors. One-third of them are relying on plastic to cover basic living expenses, according to Demos, a public policy organization that advocates for lower- and middle-income Americans.
Some consumer advocates say that the increasing debt load among the elderly could pose big problems, especially since seniors are more likely to have growing medical costs and less likely to be still working.
"If people are relying on credit cards to pay living expenses, it's difficult to see how that turns around if they aren't earning additional income," said Amy Traub, senior policy analyst at Demos.
Increased debt loads have forced some seniors to keep working. Janice Jessup, 79, collects Social Security and also works as a real estate agent in Virginia Beach. But she says her Social Security checks are not enough to cover her expenses. So she's racked up more than $10,000 in credit card debt in recent years to get by and to fund her business.
Rimowa, a German company, introduced some of the first polycarbonate suitcases in 2000. The designs were a follow-on to their aluminum cases, which had been used to protect expensive equipment. Their plastic luggage used the same iconic design elements–a pattern of vertical ribbed grooves–that today’s suitcases are using.
I’ve used a Rimowa bag off and on for almost a year and like it for some trips. It’s a bare-bones design that’s basically an expensive plastic box with wheels and a handle, and has limited capacity. Their current version of what I’m using is the Rimowa Salsa Deluxe 21″ Cabin MultiWheel Hybrid, which retails for $595. The main difference is a change to the wheel design from two large to four smaller ones that allow easier maneuverability and the ability to push the suitcase along smooth floors.
While both the Rimowa and Torq are made of Makrolon, a high-tech grade triple-layer polycarbonate, their designs are quite different. The Rimowa is a simple, classic design while the Briggs & Riley looks more high tech with its complex shape designed to incorporate many new features. Both are high quality and come with long warrantees, 5 years for the Rimowa and a lifetime warranty for the Briggs & Riley.
According to the company, the Torq was in development for three years, much longer than most of its other products. They began with a clean sheet of paper to come up with a design that offered the most function, highest capacity and best performance. Wearing my design-engineering hat, that comes through loud and clear. The product wears some of its functionality in its looks and details, much as a Range Rover or Jeep stands apart from its competition.
Whereas other products have a 50/50 split between the bottom and top lid, the Torq has an 80/20 split that makes packing much easier. You can pack it on a luggage rack without the lid being opened 180 degrees. I found its capacity to be about 20 percent greater than the Rimowa.
One of the best features of the Torq is a large compartment that runs the full length of the front with padded pocket for storing a notebook and iPad, as well as other items that you may need to keep handy.
Nowadays, more and more people over the age of 65 are struggling with mounting debt levels, fueled primarily by mortgages and credit cards. The average debt held by senior citizens has ballooned to $50,000 in 2010, up 83% since 2001, according to Federal Reserve data crunched by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
"They had more debt in their working years and they've carried it over into retirement," said Craig Copeland, senior research associate at the institute.
Much of this is due to an increase in housing-related debt. Families headed by someone at least 60 years old had the largest increase in average mortgage debt, in terms of percentage, between 2000 and 2012, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
It's not because more older Americans bought homes, said Bill Emmons, an economist with the St. Louis Fed. Instead, they borrowed big against their houses. Some took out home equity loans, while others refinanced and took out cash, but also extended the term of their mortgages.
Money was easily available before the credit crisis in 2008 and it was cheap. Some senior citizens used the funds to make home repairs, pay for vacations or help their children, while others put the proceeds in the stock market, figuring they could make a lot more smartcardfactory.
Only 24% of homeowners over the age of 62 had mortgage debt in 1992, but that figure soared to 45% in 2010.
"Virtually everyone borrowed more because of availability and incentives," Copeland said. "Surprisingly, older people got the bug too."
Credit card debt has also become more pervasive among seniors. One-third of them are relying on plastic to cover basic living expenses, according to Demos, a public policy organization that advocates for lower- and middle-income Americans.
Some consumer advocates say that the increasing debt load among the elderly could pose big problems, especially since seniors are more likely to have growing medical costs and less likely to be still working.
"If people are relying on credit cards to pay living expenses, it's difficult to see how that turns around if they aren't earning additional income," said Amy Traub, senior policy analyst at Demos.
Increased debt loads have forced some seniors to keep working. Janice Jessup, 79, collects Social Security and also works as a real estate agent in Virginia Beach. But she says her Social Security checks are not enough to cover her expenses. So she's racked up more than $10,000 in credit card debt in recent years to get by and to fund her business.
Rimowa, a German company, introduced some of the first polycarbonate suitcases in 2000. The designs were a follow-on to their aluminum cases, which had been used to protect expensive equipment. Their plastic luggage used the same iconic design elements–a pattern of vertical ribbed grooves–that today’s suitcases are using.
I’ve used a Rimowa bag off and on for almost a year and like it for some trips. It’s a bare-bones design that’s basically an expensive plastic box with wheels and a handle, and has limited capacity. Their current version of what I’m using is the Rimowa Salsa Deluxe 21″ Cabin MultiWheel Hybrid, which retails for $595. The main difference is a change to the wheel design from two large to four smaller ones that allow easier maneuverability and the ability to push the suitcase along smooth floors.
While both the Rimowa and Torq are made of Makrolon, a high-tech grade triple-layer polycarbonate, their designs are quite different. The Rimowa is a simple, classic design while the Briggs & Riley looks more high tech with its complex shape designed to incorporate many new features. Both are high quality and come with long warrantees, 5 years for the Rimowa and a lifetime warranty for the Briggs & Riley.
According to the company, the Torq was in development for three years, much longer than most of its other products. They began with a clean sheet of paper to come up with a design that offered the most function, highest capacity and best performance. Wearing my design-engineering hat, that comes through loud and clear. The product wears some of its functionality in its looks and details, much as a Range Rover or Jeep stands apart from its competition.
Whereas other products have a 50/50 split between the bottom and top lid, the Torq has an 80/20 split that makes packing much easier. You can pack it on a luggage rack without the lid being opened 180 degrees. I found its capacity to be about 20 percent greater than the Rimowa.
One of the best features of the Torq is a large compartment that runs the full length of the front with padded pocket for storing a notebook and iPad, as well as other items that you may need to keep handy.
Breathing the Same Air as Genius
In his descent to Savannah, the day before he entered Milledgeville, Georgia, General Sherman camped at a crossroads about ten miles northwest of town. He learned, from slaves, that the plantation "a few yards to the north" (historical marker) was that of Howell Cobb, one of the Secessionist Triumvirate of Georgia—a kind of rebel trifecta for a marauder (the others are Robert Toombs and A.H. Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, whose plantation was fifty miles northeast at Crawfordville, where I have been for a week in the state park that preserves his estate planning my own campaign on Milledgeville). He burned the plantation house down, and everything else of Mr. Cobb's except the slave quarters. Then he proceeded to Milledgeville down Old Monticello Road, passing within four miles of a plantation that at some point would be named Andalusia and be owned by the family of Flannery O'Connor. He did not burn it.
In town he slept in the Governor's Mansion (Milledgeville was then the capital of Georgia) a diagonal block northwest from 311 West Greene Street, a house that had served as a temporary governor's mansion at one time, and that would come to be owned by Flannery O'Connor's family. After jiving in Savannah and briefly in Atlanta, Flannery O'Connor would live in this house (when not at Iowa or Yaddo or at the Fitzgeralds') until her health compelled her to live at Andalusia in 1951 in a ground-floor room made into a bedroom for her because she was too weak to climb stairs. She had been diagnosed with lupus erythematosus; she liked to call it the Red Wolf. She suffered without complaint.
It is there that she lived until her death in 1964, writing famously of her affections for the peafowl she raised, and writing more famously the fiction that prompted Evelyn Waugh to say, "If these stories are in fact the work of a young lady, they are indeed remarkable." From a room in this house she saw Enoch Emery steal a mummy with peas coming out of its mouth and give it to Hazel Motes to be the new Jesus. She saw Hulga (née Joy) Freeman, Ph.D., unwittingly give her wooden leg to a Bible salesman in a loft in a barn. She saw Mrs. May gored by her own handyman's bull and "bent over him whispering some last discovery into the animal's ear." She saw a grandmother in a moment of grace accept the Misfit and be shot for it, and heard the Misfit say, "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody to shoot her every minute of her life." She saw things that thrill people. Certain of these things (Enoch) she saw before taking her last stand in this smartcardfactory, but I am not in a bibliographic hair-splitting mood.
She saw things from one window of this house, facing south on a livestock pond now hard to see, that thrill people, whether they understand the religious fundament in the writing or not, and then she died, at thirty-nine, making her a member of the American Keats club, and her mother, who had taken care of her in her decline, moved back to 311 West Greene Street, where she would live for another thirty-one years, dying at age ninety-nine in 1995. At this point some things began to change within the estate. Margaret Florencourt Mann (who died last year) and Louise Florencourt, two contemporary cousins to Flannery (one nine months older, one nine months younger), the estate's literary executors, as officers of the Mary Flannery O'Connor Charitable Trust formed the Flannery O'Connor Andalusia Foundation, whose mission is to present Andalusia to the public.
The word has gotten out that one can go to Milledgeville and take a trolley to Andalusia and see where the visionary stuff sprang full blown from the head of Hera. If Faulkner is Zeus, and one goes to Rowan Oak to touch a spot of Olympus, or for whatever reasons one goes to a writer's house, then one surely regards O'Connor as Hera and Andalusia as another spot on Olympus. The idea of a trolley on Olympus is disturbing. It suggests a Mister Rogers' Neighborhood affair, a dinging, and worst of all it suggests a conductor who might point out the sights. (O'Connor on pointing things out: "'Mist O.T. he in town, Mist E.T. he off yonder in the field,' the Negro said, pointing first to the left and then to the right as if he were naming the position of two planets.") I have this horrible vision en route to Andalusia: of a man in a grey and red uniform—specifically, the uniform of an organ grinder's monkey—pointing out where the tractor crushed the Displaced Person, the loft where Hulga realized that she wasn't so smart, the field crossed by the boy in the toast-colored hat who proved it to her, his liquor and condom within his Bible, that Bible and her leg in his valise. These are private visions for me, I realize; they served as my formative literary moments, and I do not want them Mr. Rogers' Neighborhooded. Nor do I wish to discredit the venture. So I go to Milledgeville with a bad attitude with a good attitude on top of it, like Sherman, and I go first thing to where he camped out of town, and proceed in the way I think he did. To wreck nothing, maybe just mess things up a bit. (Sherman did little damage in town; he formed his troops due west of the Statehouse, struck up his band, left-faced the troops, and marched them to the Statehouse, which they trashed in the course of a mock secession ordinance, amidst bashed desks and strewn papers. Neither it nor much else in town was burned, to judge from the historic walking tour you can take today to over forty antebellum sites. Some prisoners set the state penitentiary on fire expecting him to rescue them, or liberate them. He did not.)
If you are looking for a styling epicenter of the Old South, Milledgeville has flat got it going on. The hand of history is palpably upon her. On May 2, 2003, at a poolside party of teachers celebrating the end of the school year, Marianne Ennis Joris can walk up to Bob Wilson, professor of history at the local Georgia College & State University, and say, "Bob, do you know what today is? It was fifty years ago today that my father was murdered." She is the daughter of Marion Ennis, the county attorney who was shot by Marion Stembridge, model for Pete Dexter's Paris Trout. Stembridge conveniently picked the morning of Milledgeville's sesquicentennial celebration in 1953 to shoot two lawyers and himself. The office where the first slaying took place is extant, above the campus theater, across the street from Dodo's, a pool hall unchanged from the '40s that once was a vaudeville theater where Oliver Hardy played. Hardy is from Milledgeville. The hexagon-tile flooring of the theater atrium is in place, showing the outline of the ticket booth. Stembridge's infamous fortified basement is beneath Ryal's Bakery around the corner. Milledgeville is largely intact down to its archaeology. To this amalgam add a good insane asylum and a military academy and Milledgeville has all the South is good at.
When Jane Sowell, executive director of the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB in local parlance), came to Milledgeville from New Orleans, she thought she had come to the end of the earth. She doesn't think so now. When I do not locate a café downtown in which I would prefer, speaking easily to a waitress and to the folks at the counter on stools, to discover the route to Andalusia and what, if anything, the heirs to Ennises and Stembridges and Hardys think about Flannery O'Connor and her farm being opened, and get the scoop on the trolley before I have to see it—to, in short, sidle up to a famous writer's house without having to be public about it—I throw myself upon the mercy of Jane Sowell's office. Within five minutes she has called Craig Amason, CEO of the Flannery O'Connor-Andalusia Foundation, and made me an appointment. She has given me phone numbers for the parties in town who would know the route Sherman took and what he did where. She has reserved me a room in the Antebellum Inn, the last one available. I am given coffee and a spacious, sparkling restroom. The CVB is on the ball. I am going to Andalusia through the front door. This I did not want.
In town he slept in the Governor's Mansion (Milledgeville was then the capital of Georgia) a diagonal block northwest from 311 West Greene Street, a house that had served as a temporary governor's mansion at one time, and that would come to be owned by Flannery O'Connor's family. After jiving in Savannah and briefly in Atlanta, Flannery O'Connor would live in this house (when not at Iowa or Yaddo or at the Fitzgeralds') until her health compelled her to live at Andalusia in 1951 in a ground-floor room made into a bedroom for her because she was too weak to climb stairs. She had been diagnosed with lupus erythematosus; she liked to call it the Red Wolf. She suffered without complaint.
It is there that she lived until her death in 1964, writing famously of her affections for the peafowl she raised, and writing more famously the fiction that prompted Evelyn Waugh to say, "If these stories are in fact the work of a young lady, they are indeed remarkable." From a room in this house she saw Enoch Emery steal a mummy with peas coming out of its mouth and give it to Hazel Motes to be the new Jesus. She saw Hulga (née Joy) Freeman, Ph.D., unwittingly give her wooden leg to a Bible salesman in a loft in a barn. She saw Mrs. May gored by her own handyman's bull and "bent over him whispering some last discovery into the animal's ear." She saw a grandmother in a moment of grace accept the Misfit and be shot for it, and heard the Misfit say, "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody to shoot her every minute of her life." She saw things that thrill people. Certain of these things (Enoch) she saw before taking her last stand in this smartcardfactory, but I am not in a bibliographic hair-splitting mood.
She saw things from one window of this house, facing south on a livestock pond now hard to see, that thrill people, whether they understand the religious fundament in the writing or not, and then she died, at thirty-nine, making her a member of the American Keats club, and her mother, who had taken care of her in her decline, moved back to 311 West Greene Street, where she would live for another thirty-one years, dying at age ninety-nine in 1995. At this point some things began to change within the estate. Margaret Florencourt Mann (who died last year) and Louise Florencourt, two contemporary cousins to Flannery (one nine months older, one nine months younger), the estate's literary executors, as officers of the Mary Flannery O'Connor Charitable Trust formed the Flannery O'Connor Andalusia Foundation, whose mission is to present Andalusia to the public.
The word has gotten out that one can go to Milledgeville and take a trolley to Andalusia and see where the visionary stuff sprang full blown from the head of Hera. If Faulkner is Zeus, and one goes to Rowan Oak to touch a spot of Olympus, or for whatever reasons one goes to a writer's house, then one surely regards O'Connor as Hera and Andalusia as another spot on Olympus. The idea of a trolley on Olympus is disturbing. It suggests a Mister Rogers' Neighborhood affair, a dinging, and worst of all it suggests a conductor who might point out the sights. (O'Connor on pointing things out: "'Mist O.T. he in town, Mist E.T. he off yonder in the field,' the Negro said, pointing first to the left and then to the right as if he were naming the position of two planets.") I have this horrible vision en route to Andalusia: of a man in a grey and red uniform—specifically, the uniform of an organ grinder's monkey—pointing out where the tractor crushed the Displaced Person, the loft where Hulga realized that she wasn't so smart, the field crossed by the boy in the toast-colored hat who proved it to her, his liquor and condom within his Bible, that Bible and her leg in his valise. These are private visions for me, I realize; they served as my formative literary moments, and I do not want them Mr. Rogers' Neighborhooded. Nor do I wish to discredit the venture. So I go to Milledgeville with a bad attitude with a good attitude on top of it, like Sherman, and I go first thing to where he camped out of town, and proceed in the way I think he did. To wreck nothing, maybe just mess things up a bit. (Sherman did little damage in town; he formed his troops due west of the Statehouse, struck up his band, left-faced the troops, and marched them to the Statehouse, which they trashed in the course of a mock secession ordinance, amidst bashed desks and strewn papers. Neither it nor much else in town was burned, to judge from the historic walking tour you can take today to over forty antebellum sites. Some prisoners set the state penitentiary on fire expecting him to rescue them, or liberate them. He did not.)
If you are looking for a styling epicenter of the Old South, Milledgeville has flat got it going on. The hand of history is palpably upon her. On May 2, 2003, at a poolside party of teachers celebrating the end of the school year, Marianne Ennis Joris can walk up to Bob Wilson, professor of history at the local Georgia College & State University, and say, "Bob, do you know what today is? It was fifty years ago today that my father was murdered." She is the daughter of Marion Ennis, the county attorney who was shot by Marion Stembridge, model for Pete Dexter's Paris Trout. Stembridge conveniently picked the morning of Milledgeville's sesquicentennial celebration in 1953 to shoot two lawyers and himself. The office where the first slaying took place is extant, above the campus theater, across the street from Dodo's, a pool hall unchanged from the '40s that once was a vaudeville theater where Oliver Hardy played. Hardy is from Milledgeville. The hexagon-tile flooring of the theater atrium is in place, showing the outline of the ticket booth. Stembridge's infamous fortified basement is beneath Ryal's Bakery around the corner. Milledgeville is largely intact down to its archaeology. To this amalgam add a good insane asylum and a military academy and Milledgeville has all the South is good at.
When Jane Sowell, executive director of the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB in local parlance), came to Milledgeville from New Orleans, she thought she had come to the end of the earth. She doesn't think so now. When I do not locate a café downtown in which I would prefer, speaking easily to a waitress and to the folks at the counter on stools, to discover the route to Andalusia and what, if anything, the heirs to Ennises and Stembridges and Hardys think about Flannery O'Connor and her farm being opened, and get the scoop on the trolley before I have to see it—to, in short, sidle up to a famous writer's house without having to be public about it—I throw myself upon the mercy of Jane Sowell's office. Within five minutes she has called Craig Amason, CEO of the Flannery O'Connor-Andalusia Foundation, and made me an appointment. She has given me phone numbers for the parties in town who would know the route Sherman took and what he did where. She has reserved me a room in the Antebellum Inn, the last one available. I am given coffee and a spacious, sparkling restroom. The CVB is on the ball. I am going to Andalusia through the front door. This I did not want.
2013年5月26日星期日
Calendar turns to a big week for New York Yankees
Every year around the holidays, while the NBA is preparing to add LeBron and Kobe and Carmelo to your Christmas menu, the sentiment arises that this is the “unofficial” start to the NBA season and that maybe, with the way the NFL grips the sporting consciousness in the fall, it would be just as well to shorten the season and start later anyway.
The NFL has already evolved into a 12-month attention-sucking monolith, whether there are games on or not. The NHL doesn’t generate enough juice for the RFID tag. And baseball, even with its April snowouts and frigid late-October World Series games, has a national pastime nostalgia-fueled grip on the calendar.
But depending what’s going on in your neighborhood NBA/NHL arena, even baseball can find itself on the backburner in the spring while its 162-game marathon gets under way.
That hasn’t been an issue around here for awhile. The Yankees have found the back pages free to claim from Opening Day on for the better part of a decade. There wasn’t a whole lot else doing.
That changed this year. While the Yankees best and/or best-known players are stuck on the disabled list — about $100 million worth of them — they’re still atop the AL East. It’s a great story, absent the familiar compelling characters. That rotating cast makes it hard to grip.
While the no-names in the Bronx were playing ball at a .600-plus clip, the Garden was alive in midtown for the Knicks and Rangers. They gave us some playoff entertainment. Even the Nets and Islanders showed up with postseason cameos. But they’re all done now. And the Mets are just a sad tale waiting to be told four out of every five days.
Now we can fully turn to the Yankees, with a curious convergence of elements. It is Memorial Day weekend. It is a time when some of the curious phenomena that occur in the opening weeks of the season — the mystery home run leaders, the big team off to the slow start — have fallen back into place to give us a measure of what’s to come over the next four months of the season.
And just as we hit that moment, the Yankees have a schedule coming up this week that is a scalper’s delight. Four games against the Mets. Three against the Red Sox.
If it feels like a weird time for the annual Subway Series, it is. It’s a result of the new scheduling format that has interleague play running throughout the season. So instead of exchanging three-game home-and-home series that were always scheduled for prime weekend real estate, it will be one four-game weeknight series between the Yanks and Mets, Monday through Thursday, two games in each borough.
Deemphasizing the Yankee/Met matchups only wipes out the whole point of interleague play to begin with. For years, commissioner Bud Selig backed the gimmick by pointing to higher attendance that was of course inflated by high-profile weekend series. Mets vs. Yanks! Cubs vs. White Sox! Dodgers vs. Angels!
Of course, there weren’t enough of those to connect every team in the league or keep interest high. There were some second-tier regional curiosities that made sense, like St. Louis vs. Kansas City or Cincinnati vs. Cleveland. But even one of those, the Astros and the Rangers, is now moot. Houston has joined Texas in the AL West to fulfill a plan to even out the leagues at 15 teams each, which is what led to regular interleague play.
Truthfully, Yanks vs. Mets was a novelty worn thin, partly by the Mets’ eroding fortunes. It still gives ownership a few extra games to peddle at max ticket prices and it’s got more to it than playing the Twins, but the high drama of those first few years is gone.
The edge had faded as well lately for the traditional Yanks vs. Red Sox collisions. Too many games each year. Too much drama from the 10 years prior to live up to. And over the last couple of seasons, too much bad baseball from the Red Sox.
That last part may be coming up for a correction. The Sox entered Saturday’s games a game behind the Yanks in the division. By choice and by force, the two teams are headed for a lo-fi collision in a battle that just may run into the fall.
The Sox found themselves burned by chasing the Yanks’ payroll escalating star model. The plan that brought them success was the same one that drove the Yankee dynasty of the ‘90s — smart development, shrewd trades for IC card, add some star pieces.
Boston abandoned that, and it imploded on them in 2012. In response, the Sox jettisoned huge contracts — they should send the Dodgers a thank you card — and filled the spots with mid-level free agents. They were then summarily written off for 2013.
Injuries wiped out the Yanks’ highest-paid stars. Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson all started the season on the disabled list. Granderson is now sidelined again, along with Andy Pettitte and Rodriguez’s replacement Kevin Youkilis. There’s no telling what the Yanks will get from most of them this season.
The NFL has already evolved into a 12-month attention-sucking monolith, whether there are games on or not. The NHL doesn’t generate enough juice for the RFID tag. And baseball, even with its April snowouts and frigid late-October World Series games, has a national pastime nostalgia-fueled grip on the calendar.
But depending what’s going on in your neighborhood NBA/NHL arena, even baseball can find itself on the backburner in the spring while its 162-game marathon gets under way.
That hasn’t been an issue around here for awhile. The Yankees have found the back pages free to claim from Opening Day on for the better part of a decade. There wasn’t a whole lot else doing.
That changed this year. While the Yankees best and/or best-known players are stuck on the disabled list — about $100 million worth of them — they’re still atop the AL East. It’s a great story, absent the familiar compelling characters. That rotating cast makes it hard to grip.
While the no-names in the Bronx were playing ball at a .600-plus clip, the Garden was alive in midtown for the Knicks and Rangers. They gave us some playoff entertainment. Even the Nets and Islanders showed up with postseason cameos. But they’re all done now. And the Mets are just a sad tale waiting to be told four out of every five days.
Now we can fully turn to the Yankees, with a curious convergence of elements. It is Memorial Day weekend. It is a time when some of the curious phenomena that occur in the opening weeks of the season — the mystery home run leaders, the big team off to the slow start — have fallen back into place to give us a measure of what’s to come over the next four months of the season.
And just as we hit that moment, the Yankees have a schedule coming up this week that is a scalper’s delight. Four games against the Mets. Three against the Red Sox.
If it feels like a weird time for the annual Subway Series, it is. It’s a result of the new scheduling format that has interleague play running throughout the season. So instead of exchanging three-game home-and-home series that were always scheduled for prime weekend real estate, it will be one four-game weeknight series between the Yanks and Mets, Monday through Thursday, two games in each borough.
Deemphasizing the Yankee/Met matchups only wipes out the whole point of interleague play to begin with. For years, commissioner Bud Selig backed the gimmick by pointing to higher attendance that was of course inflated by high-profile weekend series. Mets vs. Yanks! Cubs vs. White Sox! Dodgers vs. Angels!
Of course, there weren’t enough of those to connect every team in the league or keep interest high. There were some second-tier regional curiosities that made sense, like St. Louis vs. Kansas City or Cincinnati vs. Cleveland. But even one of those, the Astros and the Rangers, is now moot. Houston has joined Texas in the AL West to fulfill a plan to even out the leagues at 15 teams each, which is what led to regular interleague play.
Truthfully, Yanks vs. Mets was a novelty worn thin, partly by the Mets’ eroding fortunes. It still gives ownership a few extra games to peddle at max ticket prices and it’s got more to it than playing the Twins, but the high drama of those first few years is gone.
The edge had faded as well lately for the traditional Yanks vs. Red Sox collisions. Too many games each year. Too much drama from the 10 years prior to live up to. And over the last couple of seasons, too much bad baseball from the Red Sox.
That last part may be coming up for a correction. The Sox entered Saturday’s games a game behind the Yanks in the division. By choice and by force, the two teams are headed for a lo-fi collision in a battle that just may run into the fall.
The Sox found themselves burned by chasing the Yanks’ payroll escalating star model. The plan that brought them success was the same one that drove the Yankee dynasty of the ‘90s — smart development, shrewd trades for IC card, add some star pieces.
Boston abandoned that, and it imploded on them in 2012. In response, the Sox jettisoned huge contracts — they should send the Dodgers a thank you card — and filled the spots with mid-level free agents. They were then summarily written off for 2013.
Injuries wiped out the Yanks’ highest-paid stars. Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson all started the season on the disabled list. Granderson is now sidelined again, along with Andy Pettitte and Rodriguez’s replacement Kevin Youkilis. There’s no telling what the Yanks will get from most of them this season.
2013年5月23日星期四
Nip and Suck It
In Psych’s latest episode, “Nip and Suck It,” Shawn and Gus compete with Henry to see who can solve the case first.
The episode begins with a group of older people, including Henry, bird watching in the forest. Henry’s ringtone goes off and upsets the group, so he goes down the path to return the phone call. He notices a bracelet on the side of the path, and continues to find signs of a disturbance. He places markers and ends up finding the body of a woman. He goes to the police department and really wants to investigate. Woody discovers the victim, Shelley Aaronson, had toxin in her blood and they realize she had a lot of cosmetic surgery. They decide to go question plastic surgeon Dr. Joan Diamond.
At her office, Shawn checks out the computer and sees Shelley was married to a Mr. Brad Turner. Juliet calls and tells him Shelley had filed a lawsuit against the doctor before her death. Dr. Joan Diamond comes into the office and asks if Gus is there to fix his earlobes. While Gus looks over a pamphlet, Shawn tells Joan he’s a psychic and asks about Shelley. Henry shows up to ask Joan questions, and Shawn discovers the two know each other. Shawn accuses Joan of killing Shelley because of the lawsuit. Shawn tells Henry he doesn’t need his help and Henry leaves.
Shawn and Gus get a couples massage so they can question masseur Brad Turner. They discover Shelley and Brad were married for two weeks. Brad says the two had a prenup and that he’s distressed about her death. On the day she died, she told him she was meeting someone for coffee at chip card. Gus is feeling insecure about his earlobes now and admits he hasn’t talked to Rachel in over 2 weeks. Shawn tells him it will be alright. At the cafe, a waiter says Shelley was with another woman who looked like her, and who called her a thief. They look at the security tape and Shawn remembers seeing the nose Shelley got on the screen in Dr. Joan’s office. The nose belongs to Brianna Hicks, who he thinks is the woman Shelley met. Gus is starting to freak out about his earlobes again and puts on a beanie.
Lassiter already detained Brianna by the time the two get to her house. He says Dr. Joan hired Henry and he’s the one who found out about Brianna. During questioning, Brianna says she was getting liposuction when Shelley was murdered, so she’s taken off the suspect list. Shawn and Henry argue about investigating the case. Henry tells them he’s going to solve the murder. Henry and Joan talk about a date they went on, while Gus and Shawn spy on them. She gives him the address of a man she thinks might have it out for her. Shawn and Gus follow Henry and the two go to a food truck when they think Henry is taking a nap in his truck. Henry drives by them with a sign that says “suck it,” after they got their food. Shawn calls Joan and pretends to be his father to get the address.
Shawn and Gus are waiting for Henry at the address. The man, Dr. Ted Lomax is having a party to promote his cosmetic surgery business. They try to ask about Shelley, while Gus asks about his earlobes. Dr. Ted says he did work on Shelley before and comments on Gus’s forehead wrinkles. Henry and Shawn disagree once again about investigating. Shawn notices Lacey, who just got a job at Dr. Joan’s office when he and Gus visited, and asks her about Shelley.She says she was working for Dr. Ted so she knew Shelley. She saw Shelley the day she died and said there was a red Aston Martin at her house, the same car Dr. Joan drives. Shawn tells Henry that Dr. Joan is the killer, while Henry says Dr. Ted is a fraud. He points out the diplomas on the wall and Shawn sees they have the same watermark, so they are fakes. Lassiter and Juliet show up to arrest Ted, and Gus reveals he let Ted inject him.
Later on, Joan shows up at Henry’s house and says this is their second date. When she goes to the bathroom, Henry accidentally knocks over her purse. He finds a needle and toxin and takes a picture of it before she gets back. She claims someone planted it in her purse, but he says he has to report it to the cops. She panics and hits him on the head with a mounted fish from his wall.
At the police department, Lassiter tells Shawn, Gus, and Henry the needle had Shelley’s blood and the toxin that killed her in it, so Joan is the murderer. Henry gives up, saying Shawn wins. Shawn looks over the information and says the fingerprint found and says it isn’t right because you wouldn’t use your index finger for the needle, it would be a thumb. He and Gus see Ted is out on bail and his phone rings, saying Joan is calling. Joan asks him who would want to kill Shelley and she hangs up when he says “you.” Shawn says Joan must have been framed, so they decide to find her by tracking Henry’s phone.
Shawn and Gus go to Henry’s and tell him the recent developments. Joan left a note in Henry’s mailbox telling him she’s sorry for hitting him on the head, but she was framed. Henry said he’s glad they figured out some information, and they must all work together to find a new suspect. They tell Henry about Brad, and he says Brad could get money from her death, because the prenup is just for divorce. They meet up with Juliet and Lassiter to question Brad, but he’s dead. He was killed by injection as well.
Shawn and Henry say Joan is not the murderer, while Lassiter disagrees. Shawn notices on Brad’s chart it says he’s from Bismarck, North Dakota, just like Lacey. They go to Dr. Diamond’s office, where Shawn and Henry tell everyone Lacey is the murderer. They talk about her arrest record for theft and say Brad was her partner. The two would scam rich people together. This time though, Shelley and Brad fell in love, and he signed a prenup. Lacey was enraged, so she killed Shelley and framed Dr. Joan. Brad started questioning Shelley’s murder, so she killed him too.
At the Psych office, Shawn comes in and tells Gus he and Juliet are back together. Gus is excited because his face is starting to show emotion again. He also says he was freaking out because of Rachael being in London, but is happy now that he’s accepted he’s beautiful. Henry and Joan come in saying they’re going on their second date. Henry looks around the office and says he’s thinking about taking some cases. Shawn also announces he and Gus wrote a book about detective work. A delivery man comes in with a basket of cookies and a card for Gus from Rachael. Gus breaks down and eats a cookie while crying because he thinks Rachael is going to break up with him because of the card.
The episode begins with a group of older people, including Henry, bird watching in the forest. Henry’s ringtone goes off and upsets the group, so he goes down the path to return the phone call. He notices a bracelet on the side of the path, and continues to find signs of a disturbance. He places markers and ends up finding the body of a woman. He goes to the police department and really wants to investigate. Woody discovers the victim, Shelley Aaronson, had toxin in her blood and they realize she had a lot of cosmetic surgery. They decide to go question plastic surgeon Dr. Joan Diamond.
At her office, Shawn checks out the computer and sees Shelley was married to a Mr. Brad Turner. Juliet calls and tells him Shelley had filed a lawsuit against the doctor before her death. Dr. Joan Diamond comes into the office and asks if Gus is there to fix his earlobes. While Gus looks over a pamphlet, Shawn tells Joan he’s a psychic and asks about Shelley. Henry shows up to ask Joan questions, and Shawn discovers the two know each other. Shawn accuses Joan of killing Shelley because of the lawsuit. Shawn tells Henry he doesn’t need his help and Henry leaves.
Shawn and Gus get a couples massage so they can question masseur Brad Turner. They discover Shelley and Brad were married for two weeks. Brad says the two had a prenup and that he’s distressed about her death. On the day she died, she told him she was meeting someone for coffee at chip card. Gus is feeling insecure about his earlobes now and admits he hasn’t talked to Rachel in over 2 weeks. Shawn tells him it will be alright. At the cafe, a waiter says Shelley was with another woman who looked like her, and who called her a thief. They look at the security tape and Shawn remembers seeing the nose Shelley got on the screen in Dr. Joan’s office. The nose belongs to Brianna Hicks, who he thinks is the woman Shelley met. Gus is starting to freak out about his earlobes again and puts on a beanie.
Lassiter already detained Brianna by the time the two get to her house. He says Dr. Joan hired Henry and he’s the one who found out about Brianna. During questioning, Brianna says she was getting liposuction when Shelley was murdered, so she’s taken off the suspect list. Shawn and Henry argue about investigating the case. Henry tells them he’s going to solve the murder. Henry and Joan talk about a date they went on, while Gus and Shawn spy on them. She gives him the address of a man she thinks might have it out for her. Shawn and Gus follow Henry and the two go to a food truck when they think Henry is taking a nap in his truck. Henry drives by them with a sign that says “suck it,” after they got their food. Shawn calls Joan and pretends to be his father to get the address.
Shawn and Gus are waiting for Henry at the address. The man, Dr. Ted Lomax is having a party to promote his cosmetic surgery business. They try to ask about Shelley, while Gus asks about his earlobes. Dr. Ted says he did work on Shelley before and comments on Gus’s forehead wrinkles. Henry and Shawn disagree once again about investigating. Shawn notices Lacey, who just got a job at Dr. Joan’s office when he and Gus visited, and asks her about Shelley.She says she was working for Dr. Ted so she knew Shelley. She saw Shelley the day she died and said there was a red Aston Martin at her house, the same car Dr. Joan drives. Shawn tells Henry that Dr. Joan is the killer, while Henry says Dr. Ted is a fraud. He points out the diplomas on the wall and Shawn sees they have the same watermark, so they are fakes. Lassiter and Juliet show up to arrest Ted, and Gus reveals he let Ted inject him.
Later on, Joan shows up at Henry’s house and says this is their second date. When she goes to the bathroom, Henry accidentally knocks over her purse. He finds a needle and toxin and takes a picture of it before she gets back. She claims someone planted it in her purse, but he says he has to report it to the cops. She panics and hits him on the head with a mounted fish from his wall.
At the police department, Lassiter tells Shawn, Gus, and Henry the needle had Shelley’s blood and the toxin that killed her in it, so Joan is the murderer. Henry gives up, saying Shawn wins. Shawn looks over the information and says the fingerprint found and says it isn’t right because you wouldn’t use your index finger for the needle, it would be a thumb. He and Gus see Ted is out on bail and his phone rings, saying Joan is calling. Joan asks him who would want to kill Shelley and she hangs up when he says “you.” Shawn says Joan must have been framed, so they decide to find her by tracking Henry’s phone.
Shawn and Gus go to Henry’s and tell him the recent developments. Joan left a note in Henry’s mailbox telling him she’s sorry for hitting him on the head, but she was framed. Henry said he’s glad they figured out some information, and they must all work together to find a new suspect. They tell Henry about Brad, and he says Brad could get money from her death, because the prenup is just for divorce. They meet up with Juliet and Lassiter to question Brad, but he’s dead. He was killed by injection as well.
Shawn and Henry say Joan is not the murderer, while Lassiter disagrees. Shawn notices on Brad’s chart it says he’s from Bismarck, North Dakota, just like Lacey. They go to Dr. Diamond’s office, where Shawn and Henry tell everyone Lacey is the murderer. They talk about her arrest record for theft and say Brad was her partner. The two would scam rich people together. This time though, Shelley and Brad fell in love, and he signed a prenup. Lacey was enraged, so she killed Shelley and framed Dr. Joan. Brad started questioning Shelley’s murder, so she killed him too.
At the Psych office, Shawn comes in and tells Gus he and Juliet are back together. Gus is excited because his face is starting to show emotion again. He also says he was freaking out because of Rachael being in London, but is happy now that he’s accepted he’s beautiful. Henry and Joan come in saying they’re going on their second date. Henry looks around the office and says he’s thinking about taking some cases. Shawn also announces he and Gus wrote a book about detective work. A delivery man comes in with a basket of cookies and a card for Gus from Rachael. Gus breaks down and eats a cookie while crying because he thinks Rachael is going to break up with him because of the card.
2013年5月21日星期二
2013 Phillies Draft Preview
Rob Kaminsky is a 6'0" 190 LHP with a mid 90's Fastball, a pretty advanced, for a HS Pitcher, Changeup and a Major League ready Curve. So, if we're ticking off the Phillies draft Preferences bingo card here, put a chip on High School Pitcher, put a chip on Left Handed, place a chip on local product (St. Joseph's Regional HS in Englewood Cliffs, NJ) and place a chip on Athletic (he's also his team's starting Center Fielder on off days). Of course if we do that we also need to look at what they often avoid in top draft picks and that would typically be short, high effort pitchers.
So before we get into what to like about Kaminsky we'll deal with the non-pitching red flag of his strong commitment to UNC for College ball. If I had to guess, being a mid first round pick as a High School Pitcher alone is likely enough to break that commitment, but it may require being on the high end of slot or even just above and therefore going bargain bin later to avoid slot penalties in 2014. If, from discussions, there is any sense that he'll require top 10 money or anything similar it may make him more difficult to draft. Kaminsky has stated himself that while he loved North Carolina, he hasn't made any decision about his future and could go pro or on to College.
On the baseball side of things, there is one big issue with Kaminsky that may turn teams off. When you draft a high schooler, for example, we'll use Jesse Biddle, you project. Jesse Biddle was a big, thin kid when he was drafted and already threw in the upper 80's. However, he had a lot of filling out to do so you could project that maybe he can add a few MPH and end up throwing low to mid 90's with good sink. There is pretty much none of that with Kaminsky. He works ~89-91 with his FB and touches 93-94. That's it. It's not likely to get any faster. Because he's short it won't have that heavy downward slope that a 6'5" guy like Biddle can generate. It's entirely possible that Kaminsky is the next Adam Morgan. Is a guy who maxes out as a #2/3 Starter worth the #16 pick? Recent Mock Drafts have him going late First Round (most commonly to the Yankees, since he pitches in their shadow and would be a popular pick with fans who have quite possibly already heard of the kid in Jersey with 5 No-hitters and 18 K/9 strikeout rate) to all the way in early to mid-second round. That suggests that if the Phillies are really into the kid, they may be able to simply wait a round and still stand a chance at picking him (same may be true of Justin Williams who I profiled earlier in the series).
Well, let's look at the kid and see what all of the fuss is about. First up is a video from Baseball America. I'm not an expert on pitching mechanics, but I do know that a lot of shorter pitchers appear to be giving full effort every pitch to generate velocity. If this kid throws mid-90's you wouldn't know it from this video. That's a pretty relaxed, loose looking delivery. No dreaded "inverted W", no arm breaking (when a pitcher slows his arm after release). No locking out his front knee.Our industry leading consumer and business IC card products offer competitive pricing combined. All of those are commonly listed as potential red flags by the various people who write about pitching mechanics. Also, it sounds like there's a pirate in the stands during the game.
Next up is a video from Baseball Banter. I can see more in this video that it appears his plent foot lands slightly to the first base side, causing him to throw across his body. That is sometimes pointed to as an injury concern and can affect accuracy. Kaminsky though is widely lauded for his accuracy, ability to adjust pitch sped and work both sides of the plate. So, if this affects accuracy, Kaminsky seems to have found a way to work past it.
Of some interest, he's apparently also ambidexterous and can throw well right handed too, but without much control, so little league coaches basically said, well, if you can throw Lefty, let's make you a Lefty then. In this case I think it's the public reading Ruben's MO and just shoving a local pitcher in there. I wouldn't be shocked if the Phillies took him, but I think it's far from a foregone conclusion, as we have several mid-rotation possible prospects already.
I Love Velvet, the Mobile Point-of-Sale (MPOS) hardware and software innovator for large retailers, restaurant chains, and leisure and entertainment groups today launches its newest line of MPOS devices featuring full integration with the latest Apple Lightning (8 pin) connector. The sleek MPOS devices are fully compatible with all of Apples latest devices that feature the Lighting connector, including the fourth generation iPad, iPad mini, iPhone 5 and iPod touch. I Love Velvets compatibility with Lightning connectors gives retailers access to faster performance relative to other MPOS solutions that use Bluetooth technology.
Widespread adoption of MPOS solutions has been stalled by concerns of the staff training burden, ease-of-use, and whether the systems offers greater security than the gang of casual mobile payment services on the market, said Patrick Bouaziz, CVO, I Love Velvet. Our integration of Apples Lightning Connector into our latest MPOS devices underlines our commitment to offer our large retail clients the flexibility to use any Apple devices currently available, removing a key hurdle of device specification and staff training while maintaining the unparalleled high level of security we have become well-known for.
I Love Velvet offers a fully integrated MPOS solution designed to help retailers get sales people out from behind cash registers to better serve and engage with customers.This is a basic RFID tag used for presence sensing. This heightened interaction with purchasers ultimately maximizes sales, optimizes operational efficiency, and helps organizations gain critical consumer insights. Using proprietary software that integrates seamlessly with existing legacy POS and CRM systems, retailers can manage their inventory and staff performance in real time while gaining rich CRM data insights.
So before we get into what to like about Kaminsky we'll deal with the non-pitching red flag of his strong commitment to UNC for College ball. If I had to guess, being a mid first round pick as a High School Pitcher alone is likely enough to break that commitment, but it may require being on the high end of slot or even just above and therefore going bargain bin later to avoid slot penalties in 2014. If, from discussions, there is any sense that he'll require top 10 money or anything similar it may make him more difficult to draft. Kaminsky has stated himself that while he loved North Carolina, he hasn't made any decision about his future and could go pro or on to College.
On the baseball side of things, there is one big issue with Kaminsky that may turn teams off. When you draft a high schooler, for example, we'll use Jesse Biddle, you project. Jesse Biddle was a big, thin kid when he was drafted and already threw in the upper 80's. However, he had a lot of filling out to do so you could project that maybe he can add a few MPH and end up throwing low to mid 90's with good sink. There is pretty much none of that with Kaminsky. He works ~89-91 with his FB and touches 93-94. That's it. It's not likely to get any faster. Because he's short it won't have that heavy downward slope that a 6'5" guy like Biddle can generate. It's entirely possible that Kaminsky is the next Adam Morgan. Is a guy who maxes out as a #2/3 Starter worth the #16 pick? Recent Mock Drafts have him going late First Round (most commonly to the Yankees, since he pitches in their shadow and would be a popular pick with fans who have quite possibly already heard of the kid in Jersey with 5 No-hitters and 18 K/9 strikeout rate) to all the way in early to mid-second round. That suggests that if the Phillies are really into the kid, they may be able to simply wait a round and still stand a chance at picking him (same may be true of Justin Williams who I profiled earlier in the series).
Well, let's look at the kid and see what all of the fuss is about. First up is a video from Baseball America. I'm not an expert on pitching mechanics, but I do know that a lot of shorter pitchers appear to be giving full effort every pitch to generate velocity. If this kid throws mid-90's you wouldn't know it from this video. That's a pretty relaxed, loose looking delivery. No dreaded "inverted W", no arm breaking (when a pitcher slows his arm after release). No locking out his front knee.Our industry leading consumer and business IC card products offer competitive pricing combined. All of those are commonly listed as potential red flags by the various people who write about pitching mechanics. Also, it sounds like there's a pirate in the stands during the game.
Next up is a video from Baseball Banter. I can see more in this video that it appears his plent foot lands slightly to the first base side, causing him to throw across his body. That is sometimes pointed to as an injury concern and can affect accuracy. Kaminsky though is widely lauded for his accuracy, ability to adjust pitch sped and work both sides of the plate. So, if this affects accuracy, Kaminsky seems to have found a way to work past it.
Of some interest, he's apparently also ambidexterous and can throw well right handed too, but without much control, so little league coaches basically said, well, if you can throw Lefty, let's make you a Lefty then. In this case I think it's the public reading Ruben's MO and just shoving a local pitcher in there. I wouldn't be shocked if the Phillies took him, but I think it's far from a foregone conclusion, as we have several mid-rotation possible prospects already.
I Love Velvet, the Mobile Point-of-Sale (MPOS) hardware and software innovator for large retailers, restaurant chains, and leisure and entertainment groups today launches its newest line of MPOS devices featuring full integration with the latest Apple Lightning (8 pin) connector. The sleek MPOS devices are fully compatible with all of Apples latest devices that feature the Lighting connector, including the fourth generation iPad, iPad mini, iPhone 5 and iPod touch. I Love Velvets compatibility with Lightning connectors gives retailers access to faster performance relative to other MPOS solutions that use Bluetooth technology.
Widespread adoption of MPOS solutions has been stalled by concerns of the staff training burden, ease-of-use, and whether the systems offers greater security than the gang of casual mobile payment services on the market, said Patrick Bouaziz, CVO, I Love Velvet. Our integration of Apples Lightning Connector into our latest MPOS devices underlines our commitment to offer our large retail clients the flexibility to use any Apple devices currently available, removing a key hurdle of device specification and staff training while maintaining the unparalleled high level of security we have become well-known for.
I Love Velvet offers a fully integrated MPOS solution designed to help retailers get sales people out from behind cash registers to better serve and engage with customers.This is a basic RFID tag used for presence sensing. This heightened interaction with purchasers ultimately maximizes sales, optimizes operational efficiency, and helps organizations gain critical consumer insights. Using proprietary software that integrates seamlessly with existing legacy POS and CRM systems, retailers can manage their inventory and staff performance in real time while gaining rich CRM data insights.
2013年5月20日星期一
Shanghai court takes swipe at POS industry
The court reportedly shot down the case after Zhou could not offer adequate evidence to prove that her bank card had been surreptitiously cloned - Zhou alleged that she had been in Shanghai and in possession of her bank card while her money was withdrawn from an automatic teller machine in Guangzhou. Reports go on to say that Zhou did not notice the transaction until two days after it occurred, at which time she turned to the police for help.
Going solely on what the media has written, I am not in a position to judge the court's call - but what I can say though is that the judiciary did make some rather odd remarks in its final ruling. To ensure the safety of their accounts, judges urged consumers not to use their bank cards at point-of-sales (POS) machines, exhorting them instead to use their cards to withdraw cash directly from bank machines.
Customers, banks, payment service providers and retailers should be doing everything within their power to push back against these recommendations, which insinuate that POS machines are unsafe. Moreover, many may interpret the court's ruling as a sign that customers who fall prey to cloning scams are on their own.
POS and card swipe payments are a booming business in China. Bank card payments have become de rigueur across China's crowded consumer market as retailers of all stripes endeavor to make the shopping experience more convenient. During the fourth quarter of last year, 2.74 billion card swipe payments were made for purchases totaling 6.3 trillion yuan ($1.02 trillion), up 44.7 percent and 48 percent respectively year-on-year, according to statistics from China's central bank.
Meanwhile, bank card swipe payments generated some 37.5 billion yuan in service fees during 2012, industry figures show. Under regulations issued by the central bank in 2004, 70 percent of these fees go toward commercial lenders, while third-party payment providers and UnionPay are eligible for 20 percent and 10 percent respectively.
Although telecoms fraud and wire scams are matters best left to law enforcement officials, banks should still be concerned about what cases like Zhou's might suggest about POS transactions. If card holders believe that banks won't go to bat for them if their accounts are illegally accessed, these institutions stand to lose their credibility with customers.
For the sake of their account holders, banks need to consider stricter monitoring and anti-fraud precautions. For instance,A smart card resembles a credit card in size and shape. banks could offer customers the option of holding large money transfers or card payments until they can provide consent either in person or via mobile phone.
Of course, with central bank figures showing over 3.53 billion bank cards in circulation as of the end of last year - up 19.8 percent year-on-year and compared with 1.58 billion cards nearly five years ago - one could perhaps speculate that customers have been snapping up plastic without fully understanding the risks and responsibilities of bank card ownership. Ideally banks need to work hand-in-hand with account holders to cultivate responsible habits which benefit both sides.A chip card is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain.
Swelled budget is as bad as an excess fat in your body. Excess fat can be burned by exercise while swelled budget can be taken care of by discipline. Budget deficits are not the problem of Indian government alone. In the modern day life, individuals face similar problems. The financial crisis has become more and more a regular word these days. The mismanagement of finances without proper arrangements of funds leads to panic at the month end.
Clearing your budget with unnecessary burdens helps the friction of fund flow to ease. This not only gives you the freedom to do certain things but it also eases your financial problems to a large extent. Here are some useful tips to clear your budget and make it stronger.
It’s very easy to talk about keeping a track of expenses, but in reality it is so difficult to follow. Stricter money schedules are more difficult to follow. You can keep expenses in two separate columns for every month. One should be the ‘Necessity’ account, like expenses towards household items and another one the ‘Optional’ account which would contain expenses that you will need from time to time. Keep cash aside for your major expenses like Rent, EMI and Personal Loan ECS. Other expenses that are discretionary in nature are travelling, movie tickets and eating at restaurants, etc. They are called discretionary since they vary depending on the persons handling them. These expenses can be controlled to a large extent.
Utilize your net banking and internet services smartly. Automatic bill payment services of mobile phones or the internet or even Electricity payment through online medium can save time and money. In case of savings, you should use the bank’s fund transfer facility also known as NEFT and transfer the amount to separate accounts. This will ensure that you have remaining cash for other expenses. The method can be adopted after your salary gets credited. In case of contingencies, you will have spare funds in your savings account. Pay the other expenses using your internet.
Going solely on what the media has written, I am not in a position to judge the court's call - but what I can say though is that the judiciary did make some rather odd remarks in its final ruling. To ensure the safety of their accounts, judges urged consumers not to use their bank cards at point-of-sales (POS) machines, exhorting them instead to use their cards to withdraw cash directly from bank machines.
Customers, banks, payment service providers and retailers should be doing everything within their power to push back against these recommendations, which insinuate that POS machines are unsafe. Moreover, many may interpret the court's ruling as a sign that customers who fall prey to cloning scams are on their own.
POS and card swipe payments are a booming business in China. Bank card payments have become de rigueur across China's crowded consumer market as retailers of all stripes endeavor to make the shopping experience more convenient. During the fourth quarter of last year, 2.74 billion card swipe payments were made for purchases totaling 6.3 trillion yuan ($1.02 trillion), up 44.7 percent and 48 percent respectively year-on-year, according to statistics from China's central bank.
Meanwhile, bank card swipe payments generated some 37.5 billion yuan in service fees during 2012, industry figures show. Under regulations issued by the central bank in 2004, 70 percent of these fees go toward commercial lenders, while third-party payment providers and UnionPay are eligible for 20 percent and 10 percent respectively.
Although telecoms fraud and wire scams are matters best left to law enforcement officials, banks should still be concerned about what cases like Zhou's might suggest about POS transactions. If card holders believe that banks won't go to bat for them if their accounts are illegally accessed, these institutions stand to lose their credibility with customers.
For the sake of their account holders, banks need to consider stricter monitoring and anti-fraud precautions. For instance,A smart card resembles a credit card in size and shape. banks could offer customers the option of holding large money transfers or card payments until they can provide consent either in person or via mobile phone.
Of course, with central bank figures showing over 3.53 billion bank cards in circulation as of the end of last year - up 19.8 percent year-on-year and compared with 1.58 billion cards nearly five years ago - one could perhaps speculate that customers have been snapping up plastic without fully understanding the risks and responsibilities of bank card ownership. Ideally banks need to work hand-in-hand with account holders to cultivate responsible habits which benefit both sides.A chip card is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain.
Swelled budget is as bad as an excess fat in your body. Excess fat can be burned by exercise while swelled budget can be taken care of by discipline. Budget deficits are not the problem of Indian government alone. In the modern day life, individuals face similar problems. The financial crisis has become more and more a regular word these days. The mismanagement of finances without proper arrangements of funds leads to panic at the month end.
Clearing your budget with unnecessary burdens helps the friction of fund flow to ease. This not only gives you the freedom to do certain things but it also eases your financial problems to a large extent. Here are some useful tips to clear your budget and make it stronger.
It’s very easy to talk about keeping a track of expenses, but in reality it is so difficult to follow. Stricter money schedules are more difficult to follow. You can keep expenses in two separate columns for every month. One should be the ‘Necessity’ account, like expenses towards household items and another one the ‘Optional’ account which would contain expenses that you will need from time to time. Keep cash aside for your major expenses like Rent, EMI and Personal Loan ECS. Other expenses that are discretionary in nature are travelling, movie tickets and eating at restaurants, etc. They are called discretionary since they vary depending on the persons handling them. These expenses can be controlled to a large extent.
Utilize your net banking and internet services smartly. Automatic bill payment services of mobile phones or the internet or even Electricity payment through online medium can save time and money. In case of savings, you should use the bank’s fund transfer facility also known as NEFT and transfer the amount to separate accounts. This will ensure that you have remaining cash for other expenses. The method can be adopted after your salary gets credited. In case of contingencies, you will have spare funds in your savings account. Pay the other expenses using your internet.
2013年5月19日星期日
Living out of a suitcase
I meet the English couple when I board a train from Nagercoil to Chennai. It is not often that one encounters foreigners on this route. When I enter the compartment, they are already well settled and busy with their laptops, only looking up from time to time to reply pleasantly to a little girl who seems fascinated with them. We get talking and I realise I have a story. “Some of the places we have just touched, we did not stop there,” explains Peter. He starts listing the countries and then quietly suggests “we will write it down for you”. The sheet reads like a page out of a geography book. What makes their story remarkable is that they are not young — their card has the legend “old age travellers”.
This is their second holiday in India. “Our previous visit was to the North. We are now exploring South India. We are off to Madurai, Rameswaram and Tiruchi.” “You must go to Thanjavur,” I urge thrusting my favourite heritage destination on them. A fortnight later they call up in Chennai. “Thanjavur was great,” they tell me and I feel Chola-proud.
Carole and Peter have their family back home in England — their only son, his wife and their three young grandchildren. And Carole’s mother. “We will see them soon after a whole year. They are used to us going in and out of their lives.”
When Peter retired from the navy, the couple set up an insurance business. In 1997, they decided to wind it up and began to do a little bit of travelling, “to see the world,” having put aside a nice nest egg. “We didn’t mean to do so much,” they laugh. “And have so many long holidays. We are living the dream and have circumnavigated the smart card three times.”
Their memorable journeys include one on a container ship (“six weeks from England to India and back”) and a 1,000 km self-driven trip across the Australian desert (“We saw just one other vehicle throughout”). Journeys are triggered in the most unexpected ways. “There was a young Spanish-speaking couple sharing the dinner table with us in the Chilean town of San Pedro de Atacama. They suggested this five-day voyage by ship to Patagonia. It turned out to be out of the world. The San Rafael glacier was beautiful, we travelled through islands and saw dolphins, whales and penguins on the way. The food was excellent and to top it all, it was Christmas,” their eyes light up at the memory and they immediately look ten years younger.
The Coxs are always on the look out for unusual places to visit and unusual ways to get there. They undertook a ten-day train journey from London to Beijing. “It reminded me of the book The Inn of the Sixth Happiness,” says Carole. The film starred Ingrid Bergman, he chimes in. “It was a wonderful journey — we read, played cards, chatted with our fellow passengers and even cleaned the train windows. The days passed by gently… it was so relaxing…”
Carole attributes her love for travel to the fact that she read a lot as a child. “I formed a special connection with India as my father was in India during World War II, in the Royal Air Force. He would show me photos and tell me stories; he always said “chai and jaldi jaldi”, she laughs.
“I joined the navy after school partly in order to visit various places,” adds Peter. “Our generation did not have the opportunity to travel much.” “Unless you were hippies or very rich,” she pipes in. “The important elements are we both want to travel, enjoy good health, have the funds and a spirit of adventure. Now we are going back to England and will be off to Spain in a caravan.”
“Lots of people must want to do this but I think they are afraid,” says Peter. “To us travel is an addiction. We can’t imagine living any other way”.
The Coxs maintain accounts meticulously on their trips. “We make sure credit cards are not being abused. The Internet is so useful to book tickets, hotel accommodation and keep in touch.”
Wonder what Marco Polo did? “Yes,” they chuckle, “we do agree but then the Internet takes a bit adventure out of it all.”
“We have never felt unsafe anywhere. We don’t carry much money and I never wear any jewellery,” points out Carole. North India is very different from the South, feel the couple.“In Thanjavur the temple is awesome but apart from that there isn’t anything else to see. The North is more geared to tourism. In Jaisalmer, you can just sit in the fort, have a cup of the tea and watch the world go by.”
The massive structure, way up in the hilly terrain of Sligoville, consists of a 600-seat basketball and netball court, with lighting facilities and fences. It also has a 1,200-seat cricket oval, a 1,500-seat football field and a six-lane, 400-metre track circling the football field.
But today, the chain-link fence enclosing the stadium is almost gone, having rotted away over the years. The plastic seats in the stands have crystallised, the majority of them completely destroyed. The bulbs and the casings for the floodlights on the court and the field are all broken. The goal nets are torn up, and the ankle-high grass acts as a deterrent even for those residents who might be inclined to hang out there.
The gates, which were once locked to restrict unauthorised access, no longer serve that purpose as the fencing is also gone. While the facility still has electricity, there is no longer a caretaker to do regular landscaping of the venue.
Even the community centre, which overlooks the stadium and which was built as part of the project, is rarely ever used as residents said only a senior citizens' group meets there occasionally.
"People nuh really care 'bout it no more," said a resident, who was seen walking across the field to get to and from the surrounding Crown lands which he now farms.
Some residents said that while they were never against the stadium being built in the community in the first place, they are extremely disappointed that more effort was not made to ensure that it brought much-needed earnings to the farming community.
This is their second holiday in India. “Our previous visit was to the North. We are now exploring South India. We are off to Madurai, Rameswaram and Tiruchi.” “You must go to Thanjavur,” I urge thrusting my favourite heritage destination on them. A fortnight later they call up in Chennai. “Thanjavur was great,” they tell me and I feel Chola-proud.
Carole and Peter have their family back home in England — their only son, his wife and their three young grandchildren. And Carole’s mother. “We will see them soon after a whole year. They are used to us going in and out of their lives.”
When Peter retired from the navy, the couple set up an insurance business. In 1997, they decided to wind it up and began to do a little bit of travelling, “to see the world,” having put aside a nice nest egg. “We didn’t mean to do so much,” they laugh. “And have so many long holidays. We are living the dream and have circumnavigated the smart card three times.”
Their memorable journeys include one on a container ship (“six weeks from England to India and back”) and a 1,000 km self-driven trip across the Australian desert (“We saw just one other vehicle throughout”). Journeys are triggered in the most unexpected ways. “There was a young Spanish-speaking couple sharing the dinner table with us in the Chilean town of San Pedro de Atacama. They suggested this five-day voyage by ship to Patagonia. It turned out to be out of the world. The San Rafael glacier was beautiful, we travelled through islands and saw dolphins, whales and penguins on the way. The food was excellent and to top it all, it was Christmas,” their eyes light up at the memory and they immediately look ten years younger.
The Coxs are always on the look out for unusual places to visit and unusual ways to get there. They undertook a ten-day train journey from London to Beijing. “It reminded me of the book The Inn of the Sixth Happiness,” says Carole. The film starred Ingrid Bergman, he chimes in. “It was a wonderful journey — we read, played cards, chatted with our fellow passengers and even cleaned the train windows. The days passed by gently… it was so relaxing…”
Carole attributes her love for travel to the fact that she read a lot as a child. “I formed a special connection with India as my father was in India during World War II, in the Royal Air Force. He would show me photos and tell me stories; he always said “chai and jaldi jaldi”, she laughs.
“I joined the navy after school partly in order to visit various places,” adds Peter. “Our generation did not have the opportunity to travel much.” “Unless you were hippies or very rich,” she pipes in. “The important elements are we both want to travel, enjoy good health, have the funds and a spirit of adventure. Now we are going back to England and will be off to Spain in a caravan.”
“Lots of people must want to do this but I think they are afraid,” says Peter. “To us travel is an addiction. We can’t imagine living any other way”.
The Coxs maintain accounts meticulously on their trips. “We make sure credit cards are not being abused. The Internet is so useful to book tickets, hotel accommodation and keep in touch.”
Wonder what Marco Polo did? “Yes,” they chuckle, “we do agree but then the Internet takes a bit adventure out of it all.”
“We have never felt unsafe anywhere. We don’t carry much money and I never wear any jewellery,” points out Carole. North India is very different from the South, feel the couple.“In Thanjavur the temple is awesome but apart from that there isn’t anything else to see. The North is more geared to tourism. In Jaisalmer, you can just sit in the fort, have a cup of the tea and watch the world go by.”
The massive structure, way up in the hilly terrain of Sligoville, consists of a 600-seat basketball and netball court, with lighting facilities and fences. It also has a 1,200-seat cricket oval, a 1,500-seat football field and a six-lane, 400-metre track circling the football field.
But today, the chain-link fence enclosing the stadium is almost gone, having rotted away over the years. The plastic seats in the stands have crystallised, the majority of them completely destroyed. The bulbs and the casings for the floodlights on the court and the field are all broken. The goal nets are torn up, and the ankle-high grass acts as a deterrent even for those residents who might be inclined to hang out there.
The gates, which were once locked to restrict unauthorised access, no longer serve that purpose as the fencing is also gone. While the facility still has electricity, there is no longer a caretaker to do regular landscaping of the venue.
Even the community centre, which overlooks the stadium and which was built as part of the project, is rarely ever used as residents said only a senior citizens' group meets there occasionally.
"People nuh really care 'bout it no more," said a resident, who was seen walking across the field to get to and from the surrounding Crown lands which he now farms.
Some residents said that while they were never against the stadium being built in the community in the first place, they are extremely disappointed that more effort was not made to ensure that it brought much-needed earnings to the farming community.
2013年5月16日星期四
Daniello playing for others as well as for UConn
Just above the brim in the lower right corner on the front of the cap is etched "SH" for the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Along the left side, above Daniello's ear, it reads "JB RIP" to honor a former Brien McMahon student Jonathan Brown, who was killed in a motorcycle accident last fall.
"It's just something I can go out there and say, `Hey, I'm playing for you,'" said the UConn freshman baseball player from Norwalk. "Especially being in Connecticut and having that massacre, I felt really bad for those families.
"(Both messages are) just a personal thing, a memory for the kids who had their lives taken at such a young age, and it's a shame."
Daniello's temperament, in addition to his baseball skills, have been a pleasant addition to a struggling Huskies squad (28-25) that opens the Big East tournament Wednesday in Clearwater, Fla., despite going 9-15 in conference this RFID tag.
"Bryan is like a water bug and his eyes are wide open," UConn coach Jim Penders said. "He's a high-energy guy with a high motor. | He's fun to watch play out there."
Even during difficult moments, Daniello has tried to maintain that positive outlook.
"It's been a great experience, especially coming in as a freshman," said Daniello, who rooms with fellow freshman Vinny Siena, an Amity graduate, in Storrs. "Early on, I really wasn't playing that much, but I never really got discouraged. I just kept going out there and working hard."
While Siena has primarily been the Huskies' third baseman, Daniello, a high school shortstop, has been a jack of all trades, seeing time at second and third base along with short and even designated hitter.
"The more I work at it, the easier it becomes," he said about changing positions. "Whether I am playing or not playing, I just try to keep a positive attitude. Wherever coach puts me, I just try to go out there and do the best I can and help the team anyway I can."
"Every time you go out there, you are going to see a good pitcher where as in high school, you might struggle earlier in the week and then you might get a kid who's not so good," said Daniello, who was batting .213 with two homers and 22 RBIs in 155 at-bats. "Then you get a couple hits and feel good about yourself.
The agency that provides sewage treatment for 27 North Jersey communities along the Passaic River is proceeding with a $100-million project to increase its treatment facility’s capacity, aiming to reduce frequent — and health-threatening — flows of raw sewage into rivers during rainstorms.
The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, which runs the nation’s fifth-largest treatment facility, also has partnered with Rutgers University to promote green technology in North Jersey municipalities — rain gardens and retention basins, as well as porous pavement and rain barrels — to capture runoff before it invades storm water and sewer systems. Green infrastructure projects also filter and clean water percolating down to recharge groundwater.
Storm-related sewage overflows can cause illnesses such as gastroenteritis — a stomach inflammation that causes vomiting and diarrhea — as well as hepatitis and skin, respiratory and ear infections.
Combined, the treatment facility upgrades and green technology will reduce both pollution in rivers and flooding, which has increased because of impervious surfaces — buildings, roads, parking lots — that cap soil and replace vegetation that naturally absorb runoff.
“It’s not going to do away with flooding, but anything we can do to reduce flooding is important,” said Michael DeFrancisci, the commission’s executive director. DeFrancisci is the former mayor of Little Falls, which has seen significant flooding in recent years.
Up to 70 percent of pollution in the region’s rivers and streams is carried there by storm water runoff, said Ashley Slagle, a commission water quality scientist. Such runoff carries not only trash and soda bottles, but fertilizers from lawns, grease and oil dripped from cars onto pavement, copper dust from brake pads, pet waste and whatever people pour down roadway catch basins.
The commission’s Newark facility, which treats sewage for 1.4 million customers in five counties including Bergen and Passaic, is licensed to handle an average daily flow of 330 million gallons, and it can actually accommodate as much as 400 million gallons. The commission plans to increase capacity to 720 million gallons during major storms.
In dry weather, the facility typically processes 225 million gallons a day. During Hurricane Irene in 2011, flow peaked at more than 600 million gallons. The facility could handle 400 million gallons for a short period, but much of the rest flowed into rivers through overflow outlets. Superstorm Sandy knocked out the facility last October, and billions of gallons of raw or partially treated sewage poured into rivers and bays through those same overflow outlets.
"It's just something I can go out there and say, `Hey, I'm playing for you,'" said the UConn freshman baseball player from Norwalk. "Especially being in Connecticut and having that massacre, I felt really bad for those families.
"(Both messages are) just a personal thing, a memory for the kids who had their lives taken at such a young age, and it's a shame."
Daniello's temperament, in addition to his baseball skills, have been a pleasant addition to a struggling Huskies squad (28-25) that opens the Big East tournament Wednesday in Clearwater, Fla., despite going 9-15 in conference this RFID tag.
"Bryan is like a water bug and his eyes are wide open," UConn coach Jim Penders said. "He's a high-energy guy with a high motor. | He's fun to watch play out there."
Even during difficult moments, Daniello has tried to maintain that positive outlook.
"It's been a great experience, especially coming in as a freshman," said Daniello, who rooms with fellow freshman Vinny Siena, an Amity graduate, in Storrs. "Early on, I really wasn't playing that much, but I never really got discouraged. I just kept going out there and working hard."
While Siena has primarily been the Huskies' third baseman, Daniello, a high school shortstop, has been a jack of all trades, seeing time at second and third base along with short and even designated hitter.
"The more I work at it, the easier it becomes," he said about changing positions. "Whether I am playing or not playing, I just try to keep a positive attitude. Wherever coach puts me, I just try to go out there and do the best I can and help the team anyway I can."
"Every time you go out there, you are going to see a good pitcher where as in high school, you might struggle earlier in the week and then you might get a kid who's not so good," said Daniello, who was batting .213 with two homers and 22 RBIs in 155 at-bats. "Then you get a couple hits and feel good about yourself.
The agency that provides sewage treatment for 27 North Jersey communities along the Passaic River is proceeding with a $100-million project to increase its treatment facility’s capacity, aiming to reduce frequent — and health-threatening — flows of raw sewage into rivers during rainstorms.
The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, which runs the nation’s fifth-largest treatment facility, also has partnered with Rutgers University to promote green technology in North Jersey municipalities — rain gardens and retention basins, as well as porous pavement and rain barrels — to capture runoff before it invades storm water and sewer systems. Green infrastructure projects also filter and clean water percolating down to recharge groundwater.
Storm-related sewage overflows can cause illnesses such as gastroenteritis — a stomach inflammation that causes vomiting and diarrhea — as well as hepatitis and skin, respiratory and ear infections.
Combined, the treatment facility upgrades and green technology will reduce both pollution in rivers and flooding, which has increased because of impervious surfaces — buildings, roads, parking lots — that cap soil and replace vegetation that naturally absorb runoff.
“It’s not going to do away with flooding, but anything we can do to reduce flooding is important,” said Michael DeFrancisci, the commission’s executive director. DeFrancisci is the former mayor of Little Falls, which has seen significant flooding in recent years.
Up to 70 percent of pollution in the region’s rivers and streams is carried there by storm water runoff, said Ashley Slagle, a commission water quality scientist. Such runoff carries not only trash and soda bottles, but fertilizers from lawns, grease and oil dripped from cars onto pavement, copper dust from brake pads, pet waste and whatever people pour down roadway catch basins.
The commission’s Newark facility, which treats sewage for 1.4 million customers in five counties including Bergen and Passaic, is licensed to handle an average daily flow of 330 million gallons, and it can actually accommodate as much as 400 million gallons. The commission plans to increase capacity to 720 million gallons during major storms.
In dry weather, the facility typically processes 225 million gallons a day. During Hurricane Irene in 2011, flow peaked at more than 600 million gallons. The facility could handle 400 million gallons for a short period, but much of the rest flowed into rivers through overflow outlets. Superstorm Sandy knocked out the facility last October, and billions of gallons of raw or partially treated sewage poured into rivers and bays through those same overflow outlets.
2013年5月15日星期三
Pot enthusiast claims divine right to sell weed
Robert Joseph Simmons, 33, claims he’s not a lazy hippie, or in his words, a “ragamuffin,” but rather a Rastafarian minister whose refusal to abandon his beliefs might land him behind bars for a long time.
Simmons said he’s facing up to eight years in prison over a pot bust because he did not accept a plea agreement with prosecutors last week that would have had him serving just 60 days.
In August 2011, Simmons was approached by an officer in Belmont and searched because he was on parole. He was found with 161 grams of pot, a digital scale, 45 plastic bags and $965 in cash, a prosecutor said. While Simmons said he had a medical marijuana card at the time and was operating a widely advertised delivery service, he has been charged with felony intent to sell because the delivery service was never sanctioned.
Last week, prosecutors offered Simmons a seemingly “kush” deal, but he balked. Simmons — who converted to the Rastafarian religion due to the influence of his reggae-band pals — said accepting the deal would have gone against his principles.
Simmons said he was ordained as a Rastafarian minister online for free. Since then, he has been on a crusade to prove that he doesn’t need a doctor’s recommendation to possess marijuana — and also should be allowed to sell weed — because the plant is a “core tenet” of his religion.
He’s tried the First Amendment argument before. After a 2007 pot bust, according to prosecutors, a judge ruled that Simmons’ claim was dubious at best and sentenced him to prison for a probation violation.
On May 6, Simmons asked a judge to grant him one more day to decide whether to accept the plea agreement. However, Simmons failed to show up for the hearing the following day, claiming he had gone to a San Francisco hospital with an anxiety attack.
Meanwhile, he said he’s trying to keep afloat his unsanctioned medical marijuana delivery business on the Peninsula, which is advertised on Yelp.
“I’ve been running it as a subsidiary of my church,” Simmons said, adding that he has not reported his earnings to the Internal Revenue Service due to the federal tax exemption for smart card.
My dad would slowly walk down each aisle and fill several bags with trinkets: pens, notepads, candy, flashlights, screwdrivers, calendars, plastic carts, model trucks, decals, rulers, magnets and virtually anything free. Dad always said, "For free, take!"
You could see the trade show veterans and old-timers cruising down the aisles, occasionally on their scooters. Dad and Hank Van Weelden were both in their 80s. By noon they were both taking a nap on a couch across from the RDK booth.
If you just listened, you might have thought you were at the Farm Progress Show because there was so much BS tossed about, who had the most trucks, the latest and greatest, the biggest contract, nicest vacation home or boat.
When the doors open, I'm on a mission, with a plan. Tuesday's goal is to walk every aisle and see all of the booths, vendors and exhibits. Wednesday, I target the ones I'm interested in. Thursday, I tie up any loose ends.
If you are serious, wear comfortable shoes. Work boots or tennis shoes are your best bet. The only thing dress shoes are going to get you are blisters. When I was doing all the major purchasing for our company, I typically couldn't walk two aisles on the first day. Everyone wanted to BS, sell you something, schmooze or do their best to make you a captive audience that night.
Back then, Waste Expo was exciting for a number of reasons. In the era of acquisition roll-ups, it was the time to announce big buys or mergers, unveil new products, announce promotions or introduce new management.
National companies set up strategically throughout the expo with two goals in mind: Attract the independent guy thinking about being acquired and attract investors and venture capitalists to fund growth and capital expenditures.
The doors swing open at 10 o'clock and the first glimpse is breathtaking! New trucks, new equipment, banners, flags and trinkets everywhere. These are your friends, neighbors and family.
Three days in the garbage man's paradise. What could possibly be better? Having access to resources like this, all in one place at one time, with the real decision-makers.
It's getting tougher to go as the years fly by. Forty five years of Waste Expos leaves us with casualties on a regular basis. For those of us who are considered dinosaurs, we look around the hall like we read the obituaries, first thing in the newspaper. Where is Larry Downing? Where are John Drury, Dave Leach, Don Link, Joe Heil, John Groot, Ben Heslinga, John Groenboom, Everett Van Der Molen and Dick Evenhouse?
Simmons said he’s facing up to eight years in prison over a pot bust because he did not accept a plea agreement with prosecutors last week that would have had him serving just 60 days.
In August 2011, Simmons was approached by an officer in Belmont and searched because he was on parole. He was found with 161 grams of pot, a digital scale, 45 plastic bags and $965 in cash, a prosecutor said. While Simmons said he had a medical marijuana card at the time and was operating a widely advertised delivery service, he has been charged with felony intent to sell because the delivery service was never sanctioned.
Last week, prosecutors offered Simmons a seemingly “kush” deal, but he balked. Simmons — who converted to the Rastafarian religion due to the influence of his reggae-band pals — said accepting the deal would have gone against his principles.
Simmons said he was ordained as a Rastafarian minister online for free. Since then, he has been on a crusade to prove that he doesn’t need a doctor’s recommendation to possess marijuana — and also should be allowed to sell weed — because the plant is a “core tenet” of his religion.
He’s tried the First Amendment argument before. After a 2007 pot bust, according to prosecutors, a judge ruled that Simmons’ claim was dubious at best and sentenced him to prison for a probation violation.
On May 6, Simmons asked a judge to grant him one more day to decide whether to accept the plea agreement. However, Simmons failed to show up for the hearing the following day, claiming he had gone to a San Francisco hospital with an anxiety attack.
Meanwhile, he said he’s trying to keep afloat his unsanctioned medical marijuana delivery business on the Peninsula, which is advertised on Yelp.
“I’ve been running it as a subsidiary of my church,” Simmons said, adding that he has not reported his earnings to the Internal Revenue Service due to the federal tax exemption for smart card.
My dad would slowly walk down each aisle and fill several bags with trinkets: pens, notepads, candy, flashlights, screwdrivers, calendars, plastic carts, model trucks, decals, rulers, magnets and virtually anything free. Dad always said, "For free, take!"
You could see the trade show veterans and old-timers cruising down the aisles, occasionally on their scooters. Dad and Hank Van Weelden were both in their 80s. By noon they were both taking a nap on a couch across from the RDK booth.
If you just listened, you might have thought you were at the Farm Progress Show because there was so much BS tossed about, who had the most trucks, the latest and greatest, the biggest contract, nicest vacation home or boat.
When the doors open, I'm on a mission, with a plan. Tuesday's goal is to walk every aisle and see all of the booths, vendors and exhibits. Wednesday, I target the ones I'm interested in. Thursday, I tie up any loose ends.
If you are serious, wear comfortable shoes. Work boots or tennis shoes are your best bet. The only thing dress shoes are going to get you are blisters. When I was doing all the major purchasing for our company, I typically couldn't walk two aisles on the first day. Everyone wanted to BS, sell you something, schmooze or do their best to make you a captive audience that night.
Back then, Waste Expo was exciting for a number of reasons. In the era of acquisition roll-ups, it was the time to announce big buys or mergers, unveil new products, announce promotions or introduce new management.
National companies set up strategically throughout the expo with two goals in mind: Attract the independent guy thinking about being acquired and attract investors and venture capitalists to fund growth and capital expenditures.
The doors swing open at 10 o'clock and the first glimpse is breathtaking! New trucks, new equipment, banners, flags and trinkets everywhere. These are your friends, neighbors and family.
Three days in the garbage man's paradise. What could possibly be better? Having access to resources like this, all in one place at one time, with the real decision-makers.
It's getting tougher to go as the years fly by. Forty five years of Waste Expos leaves us with casualties on a regular basis. For those of us who are considered dinosaurs, we look around the hall like we read the obituaries, first thing in the newspaper. Where is Larry Downing? Where are John Drury, Dave Leach, Don Link, Joe Heil, John Groot, Ben Heslinga, John Groenboom, Everett Van Der Molen and Dick Evenhouse?
2013年5月14日星期二
High-PPI Toshiba Kirabook goes after Retina MacBook
High-resolution, high-density screens are expected on most high-end phones and tablets today. Everything from the iPhone 5 to the Samsung Galaxy S 4 to the Nexus 10 is trying to pack as many pixels as it can into a given screen size to increase the sharpness of on-screen text and images.
You often hold a phone or tablet pretty close to your face, so the benefits of a high-resolution, high-density display are easy to see. Perhaps it makes sense then that the technology hasn't been picked up as quickly in laptop computers. To date, there have only been a few serious contenders: Apple's 15-inch and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros, Google's Chromebook Pixel, and now Toshiba's Kirabook.
We're sure that more high-density Windows laptops are on the way, but the Kirabook is the first to make it to market. The laptop raises some natural questions: Does a computer that is both thinner and lighter than the Pixel and the Pros skimp on battery life to achieve these feats? Is the Kirabook good enough to justify its jaw-dropping $1,599.99 starting price? Most importantly, can Windows support high-density displays as well as OS X, Chrome OS, iOS, Android, and others plastic card?
Most laptops today are either rectangles or gently rounded rectangles, but the Kirabook splits the difference. Its back corners are rounded and its front corners aren't. This is a simple design touch, but it helps to make the Kirabook easier to identify at a glance. Like other Ultrabooks, it uses a tapered design that's thicker in the back of the laptop (where the system components and fan are located) and thinner in the front, which angles the keyboard slightly toward the user.
The laptop's construction is partly "magnesium alloy" and partly plastic. The lid, palm rest, and keyboard area is all made of a lightly brushed gray metal, while the bottom case is made of plastic that has the same color but no brushed-metal texture. Four round, rubber feet on the bottom of the laptop are also joined by the stereo speaker grilles. The positioning means that sound is amplified slightly by a hard surface like a desk or table but muffled slightly by a soft surface like a couch or lap—either way, the sound quality is as middling as we've come to expect from most Ultrabooks. There's a bit of distortion at higher volume levels.
The Kirabook's keyboard shares similarities with past Toshiba keyboards, but overall the layout is an improvement over what we've seen from the company in the past. Most of the keys are just a bit shorter than they are in other keyboards, but they're just as wide—instead of being square, they're ever-so-slightly rectangular. The bottom row of keys (which includes the spacebar) is slightly taller, and the top row (the function keys, delete key, and a few others) is a little shorter and narrower. Arrow keys are half-height, as they often are in Ultrabooks. The key sizing and arrangement is very easy to get used to if you're coming from any other chiclet keyboard, and I was quickly able to type at my normal speeds.
The quality of the keyboard is also an improvement. Travel is good, and the keys are nice and firm—the mushiness we noticed on last year's crop of Toshiba Ultrabooks is entirely absent. Where the old Toshiba keys were also entirely flat, the Kirabook's are gently scooped to better fit your fingers. The keyboard's backlight is also bright and even. It's important to get the keyboard right when you're making a laptop, and the Kirabook got it right where other Toshiba Ultrabooks have failed.
The trackpad shares its shape with the laptop itself. The top edges are curved and the bottom edges are squared off. Aside from this thoughtful design touch, the trackpad is very much like all the other trackpads we've been seeing in Windows laptops lately. It's a single, clickable piece of plastic with a textured surface that supports multiple touch points. Basic gestures like two-fingered scrolling and pinch-to-zoom work as intended, as do the Windows 8 trackpad gestures. We had no issues with palm rejection. Some specific applications (Chrome, we're looking at you) had trouble with scrolling, but we're more inclined to blame that on Chrome than the Kirabook since other applications were fine.
The display itself is bright and colorful and, as is to be expected, optimized text and images look very crisp. Its viewing angles are worse than what we've seen in other high-end PCs of late, though; colors shift and you'll notice the screen washing out if you bend the screen toward yourself at a 70 or 80 degree angle. The screen doesn't become unusable unless you're looking at it from an extreme angle, but it's not quite as good as either the Pixel or the Retina MacBook Pros. The hinge is stiff enough that the screen doesn't wobble too much when you reach out to touch it, but not so stiff that it's impossible to lift the lid with one hand.
In the higher-priced, $1,799 and $1,999 models, the laptop adds to its list of features a 10-point capacitive touchscreen. The touchscreen uses a layer of Corning's Concore Glass, a scratch-resistant surface which reduces the overall thickness of the screen by integrating the touch layer into the glass itself. This is a bit different from "in-cell" touchscreens we've seen in phones like the iPhone and Galaxy S4, which integrate the touch layer into the LCD display rather than the glass itself (for more information about how modern capacitive touch works, see this article). Corning's marketing materials for Concore imply that its solution is better-suited to larger surfaces, but in both cases the implementation is similar. Reduce thickness by integrating the touch layer into one of the others.
We spent some time navigating the OS, tapping and swiping various onscreen elements and playing games. We noticed no particular problems with the screen on our review unit. The screen picks up fingerprints and smudges (a sad but inevitable fact of life with gadgets) but my fingers glide across it without any undue resistance. The glass layer does make the screen extremely reflective, though.
You often hold a phone or tablet pretty close to your face, so the benefits of a high-resolution, high-density display are easy to see. Perhaps it makes sense then that the technology hasn't been picked up as quickly in laptop computers. To date, there have only been a few serious contenders: Apple's 15-inch and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros, Google's Chromebook Pixel, and now Toshiba's Kirabook.
We're sure that more high-density Windows laptops are on the way, but the Kirabook is the first to make it to market. The laptop raises some natural questions: Does a computer that is both thinner and lighter than the Pixel and the Pros skimp on battery life to achieve these feats? Is the Kirabook good enough to justify its jaw-dropping $1,599.99 starting price? Most importantly, can Windows support high-density displays as well as OS X, Chrome OS, iOS, Android, and others plastic card?
Most laptops today are either rectangles or gently rounded rectangles, but the Kirabook splits the difference. Its back corners are rounded and its front corners aren't. This is a simple design touch, but it helps to make the Kirabook easier to identify at a glance. Like other Ultrabooks, it uses a tapered design that's thicker in the back of the laptop (where the system components and fan are located) and thinner in the front, which angles the keyboard slightly toward the user.
The laptop's construction is partly "magnesium alloy" and partly plastic. The lid, palm rest, and keyboard area is all made of a lightly brushed gray metal, while the bottom case is made of plastic that has the same color but no brushed-metal texture. Four round, rubber feet on the bottom of the laptop are also joined by the stereo speaker grilles. The positioning means that sound is amplified slightly by a hard surface like a desk or table but muffled slightly by a soft surface like a couch or lap—either way, the sound quality is as middling as we've come to expect from most Ultrabooks. There's a bit of distortion at higher volume levels.
The Kirabook's keyboard shares similarities with past Toshiba keyboards, but overall the layout is an improvement over what we've seen from the company in the past. Most of the keys are just a bit shorter than they are in other keyboards, but they're just as wide—instead of being square, they're ever-so-slightly rectangular. The bottom row of keys (which includes the spacebar) is slightly taller, and the top row (the function keys, delete key, and a few others) is a little shorter and narrower. Arrow keys are half-height, as they often are in Ultrabooks. The key sizing and arrangement is very easy to get used to if you're coming from any other chiclet keyboard, and I was quickly able to type at my normal speeds.
The quality of the keyboard is also an improvement. Travel is good, and the keys are nice and firm—the mushiness we noticed on last year's crop of Toshiba Ultrabooks is entirely absent. Where the old Toshiba keys were also entirely flat, the Kirabook's are gently scooped to better fit your fingers. The keyboard's backlight is also bright and even. It's important to get the keyboard right when you're making a laptop, and the Kirabook got it right where other Toshiba Ultrabooks have failed.
The trackpad shares its shape with the laptop itself. The top edges are curved and the bottom edges are squared off. Aside from this thoughtful design touch, the trackpad is very much like all the other trackpads we've been seeing in Windows laptops lately. It's a single, clickable piece of plastic with a textured surface that supports multiple touch points. Basic gestures like two-fingered scrolling and pinch-to-zoom work as intended, as do the Windows 8 trackpad gestures. We had no issues with palm rejection. Some specific applications (Chrome, we're looking at you) had trouble with scrolling, but we're more inclined to blame that on Chrome than the Kirabook since other applications were fine.
The display itself is bright and colorful and, as is to be expected, optimized text and images look very crisp. Its viewing angles are worse than what we've seen in other high-end PCs of late, though; colors shift and you'll notice the screen washing out if you bend the screen toward yourself at a 70 or 80 degree angle. The screen doesn't become unusable unless you're looking at it from an extreme angle, but it's not quite as good as either the Pixel or the Retina MacBook Pros. The hinge is stiff enough that the screen doesn't wobble too much when you reach out to touch it, but not so stiff that it's impossible to lift the lid with one hand.
In the higher-priced, $1,799 and $1,999 models, the laptop adds to its list of features a 10-point capacitive touchscreen. The touchscreen uses a layer of Corning's Concore Glass, a scratch-resistant surface which reduces the overall thickness of the screen by integrating the touch layer into the glass itself. This is a bit different from "in-cell" touchscreens we've seen in phones like the iPhone and Galaxy S4, which integrate the touch layer into the LCD display rather than the glass itself (for more information about how modern capacitive touch works, see this article). Corning's marketing materials for Concore imply that its solution is better-suited to larger surfaces, but in both cases the implementation is similar. Reduce thickness by integrating the touch layer into one of the others.
We spent some time navigating the OS, tapping and swiping various onscreen elements and playing games. We noticed no particular problems with the screen on our review unit. The screen picks up fingerprints and smudges (a sad but inevitable fact of life with gadgets) but my fingers glide across it without any undue resistance. The glass layer does make the screen extremely reflective, though.
2013年5月13日星期一
Lansdale man among trio nabbed in alleged interstate marijuana scheme
A Lansdale man and two other men face felony drug charges after allegedly attempting to pick up a large shipment of marijuana — hidden inside a pallet of boxes — that was sent from California to the K’NEX toy manufacturing facility in Hatfield last month.
Nghia Binh Thach, 37, of the 600 block of Whitaker Place, along with Hieu Thach, 26, and Hai Danh, 33 — both of Camden, N.J. — have been arrested and charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance and related offenses.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on April 12 police were notified by K’NEX staff that they had received a delivery of 10 boxes on a pallet, wrapped in plastic, that had been shipped from California to the factory at 2990 Bergey Road, and that paperwork associated with the shipment indicated that K’NEX was the intended receiver.
Police said the boxes contained cases of martini shakers, and further inspection revealed a total of 47 pounds of marijuana — packaged in one-pound bags — inside six of the boxes, with an estimated street value of $164,500 to $282,000.
Around 7:30 a.m. on April 16, the affidavit states, Hatfield detectives received a call from K’NEX advising them that a male was on location at the factory requesting to pick up the pallet. Police responded to the scene and took the man, Nghia Thach, into custody and, according to the affidavit, found a U-Haul Self Storage security access card in his RFID tag.
A subsequent search of the storage locker turned up an additional 15 pounds of marijuana — also packaged in one-pound bags, with a total street value of $52,500 to $90,000 — along with 115 cases of martini shakers, the affidavit states.
Around 2:20 p.m. April 18, Hatfield detectives received another call from K’NEX alerting them that two Asian men — later identified as Hieu Thach and Hai Danh — were at the facility asking to pick up the same shipment of 10 boxes, police said. When detectives arrived, the two men had departed, but a man called K’NEX shortly after, inquiring about the pallet and asking if he could send his drivers back to pick up the shipment of martini shakers; a detective got on the phone and told the caller he could send his drivers back, according to the affidavit.
Pure has made a start with its on demand service for the Avalon 300R, adding BBC iPlayer catch-up and YouTube web videos. It can’t compete with the likes of Samsung, though, as that manufacturer includes ITV player, 4OD and Demand 5 on its hard disk recorders. There’s also no Netflix or LoveFilm, which may come as a disappointment to film fans. The one saving grace could be Pure Connect, which lets you access thousands of internet radio stations, listen-again programs and podcasts, and stream music from Pure’s extensive library.
DLNA support is also included, so you’ll be able to play files stored on a networked PC or NAS device. It has fantastic file format support, too, which meant we could play all our test videos including MKV, DivX and MOV clips. You should be able to play any videos, regardless of their file type.
The Avalon 300R stands out from other PVRs with its gorgeous and intuitive interface. A picture-in-picture overlay gives you a preview of each channel as you browse through the EPG, without taking over the screen or obscuring what you’re currently watching. If you just want to see what’s on now and next, a separate menu appears from the side of the screen. There’s a small delay before you get a picture, but it’s certainly better than not being able to see it at all. Everything has a transparent background to avoid blocking as much of the currently playing channel as possible, and looks crisp on a 1080p resolution TV.
All these effects require some serious horsepower, which is why Pure has used an Intel Sodaville processor and PowerVR graphics. This would be overkill for a more restrained interface, but it proves its worth when you activate the numerous channel transitions that slip, wipe, dissolve and ripple the screen as you change to a different program. We found this rather gimmicky, and we’d rather just change as quickly as possible without having to sit through fancy effects. Thankfully, there’s an option to turn the transitions off should you prefer not to see them.
Freeview+ HD might be lacking channels compared to subscription TV services such as Sky or Virgin, but it’s steadily increasing its collection of high definition content, with BBC One HD, BBC Two HD, ITV 1 HD and Channel 4 HD all available. Unfortunately, the Avalon 300R doesn’t have a CI card slot, so you won’t be able to use it for your subscription TV services.
Nghia Binh Thach, 37, of the 600 block of Whitaker Place, along with Hieu Thach, 26, and Hai Danh, 33 — both of Camden, N.J. — have been arrested and charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance and related offenses.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on April 12 police were notified by K’NEX staff that they had received a delivery of 10 boxes on a pallet, wrapped in plastic, that had been shipped from California to the factory at 2990 Bergey Road, and that paperwork associated with the shipment indicated that K’NEX was the intended receiver.
Police said the boxes contained cases of martini shakers, and further inspection revealed a total of 47 pounds of marijuana — packaged in one-pound bags — inside six of the boxes, with an estimated street value of $164,500 to $282,000.
Around 7:30 a.m. on April 16, the affidavit states, Hatfield detectives received a call from K’NEX advising them that a male was on location at the factory requesting to pick up the pallet. Police responded to the scene and took the man, Nghia Thach, into custody and, according to the affidavit, found a U-Haul Self Storage security access card in his RFID tag.
A subsequent search of the storage locker turned up an additional 15 pounds of marijuana — also packaged in one-pound bags, with a total street value of $52,500 to $90,000 — along with 115 cases of martini shakers, the affidavit states.
Around 2:20 p.m. April 18, Hatfield detectives received another call from K’NEX alerting them that two Asian men — later identified as Hieu Thach and Hai Danh — were at the facility asking to pick up the same shipment of 10 boxes, police said. When detectives arrived, the two men had departed, but a man called K’NEX shortly after, inquiring about the pallet and asking if he could send his drivers back to pick up the shipment of martini shakers; a detective got on the phone and told the caller he could send his drivers back, according to the affidavit.
Pure has made a start with its on demand service for the Avalon 300R, adding BBC iPlayer catch-up and YouTube web videos. It can’t compete with the likes of Samsung, though, as that manufacturer includes ITV player, 4OD and Demand 5 on its hard disk recorders. There’s also no Netflix or LoveFilm, which may come as a disappointment to film fans. The one saving grace could be Pure Connect, which lets you access thousands of internet radio stations, listen-again programs and podcasts, and stream music from Pure’s extensive library.
DLNA support is also included, so you’ll be able to play files stored on a networked PC or NAS device. It has fantastic file format support, too, which meant we could play all our test videos including MKV, DivX and MOV clips. You should be able to play any videos, regardless of their file type.
The Avalon 300R stands out from other PVRs with its gorgeous and intuitive interface. A picture-in-picture overlay gives you a preview of each channel as you browse through the EPG, without taking over the screen or obscuring what you’re currently watching. If you just want to see what’s on now and next, a separate menu appears from the side of the screen. There’s a small delay before you get a picture, but it’s certainly better than not being able to see it at all. Everything has a transparent background to avoid blocking as much of the currently playing channel as possible, and looks crisp on a 1080p resolution TV.
All these effects require some serious horsepower, which is why Pure has used an Intel Sodaville processor and PowerVR graphics. This would be overkill for a more restrained interface, but it proves its worth when you activate the numerous channel transitions that slip, wipe, dissolve and ripple the screen as you change to a different program. We found this rather gimmicky, and we’d rather just change as quickly as possible without having to sit through fancy effects. Thankfully, there’s an option to turn the transitions off should you prefer not to see them.
Freeview+ HD might be lacking channels compared to subscription TV services such as Sky or Virgin, but it’s steadily increasing its collection of high definition content, with BBC One HD, BBC Two HD, ITV 1 HD and Channel 4 HD all available. Unfortunately, the Avalon 300R doesn’t have a CI card slot, so you won’t be able to use it for your subscription TV services.
2013年5月12日星期日
Valpo buses can now be tracked on cellphone
The city's Board of Public Works and Safety on Thursday approved a contract with Double Maps that provides the program for anyone to track the location of all the city's buses — both the V-Line intra-city buses and the Dash — at any time on a computer or a cellphone.
City Planning Director Tyler Kent said the program was created by students at Indiana University for the Bloomington, Ind., bus system and is now being marketed nationwide. The program operates from Droid tablets mounted on each bus connected to a geographic information system.
Kent said the Droids have been used for the past month on a trial basis to see how it works. The contract calls for the Dash and the V-Line each to get five Droids. The Dash cost is $6,000 while the V-Line system is only $3,600 a year for up to five years.
The Droids are mounted next to the driver, and the city plans to add two additional programs to the system. One will count the passengers, and the second will announce the intersections along the routes. The latter will help visually impaired riders know where they are and relieve the drivers of having the do it.
The drivers try to count passengers, but Kent said that can sometimes be difficult when several are getting on and off at a stop. Kent said much of the federal funding for the bus services is based on ridership, and the new system will keep a more accurate count.
To date, 5,616 miles of U.S. Bicycle Routes have been designated in 10 states: Alaska, Kentucky, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Virginia. Presently, more than 40 states are working to create U.S. Bicycle Routes.
The newly approved middle segment passes through the Twin Cities Metro area and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area — a 72-mile-long park managed by the National Park Service. Much of the route is on bike paths with scenic views. This segment of the route offers opportunities to connect with restaurants, museums, parks and festivals along the IC card.
The northern segment of USBR 45 was designated in October 2012 and begins in Itasca State Park, where the river begins as a small stream. The route then travels through the north woods and past numerous lakes to Bemidji, Cass Lake, Grand Rapids, Brainerd, Little Falls and St. Cloud. At Cass Lake, bicyclists have an off-road option to travel 100 miles on the Heartland State Trail and Paul Bunyan State Trail.
The southern segment was designated in May 2012 and extends from Hastings to the Iowa border. This section is on roads and multi-use paths that closely follow the Mississippi River through steep limestone bluffs, hardwood forests, and more than a dozen river towns.
Second, there is little doubt that overall road design and transportation projects have clearly favored 4+ wheeled vehicles—at the expense of everyone else—for generations. The balance I mentioned above requires the city to make improvements for anyone travelling our street network without the privilege of an automobile. If I were to prioritize any mode, it would be through investments in walking or biking that would fully render them viable alternatives to motor vehicle use.
We not only need to make sure that pedestrians have enough time to cross the street, we need to guarantee that crosswalks are clearly marked and the pavement itself is free from monstrous potholes that would force the elderly, wheelchair users, or stroller pushers to widen their path (I witnessed this issue just yesterday, while watching a wheelchair negotiate the southern crossing at Hiawatha and 38th). Adding more bike lanes requires the city (and Hennepin County) to be more mindful of vehicular traffic turns at intersections—bicyclists shouldn’t get right hooked by a turning car.
The city also needs to make a concerted effort to slow motorized vehicles down. This isn’t just a matter of decreasing speed limits, but putting traffic calming measures in place: narrowing lanes, adding curb extensions and pedestrian refuges in the middle of the street (wherever possible), and converting one-way streets into two-ways. These measures are minimum recommendations.
This balance is also achieved in another way: education. There should be an increased push to teach all network users on how to make the system work for everyone. I believe in stronger education initiatives that can help drivers understand what a painted sharrow means, and help bicyclists get the idea that it is simply wrong to bike the wrong way down a one-way street.
Third, despite the fact that we are making valiant strides at diversifying our modes, we can’t completely avoid investments in our road infrastructure. As residents, as workers, and sometimes as travellers, some people still need to use a vehicle. The hope, of course, is to make these trips more infrequent, but no matter how this city rebalances our network, it cannot afford to neglect the roadways that we obviously still need. The trick, however, will be maintaining and strengthening our roadways without negatively impacting our other modes of travel.
That being said, no matter the project—from the Lime Building near Lyn-Lake, to Creekside Commons near Diamond Lake, to the multiple proposals for Howe School, the Simpson Housing plan for 42nd and Hiawatha back in 2005, or the recently constructed Oaks Station Place—there are inevitably concerns about all housing projects. Some residents argue that their quality of life will be diminished by the new addition of a market-rate apartment building. Other residents argue that their quality of life will be diminished by the new addition of affordable housing.
The job of a City Council member is to not only listen to community concerns and explore how they could be accommodated (whether that deals with set backs or parking or noise), but there also remains a duty to be willing to argue over what is in the best interest of the overall community. Considering the historically low vacancy rate in this city, as well as the need to broaden our tax base, Minneapolis needs housing: market-rate, mixed-income, and affordable. I would staunchly defend well-designed, neighborhood-oriented proposals that would make living in this city more affordable, expand our tax base, and rehabilitate underused properties.
Yet this question did not specify housing developments, just developments. If there is one controversial project I would have handled differently the choice is simple: the Vikings stadium.
By now, most arguments against the City Council’s 7-6 vote are well-known: it was wrong to invest in a billion dollar stadium to relieve us of a relatively insignificant, low-interest Target Center debt, it was wrong to lock up our downtown sales taxes for decades, it was wrong to merely think of this stadium as $150 million city contribution (when the numbers are significantly higher than that), it was wrong to base a decision off of a city attorney’s oral (not written) opinion, and most importantly, it was wrong to violate our City Charter.
City Planning Director Tyler Kent said the program was created by students at Indiana University for the Bloomington, Ind., bus system and is now being marketed nationwide. The program operates from Droid tablets mounted on each bus connected to a geographic information system.
Kent said the Droids have been used for the past month on a trial basis to see how it works. The contract calls for the Dash and the V-Line each to get five Droids. The Dash cost is $6,000 while the V-Line system is only $3,600 a year for up to five years.
The Droids are mounted next to the driver, and the city plans to add two additional programs to the system. One will count the passengers, and the second will announce the intersections along the routes. The latter will help visually impaired riders know where they are and relieve the drivers of having the do it.
The drivers try to count passengers, but Kent said that can sometimes be difficult when several are getting on and off at a stop. Kent said much of the federal funding for the bus services is based on ridership, and the new system will keep a more accurate count.
To date, 5,616 miles of U.S. Bicycle Routes have been designated in 10 states: Alaska, Kentucky, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Virginia. Presently, more than 40 states are working to create U.S. Bicycle Routes.
The newly approved middle segment passes through the Twin Cities Metro area and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area — a 72-mile-long park managed by the National Park Service. Much of the route is on bike paths with scenic views. This segment of the route offers opportunities to connect with restaurants, museums, parks and festivals along the IC card.
The northern segment of USBR 45 was designated in October 2012 and begins in Itasca State Park, where the river begins as a small stream. The route then travels through the north woods and past numerous lakes to Bemidji, Cass Lake, Grand Rapids, Brainerd, Little Falls and St. Cloud. At Cass Lake, bicyclists have an off-road option to travel 100 miles on the Heartland State Trail and Paul Bunyan State Trail.
The southern segment was designated in May 2012 and extends from Hastings to the Iowa border. This section is on roads and multi-use paths that closely follow the Mississippi River through steep limestone bluffs, hardwood forests, and more than a dozen river towns.
Second, there is little doubt that overall road design and transportation projects have clearly favored 4+ wheeled vehicles—at the expense of everyone else—for generations. The balance I mentioned above requires the city to make improvements for anyone travelling our street network without the privilege of an automobile. If I were to prioritize any mode, it would be through investments in walking or biking that would fully render them viable alternatives to motor vehicle use.
We not only need to make sure that pedestrians have enough time to cross the street, we need to guarantee that crosswalks are clearly marked and the pavement itself is free from monstrous potholes that would force the elderly, wheelchair users, or stroller pushers to widen their path (I witnessed this issue just yesterday, while watching a wheelchair negotiate the southern crossing at Hiawatha and 38th). Adding more bike lanes requires the city (and Hennepin County) to be more mindful of vehicular traffic turns at intersections—bicyclists shouldn’t get right hooked by a turning car.
The city also needs to make a concerted effort to slow motorized vehicles down. This isn’t just a matter of decreasing speed limits, but putting traffic calming measures in place: narrowing lanes, adding curb extensions and pedestrian refuges in the middle of the street (wherever possible), and converting one-way streets into two-ways. These measures are minimum recommendations.
This balance is also achieved in another way: education. There should be an increased push to teach all network users on how to make the system work for everyone. I believe in stronger education initiatives that can help drivers understand what a painted sharrow means, and help bicyclists get the idea that it is simply wrong to bike the wrong way down a one-way street.
Third, despite the fact that we are making valiant strides at diversifying our modes, we can’t completely avoid investments in our road infrastructure. As residents, as workers, and sometimes as travellers, some people still need to use a vehicle. The hope, of course, is to make these trips more infrequent, but no matter how this city rebalances our network, it cannot afford to neglect the roadways that we obviously still need. The trick, however, will be maintaining and strengthening our roadways without negatively impacting our other modes of travel.
That being said, no matter the project—from the Lime Building near Lyn-Lake, to Creekside Commons near Diamond Lake, to the multiple proposals for Howe School, the Simpson Housing plan for 42nd and Hiawatha back in 2005, or the recently constructed Oaks Station Place—there are inevitably concerns about all housing projects. Some residents argue that their quality of life will be diminished by the new addition of a market-rate apartment building. Other residents argue that their quality of life will be diminished by the new addition of affordable housing.
The job of a City Council member is to not only listen to community concerns and explore how they could be accommodated (whether that deals with set backs or parking or noise), but there also remains a duty to be willing to argue over what is in the best interest of the overall community. Considering the historically low vacancy rate in this city, as well as the need to broaden our tax base, Minneapolis needs housing: market-rate, mixed-income, and affordable. I would staunchly defend well-designed, neighborhood-oriented proposals that would make living in this city more affordable, expand our tax base, and rehabilitate underused properties.
Yet this question did not specify housing developments, just developments. If there is one controversial project I would have handled differently the choice is simple: the Vikings stadium.
By now, most arguments against the City Council’s 7-6 vote are well-known: it was wrong to invest in a billion dollar stadium to relieve us of a relatively insignificant, low-interest Target Center debt, it was wrong to lock up our downtown sales taxes for decades, it was wrong to merely think of this stadium as $150 million city contribution (when the numbers are significantly higher than that), it was wrong to base a decision off of a city attorney’s oral (not written) opinion, and most importantly, it was wrong to violate our City Charter.
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