Obama For America released the iPhone version of a voter engagement app today with the Android version set to be released soon. The app is meant to bolster the campaign's grassroots efforts, 100 days out from November?s presidential election. The app synchronizes with Facebook, Twitter, email and SMS, as well as a web app, Dashboard, on the OFA website. The campaign is billing the smartphone app as a tactic that will allow organizers, volunteers and voters to better engage with the campaign.
The Hon Dr Craig Emerson Minister for Trade and Competitiveness
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Australia's major sporting event industry will be showcased this weekend at a high-level networking reception in London as the Olympic Games gets underway.
Hundreds of dignitaries and decision-makers from future host countries will attend Australia Unlimited 2012, a multi-media event featuring interactive and audio-visual displays at Australia House, the Australian High Commission, on Saturday night London time.
Minister for Sport, Kate Lundy, will deliver the keynote address profiling the achievements of Australia's world-leading major sporting event companies, and launch an innovative app detailing Australian companies with experience in the sporting event industry.
Trade and Competitiveness Minister Craig Emerson said Australia's expertise in sports event organising was further proof of the diversity of its economy and of its exports base.
"This industry is important not only for the export revenue and jobs it creates, but also for its role in promoting Australian professionalism and skill in the biggest arena of all?international sport," he said.
"Following our successful staging of the Sydney 2000 Olympics and subsequent sporting events, Australia has established a distinguished track record in helping other host nations achieve similar results," Dr?Emerson said.
The guest list for Australia Unlimited 2012 includes delegates from countries that are either hosting or bidding to host forthcoming Olympics, FIFA World Cups, Rugby World Cups and other major sporting events.
Among them will be representatives from Brazil, Japan, Qatar, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Minister for Sport Kate Lundy said the reception was a chance to mark Australia's contribution to the London Games through projects such as the London Olympic Stadium, designed by Populous, the Olympic Village, built by Lend Lease, and the blue hockey pitches, produced by Melbourne-based manufacturer Advanced Polymer Technology Australasia.
"This event is a wonderful initiative designed to highlight the strength of Australia's sport industry," Senator Lundy said.
"In Australia we have a breadth of expertise that has fostered our international reputation as the go-to nation for hosting world-class sporting events.
"Our major sporting event capability covers the full 10-year event lifecycle, including bidding, planning, staging, management and venue design and construction."
Minister Lundy will launch an innovative technology app called Track Record at the event. The app profiles 76 Australian firms with an unparalleled understanding and expertise in planning and staging major events.
The new app is compatible with both Apple and Android technology and available for download through iTunes and Google Play. In addition to the Track Record app, a special edition of the Australia Unlimited iPad magazine app will be showcased at the reception.
The electronic magazine features stories of major Australian sporting event specialists. For more information on Australian contribution to the London Olympics, download the app or visit www.australiaunlimited.com.
Media contact: Lundy office?Jessica Hill on 0407 926 077.
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Drivers Save Hundreds of Dollars with Cheap Car Insurance Quotes Online ? 123carinsurance.org has announced an upgrade to its online car insurance aggregation service. Now offering free auto insurance quotes to drivers in all fifty states across America, drivers can use the website to find the most discounts possible among ? Read more on PR Web (press release)
Why You Shouldn't Rent A Car With A MasterCard That's why a recent study published by CardHub ranked MasterCard behind Visa, Discover and American Express when it comes to auto rental insurance. The study, which somewhat subjectively rates each of the four major card companies based on ?how ? Read more on Forbes
Use your credit card for auto rental insurance (MoneyWatch) Did you know that your credit card likely provides auto insurance that covers rental cars? If you said no, you're not alone. Many people don't realize that it's built into the benefits offered by Visa (V), American Express (AXP), Discover ? Read more on CBS Moneywatch
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Closing date: Midnight, Tue 28th August, 2012
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MPs are opposed to a plan by the Government to re-impose Value Added Tax (VAT) on piped water and mobile toilets.
URA Commissioner General Allen Kagina
According to the new tax structure to take effect in the 2012/2013 budget, the Government wants to introduce VAT at 18% on piped water, a year after it had zero rated it.
The Commissioner General of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Allen Kagina, told MPs on the finance committee that the removal of the tax did not bring the desired positive effect yet a lot of revenue was being lost as a result.
?The rationale to zero-rate water was to reduce the price but the price did not go down. So we realised that perhaps the tax was not the right tool to reduce the cost of water.
?Yet, last year we refunded sh17b to water suppliers because of the zero rate,? she said.
Kagina was part of the team led by finance minister, Maria Kiwanuka, her deputy Matia Kasaija and ministry offi cial, Moses Ogwapus.
However, MPs argued that the reason VAT was removed from water was for the benefi t of poor people in the slums and rural areas.
Geoffrey Ekanya (FDC), proposed that there should be classification of water usage so that the people are not denied a vital service.
?The tax should target the Commissioner General and the Ogwapus who water grass in their compound, have swimming pools, and use a drum of water to wash their cars,? Ekanya stated.
Ogwapus, the principal economist at the ministry of fi nance, responded that the consumers of piped water were in urban areas and hence can afford it.
Committee chairman, Frank Tumwebaze, said the cluster of the rich in urban areas is small compared to the urban poor.
A decision on the matter was postponed to today.
The MPs resolved to summon officials of National Water and Sewerage Corporation to explain why prices remained high even when they were handed a VAT zero rate last year.
By Henry Mukasa, The New Vision
Articles can be sent to submit@in2eastafrica.net. In2EastAfrica editorial board reserves the right to edit for publication and/or reject any or all parts of content submitted.
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?Mix in a game subscription service like OnLive, and you?ve got all of the entertainment you could ever want on a little $99 box.? And who doesn?t love the idea of that?? concluded our Editor-in-Chief Jim Squires concluded his article on why OUYA is the next big thing. Today, like the heavens fulfilling an ancient prophecy, OUYA has promised exactly that.
OUYA smashed Kickstarter records since its crowd funding debut, but has seemed to fall a little under the radar since, alongside dozens of bloggers and journalists arguing why they don?t see the new device succeeding. One of the major arguments against the OUYA is that people don?t see a console succeeding without being able to deliver top-tier games. With OnLive in the mix, that?s no longer an issue.
OnLive, the world?s biggest game streaming service, allows players to rent and purchase AAA game titles and stream them to almost any device with a screen on it, for a fraction of the cost. With this partnership, the OUYA suddenly switches from an ?Android console with development opportunities? to an ?OnLive console that ALSO has developer opportunities?. And that?s an extremely good bargain at just $99.
It?s an interesting partnership, especially considering that OnLive currently offers their streaming system at that exact same price. While making the deal with OUYA undoubtedly obsoletes OnLive?s own technology, it?s definitely a fantastic way to get more consumers aware of their solid streaming system.
In addition, OUYA also announced more official designs for the controller and console itself, which we?ve pictured above. As they continue to get more support, more details, and more fantastic partnerships, it won?t be long before the sea of skeptics are converted into OUYA believers.?
Discovery of new white blood cell reveals target for better vaccine designPublic release date: 27-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karen Bidewell karen.bidewell@ncl.ac.uk 44-019-122-26972 Newcastle University
Researchers in Newcastle and Singapore have identified a new type of white blood cell which activates a killing immune response to an external source providing a new potential target for vaccines for conditions such as cancer or Hepatitis B.
Publishing in the journal Immunity, the team of researchers from Newcastle University in collaboration with A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) describe a new human tissue dendritic cell with cross-presenting function.
Dendritic cells (DCs) are a type of white blood cell that orchestrate our body's immune responses to infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses, as well as cancer cells. They are also very important for eliciting the immune response generated by vaccines.
DCs kick start an immune response by presenting small fragments of molecules from micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses, or from vaccines or tumours, called antigens on their surface. This leads to activation of another white blood cell subset called T cells, which specialise in killing cells and are crucial for eliminating cancerous or infected cells. Most cells are only able to present antigens from within themselves, and so will only elicit an immune response if they are infected themselves. Only a specialised subset of DCs is able to generate a response to an external source of antigen, for example bacteria, vaccines and tumours.
The identity of human tissue DCs that are capable of presenting external antigen to activate the cell-killing response by T cells - a process termed 'cross-presentation' - has remained a mystery. Their discovery, as revealed by this research, will help scientists to design better targeted vaccine strategies to treat cancer and infections such as Hepatitis B.
"These are the cells we need to be targeting for anti-cancer vaccines," said Dr Muzlifah Haniffa, a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellow and Senior Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University. "Our discovery offers an accessible, easily targetable system which makes the most of the natural ability of the cell."
The researchers also showed for the first time that dendritic cell subsets are conserved between species and have in effect created a map, facilitating the translation of mouse studies to the human immune system.
"The cross-species map is in effect a Rosetta stone that deciphers the language of mouse into human", explains Matthew Collin, Professor of Haematology from Newcastle University.
In the paper the researchers describe how the cross-presenting DCs were first isolated from surplus plastic surgery skin which was digested to melt the gelatinous collagen to isolate the cells.
This research will have significant impact on the design of vaccines and other targeted immunotherapies.
The Rosetta Stone of our immune system: Mapping Human and Mouse dendritic cells
The Newcastle University team in collaboration with A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) have for the first time ever aligned the dendritic cell subsets between mouse and humans allowing the accurate translation of mouse studies into the human model for the first time.
The researchers isolated the dendritic cells from human blood and skin and those from mouse blood, lung and liver. Using gene expression analysis, they identified gene signatures for each human dendritic cell subset. Mouse orthologues of these genes were identified and a computational analysis was performed to match subsets across species.
This provides scientists for the first time with an accurate model to compare DCs between species.
Professor Matthew Collin explains: "This is in effect a Rosetta stone that deciphers the language of mouse into human. It can put into context the findings from the extensive literature using mouse models to the human settings".
Dr. Haniffa added: "These gene signatures are available in a public repository accessible for all researchers to benefit from the data. It will allow detailed knowledge of individual human dendritic cell subsets to enable specific targeting of these cells for therapeutic strategy."
###
Reference: Human Tissues Contain CD141(hi) Cross-Presenting Dendritic Cells with Functional Homology to Mouse CD103(+) Nonlymphoid Dendritic Cells. Haniffa M, Shin A, Bigley V, McGovern N, Teo P, See P, Wasan PS, Wang XN, Malinarich F, Malleret B, Larbi A, Tan P, Zhao H, Poidinger M, Pagan S, Cookson S, Dickinson R, Dimmick I, Jarrett RF, Renia L, Tam J, Song C, Connolly J, Chan JK, Gehring A, Bertoletti A, Collin M, Ginhoux F.Immunity. 2012 Jul 11
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Discovery of new white blood cell reveals target for better vaccine designPublic release date: 27-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karen Bidewell karen.bidewell@ncl.ac.uk 44-019-122-26972 Newcastle University
Researchers in Newcastle and Singapore have identified a new type of white blood cell which activates a killing immune response to an external source providing a new potential target for vaccines for conditions such as cancer or Hepatitis B.
Publishing in the journal Immunity, the team of researchers from Newcastle University in collaboration with A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) describe a new human tissue dendritic cell with cross-presenting function.
Dendritic cells (DCs) are a type of white blood cell that orchestrate our body's immune responses to infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses, as well as cancer cells. They are also very important for eliciting the immune response generated by vaccines.
DCs kick start an immune response by presenting small fragments of molecules from micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses, or from vaccines or tumours, called antigens on their surface. This leads to activation of another white blood cell subset called T cells, which specialise in killing cells and are crucial for eliminating cancerous or infected cells. Most cells are only able to present antigens from within themselves, and so will only elicit an immune response if they are infected themselves. Only a specialised subset of DCs is able to generate a response to an external source of antigen, for example bacteria, vaccines and tumours.
The identity of human tissue DCs that are capable of presenting external antigen to activate the cell-killing response by T cells - a process termed 'cross-presentation' - has remained a mystery. Their discovery, as revealed by this research, will help scientists to design better targeted vaccine strategies to treat cancer and infections such as Hepatitis B.
"These are the cells we need to be targeting for anti-cancer vaccines," said Dr Muzlifah Haniffa, a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellow and Senior Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University. "Our discovery offers an accessible, easily targetable system which makes the most of the natural ability of the cell."
The researchers also showed for the first time that dendritic cell subsets are conserved between species and have in effect created a map, facilitating the translation of mouse studies to the human immune system.
"The cross-species map is in effect a Rosetta stone that deciphers the language of mouse into human", explains Matthew Collin, Professor of Haematology from Newcastle University.
In the paper the researchers describe how the cross-presenting DCs were first isolated from surplus plastic surgery skin which was digested to melt the gelatinous collagen to isolate the cells.
This research will have significant impact on the design of vaccines and other targeted immunotherapies.
The Rosetta Stone of our immune system: Mapping Human and Mouse dendritic cells
The Newcastle University team in collaboration with A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) have for the first time ever aligned the dendritic cell subsets between mouse and humans allowing the accurate translation of mouse studies into the human model for the first time.
The researchers isolated the dendritic cells from human blood and skin and those from mouse blood, lung and liver. Using gene expression analysis, they identified gene signatures for each human dendritic cell subset. Mouse orthologues of these genes were identified and a computational analysis was performed to match subsets across species.
This provides scientists for the first time with an accurate model to compare DCs between species.
Professor Matthew Collin explains: "This is in effect a Rosetta stone that deciphers the language of mouse into human. It can put into context the findings from the extensive literature using mouse models to the human settings".
Dr. Haniffa added: "These gene signatures are available in a public repository accessible for all researchers to benefit from the data. It will allow detailed knowledge of individual human dendritic cell subsets to enable specific targeting of these cells for therapeutic strategy."
###
Reference: Human Tissues Contain CD141(hi) Cross-Presenting Dendritic Cells with Functional Homology to Mouse CD103(+) Nonlymphoid Dendritic Cells. Haniffa M, Shin A, Bigley V, McGovern N, Teo P, See P, Wasan PS, Wang XN, Malinarich F, Malleret B, Larbi A, Tan P, Zhao H, Poidinger M, Pagan S, Cookson S, Dickinson R, Dimmick I, Jarrett RF, Renia L, Tam J, Song C, Connolly J, Chan JK, Gehring A, Bertoletti A, Collin M, Ginhoux F.Immunity. 2012 Jul 11
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Hosting denotes a strategy for planting a a Web page on the World Wide Web. Each and every site on the Internet is stored on a specialized system referred to as a Web hosting server. These Web hosting devices are administered by agencies often known as hosting providers.
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Writer Vivek Saxena encourages you to Continue Reading Here and Read Related Site
Peter Bogdanovich is a legendary film director and a great historian of film. He is one of the people wondering if there is too much violence in film. ??I?m in the minority, but I don?t like comic book movies. They?re not my cup of tea. What happened to pictures like How Green Was My Valley or even From Here to Eternity? They?re not making those kind of movies anymore. They are either making tentpole pictures based on comic books or specialty pictures that you pray someone will go see. ?The fact that these tentpole movies are all violent comic book movies doesn?t speak well for our society.?
A single DVD focusing on overall basics of traditional yoga for those who want a routine for overall benefit of well being purposes, including a series of exercises targeting blood-flow and muscles in and to the head. A routine designed to reduce headaches. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?HEALTH/FITNESS Rating:?NR Age:?658769720631 UPC:?658769720631 Manufacturer No:?
Celebrity yoga instructor Jenny Cornero demonstrates the basic principles of yoga in this easy-to-follow instructional program. This two-part lesson also includes routines specifically designed to regulate blood flow to the head in order to reduce the effects of headaches. 102 min. Soundtrack: English.
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Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression...
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New home sales recorded their biggest drop in more than a year in June and prices resumed their downward trend, dealing a setback for the budding housing market recovery.
Single family home sales tumbled 8.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted 350,000-unit annual rate, the lowest rate in five months, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.
The percent decline was the largest since February 2011 and much of the drop in sales last month reflected a record 60 percent plunge in the Northeast, which had enjoyed hefty gains since December last year.
"Housing will continue to recover gradually throughout the year, but fundamentals are not supportive of a fully fledged housing market recovery," said Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
The drop in new home sales last month came on the heels of a decline in home resales during the same period.
Housing had appeared to be bucking the broad weakness in the economy, marked by a sharp slowdown in job growth and a cooling in manufacturing against the backdrop of fears of tighter U.S. fiscal policy in early 2013 and a lingering debt crisis in Europe.
While sales of both new and previously owned homes fell last month, other parts of the housing markets exhibited strength.
New home construction in June hit its highest level since October 2008 and confidence among home builders this month touched its best level in more than five years, reports showed last week. This offers cautious optimism the pullback in sales will be temporary.
"It is hard to believe that the market is turning downward when the home builders' confidence index jumped in July to its highest level in over five years," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.
"Either developers are clueless or the data have yet to catch up with reality. I am on the side of the latter."
WEAK DEMAND FOR LOANS
May's sales pace was revised to show 13,000 more units sold than previously reported. New home sales were up 15.1 percent, compared to June last year.
The weak report and disappointing earnings from Apple weighed on the Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq composite index. U.S. Treasury yields were trading near record lows, while the dollar fell broadly.
An 8.2 percent unemployment rate and stringent lending conditions remain major challenges for the housing market.
Applications for loans to buy homes fell last week, despite record-low mortgage rates, a separate report from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed.
Caterpillar Inc, the world's largest maker of construction equipment, on Wednesday forecast housing starts this year to exceed 750,000 units, a decline from its previous estimate of 800,000 units.
The median price of a new home fell 3.2 percent from a year ago, after rising strongly in May. The home price decline had appeared to have bottomed, with other measures of home values trending higher in recent months.
The inventory of new homes on the market increased 0.7 percent to 144,000 in June, but remained near record lows. At June's sales pace it would take 4.9 months to clear the houses from the market, up from 4.5 months in May.
New home sales last month were dragged down by the record plunge in the Northeast, which puzzled economists.
"There is no obvious explanation for the drop, but one possibility consistent with patterns in other data is that the unusually early spring boosted sales earlier and as a result the usual spring sales pop has fizzled early," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York.
Sales in the South fell 8.6 percent. In the West, sales rose 2.1 percent and were up 14.6 percent in the Midwest.
(Additional reporting by Chris Reese in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
'You know by now that these characters are going to grow on you ... and I'm going to kill them,' Kirkman tells MTV News about killing a fan-favorite in the milestone issue. By Josh Wigler
I'll talk about Twitter and blogs in a later post, but for now I just want to reflect on a few bits of technology that I started to use / work into Schemes of Work over the last few months. Really this is just me being a bit selfish because I think I need to get a few things clear in my own head!
Mobiles
As in most schools the students were obsessed with their phones. At every possible moment they had them out. In fact they invariably tried using them even when they shouldn't be out. I've long believed that just banning phones in an educational environment isn't necessarily the way forward as our social environment changes, but that education needs to happen on all levels. The school's business studies department had begun to take a lead in their use- and fortuitously they were in the same building as me.
So, a few ways that I used them...
recording me explaining grammar points
Recording themselves and then sharing the recordings for peer assessment
using as stop watches to play "Just a Minute" (a game which they absolutely loved, ideal to get them talking and extending sentences, especially when integrated from an early stage)
creating QR codes to enhance display materials they'd created
using QR codes to enhance wall reading activities. This was something I dabbled with when building year 9s up to a CA task on festivals. I wanted them to choose a festival to then research and write about. (Download Festivals discovery lesson?? Download Festivals wall readings? ? Download Las fiestas de Espa?a vocab hunt? ?? Download Las fiestas de Espa?a vocab hunt diff?)
creating QR code displays to link to sites such as www.marca.com, www.20minutos.es, www.radiolingua.com (for Coffee Break Spanish), www.los40.com (for the top 40 songs from Spain). I wanted them to be able to access things immediately, for example whilst dawdling at berak time. (I'd share these cards but I lost them when my external hard drive died and I lost about 3 weeks of unbacked-up work. Yes, I sulked.)
video / audio recording to create material for end of unit projects (I'll come on to those)
Voicethread
I love Voicethread, I just think it's so effective, so I built sharing materials on it into a few of the Schemes to encourage creative writing and peer assessment
Wallwisher
Simply put, this was for short, sharp end of lesson reflection tasks and homeworks
End of unit projects
I wanted there to be opportunities for creativity and self-expression at the end of each unit rather than just assessments (yes, there were some of those as well). So at the end of each unit I incorporated a technology based project for 2 or 3 lessons to focus on either writing or speaking.
For those projects I used:
www.toondoo.com
www.domo.goanimate.com
www.storybird.com
However, I felt that I was missing something. What other sites would lend themselves to a 2 or 3 lesson project but be simple and easy to use ?for non-technologically confident teachers?
Issues I found:?
working on netbooks:
1) great to a certain point but major issues with saving projects.
2) limited opportunities for working collaboratively on a small screen / controls
3) difficulties in trying to create podcasts in a short period of time without access to shared drives to store project files- especially pertient when one partner was absent.
student attitudes:
1) many of the students felt originally that using the netbooks meant games- because that's what they used them for primarily across the school. As such at first there were real behavioural issues when fairly thought-provoking tasks were set.
2) if it's not on a piece of paper it's not a real assessment. Strangely this was especially true at the lower end of the scale.
3) lack of confidence in using the sites. However, with time this improved as students became familiar with the tools on offer.
Hey all! Here?s a fun project you can do over a weekend or two! I say ?or two? in case you?re like me and this is the first time you?ve ever done something like this. HAHA!
My wife hated the shutters we had on our house? and rightly so?
So, we decided to build some board & batten shutters. FUN! Now, if I only knew what board & batten shutters were?
Board & Batten Shutters - ?Board & batten? usually refers to vertical?siding?where?wood?strips (or?battens) hide the seams where other boards are joined. Here?s a site that has a lot of examples of the different styles of board & batten shutters.
After figuring out what they were exactly, I looked up a design and built them.?I?m not going to go into detail on how to build them, because frankly, I screwed up too much to properly teach you. But, if you?re interested, here?s a tutorial from Lowes?that matched with the style that I built.
Again, I had never done anything like this so, like a good lad, I went to where the experts were: DIY.StackExchange.com! This post is actually based on my question to them. Now, onto the process:
Measure, level and mark boards, appropriately aligning the future holes with the mortar between bricks.
Drill pilot holes into the wood shutters, including a 1/4? countersink to cover the screw heads up with wood filler.
What I learned:?Unlike screwing wood to wood,?where you can sink the screws into the wood easily without a countersink, when attaching wood to mortar, if you do not provide the countersink hole already and attempt to perform said action, you?will?strip the mortar and the screw will just spin and stay loose. Not good.
Next, re-level shutters and mark the mortar with the masonry drill bit through the pilot holes. I found that only drilling the top two holes worked best for me. I?ll get to?why?in a minute.?An extra set of hands comes in handy here.
Set the shutter down and drill the top two mortar holes completely.
What I learned:?Be sure to drill into the mortar enough to where the screw tip won?t hit a dead-end?(Most recommended a 1/16? or 1/4? of extra room beyond the screw tip). If you don?t give a little extra space at the tip, you?ll encounter a?great deal?of resistance, the screw will not go in all the way and you?ll have to get the masonry bit out again.
Attach the shutter to the house using the top two holes.
Now, we?ll finish the bottom two holes: with your masonry bit, drill into the mortar through the board.
What I learned:?I found this process to be the easiest for me, as my pilot holes didn?t always match up completely when I attempted marking then drilling all four at the same time. Less margin of error on my part. But, this is became a personal preference. Decide for yourself.
Finish attaching the shutter to the mortar at the bottom with your screws.
Use wood filler to patch the holes, lightly sand filler.
Paint/stain/seal accordingly.
What I learned:?I had already applied a sealer to the back of the shutters before attaching them. I taped off my house using wide painter?s tape after they were up and it saved me a huge headache of cleaning sealer off my house with mineral spirits.
click to enlarge
Overall, I also learned:
I marked & drilled all of the pilot holes into the shutters at one time which saved me on having to switch between the masonry & wood drill bits.?HINT:?If you forget to take out the masonry bit and attempt to drill into wood, you very likely could start a friction fire!?Haha!
Having two drills is a?life-saver: I had my hammer drill set up with my masonry bit and my cordless drill had my Phillips bit in it ready for the screws.
Having a second pair of hands throughout the entire process was also a great deal of help. Thanks, Seymour!
The DIY.SE community is of great help!
Thanks for your help folks! I hope this walk-through helps someone else, too!
The internet goes towards a closely knit social environment every day. This is certainly advancing social internet marketing one stage further. This is usually a form of marketing in places you utilize myspace to transfer towards your web visitors and demonstrate to them your products or services. This can be the closest that you?ll be capable of getting in their eyes online.
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Lastly, new at all to the realm of social websites is crowd sourcing. This is the social way of outsourcing.
This is to try and utilize power of myspace to finish things. Taking a power on the influence of the crowds to outsource keeps growing momentum and it is bring great results for a lot of people. By way of example, suppose you must employ a new logo on your site. You can visit a web page for example 99Designs.com to outsource the design of assembling your shed to get the very best job most current listings for the cheapest price. Should you subcontract any project within the correct way, you won?t just be capable to remain on budget, but you also are competent to give attention to areas of your company.?
In conclusion, this informative article reveals that social media seriously isn?t going anywhere. To be able to make an impression on the competitors making your business successful, it very crucial to start putting facebook marketing into the strategic plan. There?s a lot that one could achieve quickly when you can make full use of social internet marketing to develop your organization. Right now, you will find loads of online tools and resources which might be employed to increase your social media and work towards putting together a strategy for the longer term.
(Reuters) - An owner of Absolute Poker, one of the three largest Internet poker companies, was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Monday after admitting to deceiving banks over the processing of gambling proceeds. Brent Beckley, 32, joined Costa Rica-based Absolute Poker in 2003 and became its head of payment processing. Last December, he pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to break U.S. laws against gambling on the Internet. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said Beckley deserved prison time despite his surrender and cooperation because "the sentence has to make clear that the government of the United States means business in these types of cases." "I fooled myself into thinking that what I was doing was OK," Beckley told the judge. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged 11 people at the three biggest online poker companies: Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. The U.S. government also seized their Internet domain names. The chief of Full Tilt Poker, Raymond Bitar, surrendered to U.S. authorities earlier this month and pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal gambling and that the online poker operator defrauded its players. The case is USA v. Tzvetkoff et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 10-cr-0336. (Reporting by Basil Katz; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
Internet poker owner handed 14-month prison term | Reuters
Many areas of the world are experiencing a rise in child obesity. As children become obese at younger ages, it is becoming a serious matter. Here is additional information on this growing worldwide concern.
Obesity is defined in an adult by a BMI or body mass index of 30 or greater. This number is reached by calculating the body weight?s in relation to the height. However, children need much lower body mass index numbers than adolescents and adults. A fifteen year old boy and a ten year old may have an identical BMI of 23. Yet, only the ten year old is considered obese, while the teen is normal.
Child obesity is becoming a worldwide problem. However, it is greatest in developing countries like the United States, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Children are becoming less active than just a few years ago. Part of this is due to the many activities that do not require physical exertion. For example, many kids spend hours in front of a television playing video games.
As the Internet becomes popular more and more children are spending a great deal of time online. They may be playing online games or talking to friends with online chat programs. All of these sedentary activities are taking up the majority of time for young people, and leaves little time for exercise and sports.
Most kids consume too many calories because of the availability of foods high in fat and sugar. Junk foods are becoming cheaper as they are mass produced. Fast foods are very convenient for many families with working parents. Many people simply do not have time to prepare meals and sit and eat as a family. In fact, it may be cheaper to have a fast food meal than to cook a nutritious meal.
Being overweight can create a number of health problems and also can drastically shorten one?s lifespan. Obesity reduces the quality of life and can wreak havoc on the self esteem of a young person. According to the World Health Organization in 2010, more than 40 million children on the planet are overweight. Also, this is a problem that can be prevented.
If parents wish to do something about child obesity they should start with limiting sedentary activities and providing kids with healthier foods. Kids need more outdoor time to enjoy the weather and play. Parents cannot simply order their kids to have more exercise. They should lead by example. Children are more apt to follow directions if their parents are proper role models.
Scientists have managed to build an artificial jelly fish entirely from rat cells, which can pulse and swim when exposed to an electric field, just like its living counterpart. More »
LOS ANGELES -- More than a 20 people, including some teenagers, suffered respiratory irritations and burn injuries Saturday evening after exposure to "theatrical fog vapor'' at a pre-party for the Teen Choice Awards in Hollywood, a city fire official said.
Witnesses said the incident at the Avalon Hollywood?resulted in chaos, calling to mind for a panicked moment Friday's shooting massacre at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
The incident was reported at 6:04 p.m. at 1735 N. Vine St. (map), Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
See the original report at NBCLosAngeles.com
Rescuers believe a special-effect fog system caused the injuries. Most victims felt better after fresh air and examination, Humphrey said.
"Along with respiratory irritation, a few patrons who contacted dripping liquid from apparent heavy use of smoke effect have superficial burn (injuries),'' Humphrey said.
Six people were taken to hospitals in unspecified condition. A total of 22 patients were assessed, according to Humphrey.
A hazmat team was investigating, Humphrey said.
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The party was called off after the incident, he added.
Vine Street was closed between Franklin Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard while the group was assessed, he said.?
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Most of the people in the UK are looking for a way to surmount the burden of debts. Credit card bills, medical bills and other personal loans are driving away the UK residents from meeting their monthly expenses. If you are being surrounded with multiple debts from all the three sides, opting for debt consolidation loans UK can be a wise decision.
Debt consolidation loans UK are specially designed for the UK residents who have fallen into the pit of debts. These loans consolidate multiple debts into one easily manageable loan thus making you liable to a single creditor.
The borrower gets an opportunity to choose between secured and unsecured loan. Secured loans for debt consolidation require you to place collateral. Any valuable asset such as a car, equity in home etc. can be used to secure against the loan.
Using the equity in your home can be the best way to consolidate your debts. On placing home equity as collateral, the interest rate charged on debt consolidation loan UK is relatively lower. Declining in repayments can make the lender take hold of your home. Therefore, before opting for the loan be sure of your financial capacities that you can actually afford the loan.
If you do no wish to place collateral, you can opt for an unsecured loan for the consolidation of your debts. The lender usually charges a high interest rate on unsecured debt consolidation loan so as to cover financial risks.
Debt consolidation loans UK are an ideal solution if you have a bad credit history. If you have faced the problem of arrears, defaults, County Court Judgments or bankruptcy opting for the loan will not only make you debt free but will also help you improve your credit score.
Once the borrower has been approved for debt consolidation loans UK, the actual consolidation can occur in many ways. In few cases the lender himself deals with the creditors. He negotiates with them to reduce interest rates and then is responsible for the settlement of your debts. The borrower is no where accountable to the creditors.
In some cases the loan provider issues you a check or a line of credit. Here, the borrower is responsible for making the debt payments to the creditors.
In both the cases, the money that you borrow form debt consolidation loans UK is used to settle your debts.
With the increasing competition in the financial market, various lenders have emerged to provide you the best loan deal. Local banks and financial institutions are regarded as conventional. Nowadays, online lenders are most widely used. Unlike physical lenders, online loan providers have eliminated the huge documentation work. You simply need to fill in a hassle-free online loan application form. The lender will prepare the finest loan deal for you.
Debt consolidation loans UK can be an apt solution to your financial disaster. Opting for the loan will help you recover your finances and regain your footing in the financial market.
Peter Taylor is a senior financial analyst at Loans uk with an acumen for finance and insurance. His articles are widely read because of the lucid manner of writing and thoroughly researched data. To find Debt consolidation loans UK, Secured Loans, Loans UK visit http://www.loansuk.eu.com.
Obama For America released the iPhone version of a voter engagement app today with the Android version set to be released soon. The app is meant to bolster the campaign's grassroots efforts, 100 days out from November?s presidential election. The app synchronizes with Facebook, Twitter, email and SMS, as well as a web app, Dashboard, on the OFA website. The campaign is billing the smartphone app as a tactic that will allow organizers, volunteers and voters to better engage with the campaign.
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Public release date: 27-Jul-2012
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Peter Bogdanovich is a legendary film director and a great historian of film. He is one of the people wondering if there is too much violence in film. ??I?m in the minority, but I don?t like comic book movies. They?re not my cup of tea. What happened to pictures like How Green Was My Valley or even From Here to Eternity? They?re not making those kind of movies anymore. They are either making tentpole pictures based on comic books or specialty pictures that you pray someone will go see. ?The fact that these tentpole movies are all violent comic book movies doesn?t speak well for our society.?
