Reports of the sinking of a Soviet passenger ship in the Black Sea with up to 1,000 people aboard indicated substantial loss of life. Here are some notable maritime disasters of the last three decades. July 26, 1956 - The Italian liner Andrea Doria sinks, a day after colliding with the Swedish liner Stockholm off Cape Cod. Fifty-two people are killed, most of them on the Italian vessel.
July 14, 1957 - The Soviet ship Eshghabad sinks in the Caspian Sea and 270 people are killed. April 10, 1961 - The British liner Dara sinks in the Persian Gulf with a reported loss of 212 lives, two days after a bomb explosion aboard. July 8, 1961 - The Portuguese ship Save runs aground and breaks up off Mozambique; 259 killed. April 10, 1963 - The American nuclear submarine Thresher sinks in the North Atlantic; 129 killed. Feb. 10, 1964 - The Australian destroyer Voyager sinks after colliding with the aircraft carrier Melbourne off New South Wales; 82 killed. April 10, 1964 - An Iranian motor launch burns and sinks in the Persian Gulf; 113 dead. Nov. 13, 1965 - The cruise ship Yarmouth Castle burns and sinks en route from Miami to the Bahamas; 90 dead. Dec. 8, 1966 - A Greek ferry sinks in the Aegean; 241 killed. Jan. 25, 1968 - The Israeli submarine Dakar vanishes; 69 lost. Jan. 27, 1968 - The French submarine Minerve vanishes in the Mediterranean; 52 dead. May 21, 1968 - The American nuclear submarine Scorpion sinks southwest of the Azores; 99 dead. June 2, 1969 - The United States destroyer Evans is cut in half by the Australian carrier Melbourne in the South China Sea; 74 dead. March 4, 1970 - The French submarine Eurydice sinks off Toulon; 57 dead. Dec. 15, 1970 - A South Korean ferry sinks in the Korea Strait; more than 260 dead. Feb. 1, 1973 - A ferry sinks in the harbor of Rangoon, Burma; more than 200 dead. Dec. 24, 1973 - A ferry sinks off Guayaquil, Ecuador; 109 dead. May 1, 1974 - A motor launch capsizes off Bangladesh; 250 dead. Sept. 26, 1974 - A Soviet destroyer burns and sinks in the Black Sea; about 200 dead. Dec. 25, 1976 - The Egyptian liner Patra burns and sinks in the Red Sea; about 100 dead. Jan. 27, 1981 - The Indonesian passenger ship Tamponas II catches fire and sinks in the Java Sea; 580 dead. Aug. 10, 1983 - The United States reports that a Soviet nuclear-powered submarine sank in the North Pacific two months earlier with the loss of most or all of the 90-member crew.


Washington, D.C., is an excellent place to hold a banquet or special event, as it is close to major train and air transportation, has many points of interest to entertain guests from out of town and has many hotels from which guests can choose for lodging. Some hotels in the city also have banquet space and specialize in making special events come off without a hitch, from decorations and audio/visual enhancements to food and drink.
Having a banquet-hall event can give guests the excitement of being close to the action. The Phoenix Park Hotel (phoenixparkhotel.com) is next to Union Station and just steps from the Capitol Building. This property has 5,000 square feet of banquet space and is able to accommodate up to 200 people. Dining options at events include traditional Irish breakfasts, afternoon tea and a variety of dinner options. The hotel features same-day laundry, a 24-hour business office and valet parking. The Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill (washingtonregency.hyatt.com) is three blocks from the Capitol and has dozens of banquet rooms, the largest of which can hold more than 1,000 people. Rooms here offer iPod docking stations and coffee makers, and some rooms are specially cleaned and air-filtered to cater to allergy-sensitive guests.
The White House is the jewel of the city, and any event that is held near this building is sure to raise interest. The St. Regis (starwoodhotels.com) hotel, just minutes from the White House, showcases the Astor Ballroom, a banquet hall with architecture features reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance. This room holds more than 200 people and guests can work with the executive chef on meal options. The hotel features a butler service desk, where staff members accommodate a variety of requests related to customer amenities. The Tabard Inn (tabardinn.com) is a historic property dating to 1922, and the banquet halls here match the architectural tradition of the building, with hardwood floors, fireplaces and period furniture. The Inn is entirely nonsmoking. Rooms offer free wireless high-speed Internet access; some rooms have shared baths.
Georgetown is a center for great dining, shopping and nightlife, not to mention people watching. The Four Seasons (fourseasons.com) here has more than 10 meeting spaces for a banquet, ranging from a natural light-filled conservatory to private terraces to a ballroom with chandeliers. Dining is provided by internationally recognized chef Michael Mina. Rooms at this high-end property offer down pillows, DVD players, 24-hour in-room dining and limousine service. One Washington Circle (thecirclehotel.com) has 3,500 square feet of banquet space, offering full concierge service and meeting planning assistance to all banquet planners. The hotel has a fitness center, outdoor pool, valet parking and complimentary shoeshine service.
Dupont Circle is a trendy center for art and culture and the location of many of the city's best nightspots. The Hotel Palomar (hotelpalomar-dc.com) reflects this atmosphere, as an artsy boutique hotel that claims to tell the story of "art in motion." The hotel features an evening manager's reception and in-room spa services. The hotel has eleven rooms for events, totaling more than 10,000 square feet, with the largest banquet hall accommodating 330 people. The hotel has a fully trained meetings and events staff. The Carlyle Suites Hotel (carlylesuites.com) has banquet space for up to 200 guests, complete with built-in sound systems that accommodate iPhones; the on-site restaurant Twist provides customized dining options. The hotel features same-day dry cleaning, 37-inch HDTVs and free use of a nearby sports club.
Kaho, Mason. "Hotels or Banquet Halls in the D.C. Area." Travel Tips - USA Today, https://traveltips.usatoday.com/hotels-banquet-halls-dc-area-57688.html. Accessed 24 April 2019.
Union Station and the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain located in Washington, D.C.


Ushering in a summer's worth of Boise River recreation, the floating season officially opens Thursday, June 28, according to Ada County officials.
High water flows that neared 10,000 cubic feet per second in May and flooded portions of the Greenbelt have finally reduced to levels acceptable for water-bound leisure.
It's welcome news for those looking to get a jump on the float season and the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, which was decidedly float-free in 2011, when the river didn't open for floating until July 16.
On Thursday, Epley's Raft and Tube Rentals at Barber Park in Boise will begin renting rubber on which to float, shuttle service will start and other services will ramp up.
And while the river is open for business, officials caution river-goers to stay mindful of their surroundings, remain cautious, wear life jackets and remember that alcohol and glass containers are prohibited.
Earlier this month, Boise Weekly saw how the Boise Fire Dive Team prepares for the months-long floating season.
Check for info on parking, Barber park hours, shuttle costs and times here. Epley's offers information about rentals here.


Motorola is taking a run at becoming a top smartphone maker again, this time with Google backing it. In the next few weeks, the Moto X will be out on all major carriers, and the new Verizon Droid devices have just launched. To go along with these phones, Motorola has released the new Touchless Control and Skip apps. Both are free, and both will bring unique features to Moto's new phones.
The Skip app is only for the Moto X and requires additional hardware, so let's go over that one first. The Skip is a small Near Field Communication (NFC) dongle that you can buy for $20 (although, it comes free with the customized Moto X). The dongle clips onto your pocket in such a way that the Moto X is dragged across the NFC tag when you remove it from your pocket. This will instantly unlock the phone, even if you have a PIN lock on it.
The Skip app is necessary to set up your dongle and give it access to the device. The Skip app can also be configured to work with the upcoming Skip Dot, which is a smaller NFC sticker that you can place on your desk, or charging stand to unlock the phone that way. There are only a few steps to get it set up, so the $20 charge for the clip is the only barrier to entry.
Touchless Control is available to both the Moto X and the new Droids. This is the feature that brings Google Now functionality to the forefront in these devices. At any time, the trigger phrase "OK Google Now" will bring up the voice search interface. This works when you're playing a game, browsing the web, or even when the phone is asleep.
Google Now voice interactions are available on all Android devices running version 4.1 or higher, but this app makes the system incredibly convenient on the new Motorola phones. Google now understands natural language questions like "is it going to rain tomorrow?" or "where can I get some Thai food around here?"
The important angle here is that Google and Motorola have deployed the app to manage this feature in the Play Store. That means bug fixes and new content can be rolled out the the devices without a full OS update. Great news all around.


Arguably, 2017's hottest opening wasn't a cool restaurant or flashy hotel. Instead, when the Austin Central Library opened its (very beautiful) doors last fall, it was the most buzzed about event of the season.
Weeks after its debut, sitting over dinner or making pre-meeting small talk, the conversation would envitably turn to Austin's newest hot spot. "Have you been to the new library?" an aquaintance would ask before breathlessly adding, "you really must go."
“The Central Library is the crown jewel of not just the Austin Public Library system but the city as a whole,” said Austin Public Library director Roosevelt Weeks in a release.
Now it seems the world is noticing Austin's favorite attraction. On June 28, the Austin Central Library was nominated for 2018 Public Library of the Year Award, an international award that honors the best libraries on earth.
Each year, the International Federation of Library Associations gives the award to a newly built library. Libraries are assesed on how the space implements new digital development, local culture, sustainability, and the wishes and needs of the users.
APL's "crown jewel" is one of only five in the world to be nominated, and the only one in North America. "Austin has one of the greatest libraries in the world, as this nomination confirms,” said Mayor Steve Adler.
In addition to Austin, the other four nominee are Villa-Lobos Park Library in Sao Paulo, Brazil; KopGroep Bibliotheken in Den Helder, Netherlands; Deichman Biblo Toyen in Olso, Norway, and Tampines Public Library in Singapore.


IDF Central Command Center. Photo: IDF.
Times of Israel – Israel’s National Cyber Committee is developing a “digital Iron Dome” system to protect Israel against daily cyber-attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday.
Israel has of late made fighting cyberterrorism a priority, creating the cyber task force and pouring resources into stopping Internet attacks from regional rivals and small-time hackers.


Troll dolls last peaked about twenty years ago, but now that the ’90s revival is in full swing, DreamWorks is making a valiant effort to bring back those tiny bright-haired creatures. Coming up from the studio this fall is Trolls, an animated adventure featuring the mellifluous voices of Justin Timberlake (who released his first new single since 2013 for it), Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel, Russell Brand, James Corden, and Gwen Stefani.
Timberlake leads the cast as a grumpy troll who must join forces with an extremely chipper troll (Kendrick) to fight a greater evil. Can these total opposites learn to respect each other and work together? Will they be able to vanquish the villain with the power of love and/or joy? Will the cranky one eventually open up to reveal the song in his heart? Tough questions, if you’ve never seen a movie before.
It’s been a good 20 years since trolls were in, but with everything else from the ’90s making it back to the big screen, from Jurassic Park to N.W.A., DreamWorks is hoping they can make trolls happen again in the year 2016. These new trolls are tiny, colorful, CG-animated, and hip to the musics of today, like Silentó’s “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).” Watch these creatures get down in the first Trolls trailer after the jump.


For the better part of this year, news organizations in the Climate Publishers Network have been republishing each other’s climate change stories in order to expand their coverage of the issue.
Benton, Joshua. "How government money can corrupt the press: The story from Argentina." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2019.
Benton, Joshua. "How government money can corrupt the press: The story from Argentina." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified October 27, 2009. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.niemanlab.org/2009/10/how-government-money-can-corrupt-the-press-the-story-from-argentina/.


Prominent Argentinean litigator Luis Moreno Ocampo was sworn in today as the chief prosecutor of the world’s first permanent war crimes court.
Mr. Moreno Ocampo was sworn in as the first chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), based The Hague, with the President of the Assembly of States Parties charged with shaping the Court, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan, administering the oath of office. The States Parties unanimously elected Mr. Moreno Ocampo in April.
The ICC was inaugurated on 11 March with the election of its 18 judges. Once the Court’s registrar has been elected, as is expected to take place later this month, all its senior officials will be in place.
The tribunal will have jurisdiction over the most serious breaches of international law – trying individuals rather than states, and holding them accountable for war crimes, including, genocide, mass murder, torture, and, once defined, the crime of aggression.
The Rome Statute – the ICC’s establishing treaty – entered into force 1 July 2002, and the Court's jurisdiction will cover only crimes committed after that date. The Statute has thus far been ratified by 90 countries and signed by 139.
Mr. Moreno Ocampo will head the Office of the Prosecutor, which acts as a separate organ of the ICC, and will conduct investigations and prosecutions of crimes that fall within the Court's jurisdiction. Under the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor can initiate an investigation upon referral by a State Party or by the UN Security Council, of a situation in which there is a reasonable basis to believe that such crimes have been or are being committed.
In a statement released in Geneva today, Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, welcomed Mr. Moreno Ocampo’s swearing in. Later this week, Mr. Ramcharan will be participating in the ICC’s opening slate of hearings organized by the Prosecutors Office. He pledged the full support of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to Mr. Moreno Ocampo in carrying out his historic responsibilities.


Uber said a technical issue that kept it from paying its drivers instantly has been fixed, although some drivers are saying its after-effects linger.
Last week and through the weekend, Uber drivers complained of being unable to take advantage of Uber’s Instant Pay feature, which allows for drivers to cash out their earnings immediately.
“The issue was resolved on Sunday, at which point drivers were able to use the feature once again,” an Uber spokesman said Monday. “We sincerely regret any inconvenience this may have caused our valued driver-partners and will continue working to improve their experience with Uber every day.” He said the issue affected U.S. drivers.
Drivers who contacted this publication and who complained on social media said the issue is a big deal to them.
Some Uber drivers responded to Uber Sensei — whose website says he is Aarron Canino, an Uber driver since 2015 — and said that because they couldn’t access their earnings immediately, they were stranded at various places and unable to pay for gas to return home. Others said they missed paying rent or bills.
In an interview with this publication Monday, Woodhead said she is still unable to access her earnings from the weekend. When she tried to cash out Sunday, she was notified her account had been compromised and was urged to change her password. Her account was then put on a 48-hour hold that expires Tuesday. Unable to access about $380 in earnings, she had to borrow $50 from a co-worker — her regular job is in sales — to pay her rent.
Another driver who contacted this publication, Lowetta Carroll, said the Instant Pay issue has been going on for some time.
Carroll complained that “There is no longer functional driver support in place,” and attributed the problems to Green Dot Bank, which operates Pasadena-based GoBank, which issues a debit card for drivers.
Uber said the Instant Pay issue affected drivers for a week. The company said Green Dot handles support for drivers who use the Uber Visa Debit Card by GoBank, but Uber itself handles driver support related to other Instant Pay and earnings issues.
Green Dot has not yet returned a request for comment.
Uber introduced the Instant Pay feature in San Francisco in 2016. The company pays its drivers every Tuesday, but the feature allows them to cash out their earnings instantly. Their Uber accounts are tied to GoBank and other debit cards where they can choose to send their pay instantly, up to five times a day, Uber says on its website.
The San Francisco-based ride-hailing startup’s last reported valuation is $72 billion, after Toyota announced last month it would be investing $500 million into Uber as part of a bid to boost its self-driving vehicle efforts.


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Saudi Arabia yesterday revealed its 2019 annual budget, the kingdom’s largest, as the world’s biggest oil exporter boosts spending to spur economic growth.
The kingdom, the biggest Arab economy, estimated spending in 2019 would reach 1.106 trillion riyals (Dh1.083tn), up 7 per cent from the finance ministry’s figure of 1.030tn riyals for 2018.
“Saudi government’s spending is the main driver of growth. The idea is to stimulate the growth of the private sector,” said Mazen Alsudairi, head of research at Al Rajhi Capital in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia expects to continue the spending spree in 2020 and beyond with government expenditures reaching 1.143tn riyals in 2020 and 1.17tn riyals in 2021.
The fiscal deficit is forecast to narrow to 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2019 from an estimated 5 per cent in 2018, at 131 billion riyals. The government plans to lower the fiscal deficit to reach 3.7 per cent of GDP in 2021 and balance the budget by 2023.
Revenues are expected to rise next year to 975bn riyals, a 9 per cent increase from this year, Saudi state-run news agency SPA said.
They are expected to continue to grow to reach 1.045tn riyals in 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 6 per cent, the government said in its medium-term estimate released at the end of September.
The contribution of non-oil revenue to total revenue for Saudi Arabia has increased to 32 per cent in 2018 from 12 per cent in 2014. Growth of non-oil revenue reached 20 per cent during this period. Oil revenue are estimated at 662bn riyals in 2019 compared with 607bn riyals in 2018, an increase of 9 per cent, said Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al Jadaan.
Saudi Arabia’s real gross domestic product is expected to expand 2.3 per cent in 2018, after shrinking 0.7 per cent in 2017. It is expected to grow 2.6 per cent in 2019, said the minister.
The kingdom is going through a major economic transformation and is implementing reforms under its Vision 2030 agenda to help wean the country off oil and create new revenue streams.
Saudi Arabia, which still relies on the sale of hydrocarbons to fund its economy, cut spending and borrowed from international and domestic markets following the three-year oil price slump, which saw Brent prices fall below $30 per barrel in the first quarter of 2016.
Brent prices are hovering around $60 per barrel, boosting Riyadh’s ability to maintain spending.
The deficit is expected to continue to rise slightly in 2020 to 138bn or 4.2 per cent of GDP, and decline gradually over the medium term until it reaches fiscal balance by 2023, the finance ministry said in its pre-budget estimates at the end of September.
The kingdom will continue to provide allowances to Saudi citizens in 2019, similar to payments made this year. King Salman on Tuesday issued a decree to dispense monthly allowances for a year to help lower the cost of living until social protection mechanisms are studied, SPA reported.
State employees and military personnel will receive a 1,000 riyals-per-month living allowance for a year, according to the royal decree.
“We expect the government to have exceeded the budgeted plans by $14bn (1.7 per cent of GDP). The royal handouts ordered early this year explain most of the expenditure overrun,” Mr Daoud said.
The government also ordered an allowance of 500 riyals for pensioners and 500 riyals for social security beneficiaries. Saudi students’ allowances will be increased by 10 per cent, according to the decree.
These royal handouts will help offset the increases in the cost of energy and electricity prices as well as the introduction of 5 per cent VAT at the beginning of the year.
The ministry of finance will continue to follow the policy of diversification of sources of finance, Mr Al Jadaan said. It is estimated that the public debt will reach 678bn riyals at the end of 2019, equivalent to 21.7 per cent of the GDP. Government deposits and reserves with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority are projected to reach 496bn riyals, or about 15.9 per cent of GDP.
Riyadh set a ceiling for public debt as a percentage of GDP at 30 per cent, when it announced the 2020 National Transformation Programme in June 2016. This percentage is low compared to the high debt of G20 countries. The government expects to continue financing the deficit through debt issuances, which are expected to reach about 22 per cent of GDP in 2019 and about 25 per cent of GDP in 2021, according to medium-term estimates.


QUESTION: I have an enigma that even the auto dealer can't fix. My 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee goes out with no problem at all. Then if I stop somewhere for 15-20 minutes, it won't start. Sometimes it will start if I really give it a lot of gas, but it won't run well, like a misfire.
I had a diagnostic check but the mechanics at different Chrysler dealerships haven't found the problem. The body and interior are in great shape; I would like to fix it. I am afraid to go too far from home. Whatever you could suggest would be greatly appreciated.
Q: I hope you might have some suggestions for the following mystery. My 2004 Dodge Dakota, a 3.7-liter automatic with 80,000 miles, won't idle smoothly in park or in drive with foot on the brake.
This occurs in dry weather (low humidity) only. Thank you for your informative assistance.
ANSWER: Both of these intermittent problems are certainly frustrating but solvable. It's imperative that both owners pin down the precise conditions when the vehicles act up, and practice baiting the conditions so that they can be duplicated/presented at the time of inspection. The Jeep suffers from a hot-soak condition, possibly affecting under-hood electronic or electric components or connections. And in the case of the Dakota, it's a very odd one - I'm leaning toward a circuit connection fault.
In both cases it's likely the on-board diagnostics system, or OBD-II, has set a trouble code, which could be hugely helpful in determining the cause. Additionally, a scan-tool snapshot of engine parameters can be taken during the no-start or a runs-rough episode, providing sensor inputs, output commands, fuel and idle system correction percentages, and a host of other pertinent information. The list can be compared to a previous snapshot taken when the vehicle was running fine. Scan data is great, but one needs to remember the listed values are what the engine computer believes is happening, which isn't always the same as the actual conditions occurring beneath the hood.
Sometimes even with great diagnostic information, you still need to resort to old-school tests and observations.
Adding fuel (propane into the air intake), verifying the strength of ignition spark, attaching and interpreting a vacuum gauge, listening for odd sounds and odors, checking exhaust emissions, killing cylinders to check for power contribution, pinching vacuum hoses, spraying water around gasket areas, wiggling connections, checking power and ground voltage quantity and stability - the list goes on and on.
It sounds like a new course of action is needed in finding a repair shop. I'd insist on a five-minute pre-write-up consultation with the technician to be assigned, and inquire what diagnostic strategies are recommended. Problems like these require a top-notch tech with the patience and skills to disassemble the haystack in a timely and efficient manner.
BRAD BERGHOLDT is an automotive technology instructor at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose, Calif.


Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Oman of not doing enough to tackle widespread abuse of foreign maids, which it says sometimes verges on slavery.
The group said it had documented physical and sexual abuse, confiscation of passports, excessive working hours and at least one case in which a maid was "sold" to another employer.
Omani authorities did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the HRW report, released on Wednesday.
Based on interviews with 59 of at least 130,000 domestic maids working in the Gulf Arab sultanate, HRW said it had concluded that Oman's laws did not adequately protect them and employers often mistreated them without being punished.
"It is clear that abuses are widespread and that they are generally carried out with impunity," the New York-based group said.
"Situations like those described below are at the very least dangerously close to situations of slavery."
A Bangladeshi maid said she left home to work for an employer in the United Arab Emirates before a new employer paid cash for her to be transferred to Oman.
"I was sold," HRW quoted Asma K. as saying.
Under Oman's kafala, or sponsorship, system - used in several Gulf Arab countries - migrant workers' visas are tied to their employers and may not be transferred to a new employer without the previous employer's permission.
Around half of Oman's population of 4.4 million people are foreigners sponsored by their employers to live and work there.
Oman's female domestic servants come mainly from Indonesia, Ethiopia, South Asia and the Philippines.


Video surveillance provider Gadspot launches its “fish eye” panoramic wide-angle Internet protocal (IP) security cameras. The line of network cameras can provide from a 180 degree to a 360 degree view of a room in a single device, preventing organizations from having to purchase and wire multiple cameras.
The new lineup includes three cameras, the Panorama Camera, the Panorama Dome Camera and the Panorama Outdoor Dome Camera. The cameras includes panoramic 180 degree and 360 degree full view in addition to a 2 Megapixel CMOS sensor and resolution at 1600 x 1200 pixels or high definition resolution at 720p at 30 frames per second (FPS).
Real-time H.264 and motion JPEG dual codec come standard, Gadspot says. Built-in distortion correction and mechanical infrared cut-filter removable (ICR) ensure accurate imaging. Two-way audio connectors and digital input/output (I/O) for alarm triggering are also included, but a built-in speaker and microphone is available for the model GS-NB670E only, the company says.
Power over Ethernet (PoE) and a micro SD card for local storage allow the camera to operate with less risk of footage being lost.
New camera series casts a wide eye.
The company's camera-holding assemblies hold multiple cameras in both their original form as well as a fully spherical, seamless 360-degree field of view.
The OnCam IP also provides electronic pan/tilt/zoom functionality throughout the entire field of view during live viewing or playback.
Supports built-in motion detection technology and is IP-66 rated vandal proof and weather proof housing dome camera.


The people behind the Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall claim that it is "the first to have its primary structure entirely made of robotically prefabricated beech plywood plates." It's probably not, but this is a whole new level of sophistication in digital fabrication, of buildings as computer printout.
Designed and built at the Institute for Computational Design, part of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning at the University of Stuttgart, the building is constructed from 2" thick beech plywood, with 243 panels machined on a 7-axis tool that created 7,600 finger joints.
It's really quite amazing, what is happening here; the plywood is both the shell and the structure as the very complex vault is designed on the computer with each of the pieces, sort of shaped like a sand dollar, cut out on a CNC machine and then finished by the robot arm. Natural materials and biomimic design principles (modelled on the skeletons of sea urchins) produce a complex design, with every part different, machined in a way that would be impossible by hand.
One of the most important challenges and innovations is the robotic fabrication of the 7600 individual finger joints, which, through their interlocking connection, are the main reason for the building’s structural stability. Still visible in the building’s interior, the finger joint connections resemble the sand dollar’s microscopic connections and are only efficiently producible with a seven axis robotic fabrication setup. The industrial robot’s kinematic flexibility is an essential requirement for the production of such complex and individual geometries. Consequently, the fact that, similar to the sand dollar’s plate skeleton, all plywood plates are geometrically unique, poses no additional difficulties.
The structural loads that occur around the plate’s edges are transferred efficiently by the robotically fabricated finger joints. This new kind of timber construction allows the building to be made of only 50mm thick plywood plates. Using locally available beech is not only in accordance with future foresting strategies in central Europe, but is also especially suitable for lightweight timber constructions because of the material’s excellent mechanical characteristics.
Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall from ICD on Vimeo.
Plywood is strong, easy to work with, and made from a renewable resource. Computers can drive digital tools to cut it and finish it in unimaginably complex forms. Additive 3D printing is getting all the pixels these days, but this is the real future of digital design.
Even if it does look a bit like a peanut. More at the Institute for Computational Design.


We may never know who the woman is staring out of this cabinet card taken by Salem photographer W.P. Johnson sometime between 1877 and 1888.
The Willamette Heritage Center houses over 200,000 photographic images documenting the history of Salem and Marion County. There is nothing more disappointing than coming across an unidentified photo.
We may never know who the dour-looking woman is staring out of this cabinet card taken by Salem photographer W.P. Johnson sometime between 1877 and 1888 — the years he operated his photo gallery in Salem. However, a little research into some interesting markings on the photo itself did offer insight into the life of another enterprising woman of the time.
The backside of this photograph features the photographer’s name amidst palm fronds, pyramids and sphinxes, all printed in shimmering silver. At the very bottom of the logo are the unadorned words: “Mrs. A.L. Stinson and Son, Printers.” This little phrase gave made me pause.
Professional women in Salem during the latter half of the 19th century were, to use a phrase of the time, scarce as hen’s teeth. The U.S. Census bureau didn’t even keep statistics on women in the work force until 1890. By then, only 515,260 married women were employed in the entire United States, just 2 percent of the American workforce. How many fewer were actually business owners?
While her business name was always Mrs. A.L. Stinson, she was christened Sarah Watts and her life was not an easy one. Born in Illinois in 1843, she came across the Oregon Trail as a young girl of 4. Her family settled in Linn County, near Peoria. Her father died when she was just 11 years old.
The only photograph I could find of Mrs. Stinson (maybe a bit ironic for a printer) is in a 1917 Oregon Journal article describing the reunion of veterans of the so-called Oregon Indian Wars. In it she recalls knitting socks for fighters as the mother spun yarn.
Sarah married a printer by the name of Ashby Logan Stinson in 1862. Their marriage would last a grand total of 17 years and four children before her husband fell dead of a heart attack on the street in Salem. She suddenly became a single mother in a community where there were few employment opportunities for women.
We can do little but speculate how she got into the printing business. Maybe she learned at her husband’s side? Her husband, after all, is credited with bringing the first cylinder press to Salem and ran several newspapers and a job printing business in Albany and Salem.
There are precious few remnants of her career, and the business name seems to be constantly in flux. The 1880 Directory of the City of Salem was printed by “Mrs. A.L. Stinson, Book & Job Printer.” Just a few years later in the Oregon, Washington and Idaho Gazetteer and Business Directory by the R.L. Polk Co., she is listed in the classifieds under “Printers - Book and Job” as Mrs. A.L. Stinson & Co.
This name change may be explained by an obscure reference found in the finding aide for the Thomas Jefferson Cronise photos held at the Oregon Historical Society, which claims that Cronise – later to become one of Salem’s preeminent photographers – first worked for a printing business owned by Mrs. A.L. Stinson after his arrival in Oregon in 1882.
It can be hard for us to consider in a time of word processing the important role job printers played in everyday business around town. They could create forms, print invitations, pamphlets and advertisements and even create logos and stationery like that found on the back of our mysterious cabinet card.
After selling the business, Mrs. A.L. Stinson really only shows up in the newspaper entertaining at her West Salem home called “Le Mati Grove” and in relationship to the exploits of her children. Her woes continued. Daughter Alice, who had gained fame as a doctor in Salem with the somewhat unbelievable name of Dr. Prettyman, sadly died at age 39, leaving behind a little daughter of her own. She had to rush to her son‘s side on an October evening in 1915 after hearing a shot, to find he had taken his own life.
Her daughter Mary married her mother’s business successor, Ross E. Moores. Mary would not outlive the dispersal of her mother‘s estate and her husband became her only surviving heir. A sad end to an interesting story.
Even an unsolved mystery can offer some clues. Who knows, maybe someone will recognize our mystery woman from their family tree? Stranger things have happened.
Kylie Pine is the Curator at the Willamette Heritage Center, a five acre historical museum located in downtown Salem dedicating to connecting generations by preserving and interpreting the history of the Mid-Willamette Valley. Learn more at www.willametteheritage.org.


As featured on TV, Turbulence software's Zecop can track your computer if it is stolen by sending you e-mails containing its current IP address. Having that information in hand you can report the theft to the police authorities and they will be able to assist you. Zecop will run silently on the back of your computer. It is a small program that requires very limited resources. This version is the first release on CNET Download.com.


The Weather Channel App for Windows offers an innovative, simplified interface to tell the weather story and its impact on your daily life. The completely new look offers enhanced features while still delivering the most reliable, timely weather forecasts and information.
The Weather Channel App for Windows puts you just one click away from customized, timely weather information and critical severe weather alerts. Features include: Beautiful weather-triggered imagery for a deeper weather connection. Local temperature and severe weather notification in your system tray. An immersive weather forecast screen displays current conditions and hourly forecasts. Completely redesigned look with a more elegant and simplified user interface. Larger, easier-to-read interactive radar maps with additional layers so you can display more information related to radar, clouds, UV index, rainfall and more. Offers lifestyle integration to see how weather affects everyday activities, including pollen, beauty, and cold and flu forecasts. Compatible with a mouse or touch interface, it's device-friendly for desktops and laptops. Enhanced video experience including updated news, weather forecasts and featured content from TWC on television.
A miracle! Somehow the makers of this crapware stay in business.
You get a lot of unwanted extras with this app: malware, browser changes, search engine changes, all in a very hard-to-remove package. If you enjoy those kinds of things - and more - then this is the weather app for you!
"RUN AWAY ! ! !"
If you can isolate the app and kill all the attached malware, it is pretty helpful.
I can't believe that an organization like The Weather Channel would agree to attach advertisement malware to this very useful tool...... boy was I wrong.
*It gives you the weather.
I was looking for a simple weather application and had assumed that The Weather Channel would be a good place to get one. I was completely wrong. Not only does the application not work half of the time, it bogs down my system when its doing it (Intel i7 Processor with 12 GB of RAM!!!). Assuming I had been infected, I ran Malwarebytes to find that it did contain malware.
Do not install this program!!
Thank you for your post. I thought that it was just me. I can't believe that an organization like The Weather Channel would agree to attach advertisement malware to this very useful tool...... boy was I wrong. After the installation, it is possible to locate the 3 (or more) unrequested "malware" programs that were attached and uninstall them. It was a lot of work and took a lot of time but now the app works as originally designed. I would suggest that you STAY AWAY ! ! !
Convenient when it didn't crash, but crash it did.
I wrote a review earlier saying that the app didn't work very well and often created script and other errors. Often showed no data and was convinced that I had no internet connection.(I did)After they issued an update I decided to try again. After installing, my computer dragged along - it seemed to use way too much processor. Finally I got the dreaded "blue screen" and decided that it had to be the weather channel app. I uninstalled and my computer is running smooth and fast again. Running Win 7. I recommend that you stay away.
This app and a few others were installed without my permission when I downloaded Filezilla. I never even installed Filezilla, just downloaded it. Malwarebytes identified the exe as a Trojan and wiped it out. Beware!
Version 7.59.99 includes future radar and animation, precipitation start/stop timing for next 6 hours, horizontal hourly forecast, snow accumulation forecast, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas themes, improved 5-day forecast layout, and various bug fixes.


St. Margaret Clitherow was born in Middleton, England around the year 1555 to a protestant family. Margaret was known throughout the town for her wit and good looks, and in 1571 she married John Clitherow, and together they bore two children.
Several years after her marriage to John, Margaret was introduced to the Catholic faith, and converted. She was a zealous defender of Catholicism and hid fugitive priests in her home. Eventually, Margaret was turned in to the sheriff and tried for the crime of harboring Catholic priests.
While Margaret was on trial, many efforts were made to encourage her to deny the Catholic faith, but she held firmly. Finally, Margaret was condemned to be pressed to death upon sharp rocks. She was executed on March 25, 1586.
Pope Paul VI canonized Margaret in 1970.


JEDDAH: Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliki has highlighted the pioneering role played by Saudi Arabia under the leadership of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to unify the Islamic world, take care of Islam and promote a doctrine that promotes peace and peaceful coexistence.
Al-Malki said that universities were the most important beacon of knowledge and sciences, and equipped communities with religious, cultural and practical knowledge.
“Universities offer to students the knowledge and experiences that enable them to adequately interact with their communities, with the view of improving them by instilling good social behaviors, especially on the religious level,” Al-Malki said.


Yes, Virginia. Stocks go down as well as up -- and that's not always a bad thing.
The past three months' returns on the Dow -- scary! ^DJI data by YCharts.
Stop. To borrow a line from the 1989 rom-com Say Anything: "You must chill. You must chill."
Yes, I realize that the market's imploding. I get it. Over the past six weeks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI) has lost more than 10% of its value. After the quick thrill of a 4% one-day rise last week, the Dow plunged a heart-stopping 3% on Tuesday -- and we're down again today.
With the market up one day and down the next, the net effect is a lot of pain for a lot of investors -- and I feel that pain personally. Today, my shares of Baidu are worth 30% less than what they sold for just three months ago. Collectively, we investors have seen nearly a year's worth of stock market gains wiped out in a matter of weeks.
And yet, you're reading this, which means I'm still writing. I haven't jumped out any windows (not that it would help; I'm on the ground floor). Panic-selling when your stocks plummet won't slow their fall, and it won't salvage your portfolio -- it'll just lock in your losses.
In fact, selling out of fear could cost you years of potential profits. Last year, JPMorgan published a study showing that an investor invested in a broad market index fund between Dec. 31, 1993 and Dec. 31, 2013 would have averaged 9.2% annual returns. But if that same investor had missed the 20 most profitable days in that 20-year span -- just one day per year -- then those returns would have been reduced to just 3% per year, barely keeping pace with inflation.
Stay out of the market a bit longer -- 30 days in 20 years -- and your profits fall to 0.9% annualized (at which point you're better off putting your money in a bank). And missing the 40 best days would yield losses.
That's 20 straight years of losing money.
Well, what should we do?
Instead of panicking and selling out, here's a better suggestion: Keep on doing what you've been doing. As an individual investor, you're powerless to influence the movement of the entire U.S. stock market, much less stock markets on the other side of the world. But you can influence how you react to these movements in the markets.
So what should you do? Keep working and keep depositing your paychecks. Keep researching high-quality, low-priced stocks. Don't get overexcited by soaring stock markets or panic when the Dow declines. But do keep on buying shares when you find them priced with a significant margin of safety. And most importantly, never buy more of any given stock than you can afford to lose -- because, despite our best efforts, we all make mistakes from time to time.
Once you've got that down, though, it's time to get greedy.
Is the sky really falling? A lot of investors seem to think so. Even the pros are panicking. The hedge-fund types are worrying about making their quarterly numbers and adding to their short positions in a frantic attempt to stanch the bleeding.
But on the off chance the sky doesn't fall and the world returns to normal someday, you should be preparing to profit from the tumult. Consult your stock "wish list" -- you've drawn one up, right? See whether panic selling has pushed any of your favorite stocks down below your hoped-for buy-in price.
Over in China, the source of our current problems, there are already twice as many Internet users as there are in the U.S., and half of China's population has yet to go online. And yet the shares of its premier search engine, Baidu, are nearly 40% cheaper than they were at the beginning of the year. Here at home, right this moment, shares of Bank of America are selling for less than 17 times trailing earnings. According to S&P Capital IQ, that's 15% below their average P/E ratio for the past five years -- at a time when the Fed is planning an interest rate hike that will boost Bank of America's profits.
In short, the market sell-off seems to be offering surprising opportunities for opportunistic investors -- and today just might be your lucky day.
It's been a while, but the sky has fallen before, Fools -- and more than once. Previous versions of this article ran on Fool.com in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011.


Highland’s Emergency Observation Unit has been active since 2010 with Robert S. Bennett, M.D., as founder and medical director. The Unit consistently meets its mission of caring for patients who need a short stay for a focused medical or surgical condition and meets or exceeds its target of discharging over 85 percent of its patients within 24 hours. Dr. Bennett cares for patients on the unit, along with Ray Chan, M.D., who has recently joined the coverage team. Both physicians have served Highland for more than 25 years. The following is an interview with Dr. Bennett about why the unit was established and how it contributes to Highland’s reputation for excellence in care.
Why was the Emergency Observation Unit created?
We opened the unit about eight years ago with nine beds to manage observation status patients that were scattered throughout the hospital and generally not differentiated from more acutely ill and complicated patients. As a result, their stays tended to be longer than necessary. By carving out a portion of these patients and placing them in a dedicated unit adjacent to the ED with dedicated staff (physicians, APPs and nurses), these patients could be managed more efficiently. We initially focused on a few problems like chest pain, syncope, and dehydration, but have steadily expanded to include many more conditions which can be managed in a short stay unit.
What does the Emergency Observation Unit look like today?
Today we have 13 beds, four of which are shared, flexibly, with the main ED. Those four beds are dedicated to the EOU overnight but are returned to ED by 11 a.m. the next day. The EOU generally cares for about one third of Highland’s observation patients. Other observation patients are triaged either to the OU (Medical Observation Unit) or scattered on other units.
How has the patient mix changed over the years?
Why has the patient mix changed?
The significant decrease in chest pain patients is likely directly attributable to the highly sensitive troponin testing introduced earlier this year. These patients are now mostly managed within a few hours in the main ED and discharged home. We have also developed an interest in managing patients with skin and soft tissue infections, who can often be cared for more efficiently in our unit.
What is the biggest impact of the EOU?
Patients seem to love it and give it high Press-Ganey scores. They appreciate how we value their time and can be cared for and discharged if they don’t need to have a more prolonged stay. Studies clearly show that for every hour a patient remains in the hospital, the risk of an adverse event increases. By reducing length of stay, we are maximizing space in the hospital, which is especially important during full census times. In addition to improving the patient experience, the unit is also cost effective for the hospital. This is a win for patients and families and a win for the hospital.


"We're very excited that Manny has agreed to get behind our new snack product," Marc Heyman, co-founder, Home Team Snacks, says. "This one-of-a-kind popcorn is sure to become a fan favorite."
WESTMINSTER, Md., March 31, 2014 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Just in time for a new baseball season, Home Team Snacks announces a new addition to its snack roster lineup – Maryland Crab Seasoned Popcorn. Endorsed by professional baseball player, Manny Machado, this popcorn blend is sure to score on the big boards.
Of course, it’s not just for baseball fans. It’s a snack for anyone, anytime. Whether watching a movie or tailgating at a favorite sports event, Maryland Crab Seasoned Popcorn is made to hit the spot.
Maryland Crab Seasoned Popcorn joins three other Home Team Snacks’ favorites: Crab Curls with Cheese, Crab Seeds and Pure Purple Power energy drink. It’s sure to be a winner.
Available for wholesale and retail, this highly anticipated new snack product will be on the market by June 1. Snack fans will be able to find it in supermarkets, convenience stores and other retail outlets throughout Maryland.
To learn more about Home Team Snacks and their delicious snack products, visit: http://www.hometeamsnacks.com/.
Started by passionate Baltimore sports fans, Home Team Snacks is the realization of a dream to create locally inspired, but massively appealing snacks. Founded by Marc Heyman and Jeff Hinton, Home Team Snacks is dedicated to producing unique snacks that not only tout local pride, but also give back to the community through various charities. Home Team Snacks offers traditional flavors of Maryland in entirely new formats.
Original Keywords: Home Team Snacks, Maryland Crab Seasoned Popcorn, baseball food Home Team Snacks Westminster Maryland WESTMINSTER, Md.
REFERENCES: Advertising and Marketing News, Home Team Snacks, Maryland Crab Seasoned Popcorn, baseball food Home Team Snacks Westminster Maryland WESTMINSTER, Md.


The temptation to criticise one's political allies exists because criticism can help individuals derive personal advantage, either within the group or by forming temporary alliances outside the group. Refraining from criticising your allies is a strategy of deferring or sacrificing individual benefits for the good of the group. But Republicans are supposed to be individualists! Democrats are supposed to believe in collective action for the good of the group. And yet Democrats are perfectly awful at collective action. Democrats are constantly undercutting their presidents; liberals have been lukewarm and quick to turn on Carter, Clinton and Obama, and no Republican president has ever faced the kind of fury from his base that the left directed at LBJ.


Most of us these days are spending more time in the office than at home, and one of the biggest mistakes that you can make at work is not being aware of the various etiquette rules to live by. After all, missteps can impact promotions, raises, and especially your social cache in the office. Here, the 15 rules that you should keep in mind at all time while at work.
1. Don’t be too loud. Be mindful of your volume, whether you are talking to a colleague or on the phone. You don’t want to invade anyone’s personal space.
2. Don’t Interrupt your colleagues. When you are in meetings or even simply talking to a colleague in the hall, be mindful of who is talking. You don’t want to be disrespectful.
3. Be mindful of office chatter. It is great to work in an office where you also can make friends, but keep chatter to a minimum. You’ll know if you have gone on too long when a colleague has to walk with you to continue the conversation.
4. Don’t eat smelly food. Tuna, spicy Indian food—eating smelly food can be really offensive, especially in an office with an open floor plan. Save the curry for home.
5. Hold back on the perfume. To the same point, be mindful of how much perfume that you wear at the office. Some people could be allergic.
6. Office correspondence should be formal. Think of email somewhat like a formal letter. In other words, don’t use slang or abbreviations. Also, bear in mind that many companies actually store their employees emails for years, and access them from time to time to check up on their employees.
7. Share the credit. It is just good office etiquette to know when to share the credit with others. You’ll come off as a team player, and more importantly, the act of good will is likely to be repaid in spades.
8. Dress for the office that you work in. Plan your office wardrobe to fit with the tone of your office. Look to your bosses for inspiration as to what is appropriate.
9. Keep your phone on silent. Your ring tone can potentially be distracting, so it’s best to keep your phone on vibrate.
10. Keep the office clean. Throw your trash out on your desk, don’t keep items in the communal refrigerator too long, and be mindful if you are sharing a bathroom too.
11. Don’t share too much personal information with colleagues. There are a few reasons why this isn’t so good—it can leave you vulnerable and also there is such a thing as TMI, especially in an office environment.
12. Be on time. Being punctual says a lot about your personal values. You want to send the message to your colleagues that you care.
13. Don’t take long personal calls at your desk. It is perfectly fine to take a personal call at your desk occasionally, but keep it short so you don’t disturb everyone around you. Take the call outside on your cell phone if necessary.
14. Don’t play with your hair during a meeting. Refrain from playing with your hair, especially in meetings. You should also refrain from brushing your hair or applying makeup at your desk.
15. Don’t come to work if you’re too sick. If you are contagious, stay home for the good of the office. Show your diligence by being available online for as much of the day as possible. That being said, if you just have the sniffles, you should probably come into work.
Should Men Still Open the Door For Women?


Each week, The Daily Beast sifts through the cultural landscape to choose three top picks. This week, Katy Perry is one artist’s new muse, Big Love returns for a blockbuster year, and a script for The Kennedys shines light on the miniseries’ cancellation.
A dreamy new exhibit in Los Angeles is the latest marker in the short but memorable relationship between artist Will Cotton and “Firework” singer Katy Perry. Cotton paints women with candy accoutrements, including cupcake tiaras and cellophane dresses—and his recent muse makes an appearance in his new show. Cotton was also artistic director of Perry’s Candyland-themed “California Gurls” video and painted her most recent album cover, a whipped confection of cotton candy surrounding Russell Brand’s beatific bride. The latest exhibit opens at the Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles on January 14, but fans with a sweet tooth can get a glimpse at his newest portraits here.
Until this week, no one except tabloids—who salivated over images of Katie Holmes as Jackie O—thought much about The Kennedys, the History Channel miniseries scheduled to air in the spring. But after the network announced it was dropping the pricey eight-part show, despite its A-list cast (including Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy and Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy Sr.) and credentials ( 24’s conservative creator Joel Surnow spent years getting the project off the ground), everyone wanted to know what went wrong. An exclusive, early copy of the script obtained by The Daily Beast might explain why, as the network said, the “dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand.” From the Kennedys’ rampant womanizing to the $1 million trust offered to Jackie to stay with Jack, read the most salacious bits of the script. It could be your only chance—multiple networks have already passed on snatching up the controversial rights.
For four years, the extended family on Big Love shocked audiences. Bill Paxton’s alter ego Bill Hendrickson and his harem of wives (brilliantly played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin) illustrated a type of family never-before-seen on television. Last season, critics thought the HBO drama careened off the deep end when Paxton’s patriarch ran and won for state senate—and then the family outed themselves as polygamists. But the HBO drama returns this weekend and seems to have righted itself and toned down the over-the-stop storylines for its fifth and final season. The always provocative show is again focusing on what made the show irresistible: the Hendricksons and their highs and lows of modern relationships. Jace Lacob writes that “rather than be unified by their self-outing, the family seems to be falling apart, their homes the frontlines for an internal battle of wills and self-fulfillment.” You won’t find that on Sister Wives. Big Love, premiering Sunday on HBO, deserves a second chance on your DVR.


"Aging in place" is a hot topic these days -- particularly among baby boomers who want to maintain their independence.
While flocking to smaller homes in warmer climates is still attractive for some seniors easing into their later years, more and more people are choosing to stay where they are. In fact, 85 percent of homeowners 55 and older aren't planning to sell their homes in the next year, according to a 2017 survey from Realtor.com.
"Aging in place really is a concept based on where you're living and your preference to staying, whatever you home of choice is," said Laurie Orlov, tech industry veteran, eldercare advocate and founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch.
Not every home is set up to ease the transition into adults' older years, when mobility can become a major issue. Declining hearing, sight and mental awareness can also affect how easy or safe it is to continue living independently in a person's home of choice.
But smart home technology brings a whole host of solutions to the table.
"Electronically controllable thermostats, lighting, motion sensors, smart doorbells -- these are all technologies that have been bundled into the concept of smart homes," said Orlov. "You can see how they would be useful in helping people remain in their homes even as they felt less safe in the neighborhood or weren't good at thermostat management or were at risk of falling in their own homes and being left alone."
However, there can be significant barriers for homeowners hoping to adapt their homes to be "smarter." One issue is the sometimes-complex setup process these features require, said Orlov, which can intimidate homeowners who aren't confident about their tech savviness.
Another is the cost, not only of the items themselves, but also of high-speed internet service plans, which puts smart home technology out of reach for seniors with lower incomes.
In some cases, an individual's health or financial situation could still require her to look for a different living situation. For homeowners preparing for the future, or hoping to extend their years in their current homes, here are 10 smart home features that could help.
A major trend, according to Orlov, is the rise of smart home assistant products like the Amazon Echo.
"Certainly those who can afford it are vastly going to prefer to speak to technology than touch it," she said.
Not only do smart home assistants integrate well with other smart home products, they can complete a number of tasks that some people might find difficult to do as they age. A smart home assistant can play music, read books and place phone calls, all by voice command.
"As older people remain longer in their own homes, they can keep their minds active and lives engaged with others and find services they need," Orlov continued.
The Amazon Echo is available in several sizes, but the midsize version is available for about $100.
According to the Older Americans 2016: Key Indicators of Well-Being report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, 46 percent of women over the age of 75 lived alone in 2015. For men, the figure is 23 percent.
Safety is, and will continue to be, a major concern for older people who live alone. Smart home devices like the Ring video doorbell allow a homeowner to see, hear and speak to someone at their door (via a smartphone, tablet or PC) without having to open it.
The Ring video doorbell is available, in a variety of colors, for about $180.
Digital thermostats can be difficult for even the most tech-savvy homeowners to understand. Smart thermostats like the Sensi Smart Thermostat help aging homeowners more easily regulate their home's temperature, which can be a health concern as well as affecting comfort.
Sensi connects with smart home assistants (like the Amazon Echo) and can be voice-controlled, so aging homeowners don't even have to push a button or read the text on their thermostat's screen. It can also be controlled via a free mobile app from a smartphone or tablet.
The Sensi Smart Thermostat is available for about $130.
Falling is a major concern for aging homeowners, especially those who live alone. Fumbling around in a dark room for a light switch creates a huge risk for falls that can be lowered by installing a smart light switch.
The Wemo Light Switch allows homeowners to control their lights -- and small appliances -- via an app on their smartphone. Lights can be set to a timer or controlled from outside the house with the app. It also connects with smart home assistants, so homeowners can turn their lights on and off by voice command.
The Wemo Light Switch is available alone for about $50.
Though they're often marketed to young, busy and tech-savvy families, smart refrigerators like the Samsung Family Hub can help aging homeowners stay on top of their grocery shopping. It's not available yet in all areas, but in some places the Samsung Family Hub lets owners order groceries directly from their refrigerator doors, which could be helpful for older people who struggle to get to the grocery store.
Not only does the Samsung Family Hub come with voice technology, but it can read out recipes for older chefs who might struggle with the small print in recipe books. It comes at a higher price point than some other smart home products, with the least-expensive model available for about $3,500.
Smart home technology isn't just useful for aging homeowners. It can also bring peace of mind to family members and caregivers. Seniors with memory problems often struggle to remember to take their medication at the right time and in the appropriate amounts.
The MedMinder Pill Dispenser helps seniors stay on top of their medication, and it can act as a safety net if seniors miss important medications or accidentally double up.
MedMinder offers several models. The most advanced allows only one compartment to open at a time and offers reminders (like flashing lights, audio prompts and phone call or text message reminders). The device can also alert caregivers or medical professionals if something goes wrong.
MedMinder Pill Dispensers are available from about $40 to about $65, depending on the model.
Even the best of us have left the stove on once or twice, but that mistake can be a significant risk for older homeowners with memory or hearing loss. The Stove Guard CookStop will turn the stove off if left unattended for a predetermined amount of time.
The settings are adjustable with a secure key, and owners can install it without having to modify the stove itself. It also has an alarm that will sound when the stove is about to turn off. CookStop models are available for various types of stoves, ranging in price from about $515 to about $650.
While robotic vacuum cleaners can help aging homeowners keep the insides of their homes clean, lawn care can be an even bigger struggle for seniors who struggle with mobility. Worx's Landroid M cordless robotic lawn mower helps homeowners take care of their lawns without needing to walk behind a mower.
It uses artificial intelligence to navigate the lawn, even in narrow spaces. When it rains, the Landroid M will shut down until the grass is dry. When the battery runs low, it automatically returns to the charging station.
The Landroid M is available for about $1,000.
The phrase "smart home" conjures an image of a house full of products that connect to smartphones, each other and the cloud. But in past years, Orlov said, experts used a more all-encompassing term: "home automation." Home automation products include items that don't fit neatly into the interconnected Internet of Things, she said, like automatic doors.
Mobility can become a problem for aging homeowners, even inside their own homes. Doors that don't require fumbling with a handle -- and in some cases, don't swing out, but slide side to-side -- can be a big help for seniors who struggle to get around.
Companies like Affordable Adaptive Solutions sell automatic door systems and can provide pricing upon request.
Reaching the top shelf of a kitchen cabinet is a common struggle. Aging homeowners, however, are often even less able to climb step stools or chairs to take items off high shelves. Cabinet lift systems help bring the top shelf to a more accessible level.
The Approach Wall Cabinet Lift has a button that adjusts the height of the cabinet up to 20 vertical inches. The system also has a safety shut-off that will automatically stop the shelf if it comes into contact with anything on the counter below it.
The Approach cabinet system is available for about $1,600. Freedom Lift Systems also carries lift systems for other kitchen features, such as sinks and cooktops.


Supporters of United Conservative Party leadership candidate Doug Schweitzer shouldn't get their hopes up that threatening to kick British Columbia out of the New West Partnership will get that province's NDP-Green governing partnership to change its mind about opposing the Kinder Morgan Pipeline expansion project.
On the contrary, B.C.'s new NDP premier, John Horgan, would likely to be delighted to see the province thrown out of the interprovincial trade agreement that got its start back in the naughts when Ralph Klein was the neoliberal Conservative premier of Alberta and Gordon Campbell was the neoconservative Liberal premier of B.C.
That way, someone else could take the rap for something he'd presumably quite like to do anyway.
We all understand Schweitzer's idea is mainly posturing by a long-shot UCP leadership hopeful with a nice smile, no experience holding public office, and only a minuscule chance of winning.
Still, from the UCP perspective it's an opportunity for the Calgary lawyer to be heard pointing out that the pro-pipeline Alberta NDP Government of Premier Rachel Notley isn't getting much joy from B.C.'s New Democrats these days with the effort to build social licence for new pipelines to the B.C. coast, where popular hostility to the idea is overwhelming.
But if you're going to run for the leadership of a political party, you have to say something, and what Schweitzer chose to say in a campaign email to the UCP membership late last week was that if the B.C. NDP won't play ball with Alberta on the Kinder Morgan Pipeline, which it had just said it wouldn't, it's "time for B.C. to be kicked out of the New West Partnership."
"As BC's neighbour and largest inter-provincial trading partner I hope they will reconsider blocking the development of this pipeline -- for their own economic interests, as well as the interests of Alberta and all Canadians," he said.
The problem is, it's not that easy to make a compelling case there's much economic benefit for B.C. in more pipelines, especially if Alberta won't share royalties from the bitumen they manage to move.
Indeed, there's not actually very much New West Partnership does for either Alberta or B.C. -- not because they both happen to have NDP governments whose voter bases have historically been skeptical about the benefits of such trade agreements, but because they are populous provinces with large resource-export based economies that don't export much to each other.
The New West Partnership got its start in 2006 as the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA). It got spruced up a little and renamed in 2010, and Saskatchewan signed up in 2013. Manitoba joined last year after the Conservatives there defeated that province's NDP government.
In reality, there were virtually no barriers to interprovincial trade in Western Canada before TILMA was signed.
What TILMA, and the New West Partnership, are designed to do is to make it harder for provincial governments to enact their own, tougher policies on a range of issues in response to local issues and voter preferences. In other words, to reduce needed regulation to the lowest common denominator.
Needless to say, by giving corporations the ability to sue provincial governments for enacting better environmental standards, for example, protection of the environment is eroded everywhere.
Here in Alberta, the New West Partnership has provided an opportunity for a Saskatchewan brewer of watery commercial beer to try to throw roadblocks in the way of the Notley Government's support for local craft brewers, which has led to a craft brewing boomlet here. So why the NDP here is so warm for the deal is not immediately obvious.
Realistically, there would be essentially no economic penalty to B.C. if it were thrown out of the New West Partnership, and the province's ability to act forcefully to protect its own environment -- clearly a priority with B.C. voters that spans the usual left-right divide -- would be significantly enhanced.
This, in turn, would increase the fragile NDP-Green coalition's mid-term chances of hanging on to power, and Horgan's chances of getting an NDP majority in the next B.C. general election.
So, from Horgan's perspective, what's not to like about being turfed out of the New West Partnership?
Doug Schweitzer, whose slogan is "New Blue," has positioned himself as the socially liberal, fiscally conservative candidate to lead the UCP, which makes him the odd man out in the party's increasingly Wildrose-like leadership contest.
I'm sure Mr. Schweitzer is sincere in his belief that strong recent polls notwithstanding, the UCP could lose the next Alberta general election if it doesn't openly support LGBTQ and reproductive rights.
And to his great credit, he had the courage yesterday in the wake of the tragedy in Charlottesville, V.A., to Tweet that "we are better than this alt right hate driven agenda. @TheRebelTV has no place in our new #UCP." This will win him few friends in the darkest corners of the UCP, which include some pretty near the top, where the Rebel's hateful agenda is revered.
But like the candidacy of former WCP president Jeff Callaway, the main impact of the campaign of the candidate who mulled a PC leadership run in 2016 is likely to be to draw votes away from former Wildrose leader Brian Jean, thereby opening the road to avowedly social conservative leadership by frontrunner Jason Kenney.
Kenney, a candidate with views nowadays well outside the Canadian mainstream, was the ultimate winner of the PC race last spring, which was the first step in his "Unite the Right" campaign.
So while Callaway bleeds off some Wildrose loyalists uncomfortable with the idea of supporting a Conservative, Schweitzer can capture the few remaining socially liberal Tory votes, smoothing the way for Kenney's ascension when his loyalists hold true.


REAL MADRID TEAM NEWS - which 11 players will Zinedine Zidane select for Los Blancos’ clash against Huesca?
Real Madrid welcome rock-bottom Huesca on Sunday evening, looking make it two wins from two under Zidane.
The Frenchman returned to the Real Madrid helm one week before the international break and began with a comfortable 2-0 win over Celta Vigo.
Zidane made some big calls for that win, notably starting maligned players Isco and Gareth Bale, who both scored.
Other standout selections included the return of Marcelo and Keylor Navas in goal for Thibaut Courtois.
The Belgian goalkeeper has not enjoyed a successful first season since making his dream move to the European Champions.
Despite being Real’s No 1 in place of the proven but under-appreciated Navas, Courtois has not reflected the £35m paid for him last August.
Zidane noticed that and dropped him for his first game in charge, but tried to play down the significance of the call.
"It's not a final decision,” the manager said. “There are 10 games left.
Unfortunately for Courtois, he did not have the best break with Belgium, being dispossessed on the edge of his box for the Red Devils’ only concession over the two games.
Zidane showed in his first game back that he is willing to trust the players which delivered so much success in his first tenure, and more of the same is expected on Sunday.
Against the lesser sides he will want Isco to play centrally in a 4-2-3-1 formation with deep creative midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modric being favoured over defence-minded Casemiro or Dani Ceballos.
With Vinicius Junior and Danny Carvajal the only long-term absentees, a very similar side to last time out is expected to do the business against Huesca.
Real Madrid XI vs Huesca (predicted line-up): Navas; Odriozola, Varane, Ramos, Reguilon; Modric, Kroos, Asensio, Isco, Bale; Benzema.


Those who hoped that the Israeli atrocities in Gaza would rekindled a sense of remorse among the egotistical elites in Ramallah, were surely disappointed when the PA withdrew its draft resolution supporting recommendations made by South African Judge Richard Goldstone. The Goldstone report is the most comprehensive, and transparent investigation as of yet into what happened in Gaza during the 23-day war. It decried Israeli terror, and chastised Palestinians as well. But the focus on Israel undoubtedly and deservingly occupied much of the nearly 600-page report. The next step was for the Human Rights Council to send the report for consideration to the United Nations Security Council, which was to study the findings for a possible referral of the case to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Such a move would have been historic. Knowing the full implications of such a possibility, Hamas accepted the report’s recommendations in full. Israel, backed by its traditional US ally, rejected it, leveling all sorts of accusations and insults on the world-renowned Jewish judge.
Palestinians who are now calling for change following the UN episode, must consider the Oslo culture in its entirety, its ‘revolutionary’ millionaires, its elites and contractors. A practical alternative to those corrupt must be quickly devised. The Israeli wall is encroaching on Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank, and a new war might be awaiting besieged Gaza. Time is running out, and our collective shame is nearly complete.


Kanye West debuted his Yeezy Season 2 collection at a New York Fashion Week today (September 16), to a star-studded crowd that included the Kardashian-Jenner sisters (save for Kylie Jenner, who walked in the show), Lorde, Anna Wintour, Seth Myers for some reason, Miguel, Tyga, Fabolous, Chromeo's Dave 1 and his brother A-Trak, and Michael Strahan.
Though the event was a fairly last-minute addition to NYFW, it was a highly-anticipated show — not least because of the fact that as a fashion world figure, Kanye holds much more mass appeal than other presenting designers who aren't also Grammy-winning rappers who may be running for president. Fashion can be abstruse and alienating, filled with impossibly lithe body types and obscure cultural references not immediately apparent to everyone. But in the case of Yeezy Season 2, lots of people seem to think they caught the references just fine.
Like that one candid witness who noticed the naked emperor wasn't wearing new clothes at all, the critics of social media dismissed Kanye's collection as, well, a pile of earth-tone rags. You can't please everybody! But two good things came out of the spectacle (besides all of the celebrity sightings): Kanye teased a new song, and we got these memes.
This just brings up memories of my mother saying, "You want me to pay HOW much for jeans with holes in them already!?"
Who will YOU be wearing to the cyborg-dominated apocalypse?
Sadly, none of Kanye's models had glowing yellow eyes.
And perhaps our favorite: Jay Z's unthrilled expression throughout the entire thing.


The Buffalo Mountain Fire, which began in June, forced the evacuation of more than 1,300 homes and pre-evacuation for many others. The fire came within two blocks of our family’s cabin in Silverthorne, Colorado, jeopardizing a gathering place that had been in our family for 36 years.
Should climate change continue to worsen, my story won’t be unique. Climate change has made extreme weather events like wildfires more frequent and more intense, threatening Coloradans’ homes and livelihoods in the process. We only need to look to the wildfires currently ravaging California to see the consequences.
Higher temperatures, drier conditions, and increased fuel availability (in the form of dead forest) — all made worse by climate change — are increasing wildfire risk across the United States and here in Colorado. Already, we’re seeing that wildfire seasons are lasting 75 days longer than they did in the 1970s. If this trend continues, communities across the state will pay a steep price.
Extreme weather doesn’t just threaten lives — it hurts local economies. As the third hottest year on record in the U.S., the cost of 2017’s billion-dollar extreme weather events reached $306.2 billion, shattering the previous record by nearly one hundred billion dollars. Extreme weather has caused $675 billion in economic damages over the last seven years, which comes to just over $2,000 per American. If hurricane and wildfire seasons continue in a similar pattern, costs related to extreme weather could rise to $6 trillion in 20 years.
The impacts of climate change hit home for millions of Americans every year. The Trump administration and Acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler should be able to see the dramatic consequences of inaction. However, instead of moving forward with solutions, the Trump administration is rolling back critical safeguards like the Clean Power Plan and clean car standards that protect Americans from the disastrous effects of climate change by fighting carbon pollution.
With the transportation sector now the country’s largest source of carbon pollution that contributes to climate change, the clean car standards are the most effective policy we have on the books to fight climate change. This is no time to be rolling back standards that are working and helping to combat air pollution. Yet, by pushing for dirtier, less efficient vehicles that would pump more carbon pollution into our air, Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and President Trump are pushing a pro-polluter agenda that could lead to more intense and destructive extreme weather events like the one that nearly destroyed our family’s cabin and led to the evacuation of over a thousand homes.
The reality is that we already have the solutions we need to protect our communities from climate change. However, if we do nothing to address it, we will face more catastrophes, including droughts, heat waves, and supercharged wildfires that will cost billions of dollars, upend communities, and threaten lives.
My family is grateful that our cabin is still standing, and we’re committed to spreading the facts: that climate change, and wildfires made worse by it, aren’t some far-off threat – they’re happening now. It’s time for the Trump administration to take climate change seriously. It shouldn’t take Coloradans losing their homes to make that clear.
Ellen Shamus-Brandt, Ph.D., lives in Littleton, Colorado. She has been a member of the National Science Teachers’ Association, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the American Scientific Affiliation.


Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq: TKMR) stock surged some 20% to $17.23 Friday after an update on its Ebola treatment.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration modified its clinical hold status on its experimental Ebola treatment to partial hold, enabling it for potential use in humans infected with the virus.
TKMR stock was halted late Thursday ahead of the news. The stock was up 6.65% on volume of 2.1 million shares in Thursday's regular session, and soared another 6.87% to $15.25 after hours.
"We are pleased that the FDA has considered the risk-reward of TKM-Ebola for infected patients," Dr. Mark Murray, Tekmira's chief executive officer and president said in a statement. "We have been closely watching the Ebola virus outbreak and its consequences, and we are willing to assist with any responsible use of TKM-Ebola. The foresight shown by the FDA removes one potential roadblock to doing so. This current outbreak underscores the critical need for effective therapeutic agents to treat the Ebola virus. We recognize the heightened urgency of this situation, and are carefully evaluating options for use of our investigational drug within accepted clinical and regulatory protocols."
Tekmira stock jumped 40% last week as the worst-ever Ebola outbreak accelerated. Investors piled in even as human tests of TKM-Ebola were put on hold last month due to safety concerns.
TKMR stock, however, swooned Monday after CNN reported two ailing American missionary workers suffering with Ebola were treated, with some success, by an investigational drug from a competing biotech company: privately held Mapp Biopharmaceuticals.
Yet amid the recent Ebola outbreak, which has sickened 1,700 and killed nearly 1,000 people in West Africa, the race is on to find a treatment. And Tekimira's TKM-Ebola does show promise.
Presently, no approved treatment or vaccine for Ebola exists. There is not even one that has passed the first phase of safety trials in human volunteers.


Mr Trump announced in a tweet that Mr Sessions would be temporarily replaced by his chief of staff.
The president has repeatedly criticised Mr Sessions, a former Republican senator who was among the first to support Mr Trump's presidential candidacy.
"We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well!" Mr Trump wrote on Wednesday.
In a letter, Mr Sessions said he was resigning at the president's request.
Mr Trump lost trust in his top law enforcement officer after Mr Sessions announced that he would step aside from the Russia investigation last year, and allow his deputy Rod Rosenstein to lead the politically-charged probe.
"Dear Mr President, at your request I am submitting my resignation," Mr Sessions said in his letter.
"Most importantly as my time as attorney general, we have restored and upheld the rule of law," he wrote, while also thanking the Republican president.
Mr Trump has repeatedly pilloried his top law enforcement official since Mr Sessions stepped aside from the Russia investigation in March 2017, allowing his deputy Rod Rosenstein to lead an inquiry that has dogged the White House.
Mr Trump has at various times belittled Mr Sessions as "beleaguered", "VERY weak", and "DISGRACEFUL".
The president focuses on positives as Republicans lose control of the House but make senate gains.
The Democrats have clawed their way back to a measure of power in the US federal government. The era of unified rule for Donald Trump and the Republicans is over.


After being alerted three years ago to weaknesses in its oversight of local agencies operating federal Head Start preschool programs, the Administration for Children and Families has still not conducted a comprehensive review of how it manages those programs, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office .
The watchdog congressional agency says that while improvements are being made—such as the new law that allows for more competition for Head Start grants—the children and families administration remains limited in how it uses data to improve the performance of local providers.
The GAO is recommending that the federal agency, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, make better and more cost-effective use of its annual survey of grantees and devise “clear criteria” for which grantees might need a closer look, perhaps through on-site reviews.


IT HAS BEEN the hallmark of socialism in Venezuela: free, high-quality medical care. Late President Hugo Chávez changed the constitution to guarantee such right to all Venezuelans. But that same health care system is now crumbling under the weight of an economic crisis, causing a severe shortage of normal medical care and many avoidable deaths. Venezuela has grown increasingly alienated from the United States and its Central American neighbors, but its political estrangement doesn’t justify the lack of urgency from the international community. Although many places call out for medical intervention, Venezuela’s growing medical collapse deserves a significant dose of humanitarian aid from near and far.
A jarring report in The Wall Street Journal last month described the plight of sick Venezuelans. Many are dying because underfunded hospitals lack medical supplies, including basic medicines and medical products such as heart valves. Since 2003, it’s estimated that some 13,000 doctors have left the country. The Associated Press also reported on the ordeal of women with breast tumors. Doctors in Venezuela must sometimes resort to 1940s-type treatments: They are performing radical mastectomies in cases where radiation would be effective, because radiotherapy machines are just not available. Indeed, “Chávezcare” is falling apart by any measure.
The medical system in Venezuela is a symptom of an economy in shambles. Inflation is at 70 percent and the nation’s economy is expected to contract by 7 percent this year. Venezuelan hospitals imported only $200 million in medical equipment last year, down from $800 million four years ago. Only about 35 percent of the country’s hospital beds are operational. With medical supplies limited or unavailable, Venezuelans often are left to their own devices to find them.
Venezuela deserves its status as a political pariah: Its brutal crackdowns on its people have included a doctor who pointed out some obvious health risks at one hospital. Unfortunately, the recent US sanctions have only provided Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with fodder to rile up support at home, despite his plummeting popularity. Last month, Maduro took out a full-page ad in The New York Times condemning the sanctions imposed by the Obama administration, stating that Venezuela is not a national security threat to the United States. According to CNN, the ad cost $100,000 — funds that could have saved lives had they been used instead to alleviate the crisis in the Venezuelan medical system.
President Obama and his counterparts in Latin America should seize the momentum and good will generated in Panama a few weeks ago at the seventh Summit of the Americas, which Cuba attended for the first time. “The best the US government can do regarding Venezuela is to stay quiet and work through our partners in the hemisphere that have much greater influence in Venezuela, such as Colombia, Mexico, and others in the region,” observes Jason Marczak, a Latin American expert at the Atlantic Council, a Washington foreign policy think tank. Indeed, there is huge potential for diplomacy in the region now that relations between the United States and Cuba are cordial. For the sake of many innocent victims of a moribund health care system, Venezuela’s medical crisis deserves America’s attention.


As the massive crackdown on Armenian Power and its alleged associates this week showed, gangs have changed with the times.
The impact of gangs on local communities cannot simply be measured in street muggings, burglaries, tagging and the like — not when they have access to technology that can drain the economy and personal finances.
As economic pains push Burbank and Glendale to consider cuts to many social services, including support for after-school programs that serve as important outlets for the youth, we as a community should consider if we’re really saving anything at all.
Either we pay for programs that push teens to be the best they can be, or, as this week showed, we pay an even steeper tab further down the road after some youth fall prey to the overtures of enterprising gang members seeking to maintain or increase their ranks.
The massive drain on law enforcement resources alone can be staggering, let alone the impact to families, victims and neighborhoods. The saying “Get ‘em while they’re young” has very real applications, and consequences, here.
To leave all the heavy lifting to our local police and federal prosecutors would be the lazy way out.
Community leaders should seize on the arrests — and where these alleged criminals now find themselves, behind bars, for a potentially very long time — as a tool for outreach and cautionary tales to at-risk youth, and as motivation for re-commitment to after-school and neighborhood programs.


Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Two second-half goals from Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin guided Atletico Madrid to a 2-0 victory over Ronaldo and Juventus on Wednesday in the Champions League round of 16.
Elsewhere in Europe, Manchester City conceded two first-half penalties but used late scores from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling to earn a 3-2 win over Schalke 04 in the round of 16.
The game between Atletico and Juventus appeared headed for a draw, but Gimenez scrambled for a goal after a corner kick in the 78th minute. The ball bounced around in the box before Gimenez found the ball and quickly sniped it into the net.
Shortly later, Godin clinched the game with a goal in the 83rd minute. Godin fired a shot from a tight angle and the ball deflected off Ronaldo for the score.
Juventus had 14 shots compared to Atletico Madrid's 13, and also had 63 percent of the possession. Atletico had five shots on goal to Juventus' three.
Manchester City struck first with Sergio Aguero's goal in the 18th minute, but found themselves in trouble after Nicolas Otamendi was sent off in the 68th minute after a second yellow card.
Schalke responded with two goals from Nabil Bentaleb to take a 2-1 lead. Bentaleb converted on two penalty kicks in the first half.
Trailing 2-1 and down to 10 men, Sane drained a free kick into the top-right corner of the net to equalize the game in the 85th minute.
Sterling's goal in the final minute sealed Manchester City's victory and likely trip to the quarterfinals.


It appears Oprah Winfrey will not be running for president in 2020, much to the chagrin of many.
CBS This Morning today aired a preview of Winfrey’s 60 Minutes Overtime segment where she discusses the reports that circulated after her widely praised Golden Globes speech in January that she might run.
Winfrey said it was not her intention to create the buzz with her remarks, and claims she was “stunned” by the reaction and insisted her speech was not politically motivated.
Winfrey, a 60 Minutes special contributor for the program’s 50th season, spoke with Silvio ahead of her next story for the 60 Minutes about America’s political divide, airing this Sunday. It’s a follow-up to her first story for the program (from last September), a round table of 14 Michigan voters, half of whom voted for Trump and half who did not. Winfrey brought the same 14 people around a table to talk politics again.


with a custom imaging application that can access 13.5 million sets of biometric data.
the four service centers, INS officials are awaiting a fiscal 1999 budget.
work, as well as the electronic data, to the four regional centers.
Inc. of Merrimack, N.H., converted the files into standard formats such as .gif and TIFF.
work was finished in August.
manual scanning of each proprietary archived file would have cost $18 million.
INS also wanted a scalable system to handle 4 million new immigration cases each year.
The system has enough capacity for 40 million more cases.
printed images by overnight delivery.
17-inch monitors and TCP/IP stacks. Servers are similarly configured.
benefits, enforcement and inspection services, Young said.


Nicki Minaj seemingly abandoned her $11k ready-to-wear Emilio Pucci gown at a NY wedding venue.
Butch Yamali, owner of the Coral House reception venue in Long Island where Minaj's brother got married over the weekend, tells TMZ … they found Minaj's gold dress NWT hanging in the bridal suite.
Coral House has been trying to get the dress back to Nicki, but it hasn't been easy ... they’re afraid to hand it over to the wrong person. They say someone's already called asking for the dress, but Yamali was suspicious enough that the person wasn't from Nicki's camp so he didn't hand it over.
We're told Minaj dropped $40k on her brother's wedding ... so the dress is pretty much chump change.
Lupita Nyong'o's $150K Pearl Oscar Dress -- STOLEN!!!