Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Your Local Long Island General Contractor - home remodeling ...

No matter what your Long Island construction and remodeling needs may be, we at Sarap Inc have got the solution to all of your problem. We stand by the work that we do and stand by the services that we offer. We are proud of the work that we do and proud of the services that we offer. Get in touch with us today and let?s start a conversation.

We also offer other services to best suit your needs, including Full Construction Management, Construction Management, Project Management, Construction, Renovation, Commercial Construction, Building Construction, House Construction, Commercial Remodeling, House Building, Construction Work, Construction Managers, Construction Company, Renovations, Alterations, Home Improvement, Architectural Millwork and Woodworking, Home Improvement, Kitchen Remodeling, Bathroom Remodeling, Basement Finishing, Home Remodeling, Home Renovation, Home Designs, Home Repair, Renovation, House Remodeling, Construction, Remodeling, Design, and Build.

SERVICE AREAS

Long Island, NY?|?Nassau County, New York?|?Suffolk County, New York?|?New York City, NY|?Westchester County, New York?|?Southern Connecticut?|?Northern New Jersey

CONTACT CONTRACTOR
SARAP INC.
225 N. Hawthorne St
Massapequa, NY 11758
Phone: (516) 799-6671

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Source: http://www.renovateyourmarketing.com/remodeling-contractors/your-local-long-island-general-contractor/

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Netanyahu's hard-right alliance could backfire in ballot

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tie-up with far-right coalition partner Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman could backfire by eroding their lead ahead of Israel's January 22 ballot, a poll said on Friday.

The findings flew in the face of Netanyahu's prediction that, by merging with his fiery rival for nationalist votes, he would muster a "big, cohesive force" of support for winning a third term as premier.

They also suggested that opposition parties, long dawdling thanks to Israel's stable economy and disillusionment with the deadlocked Palestinian peace process, would be reenergized by the conservative incumbent's new ideological tack.

According to a survey published by top-rated television station Channel Two, the joint candidate list of Netanyahu's Likud and Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu parties, announced on Thursday, would take just 33 of the 120 seats in parliament.

Though that still puts them ahead of rival parties, it represented a drop-off from Monday, before the unexpected alliance was unveiled, when a poll for parliament's television station Knesset 99 gave them a combined 39 seats.

"Unifying lists usually shrinks them," commented Nahum Barnea of the biggest-selling newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

"Anyone who did not tolerate Lieberman and voted for Netanyahu will think twice, and the same is true for those who did not tolerate Netanyahu and voted for Lieberman."

FRACTURED OPPOSITION

Friday's poll also found boosted support for Israel's strongest opposition parties, left-leaning Labour and the new, centrist Yesh Atid. They were seen taking 27 and 18 seats, respectively, up from the 19 and 15 predicted on Monday.

Reasons analysts gave for that shift included worry among wavering Israelis about the rise of Lieberman, an often undiplomatic top diplomat who faces possible indictment on graft charges - though he denies wrongdoing.

His party has sparred with Israel's Arab minority and promoted legislation that critics denounced as an undemocratic targeting of liberal causes, such as a move to slap a 45 percent tax on foreign donations to human rights groups.

While Channel Two projected an even 60-60 seat split between coalition and opposition parties in the next parliament, most commentators agreed that the latter were unlikely to build on that strength by uniting to offset the Netanyahu-Lieberman list.

"There is no agreed-upon (opposition) leader and no consensus, and almost no union seems possible there," wrote Shalom Yerushalmi of Maariv daily.

Explaining their surprise political partnership, Netanyahu and Lieberman cited the need to tackle security challenges like Iran's nuclear program and domestic problems, free of fractious small-party wrangling. The secularist Lieberman is also pushing to end en masse exemptions granted to Israeli Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews from compulsory national service.

Israeli media said the two leaders decided to merge after surveys commissioned by their parties predicted they would together take between 45 and 47 parliamentary seats. Sources in both parties said they were not aware of any such polls.

(This version of the story corrects the poll finding in fifth paragraph to 39 seats, from 37.)

(Editing by Crispian Balmer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahus-hard-alliance-could-backfire-ballot-081754684.html

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Kids Obese Young Will Be Obese For LifeYour Health Journal | Your ...

From The Sun?..

A NEW study suggests that obesity is irreversible if not caught early enough ? and that people who are fat in childhood may end up ?programmed? to be fat for life.

Experiments at the University of Michigan and the National Council of Science and Tecnology (CONICET) in Argentina showed that the longer mice remained overweight, the harder they found it to shift the pounds for good.

That?s because the animals reset their body weight set point to ?normal? when obese or overweight.

The boffins flipped a genetic switch that controls hunger using mice at several different ages.

Turning on the switch right after weaning prevented those mice from overeating and ever becoming obese.

Similarly, mice that remained at a healthy weight into young adulthood by strict dieting alone were able to maintain normal weight without dieting after turning on the switch.

But chronically overfed mice with the earliest onset of obesity never completely returned to normal weight after flipping the switch ? despite reducing their food intake and increasing activity.

Senior author Professor Malcolm J. Low said: ?Somewhere along the way, if obesity is allowed to continue, the body appears to flip a switch that reprogrammes to a heavier set weight.

?Our model demonstrates that obesity is in part a self-perpetuating disorder ? and highlights why most adults find it difficult to maintain meaningful weight loss from dieting and exercise alone.

To read the full story?..Click here

This entry was posted in Health / Fitness Articles and tagged Childhood Obesity, Health, Len Saunders by Len Saunders. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://www.lensaunders.com/wp/?p=5975

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BMW to recall older 7 Series sedans for faulty door latches

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Friday, October 26, 2012

Excellent Suggestions For Home Improvement! | Traffic Secrets

Remodeling jobs can be incredibly rewarding but also hard. You will need the assistance here if you do not have a lot of expertise. Adhere to the guidance provided right here so that your outcomes are anything that you hope for.

Alter up your home?s accessories for a fresh appear. A new piece of wall art or a handful of throw pillows can make a massive difference. Get new drapes in nice fabrics, vases, flowers or anything else which stands out.

When you add carpet to your property, it will make massive changes in the feeling and aesthetics of your home. Consider style, sort and color when deciding on your carpet. Inquire about samples that you might take residence with you.

Most homes do not have all-natural lighting in the basement. Program your basement nicely so that it gets sufficient light coming in. Some basement walls are high sufficient to protrude above the ground. If this is the situation for you, you could have the capability to pit in windows so that you can let some natural light in.

Give your walkway a facelift! A great project to tackle that is original is to replace your front walkway with brick pavers. This is a relatively simple job but does require a lot of labor. If you determine to get rid of the original concrete, you will want to rent a jackhammer for the job. Afterwards there will be a great surface for you to lay down new pavement.

Ahead of applying paint or stain to something made from wood, smooth the surface with sandpaper and wipe the object with a tack cloth or damp rag. Employing a fine sandpaper on the surface will smooth it to an even finish. Afterwards, use that damp rag to rid the object of dust which assists to give it that nice smooth finish.

Be confident you correctly install ventilation or windows in the bathroom. Mold takes more than when a bathroom retains its moisture. Painting only covers mold up, it does not get rid of it. Rather, do some thing that will prevent it from increasing at all. Install a window or ventilation, to dehumidify your space.

Notify your neighbors if you plan to be making residence improvements that require street use. Typically, significant renovation jobs will need trucks, heavy gear or a dumpster, so you require to prepare for them. Your neighbors will be appreciative of becoming warned prior to this inconvenience happening.

You have possibly heard that planting trees is very good for the environment. You can also do this to increase your property value. Based on the species you decide on, every tree can raise the value by as a lot as $1,000.

Spend your contractor according to the tasks they complete, rather than an hourly or day-to-day rate. This will give you the ability to fire the contractor if the perform isn?t at the good quality you expected without having leaving incomplete projects or the contractor requesting more cash.

Finishing a home renovation is a great way to enhance your personal sense of self-confidence even though raising the value of your house. For the inexperienced do it ally by your self, this write-up will be crucial.

To know more about it, please go to: read about carpet cleaning aurora

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Source: http://traffic-secrets.org/excellent-suggestions-for-home-improvement

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How to improve our vision naturally | Fitness and Beauty Tips

Although they are an extremely important organ, seldom we focus on eye care except that we see a complication. All who work several hours on the computer and watch TV, for example, should follow certain tips to keep our vision healthy. Remember also that unhealthy living and over time are also risk factors for eye problems.


So in Makeufits we bring you a few tips Livestrong to improve vision naturally.

Exercise I

The eyes also need exercise to stay strong and healthy! One exercise is to focus our eyes to the tip of the nose and maintain without blinking for as long as possible. When you do not hold, opens and closes. Practicing this exercise helps improve visual concentration.

Exercise II

Another exercise is to write something on a piece of paper, take it out and put it right near our eyes trying to read it. Then, extend your arms and try to read again. This exercise teaches your eyes to focus at different distances.

Rest

When focus for long, for example to be several hours at the computer screen, the eyes are tired. One way to relax is to support your elbows on the table and cover them with the palms of the hands making light pressure for 30 seconds. Repeat as many times as you think necessary.

Feeding

Food plays an important role in the care of our organs, including the eyes. Foods rich in lutein, such as carrots, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits improve the quality of our vision. Also essential fatty acids, found in fish, nuts and avocados are very important for hydration. And the vitamin E-rich foods protect us from permanent eye injury.

Visit your ophthalmologist

While all the above tips are very important for eye care, remember when in doubt it is best to consult a professional.

Take care of our eyes!

You might also like

Source: http://makeufits.com/2012/10/how-to-improve-our-vision-naturally.html

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How To Make Money On The Internet With Free Online Surveys - First

With the way the economy is these days, it is not unexpected, that many people are looking for ways to make some extra money.One of the best ways to do that is to make money on the Internet.While some people think that all opportunities to make money online are scams, others make cash every day.There are so many ways to get paid online.Some of them are free, others are paid.Some of them require skills, others don?t.Free online surveys are one of the best ways.Almost anyone can start doing that today, without spending a dime and without any skills.Let me share with you more things about that.

First of all, let?s discuss what online surveys are.All companies want to make more sales and money.That is obvious.And so they try to create better products.The easiest way for them to find what will make them more sales is just to ask different people what they like.And they are ready to pay you for your opinion.All you have to do is answer questions and try out products for free to make money from sharing your opinion.

If you are interested, you can find a lot of online surveys for money.All of them are free to join.Once you join, you will have to wait for an invitation from any company.They approve people based on their user surveys.A user survey is the first thing you will have to complete.You?ll have to answer a lot of questions about yourself such as your age, location, education, what products you like, what places you like to visit and other similar things.I would suggest you answer these questions correctly, because that way you will be invited for more surveys.I also would suggest you update your user survey often.That way you may qualify for more offers.

Free surveys are one of the easiest ways to make money on the Internet, but there are several main cons.One of the most important question for you is probably how much you will make.Go to Google and start searching for survey sites.You will find several sites offering you money, however unfortunately, most of them are scams.You can not become rich from online surveys for money.If you plan to become rich on the Internet, this is not for you.You will make money, but not too much.You can expect about $300 to $1,000/month.If you are serious about that, you will be able to make more. It?s up to you.If someone tells you that you will make $100 per hour, that is probably a scam.I have never made so much.If you want to try it, there is no guarantee that it is a scam, just be careful.

The next disadvantage is that most sites want you to pay them a one time fee.Fortunately there are a lot of totally free companies.You will find a lot of them.I would not suggest you pay them money to start.Most legitimate companies are absolutely free.Actually there are a lot of people that make money from surveys, so you will be limited.That?s why I would suggest you that register to as many companies as possible.You can work with 10 or even more.

Now let?s talk about the good things about this way of making money on the Internet.The first thing is you don?t need any skills. That is great because almost anyone can start doing this immediately.The next good thing is that you can work from home.Everyone will be happy to make money from the comfort of their own home.You will be able to start and cancel at any time.Next ? most of them pay via PayPal.It is one of the fastest ways to get paid.Some companies pay weekly, others monthly.It?s up to you which would you prefer.

There are many more ways to make money on the Internet.If you are interested in more ways, start searching.My personal opinion is that this is one of the fastest ways.You won?t become a millionaire, but you will make money.If you plan to make more, it is possible.Paid surveys can be your start in your Internet business.Think about that.Join for free and start doing that today.You won?t regret it.Start now.

This article was written by SilEnT on Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 11:40 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://www.alltechnologynews.com/how-to-make-money-on-the-internet-with-free-online-surveys.html

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Video: After-effects of Saturn's super storm shine on

Friday, October 26, 2012

The heat-seeking capabilities of the international Cassini spacecraft and two ground-based telescopes have provided the first look at the aftermath of Saturn's 'Great Springtime Storm'. Concealed from the naked eye, a giant oval vortex is persisting long after the visible effects of the storm subsided.

The ground-based observations were made by the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory in Chile, and NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

The vivid cloud structures that wreaked havoc across wide swathes of the mid-northern latitudes of Saturn's atmosphere captured the imaginations of amateur and professional astronomers alike, from its first appearance in December 2010 through much of 2011.

But in new reports that focus on the temperatures, winds and composition of Saturn's atmosphere, scientists find that the spectacular cloud displays were only part of the story.

Much of the associated activity took place beyond the reach of visible-light cameras, and the after-effects are still continuing today.

"It's the first time we've seen anything like it on any planet in the Solar System," says Leigh Fletcher from the University of Oxford, UK, lead author of the Icarus paper.

"It's extremely unusual, as we can only see the vortex at infrared wavelengths ? we can't tell that it is there simply by looking at the cloud cover."

As the visible storm erupted in the roiling cloud deck of Saturn's troposphere, waves of energy rippled hundreds of kilometres upwards, depositing their energy as two vast 'beacons' of hot air in the stratosphere.

The beacons were expected to cool down and dissipate, but by late April 2011 ? by which time bright cloud material had encircled the entire planet ? the hot spots had merged to create an enormous vortex that for a brief period exceeded even the size of Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot.

Furthermore, the temperature of the vortex was far higher than expected, some 80?C warmer than the surrounding atmosphere. At the same time, huge spikes in the amount of gases like ethylene and acetylene were detected.

Much like the Great Red Spot, Saturn's vortex also cuts off the atmosphere in its core from the surrounding environment, constraining its unique chemistry and high temperatures within the walls of the powerful winds whipping around the edge.

"But Jupiter's vortex is embedded deep down in the turbulent 'weather zone', whereas the vast vortex on Saturn is higher up in the atmosphere where, normally, you wouldn't expect anything like it to have formed," says Dr Fletcher.

"Although there are parallels to be drawn between the two, the mechanisms by which they were formed and the length of time they are going to exist seem to be very different."

Jupiter's famous vortex has raged for at least 300 years, but after traversing the planet once every 120 days since May 2011, Saturn's large beacon is cooling and shrinking. Scientists expect it to fade away completely by the end of 2013.

The question now remains as to whether Saturn's storm-generating energy has been sapped or if there will be a repeat performance.

The outburst already caught observers by surprise by arriving during the planet's northern hemisphere spring, years ahead of the predictably stormy summer season.

"The beauty is that Cassini will be operating until the Saturn system reaches its summer solstice in 2017, so if there is another global event like this, we'll be there to see it," says ESA's Cassini project scientist Nicolas Altobelli.

###

European Space Agency: http://www.esa.int

Thanks to European Space Agency for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 10 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/124830/Video__After_effects_of_Saturn_s_super_storm_shine_on

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Business School Admissions Blog | MBA Admission Blog | Blog ...

In our ?What I Learned at?? series, MBAs discuss the tools and skills their business schools provided as they launched their careers.

Moran Amir, commonly referred to as ?Mo? by her peers, is a second year at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the co-founder of?ADORNIA Fine Jewelry, the online destination to learn about and shop for fine jewelry. By applying innovative editorial content and fashion merchandising to the fine jewelry segment, ADORNIA reintroduces the art and tradition of jewelry to a modern generation of women.?In Part 4 of this series, Mo explains how the school?s Entrepreneurship Club fostered her interest in both following an entrepreneurial path with ADORNIA and building a female start-up movement at Wharton.?

Moran Amir, ADORNIA Fine JewelryDuring the third week of pre-term at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a busload of entrepreneurially curious first years?including me?descended on New York City to attend the Wharton Founder?s Retreat, sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Club. We first years were given an opportunity early on in our Wharton experience to meet other recently graduated Wharton entrepreneurs and start thinking about potential business ideas. From that day forward, I loved the entrepreneurship community at Wharton and felt a strong connection to the particular rebellious and productive energy these individuals possessed. Even before meeting my business partner, Bex, I realized that my peers at Wharton represented fertile soil among which to brainstorm, evaluate and collaborate on ventures such as my company, ADORNIA Fine Jewelry.

The recent demographics at Wharton speak to a significant start-up trend. The Entrepreneurship Club at Wharton, popularly known as the eClub, is one of the largest professional clubs in the MBA program, consisting of more than 400 members. Roughly 40% of my incoming class slated entrepreneurship as their career focus at Wharton. I looked around the room at the Founder?s Retreat and saw a sizable number of Wharton start-ups getting off the ground. Its status as the preeminent finance school notwithstanding, Wharton that day for me became a start-up of start-ups. Though I learned later that year in my introductory finance course (?Finance 601?) how to quantify risk, I learned through the eClub how to embrace it.

At the entrepreneurship retreat, I also happened to notice a ubiquitous interest in consumer-retail ventures among recent female graduates and peers. A full 45% of my class is composed of females, the highest female admittance rate ever for Wharton and across the board for any MBA program. The increased affinity for entrepreneurship was dovetailing with the rise of female acceptance rates at Wharton. These two trends have helped advance innovation in gender-biased fields such as beauty and fashion, which have been historically neglected by an overwhelmingly male Silicon Valley. I started to do more research on entrepreneurship and gender and came across some startling statistics. The Venture Capital Human Capital Report indicates that women represent only 8% of founders of venture capital?backed companies. A mere 3% of all Y Combinator founders have been women. While traditional venture capital has failed to cross the industry gender divide, ADORNIA and other ventures started by female MBAs seek to fill in the gaps.

Currently in our second year at Wharton, Bex and I have taken the mission to our home front at Wharton. We see an opportunity through ADORNIA to carve out a space at Wharton for female entrepreneurship. To aid our cause, we have enlisted powerful Wharton female alumnae such as Denise Incandela, chief marketing officer for Saks Fifth Avenue, whom I had met during my first year at Wharton at small group dinners and career talks. The female alumni network has helped ADORNIA navigate everything from trademark questions to effective social media campaigns. Leveraging the Wharton brand and my retail connections also brought me together with successful female entrepreneurs from outside the Wharton community, such as Alexandra Wilkis Wilson. Alexandra, a Harvard Business School graduate and one of the founders of Gilt Groupe, became the first member of ADORNIA?s advisory board last spring and has since then provided critical advice to the company. Bex and I found endless wisdom in Alexandra and learned how her success with Gilt Groupe helped directly nurture other successful female start-ups such as Birchbox and Rent the Runway. Like Alexandra, we hope to inspire other women to not only buy ADORNIA fine jewels, but also to follow in our footsteps.

Source: http://www.mbamission.com/blog/2012/10/25/what-i-learned-at-wharton-part-4/

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Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Benefits of Quality Web Design | Apsotech

In 1990, there was one web server online, info.cern.ch, which was created by Tim Berners Lee (Inventor of World Wide Web). The number upraised slowly, two years later there were 50 websites online. Then with the dot com boom the number of websites grew from 23,500 sites in 1995 to 10,000,000 sites in 2000. According to the recent survey, till December 2011 around 366,848,493 websites were online. Now the statistics clearly states the pace at which new web sites are coming online. But the real fact is most of these sites will not see the light of day. Unfortunately most people have not got the first idea of what it takes and how much work is involved in having a successful site. Most of the people think that just having a site on the web will solve their business problems and they will automatically get free traffic. But it?s not the case in World Wide Web. The Search Engine Optimization is a key factor that every website should qualify in order to be in the race of millions of rivals. Therefore, the Quality Web Design is crucial for the web developement.

Web designing is an art of carving the organization capacity by promoting the company image and earn more valuable customers. A technically sound website is a very strong marketing tool itself. Skilled website designers find the most effective way to get visitors across using illustration, photography, color and layout etc. While the advances in technology and content management systems have made basic website design easier for the novice, other technologies such as interactive media, mobile design and search engine optimization overwhelm the novice webmaster thus fails to satisfy the quality of the web site.

The Benefits of Quality Web Design are:

Visual appeal
Web users form first impressions of web pages in as little as 50 milliseconds, according to Canadian researchers. In the blink of an eye, web surfers make nearly instantaneous judgments of a website's "visual appeal. To catch the attention of users it is indispensable to have attractive web design.

?
Intelligent Website
An intelligent web site is one which can trace the behavior of the customers (visitors). The Web developer keep themselves equipped with the latest technical know-how in order to stay ahead of competition from other web design companies. The intelligent web sites helps to build effective business strategy based on the customer?s taste.


SEO Optimization
SEO is the key tool for the website owners to get more traffic to the website. Optimization of a website is crucial to get traffic and to maintain the position on the search engines. The main aim of the search engine optimization is to get more traffic from diverse sources and to get repetitive visitors. The website design should consider the facts that favors in SEO optimizations like, effective use of meta tag, placing keywords in division <div> or higher order header <h> tags to enable search engine crawler to trap the content easily.

Interactive websites
With the advent of web 2.0 and web applications the websites have moved from traditional static pages to the interactive web sites. The good user-experience is not defined by wild mouse clicks alone. A truly amazing interactive website is defined by its ability to engage the user in an immersive experience that delivers satisfaction. The web application establishes an interactive environment on web which makes user to experience the web tools and informations effectively.

To survive in the hard-bitten competition over the internet, it is prenominal to ensure the quality of web design in order to be in picture and to make the real sense of having the web site. Collaborate your ideas into the web designing and develop SEO-friendly websites to bring in wholesome traffic.

Source: http://apsotech.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-benefits-of-quality-web-design.html

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Without the Avatar

Without the Avatar

What if Avatar Aang Never confronted the Fire lord. What if The air nomads weren't all killed? and The fire lord just took over? only the earth kingdom trying to fight. Azula now sits on the throne a century later. (More inside)

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Without the Avatar?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "Without the Avatar"

You may edit this first post as you see fit.

I Used to be Religious like you, but then I took some logic to the head

RELIGION: Fu*k Logic

(this is not meant to offend anyone)
User avatar
DA_SHADOW_PHOENIX
Member for 0 years



Are you doing reserves? If so, may I reserve a rebel fire bender? Also, do you have a character sheet for this or are you working on one? Or do we use the one provided already by RPG?

Sorry if it seems I am asking a lot of questions, I'd just like to join :]

User avatar
Simple Light
Member for 0 years


Yes there are reserves. And for the character sheet do whatever you like, please include what kind of weapons/bending they use, or if they even use any. their personality, their history, such as childhood. What they look like, please a description, or a picture, either will do, but both is best.

User avatar
DA_SHADOW_PHOENIX
Member for 0 years


I call the other rebel fire bender! :)

I mean, come on...who doesn't love a...

Sexy elf?
Image

User avatar
TwiliXDragon
Member for 2 years


You got it. and also please have the characters between 14-20

User avatar
DA_SHADOW_PHOENIX
Member for 0 years


Twili that character sheet is beautiful. Please master, teach me your ways. XD

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DA_SHADOW_PHOENIX
Member for 0 years


Code: Select all
[center][color=choose color][font=Choose font][size=400][u]NAME HERE[/u][/size][/font][/color]
[size=130][font=Choose font][url=YOUTUBE LINK TO CHARACTER'S VOICE HERE][color=choose color]"INSERT QUOTE HERE"[/color][/url]
[url=YOUTUBE VIDEO W/LYRICS HERE][color=choose color]INSERT THEME SONG TITLE & ARTIST HERE[/color][/url][/font][/size][/center]

[left][img]ANIME IMAGE 1 LINK HERE[/img][/left]
[font=choose font][color=choose color][size=150][u]BASICS[/u][/size]
[size=120][i]?QUOTE HERE"[/i][/size][/color][/font]
[color=choose color][b]-Nickname:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Age:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Gender:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Element:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Faction:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Motivation:[/b][/color]

[font=choose font][color=choose color][size=150][u]APPEARANCE[/u][/size]
[size=120][i]?QUOTE HERE"[/i][/size][/color][/font]
[color=choose color][b]-Eyes:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Hair:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Height:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Weight:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Skin Tone:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Build:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Body Markings:[/b][/color]

[font=choose font][color=choose color][size=150][u]MENTALITY[/u][/size]
[size=120][i]?QUOTE HERE"[/i][/size][/color][/font]
[color=choose color][b]-Quirks:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Fears:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Likes:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Dislikes:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Personality:[/b][/color]

[right][img]ANIME IMAGE 2 HERE[/img][/right]
[font=choose font][color=choose color][size=150][u]EQUIPMENT[/u][/size]
[size=120][i]?QUOTE HERE"[/i][/size][/color][/font]
[color=choose color][b]-Clothing:[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][b]-Carried Items:[/b][/color]

[color=choose color][b]-Main Weapon[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Name:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Type:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Made of:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Length:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Weight:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Description/Info:[/i][/color]

[font=choose font][color=choose color][size=150][u]COMBATIVENESS[/u][/size]
[size=120][i]?QUOTE HERE"[/i][/size][/color][/font]
[color=choose color][b]-Natural Talents[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Talent 1:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Talent? 2:[/i][/color]

[color=choose color][b]-Skills[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Skill 1:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Skill 2:[/i][/color]

[color=choose color][b]-Weaknesses[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Weakness 1:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Weakness 2:[/i][/color]

[left][img]ANIME IMAGE 3 HERE[/img][/left]
[font=choose font][color=choose color][size=150][u]HISTORY[/u][/size]
[size=120][i]?QUOTE HERE"[/i][/size][/color][/font]
[color=choose color][b]-Life[/b][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Marital Status:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?Family:[/i][/color]
[color=choose color][i]?History:[/i][/color]

There ya go. It's the one I use for most of my role plays now...quite a bit of thought went into it at first, and now I just copy and past, and do the necessary changes it may need from role play to role play. ^_^

User avatar
TwiliXDragon
Member for 2 years


Can I reserve an Earth Bender? if possible I'd like him to basically be a Sand Bender meaning he can bend sand and everything but can still bend the earth.

User avatar
The Shadow
Member for 3 years




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New studies reveal connections between animals' microbial communities and behavior

New studies reveal connections between animals' microbial communities and behavior

Saturday, October 13, 2012

New research is revealing surprising connections between animal microbiomes?the communities of microbes that live inside animals' bodies?and animal behavior, according to a paper by University of Georgia ecologist Vanessa O. Ezenwa and her colleagues. The article, just published in the Perspectives section of the journal Science, reviews recent developments in this emerging research area and offers questions for future investigation.

The paper grew out of a National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop on new ways to approach the study of animal behavior. Ezenwa, an associate professor in the UGA Odum School of Ecology and College of Veterinary Medicine department of infectious diseases, and her coauthors were interested in the relationship between animal behavior and beneficial microbes.

Most research on the interactions between microbes and their animal hosts has focused on pathogens, Ezenwa said. Less is known about beneficial microbes or animal microbiomes, but several recent studies have begun to explore these connections.

"We know that animal behavior plays a critical role in establishing microbiomes," she said. "Once they're established, the microbiomes then influence animal behavior in lots of ways that have far-reaching consequences. That's what we were trying to highlight in this article."

Bumble bees, for example, obtain the microbes they need through social contact with nest mates, including consuming their nest mates' feces?a not uncommon method for animals to acquire microbes. Green iguanas establish their intestinal microbiomes by feeding first on soil and later on the feces of adult iguanas.

"There are a lot of behaviors that animals might have that allow them to get the different microbes they need at different points of their lives," Ezenwa said.

Microbes, in their turn, influence a wide range of animal behaviors, including feeding, mating and predator-prey interactions.

One recent study found that fruit flies prefer to mate with others that have microbiomes most similar to their own. Another found that African malaria mosquitoes were less attracted to humans who had a greater diversity of microbes on their skin, possibly because certain microbes produce chemicals that repel these mosquitoes.

Other studies have focused on understanding the mechanisms by which microbes influence behavior.

"Recent experiments have been able to assess the molecules that are involved in communication between microbes in the gut and the brain of mice, showing that microbes are associated with shifts in things like depression and anxiety in these mice," she said. "There are huge implications in the role these microbes play in regulating neural function."

Ezenwa's own work involves investigating how social behavior and interactions between organisms might increase their likelihood of acquiring parasites and pathogens. She is starting a new project examining animal behavior and microbiomes in relation to infectious disease.

"As in the example of the bumble bees, behavior might control the microbes an animal acquires, and those microbes might then influence the animal's vulnerability to pathogens," she said.

The authors conclude that it will take a combination of molecular and experimental approaches to answer questions about the complex interactions between microbiomes and animal behaviors.

"This is a new, emerging topic that's worthy of much more investigation," Ezenwa said.

###

University of Georgia: http://www.uga.edu

Thanks to University of Georgia for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/124443/New_studies_reveal_connections_between_animals__microbial_communities_and_behavior

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Candidates Nearly Get in Fight (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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Personal Training for a Cause | The Sag Harbor Express

By Emily J. Weitz

The personal trainers at the Sag Harbor Gym are devoted to increasing the health and wellbeing of clients through fitness. But they are also on a much more daunting mission ? to eradicate breast cancer. They?re working towards this goal by donating 30-minute personal training sessions to cancer research all month, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Tahlia Miller, Director of Personal Training at the Sag Harbor Gym, didn?t pursue a career as a personal trainer. It pursued her. As a perpetual athlete, she always kept up with her gym routine, and it wasn?t long before the gym manager asked her if she?d be interested in becoming a personal trainer. With her background in nutrition and her zeal for inspiring others to challenge themselves, it felt like a natural transition.

?I?ve trained like an athlete my whole life,? says Miller, ?and now this is something where I can come back and help people who are trying to change their lives.?

Working as a personal trainer is about much more than helping people look good and lose weight for Miller. It?s about helping people to live more healthful lives. One of the key aspects of personal training is identifying the individual needs of the client.

?We have people who come in that are very sedentary,? she says, ?and then we have student athletes, and people training to run a marathon. Our sessions are developed depending on the clients? needs.?

To serve people better, Miller has helped to create small group training sessions, which give the personalized attention of a small session with the affordability of a class.

?We have two-to-six people training with one trainer,? she says. ?This is personal training on a semi-group level that?s affordable for everyone. It?s $25 for one session or $199 for 10.?

It?s these small group classes that are being offered as a donation to breast cancer research all month long in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Proceeds will benefit the Coalition for Women?s Cancers at Southampton Hospital and the National Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

?The community of Sag Harbor has struggled a lot with breast cancer,? says Miller. ?My brother [also a personal trainer] and I decided this was something we could do.?

Even though Miller has thankfully not had any personal losses to breast cancer in her own family, she is well aware of the statistics on Long Island.

?If we?re going to find a cure,? she says, ?it?s something where we have to work from the bottom up. We are donating our half-hour personal training sessions all month to members and non-members. You don?t have to buy a membership to come in and have a training session and donate. We just want to raise as much as we can to help this cause.?

When people are emotionally invested in their workout, Miller says, it ends up being a lot more powerful.

?We had a woman come in whose mother had passed away from breast cancer,? she says. ?It meant so much to her to have this session and knowing it was going to research.?

Miller believes that having this philanthropic aspect in personal training bolsters the effects because of the similar emotions that come from both exercise and from giving.

?When you do something good for someone,? she says, ?you feel good. When you work out hard in the gym, it?s a similar feeling. You get a huge release from working out with your trainer, but now in the backdrop you know you?re giving something back to someone else. It sets a tone, even if it?s just for that one day.?

This positive tone, Miller says, is contagious. You can feel the generosity of spirit in the gym throughout the month.

In her work, Miller gets back the most when her clients are growing.

?I think all trainers want to see their clients grow and develop and reach their goals,? says Miller. ?You spend an hour a day with someone there or four days a week, and you see them break down and hit their max, and you see them surpass their max the next week. It?s a personal investment that a trainer has with each client, and that?s the goal.?

The Hamptons Gym Corp?s Sag Harbor Gym is located on Bay Street in Sag Harbor. For more information, call 725-0707 or visit www.hamptonsgymcorp.com.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Source: http://sagharboronline.com/sagharborexpress/local-business/personal-training-for-a-cause-20104

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Saturday, October 13, 2012

As EU basks in peace prize, separatists on rise

People opposed to the independence of the Catalonia region of Spain, hold Catalan and Spanish flags during the holiday known as Dia de la Hispanidad, Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. Spain is in recession and under pressure to fix its finances while celebrating the day Christopher Columbus discovered America in the name of the Spanish Crown. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

People opposed to the independence of the Catalonia region of Spain, hold Catalan and Spanish flags during the holiday known as Dia de la Hispanidad, Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. Spain is in recession and under pressure to fix its finances while celebrating the day Christopher Columbus discovered America in the name of the Spanish Crown. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A woman draped in the Spanish flag is seen during the holiday known as Dia de la Hispanidad, Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. Spain is observing its National Day festivities in somber mood as the traditional military pageant was scaled back to cut costs. Spain is in recession and under pressure to fix its finances while celebrating the day Christopher Columbus discovered America in the name of the Spanish Crown. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

People opposed to the independence of Catalonia hold Catalan and Spanish flags during the holiday known as Dia de la Hispanidad, Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Barcelona soccer fans hold up 'Estelada', center, the Catalan independence flag, amongst color cards forming the red-and-yellow stripes of Catalonia's "la senyera" flag before the Spanish La Liga soccer match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. Moves toward separatism are getting a bigger following these past months as the economic crisis pushes people faster toward stark choices on nationhood and their future. It is no different in Spain's Catalonia, a wealthy region grousing that it has to pay for others in its crisis-hit country. Real Madrid is still identified with the unified Spanish state and was met with a mosaic of color cards forming the red-and-yellow stripes of Catalonia's "la senyera" flag. At one stage during the match, incessant collective shouts of "Independence!" cascaded down the stands as fans waved the pro-independence "estelada" flag. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) ? Historic world port and fashionista capital, Antwerp has always lived on the crest of the wave. Now, a separatist party heading into municipal elections Sunday wants to use the city as a base for breaking away from Belgium ? putting it at the forefront of a European breakaway trend just as the EU celebrates winning the Nobel Peace Prize for fostering continental unity.

Moves toward separatism have been getting a bigger these past months as the economic crisis pushes people faster toward stark choices on nationhood and their future. It is no different in Spain's Catalonia, another wealthy region grousing that it has to pay for others in its crisis-hit country.

Scotland, too, is looking at the option of going its own way, making the United Kingdom a little less united.

Two days after the European Union won the Peace Prize for bridging ties between former enemies, Belgium holds municipal elections in which separatists hope to pick up city halls across Dutch-speaking northern Flanders. Bart De Wever, the leader of a Flemish separatist party, is running for mayor of wealthy Antwerp and has been perennially at odds with ailing French-speaking Wallonia.

If elected, De Wever plans to use city hall as a platform for the 2014 national election and an even more ambitious program of separatism.

By that time, he says, he will be counting on a "democratic revolt" at the polls.

De Wever's NV-A party already surged in the 2010 national elections, and was the main reason why Belgium had the longest period without a government on record ? at 541 days. Coalition-building was paralyzed as the separatists sought concessions to give Flanders as much autonomy as possible.

It didn't work out and De Wever ended up in opposition facing French-speaking socialist Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, a staunch defender of the Belgian nation-state. But De Wever is the frontrunner in Sunday's Antwerp vote, and his party is likely to surge across Flanders, polls have shown.

For De Wever, the municipal elections are not primarily about parking spots or ring-roads. They are about the fate of the 6 million Flemings in the kingdom of 11 million, and he chides Di Rupo for imposing too many taxes, sapping too much money from Flanders.

"Little by little, the Flemings don't take that anymore and they are worried about their wealth," De Wever said.

The city is still dripping with exterior signs of wealth, though. The Antwerp fashion designers have turned the historic center into a magnet of conspicuous consumption, its gothic and baroque landmarks are examples of sumptuous renovation, its MAS museum an icon of contemporary design, and its famous port is still thriving.

Separatism is also rife in Spain ? a country at the center of Europe's crisis with a youth unemployment rate of more than 50 percent.

While De Wever was making reasoned arguments in a political debate last Sunday, the 98,000-capacity Camp Nou of FC Barcelona was already a scene of seething Catalan foment for the famed encounter against Real Madrid.

Real Madrid is still identified with the unified Spanish state and was met with a mosaic of color cards forming the red-and-yellow stripes of Catalonia's "la senyera" flag. At one stage during the match, incessant collective shouts of "Independence!" cascaded down the stands as fans waved the pro-independence "estelada" flag.

Last month, 1.5 million Catalans took to the streets in Barcelona to call for a separate state in the biggest march since the 1970s. Catalonia's regional government voted on Sept. 27 to hold a referendum on Catalonia's self-determination at a date still yet to be set. The Spanish government says this would be unconstitutional.

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy said on Tuesday that those seeking independence for Spain are making "a mistake of colossal proportions."

But Rajoy, like many of his fellow European leaders, is in a bind: National governments have had both to cede power to the supranational EU and to regions demanding greater autonomy and local accountability.

"People are anxious because the European Union seems far away," said Prof. Hendrik Vos, head of Ghent University's Center for EU Studies. "That is why there is this yearning to keep things close."

And local control has become ever more important for rich pockets of Europe.

"Those regions say how hard they had to work for their wealth," Vos said, "and they don't want to throw it away or share with the rest of the EU."

-------------

Associated Press Writer Joseph Wilson contributed from Barcelona.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-13-Europe-Breaking%20Away/id-220ea8050fae40b1ab895da35bbe50f1

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Fewer US layoffs no longer suggest strong hiring

Applicants attend a Spirit Airlines Flight Attendant Open House as company representatives address the group Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, in Dallas. The airline announced that it is hiring 250 positions that include flight attendants, pilots and mechanics to be based out of its newly announced crew base at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Applicants attend a Spirit Airlines Flight Attendant Open House as company representatives address the group Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, in Dallas. The airline announced that it is hiring 250 positions that include flight attendants, pilots and mechanics to be based out of its newly announced crew base at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

In this Friday Sept. 28, 2012, photo, a group of veterans listen during a session with one of the employers at a job fair introducing veterans to careers in the security and private investigations industry at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York. The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid plummeted the week of Oct. 4, 2012, to seasonally adjusted 339,000, the lowest level in more than four years. The sharp drop offered a hopeful sign that the job market could pick up. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

United States Air Force Master Sgt. Matt Ditarando, center, talks with Wal-Mart store manager Craig Edwards at the Hiring Our Heroes job fair at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012. Ditarando said that today was the beginning of his job search. (AP Photo/The Tampa Bay Times, Edmund D. Fountain) TAMPA OUT; CITRUS COUNTY OUT; PORT CHARLOTTE OUT; BROOKSVILLE HERNANDO TODAY OUT

(AP) ? Declining applications for unemployment benefits have typically pointed to stronger hiring.

Not so much anymore.

Since the U.S. recession officially ended in June 2009, fewer layoffs have meant fewer people seeking unemployment aid. On Thursday, for example, the government said first-time applications for benefits hit a 4?-year low.

Yet job growth remains sluggish. That was evident last week in the government's jobs report for September. A survey of employers showed that they added a modest 114,000 jobs last month.

And the unemployment rate, based on a separate survey of households, did sink in August to 7.8 percent from 8.1 percent.

If fewer people are being laid off, why aren't employers hiring more?

Blame the slow pace of the U.S. economy, damage from Europe's economic crisis and fear that tax increases and spending cuts could trigger another U.S. recession next year.

Many companies have said they lack confidence that the U.S. economy will strengthen enough in coming months to justify hiring now.

"The relationship between claims and jobs has been less strong during this recovery than in past post-war recoveries," said Drew Matus, an economist at UBS. "There's a hiring problem out there, as opposed to a layoff problem."

Even last week's sharp drop in people seeking unemployment benefits came with a cautionary note.

Applications fell 30,000 to 339,000, the fewest since February 2008. And the four-week average, a less volatile gauge, reached a six-month low. But economists noted that much of last week's drop was due to seasonal volatility in the data.

A Labor Department spokesman said one large state accounted for much of the drop in applications for unemployment aid. The spokesman didn't identify the state, but several economists speculated that it was California.

The long-term trend in applications for unemployment benefits has been steadily down, though it has leveled off since spring.

When the economic recovery officially began in June 2009, an average of roughly 600,000 people were filing first-time claims for benefits each week. For nearly a year, that figure has remained consistently below 400,000.

But the decline hasn't correlated with robust job growth, as it did in past economic recoveries. Many economists say they're not ready to predict a strengthening job market.

"We're going to wait for some corroborating data," said Dan Greenhaus, chief market strategist at BTIG LLC.

The number of people who continue to receive unemployment benefits has fallen. Slightly more than 5 million Americans received benefits in the week that ended Sept. 22, the latest period for which figures are available. That's down about 44,000 from the previous week.

But some people who no longer receive aid have likely used up all the benefits available to them.

The 114,000 jobs employers added in September are roughly enough to keep pace with population growth. They aren't enough, though, to provide work for the more than 12 million unemployed Americans.

And most of the job increases last month came from those who had to settle for part-time work: In September, 582,000 more people than in August said they were working part-time but wanted full-time jobs.

The economy did gain an average of 146,000 jobs a month in the July-September quarter ? more than twice the monthly pace in the April-June quarter.

Still, another government report this week added to signs that hiring will likely remain modest: Employers advertised slightly fewer open jobs in August than in July. It was the second straight monthly drop. And the number of posted openings was the fewest since April.

A major problem is the U.S. economy isn't growing fast enough to generate significant hiring. Economic growth slowed to a tepid annual rate of 1.3 percent in the April-June quarter. That was down from a 2 percent annual rate in the previous quarter.

And most economists foresee growth staying at or below 2 percent in the second half of the year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-11-Unemployment%20Benefits/id-446ebd3c2da444388e5263d6d355becd

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