CompuLab to serve fanless AMD PC-3's stuffed with minted penguin

With the Ubuntu variant Mint roaming free as one of the more attractive Linux breeds, why not lock it up in its own mini-case? That'll happen soon thanks to mintBox, a joint venture with CompuLab, which will put the OS in two of its fanless PC-3's -- the T40N and T56N -- priced at $476 and $518, respectively. That might seem steep for the tiny 6 x 6 x 1-inch AMD G-series boxes, but with a Radeon HD 6290 APU and USB 3.0 / eSata ports, power is above par for its class. CompuLab will give some of the proceeds to Mint's team, so if you maybe want to throw some cash at the so fresh, so clean Linux distro, hit the source for more details.

CompuLab to serve fanless AMD PC-3's stuffed with minted penguin originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 22:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Fanless Tech  |  Linux Mint Blog, Fit PC  | Email this | Comments

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The Advantages of Cloud Computing

Company owners that are considering a transition to cloud computing should first understand the advantages of this option. In the case of cloud computing, services are delivered via a network, in this case via internet. In fact, the term ?cloud? is used as a representation of the web.

The fact that no hardware is required for the provision of cloud services makes them highly practical. This specific aspect of cloud computing is connected to various important advantages.

Lower Cost and Initial Investment

Cloud computing is much less expensive than getting similar services in the traditional way. Companies will be paying solely for the aspects of the service that they demand, which will in turn affect the price.

The initial investment is also going to be lower. Company computers and an internet connection will be the only preliminary requirements. All other computing services will be accessed later on, without demanding additional hardware.

Scalability

A cloud service is much easier to scale up or down than the traditional computing service. This is the perfect option for companies that require flexibility.

Companies in today?s world are trying to survive in a very competitive and intense business environment. Many of them are forced to scale down. Several other companies manage to make it through, which calls for staff expansion.

The cloud can be seen as an ?elastic? medium. Each service can be personalized and scaled to address individual preferences and desires. Traditional computing services will demand the purchase of additional hardware or restructuring in order to be modified.

Easy Management

The fact that no hardware is connected to the availability and the provision of cloud computing services makes them easier to manage.

A company?s IT experts will be free of worries connected to available storage space or the manner in which servers get administered. All concerns will be focused on performance. Apart from the fact that these services are easier to manage, they are also likely to increase productivity.

In addition, a company?s IT experts can rest assured that all updates take place without their involvement. Maintenance and upgrades will be entirely dependent on the cloud service provider.

Taking It Anywhere

Cloud services are 100 percent location independent. This can be a huge advantage for companies that relocate frequently or for business representatives that have to do a lot of business travel.

Cloud services can be accessed from any location that has internet access. This means that important projects and company operations will be available anywhere, anytime. Accessibility from any location permits work from home and business travel without too many preparations.

It is also important to mention that the services are device-independent. They will be accessible on any computer or laptop, as long as it is connected to internet.

Cloud computing has taken company operations to a new era. Many people will be discovering the advantages of this form of computing in the future. It is easy, flexible and affordable; just several benefits that deserve to be mentioned.

Mandy H. Smith is an IT security auditor and had performed a number of COBIT compliance audits for major corporations. When she?s not making sure that companies are COBIT compliant she is biking and reading books.

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Ex-Justice John Paul Stevens keeps doubts on Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Arctic bacteria help in the search to find life on moon Europa

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

In a fjord in Canada scientists have found a landscape similar to one of Jupiter's icy moons: Europa. It consists of a frozen and sulphurous environment, where sulphur associated with Arctic bacteria offer clues for the upcoming missions in the search for traces of life on Europa.

It is not easy to find a place on Earth where ice and sulphur come together, supposedly like on Europa, Jupiter's moon. Nonetheless, this place has been located at Borup Fjord Pass in the Canadian High Arctic. Here the sulphurous yellow emissions contrast with the whiteness of the environment, creating images similar to those captured at Jupiter's satellite.

US researchers have now verified that the sulphur involved in the life cycle of Arctic microorganisms has some characteristics that could help to detect biological remains on Europa. Large space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency are already in the process of preparing missions.

"We have discovered that elemental sulphur (S) can contain morphological, mineralogical and organic 'biosignatures' linked to bacterial activity. If they are found on Europa, this would suggest the possible presence of microorganisms," as explained to SINC by Damhnait Gleeson, lead author of the study and currently member of the Centro de Astrobiologia (INTA-CSIC, Spain).

The 'biosignatures' are associated with needle and rhomboid sulphur shapes in which mineralised remains of microorganisms and extracellular material appears. Thanks to electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques, the formation of a rare type of sulphur has also been observed in association with organic components: the rosickyite. What is more is that small quantities (parts per million) of protein, fatty acids and other biomolecules have appeared in the sulphurous material.

"There is much evidence of bacterial activity," highlights Gleeson, who wonder if in the Europa's icy crust, or the ocean or lakes supposedly beneath it, there could be a similar microbial community that uses sulphur as their source of energy.

The researcher conducted the study, which has now been published in the Astrobiology journal, as a member of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Colorado in the USA. She is currently working as a scientist in the Centro de Astrobiologia in R?o Tinto (Spain), a place similar to Mars.

###

FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology: http://www.fecyt.es/fecyt/home.do

Thanks to FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology 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.

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HBT: Expanded replay would correct all bad calls

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement is supposed to include expanded use of instant replay. It wasn?t able to be implemented for 2012, however, because no one was clear on how the logistics would work. Jayson Stark was on ESPN Radio this morning, however, and he says that the league, the union and the umps have an idea in the works that could go online in 2013. Via Business Insider:

• A group of umpires will watch games from a central location
• On plays that are ?clearly wrong? the group would then signal the umpires at the game and let them know there is an obvious call that needs to be changed

As has been previously reported, the expanded replay would be used for home runs, boundary calls and catches vs. traps, initially. After that, Stark said, it could be opened up to ?all sorts of calls,? assuming the kinks were worked out as applied to limited calls.

The new wrinkle here is the umpires at a ?central location.? While this is not quite what I envisioned ? I like the idea of a fifth ump on every crew, stationed in a booth at the game ? it is preferable to any challenge system or a system like the one we have now in which home run calls are reviewed via the umps leaving the field for a few moments.

The benefit to what Stark is describing: the idea that someone can just call in and overrule something if it?s simply a bad call as opposed to integrating replay into game strategy like football does. There is also a speed enhancement keeping the umps on the field. For the league: the benefit of not having to hire 15 new umpires to man the current crews.

The downside: depending on how many umps are at this ?central location,? is it not possible that calls could be missed or that reviews could take longer? There are sometimes 15 games going on at once. What if there are multiple obviously wrong calls at once? It also seems that a disembodied voice from HQ overruling calls could lead to some resentment and ultimately problems between the field umps and the replay umps. ?If you had a replay ump at each park, as part of the regular umpiring crew, even rotating through on-field assignments like umps on a crew do now, there is an instant parity and respect between roles.

But let?s not make the perfect the enemy of the good. If MLB is going to go with a replay regime that (a) involves eyes in the sky making common sense reversals of bad on-field calls; that (b) could eventually be expanded into ?all sorts of calls,? that?s progress of a major kind.

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Kahne ends drought, captures first win at Hendrick

Kasey Kahne poses with the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup Series auto race in Concord, N.C., Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Kasey Kahne poses with the trophy in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup Series auto race in Concord, N.C., Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Kasey Kahne celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup Series auto race in Concord, N.C., Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/HHP, Pool) NO SALES

Kasey Kahne celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup Series auto race in Concord, N.C., Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Kasey Kahne (5) celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 auto race in Concord, N.C., Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Kasey Kahne takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup Series auto race in Concord, N.C., Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/HHP) NO SALES

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) ? Kasey Kahne was starting to feel a little guilty.

Sure, he'd finished in the top 10 in five of the last six Sprint Cup races, but he still hadn't picked up that elusive first victory for car owner Rick Hendrick.

"Our team is solid. Our car is solid. Mr. Hendrick gives us everything we need to win races and run up front," Kahne said. "I just knew for myself I needed to step up."

And he did just that.

Kahne pulled away to victory in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night, winning NASCAR's longest race for the third time and gaining his stripes for Hendrick Motorsports the only way that matters ? taking the checkered flag.

"I never really doubted myself," Kahne said. "I was upset at some of the things that may have happened. I made a huge mistake at Phoenix, hit the wall there. But other than that, we were solid, we were fast. It was just a matter of getting past those five weeks and moving on and putting some solid races together."

The self-imposed pressure grew this week before Charlotte Motor Speedway at a party Hendrick threw to celebrate the owner's 200th career win Jimmie Johnson earned at Darlington Raceway two weeks back. Kahne was introduced as part of the current team ? after the 15 drivers who won races for Hendrick took a bow.

Hendrick then challenged him to win the Coca-Cola 600.

Despite the challenge, Hendrick could tell the losing streak was wearing on Kahne and tried to assure him that better times were ahead.

"Well, I could see that it was bothering him," Hendrick said. "A racer doesn't like to wreck a car or have bad luck. You could see it with Kenny, too. They hated to have those problems. When you can see, again, they had speed. I tried to reassure them, 'Look, we're in this for the long haul. You guys are running good. You just have to have some breaks.'"

And it was a popular victory.

Teammate Jeff Gordon rushed up to hug Kahne after the race and told him, "Proud of you."

What a roll for Hendrick Motorsports. The program was stuck on 199 victories since October. Then came Johnson's milestone win at Darlington. The five-time champion followed that with a victory in the All-Star race at Charlotte last week.

Kahne led four Hendrick cars in the top 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sixth and Gordon was right behind in seventh ? only his third top 10 finish of the year. Johnson came in 11th. He was vying for more but fell from contention with a mistake on the final pit stop as he left the stall with his gas can still engaged, dragging his crew member behind.

Johnson was docked with a stop-and-go penalty that ended his chances at winning a third straight week.

"I think we're showing the consistency from all of our teams," Hendrick said. "I can't wait for the second half of the season."

Kahne crossed the finish line nearly 5 seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin. Kyle Busch was third and series points leader Greg Biffle fourth.

It was Kahne's 13th career win and first since last November in Phoenix.

Kahne's a racing gym rat who can't stay away from competition. He drives in NASCAR Truck races when the Sprint Cup series is off ? as he did at Darlington in 2011 and Rockingham this spring ? and raced this weekend in the World of Outlaws dirt track contest across the street from Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kahne led 96 laps, including the final 42. He doesn't see why the winning can't continue.

"I just know that the cars and the people we have that Mr. Hendrick gives us is everything that we need to win," Kahne said.

Danica Patrick, the first woman to drive in the race since Janet Guthrie in 1976, was five laps down in 30th ? her best finish in three career Sprint Cup races.

Car owner Chip Ganassi flew to Charlotte after celebrating Dario Franchitti's win at the Indianapolis 500 earlier Sunday. Ganassi, part of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, had hoped to double up with drivers Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya. But 250 laps in, McMurray was a lap down and Montoya two behind after needing an extra pit stop to tighten a loose wheel.

"The minute I walked into the garage, people were high-fiving me," Ganassi said. "Right now, we've got to get our cars up the grid."

It didn't happen as Montoya finished two laps down in 20th and McMurray right behind in 21st.

For much of this race, it looked as if Biffle wouldn't be caught. He led 204 laps to dominate early and was clearly best as the race began in the hot, bright sunshine. Once the night cooled off the track, Biffle was no match for Kahne.

"Kasey's car was just better at night," Biffle said.

An early crash took Patrick out of contention in the season-opening Daytona 500 and she finished 38th. Patrick returned to Sprint Cup two weeks ago at treacherous Darlington and lasted throughout at the track considered "Too Tough to Tame" and crossed the line in 31st.

Patrick's goals this week were simply to be running at the end ? and that she was. Starting 40th after a poor qualifying effort, Patrick quickly fell top laps down. But she held on throughout the long, long night.

Patrick also kept her humor. When she was cautioned by her team to keep hydrating, Patrick cracked, "Copy that. Every time you don't get an answer to a question, that's what I'm doing."

Patrick's next Sprint Cup race will be at Bristol on Aug. 25. She promised to be more aggressive upon her return.

"Now that I'm getting more comfortable in certain situations, it's time to start testing those waters and freeing the car up a little bit and seeing what we can get out of it," Patrick said.

Earnhardt had hoped to avenge last year's heartbreaking loss when he ran out of fuel 700 feet from the finish line while leading. Earnhardt came as close to second and was drag-racing Hamlin for the lead on the final restart before as the large crowd at Charlotte Motor Speedway howled. Earnhardt, too, couldn't keep up with his teammate and his winless drought grew to 141 races.

NASCAR's king, career victory leader Richard Petty, had both his entries starting 1-2. But polesitter Aric Almirola quickly fell back and finished 16th. Marcos Ambrose, who started second, broke a wheel hub and ended up 32nd.

The race was the quickest ever for the 600 at 3 hours, 51 minutes, 14 seconds, nearly 5 minutes faster than the mark set in 1995.

AP Sports Writer Pete Iacobelli from Columbia, S.C. contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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When To Buy Condos for Sale

Toronto is one on the most stimulating and vibrant cities of Canada. Boasting of excellent food, culture, entertainment, and night life, it has come at par with a number of the most well-liked cities of America and Europe. Burgeoning with activities and excitement, Toronto currently is garnering excellent interest as a real estate investment destination at the same time. No matter whether it's Toronto commercial real estate or condos for sale in Toronto, the investment in real estate right here seems very promising within the long run. Besides making certain good return on your capital, acquiring a Toronto condo also brings forth numerous rewards as an investment solution: Are you searching for more details about homes for sale, check out the link to find out the details.

A condo just isn't so much a class of construction but much more of a form of ownership. This kind of ownership is generally related with high-rise buildings nevertheless it may also pertain to townhouses, homes and low-rise residential buildings. Condominiums are composed of two elements, the unit and the common regions. The units are recorded inside the owner's name and are separately owned . The unit proprietors personal in common the prevalent areas like recreational facilities, hallways, elevators, gardens, and so on. Buying a condominium means that you hold your specific unit but also that you become portion owner with the typical property components of your complex. Some of these typical property components may be for the restricted use of specific unit proprietors. For example, parking spaces, lockers, balconies are exclusive use of frequent property elements. Even so, these exclusive use frequent elements could nevertheless carry restrictions so be certain that you enquire about these just before you buy.

This also indicates, of course, that you'll find a better number of buyer looking and bidding on these residences. Because of this the typical cost of residences & condos is usually higher during these peak times. Click here for more info if you need more info on homes for sale

The opposite is correct over the non-peak months. For the reason that number of Toronto households & condos for sale is less than the peak months so is the sheer numbers of. When you are looking for condos for sale, you should always think about looking for extensive study.

To conclude, it will be protected to claim that for anyone who is thinking of acquiring a households in Toronto, and specifically one in the core of downtown Toronto, the sales trend suggests that you are on the best track..

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The Internet news? Blog Archive ? Blogging for Business ? Some ...

A lot of businesses are now conducted online. With an internet business, your service or products can reach different parts of the world especially if your website can attract much traffic. In order to establish one of the best online businesses, the usage of blogging for business is of utmost importance. You can make use of blogs in order to promote your business today and in the years to come. This is not an easy task and so you will need all the help and some tips to keep you on the right track. Here are some useful tips that you can incorporate in your internet business: ? Back links are valuable ? to promote your business through the use of blogs, you have to give importance to back links. The blog post contents should be able to incorporate appropriate back links. By doing so, you can attract much traffic to your website in a more effective manner. ? You must learn to use the right keywords ? all the contents of your blogs should have the right or appropriate keywords. Effective blogging can also place your internet business among the top searches in the results of search engines. ? If you plan to use blogs for your internet business, you must be able to make posts regularly. If you forget to make posts, your blogs will not be very effective for your internet business. Sporadic bloggers have no place on the net and so if you want your efforts to be rewarded, make sure that you post blogs frequently. ? Your blogging efforts will be rewarded if you post frequently and if the contents are interesting. Through effective blogging, you can establish the reputation of your online business and not only that, you can shout to the world your business expertise. If you want to gain a positive reputation, make sure that you post interesting blogs that are related to your business. Those are some simple tips that you can use for blogging. Indeed, blogging can be very useful for online business but only if you can post effective blogs. At present, many owners of online businesses are now making use of blogs to promote their products and services. If you want to become a blogger and at the same time a successful owner of a business, try to learn how to make effective blogs. Some say that blogs are not that hard to compose. To some individuals, it may be their way to share their personal experiences and everyday life. But according to some expert bloggers, you also need to consider the interests of the readers and online researchers. Remember that once you start posting blogs in your business? website, you have to post frequently (at least once or twice a week) so that your customers and readers will not forget you or your business. So what are you waiting for? Learn to make blogs now and become an effective blogger. Your business will surely benefit from the blogs that you post. If you want to learn more about effective blogging for business, you can easily conduct researches online because you can find a wealth of information there. Blogging for business is one of the most effective means of making your business a success. Start making blogs now and you can earn more profits in the future.

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RIM loses another senior executive

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Home Business Customer Service Organization Software, Tips ...

These are the best articles that were submitted to the carnival over the past 30 days.

Blog Carnivals are a great way to build incoming links to your site and generate new readers. Submit your article to the next Home Business Blog Carnival.

Social Media For Home Business

Social media is an ever evolving medium for business. It is important that home business owners keep up with the trends!

Powerful Social Media marketing shares How To Use Pinterest For Home Business. Direct sales home business owners should use Pinterest for business.

Jacob D presents 3 Reasons to Make Your Business a Google+ Page posted at The Writer Tank Journal.

JBY presents 4 Steps to Creating a Google Plus Business Page posted at Blogging Your Passion, saying, ?Whether you have fully adopted ?Google Plus? or not, here comes Google?s version of a Facebook Fan page. It is called the Google+ Business Page.?

Technology For Small Business Owners

Read these articles for some interesting tips on technology for home business start up.

Robert presents Essential Apps for Small Business posted at Entrepreneurship Life, saying, ?The best apps for small business.?

Jailan Marie presents Using Mind Maps: how and what for posted at Innovative Solutions For Positive Change.

Home Office Organization Tips

Working at home is not always easy. Here are some articles with home office organization tips.

Direct Sales Marketing shares home office customer service tips. Keep your customers with excellent customer service. Organizational Software Tool for direct sales.

Mildred Stallworth presents How to Organize a Successful Homebase Business! posted at Work at Home Business Tips and Ideas!, saying, ?You can also shop for your everyday needs!?

Mark Allen presents 7 Tips for Getting Your Office Time Organized | Professional Organizer San Diego posted at Professional Organizer San Diego, saying, ?Workdays in the office seem to vanish with each person wondering where the time went. Common themes are heard when people are asked about their challenges.?

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of home business blogs using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Menallen students, community embrace recycling programs

By Marilyn Forbes
Daily Courier

Published: Saturday, May 26, 2012, 3:25?p.m.
Updated 10 hours ago

The students at Menallen Elementary have learned many things throughout the school year, including the benefits of recycling.

The students take part in two recycling programs, within the school and at home.

The newer of the two programs is called Greenopolis, an initiative that helps to educate children on the benefits of recycling.

Volunteer Janet Gallagher visits the school twice every week to weigh donated recyclables, which include plastic, aluminum and tin.

Since it was introduced in January, the school has collected about 4,000 pounds of recyclable materials for the Greenopolis project.

"They are doing a great job," school media specialist/librarian and project coordinator Christa Sabatula said. "It just keeps getting bigger and bigger."

Sabatula said that the recycling was welcomed not only in the school, but in the community.

"We don't have recycling here in Menallen Township, so there were people who were happy about this," Sabatula said.

The school was recently informed that is it is now 36th in the nation for recycling with the Greenopolis program.

"I think that is pretty impressive," Gallagher said. "We are just this little school and we are up against big high schools. It's amazing what these students are doing."

The children are also taking part in another recycling program, called Terracycle which recycles previously nonrecyclable or hard-to-recycle items from juice box pouches to toothpaste tubes.

Working with items taken from the cafeteria, classrooms and brought from home, a group of students who help to oversee the programs spend time every day on the process of sorting and packaging the items to recycle.

"Our recycling team is doing a great job," Principal Paula Work said. "We have the seven students who do it daily and also a few parent volunteers who help."

Work added that many students are now bringing items into the school for the project.

"It's amazing to see the students getting off the buses and dragging a garbage bag behind them with recyclables," Work said. "These kids are working together for a common good."

Students are not only enjoying the recycling, but feel thrilled to be a part of a project that is geared toward the environment.

"Recycling is important to me because it saves the planet," student Sadie Huhn said.

"Recycling is a good thing and it is also helping us to raise money for the school," student Kali Ternitsky said.

The money raised from the recycling will go to the purchases of new playground equipment that will include handicapped-accessible items for the students.

In addition to the recycling money, the committee that is raising the funds for the playground equipment, led by Sabatula, have raised $16,000 to date through fundraising and grants.

"Our goal is $20,000, and we'll get there," Sabatula said.

For now, the students will concentrate on what they can reuse, recycle or collect for the programs.

"The children are learning what they can do for the planet," Work said. "They are learning how to keep the planet healthy."

And they are keeping hundreds of pounds of items from hitting the area landfills by spending time on their programs.

"Everyone's garbage is our treasure," Sabatula said. "and everyone here is learning to recycle. That is what we want to teach the kids. We want them to learn this and continue to do is."

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Japan robot lab readies second prototype for work at crippled nuclear reactor

IDG News Service - A Japanese robotics lab has developed a new emergency response prototype that will soon be put to work at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northern Japan.

(See footage of the robot in action and other projects on YouTube.)

The robot, called "Rosemary," is about the size of a lawn mower and has four extended treaded feet that swivel up and down to help it climb over obstacles. It can ascend at angles over 60 degrees and can carry instruments and other payload weighing up to 60 kilograms (132 pounds).

"We tested the robot's various electronic components using an exposure test," said Takeshi Nishimura, a researcher at the Future Robotics Technology Center. "It can be used without any additional shielding or protection."

The robot will be sent to Fukushima in the next few months, he added. It is the successor to a robot from the center that was originally developed for disasters in subways, but was put to use at the nuclear plant.

The Future Robotics Technology Center is giving demonstrations of the robot along with several other projects at its new campus in the complex at the base of the newly opened Tokyo Skytree broadcasting tower in Tokyo. The center is affiliated with the Chiba Institute of Technology and is a recipient of government funding for robot development.

In Japan, where cutting-edge robots are a point of national pride and receive huge development grants from the government, there was dismay when foreign PackBots from U.S. maker iRobot were among the first to explore the damaged nuclear facility after it was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami last year. Japanese researchers have responded with an armada of projects to develop robots for use there and in the high-radiation zones nearby.

The center is also showing a table that responds to and projects images on to punch cards laid on its surface, as well as a Mars explorer simulator.

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2012 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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gus - Early Treatment by a Physical Therapist Associated with ...

A new study published in Spine shows that early treatment by a physical therapist for low back pain (LBP), as compared to delayed treatment, was associated with reduced risk of subsequent health care utilization and lower overall health care costs.

Using a national database of employer-sponsored health plans, researchers examined a sample of 32,070 patients who were newly consulting a primary care physician for low back pain. Patients were identified and categorized based on their use of physical therapist services within 90 days of the consultation. Those who were referred to a physical therapist early (within 14 days of the consultation) showed a reduced risk of subsequent health care utilization and experienced lower overall health care costs than did those patients with delayed treatment by a physical therapist (within 15-90 days of consultation).

During an 18-month follow-up period, researchers found that early treatment by a physical therapist was associated with reduced risk of subsequent surgery, injections, physician visits, opioid use, and advanced imaging, along with a corresponding reduction in overall LBP-related medical costs relative to delayed treatment by a physical therapist. Total health care costs for patients receiving early care from a physical therapist were an average of $2,736.23 lower.

According to the study's lead author, Julie M. Fritz, PT, PhD, ATC, associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Utah and clinical outcomes research scientist at Intermountain Health care in Salt Lake City, "The value of referring patients to physical therapy who are newly consulting primary care physicians for low back pain likely depends on the timing of the referral and how patients adhere to physical therapy guidelines that recommend maintaining and improving activity levels." She added, "Despite the fact that primary care practice guidelines generally recommend delaying referral to a physical therapist for several weeks, we found that about half the patients receiving treatment from a physical therapist did so within two weeks, which is a practice that may be justified by emerging evidence."

Fritz explained that one possible reason for the link between early care by a physical therapist and positive outcomes may be that physical therapists can contribute to promoting a greater sense of self-reliance in managing LBP and confidence in a positive outcome. "If a physical therapist's treatment assists in developing self-efficacy, it is reasonable to expect it would have greater impact when implemented very early, before negative expectations have become reinforced and entrenched." Fritz added that early care administered by a physical therapist may offer an alternative to management strategies that can foster a sense of dependency in the patient, such as use of MRI or opioids.

The study found that patients using a PPO plan were more likely to receive early treatment from a physical therapist (53.4%) as compared with those using an HMO plan (44.7%). Also, the highest rates of physical therapist utilization were found in the Northeast and West. Patients in the Midwest were more likely to seek early treatment from a physical therapist (58.7%).

An April 20 study in Spine also supports the benefits of early physical therapy for low back pain. In this study, researchers found that patients who received physical therapy early (within 30 days) after an episode of acute low back pain had a lower risk of subsequent medical service usage (surgery or epidural steroid injections) than patients who received physical therapy later. In this study, authors analyzed a national sample of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' physician outpatient billing claims.

Currently 47 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of direct access to physical therapists for treatment/intervention, although some states impose restrictions if patients have not been referred by a physician.

Coauthors of the study were John D. Childs, PT, PhD, associate professor and director of research, US Army-Baylor University Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy, Ft Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX; Robert S. Wainner, PT, PhD, associate professor, Texas State University - San Marcos, San Marcos, TX, and Timothy W. Flynn, PT, PhD, distinguished professor, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.

The study was funded by grants from the Orthopedic and Private Practice Sections of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and the American Academy of Orthopaedic and Manual Physical Therapists. Funds were also provided by a faculty grant from Texas State University.

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) represents more than 80,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students of physical therapy nationwide. Learn more about conditions physical therapists can treat and find a physical therapist in your area at www.moveforwardpt.com. Consumers are encouraged to follow us on Twitter (@moveforwardpt) and Facebook.

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What?s so great about a Japanese toyboy?

By Ken Y-N ( May 28, 2012 at 00:58) ? Filed under Polls, Rankings

In Japan, in common with many other countries in the world, I suppose, women tend to prefer men a few years older than them. However, this survey from goo Ranking looked at what are the good things about having a younger boyfriend.

Demographics

Over the 19th and 20th of April 2012 1,092 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.5% of the sample were female, 11.3% in their teens, 17.0% in their twenties, 28.4% in their thirties, 25.5% in their forties, 10.2% in their fifties, and 7.7% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Ranking results

Q: What are the good things about having a younger boyfriend? (Sample size=661, female)

Rank	?	Score
1	He makes me feel young too	100
2	He?s cute	97.5
3	He?s surprisingly reliable	76.2
4	He expresses his feelings upfront	74.2
5	His innocent smile is healing	64.8
6	He?s surprisingly thoughtful	51.6
7=	He wants to be spoiled	51.2
7=	Because he?s so lively it?s fun to be together	51.2
7=	He sometimes shows me his grown-up side	51.2
10	He tries with all his might to please me	49.2
11	I become upfront too	42.2
12	His passionate behaviour is easy to understand	36.1
13	I don?t need to aim too high	34.8
14	He obediently takes in people?s advice	29.5
15=	I can enjoy teaching him various things	28.3
15=	He listens to me with loving care	28.3
17	His elegance	27.5
18	It?s easy to mold him into the kind of guy I like	25.4
19	He doesn?t really get angry when slighted	24.2
20	He accepts my selfishness	23.8

Read more on: goo ranking,toyboy

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Red Food Colouring: Sparkling Cranberry Iced Tea Vodka Drink

Peter made me this drink the other day and it is just SO good and SO easy that I had to share it. yum yum yum

Sparkling Cranberry with Raspberry Iced Tea Vodka Drink

In a cup with ice add:

About a shot of Raspberry Ice Tea Vodka (or a little more, ya know) ?(I LOVE this one?in raspberry, available at the LCBO)
A good glug of Sprite or Gingerale (Glug is a precise measurement for more then a splash/less then half the glass)
Fill the rest with Cranberry Juice

Garnish with a lemon/lime/berry and a straw.

Side note: I love drinking with a straw. it makes any drink feel more special and they also look pretty sitting on the counter.

Okay I know this isn't a revolutionary drink but its amazing and so refreshing and I think you should try it!

First photo by me (follow my instagram @erynackerman and the pantone photo from here)?

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Great Customer Service Shows Clients You Are the Best

Would your customers say that you have great customer service?

Customer service is the lifeblood of any successful business, and great customer service is an absolute requirement for the business that not only wants to survive, but thrive. Does your business have what it takes and the resources available to offer unbeatable customer service for your clients?

The businesses who do the best, the top-shelf companies, are always striving to improve customer service and for good reason. The service that you give a customer is what gets their attention, keeps their attention, and inspires them to tell others about your great customer service. Making sure that your business offers the best customer service compared to your competitors sometimes means taking extra steps to make sure that your business is always available for your clients.

Great Customer Service ? 24 Hours a Day

Have you ever called a business after hours ? for something that really needed to be handled as soon as possible ? just to reach an answering machine? Do you remember the feeling of disappointment; perhaps a little sense of doubt that your message would be heard first thing the next morning? You thought to yourself ?Ugh, I wish they would just improve customer service? right?

Companies that offer great customer service have their clients? trust, and having that trust often means making sure there is always someone there to take important phone calls. Top companies with the best customer service provide telephone answering services every day, every hour, every minute of the day ? no exceptions. You, too, can improve customer service and the image of your company through having your phones manned 24 hours daily via a telephone service if needed. Your customers are worth it. Your business is certainly worth it as well.

Another important aspect of great customer service is professionalism. Whether you are a small business or a multinational corporation, when your clients call, they want to get the feeling that their call is always welcome and that the telephone operator will know how to handle anything thrown at them. The best customer service is provided by operators who are professional, skillful, knowledgeable, and focused. Telephone services pride themselves by offering only the most professional career operators to handle your calls. Great customer service means great word of mouth, and this means that your operator should have only one thing on his or her mind: your phone calls ? just exactly what a professional phone service provides.

The Best Customer Service Isn?t Costly

Telephone Answering Services are inexpensive; great customer service is priceless!

Every business has a bottom line, a budget, and limited resources; great customer service is vitally important to business success, but it is also tremendously affordable! To improve customer service means to improve your success, and a dedicated phone answering service provides great customer service without added expense. It is no surprise that great customer service usually goes hand-in-hand with a great public face ? the job of your operators. Does your answering staff have what it takes to represent you in the best possible fashion every minute of the day?

Improve Customer Service Using PCN

Here?s the bottom line: customer service is the face of your business and can be a deal breaker; providing great customer service helps your business to succeed where others fail, so put your best foot forward and hire only the best customer service staff right here at Professional Communications Network.

Tagged as:
best customer service,
customer service,
great customer service,
small business customer service,
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Source: http://www.pcnanswers.com/great-customer-service-shows-clients-you-are-the-best

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SpaceX Private Vessel Reaches ISS

60-Second Space | Space

The International Space Station received its first commercial visitor with the arrive of the SpaceX Dragon resupply capsule. John Matson reports.

May 25, 2012?|

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It may lack the poetry of ?the Eagle has landed,? but here?s major space news: the Dragon has docked.

The Dragon capsule, built by dot-com magnate Elon Musk?s company SpaceX, is the first commercial spacecraft to visit the International Space Station. It left Earth Tuesday. ?And launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, as NASA turns to the private sector to resupply the International Space Station."

All previous resupply flights have been operated by national space agencies such as NASA. The Dragon?s flight was meant to demonstrate the capsule?s capabilities, and the spacecraft had to pass a series of tests on the way to the station before NASA cleared it for approach.

On Friday, May 25th, astronauts aboard the ISS used a robotic arm to grab the free-floating Dragon capsule and hauled it in for docking. By 12:02pm, the spacecraft was firmly attached to the station.

Under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, SpaceX plans to make 12 cargo runs to the station in the coming years. And someday the Dragon capsule could carry not just cargo but astronauts. Says Musk, ?It's the dawn of a new era of space exploration.?

?John Matson

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]??

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Commercial Mortgage Rates Low to Buy Apartments and Net Lease ...

Los Angeles, California ? There is a breath of fresh air for the economy, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has recently announced that commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the agency reported an aggregate profit of $35.3 billion during the first quarter of 2012, This is a $6.6 billion improvement compared with the first quarter of 2011. This is the 11th consecutive quarter that earnings have registered a year-over-year increase. The lower interest rates are helping those with net lease properties and apartments purchases or refinancing.

Banks and Commercial Mortgage Brokers are in Better Shape

The main banks are in increasingly better shape however bank lending hasn?t increased as consistently. The FDIC also reported that loan balances declined by $56.3 billion (0.8 percent) during the first quarter after three consecutive quarterly increases. If you are waiting on the sidelines for commercial real estate loans or refinancing, now is the time to get a mortgage.

Mortgage Rates Edge to New Record Lows

According to the latest Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released on Thursday, 30-year mortgage rates have fallen to 3.78 percent, the lowest rate in 40 years. At this time last year, the 30-year rate averaged 4.6 percent. Loanrise.com can give you the lowest permanent fixed-rate commercial property loans for acquisitions. We can also get you low rates on the refinance of properties including: hotel, industrial, multifamily apartments, office, and of course retail net lease properties.

Commercial Mortgage Rates Reach 40-Year Low

At the same time, and hardly coincidentally, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday that its index measuring mortgage loan application volume for the week ending May 18 was up 3.8 percent compared with the previous week. The MBA?s Refinance Index increased 5.6 percent from the previous week.

Continuing negative developments in the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, particularly in Greece and Spain, as well as the recent French elections which helped push the US 10 Year Treasury yield below 1.7 percent recently. Commercial ?Mortgage rates again dipped to new record lows in recent studies which spurred more borrowers back into the refinance market.

Unemployment Claims Edge Down

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday that initial unemployment claims for the week ending May 19 were 370,000, a downtick of 2,000 from the previous week?s revised figure. The less volatile four-week moving average was also 370,000, but that represented a drop of 5,500 from the previous week.

Generally speaking, the four-week average is still relatively high for a period of recovery, even though the downward trend since the worst of the recession is clear. The last time the average was this high during economic recovery was during the late 1970s, a time remembered for post-recessionary malaise.

Commercial Lending, Stock Market and Facebook IPO

Wall Street gyrated a lot on Thursday, down most of the day, but ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 33.6 points, or 0.27 percent, while the S&P 500 was up 0.14 percent. The Nasdaq lost 0.38 percent and many Investors are still talking about Facebook and the IPO.

Contact us for a new Commercial Mortgage Loan or for refinance rates on all Commercial Property.

We specialize in:

• CTL Financing (Credit Tenant Loans)
• Commercial lending
• FHA refinance
• Interest only mortgages
• Construction loans
• Mezzanine Loans

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Legal Tab In Senate Scandal Reaches $46150 ? CBS Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) ? The legal tab for the Minnesota Senate in the firing of a high-ranking staffer is $46,150 and counting, according to an invoice released Friday.

The billing detailed $330-an-hour legal services from an outside attorney, Dayle Nolan, retained to defend the Senate over the firing of Michael Brodkorb. It covered her work from January through March, although the matter has lingered past April 1.

It?s the first solid accounting of costs so far from Brodkorb?s termination. He was dismissed shortly after his boss, GOP Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, resigned her leadership position. It was later revealed the two were having an affair.

Brodkorb has hired his own attorneys and is taking steps toward a federal gender discrimination lawsuit, arguing that he was treated differently from other employees involved in workplace affairs. His legal team has also threatened to bring lawsuits in state court against several senators and Senate officials on other grounds, including defamation of character and invasion of privacy. Those officials could be entitled to state-paid legal expenses.

The billing for the Senate?s potential defense came in just under a $50,000 threshold that would trigger a public hearing by the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. It?s not clear whether the next invoice will come due before November?s election, which will decide which party leads the Senate.

The invoice showed that many of Nolan?s hours involved meetings with Senate Secretary Cal Ludeman, one of the potential targets of a lawsuit. Brodkorb?s team has threatened to sue Ludeman personally for defamation of character after Ludeman compared Brodkorb?s legal threats to ?extortion or blackmail.?

Nolan and four associates at her firm, Minneapolis-based Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren, put more than 160 hours of work into the case during the time period covered by the invoice. Several hearings have been held and other legal work has been done on the case since then.

Most of the work was billed at Nolan?s hourly rate, but some was done by an assistant charging $60 an hour. For instance, the cost for Nolan to prepare for and attend a March Senate ethics hearing over then-Assistant Majority Leader Geoff Michel?s handling of the matter reached nearly $4,000.

The legal work also included telephone conferences, legal research, reviewing media reports, drafting memos and speaking with senators and staff.

Ludeman said the invoice will be paid once Majority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, and Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, sign off.

(? Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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HAR.MS ? A Cheater's Guide to Self Improvement: Addendum

by Matt in Blog, Featured, Thoughts Tags: blog club, blogging, development, goal check, management, motivation, organization, planning, purpose, taste on May 24, 2012

As a followup to my previous post, I?m going to try and elaborate more on the individual techniques I use for tricking my brain into acting like the focused productivity machine that it certainly isn?t.?Here are a selection of tools and tricks I?ve used to good effect when trying to keep my productivity up and my wasted time down. Some of them work incredibly well with me. Some of them are tricks of last resort I use when I can?t seem to get focused any other way. Your mileage may vary.

Calendars

I try to plan out every moment of my day at least a couple of days in advance. Sometimes it gets all wonky and I have to spend time shuffling and juggling tasks as things get thrown about by unforseen circumstances, but sticking it out is worth it especially for the record of what I actually spend my time doing. This is all motivated by the need to prioritize tasks without having to decide, when I find myself with a free moment, what the most important thing I could be doing it is. If I break down tasks into actionable chunks and then sort them into my schedule based on priority and accounting for deadlines I can actually get a substantial block of crucial work done without having to choose it over more fun but less urgent projects. The schedule is law and what?s on the schedule shall get done. Looking a week ahead and popping in a few slots where I have to do some research for a pending project or manage some tedious CAD I?ve been avoiding helps make sure they don?t get put off further.

I tend to schedule in more time than is truly necessary to complete each goal so that I can use the remaining bits to faff around, check my email, and generally reward myself for keeping on track. Cool down time between highly disparate tasks seems to be pretty important to prevent burning out. I use a pretty extensive task list to manage what goes on the calendar.

Task Lists

I?ve got a Google doc that I share with a few friends who are more-or-less in a blood cult of getting shit done. We check in with each other to see how we?re progressing on our goals, what we?ve accomplished during the week, and where we are in our long term plans. The doc includes a long list of tasks I want to get to divided up into a few categories. The general outline is as follows:

• What am I doing right now?
• Queue for little stuff I?ve just remembered but can?t break from what I?m doing right now to manage
• My goals for today
• My goalcheck buddy?s goals for the week
• What I?m writing about for #blogday
• Long term goals
• Emails that need writing
• Recurring tasks (blogging, drawing, exercise, boning up on programming, and managing my store)

Everything that doesn?t fit neatly into the list gets put in a database I use to keep track of ideas. I like ?having a separate document that acts as long term storage for things that just aren?t actionable, don?t have a clear goal or deadline, or will take up too much time in huge chunks so can?t be easily filtered into the calendar.?If things grow an extensive tail of notes they get spun out into their own document.

I try to keep my daily goals down to three items. I find that splitting focus too much or trying to bite off too much daily quickly leaves me burnt out. I like keeping completed tasks on the list for a while with a strikethrough so I can revel in them before deleting the entry. It gives me a pretty good barometer of what I?ve been up to and how well I?ve been keeping focused.

3 Kinds of Time

Amanda Wozniak once shared some excellent advice with me about how she manages her time. She said that there are essentially three ways for her to tackle a demand on her schedule: right now, on the calendar, and never. There are things that she can spare an hour for right now. If someone in her department rings her up with a question she doesn?t have to devote more than an hour to answering she almost universally has time for it. If it will take longer, it gets moved to a discrete date and block of time on the calendar. If things are pending, nebulous, and difficult to schedule, it?s very unlikely they?ll ever get tackled. I try to keep this in mind when scheduling things for myself. I try to turn big amorphous tasks into little, edible blocks of time.

Goal Check

This research article from Psychological Science suggests that a strong part of self motivation and avoiding procrastination is setting external rewards and consequences. It?s definitely worth a read. It says that we have more-or-less two sets of motivations: one when we actually set our goals and another when our mettle is being tested. To quote from the article directly:

"... individuals have a set of preferences, X, atsome point in time (or under a certain set of environmental conditions) and a different set of preferences, Y, at some other point intime. In the case of the cr?me br?l?e, dieters may prefer not to consume it (Y) before going to the restaurant, prefer to eat it (X) when ordering dessert and consuming it at the restaurant, and prefer not to have eaten it after the meal is over (Y). This type of systematic preference reversal is often described by hyperbolic time discounting(e.g., Ainslie, 1975; Kirby, 1997; Laibson, 1997), under which immediately available rewards have a disproportionate effect on preferences relative to more delayed rewards, causing a time-inconsistent taste for immediate gratification. Cr?me br?l?e poses but a minor self-control problem. Examples of more important self-control problems include not exercising enough, scratching a rash, nail biting,smoking, engaging in unsafe sex, abusing drugs, overspending, procrastination, and so forth."

The article goes on to say that imposing firm, evenly spaced deadlines with strong consequences for lateness is optimal for getting the most work done. Work done on those kinds of schedules also ends up being much higher quality and less stressful than the work produced on a self imposed schedule.

I?ve found that social pressure is a great way of creating external motivating factors that help curtail my own distractions. Having another person expecting progress, setting rewards and punishments, and helping me be realistic about what I can accomplish has been incredibly helpful. So, every week, I have a half-hour video meeting to check up and plan the next handful of days. I?ll also do a coworking session if there?s some incredibly tedious work that needs getting done. If I?ve got a dozen emails to write it helps to have someone looking over my shoulder making sure they get written.

Pomodoro

The Pomodoro Technique is a way of managing tasks with a timer. The general principle is that you have a 25 minute timer; you set the timer every half hour and work solidly until the timer rings and then use the next five minutes to mess around and relax before setting the timer again. Occasionally I?ll employ this one, but I?ve found a system that works a bit better for the type of work I do. Since getting into the zone and hitting my stride for CAD work or illustrations can take the better part of an hour before I am at my peak, I will often work to a playlist. I find that queuing up an hour and a half of music and working until the playlist ends gives me a good way to space out and produce without forgetting to look up and give myself a rest to prevent burning out. This mix is one of my particular favorites.

Distraction

Over the years I?ve gotten a good sense for my own attention span. I find that I need a little distraction going on in the background to keep from switching channels when I get frustrated with the thing I?m working on. If I?m thoroughly engrossed in a design and suddenly Photoshop crashes losing me an hour of my time having an audiobook playing somehow helps insulate me from rage quitting and spending the next couple of hours posting snarky comments on Twitter.

However, there is another side to this. Things like chatting and video seem to take up way too much bandwidth. If I?m trying to watch a show or IM while working chances are I?ll be incredibly prone to switching tasks rapidly, surfing the web idly, and wasting time.

Rewards, Forgiveness, and Micro Tasks

Don?t forget that all of this is in aim of doing things you want to do, climbing the big mountain of your goals in life, and getting to that sometimes distant shore called happiness. Don?t punish yourself with a mountain of work and then punish yourself again for not being able to finish it. Schedule time to reward yourself. Don?t isolate yourself and blow off friends because you?re too married to your calendar. Remember to be flexible and if you end up getting behind forgive yourself like you?d forgive your favorite people. Learn to work new habits into your life by starting small.?Instead of trying to go from zero to exercising an hour every day, start with five minutes of exercise every day to make a hole for it in your life and then build on it by extending the time you exercise a little each day.

Although these techniques aren?t the balm for every one of the world?s problems, they keep me from falling off cliffs and crashing through deadlines. Let me know if you?ve found a particular GTD system or method that keeps you performing at your peak over on Twitter.

Photo Credits:

Calendar Round by vbecker, on Flickr
My to do list is healed and in use! by robstephaustralia, on Flickr
TARD1S not TARDIS by yksin, on Flickr
Extensions by Marcin Wichary, on Flickr
Pomodoro Technique (illustration) by Michael Zero Mayer, on Flickr
img_0054 by Zlatko Unger, on Flickr
flossers by nooccar, on Flickr

 
I'm Matthew Borgatti. I run a store called Sleek and Destroy, and I love to make stuff. 

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