BenDeLaCreme and Darienne were Cougars

But in Monday night's "Glamazon by Colorevolution" episode the first of two in a Rupersized series, Mrs. Obama was the inspiration behind Mama Ru's first challenge of the night: queens man-handling fruits and veggies while adorned in bright press-on nails.As BenDeLaCreme stripped a banana, pulling each layer apart seductively, Ru yelled out, "One skin, two skin, three skin, four skin." Laganja Estranja ended up being the best at this challenge, which was probably as objective as a breathing contest.But the main challenge of the night was filming a 30-second cosmetics mercial, with the ladies split up in pairs.Data is stored on a cloud While Ru would probably tell you that they were randomly assigned partners, CLEARLY producers set up one pair with the idea of generating some fireworks: BenDeLaCreme and Darienne Lake, who've been rivals in recent weeks and created some awkward tension during Ru's work room interrogation.

Each couple had a theme: BenDeLaCreme and Darienne were Cougars, Laganja and Adore were Mean Teen Girls, Bianca Del Rio and Trinity were Working Girls, and Courtney Act and Joslyn Fox were Hot Stay-At-Home Mamas."I don't want to sell you any promises because I don't know what's gonna happen when I get up there," said Trinity."I'm trying to drag pun intended you out," said Ru.When it came down to the actual mercial performances, one would think Courtney Act and Joslyn Fox would be a match made in heaven, especially since Joslyn admitted that she was a bit starstruck by Courtney Act, and they seemed to get along better than the other pairings. However, when it came for their session with Ru and Michelle Visage, the two were a little too much like the Real Housewives: vapid and without dimension on screen. Yet, Courtney Act thought they nailed it, while Joslyn realized that this Australian bigwig was kind of a big bitch.In BenDeLaCreme and Darienne Lake's Cougars segment, Darienne channeled Kirstie Alley quite well, even if the ladies seemed to tackle more of Courteney Cox's face instead of what it means to be in Cougartown.Adore and Laganja ended up winning the challenge for their Mean Girls spot, which probably should have gone to Bianca Del Rio and Trinity, especially since Trinity got rid of the marbles in her mouth, and Bianca looked lovely on the runway Ru: "That is quite an impressive tulle, I might add".

Data is stored on a cloud

 Data is stored on a cloud. Collaboration takes place in real time. Coordination of work is baked into the tools. Work can be accessed from a broad range of puting devices of all types. These tools all build on the modern SaaS model, so they are easy to get, work outside your firewall and e with the safety and security of cloud-native panies.The cultural changes enabled by these tools are significant. While it is possible to think about using these tools "the same old way," you're likely to be disappointed. If you think a new tool that is about collaboration on short-lived documents will have feature parity with a tool for crafting printed books, then you're likely to feel like things are missing. If you're looking to improve your organizational effectiveness at munication, collaboration and information sharing, then you're also going to want to change some of the assumptions about how your organization works.

 The fact that the new tools do some things worse and other things differently points to the disruptive innovation that these products have the potential to bring the "Innovator's Dilemma" is well known to describe the idea that disruptive products often feel inferior when pared to entrenched products using existing criteria.Based on seeing these tools in action and noticing how organizations can re-form around new ways of working, the following list piles some of the most mon pitfalls addressed by new tools. In other words, if you find yourself doing these things, it's time to reconsider the tools and processes on your team, and try something new.
Some of these will seem outlandish when viewed through today's concept. As a person who worked on productivity tools for much of my career, I think back to the time when it was crazy to use a word processor for a college paper; or when I first got a job, and typing was something done by the "secretarial pool." Even the use of email in the enterprise was first ridiculed, and many managers had assistants who would print out email and then type dictated replies no, really!. Things change slowly, then all of a sudden there are new norms.In our Harvard Business School class, "Digital Innovation," we crafted a notion of "doing it wrong," and spent a session looking at disruption in the tools of the workplace.

Timing and location of withdrawal is poorly understood

Nearly half of the wells fracked since 2011 were in areas with "high or extremely high" water stress; more than 55% were in areas experiencing drought, said the analysts. Extremely high water stress is defined as 80% of available surface and groundwater already allocated for municipal, industrial and agricultural uses.However, there's still a lack of reliable, publicly available water-use and management data in many areas of the country, which has hindered industry efforts to develop "appropriately flexible and adaptive best management practices. Timing and location of withdrawal is poorly understood, particularly as water needs in fracturing spike at early stages of development."

That hasn't stopped some of the biggest E&Ps from going it alone, using non-potable water sources whenever possible.Drilling tools are packed with'puter sensors that adjust on the fly Analysts said that choice has to b'e the "default management choice for shale development." Water for fracking could be sourced from surface water, groundwater fresh and saline brackish, and wastewater or through recycling.Analysts dug deeper into individual E&P'pany practices to learn about best management practices now in place. What they found was "little evidence of group-level, formalized water policies and management systems." Overall, there's been "poor industry performance on water disclosure."

The best example of water accounting found was by Occidental Petroleum Corp. Oxy, now headquartered in California, where regulations often are stricter than in other parts of the country. In addition to providing water withdrawals that are broken out by water sources freshwater, municipal, non freshwater, Oxy details produced water recycling data and produced water management.Chemical disclosures on the voluntary FracFocus website also have progressed, according to researchers. In that category, Apache scored tops on toxicity reduction in North American operations.More regulations by local and state regulators also are in the offing, and E&Ps should consider preparing for them now. Today, mandates for baseline water testing pre and post drilling are required only in Wyoming and Colorado. Pennsylvania doesn't require testing, but "the relevant resumption of liability for pollution of nearby water sources applies," analysts said.

Drilling tools are packed with'puter sensors that adjust on the fly

When the BP spill happened, said Takahashi-Kelso, "It was déjà vu. The same materials, same kinds of boom, same. It does not mean that simple technology is a bad thing, but I would say that the tools available haven't changed much in 25 years."
Others noted that Exxon, and the spills since, are probably inevitable as long as the U.S. is still extracting, transporting, and using oil.Said Athan Manuel, director of the lands protection program at the Sierra Club, "It's sad that we're here 25 years later still talking about the same issue –- the consequences of our dependence on fossil fuels."A new oil spill over the weekend, this time from a barge in Texas' Houston Ship Channel, has provided another example of the dangers that can'e from oil accidents.

The limit on liability for vessels like the Exxon Valdez was set at $10 million; for offshore production facilities, the limit was set at $75 million.The House passed a package of reform measures in 2010 following the BP blowout. But it never passed the Senate.But'panies still struggle with execution of the response plans when a spill does happen.But as environmental groups have noted, the amount of money'panies would be forced to pay has not gone up with inflation.From the office'puter to the drill site, to the wells that can stretch more than three miles underground, nearly everything in Pennsylvania's natural gas industry is different from just a few years ago.Drill holes are longer and smoother.

Drilling tools are packed with'puter sensors that adjust on the fly. Rock holding the gas gets cracked hundreds of times every few feet. Sand silos, 60 feet high, double as light towers at sites where rigs move in and out, around the clock, faster than before.Even in the offices of gas'pany executives working the shale boom, specialty software coordinates the rapid-fire scheduling."We didn't have any of that even 10 years ago," said Jeff Boggs, vice president of drilling at Consol Energy Inc. in Cecil. "So the advancement, just from the Marcellus ... would be like going from the industrial age to the'puter age."Drilling'panies working in Appalachia report such advancements as they perfect the science of cracking shale.

Airlines resisted putting in stronger cockpit doors

Airlines resisted putting in stronger cockpit doors, too, to protect against hijackers. If you wait for a business to do the right thing...Modern airplanes like the Boeing 777 are full of sophisticated devices to municate with air traffic controllers and broadcast their position, including two transponders, several VHF radios, a satellite phone and text and data-link systems. One of them, the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS, handles textlike transmissions over radio or satellite links.
This handout from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows the satellite images of the two objects that officials say could possibly be related to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Credit Australian Maritime Safety Authority

But those systems can be vulnerable to tampering by outsiders or can just be turned off by pilots, or anyone else knowledgeable with airplane operations. Industry officials say pilots need to be able to turn off any transmission system in case it starts a fire.Similar concerns emerged after the 9/11 attacks,
Part of building stronger munications capacity is having the technology to support it when terrorists turned off transponders that broadcast a plane's identification number and other information, hiding the planes' identities from civilian controllers. Once an airplane is outside radar range, usually 200 miles from the coast, American airlines insist on getting munications from pilots at least once an hour to track their aircraft. Without these updates, a plane might fly hundreds of miles beyond its last point of munications before anyone was even aware it was missing.

These shor ings could e to an end thanks to a long-planned transition from radar to satellite-based systems that are expected to greatly increase tracking accuracy by the end of the decade.But in the meantime, Robert W. Mann, an aviation consultant in Port Washington, N.Y., said rescue operations could be considerably accelerated if airplanes were required to automatically send basic flight information via satellite such as position, altitude, speed and direction at much shorter intervals.Such a system could also be designed to keep transmitting as long as an airplane was airborne or generated power.

Part of building stronger munications capacity is having the technology to support it

Over the last several years, airlines have been installing satellite-based Wi-Fi systems for passenger entertainment that could also be used to facilitate data-streaming, Mr. Mann said.
"It's ironic that we have this technology so passengers can pay to watch reruns of 'Charlie's Angels,' but that we still have to make the safety case for their use," he said.This shift is all the more critical as a new generation of airplanes can fly longer distances over water and traffic grows rapidly throughout Asia and the Pacific.Smaller nonprofits find it particularly difficult to keep up with the time and tools needed to create more visibility about their causes and to take advantage of the social network. This challenge directly impacts their capacity to build more relationships and fundraise.

Part of building stronger munications capacity is having the technology to support it. For many small nonprofits, that's the first hurdle. When there's inadequate internal capacity for focused munications efforts, attempts will be spotty. And inconsistency is the devil in the details.
Happily, there are tools that can help your nonprofit b e a sophisticated user of online and mobile media without it being cost prohibitive. Today there's so much demand for tools to take advantage of social networking platforms that sorting through the options can be overwhelming. Following are some popular and free or reasonably priced choices.

A Nonprofit Tech for Good r mendation, Wibbitz, converts text-based posts and articles into interactive videos. Since videos have proven to be a hugely popular form of engaging people online and via mobile phone, that makes Wibbitz a highly useful tool.It can be added to Web pages or articles and requires an iOS 7.0 or later operating system. Wibbitz is patible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and is optimized for iPhone 5. You'll need to have iTunes on your device to use Wibbitz.Qwiki automatically turns pictures and videos from events you've captured on your iPhone into brief movies to share. Go to qwiki  to see impressive examples of how it works. It requires iOS 5.1 or later, is patible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and is optimized for iPhone 5.
Nonprofit Tech for Good also suggests a look at Windows Live Writer to generate HTML code.

This musical play, set in an Islamic Baghdad of early medieval times

The fundraiser, which includes a raffle, food music and beer, is being held at Tom and Jerry's Sports Pub in Milmont Park from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.Follow Daily Local News staff writer Jeremy Gerrard on Twitter On Broadway in late 1953, the Tony Award production Kismet began its run of 583 performances.
This musical play, set in an Islamic Baghdad of early medieval times, featured two songs which attained wide popularity: the romantic Stranger in Paradise and the lively Baubles, Bangles and Bright Shiny Beads.Competitive Robotics club members battle it out at the Engineering Expo The latter, which occurs in a scene at a bazaar market lane, provides this column's focus on various words referring to trinkets: little items of little value, shiny or not as given below with background summaries.

"Bauble" derived from a"bination of French "beau" and "belle" and generally denoting any small pretty item as either a decorative wearable accessory hairpin, ring or a child's toy.
"Bangle" from a Hindi term meaning "circle:" bracelets or anklets worn in jingling sets of two or more."Bead" related to "bid" and "fide" faith with original basis as something "asked for by praying:" originally by means of a prayer per bead on a handheld string set, but later applied in designation of ornamental items like beads on a necklace."Trinket" has the root notion "piece" from the French basis "tranche" sliced or chopped off segment with "et" adding the idea of "small" to refer to debris bits from the crafting of gems from chunks of shiny metal or colourful crystallized rock.

"Trifle," meaning "something of little importance," was adapted in English from French "truffe" as also related to "truffle" with the sense "little lump" which arose from "tuber" for a globular root found at the base of some vegetables and thus also for a subterranean black lump mushroom as a delicacy of French cuisine."Bagatelle" also refers to something of little significance from the Italian "bacca" for "berry" probably from some types being inedible but used ornamentally.Old pieces of fabric often as rags of generally little value, yielded the following terms: frippery, falbala, and paltry.Small odd devices may carry indefinite designations such as "gadget" from French "gachette" meaning "little bolt" originally invented for sliding into a catch place for locking a gate or door or as "doo dad doo hickey" from an observer's uncertainty with the thought "What does it DO?".

Competitive Robotics club members battle it out at the Engineering Expo

Minutes before a tournament began, Sacramento State Competitive Robotics members can be seen preparing robots by tightening screws, examining movements of motors or testing"munication between robot and remote controller.The Engineering Expo Sunday featured eight 1-pound robots that were deployed into a glass encased arena to battle, using various weapons and techniques, including spinning, saw blades, or using  body weight to ram opponents against the glass walls."It is a nice way for students to be able to take some of their ideas and knowledge about science and mix it in freely with creativity, and not have to worry about harsh deadlines, grades and how they perform against their peers," said Daniel Fraga, mechanical engineering graduate student. "When you take that pressure away from students, it is amazing what they can"e up with."

Sophomore mechanical engineer David Sarver took first place. His robot, Jimmy No. 2, used a spinning technique that attacked by cutting into its opponents with blades.Although the matches last three minutes or less, the planning phase for the robots begins months in advance.For junior electrical engineering major Nitish Khazane, the brainstorming phase began after the last robot tournament fall 2013. It took three robot design drafts before he was inspired by a drill bit he found laying around in the shop."Think of a scorpion," Khazane said while describing his robot. "With a tail end that can rotate on a rod. At the end of the scorpion tail, I have a drill bit attached that will spin and lash out like a scorpion would."

'Scorpios" weapon is an offensive technique that seeks to capitalize on the exposed tops of robot rivals. Khazane began building the frame of the robot after winter break.Khazane, also vice president for Competitive Robotics at Sac State,  joined the club as a sophomore and has participated in the robot tournament every semester since. His a"plishments, he said, are in part to experienced club members whom have helped develop tool craftsmanship and club management.

The articulate and affable DeCoud always gave thoughtful and helpful responses

He started 15 games and had 83 tackles and two interceptions.
In 2011, the Falcons re signed DeCoud to a five year $17.5 million contract.General manager Thomas Dimitroff calls them "salary cap casualties," and it's a league wide practice.
"I believe in the NFL today, so-called cap casualties are an issue for every team unless you're at the top of the heap with $30 million to $40 million dollars available," he said. "It's something that we will get into as we continue to analyze and re-evaluate this roster as it stands."The Falcons have already cut veterans Asante Samuel, Stephen Nicholas and Garrett Reynolds. Also, running back Jason Snelling retired after seven seasons in the league.

A major part of DeCoud's contract was set to b"e guaranteed on March 15.Releasing DeCoud, 28, would save the Falcons $3 million.Last season, DeCoud took to social media to vent his frustrations with this season.Not because it had damaged the environment Earlier in the season, defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said DeCoud was in a slump and Nolan hoped that he'd pull out of it.On his verified Twitter account, @TwentyAte28, DeCoud wrote, "By no means am I sittin here acting like I'm balling' out there… but if you don't know those three things I state.. you really have no room talk…" He linked to what appeared to be a journal entry through Instagram that read: "I understand that someone has to be the lightning rod for everyone's frustration ... but if you don't know the huddle call....

 The rules of our defense... or our game plan…you have no clue what's goin' on out there... I don't care how much football you THINK you know...it's a lot more going on than you can fathom."DeCoud was known to appear in all of the open locker room sessions and was more than generous with his time, was selected as the Falcons' 2012 Good Guy Award winner by the local chapter of Professional Football Writers of America.
The articulate and affable DeCoud always gave thoughtful and helpful responses.The Good Guy Award is given to a player for his qualities and professional style in helping pro football writers do their jobs.DeCoud was apart of Dimitroff's first draft class in 2008. He was selected in the third round out of California.

Not because it had damaged the environment

 Citing "great inner city organizing against it" and an LA City Council-adopted resolution in support of a statewide fracking moratorium, Hayden sees increased prospects for moratorium legislation this year.Like nuclear fission power, fracking has a somewhat frightening sound to it. But after Brown blocked a huge pro-nuclear surge in the '70s, nuclear fission power in California declined not because of a serious deleterious impact on the environment but because it was inefficient. The San Onofre plant outside San Diego, where I once spoke at a huge anti nuclear rally in the early '80s, has finally been closed by the utility that owns it.

 Not because it had damaged the environment, as most of the rally speakers claimed it would, but because a history of problems with equipment, which caused it to be off line for much of the state's ballyhooed electric power crisis early in the last decade, finally made it more trouble than it was worth.If the oil and gas industry can get ahead of the curve on fracking by taking steps to make it clear the industry is confident in its technology and practices, and if Brown and other state leaders make sure the state is exercising clear oversight, fracking could have a promising future in California.

In the meantime, the future is back in California, with the state's people contemplating and debating things off in the distance, free from having to constantly worry about the state's chronic operating budget deficit.A study last month from the policy center Schwarzenegger started a year and a half ago, the USC Schwarzenegger Institute on State and Global Policy, released at a forum featuring MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, strongly suggested that political reform initiatives pushed by the former governor tamed the wild beast of "hyper partisanship" and created a more moderate and productive state legislature.The USC prof who conducted the study used floor votes on Chamber of Commerce priority bills to gauge this end of gridlock in California even as Congress was b"ing more gridlocked and polarized. The finding?

The new faces have to step up their game if they're going to catch up

Do not doubt RuPaul. The goddess has a plan. While I stand by my opinion that splitting the queens into two groups led to a lackluster first half of the sixth-season premiere, that decision pays off big time in "RuPaul's Big Opening: Part Two," which uses the events of last week's episode to turn up the pressure for a group of queens that is simply more memorable than what showed up last week. Nobody in part one was as shady as Bianca Del Rio, as fishy as Courtney Act, as ballsy as Milk, or as large as Darienne Lake. And there was definitely nobody that was a hotter mess than Magnolia Crawford, who is incredibly easy to hate thanks to her busted appearance and disastrous attitude. The personalities are bigger, the looks are bolder, and the noses are way thinner, making this episode a triumphant return to form for TV's best reality'petition.

"RuPaul's Big Opening: Part Two" begins by checking in with the queens from last week after Kelly Mantle's elimination, who walk into the workroom to discover a party set up to celebrate their safety. While everyone is drinking champagne and eating cupcakes, Gia scrawls "Beware Bitchez" in lipstick on the mirror, an ominous message that encapsulates why the two-group dynamic ends up working so well. Six of the contestants have already made it through the first challenge before this week's queens even debut, and one of them has already gone home. When tonight's group learns what happened last week, the stakes raise dramatically, because not only are they immediately reminded of how real the risk of elimination is, but they also now know that there are six queens that have a head start on them.

 The new faces have to step up their game if they're going to catch up, and that leads to a considerable increase in energy for the second part of the season premiere.The girls are having a great time celebrating victory and building sisterly bonds, but the party's over when Mama Ru'es down in her curlers, face mask, and pink bathrobe and orders her girls to go to bed because she's expecting'pany in the morning, Her first guest to arrive is Bianca Del Rio, 37,A lot of the show had that same 'wait, why? an insult'ic queen who immediately establishes herself as the person to beat this season, bringing a fiercely hilarious personality, beautifully polished clothes, and a wildly exaggerated paint job that emphasizes her huge expressions.

A lot of the show had that same 'wait, why?

and Italy's The Great Beauty took Best Foreign-Language Feature; these awards weren't exactly preordained, but neither did they really surprise anybody.I was more surprised when 20 Feet From Stardom took Best Documentary over The Act Of Killing. Yes, 20 Feet From Stardom is entertaining and bouncy, but The Act Of Killing is a work of art, and the Documentary category is one of the slots that's often able to reward genuinely exceptional filmmaking. Not this year, though … but 20 Feet's win did lead to the sight of Darlene Love belting out a gospel tune from the stage of the Dolby Theater, triggering the evening's first truly enthusiastic standing ovation.

Yeah, about the show itself. Ellen DeGeneres was a game host, her self-effacing manner nicely undercutting the enormous self-regard of the evening … but after the first 90 minutes, she was just another drag on the running time, fumbling through an undercooked bit about serving pizza to the hungry people in the front row and taking a selfie with her Samsung phone in the night's second most awkward piece of product placement. The first was the shameless pimping of The Wizard Of Oz – now available on Blu-ray in a restored 75th-anniversary edition, folks!  with Judy Garland's famous and less famous children being serenaded with a rendition of Over The Rainbow by Pink. Good song, good performance, entirely unnecessary to the evening.

A lot of the show had that same 'wait, why?" quality: the evening was organized around a theme of heroes that never quite gelled, but allowed for two lengthy montages of movies that somehow typified heroism – the first built around films based on true stories, the second on superheroes that found a way to include clips from Jaws, Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Back To The Future. Maybe the night's real hero was Steven Spielberg.It certainly wasn't Rob Ford, who spent the hours before the Oscars wandering around Hollywood Blvd. in the general vicinity of the Dolby Theater'plex, hoping people would recognize him and buying a cheap tuxedo for a cameo appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's post-Oscar show.Is this the first time in the entire evening we have heard someone refer to God and thank Him?

Tool Add More Dates to March 2014 Tour

If you're a Tool memorabilia collector, you might want to check out the band's contribution to Clive Barker's Kickstarter project for a hardcover art book. They donated some signed custom tour posters. Only one is left, and it can be yours for a pledge of $2200.The status of a new Tool album remains up in the air. The band is working on new music, but a timetable hasn't been set. Keenan stated in a recent interview that the creation of a Tool album was "a long process." He also added that he doesn't write the instrumentals and was waiting on his bandmates to bring their songs to him.Work has begun on a brand new Tool album, with frontman Maynard James Keenan recently describing the process as 'tedious', expressing his nuisance and having to wait for band members to pen music for new tracks.

"I don't write the music. They write the music," he told Rolling Stone in November 2013. "I wait for them to bring music to me. They tend to go back over and over stuff. It's a long process. For a person like me, it can be a very tedious process. In some ways, they are bigger perfectionists. But you can only help support their talent so long. They don't have to go through it 700 times. They can trust that first thought. But that's their process, so you gotta let them do it." And is that process happening? "I couldn't tell you."The band's new shows will place in Fresno, Las Vegas, San Diego, Austin, Houston and Phoenix. There are still no UK shows confirmed, but hopes are high the band will bring their show to our shores before the end of 2014. Tool's full 2014 dates are below. Additional dates are in bold.

The veteran Los Angeles alternative rock band, which this year celebrates its 24th anniversary, will perform March 16 at Valley View Casino Center. The four-man group, which has won three Grammy Awards, has previously headlined at such major festivals as San Diego Street Scene, Lollapalooza and Bonaroo.Alternative-rock sensations Tool, fronted by Arizona winemaker Maynard James Keenan, will bring their latest tour to US Airways Center on Thursday, March 27.Formed in 1990, Tool released a double-platinum debut called "Undertow" in 1993 but really hit their stride with 1996's triple-platinum "Aenima" and 2001's double-platinum "Lateralus." Their biggest rock-radio hits include "Sober," "Schism," "Parabola," "Vicarious," "The Pot" and "Jambi."

Into the Wild With a Tool Belt

The dead of winter may not seem like the liveliest time in the real estate business, but on television one segment of the new-construction market is booming: the cabin-in-the-woods market.On Tuesday night the National Geographic Channel serves up "Mennonite Made," about a Mennonite business in Salem, Mo., that makes custom-designed log cabins. It joins the channel's "Building Wild," a workplace reality series that began last month, about two guys who call themselves the Cabin Kings. Apparently being monarch of the forest is a thing, because Destination America has announced a series for next month, imported from Canada, called "Timber Kings." Trees everywhere are quaking in their boots, or roots.

Maybe it's a sign of economic recovery that television is showcasing cabin building, since these structures are often retreats rather than primary residences. Or maybe it's a sign of the opposite. Television has been marketing fantasy since "Queen for a Day," back in the 1950s. "Spend an hour indulging in the fiction that you, too, can afford a second home," these cabin shows may be saying to the income-stagnated among us. "Though, of course, you can't."In any case, "Mennonite Made" features a charming group of men who use old-fashioned construction methods — Lincoln Logs, the children's toy, may come to mind —NCAA recognizes Snapchat as'munication tool for recruiting to create a 1,600-square-foot cabin for a customer in Estes Park, Colo. The wrinkle is, Missouri and Colorado are about 1,000 miles apart. They first build the structure on their home ground, then dismantle it and truck the pieces to Colorado for reassembling. Since each hand-cut log is unique, that requires a detailed system of labeling; it's a 3-D jigsaw puzzle.

There has been quite a run of Amish-themed reality programming in the past few years, a lot of it not particularly complimentary. Mennonites are somewhat different in their beliefs from the Amish, including not being averse to using power equipment, and "Mennonite Made" shows these men in a respectful light. All of them are appealing on camera. Now that "Duck Dynasty" has lost its luster, there's an opening for personable bearded men of faith on TV. "Mennonite Made" is a one-shot special, but, by its end, you may find that you wouldn't mind seeing more of these fellows.

NCAA recognizes Snapchat as'munication tool for recruiting

Tool's first recorded material was as concise and to the point as the band's latter day repertoire would b'e expansive and lyrically opaque. This bruising banshee howl is the band at its most confrontational, a profane, three-minute kiss off from its 1992 EP "Opiate," where the group establishes the guiding principle of its career: These dudes are going to do what they want, when they want, and if that means turning antagonism into an art form, so be it.The NCAA has worked to keep up with the times when it'es to'munication,You've got to hire the best cast adjusting its policies based on the explosion of Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets. Now coaches will have a new tool to'municate with prospective student-athletes: Snapchat.

The photo messaging application allows users to take photos or videos and add text or drawing, then set an expiration for the message once it is opened. The service has been criticized in popular culture as a means to distribute explicit material, particularly for its part in the social phenomenon of sexting.The idea of coaches Snapchatting their way into a recruit's life may seem strange because of the app's reputation, but it is no different than any of the other social media tools currently being used for recruiting. Coaches send Facebook messages and direct messages on Twitter, along with Instagram posts and those archaic text messages.The NCAA will allow coaches to use Snapchat as a method of'munication for recruiting, categorizing it just like Twitter messages and Facebook posts.

Schools will be able to start using Snapchat for recruiting Aug. 1. It's not as if coaches haven't used social media as a tool for'municating with recruits, but Snapchat opens up another interesting Pandora's Box in its format - the photo messages sent via Snapchat are timed to expire once the message is opened by the recipient.Some websites are already having fun with the idea of college coaches using Snapchat to'munitcate with recruits.Intelligence officials investigating how Edward J. Snowden gained access to a huge trove of the country's most highly classified documents say they have determined that he used inexpensive and widely available software to "scrape" the National Security Agency's networks, and kept at it even after he was briefly challenged by agency officials.

You've got to hire the best cast

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Tremendous amount of crowd gathered for these amazing car races, cheer up the participants to the motivate and encourage them to give their best in the race. Some of the serious accidents do occur at times as well. There are so many race men that had lost their arms and legs and many that have died on the spot as well. The safety of the participants is taken care adequately in the form of safe aprons, helmet, goggles, and foot wear and so on.Still, when the accident is something like a literal collision or something of that sort, then it is always lethal for the participants. These sports men are some of the highly paid in the trade. The top racers mostly have most of their bodily parts in steel as they have undergone one type of surgery or the other during their course of life as a sport star.Informatica is something that you may have heard of before or maybe you are not aware of it. However, if you are not aware of it you are truly missing out on this great bit of knowledge that is essential. Informatica is a kind of software which allows the user to create a data warehouse in easy way. Informatica training brings a new and simple concept i.e. "Data Warehousing".Informatica training: What is Data Warehousing? The use of data warehousing for a business is an innovative way. It is useful for a business to lower their operating costs and raise the production rates.

We just weren't quick enough on the start today

For the second straight year in a row, the forward from St. Albert gave fans a reason to throw their teddy bears on the ice following a first period wrister from the left side that beat a sprawling Jacob Suppes in net."Shoot and close your eyes and hope it goes in. Two years in a row I guess I was lucky," said Lalot after the game.It wasn't all roses for the Barons though as the Storm retaliated with two second period goals to put the MOB's home winning streak on the line.After the team killed off a 5-on-3, Kevin Miller fed Houcher who carried the puck the length of the ice before dishing it across to Lalor who immediately deposited it into the net for his second of the night.With less than two minutes to go, Houcher took a feed from Lalor and walked through the MOB's defence unopposed before out waiting Suppes and scoring the game winning goal with a minute thirteen left on the clock. Fire officials recommended you have your chimney inspected every year.

Sony may be looking to take the relatively new field of wearable electronics in a slightly unexpected direction if a patent filed by the company is any indication. The patent isn't for a competing version of Google Glasses, nor on a watch so smart that it could join Mensa, but on the SmartWig. Scratching your head yet? Before you pull the rug out from under this concept, some of the possible applications are more useful than one might expect from a hi-tech hairpiece.Wearable electronics is a concept looking for killer applications. Currently, the largest sector for wearable electronics is in fitness and medical devices, often taking the form of bracelets or armbands. Smartwatches and computational glasses currently appear to be in second place, although they have not yet found their true purpose in the scheme of things either.No one, however, appears to have speculated about the vast potential and tremendous vistas that would be unlocked by hair with intelligence. The developers of Sony's SmartWig, Hiroaki Tobita and Takuya Kuzi, shared their thoughts on this issue in an essay last year:"There is a wide variety of wearable computing devices, such as computational glasses, clothes, shoes, and so on... However, most wearable devices have become neither common nor popular... We think one of the biggest reasons is the style... the focus has been [on] function, not style...

Habitat for Humanity Tool Trailer Stolen

Celeste Haidux Cox, executive director of the North Collin County Habitat for Humanity calls the theft a "huge hit," adding that the nonprofit doesn't keep a large reserve for tools.She adds that since the weekend, they've consulted with police about different security options to protect their property, some of which are currently going into place.For Duckett, however, the worry is if she'll be able to move into her home on time in April, though board members assure NBC 5 the mission is still to complete the home, despite any further setbacks.Almost 500 people turned out on Sunday for the second of four Michael Brown auctions, spending tens of thousands of dollars on cars, tools and restaurant equipment from the former hand surgeon's estate.Brown, 56, died in Miami this past November.

On sale Sunday at Webster's Auction Palace were 10 cars, restaurant equipment including commercial refrigerators, ice machines and a slushy machine and margarita maker.Notable sales included tool boxes that went for over a thousand dollars each. Two trailer-mounted electric generators fetched the most money, however, selling for more than $20,000 each.Michael Brown's estate is so large that the sale of his belongings was separated over four auctions.The sale planned for this Sunday features a huge collection of guns, ammunition and hunting trophies, including mounted animals and skins.Ninety-seven guns in total will be up for grabs including a commemorative Colt 1911, 45-caliber with ivory grips.

 Other highlights include hunting supplies, fishing tackle and poles and animal skins, some bears but also an elephant skin which auction staff are at a loss to value."It's whatever anyone wants to pay for something like that," said a Webster's Auction Palace spokesperson.Brown was found unresponsive in his upscale Florida condo on Oct. 24, one day before he was due to go to federal prison for 30 days for choking a flight attendant on an international flight.A suicide note was left on a nearby nightstand, according to Florida authorities.

New tool tracks sex offenders on college campuses

Florida State College is home to more than 60,000 students and 51 of those enrolled, are registered sex offenders. Students on campus are able to use a new tool to check the number of sexual offenders on campuses.Florida State College at Jacksonville is just one public college that has an open access program, which allows offenders to take any classes. College officials are discussing whether to keep the current policy or change it."We are really concerned about the safety and students but also about giving open access to all citizens who want an education and that's the mission of our college," acting FSCJ President, Doctor Judith Bilsky said.Students want to see change, too.

The sex offender crimes range from rape, kidnapping to possession of child porn. First Coast News took to the streets and knocked on some doors of registered sex offenders living in Duval County. Wilford Chason, 46, opened up saying he wanted a fresh start after spending 13 years behind bars for kidnapping. He says he wants to turn his life around working towards a degree in computer technology information."I want the school to do what's best for the community as a whole," Chason said.For the next three months school leaders and community members will decide on three options -- ban admission for registered sex offenders,Innovative motion evaluation tool saves patients with back pain X-ray radiation exposure no ban at all or enact a partial ban making offenders go through an interview process before enrollment.

The other possibilities may include stopping offenders from taking classes or to allow partial access, which would give them the ability to take online classes or go through an interview before attending a class. Switching e-mail providers isn't always an easy affair, especially if you want to hold onto your old e-mail messages. And if you want to switch from Gmail, Google's use of labels instead of folders can throw another wrench into importing your messages.In the past, moving your Gmail to Outlook.com required some manual steps and you'd lose your Gmail labels in the end. Now, Outlook.com has an import tool that walks you through importing your Gmail messages, and it even converts your Gmail labels to folders.

Innovative motion evaluation tool saves patients with back pain X-ray radiation exposure

Those have undergone extensive back surgery and need repeated X-rays to monitor their progress may soon have access to a new technology that skips the X-rays and repeated radiation exposure, opting instead for an innovative, noninvasive, non-X-ray device that evaluates spinal movement. The technology was created and patented by two engineering undergraduate students who recently formed their own company to market the device.The paper describing the technology appears in the current special issue of Technology and Innovation - Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors?, and was presented at the Second Annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors? hosted by the University of South Florida, last February 21-23, 2013.

"Surgical treatment is inevitable for some of the 80 percent of Americans who at some point in their lives suffer from back pain," said Kerri Killen of Versor, Inc. who, along with Samantha Music, developed the new technology while they were undergraduate students at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. "We developed an evaluation device that uses battery powered sensors to evaluate spinal motion in three-dimensions. It not only reduces the amount of X-ray testing patients undergo but also has the potential to save over $5 billion per year nationwide in health care costs."

According to co-developer Music, there are 600,000 spinal surgeries every year in the U.S. with an annual exposure of 2,250 mrem of radioactivity per patient before and after surgery. The "electrogoniometer" they developed can be used by surgeons prior to patient surgery and after surgery and also used by physical therapists to further evaluate the progression of a patient's surgery. The technology can also be used in other orthopedic specialties to reduce both costs and eliminate X-ray exposure."The electrogoniometer contains three rotary potentiometers, which are three-terminal resistors with a sliding contact that forms a voltage divider to control electrical devices, such as a rheostat. Each potentiometer measures one of the three spinal movements," explains Music. "It also contains a transducer—a device that converts a signal in one form to energy of another form—to measure the linear displacement of the spine when it curves while bending."

Open source educational tools for 2014

The company also recently added broad matching of keyword targeting, to improve the ability to reach users based on keywords employed in conversations "by automatically expanding their targeted keywords to include related terms."Last year was a big year of open source learning for me. I had the pleasure of meeting a bunch of awesome people in the open source field, attending my first OSCon, and being a Community Moderator here on Opensource.com. I learned more than I can say last year, especially in education. Here, I'll share with you some my favorite and super interesting open source educational tools for teachers, students, parents,A Tool Consumers Need and others to use in 2014.

My number one educational tool is WordPress. I know, you thought I was going to say Moodle which is also awesome, but WordPress is a tool I use everyday to educate others. WordPress powers my personal and work websites, where I write about topics that help my colleagues around the world learn about open source software. It's often important to remember that just because a tool isn't marketed for a specific purpose doesn't mean it won't be the right one for what you're trying to accomplish.One of the things I use my WordPress sites for is sharing tutorial videos. Last year, I learned about Kazam, another option for this and an open source screencasting application for Ubuntu, so this tool falls under my Must Try in 2014 list. I want to find out how it works in comparison with other tools I've used in the past like RecordMyDesktop and Camstudio.

Right before the end of the year, I met with the local EdTech Women's chapter and talked with some local educators about the tools they use in their schools. I was delighted to learn that Scratch and Alice both of which I learned about at OSCon are a big hit with the kids. Any tool that gets children learning about computer programming at an early age is a tool to get on board with as soon as possible.When it comes to molding the next generation of open source developers, sometimes all it takes is introducing them to open source tools. Then, it's all down hill from there. Jon Roberts of the Davis School District in Utah spoke at OSCon about how he uses open source in his classroom every day.