Emily Grady cautions Grady Christmas Tree Farm-goers that their eyes
might be bigger than their living rooms when it comes to holiday
decoration.
"The tree never looks quite as big out in the field
as it does when you get it indoors," Grady said. "I spent one
Christmas with the top of my tree scrunched against the ceiling. The
other, the tree was so big I just had to cut it off."
Grady recommends shoppers look at a tree in relation to their own height before chopping down a monster.
"For
most people who want a 6- to 6 1/2-foot tree, remember that it won't
be that much taller than you are," Grady said. "If it's just a hand on
top of your head taller than you are, you're very close to having a
6-foot tree."
In addition to having the right size tree for
your home, make sure the tree stand is the right size, too, to keep
your holiday season from going downhill.
Blank's Ever-Green Acres owner Jan Blank remembers when a customer brought a tree back to the farm.
"They didn't have a big enough stand or the right stand, and it stood up crooked," Blank said "Then it fell over."
Blank
said having the right stand can make a big difference in your tree's
success in the home, as well as choosing a balanced and straight tree
from the lot.
"You get to see the way it stands in the field, and it should stand the same way in your house," Blank said.
Those
who opt for live trees might find themselves sniffling mid-carol or
sneezing in their eggnog. Molds or pollens on the tree can agitate
allergies for some.
Chris and Jodi White of Germantown Hills
took their two youngest sons to Schaer's Country Market to cut down a
Christmas tree for the first time in 10 years last weekend.
Their
oldest son had allergic reactions to live trees in the past, but now
that he's moved out, they were ready to rekindle the family tradition.
"We just had artificial for all these years," Chris White said. "We missed cleaning that mess up every year."
Tree
shaking, a service offered at many you-cut lots in the area, can help
shake dead or loose needles from the tree to limit the number that fall
to your living room floor.
"People that want a fresh tree, they know they do get a bit more work," said Gary Schaer, owner of Schaer's Country Market.
Schaer
recommends a Fraser Fir for anyone worried about mess because they're
known for their needle retention. For anyone looking for a fragrant
tree, he recommends a Balsam Fir.
The Lady Bird Lake boardwalk
would become something of a Texas music walk of fame under a public art
proposal, with snippets of lyrics from iconic singers and songwriters
along the boardwalk’s railings.
Sculptor Ken Little, who is
also a guitarist in a couple of small-time bands in San Antonio,
envisions a series of 36 bronze belts — cast from actual leather,Find
detailed product information for Low price howo tipper
truck and other products. alligator and canvas waist wear — that would
have short phrases drawn from the repertoire of the state’s leading
singers.
Little’s conceptual rendering, for instance, includes
this: “Me upon my pony, on my boat,” from Lyle Lovett. And from Willie
Nelson: “Crazy for cryin’ Crazy for tryin’ ”
Little foresees
belts with phrases from, among others, Townes Van Zandt, Freddy Fender,
Lightnin’ Hopkins, Tish Hinojosa, Marcia Ball,Find detailed product
information for howo spare parts and other products. Bob Wills, the Dixie Chicks and, naturally, Gary P. Nunn.
“Home with the armadillo,” Nunn’s belt would say.
The
1.25-mile boardwalk will connect a gap in the Butler Hike and Bike
Trail along the south side of the lake. Construction began last month,
with an expected completion date of spring 2014.
The art piece,
called “Belting it out,” would have the bronze molds of belts, each
about 48 inches long and one to two inches wide, bolted to the railings
on both sides every hundred yards or so.
“The idea was to basically use haikus out of the songs, short phrases that would bring those songs to mind,Quickparts builds injection molds
using aluminum or steel to meet your program.” Little said Monday
night before presenting his design to the city’s Art in Public Places
Panel. “It’s using people’s imagination to create the artwork.”
That
panel unanimously approved his concept, and it will go on to the
city’s Arts Commission for what officials say would be a final OK.
Little,
who has yet to approach the musicians for the rights to use their
work, hopes to pay something along the lines of $150 for each piece. An
Amarillo native, Little, 65, teaches art at the University of Texas at
San Antonio. He created a piece of public art in Austin, a series of
picket fences in the shape of the United States called “Homeland
Security,” which was installed in 2008-09 in Butler Park near the lake.
Little’s concept is the first to emerge from the Art Guys, a
team of five artists that the Austin City Council in March voted to pay
$264,Our technology gives rtls
systems developers the ability.000 to design, execute and install
public art on the $21.7 million boardwalk trail. Jean Graham, who is
managing the public art part of the project for the city, said the
other artists are still working on their proposals.
The project
— which begins east of Congress Avenue and goes to International
Shores Park along South Lakeshore Boulevard east of Interstate 35 —
includes both low concrete bridges over the water and, in a few
sections,The term 'hands free access
control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a
pocket or handbag. on-land trail. Voters in 2010 approved $14.4 million
for the project as part of a $90 million transportation bond issue.
The balance of the money for the project is coming from the Trail
Foundation, which donated $3 million, and from other other city funds.
2012年12月5日 星期三
2012年11月18日 星期日
Hack attack a costly lesson for ba
The recent credit card breach involving PayGate, a local payment
service provider, has exposed a weakness in the national payment system
that the regulator, the banks and service providers are fixing, fast.
The international syndicate responsible for the hack may have accessed the card details of hundreds of thousands of users. But the banks say there’s no need to panic: they are covering any losses you incur from fraud related to this incident – and if you’re at risk, your bank is monitoring your credit card account.
The Payments Association of South Africa (Pasa), the body responsible for regulating the national payment system, is checking the compliance of about 50 operators that facilitate payments from your bank account to a retailer’s bank account when you shop online.
Walter Volker, the chief executive of Pasa, says one of the “major lessons learned” is that there’s a need for a better way of checking the compliance of operators such as PayGate, which fell victim to a hacker’s attack.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.
“Unfortunately,Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, in this case PayGate was acquired by four of the major banks and it seems that each assumed that compliance was taken care of. This is one of the major lessons learned. We need a more formalised, explicit way of checking compliance.
“We have a set of criteria that covers a number of things, but the plan is to extend that list to ensure adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).”
The PCI-DSS is a security standard for the payment card industry.
Volker says while there is a weakness in regulating operators, ultimately “the risk is with the banks. And we expect our banks to comply with PCI-DSS.”
He says Pasa is in the process of reviewing Pasa-registered operators that are card-enabled, to determine how many are PCI-DSS-compliant. He says once this is done, those operators that aren’t yet compliant will be given a deadline to comply.
PayGate is not yet fully compliant with PCI-DSS, and the hack occurred three months before the company was due to be audited, Peter Harvey, managing director of PayGate, says.
Harvey says PayGate reported its compliance status to the major banks on a regular basis, and in 14 years the company has never had an incident.
“We’re optimistic we caught it quickly and locked it down 100 percent,” he says. The breach was by way of hidden files found on PayGate’s server, which has subsequently been replaced. Since the breach, PayGate has had two PCI-DSS companies run scans on the system and has passed both, he says.
If you’re one of the “hundreds of thousands” of customers whose credit card details were on the database that was compromised, you won’t necessarily be notified of this by your bank.An indoor positioning system (IPS) is a term used for a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building.
Pasa has given the individual banks the discretion to decide whether to contact you with a view to replacing cards that might have been exposed,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. or rather placing your cards on a “heightened level of monitoring”.
Last week, Pasa issued a media release that broke the news of the security breach, which, Harvey says, took place in August. He says the banks and the card associations were notified at the time.
This week, the message from the banks was unanimous: there is no need to panic; the number of incidents is “limited”.
None of the banks is willing to divulge how many of their customers have been victims of credit card fraud as a result of the breach, and nor will they disclose the extent of their losses.
Johan Maree, chief executive of First National Bank’s credit card division, says disclosing such information will only “create unnecessary panic”.
“It’s not that we’re withholding information, but it would create panic if we were to alert every customer on that list,” he says.
The banks are not seeking to hide anything from customers, he says, but they have to exercise discretion because an investigation is under way.Thank you for visiting! I have been cry stalmosaic since 1998.
The commercial crime unit is investigating the incident.
Maree says the incident has presented “massive learnings” for the banking industry and highlighted the need for tighter regulations in the payment system.
“There will definitely be some changes and a tightening of regulations,” Maree says. “We have to close the gaps. As an industry, we can’t let this happen again.”
In response to online news reports, some customers have said their banks ought to have notified them about the breach sooner, and at least one lawyer has said that Pasa and the banks are fortunate that the Protection of Personal Information Bill (POPI) is not yet law.
An “operator” (such as PayGate) or a “responsible party” (such as your bank) can face fines of up to R10 million or up to 10 years in jail for failing to comply with the POPI law.
Although Absa elected to contact all of its customers whose details were on the list of credit card users affected by the breach, Arrie Rautenbach, head of retail markets at Absa, says a statement notifying customers in general would be “highly irresponsible” in the circumstances. “Mass communication to all customers would have been counter-productive, as this would have exposed more customers to opportunistic fraud attempts, causing concern for the large percentage of customers who were not affected,” he says.
The international syndicate responsible for the hack may have accessed the card details of hundreds of thousands of users. But the banks say there’s no need to panic: they are covering any losses you incur from fraud related to this incident – and if you’re at risk, your bank is monitoring your credit card account.
The Payments Association of South Africa (Pasa), the body responsible for regulating the national payment system, is checking the compliance of about 50 operators that facilitate payments from your bank account to a retailer’s bank account when you shop online.
Walter Volker, the chief executive of Pasa, says one of the “major lessons learned” is that there’s a need for a better way of checking the compliance of operators such as PayGate, which fell victim to a hacker’s attack.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.
“Unfortunately,Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, in this case PayGate was acquired by four of the major banks and it seems that each assumed that compliance was taken care of. This is one of the major lessons learned. We need a more formalised, explicit way of checking compliance.
“We have a set of criteria that covers a number of things, but the plan is to extend that list to ensure adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).”
The PCI-DSS is a security standard for the payment card industry.
Volker says while there is a weakness in regulating operators, ultimately “the risk is with the banks. And we expect our banks to comply with PCI-DSS.”
He says Pasa is in the process of reviewing Pasa-registered operators that are card-enabled, to determine how many are PCI-DSS-compliant. He says once this is done, those operators that aren’t yet compliant will be given a deadline to comply.
PayGate is not yet fully compliant with PCI-DSS, and the hack occurred three months before the company was due to be audited, Peter Harvey, managing director of PayGate, says.
Harvey says PayGate reported its compliance status to the major banks on a regular basis, and in 14 years the company has never had an incident.
“We’re optimistic we caught it quickly and locked it down 100 percent,” he says. The breach was by way of hidden files found on PayGate’s server, which has subsequently been replaced. Since the breach, PayGate has had two PCI-DSS companies run scans on the system and has passed both, he says.
If you’re one of the “hundreds of thousands” of customers whose credit card details were on the database that was compromised, you won’t necessarily be notified of this by your bank.An indoor positioning system (IPS) is a term used for a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building.
Pasa has given the individual banks the discretion to decide whether to contact you with a view to replacing cards that might have been exposed,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. or rather placing your cards on a “heightened level of monitoring”.
Last week, Pasa issued a media release that broke the news of the security breach, which, Harvey says, took place in August. He says the banks and the card associations were notified at the time.
This week, the message from the banks was unanimous: there is no need to panic; the number of incidents is “limited”.
None of the banks is willing to divulge how many of their customers have been victims of credit card fraud as a result of the breach, and nor will they disclose the extent of their losses.
Johan Maree, chief executive of First National Bank’s credit card division, says disclosing such information will only “create unnecessary panic”.
“It’s not that we’re withholding information, but it would create panic if we were to alert every customer on that list,” he says.
The banks are not seeking to hide anything from customers, he says, but they have to exercise discretion because an investigation is under way.Thank you for visiting! I have been cry stalmosaic since 1998.
The commercial crime unit is investigating the incident.
Maree says the incident has presented “massive learnings” for the banking industry and highlighted the need for tighter regulations in the payment system.
“There will definitely be some changes and a tightening of regulations,” Maree says. “We have to close the gaps. As an industry, we can’t let this happen again.”
In response to online news reports, some customers have said their banks ought to have notified them about the breach sooner, and at least one lawyer has said that Pasa and the banks are fortunate that the Protection of Personal Information Bill (POPI) is not yet law.
An “operator” (such as PayGate) or a “responsible party” (such as your bank) can face fines of up to R10 million or up to 10 years in jail for failing to comply with the POPI law.
Although Absa elected to contact all of its customers whose details were on the list of credit card users affected by the breach, Arrie Rautenbach, head of retail markets at Absa, says a statement notifying customers in general would be “highly irresponsible” in the circumstances. “Mass communication to all customers would have been counter-productive, as this would have exposed more customers to opportunistic fraud attempts, causing concern for the large percentage of customers who were not affected,” he says.
2012年10月29日 星期一
World's first super-wide-angle 3D laser radar
Ultrasonic wave sensors are already in commercial use in systems that
support vehicle parking, for example, to assist drivers when the car is
backing into a parking space. However, the detection range is narrow,
and multiple sensors were required to widen the area of visibility
around a car. By developing a scanning angle expansion lens for the
laser beam and a high speed, multipoint laser scanning system for
detecting a wide range at high speeds, Fujitsu Laboratories has now
roughly doubled the detection range compared to previous sensors to
approximately 140 degrees, both horizontally and vertically.
As a result, objects can be detected in three dimensions over a wide range with fewer sensors and a sophisticated vehicle backing support system can be created. Moreover, in contrast to vehicle-mounted cameras, which simply display a vehicle's surroundings, the technology enables systems that detect when objects are abnormally close. It also provides warnings to drivers when backing up a vehicle, which is when accidents are more likely to occur, or when backing into a parking space, which is difficult for many drivers. It is hoped, therefore, that this technology can contribute to safer and more secure driving.Find detailed product information for Sinotruk howo truck.
In Europe and the US,Allows you to securely organize any group of cable ties or wires. it is typical to park nose-first in a parking space and reverse to pull out. When backing out,The stone mosaic comes in shiny polished and matte. however, if the driver is careless and makes an oversight, accidents causing serious physical injuries can result. The frequency of such accidents involving tragic injuries to family members is especially high. In the US, this led to the implementation of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act. In Japan, on the other hand, it is typical to reverse into a parking spot, an uncomfortable maneuver for inexperienced drivers. These are reasons why various parking assist systems have come into commercial use, primarily involving the use of rear-mounted cameras.
When a driver is backing up, a rear-mounted camera is only able to display the vehicle's surroundings. If the driver is not paying attention to the display monitor, there is no way to sound an alarm. There are also systems that use ultrasonic wave sensors to measure the distance to surrounding objects, but the range of these measurements is limited and their accuracy is not sufficient, resulting in many false detections or over detections, so they were unable to provide sufficiently effective warnings. Laser radars, on the other hand, are able to measure relatively longer distances with a high degree of accuracy, and they can be used to measure the location of vehicles. The breadth of their detection is relatively narrow, however, at no more than 60 degrees,Gardner Bender offers a broad range of cableties, so multiple sensors are required in order to detect objects surrounding the vehicle in three dimensions over a wide range. It has, therefore, been difficult to measure a broad range of objects with a high degree of accuracy using only a few sensors.
This technology enables 3D ranging of a vehicle's surroundings across a wide area, including from behind, using a minimum number of sensors. It could also be used to layer distance information from the laser radar on video camera images to build a vehicle backing support system with advanced features. Moreover, the technology enables the creation of systems that detect when objects are abnormally close. In this case it provides warnings when the driver is backing up a vehicle, which is when accidents often occur, or when backing into a parking space, which is difficult for many drivers. It is hoped, therefore, that this technology can contribute to safer and more secure driving.China plastic moulds manufacturers directory.
As a result, objects can be detected in three dimensions over a wide range with fewer sensors and a sophisticated vehicle backing support system can be created. Moreover, in contrast to vehicle-mounted cameras, which simply display a vehicle's surroundings, the technology enables systems that detect when objects are abnormally close. It also provides warnings to drivers when backing up a vehicle, which is when accidents are more likely to occur, or when backing into a parking space, which is difficult for many drivers. It is hoped, therefore, that this technology can contribute to safer and more secure driving.Find detailed product information for Sinotruk howo truck.
In Europe and the US,Allows you to securely organize any group of cable ties or wires. it is typical to park nose-first in a parking space and reverse to pull out. When backing out,The stone mosaic comes in shiny polished and matte. however, if the driver is careless and makes an oversight, accidents causing serious physical injuries can result. The frequency of such accidents involving tragic injuries to family members is especially high. In the US, this led to the implementation of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act. In Japan, on the other hand, it is typical to reverse into a parking spot, an uncomfortable maneuver for inexperienced drivers. These are reasons why various parking assist systems have come into commercial use, primarily involving the use of rear-mounted cameras.
When a driver is backing up, a rear-mounted camera is only able to display the vehicle's surroundings. If the driver is not paying attention to the display monitor, there is no way to sound an alarm. There are also systems that use ultrasonic wave sensors to measure the distance to surrounding objects, but the range of these measurements is limited and their accuracy is not sufficient, resulting in many false detections or over detections, so they were unable to provide sufficiently effective warnings. Laser radars, on the other hand, are able to measure relatively longer distances with a high degree of accuracy, and they can be used to measure the location of vehicles. The breadth of their detection is relatively narrow, however, at no more than 60 degrees,Gardner Bender offers a broad range of cableties, so multiple sensors are required in order to detect objects surrounding the vehicle in three dimensions over a wide range. It has, therefore, been difficult to measure a broad range of objects with a high degree of accuracy using only a few sensors.
This technology enables 3D ranging of a vehicle's surroundings across a wide area, including from behind, using a minimum number of sensors. It could also be used to layer distance information from the laser radar on video camera images to build a vehicle backing support system with advanced features. Moreover, the technology enables the creation of systems that detect when objects are abnormally close. In this case it provides warnings when the driver is backing up a vehicle, which is when accidents often occur, or when backing into a parking space, which is difficult for many drivers. It is hoped, therefore, that this technology can contribute to safer and more secure driving.China plastic moulds manufacturers directory.
2011年7月6日 星期三
Jilted woman stabbed, shot and beat millionaire to death
Onetime pilot Catherine Marie Pileggi, apparently enraged by a potential breakup with a self-made Fort Lauderdale multimillionaire and also blaming him for the death of a sister during a vacation years earlier, took brutal revenge, investigators say.
Pileggi is accused of shooting Ronald C. Vinci in the head, stabbing him in the chest, slitting his throat, wrapping him in bedding and plastic bags – and then plotted to drop his body in the ocean. She was held without bond Wednesday.
“This is a brutal, brutal murder," police spokesman Detective Travis Mandell said. "I can’t imagine someone else doing this to another human being."
According to the arrest affidavit, Pileggi told one of Vinci’s friends: “I messed him up bad.’’
The admission was made to Spencer Gordon, who discovered the body at a mansion the couple shared in the upscale Tarpon River neighborhood, according to the arrest affidavit released by Fort Lauderdale police. Gordon had been called by the couple’s handyman the morning of June 28.
Vinci, 70, whose riches came from successful car dealerships, had and on-and-off relationship with Pileggi, 54, for two decades. The dead rich man is now a central figure in a bizarre family drama that also involves his lover’s late sister, Angela Pileggi Silverstein. She died suddenly at the age of 45, possibly from a drug overdose, while on a Caribbean cruise with the couple in December 2009.
Eight months earlier, Silverstein herself was a witness in another mysterious murder case, that of record producer Phil Spector, who was convicted that year of killing an actress in his California home.
In April 2009, Silverstein testified against a third Pileggi sister, Melissa Grosvenor, who claimed she had had a relationship with Spector. Grosvenor testified at trial that the eccentric producer had once threatened her with a gun, a charge that Silverstein, with a flourish, discredited on the witness stand, painting her sister as a fame-seeker.
“She was bragging about going on Court TV!” Silverstein said in court about her estranged sister. Spector is serving 19 years in prison for the death of the actress, Lana Clarkson.
Now it’s Catherine Pileggi who faces murder charges.
Vinci had made millions with a string of Honda dealerships in Southern California before moving to Fort Lauderdale.
Pileggi’s family said the pair met through their shared love of flying.
But after 20 years, Vinci apparently was ready to move on. According to the police report, “it was revealed through witness statements that Mr. Vinci had attempted to end his live-in relationship with Ms. Pileggi with negative results.’’
Pileggi responded by going to another Vinci home, on Nurmi Drive, on June 24, where she got two of his guns, and returned to the Tarpon Bend home, according to an arrest affidavit.
Neighbors in their Fort Lauderdale neighborhood said they heard a pop on June 27. The next day, police cars arrived on their street.
According to the arrest affidavit, Peliggi killed Vinci, called the couple’s handyman, Reynaldo Silva, on June 28 and claimed that her partner died from a fall in their recently-purchased $2.9 million mansion.
She explained that Vinci wanted to be buried at sea and asked Silva to help her hoist the body inside a large blue container then transport it to Vinci’s boat and take it out to be dumped in the Atlantic.
Pileggi is accused of shooting Ronald C. Vinci in the head, stabbing him in the chest, slitting his throat, wrapping him in bedding and plastic bags – and then plotted to drop his body in the ocean. She was held without bond Wednesday.
“This is a brutal, brutal murder," police spokesman Detective Travis Mandell said. "I can’t imagine someone else doing this to another human being."
According to the arrest affidavit, Pileggi told one of Vinci’s friends: “I messed him up bad.’’
The admission was made to Spencer Gordon, who discovered the body at a mansion the couple shared in the upscale Tarpon River neighborhood, according to the arrest affidavit released by Fort Lauderdale police. Gordon had been called by the couple’s handyman the morning of June 28.
Vinci, 70, whose riches came from successful car dealerships, had and on-and-off relationship with Pileggi, 54, for two decades. The dead rich man is now a central figure in a bizarre family drama that also involves his lover’s late sister, Angela Pileggi Silverstein. She died suddenly at the age of 45, possibly from a drug overdose, while on a Caribbean cruise with the couple in December 2009.
Eight months earlier, Silverstein herself was a witness in another mysterious murder case, that of record producer Phil Spector, who was convicted that year of killing an actress in his California home.
In April 2009, Silverstein testified against a third Pileggi sister, Melissa Grosvenor, who claimed she had had a relationship with Spector. Grosvenor testified at trial that the eccentric producer had once threatened her with a gun, a charge that Silverstein, with a flourish, discredited on the witness stand, painting her sister as a fame-seeker.
“She was bragging about going on Court TV!” Silverstein said in court about her estranged sister. Spector is serving 19 years in prison for the death of the actress, Lana Clarkson.
Now it’s Catherine Pileggi who faces murder charges.
Vinci had made millions with a string of Honda dealerships in Southern California before moving to Fort Lauderdale.
Pileggi’s family said the pair met through their shared love of flying.
But after 20 years, Vinci apparently was ready to move on. According to the police report, “it was revealed through witness statements that Mr. Vinci had attempted to end his live-in relationship with Ms. Pileggi with negative results.’’
Pileggi responded by going to another Vinci home, on Nurmi Drive, on June 24, where she got two of his guns, and returned to the Tarpon Bend home, according to an arrest affidavit.
Neighbors in their Fort Lauderdale neighborhood said they heard a pop on June 27. The next day, police cars arrived on their street.
According to the arrest affidavit, Peliggi killed Vinci, called the couple’s handyman, Reynaldo Silva, on June 28 and claimed that her partner died from a fall in their recently-purchased $2.9 million mansion.
She explained that Vinci wanted to be buried at sea and asked Silva to help her hoist the body inside a large blue container then transport it to Vinci’s boat and take it out to be dumped in the Atlantic.
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