Making bank: Lee Banks is a heavy favorite to cash in at the 2009 NPC Nationals and earn his pro card
Saturday, October 31st, 2009Flex, Dec, 2009 by Dave Lee
AMATEUR TRAINING PROFILE
BANK’S STATS
Birthdate September 26, 1971
Height 5’8″
Weight 220 pounds (contest); 250 pounds (offseason)
Birthplace Jacksonville, Florida
Current residence Jacksonville, Florida
Career highlights 2009 NPC USA Bodybuilding Championships (heavyweight, 2nd); 2008 IFBB North American Bodybuilding Championships (heavyweight, 2nd); 2007 NPC All South Bodybuilding Championships (heavyweight and overall winner); 2004 NPC All South Bodybuilding Championships (light-heavyweight and overall winner)
Lee Banks is tired. He’s tired of being on the outside looking in. And he’s prepared to do something about it. At the 2009 NPC USA in July, after battling on the national-level stage for the past four years, Banks emerged bigger and harder with all the intricate detail one would expect from a top-flight amateur on the cusp of turning pro. His size, proportion and shape–all held together by crisp condition–had many in attendance agreeing that this was the best Banks they had ever seen, and surely a physique worthy of front-runner status in the highly competitive heavyweight class. It seemed that his time had finally arrived. Or had it?
Banks started his career at the relatively late age of 30, placing second in the light-heavyweight class at the 2002 All-Star Classic in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. In 2004, he won the light-heavyweight and overall titles at the NPC All South Championships (where he would return in 2007 to win the heavyweight and overall) and he finished sixth in the light-heavyweight class at the 2005 NPC Nationals–his first national-level show.
In 2007, Banks started his string of close-but-not-quite-close-enough finishes in national-level contests, placing third at the online banking software Nationals, third at the 2008 USA and second at the 2008 IFBB North Americans–all in the heavy class
diary of a diet; If you want to make dieting easy, there’s only one solution – get someone to make and deliver all your meals every day
Saturday, October 31st, 20090 Comments | Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales), Oct 27, 2009
HOME delivery diets are fast becoming the smart dieter’s choice. Why? Because there’s no counting calories, no planning, and no fuss – just simple, good food that’s freshly prepared, nutritionally balanced and dropped right at your door.
Ask any woman what her biggest diet stumbling block is and she’ll probably say lack of will power. Now there’s a range of convenient and affordable home delivery diets which promise to make losing weight easy. But is it really that easy to have three calorie-counted, portion-controlled meals delivered to your door? I asked a few desperate dieters to put them to the test.
pure package The Pure Package is a bespoke, daily food delivery service, catering for everyone from celebs (devotees include Patsy Kensit and Ruby Wax) to post-op patients.
It costs from pounds 29.95 per day. See www.purepackage.com or call 0845 6 123 888 for more information.
Anna Smith, 27, tried the Pure Package: “Every morning’s like Christmas on this plan. Restaurant-quality food included ostrich and quail eggs. The gluten-free banana and date cake was my favourite. Portions were big enough but I did end up snacking. After only one week though, several people said I looked slimmer.”
bodychef With a choice of four different plans, including Vegetarian, Skinny B (modelled on the best selling Skinny Bitch book which Victoria Beckham was once spotted reading), Premiere and Lower GI, you’ll find freshly cooked and varied meals, all made with natural ingredients and delivered in twice weekly batches. Bodychef plans cost from pounds 46.50 per week.
See www.bodychef.co.uk or call 01502 513 644 for more information.
Claire Spreadbury, 28, tried Bodychef Vegetarian: “I was very impressed!
Some people might not like having their food dictated to them, but I loved it. My life can be really hectic so it was lovely to have all my food decisions already made, and my fridge stocked with all the right things. “I didn’t lose much weight on the trial but if you eat a lot of bad foods or have trouble with portion control, this will definitely suit you.”
Jenny Eastwood, 29, tried Bodychef Lower GI: “Typical meals included muesli with yoghurt or fruit salad for breakfast, followed by a wholemeal pitta with tuna for lunch and barbecued chicken for dinner. “I still got cravings for chocolate and wine though, which got me in the end, but it did teach me that my portion sizes are too large, helped me lose a few pounds, and it’s given me a real kick start so I can manage my diet myself from now on.”
Xenia Gregoriadis, 33, tried Bodychef Skinny B: “The meat, wheat and dairy-free meals including vegetable curry, chick pea salad and cashew nut pilaf were fresh, delicious, filling and nutritious.
It felt like a good detox, and definitely a good one for losing weight fast. “I thought I’d love not having to cook and it was nice for a while, but in the end I couldn’t wait to get back to my familiar food routine.”
diet chef Diet Chef is a more affordable option.
Delivered in bulk, food is freshly cooked but vacuum packed to preserve freshness. You will need to buy fruit and veg to go with the low carb diet tips main meals, which are high protein and low carbohydrate.
Diet Chef costs from pounds 47.50 per week
Four favorite Excel tips.(WORKING MAC)
Saturday, October 31st, 2009Macworld, November, 2009 by Zardetto, Sharon
You’re using Microsoft Excel 2008 (***; macworld.com/3347) or 2004, and you need get your love back some tricks up your sleeve for easing day-to-day tasks. Luckily, I have some for you.
1. Customize Sort Orders
When it comes to sorting data, Excel provides several standard sort options for numbers, dates, text, and so on. But sometimes you need something beyond the built-in choices. For instance, you may prefer to organize your expenditures by season, with summer listed first, instead of the alphabetical fall, spring, summer, winter. You can do this by creating a custom sort list.
Enter the items in contiguous cells in the order you want, and select those cells. Choose Excel * Preferences and go to Custom Lists; click Import and then click OK
Gocompare.com deploys Autonomy Optimost’s Multivariable Testing solution
Friday, October 30th, 2009Telecomworldwire, Oct 19, 2009
TELECOMWORLDWIRE-19 October 2009-Gocompare.com deploys Autonomy Optimost’s Multivariable Testing solution(C)1994-2009 M2 COMMUNICATIONS http://www.m2.com
Infrastructure software provider Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU) announced today that Gocompare.com, a comparison website, has deployed Autonomy Optimost’s Multivariable Testing (MVT) solution to increase the number new jersey auto insurance quotes of visitors to its car insurance page.
The Autonomy Optimost solution varies the content that new visitors to a website can see and then identifies which design has the most visitors. Gocompare.com reportedly saw a significant increase in the click-through rate to its car insurance page after running the Optimost solution.
Autonomy said its Optimost solution creates, tests and optimises virtually limitless combinations of web copy, offers and layouts that the customer can view in one visit, including marketing elements such as landing pages, registration pages, shopping carts, credit card pages, banner ads, e-mail creatives, web applications and the content type within them.
((Comments on this story may be sent to tww.feedback@m2.com))
George F. Will: Dose of realism in a drug war
Friday, October 30th, 20090 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 29, 2009 | by George F Will
DURING HIS immersion in his new job, Gil Kerlikowske attended a focus group of 7-year-old girls and was mystified by their talk about “farm parties.” Then he realized they meant “pharm parties” — sampling pharmaceuticals from their parents’ medicine cabinets. What he learned — besides that young humans have less native sense than young dachshunds have — is that his job has wrinkles unanticipated when he became director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
“People,” he says, “want a different conversation” about drug policies. With his first report to the president early next year, he could increase the quotient of realism.
Law enforcement has a “can do culture” but it also instructs its practitioners about what cannot be done, at least by law enforcement alone. Kerlikowske, who was top cop thermage in Buffalo and then Seattle, knows that officers sweeping drug users from cities’ streets feel as though they are “regurgitating perps through the system.”
He dryly notes that “not many people think the drug war is a success.” Furthermore, the recession’s toll on state budgets has concentrated minds on the costs of drug offense incarcerations — costs that in some states are larger than expenditures on secondary education. Fortunately, the first drug courts were established two decades ago and today there are 2,300 nationwide, pointing drug policy away from punishment and toward treatment.
Kerlikowske is familiar with Portugal’s experience since 2001 with decriminalization of all drugs, including heroin and cocaine. Nature made Kerlikowske laconic and experience has made him prudent, so he steers clear of the “L” word, legalization, even regarding marijuana.
Asked if he thinks that is a “gateway” drug leading to worse substances, he answers obliquely: “You don’t find many heroin users who didn’t start with marijuana.” And he warns that more intense cultivation of marijuana is yielding a product with notably high THC content — the potent ingredient.
In 1998, the United Nations, with its penchant for empty grandstanding, committed its members to “eliminating or significantly reducing” opium, cocaine and marijuana production by 2008, en route to a “drug-free world.” Nowadays the U.N. is pleased that the drug trade has “stabilized.”
The Economist magazine says this means that more than 200 million people — almost 5 percent of the world’s adult population — take illegal drugs, the same proportion as a decade ago. The annual U.S. bill for attempting to diminish the supply of drugs is $40 billion. Of the 1.5 million Americans arrested each year on drug offenses, half a million are incarcerated
Get Out: Get your make on at the Maker Faire in San Mateo
Friday, October 30th, 20090 Comments | Oakland Tribune, May 28, 2009 | by Anonymous
Maker Faire at the San Mateo County Expo Center is the world’s largest do-it-yourself festival featuring projects by artists and tinkerers as well as hand-on activities for children and adults.
This year’s theme, “ReMake America: Building a Sustainable Future,” is inspired by President Barack Obama’s call to action. In keeping with the theme, the fair features displays of alternative transportation such as solar touring bikes and electric vehicles, classes electric cycle on how to fix broken objects like the Apple iPod and a “Homegrown Village” where you can dig in the dirt and connect with the soil.
Discounted Maker Faire tickets are available at 75 locations in 28 Bay Area cities until May 31. Save $5 per ticket and avoid expected lines on-site by buying tickets at the retail outlets listed on the Maker Faire Web site.
Details: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m
M&F in Iraq
Friday, October 30th, 2009Muscle & Fitness, Nov, 2009 by David E. Van Vechten, Jr.
I’m a U.S. Army Black Hawk pilot deployed in Iraq, and my wife sends me my M&F; subscription each month. A faithful group of soldiers from my company of more than a dozen fellow gym rats relies on M&F; for expert guidance on nutrition and exercise to f80 treadmill help us reach our fitness goals. Thanks, and keep up the good work.
David E
Photos: David Shafer, MD, Develops the World’s First Plastic Surgery Themed Apple iPhone Application
Friday, October 30th, 2009PR Newswire, Oct 14, 2009
NEW YORK, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ — Manhattan-based aesthetic plastic surgeon, Dr. David Shafer, announces The Shafer Plastic Surgery face lift reno App, the world’s first plastic surgery iPhone Application.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/shaferplasticsurgery/40564/
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091014/NY91954 )
The interactive program taps into Dr. Shafer’s informational database of over 1,000 FAQ’s covering invasive and non-invasive plastic surgery procedures and treatments. For example: “Is liposuction better than tummy tuck?” Answer: “It all depends on your body. If you have good skin elasticity, but a moderate amount of fat, then liposuction may be best. If you have loose skin and poor abdominal tone, then abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) may be your best option. . .”
The “lite” version, which is a free service, gives users the ability to look at a sampling of existing questions and answers
Challenges and opportunities for regulating greenhouse gas emissions at the state, regional and local level
Thursday, October 29th, 2009UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, Winter, 2009 by Jim Doyle
ABSTRACT
Addressing climate change is one of the great challenges of our age. While the current president has signaled that this will be a top priority under his administration, previous administrations have not pursued a comprehensive regulatory or diplomatic strategy to counteract the causes and consequences of climate change. Until recently, the federal government’s efforts in this area have been limited almost exclusively to climate-related research, energy research, and voluntary emission reduction programs to curb greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, states such as Wisconsin–as well as tribes and local governments–have taken the lead to explore solutions to the challenges posed by global warming.
Wisconsin, in particular, boasts a nationally recognized, utility funded, statewide energy efficiency program; a renewable portfolio standard; and mandatory carbon dioxide emission reporting. Governor Jim Doyle’s Global Warming Task Force has recommended dozens of additional steps to further address climate change at the state level, and Wisconsin’s legislature is poised to act on that package of proposals during its current session. Other states around the country are also active in adopting proposals of their own, and several regional efforts are underway, in various stages, to design and implement regional cap-and-trade programs.
With new leadership in Washington, national climate change policy appears poised to catch up with what has already been happening in states like Wisconsin. This emerging federal policy will present new challenges and opportunities for states. Because of the progress it already has made, Wisconsin is in a very good position to help inform the federal debate, and ultimately, decide for itself how best to craft state initiatives going forward in a way that complements a comprehensive and national approach to the challenge of climate change. This Article highlights some of the actions Wisconsin has taken and how we can move forward alongside a more engaged federal government in the area of climate buy phentermine 37.5 change policy.
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A policy-based admission control scheme for voice over IP networks
Thursday, October 29th, 2009Journal of Computer Science, Nov, 2009 by Sami Alwakeel, Agung Prasetijo
INTRODUCTION
Voice and video transmission over telecommunication networks requires specific performance quality. If such quality is not maintained, the receiving end will then suffer-e.g., the received video freezes or there will be unacceptable delay in voice. Similarly, transmitting voice over IP networks will have the same challenge. With this in mind, a call admission controller in VoIP networks is needed to maintain voice quality over a limited bandwidth link. Call admission control will determine if a call will be accepted or rejected based on network resource availability.
Several admission mechanisms are available for Call Admission Control (CAC) over the Internet. Example of cheap airfare these are IntServ architecture which uses RSVP signaling protocol for reserving resources in a router (1) and EMBAC protocol which use probes transmission to estimates networks state from sender to receiver (2), (3), (4). Other techniques for conducting call admission control are based on diffusion approximation which calculates bandwidth for a number of connections with given cell loss requirement (5). Various CAC schemes were also developed for ATM networks (6). Besides, CAC mechanisms are considered for wireless networks and in IEEE 802.11e standard environment to enhance its performance (4), (7).
In this study, we apply packet admission control schemes currently in use for ATM cell switching networks, to improve VoIP traffic QoS. Two schemes, namely leaky bucket and open window are simulated to evaluate their impact on VoIP performance in term of packet delay, jitter, call drop and VoIP packet loss.
VoIP policy scheme description: This study proposes a policy-based admission control scheme for VoIP traffic. With such a policy, a VoIP server will check the availability of bandwidth every time when there is a new call request. Two policy-based schemes were investigated namely: Open Window and Leaky Bucket. Both mechanism works as follows: First, they estimate the average network traffic rate and compare it to a threshold rate set by the server. If the average traffic rate is less than the threshold, the system will admit the call. Otherwise, the system rejects the call request. Clearly, if the call request rate increases, the voice packet traffic will also increase.
Background data traffic is assumed to exist in the system in addition to VOIP packets. The admission policy scheme is applied on both types of traffic.
The network traffic is estimated using a simple moving average method, whenever a new call request arrives. The average network traffic is then compared to the threshold rate to admit the call. The detailed scenario works as follows:
Voice call requests arrive with a rate of [[lambda].sub.CR]. Upon its arrival, the call requests are queued and examined to determine whether it will be granted the right to use the network resource or not. When a call request is accepted, the call packet source generates voice traffic stream using voice packet communication. Thus, more voice traffic is generated as the number of accepted calls increases. The network traffic is the VOIP packets traffic in addition to background data traffic, generated from independent network data sources with overall rate of [[lambda].sub.BD]