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"The next computing platform will move closer to our bodies. And our belief is that means that it will be something that sits directly on our face that we interact with through our eyes." - Dan Rose, VP of content at Facebook, give insight into why Facebook bought VR company Oculus.

The social media behemoth acquired Oculus for $2 billion at the start of the year, stating that VR had the potential "to create the most social platform ever."

Now Facebook's Rose has further explained the move at the Paley International Council Summit this week, as reported by Business Insider, stating that virtual reality is the obvious next step for computers.

"If you think about the trends in computing technology over the last 50 years, we went from mainframe computers, which were very impersonal and distant," he said, "to desktop computers that became directly interactive you can touch and feel and interact with and interface yourself and set on your desk to laptops, which you can now suddenly take with you, [to] now today, everybody has a computer in their pocket."

As such, VR is simply the next piece of the puzzle in this "natural progression."

"There are a lot of different approaches to how this might take place," he added. "Our bet is that virtual reality will be the on-ramp to optical computing."

Originally posted here:
Facebook sheds further light on why it bought Oculus

Conservation issues are one area where the governor and state legislators could bring Michiganders back together.

Michiganders are in love with their state. We love our Great Lakes, dunes, forests, rivers, fields and inland lakes. Our sense of identity is tied to our favorite natural places. With that spirit in mind, here are few issues that together would constitute a strong conservation agenda, grow the economy, and unite Michiganders behind a shared sense of place and love for Michigans outdoors.

(1) Increase recycling, reduce littering and waste. Michiganders pay to bury and burn an estimated $435 million of recyclable materials every year, and then we pay to manage landfills after theyre closed. We recycle only about 14.5 percent of our solid waste stream, and only 25 of Michigans 83 counties have convenient access to recycling. The governor wants all Michiganders to gain access to recycling by 2018 and for Michigan to double its recycling rate to about 30 percent. That would represent a significant achievement and would represent a great start. Michigan should shoot to match or surpass high-performing states like Missouri, California, Washington and Oregon, which recycle 50 percent of their solid waste.

(2) Improve local infrastructure and water quality. Leaky septic tanks, municipal and agricultural stormwater runoff, and combined, overflowing and degraded sewer systems are just a few of the major infrastructure issues plaguing Michigans water quality. These problems reached a very visible climax last summer as algal blooms in Lake Erie grew so bad that citizens in Canada and Ohio, including the City of Toledo, were instructed not to drink or recreate in the water. Agricultural phosphorous is the likely culprit in that case, but nutrient sources and stormwater pollution precipitate from cities and suburbs as well.

(3) Learn more about micro-plastics and marine debris in the Great Lakes. An emerging water quality issue that would draw broad, statewide support is reducing marine debris and micro-plastics in the Great Lakes. A recent study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin revealed tiny plastic particles floating throughout the surface water of the Great Lakes, and early evidence points to its consumption by fish. Right now, there are more questions than answers. How does plastic enter the Great Lakes? What types of plastic products are of greatest concern? How does it move around? To what extent does it naturally degrade and what ecological harms does it pose? Michigan has an opportunity to take regional leadership on this issue. Working with local and regional stakeholders, NOAA has outlined a Marine Debris Action Plan for the Great Lakes. With minimal investment, the state could help fund scientific research outlined in this plan to fill critical knowledge gaps. The governor can also support and collaborate with planning efforts coordinating policy and programming responses to prevent and reduce marine debris.

(4) Increase utilization of clean, renewable and efficient energy. Energy efficiency is the cleanest, cheapest and most quickly deployed source of energy available to Michiganders. Everyone from the Christian Coalition to the Sierra Club to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce agrees. In fact, the chamber wrote a letter to President Obama and Congress saying, The best source of new energy is the energy we can save every day. We must expand the suite of voluntary programs, mandates and fiscal incentives for greater benefits of energy efficiency. The governor agrees, calling energy efficiency the best example of a no-regrets policy Michigan can have. It makes (energy) more reliable, more affordable and protects our environment. According to the Michigan Public Service Commission, the cost of energy efficiency is about $11 per megawatt-hour. For context, the price of new coal is estimated at $107 per megawatt-hour, and renewables average about $78 per megawatt-hour in Michigan. Unfortunately, Michigans renewable energy and energy-efficiency laws are set to lose their punch as they plateau in 2015. The laws were enacted with bipartisan support in 2008, and there is bipartisan support to extend and strengthen them. Accomplishing this will bring leaders and citizens together in forging a clean, affordable and reliable energy future for Michigan.

(5) Protect and restore public lands and natural spaces. The DNR recently awarded Deer Habitat Improvement Grants for projects designed to produce tangible deer habitat improvement. The DNR knows that deer and herd health improve with more and higher quality habitat. Hunters complain of increasingly limited quality habitat for game species a stunning development given Michigans once mighty forests and natural spaces. Of course, its not just game species that are suffering. Michigans natural areas and public lands are under pressure from climate change, exotic species, sprawling development, mineral, oil and gas, and timber extraction.

Extractive interests represent a real economic good for many Michiganders, but these uses must be balanced with hunting, fishing, recreational and ecosystem services. The DNRs Public Land Management Strategy recognizes that public lands play a critical role in providing ecosystem goods and services such as air pollution removal, water quality protection and storm water management.

And the strategy cites an analysis from the State of New York that, for every $1 invested in securing public ownership of lands, $7 was returned in goods and services. Unfortunately, the strategy does not offer a concrete strategy for incorporating these values into decision-making.

Its easy to understand how much revenue a barrel of oil generates; its much more difficult to value the damages avoided by flood water retention of the local wetland but that value isnt any less real. Elected officials and citizens alike need to better understand these economic values, and the state needs tools to evaluate and include them. The governor should work to establish administrative processes that quantify the value that ecosystem services in order to more fairly weigh and balance them with other uses.

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OCCHIPINTI: A conservation agenda for Michigans governor

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Whether you're looking for a new place to eat or a new job, a brand new restaurant moving in to Market Common just might have what you're searching for.

Tupelo Honey Caf is setting up shop in the former location of Tommy Bahamas. It's bringing in over 100 jobs, and its southern-style of food to those visiting Market Common.

Tupelo Honey Cafe is based out of Asheville, North Carolina, and this will be the chain's first location near a beach.

Elizabeth Sims, vice president of marketing communications for the caf, says construction is running smoothly and the plan is to be open for business at the end of February.

Restaurant leaders say they like to incorporate the local vibe into each restaurant, so for Myrtle Beach, they'll be adding more seafood to the menus. They also want to add some lighter fares, because people here in Market Common want to shop, walk, snack, and then maybe grab dinner. You'll also see local art hanging on their walls.

They're going to hire 130 people. They need this large staff because they have a high-volume restaurant with 250 seats, and they'll serve food seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Sims says the draw to come to Market Common was because there was a good mix of business and residential, and they looked to other businesses that have recently opened and are seeing success.

"Many of our guests that come through the door, they're here for lunch, says Charming Charlie store manager Kate Holmes. We see them shopping and then we see them frequent for dinner. So it's definitely a community setting where they can go and spend the day."

Charming Charlie opened in July and is now seeing more local repeat customers. BarreWorx opened their doors just one month ago. They offer fitness classes, and say they're seeing the same type of strong local support.

Job applications are being accepted right now for Tupelo Honey Caf, and there will be face-to-face interviews in January. You can apply online here: https://tupelohoneycafe.com/careers

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Tupelo Honey Cafe to hire 130 employees

The Sims 4 - Episode 6 :: Remodeling The House (Part 1/2)
Today we remodel the house, you will have to wait to see the upstairs. ********** Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/habnef3 Watch me live on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/habnef3...

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The Sims 4 - Episode 6 :: Remodeling The House (Part 1/2) - Video

It's easier to estimate the cost of new construction than a remodel because it has fewer unknowns.

With a new house, you won't uncover concealed dry rot, twisted framing or a colony of yellow jackets, buzzing behind the lath. In a remodel, you just might.

That said, the home improvement site Houzz has compiled data from its community of users around the country to arrive at average costs for various remodels.

Houzz says, for example, the average cost to remodel a kitchen in Portland runs about $35,275. In Little Rock, Ark., it's $13,913.

For a whole house remodel in Portland, Houzz says the average runs about $221,999 -- a figure that still can buy an attractive house in this market.

As it happens, $221,999 is a little more than Eric and Gretta Marchek paid for a full remodel of their Multnomah Village home, described in Friday's Oregonian: Portlanders like the Marcheks find payoffs in their own houses

The Marcheks qualified for a rehabilitation loan, because they had built up some equity in their house and had improvement plans drawn up by an architect. In the end, Eric Marchek said, the family came out ahead by remodeling.

-Mike Francis

Read more:
Remodeling costs are wildly variable; Houzz crowdsources some estimates

A tragic story that began with a plumber working on a hotel gas boiler, followed days later by the death by carbon monoxide poisoning of a woman, ended yesterday with a jury finding the plumber and his company not guilty.

Richard Davis, aged 46, from Serenity, Killanully, Ballygarvan, Co Cork, was found not guilty at Cork Circuit Court before Judge Sen O Donnabhin of the manslaughter of Miriam Reidy, 35, and two counts under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

Daviss company, Davis Heating and Plumbing Contractors of Marina Commercial Park in Cork, was found not guilty of two similar health and safety act counts relating to the conversion of a gas boiler at the Trident Hotel on Jan 4, 2011. The jury deliberated for four and a half hours before returning with five not-guilty verdicts.

Defence senior counsel Michael OHiggins claimed several other design and construction issues in the hotel and other matters that pre-dated the installation of the gas boiler were responsible for the poisonous carbon monoxide not disappearing harmlessly into the sky.

Prosecution senior counsel Brendan Grehan claimed Mr Davis incorrectly converted a gas boiler, leaving it spewing out lethal quantities of carbon monoxide.

Mr Davis had gone to the hotel on January 4, 2011 to put a new boiler into use, converting it to allow for use with liquid petroleum gas rather than natural gas by the insertion of a chip. The prosecution claimed he did insert a chip, but it would appear he never read the guidelines that came with the chip; did not carry out any adjustment to the boiler; and did not test it afterwards for a possible leak.

Members of the Reidy family attended the trial and gave evidence. Patricia Reidy-Russell told how she and her sister shared a room at the hotel that night.

They had been at a hen night and most of the group were partying until about 5am. However, Miriam and Patricia left at about 1am, walking back to their hotel. They both became ill and Patricia called a doctor, who treated them for the winter vomiting bug. Pathologist Margaret Bolster testified that the first symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning were more or less the same as those for flu or cold.

Miriam died in the hotel room. Patricia woke a couple of days later in the intensive care unit of Cork University Hospital.

She said: I tried so hard to save her... but the efforts I made were not enough.

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Plumber cleared of manslaughter in gas leak case

Repair Options on Andersen Vinyl Sliding Glass Patio Doors
Brought to you by http://www.SliderRepair.com . Older vinyl clad Andersen Sliding Glass Patio doors have their challenges. This video outlines some of those problem...

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Repair Options on Andersen Vinyl Sliding Glass Patio Doors - Video

Ernestos Painting Contractors LLC - Lanoka Harbor, NJ
Ernestos Painting Contractors LLC 609-242-1118 http://ernestospaintingllc.com/ ernestos painting contractors llc fnbes8zma 6092421118.

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Ernestos Painting Contractors LLC - Lanoka Harbor, NJ - Video

Downtown Sioux Falls "Outdoor Lighting"

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Downtown Sioux Falls "Outdoor Lighting" - Video

Einmal Dner mit Shambler und scharf bitte by MFX - Quake single player
Download : https://www.quaddicted.com/reviews/func_mapjam2.html Discuss : http://celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61061 Slapmap blog - faked GI using Tyrlite ...

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Einmal Dner mit Shambler und scharf bitte by MFX - Quake single player - Video