‘60 Minutes’ on the homeless: How can you help?
Scott Pelley is the correspondent on another '60 Minutes' report about Central Florida's homeless. Photo credit: CBS
When the “60 Minutes” follow-up on Central Florida’s homeless airs this weekend, a likely response from viewers will be: How can I help?
I asked Beth Davalos, who was featured in the first report in March and will be in this Sunday’s report. Davalos is coordinator for the Families in Transition Program for Seminole County Public Schools.
“Go to our Website: Seminolehomelesskids.org,” Davalos said. “There’s a guide there on how to get involved, from making donations to opening up properties, doing mentorships, doing a fundraiser, collecting clothing. It’s not just one area. All ages can participate. We have 50 ways to help in Seminole County. Click on get help. It’s important to connect with school programs.”
After the first “60 Minutes” report aired, I offered a list of programs. Click here for that information.
One bit of information caught my attention on the Seminole Website: “The average age of a homeless person in the United States is seven years old.”
I saw the first report before it aired in March and recommended it, because it was outstanding. I haven’t seen tomorrow’s report, but the clips suggest correspondent Scott Pelley has delivered another segment that will have the community talking.
This week I asked Pelley, the anchor of “CBS Evening News,” if he thinks the new report is as good as the first.
“I do. I’ve seen the piece about a hundred times,” he said. “I think it will be powerful when viewers meet the Metzgers.”
They are a family of three, an unemployed dad and his two children, living in a truck.
Of course, longtime viewers know that “60 Minutes” starts at 7 p.m. Sundays. Because of football this weekend, though, the newsmagazine is likely to start late on WKMG-Channel 6. Keep that in mind.
Budget Dedicated Server Is Getting More Affordable And Here Is Why
Dedicated server hosting and the word "budget" used to be polar opposites from one another. Many larger businesses had to move to the dedicated type, and when they did so, there was a bittersweet mixture of joy that one's business had grown to that level and despair that operating expenses would get out of control. Dedicated platforms were not dedicated servers always cost effective, but they could be essential if one wanted to keep viruses and other impurities from polluting their site and the lives of their users. But all that is in the process of changing for the better thanks to these key areas: more options, changes in business practices, and more efficient infrastructure.
More Options
It used to be that if you needed a business online to run with any success you had to go with a dedicated server. That meant paying for additional infrastructure and in many cases hiring an employee to handle everything for you. It could be very cost prohibitive to small and mid sized businesses. Then along came virtual private servers, and the efficiency of hosting platforms got much better as did the cost. Cloud computing then came along and really turned some heads. With all these options out there, it was only a matter of time before the dedicated option had to work smarter and more cost effectively. But more on that in a moment.
Changes in business practices
With the economic crises of recent years touching virtually everyone, some sites went under while others were forced to make cuts and think about using the web more intelligently. Many banked on the freedoms of Facebook and Twitter and saw a surge in growth and a slicing of expenses. As a result, businesses found new ways to succeed or they finally fell in on themselves. The landscape of the marketplace changed once again, and with it, so too did the efficiency of the dedicated server.
More efficient infrastructure
By offering managed dedicated servers, and the use of multiple dedicated servers across many geographic locations, budget hosting became affordable managed dedicated servers even for those in need of the more expensive option. As a result businesses started coming back to dedicated, but they did it in a wiser and more cost efficient manner. With the redundancy and speed of multiple servers working at once, it became possible to have the perks of dedicated servers without actually having to rely on one infrastructure foundation.
If your business is growing, you can now rest easy knowing that the move to dedicated server hosting is within your budgeted means. And you really should consider the move as soon as possible for how it protects you and improves the user experience for all of your audience every time they log on.
Applebees Recipe – Blondie Brownie!
By far the most requested Applebee's Recipe in my household, the Blondie Brownie is one of my favorite Applebee's Recipes to make.
If you can read through this entire article without drooling, I will be totally shocked!
This recipe includes some pretty basic ingredients which come together to make one of the most beautiful desserts available from a major restaurant chain.
(While this is what is known as a "copycat" Applebees Recipe, it is about as spot-on as it gets. I know my Applebees Recipes, and believe me, you won't be able to tell the difference between theirs and yours!)
Here Are Your Applebee's Blondie Ingredients:
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 pinch baking soda
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup melted unsalted real butter
1 1/3 cup packed brown sugar - divided (1 cup and 1/3 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup vanilla baking chips
1/4 cup unmelted, unsalted real butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp. maple extract
This Applebees Recipe favorite will also require vanilla ice cream to be complete.
So... Would I be correct in assuming that you're a little curious about what to do with all this stuff? Yeah, I thought so.
Here's How To Make Your Applebee's Blondies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Stir in nuts and set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat together melted butter and 1 cup brown sugar.
Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
Slowly beat dry mixture into wet mixture.
Turn mixer off. Stir in vanilla baking chips by hand.
Spread Applebee's Blondie batter into a greased 9" X 9" X 2" baking pan.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; set aside to cool.
In a saucepan over low heat, melt remaining 1/4 cup butter and maple syrup.
Stir in remaining 1/3 cup brown sugar into saucepan until it has dissolved (the sugar, not the pan!)
Remove saucepan from heat and beat in cream cheese and maple extract until smooth.
Return saucepan to low heat and simmer, stirring constantly, until desired consistency
Cut warm Applebee's Blondies into 4" X 4" squares, top with vanilla ice cream, and pour sauce over the top... YUM!
And there it is! An amazing Applebee's Recipe come to life!
You're welcome to check out some more great Applebee's copycat recipes, featuring Applebee's Bourbon Street Steak, as well as a great visual presentation of your Applebee's Blondie recipe, by clicking the link above.
Investing in Dedicated Servers Is Necessary
Many new ideas and products are emerging in the market and customers on the other hand have become too well known with the computer products and are conscious to gain knowledge about the newer products. This computer literacy has made the minds of businessmen that they are unable to run their business without the use of computer related equipments.
This computer literacy of businessmen; whether web based or other firms, has actually given birth to the cheap dedicated servers, just to make the business related tasks easier for the businessmen in a very friendly way. These dedicated servers are tremendous machines that have power over the continuous data transmission in a very cosseted environment.
These windows dedicated servers are particularly engineered to be used in web based businesses, firms who want to secure their data transmission, database centers, commerce and auction sites, keeping the backups, and other kind of businesses. As many other specifications windows dedicated hosting permit the clients to get the windows server installed with desirable add-ons. These server solutions can help the customers extend their business by achieving the good management.
The dedicated servers which are run by Microsoft windows operating system are known as dedicated hosting. These windows based operating systems are different from other operating systems available in the market; these can be configured to make them according to the needs of the customers. These servers are based on windows 2003 and 2008 and can be upgraded anytime when new specification arrives in the market.
On the other hand Microsoft windows have made alliances with some other brand names too, and those brands are now using windows operating system but with their own specifications. Multiple protocols can be used from windows dedicated hosting, so they can be easily used in businesses like web based hosting, information transfer, database handling and much more. These windows based servers supply their customers with full-fledged software and hardware support.
dedicated server is a pack full of the hardware supplies, security patches, memory, bandwidth, control, management and dependability and is made to fully entertain their customers. The firms and other web based businesses which are vulnerable to grow choose to install windows hosting.
Specifications are something that customers should keep in mind when going to make a decision to buy windows dedicated hosting or others. Although in managed dedicated servers there are different arrangement like customization option in control panel, different domains, just one loin for several servers, fortification, memory, control and management.
It is always a hard decision to make when it comes to buying dedicated server hosting. The point usually bothers the customers is what is the difference between dedicated hosting and windows dedicated hosting. Difference is simple that in windows dedicated server Microsoft windows operating system is used while in other servers' typical operating systems are used. All of them are supplied in the market with modification in their specifications to grab the customers.
November ratings: WFTV, WOFL post victories
WFTV anchor Vanessa Welch had a big November: She was a ratings winner at 5 p.m., and she gave birth to her first child. Photo credit: George Skene/Orlando Sentinel
WFTV-Channel 9 can trumpet many ratings victories in the November ratings period, which ended Wednesday.
“One of the things we’re proud of, we’re the news leader at 5, 5:30 and 6 [p.m.] even without Oprah,” WFTV General Manager Shawn Bartelt said. Since Winfrey ended her talk show, “Dr. Oz” has taken over the 4 p.m. slot.
WOFL-Channel 35 was tops at 10 p.m. WKMG-Channel 6 cited the strong performance of its 7 p.m. news. WESH-Channel 2 said it was reaching the most women in the 25-to-54 age group from 4:30 to 7 a.m., and that age group is most important to news advertisers.
But WFTV and WKMG are disagreeing about the results at 11 p.m., which I covered in a separate post.
Here are the results for the 25-to-54 age group in several time periods:
6 a.m.: WFTV with 29,600 viewers, WESH with 24,800, WKMG with 13,000, WOFL with 8,900. The WESH news also airs on sister station WKCF-Channel 18, where 1,400 viewers watched. WFTV was back on top after WESH won the time slot in October.
Noon: WFTV with 14,700 viewers, WKMG with 10,900, WESH with 8,500.
5 p.m.: WFTV with 23,400, WESH with 16,700, WOFL with 11,500, WKMG with 10,300.
6 p.m.: WFTV with 39,300, WESH with 23,200, WKMG with 17,300, WOFL with 12,400.
7 p.m.: WKMG with 20,600. WKMG General Manager Skip Valet said his newscast, anchored by Lauren Rowe, was reaching more or as many 25-to-54 viewers than 10 p.m. newscasts.
10 p.m. weeknights: WOFL with 20,600, WRDQ-Channel 27 (with WFTV news) with 10,300, WKCF (with WESH news) with 7,600. WOFL said its late news was up 17 percent from a year ago.
Here are the results for households in some major time slots:
6 a.m.: WFTV with 59,200, WESH with 38,500, WKMG with 18,800, WOFL with 18,600, WKCF (with WESH news) with 3,500.
5 p.m.: WFTV with 85,000, WESH with 50,000, WOFL with 30,600, WKMG with 21,800.
6 p.m.: WFTV with 117,000, WESH with 66,400, WKMG with 35,300, WOFL with 26,200.
7 p.m.: WKMG with 38,500.
10 p.m. weeknights: WOFL with 40,600, WRDQ with 24,900, WKCF with 15,700.
Casey Anthony: Do Zenaida Gonzalez clips heighten interest?
Zenaida Gonzalez as she looked in 2009. Photo credit: Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel
Zenaida Gonzalez’s deposition in her defamation suit against Casey Anthony was a 12-hour epic that unfolded Tuesday.
Her lawyers released three minutes of clips today. Do they seem like a trailer for a blockbuster movie?
The release was the top story on WESH-Channel 2’s noon news. Amanda Ober said the clips showed “a very emotional Zenaida Gonzalez talk about the suffering she claimed she’s endured as a result of being embroiled in the Casey Anthony drama.”
Gonzalez says her life was ruined when she was linked to the disappearance of Caylee Anthony, Casey’s daughter. In July, Anthony was acquitted of murder in the 2008 death of her daughter.
Matt Morgan, Gonzalez’s attorney, released highlights from the deposition picked by her defense team.
WESH played a clip of Gonzalez talking about her distress over talking to her child about the kidnapping accusations.
Jacqueline Fell of Central Florida News 13 reported that “Gonzalez has said over and over she wants closure. In her deposition, Anthony’s civil attorney continually asks, ‘What does that mean? And if you could put a dollar amount on this closure, how much are you looking for?’ ‘
News 13 showed a clip of Gonzalez saying she had personal reasons for seeking closure and that she wanted peace of mind for her daughters.
Attorney Morgan told News 13, “That was the most difficult thing for her was going to her children and trying to explain to them why people are saying what they are saying.”
Charles Greene, Anthony’s civil attorney, “hopes to get this whole deposition suit thrown out,” WESH’s Ober said. “He’s also been pressing to know how much money Gonzalez wants for her lawsuit.”
The amount of damages is a question for the jury, Morgan told WESH and News 13.
Do the clips make you want to see the full deposition? It will be released Monday.
Giving thanks for ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ ‘Homeland,’ J.R. Martinez
J.R. Martinez kisses partner Karina Smirnoff after winning 'Dancing With the Stars.' Photo credit: Adam Taylor/ABC
Happy Thanksgiving!
A reader complained this week that there was nothing to watch on Sunday nights, which astounded me. Sunday is the biggest night this fall, the home of “Once Upon a Time,” “The Good Wife,” “The Walking Dead,” “Dexter,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Hell on Wheels” and “Homeland.”
Those first-rate dramas offer plenty of reasons to give thanks. Here are others:
Comedies are coming back, with “Modern Family” and “The Big Bang Theory” leading the way. “Modern Family” was the biggest program in Central Florida last night, pulling in 184,900 viewers — not a bad showing for the night before Thanksgiving. ”Modern Family” wins best-comedy Emmys, but “The Big Bang Theory” is every bit as enjoyable with its disarming geeks.
This was an above-average fall for new series. Showtime’s “Homeland,” from the “24″ producers, leads the list for its twisty espionage and the gripping performances of Claire Danes and Damian Lewis. But ABC has reason to rejoice for the clever, lavish ”Once Upon a Time.” CBS’ “Person of Interest,” an offbeat crime drama, keeps getting better. The best new comedies — Fox’s “New Girl,” ABC’s “Suburgatory” and CBS’ “2 Broke Girls” — offer captivating characters. (The most promising series this season, NBC’s “Smash,” arrives in February.)
The acting on TV dramas has never been better. Bryan Cranston and his co-stars were exceptional last season on “Breaking Bad.” Julianna Margulies and her colleagues are consistently superb on “The Good Wife”; Sunday’s episode was a bonanza of sharp performances. Just wait till you see “The Walking Dead” this weekend.
I’m thankful for the access that DVDs and new technology provide. Why settle for NBC’s take on “Prime Suspect” when you can see Helen Mirren in all her brilliance in the original? If you don’t like what programmers are scheduling, why not try the DVDs of “Friday Night Lights,” “The Wire” or “Downton Abbey”?
I’m thankful for the fall-back channel of TCM. If you can’t find anything to watch on TV, Turner Classic Movies serves something worth a look every day. “The Lady Eve,” one of my favorite comedies, screens at 10 tonight. Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda are sublime in this 1941 classic.
I’m thankful for J.R. Martinez, the winner of “Dancing With the Stars.” The ABC dance contest may have had an off season, and its controversies were often silly. But the show’s conclusion was thrilling because viewers were pulling for Martinez, a fine dancer and a charming guy who had been badly injured while serving in Iraq. Ricki Lake, his strongest competitor, said she had no problem with losing to a war hero. Seeing a war hero excel in that showcase gave a frivolous show a deeper meaning.
Life can be more enjoyable when you have people to pull for. Television, which succeeds or fails with the stories it tells, has given us many people worth rooting for this year.
Affordable Web Site Hosting Services and Reseller Hosting
When it comes time to choose affordable web hosting services, the individual needs of your business could play a huge role in your decision. If you are looking for reseller hosting, then your needs will be substantially different from the average business person just looking for a company website. If you have the intention of offering web hosting to your customers as a reseller, then this is not generally feasible with an average hosting package. It is necessary to look for specialized reseller hosting which will give you the tools necessary to set up and maintain a website hosting business. This need not be expense and there are affordable web site hosting services available which can be used for the purposes of reseller hosting.
A good reseller hosting package will offer the wide range of tools and features which will allow you to compete as a hosting provider. With the internet expanding on a daily basis, it is possible to market affordable web site hosting services offering a large number of options for a very low monthly payment. Choosing the right reseller hosting will allow you to offer your customers desirable features such as shopping carts, forums and blogs at a low cost. If you are able to offer a large number of features while keeping the cost low, then your hosting will become very popular.
When a consumer is looking for affordable web site hosting services, they will not want to sacrifice quality for the sake of saving a few dollars. That is what makes it so important to focus on offering reliable services without jacking up the cost. When you move into hosting, you must be able to guarantee your customers stability for their web site, because whenever a site experiences down time, even for a short length of time, they risk losing customers and business. When looking for reseller hosting, you will want your own provider to offer an up time guarantee which you can then in turn offer to your own customers. The same goes for other features such as 24/7 technical support. If you know you are getting it from your host, then you can offer it to your customers and reassure them that any issues that arise will be dealt with promptly and professionally. You will not want to put your business' reputation on the line without being sure that you have the reseller hosting to back it up.
When looking for reseller hosting, it is important to find a solid, reliable service which will allow you to offer your own customers affordable web site hosting services.
Discover more search engine optimisation information and the secrets to choosing the best affordable web site hosting services and reseller hosting today!
5 Web Hosting Options
It's extremely exciting building and launching websites. Fortunately these days it's fairly easy to do.
Getting your website hosted should be as easy as finding a service that has the facilities available to take care of your site. Once your site is in a server, web hosting you can move on to other things like marketing your site.
But operating high-end servers cost a lot of money so hosting providers need to charge accordingly depending on how much power and how many features are needed to run the site. You have generally have 5 hosting options to choose from and one of them should perfectly fit your needs.
1. Free Website Hosting
Free hosting doesn't cost a thing and that can save you several hundreds of dollars if you manage to have a successful website hosted for more than a couple of years. But the server specs are simply not good enough to be hosted on serious business websites or interactive communities or services.
To make things worse, the resources of the server are shared with other free website hosting users, opening up possibilities for one site to consume more resources due to more traffic, resulting to other websites suffering in performance.
2. Shared Web Hosting
Shared website hosting is powered up version of free web hosting where the resources are still shared but the server specs are much better. These servers often offer more features ranging from 1-click script installations to free email accounts and FTP reseller hosting access. These types of servers are more reliable overall and are pretty cheap when it comes to hosting fees. This is the safest option for launching a blog that you hope to profit from in the future.
3. Virtual Website Hosting
Shared hosting plans are not very controllable since all websites within the server have access to the same operating system and same resources. Virtual hosting uses the same configuration as shared hosting but adds an additional virtualization layer where every hosting account gets its own virtual environment.
This basically puts you in a dedicated hosting environment which is good if you want to know what it is like to manage your own server but cannot afford the $100+ price tag. Performance benefits compared to ordinary shared web hosting are not that noticeable since the resources are still shared but the overall stability is much better since the resources are divided more evenly. Expect to pay less than half the price of a typical dedicated hosting package.
4. Semi-Dedicated Hosting
Semi-dedicated hosting is a more fully developed upgrade of shared web hosting because you get both the stability and performance enhancements without paying the premium monthly cost. The servers that are used are far more powerful and they are shared evenly amongst a small number of users.
Companies and small businesses that are on a tight budget but need a lot of operating power can benefit from this type of hosting package. The savings compared to dedicated hosting can really add up every month.
5. Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting gives you full access to a server and you pretty much have full management rights to configure the server to your liking. Your site will take full advantage of the server's abilities and it will likely give you more than you need so hosting multiple websites on that one server shouldn't hurt.
It is important that you do some research and comparisons of the different dedicated hosting providers so you can get the best deal without overspending.
How to Get Rid of House Centipedes! 3 Proven Ways to Do It!
If you've ever seen a house centipede, then you know the fear and hatred that these things can bring! Most people that I know can't stand the sight of them. There are some people in our society that are a little off and have decided to try to make these things...PETS! This article is not geared toward them! This article is geared toward those of you who can't stand the sight of house centipedes. Those people that just want to get rid of them! You want to know how to get rid of them, then let's get to it!
1. Exterminators - This is probably your best bet for getting rid of house centipedes. The only problem is that even the exterminators themselves will tell you that they won't be able to get all of them on the first try. So be prepared to shell out more money for them to make a return trip!
2. Dehumidifiers - For those of us that are fiscally deficient, you can try to use a dehumidifier. Why a dehumidifier? House centipedes like to live in damp, wet environments. That's why you usually see them in your basement. Using a dehumidifier will dry up the moisture. Thus making their stay in your home that much more unpleasant.
3. Boric Acid - Boric acid has been used for years. This is the strange little white powder that you saw in your grandmas basement when you were a kid. You know, those little white rocks along the woodwork! Boric acid attacks the insects on two levels. It acts as a stomach poison if they ingest it and it's abrasive to their exoskeleton!
So there you have it. 3 proven ways to get rid of house centipedes. If you are in really dire straits and you can't afford to use any of the above techniques, there's nothing wrong with using your shoe to squish them! But with the average house centipede laying between 60 and 150 eggs, you'll probably be squishing for a long time!
If you really want to know how to kill house centipedes, you're going to have to know the real reason they are in your house in the first place! I'll give you a little hint: It has NOTHING to do with you! To find out more information about the house centipede and the real reason they have chosen your home, make sure that you check out the site.