Cambridge Guide to the Weather

Cambridge Guide to the Weather (R. Reynolds, 2000, 192 pp., $14.95, paperbound, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-77489-6). This book summarizes what is known about a broad spectrum of topics in meteorology and is well illustrated with maps, imagery, pictures, and diagrams. Included topics are atmospheric structure, observations, synoptic analysis, general circulation, forecasting technology, cloud physics, hazardous weather (and other weather phenomena), climatology of 28 cities worldwide, as well as popular topics such as global warming, the ozone hole, and El Nino. The book is aimed at a reader with a grasp of basic science and a curiosity about weather phenomena, their explanations, and means to predict them.

PUBLISHERS' ADDRESSES

Cambridge University Press

40 W. 20 St.

New York, NY 10011

Telephone: 804-872-7423

Kluwer Academic Publishers

101 Philip Dr.

Norwell, MA 02061

Telephone: 617-871-6600

Random House

201 E. 50 St.

New York, NY 10022

Telephone: 212-7512600

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Submit contributions to Bulletin, AMS, 45 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108-3693; fax 617-742-8718; e-mail: rthomas@ametsoc.org.

Cambridge Guide to the Weather

Cambridge Guide to the Weather (R. Reynolds, 2000, 192 pp., $14.95, paperbound, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-77489-6). This book summarizes what is known about a broad spectrum of topics in meteorology and is well illustrated with maps, imagery, pictures, and diagrams. Included topics are atmospheric structure, observations, synoptic analysis, general circulation, forecasting technology, cloud physics, hazardous weather (and other weather phenomena), climatology of 28 cities worldwide, as well as popular topics such as global warming, the ozone hole, and El Nino. The book is aimed at a reader with a grasp of basic science and a curiosity about weather phenomena, their …

NYNEX APPLICATION STIRS UP OPPOSITION.(BUSINESS)

Byline: JULIE CARR SMYTH Business writer

ALBANY -- Before the ink had dried on Nynex Corp.'s application Tuesday to offer long-distance service in its home territory, a vocal consumer utility group said it would oppose the move.

The Citizens Utility Board said its campaign against the filing will charge that Nynex has not met all 14 criteria required by law before a telecommunications company can offer both local and long-distance telephone service on its home turf.

CUB Executive Director Robert Ceisler said the group is particularly concerned about an item stating that the company already faces stiff competition among local telephone carriers in its …

The Skills Bible

The Skills Bible

The Skills Bible Presenting our new, unprece dented collection of outdoor know-how

YOU'LL WANT to clear some room on your bookshelf. We compiled the very best outdoor skills, tips, and tricks from the magazine-along with some brand-new ones-all into one volume. The result is a comprehensive and massive tome for hunters and anglers: The Total Outdoorsman Manual.

Edited by our resident total outdoorsman, editor-at-large T. Edward Nickens, The Total Outdoorsman Manual ($31.95; fieldandstream.com/ books) lives up to its title: It's 320 pages of essential sporting knowledge from the F&S experts you've come to trust over the years, including Keith McCafferty, David E. Petzal, Phil Bourjaily, Kirk Deeter, John Merwin and, of course, Eddie Nickens.

The Total Outdoorsman Manual is the total package. Inside you'll find tips on fishing, hunting, survival, and camping- applicable to hunters and anglers at every skill level. From the simple ("Tie a Clove Hitch"), to the advanced ("Fly Cast Upside-Down"), to the ingenious ("Skin a Deer With a Golf Ball"), the book is proof that there's always more to learn about hunting and fishing-and more fun to have in the outdoors. You'll also find advice on gear, killer recipes for wild game, and a bit of wit throughout. But you get more than just skills. We've also included essays, adventure stories, and plenty of stunning photography. You won't find this stuff on the Internet.

[Sidebar]

HONE YOUR SKILLS

Tell-All

Our ultimate outdoor skills guide. Father's Day, anyone?

WHAT'S INSIDE

HOW-TO: Step-by-step, illustrated hunting and fishing techniques; survival advice; and even recipes-a grand total of 374 skills.

STORIES: Veteran F&S writers share their best tales, memories, and lessons gained from a lifetime in the outdoors.

N.Y. Medicaid plan under fire. (New York state) (RX Government)

ALBANY, N.Y.--A number of pharmacies across the state closed their doors, or refused to fill Medicaid prescriptions, for one day last month in protest of the state's plan to cut Medicaid payments sharply.

Those pharmacists were rebelling against the budget agreement passed by the state legislature on April 1, which slashed Medicaid payments by $1.1 billion.

Currently, pharmacists are reimbursed for most prescription drugs under Medicaid based on the average wholesale price. They also receive a $2.60 dispensing fee for each Medicaid prescription they fill.

The new plan represents a compromise from an earlier proposal, which called for reimbursement of 10% less than the average wholesale price and a dispensing fee of $2.60. The state backed down from that plan, however, after pharmacists threatened to withdraw from Medicaid.

As the new plan stands, pharmacists will be reimbursed by the state at the average wholesale price minus 8%; the dispensing fee will rise to $3 a prescription in October 1992 and to $3.60 in January 1993.

The state says that the cuts are necessary because of a budget deficit and because federal regulations are calling for individual states to bring reimbursement more into line with what drugs cost pharmacists.

Pharmacists are upset by the state's plan, saying it will cause them to lose money or significantly cut into their profits on filing Medicaid prescriptions.

US Patent Issued to International Business Machines on Jan. 11 for "Method Of, System For, and Computer Program Product for Providing an E-Business Connector Builder" (California Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 12 -- United States Patent no. 7,870,286, issued on Jan. 11, was assigned to International Business Machines Corp. (Armonk, N.

Y.).

"Method Of, System For, and Computer Program Product for Providing an E-Business Connector Builder" was invented by Laurence E. England (Morgan Hill, Calif.), Howard J. Glaser (San Jose, Calif.) and Robert D. Moyer (Morgan Hill, Calif.).

According to the abstract released by the U.

S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A transaction-based application is adapted to process transactions over a network such as an internet or intranet. The transaction-based application is adapted by scanning the source code of the transaction-based application to identify a transaction and information related to the transaction; storing the related information in a database; extracting from the database parameter definitions describing communication of information by the transaction; identifying a parameter usage type for each parameter, said parameter usage type selectable from the parameter usage type set comprising input, output, input/output, and unreferenced; displaying the transaction and a subset of the related and extracted information; allowing a user to select the transaction; and using the identified and extracted information to package the user-selected transaction in a form compatible with a connector building tool."

The patent was filed on June 9, 2000, under Application No. 09/591,035.

For further information please visit: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?

Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7870286&OS=7870286&RS=7870286

For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Covering Indy 500 back when newspapers ruled

Whoopee! Sports Editor Lou Brewster's online story last Mondaythat IndyCar racing is returning to the Auto Club Speedway perked meup.

My love of Indy-style racing goes way back to 1935 when my UncleHarry took me to my first Indianapolis 500. That's when KellyPetillo won in a car powered by an Offenhauser engine. It was afirst for Offie at the Brickyard.

My money was on the blue car, which didn't finish. When you are5, colors rule your choices. Sometimes they still rule when you are45. I can't say about 85; call me around Memorial Day 2015 and I'lllet you know.

I renewed my relationship with Indianapolis and the 500, while Iwas in the Army after returning from Korea and then after I left theArmy I went to work for the Indianapolis Times. It was my kind ofnewspaper: Tough, take no prisoners. It was owned by Scripps-Howard.

The ownership was tight-fisted and got 120 percent out of itsstaff in a very competitive situation against a morning-eveningcombination of papers owned by the Pulliam family.

Old Gene Pulliam, the patriarch, was grandfather of a fellow witha spelling problem: Dan Quayle. I guess that's why Dan went intopolitics instead of newspapering: He spells potatoe, and we spellpotato. Ah, let's call the whole thing off.

Race day was madness at the Times and the News, Pulliam'safternoon paper. The competition was ruthless. On an ordinary daythe Times would have five to seven editions. On race day we wouldproduce 20 or more editions. This was before the Internet anddigital news. The papers were gold at the raceway, where a hundredthousand fans were thirsting for news. It was impossible to see allof the track and know who was ahead. The papers sent truckloads offresh papers with each new edition out to the track, where they werehawked in the grandstand and in the infield.

On race day in 1955, the News' truck pulled into the racewaycarrying a load of papers with a banner headline reading "Vukovichleads after 50," and right behind came the Times' truck. Its bannerread "Vukie dies in fiery crash."

The News' truck driver backed up to the creek that runs throughthe grounds, dumped his load of old news and raced back to town.

It would be a long time before even the press box and officialswould know what happened to the hugely popular driver, so fansgobbled up the papers.

For the Times, it had been the luck of the draw. On race day, wepractically emptied the newsroom and sent everyone to the track.

Leaving only Andy Anderson, our top rewrite man in the office totake calls from our reporters at the track and turn them intohistory. One editor was on the copy desk to give it a final read andput a headline on it and one reporter was stationed at the cop shop(police headquarters) in case all hell broke loose from anotherfront.

The managing editor assigned his staff to strategic spots hopingnot to miss anything during the race. It happened that one of ourtop reporters was right there when the car driven by the immenselypopular Bill Vukovich flew off the track in a fatal plunge. Hecalled Andy and gave him all the details, and Andy laid aside hisever-present crossword puzzle and went to work.

The Times was a great place to work, lots of action, but thehandwriting was on the wall. Most of the corporate leaders atScripps-Howard wanted to sell it or fold it because of the lock onadvertising held by the Star-News combo had proved impossible toconquer, even though we beat them regularly with the news.

The word was that Roy Howard (The Howard in Scripps-Howard)refused to put the Times on the market or to close it because it hadbeen his first newspaper and remained his sentimental favorite.

He stopped by the paper one night when I was working andintroduced himself. No fanfare. He just dropped by. One of thelegends of the industry. I was impressed. He was pretty old and theword was the Times wouldn't last a day longer than Roy Howard. Andthat was about right.

I headed back to California in 1960 and had been back less than ayear when Howard died and the Times was shut down not long after.

There was a lot of history at the Times. Ernie Pyle, one of myjournalistic heroes, got his start there, and I was thrilled to sitat his desk.

Indianapolis and Indiana have lost some history, too. FortBenjamin Harrison, where I was stationed, has been closed down.

And the great jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, whom I met and abecame friends with before his career ignited like a rocket, what atalent he was. The fact that we both had the same first name becameour running joke. He died way too young. His musician brothers Monkand Buddy are gone, too.

But nearby Speedway, Ind., is still home to the 500. I doubt thetrucks still race from the press to the track. There's no one leftto compete with.

I used to think that someday I'd work on that big City Desk inthe sky, but I doubt it will be there anymore. All that stuff willbe in storage or sold off for memorabilia.

I wonder who got Ernie Pyle's desk? I should know because it waspartly mine, too.

In the meantime, I'll watch the IndyCars run at the Auto ClubSpeedway.

Finding love online

LONG BEACH -- Eight years ago, Marcy Johnson Fox hesitated whenpeople asked how she met her husband, John Fox.

"I used to be like, 'Well, we met on Match.com,' " the Long Beachspeech pathologist said in a whispered tone.

"Now, it's like, 'Oh, we met on Match.com,' " she said in amatter-of-fact voice. "The stigma is kind of gone. I'll talk topeople who met their current boyfriends there. They'll ask, 'You meton which site?' "

Once seen as an unorthodox way of meeting potential mates, onlinedating sites have become a growing, more mainstream route to findinglove.

Dating sites -- both free and with paywalls -- vary from broaderbrowsing on Match.com, eHarmony and plentyoffish.com to sites thatcast more specific nets such as jdate.com, christiansingles.com andwww.gaydating.com.

In 2009 and 2010, Match.com asked research firm Chadwick MartinBailey to conduct surveys on America's dating habits.

Of the 7,000 husbands and wives surveyed, the firm found that 1in 6, or 17 percent of couples married in the last three years meton an online dating site. Also one out of five single people havedated or met their significant other via online dating, according tothe Chadwick survey.

It's also become a lucrative industry. Generating $957million in2008, online dating is the third largest revenue producer among paid-content Web sites, according to Forrester Research, which predictsthat that figure will grow 10 percent by 2013.

And earlier this month, online dating site Match.com acquiredOkCupid and its 3.5million users for $50 million. Match.com, a pay-to-use site, pairs people up from over 5.8 million users.

The stigma of online dating has faded as technology and the wayspeople communicate change, said Ebony Utley, assistant professor ofcommunication studies at Cal State Long Beach.

"As we become increasingly more comfortable with technology, itseems to make sense that that technology would provide assistance toour dating lives," Utley said. "Also, the busier we've become, themore convenient it is to view online dating as a way to meet newpeople you wouldn't meet otherwise."

When she was in the Air Force, Long Beach resident Leah Leeserfound online dating helpful for getting to know a new area.

"It worked out for me; I found a lot of cool places and met a lotof really neat people," said Leeser, a Cal State Long Beach studentstudying to be an English teacher.

Three years ago, Leeser met Sean McCauley, head of a local highschool English department, on plentyoffish.com.

"When I saw his profile, I liked how well-articulated the writingwas. The grammar was nice. I mean, I am an English major," she said."And it wasn't the typical, ' oh, I like romantic walks on thebeach' type of deal, which there's a lot of. You have to siftthrough 200 people to find one person that's worth your time ofday."

After a month and a half of e-mailing, the two finally met inperson with a group of her friends at the beach, then at a party aweek later.

"She was about what I expected," McCauley said of Leeser. "Whenyou're online dating, you don't have too much to worry about as faras character if you're really corresponding, if you're reallytalking to someone else. I knew what she was like. ... There's noicebreaker 45-minute period when you online date."

The couple, who now live together in Long Beach, say they wouldnot have met any other way.

"It's not easy to meet someone who enjoys Chaucer," McCauleysaid. "You have to search that out and the Internet is the obviousplace to go. The bar is not. Neither is the library, ironically.Although you might find someone who reads, what are the chances thatshe likes video games or punk rock music? So I need a girl whoenjoys Shakespeare and punk rock music. How am I going to findthat?"

For Marcy and John Fox, a self-described "shy and introverted"couple, online dating was less awkward and more convenient.

"I like the idea of being able to gather all this information andthen meet the person," Marcy Fox said. "It kind of takes a lot ofthe questions out of it. It cuts to the chase. These are the thingsI'm looking for. This is what I like and what I don't like. And it'salready there for you."

"I've never been into the bar scene," said John Fox, an equipmentoperator for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. "I'vealways been a little bit shy, just like her. It allows you to befreer with what you say and be a little wittier. In person, you'renervous and stumbling over what to say. In front of the computerscreen, you can be a lot more charming and let your personality comeout a little bit more."

The Foxes, who married in 2005, have a 3-year-old daughter,Rachel, and are expecting their second child, another girl, inApril.

"You can find compatibility online and that's how eHarmony inparticular markets it with their 29 Dimensions of Compatibility orwhatever," Utley said. "So you can find someone that you'recompatible with, but love is a choice and is something that'sdeveloped over time when you build a relationship. Online sitesdon't help us to find love. It might help us find someone to buildlove with."

karen.robes@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1303