Freedom Bank Named a Top 200 Community Bank by American Banker Magazine

Posted on by

FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Freedom Bank of Virginia (Bank) (Bulletin Board:FDVA.OB) was named one of the top 200 community banks in the United States based on average return on equity (ROE) for the past three years in the May 2013 issue. According to CEO Craig Underhill, We are pleased to be recognized by such a prestigious magazine. We focused on profitability during the downturn to generate organic capital. We are now accelerating our growth to effectively deploy that capital. This strategy has allowed the Bank to grow rapidly without having to sell additional stock, which would dilute current shareholders. The full article can be read here.

About Freedom Bank

Freedom Bank is a local community bank providing a full range of financial services, including credit and deposit products, cash management, and Internet banking services for consumers and businesses. The Bank operates from its headquarters office at 10555 Main Street, Fairfax, Virginia 22030. For more information visit http://www.freedombankva.com.

Link:

Freedom Bank Named a Top 200 Community Bank by American Banker Magazine

CYBORG SURPRISE! – Black Ops 2 Live w/PeateElite! New Camo DLC (Black Ops 2 Multiplayer Gameplay) – Video

Posted on by


CYBORG SURPRISE! - Black Ops 2 Live w/PeateElite! New Camo DLC (Black Ops 2 Multiplayer Gameplay)
Subscribe to See more videos! http://www.youtube.com/user/PeateElite?feature=mhee #9675; My Twitter - http://bit.ly/XQ0d9b #9675; My Facebook - http://on.fb.me/15Sdj7H.

By: PeateElite

See the article here:

CYBORG SURPRISE! - Black Ops 2 Live w/PeateElite! New Camo DLC (Black Ops 2 Multiplayer Gameplay) - Video

Cyborg’80s

Posted on by


Cyborg #39;80s Petit Pois - La Shatte Poseuse (Love Love #39;80s Mi
from #12454; #12469; #12462; #12481; #12515; #12531; #12473; #12540; #12497; #12540; #12473; #12479; #12540;!! Vol.0001 (2002)

By: goodelectronicpop

See more here:

Cyborg'80s

World’s first commercial cyborg scuttles onto Kickstarter

Posted on by

The worlds first Bluetooth-controlled cyborg is here in the form of an app-enabled cockroach. And its usingKickstarter to raise money. Its also being developed and manufactured in a hackerspacea cooperative lab and machine shop space where techies can tinker and invent together.

Why RoboRoaches? A group of neuroscience junkies namedBackyard Brainsthinks the roaches can serve asexperiment kits for high school science classes, PhD students and other amateur neuroscientists. The groups flagship product, the SpikerBox, allows users to view the neurological activity of an invertebrate on a smartphone. RoboRoach improves on that product by letting users hack the bugs brain waves, control them, and steer the bugs with a smartphone.

The product, which works by sending electrical stimuli to the antennaeto steer the roachs movement, has existed in beta for almost two years. The technology is borrowed from thedeep brain stimulationused to treat Parkinsons Disease, andcochlear implantsthat help the deaf hear.

The Kickstarter funding, says head cyborg-maker Bill Reith says, will allow the group to manufacture its own hardware (right now it uses existing controllers from toy robots). The group also wants to create neuroscience lesson plans to accompany the devices.

We want to create neural interfaces that the general public can use, engineer and co-founder Tim Marzullo says in the projects Kickstarter video. Typically, to understand how these hardware devices and biological interfaces work, youd have to go to graduate school in a neuro-engineering lab.

While the technology is meant to be user-friendly, it wouldnt be easy to use the product as a toy. Thats because the backpack that delivers electrical stimuli to the roachs antennae requires a fairly delicate surgery (under ice-water anesthesia) to connect.

The company credits itshackerspace in Ann Arbor, Michigan for enabling the technologys development. Hackerspaces are home to some of the brands of tomorrow, says Reith. MakerBot is one of the first companies to gain traction, but there will soon be many more.Reith and his team hope that RoboRoach-based experiments will inspire students to engage with neuroscience. And perhaps they will inspire other hackerspace-based businesses, too.

More from Quartz

More here:

World’s first commercial cyborg scuttles onto Kickstarter

All Gulf Shores beaches closed after 4th drowning in 24 hours

Posted on by

GULF SHORES, AL (WSFA) -

The city of Gulf Shores is closing all public waters in Gulf Shores after the fourth drowning in less than 24 hours.

The city has posted double red flags on all beaches within the corporate limits of Gulf Shores including all beaches from Gulf State Park west to Laguna Key.

Authorities say extremely hazardous conditions are present.

Those seeing calm water SHOULD NOT BE FOOLED into a false sense of security. While water conditions may not appear to be life-threatening, the underlying rip currents are a significant risk to anyone entering the Gulf.

Authorities say two men drowned in dangerous rip currents on the Alabama coast, and searchers are looking for a third person who hasn't been seen since going under.

Other sources say the fourth victim, a grandfather, drowned after going into the water in an attempt to save his granddaughter.

Baldwin County Coroner Stanley Vinson says 25-year-old Matthew Hattaway of Bossier, La., was pronounced dead about 3 p.m. Sunday. A relative spotted him floating in the surf.

Vinson says 51-year-old John Hogue of Overland Park, Kan., died on the beach a few hours later. He had been swimming and was pulled from the surf unconscious.

Vinson says the third person disappeared in the water and hadn't been found Monday.

See original here:

All Gulf Shores beaches closed after 4th drowning in 24 hours

Drop in Scottish Blue Flag beaches

Posted on by

9 June 2013 Last updated at 19:45 ET

Scotland has lost five of its acclaimed Blue Flag beaches in the latest round of awards by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

The environmental charity said those applying had to meet an even stricter global water quality standard.

The three remaining Blue Flag beaches were Aberdour Silver Sands, Burntisland and Elie Ruby Bay, all in Fife.

We know that beach users, whether they are local or visitors from near or far, want to enjoy clean beaches

Those losing out on the internationally recognised award were Coldingham, Broughty Ferry, Kinghorn (Pettycur), Elie Harbour and Leven.

Along with the Blue Flags, a list of Seaside Awards mean 59 beaches in total were recognised for excellent litter management, safety procedures and water quality.

The other commended beaches range from Loch Morlich and Portmahomack in the Highlands, to Montrose Seafront, Portobello and North Berwick.

Derek Robertson, chief executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: "Our new Clean Up Scotland campaign aims to engage with individuals and communities who love their beaches, encouraging them to organise clean-up events of their own.

"Already, almost 100 beaches have held community clean-ups this year as part of the campaign, including many of the award beaches.

Read the original:

Drop in Scottish Blue Flag beaches

Judges favour coastline of Fife in beaches pageant

Posted on by

good CLEAN FUN: The Stirling family from Linlithgow enjoy the sunny spell on Aberdour Silver Sands, which was given a Clean Beach Award by Keep Scotland Beautiful. Picture: Gordon Terris

Aberdour Silver Sands, Burntisland and Elie Ruby Bay were highly rated for their all-round cleanliness and overall excellence in Scotland's annual Beach Awards, organised by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

Aberdour has been a Blue Flag-approved beach every year since 1998 in the awards, while Burntisland has continually earned the highest approval since 2001. And 2013 is now the fourth year in a row Elie Ruby Bay has qualified.

Elsewhere in Fife, St Andrews West Sands was awarded a Seaside Award for the 21st year running, as was Gullane Bents in East Lothian.

In all, 59 Scottish beaches north of the Border have been recognised by the charity for their litter management, safety procedures and water quality, ranging from St Ninian's Isle, in Shetland, to Machrihanish in the south-west.

They also include South Ayr, Elie Harbour Beach, Billowness in Anstruther and Portobello, all of which joined the list of award-winning beaches last year.

Derek Robertson, chief executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: "I'm delighted to announce so many Seaside Awards for Scotland, all of which recognise the incredible diversity of our beaches.

"Our new Clean Up Scotland campaign aims to engage with individuals and communities who love their beaches, encouraging them to organise clean-up events of their own.

"Already, almost 100 beaches have held community clean-ups this year as part of the campaign, including many of the award beaches."

Suzanne Roberts, campaign co-ordinator at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: "Scotland should be proud of so many beaches meeting the standards required for seaside awards, some of them over 20 years.

Read the original post:

Judges favour coastline of Fife in beaches pageant

Beaches ‘trashed’ over sunny weekend

Posted on by

10 June 2013 Last updated at 08:31 ET

Many beaches in Northern Ireland were "absolutely trashed" over the weekend by people who left piles of rubbish behind them, the National Trust said.

Toby Edwards, the trust's beach manager at Portstewart Strand, said his area was the worst he had seen it in seven years working in Northern Ireland.

He said other north coast beaches in County Londonderry had also been "trashed".

Thousands flocked to the coast as NI enjoyed days of sunny, hot weather.

Mr Edwards said National Trust staff spent 13-hour shifts cleaning beaches over the weekend, as some members of the public discarded bottles, cans, nappies and other rubbish on the sand, despite being close to bins.

I'm really quite upset about it because it's the worst I've ever seen it.

His team filled a pick-up truck 16 times on Sunday evening, with bin bags full of litter they had picked up off Portstewart Strand.

"It's obviously very frustrating for us as a conservation charity, where we are trying to look after this amazing place," Mr Edwards told the BBC's Talkback programme.

He added that it was a "real challenge" to finance the clean-up operation.

Read the original here:

Beaches 'trashed' over sunny weekend

Anki Brings Artificial Intelligence To iOS

Posted on by

To open the WWDC keynote, Tim Cook invited a robotics startup called Anki to the stage. The company showed off what it called a video game in the real world for iOS.

The first product out of Anki is called Anki Drive. Its a collection of AI-controlled race cars that learn and adapt as they drive around a track. The most interesting part about all of this is that the cars are not only controlled by iOS devices, but the brains of the cars are also housed in the iOS app.

Anki Drive is only the first of many products that the the folks at Anki want to make for iOS devices. They want to bring artificial intelligence, robotics and more to iOS users around the world.

At the end of the presentation, the Anki folks said that Anki Drive will be sold exclusively at Apple Stores later this year for around $200. Its unknown if Apple is funding the development of Anki, but its a cool enough concept. I wouldnt be surprised to see Apple getting into artificial intelligence development for Siri and other services.

Here is the original post:

Anki Brings Artificial Intelligence To iOS