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Preventing Infection after Splenectomy or if you do not have a Working Spleen
jeango2015 gilly1446 mariecress 25 Users are discussing this topic
If you do not have a spleen, or have a spleen that does not work well, you have an increased risk of developing some serious infections. The risk is reduced by immunisation, taking regular low-dose antibiotics, and taking full-strength antibiotics as soon as the first sign of infection develops.
The spleen is an organ in the upper left side of the tummy (abdomen). It helps to protect against infections. As blood passes through the spleen, special cells kill germs (bacteria) that may be present.
Your spleen may be removed (splenectomy) for various reasons. For example, because of an illness that affects the spleen, or if it is damaged by an injury. Also, the spleen may not work well in some diseases - for example, sickle cell disease, thalassaemia, and lymphomas.
You can normally cope with most infections without a spleen. The spleen is just one part of your defence (immune) system. Other parts of the immune system protect against most bacteria, viruses, and other germs.
However, you have an increased risk of developing some serious infections if you do not have a spleen, or have a spleen that does not work properly. This complication is called overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI). The risk is small and OPSI is uncommon, but very serious and is often fatal if it occurs.
Examples of serious infections that you are at increased risk from if you do not have a working spleen are:
Most infections that occur after splenectomy can be avoided through the following measures:
1. You should be immunised against the following:
• Pneumococcus. This germ (bacterium) is a common cause of serious chest infection but can also lead to blood poisoning (septicaemia). A booster is normally advised every five years.
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). This bacterium can cause chest infections and meningitis and can also lead to septicaemia. Immunisation against Hib is now routine for all children. But, many adults will not have had it, so you may still need it if you did not have it as a child.
• The bacterium called meningococcus. This can cause meningitis and can also lead to septicaemia. Immunisation is with the meningococcal ACWY conjugate vaccine. There are various strains of meningococcus. The meningococcal ACWY conjugate vaccine protects against four strains - A, C, W and Y. A vaccine against group B meningitis should also be given.
• Flu (influenza). The annual flu jab each autumn. The spleen is not needed to fight off the flu virus. However, some people with flu develop secondary chest infections from bacteria, which may lead to pneumonia. Therefore, it is best to prevent flu in the first place.
• Risk of infection abroad. If you are travelling abroad, make sure that you have all the immunisations advised for the countries you visit. In particular, you should be immunised against Group A meningococcus if you are visiting certain hot counties where this is a risk. Also, see general information about travelling abroad below.
• Important note re children. They should have all the other usual childhood immunisations apart from a variation in the meningococcal vaccine. That is, the meningococcal ACWY conjugate vaccine should be given instead of, or in addition to, the group C meningococcal vaccine, depending on the age of the child when the vaccines are given. Your doctor will advise exactly which meningococcal vaccine should be used and when. A vaccine against group B meningitis will also be given. See separate leaflet called Immunisation - Usual UK Schedule for more details, although group B vaccine is not routinely given to all children.
If you are to have a planned operation to remove your spleen, review your immunisation status with a doctor at least two weeks before surgery. In particular, the pneumoccocal and ACWY conjugate meningococcal immunisations are best given at least two weeks before the spleen is removed.
However, it is never too late. If you had your spleen removed in the past or you have been diagnosed as having a non-working spleen, and are not immunised, get immunised as soon as possible.
Note: immunisation does not completely prevent the risk of infection. It only protects against certain types of infections.
2. You will probably be advised to take low-dose antibiotics every day for life
This advice is usual for most people without a working spleen. If you take a small dose of an antibiotic each day, it will prevent some serious infections. Penicillin is the usual antibiotic prescribed. Most people do not have any side-effects from the daily low dose. If you are allergic to penicillin, other antibiotics are available.
3. Keep a course of full-strength broad-spectrum antibiotics handy
Broad-spectrum antibiotics combat a wide range of bacteria. If you become ill with a high temperature (fever) or other signs of infection, you should start a course of full-strength, broad-spectrum antibiotics straightaway. This is in addition to taking regular low-dose penicillin (or similar). You should then obtain medical advice quickly.
Most feverish illnesses that you have will be common coughs and colds due to viral infections. These are not serious, and will be cleared by your immune system. The antibiotic will, in hindsight, usually not have been necessary. However, some serious infections start with symptoms similar to a cold. They can then develop quickly if you do not have a working spleen. So, it is best to play safe and take a course of full-strength broad-spectrum antibiotics as soon as any feverish illness starts and see a doctor promptly.
If you do not have a working spleen and come into contact with germs causing certain diseases, you have an increased risk of developing these diseases. For example:
• Malaria.
• Meningitis.
• Babesiosis (an infection caused by a tick parasite, which leads to an illness similar to malaria).
Note: a parasite is a type of germ that needs to live on or in another living being (host).
It may be best to avoid any countries where these diseases are common. In particular, a severe form of malaria is a concern for people without a spleen. Do you really need to travel? If you do travel, make sure you are fully immunised. Also, obtain up-to-date information about protecting against the type of malaria in the country you are to visit. This will include taking tablets to prevent malaria, and using mosquito nets, insect repellents, etc. Take the antimalarial tablets exactly as advised for maximum protection. This usually includes starting the tablets before you travel. See separate leaflet Advice for Travelling to Remote Locations.
Also, take a course of broad-spectrum antibiotics with you. Contact your doctor before travelling. A change to a different regular antibiotic for the duration of the trip may also be advised, depending on which country you visit. This is because in some countries (for example, Spain) there is a high resistance to penicillin by some germs (bacteria).
Animal and tick bites carry a risk of infection getting into the bloodstream. Take a course of full-strength broad-spectrum antibiotics after a bite, no matter how trivial. Also, consult a doctor urgently if you become ill after any bite. To help prevent tick bites whilst out in the countryside, wear clothing to cover exposed skin, especially long trousers to cover your legs.
Consider carrying a card or wearing a special bracelet or necklet which says that you do not have a working spleen. This would alert a doctor to take rapid action if you are seriously ill and cannot tell him or her yourself.
Original Author:
Dr Tim Kenny
Current Version:
Peer Reviewer:
Dr Adrian Bonsall
Document ID:
4427 (v41)
Last Checked:
Next Review:
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Creature Comforts And This Week's Adoptable Pets
Adoption Options
As the temperatures dip, we need to be sure our pets are well protected from the elements. Shelter from rain, snow and wind are essential to keep them comfortable, and the best way to do that is to keep pets indoors. A pet door allows them to go in and out while owners are away from home.
Some heavy coated breeds can tolerate outdoor kenneling if they have a well-insulated shelter that is clean and dry. The shelter should be up off the cold, wet ground. The opening needs to be away from the direction of the prevailing wind. Cover the opening with a baffle or canvas flap.
Concrete is unacceptable as flooring for pets. First, it is too hard a surface and, second, it wicks heat away from an animal's body, making the cold extremely uncomfortable.
An outdoor pet needs access to fresh water that doesn't freeze. An electric water bowl heater solves the problem nicely. During cold weather, outdoor pets should be fed larger portions because they have to burn so many calories to keep warm.
When taking pets outside to exercise in cold weather, they can get frostbite on their ears, paws, tails and scrotum. Check their paws for cuts or ice balls. If they walk on surfaces that have been treated with corrosive salt or chemicals, wipe their paws with a damp cloth when they come in. Bag balm is wonderful for sore paws!
Geriatric pets experience considerable discomfort in cold weather, as it makes already stiff joints even stiffer. We recommend that older pets be kept inside during inclement weather except for brief potty outings.
Short-coated breeds can wear jackets or sweaters while outdoors. A rule of thumb is that if it's too cold for you to be outside, it's too cold for your pet. If a pet is shivering, it needs to be brought inside to warm up. If it is wet, dry its coat with towels or a hair dryer. Try heating up a can of chicken noodle soup and mixing in dry food for a cold animal.
Cats particularly dislike being cold, as is evidenced by their continuous quest for the warmth of sunshine. They would much rather be inside when it's cold, especially at night. To make an inexpensive cat bed, line a cat-sized cardboard box with a plush, fleece throw. A number of local businesses carry reasonably priced fleece throws in bright colors. They are durable, washable and dry much faster than other fabrics.
And now for this week's offering of adoptable pets:
Hot Shot is a cute 4-month-old neutered male kitten. He sparks your interest with his trim, pewter-gray and snow-white coat. He looks like the quiet type until you start petting him and he purrs with pleasure. Hot Shot is fixin' to set a ring of fire around your heart. He's got a burning desire to hook up with a feline fancier to kindle a long term relationship!
Hot Shot
Dixie is a very friendly 3-year-old spayed female tan, black and white hound mix. She has a lovely well-proportioned body with long, slender legs and a tail that curls into a circle. But her best feature is her inner beauty. She is well behaved and walks like a princess on leash -- easy as pie. She is a sensitive and responsive dog who listens to you and obeys. She gets along great with other dogs at the dog park. Her positive attitude and even disposition make her a highly desirable companion. We give Miss Dixie the Golden Bone Award!
Anthony is a comical 16-year-old neutered male Chihuahua/Corgi mix. He is currently serving as our resident Welcome Wagon dog and sits on a plush cushion in front of the heater, greeting people as they come and go. Notice in his picture that he has two toys he cannot be separated from. What he would really like is to be in a home where he can be pampered and spoiled. Because of his age, he has arthritis, cataracts, some hearing loss and needs medication for liver problems. When he is stiff, he needs to be carried outside to potty. He needs to be the only dog in the household. Despite his infirmities, Anthony has an upbeat personality and a zest for life. Therefore we hope to place him with an understanding, supportive family for the rest of his days.
Cassie is a heaven-sent one-year-old spayed female tabby cat. Her muted pale ash-grey tabby coat is very special. She has an angelic expression and a sweet, loving nature. She gets along well with the other cats in her kennel and enjoys human visitors. She would be on cloud nine if she gets a new home for the holidays.
Prissy is a gorgeous one-year-old spayed female calico kitty. Her coat of many colors is like a patchwork crazy quilt. Prissy is a very friendly, outgoing cat who likes attention and activity. She has taken a younger cat named Fancy under her paw and they are often seen curled up together keeping warm. You will love this sweet Miss Purrsonality!
The Payson Humane Society animal shelter is located at 812 S. McLane Rd.
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Anita Espinosa - 3 Records Found in Pico Rivera, CA
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Anita L Espinosa
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Barrigada, GU
Whittier, CA
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Pico Rivera, CA
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Hulk mad, Otter Tail County drivers bad
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opinion Perham, 56573
Perham Minnesota 222 2nd Avenue SE 56573
Watch out, I have my pedal to the metal and you are in the way, Otter Tail County drivers.
Because of the consistent excellence of athletic teams in New York Mills and Perham, at the end of every sporting season, I am on the road all over the area and I see you thoughtless drivers.
I drive fast, but I also try to be considerate.
You've seen that car behind you while you're eating up space crawling in the left lane. Move over.
That way you'll avoid the vehemence of the person you are currently frustrating and maybe even avoid an unpleasant gesture.
Not that I would do that.
Well, maybe one time.
While New York Mills was capturing the section baseball title in Fergus Falls, it allowed me a couple routes to the county seat, once from Perham and the other trip from Detroit Lakes.
It did not seem to matter if I was on highway 59, 108, 78 or 210, there they were: The Oblivious.
On my tunes-cranked blast down 59, I was clipping along at a decent pace and a rogue Buick pulled out in front of me.
"As long as they speed up in time, I'm not going to have to get angry," I thought. "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
Sure enough, in seconds, I'm green, puffed up and just Hulkish behind the wheel.
This happened 11 more times on the 45-mile trip - a personal record. By the time I reached the land of otters and geese, I had shed all remnants of my former Bruce Banner self.
Another irritant amidst this brake tapping madness was the multiple times I witnessed the suicide signal flippers.
Flipping on a turn signal as the turn is being made, with no thought whatsoever to the person or people behind, is enough to get one sincerely flipped off.
It just baffles me, as a driving species, we can't embrace the process of thought while we drive.
It's 'slam on the brakes or be killed' out there.
But do not fret; I am not saying Otter Tail County drivers are the worst.
Naturally, because we have state contenders here every season, my OTC trips are typically followed by a trip to the metro for state tournaments.
I'll spare you the details of my wrath on the roads down there.
Needless to say, I'm happy that I won't see southbound 169 for another year and to be honest, now that I have returned, I'm sticking to the back roads around here.
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Paradigm Shift - Don't use strict
by Ovid (Cardinal)
on Nov 12, 2001 at 22:47 UTC ( #124879=perlmeditation: print w/ replies, xml ) Need Help??
Imagine the following: you're facing a serious programming problem and a coworker tells you not to reinvent the wheel. There's a module that will do just what you need. Rather than just blindly use this module, you decide to give it a code review. Here's what you find:
No strict.
Most variables are global. In fact, much of the module's configuration is controlled by global variables.
Hand-rolled version of Exporter. The author was concerned about performance, so he rolled his own.
To make his code as desireable as possible, the author decided to give users the ability to use the code as both functions or object methods, thus, in your view, unnecessarily complicating the code. Maintenance is rather tricky (just try inheriting from it).
Plenty of symbolic references, such as the following:
*{"${callpack}::$sym"} = \&{"$def\:\:$sym"};
The following line can be found in the contructor:
bless $self,ref $class || $class || $DefaultClass;
In fact, merlyn refers to the above style as Cargo Cult programming. Is it a class method? Is it an instance method? Why is that there?
At least one function has the same name as a standard keyword, forcing the author to use CORE:: to call the original function. Other functions had to be renamed from their originals in prior versions due to collissions with Perl's built-ins.
Needless to say, after discovering all of this, you're absolutely horrified and tell your co-worker that under no circumstances will you use
The above information is valid for $CGI::VERSION='2.752'. I went and downloaded VERSION 2.0 and most, if not all of these points were still valid.
Please note that I am not advocating that anyone abandon this module. I just wanted to take the time to point out that some good programmers can violate the rules and get away with this. In this case, many of the issues above stem from the fact that this is legacy code that has been constantly upgraded.
Comment on Paradigm Shift - Don't use strict
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Re: Paradigm Shift - Don't use strict
by suaveant (Parson) on Nov 12, 2001 at 23:06 UTC
- Ant
- Some of my best work - (1 2 3)
Re: Paradigm Shift - Don't use strict
by Asim (Hermit) on Nov 12, 2001 at 23:15 UTC
Perhaps version 3.0 addresses some of the issues, although he still doesn't use strict; according to a quick glance of the code.
----Asim, known to some as Woodrow.
Re: Paradigm Shift - Don't use strict
by blakem (Monsignor) on Nov 13, 2001 at 00:17 UTC
I agree with most of your points, but handrolling your own exporter really isn't all that bad1. If you look through, you'll find that most of it is just syntactic sugar around the following bit of code2 that looks remarkably similiar to what you noted:
*{"${callpkg}::$sym"} = \&{"${pkg}::$sym"}
There is also a nearly identical call for $vars and @arrays and %hashes, etc. is mainly just a nicer interface for this admitedly scary chunk of code.
1Assuming you're Lincoln Stein
2From 5.005_03 since I once disected its for fun
Re: Paradigm Shift - Don't use strict
by Elgon (Curate) on Nov 13, 2001 at 06:16 UTC
Confucius say,
Do what is right: Do not adhere to dogma.
Re: Paradigm Shift - Don't use strict
by chip (Curate) on Nov 13, 2001 at 10:09 UTC
Salzenberg's Rules of Programming, Number Zero: "Anything that works is better than anything that doesn't."
And does, in fact, work.
That said: is atrocious in its style and horrifying in its design sense. It should be distributed in the directory examples/bad. I would welcome a well-written alternative. Atually, I'd welcome several well-written alternatives, one for each of the current module's several problem domains.
Sigh.... So many kludges, so little time.
-- Chip Salzenberg, Free-Floating Agent of Chaos
Thank ghod I don't have to do it. Nice work, and nice documentation of work, too. Now for the hard part: Politics.
-- Chip Salzenberg, Free-Floating Agent of Chaos
Re: Paradigm Shift - Don't use strict
by dmmiller2k (Chaplain) on Nov 13, 2001 at 19:50 UTC
I feel you, man, er, as it were.
Why rush the inevitable?
Re: Paradigm Shift - Dual Use Constructors
by demerphq (Chancellor) on Nov 13, 2001 at 21:20 UTC
With all due respect to merlyn, I have encountered this post in the past and frankly was quite disappointed, neigh, shocked at what he had written. At the time I decided that as it was an old post and given that I was a newbie here it was inappropriate to criticise such a senior monk and icon of the perl community. However since then I have read various discussions about newbies not being afraid of commenting when they think they should and the fact that you bring it up here has made me change my mind:
Lets consider merlyns rational for not having a dual use new()
So it would appear that merlyn doesn't read the documentation of the modules he uses. The documentation should specify the exact semantics of a method, including whether it can be called in object or class context, and what it should do when it is.
Now I agree if the documentation does not explicitly state that the new() is both a class/object method it probably should only be a class method. But this is perl, which as we all know if phenomenally flexible language, where part of that flexibility allows for exactly such behaviour. In fact one could almost argue that providing such behaviour goes along with the perl philosophy. After all subroutines are allowed to know if they have been called in list or scalar context, and change their behaviour accordingly, so whats the problem if constructors do the same?
And now we see what is quite frankly one of my pet peeves: The ascribing of protocols and conventions from one language to perl. Frankly I couldnt give a toss what smalltalk users did in the 80's or what they are doing now. Nor do I care how Java does things or VB or C or C++. (Except when I use them :-) So lets provide a modern equivelent of merlyns misguided words:
Yes there are prominent members of the perl community who do not think it is appropriate to use hungarian notation in their code, but ask them if they programmed Visual Basic in the 90's
And just cause it annoys me so much how about a perlish one:
Yes there are prominent members of the perl community who think it is appropriate to utilize wantarray and have their subs/methods be context aware, but ask them if they programmed C in the 70's
Update:changed 60's to 70's as per tillys email
Which IMO is as absurd as merlyn saying Perls constructors should conform to the conventions of Smalltalk. (And yes, I know that Smalltalk was the groundbreaking OO language. Consider that ALGOL/FORTRAN/COBOL were also a groundbreaking languages from the past, have you ever heard anyone arguing that we should comply with the conventions from them?
To be quite frank I lost a lot of respect for merlyn when I read his post, but this line was the whammy. (Oh and its ok that I lost a lot of respect for him over this, theres still lots of respect left :-) Anybody that says 'any use of x is cargo cult programming' without giving damn good justification for the comment, is advocating cargo cult programming. And IMO the reasons that merlyn has given in his post for not using this construct are weak, verging on ridiculous.
If I was in a class where I lost marks for doing such a thing in perl because my teacher thought that I should write my perl to reflect the conventions of another language (one that I may or may not be familiar with) I would not rate the teacher very highly, in fact I would probably demand my money back. I mean imagine the scenario, there you are using closures and a hash to dynamically generate accessors for an class, and the teacher marks you down because you haven't set them up as they do in Java! Bah! I signed on for a Perl course mate, not how to do Smalltalk/Java in Perl!
My issue here is with merlyns justification and his knee-jerk approach to the issue. It should be understood that I am not necessarily advocating the use of dual use new()s.
I usually provide dual use constructors in my objects, primarily for eas of use and brevity reasons (I dislike sprinkling classnames through my code, especially long ones :-) but I recently discovered what I consider to be a good reason to follow merlyns advice:
C++ programmers like to use the indirect syntax for creating objects, instead of using the more perlish direct syntax. But sometimes they use both:
my $obj=new CLASS($arg1,$arg2); my $obj=CLASS->new($arg1,$arg2); my $mistake=new CLASS->new($arg1,$arg2);
When they make this mistake with an object that doesnt provide for dual use constructors they will get an error, when it does they will get an object. But depending on the semantics of the constructor they may get a very different object than they thought. For instance if the new() is a plain vanilla constructor in object or class, the arguments wouldn't be passed to the second call of new() resulting in a different object. Of course the story would be different if the new() in object context was a clone method.
So the bottom line is that yes there are some minor issues with dual use constructors, but no they definately are not outright wrong, much less cargo cult programming.
Yves / DeMerphq
Have you registered your Name Space?
I disagree that this is just a protocol or convention from another language. There is a lot more to this issue.
The heart of this question is what your model of OO programming is. The ref trick makes Perl halfway towards being prototype based, but not really. Avoiding it allows you to have a model closer to Smalltalk's, which works much better in Perl. Given that I prefer Smalltalk's model, I am inclined towards merlyn's position. But given that the ref trick can't make the prototype approach work, I think that he is objectively right.
(Those who don't know what I am talking about when I talk about prototypes should read the explanation I gave at A Cat's eye view of OO.)
If you want to take a prototype approach in Perl, you can. Do it with BikeNomad's Class::Prototyped and have it work right. Don't do it with a half-way hack that allows you to maintain a bad mental model of your code that won't really work if you push it.
Furthermore merlyn's accusation that it is typically cargo-cult programming is definitely on target. Take 10 random people who regularly use the ref meme in their constructors. Of them at least 8 have never given any serious thought to the question of why they would want to write code that way. They have no clear thoughts on it at all. They have just seen the construct, use it because they have seen it, but they have no strong thoughts on what the reason is. That is exactly what cargo-cult programming is. The blind repetition of programming patterns that you have not thought about and do not understand.
And about the two other examples you gave. Steve McConnell was circumspect about saying how bad Hungarian Notation is in his classic Code Complete, but what he said there about why it is bad is exactly correct. And it was correct coming from someone who had (among other things) done VB programming for Microsoft in the 90's. Secondly nobody programmed in C in the 1960's. It wasn't invented until the 70's. Even if it were, the use of context in Perl is something a C programmer should have no opinion on since the concept doesn't exist in C. By contrast the use of objects in Perl is something which a user of another OO language reasonably can have opinions on in Perl because it exists both places. Their opinions might be wrong for Perl, but they at least have an experience base which is somewhat relevant.
I know what it does, I know when I would use it, but I honestly can't remember when I've actually utilized a prototype, yet I continue to put the 'ref($proto) || $proto' stuff in my code (I think I may have actually used it once but I'm not sure). In a code review with a 'perl master' (not merlyn) at the conference I pointed out that I'm not sure if its all that useful but he assured me that it was fine. I figure that it has become such an idiomatic perl thing that if you don't do it that way, you take the chance of disappointing someone down the line who might want to utilize it (yeah, it's a weak excuse).
Hah! beat ya to it. Though I continue to use it, I mark myself off first (and this is what I had in the 'code review'):
sub new { # Do the cargo cult OO construction thing my $proto = shift; my $class = ref($proto) || $proto; ...
For further information, see any human child.
-- Chip Salzenberg, Free-Floating Agent of Chaos
Tilly perhaps ive missed your point, but you seem to be doing the same thing as merlyn. You are trying to apply OO models from various languages to Perl. OO is a simple idea: the strong association or binding of procedures with the data that they manipulate. Everything else in OO is an extension of this simple concept. Now many languages embraced this idea and as mathematicians (think i)and computer science types often do extended the idea to its logical limits, or beyond in some cases, to see what the implications, pros cons etc of such systems.
But these ideas (prototypes, inheritance, polymorhism, overloading....) are just additional concepts that have been added (or not depending on the language) because of the interests, predilictions and whathaveyou of the various authors and users of the various languages. The fact that they are often useful or desirable features of a language does not mean that they are necessary, much less right.
Im happy that you prefer smalltalks OO model, and even happier that perl provides what is necessary to emulate it. But not because I like the smalltalk model but because I like the perl model, where I can do all kinds of things, only a few of which are considered to be standard OO techniques.
Now as I said, I have come to agree with merlyns point, but not for any of the reasons he provided (which were, to be blunt, crap). You said: The blind repetition of programming patterns that you have not thought about and do not understand. Well Im sorry but to me that is exaclty what merlyns statement about marking people down whenever he saw the construct is. The blind application of a rule of thumb without trying to understand why it was done. For instance I have written a number of GA implementations in perl (unpublished sofar). Now I have a class GA::Entity in my model. This class is used to represent a solution in the GA. When I call GA::Entity->new() it returns a randomly generated solution. When I call $ga_entity->new() it produces a randomly mutated version of $ga_entity, and when I call $ga_entity->new($other_ga_entity) it returns a cross of the two. I thought long and hard if I wanted this type of behaviour and experimented with a number of alternatives before deciding I was happy with this approach. But of course merlyn would mark me down bigtime without considering why I had done it, and what my reasons were. And that my friend is plain and simple Cargo Cult Programming.
Now, Ill grant that if merlyn had said something like "Well, generally I dont think this is a good idea. If I saw this in a code review I would want to see good justification for doing it, and a healthy amount of documentation to explain what is going on" or something to that effect then my attitude would be very different. Also I will grant that if the users of this construct are as you allege unaware of the issues related to it, then indeed it is cargo cult programming as well, but this doesnt change the fact that merlyns comments are too.
I think you might want to reread my sarcastic comment about hungarian. I was trying to come up with the equivelent of a perl guru advocating the use of hungarian in perl.
As for the C/Context point, I dont agree. To me there is little or no difference between someone who has experienced a (different) concept or not experienced the concept at all in a given langauge demanding that a second language behave the same way. That quite possibly is why they are different languages.
Your last sentence is to me the key here, Their opinions might be wrong for Perl, but they at least have an experience base which is somewhat relevant, yes their opinions are relevant but not necessarily correct. And that is exactly what I think of merlyns post. Relevent and wrong.
Yves / DeMerphq
Have you registered your Name Space?
-- Frag.
Re: Paradigm Shift - Don't use strict
by TheDamian (Priest) on Nov 16, 2001 at 16:05 UTC
For example(s):
• I rarely use strict in my modules.
• My code brims over with symbolic references and typeglobbing.
• I almost never write comments.
• I often provide multiple interfaces to a module.
As the Jargon File illustrates in its Zen-like appendix:
Knight turned the machine off and on.
The machine worked.
Or, to misquote from The Fifth Element:
Just a few comments.
First of all I agree with you on the importance of making your own mind up. I have made similar points in the past, and on several occasions managed to irritate people by refusing to accept the received wisdom. But I think I learn better for it.
That said, there are a few points about your own behaviour that I would like to point out.
• I use strict fairly religiously. While you may not make the mistakes it catches, it catches a good fraction of my typos. Also I note that while you don't use strict, you get most of the benefits (and more!) from the test suites you write. Contrary to appearances, you do attempt sanity and caution.
• Roll your own import or not, decisions, decisions. I have written my own imports before, and most of the time I don't. The rule of thumb that I use is, "If what I want is achievable from the basic Exporter, I use that just so that my semantics will match that. If they are totally different, then I won't. Consistency is good. If I am going to be inconsistent, I have to have an opposing good reason." Generally speaking the more "interesting" the code is, the more likely it is to need custom semantics. The vast majority of code does not.
• I doubt that many knowledgable people would disagree with the uses of typeglobs and symbolic references that I have seen you use. However when you write more routine programs, I suspect you use fewer typeglobs and symbolic references.
• My commenting rules are at Re (tilly) 4 (disagree): Another commenting question,. If you count documentation as commenting (which I am inclined to), then you do indeed have verbose comments.
• I think the key-word about goto is well-placed. Few people know how to place them, and I would prefer to tell people never to use them than to have them try to figure out how to use them well. (An incidental note. Your goto in Switch also uncovered interesting bugs in the development release of Perl...)
• Polymorphism is the one issue I disagree with you on. Sure, 5 people may find 20 ways of thinking about the same problem. But if they are going to work closely together, it is important that they manage to agree on one or two ways of cooperating. Furthermore many of what I consider the worst design mistakes in good modules are attempts to overload functions with every possible behaviour. Take, for instance, CGI's param method. As I pointed out at Re (tilly) 2: form parsing, the overloading is extreme enough that even good programmers will make mistakes and omissions due to forgetting parts of the interface and therefore passing through data that may be misinterpreted as metadata.
Yes, people find different things intuitive. Yes, people have a native capacity to handle ambiguity. Yes, as long as you stay within the limits of what people can handle, using that native ability is good. Perl has done this very well. But people's intuition is generally flexible enough to learn how your code works, and people ability to handle ambiguity does seem to have a hard upper limit. OK, possibly you don't have an upper limit. But I do, and you manage to exceed it on a fairly regular basis...
Which brings me to my biggest single comment. The average business has a huge concern known as, "What do we do if ___ gets hit by a bus tomorrow?" This is irritating for any decent programmer, we don't want to feel replacable. (Though a tip for bystanders, make yourself replacable and they are freer to put you into new, more interesting, roles.) Well you are not currently coding for a company that can ask that question, but for the sake of Perl, I hope you look both ways before you cross the street...
tilly wrote:
Just out of curiosity, what do you consider well-placed? The only time I have ever used goto is to subvert the call stack. And I did that once.
You've mentioned before that goto has uses. Other than this Perl-specific reason, what else would you use it for?
Contrary to appearances, you do attempt sanity and caution.
Polymorphism is the one issue I disagree with you on.
They're actually the opposite of a cargo cultist, even if the visible symptoms are identical. ... It isn't what you's why you do it. ... "What" is not important. Only "why" is important.
I'll take the antithesis to that. If I'm given a body of code to incorporate into something else, or to extend because the requirements changed, or otherwise to maintain, and I see a "mess" that is fragile and hard to change, than the original author was either very smart or had a large monkey multiplier factor. Do I care which? NO! I only see the result, that the code is hard to maintain.
In anything other than your own throw-away program, the "visible symptoms" is the only part that matters. Everything else is just cold dead history.
(still making you challange your assumptions)
You missed the point.
The "symptoms" that TheDamian talked about are checklists of specific programming practices people are told to avoid. If you know what you are doing and why, you can use most of them but avoid the problems which make it simpler to tell people not to use them. The resulting code can be both good and maintainable, but will cause people who only know the checklists to freak out because it violates their checklists. TheDamian is infamous for writing code like that.
It is like swimming. If you have had any swimming lessons, one of the first things they drill into you is to not get anywhere near a drowning person in the water because you will die. The reason is that a drowning person is several times stronger than normal, and their only desire is to climb on top of you and stand on your head. You simply are not a good enough swimmer to handle that treatment. Nobody is.
Yet lifeguards go after drowning people in the water all the time. Isn't that stupid? No, because lifeguards know the danger perfectly well and understand how to avoid it. (Always approach from behind, stay in place holding the person's head up until they are calm, the instant you get into trouble - dive!)
Yes, it is dangerous. Yes, it is what everyone is told from day one not to do. But if you know what you are doing, it sometimes is exactly what needs to happen.
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How Two State Tax Systems Have (and Haven't) Shaped Metro Portland
• April 18, 2012
• By Josh Goodman
Portland, Oregon
VANCOUVER, Washington - To understand how tough Tom Craig's job is, you only have to take a look at the sign in the window of the store he manages: "NO SALES TAX-We Pay It For You." Craig is the president of Sparks Home Furnishings in downtown Vancouver, a city that's often overshadowed by its counterpart in Canada with the same name and by Portland, Oregon, which is directly across the Columbia River.
In Vancouver, the combined state and local sales tax rate is 8.4 percent. Oregon has no sales tax at all. To compete with Oregon stores, Sparks doesn't charge its customers sales tax either. Craig says the store doesn't raise prices to compensate for the cost, so the money comes straight out of the store's bottom line. "Eventually, I think all higher-end retailers will be gone from Vancouver and Clark County," he says. "I think it's inevitable. We'll go to Portland to set up our store."
Separate systems
What Craig is coping with is two states and one metropolitan area with an economic structure unlike that of any other place in the country. Oregon makes up for not having a sales tax by having one of the highest personal income taxes in the country. The state's top rate on income, 9.9 percent, trails only Hawaii and California. Meanwhile, Washington's average state and local sales tax rate is 8.8 percent, behind only Tennessee, Arizona and Louisiana. The end result is that there's almost no way that Oregon and Washington - two states with similar geography, similar politics and similar weather - could possibly have more different tax structures.
Those differences make the Portland metro area a unique place to consider one of the most salient questions in state politics today: How much do state taxes matter? Republican governors in states such as Florida, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Carolina have pursued deep tax cuts over the last two years, arguing, with the support of conservative economists, that low taxes are the key to attracting people, businesses and jobs. Critics on the left have responded that the idea of residents fleeing high state taxes is mostly a myth. They argue that comparatively high taxes allow states to pay for essential public services, without compromising economic vitality.
In the Portland area, both the power and limits of state taxes are on display. The disparate tax systems have influenced the region's development in some ways that are predictable - people like to shop where sales taxes are lower - and in some ways that are not. Yet lots of business owners say that taxes are not their overriding concern and lots of citizens act in ways that wouldn't make any sense if taxes were their primary motivator.
Many locals insist that the most important thing to understand about their tax systems isn't how they interact with one another. Instead, it's that neither system is meeting the needs of its state.
Controversial exemption
Washington's sales tax comes with an exemption for Oregonians. It only takes a flash of a driver's license for someone from Portland to pay no sales tax at all in Washington. The logic behind the exemption is that no one from Oregon would come to shop in Washington if they could pay no sales tax at home, but had to pay across the river.
It's a logic, though, that Vancouverites hate, as they pay their 8.4 percent, while out-of-staters get off free. "Sixty thousand of my constituents pay Oregon income tax and help support their parks and their roads and their health care," says State Representative Jim Moeller, a Vancouver Democrat. "When Oregonians find themselves over here and they need to pick up a shirt or a pair of shoes or whatever, they should help pay for our parks and our roads and our health care just as much as we pay for theirs." Moeller sponsored a bill to overturn the exemption this year, but it didn't pass.
Meanwhile, it's frowned upon for Washington residents to venture to the Oregon side of the river to shop-even though they do it en masse. Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt encourages his constituents to buy local. "Every time they shop across the river," he says, "it's costing us the ability to meet their needs and their demands for municipal public services."
Oregonians make the equivalent argument. Randy Miller is Oregon's leading voice for tax solidarity, condemning his fellow business leaders who have moved to Washington to avoid paying income tax. "I respect everyone who has a real reason to be there," he says. "The people who I don't respect are those that flip over for their own personal gain and ignore the community that gave them the opportunity to develop the amount of resources they have."
He adds: "I almost got in a fistfight with this guy when he said he was moving over there."
The tax disparity also reflects-and magnifies-the differences between the two sides of the Columbia River. Portland is young, green, hip, urban and progressive, a place that prides itself on being different. Vancouver and Clark County are much more conventional and conservative.
"There is some self-selection within the Metro area," economist Joe Cortright says. "The beer, bikes and Birkenstocks people gravitate to the Oregon side of the river and the City of Portland and the conservative, Tea Party, anti-government folks say screw it-and, particularly, anti-tax folks. If you're an anti-tax person, you definitely want to be in Clark County."
--Josh Goodman
Historical quirk
That neighboring Oregon and Washington ended up with such different tax systems is, to a significant extent, an accident of history. Oregon adopted its personal income tax in 1930, beginning a decade in which 17 states, driven by Depression-era budget pressures, did the same thing.
Washington was nearly the 18th. The state's voters overwhelmingly approved an income tax in 1932, only to have it thrown out by the state Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling. The next year, the Washington Legislature adopted a sales tax instead.
Accident or not, though, it has become something close to political blasphemy to propose a sales tax in Oregon or an income tax in Washington. In 1993, the last time Oregon voters considered a sales tax, it received just 25 percent of the vote. When Washington voted on an income tax in 2010, it received 36 percent of the vote, even though it would have applied only to incomes over $200,000 a year.
Nationally, the sales tax and the personal income tax are the two leading state revenue sources. So, it's no surprise that Washington and Oregon both have become heavily dependent on the one that each assesses. The latest chapter in this story came in Oregon, when the legislature raised personal income taxes and corporate taxes in 2009 and voters upheld the increases a year later. The tax increases reanimated the debate over whether rich people in the region move to Washington to avoid the levy on Oregon income.
If you live in Washington but work in Oregon, you still have to pay Oregon income taxes on your salary. Moving to Washington makes the most sense for people whose income tilts toward capital gains, which are generally taxed where a person lives. Those people tend to be very wealthy.
Bryce Ward, a senior economist with ECONorthwest, an Oregon-based consulting firm, says when capital gains are high one can see movement both in incomes and migration patterns. In 2007, for example, just as the stock market was peaking, Ward says the average capital gains income for people with incomes of at least $200,000 was vastly higher in Clark County, Washington, than in the three Oregon counties in the metro area.
The people who have left even include notable business executives who held positions of civic authority. Randy Miller, an active business leader, says six former chairmen of Portland's regional chamber of commerce moved to Washington after their tenures in that office were over.
Economic effects
Meanwhile, Washingtonians are shopping in Oregon to avoid paying sales tax. Two major shopping complexes stand directly on the Oregon side of the region's two interstate bridges. Washingtonians don't even have to go to the Oregon mainland to enjoy tax-free shopping. One of the shopping centers is on a narrow stretch of land known as Hayden Island that sits in the middle of the Columbia River and belongs to Oregon.
Joe Cortright, a Portland-based economist who specializes in studying metropolitan regions, estimates that state and local sales tax revenue from Clark County is $100 million a year less than you'd expect based on the county's population and income. The implication, he says, is that on average, Clark County residents spend $3,000 a year on purchases in Oregon.
Despite all that, Cortright counts himself among the camp that thinks the tax disparity has relatively limited effects. It's a big camp.
One reason why that is that Washingtonians don't only cross the bridges to shop. About 60,000 come every weekday to work in Oregon. For every dollar they earn in Oregon, they pay Oregon's high income tax. Whenever they shop in their home state, they pay Washington's high sales taxes. "Tax-wise, it's the worst of all possible worlds and yet they still choose to do it," says Tom Hughes, president of the Metro Council, Portland's regional government. They do it, in part, because homes are cheaper in Washington. "My experience, quite frankly, is that the tax structures of both states have not been a big issue."
Sparks Home Furnishings in Vancouver, Washington, advertises that it will pay its customers' sales tax as a way to match competition in Oregon, where there is no sales tax. The tax disparity puts retailers at a disadvantage on the Washington side of the Columbia River.
One person who, perhaps surprisingly, agrees with that analysis is Michael Powell. He is the genius behind Powell's Books, one of Portland's best-known and best-loved retailers. When the obituaries of independent bookstores are written, sales taxes often are at least part of the story. People buys books online rather than shopping in person and paying sales tax.
Powell's doesn't face that disadvantage because all six of its stores are in Oregon, including its flagship City of Books, a 68,000 square-foot labyrinth that occupies a full city block. Yet Powell says he rarely hears customers say they shop there to avoid the sales tax.
Instead, Powell attributes his store's survival to its unique approach: It mingles used books and new books, letting customers choose the one at the price they want. Plus, the City of Books has about a million books: Many customers simply want to shop in what's often described as the largest bookstore in the world. "It might even be true," Powell says.
Like Powell, most locals say the tax disparity is only one item on a list of factors that determines where people live, shop and work. Where taxes rank on the list remains a matter of debate - just as it is in many other states.
Common complaint
What the disparity hasn't done, at least for the most part, is divide each side's political and economic leaders from one another. In fact, many of those leaders say collaboration has never been better. One manifestation of that collaboration is Greater Portland Inc., a business recruitment group that was formed last year, bringing together top elected officials and top private sector representatives from both sides of the river.
Most of these leaders have another reason to see eye to eye: They believe that they are being ill-served by their state tax systems. Each system has its defenders. Each system, though, also has broadly acknowledged flaws.
Washington, one of the nation's most progressive states, has one of its most regressive tax codes. Since the poor and the middle class spend a larger share of their income than the wealthy, sales taxes fall more heavily on them.
In Oregon, the problem is boom-and-bust revenue cycles. This is partly because the state is heavily dependent on capital gains income, which rises and falls with the cycles of the stock market. It's also because Oregon's "kicker" law requires revenue surpluses to be returned to taxpayers in good times, making it harder for the state to build reserves to get through bad times.
Much more than any interaction between the two tax systems, it's these drawbacks that lead some Oregonians and Washingtonians to say their state tax code should include the other's major revenue source. Decades of history, however, have shown that those voices are in the minority. Perhaps that will change, but no one's willing to predict with confidence that it will change soon. "Enlightened people here all feel the same: We need a sales tax," Oregon's Randy Miller says. "Enlightened people in Washington feel the same: They need an income tax. The general public? Forget it."
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Stainless Steel Handles Brazing—Leaves Stain
Ask an Expert From: Products Finishing,
Posted on: 4/1/2005
Question: We are manufacturing stainless steel mugs and the handles are attached to the mugs by a brazing process.
We are manufacturing stainless steel mugs and the handles are attached to the mugs by a brazing process. As there is very little gap between the handles and the mug, post-brazing it is difficult for mechanical cleaning to happen. Also, there are quite prominent yellow stains around the brazing area. This entirely ruins the product's look. We are using silver rod and white silver flux for brazing. Can you recommend a solution to avoid/clean these yellow stains? R.A.
It makes sense that you would first want to find a process that would avoid the creation of these stains altogether. That will simplify your process and eliminate the need for an additional manufacturing step. However, to do that, you will have to try some alternate fluxes, not all of which will be as effective as you are currently using.
The purpose of the flux is to remove the surface oxides slightly below the solidus/liquidus of your braze alloy. Based on your description, it sounds like you are using a flux that contains chloride. These are common and are generally considered a corrosive flux. They usually require a secondary step, post-braze for removal. Often a sulfuric acid cleaning is effective at removing these flux residues. You could start at room temperature with about a 10% by volume concentration and go from there. Increasing the temperature and concentration will increase the effectiveness of the process by providing more complete flux removal in shorter times.
Alternately, you may be interested in trying some non-corrosive fluxes. They do not contain chlorides. Their primary ingredient(s) are borates. They may be able to perform the necessary fluxing, but may require more application prior to brazing.
Additionally, to help either process, you may want to consider quenching the sample in room temperature or warm water immediately after brazing. This rapid temperature change will effectively remove a large percentage of your flux residue. This could eliminate the need for cleaning or at least minimize the amount of effort you have to spend on it.
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"These books are just blasting out of the stores," reports Patricia MacDonald, executive editor for Archway Paperbacks. "It's really a phenomenon of the Nineties. And the wonderful thing is that it's mostly word of mouth--one kid telling another how exciting these books are to read. That's practically unheard of in young-adult publishing."
Of course, publishing-circle insiders were saying exactly the same sort of thing 15 years ago when a very different sort of teenage novel first reared its acne-riddled head.
"During the late Seventies, early Eighties, the 'problem' novels were very popular with teens," explains MacDonald. "You had your divorced parents, your premarital pregnancy, your suicide, your drugs--you know, disease-of-the-week. Then the teen romance novel came on the scene and from there it went to the teen soap opera.
"But 'problem novels' have had it," MacDonald continues. "Nobody wants to read about someone's parents divorcing because it's been done so often before. To some degree, the same thing's true with the romance-soap stuff. But I personally believe young-adult thrillers are the books of the decade. Just look at Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clarke. These books could go on forever."
Unlike MacDonald, however, young-adult-literature expert Alleen Nilsen has considerably less faith in the life span of a fictional dead teenager. So little, in fact, that when Nilsen and co-author Ken Donelson revised their 1980 textbook Literature for Today's Young Adults this summer, the pair made only passing mention of the thriller phenomenon.
"What do we think of these books?" asks Nilsen, an Arizona State University professor of English. "As little as possible," she laughs. "We try to pretend they don't exist."
But in view of the glut of adolescent mayhem rolling off the presses these days, that might take a considerable stretch of imagination.
"These books are a fad, just another phase before the kids move on to something else," Nilsen continues. "Or at least we hope they are. But right now, it's really an uphill battle. There's mountains of this stuff out there. Naturally, you'd like to see kids focusing on better books, but if they want to read this kind of stuff, there's little we can do to stop it."
One Phoenix mother faced that problem when her 9-year-old daughter showed up recently with a thriller about a young baby sitter terrorized while tending a neighbor's children. The mom reports that her daughter (who previously read little but Pocket Books' saccharine Sweet Valley High saga) became so involved in the thriller that the girl excitedly issued chapter-by-chapter progress reports to anyone who'd listen.
"At first it sort of bothered me that she was so engrossed in this type of book," confesses the mother, herself a well-read woman. "But as I listened to her chattering away about the various clues and who she thought had done it, I realized, 'What's the harm?' At least this book was getting her to use her imagination and causing her think. I suspect that wasn't the case with those teen romance books she was reading."
With varying degrees of acceptance, Valley librarians have come to the same conclusion.
Diane Tuccillo, youth librarian for Mesa Public Library, is positively charitable about the junior-grade chillers. "Kids like to be scared," she says. "They like to get a thrill, just like anybody else who enjoys watching scary movies or reading a scary book. These books are definitely a lot more low-key than some of the Stephen King-type of books published for adults. This is a way for the kids to get that thrill and still enjoy reading on a level that they can appreciate."
Tuccillo has a point. How many teenage bookworms have actually gone on murder sprees after reading the latest Fear Street epic? Although there's no research to back it up, probably no more than the number of readers who built electronic robots after reading a Tom Swift opus, the junk fiction of another generation.
Still, isn't there something slightly disconcerting about a junior high school girl fantasizing about being strangled by that cute guy who sits next to her in study hall, or dreaming about being chased through a morgue by a hunky psychopath brandishing a scalpel?
"These books, most of the ones I've seen, anyway, are not literature and no one's pretending they are," says Elaine Myers, children-youth librarian at the main branch of Phoenix Public Library. "It's formula fiction and it's certainly not great writing." Nevertheless, Myers stocks what she calls "potato chip books" because "that's what the kids want to read."
"It's a dilemma," concedes Meyers, who points out that the adult best-seller list isn't exactly a hotbed of highbrow literature, either. "But at least we're getting the kids in the door, and that's a start."
Myers says she takes some consolation in the fact that the junior slasher novels are so popular that they're never on the shelf anyway. As a result, she says, hopefully many young readers will wind up selecting something of greater substance.
Like, perhaps, Library Check-out--They'll read good books. . .if it kills them!
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New Progress column looks at plants of the Southeast
Water-shield,” Brasenia schreberi
By John Nelson, curator
A.C. Moore Herbarium, South Carolina
Except for its leaves, the entire plant grows below the surface of water, most often in quiet lakes and millponds or sometimes creeks. In the Southeast, it is most commonly seen in ponds on the coastal plain and in the sandhills, but it also grows in the mountain lakes. This species is actually quite common in many places around the world now. You generally need to do some wading to get up-close and personal with it, unless you have a canoe or kayak.
The leaf blades, dark green or sometimes purplish, are shaped like little footballs with rounded ends. Each blade is attached to a very long leaf stalk at its center, rather than at its edge, and botanists say that the leaf is thus “peltate,” in architecture something like an umbrella with its handle. What is more interesting is that the lower surfaces of the leaves, and for that matter, all the submersed parts of the plant, are thickly coated with a crystal-clear, mucilaginous jelly. Because of this, it is something of a challenge to handle the plants: they are really quite slippery. This mucilage on the stems and leaves may serve some purpose, but we don’t exactly understand what it might be.
The flowers are not much more than the size of a quarter, deep red or maroon, and barely emerging from the water’s surface. The flowers appear in the middle of the summer. To many people, this plant looks to be some sort of water-lily, but in fact they are not closely related. Now, each flower has both female and male parts (that is, pistils and stamens). It turns out that a given individual flower will open up and have its pistils fertilized, without giving off any pollen…thus functioning as a “female” flower. That same day (or evening), the plant will pull the flower under the water. The next day, the SAME flower reemerges from the surface, only this time, sheds pollen from its stamens (now, functioning as a “male” flower). At the end of the second day, the flower disappears underwater again, allowing its seeds to develop, eventually released.
What a strange and wonderful pair of botanical stories! (Photo by Linda Lee.)
What is that plant? will appear as a new regular feature in the Progress. John Nelson is the curator of the A.C. Moore Herbarium at the University of South Carolina in the Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia, S.C. 29208. As a public service, the Herbarium offers free plant identifications. For more information, visit or call 803-777-8196.
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ZombiU Review
See PixlBit's Review Policies
On 01/09/2013 at 12:00 PM by Jon Lewis
The definition of survival horror.
For fans of survival horror games, rouge-likes, or anyone looking for a great Wii U title.
Take this how you will, but I am scared of playing ZombiU. Every time I pick up the Wii U Gamepad to start playing, I get a feeling of dread, and worry. Before I start, I carefully consider my last outing in the game, and identify what it is I have to do in order to survive as long as possible. This is a feeling that no horror game has brought up in a long time. While my fear of ZombiU can be seen as a positive or a negative depending on the context of the question, there is no doubt that ZombiU is an achievement in the survival horror genre.
ZombiU interested me right off the bat with its premise. The game takes place in London after the devastating 2012 zombie apocalypse. You play as a survivor who, guided by a mysterious character known as “The Watcher” finds shelter in an area known as the safe house. The survivor, though oddly named, is only a device to help the player keep moving. Players have to take care while moving through the zombie infested world. If you die, you die. If you get bitten, you get turned into a zombie. Instead of retrying, you are spawned as a new survivor and have to find the zombified corpse of the old survivor in order to get your supplies back. If that sounds interesting to you, then you should know that in practice, it really is. The permanence of death makes you feel the danger around every corner. It spikes up the tension, and makes a couple of zombies as terrifying as a mob of them in your average zombie shooter.
The plot doesn’t get too complex, but it centers on finding out what caused the outbreak and finding a cure to the disease. Unfortunately, the characters don’t get too interesting. Aside from “The Watcher” himself, none of the characters in the game are very memorable. If anything, you become attached to the survivor(s) but solely because of the gameplay investment that you are making, not because of the writing. That said, a lot of the interesting plot points are told through the lore that you can pick up in the form of newspapers and journals.
At its core, ZombiU is less about the plot, and more about the gameplay. This is where ZombiU shines. At first glance, it appears to be a by-the-numbers first person shooter, and while the game is a shooter, the gameplay is largely based on survival rather than shooting. Players who try to run and gun through hordes of zombies will probably end up not having fun. Conserving ammo, managing resources and being cautious are the big themes here. Because of this, there are many ways to tackle the enemies at hand. One could try to sneak past as many zombies as possible by taking a high route. If a player desires, they can use that high ground to take out each zombie one by one from the safest position possible. However, if you have the firepower, guns become a valid option, though it will likely prove to be much more challenging. Players can also use items, like flares to lure zombies away and avoid a fight all together. It all depends on your resources and the current situation.
The Wii U Gamepad is your biggest tool while making these decisions,which acts as a survival kit in some respect. On it you have a map, a motion tracker which picks up movement in the area, your bag which contains items, as well as your stats information. The Gamepad is also used to unlock doors, solve combinations and pick locks. All in all, it's an integral part of the experience, but it can also get you into trouble. While you can pause the game like normal with the pause button, going into your Gamepad functions does not pause the game. That means looking at the Gamepad puts you in danger as you could be attacked while using it. This creates extra tension, as you are constantly making sure that you are safe before you do anything. Being prepared is a must, and not having the proper items selected at a given moment could prove troublesome if you are not careful.
All of these factors come together to create an incredibly terrifying experience at times. For example, upon losing a survivor at one point in my game, I traveled back to find my lost items. When I got there, more zombies that heard the gunfire from my previous encounter crowded around the old survivor, who was now a zombie with a bag that contained some essential healing and offensive weaponry. With only a flashlight and a pistol with 6 shots in it, I felt a sense of hopelessness. I knew that this game was the real deal when it not only delivered on jump scares, which there are plenty, but the psychological scares as well.
The scares that ZombiU delivers on are amplified by its great use of sound. The game is eerily quiet at times. You hear the sounds of your character breathing, and your own footsteps, but the second you begin to hear the growl of a zombie, the tension steps it up. The motion tracker also plays a huge part in this. The ping it sets off once it picks up something in your radius is unsettling, and you never know what could be in the area. It could be a zombie around the corner, or just some animal like a rat or crow that set off the tracker. Either way, it builds up the sense of tension well, so when you actually do encounter a zombie, emotions tend to flare. This is also represented in the music, which often gets louder during these encounters.
Despite all of the praise, ZombiU is not without fault. In fact, one of its most jarring faults comes in its premise. Though I understand and appreciate the premise of ZombiU, it almost makes this game hard to keep going back to. When you are on a roll with a survivor, gameplay is addictive. However after losing a survivor that was alive for 3 hours, and decked out with amazing weaponry, it gets really discouraging. I lost a survivor in one spot that was unsafe to return to, and ended up losing some really important weaponry. That loss made me not want to play the game for a long stretch of time. Though I did retain a bulk of those items (most items respawn randomly throughout the world) the zombies got to me. This stress and worry may cause some players to hate the game. It becomes scary and less fun because you are constantly worried. While that is the aim of the game, it still might cause people to put the game down for long stretches of time out of frustration. Others, who don’t have an issue with fear or stress, might have an easier time jumping back in. Players with experience with games like Demon Souls or Dark Souls will likely be able to roll with this pretty easily.
Another issue lies in the gunplay. It's adequate, but not nearly as smooth as your average shooter. Whether that was intentional or not, this is still something that could be improved upon. Some guns come off as unresponsive, or lack the impact that you would expect. Even though that is a factor, it doesn’t really matter because most encounters will rely on your handy Cricket Bat. Over half of the encounters that you have in ZombiU will come down to whacking a zombie over the head with that bat a number of times. This wouldn’t be an issue if each zombie didn’t take numerous strikes to go down. Every now and then one will fall in about 3 hits, but on average you will have to strike a zombie about 5 to 7 times in order to finish it off. It gets repetitive and isn’t very fun in the grand scheme of things. More variety in the melee department could have done wonders for the overall fun factor.
Something that did surprise in the fun department was the multiplayer. While I feel like online was a missed opportunity for the “King of Zombies” mode, it does provide a much more engaging couch-based competitive experience than I expected. The player with the Gamepad is the “King of Zombies” and has dominion over different enemy types from the game. The other player controls a survivor with the Wii Remote and tries to defend himself from the zombie onslaught. Assault has players trying to capture points on a map. Killing Box is a more action packed mode, based on how many zombies the human player can kill before dying. More modes can be unlocked upon completion of the game, but I found that Assault was the most fun. Managing the different zombie types is pretty fun, and fending them off is just as satisfying. The only issue I have is that the fun is short lived, and after a few rounds it gets stale.
Overall, I consider ZombiU an achievement. This game is true survival horror, providing physical and psychological forms of horror. It encourages player interaction by letting players leave messages for each other, and even spawning zombies from other people's games in your own. It makes excellent use of the Wii U hardware and demonstrates how the Gamepad can create an engaging and unique experience. All of the little quirks and minor technical issues aside, and you have one of the Wii U’s best games on display with ZombiU.
Review Policy
01/10/2013 at 02:11 PM Reply | Permalink | Report
The jewel of the Wii U launch, and a refreshing game in the sea of sequels that was 2012. Who would of thought that three of the most lauded games of the year would be zombie games? Zombi U, Day Z, and the Walking Dead.
05/25/2013 at 12:44 PM Reply | Permalink | Report
I bought the Wii U deluxe with this game packed in. Loved the game but much like the reviewer, I can only play in short bursts. It is terrifying and difficult to play for extremely long stretches. The way a game like this should be!!
Hot Story
Dragonball Xenoverse Review
If there is anything I’ve learned from being a DBZ game fan over the years, it’s that an anime fighter/simulation sequel is nearly always better than the original. They usually clean up the formula the second time, as in the case of 2002’s Dragonball Z Budokai, which was followed up by sequels with enhanced graphics and tightened gameplay. 2005’s Budokai Tenkaichi provided a blueprint for its sequels to later refine the gameplay and expand to one of the biggest and most diverse rosters in the series. If you ask me, it’s a safe bet Dragonball Xenoverse 2 will probably be an amazing game. Of course, that is not too helpful to us at the moment. Right now, we have Dragonball Xenoverse, which leaves me wishing they could’ve done it right the first time.
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Best iPhone wallpaper yet: iOS 4 Pac-Man
Sometimes we see something out in the webiverse that we just have to share with you, our beloved readership.
And right now that something is the best iOS 4 wallpaper that we've come across yet - a Pac-Man themed one that will make your iPhone that much cooler than it already is.
The PNG image fits exactly on your screen so your app icons are perfectly lined up with Pac-Man's level.
It's just a shame that the wallpaper isn't playable like the Google Doodle that celebrated Pac-Man's 30th birthday recently rather than being a static image.
If only there was a mobile phone OS that could provide animated wallpapers. Oh.....
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Siemens launches "extreme" home phone
The Siemens Gigaset E455 SIM digital cordless phone has just been launched in the UK and claims to be one of the most robust phones on the market.
There is no need to worry about stains and spillages with this phone, as the Siemens Gigaset E455 SIM is splash and dust proof, it comes equipped with rubber pads for shock protection, meaning you also no longer need to worry about dropping and smashing it if you are trying to multi-task and failing miserably.
Features haven't been compromised though - the Siemens Gigaset E455 ably assists with a memory for 150 names and numbers accessible at the touch of a button.
It also boasts a SIM card reader/writer to transfer the directory of your mobile to the handset meaning no time need be spent laboriously tapping each individual contact in. The digital answer machine has a 35 minute recording time, and it had an SMS feature.
This phone is going to cost around £74.99 (also available without integrated answering machine for around £54.99). Additional Gigaset E45 handsets retail at £49.99.
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Devolo MicroLink dLAN starter kit
When it comes to networking a couple of machines together at you have always had two options. The first was to simply use wires, while the second is to introduce a wireless network into your house.
Unless those machines are in the same room the wires has never really been an attractive proposition. After all, why would you openly admit to wanting your house filled with trailing wires everywhere? So for the most part, we always opt for the wireless alternative.
A wireless solution makes perfect sense if you’ve got a laptop from work and want to be able to use it elsewhere in the house, however the wireless solution soon racks up in cost when you are merely dealing with a couple of desktop machines or games consoles. One company however, Devolo, thinks it has the answer.
Using the cabling you’ve already got in your house, the system plugs into any available electrical socket and turns your humble ringmain into a network.
We tested the Devolo MicroLink dLAN starter kit, which comes with two plugs and two cables. The first is pluged into an electrical outlet and then straight into your ADSL modem. The second can be plugged anywhere in the house and then into the device you wish to be networked; laptop, desktop PC, games console.
Setup was considerably easy, and done via a small software utility and addiitonal plugs are added to the network via the software that works on both Mac and PC.
Each unit is the size of a standard power adapter, offers a number of LED’s to let you know what is going on and connects to the chosen device via a standard Ethernet ended cable. The system is password encrypted, hence the software, and the network only picks up other Devolo sockets plugged into your electrical supply - making it secure.
Our first question was what happens if your electrical ringmains are spilt into an upstairs or downstairs, surely the two won’t be able to talk to each other? In tests this was quickly answered; it doesn’t matter. Because the cabling all comes into the house in one place a magnet flux is created around said cabling and the data is capable of jumping between the two. To use this doesn’t seem right, however when we tested it in a three-bedroom house with an upstairs and downstairs ringmain we had no problems connecting to the network from any plug socket.
In tests the connection between the devices worked well offering instant access to the network on machines that we connected. There doesn't appear to be a limit to the number of units (sold separately £55) you can attach to one network. Even better, none of the additional machines whether they were an Apple laptop or Xbox, needed to have any additional setup to get them to work. Internet access sharing was fast and overall we were happy with the results.
For the mobile user unless you have an extremely large house we would still recommend a wireless network as the cost of buying the wireless router modem compared to this starter kit is going to be the same. However, if you've got a number of desktop machines (ie a media centre) and a games console that you want to connect this is a good way of doing it without clogging your house with bundles of cable.
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Ode Confusion Poems | Ode Poems About Confusion
These Ode Confusion poems are examples of Ode poems about Confusion. These are the best examples of Ode Confusion poems written by international PoetrySoup poets
Details | Ode | |
You said JCO
said you loved me.
cared, and wanted only me.
you crushed me.
everything you said you were, was true.
just once before eating that cake you so had to have.
Details | Ode | |
Welcome To My Life
I'm dying in this slow decay of the senses.
Senseless agony consumes my mind.
Eating my soul until I'm gray.
Gray like the leaves at your funeral.
The day the color faded and beauty went away.
The sky is falling,
But, only on me.
As the Heavens are calling,
They tell me to leave.
But don't put your faith, your faith in me.
Don't trust fate,
For nothing is meant to be.
The slow silent squeezing of my petrified soul.
I left my heart with the sugar,
In the bottom of the bowl.
The wounds of the mind,
Based solely on the knife.
Look for my flaws and you'll always find....
Welcome to my life.
Details | Ode | |
Cry of the Soul
Once, when my soul cried out in mournful pain;
I believed the Spirit, with me, wept.
When I felt that life was all in vain,
He lifted me from the drowning depth.
Now when flowing tears upon me fall,
and all seems hopeless in this life;
Does He hear my constant wailing call,
when I feel grief’s merciless cutting knife?
Where is my God when I need Him so,
when my soul is wounded and torn apart?
The One Who promised to never forsake nor leave,
does He see me here with bleeding heart?
Like the lonesome howling coyote, my soul does cry
in vain, it seems for peaceful relief.
And as the unfolding years go by,
will I forever be haunted with relentless grief?
Will there be answers which I will someday find?
Will my feet ever be back on the ground?
Unanswered questions riddle my weary mind,
as I feel and see the misery all around.
I was one of faith and considered strong,
but now am weak and a pitiful creature.
What I have become, I have pondered long;
and realize my need of the One True Teacher.
Once again, my howling, mournful wail cries out;
“Oh, God, my Master, hear my plea.
We need Your help, without one single doubt.
Details | Ode | |
First Love
First Love
Her eyes showed me a way,
Her unique smile let my tears go away,
Her Beautiful face made me to say,
Is this Love, or what???
Started to have feeling of love,
Started to behave nicely and different,
Started to smile when there was no reason to smile,
Still, Is this Love, or what??
Well still, Is this love, or what?
I can fix anything, why not this thing,
I can talk to any girl, why not this girl,
I can really convince anyone, why not this one,
Came before many girl, why not this girl.
Do please not tell me its just nothing,
Do tell me anything about this thing…Love,
Details | Ode | |
An Ode To My Beloved
I just wanted to let you know
That I have this love for you...
Although I'm not fast to show
For you, there's nothing I wouldn't do
And I can't control this love
No matter what I try to do...
While I know our lives are separating
Which has got me pretty blue
I just want you to know
How much I love you...
Because I was blinded by shyness
And now my heart's feeling rugged
So this here's An Ode To My Beloved
Oh how I still see you every night in my mind
You're the best girl I feel I'll ever find
And when my eyes would fall upon your smile
My heart would be put on trial
And so if nothing else, I want to let you know
That I'll always love you, that my hearts beat
For you, won't ever slow...
Because I was blinded by shyness
And now my heart's feeling rugged
So this here's An Ode To My Beloved
So I wish you happiness beyond compare
And sorry for the times I couldn't help but stare
Caring, passionate, smart, and loving
From my heart, to you, I'll never be shoving
You will always be in my heart
Goodbye My Love...
Details | Ode | |
Untitled #237 / Or
Or is he heartless?
Details | Ode | |
Love feast
Love feast by Steven Hudson
This ship has run its course, sleepless, tossed about,
Every port and harbor, sea and foreign land.
You’re smile, piercing eyes, and silky long hair,
To gaze at you now is a love feast to behold,
And from now and forever you will always be…..
The most captivating golden retriever I have ever seen.
Details | Ode | |
Untitled #264 / Christian girl
Oh Christian girl
oh regal queen
so lost and happy
Details | Ode | |
one more lonely dream
the thoughts that rest here deep
I’m laying low and waiting
as those bullets whiz past me
it’s those little things that wound
those moments I can’t see
can we reach the pinnacle
or all that we can be?
imagination covers
too heavy in this heat
you try to pull the blanket off
I sit in the hot seat
the gash that will not stop
my mind continues to seep
nothing stops the heartache
of a heart that will still bleed
we lay down here together
as usual I don’t sleep
your hand rests on my body
there’s no comfort there for me
it flows out with the current
a bottle floating at sea
coming back to haunt this room
just one more lonely dream
Details | Ode | |
My promise to you JCO
There are moments I still wonder why.
Question everything I gave, and every action
I blamed myself for you not wanting to try
But came to realize you never gave a fraction.
I bled my heart out for you
Cut even when the scar would heal
The wound in love was cruel
Hope in selfishness you chose to steal
You found me in a thousand bits
Picking them up one at time
Instead of glue it was a temporary fix
To make the shattering affect more define
Now that the tears have all fallen
I promise you only of this
Your face I will have forgotten
But mine will haunt your every first kiss
Details | Ode | |
Untitled #43 / Centripetal force
Centripetal force of a
whirling waterbottle, captured in it
the tornado of our youth
and reflecting a goofy smile.
Dare you say centrifugal?
Dare you graze the edge of a sharpened sword?
Details | Ode | |
Poem To the Boy Who's Ruining My Life
You said you were my best friend...
Lying sonofa*****
Best friends don't frame each other for drug distribution!!!
I'm going to jail and it's YOUR FAULT!!!!!!
I'll never forgive you for this!!!!
Details | Ode | |
A Feeling Called Love
I'm trying to fight the force of gravity,
But it seems the more I fight
The harder it pushes back.
I'm trying trying trying
To make this feeling go away.
The more I fight the stronger it becomes.
Every time I see you;
My heart beats wildly,
My mind goes blank,
All I seem to know
Is how cute you are when you smile.
What's this feeling,
That's making me go crazy?
I can't seem to focus on anything else.
I find my eyes constantly searching for you.
When you gaze at me,
I feel like you know everything.
What's this feeling,
That won't leave me all alone?
I'm trying trying trying to forget,
But I can't.
I can't I can't I can't
Is this the feeling they call love,
'cause its driving me crazy?
Details | Ode | |
Sleep, sleep
Sleep till another day
For another sunny god
Sleep sleep sleep
Find your own peace
Your black midget maid
Had disappeared
Your sandwich is on
Its way
The dirty blood
Was washed away
They brushed your hair
Sleep sleep
For the love of god
For the mother mary love
They already put a spell
The holy sky
Will save your heart
So please try to sleep
Details | Ode | |
what do I do
what do I do with what I know
thoughts overgrown with thick, green mold
ghosts of those who once stayed close
black and whites now overexposed
they hang still, on hallowed walls
what do I do with what once was
portraits blurred, out of focus fuzz
you say forget them, just because
too many that caused me such a buzz
they know more than they will tell
what do I do with what's within
to the sea I confess most sins
all these waves could do me in
will I drown or will I swim
they wash still on sandy shores
what do I do with constant thought
all the pain and tears it brought
is it for real of just for naught
my heart ensnared and tightly caught
they matter not, they matter not
Details | Ode | |
I fell in love with a liar JCO
I sat with you and listened to your heartbreak stories
I fell in love with you.
You sat there and listened to the horrors of my past
I fell in love with you.
You said you weren’t ready, but you were never gone
But you belonged to another undeserving soul that crushed you
She cheated on you, you cheated on her
She doesn’t want you and you don’t want me
You used me to get to her, why?
You said I was perfect, and too good for you
Why did you do this?
Why did you not see me?
Why did you punish me?
I was in love with you.
Details | Ode | |
our children dacing
dacing at the sight of lighted bulbs
like when the eclipse occured
but their hope dashed
but his wealth is intact
for his greatest grand children
children that are more equal
more equal than the others
our mouths now salivates
on seeing mere nuts
like dogs for bones
bones of our lost sons
sons last seen on april
april of the pools
pools of ballots
ballots of inec
our stomach now speak
speak like the dogs
dogs that came beyond the sea
but they have learnt
learnt to look
look since their demands were not meet
our youths now play in moonlight
play games in the sand
games out of fustration
fustration due to lack of job
our graduates now employed
employed in barrow pushing company plc
with first class honours
obtained from war front
our universities now battle fields
our wards soliders
only to come home
with paper to prove it
all their hopes in it
in the designed paper
paper that cannot feed
even the fetus in the woman
they made him believe them
them that are beyond the sea
that his wealths are safe
though they beautify their land with it
he knew not that the value of
his wealth has been used
used to tare their roads
used to build schools
used to build hospitals
used to make things better
used to empower their people
used to make them what they claim
those beyond the sea
though his wealth are safe
it have generated hundred times
to say the least, its worth
he claims to be rich,
the cock that crew
the dogs that bark
the cricket that creaks
the youths that riots
the children that cries
all are saying in Unison
wake up and behave
like a black though are
for our blood flows in you
let them know that we have an origin
our origin so strong
our strenght so wisely use
our wisdom cannot be decieved
wake up and take from them
the wealth they took from us
wake up and suprise them
and make our homes the dream land
the dream land of our fathers
those that fought till sleep came
and those that still wait for sleep to emerge
wake up and let them know
that our wealth we can manage
to make our homes eden
the eden our fathers lived in
For our tribes are stong
as strong as the lion
the lion accros the equator
our home the heart of Africa
Details | Ode | |
Ode to the Moon
In the night sky there she smiles
Watching lovers from distant miles
After Mr, Sun neglects the world
The gracious moon starts to unfold
Joyful hearts wait the chance
To see the moon spread romance
She’s radiant, sensual, glowing bright,
A witness to bodies fused at night
To lonely hearts, warmth she gives
To broken souls, light she leaves
Could this sparkling jewel in the sky
Be afraid to fall that high?
Oh lovely maiden up above
Does she weep she cannot love?
Details | Ode | |
Why Did I
A few days past, at a stop sign
Eager to hit the road,
Waiting at the back of the line
And obligated to return by nine.
To my hypocrisy, this is an ode.
See, I hope for a world of giving
Where needs are always met
Where sins can find forgiving
And all are peacefully living
Though I’ve done something I regret.
For, as I pulled up to the street
I was approached by another,
Who wore no shoes upon his feet
I thought a thought of pure conceit,
How could I call you, brother?
He raised a soiled hand to wave
His weary eyes found mine
If I’d had cash I might’ve gave
But sit and talk, I wouldn’t brave.
Certainly, he’d be fine.
See, I hope for a world of giving
Where needs are always met
Where sins can find forgiving
And all are peacefully living
So how did I forget?
I hit the gas and sped away
And watched in the rear-view
Why I did it, I can’t convey
And in the mirror he faded away
A scene I’ll ever rue.
If anything within my mind
His form is amplified
Hauntingly, the thing I find,
within guilt’s prison, now confined
I nurse remorse unsatisfied.
See, I hope for a world of giving
Where needs are always met
Where sins can find forgiving
And all are peacefully living
So why did I forget?
Why did I forget?
Details | Ode | |
Who am I to you JCO
When you hear the sound of my voice,
does it make you happy inside
Or does it even phase past those blue eyes?
Does the taste of my kiss cloud your judgement?
Or do you think of my lips at all?
When you hear another speak my name
Does your pulse race and hand shake?
Or pretend we've never met?
When you see me smile at you
Does everything in the world disappear?
Or do I even make that moment special?
When you reach for the phone
is it my name you call out to?
Or do you remember my number at all?
When you see your future
am i standing beside you?
Or have I already disappeared?
Details | Ode | |
Ode To Innocence
Of heavens and glories past stories were told
Of heroes and knights fairy tales and dreams were made
With delight and pure passions strings of gold and silver were weaved
Into thoughts of beauty much too great
In enchanted palaces over pearl filled seas
We prayed to live out the glory of our dreams
Though we were once kids to whom the stories were told
We are now old and towards the same stories we grew cold
Blind to the fairies in the tales our eyes used to see
And to the beauty of grace we used to seize
We helplessly lay caught in the web of life as it takes place
Grieving we wonder when did our sweet innocence fade away?
But then with hope at night when lights are turned down low
We reminisce how we once were innocent a lifetime ago
Details | Ode | |
If only she could see
She's constantly a dreamer,
Fantasy is where she lives,
Reality is non existant to her,
If only she could see.
She only cares about superficial things,
Popularity is her sport,
Boyfriends are the cheerleaders,
If only she could see.
Her mind is put to waste,
A head as empty as a flower pot,
Education is lost on her,
If only she could see.
She makes fun of the "weirdos",
She cannot stand the "geeks",
But those "geeks" are worth knowing,
If only she could see.
The world is 3-D,
It has depth underneath,
There is beauty under the surface,
If only she could see.
Beauty is not just skin deep,
It runss all the way through,
It's not just looks that matter,
It's how you think and see.
Details | Ode | |
My Idealism(or so I think)
I got my idealism Follies
From our Mass Media that
seeks to show the ultra-modern
extravagances of today's super hip society
Too much Politics that is overtly fused
into my dimming Brain
Not interested in fighting the tide
There is nowhere to turn
Nor a sanctuary for myself to hide away
Dreams were simpler in my day
Let the Hair hange down and
to the wiser but Elder generation in our times
It is not so easy now
A few years back
I have lost the angst
The youthful rage
This gap is becoming ever quite small
Turn to the children,
let them have it for now
The older we become
it is inevitably for certain
where to eventually travel
Beyond this frame of sphere
To believe in our culture's turmultuous lyrics
Put down the parents so we could party all the way
Jesus is a gentle man and a woman
They are not, untidy rock band,looking for the gold
Some times,
When or wherever I compose my poetry
Thoughts will linger on the meaning meant for us all
Shocking realization to notice
We are adults now
in a world where the controls are getting slightly out of hand
The time is now to straighten out this quandry
Clean up our room
Get rid of our dirty laundry
Details | Ode | |
Indeed A Friend
Fear grips me up in my cradle,
highly appreciating having been chosen,
by you as your friend.
Indeed a Friend.
Fear drops a stream,
of tears down my chick;
for loss of your cuddle;
coz, am lost in you.
Fear rolls through my veins
for the uncertainty of pleasurable moments;
cut-causing disequilibrum.
Could it really become an unfortunate attempt?
Fear ignites my emotions,
turning it into a fearless substance;
Oh! how the mind could wonder,
Could it really become an unfortunate attempt?
Details | Ode | |
Without You
My soul is crying as despare from my heart drowns
my spirit with tears of loneliness.
I am forsaken in our bed as the cold sheets
next to my skin remind me of your absence.
In desperation, my mind wonders into memories far reaching days gone by.
Only to darken the hopes of ending a lingering weariness
Heavy eyes burden the concentration of silence
surrounding the room we once shared.
Sleep evades its destination once more
as I am reminde of the rooms emptiness.
I weep tears of silence alone in the bed I made.
Come home to me my love.
Life shall escape me without you here.
Details | Ode | |
Love notes
Has my heart been so blind?
Oh sweet lies set me free
Have I been mislead?
Does the sun not rise every morn?
Am I daft so?
Have I misinterpreted your sweet tokens?
Does the moon not shine with the sprinkles of stars?
To flee from this misgiving praise you so effortlessly set me a blaze with
I have become the jester at the king’s table and you the fable teller
Such childish games you play with ones fragile heart
Oh speak my divine conquest please I implore you seek out the blade you so
cunningly stab me with when I was not looking
I am the fool’s errand, you bested me, and now I shall die forever in my lonely
desperate time
Details | Ode | |
my surroundings have no meaning now
in the midst of nothingness
my aggression is aroused somehow
confused about nothing else
a prison of hate increasing
this gap needs to be filled
an uncontrollable emptiness
lies in my head still
i have been exposed to all
as i hang my head in shame
helpless,dependant, yet unique
an individual in every way
i am unable to come to terms with
my own aggressive drive
ill turn this pressuare inwards
it seems on this i thrive
i cant escape bereavemant
ill heap this blame upon myself
im no longer fit to live
recognise my cry for help
how can i admit my own anger
when the words are hard to find
convinced i am a failure
to you so damn unkind
Details | Ode | |
I Am Missing My Baby Girl
Everyday I awake to the softness of the sun rays, shining brightly through my window
panes, I wonder to myself as I wipe the sleep away, from my eyes, before I get on my
knees to pray. I bow my head and close my eyes, to speak the words that comes from my
hearts, forming into sentences that goes up toward the skies,
Lord hear me now for I am about to cry,
I am missing my baby girl,Lord I am so tired,
I am missing my baby girl, Lord help me I am feeling a little wired,
I am missing my baby girl, Lord my soul feels like it's on fire.
I feel her soul passing through these rooms, giving life to every flower as I watch them
bloom, I smell her scent past through these walls, like a fire leaving behind it's
fumes,I see her smiling as if she were in front of me, listening to me, clapping for me,
as I sing the blues.
I am missing my baby girl Lord, and I don't know what to do,
I am missing my baby girl, Lord I am so confused,
Heavenly father help me, clear my mind so I can just get through,
these terrible times as I lie hear listening to this priest read from the obituary at my
ten year old's funeral.
Lord I am missing my baby girl, oh Lord I need you
so please, please, hear my prays to help me make it through.
By N. McCoy
(To Maria, In Loving Memory of Markita Weaver)
RIP Baby Girl We Miss You
Details | Ode | |
Untitled #40 / A pair of spectacles
A pair of spectacles
an unsharpened pencil
an eraser, pink, shaped like Tennessee
Which of these is truth?
Answer quickly or fall to hell!
Details | Ode | |
Passionless I see each new day arrive and depart.
I shall not falter upon any deed.
I betray not
Why is this feeling plaguing my mind and spirit?
I was never insensible to my deity.
Or ever will be.
Listless I lay upon the life before me and beyond.
Apathetically I continue with a plea.
I will awake.
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POPSUGAR Celebrity
Taylor Swift Spent Her Day Hanging Out With Your Favorite People
Apr 15 2014 - 5:41am
We already know that Taylor Swift [1] is the ultimate celebrity BFF [2], but her recent hangout session with Lena Dunham has us thinking that we might be seeing her on the small screen hanging out with a very famous group of girlfriends. Lena was spotted visiting Taylor's NYC apartment on Monday while carrying several bags and what appeared to be a script, and she later tweeted that she was preparing to start shooting on the fourth season of her hit HBO show, Girls. Taylor and Lena have been friends for years, but maybe now that Taylor has been spending a lot of time in the Big Apple, she might have time to make a cameo appearance in the upcoming season. After all, she did just make a surprise appearance [3] on Saturday Night Live to support her other friend Ed Sheeran. Later, after Lena left, Taylor met up with model-turned-cookie baker Karlie Kloss for a gym session and a stop by a local restaurant for dinner.
The Taylor fan club doesn't just belong to famous women, as Lena's boyfriend, fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff, recently revealed that he respects the young pop star. "The reason why Taylor stands above everyone else is because she's a songwriter," Jack said in an interview with Vanity Fair [4]. "She sits in rooms, and she writes songs. Most importantly, they sound like her. All the other pop stars, to put it in a really simple way, they're just not as talented." He added, "Other pop stars have to go through, like, a goth phase. You can imagine the marketing meetings behind other pop stars. Whereas the meeting behind Taylor is like, 'Write a great f*cking album,' which she can." Jack has firsthand experience of Taylor's songwriting experience, as he wrote "Sweeter Than Fiction" with her for One Chance.
Source URL
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There were no teddy bears in sight for Miley Cyrus's performance at the American Music Awards, but she still managed to keep the animal kingdom involved. She gave an impressive performance of "Wrecking Ball," but the giant kitten projected behind her pretty much stole the show by lip-syncing along. Not only did the kitty start crying during the song's emotional climax, but he (she?) also paid homage to Miley at the very end. As is always the case with Miley, this is some must-watch weirdness.
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Core Questions
No doubt you have heard the term "core" tossed about they gym. You know it's deep, but you have some core questions.
Core question - What is it?
The Core is a group of muscles made up of:
• The tranversus abdominis (don’t be intimidated by the Latin) a.k.a the deep abdominal muscle that wraps around your torso. It is the deepest of the abs, and it acts like a natural weight-lifting belt.
• The multifidi – a group of deep spinal muscles that stabilize the spine and prevent excessive rotation of the vertebrae.
• The pelvic floor– yep, down there. The pelvic floor is a few layers of muscles that connect your pubic bone, tail bone and sits bones.
Core question – What does it do?
When these groups of muscles work together they stabilize the torso, pelvis and spine.
Have a few more core questions? Then
Core question – How do I feel my core?
Imagine sandwiching your spine with your deep abs and deep spinal muscles while pulling your pelvic floor up (like doing a kagel with a lift).
Core question – How do I strengthen my core?
You want to feel the core engage as you exhale during the strenuous part of an exercise. When lifting weights, exhale and feel your core, then lift. Your torso should stay stable – that’s how you know your working it.
Core question - Why is it important?
It stabilizes your pelvis and low back, helping to prevent injury. It also makes for a flat belly.
Latest Fitness
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Movie review: 'The Summit' goes to tragic depths
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Editor's note: "The Summit" was not previewed for Pittsburgh critics.
If you can accept its extensive use of reconstructions, you're likely to find "The Summit," a documentary examination of an August 2008 mountaineering disaster, to be intense and sometimes painful viewing. Eleven climbers from several international expeditions died during a two-day period on the side of K2, the world's second-tallest mountain.
Located on the Pakistan-China border, K2 has a terrifying reputation. The film tells us that for every four climbers who have reached the top, one has died.
'The Summit'
Rating: R for some language.
"The Summit" uses footage shot by climbers, supplemented by interviews with survivors and re-creations of events, the last of which are effective but sure to put off documentary purists.
Even if the film can't answer every question about exactly what happened during that horrific 48-hour period, it creates a growing sense of dread as we watch events start to go badly awry, especially on that part of the mountain appropriately called the Death Zone.
The events depicted raise ethical issues, complicated by the fact that at least some climbers have a kind of "soldier on" mentality that might prompt them to leave behind injured fellow mountaineers. First-time director Nick Ryan brings these questions to a head by focusing on the Irish climber Ger McDonnell, who was thought by some to have abandoned an injured climber, although the film argues that he actually lost his life trying to aid three badly hurt Korean mountaineers.
The movie offers conflicting accounts of what happened on K2, and viewers looking for detailed and definitive answers may find that frustrating. But those who can tolerate a degree of mystery will find "The Summit" hard to forget.
Opens today at AMC-Loews at the Waterfront.
First Published October 17, 2013 8:00 PM
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A Gangster Quid Pro Quo
The United Auto Workers donated $1 million to President Obama’s super PAC and another million to super PACs that support Congressional Democrats in September, with millions more to be spent before Election Day. Well, of course. How many millions–or billions–of dollars did Obama slide to the corrupt UAW with his illegal bondholder cramdown in bankruptcy? Gangster government has its rewards. When the Godfather calls in his markers, the unions have every reason to fork over, whatever their members may think.
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News ·
Fans Unhappy with Remastering of Elliott Smith Reissues
Elliott Smith’s longtime friend Larry Crane has been finding out just how obsessed certain fans of the singer are during the buildup to a set of reissues due out next month. Crane supervised the reissues, and has already come under criticism for his work on various Internet message boards, even though no one has actually heard his work yet.
"My first thought was, 'Am I doing the right thing?'" Crane said in an interview with Spinner. "I said to my girlfriend, 'My God, should I be doing this?' She said, 'Are you making it sound better?' I said, 'I guess'. She said, 'How can that be wrong?' I'm getting [bashed] on message-boards for something nobody's heard. Some people are like, 'Oh my God, how can you do that?' I'm not smashing it and flatlining it like a Metallica record."
The album that has caused most consternation is Roman Candle, Smith’s first solo album. "He used really cheap mics on the record," Crane said. "Some sounds are really jarring. I was very timid at first, but the more I listened and altered the volume on those squeaks a tiny bit, the guitar playing just became more clear. I know it's going to sound different to some people, but I cannot imagine that they'd have a problem with what we've done."
[via The Guardian]
Noel Gallagher, Oasis - Noel Gallagher Issues Statement About Toronto Attack Broken Bells, Fang Island, GZA, NeverShoutNever, The Antlers, The xx, Wale Fang Island (And Some Emo Band) The Most-Buzzed Bands From SXSW
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Elliott Smith
I was actually happy to see that his albums were being reissued.
I'm kinda skeptical, I feel like low production values might have helped to make his work as emotive as it is... that being said, I will definitely give the reissues a chance before disparaging the idea in principle...
I didn't remaster or oversee the reissue of "From a Basement on the Hill". Thanks!
Larry Crane
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Cabinet pricing can vary greatly from company to company. Pricing depends on many things including materials, the finish, the retailers expenses, the labor involved in the building process and more. The biggest of these expenses is usually the labor. This is especially true of custom cabinets.
Pricing varies from job to job. Each individual cabinet is priced differently. For example, a pantry will cost more than a drawer base, which will cost more than a normal base, which will cost more than a wall cabinet to fill the same 30 inch space. Each of those cabinets will then vary in price slightly depending on the style you choose.
A BALL PARK estimate is about $70-80 a linear foot for our value line and about $100-$120 a linear foot for our premium lines. That is not how we price them. Each kitchen is individually designed and priced. But, it will give you a rough estimate. That number assumes a normal number or base cabinets, 30″ uppers and no special cabinets. That does not include installation.
Kitchens vary from $1000 to well over $25,000 and up. But, the vast majority of the kitchen we sell are between $2000 and $6000 with most being between $3000 and $5000. For example, a sample 8 foot kitchen (8 feet of uppers/wall cabinets and 8 feet of lower/base cabinets costs $1640 in one of our most common styles. If you have 16 feet, it would be double that with 24 feet being triple.
Though, a better example would be a 24 foot kitchen. Typically, it would have 24 feet of uppers and only 16 feet of lowers since no lowers cabinets are needed where you have your stove, dishwasher and fridge. This example would have 40 linear feet and would cost approximately $4000-4500 in one of our premium lines.
Most changes have a minimal impact. For example, going from 30″ uppers to 36″ uppers would increase the price by about $20 to 25 per cabinet (generally about 3 uppers for an 8 foot kitchen). Adding a drawer base would add about $50 to $100 to the price based on the size. Adding a pantry or oven cabinet has the biggest impact.
Installation cost vary from contractor to contractor. While the big box stores tend to charge $80 to $90 a cabinet. $50 a cabinet is a more standard price. We do not install. But, we can refer you to a good installer who has reasonable rates. Most are less than the standard $50.
To obtain a quote, you will want to get good measurements and set an appointment with the most convenient location. Here’s a link on how to measure your kitchen:
How to measure your kitchen
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Fallen Grace
Mary Hooper, Author
Mary Hooper, Bloomsbury, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-59990-564-8
Reviewed on: 12/20/2010
Release date: 02/01/2011
It is 1861 London, and 15-year-old Grace, who cares for her childlike older sister, Lily, is on a funeral train to give a dignified burial to Grace's stillborn baby, which was conceived after she was raped. Grace and Lily are in dire financial circumstances—their mother is dead and their father left before Grace was born to seek his fortune in the Americas—and they make ends meet by selling watercress. But Grace's train ride brings her into contact with a series of characters—including a wealthy and corrupt family of undertakers, who Grace and her sister come to work for, and a handsome young lawyer—that dramatically change her fate. There's a Dickensian quality to Hooper's (Newes from the Dead) story (the man himself makes a brief appearance); that which seems random is in fact meticulously planned, and nothing, not even the bundle in Grace's arms, is as it seems. And though Hooper's period descriptions, while evocative, can slow the story at times, readers will be engaged by the twists, turns, and deceits of Grace's rags-to-riches story. Ages 14–up. (Feb.)
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PSYC 356
Fundamentals of Clinical Neuropsychology
Neuropsychology is the study of how the systems of the brain work together to support thought and behavior. Neuropsychologists often infer the function of a particular brain region by assessing the type of dysfunction expressed after damage to that brain area following a stroke or head trauma. In this course, students learn basic neuroanatomy, clinical assessments, and the functional delineations of the brain's cortex. Topics may include split brain patients, language disorders, perceptual agnosias, Parkinson's Disease, attentional neglect, phantom-limb syndrome, and memory loss.
Prerequisites: PSYC 230.
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Kate C. ...Mathematics in particular is a subject where missing seemingly small facts in elementary algebra can cause cascading problems later on. A student who can easily factor a quadratic equation with multiple techniques may misunderstand seemingly simpler ideas, such as the meaning of fractional and n...
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MSS 350 - Issues in Media Studies
(3 cr.) Varied topics are covered relating theory to practice and emphasizing student participation. A primary goal is to enhance the student's imagination, critical ability and analytical skill. Prerequisite: MSS 101, JRN 160, MSS 220; As Needed
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MLB New York Yankees
Can New York Yankees Overcome Brett Gardner’s Injury?
Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
In the first at-bat of the game against the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees center fielder, Brett Gardner, struck out on a check swing.
But that wasn’t the worst part about what seemed like a harmless strikeout. Gardner did not come out to the field in the bottom of the inning and was replaced by Curtis Granderson. The news is now out that Gardner has a left oblique strain. The chips keep falling for these resilient Yankees, who are fighting for their playoff lives. Gardner has been a mainstay in their offense and one of the most durable players on the roster this year.
Oblique strains can keep players out for a while because every baseball player uses the torque in their hips and sides to generate power. Gardner’s future is uncertain; the leadoff spot will most likely be given to Ichiro Suzuki, another left-handed outfielder with speed.
He is, of course, 39-years-old and doesn’t have the same speed as Gardner, who can create runs on his own. But, Ichiro is still a solid player who can handle the bat as well as anyone in the league. He does the little things like bunting, advancing runners in critical situations, and is a great base runner. He also has the uncanny ability to flare unhittable pitches over the shortstop’s head, which no other player in the league can do.
I’m not saying that Gardner is one of the everyday players that is the easiest to deal with, but the Yanks do have depth in the outfield — four of the remaining healthy ones are previous All-Stars. It’s still a punch in the gut to a team that has fought through an inordinate amount of injuries all year, but if there is a team that can do it, I believe that the Yankees can.
Can the Yankees overcome Gardner’s injury and continue their push for the final Wild Card spot? Come out to the ballpark and cheer for the Yankees for the final stretch of the 2013 season. Buy Yankees tickets here.
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Life Keeps Score and FYI, not everyone gets a trophy...
My oldest by a minute was working with his mother on a first grade project the other evening that, for a week, allows him to be the "Superstar" of his classroom. Pretty heady stuff when you're not quite 7 but also very telling when you're a parent listening to your child describe who they think they are.
"Post your picture and tell us your favorite, food/color/fun thing to do and please share with us 3 supercool facts about you that we don't already know, etc." In my mind I had all of these blanks filled in for him and he started down that track but then he did something incredibly honest and at my wife's encouragement, he told us who he really is.
When's the last time you tried that in a professional setting, the being completely honest part, without fear of recrimination or negative judgement of some sort? Wow, right?!
Turns out one of the earth shattering things I learned is that he doesn't consider himself an athlete because he really doesn't like win/lose games even though he admits he thinks he's "pretty fast". T-ball...the league didn't keep score and everyone played. Soccer...nope, no goal keepers and no scores kept by this league either. Cross Country? Bunch a kids running for the finish line but everyone's a winner for having participated with a ribbon to prove it. Is it really that he doesn't like competition? I'll go with yes and explain.
Winners are aggressive and have attitude. They're always showing off how physically superior/educated/talented they are and drawing all sorts of attention. They aren't good sports and make others feel bad for losing.
I'm not going to say that all of these statements are false but I'm going to put some spin on it because in the workplace I think being aggressive can be a good trait and that a positive attitude is still an attitude. I believe that giving others something to shoot for with respect to improving performance, physical or mental isn't necessarily a bad thing and that how you feel about losing has more to do with you than the person who won.
Weird that we stand out there with our coffees on Saturday morning cheering on every kid regardless of which side they're on in whichever seasonal, non-competitive activity yet all the kids on all the teams know who can hit and who can't; who scored goals and how many; and who the first kid across the finish line was, oh...and so do the parents.
Why are we so afraid to admit that we do keep score and that winning really does feel better than losing?! Why are we teaching our kids that competition is bad, and that winning isn't to be enjoyed unless everyone wins? Me being as honest as a 6 year old? Losing sucks and I don't care how many losers you surround yourself with. If you've ever been part of a layoff or fired you know what I mean and no amount of "it wasn't my fault" will make you feel better or pay the mortgage.
How does promoting a "there's not one winner, we're all winners" mentality better the world they're going to inherit? How will this set them up to succeed if there's no definition of what success is? We should be teaching future generations how to win graciously and how to set and then exceed their own expectations so as to define success instead of how to be good losers. Life isn't fair and fair isn't always equal but I assure you, regardless of the endeavor, someone is keeping score and your employer is one of them.
As for the ribbon he won for showing up? It meant so much that I found it later the next day on the backseat floor of the car..vinny
Views: 179
Comment by Valentino Martinez on November 21, 2011 at 7:54pm
I agree, Vinny--with your premise...Giving everyone a ribbon for showing up, or a trophy for being part of a team acknowledges attendance more than it does performance.
In my presentations to professional or student audiences I often take a poll by asking: "Have any of you ever worked on a group or team project where three to four people end up doing all the work but the whole team of eight people get credit for a job well done?" The majority have had such experiences and the worker bees and slackers can remember clearly what role they played.
It's so true: "...someone is keeping score....." But besides an employer it will also include peers and customers.
Comment by Brian K. Johnston on November 22, 2011 at 10:32am
The Corps and Govt want it/us this way, so we depend on them... What is happening in the world right now is proof that socialism does not work.... Great article article/thanks for sharing!
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[–]aguytyping 0 points1 point (0 children)
When I OC'd my i5 2500k to 4.4Ghz from 3.3Ghz, my fps stayed exactly the same, but my overall cpu utilization went down from 35% to 25%. My Radeon 6970 gpu utilization stayed the same at around 70%.
So no, I would not expect overclocking to do anything, based on my experience.
Interestingly, if I set affinity for Wildstar to only two cores, my utilization goes up quite a bit on just those cores to like 60% each, but the fps remains the same. If I set the affinity to just 1 core, the utilization goes to like 90% on that core but the game takes a big hit in fps and the sound starts to stutter constantly.
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[–]Bajf 0 points1 point (0 children)
You could theoretically do it with any hair type, probably excluding only very thin hair.
It all depends on how much effort you were willing to go to. For most people, it's better to get a great haircut that suits their face, and the styling part is easy, rather than get a haircut that doesn't suit them unless they're in front of a mirror for an hour.
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[dm-devel] Re: Some issues noticed in my testing.
Caushik, Ramesh wrote:
Hi Christophe,
I noticed a failure in multipath-tools-0.4.2 when executing the
following scenario.
i) Run multipathd & multipath with 1 of 2 paths in the system available.
ii)activate the other path.
iii) run multipath again.
Expect the newly inserted path to be incorporated into the original path
groups. Does not happen. Traced it to a problem in the pgcmp2 function.
Patch below should fix it.
I can't see this patch attached.
Can you resend it. (In diff -u format if possible)
Also in step iii) above running multipath
with a parameter (conf->dev) will not include the additional path into
the particular mp because the select_alias function not called in the
coalesce_paths function so the strncmp(mpp->alias,conf->dev,....) in
main will always fail. Patch below should fix it.
Mr Goggin, EMC, already spotted this and a patch is present in my tree. Thanks.
Also while testing with a modified scsi_debug driver (to expose multiple
paths to the same device) noticed that sysfs vendor name for the
scsi_debug device is "Linux " which fails to match with a "Linux"
vendor name in the conf name and so device specific settings are not
picked up. Think it is a good idea to chomp off trailing whitespace from
vendor and product names. See patches below. Regards,
Can you tell me if the following fits your needs here ?
--- multipath-tools-0.4.2/libmultipath/hwtable.c 2005-01-23 14:48:05.830203168 -0800
+++ multipath-tools-0.4.3-pre1/libmultipath/hwtable.c 2005-02-08 13:42:57.203660896 -0800
@@ -12,14 +12,18 @@
extern struct hwentry *
find_hw (vector hwtable, char * vendor, char * product)
- int i;
+ int i, vendor_len, product_len;
struct hwentry * hwe;
+ vendor_len = strlen(vendor);
+ product_len = strlen(product);
vector_foreach_slot (hwtable, hwe, i)
- if (hwe->vendor && hwe->product &&
- strcmp(hwe->vendor, vendor) == 0 &&
+ if (hwe->vendor && vendor_len == strlen(hwe->vendor) &&
+ strncmp(hwe->vendor, vendor, vendor_len) == 0 &&
+ hwe->product && product_len == strlen(hwe->product) &&
(hwe->product[0] == '*' ||
- strcmp(hwe->product, product) == 0))
+ strncmp(hwe->product, product, product_len) == 0))
return hwe;
return NULL;
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The most enduring American hero of the last century is someone who lived half his life in disguise and the other half as the world's most recognizable man. He is not Jack Kennedy or Joltin' Joe DiMaggio, Batman or Jerry Seinfeld, although all of them were inspired by him. It was on his muscle-bound back that the iconic comic book took flight and that the very idea of the superhero was born. He appeared in more movies than Marlon Brando, who once pretended to be his father. He helped give America the backbone to wage war against Adolph Hitler, the Great Depression, and the Ku Klux Klan. He remains an intimate to kids from Boston to Belgrade and has adult devotees who, like Talmudic scholars, parse his every utterance. And he has done it all with a confidence that let him appear publicly with underpants over full-body tights and assume an alter ego who kept pursuing the prettiest girl in town even though he seldom got her.
We celebrate Superman now because he is turning 75 this year, and because Warner Bros. recently released an animated film about the hero and Random House released the first full-fledged biography on him. More to the point, we honor Superman today because he reminds us not just of inspired deeds past but of what it takes to be a hero in 21st Century America.
So how has Superman managed to survive thrive for seven decades and counting?
It starts with the intrinsic simplicity of his story. Little Orphan Annie and Oliver Twist reminded us how compelling a foundling's tale can be, and Superman, the sole survivor of a doomed planet, is a super-foundling. The love triangle connecting Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Superman has a side for everyone, whether you are the boy who can't get the girl, the girl pursued by the wrong boy, or the conflicted hero. His secret identity might have been annoying if we hadn't been let in on the joke and we didn't have a hero hidden within each of us. He was not just any hero, but one with the very powers we would have: the strength to lift boulders and planets, the speed to outrun a locomotive or a bullet, and, coolest on anyone's fantasy list, the gift of flight.
Superpowers are just half the equation. More essential is knowing what to do with them, and nobody has a more instinctual sense than Superman of right and wrong. Like John Wayne, he sweeps in to solve our problems. No thank-you needed. Like Jesus Christ, he descended from the heavens to help us discover our humanity. He is neither cynical like Batman nor fraught like Spider-Man. The more jaded the era, the more we have been suckered back to his clunky familiarity. So what if the upshot of his adventures is as predictable as with Sherlock Holmes: the good guy never loses. That is reassuring.
So is his uniform. His tights and cape, in radiant primary colors, make Superman as instantly recognizable as Santa Claus - and as comforting. No need to explain who he was. Everyone knew as soon as they saw him. A costume was elevating, the more so when it didn't come with a mask. Just ask Robin Hood and Elvis Presley.
That does not mean he hasn't changed with the times. Superman has evolved more than the fruit fly. In the 1930s two teenagers from Cleveland's Glenville precinct, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, gave America just the crime fighter we needed to take on the robber barons. In the forties he defended the home front while brave GIs battled overseas. For each era he zeroed in on the threats that scared us most, using powers that grew or diminished depending on the need. So did his spectacles, hair style, even his job title. Each generation got the Superman it needed and deserved. Each change offered a Rorschach test of the pulse of that time and its dreams. Superman, always a beacon of light, was a work in progress.
The comic book and its leading man could only have taken root in America. What could be more U.S.A. than an orphaned outsider who arrives in this land of immigrants, reinvents himself, and reminds us that we can reach for the sky? Yet today this flying Uncle Sam is global in his reach, having written himself into the national folklore from Beirut to Buenos Aires. It is that constancy and purity that has reeled back aging devotees and drawn in new ones. It is what makes the Man of Tomorrow timeless as well as ageless.
Larry Tye, is the author of "Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero." He will be speaking at the Brattleboro Literary Festival Saturday afternoon.
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George Brown
DuPont's Zodiaq surfacing is made from 93 percent quartz crystal, giving it a depth and radiance and making it strong, durable, and heat- and scratch-resistant. According to the manufacturer, the product is also easy to maintain and highly resistant to staining. It comes in 39 colors, but Richardson prefers the lighter shades. DuPont, 800.906.7765;
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Published on Resilience (
Published by BC Sustainable Energy Association on 2014-08-21
Original article: by Guy Dauncey
Read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.
Back in July, in my quest to see whether British Columbia could become a 100% renewable energy region, I looked at personal transportation. This week I take on the far more challenging task of long-distance trucking, boats, ferries and planes.
Ponder this: a typical eighteen-wheeler truck has a 400-horse-power engine. It burns stored solar energy from ancient, 300-million-year-old marine organisms. If you used horses to pull that much load, you’d need 400 of them, and 400 hectares of land to keep the horses pastured.
Which is Better: Slaves, Horses or Fossil Fuels?
Alternatively, you could use 4,000 humans—and a hundred overseers with whips to keep them pulling. Maybe this is why slavery was so common before we discovered the concentrated energy of fossil fuels—the true ‘concentrated solar.’ Any particular coalmine, gas-field or oil-well might embody twenty million years of stored solar radiation, and we are exhausting it in twenty years, giving an effective solar concentration rate of fifty thousand: releasing a million years of accumulated carbon ever year.
Using this incredible supply of energy, we have been able to develop our modern world with its highly advanced science and engineering, its automated factories and its global transportation network, shipping vast quantities of stuff around the world.
Holland, with 17 million people, ships 1.6 billion tonnes of cargo a year, half by road and a third by water—all using fossil fuels. That’s a hundred tonnes (seven shipping containers) per person per year. If BC (with 4.6 million people) has a similar consumption pattern, we are shipping 460 million tonnes of cargo a year.
So the challenge of making British Columbia a 100% renewable energy region has a huge cultural dimension, as well as a fuel dimension.
How much stuff do we really need to consume?
How much stuff do we really need to consume? 20%? 50%? With our current shopping habits we are literally consuming the planet to pieces, turning GDP into Gross Depletion of the Planet.
These are all important questions that we need to ponder. I am not aware of any study that looks at all these factors together. If one has been done, please let me know.
The 100% Renewable Energy Problem
So now I’ll put my BCSEA hat on and explore the technical dimension of the problem: how can we switch BC’s freight transportation from diesel and gasoline to 100% renewable energy?
Some local urban delivery could go electric right now, using electric cargo bikes. In Europe, Cycle Logistics has estimated that 51% of Europe’s city freight could be shipped by bike. For heavier loads, a Smith Newton electric truck can carry up to 12 tonnes, with a 150 kilometres range.
As soon as we move out of the city, however, we run into major challenges. There are many ways to make trucks more fuel efficient, and trucking companies can engage in load-sharing and freight-matching to reduce mileage—20% of the trucks on Germany’s roads travel empty, and maybe it’s the same here in BC. A University of Arkansas research project estimates that one-in-six trucks could be taken off the road with no loss in utility.
Can Rail Take the Freight?
Clearly, electrified railways could be a partial solution, and with less use of coal, rail capacity would be freed up. In Canada, coal accounts for 13% of rail freight traffic; in America, it is an incredible 44% of the annual tonnage. 80% of Canada’s coal is exported from Vancouver’s North Shore and Roberts Bank terminals, and from Prince Rupert, and when BC no longer exports coal there will be capacity freed up along the routes. For every destination to which rail can carry freight, however, there are dozens of destinations to which it can’t. So could we lay new electrified railway tracks alongside flat highway routes? It is really unlikely.
Alongside rail, there are three possibilities for using 100% renewable transportation energy for trucking:
Will it Be Hydrogen?
There is a strong consensus that regular cars and light trucks will be electric, but that does not apply to heavy-duty trucks. Mark Jacobson and his team at The Solutions Project at Stanford University, California have mapped out how every state in the US could achieve 100% renewable energy using sun, wind and water. They are assuming the use of hydrogen for long-distance trucking, using renewable electricity to generate the hydrogen by splitting water, which is then used in a fuel cell to generate electricity for an electric drive. (Most of today’s hydrogen is derived from natural gas, which is clearly not a renewable solution).
Using hydrogen requires three times more electricity than direct electric drive, but the technology is known, and on-site electrolysis, which is already happening in Holland, California and sixteen other states in the US would eliminate the need to ship or pipe hydrogen around the province. Every truck would need to be a fuel cell truck, however, which makes it far more complex than biofuel, which works with existing vehicles.
Blue Fuel, a BC company linked to Aeolis, one of BC’s major wind energy companies, knowing how much wind energy potential there is in the northeast of the province, has developed a partnership with Siemens Canada to create the world’s largest hydrogen electrolysis infrastructure on 400 hectares of land near Chetwynd, with a view to producing green hydrogen.
Will it happen? Many people have written off hydrogen because they think about cars, not trucks, and the car of the future is clearly electric. Joe Romm, who is extremely knowledgeable on practical responses to climate change, says Tesla Trumps Toyota—but for trucking, hydrogen may yet be the answer.
Will It Be Biofuel?
First generation biofuel, such as ethanol made from corn, requires the use of good farmland, and its production is so carbon intensive that it hardly reduces greenhouse gas emissions at all. Corn ethanol is seen by some as being part of the problem, not the solution.
The holy grail is second generation cellulosic biofuel made from switchgrass, corn stover (the leaves and stalk of maize crops), wood wastes, wheat straw or municipal wastes, but the reality has lagged far behind the hopes. In the US, instead of a billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol being produced by 2013, as mandated, progress has been really slow, and production was a thousand times less than required at under a million gallons.
Hopes for the production of biofuel from algae have withered, too. To make it productive, algae needs a constant stream of CO2—and if it comes from fossil fuels, via carbon capture, fossil carbon will still be released when the algae fuel is burnt. Effective progress in the algae direction is almost zero, as we learnt from Dr. John Benemann in our BCSEA Webinar in 2013.
In Finland, which has extensive forest coverage, their Roadmap to a Renewable Methane Economy envisions biomethane from municipal and forest wastes as providing 60% of the fuel for heavy road transport by 2050, the rest coming from electricity (5%), hydrogen (10%) and bio-dimethyl ether (20%). The Finnish Biogas Association estimates that there is enough available biomethane from wastes to cover 40% of total transportation needs, including 60% for trucking.
There is also another approach that may work. BioRoot Energy, based in Montana, has a technology that can make higher mixed alcohol biofuel from any kind of waste, including municipal solid waste, sewage sludge, construction debris, industrial waste, liquid waste and woody biomass waste, using a rotary kiln gasifier to convert the waste into a liquid fuel and a slag residue, yielding syngas that is then converted into a liquid fuel for use in any vehicle. Plastic wastes will release fossil carbon, but biogenic wastes will not.
Or Will It Be Direct Electric Drive?
The third possibility is that there will be sufficient advances in electric drive and battery technology to make long-distance electric trucking possible, using one of five possible recharging possibilities: plug-in ultrafast charging, battery switching, overhead charging through wires, dynamic in-motion charging from the road below, or stationary inductive charging from above.
Ultrafast charging for larger vehicles is already happening in Geneva, Switzerland, where the multinational corporation ABB is rolling out a 400 kw 15-second flash-charge at bus-stops on large capacity electric buses. In Britain, there’s a trial happening in Milton Keynes, with buses driving a 24-kilometre route that includes two 120 kw stationary recharging strips. ABB feels confident that the future of mobility is electric—but will it extend to trucks?
Battery switching is another possibility, demonstrated by Tesla to be quicker for a car than refueling at a gas station. Might a future electric truck pull into a pit-stop and switch to a new battery while the driver relaxes over coffee?
Overhead cabling seems unlikely due to the long rural distances that truckers need to drive in addition to highway travel. In Sweden,Volvo is developing a magnetic resonance system that enables a truck to charge up as it drives along the road, but widespread adoption would run into the same problem as overhead cabling—the need for universal, country-wide coverage. Trucks in BC need to get to Prince Rupert and Fort St John, as well as Hope and Nanaimo. Maybe engineers will design an electric truck of the future that can recharge through all three means: rapid ultra-charging, in-road charging and battery swap.
Which will it be?
Electric technology for long-distance trucking is the least developed, but progress in battery technology is happening far faster than progress in hydrogen or biofuels. If you hear that Tesla’s Elon Musk is investing in a trucking company, that might be a smart time to invest.
Biofuel is a complex field with various fuel pathways, some of which seem to be going nowhere while others promise progress. Its big advantage is that it can be used by the existing fleet; the downside is the slow speed of progress.
Hydrogen for fuel cell electric drive is a proven technology, but it requires the large-scale production of renewable electricity to make the hydrogen, and an entire fleet of new hydrogen trucks, such as the Tyrano, which Vision Motor Corp, based in California, is making.
It will be one of the three—but trucking is a transcontinental affair, and BC could never get there alone. There are a host of initiatives that a lively government that was committed to the cause could initiate or join. BC’s universities could push ahead on the technology; the provincial government could work with California, Oregon and Washington State in the Pacific Coast Collaborative to make renewable energy trucking a priority; we could host a major conference on the future of trucking to identify the problem and explore the solutions. It’s all better than nothing, which is the government’s current approach.
Ferries, Boats, and Ocean Shipping
The same basket of choices applies to water and air transportation. Simon Fawkes of Blue Coral Charters operates the Aerial Sea, a 42’ sailing catamaran. In July 2014 they crossed the Strait of Georgia on 2 kw of solar electric power with a team of students from York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies. Another catamaran, the 115 ft. Planet Solar, with a massive 20 kw solar system, is currently cruising the Mediterranean at 5 knots as part of a world tour. In Bristol, England, a 12 passenger 12 kW hydrogen fuel celled boat is cruising local waters.
But what about BC Ferries, or the big contained ships? In Japan, the NYK Group is planning a futuristic container ship: the Super Eco Ship 2030 will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells, wind, and up to 9 MW of superconductive solar, and be packed full of innovations.
To make the hydrogen, it will use liquefied natural gas, since no-one has found a way to do electrolysis at sea, which needs a constant flow of renewable electricity. If there was a battery breakthrough sufficient to carry a ship across the ocean, it would not need hydrogen. One alternative might be to use a biofuel as the source for the hydrogen. As planned, the ship will achieve a 70% fall in carbon emissions.
BC Ferries, meanwhile, has just ordered three new ferries from Poland which will be designed to run on natural gas as well as diesel. No progress there.
In 2012, the Dutch consultancy group EcoFys studied the use of different biofuels for the European Maritime Safety Agency. They looked at tankers and container ships, ferries and cruise ships, and found that it was technically possible, and that there was a market. The barriers were regulatory and policy-related.
Europe has a Renewable Fuels Directive, for instance, which requires that 20% of all energy must be renewable by 2020; but it needs to apply to ship bunkering parties, as well as to energy suppliers. If a future Canadian government gathered up the political courage to bring in a similar directive, it would have a very forceful effect on development.
Flying into a Green Future on….What?
So far, most bets for future green flying are on biofuel, with many major airlines doing trials for biofuel feedstocks such as cellulosic crops, algae, camelina, jatropha, municipal solid waste, and halophytes, which can live on salt water irrigation in a desert environment. CNN reports that “since aviation biofuel was approved for use in 2011, more than 1,500 commercial flights have been powered by a blend of traditional fuel and biofuels,” and there have also been 100% biofuel flights. The Sustainable Aviation Biofuels Users Group lists a lot of famous aviation names—but is the commitment really there?
In summary, this is not an easy game. But nor were electric vehicles, ten years ago. I am totally confident that the change will happen. There are at least 193 truck manufacturers in the world, including two in Canada: Hino, whose Woodstock assembly plant makes Japanese trucks; and Paccar, based in St-Therese, Quebec, which makes Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF trucks.
When it comes to alternative fuels, Paccar looks to biodiesel and natural gas, and Hino has developed a diesel-electric hybrid truck which leads the world. Will Hino/Toyota produce the breakthrough all-electric or all-hydrogen heavy-duty truck? Or will biofuels prevail? Only time will tell.
Photo credit: Wikipedia/Dr. Karl-Heinz Hochhaus/CC BY 3.0. Image of the PlanetSolar boat.
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Curtains is a 1983 Canadian horror film that was directed by Richard Ciupka (who went under the alias Johnathan Stryker, who is one of the main characters in the film). The film starred John Vernon (ANIMAL HOUSE), Samantha Eggar (THE BROOD), Lynne Griffin (BLACK CHRISTMAS), Lesleh Donaldson (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME), Linda Thorson (TV'S THE AVENGERS), and Michael Wincott (THE CROW).
The film is about a famous horror director, Johnathan Stryker (Vernon), who is casting for the title role in his new film 'Audra'. Samantha Sherwood (Eggar) is determined for the role of Audra, and will even put herself in a mental institution for it, for research for her role. Stryker leaves Sherwood at the institution and decides to hold a casting session at his home, with 6 actresses for the role (Thorson, Griffin, Donaldson, Sandee Currie from TERROR TRAIN, Anne Ditchburn and Deborah Burgess). Sherwood flees from the institution, and wants revenge on Stryker, and to show him that he is wrong about not casting her as Audra. But soon, one by one, the actresses are killed and disappearing from the house, with the killer hiding their identity with an old-hag mask. Who is Audra, and who is the killer?
The film was produced by Simcom, who also produced PROM NIGHT, and was released by Jensen Farley Pictures, which also released MADMAN and CHAINED HEAT.
The VHS for the film was released shortly after the films release, by Vestron Video, and there is no official DVD release yet, which is upsetting because this is such a good film. The DVD was released in the UK, but is just an old rip from a VHS tape.
The film has gained a cult following, stating that the film's ice-skating scene is one of the most terrifying scenes in horror. The film's audio has been used by the heavy metal band Mortician, with their song 'Audra' (the title of Stryker's film).
Fans are now eagerly waiting for an official US/Canadian release of the DVD, and I agree, wondering why such a good horror film like this has no DVD release yet. What a shame.
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Director's Cuts
A Danish filmmaker gives up pretension in favor of cannibal butchers
With all due respect to the inventive barbecue kings who enlivened The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a pair of deranged Danes called The Green Butchers would likely win the cordon bleu for cannibal cuisine. Hannibal Lecter himself might savor something called "Svend's Chicky-Wickies" -- not poultry at all, of course, but filet of electrician, expertly cut from the tender portion of the unfortunate fellow's leg and lovingly marinated overnight before making its way to the display case in the front of the shop. Predictably, the uninformed but ravenous public clamors for more. Must taste like chicken.
Sound like satire? It is -- or means to be. Relying on everything from Jonathan Swift to the tacky sci-fi classic Soylent Green, writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen here cooks up an elaborate, sometimes tortured allegory about self-esteem, fame and striving for success at any cost. He also suggests, we're chagrined to report, that post-industrial Western society is currently feeding on itself and probably won't survive for long. To be sure, these cautions may compel some of us to switch off the reality show where girls in bikinis are eating live caterpillars and return to our study of the classics. It must also be said that, while intermittently hilarious, the whole thing is a bit overwrought.
Jensen (the writer of Italian for Beginners and Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself) was a leading exponent of Denmark's Dogme95 movement, which proposed to humanize the art cinematic by dumping things like special effects, klieg lights, composed music and the individual directorial touch: It succeeded mostly in squeezing the enjoyment out of movies. Happily, the 32-year-old Dane seems now to have broken with the Dogme posse. If anything, Butchers is stylized to a fault, and its maker hovers over the proceedings like a derelict guarding his pint of muscatel. Good for him. It's always beautiful to behold high theory put to rout by necessity.
Don't ask how sausages are made: Nikolaj Lie Kaas
(left) and Mads Mikkelsen (right) are no ordinary
Don't ask how sausages are made: Nikolaj Lie Kaas (left) and Mads Mikkelsen (right) are no ordinary Butchers.
On the other hand, Jensen's protagonists won't exactly remind you of Butch and Sundance. Svend (Mads Mikkelsen) is a worried striver saddled with a huge inferiority complex. You can criticize him, the butcher says, but please don't disparage his meatballs. Laid-back Bjarne (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) is a stoner who smokes twenty joints a day and has trouble in his past, too: His parents and wife were killed in a car crash; his twin brother, Eigil (also played by Kaas), was left in a coma. For comic relief, our two lifelong victims find themselves under the thumb of a cruel boss -- a bullet-headed autocrat called Holger (Ole Thestrup) who takes fascist glee in sausage-making. "It's almost mythological," he announces, "to kill an animal and then mock it by sticking it in its own intestine."
Good Christ. Where's the nearest vegan market?
To escape Holger, Svend and Bjarne decide to open their own, competing butcher shop in the village where they all live. As you might expect, these bunglers fail miserably until an accident in the meat locker produces their unusual specialty of the house. That soon brings crowds, a local TV crew and unforeseen success. It also points the proprietors toward murder, so great does the demand for Svend's Chicky-Wickies grow. Cannibalism has its limits as a black-comic device, but that seems not to have occurred to Jensen. After slicing up their real estate agent, a Swedish tourist and a few other people, the butchers learn about a local minister who survived a remote plane crash by eating his wife, and even Bjarne's new girlfriend and his miraculously reawakened, gentle idiot brother are in danger of winding up on ice at six bucks a pound. About this point, The Green Butchers tries a lot harder than you might like to be sweet and meaningful, as well as macabre. But it never really gets ahold of the big social and political issues it's flirting with.
As a comedy about eating people, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's enduring cult hit Delicatessen is far superior -- not least for the nightmarish qualities of the apartment building where it was set. For pure, grisly delight, it's hard to top the aforementioned Dr. Lecter, student of the brain and sometimes consumer of same. What we have with The Green Butchers is a kind of near-miss, wonderfully funny in places but so burdened by sophomoric symbolism and silly portents that you soon feel like opting for the spinach salad and letting it go at that.
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Randi's voice is scratchy and strained from the tubes down his throat during the surgery. Hangover from the anesthesia has left occasional blurry spots in his otherwise remarkable memory. The procedure left him weak, grudgingly confined most of the time to a wheelchair. "It's not a matter of pride," he explains. "It's a matter of the impression you make on people. You want to appear to be empowered. It's the show business in me."
When Randi was fifteen, he heard of a preacher in his hometown of Toronto who claimed he could read minds. Randi had been reading every book he could find on magic and illusions, so he figured he could figure out what trick the preacher was using on his flock.
One Sunday morning, Randi watched the preacher use a classic "one-ahead" scam. The preacher used information obtained ahead of time to trick the crowd into believing that he could read minds. Randi took the stage as he imagined his hero Harry Houdini might have done and preached to the congregation about being duped, explaining the trick the preacher had used. He was immediately run out of the church.
Randi visits the "Isaac Asimov Library" at the James Randi Educational Foundation.
Bill Hughes
Connie Sonne flew from Denmark to Las Vegas to try for James Randi's $1 million. Magician Banachek administered the dowsing test.
Scott Hurst
Dissidence would become a regular reaction to Randi, who was born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge in 1928. He describes himself as a quick learner but a bit of a rabble-rouser — he was once kicked out of his Sunday school class for heresy.
When he was twelve, he stumbled into a matinee performance by famed magician Harry Blackstone Sr., who made a lady float in the air just feet from the stunned boy. "That got me," Randi says. "That grabbed me, and it never let go. It's still got a hold of my head right now."
A year after the church incident, Randi was in a bicycle accident that left him in a full-body cast for thirteen months. Randi figured that even confined to the cast, he could still perform at nightclubs as a mentalist. "In those days, they were paying me 70 bucks a week," he says. "Now that was a lot of Canadian dollars, I can tell you." He decided he would make it clear at the end of every show that he was simply using illusions. But he was disturbed when audience members would insist he had paranormal powers — ironically ignoring the only bit of truth he'd spat out all night. People seemed to want to believe in the supernatural.
Before he graduated high school, Randi left town with the carnival, performing as "Prince Ibis." At age 22, he pulled off a highly publicized escape from a Quebéc City jail cell, a trick Houdini used to perform. A local newspaper dubbed him "L'etonnant Randi," The Amazing Randi, "with an i at the end," he says, "like Houdini." For three decades, Randi toured the world by train, plane and ship, headlining marquees from the Deep South to the Far East. He was bound in straitjackets and dangled over waterfalls, buried alive, handcuffed and locked in an oversize milk jug.
But Randi could never shake the need to educate the naive. Working at nightclubs in East Asia, he learned new con-man techniques, and when he came back, he had a bug for debunking. In the 1960s, he hosted a radio show in New York in which he would, among other things, argue with astrologers ("complete woo-woo," he says) and confront chiropractors ("three chiropractors, three completely different diagnoses").
The height of his fame came when Johnny Carson invited him to The Tonight Show. Carson had him back 37 times, and the two became good friends. "Johnny was a very skilled magician, very accomplished," Randi says.
Living in northern New Jersey, Randi befriended other great American thinkers like astronomer Carl Sagan and science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. Randi and Asimov would sing Gilbert and Sullivan tunes deep into the night. "He had such a wonderful voice," Randi remembers. Randi and Sagan would discuss their shared love of astronomy. Sagan helped name a comet after Randi.
Randi even played himself on an episode of Happy Days — he levitates Mrs. Cunningham, and in the final shot of the episode, Randi steals Fonzie's patented "Ehhh." At one point, Randi toured with Alice Cooper, cutting the rock god's head off with a trick guillotine at the end of every show.
In the '70s, America developed a new fascination with all things paranormal — crystals, tarot cards, astrology parties. Randi found the trends disturbing, and he was particularly irked by a young Israeli named Uri Geller, who said he could bend spoons with his mind and read the thoughts of total strangers. He appeared on countless television shows and was featured in magazines in dozens of languages.
The degree to which people took Geller seriously bothered Randi. Reputable scientists from several labs studied "the Geller effect," how brainwaves affect pliable metal. Those scientists no longer discuss those experiments. Sen. Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, invited Geller to the floor of Congress to send positive brain waves to Mikhail Gorbachev. The senator and the psychic later claimed at least partial success.
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April 24, 2015
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Habitual winners
Tri-Valley’s Alli Reynolds wins the steeplechase with a lifetime best of 8:12. She hurdled every barrier.
As for Tri-Valley’s girls, a second consecutive title at the Monticello Games followed last week’s victory at the Tri-Valley Invitational. Depth is needed in track to compile the points needed to win a meet and like Monticello, T-V is stacked with talent in runners, jumpers and throwers. Freshman Autumn Bender and senior Mareena DiMilia were named as the meet’s outstanding track and field performers respectively. Bender won the 800 and 1500, while DiMilia captured the 100 hurdles with a state qualifying time of 15.5 (the standard is 16.2), the javelin and the shot put. She took second in the hammer throw.
Katlynn Greffrath achieved a state qualifying mark of 5-0 in the high jump. She also ran a leg in the winning 1600 relay with Caroline Martin, Vicky Tingley and Sara Dertinger in a season’s best 4:25. Alli Reynolds had a lifetime best in her victory in the 2000 steeplechase. Monti multi-event winners included Mike Rogers, who won the 400 hurdles and ran a leg in the winning 800 relay with Rahjel Smith, Austin Colon and Trevon Rainey.
Meanwhile, athletes from other local schools were top shelf in their individual manifestations. Sullivan West’s Mitch Paciga won the high jump with a mark of 6-2, a state qualifying leap also recorded by teammate Matt Cardona who took second. Paciga also captured the 110 hurdles. Eldred’s Julian Gottlieb won the pole vault with a leap of 11-6. Many other athletes achieved personal records at the meet. Sullivan West’s girls team, young as they are, showed immense grit and progress, taking close seconds in a number of events including the 800 by Courtney Meyerer and the 1600 relay.
For details of times, distances, and places visit www.sportsinsightsny.com and for an album of photos visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com.
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Click to learn about and donate to the Exchange Club Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse
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Carl Lee Perkins was born near Tiptonville, Tennessee in 1932. At 7, he began playing a guitar that his father had made from a cigar box, broomstick and baling wire. He listened to country music, gospel, and blues, and began to write some of his own compositions. At age 13 he performed a song that he had written, Movie Magg, at a local talent show and won. He formed a group with Jay and Clayton called the Perkins Brothers which began to perform at a local honky tonk known as the El Rancho Club in 1947 and 1948. W. B. Holland joined the group as a drummer. They appeared on WDXT radio in his hometown of Jackson, Tennessee from 1950 to 1952. Meanwhile, Carl spent many years working during the day at Colonial Baking Company in Jackson Tennessee as a baker.
Carl signed a recording contract with Flip Records, a subsidiary of Sun in Memphis, in 1954. His first release was Movie Magg the following year, and it was followed by other songs such as Gone, Gone, Gone, Let The Juke Box Keep On Playing, and Blue Suede Shoes. He wrote "Blue Suede Shoes" after hearing a boy telling his prom date not to step on his blue suede shoes. Perkins went back to his home in a housing project and wrote the song on a brown potato sack. He recorded the song at Sun in December, 1955, was released on the Sun label and took off nationally. It reached number two on the pop and country charts in 1956.
That song put 23-year old Carl Perkins in the national spotlight. Appearances were arranged on the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como TV shows, but while traveling to New York for those engagements he was involved in a terrible automobile accident that hospitalized him. Another up-and-coming Sun artist, Elvis Presley, covered Blue Suede Shoes, which became Elvis' third top forty hit. These events served to steal some of the thunder from Carl Perkins' rise, and Carl never quite recovered his momentum in the world of pop, although his place in music history was assured.
An excellent guitar player, he continued doing music in his own style, which was pure rockabilly. The flip side of Blue Suede Shoes was Honey Don't, which had originally been intended as the A-side. Honey Don't was discovered by the Beatles who covered it along with two more of Carl's songs, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby and Matchbox. Latter day pop artists who would acknowledge the influence of Carl Perkins include Rick Nelson, John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney, who said "If there were no Carl Perkins, there would be no Beatles."
Following the death of his brother Jay in 1958, Carl signed a deal with Columbia. Songs by country influenced singers such as Buddy Knox and the Everly Brothers were crossing over to the pop charts. Carl had some more minor pop hits with records such as Pink Pedal Pushers and Pointed Toe Shoes, but he eventually went back to country music. He signed with the Dollie label in 1963 and joined his friend Johnny Cash's road show in 1965. He stayed with Cash for ten years, performing solo at times, and occasionally writing songs. Carl continued recording country songs into the 70's. His brother Clayton passed away in 1974.
In the mid-70's he appeared at the Wembley Festival in England and advertised his new album, Old Blue Suede Shoes Is Back Again, on British television. He worked with a five-man band that included his sons Stan and Gregg. He also collaborated with other notable artists over the years, including his work on the album The Million Dollar Quartet with Cash, Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis and on The Trio Plus with Lewis, Charley Pride, and The Judds and Billy Ray Cyrus.
Carl Perkins appeared in the 1985 film Into The Night and won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1986 for Blue Suede Shoes. He took his place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Carl Perkins was not only an international legend and entertainer, but locally he was a civic minded patron and founder of the Exchange Club - Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse. In 1979, the news media in Jackson carried a local story about a child who died as a result of child abuse. Carl, a resident of Jackson, saw the child's picture and thought the child resembled one of his own children. He was so moved by the tragic story, he helped to organize a successful concert and the proceeds generated were combined with funds received through a National Exchange Club Grant. This allowed the center to open its doors in October 1981. This was the first Exchange Club Center in Tennessee and the fourth nationwide.
In later years, Carl suffered a series of strokes. Though he had been ill, the news still stunned us all on January 19, 1998 when it was announced that Carl Perkins had died in Jackson. Carl had battled serious illness before. He was such a gentle soul. It just seemed he had always been and would continue to be the quiet king of rockabilly music.
The tributes were appropriate. A local radio special that included comments from everyone from Dolly Parton to Chet Atkins, Paul Simon to Johnny Rivers, Willie Nelson to Tom T. Hall.
A funeral service at Lambuth University that had everyone from Rufus Thomas to George Harrison, Jerry Lee Lewis to Ricky Scaggs, Garth Brooks to Sam Phillips, Narvel Felts to Wynona Judd in thechapel
Only Carl Perkins could have drawn together such diversity in talent and generations. They all came because he had touched their lives. We still remember because he touched ours. Whether the music, the man, or the child abuse center named in his honor and for which he did so much, he lived, we shared and it all continues. Thanks, Carl for it all!
He was laid to rest in the Ridgecrest Cemetary in Jackson. He is gone but will never be forgotten. We miss you Carl!
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Incredible scenery, superb food and a great wall
You can’t ignore China: more than a country, it’s a civilization, and one that has continuously recycled itself, not much perturbed by outsiders, for three millenia. Its script reached perfection in the Han dynasty, two thousand years ago, and those stone lions standing sentinel outside sleek new skyscrapers are built to a three-thousand-year-old design. Yet this ancient culture is now undergoing the fastest creative and commercial upheaval the world has ever seen, with Hong Kong-style skylines rearing up across the country. This dizzying modernisation is visible in every aspect of Chinese life, and it is the tension and contrast between wrenching change and continuity that makes modern China such an endlessly fascinating destination.
The first thing that strikes visitors to the country is the extraordinary density of its population. In central and eastern China, villages, towns and cities seem to sprawl endlessly into one another along the grey arteries of busy expressways. These are the Han Chinese heartlands, a world of chopsticks, tea, slippers, grey skies, shadow-boxing, teeming crowds, chaotic train stations, smoky temples, red flags and the smells of soot and frying tofu.
Move west or north away from the major cities, however, and the population thins out as it begins to vary: indeed, large areas of the People’s Republic are inhabited not by the “Chinese”, but by scores of distinct ethnic minorities, ranging from animist hill tribes to urban Muslims.
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Heritage Immigration Study Under Assault
RUSH: There's also a move out there -- understandably in the Democrat Party, but within certain elements of the Republican Party -- to go after, discredit, and basically blow up the Heritage Foundation study on immigration and the cost of amnesty. Remember, we made this available to you. If you wanted to go to the Heritage Foundation website the other day, earlier this week, they were giving you the report free. The website was AskHeritage.org. You could go there and you could get the whole thing downloaded, and the five-page summary was really pretty much all you needed to read.
If you didn't want the detail, the summary was just powerful, and it talked about $6.3 trillion of net cost. Well, all kinds of people -- predictably from the Democrat Party, but some in the Republican Party now -- are coming out to discredit this whole thing. They're trying to discredit the scholarship, the math. One of the criticisms is, "Those guys at Heritage, they analyze this in a static way! They didn't calculate any of the dynamics." What they mean by that is, "Wait a minute! Yeah, some of these new arrivals may end up on the welfare rolls but some of them are gonna be paying taxes, too, and that's gonna wash out whatever benefits they get."
That was the theory.
But that doesn't quite wash.
Anyway, that's just what out there.
Now, USA Today in a story here by Alan Gomez. "One of the authors of a Heritage Foundation report that panned a Senate plan to overhaul the nation's immigration laws argued in his doctoral dissertation that immigrants generally have lower IQs than the 'native white population' of the United States." Uh-oh. Uh, uh, uh, uh, oh. You see now, the long knives are out for anybody at Heritage who had anything to do with this.
"Jason Richwine, who received his doctorate in public policy from Harvard in 2009 and joined the conservative Heritage Foundation in 2012, wrote in his dissertation titled 'IQ and Immigration Policy' that immigrants in the U.S. have lower IQs than native Americans, and that that difference 'is likely to persist over several generations.'
'The consequences are a lack of socioeconomic assimilation among low-IQ immigrant groups, more underclass behavior, less social trust, and an increase in the proportion of unskilled workers in the American labor market,' Richwine wrote, in a story first reported by The Washington Post. 'Selecting high-IQ immigrants would ameliorate these problems in the U.S., while at the same time benefiting smart potential immigrants who lack educational access in their home countries.'"
So now it's trash the messenger time. There is no argument in this piece about whether or not Mr. Richwine's doctoral dissertation is right. They don't even raise that question. They are attempting to discredit Mr. Richwine and the Heritage report by pointing out that this guy, in his doctoral dissertation, suggested that immigrants to America have lower IQs than native Americans and that the difference is likely to persist over several generations. And it's something that we ought to consider when analyzing and coming up with immigration policy. You're not supposed to bring that kind of stuff up. You're just not supposed to talk about it. That's not politically correct. Even if it's true, you are not supposed to bring it up.
So the entire Heritage report on immigration that disagreed with the Senate Gang of Eight plan is under assault now, because one of the authors in his doctoral dissertation wrote that immigrants have lower IQs than native Americans. They don't dispute that in the USA piece, as far as I read, they don't dispute that. Snerdley is asking, "If it's true, shouldn't it have an impact?" Well, maybe in a different era, yeah. But not today. It mighta mattered policy-wise in a different era, but today, no. You're not even supposed to talk about this. We're supposed to reach out. In fact, the lower the IQ, the more welcoming we are to be to show how good we are and compassionate and how understanding. The lower the IQ, the more welcoming we should be.
"Richwine was one of two co-authors in a report released Monday by the Heritage Foundation that predicted a $6.3 trillion economic loss for the U.S. if a Senate immigration bill that would legalize the nation's 11 million unauthorized immigrants and bring in more foreigners on work visas becomes law. On Thursday, the Heritage Foundation said Richwine's doctoral thesis did not factor into it's report and emphasized that the data used in the study is sound."
So Heritage says, "Whatever he wrote his doctoral thesis on had nothing to do with our report. Our report's about money. The IQ of arriving immigrants is not part of our study. It's not part of our report." Doesn't matter. His doctoral thesis was written about this, and as such, he's automatically discredited as a bigot and a racist and whatever else, and therefore the entire Heritage report is disqualified. That's what's underway in the Drive-By Media.
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The ground shifts repeatedly beneath the reader’s feet during the
course of Salman Rushdie’s sixth novel, a riff on the Orpheus and
get their first clues early on that the universe Rushdie is creating
wrote “Heartbreak Hotel”; Carly Simon and Guinevere Garfunkel sang
“Bridge over Troubled Water”; and Shirley Jones and Gordon McRae
starred in “South Pacific.” And as the novel progresses, Rushdie adds
unmistakable elements of science fiction to his already patented
magical realism, with occasionally uneven results.
Rushdie’s cunning musician is Ormus Cama, the Bombay-born founder of
the most popular group in the world. Ormus’s Eurydice (and lead singer)
musical talent, is a decidedly twisted family life: Ormus’s twin
brother died at birth and communicates to him from “the other side”;
these two believe they were made for each other.
The Ground Beneath Her Feet begins with a terrible earthquake in 1989
as well. Rushdie’s canvas is huge, stretching from India to London to
New York and beyond–and there’s plenty of room for him to punctuate
this epic tale with pointed commentary on his own situation:
Muslim-born Rai, for example, remarks that “my parents gave me the gift
they held dear…. You may argue that the gift was a poisoned chalice,
but even if so, that’s a cup from which I’d happily drink again.”
continuum, and it’s epic length, The Ground Beneath Her Feet may be the
most optimistic, accessible novel Rushdie has yet written.
My favorite section of the novel is when Vina goes to Manhattan and
meets every freak in show business at what falls just short of a sex
club while hanging with her manager. Some of the names and occupations
of the people she meets will blow your mind!
Buy it and take your time reading it. I suggest cherishing this novel
like an expensive box of chocolate because writing this phenomenal
doesn’t come alone every day.
About TAWP
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Sacred Texts Bible Bible Commentary Index
Psalms Index
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Psalms Chapter 83
psa 83:0
A Song or Psalm of Asaph. This is the last of the psalms that bear the name of Asaph, and some think it was written by him on occasion of David's smiting the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, and others, Sa2 8:1, but these did not conjunctly, but separately, fight with David, and were overcome by him; whereas those this psalm makes mention of were in a confederacy together; and besides, the Tyrians in David's time were in friendship with him; but are here mentioned as joining with others against Israel, Psa 83:7, others are of opinion that this was prophetic delivered out with respect to future times, either to the conspiracy of the enemies of the Jews against them in the times of the Maccabees,
"Now when the nations round about heard that the altar was built and the sanctuary renewed as before, it displeased them very much. &c.'' (1 Maccabees 5:1)
or rather to the confederacy of the Moabites, Ammonites, and others, in the times of Jehoshaphat, Ch2 20:1, so Kimchi, Arama, and the generality of interpreters: perhaps reference is had to the enemies of God's people, from age to age, both in the Old and in the New Testament; R. Obadiah understands it of the war of Gog and Magog.
Psalms 83:1
psa 83:1
Keep not thou silence, O God,.... Which he is thought and said to do, when he does not answer the prayers of his people, nor plead their cause, nor rebuke their enemies; when he does not speak a good word to them, or one for them, or one against those that hate and persecute them;
hold not thy peace; or "be not deaf" (b) to the cries and tears of his people, and to the reproaches, menaces, and blasphemies of wicked men:
and be not still, O God; or "quiet" (c), at rest and ease, inactive and unconcerned, as if he cared not how things went; the reason follows.
(b) "ne obsurdescas", Vatablus; "ne surdum agas", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "ne quasi surdus et mutus sis", Michaelis. (c) "ne quiescas", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus; "neque quietus sis", Michaelis.
Psalms 83:2
psa 83:2
For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult,.... Or "a noise" (d): wicked men are commonly noisy, roaring out their blasphemies against God, belching out oaths and curses, and breathing threatenings and slaughter against the saints; especially a numerous army of them, consisting of many people and nations, as this did; who are called the Lord's "enemies", being the enemies of his people, and their cause and his are one and the same; and besides, all wicked men are enemies to God, and all that is good, in their minds, and which appears by their actions; yea, they are enmity itself unto him:
and they that hate thee have lift up the head; are haughty, proud, and arrogant; speak loftily, and with a stiff neck; set their mouth against heaven, and God in it; and their tongue walks through the earth, and spares none; they exult and rejoice, as sure of victory, before the battle is fought; such then were, and such there are, who are haters of God, hate his being, perfections, purposes, and providences; hate his Son without a cause, and even do despite unto the Spirit of grace; hate the law and its precepts, the Gospel and its doctrines and ordinances, and the ways, worship, and people of God, as appears by what follows.
(d) "sonuerunt", V. L. "perstrepunt", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "strepunt", Gejerus.
Psalms 83:3
psa 83:3
They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,.... The people of Israel, hereafter named, whom God had chosen and avouched to be his people; these they dealt subtlety with, as the king of Egypt had done with their forefathers; and this, agreeably to their character, being the seed of the old serpent, more subtle than any of the beasts of the field; these devised cunning devices, formed crafty schemes for the destruction of the Lord's people; but often so it is, that the wise are taken in their own craftiness, and their counsel is carried headlong:
and consulted against thy hidden ones; not hidden from the Lord, and unknown unto him, though from their enemies, and unknown by them, and so the object of their hatred and persecution; but hidden by him as his jewels and peculiar treasure, which he takes care of; hidden under the shadow of his wings, in the secret of his presence and tabernacle, as in a pavilion; and therefore it was a daring piece of insolence in their enemies to attack them: so the life of saints is said to be hid with Christ in God, which denotes both its secrecy and safety; see Col 3:3, the Targum is,
"against the things hidden in thy treasures;''
meaning the riches of the temple.
Psalms 83:4
psa 83:4
They have said,.... Secretly in their hearts, or openly to one another, and gave it out in the most public manner, as what they had consulted and determined upon; see Psa 74:8,
come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; they were not content to invade their country, take their cities, plunder them of their substance, and carry them captives, but utterly to destroy them, root and branch; so that they might be no more a body politic, under rule and government, in their own land, nor have so much as a name and place in others; this was Haman's scheme, Est 3:8.
that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance; but this desperate and dreadful scheme, and wretched design of theirs, took not effect; but, on the contrary, the several nations hereafter mentioned, who were in this conspiracy, are no more, and have not had a name in the world for many hundreds of years; while the Jews are still a people, and are preserved, in order to be called and saved, as all Israel will be in the latter day, Rom 11:25. So Dioclesian thought to have rooted the Christian name out of the world; but in vain: the name of Christ, the name of Christianity, the name of a Christian church, will endure to the end of the world; see Psa 72:17. Compare with this Jer 11:19.
Psalms 83:5
psa 83:5
For they have consulted together with one consent,.... Or "heart" (e); wicked men are cordial to one another, and united in their counsels against the people of God, and his interest: whatever things they may disagree in, they agree in this, to oppose the cause and interest of true religion, or to persecute the church and people of God: Herod and Pontius Pilate are instances of this:
they are confederate against thee; or have made a covenant against thee (f); the covenant they had entered into among themselves, being against the Lord's people, was against him; and such a covenant and agreement can never stand; for there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord, Pro 21:30. This the psalmist mentions to engage the Lord in the quarrel of his people, and not be still, and act a neutral part; since those were his enemies, and confederates against him, and they are next particularly named.
(e) "corde", Pagninus, Montanus; "ex corde", Tigurine version, Musculus, Gejerus; "cordicitus", Cocceius. (f) "foedus adversus te icerunt", Tigurine version; "contra te foedus pepigerunt", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus; so Musculus, Cocceius, Michaelis.
Psalms 83:6
psa 83:6
The tabernacles of Edom, &c. Or the Idumeans, as the Targum; the posterity of Esau, who, with the rest that joined with them, hereafter mentioned, and made the confederate army, brought their tents with them, pitched them, and encamped in them against Israel:
and the Ishmaelites; or Arabians, as the Targum, who descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham:
of Moab, and the Hagarenes; the Moabites, who sprung from Lot by one of his daughters, in an incestuous way; and the Hagarenes are the same with the Hagarites, Ch1 5:10 who dwelt to the east of the land of Israel, so called from Hagar, the handmaid of Abraham, but not by him, but by another husband, after sent away from him, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi think, or by him, supposing Hagar to be the same with Keturah, as some do: the Targum calls them Hungarians; the Syriac version renders it Gadareans, or Gadarenes; of which see Mar 5:1.
Psalms 83:7
psa 83:7
Gebal,.... Gubleans, or Gebalites, as the Targum; the same with Giblites, Jos 23:5, or men of Gebal, Eze 27:9 the same with Byblus: these dwelt in Phoenicia, near Tyre, where Pliny (g) makes mention of a place called Gabale: the Syriac version joins it with Ammon, and renders it "the border of Ammon":
and Ammon and Amalek, the Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre; these are well known in Scripture, and as the enemies of Israel.
(g) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 20.
Psalms 83:8
psa 83:8
Assur also is joined with them,.... Before mentioned, or Assyria, though at so great a distance from Israel, and unprovoked by them: according to R. Joseph Kimchi, the sense is, that the Assyrians joined them, continuing in their wickedness, though their army had been destroyed by an angel in Hezekiah's time, of which they were unmindful; but this, as his son observes, makes this confederacy and war to be after the times of Hezekiah; whereas it was long before it: the Targum is,
"Sennacherib, king of Syria, is joined with them;''
and so some refer this to his invasion of Judea, and besieging Jerusalem, with an army consisting of many nations, in Hezekiah's time; but he was the principal there, and not an auxiliary, as here:
they have holpen the children of Lot; or were "an arm" (h) unto them, assisted and strengthened them: these were the Moabites and Ammonites, who were the principals in the war, and the rest auxiliaries, as it appears they were in the times of Jehoshaphat, Ch2 20:1, here were ten different nations, which joined in confederacy against the people of Israel; to which answer the ten horns of the beast, or ten antichristian kings, who agreed to give their kingdom to the beast, and to make war with the Lamb and his followers, Rev 17:12, and it may be observed, that these were on all sides of the land of Israel; the Edomites, Ishmaelites, and Amalekites, were on the south; the Moabites, Ammonites, and Hagarenes, were on the east; the Assyrians on the north; and the Philistines, Gebalites, and Tyrians, on the west: so that Israel was surrounded on all sides with enemies, as the Lord's people are troubled on every side, Co2 4:8, and so the Gog and Magog army, of which some understand this, will encompass the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city, Rev 20:9.
Selah. See Gill on Psa 3:2.
(h) "fuerunt brachium", Pagniuus, Montanus; "sunt brachium", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.
Psalms 83:9
psa 83:9
Do unto them as unto the Midianites,.... In the times of Gideon, who destroyed one another, trod in whose destruction the hand of the Lord was very visible, Jdg 7:20, and much in the same manner was the confederate army of the Moabites, Ammonites, and others, destroyed in the times of Jehoshaphat, Ch2 20:20,
as to Sisera, as to Jabin: Jabin was a king of Canaan, who oppressed Israel, and Sisera was his general; the latter was slain by a woman, Jael, the wife of Heber; and the former the hand of Israel prevailed against, until they destroyed him, Jdg 4:2, the great victory which they obtained over them was
at the brook of Kison, or "Kishon", Jdg 4:7 with this compare Ch2 20:16.
Psalms 83:10
psa 83:10
Which perished at Endor,.... Aben Ezra and Kimchi understand this of the Midianites; but rather it is to be understood of Jabin and Sisera, and the army under them, who perished at this place, which is mentioned along with Taanach and Megiddo, Jos 17:11, which are the very places where the battle was fought between Jabin and Israel, Jdg 5:19 according to Jerom (i), it was four miles from Mount Tabor to the south, and was a large village in his days, and was near to Nain, the place where Christ raised the widow's son from the dead, Luk 7:11.
they became as dung for the earth; being unburied, they lay and rotted on the earth, and became dung for it; see Jer 8:2, or were trodden under foot, as dung upon the earth; so the Targum,
"they became as dung trodden to the earth.''
(i) De locis Hebraicis, fol. 88. L. and 91. E.
Psalms 83:11
psa 83:11
Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb,.... Two princes of Midian, who were slain, the one at the rock Oreb, and the other at the winepress of Zeeb, so called after their names, Jdg 7:25,
yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna; kings of Midian, slain by Gideon, Jdg 8:21.
Psalms 83:12
psa 83:12
Who said,.... Not the kings and princes of Midian just mentioned, but the confederate enemies of Israel, named Psa 83:6, to whom the like things are wished as to the Midianites and others, because they said what follows:
let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession; not only the temple, which was eminently the house of God, but all the habitations of the Israelites in Jerusalem, and other places, where the Lord vouchsafed to dwell; unless this should be ironically spoken by their enemies calling them so, because they pretended, as they reckoned it, to have and to hold them by the gift of God; whereas, of right, they belonged to them, at least some of them: such a claim was made by the Ammonites in the times of Jephthah, Jdg 11:13, and to dispossess the Israelites was the intention of the Ammonites and Moabites in the times of Jehoshaphat, Ch2 20:10.
Psalms 83:13
psa 83:13
O my God, make them like a wheel,.... Which, as the Targum adds, is rolled, and goes on, and rests not in a declivity; let them be as fickle and inconstant as a wheel; being in high, let them be in slippery places, and brought down to desolation in a moment; like a wheel set running down hill, so let them swiftly and suddenly come to ruin; or be in all kind of calamities, and continual troubles (k) as the wheel is always turning: some think there is an allusion to the wheel by which bread corn was bruised; see Isa 28:28, but the word (l) signifies a rolling thing before the wind, as a wisp of straw or stubble, which is easily carried away with it: Jarchi interprets it of the tops or down of thistles, which fly off from them, and roll up, and are scattered by the wind; see Isa 17:13, and which agrees with what follows:
as the stubble before the wind; which cannot stand before it, but is driven about by it here and there; and so wicked men are, as chaff and stubble, driven away in their wickedness, with the stormy wind of divine wrath and vengeance, and chased out of the world, which is here imprecated.
(k) "Vide Suidam in voce" (l) "rem in levem quae turbine circumagitur", some in Amama; "pappos", i.e. "lanuginem carduorum", so some in Grotius; "as a rolling thing", Ainsworth.
Psalms 83:14
psa 83:14
As the fire burneth the wood,.... Or "forest" (m); which is sometimes done purposely, and sometimes through carelessness, as Virgil (n) observes; and which is done very easily and swiftly, when fire is set to it; even all the trees of it, great and small, to which an army is sometimes compared, Isa 10:18, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; either the mountains themselves, as Etna, Vesuvius, and others; or rather the grass and trees that grow upon them, smitten by lightning from heaven, which may be meant by the flame: in like manner it is wished that the fire and flame of divine wrath would consume the confederate enemies of Israel, above mentioned; as wicked men are but as trees of the forest, and the grass of the mountains, or as thorns and briers, to the wrath of God, which is poured out as fire, and is signified by everlasting burnings.
(m) "sylvam", Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c. (n) Georgic. l. 2. v. 310.
Psalms 83:15
psa 83:15
So persecute them with thy tempest,.... Pursue them with thy fury, follow them with thy vengeance; cause it to fall upon them like a mighty tempest:
and make them afraid with thy storm; God has his storms and tempests of wrath and vengeance, which he sometimes causes to fall upon wicked men in this life, to their inexpressible terror, and with which he takes them out of this world; and he has still more horrible ones to rain upon them hereafter: see Job 27:20.
Psalms 83:16
psa 83:16
Fill their faces with shame,.... For their sins, or rather through disappointment, not being able to put their desperate and deep laid schemes into execution: or "with lightness" (o); instead of a weight of honour and glory upon them, let them be despised. R. Joseph Kimchi renders it, "fill their faces with fire"; let their faces be as if they were on fire, as men's faces are, who are put to an exceeding great blush, or are most sadly confounded and ashamed:
that they may seek thy name, O Lord; not they themselves, who are filled with shame; for it is imprecated, that they be ashamed, and troubled for ever, and so as to perish, Psa 83:17 but others; for the words may be supplied, as in Psa 83:18 "that men may seek thy name, or that thy name may be sought": the judgments of God upon wicked men are sometimes the means of arousing others, and putting them upon seeking the Lord, his face, and his favour; that God would be merciful to them, pardon their iniquities, avert judgments from them, and preserve them from threatened calamities; and this is a good end, when answered; see Isa 26:9.
(o) Heb. "levitate", Piscator; so Ainsworth.
Psalms 83:17
psa 83:17
Let them be confounded and troubled for ever,.... As long as they are in this world, and to all eternity in another; a dreadful portion this:
yea, let them be put to shame, and perish; wholly and eternally, in soul and body, for evermore.
Psalms 83:18
psa 83:18
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah,.... Or, "that thou, thy name alone is Jehovah" (p), a self-existent Being, the Being of beings, the everlasting I AM, the immutable God; for this name is expressive of the being, eternity, and unchangeableness of God, who is, and was, and is to come, invariably the same, Rev 1:4 which is to be understood not to the exclusion of the Son or Spirit, who are with the Father the one Jehovah, Deu 6:4, and to whom this name is given; see Exo 17:6, compared with Co1 10:9, Isa 6:8 compared with Act 28:25, but to the exclusion of all nominal and fictitious deities, the gods of the Heathens; and the being and perfections of God are known by the judgments he executes, Psa 9:16,
art the most High over all the earth; or,
and that thou art, &c. (q), being the Maker and the Possessor of it, and the sovereign Lord of its inhabitants, doing in it what seems good in his sight; see Gen 14:22, for the accents require two propositions in the text: the Heathens (r) give the title of most high to their supreme deity: the Targum is,
"over all the inhabitants of the earth.''
(p) "quod nomen tuum", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus. (q) "Quod tu, inquam, sis altissimus", Michaelis. (r) Pansan. Boeotica sive, l. 9. p. 555.
Next: Psalms Chapter 84
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Sacred Texts Bible Bible Commentary Index
Joshua Index
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Joshua Introduction
jos 0:0
Book Introduction - Joshua
Joshua records the consummation of the redemption of Israel of Israel out of Egypt; for redemption has two parts: "out," and "into" (Deu 6:23). The key-phrase is "Moses My servant is dead" (Jos 1:2). Law, of which Moses is the representative, could never give a sinful people victory (Heb 7:19; Rom 6:14; Rom 8:2-4).
In a spiritual sense the book of Joshua is the Ephesians of the Old Testament. "The heavenly" of Ephesians is to the Christian what Canaan was to the Israelite and blessing through divine power (Jos 21:43-55; Eph 1:3).
Joshua falls into four parts:
1. The conquest (Joshua 1-12).
2. The partition of the inheritance (Joshua 13-21).
3. Incipient discord (Joshua 22).
4. Joshua's last counsels and death (Joshua 23 - 24).
Next: Joshua Chapter 1
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Surfer who died at Privates Beach identified
A surfer who died Thursday despite an attempted water rescue has been identified as 64-year-old Bruce McGuire.
McGuire, a Soquel resident, was found by another surfer around 1:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving at Privates Beach, a surf spot accessed through a tiny park between Pleasure Point and Capitola.
The death isn't suspicious and there was no foul play, sheriff's Sgt. Robin Mitchell said Friday. An autopsy is scheduled for next week. The cause of death was likely either accidental drowning or accidental drowning related to underlying medical issues, she said.
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PlayStation Network hacked, data on millions at risk
Sony may have sustained the largest cyber intrusion since the Heartland Payment Systems breach, disclosing Tuesday that its PlayStation Network (PSN) was hacked to steal sensitive information belonging to users.
Attackers stole personal data belonging to PSN and Qriocity's users between April 17 and 19, Patrick Seybold, a PlayStation spokesman, said in a blog post Tuesday. Qriocity is Sony's music, games, book and video on-demand service.
Roughly 77 million users are registered with PSN and Qriocity.
Compromised assets include names, physical addresses, email addresses, birth dates and PSN/Qriocity credentials, Seybold said. The hackers also may have obtained purchase histories, billing addresses and password challenge answers.
"While there is no evidence that credit card data was taken at this time, we cannot rule out the possibility," he wrote. "If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, to be on the safe side, we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration data may also have been obtained."
Seybold alluded to the possibility that the hackers may use the data they obtained to conduct phishing scams that attempt to dupe victims into giving up more sensitive information, such as credit card, Social Security or tax identification numbers.
"If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking," Seybold wrote.
Tuesday's revelation sheds light on why PSN and Qriocity services have been offline for roughly a week.
"Our efforts to resolve this matter involve rebuilding our system to further strengthen our network infrastructure," Seybold wrote in a separate blog post on Saturday. "Though this task is time-consuming, we decided it was worth the time necessary to provide the system with additional security."
He did not say how the hackers got in.
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Extraordinary Cab Accident (1903)
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Main image of Extraordinary Cab Accident (1903)
Production CompanyPaul's Animatograph Works
A man is run over by a horse and cab, but despite apparently being trampled underfoot, he recovers enough to chase the driver responsible.
Show full synopsis
Compared with the elaborate special effects fantasies that director W.R. Booth and producer R.W. Paul had already concocted - The Haunted Curiosity Shop and The Magic Sword (both 1901) being good examples - Extraordinary Cab Accident seems something of a step back.
It achieves its main effect of a man being knocked down by a horse-drawn cab through two strategic jump cuts enabling a dummy to be substituted at the point where things get nasty - a technique that had been around since 1896, when pioneering French filmmaker Georges Méliès (who, like Booth, started out as a stage magician) found that his camera had jammed while shooting a street scene. He developed the footage anyway, and was amazed to see a carriage apparently transforming into a hearse - and was astute enough to realise the potential of this discovery.
But in the case of Extraordinary Cab Accident, more complex special effects might well have worked against the impression Booth and Paul were clearly seeking to create, which is that of a man being genuinely run over by a horse-drawn cab, his body being knocked down and trampled by the horse's hooves.
As with the previous year's similarly-titled The Extraordinary Waiter (in which a waiter is comprehensively mistreated by an irate diner), the unpleasantly voyeuristic concept is (slightly) alleviated by the fact that the pedestrian is seemingly unscathed by what under normal circumstances would be very severe injuries. However, it is also arguable that in downplaying these, the film runs the risk of being accused of trivialising violence and cruelty, a debate that would continue to rage for the next hundred years and which has shown no sign of abating.
Michael Brooke
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Complete film (0:42)
Production still
'?' Motorist, The (1906)
Booth, W.R. (1869-1938)
Paul, R.W. (1869-1943)
Paul's Animatograph Works: Trick Films
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Re: [logs] Eventlog to syslog Mar 01 2008 04:34AM
tbird precision-guesswork com (1 replies)
Quoting David Corlette <DCorlette (at) novell (dot) com [email concealed]>:
> Why not have them implement a modern, secure auditing standard? The
> CEE and XDAS work is promising, and is getting analysts attention
> (Burton, for one). They aren't complete yet, but if you look at
> the requirements they embody you will see why insecure syslog
> really isn't the way to go. In fact, *nix OSs are moving away
> from syslog - witness LAF on Linux, BSM on Solaris, etc....
> Anything that might have security-relevance needs to be treated a
> little more carefully.
> And yeah, I know that there are all sorts of more secure extensions
> to syslog, but they aren't "standards," at least not yet.
Whoa, d00d, talk about comparing apples and oranges...you've got
apples, tomatoes, sheep and, uh, oil filters in there ;-) There are at
least 4 different areas to consider:
- what events to record
-- and what information is vital for each event
- how to secure the log data locally
- how to transport the log data to a central location securely and reliably
I'm not familiar with LAF, but BSM and its cohorts are host-based
auditing systems; they enhance a host's ability to record activity and
detect unauthorized activity by increasing the amount of record
keeping the OS does. These are alarms, which are certainly a vital
part of a monitoring infrastructure, especially when you consider how
completely *awful* most operating systems and applications are at
recording unusual behavior.
These tools come under the category of what to log, and how much to
log about what you log; they're generally controlled by configuring
specific applications or kernel parameters, *not* by configuring
syslog. syslog configuration controls how much data is stored, but has
no control about how much data is generated in the first place.
BSM et al. are not syslog *replacements*. syslog is not an alarm of
any sort; it's just a collection mechanism with rudimentary volume
controls and transport capabilities. You can send BSM output to syslog
for archiving and reporting. One doesn't replace the other.
Most folks who are worried about secure local storage and data
transport are happy with SSL/TLS transport mechanisms and digital
signatures for data integrity, despite the lack of a finalized
"standard" requiring these tools. Of course, syslog-reliable and
syslog-secure are still being implemented, but to some extent they've
been swamped by the real world adoption of TLS as the answer to
transport security (at least as long as you don't worry about
certificate validation).
The transport and storage problem is basically solved; it's getting it
implemented as widely as plain ol' syslog that's taking forever. I think
any company that can manage to provide an HTTPS Web GUI for its
product ought to be able to provide syslog over SSL, although the
product space seems to be
unaware of that. Sigh.
To summarize, there are several (at least) independent components of
"system audit" or "system logging" getting mixed up together here:
- What system events "should" be recorded? What information about
those events is required to make the records actionable (for
troubleshooting, compliance reporting, whatever)?
- How do we generate reliable event data, minimizing the chances for
data loss, forgery, etc?
- How do we store the event data safely?
- How do we move the event data safely?
Microsoft is way ahead of most UNIXen when it comes to recording and
securing a set of basic system messages (cf. my earlier posts about
the Security Event
Log), and its logging is vastly easier to configure and parse than
most "average" syslog data; not to mention BSM output or audit data
from the mandatory-access-control systems I've used, which as we've
recently seen are, uh, arcane. But MS falls down when it comes to
using a standards-based mechanism for aggregating all that data.
If we consider the transport piece of the problem by itself, it's easy
to criticize Microsoft; and although there's plenty of room for
criticizing the
security of syslog, it's also true that the combination of SSL/TLS for
transport and digital signing provides a "good enough" secure
transport mechanism for a lot of people.
Wow. Guess I just unpacked my soapbox from my move :-) I should point
out that I am consulting for Splunk, a contender in the IT data
management space; and that I'm on the CEE discussion list; and that
I've tossed the occasionally comment over the wall at the folks
working on syslog-reliable and syslog-secure.
And I'm still getting hung up on the first part of the task list up
there: what events do we *want* to record, and what do we need to know
about them??? More on that over the weekend...I've got a bunch of
references to check, and then a lot of summarizing to do.
cheers -- tbird
LogAnalysis mailing list
[ reply ]
Re: [logs] Eventlog to syslog Mar 02 2008 04:52AM
David Corlette (DCorlette novell com) (1 replies)
Re: [logs] Eventlog to syslog Mar 03 2008 10:06AM
Bill Scherr IV (bschnzl cotse net)
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Copyright 2010, SecurityFocus
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Jul 5
1:01 PM
There are lots of weird fitness gimmicks that leave me wondering if they actually work (Shake Weight anyone?), but I'll do all sorts of crazy things in the name of fitness, and I'll try anything once. These three wacky workouts have the science to back up their claims.
While cruising around Central Park in an outdoor elliptical contraption garnered a lot of stares, a quick 10 minutes had my core engaged and heart pumping. The ElliptiGO combines the benefits of working out on an elliptical with the cardiovascular element of running and bicycling all while looking like a self-powered Segway.
“ElliptiGO riders stand in a natural upright position. This posture encourages the rider to use his/her core muscles for balance and power and also provides muscular toning for the upper body/arms,” says Bryan Pate, Co-Founder and Co-President of ElliptiGO. “It is designed to emulate the experience of running outdoors while eliminating the impact. The ElliptiGO provides a high-intensity, low-impact ‘running-like’ workout experience outdoors allowing runners and fitness enthusiasts to get the cardiovascular benefits of running without the associated damage to the knees, back, hips or feet.”
And just because you’re swapping gear doesn’t mean you’re losing any benefits: 30 minutes of hard riding on the ElliptiGO is similar to a good 30 minute run in terms of aerobic conditioning and calorie burning.
AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill
Last week I headed to Equinox for a training session with Eugene Koenig on AlterG’s Anti-Gravity Treadmill. No, it’s not what you think… you’re not running in mid-air, rather you’re running (feet on the treadmill) with a percentage of your body weight removed. Originally developed for NASA astronauts, the Anti-Gravity Treadmill uses Advanced Differential Air Pressure technology for training and rehabilitation purposes. If injured, the treadmill allows for a slow integration of weight-bearing exercises (while provided an aerobic workout). Athletes use the treadmill to keep up mileage while reducing impact caused by running so they can concentrate on postural corrections and speedwork (reduced body weight allows you to increase the speed).
To run in the contraption you have to wear special neoprene shorts (pictured) which basically zip into the treadmill, creating a pressurized, airtight enclosure. The machine calibrates your body weight, then you can play with the speed and remove up to 80% of your body weight in 1% increments. It felt a bit weird a first, but eventually my waddle turned into a normal run, and I was able to push a 7-minute mile (which is a far cry from the normal 12-minute miles I run… running is not my forte!).
“Alter-G’s performance treadmill is a highly effective athletic conditioning tool for both recreational and competitive athletes by allowing the user to train longer, run faster, gain additional strength and enhance cardiovascular performance while minimizing impact and stress on their joints,” its website says. Check out videos of the treadmill in action here.
After a 30-minute run I felt slightly drunk trying to walk normally again (but it was a happy buzz)! And while I broke a sweat, I wasn’t as winded as usual post-run. Since I was able to concentrate on correcting my gait and foot strike without fear of falling (because I was literally attached to the machine, pictured), I felt soreness in my glutes and hamstrings whereas usually my quads take the brunt of workout. Plus, there was no next-day shin splint pain!
Yoga Hammocks
Unfortunately (or fortunately) I don’t have any photos of the AntiGravity Yoga class I took at Crunch a few months ago, but I still remember how sore my arms felt afterwards. Yoga is known for its slimming yet strengthening routine, and integrating the yoga “hammocks/wings” into the practice only amplifies the upper body workout.
I thought the yoga hammocks would make my job easier… I was in for a big surprise. Using the long, flowing fabric as a soft trapeze we swung, twisted, lifted and bended into inverted poses I wouldn’t have been able to perform otherwise. (Although my favorite pose was the final rest, savasana, while wrapped up in my individual cocoon.)
The benefits of practicing with the yoga wings/hammocks is that it facilitates inversions (i.e. hanging upside down) which has been shown to help relieve compressed joints, elongate the spin, help with lower back pain, improve circulation and reduce stress.
Read more about ElliptiGO and AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill.
Related Links:
Quiz: What’s Your Yoga Style?
Build Your Own Wacky Workout
See It To Believe It–Fitness Caught On Video
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What We're Reading
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Andre Chevalier likes to stream music on his phone when he's commuting on San Francisco's Muni Metro trains.
But every time his N-Judah goes underground, he loses his signal to the streaming service Pandora - and every other online site, e-mail provider and cell phone signal.
It's the 21st century equivalent of being stuck on a desert island. No way to tell friends, co-workers or dates if you're running on Muni Standard Time, i.e., late. And no tunes to block out the crazy guy chattering across the aisle.
"I'm just left here on my own with my own thoughts and the people around me," said Chevalier, 26, who lives downtown and works as bicycle mechanic in the Sunset.
Muni has zero underground cell phone coverage, and there is no firm timeline for installing antennas in the downtown subway or any other tunnel, said Paul Rose, a spokesman for the transit agency. More than 350,000 people ride the subway each day.
"While this is a resource we would like to provide, we have significant state-of-good-repair needs, and our main priority is to invest in our service," Rose told Chronicle Watch.
Muni officials have asked cell service companies if they would install the equipment free of charge, but have not gotten a lot of interest, Rose said.
"We have reached out to the cell phone providers in the past and haven't gotten a commitment to fund this fully," Rose said. "That's been the issue up until now."
BART has had complete cell service coverage since 2010, and most other major underground transit systems in the United States have at least some cellular data coverage.
The lack of cell service means riders are stranded in more ways than one when Muni stalls - as it often does - underground. They can't tell friends they're running late, or find out why the train is stopped.
Tom Nolan, chairman of the board that oversees Muni, said he was riding a train last week when it stalled in a tunnel near the intersection of Church Street and Duboce Avenue.
"The train just stopped and this totally inaudible announcement came on," he said. "We sat there for 10 minutes and no one knew what was going on.
"It is kind of embarrassing at this point that we aren't better than we are," Nolan said. "We hear from customers all the time who let us know they want to know what is going on" with cell service.
BART first formed a plan to start developing cell service in its downtown subway in 2001, said Alicia Trost, a BART spokeswoman. By 2010, every tunnel in the agency's system had coverage.
BART paid no money to install the wireless antennas and charged carriers a licensing fee, making $742,000 in the 2010 fiscal year, the most recent for which numbers are available.
Muni Metro, which has fewer riders than BART and shorter tunnels, has had less success.
"We are going to continue to work with cell phone providers and consider funding options, but the main priority is to improve service," Rose said.
Not everyone hopes Muni works things out. Some riders say they see the Muni dead zones as a break from the need to always be connected.
"You're underground," said Matthew Marchand, who rides the T-Third Street. "What did you expect?"
Chronicle Watch
What's not working
Issue: Muni streetcar tunnels aren't outfitted with cell phone antennas, leaving the tens of thousands of commuters who ride the downtown subway stuck in a dead zone.
What's been done: Muni has talked with cell service providers, but has not gotten much interest. It says improving transit service is a higher priority.
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"SUNDAY" is a gothic horror tale in which the really awful thing you keep waiting to happen never happens. You nevertheless sit there breathing shallowly, under the threat.
The threat is that anyone in director Jonathan Nossiter's strange story might turn out to be a psycho killer. The homeless guys who roam the streets might attack innocent people. The husband (Larry Pine) of the heroine Madeleine (Lisa Harrow) might lash out and take vengeance on Matthew (David Suchet), the meek fellow she's brought home. Madeleine, an out-of-work actress, might turn out to have urges for redecorating men's bodies with gardening shears. What is most diverting about the script by Nossiter and James Lasdun is the way the human urge to tell stories is used as the movie's central conceit. Matthew wakes one lonely morning, uncomfortably performs his toilet and has breakfast at his homeless shelter. Then he takes to the streets of Queens, New York, where he encounters Madeleine, who takes him for a well-known director she's worked with. Matthew does nothing much to dissuade her. He accompanies her to her home for a drink and the two shamble through the awkwardness of flirtation.
At some point they couple but the sex seems puzzling to both of them. It becomes clear that neither of them has been entirely honest about themselves.
Both Madeleine and Matthew - or is his name really Oliver? - tell stories about themselves in the third person. All of this mysterious allusion just makes them seem more self-confident and assured than they originally appeared. Nervous Madeleine reveals herself to be tough and self-contained. Shy and nerdy Matthew turns out to be a brick wall of control and self-knowledge.
While the plot and outcome of "Sunday" may prove less than scintillating in the end, Nossiter's careful direction and calculated moodiness gives the film a satisfying lilt.
Movie Review "Sunday'
* CAST David Suchet, Lisa Harrow
* DIRECTOR Jonathan Nossiter
* WRITERS Nossiter, James Lasdun
* THEATER Embarcadero
* EVALUATION **1/4<
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When you're traveling - whether you're in a hotel or campground - sometimes you want to illuminate a little more than your smart phone app will allow. But in the battle against packing absolutely everything, flashlights often get left at home. The Bushnell Rubicon T100L flashlight is small enough to tuck into a pocket, yet its 152 Lumens cast a bright beam on dining menus and the source of that mysterious noise. The red halo mode is ideal for helping your natural night vision without behaving like a spotlight, and the aircraft-grade aluminum casing means you don't have to gasp when you accidentally drop it. The need for only a single AA battery keeps you from packing too much in that department, as well.
What we liked: The beam distance in this tiny flashlight is 230 feet - impressive for an inexpensive travel light.
Not so much: If you just toss this into your pack, something might accidentally depress the on-off button and drain your one battery.
Vitals: Bushnell Rubicon T100L Flashlight, $37.49 from www.amazon.com.
- Jill K. Robinson, [email protected]
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TIC eviction legislation moves on to full board
From today’s SFGate,
This is just plain awful.
Board Committee Votes 3-0 to Protect Tenants [BeyondChron]
Major Eviction Defense Legislation Hits Board Tomorrow [SFHomeBlog]
10 Responses to “TIC eviction legislation moves on to full board”
1. The Supervisors are happy to create hurdles for homeowners by falsely comforting tenants, but not provide a “real” solution to the housing problem which could be a better rent-control system and allowing, not stopping, condo projects.
Ra at April 27th, 2006 at 6:45 pm ( )
2. I don’t see how this could pass legal muster. This is the taking away of property rights, even if via lottery, without compensation. So this passes, development in SOMA is halted/delayed…do the supervisors understand basic economics…less supply will do WHAT to housing costs????
CameronRex at April 27th, 2006 at 10:27 pm ( )
3. Two great comments above… And that’s exactly it! It won’t pass legal muster, but then again NOTHING that those guys (Daly, McGoldrick, Peskin, Gonzalez) have every passed with regards to tenant’s rights has ever made it through the courts…
The goal here is to not screw the housing market even further by letting this one get passed by the board. Mayor Newsom does not need to look like the bad guy here by vetoing crappy legislation. We need to communicate this to our supervisors immediately.
There are enough TIC owners and would-be homeowners out there to make a difference. The problem is we aren’t used to mobilizing the way the tenants do. Tell all of your friends to take five minutes to send an email or make a phone call. It will make a difference.
Matt Lanning at April 27th, 2006 at 10:39 pm ( )
4. Matt, Please explain this apparent contradiction. You say, “If you think housing is expensive now, wait to see what happens if this one passes.” Then you say, “…TIC units that are currently on the market will plummet in value.”
Both can’t happen right?,
Kurt Kornbluth at April 29th, 2006 at 12:56 am ( )
5. Actually, yes… TICs where there has been an Ellis Act or senior/disabled eviction will never be condo-convertible, so they will lose considerable value immediately. Everything else (which will then be a much more limited supply) will end up going up in price (basic supply & demand).
Combine that with the pseudo housing moratorium in the Mission/Central Waterfront and we’ll have a whole new housing crisis on our hands…
Matt Lanning at April 29th, 2006 at 1:07 am ( )
6. Matt,
I must be missing it. This is what you said:
1. “TICs will lose considerable value.” Therefore, they sell for less.
2.”Everything else go up in price.”
If prices of TICs goes down, how can other housing go up? This is the opposite of what economics would predict.
KK at April 29th, 2006 at 9:50 am ( )
7. Actually, that’s not what I said. What I DID say is that TICs that have had multiple evictions or an eviction of a senior or disabled person will lose some of their value. Those units will be very difficult to sell for people who paid market value for them initially. Future units may or may not be sold with newer evictions of those above-mentioned types, but if they do, they will always be TICs, and therefore less valuable than a condo or a single family home.
Right now, all buildings with six or less units are hypothetically condo convertible. With this new law, perhaps as many as 1000 units (complete guesstimate) will no longer be eligible for conversion.
With 1000 LESS UNITS available for sale (because the buyers who really want to live in the city also want to be able to sell their units some day, and this will more or less preclude an easy resale), the supply/demand balance will shift and the prices of the now-fewer units available that are already condos or single family homes will go up.
This is also the case because our Supervisors keep limiting the construction of new housing, which also affects supply.
So what’s not to understand here? Less supply plus a consistent if not ever-growing demand equals higher prices for the properties that are not covered under this legislation.
So how could economists predict that prices of what will be a lower supply of saleable properties could possibly go down? That’s just counter-intuitive.
As an example, using cars and gas mileage for my argument, let’s say that there is a fixed number of 100 automobiles owned in San Francisco. Then let’s say that the supervisors pass a law that only cars that get at least 30 miles per gallon are allowed to be driven within the city limits. Now of those 100 cars, 20 of them are big SUVs that get 15 miles per gallon. No additional automobiles are allowed in San Francisco (100 is the limit) and 20 of them can’t be driven in the city limits.
There is still demand for 100 cars, but now only 80 of them can be driven. Let’s also assume that you can’t (as with a house) pick up that car and sell it outside of San Francisco. Now those 20 automobiles have a far lower value, while the remaining supply of 80 cars is going have more value to those that are willing/able to pay for the privilege, and those resale prices will go up.
The only thing that can change that equation is to allow more supply into San Francisco, and with idiotic supervisorial decisions not likely to go away any time soon, we’re looking at a continued flow of moratoriums and bad legislation.
Does that make sense?
Matt Lanning at April 29th, 2006 at 2:24 pm ( )
8. Matt,
I think I see your argument.
1. “TICs will lose considerable value.”
2. For people who paid market value for them initially, they will be off the market.(You hadn’t said that b4)
3.”Everything else go up in price.”
First, you’re doing a short-run analysis because the TICs will eventually come online thereby reducing prices overall.
Also, you have a lot of assumptions built into your analysis:
1. the value of the TICs will go below the initial price.
2. people don’t sell houses below what they paid.
3. The number of TICs can actually impact the market.
At the end of the day, the argument is not at all definitive. That is, it’s very speculative and shouldn’t be stated as a fact. (I’m sure you agree)
Finally, I’m beginning to see your argument as part of a broader opinion regarding housing. You want the supply of housing to increase.
Let me just say one thing about that: micro-econ theories do not naturally apply to the housing market. This is why the places with the highest housing density are also the most costly (NY, SF, Hong Kong, etc.) PS I’ve taken a lot of grad level econ courses and can talk more about this if you’d like. Basically the time to add supply and the cost create too much friction for the implications of robust free market to apply.
Rather than use a micro-econ argument for increasing housing, I suggest using something else. I’m assuming you just don’t want to sell more houses.
kk at April 29th, 2006 at 9:03 pm ( )
9. Thanks again for your thoughts. And yes, your assumption is correct. I love my job because I want to help people become homeowners and I want to find ways for people to stay in San Francisco that otherwise might not. So the impact on TICs is very negative. And despite the fact that their stated intentions with this legislation is to help tenants, it will end up hurting more in the long run, I think.
Matt Lanning at April 29th, 2006 at 9:58 pm ( )
10. Matt,
Are you for helping people who live in SF to stay or creating unaffordable housing for the wealthy who want to live in SF?
If it’s your goal to find ways for people to stay in SF, why not support the construction of apartments rather than condos? Do you support rent control?
Thanks. Kurt
kk at April 29th, 2006 at 11:00 pm ( )
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Giuliana Rancic shifts focus from fertility to fun & food
Giuliana Rancic's 'yes' diet
What's a girl to do when her dreams of pregnancy just aren't working out? Giuliana Rancic and husband Bill have decided to put baby on the back burner and spend a year focusing on fun.
Giuliana Rancic's pregnancy dreams are no secret. After struggling with fertility for years, the E! News host and reality star has decided it's time for a break from trying for baby.
Bill and Giuliana Rancic
"[Having a baby is] always in the back of my mind," Giuliana Rancic told USA Today. "But we're not actively trying."
"Right now is the year of fun," the star of Giuliana & Bill continued. "In the first episode, we're talking about [having a baby], and we heard bad news. Bill's like, 'You know what? Let's get back to who we are and have a year of fun.'"
What does a year of fun for Bill and Giuliana Rancic look like? Lots of travel, wine and food! The 35-year-old chatted with Celebuzz about the pair's recent trip to Italy. "It was incredible," she gushed. "It was the best two weeks of my entire life."
As for Giuliana Rancic's diet abroad she shares, "I went to Italy, and I consumed way too many calories a day, but I didn't care. Bill and I made a deal on the plane over that we can't say 'no' to anything, including food. Like if Bill says, 'Let's have a crepe,' I can't say no -- even though I just had a gelato, and I'm full. We indulged like crazy for two weeks, but we took really long walks in the vineyards, and we stayed active. And when we got back to Los Angeles, we were back at Equinox the next day on the treadmill."
To critics of her weight she says, "I eat whatever I want. I never starve myself. I eat five times a day -- if not more. I work out every day and bust my butt to stay in shape, which can be six to seven days a week."
Here's hoping Bill and Giuliana Rancic's year of fun is a blast!
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Mr Chistmas Musical Chairs
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Mr. Christmas creates a true masterpiece with one of a kind technology. The Musical Chairs orchestra will entertain you and your loved ones for years to come. Place a bear on stage and that's when it joins the symphony! This animated piece of art plays 35 different songs listed below. Will make a wonderful gift at any time of year. Twenty five Christmas carols, and ten all time classics. Operates on 4 AA Batteries
25 Christmas Carols
* Angels We Have Heard On High
* Auld Lang Syne
* Away In A Manger
* Deck the Halls
* God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman
* Good King Wenceslas
* Hark! The Herald Angels Sings
* Here We Come A Caroling
* The Holly and the Ivy
* I Saw Three Ships
* It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
* Jingle Bells
* Joy to the World
* What Child Is This
* O Little Town of Bethlehem
* O Tannenbaum
* O Come All Ye Faithful
* Hallelujah Chorus
* Up on the Housetop
* Silent Night
* The First Noel
* The Twelve Days of Christmas
* We Three Kings of the Orient Are
* We Wish You A Merry Christmas
* O Holy Night
10 All Time Classics
* The Entertainer
* While Strolling Through the Park One Day
* March From the Nutcracker
* Oh, You Beautiful Doll
* Alexander's Ragtime Band
* Can Can
* In the Good Old Summertime
* Ode to Joy
* Give My Regards to Broadway
* By the Light of the Silvery Moon
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Our Heroes
Architect of a New India
As an undergraduate at St. John's in the 1950s, Manmohan Singh used to rise at a very early hour, often at 4 a.m. It wasn't that he was desperate to go rowing or buckle down to another economics essay, but rather that he wanted to get across the Bridge of Sighs to New Court to have a bath.
As a Sikh who wears a turban to cover his unshorn hair, he needed to get to the bathroom unseen to wash in privacy before retying his turban. There was nothing sybaritic about his bathing, either. When he first came to Cambridge, he got a lot of colds, "until a friend of mine told me that if you really want to fight colds, you had better take cold baths. And it worked."
Fifty years later, Singh leads the world's largest democracy as India's first non-Hindu prime minister. Born in the western Punjab, he remains proud of being a Sikh, but there is no religiosity about him. India today is a secular republic and he is very much the technocrat, widely admired for his probity and ability, less than comfortable when obliged to play the glad-handing politician.
He admits to being "not a great orator - though I am learning to do better." Above all, he is widely regarded as the architect of India's economic reforms, a process he set in train in the early 1990s, when he became finance minister in the midst of a balance of payments crisis. As prime minister, he continues that reform process today.
The thinking behind his solutions to India's financial problems was first shaped at Cambridge by the theories of John Maynard Keynes. The great man had died almost ten years before Manmohan Singh arrived, but his legacy was still very much alive.
"At university, I first became conscious of the creative role of politics in shaping human affairs, and I owe that mostly to my teachers, Joan Robinson and Nicholas Kaldor. Joan Robinson was a brilliant teacher, but she also sought to awaken the inner conscience of her students in a manner that very few others were able to achieve. She questioned me a great deal, and made me think the unthinkable. She propounded the leftwing interpretation of Keynes, maintaining that the state has to play more of a role if you really want to combine development and social equity."
He adds: "Kaldor influenced me even more; I found him pragmatic, scintillating, stimulating. Joan Robinson was a great admirer of what was going on in China, but Kaldor used the Keynesian analysis to demonstrate that capitalism could be made to work. So I was exposed to two alternative schools of thought. I was very close to both teachers, so the clash of thinking sometimes got me into difficulties. But that made me think independently."
Singh was a brilliant student. After getting a first in his prelims (an achievement he repeated at finals), he was invited by the then Marshall Professor, Sir Dennis Robertson, to join the legendary Political Economy Club that Keynes himself set up back in 1909. A select group of academics and students, it met on Mondays after dinner.
"A subject was chosen and you had to comment on events or matters which arose for discussion, literally thinking on your feet. It was a great intellectual experience for a young student and moulded my thinking in a major way."
At St. John's, he settled in fast and was soon intensely busy. "My years in Cambridge were in some ways the happiest time of my life, and the period when I learned the most. I needed to conserve my energy because I had to finish the course in less than two years, but I still managed to take part in many activities outside college."
He joined the Majlis (now the Indian Society) and the University Labour Club, where he relished the discussions on federalism and the future of Europe.
Although there was no Gurdwara in Cambridge, "there was so much to learn and so much was going on around me that I didn't feel the lack of a place to worship. One of my good friends was Swaranjit Singh, a cricket Blue who later played for Warwickshire, and there were also a large number of Punjabis from Pakistan, with whom I got on famously. The physicist Abdus Salaam was a fellow of my college, a Pakistani who became a Nobel Laureate. Dr. Salaam was very kind, very affectionate to me. We used often to meet to discuss life on both sides of the Punjab. One day, he introduced me to Sir Mohammed Zafar Agha Khan, then Pakistan's foreign minister, who was visiting him and spotted me as I walked into college. He said some of his ancestors had been Sikhs ..."
This heady period was already a long way from the early expectations of Manmohan Singh, who comes from a farming family that was, he says, "very, very poor." His father had decamped to Peshawar in order to feed his wife and children by working for a company in the dried fruit trade. Dr. Singh started his education at the school in the village in which he was born, but from the age of twelve studied in Peshawar. He still remembers his father "telling him fanciful stories about Kabul and other places in Afghanistan."
Little did he know that in later life he would find himself representing India in negotiations with the Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.
In March 1947, he took his exams to matriculate at the Punjab University in Chandigarh, but "the results never came through because of Partition." Most of the Singh family managed to make it to India by train, a journey he now recalls as "very unsafe, though nothing fortunately happened to the train we were in."
Given the communal massacres on many trains at the time, the family was lucky. But in the chaos of that mass migration his father lost contact with the family. "We had no trace of him until January 1948, when we found he had been taken to a camp."
After re-sitting his matriculation exams later that year, he finally reached the Punjab University, from where he got his scholarship to Cambridge. But with one condition attached: that he return to the university to teach for three years after he graduated.
At Cambridge, Manmohan Singh's potential was soon spotted. After his finals, Nicky Kaldor wrote to his friend T.T. Krishnamachari, then the Indian finance minister, suggesting that he was ''ideally suited for the Treasury." A research post was offered, but the vice-chancellor of Punjab University, Cambridge alumnus Diwan Anand Kumar, had other ideas and promptly reclaimed him.
After the allotted three years back in Chandigarh, he returned to Britain as a research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. As an intellectual adventure it didn't match Cambridge, he says, perhaps because "research students are rather a lonely lot; it's only as an undergraduate that you mix with a large number of people."
His heart remained very much in India. "Staying in Britain after completing my D.Phil. never occurred to me. I grew up at a time when there was great optimism, great enthusiasm for remaking India as a developed economy, inspired by what was happening in the Soviet Union. There was also the belief that hard work and sustained investment can transform a country in a generation."
In the 60s, Singh worked for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (U.N.C.T.A.D.) in New York, but after three years found himself so restless that he resigned. "The Secretary-General was very angry because I'd just been promoted. I said I felt that my place was in my own country." He said: "Well, maybe you are right. Sometimes the wisest thing to do is to act very foolishly!"
Returning to India in 1969 as professor of economics at Delhi University, he could so easily have settled down permanently to the academic life. So how did he end up in government? He's still not entirely sure. His research on India's trade came to the attention of P.N. Haksar, the head of Indira Gandhi's secretariat, who after the election in 1971, insisted Singh should write a paper for him called "What to do with the victory". After that, it became a slippery slope. He joined the ministry of foreign trade as an economic advisor, but wasn't happy there. "After a year I had some differences of opinion with the minister and wanted to go back to academia. Instead, they kicked me upstairs to be the chief economic advisor of the ministry of finance."
It wasn't the only time Singh tried to leave government. In the 70s and 80s, he held a succession of top economic jobs, including two stints as governor of the Reserve Bank of India, during a period of tension between the Indian government and Sikhs that culminated in the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. Six years later came the assassination (at the hands of some Tamil Hindus) of her son, Rajiv [Trinity 1962], while campaigning in the 1991 general election. P.V. Narasimha Rao, who Singh has always held in great regard, became prime minister.
"On the day he was formulating his cabinet, he sent his principal secretary to me saying the P.M. would like you to become the minister of finance. I didn't take it seriously. He eventually tracked me down the next morning, rather angry, and demanded that I get dressed up and come to Rashtrapati Bhavan (presidential palace) for the swearing-in. So that's how I started in politics."
By any standards, it was a baptism of fire. The Indian economy was in meltdown, with a fiscal deficit running unchecked at 8.5 percent and foreign exchange reserves dropping off the bottom of the chart. Over five years, Singh instituted an unprecedented programme of economic liberalisation: rationalising the tax system, attacking red tape and removing layer upon layer of regulation. Business thrived, inflation fell and for most of the 1990s, the economy grew at a steady 7 percent.
At the time he returned to India from Cambridge in 1957, Singh felt entirely in tune with its centralised, "command economy" policies. "The 1950s and 1960s were days of optimism inspired by Jawaharlal Nehru [Trinity 1907] and his colleagues. Cambridge economists endorsed what we were doing. However, by the mid-1960s, it became obvious that being an underdeveloped country with underdeveloped administrative capability, we had taken on too many things and overestimated what the government could deliver. We had also underemphasised the role of private initiative in human affairs. We should have taken advantage of the opportunities that the international economy offered and been more outward-looking than we were."
Looking back now, he sees the 1991 crisis as a blessing in disguise. "It helped us liberalise the economy. There would have been difficulties in making changes without a crisis." Before that, most people would have taken the American view: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Unusually for a prime minister, Singh has never won an election. When he stood for the lower house of parliament as the Congress Party's candidate for South Delhi in 1999, he lost. From 1998 until the election of 2004 when the Congress party returned to power under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv's widow, he therefore led the opposition to the governing B.J.P. (Bharatiya Janata Party) coalition from the upper house, the Rajya Sabha.
Sonia Gandhi herself has Cambridge connections. Italian-born, the Catholic daughter of a Piedmont house builder, she met her husband in Cambridge aged 18 while studying at the Bell School of Languages and working evenings as a waitress at the Greek Varsity Restaurant opposite Emmanuel College. Here in 1965, at "the only place in Cambridge that you could have something close to home food," she encountered Rajiv, at that time an engineering student at Trinity. "It was love at first sight," she confessed later. "I had a vague idea that India existed somewhere in the world with its snakes, elephants and jungles, but exactly where it was and what it was really all about, I was not sure." Despite opposition from their families, the couple married three years later.
In May 2004, when the Congress returned to power, Sonia Gandhi was expected to become prime minister, but to universal surprise declined to accept the post, nominating her chief adviser Manmohan Singh instead. The opposition and media immediately made efforts to portray Gandhi as the power behind the throne, but this has not rattled Singh in the least. He has grown in stature since taking office, visiting Washington to address a joint meeting of Congress and finalising a controversial deal under which the United States will supply India with civilian nuclear technology. Relations with Pakistan have also been strengthened.
The sight of him, not too long ago, sitting next to President (Pervez) Musharraf to watch their respective countries slog it out on the cricket pitch - and smiling while they did so - would have been unthinkable just a few years back.
Manmohan Singh remains an academic by temperament. He is a reluctant, low-decibel politician, an intellectual uneasy with personality cults whose quiet self-confidence he attributes in part to his time at Cambridge. He is justly proud of his rise from humble beginnings, but at the personal level has changed very little since becoming Prime Minister. A very private man, he never uses his family for political advantage, although his wife, Gursharan Kaur, who he married the year after he left Cambridge, is often by his side at official engagements. The couple have three daughters.
One of his chief priorities is to improve the government's system of delivering services. Rajiv Gandhi used to bemoan the fact that if he allocated 100 rupees, only 15 would reach the village for which they were intended. Now Dr. Singh is working to cut what is euphemistically called "leakage of funds" and to improve the quality of health, education and transport. A key priority is to improve the lot of India's poor, in particular through an Employment Guarantee Scheme now being introduced in the face of formidable political opposition.
He still describes himself as a socialist, but is anything but doctrinaire. Many commentators believe that he would like to take his economic reforms further than the reality of the current political situation, with an uneasy alliance with the communists, will allow. At the same time, he is adamant that that "you cannot sustain a democratic polity unless those who are at the lower rung of the social and economic ladder feel that they are partners in the processes of change." There talks the brilliant student, still skillfully juggling Joan Robinson and Nicholas Kaldor's theories of Keynesian economics which he absorbed so enthusiastically at Cambridge in the 1950s.
Photos on this page: Top - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the US Congress.
Second from top - The US President and First Lady await the arrival of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sardarni Gursharan Kaur outside the White House.
Bottom - The US President and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speak to guests at the White House during a reception in the latter's honour. Sardar Montek Singh is seen on the far right (in bright blue turban).
Conversation about this article
1: Harinder (Pune, India), May 03, 2007, 8:58 AM.
Let us hope that Sardar Navdeep Singh Bains does a repeat in Canada what Sardar Manmohan Singh has done in India. It would be a shining moment for both the nations.
2: Jagdeep Singh (London, England), May 03, 2007, 11:48 AM.
Manmohan Singh and Abdus Salaam were together at Cambridge? Arguably two of the greatest Punjabi minds of the last one hundred years; certainly two of the most distinguished Punjabis of the modern era! I hope that, after he leaves office, Manmohan Singh will write his memoirs: it would make a fascinating read.
3: Gurteg Singh (NY, USA), May 07, 2007, 7:32 AM.
I think we need to face a dose of reality. Manmohan Singh may be the architect of a new India - but it is the same India which, not too long ago, murdered tens of thousands of innocent Sikhs men, women and children, in broad daylight - and continues to be bent upon the obliteration of the unique identity and religion of the Sikhs. Until and unless these issues are fully addressed, where's the cause for celebration?
Comment on "Architect of a New India"
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I have a basic webpage that has a couple links that users can go to download certain document viewers. If the client has not downloaded the viewer, it prompts them to download it and if it already have been downloaded then it goes directly to the login page for the software that uses that type of viewer.
The problem is... that users don't always know if they have downloaded it before and click on the link to download it. If it already has been downloaded it takes them directly to that login screen. They don't want them to go directly to the logon screen at that point. They want them to do a check first to see if the file(s) exist and if they do take them to a different page where it tells them they already have the viewer installed. How would I write the code that would check the PC that the user is on to see if the file exists and if it does redirect them to another page and is that possible to be checking files on the user's own pc - is there some security implications?
Any help or advise would be appreciated.
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Skagit Valley College logo
Catalog Course Search Details
Course Title: MS Excel and Access I
Title Abbreviation: MS EXCEL AND ACCESS I
Department: OFTEC
Course #: 134
Credits: 4
Variable: No
IUs: 4
CIP: 520204
EPC: 547
REV: 2014
Course Description
Use Microsoft Excel to create, edit, and format spreadsheets; write formulas and use functions to find numerical solutions; create charts and add graphics to create visual interest; and manage worksheet data. Use Microsoft Access to create, edit, and manage database tables; establish table relationships; filter, query, and sort data; and create forms and reports.
Additional Course Details
Contact Hours (based on 11 week quarter)
Lecture: 44
Lab: 0
Other: 0
Systems: 0
Clinical: 0
Intent: Distribution Requirement(s) Status:
Vocational Preparatory Required for ATA degree, Required for certificate
Equivalencies At Other Institutions
Other Institution Equivalencies Table
Institution Course # Remarks
Learning Outcomes
After completing this course, the student will be able to:
1. Create, enter, and edit data in spreadsheets.
2. Format worksheets in a uniform, attractive style.
3. Write formulas using mathematical operators and absolute and mixed cell references.
4. Find numerical solutions using common mathematical, statistical, financial, date and time, and logical functions.
5. Create, modify, and format charts.
6. Create diagrams and use other graphical devices to add visual interest to worksheets.
7. Manage multiple Excel worksheets.
8. Create and modify database tables to organize business or personal records.
9. Modify and manage database tables to ensure that data is accurate and up to date.
10. Create relationships between Access tables.
11. Design queries to extract data needed for reporting or decision making.
12. Design forms and reports to meet communication needs.
13. Manage the electronic storage of files.
14. Analyze workplace scenarios requiring number-based solutions or the analysis and reporting of data and apply appropriate strategies to arrive at solutions using Excel and Access.
General Education Learning Values & Outcomes
2. Critical Thinking
Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
8. Mathematical Reasoning
Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
8.2 Correctly apply logical reasoning and mathematical principles to solve problems.
10. Technology
Outcomes: Students will be able to . . .
Course Contents
1. Microsoft Excel: Worksheet creation and editing.
2. Microsoft Excel: Formatting techniques.
3. Microsoft Excel: Formula-writing concepts.
4. Microsoft Excel: Common Excel functions.
5. Microsoft Excel: Chart creation and modification.
6. Microsoft Excel: Graphic enhancements.
7. Microsoft Excel: Basic workbook management techniques.
8. Microsoft Access: Relational database concepts.
9. Microsoft Access: Table design and creation.
10. Microsoft Access: Table relationships.
11. Microsoft Access: Data filtering and sorting.
12. Microsoft Access: Query design.
13. Microsoft Access: Basic form design.
14. Microsoft Access: Basic report design.
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Currently Unavailable
Solipskier Review
Solipskier is what you’d get if Canabalt and Line Rider had a lovechild. It has the fast pace and constant rightward motion of Canabalt, plus the platform drawing of Line Rider. It’s a very fun game, even if you aren’t an extreme sporting fan.
The goal is to draw in the slopes for the skier as he races along. Depending on how you draw the slopes, he’ll gain or lose speed, soar into the stars, or even plummet into the abyss if you aren’t careful. You’ll also need to avoid drawing walls in front of him or smashing into barriers.
There are multiple ways to rack up high scores. One is to stop drawing while the skier is in the air, causing him to instantly perform tricks. You can also aim him through green gates and blue tunnels for bonuses.
Single rainbow! What does it mean?
The developers were nice enough to include some pointers for new players. We learned a lot from these, such as how making a slightly downward path with a small lift at the end will cause the skier to gain massive air. We recommend reading through these so you don’t have a yard sale (when you crash and your gear gets strewn all over the snow).
While you ride, a suitable fast rock track riffs in the background. Plus, the modern-style graphics mixed with crazy rainbows trailing behind the skier are pure eye candy.
Solipskier is a universal app, and it has iPhone 4-ready graphics. It also has online leaderboards that track your high score and furthest distance jumped. We couldn’t put the game down in our time with it, and can easily recommend it if you’re looking for a new casual game.
More stories on Solipskier
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Parker: The Grinch who stole Obamacare
Published November 17, 2013 1:01 am
So now President Obama has apologized for real. On Thursday, he told Americans, "I hear you loud and clear" (Do I hear an echo?) and announced that insurance companies can ignore the law for a year. The several million Americans whose policies were canceled, or were scheduled to be canceled, can keep them — or get them back — assuming state regulators and insurance companies comply.
It isn't clear whether insurers can, or will, based on the assurances of someone whose credibility isn't exactly soaring. Meanwhile, the newest promise dovetails with another earlier delay granted to businesses with at least 50 employees (just 3.6 percent of employers), which were given another year to comply with the ACA.
In the wake of Obama's latest tweak, two salient questions have emerged: Can the ACA survive? Can the president even do what he just did, legally?
Though brilliant minds may differ, the president is probably within bounds, according to a compelling argument by Simon Lazarus, senior counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center. The relevant constitutional text, he writes on The Atlantic's website, requires that the president "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," a broad-enough concept to allow for judgment in the execution.
Similarly, when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky notoriously said that his job was to make sure Obama was a one-term president, it wasn't because of race nor was it immediate to the president's election. McConnell made his remark in October 2010 on the eve of the midterm elections and after Obamacare passed without a single Republican vote.
In other words, Republicans oppose Obama's policies, not the man, because they believe the president will so inexorably change the structure of our social and economic system by mandating and punishing human behavior that nothing less than individual freedom is at stake. Under present circumstances, this hardly seems delusional. Does anyone really believe that subsidized policyholders with pre-existing conditions won't eventually face other mandates and penalties related to their lifestyle choices?
Finally, Democrats incessantly seize upon their prize trophy: The U.S. Supreme Court validated Obamacare. True-ish. The high court didn't endorse Obamacare as a good idea. It didn't even find the individual mandate constitutional. It ruled that the mandate/penalty is constitutional only if the penalty is viewed as a "tax." If one were to examine this gift horse's mouth, one would have to note that, funny, but throughout the health care debate and oral arguments, and even now, Democrats have insisted that the penalty is not a tax. Paging George Orwell.
Kathleen Parker's email address is [email protected].
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Computer geek uncovers British climate-data errors
Paola Totaro
LONDON: The British Meteorological Office has been forced to correct its global temperature records after a science blogger discovered that Australian weather data had been misused or discarded.
The mistakes were discovered by Dr John Graham-Cumming when the temperature records were made public by the office in December in the wake of the East Anglia University email scandal.
Dr Graham-Cumming, a London mathematician and computer programmer who describes himself as a ''computer geek'', found that data from seven weather stations in Australia had been accidentally discarded while another 112 Australian stations - or 28 per cent of the Oceania total - had not been fully included in the calculations.
''What appears to have happened is that the Met Office calculated the averages and then got more data from Oceania and then failed to update the averages,'' Dr Graham-Cumming said.
''The site with the greatest error was Napier Nelson Park, in New Zealand, where the average temperature was off by more than 1 degree. That's a lot given that the total warming seen since the 1970s is less than 1 degree and for this location the Met Office had it more than 1 degree hotter than it is. Had the error I'd found been more widespread, it could have had a real effect on the overall picture.''
He said that when the office checked his findings it discovered similar problems with US weather data, with 121 stations assigned to the wrong location or overwritten in the calculations.
Dr Graham-Cumming was at pains to point out that errors made by the office do not alter the big picture on climate change.
''It does not change the scientific story, and that is that the world is getting hotter,'' he said.
''But it does show the need for open-source data. We open up software and data and it eliminates problems.
''There are hundreds of enthusiastic amateurs who will have a go and do it non-politically.''
The land-based temperature records collected by the British Meteorological Office form a central plank of the scientific evidence for global warming.
The office has collated global temperature readings back to 1850, and while the raw data have not been freely available, graphs representing it have been.
The office provided details this week of its self-imposed review of global temperature records, announced last month, in an effort to try to regain public trust in climate science in the wake of the East Anglia University debacle.
In a document entitled ''Proposal for a New International Analysis of Land Surface Air Temperature Data'', the office argued that it was time to propose an international effort to reanalyse surface temperature data in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organisation.
The new analysis, which is expected to take three years, aims to test the conclusions reached by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that ''warming of the climate system is unequivocal''.
The Times reported that the World Meteorological Organisation said the Met Office proposal had been approved in principle by delegates at a meeting in Antalya, Turkey.
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Mistletoe may kill off cancer cells
Danny Rose
Mistletoe is renowned for inspiring Christmas-time kisses, and Australian scientists are now probing its power to kill off cancer cells.
Work is underway at the University of Canberra to improve understanding of the parasitic plant, which is used extensively in cancer treatment programs in Germany.
Senior research fellow at the university's Cancer Immunotherapy Group, Dr Ljubov Simson, said Australian laboratory tests had confirmed mistletoe's ability to stimulate the body's immune system while killing off cancer cells.
Most importantly, Dr Simson says, it does so without harming healthy cells nearby.
"In the laboratory, we're finding that it is killing the tumour cells but we're actually not getting any killing in terms of the healthy cells," she said.
"So now we're interested in dissecting out how it is being so selective. We really don't have an answer for that at this stage... several of the components are yet to be fully characterised."
Lab tests conducted outside of a human body had shown a mistletoe extract could kill 80 per cent of a cancer tumour.
The extract was known to activate a sub-class of white blood cells, the eosinophil, which Dr Simson said had already been shown to be effective in the treatment of cancer.
Mistletoe also acted as a "coagulant" when introduced to the cancer cells, she said.
"It increases adhesion and it helps the mistletoe product to basically start to break apart the tumour cells," Dr Simson said.
"There is also a toxin in the mistletoe - so you'd have to be careful with the dosage that you'd give to patients - the toxin is also directly effective at killing tumour cells."
Dr Simson hopes her work will lead to the plant being approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in cancer treatments in Australia.
While it was not a cure, Dr Simson said it could provide cancer patients with more treatment options and improve quality of life during treatment with mainstream chemotherapies.
Chemotherapy works by targeting rapidly growing cells within the body - such as a mutating cancer cells but also healthy cells as they metabolise.
"Hence why you get so many bad side effects," Dr Simson said.
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Learn the Secrets of Meeting, Dating and Attracting Women!
The Purpose of the First and Second Dates
by Ivan Appleton
I'm going to give you some great advice here, like nothing else you've read on this site. Read and think about it carefully.
The purpose (to the woman) of the first and second date are different. I'm assuming you've made a date, just a simple meeting for coffee or something similar. Because she's accepted a date, it means you are physically attractive enough to her for her to go out with her.
Now she wants to find out other things about you and find what potential you have for her. Being physically attractive enough to be acceptable for a date doesn't mean you are (yet) boyfriend material. She has to check you out.
The purpose of the first date is very simple. It's just to see if she can get along with you. Can you chat together? Are you interested in what she has to say? Are you interested (or at least show an interest) in the things that interest her.
You make small talk, you talk about music, movies, leisure activities and things like that. Just "getting to know you" stuff. Because you are already OK looking to her, and because all she wants to find out is if you get along together, there is no reason to try and impress her with anything else.
At the end just say that you enjoyed talking with her and say goodbye. Don't try to set up a second date.
The next day just call to say how much you enjoyed meeting her and that you'd like to do it again sometime. If she's positive then tell her you'll call again in a few days to set things up. A few days later, do call her, and set up the second date (lunch or something similar).
Now, here is the crucial bit.
The second date is the deal breaker. The second date is nothing like the first date. Now she already knows that she gets along OK with you, she wants to dig deeper. Her hidden agenda here (hidden even from herself in many cases) is to scope you out for possible liabilities.
What is she trying to find out?
1) whether you have the wherewithal to be a good match for her 2) whether you're dependable or not.
What you have to do here is sit down by yourself and being brutally honest with yourself write down your weaknesses and liabilities (e.g., baggage from previous relationships, commitments to a child you might have, lack of income, whether you are indecisive and find it hard to commit etc...).
You will have your own personal weaknesses. Write them down and try to find a way of handling the conversation when it turns toward these things. Try not to lie, but find ways of skirting around the worst stuff. If you can't say anything without revealing these weaknesses, then kick the issue downstream and say nothing at all beyond "I haven't really given that enough thought, I must think that through and get back to you on that" (or something similar).
Now here is the CRITICAL part.
You must resist the urge to open up to her about your weaknesses on the second date. This sort of thing comes much, much later in a relationship, when it helps increase intimacy. At this stage all it does is drop you out of the running. You haven't established a relationship yet, so there is no need to open up about these things yet. Be polite and tactful, but resist the urge.
And it WILL be an urge. Why? Because of the way women operate.
On the second date they will very likely open up to you about certain things. They will gain your confidence in doing so. When you reveal a small weakness they will be very understanding, very sympathetic, very agreeable. You think you've found a sympathetic ear. You think that you are getting along great. You think that you've really hit it off and that intimacy is building already. So you open up to her.
You've fallen into the trap.
The second date is an interrogation. But it isn't done with force or threats. It's done with sympathy, agreeability, concerned looks, nodding the head, understanding.
Women are experts at this type of covert interrogation. Even they don't know they are doing it. They are just following a biological program. They may feel a genuine bond with you during the date. BUT, after the date, they will think about what you've revealed, and they will reject you.
It's hard not to resent this. You feel as if you were set up. She opened up to you, she gained your trust, you opened up, now the door has slammed shut.
It hurts like hell.
But, try not to resent her. It's just her following her biological nature in looking for a mate without too many liabilities.
How do you deal with this? Re-read what I read above about being aware of your own weaknesses. Then be aware of how by agreeability she may get you to reveal those weaknesses. Then find a way to deal with the conversation if it takes that turn.
If you can do this, then you are through to the third date.
Remember, the second date is a covert interrogation.
Ivan Appleton
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Review: Sony Surround Sound System for PS3
With its Surround Sound System for PS3, a soundbar designed specifically for use with Sony's game console, Sony is trying to bridge that gap and raise the audio consciousness of gamers. A basic soundbar with left- and right-channel speakers and a 30-watt subwoofer built into the bar itself, the Surround Sound System for PS3 will set gamers back a mere $180.
Sony's soundbar has a very simple, basic design. With only an optical digital and an analog stereo input, it's meant specifically for set-ups comprising a PS3 and a cable box: You run an optical cable from the PS3 for games, Blu-ray Discs, and Netflix streaming, and stereo cables from your cable box for TV-watching.
The sound options are similarly basic. It has Dynamic, Vivid, Standard, and Stereo audio modes, and a small handful of other tweaks. The Dynamic and Vivid modes make the sound seem louder and fuller. (Vivid also purportedly enhances the simulated surround channels, but I found little difference between the two modes.) Stereo disables any simulated surround processing, while Standard is a basic mode that ultimately has little effect on audio passing through the soundbar.
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Using celebrities
From SourceWatch
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In a guide to "using celebrities" in drug promotion campaigns Fiona Hall and Lucie Harper - from the UK PR company Shire Health London - explained in the trade publication, Pharmaceutical Marketing, that celebrities could ensure media coverage of a marketing campaign.
"Celebrities can be very powerful tools in increasing publicity around a launch or campaign, particularly when you do not have a strong news story and need a famous personality to drive initial interest in your messages," they wrote.[1]
However, in countries where direct-to-consumer advertising is banned, celebrities can't endorse a brand name product. Nor, they warn, are they cheap. "Celebrities cost a lot of money, often between £15,000 to £25,000 for three hours of work, so you need to weigh up how else you could use this money to influence your target audience," they wrote.[1]
"Celebrities should be managed carefully as there are risks involved. Are they going to stay on message, or is there a possibility that they could be involved in a scandal in advance of your launch?," they warn. Even making celebrities available for interviews carries risks. "It may be sensible not to involve them in 'off the cuff' questions from journalists. Try to pre-plan interviews so your celebrity is not caught off guard," they wrote.[1]
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57 Movies Beginning with 'L'
Random Movies Quiz
Can you name the movies which begin with 'L'?
Quiz not verified by Sporcle
How to Play
Score 0/57 Timer 14:00
Year & Genre(s)MoviePlot
2003: RomanceBill Murray and Scar-Jo meet up in Tokyo
2001: ComedyBlondes are people too! And good lawyers
2003: RomanceEnsemble piece with lots of Brits in love
1997: ComedyJim Carrey gets a somewhat clever script
2009: DramaGerard Butler vs legal system, logic, sense
1993: ActionKid is transported into an Ah-nold movie
1989: ComedyTravolta babysits, woos Kirstie Alley, clearly needs work before Pulp Fiction
1979: ComedyMonty Python takes on the story of Jesus
1963: DramaMr. Poitier helps some nuns, wins Oscar
1988: AnimatedAnimated dinosaur story has TEN sequels
1998: SciFiTV show adaptation knocked Titanic off #1
1993: HorrorLittle Irish midget creature as crazed killer
1997: CreaturePerfunctory Jurassic Park sequel
2006: FantasyMuch-loathed M. Night Shyamalan film
1963/90: Allegory/AdventureIt's Ralph vs. Jack in the adaptation of the book we all read in high school
1970: RomanceLove, apparently, means not saying 'sorry'
1989: AnimatedDisney rose from the dead with this flick
2003: WarTom Cruise in Avatar-ish film set in Japan
1997: ComedyBenigni shows us how fun the Holocaust is
1972: DramaBrando wants you to pass him the butter
1989: SpyTimothy Dalton almost ruins Bond franchise
1987: ActionMel Gibson's mullet kicks some badguy ass
1987: BiopicBest Picture winner about Chinese monarch
1992: SportsGirls play baseball, make a decent movie
1994: Neo-noirLinda Fiorentino as film's most evil woman
1994: SportsThe little Cowboys must be defeated by the scrappiest underdogs ever assembled
2001: ActionAngelina Jolie with phony boobs, accent
1978: MusicScorsese-directed doc about The Band
1962: DramaKubrick tackles notorious Nabakov novel
Year & Genre(s)MoviePlot
1994: AnimatedDisney + Songs + Hamlet + Lions = $$$
1999: CreatureHelp! A giant, bad-CGI crocodile is loose!
1976: SciFiMichael York must run, fight bad special FX
1938: MysteryHitchcock flick about a disappearing dame
2007: DramaSweetest movie ever made about sex dolls
1973/2009: HorrorPersonally I'd rather go to the first house on the right: it sounds less creepy
1962: EpicPeter O'Toole does minor stuff during WWI
1995: DramaNic Cage back when he was a great actor
2000: ComedyAdam Sandler alienates fans with weird film
1944: ThrillerWWII-set Hitchcock film set on a little boat
1985: FantasyYoung Tom Cruise in boring fantasy film
1975: ComedyWoody Allen's homage to Russian novels
1945: DramaBest Picture winner about alcoholism
1992: WarDaniel Day-Lewis as hunky Hawkeye in steamy 1700s period romance
2006: DramaEastwood's non-stupid Iwo Jima film
2007: ActionNew Hampshire's motto + John McClane =
1931: Gangster'Mother of Mercy...is this the end of Rico?'
1974/2005: SportsJailed NFL player must triumph over prison guards on the gridiron, stupid plot twists
1997: CrimeStylish neo-noir about cops in Los Angeles
2008: HorrorNon-stupid, non-Twilighty story of a young vampire who falls in love with a human
2006: DramedyCrowd-pleasing indie about beauty pageant
1955: AnimatedDogs share spaghetii and meatballs. Awww
1987: Cult80s teen vampire film...with both Coreys!
2009: DramaPeter Jackson makes a big-budget flop
2006: DramaSurveillance in Cold War-era East Berlin
2006: DramaMisleading title: it's actually about Uganda
2008: SportsNo one cared about Clooney's football film
2007: DramaAng Lee's overlong, NC-17-rated WWII tale
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Tags:Begins With, genre, plot
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nfl June 6, 2014 12:06pm EDT
Browns bad QB history can actually benefit Manziel, Hoyer
Before Johnny Manziel was drafted 22nd overall by the Cleveland Browns last month, he made his case back in February for why they should take him.
“I don't care if they've had 20 starting quarterbacks since 1999,” Manziel told the Houston Chronicle then. “I'm going to be the 21st and the guy that brought them the Super Bowl."
Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel are battling to be the Browns' starting QB in 2014. (AP Photo)
Manziel is right, at least about the first part. That’s exactly how many passers who’ve been No. 1 on the Browns depth chart since their franchise rebirth 15 years ago. That’s a total 241 games, including one playoff appearance.
BENDER: Who's been more futile in NFL, Cleveland or Detroit? | Top 10 rookie vs. veteran battles
Manziel's quest to win the starting job over Brian Hoyer (No. 19 of those 20) has already begun. But before moving on to starter No. 21, here are the 20, ranked by passing efficiency, who've already held the job:
1. Kelly Holcomb (13 starts): 84.0 rating, 4-9 record
2. Thaddeus Lewis (1 start), 83.3 rating, 0-1 record
3. Brian Hoyer (3 starts): 82.6 rating, 3-0 record
4. Trent Dilfer (11 starts): 76.9 rating, 4-7 record
5. Jason Campbell (8 starts), 76.9 rating, 1-7 record
6. Jeff Garcia (10 starts): 76.7 rating, 3-7 record
7. Seneca Wallace (7 starts): 76.6 rating, 1-6 record
8. Ty Detmer (2 starts): 75.7 rating, 0-2 record
9. Tim Couch (59 starts) 75.1 rating, 22-37 record
10. Colt McCoy (21 starts): 74.8 rating, 6-15 record
11. Brandon Weeden (20 starts): 71.8 rating, 5-15 record
12. Charlie Frye (19 starts): 71.2 rating, 6-13 record
13. Derek Anderson (34 starts): 69.7 rating, 16-18 record
14. Brady Quinn (12): 66.8 rating, 3-9 record
15. Jake Delhomme (4 starts): 63.4 rating, 2-2 record
16. Doug Pederson (8 starts): 56.6 rating, 1-7 record
17. Luke McCown (4 starts): 52.6 rating, 0-4 record
18. Spergon Wynn (1 start): 41.2 rating, 0-1 record
19. Ken Dorsey (3 starts) 26.1 rating, 0-3 record
20. Bruce Gradkowski (1 start) 2.8 rating, 0-1 record
Although the Browns’ consistently sub-par recent QB history won’t affect the outcome of Manziel vs. Hoyer, it provides a few key takeaways.
— The Browns have recently made the best of a bad situation. It’s weird that Hoyer and Campbell, who combined for 11 starts in their first year with the team in 2013, each jumped into the top five in rating. Lewis’ one chance came the year before. That’s positive momentum they can keep riding with Kyle Shanahan.
In a defensive-minded division, that improvement has them closer to their division foes’ QB situations than we think. Consider the rating of Ravens Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco dropped to 73.1 last season. It also means if Manziel starts as a rookie, he wouldn’t need to be spectacular to show that he could be better than rest. Producing the kind of passing numbers Robert Griffin III just did in his Year 2 (82.2 rating), along with some dynamic running, is enough for Manziel to make his Year 1 a success.
— Johnny Weeden or Johnny Quinn? This is the third time in eight drafts the Browns have targeted their franchise QBs in the late first round. On the stat sheet, there wasn’t much difference between the past two, Quinn and Weeden. Still, throwing Weeden into the fire was a better decision than sitting Quinn early. Quinn lost to Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson in his 2007 rookie battle, and was left always chasing his opportunity to get settled. Given Manziel’s competitive psyche, they may want to avoid making it “too open” with Hoyer and Tyler Thigpen.
— Tim Couch deserves (a little) more credit. Only one of those 20 quarterbacks can sympathize with the pressure on Manziel. As a rookie quarterback for a unique expansion team that already had a rich history and demanding fan base, Couch wasn’t set up to do well. What he did over almost a full four seasons wasn’t bad for a team that was still putting things around the QB. There's more of a support system now for a rookie such as Manziel, even without top wideout Josh Gordon. Few can rival what they have at left tackle (Joe Thomas), center (Alex Mack) and tight end (Jordan Cameron) now.
— But wait, there’s also a lot of Holcomb in Hoyer. Holcomb (6-2, 212) is the only one who’s played in the playoffs for the new Browns (and played well back in ’02). Hoyer (6-3, 215) is the only one with an unblemished record. The Cleveland native does what Holcomb did — play more as a distributor than gunslinger. In the past, between Holcomb and Hoyer, the Browns have just had aging retreads as their fallback. Just in case Manziel isn’t ready, they can lean on a viable veteran backup plan they haven’t had in a while.
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DELMAR: Reaching new heights
Five Albany County men saw the most dramatic sunrise of their lives recently.
That's because they were standing near the top of Mount Kilimanjaro at the time.
To me, the best way to describe it is how you'd draw a picture of heaven, said Voorheesville resident Tom Markert. "It was astonishing."
"It was just unbelievable," added Delmar's Mark Bryant. "You felt like you were seeing the sun rise over Africa."
Forty-five minutes later, they and the rest of their 11-man climbing party were standing at the top of Africa. Some were overjoyed to reach the summit, while others were dazed by the climb.
"I'd like to tell you that I was overcome by emotion and savoring the moment, but I was more overcome by the altitude," said Markert. "I was actually stumbling."
The trip was partially a family affair. Markert was joined by his brother Paul and his cousin Jim, while Bryant had his brother Jeff along for the climb. Another portion of the climbing party was made up of two mutual friends of both families " Tom Fashouer of Guilderland and Mike Brennan of Voorheesville.
"The 11 guys all got along very well," said Bryant. "It was amazing that people from different places (across the United States) got along so well."
"Everybody was single-minded in getting to the top. Nobody wanted to be the one not to make it to the top," added Markert.
Bryant planted the seed for the trip three years ago when he started thinking about things he wanted to do as he sat in his office at Bryant Asset Management, which he and his brother Jeff run.
"I got up from my desk feeling chipper three years ago, and I walked into my brother's office and said, 'I want to do something before I turn 50 Let's climb Kilimanjaro,'" said Bryant.
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<bgsound src="./media/Train.wav" loop=true>
Copyright 2011
Trains by Bob
Wood Scale Models
You might not think of steam locomotives, when you think of art...but the detail that goes into each piece of these steam train replicas, you'll agree it's a masterpiece. What makes these works of art is the detail. True, each model has been researched [mostly from Model Railroader, Cyclopedia--Volume 1, STEAM LOCOMOTIVES], but not all of the "bells and whistles", that are on the originals, are on the replicas. (The cab interior lacks many of the "bells and whistles".) But, surely, there are enough "bells and whistles" on the replicas, to make them be replicas of certain steam locomotives of the past.
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Hey guys,
Bit of a newbie question... someone mentioned that the banks should catch up soon. What do you mean by that? Reevaluate price etc?
It looks like we're making great production, should have the production facility up, in fact looks like a better cash position and more production than we had at .40 cents and now we're trading sub .30's
You guys see this as undervalued, bad market? Why do you think the street's value is so low? Time to buy or get out? I got in at .17 on PTA, but am looking at a 20% loss on the B warrants right now.
Look forward to feedback!
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Gun Control
Persuasive Essay
Due to extensive media coverage and mass public
attention to the recent high school threats and shootings, there is
now a huge public awareness to the growing number of fatalities
by and effects of handguns. I believe that many tragic accidents
and violent crimes can be prevented if handguns are outlawed.
Nan Desuka, author of Why Handguns Must Be
Outlawed wrote, "Guns don't kill people-criminals kill people."
Many people blame criminals for all the deaths caused by
handguns. Clearly, this is not true. A large number of deaths-by-
handgun are caused accidentally, by innocent people with
handguns. Most citizens feel that outlawing guns will only take
guns away from them, not the criminals. These citizens feel they
need guns to protect themselves from such criminals. Studies show
that in cases in which guns are used against criminals, the innocent
man is more likely killed than the intruder. Statistics show that for
every burglar who is halted by the sight of a handgun, four
innocent people are killed by handgun accidents. Which brings me
to the other side of the argument.
Neil Schulman, the author of Stopping Power (Why
Seventy Million Americans Own Guns) states that "U.S. cities with
strict gun-control laws have higher homicide rates than those with
less strict laws." He also writes that studies have proven that a gun
kept in a home for protection is two-hundred times more likely to
an innocent victim in that household. However, guns owned by
law-abiding citizens often fall into the wrong hands.
Most of the guns used in burglaries, bank robberies,
etc., were stolen from innocent, gun-owning victims. If guns were
outlawed, then they would not be available for criminals to steal.
There is a big crime problem in this country, but there is also a big
gun problem as well....
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Category Archives: Church
Why Do Ministries Pay So Badly?
Over the last few months I’ve had conversations with numerous people who used to work in either fundamentalist or evangelical ministries and just can’t afford to keep doing it. When you’re putting in a full week of work but eating from your own church’s food pantry because you can’t afford groceries that might be a problem.
There is a serious problem in American Christianity with “ministry” employees being underpaid, undervalued, and under-appreciated. Here are a few reasons why:
1. Isolation.
By the nature of being sacred instead of secular, many ministry employees are isolated from the rest of the job market. Being cut off from the rest of their colleagues makes them prone to believing the lies that they didn’t need to get accreditation or certification. As a result they have no relationships with those kinds of bodies and they don’t participate in continuing education with their secular counterparts.
As a result they simply have no idea what their skills might be worth in the rest of the world or how to build a set of credentials that makes them worth more.
2. Delayed Gratification.
“Treasures in heaven” is the cry of those who really don’t want to pay for good dental benefits on earth. Christian workers are told that somehow their efforts are more special and worthy of greater rewards. Lots of people work in school cafeterias but Jesus loves people who work in Christian school cafeterias just a little bit more. The celestial payout is going to be awesome! (So we’ll need you to go ahead and work for peanuts while you’re here.)
After all, it’s all about getting people saved! Who can put a price tag on that?
3. Shrinking Population.
Church attendance is in decline. That means fewer checks in the offering plate and less operating budget. Like any other business the first place any ministry is going to start cutting its expenses is not in buildings or salaries at the top. They’re going to start by seeing how much they can save by reducing the number of paid days off or requiring all employees to contribute some amount of time for free.
This is just suffering for Jesus.
4. Heavy Indoctrination.
Fundamentalist and Evangelicals have done well in playing the education game. Every year there is a crop of idealistic fresh faces that emerge from their high-schools and colleges having spent hundreds of hours in classrooms being taught that there is no higher calling than being grist to the ministry mill. With new cheap labor being manufactured every day there’s no incentive for raises for the people who have been here all along.
Jesus is the greatest coupon ever.
5. Total Prevarication.
If you ever work for a ministry that tells you that if you just serve the Lord with them for 30 years that there will be a pension at the end to take care of you in your old age I advise you to smile politely and then walk away quickly. There is no retirement. There. is. no. retirement. There is, however, a pink slip with your name on it sealed in an envelope that says “to be opened when the employee is 65.”
Unless you’re putting savings in your own IRA or stuffing it in your mattress then there will be no money.
So the formula goes like this:
Isolated employees + A Heavenly Mission + Declining Revenue + Renewable Workforce + Lies = Starvation Wages.
If you give people too much then how will they ever learn to trust God? The food pantry is open from 3-6 on Thursdays.
Church Planting in…Atlanta
Thank goodness somebody is finally planting a Bible-believing church in Atlanta.
This does make me wonder: are there people who also raise money to found a true “Torah-Believing” synagogue in Jerusalem or a “Quran-Believing” mosque in Mecca?
Update 1:
Here’s Patrick making his case (starts about 23 minutes in) for support in his church planting efforts. In so many words his claim is that 90% of the good Bible-believing churches packed up and left in the white flight out of the Atlanta urban areas.
Quote: “Today there are 951,000 people living inside [the 85 beltway]…and where there were 170 Baptist churches now we can find 3. There were 4 that still preach the gospel — I’ll tell you more about that in just a minute — there were 4 and one just closed its doors.”
There are those who claim that the fundamentalism featured here on SFL is an artifact of the past or focused on the fringes. No matter how much evidence is brought to light, these apologists insist that Fundamentalism has changed into a kinder, gentler movement where all that crazy stuff just doesn’t happen any more. This is a strange claim given that the entire premise of fundamentalism is that it does not waver from its convictions — no matter how many convictions its leaders receive in court.
With that in mind let us consider the following facts…
Bob Jones University, Hyles-Anderson College, Pensacola Christian College, West Coast Baptist College, and Crown College (to name only a few) are still in full operation. Not one of those institutions has significantly changed since their founding. Not one has apologized for the racist, sexist, or abusive behavior of the past. Not one has made meaningful changes to the core philosophy of man-centered religion, outward-focused rules, or performance-based spirituality.
Many of the same evangelists who were touring in the 70’s and 80’s are still on the road today visiting churches that are still run by the same pastors who were big names in decades past. If, perchance, those pastors of yesteryear have retired you can be sure that their son, son-in-law, or hand-picked disciple is now running the show the same way that daddy did. Does anybody remember a man named Jack Schaap? If you’ll check you’ll see that he was sentenced in 2013 not 1983.
I could fill pages with the scandals that have broken in fundamentalism over the past five years since SFL started but I simply don’t have the stomach to revisit them all. Suffice it to say that Chuck Phelps is still preaching, Greg Neal is still being defended, and Matt Jarrell is still dead. How many examples have to occur before people can finally admit that the lunatic fringe is not that far from the center of fundamentalism?
It is the greatest of ironies that fundamentalism can proudly proclaim that their music is the same, their message is the same, their Bible version is the same, their convictions are the same, their standards are the same, and their methods are the same but at the same time expect us all to believe that they’ve completely changed with regards to their faults and follies. I don’t buy it. Do you?
Update 1: It has been pointed out to me by several different people that Bob Jones University did indeed apologize for its racism and support of segregation. The words “not one” should instead read “Very few.”
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cheap prescription medicine
#YesAllWomen hashtag is failing even in preaching to the converted
I've often described Twitter as a noisy echo chamber. And I stand by that.
There are too many voices on Twitter that it's hard to discover truly meaningful or compelling thoughts. And when you, do it's quite likely that it's either something you've heard before, are in complete agreement with or even (gasp) something you've said already.
Twitter has it's uses which is why now and again other you might get something other than a joke amongst the trending topics. This early part of June it has mostly been the #YessAllWomen campaign which I believe has been inspired by a supposed lack of respect of women from men, violence and rape against women and er... the serious travesty of men not accepting no as no when hitting on women. Yes, that all time stain against humanity which is surely a Nobel Peace prize-in-waiting. If only Paris Hilton can stop taking selfies long enough to unsuccessfully campaign about the men who incorrectly come to the conclusion that because they would do her then that means she would do them.
A campaign highlighting that women deserve respect is definitely well meaning and needs no justification. However the #YesAllWomen campaign started being by dominated by generalised anti-male stuff like this
and this classic article (by a man no less!)
The #yesallwomen campaign made me worried for my infant daughter's future My daughter is 14 months old. The #yesallwomen campaign made it clear that she will grow up in a world saturated in misogyny and violence
Which makes you wonder why on earth this journalist is even having kids if the world is so messed up? You get the feeling that this guy is going to be first in line for genetic embryo selection in order to avoid getting a girl just as soon as mankind solves the problems around the ethics of that. But maybe not, as men are evidently the problem in his violent view of the world. Like most right thinking men with balls and who are not afraid to put a woman in her place I had my say...
Predictably despite my presence on Twitter being conspicuous only for it's inconspicuousness, the Twitter feminists promptly got wind of it and a very interesting conversation ensued. During which it was asserted that though women understand that it is not all men are threat, however all women feel under threat, all the time. If looked at from another point of view that means any male presence is a threat. In typical Twitter fashion, no one convinced anyone else except we all vented and got retweets from our fellow followers. It's is ironic that no agreement was reached despite the well proven fact that the Twitterati are derived from a certain section of society. You would think it would be easy to preach to the converted, but today I've found out that it isn't.
It's a pity that there's so little building construction going on in the western world. Now that Twitter is the de-facto social barometer it is probably right to think that if builders still engaged in mass wolf-whistling, Presidents and Prime Ministers would be forced into calling press-conferences promising to address this scourge of society following another twitter storm. As far as I can tell, that behaviour never brought society down, disgusting as it may be.
My point is that that a furore on Twitter feels a multitude of times more forceful, usually amplified by Twitter's coverage in the media and the use of Twitter reaction as referable measurement of public outrage. This is despite the majority of the world not being on Twitter and it not being being a representative sample of any geographic population that I'm aware of.
I'm not surprised that Boko Haram and other modern terrorists are not on Twitter despite it's effectiveness in attracting similar minded itchy-fingered keyboard zealots. Apart from Beliebers can any demography deal with the bile of an ill-informed, yet well aimed shit-storm? Enough celebrities have quit Twitter in a huff or been forced into apologising having been baited by a single ignorant troll. Now imagine if you can, an Earth-sized harem of Twitter feminists with no facts, no figures to refer to; armed with cut-and-paste quotes and spurred on by the idea that, if unchecked the inability of men to say no when first told where to stick their inept lyrics, will somehow grow into the violent subjugation of women! And of course, that there is a majority of these people on Twitter. A logical person like me would ask why these feminists are willing to spend time on a platform such as Twitter if it is filled with such like, except it would be pointless because this debate does not let facts get in the way.
If you're a feminist and haven't been offended enough by my snide jokes to read this far I will go on to put it on record that there is indeed a problem of some men not respecting women and doing despicable things to them by taking advantage of men's physical superiority and it is is serious. But it's less & less pervasive as the years go by. The glass is half full not half empty. Any campaign to gain respect needs to engage men positively and not demonise those of us who love women the right way.
It is women's prerogative to campaign how they want. I'm just saying that I know us men and am by no means saying what women should do. However this is a note of advice to women that if we feel something is ridiculous we will only react one way of two ways. With indifference or if we're bothered we'll react with humour. Unless you're journalist with no balls! :-)
Honour killings are for cowards
When you think there is less shame in killing your daughter than in letting her marry for love, it is clear that you are not man enough to stand up to your society. #Cowards.
Pakistani girl, 18, survives botched 'honor killing' carried out by her own family for marrying the man she loved
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Why men are funnier than women
I'm a staunch believer that behavioural differences in human beings are most often dictated by culture rather than by genetics. My view firmly includes most racial and gender differences.
So sometime ago I read some comments made by Adam Carolla an American comedian, writer and radio personality who said that men are funnier than women. A shit-storm had promptly started around this topic with all the shit squarely aimed at Carolla....well maybe not squarely... but as well as one can aim a shit when it's hit a fan. In the end Carolla's words were somehow being interpreted as to say that women are not funny; period. No pun intended. The suggestion that Carolla meant that women are incapable of being funny is not something that I observed. Merely that they are just as capable but are less likely to be funny.
Anyway Carolla said something I'd never seriously thought about, but having read it all I could think was 'that of course they are, it's cultural!' I'm not going to bore you with stats to try and prove the fact, but I will instead just appeal to all those who disagree to put away their blinkers and face reality. Women are not as funny as men NOT because they are born that way but because they mostly never have to court men in order to go out with them.
That's right folks, the act of actively trying to woo someone of the opposite sex is one of the hardest things known to men. It is so difficult that I think the phrase 'it's not rocket science' should be replaced by 'it's not courtship'. Lets face it the success rate of rockets being sent to space is probably much better than the 'pull' rate of any man you know. No doubt you may know a genuine local stud or may have had the pleasure of being a wingman to such a guy but one thing is for sure, on an average night a guy on the pull will have more wrecks than the number of times NASA has had failed space missions. In short, the chances of success are indeed harder than rocket science.
The fact that we only remember details of the successes of our courting activities shouldn't take away from the overall difficulty of hooking up with someone. It is natural that people block all memories of failure and therefore think themselves as more successful than they actually are. That's because memory block is in itself a coping mechanism designed to keep spirits high and maximise the chances of future success, despite the sad reality.
One thing is for sure, whatever the intention is when a guy tries to attract someone it all starts with the girl having done a half second check that results in a virtual green or red light. But that in itself is no guarantee that a guy will actually get himself a new girlfriend, because that mental note is normally only based on such superficial things as looks, dress sense, dance ability, muscles or whatever gimmick a guy will have used to initiate contact.
It is after this stage that the ability to engage a woman is crucial. After all, even when meeting someone in a nightclub, quite a number of women are misguided enough to picture a lasting relationship based on face, dress sense, dancing or muscles. Needless to say a man's ability to offer insight into the Greek financial crisis will not engage most women.... not even if that woman is Angela Merkel. As well as an appealing face it is always best for you as a guy to be able to provide a woman some sort of relaxing conversation, mostly to keep them from focusing on your bad points. It is my observation that the success of a relationship is dictated by how long we can keep the other person from dwelling on our individual short comings. No pun intended.
My theory is that even a 40 year old aspiring rapper with an unsuccessful drug dealing sideline can hold down a relationship if they can guarantee a woman plenty of conversation, punctuated by frequent compliments and laughs. Next to sex, no other feeling generates an inner sense of fuzzy warmth, than laughter. Unfortunately to get sex (or a relationship as women call it), one has to have somehow demonstrated an ability to generate said warm fuzzy feeling. Which is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Fortunately for women, most societies have long dictated that they should enjoy spiritual, moral and other intangible benefits which men should not. The ultimate benefit being that women do not have to actively seek out partners. This is an allowance which is afforded to them by various unclear traditions. Therefore, catch 22 or not, it is for us men to;
(a) blindly seek out a woman whose half a second check we passed and not her friend (because that sort of thing is hard to recover from)
(b) maintain her attention at all times,
(c) keep women distracted from whatever deficiencies we may have,
(d) make sure that our women only conduct or act upon as few half a second checks as possible by being all the man she needs.
Yep, it's tough being a man! But it's all a lot easier if you can make a woman laugh.
In practise, the fact that from an early age girls only have to sit back and watch wave after wave of desperate young men try to attract them, means that they are far short of training in being funny. Thus my theory is that the funnier women are more likely to be gay, ugly or impatient about being hit on. Which is just as well because I believe there are many kinds of sexy and that for a not-so-good-looking woman being funny is an equaliser. The blonde joke phenomenom is an illustration of this. Society may not be saying it as such but what it implies is that pretty women don't need to be smart to be attractive. Or funny. Personally I'm one of those guys who believes that personality can be sexy. So yes, I'll admit that once upon a time when I went on dates I felt like wearing a t-shirt saying 'she's not ugly, she's funny!'
As you can tell this article is a non-scientific observation of my version of reality, but one thing that is true is that humour is the result of several cultural factors and that it can be developed later in life as a coping mechanism. It's not a bad thing if women are not as funny as men, in fact it would be very hard for them to be equally funny given that women generally do not have the benefit of years of practise. Being funny is also about recycling jokes from one courtship to another, seeing what works, mostly as a result of being knocked back and trying to vary the jokes one unsuccessful relationship at a time. All of that is hard enough without our friends constantly seeking to highlight any perceived lack of sexual activities in our life. You see, men don't talk about sex to each other, at least not the actual act of doing it. Most sex-talk between guys is around the lack of sex one of our friends may be experiencing. Usually that's as a smokescreen to our own lack of sex. Again this ritual is easier to deal with if one develops a sense humour.
Beyond romantic comedies I have no insight into what women talk about amongst themselves, but I struggle to think that their conversations about sex or any other topics are as laced with humour as ours are. I'm led to believe that sex is serious business to most women. So serious that young men find it hard to get some and that when a young lady finally has something to report, her friends want to know every detail. That said I'd actually suggest that an ability to be tactful is much more useful to women than a sense of humour given how readily they are to mistake jokes as 'snide comments'. Can you imagine being the girlfriend who joked that a low-cut top makes a friend look easy just as she's about to go on a first date? That is borderline 'you're trying to steal my man' territory and were that accusation ever to rear it's head, God help the neutral friend that will try to play down the situation with another joke.
It is for this reason that I envy peacocks. Everyone knows that they are much prettier than the female of the species and why. If God ever created the world again, I really hope he would solve the courtship problem in humans just like he did with peacocks. All it would take for Adam Carolla to defend himself is to whip out his lush multi-coloured tail-feathers and invite any doubting females.....'honey, look at yours then look at mine...' .
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No instructions necessary
Listening to Bob Marley's song 'Stir it up' the other day I was reminded of how the art of making good music and combining it with equally good lyrics with depth and meaning seems to have largely passed this generation by.
'Stir it up' is a beautiful love-song tinged with overt sexual connotations implied by the well-written but simply structured lyrics. The suggestiveness is easy to miss given that the song has a touching melody accompanied by the catchy 'stir it up...., little darling,....stir it up....' refrain. However it's so well put together that unlike a Sean Paul classic, you could imagine it being played to the Queen if she happened to be touring a 'successful' multi-cultural community centre and nobody would bat an eye-lid. Well apart from Prince Philip, who like me has an inflated view of his wit.
In fact it would never have been a surprise if someone asked me what Marley's song meant, which I believe is testament to singer-songwriters of old that had the ability to use deeper language than the music I come across today. The use of similes, idioms and metaphors in music seems to be a lost art. It's possible I'm listening to the wrong music and there are some literary geniuses out there putting out good music but one thing is for sure there aren't many in pop music. (Not withstanding the unfair comparisons of ordinary musicians to Bob Marley, but hey please bare with me, I'm trying to make a point!)
It can be pointed out that the creative vision of artists from the past has been known to be over-exaggerated as George Town University did by starting a degree in Philosophy with Star Trek. However this could be as a result of the current creative dearth in art in general. I only need to refer to the infinite number of cover-songs and movie remakes to conclude that maybe I should test my own theory, that I can accurately guess the ending of 50% of all song lyrics, if you only tell me the first two words.
It's hard to think of too many songs currently on the airwaves which we will in all seriousness ask ourselves what the meaning was in a year or two. Ten years ago the British band Kean had a song about their disappointment with authority following the Iraq war. However the catchy melody of the song would have been equally at home in a Bridget Jones movie just as she once again raised her hopes in yet another Mr Right! I believe that is saying something about the skill of writing a song with a strong message using subtle enough lyrics that the record can be interpreted in various ways. Not pretentiously abstract, but just enough to be able to convey other emotions.
Indeed, if there wasn't video of Bob Marley singing 'Stir it up' you could imagine some expert in 100 years claiming that Marley could not possibly have written his music because it was just too good to be him. Just like those Shakespearean naysayers with PHDs. Hmmm mmm....
For current musicians, it seems that the only time we're likely to question song content is when we're wondering who some veiled or not so veiled reference to another famous person is. Although Beyoncé does have a famously second-guessed song about her ego, but even that does not display any amount of depth when it comes to word-play (apart from the possessive being applied to the ego when it is in fact apparent that she is talking about her male interest's ego as belonging to her). Beyoncé talks about the 'ego' being too big, too strong and not fitting (lord knows where?); pretty much in those words. I'm guessing here, but I'm sure I'm right that at the age of three Beyoncé was capable of writing the exact same lyrics to describe her four year old grubby-handed playground-crush's tantrums. It's a shame, but that seems to be the depth of language in current popular music. No one will be asking Rihanna what she meant on Rude boy; "Come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up?" or Taylor Swift on 'We are never ever getting back together'. No one.
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How the horse-meat scandal could have brought the world down
It's been just over a year since the horse-meat scandal and I'm reminded of how close we came to upsetting the natural order of things for all eternity.
It might have escaped a few people at the time because I didn't blog about it, but animals have only one way to avoid being eaten and that is to somehow convince a human being to give them a name.
Most often, this happens by either being good at licking human faces or by being excellent at running and jumping for the benefit of human entertainment. If an animal does not manage to tick one of those boxes it risks ending up on someone's plate.
horse-meatThe horse-meat scandal was much more of a crisis than people realised because as the 'big brother' in the human/animal relationship we reneged on that unwritten rule. We risked bringing down the motivation for horses to do stuff for us simply because a few horse owners felt they should make more money by selling their horses for meat rather than glue (which would have been acceptable). Can you imagine what would happen if a horse knew that whether or not it was good at jumping it would end up as meat? Or if a cat was not motivated to lick it's owner's face for fear of ending up in a kebab? Well I don't know what would have happened and will leave you to speculate, but it can't have been anything good that's for sure.
Personally I'm glad it all blew over because horses could have ended up being as useless as chicken. We all know that chickens are good for nothing except eating. It's no doubt because they can't lick your face or run and jump for our entertainment (unless you're a sadistic gambler and are into cock-fighting).
Needless to say one year on it's cause for celebration that the natural order of things is still firmly in place. Horse racing is once again in full swing and dogs are still oblivious to the fact that they could have been licking people's faces for nothing. Lick, run, jump, get a name. It's motivation for them and it's companionship and entertainment for us. It's simple but it works. Let's keep it that way.
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Defending the indefensible is not illegal, it’s just costly
Much to the relief of the social media generation the Oscar Pistorius trial has turned into the media circus we all thought it would be. Cat videos and loo updates seem to have taken a little bit of a back seat on Twitter and Facebook but sadly the same can't be said for selfies.
Just in case no one believed he was there.
The first commentary coming out from the trial centered on the defence, who got to be the warm-up act in what would turn out to be a false dawn for Pistorius's hopes of walking away with his freedom. I'm no lawyer but I've been surprised at people giving props to Barry Roux. Personally I think that Pistorius's strategy of not admitting guilt on even the smallest charge is suicide. Unless Oscar is so up himself that this is his idea, then his lawyers have got to take the blame. Having said that, for a million dollar fee I would happily have a go at a couple of witnesses before sitting back and letting an egotistical killer hang himself on the dock.
Maybe I'm the only one, but I get the feeling that Barry's hardest job was convincing Pistorious to sell his house to fund that fee. Just as well because this isn't a movie and Columbo is not going to show up and force the guy to confess before trying to do a runner in a crowded room. But if that happened and there were still some outstanding legal bills you can bet that he wouldn't get very far though as Barry Roux will definitely catch him regardless of whether or not Pistorius was wearing blades. The last thing a lawyer wants is to lose money to other lawyers in trying to recover money owed!
I'm guessing that Pistorius's idea in fighting these charges is that wealthy people have in the past bought justice and that he should be no different to other wealthy criminals. It's just the way it is right? You have money you use it. For good or ill. That's life. There'll be time to repent later. Well I would say that he won't be a wealthy criminal for long with this ridiculous strategy of not accepting any responsibility for his catalogue of misdemeanors. Showing that you can accept some responsibility is the best way of being given the benefit of the doubt in the event that you want to deny being responsible for something unpleasant. Like murder.
Far be it for me to give tips on how to get off of a murder charge, but hey it's the times we live in. If I'm not commenting on this trial then it would probably be cat videos or loo updates!
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Hope not hate
It's natural to have a problem and think that someone else is responsible for causing it. Whether you're in a relationship that is not going as well as it should or have a child who is not doing well at school. The default reaction for many people is that..."well I didn't cause that".
But a default reaction is just that, a default reaction with no analysis of what's gone wrong and why. And that is my overwhelming feeling about race hate in Britain and indeed throughout the ages. The 'others' are always an easy target when one isn't bothered about analysing what's actually going wrong, whether the issue is high unemployment or high cost of living.
It is also why you often get two opposing logics being used to support hateful thought. In any event I believe that there is always hope to correct such misconceptions, not withstanding that I believe Britain to already be a tolerant society by most measures.
More can and will be achieved and that is why I support Hope Not Hate. Their campaign has looked at the problems around race hate and chosen to fight it, first by educating with facts and more importantly by using democracy and the law. Cheers to them for being in existence for ten years but hopefully such campaigns will be so successful that they eventually won't be necessary.
Some fashion is not worth following
It's amazing that I've so far managed to ride out the era of the skinny fit trousers without resorting to shopping at Marks & Spencer, BHS and other oldie shops. For the last few years I've had an ongoing search for a nice pair of regular fit trousers and each time I've failed due to the of skinny fit trousers epidemic. Unlike my man Jay-Z, my knots will fit in a pair of skinny fit trousers, however having tried out a pair now and again I can never seriously imagine myself doing anything other than posing around in them. What about all the other stuff I'll need to do, like walking, sitting, driving and God forbid I eat some sadza at a Zimbabwean event?! Don't get me wrong I'm still lucky enough to be able to pull off slim fit trousers but the thought of trousers that constantly feel like a prostate examination is not appealing to me. Plus designers seem to skate closer to the skinny part of the name rather than the fit. You can of course find regular fit trousers in some of the 'fashionable' shops but normally as part of a suit, which I have enough of, but not enough court cases or funerals to wear them at. I would buy regular fit trousers at the aforementioned oldie shops but I'd need to get over my fear of things like, elasticated waist bands, coin pockets, non-stain materials, trouser lining and turn-ups. I know that I may be stuck in the past style-wise but I'm not yet at the stage of putting comfort above fashion. I want both and I know I used to get both four short years ago.
So the last few years I've mainly had to survive on my old trousers but I'm just not sure how long I can hang on before all my regular fit trousers are skinny-fit anyway (hint, hint, love-handles) or just worn through. In the end this might be a losing fight though because I remember that during the pointy shoes era, I eventually got a pair! I don't particularly hate skinny fit trousers but for me they fall into that category of trends that is just not worth following. Unfortunately if a trend sticks around long enough it will eventually take you in whether you like it or not. Case in point button-down cardigans. Nuff said!
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Porn will be a bigger issue in 3D printing than guns
I'm not too sure why everyone is getting worked up trying to explain to right-wing libertarians hell-bent on defending our 'freedoms' that 3D printing guns is a bad idea. I think all we need to do is point out to them that porn is responsible for popularising most major developments in technology and that 3D printing won't be any different. The only technology that was failed by the porn industry was the fax machine, but that's because faxes were notoriously slow at coming!
If conservative men's past form on attitudes towards sexual matters is anything to go by then their reaction to 3D printed porn would be fun to watch. I'm no expert but judging by the equal number of affairs and hypocrisy across the political spectrum, then even conservative women need gratification too; and too much time spent shooting guns and patrolling borders for defenceless Mexican economic migrants whilst the women are at home could really have nasty side (front, back and other) effects. The 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon has shown us many things about women that Mills & Boon only ever hinted at. And I'm betting that that demography includes a lot of conservative wives and their daughters. I can foresee a scenario where Daddy's plastic always runs out just when he needs new bullets and right around the same time a young lady gets a new blow-up boyfriend! That's before we even talk about men and what our collective penchant for vivid porn would do for 3D printing. Doubtless 3D printing is a cool idea, but restraint is due from everyone, whether they're in it for sexual freedom or the freedom to maim and kill. Let's stick to screw and nuts printing please. Hold the porn and easy on the guns.
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I've just bought three different tools to help me fix a rattle in my car. After fiddling around for 10 minutes it was clear that none of the new tools was going to get the job done. So I reached out for an old wrench I had and used it to just wangle the pesky sheet of metal out without any mind to the screws meant to be holding it down.
It then occurred to me that this was an example of what the grammatically challenged Alanis Morissette called irony. A mildly unfortunate incident. It's a good thing I'm not a musician otherwise this might have made it onto an album of some sort. But as this is the information age it will merely be an inane rambling that allows me to maintain my online existence. Ironic or not, content is king dear readers. If one has an album or a blog to fill, the bottom of the barrel will occasionally be scraped.
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Crispy Crust
How do you make a crispy pizza crust? I make mine from scratch with yeast, and it bakes completely but is not crispy. Is that what the new mesh pizza pans are for? I do use the bottom oven rack. Thanks! —J.H., Fountain, Michigan
Pizza screens and pizza pans that are perforated with holes do produce a more evenly baked crust by allowing moisture to escape. Using the bottom oven rack may help because the lower part of the oven is generally hotter. You might also want to try one or more of the following suggestions. First, prebake the pizza crust for a few minutes before adding toppings. Vegetables that have a higher water content, such as mushrooms and spinach, may produce a softer crust. Try lightly sauteing them before adding them to your pizza topping. Second, try using fewer toppings, especially sauce. You may be overloading your pizza. Finally, you could sprinkle a thin layer of shredded cheese over the dough before adding the sauce and toppings to create a moisture barrier between them.
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The Taunton Daily Gazette, Taunton, MA
• How 5-Minute Phone Calls Could Make You Rich
• email print
• Business Insider
talking on phone stadium
Most of us haven't made a personal phone call in a while.
Why would we, when we could text or email and deal with our friends and families at our convenience (it got lost in my inbox!)?
Well, finds Thomas Corley, maybe we should do it because it could make us rich.
One of those rich habits is simply making phone calls.
According to his research, 80% of wealthy people make birthday calls, hello calls, and life event calls, compared to 11%, 26%, and 3% of poor people, respectively.
These numbers are in line with one of Corley's larger findings: Wealthy people value their relationships, and think those connections helped them get where they are. In fact, 88% of rich people agree with the statement, "Relationships are critical to financial success," and 68% of them say they love meeting new people.
Corley himself even credits a windfall of $60,000 to getting into the habit of making a few simple phone calls, after these check-ins secured him the job of rolling over a wealthy new client's 401(k) funds in his accounting business.
Does calling your friends on their birthdays guarantee an influx of cash? Of course not. But on the other hand, it certainly couldn't hurt.
See Also:
SEE ALSO: 9 Things Rich People Do Differently Every Day
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LCD vs Plasma: which is the best for 3D TV?
We investigate which is the best 3D TV tech for you
Which tech makes the best 3D TV
Building the perfect TV has always been an impossible task for the bigshots of the electronics world.
While the current batch of flatscreen efforts are brighter, thinner and better than ever, the problem is that there's always room for improvement.
The contrast ratio can always be improved on as well as aspects like colour reproduction, pixel density, resolution, brightness, thickness and bezel size, to name but a few.
And that's not even mentioning the new challenges that inevitably get thrown up as new technologies are invented.
The current headache facing Sony, Panasonic and the like comes in the form of a new phenomenon found in 3D TVs called 'crosstalk'.
How it works
To create the illusion of 3D on a two-dimensional screen, a 3D TV needs to show two separated images, one for each eye.
Current 3D TVs show the two separate images sequentially - so very quickly one after the other. Active shutter 3D glasses are then synchronised by the TV's infrared emitters, and close and open the shutters many times per second, in time with the images.
When the left eye image is shown, the right eye shutter closes and so forth.
But if the two images are not separated perfectly, part of the right eye image will be seen by the left eye and vice versa. And this causes crosstalk - a sort of blurry ghosting effect around some edges in the picture.
Crosstalk can occur if the liquid crystals in an LCD panel do not switch fast enough from bright to dark or vice versa, or if the phosphor cells in plasma panels have an afterglow that lasts too long.
3D glasses can also cause some crosstalk if they're not precisely synchronised with the TV or if they are sensitive to an inclination angle.
At best, crosstalk can be an unwanted distraction, while at its worst it can completely ruin the 3D effect and make a 3D picture unwatchable. And it's the battle to eliminate crosstalk from 3D TV pictures which is currently occupying the minds at the big telly manufacturers.
So if you're thinking of buying a new 3D TV, how do you ensure that you buy the TV with the least amount of this disturbing crosstalk?
Many people believe it comes down to that age-old choice between LCD and plasma. So which telly tech is best for 3D?
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BHV Recover My Files review
Rescue previously deleted files with ease
TODO alt text
Our Verdict
Easy to use and impressively powerful, this is a fanastic software package
• Simple interface
• Versatile
• Good range of tools
• Won't always be able to retrieve complete files
If you have ever deleted a file or folder by accident, you'll be thankful for the Recycle Bin acting as a safety net.
However, what happens if you delete this folder, then discover you need the file after all?
Conventional wisdom says there is little you can do, but with the use of tools like Recover My Files, it's possible to restore partial, if not whole, files.
Bring your files back from the dead
Windows being a rather lazy OS doesn't actually delete a file when you ask it to; it simply gets rid of the identifier that marks its position on your laptop's hard drive. So the next time you save to disk that portion of the disk is allowed to be used.
Recover My Files works by looking for these deleted headers and retrieving them. If a portion of the file you're after has been overwritten, you won't be able to retrieve it all, but the program will detect whatever is left.
User friendly
The interface is simple to use with four main tasks that can be performed. Being a wizard-driven program it's easy to get to grips with.
There are two different ways to carry out a search, either Complete or Fast.
Our test machine is an ageing Pentium M laptop with a 40GB hard drive that could carry out a Fast search in a little over five minutes, but it's a rather intensive tool to use so is best done when you're not running other programs in the background.
Search external drives too
Results were impressive, with some 30,000 files retrieved. Not all of these are needed, so it's possible to search the findings to find the ones you need. You can choose to set a search for a specific file if you know the name.
Also, when it comes to searching for specific files, you can narrow down your choice to individual drives and even look for defined groups, such as email attachments or images.
With files increasingly stored on external devices, the software will also look for lost files on your USB memory key or memory card, which we think is a versatile addition to the software.
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Andrew Witte
This conversation is closed.
Direct democracy Vs Representative democracy. A network to connect and empower America with our US politicians and our elected leadership.
I am developing a social network that could change the way America's political agenda is set. I would like to reset the tone of America by giving all Americans a choice in our futures again. One American network for all Americans. I believe America does not get involved with US politics merely because it’s complicated and we have all lost trust in our representative democracy. America wants a choice in what’s happening to us all, so let’s give it to them by creating a Direct Democracy network where the citizen has the power to make change on all levels. In the network the user will be able to view current bills on the floor at the congressional, senate, and presidential level. The user will have the ability to vote on these bills and view the voting results of all Ameritics users as they move to the respective floors of the house or reps and on the president’s desk. Ameritics users will be able to connect with other users and with their elected leaders; via the congressional district tab (connecting with citizens in your district), Senate state tab (connecting with citizens in your state), and Presidential tab (connecting with citizens in the United States). I believe more brains are better than one which is why I’m introducing a think tank; an area within the site where users join forces to create and share ideas on how to fix problems in their district, state, and country levels. The user will also have access to daily Q&A’s as well as current and trending news, a history of their district and state representatives, and approval ratings based on Ameritics activity. A real-time debt clock can also be found on the network. Ameritics users will be able to integrate their Ameritics activity with their personal social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. Together we can empower our citizens. Our futures and our children’s futures depend on it.
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Jul 3 2012: cool.
here is my suggestion: include a budget browser. the user first establishes the amount of total tax he pays in a year. there should be calculators, or simply let him enter as he wants. then show the central budget projected onto his contribution, that is, how much money he personally spent on government programs. the browser should be easy to search and summarize by various aspects. it also should include not yet realized, but proposed optional spendings.
rationale: it is easy to juggle numbers like billion or trillion dollars, nobody has a clue how much is that. but if you explicitly see that you yourself spent USD10,000 on military, or 1000 on war on drugs, you might get upset a bit, and re-evaluate the necessity of such programs.
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Jul 9 2012: Krisztián Pintér
That is a great idea to have a budget browser. I do know that the house passed a bill that all tax dollars spent by US government will have to be loaded in to one central location on the internet for all users to see. This will be a great asset to show Americans how their hard earned tax dollars are spent. I very much will incorporate this Idea into Ameritcs. Thanks for your idea and input.
Andrew Witte
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Jul 4 2012: Andrew, I like it. Sort of a political arm of TED with a yea or nay counter. How will you ensure one vote per person. I lived in Illinois and remember the old Cook County and Daily machine. LOL
The people who are involved will remain involved and use this site. My question # 1 is: How will you lite the fires of those who apathy has already claimed. Question #2: Have you talked to any politicians or their chief of staff to find what would make this site a valid sampling instrument that they would use.
I think this would do good on the national scene (Administration, Senator, and Reps) but find it a bit ambitious to do state and county. Also I review the Congressional Record for fact finding and my state politicians have a web site and I review their records often. Will you be linking any of those sites.
My number one concern is how to re-engage those who have lost faith in the system.
All the best. Bob.
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Jul 9 2012: Robert,
Thanks for your response; I’m always looking for constructive criticism, question, and concerns to better my Ideas. To answer your first question I believe by giving the average American the choice to vote on the same votes as there Congressman, Senators and then projecting Yea vs. Nays results in an aesthetically pleasing simple graph form in respective Congressional districts and States for the Senate, people will then see that they have a choice instead of giving full rein to those we elect. I believe we need to do more citizens and stop giving so much power to one man or woman. On the other hand the Congressman or Senator should want to see what it is there a district or states are feeling on any given issue that cross their desk. Not everyone can go to town halls but most everyone can log in. You can ask anyone of your officials if they are willing to talk to you what it is they want the most and 99% of the time is your opinion and your vote. If anything I hope for my network to one day put out said “fires” instead of creating more for our elected leaders.
Question 2: I have not been in contact with any of my representatives only because it’s nearly impossible for me to get a face to face with any of them due to their time restraints and being too busy. I have been flat out told no from my Senator. Now I am a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and have never bashed nor have I done anything to shame my name but that might also be why they won’t see me. I think it lays more along the lines of I didn’t donate or give support to their campaigns.... Honestly If my theory of how this is going to play out they will not have a choice but to use Ameritics as a tool, If not then they will only be hurting themselves and will not be taking their constituents seriously. Our individual opinions, concerns, and one man or woman’s vote has be pushed by the way side for far too long and should be considered on all votes. One thing that has really pushed me to make this
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Jul 9 2012: dream a reality is in my studies of our history I found that in the very beginning of our countries history we all had a vote on issues and laws that would shape and mold our lives. Somewhere in lost time all of that went away and now we have this system that only functions purely on election cycles. I believe that America wants a change and wants to be heard on an individual bases but we have no outlets to do this. I know you possibly thinking well that’s why we have town halls. Even If one does make it within the time limits and have been given the opportunity to be heard at the town hall the elected official has individual agenda and party agenda to think about when making votes on both Congressional and Senate floors and not majority constituent vote which should be the case seems how that’s what they always say the base every decision after. How can they make said decisions if something like Ameritcs doesn’t exist? We all have gone way to long without having a say into our futures.
I agree with you that Ameritics would do well on a national base which is my near goal. On the other hand I think in the long scope of things Ameritics would be a great asset to city, and county government. I am a fan of all information that can and will be linked to Ameritcs such as:
Again Robert Thank you for taking time to comment and know that I am taking you questions away to apply them in my plan to help empower our fellow America citizens once again.
Andrew Witte
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Jul 3 2012: Uh oh! Please tell me you have already bought the url "Ameritics".
You go, Mr. Witte! You have found a need and are making all the sounds of someone who intends to fill that need.
As you solicit public response to your plan NEVER forget that every remark about why it won't work is valuable information which contributes directly to making it work!
Your most formidable challenge is to avoid being labeled (Conservative; Liberal; Religious; etc.).
Do not be afraid to swiftly censor contributors who engage in rude, profane, and/or disrespectful conduct. Failure to do this is the surest way to send critical-thinking, decent, respectful contributors running. All the best!
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Jul 9 2012: Edward,
In fact I created Ameritics Inc. bought the Ameritics Urls and Trademarked the name Ameritics. I also hold all the right to the intellectual property. I do believe in where I’m going with this and hopefully I can make a difference within America and give change to our historical data. I hope America sees that their opinions do mean something and change starts with us not Government. I am a fan of contributors that are rude, or disrespectful they give me a good laugh. I am a veteran having served as an Infantryman in Iraq in 05-06 and a combat advisor in Afghanistan in 08-09 I have rather thick skin. If anything it helps me focus on why I am doing what I’m doing. Thank you again for you enthusiasm and words of encouragement.
Andrew Witte
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Jul 9 2012: Thank you for risking your life for the people of the free world.
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Lejan .
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Jul 3 2012: Is this a forerunner towards direct-democracy in the US? Or is this voting feature to be seen more like a trend-o-meter of public approval?
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Jul 9 2012: Jan-Bernd Pauli,
Categorically speaking this would be a notional version of direct-democracy, but the notional could absolutely drop off If America rallies and uses Ameritcs as the point of excess to be involved in government. If my theory on how Ameritcs will work we will see Congress and the Senate, change their tone and use Ameritics as a tool and be that true representative that represents on behalf of their constituents. I believe this is the change that most of America is looking for. America cannot afford to stand by and watch our leaders steal from peter to pay Paul and throw money at issues. We as citizens must be more proactive and less reactive with government. My biggest goal is to walk up to any American and ask what they think of the elected leader. And no longer hear well I think there all crooks or I don’t like them... I to be able to trust my leader and know that he or she is taking my individual votes, collective district vote, State collective vote, and vote on thier respective floors purely on a common core of ideals and statistics given by the citizens they lead.
Thank you for your question.
Andrew Witte
• Jul 3 2012: Andrew,
Do not be discouraged. Posting an idea on a site frequented by critical thinkers will inevitably lead to the total deconstruction of your idea, down to the run on sentence. The fact of the matter is that people don't know what they don't know. You as well: you do not know what it would look like if this site existed, because there is no current frame of reference. If Orville & Wilber would have listened to every one that spoke like Philip here, they most likely would not have taken the risk, and our emergence to the sky would have been delayed.
The future of our democracy is through transparency. A site where elected officials can log-in (if your will) to their constituency, review public opinion on current legislation and act accordingly. Where citizens can have access to reviewing bills, laws, measures, & amendments, that effect them and the world in which they live.
I encourage you to start your ideas with "Why" why it is that you are doing what you do. Then the what and the how come later. Inspiration comes when you move or touch someone, after that the how disappears as it becomes far less important then the why. Look up this TED talk. "Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action", then reframe your idea and see if you achieve a different result.
As far as online security goes, if we as a nation deem that it is important, then by all means it is secure. we trade $40B a day on the NYSE through an online database, 70% of the US population banks online, more shop online, we file taxes online, and if iVote-usa.org is successful, we will vote online during our national elections (You two should get together). Public Key Cryptography, Digital Signatures, and PIN's reduce online database vulnerability to almost NIL. Better then any other systems in existence.
I look forward to your progress. I say "Why not!" - pay no heed to those that say "Why it won't", they are known formally as "Late adopters" and only jump on when the band wagon is nearly full.
• Jul 3 2012: Orrville & Wilbur only succeeded because they were better critical thinkers than their starry eyed contemporaries. I empathize with the dream of a more responsive and transparent government but like gravity, there's a hard reality that must be considered. The Internet is global. Not everyone is friendly.
We need a way of connecting with government that stabilizes the system, that promotes compromise among competing factions, and that places truth above partisan myths.
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Jul 9 2012: Brent,
Thank you for your guidance and words of encouragement. Simon Sinek TED talk was amazing, that talk and you have really opened my mind to other paths and ways of thinking for my project. It is forward thinkers such as you that give me motivation to continue on development for my project. Thanks again!
Andrew Witte
• Jul 3 2012: This concept has a few serious problems with it. First, how are you going to provide assurance to politicians that they're only seeing what their constituents are saying? Closely related to this, how are you going to verify the identity and location of these individuals? Will your system recognize computers that have been co-opted by botnets? How often will you scan for botnets? How will you prevent hostile states and nonstate actors from interfering with this system?
How will you distinguish factual and false information? Will you determine source reliability? How will you prevent or stop erroneous memes that can or that have gone viral? Will you attempt to make a distinction of different political factions and special interest groups? How will you manage a balance in public discourse between different special interests? What if a small minority trolls or shouts down a larger group? What about a hostile faction among the politician's constituents that troll his/her supporters?
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Jul 4 2012: Phillip thank you for your feed back as this project is a challenge due to the ever changing technical advances and the cost for development. I remain very fluid and continue to asses, manipulate such issues and conflicts you mention. I cannot answer all of your questions but the one that sticks out the most for me is, "how are you going to provide assurance to politicians that they're only seeing what their constituents are saying?"
I am in the works of completing a United States citizen smart card that will take your identity and place it on one smart card. Ones licenses number, SSN, passport number, health care benefits and records due to the passing of Obama care, voter registration number, Concealed carry permits, ext. Your life’s choices on health care coverage, qualifying tax breaks, Identifying your Spouses and dependents and family lineage, all state and federal government everything will live upon one smart card and can only be accessed by you with a pin number given by yourself. This smart card will be the catalyst between you and a fraud. I believe this to be a very secure way of doing things and cut out all of the other ID cards and permits we all carry. I believe we must consolidate all of our American Licenses, registry numbers, and policies into one carry able smart card. On Ameritics if you are voting on a bill that is about to hit the floor for his or hers congressman you will have to digitally sign your yea or nay thus marking your vote on your smart card verifying that it is in fact you that is voting and this is the way you voted. There is more to come as I don’t want to give away all of my secrets and ideas to the future America. Have a great 4th of July, enjoy the Independences day and remember Americas fallen that have sacrificed their lives.
Andrew Witte
• Aug 2 2012: Andrew, you have clearly given this idea a lot of serious thought. Good for you! One question I have when thinking about a more direct representation by the citizenry in the development and passage of laws is in the area of the expertise of the citizens. By this I mean that the creation of good, useful laws requires a good understanding of the issues those laws are intended to apply to. In many cases, the underlying issues and factors that should be taken into consideration in the framing of a law are complicated and not necessarily known to the average citizen.
It is very important to NOT mistake having MORE people weigh in on a particular law as being better than having MORE people make their feelings known who have a FIRM GRASP on the important details and critical factors involved in the law in question.
While we often complain about having lobbyist have undue influence in the crafting our our laws, the fact of the matter is that those are often the very people who have a much better, in depth understanding of the situation the law is intended to apply to. Sure, the lobbyist tend to have a bias but they also serve a very useful purpose of providing information about the situation certain legislation is created for. Maybe you could use this fact and make provisions in your project for lobbyist and other "experts" to provide helpful and educational information to the average citizen who is interested in voicing their opinions on the particular subject.
An informed citizenry will provide a much more effective legal structure than one which has large numbers of poorly educated, albeit concerned members.
Another problem with educating citizens is what we see in electoral campaigns. There is so much fluff and irrelevant information put out and so many people don't know how to filter the garbage from the useful, valid information that poor decisions are invariably made. We need to do something to make sure people who vote are able to make good decisions.
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Jul 18 2012: Your ideas for social networking related to government management would fit well with and benefit Tribunocarcy (please see: www.tribunocracy.org). Specifically, in addition to helping inform the population, social networks could propose referendum and candidates who might become eligible for consideration by Tribunes. Once a Tribunal Convention was convened participation in social networks might help provide questions and comments that received enough public support to be read before the full tribunal convention.
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800 middle class making less.jpg
That's the deeply ambivalent message from the latest Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll exploring the public's perception of what it means to be middle class in America today. Fully 56 percent of those surveyed said they believe they will eventually climb to a higher rung on the economic ladder than they occupy now. But even more said they worry about falling into a lower economic class sometime in the next few years. Reaffirming the results in earlier Heartland Monitor polls, most of those surveyed said the middle class today enjoys less opportunity, job security, and disposable income than earlier generations did. And strikingly small percentages of American adults said they consider it "very realistic" that they can meet such basic financial goals as paying for their children's college, retiring comfortably, or saving "enough money to ... deal with a health emergency or job loss."
In all, the survey suggests that after years of economic turmoil, most families now believe the most valuable--and elusive--possession in American life isn't any tangible acquisition, such as a house or a car, but rather economic security. Asked to define what it means to be middle class, a solid 54 percent majority of respondents picked "having the ability to keep up with expenses and hold a steady job while not falling behind or taking on too much debt"; a smaller percentage defined it in terms of getting ahead and accumulating savings. "It seems like that class of the people just live from paycheck to paycheck," said Dale High, a trucker from near Idaho Falls, Idaho, who responded to the poll. "Everything is going up, but wages are staying the same. And people can't live like that."
Minorities Rising
See the Full Poll Results
In this poll, as in earlier surveys, whites were much more likely to express fears that opportunity for young people has already peaked, even for those with a college degree. "I feel sorry for my kids--they're just getting out of college--because they have nothing to look forward to," said Tim Cooper, a logistical equipment salesman who lives in the Chicago suburbs. "They're not going to have the ability in the near future to buy a home. There are thousands of people who are going to be stuck with their student loans."
On a Tightrope
People who responded to the Allstate/National Journal poll reported a substantial amount of economic churning in their own lives--showing, again, a close balance between upward and downward mobility in American life. Exactly 30 percent of those surveyed reported they had risen from a lower economic class, and 27 percent said they had slipped down from a higher class. Forty-three percent had seen no movement at all.
This resilient optimism about rising was matched by a widespread fear of falling. Fully 59 percent of respondents voiced concern "about falling out of [their] current economic class over the next few years," including 28 percent who were "very" concerned. Only 40 percent said they weren't concerned about losing ground. Veronica Tovar, a food-service worker in Los Angeles, said she "absolutely" worries about slipping. "Here, you used to work 40 hours a week and you had enough to pay your rent, your utilities, your car," she said. "And you could even spend some money to go eat out two or three times a week. And that kept the money moving around.... It's not that way now. Now you only buy what you need."
The results suggest that Americans' mood is teetering. One-fourth of respondents are consistently optimistic; they expect to rise and aren't worried about falling. Roughly an equal share of people are consistently pessimistic--concerned about falling and not expecting to rise. Another one-sixth expect stasis: They doubt they will either rise or fall. That leaves one-third who believe they are living on a tightrope: They consider it likely they will rise but also worry they will slip instead.
Not Only Fear Itself
Not surprisingly, when asked what would put them at the greatest risk of falling into a lower economic class, respondents most often mentioned losing their job or other source of income (52 percent). Another 25 percent cited an unexpected illness or injury--a measure of continuing anxiety about meeting the costs of health care.
This fear of losing ground is rooted in the conviction that, in the past few years, downward mobility has become much more common than upward movement. Asked whether more Americans recently had "earned or worked their way into the middle class" or had "fallen out of the middle class because of the economy," almost eight times as many respondents took the bleaker view.
Myesha Carter, a speech pathologist in Washington, has weathered the storm herself, but she has watched her mother, brother, and boyfriend all struggle to find steady employment in recent years. "Because of the downturn, I know too many individuals who are in the hole--and just trying to survive," she said. "A lot of people lost financial security over the past decade and are just starting from the ground and having to rebuild."
The survey also captured a grim view of generational change in middle-class life. Respondents were twice as likely to say the middle class has less, rather than more, opportunity to get ahead today than in their parents' generation. They were three times more likely to say today's middle class has less, rather than more, expendable income after paying for expenses. And they were four times as likely to say today's middle class has less, rather than more, job security than the previous generation. Pessimism was again especially intense among those in their 40s and 50s. And whites offered a particularly dreary assessment on all three measures; in their responses on job security, pessimistic assessments outnumbered optimistic ones by more than 5-to-1, a disparity far greater than among minorities.
This widespread sense of slippage may help explain the premium on economic security that showed up in the survey again and again. In one question, asked about the best indicator of membership in the middle class, many more people identified measures of stability than signs of getting ahead. A plurality of 38 percent picked as the best indicator "having long-term financial security by staying out of debt, balancing spending with income, and saving for the future," and 34 percent named the ability to afford basics "like a house and a car and education for yourself or your dependents." Just 21 percent picked "being able to afford nonnecessities like dining out, leisure activities, and annual family vacations." These proportions held across demographic groups and also for the nearly half who identified themselves as middle class.
Presented a more focused choice, almost three-fourths of those polled said "having a secure and reliable income, benefits, and safety net" that allowed them to live "without the risk of facing severe financial hardship" was more important than being able to buy nice things.
Security trumped advancement again in a final question that required a choice between two definitions of what it means to be middle class today. Just 43 percent picked the definition that articulated the traditional American Dream of gaining ground through life ("having the opportunity for financial and professional growth, buying a home, and saving and investing for the future"). A solid 54 percent majority picked a definition that revolved less around getting ahead than about not sliding back ("having the ability to keep up with expenses and hold a steady job while not falling behind or taking on too much debt"). Once again, the results were the same for those who self-identified as the middle class and the sample as a whole.
"I think the middle class has become a treading-water position," said Loren Cowdery, a graduate student who delivers pizzas in Bellingham, Wash. "I think, ideally, it would be where they are always trying to move up. But I think those opportunities have been stifled in the past 20 or 30 years."
'Values Have Changed'
The survey also probed what Americans believe are the most important actions they could take as individuals to avoid sliding down the class ladder as well as the best strategy for society as a whole to follow to enlarge the middle class. The personal answers revolved around fiscal prudence. One-third of those surveyed said the most important thing they could do to ensure they would not drop into a lower class was to focus on "spending wisely and saving and investing for the future"; another 22 percent cited "paying off debt and not taking on new debt" as most important.
Those results hint at a moralistic strain in public thinking that attributes part of the squeeze on average families today to inflated expectations and insufficient personal discipline, especially compared with previous generations. "I think [people] spend a lot more money on going out to dine than our parents' generation did when they were our age," said James Johnson, a small-business owner in Roseau, Minn. "They probably borrow to have luxury items, toys, things they don't necessarily need. I think the values have changed." Bill from Birmingham, Ala., who works in investments for an insurance company (and declined to give his last name), wasn't alone in decrying Americans' lack of financial understanding in recent years. "We do know how to make a paycheck. We unfortunately don't know what to do with one once we've made it," he said.
Respondents deemed other options for personal action less important: 14 percent picked continuing to work hard, an equal number identified "gaining new skills and education," and 12 percent spoke of "improving or maintaining your health." A quarter of minority respondents focused on bolstering their education, compared with only a tenth of whites.
Another question offered a different set of choices for the broad social strategies that would best help people stay in or reach the middle class. Half said the best approach would be to help people attain "a higher level of education"; only 30 percent said the key was for people to work "as hard as possible," and 12 percent named "starting a business" as the most promising strategy.
Once again, minorities were more likely than whites to rank education at the top (although the gap was much smaller than on the question about personal actions). Ashley Canal, a young Hispanic in Merced, Calif., is on a waiting list to pursue a community-college certificate that will train her as a medical assistant, a job she thinks will provide more stability and resources for her three children than her current position as a cashier. "We're just living off each paycheck," she said. "I want to [go to college] because I want to get better pay."
Strikingly, however, large numbers of those surveyed thought it infeasible for them personally--and for anyone who isn't affluent--to afford a child's education or to achieve other goals of financial security. Just 21 percent said it was "very realistic" that they could save enough to pay for their children's college education; nearly twice as many thought it wasn't. Cowdery, the graduate student, who is funding his education with "a lot of loans [plus] scholarships and working," said his experience suggests "the population of undergraduates is coming more and more from richer and richer families. People in the middle and lower classes are having a harder and harder time getting their children educated."
A meager 22 percent thought it was "very realistic" to expect regular increases in income or the ability to accumulate "enough money to be able to deal with a health emergency or job loss"; only 24 percent thought they could realistically "save enough to retire comfortably"; just 32 percent thought it realistic that they would ever have "job security." Dale High, the 54-year-old Idaho trucker, is fatalistic about his ability to afford retirement. "Good luck," he snorted. "By the time I retire, I hope I have Social Security, because other than that I've got nothing." Larger proportions thought it "very realistic" they could afford quality health care or afford to dine out (37 percent each); pay their bills without accumulating debt (47 percent); balance work and family time (49 percent); or own a home (57 percent). Those who called themselves middle class weren't appreciably more optimistic than respondents overall about their ability to meet any of these financial objectives.
No Shelter From the Storm
Those polled were only slightly more optimistic about the ability of the middle class overall to meet financial challenges that require the ability to save. Asked again about paying for children's college education, 49 percent said it was realistic for "only the upper class" to afford it, 37 percent said it was achievable for the middle-class and up, and 12 percent said "almost anyone" can afford to pay for college. Similarly, 46 percent said only the upper class could realistically accumulate enough savings to withstand a health emergency or job loss, and 45 percent said only the affluent could save enough to retire comfortably.
Larger version
When asked about income and possessions--owning a home, eating out, getting raises, paying bills without sinking into debt--respondents saw the opportunities distributed more evenly. Surprisingly small proportions thought that only the upper class could obtain job security or good health care.
Yet, the overall message is of pervasive, entrenched vulnerability--a sense that many financial milestones once assumed as cornerstones of middle-class life are now beyond reach for all but the rich. That sense is often most powerful for those confronting these challenges directly. For instance, fewer than a fifth of self-identified middle-class Americans ages 40 to 59 said it was "very realistic" that they could save enough for retirement. Fewer than a fourth of middle-class respondents with children under 18 considered it very realistic that they could pay for college education. And fewer than half of full-time workers who call themselves middle class said it's very realistic that they'll enjoy job security.
In the catalog of losses this nation has suffered in its economic turmoil since 2000, the survey suggests, this stands out: For many average families, gone is the comfort that comes from believing they have built some shelter against life's storms. "Our kids aren't going to have [the security] that we've had," said Cooper, the Chicago-area salesman. "And we don't have what our parents had. There is no job security. Your job security is your ability to work."
Paddling Alone
What could government to do buffer Americans from this financial insecurity? Given a choice of four public policies, a 38 percent plurality picked "making higher education more affordable and accessible." Smaller groups wished to make health care more affordable (26 percent), make retirement benefits "more secure and reliable" (16 percent), and make home loans and refinancing "more affordable and accessible" (12 percent). Asked what steps private-sector businesses could take to improve conditions for the middle class, the leading preference was "hiring more people and paying higher wages and better benefits" (40 percent), followed distantly by "investing more in their local communities" (20 percent), and lowering prices for consumers (14 percent).
But there's a problem: Most Americans lack confidence that the nation's leaders, public or private, will respond to their worries. Like earlier Heartland Monitor surveys, this poll sends the unmistakable message that average Americans believe they are navigating more turbulent financial waters than earlier generations did--and that they are paddling alone, with little support from institutions or leaders.
Assessments of Obama's economic agenda have also suffered since last year. Just 29 percent said the administration's actions will "increase opportunity for people like you to get ahead," while 43 percent expect their opportunities would diminish (21 percent saw no effect). That's also a nosedive since Heartland Monitor polling last fall, and the worst showing for the president since December 2011. Only 21 percent of all whites (and 18 percent of noncollege whites) said they believed Obama's agenda would improve their opportunities. Obama slipped noticeably on a broader question the survey has tracked since 2009: Just 40 percent said his policies "helped to avoid an even worse economic crisis and are fueling economic recovery," while 47 percent preferred the negative view that his policies had "run up a record federal deficit while failing to significantly improve the economy." Three-fifths of nonwhites agreed with the positive statement, while 55 percent of whites echoed the negative.
In this survey, completed before the Boston bombings, Obama's overall approval rating tumbled as well, with just 46 percent offering a thumbs-up to his performance (his worst showing since late 2011) and 49 percent giving a thumbs-down. Among minorities, he retains a solid 73 percent approval rating, but just 36 percent of all whites--and a paltry 32 percent of noncollege whites--gave him positive marks. Only 38 percent of independents approved of the president's performance.
Yet Obama still looks tall next to Congress: 76 percent of adults say they disapprove of Congress's performance, and just 17 percent approve. Obama remains more trusted than lawmakers (by 41 percent to 33 percent) to develop solutions to the country's economic challenges. His 8-point edge is only half as large as it was in November, but his advantage over congressional Republicans remains decisive among the mainstays of his national electoral coalition--minorities, young adults, and college-educated white women.
These skeptical assessments of Washington's performance are a single strand in a broader skein of disenchantment with the nation's leadership. When the survey asked whether the policies and actions of a long list of individuals and groups were helping the middle class, just one group generated a strongly positive response: 49 percent said "business owners in your area" were making things better; only 16 percent said they were making things worse (29 percent saw no impact). Almost all other choices fared poorly. Just 13 percent said major financial institutions were helping, while 55 percent said they were making things worse. Chief executives of major U.S. corporations faced a similar verdict: 15 percent positive to 54 percent negative. For Republican elected officials, the numbers were 17 percent positive to 46 percent negative; Democratic elected officials (28 percent to 40 percent) were not much better.
Congress as an institution ranked lowest of all: Just 8 percent of respondents said Congress was helping the middle class, compared with 64 percent who found Capitol Hill lawmakers a hazard. But "the member of Congress from your district" wasn't so bad: 30 percent positive and 26 percent negative, while 31 percent saw their member as having no impact at all. Obama's review tilted toward the negative: 45 percent said he was making things worse for the middle class, 36 percent said he was a help; the other 16 percent shrugged. Whites were almost twice as likely to say Obama was making things worse as making things better; members of minority groups felt almost exactly the opposite.
In a summary question, the survey asked respondents to choose between three competing explanations for the increasing struggles average families face. Just 17 percent picked the impersonal structural dynamics that many economists cite--"the economic impact of technology and globalization." Twenty-three percent pointed their finger at "business leaders not paying their employees enough." By far the largest group, at 54 percent, blamed "elected officials making the wrong policy decisions." Government may absorb the most criticism, but the disenchantment and anxiety that radiates through this latest Heartland Monitor Poll suggests that most Americans believe that when it comes to the middle class's tenuous position, there is plenty of blame to go around--and no quick solutions in sight.
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Among the SNCC members to reject that path, were Shirley and Charles Sherrod. Shirley Sherrod had every reason to follow Carmichael. Her cousin Bobby Hall had been lynched. Her father had been killed in cold blood over a land dispute with a white neighbor. Neither killer was punished. Instead, white supremacists regularly visited Sherrod's home intent on terrorizing her widowed mother in silence. But when SNCC split, Sherrod, and her husband, rejected violence and nationalism, despite having every reason to embrace revanche.
When Andrew Breitbart died yesterday, it was natural to turn to the effort he led to injure Sherrod's career and reputation. We all know that in the specific case of the Spooners, Breitbart's facts were wrong. But I want us to consider a greater truth. Sherrod had not simply helped the Spooners, but that she had -- since the days of Lester Maddox -- lived as the exact opposite of the racist Breitbart portrayed. Thus Breitbart did not simply get the facts of an incident wrong, he got the broad facts of an entire human life wrong. Confronted with such a deed, the person who lives in empathy, who sees an aggrieved party as human, must necessarily embrace a firm and full-throated contrition. Instead Breitbart chose, to look for ways to make himself right.
He claimed that the video showed NAACP members cheering for discrimination against whites:
What this video shows ... is not just that Shirley Sherrod, what she said was wrong, but that the audience was laughing and applauding as she described how she maltreated the white farmer. ... The point is that the NAACP, at a dinner honoring this person, is cheering on a person describing--describing a white person as the other.
This was a lie.
He questioned the identity of the very people he claimed to be vindicating:
You tell me as a reporter how CNN put on a person today who purported to be the farmer's wife? What did you do to find out whether or not that was the actual farmer's wife? I mean, if you're going to accuse me of a falsehood, tell me where you've confirmed that had this incident happened 24 years ago. [...] You're going off of her word that the farmer's wife is the farmer's wife?
This was another lie
In short when confronted with his participation in an immoral act, Brietbart doubled down on immorality. Accused of deception, he elected to deceive further. He took many with him down that path, and by the end we were left with writers parsing the term lynching so as to further malign Sherrod. That their redefinition would have remanded Emmett Till out of the category mattered little. Anything for the home team.
When I heard that Andrew Breitbart had died, I was saddened. It is natural to think of the damage Breitbart did to people like Sherrod by embracing lying as a weapon. But I found myself thinking of the great injury he must have ultimately done himself, for by the end of the Sherrod affair, he was a man lying only to himself and other liars.
By embracing that deception, by neglecting to research Sherrod before putting up a clip of her talking, by electing to see her as little more than a shiv against the hated liberals, he deprived himself of knowledge, of experience, of insight, of enlightenment. That he might learn something from Sherrod, that he might access some power from her life, and pass that on to loved ones and friends, never occurred to him. Publicly, he lived to make himself right -- a tradition that is fully empowered in our politics. Breitbart didn't invent the art of making yourself right. But he embraced it, and then advanced it.
That is what took me to sadness. I have experienced curiosity as a primarily selfish endeavor. It originates in the understanding of the brevity of life, and the desire to see as much of it as possible, from as many angles as possible without doing too much damage to my morality. The opposite of that -- incuriosity, dishonesty, the opportunistic deployment of information -- is darkness. Breitbart died, like all of us will, in darkness. But as a media persona he chose to also live there, and in the process has impelled countless others to throttle themselves into the abyss.
I have heard it said by some fellow liberals that Breitbart was in fact a good person, that his public persona was not the same as his private. This kind of praise is so broadly true of most controversial public figures as to be meaningless. And it is irrelevant. Breitbart may well have been an excellent father and a great friend but that is not why we are talking about him. We are noting his death because of the impact he had on our politics and our conversation. It must be said that that impact was for the worse. Any talk of his private life, is an attempt to change the subject and avoid discomfiting truths.
It is wholly appropriate to be sorry that Andrew Breitbart died. But in the relevant business, it is right to be sorry for how he lived.
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'He'll use every means at his disposal to make his money. If it means pissing off the locals, he'll have no qualms about it.'
US billionaire displays famed ruthlessness in Scotland and in Manhattan
It must be dispiriting at times to be one of the local Aberdeenshire protesters trying to stop the billionaire Donald Trump from building a £500m golf complex along one of Scotland's finest stretches of dunes. His visit to the site this week has reminded them, if they needed it, that they are pitted against one of the world's most famous and famously ruthless businessmen.
But they should take comfort from the thought that they are not alone. Three thousand miles away, in the rather less rustic location of SoHo in lower Manhattan, a very similar battle is being played out between residents and the Trump phenomenon over his plans to construct a $450m (£220m) condominium. The scheme's opponents say the 46-storey tower would ruin the low-rise nature of the neighbourhood, in much the same way as Aberdeen's antagonists rail against the 950 homes and 45-room hotel envisaged for "Trump Boulevard".
The heartening news for the Scottish campaigners is that Mr Trump's ambitions in New York have provoked an unusual degree of solidarity between neighbourhoods across the city, who are going to the courts in an attempt to stop the development. The bad news is that the tycoon has proved uncannily successful in winning over the city government. "He has been very able at ingratiating himself with the city authorities," said Andrew Berman, director of the historic preservation society for Manhattan's Greenwich Village.
It's Trump's forte, working contacts among the great and the good, using his reputation as a celebrity deal-maker to drive through his designs. He sums up the approach concisely in the title of his forthcoming book: Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life.
It has certainly got him a long way. His background helped: father Fred was a wealthy developer, but most of the elder Trump's property portfolio was in Brooklyn. Young Donald took the family business over the East river into the much more brutal real estate market of Manhattan, where he now owns more than 18m square feet of prime space. From there, he has taken the Trump empire national - with casinos in New Jersey, hotels in Las Vegas and Chicago, golf courses in Florida and Los Angeles - and global, with properties bearing his name in Toronto, Panama City and Dubai. But his headline successes hide a more complicated picture. For a start, no one can agree on precisely how much he is worth. Business magazine Forbes puts him at $3bn, but every year he disputes the figure, claiming his personal wealth is more than twice that.
"He is clearly a very wealthy man, but just how wealthy has always been unclear," says his biographer, Gwenda Blair. "Anyone who has sat down and done the math on what is visible knows that he can't possibly be worth what he says he is." Her book, Donald Trump: Master Apprentice, reminds us that he has come close to business extinction on several occasions. What saved him was his ability to turn himself into an international brand which melded his reputed ruthlessness in business with the glamour of his personal life in the penthouse of Trump Tower (worth $50m on its own) and his succession of beautiful wives: Ivana, Marla and Melania. "It's pretty remarkable, but he has established the Trump brand as someone associated with leading a super-luxury lifestyle."
But what really sent the value of the Trump brand sky-rocketing was the launch of The Apprentice, his leap into television with the famous catch-phrase: "You're fired!" The show is ostensibly about young people competing to work for him, but in reality it is all about Donald Trump. Mark Lamkin, a former competitor on the show, grew in awe of his sharp side: "He will use every means at his disposal to make his money. If that means pissing off the locals, he has no qualms about it."
There is a lesson there for the protesters of Aberdeen, as there is in what happened to comic and TV personality Rosie O'Donnell, who criticised him on air and in the fallout was forced from her job as a presenter of talk show The View. "Trumped, I was," she writes in her new book, Celebrity Detox. "I started to see that he was not a man. That human spirit seemed to have gotten lost to a mechanical repetitive meanness, a push-button person with its circuits askew."
The CV
Born 1946, New York City, son of Fred C and Mary Trump
Education Economics degree, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton school, 1968
Family Married to Ivana Zelnicek, 1977 (divorced 1991), children, Donald Jr, Ivanka, Eric; married to Marla Maples, 1993 (divorced 1999), one child, Tiffany Ariana; married to Melania Knauss, 2005, one child, Barron William
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Raspberry Pi device will 'reboot computing in schools'
A tiny computer called Raspberry Pi and costing £20 is the big hope for this year. But most of the orders come from private schools
Pupils at The King’s School, Chester, check out a Raspberry Pi computer
Pupils at The King’s School, Chester, check out a Raspberry Pi computer. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian Christopher Thomond/Guardian
Eben Upton was an academic working in computer science at Cambridge University when, five years ago, he began to notice a disturbing trait among the applicants he was interviewing for degree course places. "None of them seemed to know enough about what a computer really was or how it worked," he says. "I found it worrying."
What Upton realised was that schools weren't teaching pupils the basics of computing any more – they were just teaching them how to use software. "Children were learning about applications, which are pretty low-value skills. They weren't being properly equipped to think about how computers are programmed, about how they're built and how we make them work."
That, says Upton, had led not only to a decline in the quality of candidates for university degree courses, but also in the number of applicants. "Computing wasn't being seen as the exciting, vibrant subject it should be at school – it had become lacklustre and even boring," he says.
The answer, Upton believed, lay in the development of a computer that would give children the knowhow and inspiration they were missing. "What was needed was a return to an exciting, programmable machine like the old BBC Micro; and it had to be affordable, say around £20, so every child could potentially have one."
Upton gathered a group of like-minded teachers, academics and computer enthusiasts around him, and the dream of the Raspberry Pi – a cheap, credit-card-sized, programmable computer – was born. Last week, the first prototypes arrived at his Cambridge laboratory; by the summer he hopes they'll be available in some schools, and by September he hopes they'll be starting to make a real difference to the teaching of computing across Britain.
The first 10 devices are being auctioned on eBay, with some bidders pledging more than £2,000 for a machine that will retail at around £22. But why? Upton hopes it signals support from the computer community for Raspberry Pi as a concept, as well as speculation that early models will one day be worth high sums. "We're a charity, and our ambition is to keep the costs as low as possible to enable as many schools as possible to invest in it for their students," he says.
Until now, though, inquiries from independent schools have outnumbered those from state schools, by around five to one. "My hope is that businesses will sponsor their purchase for less advantaged schools as well," he says.
At Kesgrave high school in Ipswich, a state school, computing teacher Clive Beale is eagerly awaiting the machines. "There's not been anything like it for 25 years," he says. "We'll boot it up and it will just blink at us – we'll have to tell it what to do. It's going to give pupils a chance to be creative."
He says computing has been neglected in schools for years. "Not only have we not given students opportunities to learn programming, we've also failed to encourage what I'd call computational thinking, which is a way of thinking about and solving problems ... it has applications across the curriculum, so it's something pupils would gain enormously from knowing about."
And the number of pupils choosing the subject for A-level is going down. "I currently have three students in my year 13 class, compared with as many as 20 in year 13 classes in other subjects," he says.
Beale is pinning his hopes on the device – named because of the computer industry's fascination with fruit, and because the program it first used was the Python. "The Raspberry Pi is going to reboot computing in schools, and lots more young people are going to get interested in it as a result."
Professor Simon Peyton Jones, who chairs the Computing at School working group, says one of the key features of the gadget is that it will give children the chance to "mess around". "The computers that children currently come into contact with are mission critical for either their family or their school – they're not computers they can be allowed to mess up. But this is a machine children can fiddle with." He believes every child should have some knowledge of computing. "We understand that physics, for example, is a subject children need to have at least a basic understanding of, because it plays a key role in the world. It's the same with computer technology: do we want the adults of tomorrow to see it as a mysterious box they can't understand, or do we want them to have a sense of how to master it?"
Additional reporting by Jessica Shepherd
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Is it OK ... to use a caravan?
Leo Hickman's guide to a good life
Before she recently took up the post of secretary of state for air miles, Margaret Beckett, as environment secretary, had the happy coincidence of also being the country's most famous caravanner. She, along with the owners of the UK's almost one million "leisure vehicles" (caravans, motor- homes and caravan holiday homes), are members of a growing breed that has always celebrated its closeness to nature. Shunning the cramped flights and concrete box rooms of the package holidays in the sun, caravanners prefer to spend their nights parked up under the stars with the freedom, and lightness of foot, to move on in the morning to wherever they choose.
Interesting, then, that they have long been the target of so much ire. A good proportion of this - let's admit it - hatred comes from the "get off my road" variety of driver who will risk head-on collision if it means not having to spend another mile looking at the back end of a caravan. Any motorists heading to the south-west in the summer, for example, will probably have experienced these emotions. But when a "climbing lane" for trucks and caravans was trialled on the Naish Hill stretch of the M5 in 2004 it was judged by the Highways Agency not to have conclusively eased the congestion (even though, to the chagrin of the Caravan Club, it still pushed on with the scheme that concluded with the opening of a permanent climbing lane last week). Is this criticism fair, then?
Another source of fuel for the critics is the "blot on the landscape" argument. Last month the laird of the Inner Hebridean island of Colonsay announced that the 100 islanders had agreed to ban caravans and motorhomes from travelling by ferry to the island. "The locals thought they spoiled the appearance of the island and their owners did not contribute to a very fragile economy, where the season is short and every penny across the counter helps," says Alex Howard, head of Colonsay estate.
The Caravan Club calls the decision "tourism fascism", and argues that caravanners contribute £1bn to the British economy each year.
But it does seem fair to ask just how much a host community benefits when caravanners bring their own food, bed and transport. This leads to the most pressing issue - the direct environmental impact of caravans and motor-homes. It doesn't really seem that sensible to bring a sink, loo, shower, sofa, mattress, crockery et al with you when you go on holiday, especially when, combined with the weight of the towing vehicle, it can all add up to several tonnes. The Caravan Club, for example, is "disappointed" that the weight limit for the B-category licence under the proposed Third European Driving Licence Directive will not be 4.25 tonnes as opposed to 3.5 tonnes for motor caravans. As with cars, the trend for caravans and motorhomes is for ever bigger models. The extra weight and drag from towing a caravan also increases fuel use considerably. And the fuel consumption of a large motorhome can be as poor as 5-10 miles per gallon.
But the counter-cry from caravanners is that they tend to holiday within the UK and, therefore, don't need polluting flights abroad. With dozens of models to choose from it's hard to make an accurate comparison, but with a modest campervan - say, the VW Caravelle - the comparisons between carbon dioxide emissions do seem favourable, even with flights to Europe. For example, a 1,000km trip (London to Cornwall and back with some small diversions) in a Caravelle (174PS, 2.5-litre diesel) will emit, on average, 224kg of carbon dioxide, according to the Vehicle Certification Agency, whereas a 2,000km short-haul flight (broadly equivalent to Heathrow to Marseille return) will produce about 300kg per passenger. But most leisure vehicles will be carrying at least two people - plus people might fly much further than the south of France for their holidays.
With bigger leisure vehicles the comparisons clearly become far less favourable. A larger Mercedes Sprinter motorhome, according to the Energy Savings Trust, would emit 350kg of CO2 over the same journey as the Caravelle. But, as ever, the train beats both - a 1,000km trip would emit 40kg of CO2 per passenger.
If you do use a leisure vehicle, reducing weight wherever possible is important. Transporting water - either fresh water or as sewage - in onboard tanks doesn't make any sense, unless you are within a particularly sensitive area and are instructed to do so. How the sewage and any other waste is dealt with at any caravan park or campsite is a key question to ask. Consult the Caravan Club ( or Camping and Caravanning Club ( for more information about each prospective site, as well as for driving tips (every half-bar under-inflation in tyre pressure increases fuel consumption by 5%). The Windermere Camping and Caravanning Club Site in the Lake District, for example, has won a number of awards and been hailed as the most environmentally friendly campsite in the UK.
Finally, never be tempted to pull over and stop for the night away from the crowds on a lonely layby. In New Zealand, the land of the campervan, the problem is called "freedom camping" and is blamed for roadside waste as well as providing little benefit to the local community. Motor Caravan magazine is running a campaign called Stopovers UK to lobby for more official roadside sites, similar to the many aires across France, in part to curb this illegal urge.
· Next week: Is it OK to use a match or a lighter? Send your views to
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Google is trying to buy Digg for $200 million, says TechCrunch
But we've heard this one before. Whether or not it's true remains to be seen...
Google has a history of buying companies -- YouTube, Blogger, Picasa, GrandCentral, Keyhole (Google Earth), Writely (Google Docs), JotSpot (Google Sites), Dodgeball etc -- so this wouldn't be a surprise. Also, as TechCrunch points out: "Most of Digg's revenue comes from a three year ad deal with Microsoft, which will be terminated on a sale to Google." This would add a little spice, and might tempt Microsoft to make a counter-offer.
The trickier question is why Google would want Digg in the first place, apart from the usual: it would provide a platform for Google to place zillions of adverts. Digg might benefit from association with Google, which smooches prime ministers and presidents, but would Google benefit from association with Digg, which appears to be increasingly dominated by jerks?
In any case, we've been round the houses on this one before. During the last "Google buys Digg" inflammation, in March, Digg CEO Jay Adelson posted a note:
Whether this is another non-story remains to be seen....
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The greatest risk to the US is its own imagination
A cult of secrecy only increases the grave danger of terrorism
The article by "X" which appeared in the American magazine Foreign Affairs in July 1947 would become the most famous commentary on foreign policy of modern times. Entitled The Sources of Soviet Conduct, it argued that communist Russia was a cautious power whose ideology laid down that capitalism would eventually fail because of its own contradictions. The USSR would therefore try to wait the capitalist world out rather than frontally attack it. The piece further proposed that the Soviet Union's own weaknesses were far more serious than any on our side and would in time lead to its demise, and that the west's best policy was one of judicious containment. Events proved George Kennan to have been about as right as any man can hope to be on such matters - and yet, as the former senator, Patrick Moynihan, has written - "The history of American foreign policy in the second half of the 20th century could be written in terms of how this message was lost."
We do not yet have, or, if we do, we have not yet identified the "X" article on the real nature of the threat which became manifest on September 11 2001. But we do have reason to reflect on the cautionary tale that is the story of western policy toward the communist powers. In his book Secrecy, Moynihan showed how fantastical notions of Soviet military, political and economic strength grew within an institutional culture which preferred bad news to good. The cult of secrecy nourished this growth, because it inhibited rational discussion by sucking more and more information out of the public realm and by trumping what remained public. Secret information surely had to be more reliable than the ordinary stuff that was just lying around. And so, as the literally visible evidence piled up that the Soviet Union and the People's Republic were muddled, corrupt, and inefficient societies under severe strains, it was ignored in favour of secret calculations that showed them on the way to outmatching western countries in every sphere.
The result was huge military overspending by the US, which drove it deep into debt, a war that might have been avoided in Vietnam, and a series of covert operations that caused much suffering and eventually almost compromised the constitutional order in America itself. Even when a more realistic perception of Russian weakness came to prevail, an assumption that the Soviet Union was a permanent fixture in history continued in some western circles almost to the end.
With the US now spending on defence at rates comparable to, or higher than, those of the Carter and Reagan years, and with the planned military action in Iraq seen by some as presaging more wars around the world, it is an obvious enough thought that the mistakes of the past may be about to be repeated. The military arguments are by now familiar. The critics say the threat of missile attack from rogue states, which accounts for that large portion of spending devoted to missile defence and that contemplated, apparently, for new nuclear weapons to counter chemical and biological weapons, is already adequately deterred by America's existing weapons. The spending on conventional military capability, they say, is still skewed to weaponry required for combat with the vanished Soviet Union or a highly unlikely war with China, and is irrelevant to the kinds of conflict in which the United States is most likely to be involved in the future. Undoubtedly, there is threat inflation here.
But a more important argument is the broader one of whether America under George W Bush is in the process of mistaking the nature of Islamist terrorism, misunderstanding the historical phase through which, at different rates and in different ways, Muslim societies are passing and, for good measure, miscalculating a range of other threats, like that represented by North Korea. Is there, in this respect, a parallel to the inflation of threat that operated during the cold war years? The first point must be that, considered in terms of intention alone, this seems unlikely. There may be a scrap or two of evidence that al-Qaida and its allies and emulators might draw the line at using the worst kind of weapons - there was one report that they had rejected the idea of crashing planes into nuclear reactors - but there is more to suggest that they would use any means they came to possess. The intention, then, is potentially genocidal, unless and until there is proof to the contrary.
But capacity and durability are another matter. It is normal, after all, for the capacity of terrorists, saboteurs and traitors to be exaggerated. Moynihan recalls in his book the blowing up by German saboteurs of the munitions dump on Black Tom Island in New York harbour in the early morning of July 30 1916. It smashed windows and shook people out of bed throughout the city, and although the loss of life was small, it was the September 11 of that era. This and other German-inspired incidents led to hysteria among the population and to over-reaction by the authorities on a grand scale. The real facts, which were that the Germans had more or less shot their bolt as far as subversion and sabotage went, were for a long time obscured. Supporters and critics of the policies of the Bush administration seem to agree that al-Qaida, whether regarded as an organisation or a tendency, is formidable. In the sense that it could deliver a formidable blow by means not available to terrorists in the past, that must be true, but in the wider sense of ubiquity, skill, and support from Muslim communities, the case is not proven.
Finally, terrorist movements have lifespans. They are born in certain circumstances, they change, and die. Counter-terrorist action, whether military or political, is only one factor in this evolution. The reaction of the communities from which they come to their actions, and their own reactions, sometimes of shame and disillusion, to their victories and defeats play a part as well. Apocalyptic terrorism is, in other words, not necessarily with us forever, although it is true that it is almost certain to do some grave damage before it departs the scene.
Richard Powers, in his introduction to Moynihan's book, argues that one of the baleful effects of secrecy is that it inclines public opinion toward conspiracy theories. Nothing is accepted as stated, politicians always lie, there is always a hidden agenda. Both the Bush administration, the most secretive in America for years, and the Blair government have taken their share of shots from these lockers, particularly from the European side of the Atlantic. The combination of secretive government, guarding exaggerated or misconceived ideas of the threats facing the nation from rational discussion, and a public opinion distorted by the notion that all secrets are by definition discreditable to government, was an unhappy one during the cold war. It is even less desirable now.
· Secrecy, by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Yale
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WikiLeaks reveals US concerns over Televisa-Peña Nieto links in 2009
US cables back Guardian claims that Mexican presidential election frontrunner has been paying for favourable TV coverage
A US cable claimed Televisa gave the Mexico State governor Enrique Peña Nieto wide coverage
One US cable from 2009 claimed it was widely accepted that Televisa provided the then governor of Mexico State, Enrique Peña Nieto, with an extraordinary amount of coverage. Photograph: Reuters
US diplomats raised concerns that the frontrunner in Mexico's presidential election, Enrique Peña Nieto, was paying for favourable TV coverage as far back as 2009, according to state department cables released by WikiLeaks.
Allegations that coverage by the country's main television network was biased in favour of Peña Nieto have triggered a wave of student demonstrations in the runup to the election on 1 July. The claims are supported by documents seen by the Guardian, which also implicate other politicians in buying news and entertainment coverage.
One cable, written shortly after US embassy officials were taken on a tour of Mexico State when Peña Nieto was governor, says: "It is widely accepted, for example, that the television monopoly Televisa backs the governor and provides him with an extraordinary amount of airtime and other kinds of coverage." The document, which dates from September 2009, was titled: "A look at Mexico State, Potemkin village style".
Another cable from the start of the same year emphasises the importance the then governor Peña Nieto was giving to securing convincing electoral victories for the Institutional Revolutionary party in his state in the upcoming midterm congressional elections that summer.
Peña Nieto, the cable says, "has launched significant public works projects in areas targeted for votes, and analysts and PRI party leaders alike have repeatedly expressed to [US political officers] their belief that he is paying media outlets under the table for favourable news coverage, as well as potentially financing pollsters to sway survey results".
The cables leaked from the US embassy in Mexico contain frequent mentions of the power that Televisa, and the other main commercial network, TV Azteca, exert over the country's political elite. The two networks control around 90% of free channels and are widely perceived to be political kingmakers.
This is particularly clear in cables dealing with a new communications law that privileged established interests and was approved by the legislature in the middle of the 2006 election campaign.
One cable dates from February 2006, shortly after the bill was approved by the lower house in just seven minutes with no debate, and before it had been voted on in the upper house.
"With the campaign season in full swing, no one seems to want to upset Televisa or Azteca (which also stands to gain much from the bill) for fear of losing prime advertising slots at good prices."
The cable surmises that it is "doubtful that any senator will want to risk their future political careers by rocking the boat at a time when all of the parties are deciding their political future". Similarly, the unnamed diplomat who wrote the cable assumed there was almost no chance that the then-president, Vicente Fox, would veto the law "and risk alienating Televisa".
Some legislators did make a stand after the bill was approved and a legal challenge was eventually mounted in the supreme court, where the most controversial parts were declared unconstitutional.
In what appeared to be a form of revenge by the political elite on the networks, the newly elected legislature approved an electoral reform in 2007 that banned all paid political propaganda during electoral periods and restricted it outside of them as well.
This, however, was not fulfilling its aim of releasing politics from media pressure, according to one WikiLeaks cable dated June 2009.
"At any rate, parties and candidates are skirting the restrictions," the cable says. "Journalists and their bosses have been more or less free to engage in the time-honoured Mexican electoral tradition of selling favourable print and broadcast coverage to candidates and parties."
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No Shipping to APO??
November 16, 2010, 08:51 AM
I've been in Afghanistan for about a month and decided today that I would order a Vertical Foregrip for my M4. So, I thought the Magpul RVG looked pretty good and went to order it when I realized that that website doesn't ship to APO addresses. So, I went to other websites - like bravo company, US Cav, and Midway - and each of them had the same policy.
Does anyone know why these tactical gear / gun sites wouldn't ship items to the people who could use their stuff the most? Maybe there's some law in place that forbids it, but it seems rather silly to me. I don't think the policy was just for weapon accessories, I think it was for everything.
It's not a big deal since I guess I could just have someone send it to me but it's the principle of the matter that kind of bugs me. Anyone else think this is weird?
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November 16, 2010, 08:54 AM
Export control laws for anything related to military use can be awfully complicated.
November 16, 2010, 08:56 AM
You can't get a free vertical foregrip from good ole' uncle sam?
November 16, 2010, 12:13 PM
I envy you younger generation of servicepersons...When I was in, it was unlawful to modify the issued weapon, at least in standard line units.
Probably as noted above...Military hardware going out of country (as an APO indicates, under normal circumstances) make companies nervous.
November 16, 2010, 01:50 PM
Yea, most companies just don't do it. You're best bet is to get a buddy/relative to buy it and send it to you, but I don't know about the legalities of that, since its still likely considered 'export of military hardware'
Shadow 7D
November 16, 2010, 06:00 PM
OK, take your beer, porn, poggy bait, girl friends pic, sisters number etc. to a combat unit, the dusty guys on the truck that come through every day (wait by the haji mart or shoppette) I'm sure one of them would be glad to trade one off.
November 16, 2010, 08:02 PM
It's a lot more stuff than just gun parts, there are quite a few electronics places that won't ship to APO's either.
The best way around it that I have found is to order through Amazon, in many cases you can get one of their third party vendors to ship to an an APO. There are quite a few gun accessories available through Amazon.
November 16, 2010, 11:16 PM
I mentioned this to a buddy in my unit and he handed me a VFG, so problem solved. I didn't think it would be hard to get a VFG, I was just surprised at the APO thing. I mean, as far as I can tell, the policy extended to other things that have nothing to do with military hardware. Granted, most of their merchandise is probably related to military-type stuff, so I guess they just don't want to deal with the pain. It's a shame, though.
Shadow 7D
November 17, 2010, 04:57 PM
knew lots of guy who got everything mailorder, hell we had a better game room than MWR they bought so much stuff
Sheldon J
November 17, 2010, 06:31 PM
Daughter had the same problem when she was stationed in Korea, she wanted a printer that was on sale at one of the major electronic stores and they would not ship it to her, so she had it sent to us n we forwarded it, anyone that sends stuff to APO can get a single rate box for free from the USPS or as we did in lots of 25 delivered to the house n still for free....
November 17, 2010, 09:20 PM
Register with the following link. You will be required to enter a military email address. No yahoo.com, or hotmail, etc. The guys here can help you as they helped me. If not p.m. me and if I can I will be more than glad to help a fellow soldier out.
December 2, 2010, 10:34 AM
Had the same problem myself. DSG wouldn't ship PMAG's to an APO. Called my buddy, had them shipped to his house so he could send them to me. I should've known better than to ask a lawyer for a favor. :rolleyes:
He started reading the USPS code and he won't ship them to the APO. Told him to ship it to my buddy who will and he won't do that either, he'll only drop them off in person.
So I now have 3 PMAG's and 6 issue mags. Had 10 PMAG's but my soldiers asked to trade since they had none so I traded a few away. Can't wait to get my other 10 in...
December 3, 2010, 12:32 AM
Many vendors do not use USPS in general. No one else ships to APO/FPO.
USPS delivery confirmation is not available to APO/FPO adresses. The lack of proof of delivery leaves the shipper open to false claims that the item was never received, wasn't mailed, etc and the resulting financial loss when a refund is wrongfully paid to an unscrupulous customer.
December 3, 2010, 12:47 AM
Remember US Cavalry. Feds raided them and threatened to levy fines and criminal charges over paperwork related to export. In this environment nobody is going to risk losing their business.
December 3, 2010, 07:39 PM
Amazon.com will ship to APOs and tacticaltailor.com might have one, and will ship. What's wrong with your supply/armoror? When I went to Iraq last year everyone in the company got a vertical forgrip/bipod combo and mountable surefire.
Not sure if these guys will, but they sell that kind of stuff and are owned by veterans.
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Sharing the concern of India Inc, which is upset at the Central Bureau of Investigation naming leading industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla in Coalgate, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday said the CBI “should not play to the gallery and create an atmosphere of sensation and shock.”
At a time when the country was facing an economic slowdown and the government was working round the clock to boost growth, if every decision was contested and every person questioned, it would create a fear psychosis and the country would suffer, Mr. Sharma warned, talking to The Hindu.
The Minister was reacting to the CBI registering an FIR against the 46-year-old head of the Aditya Birla group charging him with cheating and conspiracy. The agency has alleged that undue favour was shown in allocation of coal blocks in 2005 to Mr. Birla’s company, Hindalco.
Mr. Sharma said there was nothing wrong in leading industrialists pleading their case before Ministers. “It is their right,” he said referring to the meeting Mr. Birla had with the Prime Minister in 2005 for grant of mining licence.
“We have a system which is transparent and open. We have due process which is followed in decision making. The institutions or the various authorities who have some constitutional duties to discharge should not go for overreach or play to the gallery,” he said.
“Irrespective of what the specific issues are, there is no denial of the fact that corporate leaders, including Kumar Mangalam Birla, are held in very high esteem in India and abroad and they have made their own notable contribution.’’
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Wait, what?
Harry Potter and the Quiet Book (Adorable Felt Project)
There's An Apparate For That
You know, quiet books. No? You don’t?
Come on, I think I at least had a quiet cube when I was a kid. It’s a way of entertaining small children while at the same time teaching them the basics of clothing fasteners. So probably something that Petunia Dursley would never have allowed Harry to have, which is probably why Julie, nerdy quiet book creator extraordinaire, made one just for him.
Instructions on how to make one for yourself are available on Etsy.
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Wait, what?
Obama Plans 10-Year Project to Map Human Brain
In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama made several mentions of a commitment to science that caught our attention. Now it seems some details about those plans are surfacing. One area of study he mentioned in his speech was that scientists are working to map the human brain, and it’s now being reported that the President wants to launch a decade-long program to create the most detailed map of the active human brain to date.
The program is expected to cost billions, but to allay the negative reaction to the price tag Obama also pointed out the huge return on investment the economy saw with similar research. “Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy — every dollar,” said the President. This refers to a study done by the federal government that said the $3.8 billion invested in the Human Genome Project since 1990 saw a return of $800 billion.
Several scientists have already said they are involved in planning the project, which is titled the Brain Activity Map, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy will be organizing the project. It is expected to be included in President Obama’s budget proposal in March of this year, but considering what a super-good job Congress does of passing things, it’s certainly not a guarantee that it will make the final budget and be funded.
Expected outcomes of a detailed map of brain activity like this are a better understanding of diseases like Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia, and it could even lead to significant advances in artificial intelligence. It’s likely we’ll see Obama’s political opponents come out against this plan for a variety of reasons like the cost of the project, because that’s kind of their thing. I’d really like to see someone come out against it purely out of the fear that advances in artificial intelligence will lead to a robotic uprising.
(via The New York Times, image via Foxtongue)
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DEAR ABBY April 10: Girl's racy Facebook profile makes grandma look askance
DEAR ABBY: I have just discovered that my granddaughter's mother helped her get a Facebook page on which she is listed as 17, interested in men and in a relationship. The child is only 11, but you'd never know it from the makeup and hairdo in her photo.
I am heartbroken that she is being "marketed" this way and that her prospects for a life of achievement and happiness are zero. I have little to no contact with her because I have been put off by her mother's "street" attitude. If her lips are moving, the woman is lying. My granddaughter is disrespectful and ignorant.
What breaks my heart is that I had hoped to pass on to her items that have been in our family for generations, including a sizable inheritance. What can I do to salvage a relationship with a girl who wants nothing to do with me? Failing that, where can I turn to replace her with a more suitable heir? My son can't father any more children. -- SAD GRANNY IN FLORIDA
DEAR SAD GRANNY: Your granddaughter may be disrespectful because her mother dislikes you, and you haven't been around enough so the girl could really get to know you. Also, she is only 11. Her mother is presenting her on Facebook in an inappropriate manner (to put it mildly), and the result could be tragic.
Is it possible for your son to talk with a lawyer and seek custody? If it's not, he should contact child protective services. Rather than "replace" your grandchild, it would be better for all concerned to HELP her.
DEAR ABBY: Three years ago, I found out that my wife of 14 years was sneaking around behind my back with her high school sweetheart. I confronted both of them and it ended. I forgave her, but I still can't sleep at night because of something that's bothering me. His wife has no idea about the affair, and I feel guilty that I haven't told her about everything that happened.
Some of my friends say I should call her and tell her, but now it seems like it happened too long ago to bring it to her attention. Also, in an attempt to get her husband to come clean -- which he did -- I promised him I wouldn't tell his wife.
My wife and I have patched things up and we're having the best years of our life together. So the question is, should I break my word and possibly upset my new relationship with my wife so I can not feel this guilt? -- CAN'T SLEEP IN ILLINOIS
DEAR CAN'T SLEEP: Surely there's a better cure for your insomnia than causing needless pain to the wife. The affair ended years ago, and she is blameless in all this. Because you are still having trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor about it. Some sessions with a psychologist or a licensed family therapist may help you to assuage your guilt and find closure.
DEAR ABBY: I have had the same barber for several years and he is a good friend. While he was on vacation, I used another barber in the shop for a cut. I really like how he cut my hair. How can I change barbers without causing hurt feelings? -- LOOKIN' GOOD IN THE MIDWEST
DEAR LOOKIN' GOOD: Barbers are human like everyone else. If you announce that you want to make a change, there probably will be hurt feelings. The question you must ask yourself is, is your relationship with your barber/friend such a close one that you're willing to tolerate continuing to patronize him even though you think someone else can do a better job. (Now THAT'S friendship!)
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With grinding schedule, more and more major leaguers consuming energy drinks
WASHINGTON -- Over the course of a six-month season, Tyler Clippard has to be ready nearly every game for the bullpen phone to ring and the voice on the other end to call his name. One night, the Washington Nationals reliever and his teammates could be packing up their belongings at 11 o'clock in Denver, and by 3 p.m. the next day they're walking into the visiting clubhouse in Cleveland. So around the fourth inning of most games, Clippard will reach for a Red Bull or 5-Hour Energy shot.
"Just to kinda make sure I'm not falling asleep out there in the bullpen," said Clippard, 28. "Just to make sure I'm up and attentive."
Since Major League Baseball banned amphetamines in 2005, baseball players have noticed an increase in the consumption of energy drinks, which are also a fast-growing portion of the beverage industry. It's like drinking coffee at your cubicle to provide a boost on another long day at the office, just far stronger, and it can help offset the rigors of a relentless schedule. But it's not a practice all teams condone. The jump in usage -- and dependency -- has caught the attention of team and league medical officials.
The Washington Post emailed all 30 major league teams about their policy toward energy drinks. Of the 16 teams that responded, none said it banned the caffeine-loaded beverages. Five teams said they do not provide them to players despite the fact that the drinks are legal products and that some meet league standards governing supplements. A few teams, including the Nationals, declined to comment.
Each winter, MLB medical officials remind team doctors, trainers and strength coaches of the dangers of energy drinks.
"If you're having one, it's not a big deal," said Gary Green, MLB's medical director. "But there are so many things these days that contain stimulants, and my concern is when they start to get combined. That would be a worry. If someone is drinking coffee and then they're having caffeinated sodas and then they're using energy drinks and other things, it concerns me. A lot of the problems are dose-dependent."
And especially around this hot and humid time of the season, high caffeine intake can lead to dehydration, which can put players at a higher risk of muscle cramping, strains or heat-related illnesses. In 2009, Houston Astros reliever Wesley Wright landed in the hospital after reportedly drinking several energy drinks and soft drinks before a game, which led the team to stop providing them for players.
While none of the 16 teams that replied to the email said they ban energy drinks, they don't exactly encourage their use. The Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles and Colorado Rockies said they do not provide energy drinks to the players.
The Diamondbacks "discourage" any use of energy drinks, a team spokesman said, while a Rockies spokesman said the club encourages "a multifaceted recovery approach to lessen fatigue and the reliance on caffeinated products."
An average eight-ounce serving of coffee contains 100 milligrams of caffeine, an 8.4-ounce can of Red Bull contains 83 milligrams and a 5-Hour Energy shot has 215 milligrams, according to a Consumer Reports study.
The American Beverage Association, which represents several companies in the nonalcoholic beverage industry, including Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar, preaches moderation for energy drinks.
"Most energy drinks actually contain significantly less caffeine than a similarly-sized coffeehouse coffee," an ABA spokeswoman said in an email. "Moreover, caffeine has been safely consumed -- in a variety of foods and beverages -- around the world for hundreds of years. When it comes to professional athletes, perhaps the most important thing is that they stay hydrated, and our industry provides many options for them to do so."
Representatives for 5-Hour Energy, which is not represented by the ABA, did not respond to requests seeking comment.
At least six teams only provide drinks that are certified by the National Sanitation Foundation, such as Red Bull. 5-Hour Energy is not NSF-certified and is "strongly discouraged" by the New York Yankees for their players, according to a team spokesman. The lack of the NSF certification, which is paid for by the drinks companies, doesn't necessarily mean a drink contains MLB-banned substances.
Even some teams that provide energy drinks, such as the Chicago White Sox, are cautious. "Our training staff encourages a 'food-first' approach for players regarding energy, and we do stress moderation," a team spokesman said. The New York Mets "monitor but don't ban," according to a team spokesman.
Denard Span, 29, the Nationals' everyday center fielder, drinks a 5-Hour Energy or Red Bull about 15 minutes before a game to give him "an extra boost."
"When I feel sluggish, not every day," he said. "I don't think it's good to drink caffeine every day, especially early on. When it's toward the end of the season, probably drink a little more."
Some research has shown that caffeine in low doses can boost performance, Green said. In 2004, caffeine was dropped from the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list and is now on a list of monitored substances.
The NCAA doesn't allow schools to provide athletes with energy drinks and bans caffeine consumption in high doses.
"We always look at that and consider" banning energy drinks, Green said. "But at this point we probably would not ban that, because it's a legal substance right now."
At the heart of baseball players' usage of energy drinks is the schedule. No other professional sport has such a grinding itinerary. The NFL plays 16 games over four months, the NBA schedules 82 games over 51/2 months, the NHL plays 82 games over 71/2 months and MLS spreads 34 games out over eight months. None plays as many games per week as professional baseball, and there are side effects. A February study by University of Vanderbilt researchers found that players were more likely to swing at pitches outside the strike zone in September than in April, a trend attributed to fatigue that had worsened since the 2005 amphetamine ban.
Some players don't consume energy drinks out of fear of dehydration or because they don't need them. Pitcher Mariano Rivera, 43, in his 21st major league season with the Yankees, said he sleeps about seven hours a night and doesn't consume energy drinks or coffee, relying instead on tea or soda. Teammate Lyle Overbay, 36, who has noticed the spike in energy drink consumption, has tried Red Bull and 5-Hour Energy but doesn't use either often because he worries about muscle cramping.
"Even when I have a beer or something, my hamstring gets tight," he said. "I don't drink very often because of that stuff. And that's the same thing. I'm not getting any younger either, so I don't recover as quickly. I can't really be poisoning my body."
Span, who doesn't drink coffee, said he feels more alert with the caffeine from an energy drink. He is careful, especially during summer, to consume more water and electrolyte-filled drinks to stay hydrated.
The reliance on energy drinks, however, isn't out of a lack in interest in playing baseball daily. Clippard feels the same way.
"As much as it's a big league game and as much as we're out there every day grinding, you do it every single day," Clippard said. "It can become a little monotonous at times. So you just want to make sure you're locked in every single day. Sometimes it's easier than others."
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By Francis Koster, Ed.D.
The Gaston County school system has developed a program to generate biodiesel for its bus fleet. This program converts enough waste vegetable oil from the school cafeteria and other sources to fuel all of its buses. By converting the buses to run on biodiesel, air pollution is reduced, money is saved and jobs are secured.
In 2005 the sixth largest school system in North Carolina began running its school buses on biodiesel generated by the school system.
The first year of operation they were able to make 10,000 gallons of biodiesel. Two years later their facility was producing 500 gallons per day. [10]
Cost Savings and Pollution Control
The Gaston County school system is able to produce biodiesel for $0.60 per gallon. The buses travel 11,000 miles every day.
Consequently the school system is able to save over $300,000 per year [1] [2]
In addition to cost savings, the biodiesel program is an effective way of reducing air pollution. Petroleum based diesel emits various types of pollutants when combusted including carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide and toxic particulates. These pollutants are linked to health problems such as cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and respiratory problems such as asthma. Because exhaust fume concentrations inside school busses are typically 3 to 5 times higher than outside air it is important to reduce overall emissions however possible.
1.) Biodiesel reduces emissions of particulate matter, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. This decrease is due to the fact that biodiesel contains more oxygen by weight. Oxygen allows the fuel to burn more completely, further reducing air emissions. [9]
2.) Biodiesel exhaust on average has 48% less carbon monoxide than petroleum diesel. [11]
3.) Total hydrocarbons (which contribute to smog and ozone) are two-thirds lower for biodiesel compared to regular diesel. [11]
4.) Sulfur oxides (which are building blocks to acid rain) are non-existent in biodiesel, but exist in significant concentrations in diesel. [11]
5.) Particular matter from biodiesel is about 47% less than that of diesel emissions. [11]
6.) Regarding greenhouse gas emissions, the National Biodiesel Board reports biodiesel emits 78% less carbon dioxide than petroleum based diesel. [8]
Little or no modification is needed for standard diesel engines to run on biodiesel. In its pure form (called “B100”), biodiesel actually cleans the engine intake and fuel tank of buildup from petroleum based diesel use. As the engine and tank is cleaned of lingering residue, the engine’s fuel filters may clog until all the rest of the old diesel fuel has been removed. The Gaston County school buses encountered this clogging problem which caused some of the buses to break down. This was traced to the fact that the Bio-Diesel was cleaning the engines, resulting in a need for more frequent filter changes. These cleaner engines required less frequent expensive maintanence. After the filters were replaced more frequently, the engine problems ended.
Process Information and Issues Encountered
The school’s biodiesel is made from vegetable oil reclaimed from their cafeterias, local recycling centers, area restaurants and large manufacturers that produce waste oil. Because the school system is a public institution, it has non-profit status which allows for corporate partners to make charitable donations of larger volumes of waste vegetable oil to the biodiesel program, instead of paying to have it hauled off.
Since 2005, the school system has been processing hundreds of thousands of used vegetable oil using about $78,000 worth of surplus parts purchased from eBay and army surplus stores. [6]
Biodiesel fuel is created by mixing the oil with alcohol and sodium hydroxide (lye) in a digester. The oil is heated before being poured into a vat where it then sits for a 2 hour chemical reaction. After an additional 8 hours, glycerin is drained from the mix. [7] Once the vegetable oil is converted to biodiesel, sufficient heat and fuel filtering are key to ensuring the engines properly combust the processed vegetable oil.
Going Forward
In the future the school’s assistant transportation director Grady Truett hopes to build a biodiesel plant at nearby landfills to capture methane - an important ingredient for biodiesel. And while there are other projects in the works to convert waste to new fuel sources, the Gaston County School system has taken advantage of the hundreds of thousands of gallons of used vegetable oil. By converting the vegetable oil to fuel, the schools are able to insulate themselves from rising petroleum costs and improve the air quality for students riding the buses.
Other school systems across the U.S. have enacted similar biodiesel bus programs.
Contact Information
Superintendent - Gaston County Schools
L. Reeves McGlohon
Phone: 704-866-6111
Fax: 704-866-6321
Similar Programs
Key West High School
Hoover, Alabama
[1]http://www.4cleanfuels.com/GastonSchools.php [2]http://itre.ncsu.edu/ghsp/Archives/archiveEnergyAward.html
[5]http://www.gastongazette.com/news/biodiesel-12290-truett-school.html [6]http://www.wsoctv.com/news/17558329/detail.html
[8] National Biodiesel Board “Benefits of Biodiesel” citing a study by the U.S. Department of Energy; National Renewable Energy Laboratory “Biodiesel Handling and Use Guide” January 2009
[9] Biodiesel Production in Municipalities and High Schools A Primer
[10] University of Tennessee, Office of Bioenergy Programs: Biodiesel: A Primer http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/fuelfactsheets/
[11] http://www.biodiesel.org/resources
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Yahoo sued by child abuse victim
Is the buck stopping?
Yahoo is facing a $10m lawsuit from a victim of child abuse who claims pictures of their abuse were distributed by the firm.
Adam Voyles, partner at Heard, Robins, Cloud & Lubel, told the Reg he represents a child who was molested and pictures of that molestation were distributed to the Candyman website, which was hosted by Yahoo.
Voyles said: "They owed a duty to the population as a whole to not distribute illegal material, we're not talking inappropriate here but illegal. It is like distributing cocaine or heroin."
Yahoo is accused of distributing child pornography in breach of federal law, public disclosure of private facts and negligence.
The FBI investigated the Candyman group in 2002. As a result almost 1,400 individuals were identified and 86 people later arrested.
Yahoo did not reply to our request for comment.®
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Your iPhone Wish-List
Making the most of MultiTouch
Andrew's mailbag With over 100,000 downloads of the iPhone SDK, and a $100m pot of money available for developers, there's no doubt Apple's MultiTouch UI has a lot of potential.
But, er... what for? Here are a few of your suggestions:
The Good
Web radio player that (yeah, I know) runs in background while using browser
Will Cooper
An SSH Client (X Windows would be great too). Not being tied to a network for two years.
David Hall
ssh/scp OpenIpSec native aim (we know that's on it's way) MMS VNC video and audio recorder asian language input dictionary / translation widget
Lynda Leung
I am trying to rig something now using a jail broken ipod touch, and an IR blaster hooked up to my PC. Unfortunately VNSea doesn't like multi-monitor displays.
I's got to be a port of the SONOS ( contoller software, the current controller is chunky, slow, and runs out of charge far too quickly ... I dribble at the prospect of this on my iTouch
Nick Rich
Actually, that's one of the infuriating aspects of the iPhone: while the chipset fully supports Bluetooth services, the software stack is crippled. So applications like Salling's Clicker need their own Bluetooth stack.
Some other suggestions weren't so sensible.
The Sad, the Mad, the Bad...
GPS with world wide support should be available as a standard feature from the start without subscribing to some service. World wide phone support. A real storage capacity option. The classic video player has 160GB why can't the iphone have that option.
George Dolmat
Well George, GPS is free... if you all you need is co-ordinates. But maps cost money - recall how much Nokia paid for Navteq last year (over $8bn).
As for large storage, that means either flash or a hard disk. I think the iPhone is heavy enough as it is without adding the latter - and adding the former would add around $1,500 to the price of an iPhone today. (32GB SSDs retail for over $500, while the MacBook Air's 64GB option adds around $1,000 to the price.) We'll get there, but not yet...
Some more -
1. Two finger finger painting.
2. A shift key that actually works with two fingers. IE, you hold down shift to capitalize the letter you are pressing with another finger. (Current iPhone build doesn't do this for some odd reason as it is the most obvious immediate use of multitouch.)
3. Musical instrument. A kind of on screen guitar neck with virtual strings. Instead of playing other people's music, make your own and podcast it. Hey! How about an iPhone version of Garage Band!
4. Mini PhotoShop. Touch up images with your fingers. (Relates to item 1.)
And on a related theme -
So here's what I want from multi-touch:
1. Don't get in the way of single-touch UI: the iPod Touch or the iPhone are small devices that are meant to be used on the go. This means I need to be able to use it with a single hand (the other one being used to grad hand holds while playing the sardine can game on the tube): device in the palm of the hand, controlling it with the thumb. So multi-touch should be there to enhance single-touch where it makes sense but not replace it for essential functions.
2. Single-touch mouse pointer, double-touch scrolling: this feature on MacBooks is just genius: 1 finger to move the mouse pointer, 2 fingers to scroll in any direction, it makes small devices much, much easier to use.
3. Rotate: move two fingers in opposite directions to rotate an image or a map view.
4. Resize: move fingers apart to scale a picture up or zoom in on a map, move them closer to scale down or zoom out.
5. Multi-controls: allow multiple controls to be actionned at the same time, such as sound equaliser sliders, all sorts of game controls, etc.
6.Multi-user games and applications: a tablet computer with a multi-touch screen could allow some very cool multi-player games using just the one computer, a bit like the good old board games of old. Or another such application could be a multi-touch electronic whiteboard, where several people in a team can use it concurrently to discuss ideas, designs, etc: easy to do with a standard white board and several pens.
A mouse pointer? No thanks. Actually most of those suggestions make the iPhone far more complicated to use than it is today. And since it's succeeded on simplicity, that's an odd direction to take.
Hi this is a question more then an app suggestion, I don't see why sdk is so interesting since apps for ipod touch and iphones some useful and some less useful are widely available through installer and for the most part quite stable so my question is what more can sdk bring to table besides what is allready being done out there by developpers which do it out of pleasure and not corporate greed?
Cheers Dom
It's the Apple way, Dom.
Here's my own, rather more mundane wishlist. Note that several of these should be provided by Apple. I've seen almost every conceivable software application tried in ten years of covering smartphones - and almost all suck.
• A built-in clipboard. A huge omission from the 1.x software stack, and an impediment to serious use. If that means a "shift" button, then so be it.
• A file system. We know it's got one, but let's see it.
• Bluetooth that works, which means OBEX and a full set of supported profiles
• Plucker, or something like it, to cache and compress web pages and RSS feeds for offline reading.
Then roll on the radio... and the iBluePod. ®
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Related topics
Royal Navy trials 'paging system' for submarines
HMS VANGUARD +++ Please call French missile sub +++
US arms behemoth Raytheon says that the Royal Navy has tried out its new Deep Siren satcomms "paging system" for submarines, and was very impressed.
The company quotes an unnamed UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson as saying that Deep Siren is "the first step toward a transformational capability that will change the way we operate submarines in the future".
One of the great problems of submarines, particularly since nuclear power let them stay submerged for much longer periods, has been communicating with them. If a sub comes to a relatively shallow depth and streams a suitable antenna it can receive special low-frequency, low-bandwidth transmissions sent from dedicated shore stations. Otherwise the only option is for the sub to come to periscope depth and put up an antenna.
All this has meant that modern subs are normally only contactable at prearranged times, during which periods the sub is often more vulnerable to detection than it would otherwise be; and probably constrained in speed too. If a sub is running deep and/or fast, it probably can't be reached at all.
That was OK back in the Cold War, when missions didn't usually require a submarine captain to receive new instructions or information very often and a sub needed to stay well hidden from powerful enemy naval forces. But nowadays the lone-wolf submariners, if they're to be useful, need to be more reachable - and in a typical modern war the maritime opposition is negligible, so it's possible to relax somewhat on staying hidden.
Hence Deep Siren, a fairly basic piece of kit. The idea is that you drop a small buoy into the sea, somewhere within a hundred nautical miles or so of the sub's position. The buoy has Iridium satcomms and an acoustic transducer. Then you can send a message over Iridium to the buoy, which will pass it on acoustically through the water to the sub "at classified depths and speeds", according to Raytheon.
The latest trials referred to by the company were conducted by ships involved in the TAURUS 09 deployment, currently underway, in which the Royal Navy's amphibious task group is conducting exercises around the Indian Ocean.
It would, as the nameless Brit spokesperson says, be a big change in the submarine world if the undersea warships genuinely became reachable in the way that surface vessels and aircraft are. But, as the spokesbeing also says, this is merely a first step. Deep Siren is merely a one-way paging system: and acoustic through-water comms can be highly unreliable.
Furthermore, Raytheon don't really seem to be pushing it along very fast. The company says that it isn't even certified for use aboard aircraft yet. Dropping the Deep Siren buoys from patrol planes or naval helicopters would probably be the normal means of deploying them, so as it stands the system plainly isn't ready for prime time. ®
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PS3 jailbreak seller hits back with firmware downgrade
Step back in time to re-apply console crack
PS Jailbreak, the USB dongle designed to crack open Sony's PlayStation 3, can now work with consoles that have been updated with firmware higher than version 3.41.
Well, kind of. The software tweak actually enables the dongle to downgrade the console's firmware to 3.41 - or, indeed, any previous firmware version, the maker claims.
PS3 firmware 3.42 was released in September specifically to combat PS Jailbreak. It blocks the method by which PS Jailbreak does its stuff.
The dongle tricks shop-sold consoles into operating as if they are developer-oriented boxes which, in turn, allows these machines to run games from external media.
The Asian company behind PS Jailbreak of course pitches the device not as a tool for ripping off games publishers but as a way of running homebrew software.
Presumably, the downgrade breaks a console's ability to use the online PlayStation Network service, but the downgrade doesn't prevent you from upgrading back to the latest firmware should you want to access PSN at a later time.
The PS Jailbreak lot reckon the tweak, called PS Downgrade, will work with any future firmware. The downgrade is only available from "authorised dealers", though the PS Downgrade website doesn't list any - or say what they'll charge for the software. ®
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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/25/samsung_new_trial_attempt/
Samsung slams Apple patent jury, wants new trial in US
South Koreans' filing blasts jurors for $1bn payout
By Brid-Aine Parnell
Posted in Law, 25th September 2012 09:43 GMT
Samsung wants a new patent trial with Apple in the US, claiming the jury couldn't and shouldn't have come to its $1.05bn verdict for its iPhone-maker rival.
The South Korean firm's filing with the court is partially redacted, but the section that's been blacked out is likely to claim jury misconduct, as previous cases cited to back it up are ones where jury misconduct prompted a new trial.
In the cited cases, the jury misconduct comes in various forms – such as they were biased going into the courtroom among other reasons.
The filing also says that Samsung's arguments are likely to "subject all of the jurors to extra-judicial scrutiny and public criticism which they may find unwelcome and intrusive", another hint that misconduct is lurking under the blacked-out pages.
The Apple v Samsung case was so widely reported that there's plenty of scope for Samsung to argue that the jurors were biased or that they brought information from media reports into their deliberations that they didn't get from the trial itself.
There's also the outspoken foreman of the jury and patent-holder Velvin Hogan, whose statements since the trial appear to suggest that he used his own patent experiences to help the other jurors.
Samsung attached a portion of the jury selection process in which Hogan promises he can set aside his own understanding of patents and only use the judge's interpretation of the law and her instructions. But after the trial, Hogan and other jurors who gave interviews said that his experience helped them come to their decision. Juror Manuel Ilagan told CNET that Hogan used his patent expertise:
"He owned patents himself...so he took us through his experience. After that it was easier," he said.
Meanwhile, Hogan himself told Bloomberg TV the same thing.
"Some were not sure of how prior art could either render a patent acceptable or whether it could invalidate it... (I) laid it out for them," he said.
Aside from claims of misconduct, the unredacted portion of Samsung's filing argues that "no reasonable jury" could have come to the verdict it did based on the evidence presented and that neither side had enough time to put forward a full case.
Much was made of Judge Lucy Koh's time allotments on both sides, which each received 25 hours each of trial time including time allotted for cross-examining the other side's witnesses. Both Apple and Samsung did their best to try to sneak in extra stuff, but Koh held them to the timetable.
Samsung also pointed out problems in the quickly reached verdict, including what it saw as an unclear process by which the court ascertained the damages figure, as well as inconsistent findings.
"A new trial is also necessary due to inconsistencies in the jury's verdict on the '915 patent. The jury found that the Ace, Intercept, and Replenish devices do not infringe the '915 patent but the remainder of the accused devices do," the filing explained.
"These verdicts are irreconcilably inconsistent, for the Ace, Intercept and Replenish exhibit the same behaviour as devices found to infringe, including the Droid Charge, Indulge, Epic 4G, Infuse 4G, Transform and Prevail.
"The same Android version found in the non-infringing Ace (Android 2.2.1) and the Intercept and Replenish (Android 2.22) are found in these other devices which the jury found to be infringing." ®
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