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Take the 2-minute tour × What is the best way to know when I have reached the last object in an array when using fast enumeration? Is there a better way than incrementing an int and then comparing that to the length of the array? share|improve this question add comment 3 Answers up vote 6 down vote accepted If you are starting with an array get out the last element (there's a specific call for that) and compare each element you get in the enumerator against that. Something like: id lastEl = [myArray lastObject]; for ( id anEl in myArray ) if ( anEl == lastEl ) ..... // do the last thing The comparison cost is the same as with the counter, but then you don't have the cost of incrementing the counter or mistakes that invariably arise when you forget to increment the counter. share|improve this answer I'd agree with this, but I believe it is "lastObject" not "lastElement". –  slycrel Dec 27 '10 at 22:33 Well now you and I agree! That's what I get for not checking the SDK docs for the call. –  Kendall Helmstetter Gelner Dec 27 '10 at 22:42 Great answer and just what I was looking for! –  Nic Hubbard Dec 27 '10 at 22:44 Not totally robust. As the same object can appear twice in the array, you could incorrectly do your "last thing" twice. Consider that problem when using this solution. Getting the array count before entering the loop and using an index is safer. –  Julien Dec 27 '10 at 23:06 That is a good point but generally you would have two distinct instances even if the objects equated to the same thing; but be aware that could be an issue in design. It's still safer from the standpoint of not getting a counter increment wrong in some way, as that is a lot more likely than putting two of the same object into an array. –  Kendall Helmstetter Gelner Dec 28 '10 at 0:41 show 2 more comments Typically, fast enumeration means you are not using a counter... The other form is without a counter is... NSEnumerator *enumerator = [objectSet objectEnumerator]; id setObject; while ((setObject = [enumerator nextObject]) != nil) share|improve this answer add comment I don't believe there's any (simple) way of doing this - it's one of the trade-offs of using fast enumeration. As such, when you need to be aware of the index of the item you're enumerating over, you'll need to create an integer as you suggest. That said, you'll still benefit from the fact that you can't go out of bounds when using a fast enumerator, etc. share|improve this answer add comment Your Answer

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4542150/objective-c-last-object-when-using-fast-enumeration/4542196

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Take the 2-minute tour × So this is how I set up my project: git init --bare Later I learned that if you want to work on a project with multiple users this is how I should have done it: git init --bare --shared Now I tried to work like that and luckily we are in the beginning so I could set up git again. I still wonder though when you're in the middle of a project you can't do that. Is there a way that i can change a bare repo to a shared one? share|improve this question add comment 4 Answers up vote 17 down vote accepted Since the --shared option just sets the permissions on everything in the repository to group-writable you could do this manually later: $ chmod -R g+w the/repo/path Plus, add sharedrepository = 1 under the [core] section in .git/config. Shared repos also have the following receive option defined by default (which you may or may not want): denyNonFastforwards = true share|improve this answer Aha ok! Good to know, wish I had asked this before. Thanks! –  bottleboot Jan 16 '12 at 16:46 Ok, I see! I just read the @jørgensen answer which confirms that. Stackoverflow should have a combined answer button :D! Thank you all a lot that was very enlightening! –  bottleboot Jan 16 '12 at 16:53 Didn't work for me. It required chmod -R g+s .... A fresh git init --bare --shared will have the group rights "rws". (Ubuntu 12.04) –  Unapiedra Jan 29 at 15:11 add comment Besides chmod -R g+w, you also need to edit (.git/)config and set core.sharedRepository = .... For ..., there are a handful of values, described in git-init(1). share|improve this answer Ok! That seems to completes my suspicion that I also needed to change the config. Thanks! –  bottleboot Jan 16 '12 at 16:49 add comment Probably if you try to share an existent repository, you may have lots of different users commits. 1.If you have super user permission, you can go forward and change all permissions by yourself using the step two, in any-other case you will need to ask all users with objects created with their users, use the following command to know who they are: $ ls -la | awk '{print $3}' | sort -u <your user_name> <his user_name> 2.Now you and all file's owner users will have to change those files permission, doing: $ chmod -R 774 . 3.After that you will need to add a new property that is equivalent to --shared=group done for the new repository, according to the documentation, this make the repository group-writable, do it executing: $ git config core.sharedRepository group share|improve this answer add comment If you're trying to share the repository off of the the host it is on, there are additional configuration steps you have to make (ssh stuff). share|improve this answer I don't think that is what we're doing for this current repo. Thanks though! –  bottleboot Jan 16 '12 at 16:46 add comment Your Answer

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8883081/git-how-to-change-a-bare-to-a-shared-repo

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Take the 2-minute tour × I believe this has been asked before but no concrete answer has been determined. On my website http://euphoricsoftware.com/ there is a fancy countdown script to automatically take you to the normal site, as opposed to mobile or low bandwidth. The script works in every browser with <body onload="setTimeout(countDown(8),1000);"> (where 8 is the number to start from) except sometimes in Chrome the countdown doesn't move and opening the JS console reveals Uncaught ReferenceError: countDown is not defined. Also on the page is a button which lets you pause and resume the countdown. Resuming calls the countDown() function, too, and even when the undefined error happens onload, if you click the button twice the countdown will work, so it seems to be something to do with onload. Here's the code I've been using (SO's code format has stuffed up the spacing a bit): <!-- ... --> <script type="text/javascript"> var stopRedirect = false; var back = 0; function redirect() if (!stopRedirect) {window.location = "home.html";} function countDown(num) if (!stopRedirect) back = num-1; if (num < 10) if (num > 1) var t = setTimeout("countDown("+(num-1)+")",1000); document.getElementById("unit").innerHTML=" second&nbsp;"; var r = setTimeout("redirect()",1000); function stop() if (!stopRedirect) stopRedirect = true; function start() if (stopRedirect) stopRedirect = false; var c = setTimeout("countDown("+(back)+")",1000); <body onLoad="setTimeout(countDown(8),1000);"> <!-- ... --> and you can see the site in action at http://euphoricsoftware.com/ Does anyone know why this is happening? Thanks share|improve this question I can't see why this would not work. I refreshed your page in Chrome about a hundred times and never had a problem or saw an error. –  mrtsherman Jan 29 '12 at 4:38 in both Chrome 18.0.1017.2 dev-m and 18.0.1021.0 canary it doesn't seem to work –  ProfSmiles Jan 29 '12 at 4:49 Works fine for me in Canary. –  mrtsherman Jan 29 '12 at 5:11 I had changed it to nnnnnn's way and I've removed the timeout and it seems to be working fine –  ProfSmiles Jan 29 '12 at 5:15 add comment 1 Answer up vote 1 down vote accepted I'm not quite sure why you get that error, given that your function is defined in the <head> and you don't try to use it until the onload of the body, but your code does have a problem. This part from your onload="": will, when the onload occurs and the code is run, call the countDown() function immediately, passing a parameter of 8, and then take whatever that function returns and pass it to setTimeout() to be executed in 1 second's time. In your case your function doesn't return a particular value, so in effect you are passing undefined to setTimeout(). What you want to do is pass setTimeout() either a function reference or a string. You can't pass a reference to countDown() directly at the same time as passing a parameter for that function (at least, not with a syntax of setTimeout() that will work in IE), so you would need to wrap it in an anonymous function like this: onload="setTimeout(function() { countDown(8); }, 1000);" Or you can use the string format similar to within your countDown() function body (using single-quotes since the onload attribute currently uses doubles): onload="setTimeout('countDown(8);', 1000)" Note that the string format is generally frowned upon because it is slower and affects the scope. share|improve this answer the string works perfectly however the anonymous function still comes up with Uncaught ReferenceError: countDown is not defined –  ProfSmiles Jan 29 '12 at 4:50 Sorry, like I said in my first sentence I can't explain that error. It doesn't happen for me, but my version of Chrome is 16.something. By the way, I'm not sure that you even need setTimeout in the onload, you could just say onload="countDown(9);". –  nnnnnn Jan 29 '12 at 5:12 add comment Your Answer

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9050953/javascript-function-is-sometimes-undefined

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Take the 2-minute tour × In Python what is the most efficient way to do this: my_var = some_var['my_key'] | None ie. assign some_var['my_key'] to my_var if some_var contains 'my_key', otherwise make my_var be None. share|improve this question What do you mean by "if it exists"? May the name some_var be undefined in some cases? –  Sven Marnach Feb 14 '12 at 22:22 I just edited it - to clarify - i'm trying to check for the existence of a key in a dictionary essentially –  9-bits Feb 14 '12 at 22:24 I bet this has already been asked... –  Oleh Prypin Feb 14 '12 at 22:27 See my answer for the very useful second argument to dict.get() which nobody seems to be mentioning... –  Endophage Feb 14 '12 at 22:28 add comment 6 Answers up vote 3 down vote accepted Python will throw a NameError if the variable doesn't exist so you can't write your code in quite the same way as your JavaScript. However, if you are operating specifically with dicts as in your example, there is a very nice function mydict.get('key', default) which attempts to get the key from the dictionary and returns the default value if the key doesn't exist. If you just want to default to be None you don't need to explicitly pass the second argument. share|improve this answer add comment Assuming some_var is a dictionary, you need dict.get(): my_var = some_var.get('my_key') This result defaults to None if my_key is missing, but you can supply a different default: my_var = some_var.get('my_key', default) share|improve this answer add comment You are looking for the get() method of dict. my_var = some_var.get('some_key') The get() method will return the value associated with 'some_key', if such a value exists. If the key is not present, then None will be returned. share|improve this answer add comment my_var = some_var my_var = None But honestly this probably doesn't get to the heart of what you're trying to do... We need more context to more fully answer. share|improve this answer I just added a clarification - some_var is actually a dictionary and i want to ensure the key exists in it otherwise use None –  9-bits Feb 14 '12 at 22:25 add comment The great thing about the .get() method is you can actually define a value to return in case the key doesn't exist. my_dict = { 1: 'one', 2: 'two' } print my_dict.get(3, 'Undefined key') would print. Undefined key This is very helpful not only for debugging purposes, but also when parsing json (in my experience, at least), and you should prefer using get() over [] as much as possible. share|improve this answer add comment In python "|" is translated to "or", so: my_var = some_var or None Edit: You've edited your initial post. The correct way to do what you want is: my_var = some_var.get('my_key', None) share|improve this answer None is useless, default is None --> docs.python.org/library/stdtypes.html#typesmapping –  user1125315 Feb 14 '12 at 22:44 It's just an example to illustrate the use of dict.get. –  user1179901 Feb 15 '12 at 16:59 add comment Your Answer

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9285086/access-dict-key-and-return-none-if-doesnt-exist/9285161

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View Single Post Lt. Commander Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 120 # 2 12-04-2011, 08:41 AM I'm pretty staunchly opposed to sandbox games and someone who LOVES novel grinds and theme park games. Sandbox games are to MMO snobs what French art films are to film snobs or amazingly pungent foods are to foodies. There's always this concession in there that sandbox games are less popular with Joe Blow and this assumption that if people ONLY KNEW and UNDERSTOOD what the sandbox enthusiast knows, they would jump ship on their theme park games. It's just not true. I think a lot of people are aware of the theme park's hamster wheel/skinner box with light, CRAFTED narrative. If they play it at all at endgame, they are aware of it. And they LIKE it, they just want that endgame to be balanced RIGHT to their tastes and aesthetics and are looking for the game that does that. But they aren't going to be satisfied with a sandbox. That's like taking a bus load of costumed Juggalos to a baby shower. The theme park is always free to borrow ideas from the sandbox but the sandbox game is absolutely NOT more desirable to most people. There's an inherent fallacy. The number one choice of high culture connoisseur's is almost always wrong for the masses. If you are a high culture/high art connoisseur, your tastes are skewed and you need to be able to put them aside. A large sized combo from McDonald's with an Apple Pie will cost you as much as a 3 course lunch at a 3.5-4 star restaurant, minus tip. But people buy it? Because they're in a hurry? Some of them are. Many of them like it just as much or better. Don't try to Eliza Doolittle the general public.

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=3888617&postcount=2

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Send to a Friend Long-sleeve camo print shirt with tie front detail. Functional front pockets and button tabs transform long sleeves to a shorter length. * Indicates a required field To: From: * Name * Name * Email * Email Enter your message here: (max. 500 characters)

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Take the 2-minute tour × in a Linux environment, I need to kill a process which has been started by user2 if I am user1 without being sudoers or using root. Do you know if there is a way of setting that when launching the process? Such as a list of users allowed to kill the process? The fact is that concurrent instances of the same process can be started from different users, that is why it is not convenient for me to set the group id to the process. Other users that are not in the group will not be able to start a second parallel process. What I have is a list of users allowed to start the process, defined in the database, before starting the process I check that the current user in the list and, if yes, I start the process with the current user. If a second user allowed to do that wants to kill the process I'd like it to be allowed to do that but I don't want it to be sudoers. Therefore, I was thinking to create a process running as root which receives the request to kill processes from a user, checks if the user is allowed to start/stop the process and kills the process. Do you think it could be the best solution? share|improve this question Welcome to SO. I don't think this is possible... Anyway, this is more suitable for SO's sister site, serverfault.com. It may get migrated there soon, no need to do anything. –  Pekka 웃 May 3 '10 at 12:18 What kind of program are we talking about? It would be difficult in the general case, but in some cases (such as apache or an app that you can modify yourself) it would be easier. –  Kim May 3 '10 at 12:23 add comment migrated from stackoverflow.com May 3 '10 at 16:45 This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers. 7 Answers I'm sorry, but this simply is not possible (that's by design). However, if members of a common group, user1 could write to a file that user2's process checks, indicating to the process that it should terminate. Or, user2 could run something in the background that checks a file, then sends the appropriate signals. User1 then simply has to write to that file. This may be easier, as it would not require any modification of user2's programs. Conventionally, no, user1 can not send POSIX signals to user2's process. share|improve this answer Thanks for your answer. In my case, indeed, I don't use the file but we use a system (dim.web.cern.ch/dim) that can send the appropriate signal, then a process can be called that checks that the user is allowed to stop the process and kills the process. –  ATelesca May 3 '10 at 13:31 @ATelesca - I use something very similar to allow underprivileged users to control / start / stop Xen virtual machines across a rather large farm. Basically, the same thing. –  Tim Post May 3 '10 at 14:20 add comment Unless ACLs or SELinux or something else has a better way to do it, the way I've seen this done is with a SetUID script. As you can imagine, they're infamous for being security risks. Regarding your case, say that procOwner is the username for the process owner, and userA (uid 1000), userB (uid 1201), and userC (uid 1450) are the folks allowed to kill the process. case ${UID} in 1000|1201|1450) ;; *) echo "You are not allowed to kill the process." exit 1;; kill ${PROCESS_ID} # PROCESS_ID could also be stored somewhere in /var/run. Then set the owner and permissions with: chown procOwner:procGroup killmyproc.bash chmod 6750 killmyproc.bash And also put userA, userB, and userC in the group procGroup. share|improve this answer I tried this, and it didn't work. The non-owner user got a permission denied on the kill command. –  Javid Jamae Oct 5 '11 at 20:47 I would just add, why not let the system control permissions to the kill script? Creating a group out of userA, userB, and userC, then chowning the killscript to that group and chmodding it to g+x seems way tidier to me. –  Leonid Shevtsov Sep 3 '12 at 16:29 add comment Of course, you can write the program in such a way that it gracefully terminates when it receives a certain signal (term used loosely to mean "a pre-determined event", not a POSIX signal) from a certain (list of) users. share|improve this answer add comment Not conventionally -- having any user come and kill of someone else's processes is the ultimate denial-of-service vulnerability. It can be done if the target process cooperates. One way would be for it to monitor for an external event (like a file being created in /var/tmp, or a message on a socket), instructing it to kill itself. If you can't write it to do that, you could write a wrapper for it that starts it and then does the monitoring, killing the child process if the event occurs. share|improve this answer add comment No, you can't. If you want to share processes with other users, you should start the process under a common user id. share|improve this answer add comment You can write a suid program that only users in a certain group may execute and which sends the appropriate signal to the process. Not sure wether you meant to exclude suid too though. share|improve this answer add comment suid bit does not work with bash scripts. imho, the best way is to write some wrapper script "killservice". Suppose, that your service is running as user serviceuser sudo -u serviceuser /usr/bin/killserviceworker # addgroup servicekiller # chown root:servicekiller /usr/bin/killservice # chmod 750 /usr/bin/killservice # adduser bob servicekiller then, you just need to add rule in /etc/sudoers to allow them to run /usr/bin/killserviceworker as user serviceuser without asking a password: servicekiller ALL = (serviceuser:serviceuser) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/killserviceworker killserviceworker can look like this: kill ${cat /run/service.pid} share|improve this answer add comment Your Answer

http://superuser.com/questions/137207/how-to-kill-a-process-started-with-a-different-user-without-being-root-or-sudoer/137210

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Take the 2-minute tour × How can I hide my network connections (the PC with the red X icon on the task bar) when I'm not using a that connection. Typically, I switch back and forth between wireless and wide connections depending on my location, so I don't want to just simply disable the network device. share|improve this question Which version of windows are you using? –  BloodPhilia Jun 14 '10 at 16:01 XP, but I imagine the answer should be relatively the same for anything from 2K3, and beyond. –  CodeSlave Jun 14 '10 at 17:49 add comment 5 Answers Go to 'Network Connections' or 'Network and Sharing Center', right click on the connection you want to hide and click on Properties. Then uncheck 'Notify me when this connection..'. share|improve this answer add comment Does unchecking the box in the properties that says "Notify me when this connection has little or no connectivity" do what you want? share|improve this answer Nope. The icon remains in either mode. –  CodeSlave Jun 14 '10 at 20:55 add comment Since Tofystedeth's suggestion didn't work, can you convince XP to still "diplay" the icon, but just hide it out of sight instead? 1. Right-click the Start button and choose properties 2. Switch to the Taskbar tab at the top. 3. Tick "Hide Inactive Icons" if it isn't already ticked. 4. Click the "Customise..." button 5. Set the relevant icon to "Always Hide". share|improve this answer Oddly enough, it doesn't hide that icon (a couple others, but not the network one :-/ ). –  CodeSlave Jun 15 '10 at 14:46 To return to Tofystedeth's suggestion again - have you got the corresponding "Show icon in notification area when connected" ticked? If you've got it ticked - what happens if you untick it? (I'm thinking it could be that Windows treats that as some type of override on the other suggested options?) –  DMA57361 Jun 15 '10 at 15:12 add comment Goto 'Network Connections' right click on the connections not in use and click 'disable'. That will turn off the hardware for the connection and make the taskbar icon disappear. I typically turn off all of the connections that are not in use because it also has the added benefit of saving power. Note: If you want to add 'Network Connections' to the 'Start Menu', right click on the 'Start' button, goto 'Properties', and find the option in the menu to add a link to the 'Network Connections' folder in the 'Start Menu'. SideNote: You can also turn off your cd drive in Control Panel->System->Hardware find it in the menu, right click and disable. It's especially nice if you have a cd drive that is unnecessarily loud/obnoxious. share|improve this answer As I said; because I switch back and forth between wire and wireless, depending on where I am working, don't want to disable and enable network connections all the time. –  CodeSlave Jun 15 '10 at 14:49 Oops, I read your question completely wrong... You could try to check the network properties. Instead of right-clicking and disabling right click and hit properties. Somewhere under the settings menu there should be a checkbox along the lines of 'hide inactive icon'. I'd check myself but I'm on Linux right now. –  Evan Plaice Jun 15 '10 at 20:59 add comment Check out my screenshot in my answer to a different question here. Click the show the tray icon in your case. Hope this helps. share|improve this answer add comment Your Answer

http://superuser.com/questions/152336/how-can-i-hide-my-network-connections-in-the-task-bar-when-im-not-connected

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Take the 2-minute tour × I'm wondering if there is any software or hardware solutions to synced audio or audio and video across multiple computers or devices on a network. I've seen Sonos, and it might be a good solution, but it's also a very expensive solution. I'd like to be able to play something with realtime audio output on one PC, but hear it on speakers throughout the house, being it the home theater receiver, or another computer in another room. I saw a solution using the apple iport express, but the latency was unacceptable for anything other than just music. I'd like to avoid running audio wires with baluns to a bunch of amplifiers scattered all over the place when I have cat5 run everywhere. Is anyone familiar with using this kind of process for whole home audio? The latency is a big deal for me, if I've got video attached to the sound (e.g. watching a hockey game) I've since installed several squeezeboxes around the house for music purposes, and hook up a serial controlled Onkyo receiver to my automation system. This gives me a little more flexibility, and in most zones I can get realtime audio from a game by using the multizones on the receiver, and for music I can get the rest of the zones all synced up. The sqeezeboxes will sync with each other (thought there is latency for live events) In the areas where this is a problem (such as watching a hockey game) I've distributed HDMI using a matrix switch to 4 different TV's all which have audio out to an amplifier in that room. Allowing me to have zero latency across rooms for live events that need video. All in all I appreciate the responses but none of them worked for me. I think the HDMI distribution is by far one of the best for video and audio, and squeezebox is cheaper than sonos for the audio (and there are software players that you can run on any PC with a little tweaking they can sync right up for a many zone home audio solution) share|improve this question I really haven't found a good supported solution. I think I'm going to end up purchasing a rs232 controllable multizone audio matrix, and run a bunch of wires from the points I need sound output, sound input. Sucks, but every software option was either unsupported, added lots of latency, or the syncing wasn't begin done when multiple output zones were being used at the same time. I guess I just don't understand why a solution doesn't exist over TCPIP –  zimmer62 Nov 23 '09 at 19:38 add comment 5 Answers up vote 1 down vote accepted If latency is unacceptable your best bet might be to send the audio around the house through FM or wireless speakers (or even cables) http://superuser.com/questions/29182/how-to-pipe-internet-radio-into-a-tuner/29188 share|improve this answer going to run cables, and get a matrix audio switcher. –  zimmer62 Nov 23 '09 at 19:38 add comment Give Airfoil a try. Yes, it does work best for music, but it can handle any audio output from any application. It does have its own video player app, which will keep the audio/video in sync for video files. I have speakers scattered around the house attached to either a computer or airport express. I can output sound from any program on any computer in the house, and pick and choose which speakers the sound comes out on. Heck, I've been known to hook up an ipod touch to some portable speakers outdoors during parties too. share|improve this answer I've tried Airfoil, and my biggest complaint was latency, it was just fine for music, but in my application I'm need as close to no latency as possible. Most music wouldn't matter, but imagine trying to watch a live sporting event if your sound was delayed even by a few hundred milliseconds. –  zimmer62 Sep 29 '09 at 14:11 add comment pulseaudio should do that i believe- least thats what the FAQ says share|improve this answer "Microsoft Windows binaries can be downloaded from Cendio. Note that these are for 0.9.6, dated November 2007. They work, as long as you use one soundcard only, apparently." It seems that the windows platform isn't very well supported for this software. I remember trying it a year back, and was unsuccessful. –  zimmer62 Sep 7 '09 at 13:22 well, last time i tries pulseaudio on windows as part of ubuntu portable, which worked fine. Also you never mentioned what OS you were running. –  Journeyman Geek Sep 8 '09 at 7:45 add comment Sorry for the length of this answer - it represents several weeks of trial-and-error research. I'm afraid the details may matter so I've provided more rather than less. It's focused on audio sharing Like others on this thread, I've been interested in having synchronized audio distributed throughout the house with spaces where the acoustic environments overlap. Since sound travels at about a foot/millisecond, this requires synchronization at approximately the 10s of millisecond level. I've found a way to make this work with VLC and have it remain in sync for hours without wandering. While I admit that I've looked at the VLC source code to try to understand which clocks are being used, I don't pretend to understand what's going on there. Furthermore, much of what I've done has been empirical. Thus, if the folks who really do understand VLC offer clarification on a better way to do this, I'm most receptive. With those caveats out of the way here's what I've done that seems to work. I have four areas where I'd like to share audio and a collection of computers of various vintages I'm willing to devote to provide audio. Some of these machines run Linux (Ubuntu 12.04) while others run Windows. Overall, it was easier to sync the Linux boxes than the Windows boxes, but it was possible. On the Linux boxes, it was necessary to update the pulseaudio drivers using ppa:ubuntu-audio-dev/ppa to get the low latency version. Otherwise, the configuration was vanilla. VLC complained about latency without this upgrade. I'm hoping that when we get the 14.04 this problem will go away. On the Windows boxes I'm running Windows 7 Pro. The audio is served from VLC a Linux box that is independent of the playback machines. It's just downstream of the firewall where the network enters the house. The network is a mixture of gigabit wired and wireless (802.11g). Things that may not matter Because I'm a time nut, all the machines are locked together in time at the sub-millisecond level using NTP. On the Linux boxes this is trivial. On the windows box, I'm using the Meinberg implementation of ntp (found at http://www.meinbergglobal.com/english/sw/ntp.htm) The box that is serving the audio is synced to the normal external time servers. However, the playback machines have their time synced exclusively to the audio server and follow it closely. The line from the ntp.config file on the playback machines that does this is server iburst burst minpoll 4 maxpoll 4 prefer This ensures that time checks are done every 16 seconds - obviously I'm not concerned about network traffic. The server is set up to monitor the PulseAudio stream so that anything I play on the server will be fed to the output stream. The output stream is an rtsp stream serving two channels at 44.1kHz. Again, there are probably things I could do to conserve bandwidth, but I'm more interested in getting the sync right than in minimizing bandwidth. In the Preferences (Under Tools) 1. In the Simple settings, Audio - ensure that Time-Stretching audio is enabled For the rest of the settings, click "All" at the bottom of Preferences page 2. Allow real-time priority 3. Network synchronization - Check Network master clock and provide the IP of the Master server (this machine in my case) 4. Audio - enable High quality audio resampling and check Enable time stretching audio 5. Input/Codecs - this one seems to matter the most - scroll down to the bottom of the page 1. Set Network caching to 300ms - you may need to vary this based on the speed and contention of your machines - on mine 300 is enough 2. Clock reference average counter - I found that 1000 worked well - this seems to affect how quickly the synchronization follows small changes in time 3. Enable Clock synchronisation 4. Clock jitter - 30 ms works on my systems 5. Check Network synchronisation 6. I've provided file names for Record directory and Timeshift directory - I don't know if this matters 7. Timeshift granularity - I've set to 1000, again, I'm not sure this matters. Set up the clients to play the stream your server is providing. The clients are set up to match the master with a few exceptions - here I'll list just the differences Windows- Preferences 1. Increase the priority of the process 2. Set the clock source to System time (Dangerous!) - I've tried the other settings and they tend to drift. This seems to work well as long as the NTP is doing it's job. When I turn off NTP, things begin to drift. From looking at the source code, it appears that this option uses GetSystemTimePreciseAsFileTime () - on modern systems this is a sub-microsecond timer and appears to be the clock that NTP is managing. I'm sure there's a reason it's marked Dangerous so use at your own risk - it seems to be working for me. 3. In Network Sync - Don't check the Network master clock (this is client after all) Do supply the IP for your master clock. Otherwise, everything is the same as on the master. Linux - 1. You don't have a choice on the clock - you do need to provide the IP of the master just as you do for Windows. Having said all of the above, all of the Linux clients I've set up seem to work well - even a very antique netbook with very little horsepower. Windows is a different story. I've tried two boxes both with i7 processors - they are relatively new and fast. One, a Lenovo laptop, works with the recipe above. The other, a Shuttle Box, worked to a certain degree but after a few hours would start drift. I finally gave up and set it up to dual boot with Ubuntu. Once I did that, everything just worked. While I'm convinced that Windows can be made to work since I have an existence proof, Linux seems to be closer to a reliable solution. I now have three boxes with the Linux client and they all work flawlessly and stay in sync on time scales of many hours without needing to restart the VLC client. share|improve this answer Welcome to Super User. Don't be sorry about the length! Long answers are better. Try to avoid the word "thread" here, since this is not a discussion forum, it is just a question and answer. –  Kevin Panko 15 hours ago add comment It should be possible to use VLC for this purpose. See e.g. How-To: Stream almost anything using VLC: "... we are going to show you how to stream any type of media file from your computer to another device on your network ... Using these techniques you could stream video from your office computer to a laptop plugged into the living room TV and control the playlist with your PDA." share|improve this answer I didn't see anything in that article about synchronizing the playback on multiple computers. I guess I can install it and play with the software to see if I discover any options that will keep the two machine in sync. –  zimmer62 Aug 31 '09 at 17:53 add comment Your Answer

http://superuser.com/questions/31647/synced-audio-ouput-on-multiple-machines-vlc-hardware-solutions/48212

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Take the 2-minute tour × I want to run multiple scripts simultaneously, but monitoring them or detecting which has died is difficult as they are all listed as wscript.exe in the process list. How can I change the name of the running process? share|improve this question add comment 2 Answers Only way I can think of is to make a copy of wscript.exe for each script you need to have a unique name in process explorer then explicitly call that copy. For example say you have renamer.vbs create a copy of wscript.exe and call it renamer.exe Now run your script like: ...\renamer.exe renamer.vbs You process should show up as renamer.exe share|improve this answer Cheers, I didn't see this answered on SU and was intending adding the solution as per blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/07/…. You beat me to it :) –  Lunatik Aug 12 '11 at 8:33 add comment As long as the script is running locally then you can copy wscript.exe, renaming it to whatever you like then call this from a shortcut. For example, if you wanted to show the process as WorldsBestScript.exe then you would call it like this WorldsBestScript.exe TheActualScript.vbs Properties screenshot The above assumes you've copied wscript.exe to the same folder as the VBS file, if it is anywhere else then you'd obviously have to include the full path to WorldsBestScript.exe share|improve this answer add comment Your Answer

http://superuser.com/questions/322247/how-can-i-change-the-name-of-the-vbscript-process-wscript-exe

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Take the 2-minute tour × I want to repeat the last command that matches foo bar. Using !! doesn't work (it's not the last command I used), and neither does !foo, because my history looks something like foo bar dee zep foo boo lee kee foo bee If I try to type !foo bar, zsh auto-completes to foo bee (which is the same as !! anyway) as I hit the space. How would I do this? share|improve this question add comment 1 Answer up vote 2 down vote accepted !?foo bar See http://zsh.sourceforge.net/Doc/Release/Expansion.html#Event-Designators Edit: No, you must not escape the spaces. If you need to add something that is not part of the history expansion, separate it with another ?, e.g.: echo hello echo foo !?echo hello? world # runs "echo hello world" share|improve this answer do you need to escape the spaces? –  rubixibuc Feb 19 '12 at 3:30 Perhaps I'm unable to do this because I'm using oh-my-zsh; I can't type !?foo bar, because as I hit the ' ' space key, zsh autocompletes to foo bee; I lose the event designator from the prompt, and further ? don't help me replace bee with bar. –  simont Feb 29 '12 at 19:22 There's an bindkey in oh-my-zsh, under lib/keybindings.zsh, called magic-space (line 23, approx). It does history expansion on ' '; disabling this bind allowed me to use the !? event designator. Thanks :) –  simont Apr 13 '12 at 21:32 add comment Your Answer

http://superuser.com/questions/391521/repeat-last-command-matching-two-words-zsh

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Take the 2-minute tour × I have read that it is possible to 'umount' a disk that is otherwise busy by using the 'lazy' option. The manpage has this to say about it: umount - unmount file systems -l Lazy unmount. Detach the filesystem from the filesystem hierarchy now, and cleanup all references to the filesystem as soon as it is not busy anymore. This option allows a "busy" filesystem to be unmounted. (Requires kernel 2.4.11 or later.) But what would be the point in that? I considered why we dismount partitions at all: 1. To remove the hardware 2. To perform operations on the filesystem that would be unsafe to do while mounted In either of these cases, all a 'lazy' unmount serves IMHO is to make it more difficult to determine if the disk really is dismounted and you can actually proceed with these actions. The only application for umount -l seems to be for inexperienced users to 'feel' like they've achieved something they haven't. Why would you use a lazy unmount? share|improve this question add comment 4 Answers up vote 2 down vote accepted This is actually implemented to gain more time to do follow-up tasks in administrative tasks. If further tasks, independent of this one is waiting in the pipeline, then you can lazy-unmount and go on with others in the batch. Example: Task 1 and Task 2 are two administrative tasks scheduled back to back. Task 1 Daily backup This one copies a large number of files from a project partition to a backup partition, say, /mnt/backupProj, which will be mounted on the fly and unmounted at the end of this task.. The copying takes a significant amount of time. Task 2 Update SQL-views Performs a series of database view updates on a dedicated server. Task 2 is obviously completely independent of Task 1, so we can lazy-unmount /mnt/backupProj without waiting for the backup task to complete. share|improve this answer Can you provide an example? In what situation would it 'gain/save time'? –  deed02392 Apr 13 '12 at 16:30 add comment Because you're lazy - you want to unmount after the disk operations are done. Here's a plausible scenario: You're using rsync to perform your backups and walk away. You can umount -l the drive and once it's finished copying and synched, it unmounts, so that when you come back after a break (that you know will take longer than the backup) you can just unplug the drive instead of having to fiddle with the keyboard again. share|improve this answer If you were lazy, surely you would want to save MORE time by not having to use the argument, because once you got back you knew you could dismount it immediately now the backup has finished? Or make dismounting the drive part of the post-backup operations? –  deed02392 Apr 13 '12 at 15:10 Think of it this way: the disk is no longer busy - unmount it now. It's no longer mounted so nothing else can write to it. It's "do this when you can" instead of erroring out. –  Broam Apr 13 '12 at 19:07 add comment I use lazy umount in cases where it was obviously stuck for various reasons (such as nfs server down), also when I need to see the original content of the directory that was mounted over by the mount. In both cases the mount is busy. I think there are other edge cases but these 2 are the most common reasons I used the option. share|improve this answer add comment USB-drives sometimes get stalled because of hardware failure. Even if you reconnect the drive physically, you get another device-name. The old device-name cannot be unmounted normally. amount -l forced the dead entry to vanish. share|improve this answer add comment Your Answer

http://superuser.com/questions/412109/lazy-umount-or-unmounting-a-busy-disk-in-linux?answertab=votes

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Take the 2-minute tour × Somebody knows how to ignore capitalization with regular expression in Notepad++? From shell it works as follows: egrep -i '^(FroM|SuBjeCT|DatE): ' filename.txt Thanks in advance. share|improve this question add comment 2 Answers In the Find dialog use the Match case checkbox to choose whether you want case-insensitive searching or not, ie. leave it UNCHECKED to ignore capitalization with NotePad++ regular expressions. share|improve this answer add comment You can use the ?i modifier. share|improve this answer add comment Your Answer

http://superuser.com/questions/507003/how-to-ignore-capitalization-with-regex-in-notepad

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Take the 2-minute tour × As I follow it, there's a full installer for .NET 3.5 And a .NET 3.5 SP1 installer Also as I follow it, the first of those two links is what you use when you have, say, a clean XP machine with no previous versions of .NET on it (or at least nothing past 1.1). The second link is what you use if you have .NET 3.5 already and just need .NET 3.5 SP1 on top of it. Is there an installer that assumes you have no previous version of .NET on your machine but also has .NET 3.5 SP1 as well? Or am I wrong and that second link does that? share|improve this question add comment 2 Answers up vote 2 down vote accepted I think the second installer will install everything, even if no previous .NET framework exists. (Apart from V1.1) share|improve this answer Yeah and I have a clean VM in progress to test this, I was just wondering if anyone knew for sure :) –  Schnapple Oct 26 '09 at 15:03 add comment Yes, the second installer link you provided is the full installer for .NET 3.5 SP1. Also do remember to apply the .NET 3.5 SP1 Update too. share|improve this answer add comment Your Answer

http://superuser.com/questions/60868/is-there-an-installer-that-has-net-3-5-sp1-from-scratch?answertab=votes

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The house was built to maximise the beach views. The house was built to maximise the beach views. Evan Gledhill and his wife, Maree, had a goal - to build a holiday house where they could handle the ebb and flow of visiting family. With five children, their five partners and 10 grandchildren, this would not be cheap. Fortunately, Gledhill, who previously headed a construction company, had a few thoughts on how he could build a solution. In 2005, the couple, based primarily in the Hunter Valley, started hunting for a coastal block to buy. They looked at every beach between The Entrance in the north down as far as Pearl Beach in the south. What they found was a rundown three-bedroom shack on an elevated block in Wamberal. Price tag: $3,065,000. ''At the time, it was a good price,'' Gledhill says. The original property had plumbing issues and was effectively uninhabitable, so the real work was still ahead. The original dwelling. The original dwelling. Digging in Gledhill quickly realised renovating was out of the question. ''We looked at renovating but with the poor quality of the foundations and the new rules from council, it just wouldn't have been worth it,'' he says. The new beach house. The new beach house. So he enlisted Andrew Vingilis of Corben Architects to draw up plans for a four-bedroom house, split between two pavilions, that would do justice to the beachside block. With plans in hand, Gledhill took over. He wanted to build the house himself with the help of subcontractors but to do that he would have to be close by. ''I actually lived next door,'' he says. ''The Catholic Church has an old hostel on the beach and they gave me a room in there for the year.'' Evan Gledhill project managed the build. Evan Gledhill project managed the build. As indicated by the cost breakdown, the first part of construction was the most expensive and most important aspect. Construction on a sand dune requires substantial digging in, and you can forget the traditional beach tools of a bucket and spade - Gledhill spent $176,000 driving foundations into the ground with a piledriver. From then on, things went pretty smoothly for the building veteran, who has more than 30 years of experience under his belt. Sunny days Floor plan. Floor plan. The end product is called ''Nautica'' and it is a fusion of timber and stone that is both elegant and understated. But as the name suggests, the house is not the star of the show. On an elevated block, the 180-degree ocean views from Forresters Beach to Terrigal Haven will grab your eye long before you notice things such as the designer kitchen, the sandstone fireplace or the 600-bottle cellar. The finished house has allowed the couple to embrace a new lifestyle involving morning swims, walking their Labrador on the dog-friendly beach, frequenting the cafes of Terrigal and a whole lot of sitting back and looking at the view. But logistics were also important to the couple, who wanted the house to be enjoyed by the whole family. That is why it is split into two pavilions - you can have two or more families staying in the same house, both in comfort and with a large degree of privacy. Moving on Having had their time in the sun, the couple have decided to sell Wamberal and head back to the Hunter Valley permanently - though Gledhill is quick to point out that ''it's not because we don't like Wamberal; we love Wamberal''. ''Our children have moved to Sweden, Victoria and the Hunter Valley, so we don't use the space as much,'' he says. The property is now listed for sale for more than $4.5 million through McGrath Central Coast. In a nutshell Design and council approval: 10 months. Construction: 12 months. Land size 816 sq m. Architect Andrew Vingilis - Corben Architects, 9904 1844. Builder Owner-builder. Green points • Designed to maximise natural light. • Insulation and automatic aluminium louvres. • Heat-pump hot-water system with two 3000-litre grey-water tanks servicing the toilets and laundry. • A 20,000-litre rainwater tank for hosing and irrigation. • Installation of fixed aluminium louvre blades and New Guinea rosewood shutters on the western elevation windows and a large, sail-covered area. Favourite feature Evan Gledhill says: ''The 180-degree views up and down the beach, they are beautiful. Also, the main thing for us was being away from the busy area of Terrigal but still within walking distance of the shops and cafes.'' Insider's tip Gledhill says: ''Select your architect and builder well. Check that the architect has done similar projects and that the builder has done the quality of work that you are looking for.'' What went right The build came in on budget. What went wrong The market for coastal properties has readjusted since the couple's purchase in 2005. Insurances $10,000 Architect $62,000 Civil and structural engineer $38,000 Geotechnical engineer $7000 Preliminaries $123,000 Demolition $11,000 Piling $176,000 Excavation $16,000 Concreter/ formwork/reo $198,000 Brick and blockwork $61,000 Structural steel $30,000 Metalwork $36,000 Automatic louvres $38,000 Mount White stonework $32,000 Carpentry $113,000 Joinery $98,000 Windows and doors $121,000 Door and window hardware $17,000 Roofer $108,000 Cement render $24,000 Plasterboard $92,000 Ceramic tiler $41,000 Glazier $6000 Stairs $15,000 Timber floors $31,000 Carpet $6000 Painter $49,000 Landscaping and water tanks $24,000 Plumbing and drainer $61,000 Airconditioning $46,000 Electrical $65,000 Security $6000 Total $1,761,000

http://theage.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/getting-the-most-from-the-coast-20130118-2cwu7.html

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View Single Post Old November 28, 2009, 08:57 PM   #17 Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 2006 Posts: 823 Response to 1" per yard standard for a cyl bore bbl. It's not so much a particular source that it was read from , but rather information that has been accrued over my years shooting a 12 ga. I figure that just as most firearms ,even of the same make and model, tend to have preferences for certain types of ammo, so it goes for the ole shotgun. From experience and discussions with people over that last 20 years. It averages out that a cylinder bore barrel will shoot 1 inch per yard, if it is a good one, and it also helps if it is a more modern one. In general most shotguns of the riot gun type would actually shoot a little worse than 1" per yard, but if you got one that did you considered yourself lucky. Today they call a barrel cylinder bore when it isn't really a cyl. bore. Typically they even have some constriction and it varys between manufacturers. In all actualality they tend to be more of a fixed modified choke. The real problem is related to the nature of a shotgun barrel being different internally than others. The amount of constriction in one barrel may throw a tighter pattern than another with the same choke, as the amount of constriction isn't the same for every manufacturer. You might get a good 18 pattern with cyl. bore on a new shotgun and then use the same model in say a 1976 cyl. bore riot gun and get 24 at 20 yards. Then you put a modified choke in the older gun and throw a 16 pattern with the choke in it. Then comes back boring in the barrels. Just as was said earlier more shot usually means a little larger pattern in the same shotgun, simply due to more shot getting in each others way to get through that slight bit of constriction provided by a choke system. What back boring will do, especially for a 3.5 inch shotshell is even out the spread and keep it a little tighter than it would without it. The problem with back boring is that it usually prevents the use of slugs, the only reason I can imagine that causes this little drawback is a pressure spike when it hits the chokes and that the thinner walls at the beginning of the barrel can't take it, therefore you are advised, by manufacturers, to not shot slugs out of a back bored barrel. Then there comes a point where your choke can have too much restriction and you patterns can get worse from it being too tight, not to mention in some cases it can be bad for the choke, barrel and potentially the gun and operator. Suffice it to say, this is the reason people are often told to take a new shotgun and pattern it with different ammuntion and chokes. Find the best that meets your particular need and go with it. Another thing to consider is that people used to and in some cases still do cut a barrel down to the 18 inch riot gun length and then expect them to shoot as tight as a modern made barrel. When their new "custom shotgun" doesn't they go about blaming somthing for the problem, other than considering it is because they now have a true cylinder bore without the countours of a purpose built barrel on their new "tacticool" "shotty". For the best patterns buy a barrel and forget using a hack saw. As the shotgun becomes more refined by experience and technology, expect them to get a little better than you see them today. Still, you should always know that the closer you get to optimum the more difficult it becomes to eek out more performance. Just like an old muscle car. They can get more powerful and have better handling, they still won't match a modern perfomance car, as the modern tech and knowledge gained from years past allow the purpose built machine to far exceed the origals in the envelope they were designed within. That old musle car can match you if the driver is more skilled and they sure do have a personalty, whereas the new stuff is almost sterile in nature. There really is an art in the making of a shotgun barrel and getting the proper internal demensions in sync to have a much better patterning gun. Alot of things change and many stay the same. If you do load your own, putting buffer in with the buck shot helps even out the patterns as well. The reason has to do with less deformation of the pellets and hence less scatter and randomness in that spread. Get your shotgun, load up on the ammo and pattern that sucker. Get to know what she likes and dislikes. Just like a good woman, she'll make you better when you really understand what she wants to be at her best, in turn making you better. The organic nature of shotgunning has a method all it's own. For the most part this is where the saying, you don't aim a shotgun, you point it comes from. Granted this is more true of a custom bird gun, usually one of those ultra high dollar doubles, that seem to be outrageous in price come in. They are custom fitted and allow the shooter and shotgun to act as one, aiming only slows the process of engaging moving targets. To some degree aiming is a gun a conscious effort and it contadictory to typical shotgun useage. In a sense thinking about shooting and shooting are not conducive to great shotgunning. Even will all that said. It all comes back to the intended purpose of the shotgun you are going to use. A bird gun, slug gun, deer gun, and riot/ combat shotgun all have a slightly different set of standards to be met that will make them good at their job. Get what feels good to you and that which suits your needs the best. Like most of you guys out there, I tend to like the riot gun for home defence and general purpose use and don't need a field gun for anything other than the occassional clays session or hunting bambi now an again. So it goes back to all that jazz with the lights, sights and the potential fights your partner may be needed in. The best thing to do is shoot, shoot, shoot. At the end of the day you'll find you know what you can, cannot, should and should not do with that boomstick. Slugthrower is offline   Page generated in 0.05071 seconds with 7 queries

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3805391&postcount=17

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Economy & Budget US politicians overestimate America's stability Food stamp cuts a crime against the poor by politicians This Friday, Nov. 1, America will learn the latest monthly jobs report news, which will not be good due to the Republican-caused government shutdown. This Friday, the poorest Americans will learn that their hunger will worsen because their food stamps will be cut unless Congress and the president act. Bipartisan debt deal should include a major jobs bill Bipartisan talks to set short- and long-term spending limits should include a substantial job program that would be effective immediately. The immediate crisis in America is jobs, not deficits, which are declining. Power to tax and destroy Tax reform is likely to be one of the hot-button topics in the months ahead as politicians on both sides of the aisle grapple with how to make the federal income tax system flatter, fairer and less complicated. The tax code itself has been altered, fixed, reformed, flattened, expanded and criticized since it was created in 1913 by constitutional amendment. Now it just may be time to get rid of the income tax altogether as a failed, progressive experiment. Pope Francis, Hillary Clinton, and the Tea Party victory in the shutdown battle Ernest Hemingway said write one true sentence. Here I write two.  The first is widely known. The recent fiasco increases the odds Democrats can win back control of the House and keep control of the Senate.  The second true sentence is the big secret which you read here first: the Tea Party won a great economic victory in the shutdown battle by forcing President Obama and Democrats to accept more than $70 billion of spending cuts and forcing them to accept continuation of the budget cuts of the sequester. Financial terrorism continues from House GOP; shutdown must end The latest offer from those I have called Banana Republicans would keep the government shut down and threaten again to default the nation and crash world markets in a few weeks unless Republicans get their way. This is financial terrorism, pure and simple.  The deadbeat president The circular logic of President Obama’s press conference performance on the debt ceiling would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. Obama proclaimed he would not negotiate with Congress on raising the debt ceiling, while at the same time explaining that, “There comes a point in which if the Treasury cannot hold auctions to sell Treasury bills, we do not have enough money coming in to pay all our bills on time. It’s very straightforward." So it seems that Obama by refusing to negotiate is willing to allow this very occurrence if he doesn’t get his way. Yet he attacks his political opponents, who have actually proposed a path forward for both ending the government shutdown and raising the debt ceiling, as holding the nation hostage. Default debacle: Epic crisis or epic opportunity Congress would be well-advised to solve the crisis that has driven its popularity down to levels of defective dog food. There is a real prospect of a U.S. default that would crash the markets and the economy. If default happens, the people of an angry nation would surround both houses of Congress waving pitchforks and lifting a finger that would not be a thumb pointed upward for victory. In preparation for my column on Thursday I have been privately canvassing opinion on both sides of the aisle and suggesting my own version of a deal, which will be detailed in my column if and only if I believe there is some prospect of success. Shutdown and debt-ceiling crises: Tea Party Republicans could crash the world economy Because of the extremism of their policies and tactics in threatening to shut down the U.S. government within the day and destroy the full faith and credit of the U.S. by denying a debt ceiling increase in mid-October, Republicans in the House of Representatives, dominated by Tea Party fanatics, could crash financial markets around the world this month. Many of the great financial crashes have historically occurred during October. It could happen again. Let's understand the interplay between the shutdown crisis over spending, which reaches a crescendo today, and the debt-ceiling crisis, which reaches a crash point in mid-October.  Today the House GOP fanaticism would close the Statue of Liberty and undermine the ability to government to function. And then, the debt-ceiling crisis would be a direct attack on the financial integrity of the U.S. The shutdown crisis further erodes what little credibility remains for the Congress. The debt-ceiling crisis would destroy the good faith and credit of the U.S. itself, shattering confidence throughout global markets and probably causing a financial crash.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-a-budget?page=1

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2 weeks ago Congolese farmer Maria Kahambu carries the day's harvest of soybeans in Kiwanja, a town around 20 kilometres (12 miles) away from the fighting between army troops and rebels, on November 2, 2013. The leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels has urged his fighters to lay down arms against army troops waging an offensive against them in the country's troubled east. The call came with the rebels on the back foot as DR Congo troops pounded hilltop positions where die-hard fighters have holed up after being forced from their last stronghold this week. AFP PHOTO/JUNIOR D. KANNAHJunior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images

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Report Abuse Review title More than One Cut Above Review excerpt Service and thoughfulness are the hallmarks of the Cipriani. High-quality food and clean rooms are a given, so the distinguishing aspects of a stay at the Cipriani become the less-tangible factors. Every staff person seems not only well-trained (they know the procedure manual), but also apparently carefully screened prior to employment for the ability to be helpful and coureteus AS A WAY OF LIFE, and not just to hold into a job, as is usually the case in New York City hotels. That's what makes the Cipriani in a class by itself, akin to the Goring in London. The location doesn't hurt either. Kevin Cunningham Canton, Massachusetts Thank you for reporting abuse on this Yahoo Travel review. Please provide the following information to complete your report 2. What do you feel is the violation? 3. Feedback Your report will be submitted to Yahoo Travel Customer Care Related Issues

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From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia Revision as of 13:12, March 28, 2013 by SPIKE (talk | contribs) Jump to: navigation, search For those without comedic tastes, the so-called experts at Wikipedia have an article about ?. edit What's the origin? Yes, the origin? The question mark began, not when people first started asking questions (a common misconception), but when people started writing questions? It likely began with a Greek philosopher, who asked questions to themselves, which is a bit crazy? It also might have originated from the all mighty retards whom always question everything and there stupidity might have lead to the parents giving them a crayon and them drawing a retarded symbol which is know the QUESTION MARK which symbolizes all dumbasses and their question asking? edit How do I use it? Why, you just did! Just slap it on to the end of a sentence that sounds like a confused and yearning plea for knowledge. Accompany this with an upward inflection. Use it rhetorically to make people feel stupid ("Can you ask me a question? I'll have to think about it, asshole). It may also be used for right wing propaganda ("Aren't you an American???"). As well as comic uses like "what the fuck is a caterpillar doing on my wang?" edit What if there are more than one? Each additional ? up to three indicates rising levels of anger/excitement. Anything beyond that looks stupid or indicates insanity. 1. What time is it? Peaceful, normal tone. 2. You're pregnant?? Surprise. 3. You're also gay??? Shock, confusion, outrage. 4. You also have AIDS????? Stupid, insane. (WARNING: DO USE A LOT!!!!) 5. WHAT????? shows major stupidity due to the law uf dumbassery. edit Valley Girls and Other Symbol Abusers Linguists have violent arguments? about Valley Girls using it at the end of every sentence? and even at random points in between? Other punctuation criminals include the band members of Panic! at the Disco, who instead abuse the exclamation point, the Robin to ?'s Batman. Prince first considered changing his name to ?, but was talked out of it by Michael Jackson. I just Abused it. edit See Also Personal tools

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Atomic Mass (band) From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For those without comedic tastes, the so-called experts at Wikipedia have an article about Atomic Mass. “One time in 1983, I got together with Rick Allen at his home, and wanting to drum so badly (his set was back in the studio), he grabbed his amazing 2B drumwood and "drummed" on me. My huge juicy tits were the "rack toms" (34x20, 34x20), my ass was the snare (6x3), and guess where the "kick drum" was? CORNDOG! Mmmmm, felt so good being a drumset. Oh, and not a word of what I just said to Tommy Lee, alright!?! Don't wanna hurt his feelings.” ~ Pamela Anderson on Atomic Mass “Why is Joe Elliott less of an asshole than me? WHY!?” ~ Axl Rose on Atomic Mass “I cast real White Lightning.” ~ Zeus on Atomic Mass “I cite them as an important influence.” “I cite them as an important influence.” ~ You on Atomic Mass ~ Oscar Wilde on Atomic Mass Atomic Mass were the greatest heavy metal band of all time that formed in Sheffield, England, in 1977. The band lasted for only 13 total years, in which in the end they faced major difficulties, ultimately disbanding after Rick Allen's penis-losing car accident, Steve Clark's headache of death from listening to crappy music, and Pete Willis taking the biggest shits and dying. edit Early years (1977-1979) It all started out as a project when a young bassist named Rick Savage and guitarist Pete Willis used to skip most of their classes and smoke when they hid in alleys and had nothing to do. They realized they were about to repeat their freshman year in high school for the SECOND TIME, so they set out on doing what they do best at--playing loud, cliche heavy rock music.. Savage also had hung out with Tony Kenning since both loved Lead Seplin and other great classics from the past.They had copyright issues to name the band Def Leppard and Deaf Leopard.So they combined the to names to avoid being sued. When Savage saw Kenning holding some drumsticks at lunch, he had asked him if he was a drummer, and he replied a yes. Excited, the 15-year old bassist invited Tony and Pete over at his house to schedule jamming dates at Kenning's. They called themselves Deaf Lepperd. The next day they met, they were ready, they played the hell out of their instruments;Willis shredding on his badass guitar, Savage keeping up to the rhythm of the lead, and Kenning exploding on his drumset... It was so heavy, it made Metallica sound like "two white furry puppies eating a strawberry" compared to theirs.[1] But all of a sudden they realized that they forgot something---a singer! Deaf Lapperd set out to look for a singer. Rick Savage searched newspapers, communities, and randomly dialed numbers on the phone until the person he was talking to was a singer. Tony Kenning started going to music instrument stores around Sheffield. But Willis was laid back and taking it all easy, but when he missed a bus to practice at Kenning's one day, he saw some dude walking his way and the guy asked Willis if he's in a band. Willis asked the guy if he's a singer, and fortunately, they both found what they needed! The man's name is Joe Elliott, an 18-year old dreamer who worked at a factory that makes microphones and stands. Elliott stole a microphone set from the factory and brought an amp over at Kenning's. Now they had a singer! The band also added guitarist Steve Clark, who was a hardcore Jamey Pagerex fan, from Lead Seplin. They started writing some songs on the weekends when they stayed over each others houses during nights, sometimes in just twos alone! Joe Elliott however didn't really like the name "Deaf Lapperd" because his mother was hearing-impaired, and for some reason Elliott likes perfect grammar so he ordered it be changed to Atomic Mass. Not liking the new name, Kenning then suggested "Atomik Maz".. Joe Elliott got mad at him for shitty grammar and threatened to quit the band already, but Sav and Willis insisted he stayed, and instead, kicked Tony Kenning and his drumset out of the band. Since Kenning left, the band had so seek another drummer to record their 1979 E.P. with. Frank Noon came over to Joe Elliott's house (the new jamming place for Atomic Mass) at midnight. He offered to record the Atomic Mass E.P., which was so heavy as hell, sold 3,000,000 (that's millions folks) copies all over England in just three days. But Noon departed later after recording the songs on the E.P. because he didn't like losing to Joe Elliott at chess, and Atomic Mass were in trouble again. The once powerful and heavy metal band was almost about to fall apart, but thankfully they found a 15-year old drummer who could play the hell out of a kid's Inspector Gadget set, and added in drummer Rick Allen to the band. "His style.. it's just so unique and gifted.. I don't think ANY drummer could play like that, and when he played backwards I was just astounded!" Joe Elliott said in an Atomic Mass interview. Allen changed his set to a Mudwig 5-piece, and the band began recording their debut album, "On Through The Afternoon" in 1980 with Sgt. Tom Allman, cousin to Dwayne Allman of the Allman Sisters. edit Establishing a place in the heavy metal world and some controversies (1980-1981) The album "On Through The Afternoon" had sold 50,000,003 units worldwide, and whipped out two singles, because of Allen's sharp drumming skills and for being the first rock album to have songs to break the heavy-o-meter. But the band were being criticized by the American media for having more interests in Great Britain rather than the fans who bought their records the most (america!). This caused a huge backlash by the Japanese as they were not included at all. Joe Elliot stated "I really don't like Asian woman" unless I am making love or just hanging out with them!" So Atomic Mass sought out after a new producer, and Robert Bob Joseph "Pitbull" Michael Aaron Bange (later Shania Wayne's husband) was introduced. The "Pitbull" produced for Judah Pretzels, but didn't do so well with the heavy-o-meter results in the media. He was hired to record the band's second album, "Low N' Wet", which was the start of the band's lyrical content going more towards sexual fantasies instead of traditional mindless heavy metal, even though when it was released in 1981, kicked the blazing hell out of the first one. It was said to be strongly based on Joe Elliot's "raging hallucinations from constantly tripping on bad acid!" But it was evident that in the single "Fuckin' Up The Prostitute", Joe sings about a pimp who always pressured a prostitute to work on a minimal wage salary, but she had a feeling in her heart that it was about to break because she couldn't take it any longer, and in fact that single video clip was replayed over and over again by the young MTV over, and over, and OVER (x 189) again. The band's second album "FirefighterMania" sold over 695,000,000 copies in America, but only 10 copies in Great Britain. edit Embarrassment and hatred towards a fellow band member (1982) The band saw that this was not good, and when they played "Let Shit Go" live on MTV Music Video awards in 1982, Pete Willis constantly went back stage while the song was going on, and from what Joe Elliott remembered during the improvised lengthy solo Steve Clark and Rick Allen were filling the gap for, Willis was literally taking a shit in the storage room, and instantly was fired from the band, supposedly even before he could wipe the shit from his ass! Rick Savage strongly remembers that Willis "didn't completely wipe the shit from his ass" and while trying he managed to get some on his hands, which was un-benounced to the rest of the guys and the Mtv crew that he had gotten shit all over the stage set, the amps and his "former" bandmates! Savage had shaken Willis' hand (to say goodbye) and wasn't aware that the shit from Willis' hand had transferred to his hand. Savage went to scratch his eye and got Willis' feces into his eye ball and on his face. Sav was so upset that he "beat Willis to a bloody pulp" and then pissed on his face. Willis said in an interview that "I wrote the chorus lyric for the song while taking a shit, and thought 'this sounds heavy', but I was having constipation, and just had to 'let shit go'! [chuckle]". The band was so pissed off at Willis they sent him letters, calling him a "mega giant douche who always takes a shit when he's jacking off with his guitar even though he kicked ass with it" and a "shit-wanking ogre guitarist who is taller than every other member of Atomic Mass", but Atomic Mass's remaining members admitted he did kinda kick a lot of fucking ass on guitar, but they soon forgot about him when they recruited Phil Colon, some guitarist dude from the band Shemale. edit The breakthrough, fieriest metal album the fans had been waiting for (1983) They recorded the third album "Firefightermania", and was instantly released in 1983, with the fresh kickass singles "Pictograph", "Pebbles Of Ages", and "Spooling". But it was evident that the band had relied too much on "pretty choruses with somewhat hard rock stuff as well", even though it was much heavier than "On Through The Afternoon" and "Low N' Wet" combined! "Firefightermania" has sold over 7,900,000,000,000 (that's trillions folks) copies worldwide, with 250,000,000,000 just in England! The band were proud with Phil Colon and Steve Clark together, since both formed a duet called "The Twins Of Terrorism", but instead changed it to "Terror Brothers That Act Alike But Have Different Mothers" or abbreviated as TBTAABHDM, so the Americans wouldn't be afraid that they were actually (by marriage) associated with Al Qaeda. (Allen's Brother is Bin Palin) They quickly embarked on a massive kickass world tour in 1983, and thousands-no--MILLIONS- NO BILLIONS of heavy metal enthusiasts followed the band around shows and shit like that. They opened for Billy Square, causing him to quit his own band just to follow the Mass around on tour, even to eventually be hit with a restraining order from Elliot! It was so fucking loud and cool, you could take the loudest, and stinkiest farts out there, but nobody heard that or even minded the scent. Ladies had been coming over the band members' rented villas, and they all had sex orgies, sometimes Joe Elliott would be on top of a chick, that chick would be on top of another chick, and that chick would be UNDER Phil Colon, and etc, etc.!!! It was great being in your 20's this early. And then they all had booze, had a great time!! MTV only played "Pictograph" more often than Michael Fagson's Thriller videos. edit Worst punishments to the greatest rock band of all time (1984-1987) But in 1984, Rick Allen lost his penis on a walking accident, and because he couldn't drum without it, rather quit and had to use his testicles instead, but it didn't work. The band were about to release fourth album, but they needed more money. "Pitbull" Lanje was busy with someone else, probably having sex, so Joe Elliott hired former Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith for a short time, because Elliott thought he looked nothing like Phil Colon. So the two collaborated together by writing and recording their fourth album. So in 1987, (3 years after Rick Allen had to cope with being "penisless"), the then two-pieced Atomic Mass released Hysteria for MTV to play its crap again. The album only sold 20 copies worldwide, because the single "Pour Some Sodium On Me" degraded the band's popularity and it helped turn the band into a salt-rock group. Adrian Smith then left Atomic Mass because Hysteria didn't sell well so he returned for Iron Maiden to record their album Seventh Son of A Seventh Son, especially since all the other members of Atomic Mass are atheist and hates God. Having sold the least, Hysteria was named #2 on VH1's Worst Albums of The 80s program, right behind AC\DC's Back In Black (how embarrassing it is to compare the kickass-ness of Atomic Mass with crappy AC\DC.. YUCK!) edit Coming back to their senses (1988-1990) Mighty as they were, came back together in release bootleg albums of their live shows back in 1979-1981. The title of the live album is Encore For The Masses, which successfully QUADRUPLED in sales over Firemania worldwide!! But band then got together again by the end of 1989 to work Hysteria II, although Adrian Smith didn't want to return to Atomic Mass because they're all atheists, and God HATES atheists.[2] edit Atomic Mass now kinda sucks and aren't that great anymore (1991-FOREVER) In 1991, Atomic Mass again returned to start writing and recording songs for "Hysteria II", although at that time, Rick Allen and kickass bassist Rick Savage went on an atheist-missionary trip to Heaven and prove to the idiots including Ozzy Osbourne that he'd been deluded by Bruce Wayne's theory of a God and Spaghetti Monster named Timothy Norman (who has no brain, need I remind you good sirs). So in the meantime, Santa Claus took over the role of drums, as Emo Hitler played bass while staring down and tearing in sorrow, not wanting to feel happy he finally found a band AFTER ALL THESE YEARS in his Japanese home. Three words: They couldn't play. Because they didn't do SHIT on drums, eventually the band broke up while working on Hysteria II, because Steve Clark accidentally died after listening to "Pour Some Sodium On Me" in repeat forty times in a row. Atomic Mass decided to call it quits and each went their own ways... with Phil Colon becoming a carnivore and supporting M.E.I.A. (Munching Every Innocent Animal) because he can. Rick Savage dated Britney Swords, but realized that she was uglier than him, so he dumped her and is now single. Joe Elliott is currently looking for a new band to form with, but can't because of what "Hysteria" did to the new wave of British heavy metal fanatics, their heavy-o-meter did not work with "Hysteria"!!! And Rick Allen has been secretly hiding away from the paparazzi and the tabloids because of his manhood gone and the inability to drum without it. Atomic Mass only felt like it was yesterday, which was the tomorrow of Atomic Mass.. Pete Willis died taking the biggest shit in history in 1992. It is sad, really.. The heaviest, most ground-breaking band from England.. so fucking great, all the way through, if only it wasn't for Rick Allen's accident and Joe Elliott for being impatient and releasing the icky and poppy "Hysteria" album. edit What now? (1992-FUTURE) On January 1st, 1992, Joe Elliott released Hysteria II, just as Lead Seplin did with Goda when drummer Johnas Bosnham sadly died. Sales for Hysteria II were just as bad as the first Hysteria, and they had nothing else going for them;they were getting too old for kickass music. Now that even MORE people have become christians, metal pretty much died, in terms of quality.. Because the 1990's had shitty grunge music and alternative and rap were making their ways up to the charts, the great talented kickass heavy metal bands we all loved and enjoyed as kids and teens have decided to smoke, do drugs, and drink instead of produce fresh new material, and let's not forget that they're too old to write heavy songs with enthusiasm from their youth.. Too bad, too sad.. edit Discography • The Atomic Mass E.P. (1979) • On Through The Afternoon (1980) • Low N' Wet (1981) • Firemania (1983) • Hysteria (1987) • Encore For The Masses (bootleg) (1988) • Hysteria II (1992) • Our Greatest Albums (featuring blank and only blank discs) (2001) edit Band members • Joe Elliott - lead vocals, guitars, backing vocals (1977-1991) • Pete Willis – guitars, backing vocals (1977–1982) • Steve Clark - guitar, backup (1978–1991) • Phil Colon - guitar, backup (1983–1991) • Adrian Smith - guitar, backup (1987) • Rick Savage – guitars, bass, backing vocals (1977–1991) • Tony Kenning – drums, percussion (1977) • Frank Noon - electronic drums played acoustically (1978) • Rick Allen - drums, penised percussion (1978–1991) edit See also edit Notes 1. As admitted by James Hatfield in a Metallica interview. 2. The Lord really does love you a lot. How dare thee turn thy backs on Thine own saviour? --Hotopic 66:6 Personal tools

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Elroy Jetson From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Elroy Jetson, oil and wax farmer. Here he is raising his arms in a tift. Elroy Jetson (2115-2345) is a wealthy oil and wax farmer that lives in Southwest New Jersey. He is famed for revolutionizing the wax and oil industries. He also has an antenna attached to his head, which converts solar energy into a pudding-like substance that then secretes from his hands. Elroy uses this substance for sustenance, and also for lubrication. edit Birth to Reign of Infamy Elroy Jetson was born as Kristoffer Self in the wildlands of Naptown. Elroy Jetson is a pseudonym that he used when starting his empire. He was born in a very small Hamlet in the middle of nowhere. His father, George Jetson, was the cold and unrelenting leader of a Communist Resistance Army. Elroy found himself alone in a cruel and dark world when his father was slain[disputed] in a battle between some Snow Elephant Capitalists. It was then that he decided to migrate to America. This single decision affected the history of the world as we know it. He walked 1600 miles, 42 kilometers, to Chechkovsch International Airport, and got a 3rd class seat, in the baggage section, to the only outgoing flight: New Jersey. edit Riches and Communism Elroy finally arrived in New Jersey, and the first thing he did was invest his inheritance money. He bought 40 acres of swampland in Southwest New Jersey for about 200 dollars. He also bought a moped for 50 dollars. Immediately afterwards he began the cultivation of his land. He spent 3 months digging holes in the swamp with his lucky shovel, Carrie Fisher, until one day he struck oil, 30 feet under swamp water. He began to bottle the oil by hand because he couldn't afford oil pumps or oil derricks. The bottles were glass and held apporximately 1 and 1 half liters of liquid, in this case oil. After bottling about 200 bottles of oil, Elroy set about the task of selling the oil. The only way that he could think of was to sell it door to door. So, he got on his trusty moped and went to house after house selling his oil to whoever would buy it, for 5 dollars a bottle. Elroy ended up making 1.5 billion dollars that year, and farmed his swamps dry of oil in about 2 years. He was well on his way to the social status of a God. A communist comes to America and becomes a wealthy oil Tycoon in a capitalist country. Little did those poor people know that Elroy Jetson would soon change the country and the world. Sean Connery, the head of Elroy Jetson's Communist shadow government. edit Revolution After making his fortune, Obama decided that he wanted to do something more meaningful with his life, so he decided to take a prospering country and turn it into a rotting carcass of deceit and fear. He started off by hiring a man to run his shadow government. Not just any man, a man of power, a man of stature, a man of Scotland. Sean Connery took on the job, and Elroy Jeston became president and began to corrupt the United States of America. Well, more than they already were. He turned it into a Communist nation. Elroy's downfall was, however, that communism doesn't take into account scarcity, and Elroy had created a surplus of wax after his farming days, so instead of using metals to build structures, they used wax. This posed a great problem because, well, wax isn't sturdy. Wax also melts fairly easily, and there were massive floods of boiling wax on hot summer days. Shortly after this, Elroy and Sean Connery were taken and thrown into The Pit of Unfathomable Secretion, thus ending a terrific era of prosperity. Personal tools

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Necro-Deth Cannibals from Hell From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia Revision as of 03:29, February 6, 2013 by SPIKE (talk | contribs) Jump to: navigation, search Photograph of the lead singer, Napalmphile. It may have been doctored. “After I listened to their music, my ears hurt.” ~ Captain Obvious on Necro-Deth Cannibals from Hell “You know, I think they might be kinda hardcore.” ~ Captain Understatement on Necro-Deth Cannibals from Hell ~ Necro-Deth Cannibals from Hell on themselves Necro-Deth Cannibals from Hell is a death metal band who's members actually come from hell, at least according to the band.[1] The band was formed in 2008, on election day, when the gates of hell flung wide open. Contrary to popular opinion, Satan himself is not part of the band; the Prince of Darkness chooses to remain in the role of manager. Necro-Deth Cannibals from Hell consists of Napalmphile, Pus Blister, Nail Enafronalobe, Stryking Corpse, and Todd. The band's style has so eluded description that a new word had to be created for the purpose: Horrifucious. Since their sudden emergence, the band has enjoyed moderate success. While most people find their music too horrifucious, an underground movement has swelled of those who feel the music is just horrifucious enough. As yet only one album has been released, Grief of a Rotting Sadist. This album sold well amongst its loyal fans, but failed to achieve massive success. Three hits were produced from this effort: Broken Dead, Acid Mouth Wash, and Eating Babies Gives Me Bad Breath. After the 2010 Summer Tour, they began working on a split album with fellow death metallers Rectal Prolapse, called Rectal Necro-Deth. It was scheduled for release in 2011, but with the breakup of Rectal Prolapse, the effort has been delayed. edit History Fans trying to emulate Necro-Deth's first performance. They rose to public attention when they spontaneously gave a free concert in New York City's Central Park at midnight November 9, 2008. The effectiveness of this concert has left many puzzled, as there was no stage, electricity, or even an audience. Nevertheless, this concert has been viewed as a holy event by the most devoted of Necro-Deth fans, who put it on the same spiritual level as Woodstock. Immediately after this concert, the band members ran out and ate several homeless people, leading to the inclusion of the word "Cannibals" in their name. This is also viewed as an important event by fans, as without it they would simply be called Necro-Deth from Hell, which, according to one vocal fan, "Just isn't as awesome, you know." Little is known about the band prior to their emergence on election night. In spite of repeated attempts by reporters to gain interviews with the band, the mouths of all involved remain closed, except for the repeated claim that the band hails from the Fiery Pit.[2] This claim is, as yet, unsubstantiated. Nevertheless, the loyal followers of the group accept it as fact,[3] and since no one has been able to prove otherwise, it has become a virtual fact. Since their emergence their following has steadily grown until they were finally able to start charging for their concerts. edit 2010 Summer Concert Tour One of the fans at the Hell, Michigan tour stop. The summer tour began on June 6th, 2010, giving the date 6/6/10. The band would have preferred 6/6/06, but they were a little late; and even though Napalmphile very angrily suggested that they go back in time to 2006, no one, not even the Prince of Darkness, can make that happen. The first stop on the tour was Hell, Michigan, and while the band had not yet released a schedule, it was known that the tour would end in Detroit, Michigan. Some were at first confused by this news, as they thought that Detroit and Hell are the same place. More than half of Hell, Michigan came to see the band; this isn't as impressive as it sounds, as the population of Hell is only around 250 people. It was a particularly tragic event, and by that we're not referring to the music. During the final song of the concert, bassist Pus Blister became very excited and attempted to stage dive into the crowd. He is a very large man, a very very large man. While the actual stage dive was successful, the people caught under his grotesque flabbiness were unable to support his weight. They were crushed, and not figuratively. Pus Blister, however, was just fine, as he had a cushioned landing. When asked if they had any regrets over the loss of these fans, the band replied that this is likely how they would've wanted to die: trying to support the band. Another stop in a small town near Death Valley, California also led to the deaths of fans in attendance. The tragedy occured as a result of drummer Stryking Corpse's decision to sharpen the tips of his drumsticks to fine points. As the concert drew to a close, Stryking Corpse threw one of the sticks into the crowd, assumedly so a fan could have it for a souvenier. Rather than spin harmlessly into the crowd, however, it soared like a spear into the skulls of three head-bangers who happened to be lined up near each other. It stuck into the back wall of the building, dripping blood. The bodies were found after the concert ended and most of the crowd had dispersed. When asked why he had turned his sticks into deadly projectiles, and if he was sorry about the tragic turn of events, all he would say was that it was cool and laugh uncontrollably.[4] At another stop, lead guitarist Nail Enafronalobe's guitar burst into flame in the middle of an exceptionally energetic solo. He screamed in surprise, then threw the flaming guitar into the crowd. Several fans caught fire from the flying guitar and burned to death. He later said that he was saddened by the tragic event, marking the first time that a band member lamented the death of a non-member.[5] As the tour progressed, the turnout at the tour stops steadily decreased. Not surprising, as the fans were figuring out that attending a concert would likely result in their deaths. This trend ended at the final concert in Detroit; the auditorium was filled almost to half capacity, possibly because the people of Detroit are used to people being killed around them. Near the end of the concert, Napalmphile took on a challenge prompted by a fan comment. Some had previously accused Napalmphile of not truly loving napalm, as no one had ever seen him do anything with it.[6] So he took a cup of napalm and tried to drink it. It burned the inside of his mouth, so he spit it into the face of one of the fans and burned a hole in the head of the unfortunate attendee. Napalmphile later said that he would not be taking napalm on tour anymore; the napalm refused to comment. After the tour was over, the band announced that they would not go on another tour for some time, to allow their fan base to build back up. edit Deceased Members edit Serpentine Pedophile Serpentine Pedophile died in the middle of a concert on November 27, 2009, when his head fell off. Reports say he was head banging in his usual vigorous manner when his neck gave out, unable to handle the strain. The head is, as yet, still missing, since it bounced out into the crowd and was carried away by a fan, who no doubt thought it was a fantastic souvenir. He was replaced on the drums by Stryking Corpse. According to the band, he was sent from Hell as soon as Serpentine Pedophile met his end, and that there are plenty of other "Hell-fiend musicians waiting for their chance to Rock"; presumably, Necro-Deth will never be short a band member.[7] Serpentine Pedophile's memorial service was held on November 30, 2009 to a crowd of dozens; where he was buried has not been disclosed. The only remark that Napalmphile gave was that he returned to Hell.[8] It should be noted that his mouth was very red as he said this. edit Abysmal Nausea On January 7, 2010, it was made public that the band's current bass player, Pus Blister, was not the band's original bassist. This role was originally filled by Abysmal Nausea, a denizen of the Infernal Pit who, according to the band, was sacrificed to Satan just days after their emergence on the public scene.[9] The band gave no reason for keeping Abysmal Nausea's death a secret, but of more interest to most was why he was sacrificed in the first place. Several theories exist as to why he was sacrificed, even among band members. The most common theory, which is advanced by Napalmphile, states that Satan explicitly demanded the sacrifice, theatening to cut off their "contract" if they didn't obey. Other theories state that the band killed him because he was a crappy bassist, and they wanted to replace him for their first studio album; that the sacrifice was a publicity stunt meant only to promote their album; and even that he killed himself because he had a "stupid, stupid name". Supporters of the latter view tend to point to a suicide note written in Abysmal Nausea's blood, asking the band to take responsibility for his death.[10] Most fans ignore this view, since the band vehemently denies it. edit Brainworm Brainworm died on March 1, 2010, when some of the strings on his guitar broke and caused multiple lacerations across his wrists, thighs and jugular vein. This occurred during a practice session in Brainworm's house, so there were no eyewitnesses, but the band gave a short statement to the press explaining what happened. They said that a replacement guitarist, Nail Enafronalobe, is on his way from Hell.[11] He arrived on March 4 of that year. They refused to comment on why the string lacerations looked so much like knife wounds. edit Musical Style and Influence Mario is among the dozens of Necro-Deth fans.[12] The band's music is, by anyone's standards, unforgettable. Even those who find it too horrifucious claim to have trouble getting the sounds out of their heads, even after hours of therapy. In perhaps his longest statement yet, Napalmphile has said the band's greatest musical influence is the 1960's British group The Beatles.[13] Everyone, including the faithful, are at a loss to explain this as no one is able to discern anything resembling the music of The Beatles in Necro-Deth's sound. No resemblance at all. Not even a little bit. Paul McCartney has even been recorded as saying there is, in fact, more in common between a pig and a super model.[14] edit Horrifucious Horrifucious, the word created to describe Necro-Deth's sound, stands as the fastest word to be created, enter public vocabulary, and get an entry in Webster's Dictionary. Some have protested this word's official inclusion, making the case that the word is meaningless without the band, just as the band is meaningless without the word. The one is meaningless without the other, creating a vicious circle that can only end in insanity. Supporters of the word have said that it is crucial for it to be included. Before the word, when people were asked to describe Necro-Deth Cannibals from Hell, their brains would literally shut down trying to think of a suitable description. This led to a mass epidemic of Necro-Deth induced comas. With the creation of the word horrifucious this condition has been reversed. edit Band Members Napalmphile singing Necro-Deth's hit song Acid Mouth Wash. edit Former Band Members • Abysmal Nausea: Bass (Unfortunately, had to be sacrificed to the Dark Lord) • Serpentine Pedophile: Drums (His head fell off as he was head-banging in concert) • Brainworm: Lead Guitar (Slashed to death by his own guitar strings in a jam session) edit Discography • Grief of a Rotting Sadist (2009) • Rectal Necro-Deth (split w/Rectal Prolapse) (TBA) edit Footnotes 1. Brainworm, Nov 11, 2008: WE COME FROM HELL!!! 2. Todd, Nov 21, 2008: WE COME FROM HELL!!! 3. Necro-Deth fan, Dec 12, 2008: THEY COME FROM HELL!!! 4. Nov 21, 2010, Journalist: So, Mr. Corpse, why did you sharpen your drumsticks into tiny spears of bloody death? Stryking Corpse: Hey, that's good, I'm gonna write a song about that. Journalist: (after an exasperated sigh) Do you have any regrets about losing those three fans? Stryking Corpse: Are you kidding? That was cool! (laughing uncontrollably) 5. Nov 21, 2010, Journalist: So how are you taking the burning of several fans? Nail Enafronalobe: Pretty hard. I had that guitar ever since I was just a little hellspawn. We did everything together. Everything! How am I going to continue without her? 6. July 11, 2010, Journalist: There are a few fans that have wondered about your name. They wonder if you really love napalm when no one has ever seen you do anything with it. Napalmphile: Of course not on stage, that would cross the line of decency. Journalist: (blank stare) Napalmphile: What? Journalist: You come from Hell. Napalmphile: THAT'S RIGHT! 7. Stryking Corpse, Nov 27, 2009: I was sent by the Dark Lord, Beelzebub, the moment that Serpentine Pedophile WENT TO HELL! When I return home, someone will take my place, as well; there are plenty of Hell-fiend musicians waiting for their chance to rock! Necro-Deth Cannibals from Hell will never die! 8. Interviewer, Nov 30, 2009: How is the band taking this loss? Napalmphile: Well, we take comfort in knowing that HE RETURNED TO HELL! Still, it's hard; he was a very tasty drummer. Interviewer: Wait, did you say tasty? Napalmphile: No. Interviewer: Yes you did, you said "tasty". Napalmphile: ...WE COME FROM HELL! 9. Napalmphile, Press conference on Jan 7, 2010: We feel the need to let everyone know that Pus Blister is not our first bass player. When we emerged after THE GATES OF HELL FLUNG WIDE OPEN!!!! (picks up the podium and uses it to bludgeon a cameraman to death), our bassist was an infernal creature named Abysmal Nausea, one of the most evil creatures to ever roam the Fiery Pit. Unfortunately, we had to sacrifice him to our manager, Satan, or risk losing our... contract. 10. Abysmal Nausea, Suicide note found in Napalmphile's possesssion (The guy who found it was never seen again): Dear Todd, I just ripped myself to shreads with my own hands and painted my hotel room red with my own blood. Don't spend too much time trying to figure out how I did it and then wrote this note, just have the band claim responsibility for my death. The reason for this is nothing short of my stupid, stupid name. I mean, seriously, "Abysmal Nausea"? You've got to be kidding me! What was he smoking when he came up with that pile of crap?! Can you imagine a stupider name than that!? 11. Napalmphile, Press conference on Nov 21, 2010: Brainworm, our lead guitarist, died yesterday in a freak accident. Apparently, his strings broke and cut off most of his limbs and slit his throat. Journalist: Mr. Phile, why do the lacerations on Brainworm look like they were caused by a knife? Napalmphile: Luckily, the Dark Lord has already sent a replacement. His name is Nail Enafronalobe, and he's supposed to be MORE HELLISH than Brainworm. 12. Mario, Dec 26, 2009: This music f***ing rocks! WOO-HOO! 13. Napalmphile, Jan 4, 2009: I think our biggest musical influence is the Beatles. Interviewer: Seriously?! Napalmphile: WE COME FROM HELL! 14. Paul McCartney, Jan 5, 2009: Honestly, I can’t see how they get off saying that! There’s more in common between a pig and a super model! When we were together, I felt like holding a girl’s hand was pushing the line of decency; this Napalm fellow talks about cutting his sister’s head off and raping the severed head! While we’re talking of this, you’ve heard him sing, haven’t you? If you can call that singing! Honestly, he warbles like a stuck pig! And what the bloody is an electric triangle, anyway?! Personal tools

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From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search “I love to eat voffles on my wessel.” ~ Pavel Chekov (Tactical Officer, USS Enterprise) on waffles Invented by a group of scientists (one of them was Johnny Waffle) and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi working for the Belgium secret police in 1897, the waffle was designed to serve as an alternative to the pancake, an old standard in European and American breakfast cuisine. After years of attempting to beat the pancake (which we know now is physically impossible), one scientist stepped on a pancake by accident. The imprint his boot left made the basis for the waffle's shape, and the dirt from the boot inspired the taste. Unfortunately, most Belgians can't seem to get over their invention, so lets make it clear: Belgium, thanks for the waffles. Unfortunately, consumtion may lead to The 'Beetus. edit Role as a God Waffles are a pancake's god. Pancakes offer the waffles prayers, and waffles become more powerful and delicous. Pancakes don't live forever, joylessly enough, for they get eaten by moustaches while waffles get eaten by bipedals after being in the waffle iron and sun tanning. edit Distinguishing Features of the Waffle • There is, in fact, a British waffle that is very unlike its American uncle; these in fact are cooked in a proper oven. These far outweigh the syrup holding waffles as they have holes the whole way through and are square. They just generally taste better than chips in a grid shape. • Unlike its cousin the pancake (or griddle cake and flapjack), the waffle is engraved with an intricate pattern of tiny square cups, so as to hold syrup with maximum efficiency, or to hold ice cubes with a lesser efficiency. In order to attain this grid-like texture, a waffle must be baked in a special double-surfaced pan called a waffle iron. Mmm, waffles. edit Wafflepot An affectionate yet insulting term used in reference to one who is behaving in a ridiculous, frivolous or irregular manner. Derived from the thick, viscous waffle batter representative of the viscosity of the subject's brain matter and the squares marking the subjects multiple severe head injuries. If someone was to break her arms and legs attempting to make a waffle, her friends would refer to her as a "wafflepot." One can also be referred to as a waffle pot if one talks about a singular, mostly trivial subject for more than the needed time, which is generally not very long. For example, if person X were to hold a discussion group on the making of minestrone soup, from a can, on the hob, when really all that was needed was a simple sentence, such as - "I made soup." edit Origin of the Waffle Unknown to most of the world, waffles come from a meteorite which streaks across the sky every time the moon and some guy's left knuckle align (as long as he has a papercut on his scrotum), causing the tides to screw up and pets to vomit in terror. This phenomena is known as the Phukleter Equinox, named after the man who discovered it, Professor Uvan J. Phukleter. How it does such a feat baffles the scientific world, and remains a mystery to this day. The meteors created by this strange occurrence are made completely out of waffle and tend to land in the Mountains of Mordor, therefore they must be recovered by a team of trans-dimensional wizards who cross the boundaries of space and time to give us this delicious food. Waffles came to power in a mutiny among breakfast foods which caused waffles to replace pancakes as the Supreme Ruler and Overlord of All That Is Breakfast Related. But the waffle did not stop there. With every bite of waffle across the world, the waffle is slowly poisoning the minds of our nations, due to the popular ingredient Plutonium, which eventually will cause a new generation of supermutants, and as a result, Smallville will go on for several more seasons. The promises made by the waffle party have yet to be fulfilled. Rumors circulate that the French Toast Party is formulating a comeback. There has recently been a dispute over the syrup imported from Canada (land of all that is syrupy and good), and the Waffle Party is attempting to stop all use of foreign syrup, yet others wish to go to war over this sticky, syrupy dispute. edit The Waffle-Pancake War The Waffle-Pancake War actually was started as a result of the recently ended Pancake-Flapjack war, when the waffles insulted both sides. Little do they know, Griddlecakes are planning their revenge. At the start of 2010, the great waffle army unleashed there newly reasurected ROFLWAFFLES on the iHops of the world. Although there were over 100,000 civilian deaths with fat people exploding like frag grenades, and only the pancake loving General Betrayusall got injured, millions of pancake arsenal got destroyed. The waffle and flapjack armies are now negotiating an alliance. edit Use as a Currency In Canada, waffles are used as a monetary system in which the government supplies their banks with fresh waffles every week, thus eliminating the possibility of waffles going stale. These waffles are then given to fat kids who eat the stale ones to eliminate inflation. Then, making sure not to damage the waffles, helicopters by the Ethiopian military airlift them, to be given to ninjas, the majority of the population, as a method of payment, until whatever is left trickles down to the lowest class, i.e. anyone who is not a ninja. These waffles can be spent, or eaten, and back themselves to avoid anyone creating a monopoly on them. It is also illegal to forge waffles, as they are a national currency. edit See also    v  d  e Dirty Politics Personal tools In other languages

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Take the 2-minute tour × So I have a crazy project setup (well, it's only 1 file that needs this crazyness). First, I'll explain the setup. So I have a file on my dropbox. I want to include that file in a Kdevelop project, but the rest of the project source code is located on a virtual machine, as well as the Kdevelop environment itself where I'm working. So what I've done is in the project directory tree for the kdevelop project, I've put a symlink to the file in my dropbox. To summarize. host:~$ ls Dropbox/ vm:~$ mount Dropbox on /home/user/Dropbox/ type vboxsf (uid=1000,gid=1000,rw) vm:~$ ls Dropbox/ vm:~/projectroot/modules$ ls -la pxaregsmodule.c -> /home/dknapp/Dropbox/pxaregsmodule.c vm:~/projectroot/modules$ cat ../.kdev_include_paths So as you can see. I have a symlink in a subdirectory of kdevelop that's linked outside of the project tree. And I have an include directory at the project root for my include files. Now the problem is that when I open pxaregsmodule.c in the kdevelop editor, it doesn't recognize the custom include arguments because it thinks it's opening in /home/user/Dropbox. Of course this only affects the editor, where it can't code complete and it thinks it's missing include files. But doesn't have to do with the makefile and compilation. But is there any way to make kdevelop not dereference symbolic links and think the file is opening in projectroot/modules so it can see the include path? I can't use a hardlink because the file is on my shared partition, which crosses partition boundaries. Any solutions? Was that clear? share|improve this question Starting a bounty, because, why not? =P –  Falmarri Jun 22 '11 at 18:20 add comment 1 Answer In the VM, is the pxaregsmodule.c at /home/user/Dropbox/pxaregsmodule.c or /home/dknapp/Dropbox/pxaregsmodule.c? It seems to me like the symbolic link pxaregsmodule.c in /projectroot/modules is broken since it points to the wrong directory. What happens if you: tail ~/projectroot/modules/pxaregsmodule.c Does any code show up? If this is the problem, you can fix it this way: cd ~/projectroot/modules/ rm pxaregsmodule.c ln -s /home/user/Dropbox/pxaregsmodule.c (Not using ln -sf, for clarity) In any case, I would highly recommend using a modern VCS like Mercurial or Git instead, if possible. They will avoid these types of problems, and if you pay for hosting, you get a solution that's accessible from everywhere, with good backup and security. It's also possible to set up your own server, or even put the repository directly in Dropbox and access it from the vm over network on the computer in question, though I would not recommend the latter. share|improve this answer The CODE opens fine. I can read the document, and it works just fine. But KDevelop thinks it's at the location the symlink points to, not the location where the symlink is. This is probably just how kdevelop is written. –  Falmarri Jun 28 '11 at 21:32 If that is the case, you can avoid this problem by avoiding the combination of KDevelop and symlinks. Stop using either one and your problem should disappear. –  Alexander Jun 29 '11 at 14:06 So you're saying since it hurts to breathe, I should stop breaking? =P +1 for trying though =] –  Falmarri Jul 7 '11 at 18:01 I didn't get the meaning of "breaking" in "So you're saying since it hurts to breathe, I should stop breaking?", but avoiding symlinks is not an unreasonable solution. Use Git or Mercurial instead. –  Alexander Jul 7 '11 at 23:02 I meant breathing =\ –  Falmarri Jul 11 '11 at 16:20 add comment Your Answer

http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/14280/kdevelop-project-setup-with-symlinked-files-not-seeing-custom-include-paths?answertab=votes

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Take the 2-minute tour × I know that previously it was 960 pixels, but lately I have had clients wanting me to push the envelope further and prompted me to do some research on the matter. share|improve this question Possible duplicate: Best fixed-width website size‌​. Also generally avoid anyone telling you to "push the envelope" when "push the envelope" means "small screens can't use it and large screens will have paragraph widths far too long" –  Ben Brocka Oct 22 '12 at 20:03 There is no standard –  DA01 Oct 22 '12 at 21:31 if you rephrase the question a bit, like "most common" it will make more sense, but still will be relative. –  PatomaS Oct 23 '12 at 0:54 According to what I understand from the latest Data Monday from Luke Wroblewski, there wouldn't be any standard. The great variety of the recently-released platforms leads to the conclusion that "At this point it should be painfully obvious that any company working on the Web today needs a multi-device design strategy to survive.". So you may need to create your content for multiple widths. –  Padrig Oct 29 '12 at 18:10 add comment 7 Answers The Right Answer is Responsive Design as mentioned earlier. Take a look at some. Responsive design works because it scales with the available screen size. So, when designing a website or web app you can be sure it will display appropriately when using phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. It is still important to see what the ecosystem looks like in the past. If you have Google Analytics take a look at the last year's worth of visitors and sort by screen size. This should tell you more about the dimensions of your users screens and how a change in dimensions is going to effect them. share|improve this answer Why is responsive design the right answer? –  Rahul Oct 22 '12 at 23:10 Please update the answer with this information, don't just tell me in a comment :) –  Rahul Oct 23 '12 at 16:10 Using Responsive Design is great for smaller screens, but I'm not sure why you think that it automatically means filling the entire width of any given screen. This site (UX Stack Exchange) has a responsive design, but I don't think that it being wider would make it better. –  Django Reinhardt Nov 25 '13 at 18:15 Django You make a good point. Not every site needs to fill the entire width. I think it is content dependent. –  designerWhoCodes Nov 26 '13 at 15:51 My thoughts have changed on this over time. @DjangoReinhardt I agree there are very few real use cases for content extending past 1200px. I still see a need for responsive design for a multitude of devices but honestly there is no need to go full page width. I think I should update my answer. –  designerWhoCodes Feb 20 at 18:37 show 3 more comments Responsive is great for smaller screen sizes, and to cope with phone and tablet displays. But I'm unconvinced that going wider than 960 (or so) is desperately important. For example, the setup I use is a 27inch display, +my laptop's panel, and I still find wide layouts irritating. There are a number of reasons for that. 1. I didn't buy a big display, just to display a single website. I bought it so I could view/work on two (or more) things side by side. That's the point of big displays, it makes you more productive by letting you switch between things much faster. I think this is pretty normal for people with large displays. 2. Most websites aren't that wide. I use tabs in the browser, so typically I just cmd-T to open a new tab, put in a search or URL and I'm done. If a site is unusually wide I now have to resize the browser too. Given I have other windows on screen I basically have to rearrange my workspace which is annoying. This may just be my personal style, so it may not generalise though. 3. If the actual content is too wide then line lengths get long, which makes reading difficult. 30-40ems seems like a good width for text, which isn't going to be more than around 650px at standard font-sizes. (If you're going for larger fonts, which I recommend for legibility, then tend towards 30ems, rather than 40). That still gives you width for side nav, or auxiliary content. Long line lengths are well known to be less readable. Of course, you could still build a responsive design for wider displays, but I'm not convinced it'll get seen very often. And I'd absolutely make sure you have a design point at 960px or so. In summary, the case for going wider than 960 isn't compelling, if I were the client I'd spend my money elsewhere. share|improve this answer add comment Responsive is great, but it's time consuming. I'd say stick with 960 (though I'm a fan of the 970 grid) and explain the reasoning. If you explain the upsides, then perhaps they'll realize that it makes sense. Or, convince them they need responsive, do the extra work and charge the extra billable hours (also, charge a higher hourly fee, since it's more complex work) :D share|improve this answer add comment A key consideration is: who are your users, and what screen resolution are they likely to have? Check out the chart in a recent Nielsen Alertbox entitled "Computer Screens are Getting Bigger:" http://www.useit.com/alertbox/screen_resolution.html If your target users are "everyone everywhere in the world," you are best sticking with 960. If your users work at US corporations on tasks they will likely be doing at their desks, it is safe to work much wider. On a recent project we determined that our users would be working at a minimum 1440x900 even when working at home on their laptops, and assumed a browser window width of 1280. If your clients want to push this envelope, perhaps they have made a similar judgment. --Jim share|improve this answer Yup, the Nielsen article sums it up -- the new average resolution is 1366×768. We're looking at redoing an admin interface in a wider 1200px container. That should be fine for most users, but I'm concerned that it also work for users on laptops and tablets. –  RobC Oct 23 '12 at 19:22 add comment There is no standard. People are accessing the web through a wider range of devices and screen widths than ever before. Smart phones, tablets, mini tablets, notebooks, laptops, desktops, massive desktops etc etc. You can't pick a width and expect that to do for everyone. That is why responsive is the answer. It enables you to design for everyone. There are a range of techniques used to design responsively. I usually design with a flexible grid, with changes to the layout at 2-3 breakpoints - so you could i guess consider those "standard" in order to have some starting points Bootstrap sets these as: Phone - 480px Tablet - 767px desktop - 979px Large display - 1200px Its probably worth looking into using em's and % rather than pixels. http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-infinite-grid/ http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/ share|improve this answer add comment Although responsive designs are great, I don't think they are the answer you are looking for. I think the root of the problem comes from the width of paragraph text and the fact that you never want to horizontal scroll. To me, the perfect paragraph is maximum of 600px wide, better around 540px. Add a sidebar of related content and you naturally end up around the 960px mark for the whole thing. Responsive designs can then shrink the paragraph width and hide the sidebar appropriately. Ultimately the Web is narrow and people will scroll down and look down while browsing. Adding horizontal content may appear to fit more content on your client's crazy sized Apple monitor, but that doesn't mean the real world will actually see it. share|improve this answer add comment The correct response to your client is to examine your site's analytics. You can then respond: Choice A) XX Pixels. X% of your users will find the site unusable. Choice B) YY pixels. Y% of your users will find the site unusable. share|improve this answer The obvious choice C is responsive design, but jumping from a fixed width site to a responsive site is a big jump. –  Brian Oct 22 '12 at 20:25 Your answer is insightful but a bit too cynical. Why not take the comment and put it in the answer? Responsive design is the right answer. –  Rahul Oct 22 '12 at 20:47 Clients which are asking for a specific width are probably interested in creating a fixed width design. Clients tend to like fixed width because it provides more control and is more predictable. Artists tend to like fixed width because it is significantly easier to create and show a fixed width mock-up; fixed width is more intuitive. Really, the only people who prefer responsive design are UX professionals (and users). –  Brian Oct 22 '12 at 22:24 Why not include that thought in the answer? –  Rahul Oct 22 '12 at 23:10 @Rahul: The OP is asking for advice on fixed width designs. I prefer to avoid the over-popular response of "don't use them." –  Brian Oct 23 '12 at 12:50 show 2 more comments Your Answer

http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/28124/what-is-the-current-pixel-width-standard-for-a-websites-content-area/28178

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Startrekweb_2How will we ever get any work done? NBC and CBS have reached deep into their program vaults and are flooding the web with free streaming offerings of couch-potato classics, including "Star Trek" (the great 79); "Hawaii Five-0" (a personal fave); "Emergency" (Gage and DeSoto rule); "Miami Vice" (love the one where Frank Zappa guest stars); "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (great host); "Kojak" (great Telly); "MacGyver," "Melrose Place," "The A-Team," "Simon & Simon" and the original Lorne Greene-in-a-robe-and-toupe version of "Battlestar Galactica." There’s especially good news for fans of the Rod Serling oeuvre. CBS is offering the first two seasons of "The Twilight Zone," and and are beaming out "Night Gallery." "NightTwilightzonecrop  Gallery," produced by Universal TV for NBC from 1970-1973, is not as consistently mind-blowing as "Twilight Zone," but the best of the episodes, mostly the Serling-penned segs, are very, very good indeed. Steven Spielberg famously made his directorial debut on a "Night Gallery" seg starring Joan Crawford as a blind woman with a very high sense of entitlement. Hawaii50crop_2Interesting that these separate initiatives from the Eye and the Peacock were announced about a week after the majors inked the new deal with the Writers Guild of America that calls for them to pay scribes 2% of the distributor’s gross on web streaming of library TV shows, library being defined as anything produced after 1977 and streamed more than a year after its initial telecast. With library product, the 2% of distrib’s gross formula kicks in right away, not in year three of the WGA contract as is the case for contempo programs. So the timing of the majors’ push to offer on-demand access to their libraries is a good thing for scribes, on paper. The real question is, how do you calculateMiamivice  the distributor’s gross for online distribution of an old "MacGyver" or "Miami Vice" seg? In theory it will be based on whatever the license fee that the owner (aka distrib) of the program receives from the exhibitor, aka and But valuation matters get even more complicated when you’re talking about vintage product owned by the same conglomerate that also controls the Internet exhibition. This is the kind of stuff that will keep lawyers for the guild, the studios and top creatives fully employed during the next few years. Filed Under: Comments 1

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Filed Under: 'Power For The Planet': Company Bets Big On Fusion Play associated audio One such company is hidden away in a small business park in the suburbs of Vancouver, British Columbia. Nothing seems unusual here — there's a food distributor, an engineering firm and small warehouses. But on one door there's a sign suggesting that all is not normal. The sign says "General Fusion" and warns people with pacemakers to proceed with caution. The reason for that caution can be found behind bulletproof walls that surround an experimental machine. This gleaming metal structure could be out of a science fiction movie set. It stands 15 feet tall, is crisscrossed with wires and is covered with aluminum foil. Two men are hunched over an instrument, troubleshooting. The machine is flanked with banks of electrical capacitors, which hold — and release — the amount of energy you find in a stick of dynamite. A siren warns to stay clear: The system is charging up, and with all that electric charge, some piece of hardware could go flying. This plasma ray gun is part of a bigger instrument, which is still under construction. The goal, simply put, is to create a small piece of the sun and harness that energy. "This is an insanely ambitious project," says Michel Laberge, the brains behind the project. He's a physicist and inventor with a rusty beard and a college-casual wardrobe. Beating The Big Guys This story really starts a dozen years ago, when the company where he was working asked him to join in a hot technology race that had nothing to do with energy. He was asked to build a switch for fiber optics communication cables. "So I was in competition with Nortel, Bell Lab, Lucent," Laberge says. "All those guys were putting literally billions of dollars in this project. And they gave me half a million dollars, and one guy ... said, 'Do something that will work better than the other guy.' [And I said,] 'Oh, OK!' " As Laberge tells the story, he actually succeeded. "For half a million dollars, we beat the billion-dollars worth of work. So that inflated my head a little bit. I said, 'Hey, look at that. You can beat the big guy if you do something different.' " So, on his 40th birthday, he quit his job in what he calls a midlife crisis, took the pile of money he'd earned at his old company, and decided to try something really revolutionary. With his Ph.D. in fusion energy, he thought he'd try to beat the big boys in the fusion field. "Reason No. 1 is to save the planet. We are in deep poo-poo," Laberge says. Fossil fuels will run out, and in the meantime they are causing global warming. Among the allures is that fusion reactors can't melt down, and they don't produce significant nuclear waste. And Laberge says if he succeeds, he could be worth billions. "As for glory, I word that as a negative. I don't want glory. That's just a pain. I don't want anybody to know me, really. Not interested in the glory. I'll take the money, though," he says with a hearty laugh. He knew he couldn't beat the existing multibillion-dollar fusion labs at their own game. So instead, he decided to combine ideas from the two current approaches to make a vastly cheaper machine. A One-Two Punch The general principle behind fusion is simple. If you can fuse together light atoms, you can create a heavier atom plus lots of energy. The trick is that in order to fuse atoms together, you need to provide enough energy to heat the atoms up to 150 million degrees Celsius. "Other fusion uses a very complex way of producing energy — superconducting magnets, laser beams, all sorts of expensive and complicated and pricey stuff," he says. "It costs them billions and billions of dollars, so it's not so practical in my opinion. Here, what the energy source is, is compressed air. Compressed air is dirt cheap." Think of his idea as a one-two punch. His big electrical gizmo starts to heat up the atoms. Those get injected into a 10-foot-wide sphere full of swirling molten lead. "The liquid will be circulated with a pump, so it spins around and makes a vortex in the center. You know, like your toilet with a hole in the center," Laberge says. And just as the heated atoms get into the center, Laberge fires 200 pistons, powered with compressed air, which surround the sphere. "Those are compressed air guns ... that send a big compression wave, squash the thing, and away you go!" If all goes as planned, squashing the mixture heats it up enough to fuse the atoms and ignite nuclear reactions. The concept is called magnetized target fusion. Laberge didn't invent the idea, but he re-imagined it, and, more to the point, he raised $30 million from founder Jeff Bezos and several venture capital firms to see if he can get it off the ground. Ask Laberge if he thinks it will work, and you'll get an indignant reply: "Of course I think it's going to work! Do you think I'm going to spend 10 years of my life doing something I think won't work? I think it [has] a good shot of working." He adds, "I wouldn't say I'm 100 percent sure it's going to work. That would be a lie. But I would put it at 60 percent chance that this is going to work. Now of course other people will give me a much smaller chance than that, but even at 10 percent chance of working, investors will still put money in, because this is big, man, this is making power for the whole planet. This is huge!" Changing The Venture Capital Game And the physics concept isn't the only big idea here: Laberge is also pioneering the idea that venture capital firms, which are used to taking big gambles but expect a quick payback, can sometimes have the patience to invest in a project they can't just flip in three years. Private funding could change the game for fusion energy. Richard Siemon used to run the fusion program at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is part of the multibillion-dollar federal research effort. He says radical ideas like this get dreamed up at the big labs, but they get starved for money, which flows mostly to the industrial-sized projects. Sure, he says, those big projects are exploring important physics, "but when they are working on a concept and somebody says, 'Yeah, but it's going to cost too much for the customer in the end,' that's sort of like a non-issue for a government researcher." But private investors are only interested in projects that could become commercially viable power sources. That's why Siemon is happy to see private investors taking an interest in fusion energy. "I really think that venture capital might just come in at this point and pick the best fruits off the tree and run with them," says the retired physicist. In fact, Laberge's company is not the only one out there using private funds to build reactors based on magnetized target fusion and other novel concepts. Siemon says he's confident someone will eventually figure this out. And that may be an economic competitor. "Just in the last year I heard it reported from some technical meetings that China has gotten interested in magnetized target fusion," Siemon notes. China could easily throw hundreds of millions of dollars at the idea. So venture capitalists could have some serious competition. Laberge, of course, is betting he will emerge victorious. Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit A Major In Coffee? UC Davis Might Be Brewing One Up The California university is already famous for its wine and beer programs. Coffee seemed like a natural next step. It's new Coffee Center aims to break down the science behind the perfect cup of Joe. A Major In Coffee? UC Davis Might Be Brewing One Up What's Holding Up Ukraine Aid Bill In Congress? Anger Over IRS Republicans say that to get the measure passed new IRS rules that make it harder for tax-exempt groups to veer into politics must be withdrawn. Forget Speed-Reading. Here's Speed-Writing With apps like Spritz and Spreeder, speed-reading is all the rage. But maybe the solution is writing faster: Decide important things. Write those. Understand? Leave a Comment

http://wamu.org/programs/all_things_considered/11/11/09/power_for_the_planet_company_bets_big_on_fusion

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Take the 2-minute tour × Before, I could easily join public hangouts. But now, whenever I click on the play button it's opening a Youtube live stream. share|improve this question add comment 1 Answer A hangout is indeed a public live stream video that is shown on Youtube, are you mistaking it for something else? Edit: What you are seeing on that page is called Hangouts on Air. You can't join such hangouts, only watch them. You can, however, join public hangouts that don't do any broadcasting. share|improve this answer they're suppose to be joinable. –  Pineapple Under the Sea Dec 21 '12 at 5:02 Yeah, you can join public hangouts if they are not broadcasting any videos. See support.google.com/plus/bin/… –  Hydra Dec 21 '12 at 5:13 add comment Your Answer

http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/36886/how-to-join-a-public-hangout

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I'd say hc 110 or tmax developer. If you want to try a staining developer, wd2d+ keeps forever in two bottles. You just mix a bit from each with water when you're ready. Very easy, great results. All of these produce differing curves and degrees of ability to compensate etc., you'll just have to try them.

http://www.apug.org/forums/viewpost.php?p=1249190

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Hi Guys, Just bought an awesome 1995 A6 in metallic silver. A couple of questions: 1. Steering wheel is a bit iffy. What wheel will fit so that everything will still work eg. airbag compatible. 2. How about lowering it a bit? 3. Can u fit a bose stereo to it?

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/classic-audi-forum/9654-1995-a6-steering-wheel.html

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aura cacia - essential care for the mind, body and spirit aromatherapy 101 Savvy Students tell a friend Can scent enhance study skills? The ancient Greeks and Romans - who wore rosemary wreaths on their heads to enhance memory while studying - certainly thought so. Modern-day research also supports this notion. One study, for example, showed that citrus oils help Japanese data entry workers make fewer mistakes. And in a Cincinnati, Ohio experiment, peppermint oil gave test takers a 28% accuracy edge. With each inhalation of fragrance, thousands of olfactory nerves in the nostrils send a myriad of messages to the brain. In turn, neurotransmitters - like encephaline, endorphins, serotonin and noradrenaline - are released, each with distinctive effects on the body. In this way, essential oils can dramatically affect physical and mental well being, including the ability to remember, focus and relax. A student might well benefit from practical skills like these. Study Time Don't worry, you don't need to wear a wreath to the classroom. Before studying, take a few moments to massage an appropriate oil or oil blend (properly diluted) onto the back of your neck and shoulders. Use an oil diffuser on your desk, or mist the air with an essential oil room spray while you study and inhale deeply. When you're getting ready for school - especially on the day of the exam - place a cotton ball or handkerchief with a drop or two of oil in a small zip-lock plastic bag. Before you take the test, remove the cotton ball and inhale the aroma. Or place the cotton ball on your desk. Use scents that can aid relaxation and memory. For the Parents Parents can help their kids in school with aromatherapy too. In a U.K. preschool, an aromatherapist offered special needs children weekly aromatherapy massages to help them prepare for mainstream schools. Many parents say the massages have helped their children feel more at ease and stay healthier. Massages may not be part of the typical American curriculum, but teenage students can enjoy the benefits of essential oils. Try an aromatherapy massage before school to help calm an anxious youngster. Or send a cotton ball or scented handkerchief to school with your student. The scent can be chosen to be calming, to improve alertness - like after lunch, when mental and physical energy might lag a bit - or for other benefits. Experiment to find which oils bring enjoyment and success to study sessions and test times. A few to try: To improve concentration: basil, cardamom, bergamot, cedarwood, lemon, grapefruit, peppermint, rosemary, cypress, ginger To aid relaxation: lavender, clary sage, geranium, ylang ylang, bergamot, melissa To strengthen memory: rosemary, basil, peppermint, lemon Simply Organic Frontier Aura Cacia home My Account Shopping Basket

http://www.auracacia.com/auracacia/aclearn/art_savvystudents.html

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the arts Civilization (All You Can Eat) Reviewed by Elizabeth Cobbe, Fri., Feb. 24, 2012 Steamed pork: Jude Hickey as Big Hog Steamed pork: Jude Hickey as Big Hog Photo courtesy of Stephen Pruitt Civilization (All You Can Eat) Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 Manor Rd., 474-7886 Through March 3 Running time: 1 hr., 30 min. The first thing you learn about the new Jason Grote play Civilization (All You Can Eat) is that there is a big hog (played by Jude Hickey). He's hungry and he's mad. This big, angry, vengeful animal is in some way representative of the darker aspects of the human experience. The other characters in the play are all human, living recognizable lives as film directors, actors, waiters, and overeducated freelancers. The promotional material for the play calls it a "parable of the Obama age." The characters wander their way through life's obstacles, for the most part getting tripped up on the way to success and happiness. People put their trust in the wrong places, or in some cases, they simply stumble into a bad situation and do more damage trying to get out than they did in the first place. One of the characters is an academic (played by Michael Joplin) who has turned away from teaching to focus on developing a line of self-help business seminars based around an understanding of chaos theory. Chaos dominates everyone's lives, he insists, and we just have to learn how to plan for and respond to it. Chaos has also left its mark on the script, alas. After the show, my companion remarked that she thought the stories were neat, but she couldn't figure out what they were supposed to mean when put together. I was tempted to just quote her and run that as my review, although doing so would be disrespectful to the great work of the acting ensemble. The performers demonstrate the intricacies of how people connect and then pull away from each other, like intransigent atoms that aren't sure whether they want to get into that whole molecule thing. It's also a thrill to watch actors who can so completely convince themselves that the world of the play is real. Across scenes, the most common threads seem to be disappointment and sadness. (Unless you're a big hog.) Some of that is accentuated by the dark lighting (design by Stephen Pruitt), which is dark enough even to obscure some of the emotional content. Big Hog, for example, is little more than a grunting voice, and at some point there's a conversation happening on a pay phone, but what we can see of these scenes is fuzzy in the half-light. There are good things happening in Civilization, but the production and script both are in need of greater illumination. write a letter

http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2012-02-24/civilization-all-you-can-eat/

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Source: Lexus Photo Credit: Patrick M. Hoey, Lexus Also, what about the REAL IS F? I feel like this front end design would definitely compliment the big vents on the sides of that car. I hope they are not discontinuing it. Love it or hate it, you can't deny that it will certainly turn heads. It doesn't look like anything else on the road. While I'm not a fan of the grille, I can see why people would buy it over the base models. I guess any publicity is good publicity. The front end looks like it has big, black buckteeth.  It's just not doing it for me.  I'm sure there's a happy audience for this car but for me, the front end is horribly distorted.  Good thing Lexus has quality. luxury and power behind it because on looks alone, this car is terrible.  You know that apple ipad app "photo booth".  it looks like they got their inspiration from one of the frames from that app where it distorts the image.  the 'squeeze' one for the front end, and the 'stretch' frame for the rear.  I've always thought the IS as one of the better looking lexuses, but I'm not feelin this one, at least in the photos.  I've been surprised, both pleasantly and horribly, seeing cars in the flesh after seeing them in photos.  This could go either way. Kelego is right.  This car is horrid.  And at one time I actually harbored some hopes that I'd like one enough to buy one.  Not now! buyer's guide Find vehicle reviews, photos, & pricing our instagram get Automobile Magazine new cars Read Related Articles

http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/detroit-2013-this-is-the-new-2014-lexus-is-in-all-its-glory-195613/

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Speeding Physician Gets Arrested for DUI William C. Head Case Conclusion Date:January 12, 2009 Practice Area:DUI / DWI Outcome:Case Called for Trial, Pre-Trial Motions Conducted Description:After dinner with another couple, a local physican and his spouse were driving back to their Buckhead area condominium when he was stopped for driving 59 in a 35 mph zone. The State trooper smelled alcohol and and asked him to "exit the vehicle". When field tests were started, the physician started talking about the fact that their condo was 300 yards away, and asked the trooper to let them go home. The trooper declined to allow that, and continued trying to conduct his roadside sobriety evaluations. A video showed the manner of administering the horizontal gaze nystagmus evaluation (eye test) to the suspect, and the evaluation was done incorrectly by the trooper. In addition, the wife tried to step out to see what was happening, because she could hear conversation between the two men and that the trooper was raising his voice to Mr. Head's Client. This "threat" of the wife becoming involved in this investigation led to the trooper calling for back-up, and another trooper soon arrived for purposes of controlling the wife's actions, if she became agitated or tried to interfere. This trooper left his blue lights on during the entire HGN (eye exam), likely affecting this evaluation's reliability. The video also captured the trooper threatening to arrest the physician who was asking questions about the tests being offered, and about his right to call an attorney. Soon, the cuffs were placed on the doctor's wrists and the arrest was made. The suppression motion just prior to trial focused on one issue: the sufficiency of evidence obtained by the trooper prior to making a custodial arrest for DUI. As part of the hearing, the prosecutor conceded that the field sobriety tests would have to be excluded due to the fact that the trooper's wording that threatened arrest constituted "custody" under the holding of a Georgia case, State v. O'Donnell from 1997. When such custody has already been "announced" or started, Georgia case law requires that no voluntary field tests can be administered UNLESS Miranda advisements are given (right to legal counsel, right to remain silent, etc.) Mr. Head only asked 6 questions of the trooper after that point in time before asking the judge to dismiss the entire DUI charge due to lack of sufficient evidence to support the arrest decision. Mr. Head cited several similar appellate cases from the Georgia Court of Appeals, including Handley v. State from 2008, Sanders v. State from 2005 and State v. Gray from 2004. The judge agreed, and granted the suppression motion. That ended the DUI prosecution the same as if the jury had acquitted Client. Then, Mr. Head agreed to enter a guilty plea to the speeding offense, except for a speed lower that the "cutoff" for the case being reported to the Department of Driver Services (no points and no record being posted). The Client paid $100 fine plus $35 in surcharges, which ended the case.

http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/30350-ga-william-head-478108/legal_cases/8801

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BBC Culture State of the Art Leonardo da Vinci’s groundbreaking anatomical sketches About the author • Jack of all trades Leonardo da Vinci's restless curiosity led him to try his hand as a painter, sculptor, engineer, inventor, anatomist, writer, geologist and botanist, among other things. (Corbis) • Last meal Leonardo's paintings are among the most famous in art history. The Last Supper (completed 1497) depicts Christ and his disciples at their final meal before the Crucifixon. (Corbis) • Dig for victory Leonardo devised machinery for excavating canals (pictured) and a complex system of locks to regulate water flow. (Corbis) • Under the skin The great polymath brought together superb draughtsmanship, scientific knowledge and an artist's sensibility in his anatomical drawings. (Royal Collection) • The beat goes on He stated firmly that the heart was comprised of four chambers at a time when it was generally understood to be made up of two. (Corbis) • In a similar vein Leonardo's work in diverse fields led him to draw comparisons between them. He saw links between the soil and flesh, rivers and blood vessels. (Corbis) • Show some spine The work now known as the Anatomical Manuscript A contains some amazing insights, like the first accurate depiction of the human backbone. (Royal Collection) • All in your head The drawing A Skull Sectioned from 1489 studies the position of the facial cavities in relation to surface features. (Corbis) Alastair Sooke looks through the ultimate Renaissance man’s anatomical sketchbooks – scientific masterpieces full of lucid insights into the functioning of the human body. We tend to think of Leonardo da Vinci as a painter, even though he probably produced no more than 20 pictures before his death in 1519. Yet for long periods of his career, which lasted for nearly half a century, he was engrossed in all sorts of surprising pursuits, from stargazing and designing ingenious weaponry to overseeing a complex system of canals for Ludovico Maria Sforza, the ruling duke of Milan. During the course of his life, Leonardo filled thousands of pages of manuscript with dense doodles, diagrams, and swirling text, probing almost every conceivable topic. Not for nothing, then, is he often considered the archetypal Renaissance man: as the great British art historian Kenneth Clark put it, Leonardo was the most relentlessly curious person in history. Yet according to Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man, a new exhibition at the Edinburgh International Festival, one area of scientific endeavour piqued Leonardo’s curiosity arguably more than any other: human anatomy. Leonardo’s interest in anatomy began when he was working for Ludovico in Milan. “On the 2nd day of April 1489”, as he wrote at the head of a page in a new notebook, he sat down to begin his “Book entitled On the Human Figure”. After executing a sequence of stunning drawings of a skull, though, his studies went into abeyance, probably because he lacked access to corpses that he could dissect. Bodies of evidence But his ambitions to publish a comprehensive treatise on human anatomy persisted – and around two decades later, he returned to his otherwise unused notebook, which is now known as the Anatomical Manuscript B and is kept at the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. In it he made a number of pen-and-ink drawings recording his observations while dissecting an old man who had died in a hospital in Florence in the winter of 1507-08. In the years that followed, Leonardo concentrated on human anatomy more systematically than ever before – and by the end of his life he claimed that he had cut up more than 30 corpses. In the winter of 1510-11, while probably collaborating with a young professor of anatomy called Marcantonio della Torre at the University of Pavia, Leonardo compiled a series of 18 mostly double-sided sheets exploding with more than 240 individual drawings and over 13,000 words of notes. Now known as the Anatomical Manuscript A, and also in the Royal Collection, these sheets are full of lucid insights into the functioning anatomy of the human body. Leonardo made many important discoveries. For instance, he produced the first accurate depiction of the human spine, while his notes documenting his dissection of the Florentine centenarian contain the earliest known description of cirrhosis of the liver. Had he published his treatise, he would be considered more important than the Belgian anatomist Andreas Vesalius, whose influential textbook On the Fabric of the Human Body appeared in 1543. But he never did. Heart of the matter Yet arguably Leonardo’s most brilliant scientific insights occurred after Marcantonio’s death from the plague in 1511, when the great polymath fled political turmoil in Milan and took shelter in the family villa of his assistant Francesco Melzi, 15 miles (24km) east of the city. It was here that he became obsessed with understanding the structure of the heart. The heart surgeon Francis Wells, who works at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge and recently published The Heart of Leonardo, recalls coming across Leonardo’s studies for the first time as a medical student. “I remember thinking that they were far better than anything we had in modern textbooks of anatomy,” he says. “They were beautiful, accurate, absorbing – and there was a liveliness to them that you just don’t find in modern anatomical drawings.” During his investigations, Leonardo discovered several extraordinary things about the heart. “Up until and after his time, because of course he never published, the heart was believed to be a two-chambered structure,” Wells explains. “But Leonardo firmly stated that the heart has four chambers. Moreover, he discovered that the atria or filling chambers contract together while the pumping chambers or ventricles are relaxing, and vice versa.” In addition, Leonardo observed the heart’s rotational movement. “If you look at a heart, it is cone-shaped,” says Wells. “But it’s a complex cone in a geometric sense, because it’s a cone with a twist. This is because the heart empties itself with a twisting motion – it wrings itself out, a bit like the wringing out of a towel. In heart failure it loses this twist.” According to Wells, Leonardo didn’t fully understand the function of cardiac twist. “But everything starts somewhere,” he says. “There’s a passage in which Leonardo describes the slaughter of some pigs on a Tuscan hillside. You or I would probably enjoy a nice glass of red wine while the pork was cooking, but Leonardo was thinking about this at the time. They killed the pigs by pushing little spears through the chest into the heart, and Leonardo noticed the rotational movement of these little spears in the heart. It was totally blue-sky research, of no use to anybody of his time, but it was a correct start along the road to understanding cardiac twist, which is now one of the hottest topics in understanding heart failure.” Perhaps most impressive of all, though, were Leonardo’s observations about the aortic valve, which he made while experimenting with an ox’s heart. Intrigued by the way that the aortic valve opens and closes to ensure blood flows in one direction, Leonardo set about constructing a model by filling a bovine heart with wax. Once the wax had hardened, he recreated the structure in glass, and then pumped a mixture of grass seeds suspended in water through it. This allowed him to observe little vortices as the seeds swirled around in the widening at the root of the aorta. As a result, Leonardo correctly posited that these vortices helped to close the aortic valve. Yet because he never published his far-sighted research, this remained unknown for centuries. “This wasn’t understood until the 20th Century,” says Wells, “when it was shown most beautifully in [science journal] Nature in 1968 by two engineers in Oxford. There was only reference to Leonardo da Vinci. There are two extraordinary things about that: first, there was only one reference, and second, the reference was 500 years old.” So what made Leonardo such a brilliant anatomist? “One mustn’t get carried away claiming that Leonardo was a completely unique figure,” says Martin Clayton, head of prints and drawings in the Royal Collection, and the curator of the Edinburgh exhibition. “There were lots of investigative anatomists around at the time, and there were lots of artists who were interested in anatomy. But Leonardo pushed these two things further than anybody else. He was the supreme example of an anatomist who could also draw, or of an artist who was also a very skilled dissector. It was the union of these two skills in a single figure that made Leonardo unique.” Alastair Sooke is art critic of The Daily Telegraph.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130828-leonardo-da-vinci-the-anatomist

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Mickey's - Miller Brewing Co. Displayed for educational use only; do not reuse. 819 Ratings (view ratings) Ratings: 819 Reviews: 292 rAvg: 2.53 pDev: 30.83% Brewed by: Miller Brewing Co. visit their website Wisconsin, United States Style | ABV American Malt Liquor |  5.60% ABV Availability: Year-round Notes/Commercial Description: No notes at this time. (Beer added by: pezoids on 07-03-2001) View: Beers (26) |  Events Beer: Ratings & Reviews Sort by:  Latest | High | Low | Top Reviewers | Read the Alström Bros Beer Reviews and Beer Ratings of Mickey's Alström Bros Ratings: 819 | Reviews: 292 | Show All Ratings: Photo of UCLABrewN84 3.08/5  rDev +21.7% Serving type: can 07-30-2011 03:45:45 | More by UCLABrewN84 Photo of BuckeyeNation 2.13/5  rDev -15.8% "one night frank was on his way home from work, stopped at the liquor store, picked up a couple of mickey's big mouths, drank 'em in the car on his way to the shell station; he got a gallon of gas in a can. drove home, doused everything in the the house, torched it. parked across the street laughing, watching it burn, all halloween orange and chimney red". That's from the classic song 'Frank's Wild Years' which is on the classic (aren't they all?) Tom Waits album Swordfishtrombones. It was the first time I'd ever heard of Mickey's Big Mouth Malt Liquor. My only regret is that this review will come from a 24 oz. can, not a Big Mouth bottle. Crystal clear straw yellow beneath a voluminous cap of dirty white froth that displays impressive persistance and lays down a surprising, though still underwhelming, amount of lace. The sweet, corny, grainy nose manages to avoid offending. It ain't much, but then anyone drinking this beer is unlikely to give a shit (I'm conducting research and 'horizon expansion' and wish to be excluded from that group). It's difficult to distinguish this beer from other macro lagers. Yeah, I know that it's a malt liquor, but it doesn't strike me as that much different from the lower octane beer; maybe because of the low ABV. It's tastes of sweet grain, bitter grain and sour grain (the trifecta!) with a light, verging on watery, body. The beer is slightly skunky, but that seems to be part of its... ahem... charm. At least there's no deterioration with warming. That's an admirable quality, right? Of course, it wouldn't have far to go in a downward direction. Maybe Mickey's is better from a big mouth bottle (or a chalis?). Maybe it was better before Miller began brewing it. Who knows? Who cares? Don't expect much and I promise you, that's exactly what you'll get. Serving type: can 09-24-2004 21:48:23 | More by BuckeyeNation Photo of mikesgroove South Carolina 2.9/5  rDev +14.6% huge thanks to the kind trader who realized i was working on this list and sent me this as a great extra. 40oz bottle poured into a tall pilsner glass, this one was consumed on 08/24/2010. the pour was much better then i am used to coming out of a 40 for sure, dark amber color with a nice head of a finger and a half that lay on top of the glass throughout the session, aroma of wet cardboard, earthy malts, hay, corn, lots of grain, basically the standard here that i was pretty much expecting. nice medium feel was a welcome treat as it did not come across as overally thick, but not too light either. clean taste, although terribly malt heavy with a bit of a sting in the finish. still it was easy to polish off and i would not argue it against some of the others i have had lately. overall not bad at all, i have had much, much worse an might do this one again on a whim. Serving type: bottle 08-25-2010 10:53:39 | More by mikesgroove Photo of womencantsail 2.58/5  rDev +2% A: The pour is a crystal clear golden yellow color with a fizzy white head. S: A fair amount of metal and vegetables. Lots of sweet corn and apple juice. There is a bit of grain and skunk in there as well. T: This is actually quite similar (flavor-wise) to your average adjunct lager (probably why I used to drink it). Sweet grain and corn with a mild skunk. M: Light in body with a fair amount of fizzy carbonation. D: Eh, not as easy to drink as it used to be ("back in the day"). Still, there are definitely worse malt liquors out there. Serving type: bottle 10-16-2010 07:58:08 | More by womencantsail Photo of ChainGangGuy 2.13/5  rDev -15.8% Appearance: From out of the glass hand grenade pours a clear, bright gold body with a thinnish, white head. Smell: Sweetish, basic, bland malts and adjuncts with some faint hints of garden-variety flowers. Taste: Same with the nose - sweetish, basic, bland malts and adjuncts. There are some faint floral qualities, but there's almost nil when it comes to hop bitterness. Watery, though clean finish. Mouthfeel: Thin-bodied. Medium-low carbonation. Drinkability: No thanks. It's a shame they redesigned the container, getting cut by those peel-back metal tabs was part of the fun. Serving type: bottle 03-20-2009 17:50:03 | More by ChainGangGuy Photo of TMoney2591 2.48/5  rDev -2% Served in a snifter. And, thus, following the good stuff, Swill Fest 1.5 kicks off, complete with a viewing of Human Centipede. This offering pours a clear straw topped by a finger of white foam. The nose comprises wheat, corn, and hay wet with the runoff from some dark, murky bog in the old English countryside, the kind of thing you'd see in some rustic Gothic throwback tale. The taste holds notes of corn, corn syrup, and a heaping helping of bad apple juice. Up until now, I was unaware that apple juice could go bad in this manner. now I think it could be a possibility. The body is a hefty light, with a moderate carbonation and a watery feel. Overall, I think this gives yet another reason for why malt liquors don't get any real respect: They don't really deserve much. Serving type: can 12-25-2010 03:14:42 | More by TMoney2591 Photo of NeroFiddled 3.1/5  rDev +22.5% Smells like grain and alcohol with barely a suggestion of hops, ...and it's supposed to taste like that! Serving type: bottle 05-13-2006 18:46:16 | More by NeroFiddled Photo of biboergosum Alberta (Canada) 2.53/5  rDev 0% Ok, I've seen these around for ever and a day, but never got around to trying one. The bottle is different, kind of like a stubby, but actually more like a mini beer keg, with a large mouth. This beer pours a clear medium straw colour, with lots of puffy white head, which doesn't stick around for long, leaving spotty lace in its wake. It smells of skunky white grain, and backyard weeds. The taste is cloying corn and rice husk sweetness, and a light vegetal skunkiness. The carbonation is average, the body slick, but generally all right, and it finishes fairly smooth and grainy, the sweetness and skunk becoming one unholy duality. Packaging kitsch aside, this is one big-assed pass for me. And I don't even get to laugh it off as a cheap throwaway purchase - up here, this beer sells as a "premium import". Jebus. Serving type: bottle 12-25-2009 06:52:54 | More by biboergosum Photo of emerge077 2.23/5  rDev -11.9% Can from a shady liquor store, the one time I don't check the date, the can is old. "NOV14 11" printed on the bottom. I was fooled since it wasn't dusty... Pale straw gold, urine shade with rapid rising trails of carbonation. Compact white foam biscuit lid up top, slow to settle, leaving some lace in the glass, and an ever present veil of skim on the surface (surprisingly). Smells like adjunct city, corn and possibly rice, rather sweet with apple notes from the yeast and some metallic, musty dishrag minerality. Wafting notes of misspent college nights and bad judgement. Sweet taste, pretty astringent as it warms, cereal grain, wet paper, vague fleeting apple. Fizzy but relatively clean. In the malt liquor continuum, Mickey's falls a bit short of center. Serving type: can 02-07-2012 01:52:41 | More by emerge077 Photo of drabmuh 3.08/5  rDev +21.7% Bad beer Thursdays -- two for one edition. This is simultaneously a well known "bad beer" but also a top 5 American Malt Liquor, neat. Poured from a green 40 ounce bottle into a Paulaner 1 L dimpled stein. Beer is yellow and clear, heavily carbonated with a thick head of large white bubbles, actually bubbles of all sizes, no staying power though. It's gone before I know it's there. It actually smells rather pleasant. Sweet, pilsner, it has a slight odd aroma to it but it definitely doesn't smell bad. Beer is medium in body and has an odd bitterness at the finish...and here comes the boiled corn aftertaste. Bummer, you really let me down Mickeys. I was hoping for so much more. At least the aftertaste is short lived. I can say that much for it. It's drinkable, more so than the others, just not very good tasting. Serving type: bottle 02-25-2011 01:16:56 | More by drabmuh Photo of zeff80 1.95/5  rDev -22.9% It's been about 3 years since my first and only malt liquor. I thought I'd re-visit the style. A - Clear, straw-yellow with tons of bubbles. Two-finger, white bubbly head of foam that does not last long nor leave any lace. S - Not much other than corn and grains. T - Grains and corn with a spicy alcohol presence - I can't really define it as hops but it was spiced. M - Best attribute. Crisp, sharp and dry with a light bodied. D - Still not loving malt liquors. I took my time on this one not to savor it or because of the high ABV - I just wasn't that interested it drinking more of it. Serving type: can 02-28-2010 01:45:31 | More by zeff80 Photo of Knapp85 3/5  rDev +18.6% My uncle introduced me to Mickey's a few years ago. One new years eve he got a case and we sat around drinking them trying to figure out the guessing game on the bottle caps. The beer might not be the greatest but at least they give you something to do while drinking it. Anyway it pours just like any other American adjunct lager I've had with a yellow body and A white head. The head fades and leaves us with sweet smelling brew. The beer tastes alright and doesn't have a bad aftertaste at all. It was a drinkable brew thankfully and it helped bring in the new year! Serving type: bottle 05-14-2011 00:21:49 | More by Knapp85 Photo of jwc215 3.55/5  rDev +40.3% 40 oz. screw-cap bottle: Pours straw yellow with a thick white head that slowly descends to a lasting wide patch. Some spots of lacing stick. The smell is more of a macro lager than a malt liquor, but pretty decent within that realm - some grain, but overall quite clean and inoffensive. The taste is of sweet grain, some cooked corn, a touch of husk and a but of alcohol. Honey sweetness in the finish. The body is light and pretty slick. No need to put this one in a paper bag. For this style, it's very inoffensive and very drinkable. A kinder, gentler malt liquor. It has a smoothness to it, and the taste is more than tolerable - a bit too sweet. Not as aggressive as the stinging bee on the label would have it, but very drinkable and inoffensive for the style. Serving type: bottle 07-28-2008 04:36:01 | More by jwc215 Photo of WVbeergeek 2.03/5  rDev -19.8% Mickey's hand grenades appears pale golden yellow tone with a large bright white quickly dwindling head leaves even fine lacing around my glass. Aromatics have cereal tones with corn and rice pulling up a chair, and mild herbal grass notes as well. Flavors collide upfront with cooked veggies, herbal notes, mild sweetness, and a somewhat metallic note though it finishes relatively clean after all of that. Mouthfeel is light bodied pretty thin with unnatural carbonation that tickles the throat. Drinkability is one of those ghetto college staples that will always sell with or without a marketing campaign. Serving type: bottle 02-06-2007 01:45:04 | More by WVbeergeek Photo of Halcyondays 2.15/5  rDev -15% 12 oz. stubby green bottle, A: Pours a very pale yellow with a large cap of foam after gushing out of the big mouth bottle into a pint glass. Surprisingly good head retention, light spotty lacing. S: Very light, some grain malt is all I pick up from this one. T: Very fusely with a husky grain character and a bit of wheat. Overall, the flavour is very light. Hop character is barely noticable but adds a grungy wet hay aspect to the aftertaste. M: Low carbonation, very light-bodided, airy. D: An average malt liquor, but too pricey for the style. I got bored with this beer far to easily. At least it doesn't become undrinkable due to an alcohol character like some others of this style are. Serving type: bottle 06-21-2008 18:50:03 | More by Halcyondays Photo of tempest 3.1/5  rDev +22.5% Drank straight from the wide-mouth, green stubby bottle - as it was meant to be. This beer is surprisingly not bad. I think there's some truth to the bottle's "Fine Malt Liquor" label. Because as far as malt liquor goes, this isn't that far behind Rogue fancy-pants Dad's Little Helper. In terms of flavor, this beer reminds me of a dull PBR. It just has gentle bready malts behind a vague sweetness. Completely drinkable and inoffensive. Worth a try, just because it's Mickey's. Serving type: bottle 12-23-2008 17:01:37 | More by tempest Photo of rhoadsrage 2.05/5  rDev -19% (Served in a nonic) A- This beer has a straw yellow crystal clear body with a big carbonation of large bubbles and a bubble white head of molten candy. S- The soft green apple acetaldehyde grows as the beer warms with a light flinty note that is nice but soon overpowered. There is a faint field corn note in the finish. T- The clean flavor has a slight tartness with a faint corn flavor that comes through on the exhale. The green apple flavor has a jolly rancher candy quality to it that gets stronger with each sip. M- This beer has a light mouthfeel with a watery texture and a fizzy finish. D- This beer is light but not clean. The tartness and corn and apple flavors are very pronounced and become a bit more obnoxious with each sip. Serving type: can 07-14-2010 16:48:57 | More by rhoadsrage Photo of Jason 3.03/5  rDev +19.8% Presentation: 40 oz green glass bottle, no freshness date. Tough looking flexing green hornet as their mascot. Under the cap is a psuedo-word of the day, “cam’-a-flu (n) Feigned illness to get out of work or a date.” I guess real winners of the world drink this stuff. Appearance: Pale yellow, crystal clear with a thin white lace with a decent retention. Some of this sample was poured out to get a look at the head retention and true colour. Smell: Light lager like twang, almost import lager-like. Minimal malt in the nose, quite clean. Taste: Touch of smoothness within the crisp light bodied mouth feel. Very slim malt character, quick bite of hop bitterness that fades just as quickly as it comes in. Seltzer water feel to this brew with a pretty clean finish though a tag a long astringent flavour stays around for a bit. Notes: Not much to the brew for flavour, quick and clean to drink. Big time college crowd 40oz brew, a step above Magnum ... the other Miller Brewing produced Malt Liquor. Not a bad web site they put out also … http://www.mickeys.com. Serving type: bottle 03-23-2002 06:02:25 | More by Jason Photo of Wasatch 2/5  rDev -20.9% Serving type: bottle 03-16-2010 00:43:27 | More by Wasatch Photo of Zorro 2.55/5  rDev +0.8% Pour a clear yellow beer, pretty much what I expected. Smell is mildly malty and grainy, no off flavors. Taste is slightly sweet and is mostly of grain. Not as bad as it could be. Mouthfeel is thicker than expected. It is as drinkable as any other macrobrew. Serving type: can 02-13-2004 02:51:43 | More by Zorro Photo of woodychandler 3.13/5  rDev +23.7% M-I-C-K-E-Y, Why? Because I want to bump up my bottle numbers. 'S, it's true, I'm ticking. M-A-L-T L-I-Q-U-O-R R U coming over? I have a 40! D-R-U-N-K. Woody's a fool, Woody's a fool, forever may his banner fly! No, I'm not high. M-I-C-K-E-Y-'-S! Man, screw that "Back to the Future" action, this is more like "Peggy Sue Got Married"! This is the kind of drinking action that I did in my earliest prime as a teenager thirty years ago, asking random strangers to go into bars and take-aways to score a 40 or two (or more) of beer so that we could get wildly wasted and totally disrespect beer. I was at IHLNC today for the Winter Warmer bash and after a 5.5 hour shift, I did not need any more of that, nor did I want to give up. Queen Garden 6-Pack to the rescue! No better time than the present to get my bottle count up, up, up. A foamy finger of bone-white head with decent retention, initially. Color was a deep golden-yellow with NE-plus quality clarity, allowing me to look through the walls into the neighbor's doings. Nose was comparably sweet with some of the high ABV offerings of today, but with a none-too-subtle cereal quality mixed in. Mouthfeel was effervescent and scrubbing to the point that I felt like I had a new palate. I kid you not, this was a very pleasant diversion after today's skull-ripping. It was plenty sweet with a lot of adjunct characteristics, but it was also a beer that I felt comfortable sitting with in front of the TV. There was nothing off about it, despite its being in a GREEN (oh, no!) bottle, but either pasteurization or good handling or both kept it that way. YMMV. Finish left me simply craving a Hammond's-brand hard pretzel to cut some of the cloying sweetness. Would I drink this again? Heck, yes! Would it be my first choice? Heck, no! Was it cost-effective/worthy? Yep. What would my back alley homies say? Hey, I've hung out and imbibed with them enough to the point that they call me "Pittsburgh" and don't throw their empties in my yard, instead leaving them hanging in a bag on the fence for me to collect and recycle. They'd applaud me. I applaud you. Serving type: bottle 12-05-2010 00:09:51 | More by woodychandler Photo of DoubleJ 2.95/5  rDev +16.6% Welcome to start of the Brown Paper Bag Invitational! In this short series, I will be tasting malt liquor for the next few days, and this is sure to be fun. The only other malt liquor I've ever had was Olde English, and I was greatly offended. We'll start tonight with a "light" malt liquor, the one with the stinger that looks to be on steroids...Mickey's! On to the beer: Do you like your body pale? Very pale straw color, the carbonation bubbles providiing some attraction to the eyes, the soapy head providing a solid canopy thus far. The aroma is milled corn, maybe with a trace of the can...run-of-the-mill cheap lager smell. Heyy....this isn't bad at all! The body is light, but the carbonation is conrolled well, it doesn't bombard your palate. This is quite sweet. Sweet corn upfront, then some mild corn syrup-llike texture and sweetness. The alcohol is there, but hidden in the background with a dull bitterness and kick to it. Semi-dry finish. For what you get, this is a solid malt liquor without too many flaws. It's also one of the lightest on the market, so it may not be the best pick if you're looking for a quick buzz and nothing more. I survived the first stage without any major wounds. We'll resume the Brown Paper Bag Invite tomorrow night. Serving type: can 09-19-2008 03:35:48 | More by DoubleJ Photo of Beerandraiderfan 1.41/5  rDev -44.3% Well, I doubt I'm saying anything we don't already know. This stuff is shhhiiity. Nasty yellow appearance leaving nothing in terms of head, lacing or retention. Horrible dumpster 4 day old beer smell. Taste isn't the worst thing I've drank, but it's close. I guess it gets better the more you drink of it, and it is cheap . . . but all you can taste is the alcohol, which isn't even all that high. Brutal. Serving type: can 11-26-2009 00:37:53 | More by Beerandraiderfan Photo of beerthulhu New Jersey 2.83/5  rDev +11.9% A: Pours a clear, bright, yellow with a creamy white head that left a spotchy lacing behind. Visible carbonation was soft. S: The nose was light, with some corn and fresh grains. T: For flavor there was corn mash, a light malt sweetness and a light herbal hopping. The beer finishes with a sweet corn malting and herbal hop fade. Overall the flavor was fairly clean albeit limited in complexity but did have a noticeable hop presence. M; light, a tad watery with a decent herbal hopping. D: Decent for an old-school macro. Serving type: bottle 03-06-2008 00:27:10 | More by beerthulhu Photo of Brad007 3.88/5  rDev +53.4% Pours a pale golden color with a one finger head that quickly fades to nearly nothing. Aroma is strong with corn/bready malt in the nose. Nothing special here and to be expected. Taste is strong and sweet with corn, baked bread and a touch of alcohol in the middle. Mouthfeel is full of the same flavors as above (corn, baked bread) except that they linger. Not harsh or anything. Seems average. Not bad. I was expecting worse but this really isn't a bad example. It's drinkable for what it is. Serving type: bottle 03-20-2009 23:59:57 | More by Brad007 Mickey's from Miller Brewing Co. 60 out of 100 based on 819 ratings.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/105/810/?sort=topr&start=0/

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Weather Forecast Here’s why (not) to vote for Romney Some say the upcoming election for president will offer a monumental choice to us voters and will determine which economic model will prevail for decades to come. Since most of us are not economists here is a simpler way to figure out how to cast your vote. Vote for Mitt Romney if: --You believe creating wealth for the wealthy will benefit the middle class. --You believe lowering taxes for small businesses will encourage owners to produce more of their product even if there is no demand for it. --You believe that health care is a privilege for those who can afford health insurance rather than a right of all. --You agree with Romney that “I am not concerned about the very poor; they have a safety net.” --You believe that letting Chrysler and General Motors go through bankruptcy would have been better than bailing them out. --You believe the Clean Air Act should be repealed. --You believe “corporations are people too.” --You believe all undocumented workers (illegal aliens) should be deported rather than offer them a pathway to citizenship. --You believe Mitt Romney would have had the courage to make the call on Osama Bin Laden as well as the other 14 members of Al Qaida that have been killed to date. --You believe Mitt Romney would have had the courage to “lead from behind” to rid the world of Moammar Gadhafi without losing a single American life. --You believe in repealing Dodd-Frank, the first significant banking regulation reform since the New Deal. (Oops, now he says we need “some” regulation. --You believe in pro choice or pro life. (You get to have this one either way since Romney has taken opposing positions on either side of this divisive issue.) So complexity is reduced to simplicity. If you agree with these positions taken by candidate Romney then the way is clear: Vote for Romney.

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/here%E2%80%99s-why-not-vote-romney

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Proverbs 20 NRS/NIV - Online Parallel Bible New Revised Standard (NRS) New International Version (NIV) 1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. 1 Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise. 2 The dread anger of a king is like the growling of a lion; anyone who provokes him to anger forfeits life itself. 2 A king's wrath is like the roar of a lion; he who angers him forfeits his life. 3 It is honorable to refrain from strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. 3 It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. 4 The lazy person does not plow in season; harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found. 4 A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing. 5 The purposes in the human mind are like deep water, but the intelligent will draw them out. 5 The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. 6 Many proclaim themselves loyal, but who can find one worthy of trust? 6 Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find? 7 The righteous walk in integrity— happy are the children who follow them! 7 The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him. 8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows all evil with his eyes. 8 When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes. 9 Who can say, "I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin"? 9 Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"? 10 Diverse weights and diverse measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord. 10 Differing weights and differing measures-- the LORD detests them both. 11 Even children make themselves known by their acts, by whether what they do is pure and right. 11 Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right. 12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye— the Lord has made them both. 12 Ears that hear and eyes that see-- the LORD has made them both. 14 "Bad, bad," says the buyer, then goes away and boasts. 14 "It's no good, it's no good!" says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase. 15 There is gold, and abundance of costly stones; but the lips informed by knowledge are a precious jewel. 15 Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel. 16 Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger; seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners. 16 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman. 17 Bread gained by deceit is sweet, but afterward the mouth will be full of gravel. 17 Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel. 18 Plans are established by taking advice; wage war by following wise guidance. 18 Make plans by seeking advice; if you wage war, obtain guidance. 19 A gossip reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a babbler. 19 A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much. 20 If you curse father or mother, your lamp will go out in utter darkness. 20 If a man curses his father or mother, his lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness. 21 An estate quickly acquired in the beginning will not be blessed in the end. 21 An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end. 22 Do not say, "I will repay evil"; wait for the Lord, and he will help you. 22 Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you. 23 Differing weights are an abomination to the Lord, and false scales are not good. 23 The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him. 24 All our steps are ordered by the Lord; how then can we understand our own ways? 24 A man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way? 26 A wise king winnows the wicked, and drives the wheel over them. 26 A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them. 27 The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord, searching every inmost part. 27 The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being. 28 Loyalty and faithfulness preserve the king, and his throne is upheld by righteousness. 28 Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure. 29 The glory of youths is their strength, but the beauty of the aged is their gray hair. 29 The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old. 30 Blows that wound cleanse away evil; beatings make clean the innermost parts. 30 Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/parallel-bible/passage.aspx?q=proverbs%2020&t=nrs&t2=niv

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Sticks and stones and other tales. Article Type: Report Subject: Emotions (Research) Wounds and injuries (Psychological aspects) Wounds and injuries (Research) Psychologists (Practice) Author: Hixson, Ronald Pub Date: 12/22/2008 Issue: Date: Winter, 2008 Source Volume: 11 Source Issue: 4 Product: Product Code: 8043300 Psychologists NAICS Code: 62133 Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) SIC Code: 8049 Offices of health practitioners, not elsewhere classified Accession Number: 192800790 This childhood riddle was often used to teach us not to be afraid of bullies or their words. No one likes to be hurt. When we are hit by sticks or stones, we might have broken bones or other physical injuries. This childish rebuff lacks credibility due to its distortion of the truth. Such statements as "words will never hurt me" are no more than a creative misrepresentation of the facts. Most adults would agree that words do, in fact, hurt our feelings. Years later, we are likely to remember situations where we were humiliated by a bully. Feelings are more than skin deep. For most people, it can be very hard to hold back a harsh response when they feel insulted and disrespected. Many such exchanges have escalated into dangerous relationships that have sent people to the hospital or even the morgue. It should be clear that our world has become harsher, meaner, and a more dangerous place to live and work. One only has to look at all the conflicts or wars being fought in our global communities at any one time. For those corporations who specialize in weapons of destruction, conflicts are a "cash cow," bringing a steady revenue profit that often leads to expansion. There is more incentive to create weapons than to destroy them. Changing Terms As we listen to the pundits of economic astuteness, we hear terms such as "capitalism," "entrepreneurism," "economic cycles," "marketplace generators," and the "Market System." Names come and go, often fading with the rise of a more charming term that has a life of its own. Words and phrases begin as a sound bite and grow into a fad before fading. We hear of ownership, welfare giveaway, cost exploitation, price indexes, leverages, and insane oil speculation. In previous generations, the words were somewhat different: antitrust legislations, restraining the financial community to correct abuses, rationing of gas, the Great Depression, "free enterprise," "socialism," and "Marxism." These zealous scholars of conjecture would like us to believe that the Market System of today creates a society that promotes individual initiatives and freedom of striking for gold or grabbing for the gusto or the gold ring. Then there are the well-trained intellectuals of a rich academic heredity who are managing the marketplace with ardent confidence and dedicated energy for the "good of the market." To these sellers of stocks, bonds, real estate, and futures, they are pushed by their lust for the gain, which is their legal reward of "hard work." But is this cute phrase merely a sound bite that has lost most of its value or a deliberate misrepresentation of the truth? As we read about frequently, there are those who abuse the system, who misrepresent their products and their actions in order to make more gold. Unfortunately, there is no leader in Corporate America or in government that acknowledges the recognition that deception has an undoubtedly important role in selling to the general public or consumer. Law enforcement and the judicial systems have a term for acts of deception: fraud. But few members of the corporate offices serve much time in federal prison for such acts. (Enron Corporation was an exception, and not all were prosecuted or sent to prison.) However, the private enterprise corporations are filling the prisons and detention centers of Corporate America while draining the tax dollars from the government. These corporations are legal and are formed to provide services for the government "cheaper." Many would refer to their services and behavior as "economics of innocent fraud" (Galbraith, 2004). The government agencies legally privatize their services by contracting them out to corporations such as Halliburton (oil, trucking, and military services), GEO (prisons and detention centers), NEC (electronics, education, etc.), Kiewit (border fence construction), and General Dynamics (military services, intelligence, and transportation). As the buyer drives the demand curve, the economist will point to the power of the consumer. Such is the example of an innocent fraud. Those in power will claim that the consumer has the power of choice, but the consumer's choice may not be his/her first or even second choice. What really pushes the demand curve, as all marketers will attest to, is the marketing plan and the well-financed advertising. Political campaign managers use this system to push the demand curve in elections. In political campaigns, as in economics, the need for a strategy of mass persuasion using different mechanisms and vehicles of presentation to consumers is vital for the sale of a concept, a product, and a candidate. Shaping the response to market campaigns is the same as shaping the response to political campaigns. Sometimes these campaigns are not about selling a product or the election of a politician. It can be about the sale of a concept, such as the "war on drugs," the "war on terrorism," the justification of invading Iraq, and the selling of health care as an overpriced industry. Words do make a difference in our lives, so it is important to be as precise as possible in our exchanges. People can easily get confused, misguided, and upset by words and irrational thoughts and unattainable expectations. Every day we use so many words that we often speak before formulating the words that can be more effective and closer to describing the pictures we are attempting to draw in the head of another person or to a group. Psychotherapists learn that relationships grow in a trusting environment because there is a mutually dependent attachment. Organizations have attempted to learn from this by spending millions to create a climate of mutual support and trust. Effective communication is a byproduct of a healthy organizational climate. Malice, back-stabbing, public confrontations, rumors, and a climate of competition within the office tend to sabotage a healthy communication climate. Various theories of management have been created to support such a healthy climate. Peter Drucker (2001) wrote about management of resources (supplies, equipment, hardware, software, vendors, personnel, etc.). He was a strong leader who promoted the training and health of employees more than building up huge bank accounts and offshore cash hideaways. Today's leaders have public relation experts handling their conversations to the public and assisting them on forming memos and policies that make the company look good rather than using terms that employees and consumers might interpret differently, albeit more realistically. Perception and Meanings Words are not killers or weapons of mass destruction; meanings are! And meanings are in people. Meanings are created through the perception of the beholder. Remember when you were little and you walked outdoors and looked around? If you went back to the same house, in the same community, would you expect that your memory would change if you now saw things differently? No. You would have new memories just like the cartoon from years ago that had a father and son standing in snow on their sidewalk. The father turned to the son and said, "When I was your age, the snow was clear up to my neck." As you look at the two, the father is now about 6 feet tall, and the little boy looks about 4 years old and the snow is up to his neck. Some would argue that we never really come into direct contact with reality because our reality is a product of the interaction between our experiences and our nervous system. When this interaction occurs, there is another element that contributes to our acknowledgement of "reality" or "truth." Motivation is what drives a thought to a behavior. Behavior is caused by a number of things, such as our desire to change a feeling, a behavior in someone else, or to make more money. Behavior is directed by our priorities and is motivated by how strongly we feel about our goals, our needs, our ideas. When working with my patients, I try to be conscious of what is motivating them to keep their symptoms of pain, frustration, fear, or/and panic. By reducing that motivation and replacing it with a new energy for a new direction or behavior, we take the wind out of their anger, their fears, and suggest new courses or pathways that can help them reach their goals. Conflict normally doesn't just walk up to you and slap you in the face. Though it can happen like that, normally it creeps up. There is usually time to see it coming and to make a conscious decision to move out of the way. What might interfere with your decision might be a problem with encoding. If we live in isolation, we miss opportunities that are available to others who seek out group work, are living in a larger community, attending church, are being active in the school's PTA, or are joining a local community service agency. The more experiences we have, the more prepared we are for a situation that might present itself at a most unexpected moment. Drucker, E F. (2001). The essential Drucker. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Galbraith, J. K. (2004). The economics of innocent fraud: Truth for our time. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Ronald Hixson, PhD, BCPC, MBA, LPC, LMFT, DAPA, has been a therapist for more than 25 years. He has a Texas corporation private practice and has founded a non-profit group mental health organization where he serves as President/Executive Director. He has a PhD in Health Administration from Kennedy-Western University, an MBA from Webster University, and graduate degrees from the University of Northern Colorado and the University of California (Sacramento).

http://www.biomedsearch.com/article/Sticks-stones-other-tales/192800790.html

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I hate cash. I’m reminded of this every time I find myself in a cab where the driver claims he won’t accept my credit card, or when I’m at a restaurant that demands to be paid exclusively in paper bills -- incidents that happen far more often than is reasonable in an ostensibly advanced country. Bloomberg News reports that paying in cash is normal, however, for people in Myanmar, although this is gradually starting to change. Now that sanctions have been eased, companies such as American Express Co., MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc. are building the systems needed for electronic payments. (The biggest challenges are unreliable power supplies and a telecommunications network from the 1960s.) This is great news for Myanmar, but it is an unpleasant reminder that there are still vestiges of a backward cash-only society in the U.S. that ought to be stamped out. Physical currency is dirty, it’s inconvenient and it abets crime. That’s why I stick to electronic payments whenever possible. Those eliminate the need to fumble about for exact change (or get stuck with worthless coins I never have occasion to use), lighten my wallet and make it easy to keep track of my spending. Nowadays even street vendors can accept credit cards thanks to technological innovation. Americans seem to share my aversion to physical money. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, most U.S. currency by value is actually held in foreign countries. Cash accounts for just $1.8 trillion of transactions each year, while electronic payments, checks (who still uses those?), and cards account for a combined $71.7 trillion -- 40 times as much. Another $1 quadrillion in transactions is attributable to wire transfers, but those are mostly trades by the financial industry rather than anything directly tied to real economic activity. Some vendors resist accepting cards because of the fees involved. This seems odd. Those fees can be passed on to customers pretty painlessly, which is why almost every civilized business happily accepts Visa and MasterCard. I, for one, would happily pay the few percentage points that vendors are charged to use the major payments networks if it meant not having to worry about whether I had enough of the right pieces of paper in my wallet. A likelier explanation is that cash-only businesses have an easier time hiding income from the Internal Revenue Service. That also makes them excellent places to shield gains from illegal activities. Anyone who has seen “Breaking Bad” is well aware of how any small business that runs on cash can be converted into a vehicle for “cleaning” drug money. Italian banks have had such a hard time getting Italians to switch to electronic payments in part because, according to Bloomberg News, businesses there “often pay salaries in cash to evade taxes,” particularly in the crime-infested south. If the government really wanted to push the U.S. toward a cashless society, it could stop printing new paper currency and minting coins. Inflation would erode the value of the existing supply while wear and tear would soon render most of it unusable. This could be complemented by changing the law preventing people from melting coins for their metal content. It wouldn’t be profitable right now, but eventually the prices of those metals may increase enough relative to the fixed value of the coins to encourage the voluntary destruction of my least favorite store of value.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-10-24/if-myanmar-takes-amex-why-won-t-my-taxi-

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06:38PM | 07/24/05 Member Since: 07/23/05 1 lifetime posts I need some advice. We were out all day, today, and when we came home I went to wash my hands in the kitchen sink and saw something move in the corner of the sink. To my horror, it was a BAT! I was frantic at first, and then got a container, covered him, slipped the cover to the container underneath it and then put it outside. I was feeling okay about the whole thing, but I just read someone's comments on here, stating that a bat can bite you while you're sleeping and it could go undetected! I have an 8 year old and now I'm nervous that what if one of us (my husband, child or myself) could have gotten bitten sometime and not known?? We have no idea how long it's been in the house, we just found him tonight! Should we go to the doctor's just as a precaution...?? I'm really alittle scared so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Jim D 12:20AM | 08/01/05 Member Since: 01/06/01 345 lifetime posts Dawnnie7971 - hi, I understand your concern. I'm guessing what you caught was probably a fruit bat, which eats insects and doesn't bite humans. It may have gotten into the house through a fireplace with an open flue, and then stunned itself by hitting the window pane or something inside the house. They're normally nocturnal and have a very hard time maneuvering in the daylight. I'd think you'd notice if you'd been bitten, but it wouldn't hurt to check yourselves over from head to toe. It'd be just like checking yourself for ticks after a day in the woods. I wouldn't think a trip to the doctor's was needed unless you found some sort of bite marks you couldn't explain. This is all just my personal opinion. You can probably do some Google'ing on the web and come up with lots of information about bats, if you haven't already. Good luck! Jim D/West Point, VA Post a reply as Anonymous type the code from the image Post_new_button or Login_button Reclaimed Brick More_clips Get the Adobe Flash Player to listen to this audio file. Newsletter_icon Google_plus Facebook Twitter Pinterest Youtube Rss_icon

http://www.bobvila.com/posts/37704-bats-in-house

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Other books Other people who viewed this bought Showing items 1 to 10 of 10 Full description | Reviews | Bibliographic data Full description for Truth Machine • DNA profiling - commonly known as DNA fingerprinting - is often heralded as unassailable criminal evidence, a veritable "truth machine" that can overturn convictions based on eyewitness testimony, confessions, and other forms of forensic evidence. But DNA evidence is far from infallible. "Truth Machine" traces the controversial history of DNA fingerprinting by looking at court cases in the United States and United Kingdom beginning in the mid-1980s, when the practice was invented, and continuing until the present. Ultimately, "Truth Machine" presents compelling evidence of the obstacles and opportunities at the intersection of science, technology, sociology, and law.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Truth-Machine-Michael-Lynch/9780226498072

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by David Macaulay ISBN 0395257840 / 9780395257845 / 0-395-25784-0 Publisher Houghton Mifflin Language English Edition Hardcover Find This Book Find signed collectible books: 'Castle' Book summary Imagine yourself in 13th-century England. King Edward I has just named the fictitious Kevin le Strange to be the Lord of Aberwyvern--"a rich but rebellious area of Northwest Wales." Lord Kevin's first task is to oversee the construction of a strategically placed castle and town in order to assure that England can "dominate the Welsh once and for all." And a story is born! In the Caldecott Honor Book Castle, David Macaulay--author, illustrator, former architect and teacher--sets his sights on the creation and destiny of Lord Kevin's magnificent castle perched on a bluff overlooking the sea. Brick by brick, tool by tool, worker by worker, we witness the methodical construction of a castle through exquisitely detailed pen-and-ink illustrations. Children who love to know how things work especially appreciate Macaulay's passion for process and engineering. Moats, arrow loops, plumbing, dungeons, and weaponry are all explained in satisfying detail. This talented author also has a keen sense of irony and tragedy, which is played out in the intricacies of the human story: a castle can be built as a fortress, but ultimately it becomes obsolete when humans discover that cooperation works best. (Ages 9 and older) --Gail Hudson [via]

http://www.bookfinder.com/dir/i/Castle/0395257840/

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Forgot your password?   The Outsiders Test | Final Test - Medium Purchase our The Outsiders Lesson Plans Final Test - Medium Name: _____________________________ Period: ___________________________ Multiple Choice Questions 1. How long does Ponyboy stay in bed after the rumble? (a) Two days. (b) A month. (c) All weekend. (d) A week. 2. What does Ponyboy threaten the three Socs at the grocery store with? (a) A knife. (b) A gun. (c) His fists. (d) A broken Pepsi bottle. 3. Who is present at Ponyboy's hearing? (a) Everyone in town. (b) No one. (c) The people involved in Bob's murder and Ponyboy's doctor. (d) Just Darry and Soda. 4. How does Ponyboy feel about having to stay in bed after the rumble? (a) It drives him crazy. (b) It makes him angry. (c) He enjoys it. (d) It makes him sad. 5. What does Cherry tell Ponyboy that the Socs have planned for the rumble? (a) She says they will fight fair and without weapons. (b) She says they are going to bring guns. (c) She says the Socs have warned the police about the rumble. (d) She says the Socs aren't going to show up. Short Answer Questions 1. Who does Ponyboy go to the grocery store with in Chapter 12? 2. What does Darry scold Ponyboy for doing in bed after the rumble? 3. What does Two-Bit give Dally in the hospital? 4. Why does Ponyboy have to write a semester theme? 5. Who is delusional about Johnny's death? (see the answer keys) This section contains 241 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) Purchase our The Outsiders Lesson Plans Follow Us on Facebook

http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/outsiders/test4.html

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Brett H. McGurk A surge to sovereignty in Afghanistan By Brett H. McGurk November 8, 2009 E-mail this article Invalid E-mail address Invalid E-mail address Sending your article Your article has been sent. • E-mail| • Print| • Reprints| • | Text size + THE AIM in any successful counterinsurgency is to support and strengthen a sovereign and friendly government. The inherent paradox is that use of US military power, or even US diplomatic leverage, to achieve that aim undercuts the perceived legitimacy and sovereignty of the government it seeks to support. Enemies exploit this paradox to their benefit, labeling US troops as occupiers and governments allied with us as puppets, undeserving of support from their own people. From Vietnam to Pakistan to Iraq and now Afghanistan, this is a lesson the United States continues to get wrong - making short-term decisions with unintended long-term consequences. In 1963, the United States supported a coup against the corrupt but allied president of South Vietnam, without asking what might come next. For 30 years the United States has whipsawed Pakistan from close ally to sanctioned adversary and now, to something in between: a partner, but under unilaterally imposed conditions that may sound nice in Washington, but weaken the very government we seek to help. In Iraq, from 2004-2008, the government failed to take root with the Iraqi people, despite electoral legitimacy or broad-based coalitions. The US military, under a broad mandate from the United Nations, was authorized to take any action it deemed necessary to contribute to the stability of Iraq, often against the wishes of Iraq’s elected leadership. The result was constant tension with the government we sought to support, and a continued nationalist-based justification by extremist groups to fight US and Iraqi forces. Two events finally changed this dynamic: the surge of US forces in 2007 and the negotiation of a security agreement, approved by the Iraqi Parliament, to govern the forces’ longer-term presence and ultimate withdrawal. These events were part of the same strategy, focused on the ultimate aim of supporting a stable government in Baghdad. The surge was necessary to boost the capability and capacity of Iraqi forces, so they could hold the line as our forces began to withdraw. The security agreement was necessary to firmly anchor our presence in Iraq on the basis of Iraqi consent - a legitimization that had been lacking since 2003. The agreement fell short of what the United States sought to achieve in some areas, including combat authorities. But it met the strategic aim, by enhancing Iraqi sovereignty, setting clear conditions for our presence, and allowing our forces to draw down with honor. Together with a companion strategic framework agreement, also approved by the Iraqi Parliament, the United States set a cornerstone for a long-term relationship with a truly sovereign state. Today’s debate about Afghanistan - to surge or not to surge - risks repeating our worst mistakes from the early days of Iraq. The Afghan government is weak, so we publicly berate its president and weaken it further. The Afghan forces lack capacity to battle the Taliban on their own, so we question their ability to ever hold the line as we draw down our forces. A surge is discredited as putting good money after bad, with no exit strategy and tens of thousands of US troops contributing to a status quo. But the lesson of Iraq is that a short-term investment focused on regaining momentum can strengthen our allies and set the conditions for our ultimate withdrawal. As in Iraq, a surge is probably necessary to reset the trajectory of the war. But the surge needs a bookend: an agreement approved by the Afghan Parliament (probably by the end of 2011) that sets the terms and conditions for any longer-term US military presence. This formula - a surge to a negotiated agreement - can serve over the next two years to strengthen both the capacity and the legitimacy of the Afghan government and its security forces. It is a coherent multiyear policy, with an exit strategy, leaving behind a stable and truly sovereign government, partnered with the United States under a negotiated road map. And it allows, through structured high-level talks, and behind closed doors, to have frank discussions with Afghan leaders about what they need to do in exchange for a longer-term US commitment. There are no shortcuts to solidifying sovereign governance in Kabul or Baghdad. But by boosting resources in the short term, and negotiating the basis of our presence over the longer-term, we can best defeat our enemies by strengthening our friends. Brett H. McGurk, who served on the National Security Council staffs of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, is a fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. More opinions Find the latest columns from:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/11/08/a_surge_to_sovereignty_in_afghanistan/

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What wedding TV shows to be on? mandynos Posts : 36 Registered: 3/25/08 Re: What wedding TV shows to be on? Posted: Jun 24, 2008 2:59 PM Go to message in response to: jennifersmith There are soo many wedding shows, my favorite is who's wedding is it anyway? Then there's my big redneck wedding, Wedding alterd, bridezillas, rich bride poor bride. then the bulding brides show... I wouldn't want to go on them except to get a the free honeymoon out of it. lol Engaged since: March 16, 2008Kiss "Distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold. It's for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the ones they love. It's for those knowing a good thing when they see it, even if they don't see it nearly enough...." "Lately you're the only song I wanna sing, and you're my reason to try, you just get sweeter everyday, the little things you do and say, if only you could see you through my eyes, you just get better all the time.. " Thank You for Signing Up! Check your e-mail inbox for the latest updates from brides.com Give a Subscription to Brides Magazine as a Gift Subscribe to Brides magazine

http://www.brides.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=58059&start=15&tstart=0

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supernaturalism,  a belief in an otherworldly realm or reality that, in one way or another, is commonly associated with all forms of religion. Evidence of neither the idea of nature nor the experience of a purely natural realm is found among primitive people, who inhabit a wonderworld charged with the sacred power (or mana), spirits, and deities. Primitive man associates whatever is experienced as uncanny or powerful with the presence of a sacred or numinous power; yet he constantly lives in a profane realm that is made comprehensible by a paradigmatic, mythical sacred realm. In the higher religions a gulf usually is created between the sacred and the profane, or the here and the beyond, and it is only with the appearance of this gulf that a distinction becomes drawn between the natural and the supernatural, a distinction that is not found, for example, in the classical religious traditions of Greece and China. Both the Olympian deities of ancient Greece and the Tao (“Way”) of ancient China were apprehended as lying at the centre of what today is commonly known as the natural; yet they were described in language that was imbued with concepts of the sacred. ... (200 of 588 words) (Please limit to 900 characters) Or click Continue to submit anonymously:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/574446/supernaturalism

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chopsticks, Chopsticks on a plate.maqs (from Chinese kuai-tzu, “quick ones,” by way of Pidgin chop, “quick”), eating utensils, consisting of a pair of slender sticks held between the thumb and fingers of one hand, that predominate in much of East Asia and are used in conjunction with East Asian-style cuisine worldwide. Modern mass-produced chopsticks are commonly made of unadorned wood, bamboo, or plastic, although exquisite lacquerwork, inlay, and engraving are still used in the decoration of finer examples. As a general rule, the chopsticks of China are longer and more blunt than those of Japan, which are usually tapered.

http://www.britannica.com/print/topic/114386

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broaching machine broaching machine,  tool for finishing surfaces by drawing or pushing a cutter called a broach entirely over and past the surface. A broach has a series of cutting teeth arranged in a row or rows, graduated in height from the teeth that cut first to those that cut last. Since the total depth of cut is distributed over all the teeth, each tooth removes only a few thousandths of an inch. Broaching is particularly suitable for internal surfaces such as holes and internal gears, but it can also shape external gears and flat surfaces. Broaching machines are usually hydraulically operated.

http://www.britannica.com/print/topic/80476

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Plebgate has damaged Met - chief Plebgate has damaged Met - chief The head of Scotland Yard admitted his force has been damaged by the Plebgate controversy but defended his own handling of the affair. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan Howe said there was "no doubt some damage had been done". He also insisted crime statistics were "generally sound" despite investigations into serious allegations that officers are manipulating them to improve performance records. One officer is being prosecuted and eight face disciplinary action in the wake of the row over claims - which he disputes - that the then cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell called officers "plebs". Sir Bernard said soon after the incident that his officers "accurately reported what had happened". Asked whether he now felt he had been right to do that, he told BBC Radio 4's Today he had a responsibility to protect staff morale. "It's not an unreasonable statement after the person about who the allegation is made ... apologised to the individual involved and then resigned from the Government," he said. "We all had to make an account at that time. "What we have since done is have a rigorous inquiry and I think that has been shown that we now have a criminal prosecution against one officer and gross misconduct charges against others." When it was put to him that the affair had been enormously damaging for the force, he said: "It has. There is no doubt that some damage has been done." The country's most senior police chief sought to play down disagreement between him a police watchdog that it was "almost certain" that some crime figures were being manipulated. Chief inspector of constabulary Tom Winsor disputed evidence given by Sir Bernard to MPs that inspectors had lauded statistics as "competent and reliable". Mr Winsor said he had written to the Scotland Yard chief asking him to explain the disparity between that and the fact that inspectors found "cause for concern" - including 30 out of 244 cases looked at being wrongly closed without a crime being recorded. Asked if he believed crime figures were accurate, Sir Bernard told Today: "I believe so, generally." He said he had been "quoting broadly" from the summary of an inspectors' report and insisted that part was not incompatible with there being some specific concerns. "Generally I am confident. No statistics are 100% perfect," he said. "There is some evidence - and I do not put it too strongly - that some of the things they are talking about in general have always been a challenge for the police and some are historic. "What I want to be reassured about is that, in the two and a bit years I've been I charge, are the stats right? "These are serious allegations and we are investigating." Sir Bernard said critics - such as Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has called for his resignation over Plebgate - should have "the courage to stand up to me and say it to my face". "I'm not going to say I've not regretted anything. I'm a human being, for goodness sake, I'm not going to say I'm a perfect person. "But I'm proud of the people I lead and I'm proud of what we've achieved over the last two years." < Back Reddit Facebook Digg Twitter Bebo Latest News Latest Sport Today's Features

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/Home/Plebgate-has-damaged-Met-chief-1-8078789.xnf

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A new theory suggests legendary composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at 35 due in part to a vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is produced when the body is exposed to natural sunlight and Mozart spent his life in high-latitude Austria, working at night and sleeping during the day. According to ABC Science, with no knowledge of the condition, Mozart went untreated and died from illnesses brought on by the deficiency. "If only Mozart had known about vitamin D and had access to supplements, he could have doubled his lifetime's output of work, says William Grant, a retired NASA atmospheric physicist who has been following vitamin D research with great interest for the past decade. And, he argues, the same goes for several other famous musicians who died at young ages." While some researchers remain skeptical, Grant thinks Mozart's story holds a cautionary tale for modern musicians, who might want to consider getting outside for a practice session or two. Now meet the 16 smartest children in history >

http://www.businessinsider.com/mozart-died-35-not-enough-sun-2011-7

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Businessweek Archives Wanted: A Pc For The Masses Technology & You Reliability and ease of use-not power and features-are the ticket at home When last fall's sales are toted up, we're likely to find that just over a third of U.S. households now have computers. The computer industry fondly hopes that, someday soon, the PC will become as common as the microwave oven or the VCR. But to make that happen, the industry has got to roll up its sleeves. Two factors keep computers out of many homes: cost and complexity. The first problem is rapidly taking care of itself, but removing the complexity requires rethinking the home computer. What sort of machine would get PCs into the tens of millions of homes that don't have one yet? What's needed is much less a breakthrough in technology than a change in industry attitudes. Computers are a bit like cars in the 1920s: You no longer have to hire a mechanic to ride along with you, but you're still expected to get out and get under the hood once in a while. This has spawned a how-to book industry and--judging by my mail--lots of frustration even among the technically savvy. COMPLEX BEASTS. The key to a true mass-market computer is its reliability and ease of use--not power and features. Even today's Apple Macintosh, let alone the typical Windows machine, won't do. For computers to become as ubiquitous as toasters, they have to be as easy to use. And as reliable. That's why consumers need a crash-proof operating system, with crash-proof software to run on it. This may not be as hard as it sounds. Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT and IBM's OS/2 both are very stable, partly because they do not have intricate routines designed to make them work with every piece of software ever written. Windows 95, while an improvement on its predecessor, still crashes distressingly often. And it presents users with too many ways to do things: Four different methods to move a file from a hard drive to a floppy adds confusion, not convenience. In their present forms, Windows NT and OS/2 are complex beasts, not intended for novice home users. But their stripped-down technology could be the basis of the simple, bulletproof operating system for the mass-market computer. The same design philosophy--simple and unbreakable--should apply to all the applications designed for these systems. While paying lip service to ease of use, software developers have engaged in a mad race to load on ever more features, layering them with "tips," "wizards," and "coaches" designed to unravel the mystery of their use. Some word processors even come with templates that provide all the text of a letter--you just add the address. But most people have little trouble writing their own letters; they need help using the software itself. Software publishers insist that consumers want the latest and greatest and that simple just doesn't sell. "We tried selling mini word processors," says Chris Peters, who heads Microsoft's Office product unit. "They were spectacularly unsuccessful." But I don't think the concept of an easy-to-use word processor for home use has been given a fair trial. This home machine should come with a carefully chosen set of simple, solid applications loaded and configured. No need to worry about compatibility with old hardware and software: People buying their first computers don't have any. Having crash-proofed the software, why not get rid of that wait of several minutes every time the PC goes through its mysterious, failure-prone ritual of booting up? You don't boot up your juicer or even your video-game system, so who wants to wait on their PC? IDLE MOMENTS. Fortunately, the remedial technology is at hand. I have a Hewlett-Packard OmniBook laptop that doesn't boot when I turn it on. Its secret: The power switch and a continuous trickle of electricity puts the computer into a deep sleep instead of turning it off, so that hitting the switch again causes it to wake up instantly with the screen just as I left it. Energy-saving technology already built into new computers could do most of the job--along with some rethinking of the power switch to make potential buyers feel at ease. Manufacturers have already made strides in building user-friendly hardware. Such steps as color-coding cables simplify the job of setting up a PC. The much-talked-about $500 Internet machine could be just the ticket for Net surfers--assuming data connections into the home become faster, cheaper, and more reliable, and that the Net offers new content that appeals to people who don't now own PCs. Sure, the resulting computers may be less powerful, as the industry measures such things, and would sacrifice the ability to work with nearly every peripheral and program ever designed. But making computers more user-friendly could make consumers more friendly to computers.BY STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM Power Delusions (enter your email) (enter up to 5 email addresses, separated by commas) Max 250 characters blog comments powered by Disqus

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1996-01-14/wanted-a-pc-for-the-masses

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Innovation & Design Designing the Future of Business Forget total quality. Forget top-down strategy. Design is the engine that can transform a company into a powerhouse of nonstop innovation If you've been paying close attention, you don't have to imagine this scenario. You see it forming all around you. The only question is whether you can change your business, your brand, and your thinking fast enough to take full advantage of it. Designing the Way Forward Brand and Deliver A former editor of Windows magazine, Mike Elgan, illustrated the difference between ordinary brands and charismatic brands in two succinct sentences: "Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer is famous for a crazy video in which he yells, "I—love—this—company!" In the case of Apple (AAPL), it's the customers who shout that." In the previous century, a little brand loyalty went a long way. Often, what passed for loyalty was merely ignorance. If customers didn't know what their options were, they would stick with the devil they knew. Today's Microsoft may be one of the last major companies to profit this way. In the new century, customer ignorance won't be enough to keep competitors at bay. Agility Beats Ownership Today, there's no safe ground in business. The old barriers to competition—ownership of factories, access to capital, technology patents, regulatory protection, distribution choke holds, customer ignorance—are rapidly collapsing. In our Darwinian era of perpetual innovation, we're either commoditizing or revolutionizing. Why does change always have to be crisis-driven? Is it possible to change ahead of the curve? What keeps companies from the continuous transformation needed to keep up with the speed of the market? A company can't will itself to be agile. Agility is an emergent property that appears when an organization has the right mindset, the right skills, and the ability to multiply those skills through collaboration. To count agility as a core competence, you have to embed it into the culture. You have to encourage an enterprisewide appetite for radical ideas. You have to keep the company in a constant state of inventiveness. It's one thing to inject a company with inventiveness. It's another thing to build a company on inventiveness. To organize for agility, your company needs to develop a "designful mind." A designful mind confers the ability to invent the widest range of solutions for the wicked problems now facing your company, your industry, and your world. Next, Eco-Everything Necessity may well be the mother of invention. But if we continue to manufacture mountains of toxic stuff, invention may soon become the mother of necessity. Our natural resources will disappear and our planet made uninhabitable. As a thought experiment, imagine a future in which all companies were compelled to take back every product they made. How would that change their behavior? For starters, they would make their products with parts they could salvage and reuse at the end of their lifecycles. This, in turn, would spawn whole industries dedicated to the design of reusable materials. As companies struggled to afford the full cost of manufacturing, the prices of products and services would rise. To keep prices under control, companies would localize their operations to save on transportation costs. Localizing businesses would change the nature of communities, creating a network of quasi-independent economies more akin to the Agricultural Age than to the Industrial Age. In Germany, Volkswagen (VOWG) is demonstrating that corporate responsibility doesn't end at the loading dock. The company is already selling cars that are 85% recyclable and 95% reusable, and it's building a zero-emissions car that operates on a fuel cell, 12 batteries, and a solar panel instead of fossil fuels. While eco-sustainability isn't yet top-of-mind for most CEOs, when the tide finally turns, it'll turn fast. There's already a significant migration of talented executives from traditional technology to green technology. As venture capitalist Adam Grosser puts it: "They have had their consciousness energized, and they believe there is a lot of money to be made." Business is Design Blind Until a decade or so ago, the public's taste for design had been stunted by the limitations of mass production. Now people have more buying choices, so they're choosing in favor of beauty, simplicity, and the "tribal identity" of their favorite brands. Yet if design is such a powerful tool, why aren't more practitioners working in corporations? If economic value increasingly derives from such intangibles as knowledge, inspiration, and creativity, why don't we hear the language of design echoing down the corridors? Unfortunately, most business managers are deaf, dumb, and blind when it comes to the creative process. They learned their chops by rote, through a bounded tradition of spreadsheet-based theory. As one MBA joked, in his world, the language of design is a sound only dogs can hear. For businesses to bottle the kind of experiences that rivet minds and run away with hearts, not just one time but over and over, they'll need to do more than hire designers. They'll need to be designers. They'll need to think like designers, feel like designers, work like designers. The narrow-gauge mindset of the past is insufficient for today's wicked problems. We can no longer play the music as written. Instead, we have to invent a whole new scale. Business Exchange related topics: Marketing Innovation Product Design Sustainable Design Business Intelligence Power Delusions (enter your email) (enter up to 5 email addresses, separated by commas) Max 250 characters Sponsored Links Buy a link now! blog comments powered by Disqus

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-08-13/designing-the-future-of-businessbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

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: my 1995 Cadillac Eldorado Overheating 05-18-12, 04:00 PM I bought this car in February 2012. The car ran fine and than it overheated. I took it in and Brake Plus ran a lot of test. The found no leakage from the pressure test. The Fans works and the water pump worked. They found no temperature differences when the ran the test on the radiator. Removed the thermostat replaced it and said i should consider replacing the eater pump belt it has cracks but i was told it was fine for a while. Two days later the car overheated AGAIN. Took it in and was told that oh, it was just air in the radiator that has busted but it shouldnt of been in there because the guy who fixed it should of drove the car to test is. He didnt so Brake Plus told me i will have 20% from future work on car. Shortly after the 2nd time i took it in i started seeing white smoke. Took it back into the shop and was told a gasket was bad. I feel like i should sue brake plus if this is the case because they told me the car was fine? do i have a case? but also i used blue devil gasket sealer car has no over heated but temperature goes up and does go back down to normal temp 196 -205. Is the gasket blown, did the sealer not work? Is there other things i can do to cure this problem? or was i simply sold a lemon???:mad2: 05-18-12, 04:27 PM Blue Devil and other products like it do not work on NorthStar head gaskets all the info you need to fix the car properly has been posted here (asked and answered and documented while being fixed) thousands of times most cadillacs for sale on the used market are for sale because something is wrong ... either the suspension or the engine (both the more expensive repairs these cars can need) i can't really comment on if you have a case against the shop but it does sound like they either don't know a thing about that car at all or they were lying to you i'd tend to fall on the side of ignorance and they just don't know (lots of well seasoned mechanics don't know how to diagnose or work on these cars) others here will probably tell you to confirm that it is the headgaskets on your own with a 'block test' (key words to search for) i would suggest that you check the 'purge line' first ... another key word to search for 05-18-12, 09:19 PM do i have a case? Check with a lawyer. Any legal advice you get here is worth exactly what you pay for it. was i simply sold a lemon??? Faded Crest 05-18-12, 09:38 PM Sue them for what? Giving you a wrong diagnosis? :hmm: If you could sue for something like that nobody would open an auto repair business. Forget about that crap and concentrate on finding out what is wrong with your car. The definitive test is a block test. Check the purge line like Chris said, but don't get your hopes up. You might be a new member of the blown head gasket club. Just so we are all on the same page, what is the temp. when the car is running hot? Does it say "stop engine" "Overheated" or are you just going by the temp? bill buttermore 05-19-12, 12:47 AM The white smoke is a strong indicator that coolant is entering the combustion chamber, most likely through a failed head gasket.

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In English | En español Questions About Cancer? 1-800-4-CANCER The MERIT Award Page Options • Print This Page • Email This Document Popular Resources MERIT Award Recipient: Michael Caligiuri, M.D. Michael Caligiuri, M.D. Sponsoring NCI Division:  Division of Cancer Biology (DCB) Grant Number:R37CA068458 Award Approved:September 2010 Institution:Ohio State University Department:Comprehensive Cancer Center The Caligiuri Lab Literature Search in PubMed IL-15 Characterization Through Experimental Immunology Natural killer (NK) cells are large granular lymphocytes that constitute ~10% of total peripheral blood lymphocytes in humans. NK cells are part of the body's innate immune system providing the first line of defense against invading pathogens and likely against certain types of cancer. The recent discovery, in both experimental and several clinical studies, of NK cells' ability to recognize and control the relapse of chemo-resistant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) could significantly improve the clinical outcome of patients with this disease, of which only 30% currently achieve long term disease-free survival. Despite these advances in the clinical utilization of human NK cells, little is known about their normal development, their different functions, and the extent of their protective and pathologic effects in our bodies. Our laboratory has focused on the role of interleukin 15 (IL-15), one key cytokine (secreted protein) in the symphony of cytokines and immune effector cells that orchestrate the human immune response.  Based on our experimental evidence, we originally proposed that IL-15 is critical for NK cell development; this prediction was confirmed by others, who engineered mice with a targeted genetic disruption of the IL-15 gene, resulting in the absence of IL-15 protein and the consequent absence of NK cells.  We have since discovered that human NK cells can develop within secondary lymphoid tissue (SLT) such as tonsils and lymph nodes, and that NK cells do require IL-15 for this development.  Thus far our work would suggest that hematopoietic progenitor cells migrate from the bone marrow into SLT, where they progress through five different stages toward NK cell maturation before exiting into the peripheral blood.  Throughout this process, the NK lineage cells appear to require IL-15, which is provided at least in part from encounters with conventional dendritic cells residing within the SLT.  We will now further identify and characterize the progenitor and precursor cells that differentiate into mature human NK cells, and study the role of IL-15 in this process.  The more we can understand the interplay between IL-15 and human NK cells, the more we can understand how to manipulate the immune system to prevent and treat diseases such as cancer. Given its ability to activate both NK cells and memory T lymphocytes, IL-15 might be an ideal immune stimulant for cancer therapy or immune adjuvant for use in cancer vaccines.  Indeed, the first production of IL-15 for clinical trials has recently been achieved at the National Cancer Institute.  We therefore developed a mouse strain with constitutive over-expression of IL-15, to mimic a clinical IL-15 therapy scenario. As expected, mild over-expression of this cytokine resulted in an expansion of NK cells and memory T cells; importantly, immunity against experimental cancers was improved in vivo in instances where another key immune cytokine, IL-2, was not effective.  However, in some instances, prolonged over-expression of IL-15 in the mice resulted in an acute and rapidly fatal T- and NK large granular lymphocytic leukemia (LGLL).  Interestingly, human LGLL cells often require IL-15 (or IL-2) to grow in vitro, suggesting that IL-15 may play a role in the development of human LGLL.  Our laboratory will pursue the mechanism of this IL-15-induced LGLL in our experimental system and look to develop effective means for its treatment, which could then hopefully be translated into the clinic for this otherwise incurable cancer. Back to TopBack to Top

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25,081,967 members doing good! 1,138,852 people care about Politics Accounting Fraud Continues to Plague U.S. Economy Accounting Fraud Continues to Plague U.S. Economy Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) unveiled his latest financial reform proposal on Monday, and the stakes for the new legislation couldn’t be higher. After consumer groups raised a major ruckus, Dodd has dropped one of his most egregious concessions to the bank lobby—cutting enforcement authority from the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). That’s good news: Without a major regulatory overhaul, the U.S. economy’s destructive boom and bust cycle will start all over again. We’ve been down this road before. The Enron fiasco should have served as a wake-up call for policymakers, but instead, the weak federal response to Enron’s major fraud helped pave the way for the current economic slump. What does Enron have to do with the crisis? As Megan Carpentier emphasizes for The Washington Independent, one of the key “reforms” Congress enacted in the Enron aftermath was a law requiring every CEO to sign-off on their company’s accounting statements—but it has accomplished almost nothing. Enron collapsed due to accounting fraud. Its executives weren’t stupid or careless—they made their money by engaging in deliberate and coordinated acts of illegal deception. But CEOs of companies like Enron had always been able to deny that they knew about the shenanigans that were playing out in their accounting departments. By forcing CEOs to sign off on their accounting statements, Congress was attempting to “deny them plausible deniability,” as Carpentier puts it. But accounting fraud has plagued the U.S. economy, even after the Enron scandal. It also plays a major role in the Wall Street crisis. A recent court report from Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy examiner reveals that the company arranged a series of complicated transactions to hide $50 billion in debt, making Lehman appear healthier than it was. By hiding this debt, Lehman was able to make bigger bets on the mortgage market. The defense issued by Lehman CEO Richard Fuld? He apparently didn’t know the accounting hijinks were happening An epidemic of fraud Most U.S. policymakers are still having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that our financial system is rife with fraud at almost every level. Writing for AlterNet, Joe Costello reports on a recent Roosevelt Institute conference featuring several major economic luminaries. Costello argues that some of Wall Street’s biggest problems were driven by run-of-the-mill fraud. And a key vehicle for this fraud, Costello notes, was the derivatives market—the same market that allowed Enron to perpetrate its own frauds. Many of the scams aren’t even particularly new or creative. They’re simply the same cons that helped usher in the Great Depression. “If we’re going to get our economy up and running again, the first thing we’re going to have to do is end the fraud,” Costello writes. Protecting Whistleblowers But astonishingly, even after the worst financial crisis in history, bigwig bankers have been able to avoid fraud charges and investigations. Even when the Justice Department went after Swiss banking Giant UBS for a massive tax evasion scheme, they let the company’s U.S. executives off the hook and instead jailed the very whistleblower who told the government about the fraud. The whistleblower, Bradley Birkenfeld, is by no means innocent of wrongdoing—he even smuggled diamonds in a toothpaste container for a wealthy UBS client. But as Corbin Hiarr notes for Mother Jones, jailing the man who blows the whistle sends exactly the wrong message to anybody in Big Finance who recognizes a problem. Not only will your employer come at you with everything it has, but the government you aid will actually send you to prison. The fraudsters you finger get to retire to the Caymans. This is part of the reason that successful financial reform is not just what the rules are, but who gets to enforce them. There were many reasonable rules against predatory lending that bank regulators at the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) could have used to thwart the financial crisis early on, but neither agency was interested in doing so. They were more concerned with short-term banking profits, and up until 2007, sketchy accounting was allowing banks to book big gains on the subprime market. Why we need a CFPA That’s why all the way back in June of 2009, President Barack Obama proposed establishing a CFPA focused exclusively on defending consumers against banks. With no concerns for bank profitability, CFPA regulators could go after unfair practices and fraud because they were wrong, regardless of what they did for bank balance sheets. The proposal was watered down significantly in the House, as Kai Wright notes for The Nation, and just a week ago it appeared that Dodd was ready to completely torpedo the new regulator in an effort to craft bipartisan support for a so-called “reform” bill. He’s backed off since then, but without strong enforcement authority, nothing is gained—the same corrupt regulators will simply continue to look the other way. But Dodd would still house the new agency at the Federal Reserve. Dodd insists the Fed would have no authority over the CPFA, but if that were the case, why would he introduce the provision at all? “Reform in name alone will be useless to both consumers and politicians,” writes Wright. Strong financial reform is overwhelmingly popular. While it’s good to see Dodd backing away from some of the gifts he’d previously proposed to bank lobbyists, progressives must keep the pressure high to ensure that financial reform is strengthened as it moves through the Senate. It’s easy for a corrupt lawmaker to vote against a weak bill: He can always plead that the bill wasn’t good enough and be right. But serious, popular reform is not so easy to oppose. If Dodd and the Democratic leadership make the politicians backed by the bank lobby—that’s literally every Republican, plus a handful of conservative Democrats—stand up and vote against a good bill, many of them will have to choose between their lobbyist friends and their political future. photo credit: thanks to americans 4 financial reform via flickr By Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger quick poll vote now! Loading poll... have you shared this story yet? some of the best people we know are doing it + add your own 5:41AM PDT on Aug 5, 2010 I've come to the conclusion that the great American experiment has failed. It has failed. We will either revolt or we will soon become Mexico, absent any middle class... just rich and penniless peasants, begging on the streets and making dolls out of corn husks and happy to clean the wealthy folks toilletes for some corn meal. At this point, I'm just trying to speed up the inevitable outcome of all of this corporate and government greed... a complete and total collapse of our government and currency. Let's boycott the credit card machine Let them keep printing more billions to bail out private, for profit entities! Let them continue cutting taxes for the wealthiest folks around. Let's continue buying every last thing on earth from China 4:10PM PDT on Mar 20, 2010 Michael R. : Be careful .. you are walking very close to advocating armed resistance to the "Money Masters". That stance is a very dangerous one. Men who would reduce a proud country to its knees for money would not hesitate to silence a voice raised against them. As a child I read a lot of Taylor Caldwell's books .. she was writing about a "world wide monetary control conspiracy" .. think about that for a while .. look around you .. in the meantime .. be very careful. 2:47PM PDT on Mar 20, 2010 This story reminds me of the old saying, that goes something like this: Those, who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. 10:35AM PDT on Mar 19, 2010 One other thing, protest if the Consumers Protection Financial Agency is placed within the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is NOT a Government Agency but an organization of, by and for banks. It is a private entity to assure the profits of banks. Can you imagine they would let bank credit cards have controls on their usury rates on lending? Christ in the Bible condemned it for those who give authority to the bible for values. If that happens it will be a huge fraud. CPFA must be within one of our government agencies. Roosevelt was a traitor to let the Federal Reserve start printing our money. It is a government responsibility and we got sold to the corrupt Bilderberg, Carlisle, the " " Triangle groups. Am sorry for you younger folks. If I was younger I would become an expatriate. No kidding. Folks, you need to consider someone like Ralph Nader for President, or Dennis Kuchinich both men of integrity. Unless congress is changed, however, they will get nothing done with the vipers protecting the wealthy corporations money.It doesn't look pretty folks. This was all predicted and the history laid out in a book still available if you Goggle it. "Fourth Reich of the Rich", by Des Griffin. 10:20AM PDT on Mar 19, 2010 This article leaves out the other screwing of American taxpayers, and that was the bailout during the Savings and Loan debacle. It seems every twenty years or so the wealthy need to raid the middle class to keep up their standard of living. There were certified public accountant firms who reviewed them at least twice a year. I know because my ex-husband was one. I called a business department at the Seattle Times, and asked how could all those S & L's crash when they all had accountants. He told me that many were being prosecuted and were in prison. My ex then a Partner in the firm committed suicide later that year, but I always believed they used another body and he escaped to a tropical island. The autopsy didn't get his hair color or eye color right. Then we had Enron, and then the latest Wall Street Crash. Incidentally, Gov. Spitzer wasn't disgraced because of a prostitute but because of the editorial he wrote to the Washington Post about predatory lending and that George Bush filed a law suit to keep the states' Attorney Generals from enforcing their own Consumer Protection Laws to stop it. He was a whistle blower (paid the prostitute 6K) and they stopped the scandal. G.W.'s brother was involved in the S&L scandal too in Texas, but that was hushed up quickly as well. We have crooks on all corners who think we are fools. Reason my ex is my ex, he said, "If they are dumb enough to let you take it, might as well cause someone else will." 6:33AM PDT on Mar 19, 2010 No Lore E. "I am not sure if this has been used yet, but here goes, "the root of all evil is M O N E Y." Get it right; The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. It's not having money which constitutes evil it's your lust for it whereby you will eg. stamp all over other people to get it, you'll throw someone out of their home if they're having a hard time rather than give them a break or eg. let them do some work for you in lieu of rent when you can easily afford to do so. You need to not misquote that maxim because doing so is itself ignorance and in effect corrupting the true root cause of the problem. We are all individually responsible for our own "accounting". For effort, for sharing, for demonstrating both strength NOT to harm others even when they hurt us, for showing compassion. My fuel supplier has acknowledged in writing that they have £hundreds of my money unassigne dto my account and cont to bully and harass me for fantasy figures whilst at the same time admitting having charged me £25 for am Inspector Visit that they know never happened. Ebay and Paypal are now the biggest crooked companies on the planet,ignoring International Laws right left and centre because compliance with centuries old laws doesnt earn them as much money as ignoring them. Whilst I try to ensure that I DONT buy any counterfeited goods, those whose rights I protect, eg. Fox Media, ignore my emails asking how to identify the genuine article. There in a nutshell is a reason w 1:17AM PDT on Mar 19, 2010 Watch. As more and more people simply CAN'T pay their credit cards and other debts, the government is going to bring back debtors prison. MBNA wrote W's bankruptcy legislation!...Don't think they're not thinking up some other ways to squeeze blood out of our stones. We'll be told it's to "punish" bad deadbeats and such and the bourgeoisie idiot masses will support it in the name of "getting tough" or some other such nonsense. 1:03AM PDT on Mar 19, 2010 We the people? Puh...leeze. We are no more powerful than the man in the moon. Corporate money owns EVERYONE at all levels of government and it's only going to get worse with the latest SCOTUS ruling. America is for all essential purposes already over. It's just one giant sharecroppers farm. A handful in control let the rest of us live here as long as we pay most of what we "earn" to them. I've come to the conclusion that the great American experiment has failed. It has failed. We will either revolt or we will soon become Mexico, absent any middle class... just SUPER rich and penniless peasants, begging on the streets and making dolls out of corn husks and happy to clean the wealthy folks toilletes for some corn meal. At this point, I'm just trying to speed up the inevitable outcome of all of this corporate and government greed... a complete and total collapse of our government and currency. Let them keep printing more billions to bail out PRIVATE, FOR PROFIT entities! Let them continue cutting taxes for the wealthiest folks around. Let's continue buying every last thing on earth from China! When this whole country collapses due to greed... and China just walks right in, scrapes up the sickly remains of our once great nation and puts us in her pocket, I'm going to laugh. After one ruthless capitalist gets its ASS handed to it by an even MORE ruthless and unrestrained capitalist, maybe the world will see that unfettered greed is actually bad. Maybe 7:04PM PDT on Mar 18, 2010 I am not sure if this has been used yet, but here goes, "the root of all evil is M O N E Y. These are sad times, the banks who are our credit card companies, demand 24 percent interest, but you are lucky if you get .000002 percent on your savings account. 4:44PM PDT on Mar 18, 2010 the poor get poorer and the corporate masters become more powerful they have more power and control over your life than any government in our history. They better study history because there are more of us than there are cops or troops,we should consider ALL forms of civil disobediance and methods to resist the new serfdom or as i see it economic slavery, oppression must be fought for the sake of the planet and the people. add your comment Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers. ads keep care2 free Recent Comments from Causes Wow, animals are smarter than we humans give them credit for! I could have told them that years ago.… Museveni has challenged the West to stay out of their internal affairs. He seems to be trying to say… thank you! the big business approach is turning me into a vegetarian. I barely eat meat because of disrespectful… Story idea? Want to blog? Contact the editors! more from causes Select names from your address book   |   Help

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Join the Car Talk Community! Ordinary yet Unique! The Puzzler RAY: This was sent in by Wes Daniels. He asks, "What's unique about the following paragraph?" "This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact nothing is wrong with it. It is highly unusual though, study it and think about it but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit you might find out. Try to do so without any coaching." So the question is, what is unique about the paragraph? Think you know? Drop Ray a note! [ Car Talk Puzzler ] Support for Car Talk is provided by: Donate Your Car, Support Your NPR Station ...and get a tax break! Get Started Find a Mechanic

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Columns | October 15, 2011 21:44 Non-random Fischer Random Non-random Fischer Random The 2009 poster of the Mainz Chess Classic, which doesn't exist anymore. There Chess960/Fischer Random was played every year. In that blitz game, Nigel Short played the St. George Defense (which usually arises after 1.e4 a6 but now appeared on the board after 1.Nf3 b5 2.e4 a6) and even managed to beat the 13th World Champion (who, admittedly, blundered an exchange in the middle game). He thus created an appropriate echo of another St. George game, in which another British Grandmaster, Tony Miles, managed to beat  former World Champion, Anatoly Karpov (at the Skara European Team Championships in 1980). In fact, Short also beat Kasparov with the now-rare King’s Gambit – and with a rare line within the King’s Gambit at that - providing another argument for those people (and I think I consider myself to be among them) who claim that all it takes to solve boring computer preparation is some creativity in the opening. Is that too much to ask of professional chess players? Of course, some will say that it’s easy to experiment in blitz, but that one can’t expect the chess elite to actually start studying the King’s Gambit for important tournament games. Playing this dubious gambit in serious competition will cost them serious money! I only partly agree with this argument, because there’s no reason why playing blitz should, in principle, not be as profitable as playing classical chess. (It seems that even Kirsan Ilyumzhinov agrees with me on this point!) But let’s for a moment assume that it’s impossible to force the King’s Gambit (or the St. George, or any other opening that’s not considered to be ‘main stream’) down professional players’ throat:  what if we simply adjusted the starting position a little to help the pros make up their minds? Suppose from now on everybody would needs to start their game with the following position: PGN string So much for all Najdorf and Ruy Lopez theory! And that’s just the beginning, of course. All openings would have to be studied anew, because the slight modification will create all sorts of subtle and not so subtle differences. The game would still resemble chess sufficiently not to lose the interest of the general public, but the nuances would be different enough for the insiders to immediately appreciate the complete make-over of “boring” chess opening theory.  Perhaps some will argue that this new beginning position is actually to Black’s advantage, even though it’s still White to move. Well, that might turn out to be true, but how ‘fair’ is the current starting position? Isn’t that considered to be better for White? Even so, to make it a bit fairer maybe we shouldn’t put a black pawn on a6 (which might also makes queenside castling slightly less attractive), but a black knight? PGN string Heck, we could even have this position and let White choose whether he wants to play with White or Black. It still would be a much more modest change and thus be much more likely to be accepted by both professionals and laymen. Doesn’t this modest change of the initial position makes the ‘real’ Fischer Random chess look absurdly radical? We can get rid of all the special regulations of Fischer Random chess, or Chess960 as it seems to be called these days: no more need to create the various starting positions with a special computerized algorithm; no more need for confusing different castling rules. We can simply play the above position for the next, say, 600 years - until theory has evolved so much again that we’re ready for the next step – put a white knight on h3 as well. (And in the mean time, we can enjoy the evolution of completely new chess openings as more and more games are coming in.) Perhaps even more importantly, the quality of the games will be much higher than those played under the current Fischer Random rules. Why? Simply because Fischer Random opening positions are too unfamiliar and weird even to super-GMs, causing them to blunder in a much higher percentage of the games than in regular chess. Normal pattern recognition is mostly useless in Fischer Random. As Tim Krabbé once said, “Fischer Random puts us back 200 years.” I suspect Krabbé was even being polite in his estimation. Maybe it puts us back not 200 but 400 years. Remember those games from the 17th century in which even the strongest players in the world used to fall for what we now think of as ‘cheap opening traps’? Well, I recently went to watch the Dutch Fischer Random Championship in my hometown, Amsterdam. I was just in time to witness what everybody felt was the ‘dream final’ - the decisive game between Dutch GM Dennis de Vreugt and Yasser Seirawan, who in regular chess beat many a World Champion in his best days, including Karpov and Kasparov. I was in for a disappointment: Seirawan blundered a full piece as early as move eight, thus robbing the audience of a thrilling finale (and handing De Vreugt his well-deserved title on a silver platter). I felt bad, not only for Yasser but also for the tournament organizers. Honestly, I think no audience in the world likes to see such ‘drama’. And that’s hardly the only example from GM-practice in Fischer Random chess. I remember Gata Kamsky blundering on move six a few years ago. I think it was against Aronian – I’d love to show you the game, but unfortunately, because to my knowledge there isn’t any good commercial database storing Fischer Random games, let alone allowing for any kind of simple search functionality (no handy ECO opening codes, sorry!), I can’t. Whereas some people are still debating Lasker-Lasker, New York 1924, any game of Fischer Random or Chess960 seems utterly forgettable. Why not get rid of this artificial stuff and just move a pawn or piece to a6 in the starting position instead? Even if you think I sound like a Luddite, it’s hard to deny that it’s a lot easier for all. Share | Arne Moll's picture Author: Arne Moll arkan's picture Finally possible to comment :) I don't think this will solve anything at all, a pawn at a6. Randomness should be a factor, maybe something like let the tournament software randomly choose beteen the a2-h2 or a7-h7 pawns before each game? Also i don't see why chess960 is so bad? It's just not very common yet Arne Moll's picture Yes, the comments option was switched off by accident. Anyway, why should randomness be a factor? Isn't the main goal of this form of chess to avoid any kind of heavily analyzed opening theory? Well, that can also be achieved by simply putting a pawn on a6 in the starting position. (If the goal is to play a different kind of mind game, then I think the game of Go is a wonderful alternative!) Macauley's picture Nyah. Chess 960 is much more interesting to watch than just putting a pawn on a6. In St. Louis last month they didn't even use a computer to select the starting position. It's not hard to follow the rules for setting up a position. Also, doesn't DGT make a clock that will give you the position a the touch of a button then times the game? Arne Moll's picture I'm not denying Chess960 is interesting to watch, or fun to play - and watching or playing one game with a pawn on a6 would be equally interesting (or uninteresting, depending on your personal preference). What would, in my opinion, become more and more interesting after just one single game, is to see this position occur in more games so that opening theory, one of the key 'scientific' properties of chess, actually gets a chance to develop. This is an aspect that's completely lost in the Chess960 proposal, where each round a new position is chosen (or was this different in St. Louis?). It's this 'reset' principle that, in my view, completely destroys the beauty of opening theory evolution. This, and the 'homework' aspect, are not lost in my proposal, nor would it be hard to collect and distribute games played with this genre in a normal database file and explain its nuances to the general public without having to go through the basics of the starting position each and every time.   thechamp's picture Sorry, but boring proposals. Capablanca, Fischer and everyone advocating randomness of sorts is trying to kill classical chess. Possibilities are endless in chess - no need for any adjustments to the starting position. Why not leave this old and still vibrant game alone. Rudy's picture Moving a black pawn one or two square from it's starting square (at random or not) doesn't give rise to a new kind of chess. E.g., the starting position with a black pawn on a6 is the same position with colours reversed after 1.a3 in a normal game of chess. So, this instead limits one's options. A similar argument holds if black places his knight on a6. Thus this doesn't look like the way forward for our game of chess. st32's picture I would have been the first to mention this if the comments were not switched off :) Arne Moll's picture I did realize the situation was the same as after 1.a3 with Black to move: the reason why I kept the pawn on a6 was to preserve the comparison with the St. George Defense. Not sure how this would limit one's options. That's the same as saying that in Chess960, having a bishop on b1 instead of c1 'limits one's options' because you can't put your bishop the a1-h8 diagonal anymore! With a black pawn on a6, 1.e4 c5 would surely look like a Sicilian but it would not be the same, thus killing all existing Sicilian theory and providing a new basis for fresh ideas. It might turn out that 2.b3 is now the best move, or that 1.b3 is a better way of dealing with the situation. It would take decades to establish this. It sounds pretty exciting to me. Rudy's picture The suggestion of putting a black pawn on a6 limits the number of reachable positions compared to the normal configuration of pieces. Thus, in a sense, the complexity of the game decreases and there is less room for creativity. But this problably isn't the reason why you suggested the starting position should be adjusted. As I understand it, there are two reasons. In the first place, it renders established opening theory useless (well, not totally, since there still are ways to transpose to known theory). Second, it enhances our understanding of the game. It would be beneficial to know exactly how a different starting position influences winning chances (or drawing chances for some of you out there!) and then use this knowledge in a normal game. Come to think of it, would Adorjan still say that black is OK if the pawn is on a6? In a way, black has lost some of his reactive possibilities. I'm guessing that a hedgehog with a tempo up for black is disastrous, since he can't put the tempo to use (and this may hold for other sicilians as well). But certainly, i can't disagree it isn't exciting, but it does look a bit artificial. As for chess960, should we not play chess960, because a GM blundered a piece in the first couple of moves? adam's picture interesting proposal; however, imho chess960 is a more promising alternative, it would just need _much_ more support from players, sponsors as well as fans... for instance, although world champions have been crowned multiple times by now, having no database in an age with live rating sites updated several times a day clearly describes the situation i want to ask something that may be trivial: what is lasker-lasker (1924)? Levon's picture adam's picture thx, very nice game. must have heard about it a long back, but couldn't recall Kenneth W. Regan's picture At Hans Bodlaender's, I'm on record as favoring this form of "Fischer Non-random": With 960-squared possibilities, probably a few thousand really meaningful ones, it would really set back "theory" 200 years! thechamp's picture It's interesting that Arne Moll wants to "kill all excisting sicilian theory". The openings - their names and the long tradition of developed theory - is a living cultural treasure. Think again Arne! Arne Moll's picture Thechamp, I think you misunderstood me, or maybe I didn't make it clear enough: I love our game as it is and I think there's plenty of room to avoid boring theoretical duels without doing anything to the starting position! Dan's picture Arne, I've read chess websites for a decade and never commented because I've never felt strongly enough. But this idea of yours is beautifully brilliant and I think it should be the next step in the evolution of chess. Like many such ideas, it seems destined for a long time to be misunderstood and unappreciated by many, possibly even the majority. Also like many profound ideas, it is deceptively simple, but this is a large part of its brilliance. As you rightly point out, the "minor" alteration becomes increasingly significant as one moves up the rating ladder - to GMs, it's a monumental difference. And yet, unlike F-Random, it preserves the essence of the game. Fischer Random's flaw is that it's too wildly different, as you point out. As its name and creator remind us, it's random (incoherent, meaningless), and therefore disrupts in too violent and shocking a way the inner coherence and logic of chess that is its essence. A game perhaps appropriate only for Bobby Fischer himself, or someone of his inner chaos and insanity. If only we could stop idolizing far-and-away the single most insane and dangerous of chess genius, we may be more receptive to good ideas. Many amateurs won't appreciate the idea because they won't think it's a major difference. They like Fischer Random for that reason. But the truth is a pawn on a3 or a6 is a monumental difference. Some of those who bemoan the dying of chess by opening theory, in my view, are plain dishonest with themselves. They laud themselves as ultra-creative as a defense mechanism to defend bruised egos. Their problem isn't really with opening theory, it's that they lack comprehension, may be a bit lazy (or frustrated with past attempts) and, yes, may lack creativity compared to better players. Wanting to "invent" from move 1 is not a sign of brilliance or creativity, people! Like some spoiled child who slaps paint on paper and wants to be praised a brilliant artist, they want to be appreciated as creative geniuses without doing any work or respecting the history of the game. In what other field - math?, science? - do we praise people who want to invent everything anew, without absorbing the body of material collected by humanity first? Most theoretical chess opening lines leave us in early mid-game positions that are unclear, with many possibilities reflecting different styles and values. That's where the limitless creativity kicks in, and if you listen to any GM review his or her games you won't help but be filled with an appreciation for his/her creativity. Do some opening lines lead directly to equal endgames? Sure. The exception proves the rule. I am co-owner and Director of the Chess Club of Fairfield County, With bias but also good reason, I believe we are the best chess club in the world. We are a 4,000 square foot building, newly renovated, dedicated 7 days/week to chess. We do not rely on philanthrophy - our funding is from the chess community. We'd be happy to have a "St. George's" tournament or other event with your idea as the centerpiece. Feel free to contact me at anytime to discuss! Thanks again for the great idea, Arne. Don't be deterred!! Alfonso's picture A "pedantic" note: Skara 1980 was not a chess Olympiad, was an European Team Championship. The 1980 Olympiad was at Malta. Arne Moll's picture You're right of course, thanks. Corrected. patyolat's picture Suppose that Fischer Random was originally invented first. How do you think people would react if someone suggested that 959 possible starting positions should be discarded and only one used from now. They correctly would pont out that whole games could be calculated by a computer than memorized by a player, and "played" it in a tournament. Fischer considered this cheating and he definitely had a point. Unfortunately people as we know like the status quo, and insist to play only that one old boring starting position. By the way I prefer to call it Fischer Random, since I believe the inventor deserves that his name is attached to his invention. We don't call Rubik's Cube Cube54 or Cube4325200327448985600 either. Arsen Babayan's picture "We can simply play the above position for the next, say, 600 years"... And I think this is the error in author's theory which triggers it totally void. 600 years? Seriously? I agree that it took 600 years for the modern chess theory to emerge and get to where it is now. But do not forget, that all the strategic and tactical theory is still out there and even if we completely disregarded the role of computers in modern-day chess theory, it would take no more than 100 years for the opening theory for a new starting position to grow and overgrow. In this computerized era it would take 5-6 years, let it be 10, to get another starting position analyzed and published in all details, while you would never do that for 960 possible positions of Fischer's chess. Fischer's idea was "show me you can play CHESS". By switching between starting positions you do not fulfill Bobby's desire, and if a super-GM blunders a piece on 10th move playing Chess960, sorry, then there are only two explanations for that: either the guy is a theory-freak or that's just an accident, which happens sometimes and the author's suggestion doesn't solve any of those in any way. Another major drawback for this is that it's very difficult to find another position in line with author's idea which would not be of big... if not decisive advantage to either side. Black pawn to a6 - and Black is much better, as the author correctly mentioned. But the alternative (knight to a6) is a disaster for black - not only they are deprived of very important defensive piece on c6 or d7, they basically will have to play a piece down most of the game, as 1.d4 will become an automatic first move for white taking c5 square from the knight, let alone all possible captures Bf1xa6 by destroying black's queenside pawn structure. So briefly, I think this is just another "nice try". In my honest opinion nothing has yet been suggested to even compete with Fischer's idea of revolution. Mattovsky's picture The idea is not really new. I can't find the source right now, but Dvoretsky made a very similar suggestion years ago. chandler's picture Yes, he made it in his chesscafe column a year or two ago; Arne maybe you should have a look at it. His motivation is also that positions should be understandable, but he explains it better and in more detail. And I think his suggestion is different... moving just a pawn or something like that. Please search for it and give a link :) GeneM's picture Dvoretsky discussed FRC-chess960, and his own alternative, on 2008/Jan, in "Polemic Thinking, Part Two", at... Yes, we need to discard the 'Random' from Fischer Random Chess. But No, not the way this ChessVibes column says to. I believe that one of the 959 non-traditional setups should be annointed for the next couple decades, so that grandmasters and amateurs, both armed with Fritz and a creative spirit, could develop a whole broad & deep opening theory for the new setup, to rival the depth and breadth already achieved for the traditional chess1 setup. Watching that new theory grow from nothing would be facinating. It would also be educational in ways we cannot foresee. But what should the new setup be? I recommend the following, which after 1. e3 e6 in the traditional setup, can be reached in nine more legal move-pairs: Importantly, S#549 has no corner bishops, and the two white knights start on the same shade of square. Positions which lack either of these two characteristics should not be considered at this time. I was redirected here from... , its entry dated 2011/Nov/05. GeneM (2011/Nov/05) CastleLong .com Arne Moll's picture Sounds like a sensible suggestion. For me, the most important condition is that this position is fixed for at least a couple of decades, allowing theory to develop and games to be analysed properly by a large amount of people, rather than just a few specialists. GeneM's picture Fritz_13 has a new cloud-derived collaborative analysis feature named "Let's Check". This feature could have a tremendous effect on the rate of growth for opening "theory" for one new stable reused chess960 position such as S#549. The whole chess playing planet could contribute to a central repository of analyzed variations of all the not-yet-discovered opening systems for S#549. Seems like the "Let's Check" feature is a significant new reason to consider adding reuse of S#549 to the long existing reuse of the traditional setup S#518. harryo's picture I think that the 1.a3 idea is too limiting for the future of chess. What would be really wonderful is to change chess competition so that players play three types of games in equal proportion in the really big global tournaments: 1) A traditional chess portion of competition 2) A fixed inter-generational FIDE assigned Chess960 start position portion of competition 3) A genuinely randomized Chess960 portion of competition If we give these names it would be: 1) "Classical" portion of competition 2) "Fixed-position" portion of competition 3) "Fischer-random" portion of competition Each of these three divisions has the following academic advantages: 1) Classical-start -> test of memorization transitioning into the mid-game 2) Fixed-start -> test of good research techniques transitioning into the mid-game 3) Fischer-start -> test of creativity transitioning into the mid-game The big tournaments of the world would feature the elite players facing up in all these three forms of chess competition. The chess rating system would legitimize and recognize these three forms of play by giving them each an official ratings system. Then in other parts of the world specialist tournaments would start to show up focusing on one of these disciplines depending on what the regional interest is. For example there are regions of the world right now that are highly focused on traditional chess. There are regions of the world willing to try fixed-start positions and there are regions in the world such as Germany that already have an exciting Chess960 culture. I appeal to the chess world. Can Chess players of the world finally accept that traditional Chess and Chess960 are not mutually exclusive, but actually complement each other? Please I ask that the chess world lessons it's black and white mentality just for a short time while we rethink the future of chess. Thanks for listening woolyworm's picture Yasser Sierawan's chess variant, where a hawk ( a piece combining the moves of bishop and a knight) and an elephant (a piece combining the powers of a rook and a knight) are introduced on a vacant square on the back rank, maintains the patterns of the classic game while cranking up the voltage. Yasser's game gets exceedingly complex once the new men are placed, but there is no reason why the players can't agree to use the same mechanism to introduce another bishop, say, or any other (or any number of other) pieces during a game. Using this technique preserves the contours of the traditional game and the reliance on opening theory, though valuable, is considerably less so. Try it. You'll like it. woolyworm's picture MatsW's picture You should have a look at this, an alternative to Fischer Random where the pieces are manually (non-randomly) relocated: MatsW's picture By the way, I have already suggested a training variant, Chess256, close to Moll's suggestion: Edwin's picture From what I can tell watching the recent Tata Steel tournament wherein we saw the best players in the world square off, this talk of the death of chess is as premature now as it was in Capablanca's day. In many of the Tata games the top GMs got in trouble in the openings. T's picture Pick 1 960 position and use that for the next 10 years, then pick another and so forth ;) Honestly I think normal chess has a lot of life still though. Anthony's picture I've stumbled across this interesting discussion, and like to add something. First, I should say that I'm not much more than a casual player - I did play for the school team, and I played a bit of club chess later, but if I tell you that I own only two chess books - a 1974 "Ideas Behind the Openings", and Fischer's 60 Memorable Games - you'll know that I'm pretty much a tyro in these computer-driven times. But I do love the game, and I think I agree with those who bemoan the fact that there's so much theory now that you can't even say who just won a game - was it you, or the sound variant you managed to remember move by move from a book? But I also understand why there's such a resistance to Fischer Random and similar variants. It's not "real" chess - it's not "classic" and so on. So here's a suggestion - daft or not, only you really serious players can say. But this suggestion has certain advantages; it's real chess - its' classic, so the purists should be satisfied. But it pretty much wipes out most - not all, and that's important - opening theory. You'd have to start again, which gives you another fifty years to build up theoretical lines! And, finally, I promise two things should any of you try this- and you should try this by playing half-a-dozen games with someone whose game you know well: one, that you'd be as frustrated as hell for the first two or three games - but then, your opponent would be in the same boat. And, two,that it would really test your ability to create - and - as Fischer put it - just play chess. This suggestion isn't even new- in fact, it's several hundred years old!! Let's call it Indian Chess. (Which is where the King's Indian, and Nimzo-Indian get their names of course - which is why I said that not all opening theory gets jettisoned), So what you do is revert to chess - classic chess - as it was played in India. That is, reverse the rule that allows pawns to move two squares from their original position. It was done to "speed up" the game of course, but maybe it's time now to slow it down again! By doing this, nothing about the game as we know it now gets chucked out. But just try this, and think of how little use opening theory is - and yet you're playing real, classic chess. For instance, suppose I happen to hate facing the Ruy Lopez: well, when I see e3 played by white, I can avoid any possibility of that opening by playing a6 straight away. Then my opponent has to think again - and really think again. It would need a mathematician to calculate how many combinations are possible in Indian chess after each player has made, say, two moves each - but whether it's a smaller or larger number than at present hardly matters, because without the book or the computer to do it for you - over the board, that is - you'd have to fall back on your native ability to play the game. Classic Indian Chess: any takers? Your comment

http://www.chessvibes.com/columns/non-random-fischer-random?quicktabs_quick2=2

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In Little Italy, fresh eyes on American democracy Italian parliament member among observers from 30 countries Dan Rodricks 6:13 PM CST, November 6, 2012 So intent was Riccardo Migliori on his mission — observing the U.S. election and asking questions about the voting process in Baltimore — that he missed the statues of saints and the oil painting of Pope Leo XIII. So foreign was the idea that voting might take place in a house of worship that he apparently didn't notice the brass crucifix on the wall above him, either. In fact, it wasn't until he left the polling place in Little Italy and stepped onto chilly Exeter Street on Tuesday morning that Migliori, a senior member of Big Italy's parliament, realized he had just seen Americans voting in the basement of a Roman Catholic church. "A church?" Migliori asked, looking up at the front doors of St. Leo the Great and, high on the brick façade, a gilded statue of the church's namesake. "I am surprised. With the separation of church and state, we would never dream of having a polling place in a church." He's a big, bearded, affable man in a well-worn raincoat, part of a delegation of 110 election observers from 30 countries operating under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. That organization dates back to the Cold War and represents 56 nations in matters of human rights, press freedom and free elections. It dispatches election observers all over Europe, the former Soviet Union and North America, including the U.S. (Just about everywhere but Texas.) Migliori, who is from Florence, has been a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies since 1996. He takes a special interest in election integrity and serves as president of the parliamentary assembly of the OSCE. He's traveled to numerous countries to watch elections — Belarus, Ukraine and, more recently, Tunisia. Tuesday, Migliori started his work in Little Italy, accompanied by two aides and Francesco Luigi Legaluppi, the Italian consul general in Baltimore. Legaluppi and an old friend of mine from the neighborhood, Elia Mannetta, served as interpreters. Migliori and his two staff members, Vincenzo Picciolo and Giuseppe Maggio, stepped into St. Leo's basement at 7:05 a.m., just as citizens started to vote. They were greeted by Alan Shapiro, the chief Democratic judge for the precinct. Here's what Migliori asked Shapiro: "How do you limit propaganda from the polling place?" Shapiro: "There's no electioneering allowed within 100 feet of the polling place, which means anyone who electioneers has to stand across [Exeter] street." How do the election judges and workers keep things moving? Shapiro: "We all work quickly because we know the routine and we've worked together before, several times." Migliori noticed that voting machines were lined up at angles, but open to the central part of the church basement, where, conceivably, people waiting in line could peek over their fellow citizens' shoulders. Why not turn the machines around, Migliori wanted to know, so that the open side of each faces the wall? Shapiro pondered this a moment and said, "Actually, the way the machines are set up, people can't see how someone else votes." And besides, the power cords weren't long enough to arrange them as Migliori had suggested. Next: "If someone voted early, do the election judges have the capability of knowing that, so that a person could not vote twice?" This question had been on Migliori's mind since he first heard about early voting in the Maryland and other states. Allowing people to vote ahead of Election Day seems fraught with risk, he said. Shapiro: "Anyone who voted early, their name is in the poll books already and they would not be able to vote a second time." Migliori: "Do you ask each person if they voted already?" Shapiro: "We don't have to. The machine will tell us if they voted already; the machine will tell us their voting history." Migliori: "Do you ask the voter for identification?" Shapiro: "We only ask if the machine asks us to ask for ID for some reason." It was outside, after Migliori realized he had just visited a polling place inside a church — and recovered from that shock — that I asked him about his mission and his impression of U.S. elections. But his comments were more about our campaigns. "There's no equality among the candidates," he said, noting how American politicians raise millions of dollars to gain television exposure. In Italy and much of Europe, he said, candidates are accorded equal time. "And it doesn't matter how much money they have," Migliori said. "When you begin the race, everyone must be at the same starting line. That's only fair." The Italian politician noted that for most Americans, deciding on a president Tuesday was a $2 billion choice — between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. "And so," he noted, "most Americans have no idea that there were other candidates for president on the ballot." Truth, as only an outside observer can deliver it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bs-md-rodricks-1107-20121106,0,4596719,print.column

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Sheriff's Office: ‘You always hurt the one you love’ by Jim Ruth Bradley County Sheriff Feb 09, 2014 | 392 views | 0 0 comments | 6 6 recommendations | email to a friend | print When the writer penned those words, I don’t think he had domestic violence in mind at all. There are those among us who are still prone to hurt those in their own household. Yet, some get drunk or drugged up and become physically abusive to their spouse. This abuser is usually the husband or live-in boyfriend abusing the woman of the house. Much more rare is the man being abused by the woman. Yet, it does happen, along with elder abuse and grown children fighting and threatening their parents or vice versa. Many times the woman feels trapped in these situations because of her lack of finances, or maybe shame. Often there are children in the home, which further complicates the situation. A retired lady laughs when she tells about having a fuss with her husband, how she gathered her two young boys and headed home to mama. Her mother was very loving and had a lot of wisdom. Mama told her, “You made your bed, now you have to sleep in it, so go back to your husband.” The problem is not when a couple has an argument and gets a little loud. The problem is when a threat to an individual’s well being comes into the situation. A swift response to these domestic calls by law enforcement and sure punishment by the courts keeps many would-be abusers in check. The abuser comes to realize that he will give account when the deputy arrives on the scene. He learns he will be sleeping on a jail cot that night and maybe several other nights, until the judge deems he is no longer a threat to the victim. We sometimes lock up both individuals when the deputy determines they were equally at fault. The deputies’ duty is to restore and keep the peace. Sometimes it is the aggressor who calls 911 and we have to lock that individual up to maintain the peace. A domestic call in the rural South for years has been the most dangerous call with the most fatalities for law enforcement. We train our people to be wary when answering these calls. There is always the possibility the suspect is laying in wait for the deputy to arrive. Then, there are timesthe victim will join in with the abuser against the deputy, as they take the suspect into custody. More than 25 years ago, before the domestic laws were strengthened, as they are today, our deputies arrested a big, young mountain of a man on a domestic charge. He was a hardworking logging man. He was not a violent man, but he starting drinking one day and his new, young wife became frightened of him. She had never seen him in such an agitated state. As the now retired deputy who was there remembered, the young man did not hit her. The deputies back then brought the Paul Bunyan type to jail. The next morning the logger’s mother and older brother came to bail him out of jail. The deputy went back to tell the now sober logger his family was there to bail him out. Well, the big man was pouting and refused to be bailed out. He could not believe that his darling, new bride would call Johnny Law on him. “He would never hurt her, she knew that.” To my knowledge he never did hurt her and has not been back to jail for these 2 ½ decades. He apparently learned to control his anger, his drinking or maybe both. I’ve known a number of people who have a quick temper, but they have the wisdom and power to bring that temper under control. Some have even learned to channel that anger to energize them in positive ways. People who work with their hands can be more productive at making their living. When working in the yard or doing household chores a lot of that anger dissipates. One man I know, who has a short fuse, realized when he got into a confrontation he was prone to become angrier as he talked. He has learned to stop talking and let his emotions settle, while the other person is talking. He will consciously talk himself out of a fit of anger by doing this. He can then state his opinion and make his argument in a more convincing, civil way. I am not saying he reacts correctly every time, but he is working on it. I am not a counselor, but when you lose respect for your spouse and his/her dignity, you got troubles. If you are in an abusive relationship, get out now. There is help for you and for children today. If you are attacked physically call 911. If you need help in getting out of an abusive situation call the sheriff’s office at 728-7300. We will give you the number where you can obtain the help you need. It is never right for one person to abuse another emotionally or physically in these domestic situations. Have a good day. Thanks for reading.

http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/24542079/article-Sheriff-s-Office---You-always-hurt--the-one-you-love-?instance=main_article

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Skip the navigation Mike Elgan: 10 obsolete technologies to kill in 2010 Make the world a better place. Just say no to dumb tech. December 24, 2009 06:00 AM ET Computerworld - Some old-and-busted technologies die gracefully of natural causes. Pagers, PDAs, floppy disks -- they're gone, and good riddance. Here are 10 dumb technologies we should get rid of in 2010: 1. Fax Machines The fax machine was obsolete 15 years ago. When someone says "fax it to me," I always feel like I'm being punk'd. A fax machine is nothing more than a printer, scanner and an obsolete analog modem that work together to waste time, money, paper and electricity. The mass delusion that perpetuates this obscenely inefficient technology is that paper "hard copy" is somehow more legitimate. In fact, gluing a copy of someone's stolen signature to a document, then faxing it, is the easiest way mask a forgery because of the low quality of fax output. People, let's stop the madness. Just e-mail it. 2. 'Cigar lighter receptacle' plugs in cars 3. WWW The original idea with Internet addresses is that a prefix would identify the type of service provided. So, for example, identifies Apple's "World-Wide Web" servers, and points to the company's offerings available via the "File Transfer Protocol." Network administrators get to choose whether an address technically requires a "www." But browsers fill it in for you even when you don't type it. That's why saying "www" as part of an address, printing it on business cards or typing it into your browser address box is always unnecessary. We stopped using "http://" years ago, and it's time to stop using "www" as well. 4. Business cards Speaking of business cards, why do we still carry around 19th-century "calling cards"? When someone gives you a business card, they're giving you a tedious data entry job, one that most people never complete. Besides, you should always learn in advance what you can about people you're going to meet, and that's a good time to enter their contact information. And if you just run into someone, and exchange contact information, it's best to do it by e-mail or some other means on the spot, with cell phones. Adding someone to your contacts should involve double clicking or, at most, copying and pasting -- not data entry. 5. Movie rental stores Our Commenting Policies

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142656/Mike_Elgan_10_obsolete_technologies_to_kill_in_2010?taxonomyId=165&pageNumber=1

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Report Comment That truly showed what Vettel is. A spoilt brat. There was no reason to do that at this stage of the season, if it was near the end, I could understand. Webber should have allowed an accident to happen. Two things would have happened. Seb would get so much grief after the race, and he'd think twice about doing that to Webber again. All the greats have driven like that, but not against their own team mate. Bad move. As for the apology, he knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew he had to say sorry. Empty words from an insincere man, sorry, boy. Webber is more of a man than Vettel will ever be. Gloves off Mark. Beat him how ever you have to. He has done it in the past. Turkey, despite a few hear blaming Webber for that one. I was obvioulsy watching a different race back then, clearly Seb's fault. Mark didn't get out the brats way. Poor show from a team perspective. RB gave an order, he ignored it, and they pay his salary. © 1999 - 2014 Crash Media Group

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Crash.Net F1 News Alonso: Kimi was too fast for us 18 March 2013 Fernando Alonso has admitted that the combination of Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus appeared unbeatable in the Australian Grand Prix, but refused to blame Ferrari's strategy for his defeat. The Spaniard, who acknowledged that beating Sebastian Vettel's pole-winning Red Bull into third place had felt like victory in itself [ see separate story], conceded that, without the intervention of the safety car, he was unlikely to have been able to dice with Raikkonen, who made one stop fewer for tyres than his main rivals. “I think we were closer to victory in Abu Dhabi [last season] or closer than what we were here today,” he claimed, “We didn't have the pace to fight with Kimi today - he was too fast for us and he did a fantastic job. I think, in Abu Dhabi, it was different with the safety car. I think, with 15 or 20 laps to the end of the race, we really had the opportunity to fight for victory there, [but] today they were too fast.” Asked whether he could have made his Ferrari's tyres last long enough to match Raikkonen's two-stop strategy, Alonso admitted that the Scuderia had always planned to run three stops and any thoughts of changing were effectively ruled out after getting caught in traffic. “I think it's difficult to know if we could do two stops,” he conceded, “You need to commit, more or less, to one strategy before the start of the race because you race differently. Obviously, we were attacking - we tried to pass Sebastian [Vettel] in the first part of the race [and], in the second stint, we were again also behind [Adrian] Sutil at that stage of the race. Maybe you can go a little bit longer in the stints, but we have to stop [to] try to overtake these people that we felt they were slower than us and, if you commit to that, obviously there is not a way to find a two-stop.” Admitting that being squeezed out at the first corner by both Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa had not been ideal, Alonso was also critical of a couple of rookie backmarkers, who he felt had made life as difficult as it had been racing against his expected rivals. “There is always the flexibility to anticipate the stop, delay the stop, as there is always a margin of three or four laps shorter or longer depending on how the race goes,” he continued, “How the race goes is [based on] the tyre degradation that you are facing through that particular race or the traffic you are facing through that race. In my case, we felt we were a lot faster than the cars in front. We stopped on lap 20 or 21 - we felt we had more pace for 18 or 19 laps so it was the right time to start – and it was enough to jump three place [past] Sebastian, Felipe and Sutil. What we didn't know at the time was the pace of the Lotus - they did a better job than us and maybe we did a better job than the others at the front.” Despite finishing between Lotus and Red Bull, Alonso insisted that he had not been surprised by much over the course of the weekend but claimed that, while Ferrari was achieving the goals that it had set itself for the start of the season, it could not afford to rest. “We had a good winter and the car is more or less as we expected,” he noted, “Arriving here and fighting for the podium was the aim of the team - to reduce the gap and to arrive at the start of the season with a competitive package. “In the winter, the car felt good and the understanding of the car was good, so being on the podium here is some kind of job done, let's say. You always learn some things, and I will talk with the engineers in the debrief about the competition. When you run close to other cars in the first race, you always discover some weak points and some strong points [of the car] and today [there were] a lot of fights, a lot of traffic, a lot of action. “Lotus, as we saw in winter, were very quick and very consistent, so they had a fantastic weekend, they deserved victory. Red Bull is the quickest car at the moment, first and second in qualifying, first and second in practice, - yes, in the race, they saw a little bit of degradation but that doesn't mean that they are not the fastest.”

http://www.crash.net/formula+one/news/188980/print.html

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Moving Company: Speedy Ellsbury, Victorino Set Tone For Sox Leading off is Jacoby Ellsbury. Batting second is Shane Victorino. One is a needle. The other is a pincushion. Together they set a tone in the ALDS that screamed aggression, a cerebral assault, that made the Tampa Bay Rays blink, blink again, blink a third time and ultimately go to sleep for the winter. "Yeah, we talk about the one-two punch," Ellsbury said Friday on the eve of ALCS Game 1 against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. "Victorino has done a great job at the plate seeing when I'm running, taking pitches, getting on base anyway possible, hit by pitch or hustling down the line. It has been great fun to play with him." How much fun? Ellsbury hit .500 (9-for-18), had a .526 OBP and 1.37 OPS against the Rays, while Victorino hit .429 (6-for-14) with a .556 OBP and .984 OPS. Ellsbury stole four bases and scored seven runs. Victorino knocked in three and was hit four times, already tying the postseason record for one year. With wraps about his arms, his stomach, wherever he happens to get hit that particular game, Victorino often looks like a member of the Revolutionary War fife and drum corps. "Whatever it takes," Victorino told reporters Thursday. In the decisive two-run seventh-inning in Game 4, Ellsbury's single put runners at the corners with two outs. A wild pitch allowed Xander Bogaerts to score. Ellsbury stole second and kept going to third on the wild pitch. Victorino, who once won the Hawaiian high school state 100 meter title at 10.8 seconds, beat out a broken bat single to shortstop Yunel Escobar to score Ellsbury. Victorino also broke up double plays on Rays second baseman Ben Zobrist in Game 2 and Game 3 that, if the Red Sox go on to win their third World Series since 2004, will become part of team lore. Both led to Ellsbury scoring runs, the second time in Game 3 when Zobrist threw the ball wildly off the dugout. Both times, Victorino went in hard, clean. He said he never wants it to be dirty. It was baseball ballet. "Shane has been great all year, man," Dustin Pedroia said Friday. "He does so many things that impact games — his at-bats, the way he plays right field, his arm." That's another thing. Some of their teammates say having them is like having two center fielders. "With a big right field [at Fenway], we've been able to do some things, use it as a weapon in some of our positioning,'' Ellsbury said. The Sox had Big Papi and Manny Ramirez on 2004 and 2007 world championships. Well, they're on the Tigers in this ALCS in the form of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. Oh, the Sox still have David Ortiz's big stick, but the tone set by Ellsbury and Victorino — who would've been ALDS co-MVPs had they given an award out — is one that ultimately should be the difference in defeating a loaded Tigers team. You can call it small ball. I see at as high IQ ball. "The one thing that stands out with the base stealing and the overall tone of the base running is to try to put as much pressure on the opposition as we can," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "That means running smart. And not just giving outs away." Justin Verlander is an absolute bear. One eye brown, own eye blue, Max Scherzer has both eyes on winning the 2013 Cy Young Award. Anibal Sanchez, the Game 1 starter, led the AL with a 2.57 ERA. Doug Fister is no slouch. Still, if the Red Sox can get pitch counts up, get runners on base, get into the bullpen, they will win this series. It all starts with Jake and the Flyin' Hawaiian. "Early in spring training, the coaches emphasized aggressive base running," Ellsbury said. "Going first to third, second to home, seeing what we had and setting the boundaries. It created what we've done in the regular season. Obviously there's a fine line between running into outs, but I think we've done a tremendous job of being aggressive at the right times, not being reckless. "Getting on base definitely has an impact on what the pitcher throws to a hitter. Disrupting his rhythm, that sort of thing, maybe a pitcher doesn't throw a curve, leaves a fastball over the plate. The long ball isn't going to happen every night. It's a way of putting pressure on the defense and making something happen. It's another dimension. It's something we take pride in — aggressive but smart." The Red Sox stole 123 steals this season and were caught only 19 times. At one point, they stole 45 in a row. The 86 percent success rate was the second-best in the live ball era. Featured Stories

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Study shows many users wouldn't upgrade even if given the option Comments     Threshold By DASQ on 7/4/2008 4:54:48 PM , Rating: 5 I'll assume "Other" means "I don't know better". More speed for the same cost. I don't see a downside there other than the possible week or two required for setup. RE: Yeah... By JoshuaBuss on 7/4/2008 5:00:29 PM , Rating: 5 specifically, i bet they didn't even know what 'broadband' means RE: Yeah... By FingerMeElmo87 on 7/6/2008 4:59:09 PM , Rating: 3 its not that. its "You've got mail." thats makes them feel special. and thats why they keep it. RE: Yeah... By Donkeyshins on 7/7/2008 1:47:21 PM , Rating: 2 "Why on earth would I need to replace my dialup with an all-girl musical group, dagnabbit!?!" RE: Yeah... By RIPPolaris on 7/4/2008 5:11:49 PM , Rating: 3 People who barely even use the internet probably don't want to go through the hassle of upgrading their internet if they won't use it to its full potential anyway. RE: Yeah... By fake01 on 7/4/2008 5:40:39 PM , Rating: 3 Than upgrade to 256KB connection. Still around 5 times faster than dialup at basically no extra cost. We are slowly beginning to move to optic fibres now and people are still on dialup? Surely sooner or later they are going to have to turn of the switch and upgrade cause it ain't gonna be around forever. RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... By getho on 7/4/08, Rating: 0 RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... Right on. RE: Yeah... Hey, look at me, I'm wireless - omg. RE: Yeah... greetings :) RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... By Rebel44 on 7/4/2008 6:04:16 PM , Rating: 2 I hope it will be soon. RE: Yeah... By DASQ on 7/4/2008 7:06:09 PM , Rating: 3 Hardly an issue, as they can still use dialup while they're waiting for their broadband to kick in. Seriously not a reasonable excuse. No one is telling them to cut off their by-the-MB 56k service the second they sign up for broadband. RE: Yeah... By LorKha on 7/4/2008 5:57:37 PM , Rating: 2 Other means "I don't want myself and I to download files with viruses and watch porn without knowing it." But because I DO have broadband, I DO download files with viruses and watch porn, knowing it. RE: Yeah... By GDstew4 on 7/4/2008 6:18:35 PM , Rating: 2 There probably are people out there who are terrified of an "always on" internet connection. They think that someone is going to get into their computer while they are asleep at night and steal their identity. Or viruses are out there crawling through the internet tubes just waiting for a PC to infect. My mother-in-law is still using her 450MHz Pentium 3 and Windows 98. She doesn't want to bother with upgrading because she has "better things to spend money on." RE: Yeah... By Grabo on 7/5/2008 9:52:31 AM , Rating: 2 She probably does? It all depens on your point of view. If whatever works works, and you're not all that interested in it , then why change? Probably those who cling to dialup have a lot of superstitious arguments for doing so, but they're also likely to think 'if it ain't broke don't attempt to fix it'. Still. It's hard to see how someone could consider dialup 'not broke', from any point of view. They can be a nightmare to get to work consistently, get to work again; and by the time you see a slightly darker than ultra-white cloud on the horizon your modem is probably already dead. RE: Yeah... By mindless1 on 7/6/2008 12:54:03 AM , Rating: 2 Huh? In all the years I had dialup before moving to broadband several years ago, I never had these problems you suppose to any significant degree. It was just painfully slow at a time when the internet was rapidly moving away from being mostly text. I still keep a modem in one system, just in case I want to send or receive a fax by computer. If for some reason our broadband went down for what was known to be a lengthly period I'd start up a dialup plan without hesitation - that is, if I couldn't think of or wasn't in an area where there were other faster alternatives. Mainly I think certain types of people just don't get into the whole browse-the-internet habit. It's a big country and lots of people out there just aren't like *US*. I'm just a little surprised that these people would have dialup at all if they didn't see an advantage to broadband at the same price. I think an early poster nailed it, they don't understand what "broadband" is, they are picking what they know versus some unknown thing that they aren't sure they can use - they don't realize broadband is (beyond minor quirks and practices like possibly setting up a router) actually much easier, even transparent in use. RE: Yeah... By alcalde on 7/4/2008 6:41:19 PM , Rating: 5 The downside is not getting to hear the modem connect noise anymore. RE: Yeah... By FaceMaster on 7/4/2008 6:49:00 PM , Rating: 4 SHUT UP it's a beautiful sound. RE: Yeah... Honestly, I kind of miss the sound. RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... this post was worth the gold my rolex is made from. RE: Yeah... By masher2 (blog) on 7/4/2008 11:26:19 PM , Rating: 2 RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... you get a 6 in my book. RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... eerrrrrnnnnnnn EEEE errrr EEEE errrr SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE er er er blblblblblblbl EEEE! RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... Mouse? That's why they put down mousetraps! ;) RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... RE: Yeah... Here's one for nostalgia sake: RE: Yeah... By Alias1431 on 7/4/2008 11:11:47 PM , Rating: 2 For some people, it's more therapeutic than smoking. RE: Yeah... By CyborgTMT on 7/4/2008 11:47:24 PM , Rating: 4 If my mother was polled, that is her response exactly. A few years ago I moved in with her during her recovery after she had cancer. The entire time I lived there I had cable internet. One day I connected her up through the high speed and set her [sarcasm]precious[/sarcasm] AOL to use my connection. For my troubles I received a hour long lecture about why her computer doesn't work anymore because it doesn't make 'the noise' when she goes to AOHell. After spending a few days trying to explain the advantage of the broadband connection, I finally lost the argument and switched her back. 5 years later she sill has AOL and dial-up... but I'm not giving up yet... RE: Yeah... By alifbaa on 7/5/2008 12:31:17 AM , Rating: 5 Ha... you said "if my mother was polled." Sorry, I couldn't help myself. RE: Yeah... By CyborgTMT on 7/5/2008 1:30:40 AM , Rating: 2 RE: Yeah... She'd never know. RE: Yeah... By carrotroot on 7/4/2008 10:02:42 PM , Rating: 2 It basically boils down to ignorance and/or laziness. RE: Yeah... By Tsuwamono on 7/5/2008 8:16:41 AM , Rating: 2 week or two? My broadband took 1 day for them to hook up. I called on a wednesday afternoon i believe and it was setup by thursday at dinner. RE: Yeah... By AlexWade on 7/5/2008 8:29:06 AM , Rating: 2 I know some people who use Netzero, which is cheaper than any high-speed internet service available. They use the internet about once a week. Why do they need to pay for broadband when they barely use the internet? RE: Yeah... By SlyNine on 7/5/2008 10:03:44 AM , Rating: 2 They could use the internet even less, Because there would be no waiting. RE: Yeah... By mindless1 on 7/6/2008 1:22:06 AM , Rating: 2 That brings back memories. I recall an argument to the wife at the time we were considering broadband, she said I already spent enough time online and I countered that I'd be able to get done what I do on the 'net faster, get done sooner. What ended up happening instead? I spent nearly the same amount of time RE: Yeah... By mindless1 on 7/6/2008 12:58:48 AM , Rating: 2 ok, but getting back to the survey it is asked if they could get broadband, and if it were the same price. Do you feel those who are using Netzero picked it in preference to a faster connection at the same price if there were another alternative they knew about? RE: Yeah... By Googer on 7/5/2008 11:04:24 PM , Rating: 2 RE: Yeah... By zolo111 on 7/6/2008 12:49:57 PM , Rating: 2 I think they believe that it's almost impossible for them to get a bradband connection for the same price as dialup.. Or at least they don't spend the time to search for better deals anyhow ( using thier dialup, searching for deals is frustrating I guess..) I helped a friend get comcast service in Seattle for a whole year for $19.99 a month, he couldn't believe it, but after a couple of months he regret getting the service since he doesn't use more than 3% of the extra speed he's getting. He'd rather go back to dialup for $10 a month. Meanwhile I went back to my home country, Saudi Arabia. I'm paying $80 a month for a lousy 1mb/128kb :/ Let's get post modern By Alias1431 on 7/4/2008 11:10:04 PM , Rating: 2 Dial-up should be free for everyone. The internet is becoming less of an option and more of a necessity. It would do wonders for education, or just overall awareness. The only problem is the inevitable flourishing of ungodly creations on myspace. *shudder* RE: Let's get post modern RE: Let's get post modern RE: Let's get post modern It went by the name of FREEI.NET. RE: Let's get post modern I used a freebee ad-supported connex also. The AdBlockers kinda killed that idea. RE: Let's get post modern RE: Let's get post modern Well said. Your comments are appreciated. Thanx for gentle correction. RE: Let's get post modern By alp689 on 7/5/2008 10:59:46 AM , Rating: 2 I still remember when my mom told me and my sisters we were getting rid of our stupid dial-up and switching to DSL (well, actually we ended up getting cable, but I digress...), we started CHEERING! She was the most awesome person in the world that day, and when we finally got it, we all couldn't help but marvel at how amazingly fast it was, and how we didn't have to wait 1:30 every time for our modem to connect (I think this was in about 2002), or worry about getting booted every time the phone rang (oddly enough, we had two phone lines, the second of which we never used, yet we never switched our dail-up to that line...). I wonder if most people would at least experience the same kind of shock it was to us the first time we got our connection. I'm not saying it would convince most of these holdouts to switch on the spot, but I'd have to imagine they might at least see the benefits of it, because they really are painfully obvious. RE: Wow... By JoshuaBuss on 7/5/2008 12:20:47 PM , Rating: 2 no, i think our family basically had the exact same experience. our house was in a 'prime location' for testing DSL, and my dad knew some people at the phone company.. needless to say, the idea that we'd be the first in our town to have DSL left us on a proverbial high for weeks RE: Wow... By larson0699 on 7/5/2008 2:14:19 PM , Rating: 2 The benefits are only "painfully obvious" to those who care. Enough people on here have already said it -- some of our folks like things the way they are and consider them "not broken". The idea that your mother became so awesome the day she upgraded suggests that you need to unplug and get out more. My kind of love is unconditional, and as such, doesn't rely on material amenities for me to come to the realization that my folks are awesome. I am here, which more than suffices. The fact that you got "booted" every time the phone rang immediately raises the "idiot" flag for your household not having taken advantage of *70 (call waiting) if you really valued your time online. I, for one, hate having to do things over because of interruptions. Either those people can wait or I can get a cell phone (which, in 2002, was a practical choice). Some are just so spoiled. RE: Wow... By mindless1 on 7/6/2008 1:18:47 AM , Rating: 2 It's not the material amenities, it's the thought, it's the doing something for someone else that makes all our lives better. That's what you do for someone you love, and they recognize it. You've taken the simple awesomeness comment and stretched it way out of proportion. Is your love really unconditional, is it all someone has to do to have unprotected sex and get pregnant in order to (deserve?) someone else's affections? Isn't unconditional love really a load of nonsense since there is one clear condition already, that you believe some other person to be your parent? Wouldn't it be that if the only factor were that she were YOUR parent, that it is more vanity than love? Isn't it true that the love comes from time spent together in harmony because you both did things for each other? Awesome is as awesome does. Love without action is baseless. If you feel that way about your parents then they too must've done a few things right with regard to you, even if it wasn't some particular thing like faster internet connection. It could easily have been something else instead but do we go around calling you spoiled because of it? RE: Wow... By larson0699 on 7/6/2008 2:31:00 PM , Rating: 3 Talk about taking things out of proportion.. I think it's you who couldn't be farther from the reality of things. Where I come from (and everywhere I've been, imagine that) someone's deed to another is well appreciated and remembered, but remains just that. It doesn't strengthen love unless it was based on how much you did for me to begin with. Whether you believe it or not, unconditional love DOES abound among families and close friends alike. The saying goes that you can't choose your parents. But no matter if they've beaten and neglected you and sold you on eBay, the underlying love remains, as in that case I would still do anything to save their asses. They'd probably wonder why I did, but they'd already have the answer deep down, no need to show them the door. Vanity has nothing to do with any of it. Except for maybe this guy who's excessively proud of his new ISP and mom. Get real. I think he's due a lesson on what's really awesome in life.. such as life itself. If I presented myself online in the way he did, I'd more than expect to be called some names. You're confusing "love" with "like" anyway. Both are feelings that grow in time, but love is untold, beyond words, a personal connection (getting anywhere? You at least had harmony right, but in the wrong context) while you may like the person more because of what she's done for you. Love is generally not something that you manipulate, but what that person reveals in you, whether you like him/her or not. Anyway, it's to show the merits in U.L. that some just don't believe in.. You know I won't try to preach to those with heads firmly up asses. For the record, if I took it upon myself to "do something" for dad and set up broadband at his place, it wouldn't make all our lives better. I'd be scolded for having the audacity to meddle in his business. Sometimes you just let people be and you find that everyone stays happier that way. Don't tell me about love. RE: Wow... By mindless1 on 7/7/08, Rating: 0 Government Promotion? By wrekd on 7/4/2008 8:46:33 PM , Rating: 4 Government promotion? The government wants us all on broadband? The government wants to give immunity to Telco’s. Wasting time on the floor of Congress with terrorist protection spy bills. They are wasting our tax dollars to enrich their investments and their lobbying cronies at the expense of our privacy. Government needs to stay the hell out of business and focus on protecting liberty and civil rights. RE: Government Promotion? By ZootyGray on 7/5/2008 2:08:03 PM , Rating: 1 Good comment - and the idiot masses just run along, as they are told to do, with wallets open, competing to be first up on the kill floor. (Huh, was zat mean?) The quality of mercy is abandoned. The sense of community is 'screw you', we are all forced to compete to eat - and "security" enforces it, government sanctions it. New book by Klein exposes this - in great language and with diplomacy - gov pigs feed on disaster, crisis, suffering - the question is asked - HOW is this wealth being redistributed (cos it is NOT going to the people, and the people finance it through taxes - iraq, afghan, new orleans, etc etc - fill your pockets GWHitler. Price of oil is to MAX profits. And suffering businesses are bailed out - if my business suffers, too bad. And the telco monopoly - shooting fish in a barrel. And to speak against it? That's the work of heroes and messiahs and other martyrs. Privatize means make it a profit maker - e.g. water. Dialup? It costs money to run wire to rural areas - so, back to easy money, shoot fish in barrel. You broadband jokesters don't know - you are just the fish in the barrel - hey, the costs are covered - it's all profit now, thx to you all. Broadband should be cheap and cheaper. This study is a spin/bias. The telcos don't want to service rural areas cos there's not enough fi$he$ in the $barrel$. That's why people are still on dialup! You believe people are stupid = you are stupid. But when CONTROL of the internet happens, it's back to dialup - cos that's the foundation of the net. What are you doing to sell us all out to big biz/gov? Yes, you. It can't be done without mass support - 3 (zillion) blind mice. It will take some real change to reverse/undo this. Abandon money-based economy, or similar radical change - it's got to stop. would not want to upgrade from broadband By Segerstein on 7/4/2008 6:33:07 PM , Rating: 2 would not want to upgrade from broadband??? By gaakf on 7/4/2008 11:34:55 PM , Rating: 2 You gotta love the classic Dailytech typos that just completely go against the entire article. It's comical at this point. By Screwballl on 7/4/2008 6:48:06 PM , Rating: 2 I work for an ISP that has dialup, DSL and cable options (contracts through other companies) across North America. The biggest thing we hear why people do NOT want to upgrade is mostly they only use it 2-3 times per week for maybe an hour or so and have no desire for anything faster. There is a decent percentage that hear of all the viruses and hackers and they think that as soon as they get high speed they will lose control of their computer. Even though we try to explain that with a decent anti-virus program the virus issue is minimalized and they are just as likely to pick viruses up on dialup... and as for hackers, they tend to go after commercial targets so home users are not a likely target. Even then people still prefer their dialup. Someone mentioned Hughesnet... would you want to pay $75-100 per month for a 128-256K (actual speed) connection? Some people do but most are happy with their 2-3 times per week checking email and seeing a few websites per week. By TSS on 7/4/2008 7:06:17 PM , Rating: 1 maybe it's because they've become attached to their dialup. i'm sure those who do switch will miss the dial in sound the first week orso, before getting used to the silence. about the same reason why i've got a friend who'd buy AMD's because he wanted maximum performance. which was at the peak of the core 2 duo pwnage, where athlon prices hadn't dropped yet so intel was both cheaper and faster. he just "didn't trust intel". maybe these people just dont trust broadband. it might not be all that bad though. i mean, picture some quiet farmer somewhere in the middle of the nowhere on dialup suddenly getting broadband. and within a week he runs across youtube. might be pretty shocking to him :P Sick of it. By NinjaJedi on 7/4/2008 6:00:53 PM , Rating: 2 Haven't the people that say they can't get broadband in their area seen the same Hughes net commercial that has been playing for over 3 years now? The one with the red headed step child chick. I would think after over 3 years they could afford to make a new commercial. By brentpresley on 7/6/2008 10:09:53 AM , Rating: 2 Did you guys ever consider that a lot of the people that say they never want broadband simply do not want to support the companies currently offering broadband? I am not quite at that extreme, yet, but if there were another ISP in my area you can bet I would drop AT&T in a heartbeat, even if it costs me 50% more and my speed is 1/2 as fast. That's how much some of us hate these companies (and for good reason). Mobile Abilities By mixpix on 7/6/2008 4:17:24 PM , Rating: 2 I'm not too sure how many people would fall into this category, but some users may not want to upgrade their dial-up connection because it can be used pretty much anywhere. Laptops and users that have multiple computers in different locations may benefit from being able to connect from anywhere all under one account. I know that some ISP's offer dial-up hours with their high-speed connection, but not a lot of people know that. By yacoub on 7/6/2008 10:16:20 PM , Rating: 2 Yeah it's "only" going to take care of 79% of them. Proud to be ignorant By PWNettle on 7/7/2008 1:58:07 PM , Rating: 2 I'm pretty sure the USA is the only country where some people are ignorant and proud of it. Related Articles

http://www.dailytech.com/Users+Still+Cling+to+Dialup/article12283.htm

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Satoru Iwata with the Wii U controller  (Source: Comments     Threshold They still don't get it. By zero2dash on 6/30/2011 12:40:48 PM , Rating: 5 A lot of "core gamers" don't like the Wii because it's nothing but Nintendo franchises we've played 20 times before, and a bunch of 3rd party titles that are weaker versions of titles that are better on the competitor's systems. You also have a pathetic online setup that isn't even close to being anything like the PSN (let alone the XBLM but let's shoot low and say PSN). Your system is capped at 480P, Dolby Surround (no 5.1), and uses controllers that are gimmicks upon themselves. Your new console has beefier specs but as soon as the next Xbox and Playstation are unveiled, it will still be in last place and the weakest of the bunch. I grew up with you, Nintendo. SNES is one of the greatest consoles of all time (tied with the Dreamcast as far as I'm concerned as THE greatest). Let's be honest here though....I've played enough games with Mario in them, and Link is approaching that level. Your least used character out of the "popular 3", Samus, hasn't been in a great game IMHO (admittedly, old-school type) since Metroid: Zero Mission. (I don't care for the FPS Metroid's or Other M.) Maybe I've just outgrown you, I don't know. You just don't "do" it for me anymore. Any WiiU money I might have set aside will be diverted to whatever console Microsoft comes out with next. Live is just too good at this point to justify spending money on anything you can come up with, until you prove me wrong. I've been let down in the end by both the Gamecube and the Wii, and you don't seem to be doing anything right to earn my trust back. You are a shell of your 16-bit day former selves. RE: They still don't get it. By cmdrdredd on 6/30/2011 11:03:03 PM , Rating: 1 Plus they announce a game, show a video and 2-3 years later we still have no release date. Likely they will cancel Skyward Sword and claim "we are making it a WiiU exclusive" bullshit! Fuck you Nintendo! and this I don't get... So...the Xbox360 came out before the Wii and was HD. I didn't notice games running slow. The PS3 was released around the time of the Wii and again, HD..still not slow. WTF Nintendo are you that retarded? RE: They still don't get it. RE: They still don't get it. By B3an on 7/2/2011 9:01:46 AM , Rating: 1 You just exactly summed up everything i think about Nintendo and the Wii. Well done. I also agree that the Dreamcast was the best console, ever. Thank you Sony marketing and mindless consumer fools for killing that truly great machine.

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Former GM Jim Bowden: What Ron Washington needs to do in 2013 to maintain job security G.J. McCarthy/Staff Photographer 10 THINGS TO KNOW AS RANGERS OPEN SPRING TRAINING: When Rangers' pitchers and catchers report Tuesday, there will be more questions swirling around the club than there have been in years. The off-season wasn't especially kind to the Rangers, who lost plenty of big names, struck out on plenty others, and are going to lean on some young players to fill the gaps. So as spring training kicks off, here are 10 stories Rangers fans should stay on top of. You can click the links at the bottom of each slide to get more of our spring coverage. 1 of 11 Next Image Former baseball general manager Jim Bowden joined Ben & Skin on KESN-FM 103.3. Here are some highlights. On whether Rangers' manager Ron Washington is on the hot seat: Jim Bowden: There's a lot of pressure on managers to win when their teams are good enough to win. As long as Ron Washington makes the playoffs, his job will be fine. I think that's the key, whether it's the division or the wild-card, he's gotta do that. If the Rangers are on the outside looking in come November, it would not surprise me at all if they decided to make a change. So, yeah, I think there is pressure there. Is there pressure there unrelated to whether or not he plays Profar? Jim Bowden: I don't think there's any question that when you're sitting in that manager's seat  you have to listen to what your president Nolan Ryan and  your GM Jon Daniels wants done. And although it's your job to manage the players  you're given, an organization needs to be on the same page. If you start to have a situation where the manager is not on the same page as Nolan and Jon, that's when you have problems. My understanding in talking to the three of them is that they're on the same page and they work hard to stay on the same page. On Martin Perez: Jim Bowden: He has to go win the job, and then he needs to go prove that he's better than either Holland or Ogando. And if not, guess what, he'll go back to the bullpen or back to Triple-A when Colby Lewis comes back. Ogando's gonna start. He wants to start and they're going to allow him to do that. At No. 5, you've got some competition, and I don't think Martin Perez has won the fifth job. I think they'll still look at Grimm, they'll look at Ross. Whoever wins that job, I think they understand that your first five starts are going to be very important. When players get opportunities, they've gotta make the most of it. Top Picks

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Bookmark Email Print this page How an Actuarial Review of Self Insurance Claims Turned the Ship Around for One Large Cruise Line Seeking savings through safety Last Updated: A large cruise line self-insures for claims brought by crew and passengers. It needed to be sure it was holding adequate reserves to cover those claims, but even more, could it find a way a way to reduce the number and cost of claims altogether? The Challenge When a routine audit revealed the cruise line was not holding sufficient reserves for the volume of claims made, the auditors suggested an actuarial review to determine what amount would be appropriate. Working with Deloitte, the company conducted the review, which included looking at loss trends: Were the number of claims increasing? Was the amount of those claims increasing as well? Along with calculating a reserve amount, the analysis gave the company a benchmark of its claims picture against other industries and against other cruise lines. It also revealed a sobering truth: Claims had become increasingly more frequent each year and, in turn, so had the cost required to cover those claims. While crew claims were comparable to the company’s competitors, passenger claims were much higher. How We Helped The company was eager to reverse these trends and Deloitte helped them as they evaluated several mitigation strategies. Presentations to various corporate functions, such as finance, claims, risk management, and operations, helped them understand the issues and their role in improvement efforts. The company knew its claims process and systems were less effective than they could be, and took steps to learn effective claims practices and acquire a new, more robust claims system. Many claims were found to be safety-related, such as slip-and-fall injuries. The company engaged a safety consulting firm to review its practices and work on improvements. To keep management apprised of progress, an executive dashboard was also created as an online window on loss results and a generator for quarterly and monthly monitoring reports. What began as a somewhat routine actuarial review morphed into a much more helpful examination of overall self-insurance practices that helped the company realize significant benefits. Major accomplishments include: • Improved fiscal management. The company now holds a larger, more appropriate liability for self-insured claims and has increased its retention to retain a greater portion of the risk along with anticipated savings in total claim costs. • Increased visibility leading to better decision making. Management has a better understanding of the drivers of the company’s loss experience, more closely monitors results, and is able to make better, more informed decisions that support continuous improvement. • Improved safety leading to reduced claims frequency. The company’s operations department is fully behind the safety initiatives, including adding more safety features as they build or refurbish ships. Safety efforts have resulted in 30 percent fewer crew claims thus far, and the hope is that over time the company will see similar reductions in passenger claims and realize overall savings in claims costs. Share this page Stay connected

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Lessons from a great salesman Published: Tuesday, Jan. 10 2012 12:00 a.m. MST Verizon Wireless store salesman Antione Haynes looks out the front door of a Verizon store with an Apple iPhone advertisement in foreground in Mountain View, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011. Verizon Wireless said Friday, Feb. 4, its first day of taking online orders for the iPhone produced record sales. Paul Sakuma, Associated Press Enlarge photo» He may be one of the better salesman I have known. A native of Venezuela, he is called Vlad by his friends. I first met him several years ago when attending a free entrepreneurial seminar called Junto. Among all the participants, he was the most outstanding student. Vladimir Canro arrived in the United States several years ago while still a young man. He had spent his youth in the streets of Caracas selling fruits and vegetables to any customer he could find. Over time, he obtained an associate's degree in engineering. He left Venezuela at the peak of President Hugo Chavez’s crackdown on the opposition. Using a green card, he found a construction job in Texas and decided that America was the best country for him. In time, he came to Salt Lake City to attend college with the hope of finishing his education. He landed in Utah on a chilly day in December without a warm coat, money or a place to live. For the first few cold nights, he found slept inside a large metal dumpster full of cardboard. He tells me cardboard is an excellent insulator from frigid temperatures. If ever there was a person who could overcome the barriers in life, it would be Vladimir. His story, like that of so many emigrants, is one of perseverance, hope, faith and an inextinguishable fire in the belly to succeed. Today, he has surmounted every obstacle. He is working on a computer science degree from Weber State University and has a very good job as a salesman for Geiger Rig, and he is married with two young children. What I have told you so far is in itself a terrific story. There is, however, much more to say about this amazing fellow. As part of the Junto class, he and his 20 classmates were told if they were to be successful in business they will need to sell their idea to investors. The instructor, Greg Warnock, an accomplished entrepreneur himself, first gave Vlad and his fellow students study materials on how to raise money for a new business. The students were then asked to apply what they had learned and report on their successes or failures. The students were invited to meet with strangers, not friends or family, over a course of a week and raise $5,000 to fund a business idea. I am sure I don't need to tell you how very daunting this task is. Following their efforts, class members assembled to report their results. The outcome: Not one had been able to raise the money, except Vlad. Over several days, he had gone into high-rise office buildings, from business to business with no appointment, hoping to tell an owner about his idea. Receptionists hesitated. Owners balked. Vladimir waited and waited. Eventually the owners, hoping to dismiss the young foreigner, invited him into their offices for an anticipated very short visit. Once seated, Vlad went to work. Using amazing skills, both learned and natural, he marched along, collecting a whopping, mind-boggling $135,000. “Vlad, how is this possible?" I asked. "Not even the best salesman would have achieved such success. Your barriers are significant. I can hardly understand you when you speak. You have no company; you have no brilliant idea to commercialize. What’s your secret?” With a wide and pleasant smile on his face, he respectfully taught me the five key principles of selling that he uses and that the rest of us should employ as well. The principles are as follows: 1. Never accept no for an answer. Vlad tells me customers say no six times but on the seventh request, they say yes. 2. Listen to customers. Don’t mention what is being sold until the customer explains what’s on his mind. Earn his respect, trust and confidence first. 3. Tailor the solution to meet the customers’ needs. It is critical to make the solution a perfect fit. 4.Never give up. Be persistent and patient. 5. Think outside of the box. Approach a sales opportunity with innovation and creativity. Do the unexpected. Think big. Do you have a favorite sales story? Let’s hear about it. Please contact me at [email protected]. Get The Deseret News Everywhere

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Comments about ‘Letters: A well-regulated Militia’ Return to article » • Oldest first • Newest first • Most recommended Roland Kayser Cottonwood Heights, UT I just have one question, what does the first part of the second amendment mean to the pro-gun absolutists? It seems that they thinks it is just a little literary flourish which means absolutely nothing. Someone please tell me. Bountiful, UT Well regulated means well behaved. A father (for example) who defends his family after a natural disaster from looters or is a militia of one. If he is well behaved, i.e. obeys the law in doing this and acts responsibly in all respects, then he is a well regulated militia of one, (self regulated, but regulated nonetheless. Were he to cooperate with neighbors in doing this, he would be part of a neighborhood militia. Assuming they behave properly, they are a well well regulated militia. lost in DC West Jordan, UT In the context of the second amendment, “well regulated” means trained and competent, not restricted. Try substituting “trained and competent” for “well regulated”, then try substituting “restricted” for "well regulated", and see which one makes more sense when talking about the security of a free state. Twin Lights Louisville, KY Yes, there is the militia part. But there is also the people part - "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." One part talks of militia. The other part talks of people. This is why we are still battling this out. It has two parts which (in today's context of military preparedness) are now disjoint. So (from how I understand the courts) we can "regulate" but not "infringe". Now there is a delicate dance. Murray, UT What a great reminder that communities would be well served by creating and training a community militia to deal with emergencies and to deter tragedies. The DN just had an article on overcoming complacency regarding potential disasters. With a well regulated militia communities would be better prepared for such things, and loony shooters would choose an alternate, easier target. The real solution is an armed citizenry and a local militia everywhere, just like the 2nd amendment says. Eric Samuelsen Provo, UT While we're busy parsing, let me add that 'to bear arms' meant, in the 18th century, to serve in the armed forces of your country. Since America had no standing army back then, militias were the closest thing to formal military service we had. But if you read the literature of the period, there is essentially never an instance where 'to bear arms' means 'to privately own a firearm.' It always means 'to join the army.' Bountiful, UT The Meaning of 'WELL REGULATED' Well regulated .. means well behaved. So that the meaning is more clear, you can substitute the words 'well behaved' each time you see the words 'well regulated'. Its important to keep in mind, in the 2nd Ammendment it isn't militia members that are given the right to keep and bear arms, it is the people. The founders wanted the people to have access to guns so they could act in defense of themselves, their families, their neighbors and their countrymen when the need arises. And it does arise, government militias (police and the military) can't be everywhere on time when they are needed (remember hurricane Katrina)?, This is why our constitution provides for people militias in addition to the government militias it provides for. Far East USA, SC "self regulated, but regulated nonetheless." We don't need posted speed limits. But I know how fast I can safely drive. = self regulated Pitch the DUI laws. I know how much I can drink and still drive safely. = self regulated I know that girl was only 12, but she was very mature for her age. = self regulated. That chemical is OK to dump in the river. No one drinks that water = self regulated. Sorry, but "self regulated" does not necessarily mean "well-behaved" Hayden, ID The SCOTUS says the second amendment means YOU, as an American citizen, may possess firearms! What part of that do you not understand? salt lake city, utah Eric Samulesen is exactly right. I've been reading the biography of Alexander Hamilton and guess what the revolution was staffed with voulnteers who brought their own guns to the fight. The nation provided weaponry as best as possible but if the citizens had not only brought their own guns but in addition had not sacraficed their personal silver and lead to melt into bulletts we'd all be singing God save the queen. What a scary twist of words and thoughts to say that the second amendment provides for neighborhood militias in addition to an army, navy etc. and the national guards. I think the pharse is "a" well regulated militia, not well regulated "militias". Sorry cjb regulated primarily means to bring under the control of law or the constitued authority. Burke, VA Mountanman - Thank you for bringing up SCOTUS. They are the ones tasked by the Founders with interpreting the Constitution. I've posted this a dozen times on this page before but it's so important that I can't help myself. Justice Scalia, certainly a conservative, wrote this in his majority opinion which turned over the District of Columbia's band on owning guns. But he felt it important to add these words: This debate is not about banning guns, but regulating them. Justice Scalia has told us that regulations are acceptable. Bountiful, UT Please give an example where the difference between 'well regulated' and 'well behaved' are sufficiently different that 'well behaved' shouldn't be substituted in for well regulated. Why do you resist this? The founders clearly wanted militias to be well behaved. Twin Lights Louisville, KY Perhaps a bit too much parsing. The full phrase is "to keep and bear arms". Also, I think "bear" means more than just to join a military group but rather to take them up for use. So, it is to be able to keep (own) and bear (use). Far East USA, SC Absolutely correct. "The SCOTUS says the second amendment means YOU, as an American citizen, may possess firearms!" However, do not forget that the SCOTUS has also said that various restrictions are also legal, including, WHO - Court said it is ok to deny convicted felons the right to carry a gun. WHERE - Courts have said that it is legal to restrict where guns can be carried. HOW - Courts have ruled that restrictions on gun sales is allowed among other restrictions. Many people tout the SCOTUS rulings when they agree but want to ignore the rulings that they dislike. When the SCOTUS rules, it becomes law. Those screaming "shall not be infringed" to mean any gun, anywhere are ignoring the LAW set forth by SCOTUS rulings. one vote Salt Lake City, UT Excellent point. The extremism about guns is unreasonable and actually dangerous. Eric Samuelsen Provo, UT Twin Lights, Well, perhaps, but again, always within the context of formal military service. As for private firearm possession, it's worth noting that 18th century US had no domestic firearms manufacturers. If you wanted to own a musket, you had to buy it from a foreign source. Some people did that, others relied on community armories. lost in DC West Jordan, UT Eric and Pragmatist, I thought you knew US history better than to claim "America had no standing army back then, militias were the closest thing to formal military service we had." The Continental Army never existed? What did George Washginton command? It certainly was NOT a band militias. Militias may have provided the initial members, but we certainly DID have and army! Washington won more than a battle when he crossed the Delaware into Trenton, he kept his ARMY together when many of the SOLDIERS (not militiamen) were reaching the end of their ENLISTMENTS. c'mon guys, we rarely agree, but please stop using untruths to further your positions. Plano, TX The entire bill of rights was added to protect the citizens against their new government. Period. Read, in that context, things look a little different to a truly objective reader. I own no guns, but have no problem with anyone who does as long as they don't use them to harm others. Oh, and I have been shot by one so I kind of "get it" in that special way which only experience teaches you... "shall not be infringed" trumps the control side people in my view, but then again I'm not the SCOTUS. I'm also in favor of the death penalty for crimes committed with a firearm - all of them. If you abuse the right to bear arms with deadly force, you should soon experience it yourself. And removing firearms from the mentally unstable is just common sense, like not licensing the blind to drive vehicles. Twin Lights Louisville, KY The British tried to keep the industrial revolution from migrating to the US. I would imagine that (given a less than fully cooperative set of colonials) that extended to firearms manufacturing as well. Why help arm your potentially revolutionary colonies? Note that there were small makers. Just no larger scale manufacturers. Kearns, UT Commas placed as punctuation in a sentance are generally meant to separate ideas. The well regulated militia one idea, the right to keep and bear arms is one idea, shall not be infringed is another idea. Read the Federalist Papers folks. About comments

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Oregano Can Help Reduce Phlegm and Relieve Coughing. Many herbals have centuries of proven therapeutic benefits, oregano is one. More than just a topping for pizza, oregano has a long history of use for relieving coughs and cutting excess phlegm. A long time friend and herbalist suggested that my wife try oregano essential oil in a vaporizer. We didn’t have any oregano essential oil but found that oregano leaf worked just as well. You can make your own vaporizer, all you need is pan of boiling water, a small handful of oregano and a dishtowel. We grow basil, oregano, rosemary and other herbs as house plants and in our solarium for use in cooking and medicinally, and had lots stashed away in our herb cabinet. My wife also commented that after using the vaporizer, her facial skin felt more hydrated, soft and pliable. We live in the desert and it takes a toll on any skin that’s exposed to the elements. Oregano’s medicinal uses include respiratory infections, bronchitis, arthritis, rheumatism, colds, flu, general infections, sinusitis, asthma, emphysema, glaucoma, amenorrhea and hypertension. Oregano is high in antioxidants and has antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-infection properties and can boost the immune response helping to ward of the flu and colds.

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Channels ▼ Web Development Geolocation in Perl brian has been a Perl user since 1994. He is founder of the first Perl Users Group,, and Perl Mongers, the Perl advocacy organization. He has been teaching Perl through Stonehenge Consulting for the past five years, and has been a featured speaker at The Perl Conference, Perl University, YAPC, COMDEX, and Contact brian at Many web server log analyzers now support "geolocation," meaning that they can turn a host name or IP address into a point on the globe. With geolocation, instead of looking at a bunch of numbers, I can look at maps. Using the Geo::IP module and the databases from MaxMind (http://www, both of which are freely available, I can add this feature to my programs, too. Turning IP addresses into locations is not perfect, but as long as I understand how IP numbers are assigned and split up, I can put my geolocation results into perspective. I need to know a little about how IP numbers are assigned, so I can interpret the results and judge the accuracy. Starting from the top, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, better known as ICANN (http://www, is responsible for IP address allocation. It gives out large chunks for addresses to Regional Internet Registries (RIR) that cover certain parts of the globe. So far, these are the American Registry of Internet Addresses (ARIN), the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), and RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPENIC). Another registry, African Network Information Center (AfriNIC), is on the way, too. Each of the RIRs hand out chunks of their own IP space to major organizations, which then do the same to smaller organizations, and so on until one of those IP numbers gets to my cable modem in my apartment. Knowing that, to figure out where any IP address is on the globe means I just have to track it through that process until I get the resolution I want. I may want to stop at the country level, or I might want to go even further. For this article, I'm going to stop at the country level. There is a problem, though: Organizations don't have to respect these lines that we've overlaid on the globe. For example, America Online (AOL) has a very large IP allocation, but it's a multinational company. It can use its allocation as it likes. Indeed, that's one of the major differences in the free and paid versions of the MaxMind GeoIP database: The paid version can figure out which AOL addresses are not in the United States. In the free version of the database, all AOL addresses show up as the United States. Now that I know why my results won't be perfect, I can move on to the task. Before I install the Geo::IP module, I need to get a database for it. The free version of the MaxMind database identifies the country of the IP address with 93 percent accuracy. Various levels of the paid version can get me to 98 percent country accuracy for $50, or for $370, down to the city with longitude and latitude. Considering how much work I would have to do to compile all this myself, and how much the local burger joint pays me to make fries, I think these prices are a bargain. I'm going to stick with the free version of the database for this article, though. I get the free database from the MaxMind developer section ( Once I gunzip the archive, I end up with a single file, GeoIP.dat, which I move to its default location, /usr/local/share/GeoIP/GeoIP.dat. Once I have the database in place, I can install the Geo::IP module either by installing it with or downloading it and installing it by hand. It's at I give it a whirl with a simple script using my own IP address (at least, the one I have today): % perl -MGeo::IP -le \ 'print Geo::IP->new->country_name_by_addr( "" )' United States Now I want to apply this to a bunch of IP addresses, and web-server access logs are a great source of those. I'm going to use a web access log in the Apache format, although that doesn't really matter—I just need the IP address. Each line shows the start of a line from one of my logs. It starts with an IP number, followed by some whitespace, then some other fields that I don't need for this task. In the real world, I'll probably have something else that completely parses the log. while( <> ) my( $ip ) = split; # just the first field $Seen{ $ip }++; foreach my $ip ( sort keys %Seen ) printf "%6d %s\n", $Seen{ $ip }, $ip; I get as output a long list of IP numbers and the count of how many times my web server responded to a request from that address. Those aren't the numbers of unique visitors or any other massaged number, they are just the number of requests my web server had to respond to from that IP address: That's not all that interesting, though. I don't really care about IP numbers, and I want to see which countries people are in. I'll never be able to really figure out which country the pair of eyes is in because nothing stops me from logging into a computer halfway around the world and browsing the Web from there. Knowing that, I'm willing to accept the results. use Geo::IP; my $gip = Geo::IP->new(); while( <> ) my( $ip ) = split; my $country = $gip->country_name_by_addr( $ip ); $Countries{ $country }++; foreach my $ip ( sort keys %Countries ) printf "%6d %s\n", $Countries{ $ip }, $ip; I get a columnar listing of the number of times an IP address from a country hit my web server: 346 Belgium 51 Canada 22 China 446 France 302 Germany 21 Taiwan 157 Thailand 1233 United States That's still not good enough for me. Why should I settle for text when I can see a picture? Douwe Osinga provides a little service that can make a map that colors each country that I've visited ( I can just as easily turn that into a colored map of each country that has visited me. He uses a long URL with a query string that has a two-digit country code. The Geo::IP module can handle this, too. I need the country code instead of the country name, so I use the Geo::IP's country_code_by_addr() method instead of country_name_by_addr(). Once I have all the country codes, I don't print them in a report—I join them without any characters in between them and use that as the URL query string. Because I want to redirect to a web page, I have the script output a CGI header that redirects to the external URL: use Geo::IP; while( <> ) my( $ip ) = split; my $country = $gip->country_code_by_addr( $ip ); $Countries{ $country }++; my $query_string = join "", keys %Countries; my $url = visitedcountries/colormap" . "?visited=" . $query_string; print "Status: 302 Moved Temporarily\nLocation: $url\n\n"; The URL returns a GIF image that is a map of the world with the visiting countries colored red (see Figure 1). I started with IP addresses and ended up with a map of the world, using only a freely available Perl module, a free geolocation database, and a free mapping service. I could get much more fancy than this, too. With finer-resolution databases, I can get down to the city level and combine that with longitude and latitude data to make dots on a map. I don't have to stick to web access logs either: I could use geolocation to identify users as they come into my web site, or any other service I might provide. However I decide to use it, Geo::IP makes it easy. Related Reading More Insights Currently we allow the following HTML tags in comments: Single tags <br> Defines a single line break <hr> Defines a horizontal line Matching tags <a> Defines an anchor <b> Defines bold text <big> Defines big text <blockquote> Defines a long quotation <caption> Defines a table caption <cite> Defines a citation <code> Defines computer code text <em> Defines emphasized text <fieldset> Defines a border around elements in a form <h1> This is heading 1 <h2> This is heading 2 <h3> This is heading 3 <h4> This is heading 4 <h5> This is heading 5 <h6> This is heading 6 <i> Defines italic text <p> Defines a paragraph <pre> Defines preformatted text <q> Defines a short quotation <samp> Defines sample computer code text <small> Defines small text <span> Defines a section in a document <s> Defines strikethrough text <strike> Defines strikethrough text <strong> Defines strong text <sub> Defines subscripted text <sup> Defines superscripted text <u> Defines underlined text Dr. Dobb's TV

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Online Test Banks Score higher See Online Test Banks Learning anything is easy Browse Online Courses Mobile Apps Learning on the go Explore Mobile Apps Dummies Store Shop for books and more Start Shopping Computer Specs for Medical Transcription Work Medical transcription work requires a lot of brain power but not a lot of computing power. There’s no real need for a high-end CPU, super video card, or gobs of storage (unless you want them for another purpose), and money you save there can be put toward a better (or additional) monitor or cushy chair. The specifications suggested here are guidelines provided to help you get the performance you need without paying for things you don’t. Before going computer shopping, arm yourself with a little terminology so salespeople can’t overwhelm you with geek-speak. Here are the terms you need to know: • CPU: The central processing unit (processor) is an electronic chip that serves as the brain of the computer. • RAM: Random access memory is the computer equivalent to human working memory, where things are briefly stored and constantly swapped in and out. • Motherboard: A flat circuit board (usually weird green) inside the computer that everything else plugs into, including the CPU and RAM. It’s like the interstate highway system for your computer. Motherboards contain slots for plugging in smaller circuit boards, such as a graphics card. • Card: A small circuit board you can plug into the motherboard to add an additional feature, such as enhanced sound or graphics. • Port: An opening where you plug something in, like a monitor, keyboard, network cable, or transcription foot pedal. There are different kinds of ports for plugging in different devices. • Hard drive: The primary storage device where all your files and data that need to be kept longer than a few seconds are stored. • Bluetooth: A wireless technology for exchanging data over very short distances, such as between a keyboard and a computer. It can also be used to sync information between devices, such as between a cellphone and a computer. It’s not the only short-range wireless technology, but it’s increasingly common. There’s plenty more jargon where this came from, but don’t sweat the extra alphabet soup. Defining it all would require an entire, very dull dictionary, and most of it just isn’t that important to the average computer user. If you run across a stumper term you’re concerned about, Google and your nearest computer salesperson stand ready to define it for you. Desktops and laptops come with basic sound and graphics capabilities built in. If you want higher-level performance, you can add on a specialized graphics or sound card. Technical specifications for a desktop and laptop computers are listed in the table. Microsoft Windows is the operating system of choice for medical transcription. As of Windows 7, it’s available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The “bit” thing has to do with how it handles data, not how many pieces it comes in. A computer running 32-bit Windows will work fine, but if you’re buying new, go with 64-bit, or you may end up upgrading later. Computer Specifications for Medical Transcriptionists Component Desktop Specifications Laptop Specifications CPU Don’t worry about this. The CPU in any new desktop will be sufficient. Don’t worry about this. The CPU in any new laptop will be sufficient. RAM At least 4GB. At least 4GB. Hard drive At least 250GB. At least 250GB, with 7200 rpm. Graphics The built-in graphics capabilities of any budget system will suffice, but consider adding a graphics card for better performance and so you can connect multiple monitors. The built-in graphics capabilities of any budget laptop will suffice. Sound Nothing special required. Nothing special required. Networking Built-in Ethernet networking (looks like an oversized telephone wall jack). Add a wireless networking card if you’ll be using wireless Internet connection. Built-in Ethernet and Wi-Fi networking. 802-11n. Bluetooth Less common on desktops than laptops but worth considering if it adds only minimally to the overall cost. If you want to connect wireless external devices, like a keyboard or mouse, a USB port can be used instead. If you want to wirelessly sync data to a tablet or cellphone, then Bluetooth is a good option to get. You can also easily add Bluetooth later with a USB adapter. Not a must-have, but Bluetooth capability will enable you to connect external devices like a keyboard and mouse without using a USB port to do it (as long as the devices also support Bluetooth). Comes built-in to many laptops. Display Nothing special required. 15-inch to 17-inch display with matte finish. Avoid wide-screen displays Other features As many USB ports as possible (minimum of four), with at least two of them on the front of the computer for easy access. DVD drive with read/write capability. As many USB ports as possible; many laptops come with two, but more is better. DVD drive with read/write capability. Ports for plugging in an external keyboard, monitor, and mouse. When comparing computers, pay special attention to: • RAM: The amount of RAM you have matters, because swapping things in and out of RAM is much faster than reading and writing to a hard drive, which is what happens when RAM is full. Since MTs often have multiple applications running simultaneously, RAM should be high on your priority list. Of note, 32-bit versions of Windows can’t take advantage of more than 4GB, but 64-bit versions can. • USB ports: USB stands for universal serial bus, a type of connection used to connect external devices to a computer. You can’t have too many USB ports — they’re currently the top connection type for plugging in new stuff. Things that typically plug into a USB port include keyboards, mice/trackballs, printers, external hard drives, and most transcription foot pedals. • Graphics: Whatever graphics processor comes built into your computer will do, but if you add a graphics card, you’ll get much better performance for activities like watching videos. Most important, pay attention to the number of graphics ports you can connect a monitor to. A desktop computer should have at least two of them. You may not use both right off the bat, but if you stick with MT work, you’re likely to want to hook up a second monitor. You may be wondering about sound capabilities; after all, you’re going to be listening to a lot of dictation audio on this computer. From the computer specs perspective, the integrated sound provided on typical motherboard should do the job fine. Some medical transcriptionists opt to install a dedicated sound card and are thrilled with the results. Usually, though, unintelligible dictation is a result of something other than the quality of your sound system. blog comments powered by Disqus Inside Sweepstakes Win an iPad Mini. Enter to win now!

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/computer-specs-for-medical-transcription-work.navId-815761.html

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You can now hand write Google searches instead of typing them With typing and voice search already under its belt, Google's aiming its search sights on another target: handwriting. With a simple setting activation, you can now hand write your searches on your iOS or Android smartphones and tablets, and like magic, it'll scour the Web based on your scribbles. Called Handwrite, Google's new way to search is really just a novelty. Google's blog says that being able to write your own searches out anywhere on the screen is great because a keyboard doesn't cover up half the screen, there's "no need for hunt-and-peck typing" and that when you're in undesirable situations (like a bumpy taxi ride), Handwrite would come in handy (no pun intended). But does it work? It depends on your device. I tested it out on my iPhone 4 in Safari and Chrome and my penmanship rendered much smoother and faster than on a Galaxy S III in Chrome and the stock internet browser. My favorite feature is that Handwrite can recognize cursive. Now, that's nice! I'm just a cursive kind of guy. Still, Handwrite doesn't feel like a feature that I'd reach for over typing or voice search. It's definitely not for everyone. At most, it's a gimmick because you still need to press a button for spaces and deleting. To try it for yourself, goto and then click "Settings" at the bottom of the page. Then enable "Handwrite," click "Save" at the bottom of the page and you're done. To start searching with your hand writing, click the little cursive "g" at the bottom right corner of the homepage and start scribbling away. Oh, and make sure your smartphone is running either iOS 5 or Android 2.3 Gingerbread or newer and your tablet has iOS 5 or Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or Handwrite won't work. Cheers! Google, via YouTube For the latest tech stories, follow DVICE on Twitter at @dvice or find us on Facebook

http://www.dvice.com/archives/2012/07/you-can-now-han.php

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JAPAN is "open for business" and "recovering at surprising speed," from the earthquake that devastated the country on March 11, Takeaki Matsumoto, the country's foreign minister, wrote in Saturday's International Herald Tribune: If you imagine that the whole of Japan is covered by debris, that is completely wrong. Most of Japan remains unharmed by the disaster, and the streets have leapt back to life. The major highway that runs through the most affected Tohoku region was reopened only two weeks after the earthquake. The Shinkansen, the bullet train that connects Tokyo and Tohoku region, became fully operational again on April 29. This should only be surprising if you've fallen behind on your Economist.com blog reading. Five days after the quake, my colleague W.W. over at Democracy in America surveyed the academic research on economic recoveries in the wake of disasters. Here's what he found: There's a big "but": There is a lot more on all this—including the obligatory discussion of the broken windows fallacy—in W.W.'s post and over at the Econbrowser blog. How can you best help Japan recover from the massive damage and devastation caused by the quake? Mr Matsumoto's advice may make you uncomfortable, but it's also correct: you can buy Japanese products and spend your tourism dollars visiting the country. What you shouldn't do is give money to charities that are raising money off the disaster. The New York Times' Stephanie Strom explained why last month: [W]ealthy Japan is not impoverished Haiti. And many groups are raising money without really knowing how it will be spent — or even if it will be needed. The Japanese Red Cross, for example, has said repeatedly since the day after the earthquake that it does not want or need outside assistance. But that has not stopped the American Red Cross from raising [tens of millions of dollars] in the name of Japan's disaster victims. This isn't to say that you shouldn't give money to charity at all—you should just make sure that the money you do give isn't earmarked for a specific disaster. As Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says, aid to a country should not depend on whether it's in the media spotlight. If you think a charity's work is important, you should be willing to let them use your donation wherever it can do the most good. Reuters' Felix Salmon has more on this. Any commenters spend any time in Japan post-quake? Leave us your impressions of the rebuilding in the comments.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/05/japans_recovery

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Inflation in India Who cares about the price of onions? The fight against inflation has left India’s central bank in a lonely place See article Readers' comments please visit myrajivgandhi.in and take part in an online discussion.We are remembering Rajiv Gandhi and his vision of modern India. Indian people lost faith in governments inflation data. They add or remove items to their whims and fancies from the index. Easier and straight forward inflation data to see is price of onions. This is just poor mans understanding of economics. This has been proved right many times in the past, i do not see anything in this to laugh at. The RBI, I believe, is correct in its stand to keep interest rates intact. Because if the government is so concerned about growth, then it better speed up policy reforms. That can, guaranteed, add a percentage point to the GDP over a period of a year. Can lower interest rates gurantee such improvement? Occams Chainsaw It seems to me that this newspaper is not held to rigorous enough editing standards. I find that too many mistakes occur. The columns I write for a newspaper are held to a standard that involves fact-checking most of the time. The Economist is a highly-regarded newspaper and it is my opinion that it should aim to reduce the mistakes. India's elections are largely decided by inflation. The elections in 2005 where congress had won was because the government was more interested in growth and didn't pay attention to controlling inflation and shielding the poor. Things haven't changed much since then. There were global oil price factors which have compounded inflation India's defunct leadership,alarmed at the risk of losing socialist votes to industrial growth has paralyzed the former. This has made the situation quite drab. It would be great if the author could name these studies or research that support this theory of preferences for higher growth rather than low inflation. Shaleen Agrawal I completely support the Reserve Bank of India in what it has been doing on the interest rates. First up, the wholesale price index -- WPI -- is an absolutely archaic, irrelevant and flawed method of computing inflation. The real measure must be the newly introduced CPI, which is close to 10%. Any keen observer of the dynamics of Indian economy will know that at present, the slowdown in growth/ investment/ capital formation has very little to do with interest rates, and is rather a result of policy uncertainties and poor executive arm of the government. Moreover, The Economist is right about hidden inflation on account of subsidised prices of fuel, electricity, food and a completely twisted fertiliser subsidy mechanism. It's because of these subsidies that the government overshot its fiscal deficit limit by a whopping 1.3 percentage points in the last financial year. One of the factors responsible for keeping private investment out is the massive government borrowing at highly attractive yields, and not the interest rates. RBI chief Subbarao is absolutely right in saying that monetary loosening will only stoke inflation without supporting growth. And moreover, the powers that be at the North Block (Ministry of Finance) are aware of this, and that's why they only PRETEND to exert pressure on the RBI for cutting rates. Hats off to Subbarao and Subir Gokarn for not falling prey to the perceived abatement in inflation and Kaushik Basu's candy-floss clad idiosyncrasies, and sticking their ground to do what is right for the economy. This is what India did in 60+ years of Independence...!!! RBI is very much concerned but the Govt is not. Coz its busy in scams and scandals..!! A recent news in paper quoted that quintals of wheat was wasted in Gujrat due to mismanagement. In India, the only concerned authority is RBI. Government is least bothered about it because they know in spite of all their efforts, they ll lose the ground in 2014 elections. So they better full their pockets. Its horrible when someone is that poor than cant meaningfully follow prices of stuff a human can actually digest.Like red meat or cheese.Instead they are forced to stuck themselves with food imitations like onions and potato. RBI is one of the most credible (and least appreciated) central banks in the world - particularly after observation of other prominent central banks. On another note, I congratulate the Economist on its general coverage of the Indian economy - I've often learned more about it from the Economist than from Indian sources. Thanks. The Mule Strange article. Low growth rates have no real bearing on the public. Rising vegetable prices, on the other hand, infuriates them. To suggest otherwise, you've revealed your hand about wanting lower rates at any cost; even being insincere about the importance of inflation in India. In India, the high prices of onions is widely believed to have led to the fall of a provincial (state) government in a not so distant past. (Rising) prices of onions are a de-facto measure of inflation, giving government published figures a run for its money. vkrishnan in reply to rajapurv In addition to what 'rajapurv' has written, it is important to understand that not all goods included in CPI calculations are used equally in India; most people are affected by the prices of wheat, rice, lentils, edible oils, onions and sugar; also these prices capture short term shocks much better than poorly compiled Government figures. Latest blog posts - All times are GMT The crisis in Venezuela: Another day, more bodies Americas view 2 hrs 54 mins ago A tribute to Robert Ashley: A perfect life Prospero 2 hrs 37 mins ago Commodities and the economy: Copper bottomed Buttonwood's notebook 3 hrs 53 mins ago Germany's Hoeness trial: Uli goes to jail Charlemagne March 13th, 14:18 El Salvador's election: An extraordinary result Americas view March 13th, 14:13 Products & events

http://www.economist.com/comment/1598662

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IF YOU thought George Bush's tax promises would be as empty as his father's, expect to be disappointed. During the election campaign, most economists derided his proposed package of tax cuts as fiscally reckless, and hoped it would soon be forgotten in office. Now, as America's economy has teetered from boom to possible recession, even congressional Democrats seem likely to vote for some sort of reduction. Some conspiracy theorists are claiming that Mr Bush would like a recession now, so that it can be long gone by the next election (hence his alarmist comments about the economy going into a “tail-spin”). A more cogent debate surrounds the idea that a recession makes tax cuts less reckless. Even if that is true, most economists argue that fine-tuning the economy is best done, if at all, by changing interest rates. The planned tax cut will come into effect only in 2002 (and be phased in over ten years). The real test of Mr Bush's plan will be its long-term effect on America's public finances. The president looks likely to present his plan to Congress as a single all-encompassing bill, despite advice from Dennis Hastert, the House speaker, that progress might be easier with a series of smaller tax cuts. The figure will be enormous. Mr Bush has talked about a tax cut of $1.3 trillion, but that ignores the government's higher interest payments caused by paying off fewer of its debts. The true cost is at least $1.6 trillion, maybe even $2 trillion. Moreover, fears are growing that the fiscal surplus available for Mr Bush to give away (officially some $2.5 trillion over the next ten years) may be smaller. The economic slowdown and the fall in share prices on the Nasdaq, with its consequences for capital-gains-tax revenues, have to be taken into account. And there is a debate about the taxpayer's potential bills for Social Security and Medicare. The White House this week dropped its forecast to a $1.6 trillion surplus. These things may come back to haunt Mr Bush and his successors; but, in practical political terms, they matter little. If even the Democrats are now behind an economy-fortifying tax cut, then there will be one. It will be the third big give-away since the second world war, after those of the Kennedy-Johnson and Reagan administrations. The only question is, what form should it take? The plan Mr Bush campaigned on had several parts. It would reduce the number of marginal rates of income tax from today's five (39.6%, 36%, 31%, 28% and 15%) to four (33%, 25%, 15% and 10%). Child credit would be doubled to $1,000 a child, and the upper limit for tax-relieved contributions to educational savings accounts would soar from $500 to $5,000. Estate taxes would be phased out, and married couples in which both work would get a new 10% deduction. The abolition of the “marriage penalty” should sail through. Getting rid of inheritance tax will draw more Democratic fire (since it especially helps the rich), but the Democrats' main target will be the income-tax cuts. The Democrats say this tax cut will also go largely to the rich. This is true, but only because the poorer half of the taxpaying population stumps up less than 3% of the total income-tax take. Although richer taxpayers would benefit most from Mr Bush's plan, it would nonetheless increase the share of total income tax they pay. Lobbyists, as well as politicians from both parties, will be seeking exceptions and enhancements. The Democrats may try to add big tax-breaks for health insurance. Mark Bloomfield of the American Council for Capital Formation expects the Bush tax cut to combine income-tax rate cuts with measures to boost capital creation. Trent Lott, the Republican leader in the Senate, wants to reduce the rate of capital-gains tax from 20% to 15%, claiming that a cut from 28% to 20% in 1997 increased economic growth. But a big gap between the top rate of income tax and capital-gains tax opens a door to tax avoidance (as people convert income to capital gains). Mr Bush may opt instead for other attempts to help capital formation, such as making permanent the current tax credit for research and development. Saving may be encouraged with bigger tax breaks for retirement schemes. Alas, nobody expects Mr Bush to propose what the system probably needs most: radical simplification. After endless piecemeal offering of tax breaks to favoured groups, America's tax code “is now as messy and incoherent as it has ever been,” says Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute. He helped John McCain craft a simpler, less costly plan. But then Mr McCain did not make it past the primaries. America voted for a tax cut, not tax reform.

http://www.economist.com/node/478605

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Contactless Thermometer Are you running an infrared temperature? Published in issue 2/2011 on page 48 This thermometer measures at the same time both the ambient temperature and the temperature of any object placed within its ‘field of view’. And even though the ambient temperature range ‘only’ goes from −40 to +125 °C, the object temperature can be from −70 to +380 °C, and all with an accuracy of 0.5 °C and a measurement resolution of 0.02 °C. Resistors (0.25W 5%) R1,R4,R6 = 10kOhm R2, R5 = 100Ohm R3 = 1.5kOhm P1 = 10 kOhm trimpot, horizontal C1,C3 = 100µF 16V, radial, lead pitch 2.5mm C2 = 470nF 63V, MKT, lead pitch 5 or 7.5mm C4 = 10µF 25V, radial, lead pitch 2.5mm C6 = 100nF ceramic, lead pitch 5 or 7.5mm C7 = 10nF ceramic, lead pitch 5 or 7.5mm L1 = 10µH, Panasonic type ELC08D100E (RS Components) IC1 = LT1300 D1 = 1N5817 (must-have Schottky) D2 = 3.3V 0.4W zener diode X1 = 20MHz quartz crystal, HC18/U case S2 = swich, changeover, or wire link Pinheder pins, lead pitch 0.1’’ (2.54mm) Pinheder sockets, lead pitch 0.1’’ (2.54mm) PCB, Elektor # 100707-1

http://www.elektor-magazine.com/en/magazine-contents/article.html?tx_elektorarticle_list%5barticle%5d=19541&tx_elektorarticle_list%5baction%5d=show

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Friends Lyrics Friends are never earned they're a gift from the loving God And they're precious beyond human evaluation But you dare not take them for granted or they'll lift away like a smoke And the warmth of their caring will vanish into the chill of the endless nights Unless they live and die in a small town Somewhere where nothing much ever happens But a few of my friends are big people They'd made the word ring with laughter down to this string of court They're famous sensitive talented and their names are household words And yet they're no more precious in God's eyes or in mine Than those wonderful nobodys who live and die in small towns Who is your friend he's someone who warms you with a nod Or with an unspoken word in hard times when you're hurting beyond words Who is your friend he's someone who holds you to her breast And sighs softly into your hair when no other medicine could possibly stop the pain A friend is someone who clings his glass against yours Or answers the phone at three in the morning when you're lost And with a few words of encouragement and concern Makes you realize that you're not really lost at all Friends come in both sexes in all shapes and sizes The most imprtant thing they have in common is their ability To share with you your most sky splitting joys Or your deepest most spelling ol' some sorrows for they're all your friends Songwriter(s): Dick Bowman, Glen Campbell Copyright: Glen Campbell Music Inc. Official lyrics powered by Rate this song (current rating: not rated yet) Meaning to Friends no entries yet (*) required (*) required Characters count : (*) min. 200 characters required

http://www.elyrics.net/read/g/glen-campbell-lyrics/friends-lyrics.html

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If a 7-inch photo frame is perfect for grandma, think of Framed as an art display for the rest of us. (Assuming the rest of us have sky-high art budgets.) This 40-inch giant is based on a Samsung LED HDTV and powered by a Core i5 processor and Windows 7. Built-in 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi connects the digital canvas to a dedicated iOS app, which you'll use to purchase static and motion art and even manipulate content for display, using a virtual touchpad. Built-in speakers aren't a surprise, considering it's essentially a modified consumer HDTV, but there's also a camera and microphone -- for making your own art? No word on pricing or availability, but judging by the sample spaces used in the demo video (after the break), we're guessing that we don't fit within the designer's target demographic. Framed 40-inch digiframe for galleries, cafes, the insanely rich (video)

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/09/framed-40-inch-digiframe-for-galleries-cafes-the-insanely-rich/

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Question about I have an LG Revolution for review WHat do you want to know while I have it? top answers community pick How offensive / different from stock is the ROM? How much customization has LG put on? I'm familiar with HTC's Sense, and Samsung's TouchWiz... mark as good answer 2 people like this answer sort by 1 more answer How is the camera quality? I've never been happy with the camera on the DROID X, HTC seems to be pretty solid, but I've never seen anything from LG. mark as good answer 1 person likes this answer Products mentioned 3 users following this question: • cass • liveforfunnow • radikal This question has been viewed 1172 times. Last activity .

http://www.engadget.com/question/i-have-an-lg-revolution-for-review-ds2/

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I just saw it yesterday in Boston and I'm hoping to get teh CD. Is it worth it? I loved teh play, it was hilarious. A guy in our row was the last speller from the audience to be eliminated, and the cast came down to our row and sang the "Goodbye" song to him. William Barfee was lying on the back of my chair, and the rest of teh cast was singing practically in my face! It was quite a memorable experience. So is the CD worth it?

http://www.fansofrealitytv.com/forums/music/60130-25th-annual-putnam-county-spelling-bee.html

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Take a Bite Out of Milling Costs Vibration, excessive heat and silicon dust can bring a $300,000+ milling machine to a grinding halt. With downtime averaging several thousand dollars a day, diligent preventive maintenance and training are wise investments. The cutter head is subject to the most wear. "Depending upon cutting conditions and the type of machine, tools can last [from] just a few hours up to several days," says Thomas Chudowski, product business manager, global road construction, Kennametal. "Normally, increased wear is due to aggressive operation without making adjustments to conform to the jobsite and material conditions," adds Philip Taraschi, product specialist, BOMAG Americas Inc. Watch your speed/depth Operating speed drives much of the wear. "The speed of operation is critical in calculating wear to the cutter bits, holders and drum of the machine, [as well as] the life you get out of track pads and conveyor belts," says Dennis Munks, The Sollami Company. "Running at maximum speeds reduces the life of every component mentioned and increases vibration, which leads to other costly repairs. Running the machine at excessive speeds is usually the main cause for uneven tool wear." Heat generation due to excessive speed deteriorates carbide tips. "When you lose the protective carbide, the tooth becomes dull and blunt," says Jeff Wiley, Wirtgen. "That creates vibration and slows the machine down as much as 40%." In addition, material needs a chance to evacuate. "Massive wear on tools can be caused by not getting cut material out of the housing quickly enough as a result of the machine's cutting depth and/or advance speed," says Chudowski. Material gets re-circulated, causing wear on all components (tools, holder system and even the housing). "Also, water cannot get to the tool, negatively affecting rotation, as well as tool wear." Inspect often The cutter head requires constant attention. "Start by checking hourly and adjust the interval based on the wear you are observing," suggests Eric Baker, marketing manager, Roadtec. "Usually, there is a gap in trucks when this can be done." Visually inspect the cutter teeth and spot-change any that need to be replaced. "Deep cuts in hard asphalt require more frequent inspections, while shallow cuts in soft or deteriorated asphalt will require less," Baker notes. Taraschi also advocates frequent inspections, along with keeping water systems in good operating condition. "Inspections and water are inexpensive and essential tools, whereas labor and downtime are costly," he points out. If abrasive material wears into the holders, the expense and labor costs increase. Why tools fail According to Chudowski, typical tool failures and their causes include: • Carbide breakage - This can occur when tools are mechanically overloaded (hitting hard objects such as drainage covers or steel reinforcements), or due to thermal overload (excessive heat resulting from insufficient water supplied to the tool). • Lack of rotation - This can be caused by too much dirt in the holder bore (possibly due to a lack of water supply to the tool) or a worn tool holder. • Body wear/steel wash - This can be caused by high machine speed in soft (often abrasive) conditions. Reducing machine speed or using a different tool design could help solve the issue. Poor tool rotation quickly destroys teeth. "When the tooth stops rotating, it creates a flat side," says Wiley. "When it flat sides, it gets hot and fails." The type of material being milled can impact tool rotation."Material with high asphalt cement (AC) content can cause tools to stop rotating," says Taraschi. "In some cases, it can be corrected by adding low caustic to the water system. "If tools in a certain position continue to prematurely wear, check impact and skew angle positions," he advises. "If tools become mismatched to the point that the newer tools are wearing faster, clean up the drum with all new tools." Tool holder condition can also play a big part. "For example, if the face of the holder is worn down, this will mismatch tool impact position," Taraschi indicates, "or holder internal dimensions are worn to the point that it will still hold the tool, but will allow the tool to drastically move out of the intended impact angle." Faulty water spray systems are another leading cause of uneven tool wear. "The spray pattern must be a fan spray in order to get good coverage," says Wiley. "This system is filtered and you have to keep that system clean." "Water system faults generally relate to poor system maintenance and/or milling in place without discharging material," says Taraschi. "This allows material to force into spray tips." Causes of vibration Vibration needs to be addressed as it arises. The three levels of vibration include low, medium and high cycle. "High-cycle vibes are normally a pending fault in the engine to drum drive system," says Taraschi. "Medium-cycle vibes are normally a pending fault in the mill drum reduction drive system." Low cycle are the most common form of drum vibration, he continues. They can result from the ZERO mount bearing (opposite drum drive side) beginning to fail, causing the mill drum to run out of cycle; material buildup inside the left and right drum shell areas from lack of wash-down maintenance, knocking the drum off balance; or missing tool holders or material flight blocks. Drum vibration can also indicate worn/blunt tools, says Chudowski. If the vibration does not disappear after changing tools, the reason could be related to the drum being balanced incorrectly (or a lost counterweight); improper lacing design; incorrect drum installation; or a machine bearing that needs replacement. Keep an eye on the product The pattern behind the milling machine can be a good indicator of when to check the cutter head. "If the surface looks rough, stop the machine and inspect cutter tools and holders," says Munks. Also check bits at least twice daily during operation. "There are visual checks you should perform every minute of the day," says Wiley. "For example, ground [personnel] have a job of visually inspecting moving parts - tracks, conveyors and, most important, cutter pattern." The cutter pattern warns of potential issues. "For example, a white streak left behind the machine in the pattern could indicate worn out teeth, or holders that desperately need to be replaced," says Wiley. "Also, highs and lows on teeth and holders can lead to a poor cutter pattern no matter what speed you run the machine. 'Spotting' teeth can create grooves in the pattern that you can't control. Evenness and consistency are important to managing a good, consistent cutter drum and pattern." Obviously, you can't control all variables that impact tool life. "The life expectancy of cutter tools varies so much depending upon the material being cut," Munks states. "Size of aggregate and compaction of material plays a big part in tool life." But there are steps you can take to get as much life from tools as possible. "Once the cutter tool becomes blunt, change it before the carbide tip is totally worn down," Munks recommends. "Once the carbide wears away, extensive damage to holders and blocks can happen very quickly and cause major downtime and repairs. Real blunt carbide tips on cutter tools are also a major cause of vibration. Maintain sharp cutter tools throughout the entire drum, and reduce the amount of times you spot new cutter tools on the drum alongside worn cutter tools." "The idea of every cutting drum system is that the tooth takes the majority of the wear and is the easiest component to replace," says Baker. "If the tooth is no longer there or not taking the wear, then other parts of the system take the wear. The tooth holder on most systems can cost anywhere from four to 10 times as much as the tooth, so you would much rather replace a tooth too soon than replace a holder." Replacing tools as needed will also minimize any "domino" effect. "Usually, when one tooth fails, the tooth closest to that one in the pattern fails next and so on," says Wiley. "They all work together." The size of the carbide on the tip of the tool can impact horsepower and production of the milling machine, as well, Munks points out. "Smaller horsepower machines generally need a sharper, smaller carbide tip on the cutter tool for better penetration, and it will reduce vibration," he explains. "Good penetration of the material being milled is a key factor in getting the most production out of any machine." Use the right tools "Cutting teeth are the No. 1 operating cost for a milling machine, so any improvements in consumption can be the difference between success and failure," says Baker. "Part of the equation is to match the two main components of the tooth - carbide and steel - to the application." Premature failure is normally due to using the incorrect tool type, horsepower per tool impact rating and/or carbide and base structure for the material conditions, says Taraschi. "The life of a tool depends on having the correct tool matching unit horsepower to material conditions," he emphasizes. "Today, a milling contractor might have as many as five different tooth models in his inventory to address every application in his portfolio," adds Wiley. Taking the time to speak with tool manufacturers to ensure a good match (unit horsepower to regional material) will result in better production and longer tool life. "If you opt to install inadequate tools per unit horsepower to material, the results will be more costly due to frequent tool replacement and longer unit downtime," says Taraschi. A tool that's too small for the application or machine won't last long. "A tool too big for a low-horsepower machine slows down the machine," says Chudowski. "The life of the tool might be extended, but the efficiency of the machine is unacceptable (not economical)." That said, there are times when a faster and smaller tool may be better to improve the overall efficiency of the total operation - for example, when the paving operation is directly behind the milling operation. Material density also plays a role in tool selection. "If you are going to be cutting a looser material, you might need more steel to prevent the loose material from washing out the steel before the carbide is used," says Baker. "If you are cutting harder material, such as concrete, you would probably want more carbide, since there will be more impact wear." Another part of the equation is tooth shape or geometry. "Some teeth have a steeper slope for more penetration, while others are more blunt," says Baker. "Proper selection is dependent on the type of material to be cut. The best way to find out which is best is with experience, but the tool manufacturers also have a lot of expertise they can provide to help in the selection."

http://www.forconstructionpros.com/article/10289418/take-a-bite-out-of-milling-costs?page=3

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BYU basketball player Brandon Davies was dismissed from the nationally-ranked team for violating the school's honor code by having premarital sex, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. The sophomore reportedly told BYU school officials Monday about having sex with his girlfriend. He was dismissed from the team for the rest of the season Tuesday while his situation was being reviewed by the Honor Code Office. He has been allowed to stay in school for now. BYU spokeswoman Carrie Jenkins tells the paper that his future has yet to be determined. It was a big blow for the team losing a starter who averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds a game. "I think it was a surprise to everyone," BYU basketball coach Dave Rose told the paper. Davies' teammates are standing behind him, including standout Jimmer Fredette. "He told us everything. He told us he was sorry and that he let us down. We just held our heads high and told him it was OK, that it is life, and you make mistakes, and you just got to play through it," he told the Tribune. "He is like a brother to us, family. It is tough to lose a guy like that. We just have to pull together." Students at BYU were disappointed in the outcome, but said the school did the right thing. "It's really a bummer, but I think its good for the university to hold up their standards and their rules," sophomore Justin Calvert told BYU's honor code consists of living a "chaste and virtuous life" and abstaining from premarital sex. The No. 3-ranked team lost its first game without its 6-foot-9 forward Wednesday night, falling to New Mexico 82-64. Calls to the Church of Latter Day Saints were referred back to BYU officials.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/03/03/byu-dismisses-player-basketball-team-having-premarital-sex/?cmpid=prn_foxsports

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"Chemical Ali" has been captured, U.S. Central Command confirmed Thursday morning. Ali Hassan al-Majid al-Tikriti (search), a first cousin of former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein and a powerful Baath Party (search) official linked to some of the regime's most brutal acts, is the King of Spades and No. 5 in the U.S. Army's deck of "Most Wanted" playing cards. A senior defense official said he was captured on Sunday in the company of bodyguards, but not with other top Iraqis. Central Command did not immediately say how al-Majid was captured or where he was being held. Map: Recent Developments in Iraq Gen. John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command, said at a Pentagon news conference Thursday that he could not offer more details because "it would give away things we do not want to give away." There were indications Ali had been connected to anti-American activity in Iraq, he added. "Chemical Ali has been active in some ways in influencing people around him in a regional way," Abizaid said. Ali got his nickname by supervising chemical attacks upon Kurdish civilians the regime accused of aiding Iranian forces during the last years of the Iran-Iraq war. Thousands of Kurds died, including 5,000 in a single cyanide attack on the border town of Halabja (search) in March 1988. Ali has also been linked to crackdowns on Shiites in southern Iraq, and was governor of Kuwait for part of Iraq's seven-month occupation of the emirate in 1990-1991. Ali was an uncle of Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamel al-Majid (search), the Saddam son-in-law who ran Iraq's clandestine weapons programs before defecting to Jordan with his brother, another Saddam son-in-law, in 1995. The pair were lured back to Iraq with promises of clemency, but once back in Baghdad were forced to divorce Saddam's daughters and then killed. Before the 1968 revolution, Ali was a motorcycle messenger in the Iraqi army. Under his cousin's rule, he was defense minister from 1991 to 1995. Ali also was part of the "Jihaz Haneen," or "apparatus of yearning," the secret intelligence organization Saddam formed inside the Baath to eliminate rivals and traitors and carry out assassinations. It played a key role in the July 17, 1968, coup that overthrew President Abdel-Salim Arif and thrust Saddam securely on the path to power. Ali had been closely linked with Saddam since the 1960s when they were members of the then-underground Baath Party which ruled Iraq until the U.S.-led coalition invaded. When Saddam took over from President Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr in July 1979, he promoted his cousin to full general even though his military skills were negligible. By the mid-1980s, with the war against Iran raging, Ali was coordinating Iraq's five intelligence and security services and joined the "Makhtab al-Khas," or Special Bureau, through which Saddam and his tight-knit inner circle ran the intelligence apparatus. Saddam appointed him to the 17-member Regional Command of the Baath Party in 1984, and he sat on that decision-making body until Saddam's government fell on April 9. He earned the soubriquet "butcher of the Kurds" for his savage campaign in northeast Iraq during the war against Iran. Aside from the chemical attacks, some 4,000 villages were razed and hundreds of thousands of Kurds forcibly relocated to Iraq's southern deserts. After Saddam invaded Kuwait in August 1990, he named Ali governor of the conquered emirate for the first three months of the seven-month occupation. By all accounts, he supervised the systematic looting and suppression of the city-state before he returning to Baghdad in November 1990. American forces thought they had killed Ali during the first weeks of the war when they bombed his house in Basra, but it became clear within several days that he had escaped. A body believed to be his was found by British troops at the site, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, "We believe that the reign of terror of Chemical Ali has come to an end." But Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in June that interrogations of Iraqi prisoners indicated that he might still be alive. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2003/08/21/chemical-ali-captured-in-iraq/

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Games not working? #1kyubiitachi001Posted 1/1/2014 3:26:34 PM Every time I try to start a game it gets to the initial loading screen for the game and then goes back home without launching. This is happening to both disc and digital games does anyone know how to fix this? You know you've played to much Halo when the weatherman conducts a flood warning and you run to get your shotgun #2wrettcaughnPosted 1/1/2014 3:41:34 PM Press the menu button over a game's tile and select "Quit Game". Then, start the game again. #3Jian_ZiPosted 1/1/2014 3:45:05 PM I just keep trying and then eventually the game will work.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/691088-xbox-one/68234233

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What's the sexiest shiny pokemon? #31dwdwdw6Posted 11/11/2013 8:11:31 AM Haxorus, Rayquaza and Charizard. #32chameleonsoupPosted 11/11/2013 8:47:09 AM matthewtheman posted... I've caught two of the blighters in a safari yet I'm still hunting shiny Eevee. If I see another I may weep, and not with joy! 3ds 3952-6991-8891 Pokemon X Safari - Dark - Inkay, Nuzleaf and Sneasel. #33Elec Man EXEPosted 11/11/2013 8:54:13 AM Is there someplace to see the shiny colors of the new pokemon? I haven't seen them anywhere. ~ Master of Electricity ~ 3DS FC: 3239-2743-8918 Pokemon Y Safari: Fraxure, Sliggoo, Dragonair #34OceansFortePosted 11/11/2013 8:57:54 AM None of the above. Steelix is the most sexy, nickname it Gold Digger and proceed to show that swagetti off. 3DS FC: 3926-5088-9762 IGN: Emjay. #35FuneralCakePosted 11/11/2013 8:59:38 AM Female Braixen | 3DS FC: 3437 - 4335 - 3104 | | Friend Safari: Panpour, Wartortle, Frogadier | #36flamesaber111Posted 11/12/2013 1:48:53 PM Honedge, Ninetales, Greninja, Charizard, and my all time favorite, Crobat. Fakking love shiny Crobat. Getting PS4, but see no reason to troll those hyped for Xbox One. Pokemon Y FC: 3609-1106-5751 #37the_NGWPosted 11/12/2013 1:49:56 PM Shiny Lapbunny #38navi854Posted 11/12/2013 1:50:01 PM 3DS FC : 1547 5383 8247 #39legendriderPosted 11/12/2013 2:00:30 PM Rayquaza becomes the Ultra Ball....he is the one 3DS: 1203-9417-6170, PSN: Trixster196 #40GipigPosted 11/12/2013 2:01:59 PM I'm going to have to go with Mega Gardevoir. Not because I've actually seen it, but because as I was reading this thread, I ran into my first shiny ever - a Kirlia in the Friend Safari. So I'll get to see it soon. 3DS FC: 2234-7735-3025 (PM me if you add me) Pokemon Friend Safari: Electric - Electabuzz, Electrode, and Galvantula/Manectric (?)

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/696959-pokemon-x/67791294?page=3

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Which monitor technology is better between IPS and PLS? #1Dirk85UKPosted 10/4/2013 9:28:20 AM Which monitor technology is better between IPS and PLS? i5 2500 | 8Gb DDR3 | GTX 670 FTW | Asus P8 P67 | Intel 330 SSD | XFX 650W | Dell U2711 #2SlaynPosted 10/4/2013 9:44:22 AM #3animanganimePosted 10/4/2013 9:58:04 AM(edited) I have not seen PLS in person but I have 6 IPS screens in my house and I have a difficult time imagining how much better it can be. Anyway, read this and decide for yourself I suppose #4Bazooka_PenguinPosted 10/4/2013 10:11:04 AM Supposedly some of the newer PLS panels have less IPS/PLS glow. At least that's what I've heard from OCN's Korean PLS monitor fanclub and Menacing Tuba (a hobby monitor enthusiast). IPS glow is a big issue so it's a big improvement if true. Deth Pen

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/916373-pc/67401962

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When will regenerating health finally go away? #1kupo1705Posted 2/27/2013 2:52:12 AM First it was just shooters, then it went to other genres. Now even some RPGs have it. Shooters have been rather dull since it became popular, and now it's tainting other genres. Why did it become so popular, and more importantly, when well it end? I think Halo started it, even though it did it much better than most games today. #2ramseanGoodbyePosted 2/27/2013 2:55:34 AM Yeah gotta say i'm not a fan of it. It's so prevalent because it makes it easier for developers to balance the game. We're reaching a point where all games are kinda feeling the same. Which is great from a usability stand point, but bad if you want a new experience. #3killakPosted 2/27/2013 3:00:39 AM when enemy counts, AI and accuracy, drop. #4AnthonM2Posted 2/27/2013 3:05:32 AM Regenerating health is the best thing that happened to the industry, and pressing a button to lead you where to go next, like in Tomb Raider and RE6. #5popping4itPosted 2/27/2013 3:11:10 AM until hunting for medikits becomes fun. whens mahvel? #6darkness1018Posted 2/27/2013 3:15:43 AM Its great since looking for health items can get a bit boring, PSN: nightwing2099 (PS3 & PS Vita) 3DS XL FC: 1693-0734-3733 #7kupo1705(Topic Creator)Posted 2/27/2013 3:20:42 AM popping4it posted... until hunting for medikits becomes fun. You mean having to carefully progress because the next few shots will kill you, until you come across a medkit by looking around the environment? Sounds a lot more fun and intense than taking cover for a few seconds after getting shot. #8Brocken_JrPosted 2/27/2013 3:21:21 AM when people stop complainin about games bein to hard. f*** you bionic commando 2 and your jumping option DmC's story mode in 8 seconds: #9NovaKaneXPosted 2/27/2013 3:22:32 AM Health Packs, WE OFF DAT! Cot damn! #10Willie_MakeitPosted 2/27/2013 3:27:19 AM The day Capcom goes back to making real Resident Evil games.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/927750-playstation-3/65564629

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About Ammy's brush techniques *slight spoilers* #1Amibo_AmorePosted 10/16/2011 7:03:08 PM(edited) How exactly do Ammy's brush techniques work (in the realm of time)? I know that when she uses her techniques, the screen is frozen (apparently freezing time), but what is it like for the opponents? Do they still have a sense of time when Ammy is drawing, or do the results of her brush techniques happen in the blink of an eye for them? Sorry for rambling on, but I've always wondered about that. Nobody, nobody spikes my system! #2Blackest_KnightPosted 10/16/2011 7:19:10 PM I imagine the effects occur instantly to the NPCs. It's rare and unexpected, but strangely beautiful, like a unicorn using his horn to gore a priest.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/943732-okami/60672456

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Quick Question #1ACasserPosted 12/17/2010 8:35:22 AM The description of this game on PSN says something about a 3-D television. Is this really necessary, or is PlayStation Network blowing smoke up my rear end and trying to encourage me to buy electronics I don't really need? Obviously, I'd prefer not to spend the $9.99 to purchase this game if I can't play it on my current television (HD, 27"). So what are the system component requirements for this game? (I've also read that while the game is designed with the Move controller in mind, it will run just fine using the standard controller and that Move isn't really necessary) #2EstivalPosted 12/18/2010 3:29:48 AM You don't need a Move or a 3D TV. It'll work just fine with a normal TV and controller. Its just a fact. #3ACasser(Topic Creator)Posted 12/18/2010 9:46:11 AM Thanks for the reply. I'm not buying new hardware for a game, but knowing that what I have now is fine is definitely a good thing.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/978737-auditorium-hd/57510260

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Review by KillerMAN "I didnt know God made games?" Because this baby, is pure Perfection!!!! Im not going to get into the story here because if you dont know it by now after reading the 10 other reviews for this game, eghhh...lets just get to the meat and potatos here. And I'll tell you why... This game was very good with what it had to work with, and on top of that this game had so much detail in just screamed ''Look'' ''Look at this'' and then threw it into your face. From the Horror like intro title screens to each new level, to the dark hallways, and even all the creepy products that try to kill you at the Killer Dept. Store level. This game had it all! Not bad, but some getting used to. The controlles themself are just fine. But alot of people complained about the dodging of enemies. Believe me, with practice its the easiest thing ever. Not hard at all. But now, as far as the gameplay goes, its VERY easy to die in this game. DONT go running through it because you cant! You will be butchered!!! Take your time, soak up the great graphics and environment, and TRY to stay alive. You even have a horror monitor that tells you when a monster, ghost, baked bread, cartoon bear, undead zombie, sega dreamcast system, tv, pool, beer bottles, stuffed dolls, worms, dead things, knives, dead department store managers, a pigs butt, roaches, can of beans, or a hairy eyeball candy will try to kill you or scare the living crap out of you. Yes people...thats all in the game...and It wants to send you into early retirement. This game takes time and practice, but is very rewarding, and its nothing you have ever played. Great sound...I cant even imagine this game with surround sound. You hear noises and things that go bump in the night around ever corner. The music REALLY fits in with the levels. And when things jump out at you, a very loud noise follows. The voice acting is hoaky, but cmon...its bearable, and I have heard worse. MANY different endings depending on people you save, and lets not, they filled this game with over 3000 traps. So your never running into the same one, its like a new treatment of horror each time you play. Dont expect things to be in the same spot as well, because there not. But I would go even higher if I could. People, they put alot of work into this game. I have been playing games since 1982, and I have never played a game like this. It is unique, and it was a sleeper hit. You REALLY jump in this game, and there were so many mistakes in this game as well, from the words that were incorrect, to the voice acting that would miss a word, to things they did a crappy job cutting out. Cmon, you can play as the main female character NUDE! This game was bizarre!!! You fight killer eggs, Bloody Mary, the Cake from hell, you stay a night in Hotel Banballo where some maniac tries to burn you. The level and story is taken right out of Nightmare on Elm street. They based all of there levels on horror movie concepts. The game is so hoaky and sometimes very scary. Give the game a fare try, and it will eventually be one of your favorites!!! Reviewer's Score: 10/10 | Originally Posted: 05/14/02, Updated 05/14/02 Got Your Own Opinion?

http://www.gamefaqs.com/dreamcast/250596-illbleed/reviews/review-34187

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E N T E R : E L E C T R O Version 0.7 copyright (c) 2003 andrewfreak1 (a.k.a andrew rubin) all rights Email: [email protected] or [email protected] This guide is copyright (c) 2003 andrewfreak1. This game is copyright (c) 2001 Activision, Vicarious Visions. I was not involved in the making of his game, so just incase your wondering. The only websites that can post this with my permission is: and if you steal it and post it up on your website, lets say, www.john.com, I will E-Mail you very politely to take it off. If you don't listen and co- mpletely ignore my E-Mail, You will suffer! This FAQ is MY WORK, MY PROPERTY! You get it?! If you spotted any spelling errors, or anything else that looked bad in this guide, please E-Mail me politely over at: [email protected] And I will fix and you will be credited. DO NOT be cruel, nasty or any other way that is dumb to say. Also, if you e-mail me like this: "Hey, you said that you can (goal here) in (time here) but it took me (time here again) you (Very bad here!!) No. You aren't funny, and you are very, very dumb. I will easily ignore your message if you use such language against me, you will NOT get a respond. If you beg me to update my guide, I will not respond to you. I WILL UPDATE HEN I WANT TO! Ok?! was that whole babble clear? good. Now onto the guide!!! 1) Introduction 2) Version History 3) Basic Controls/Pickups 4) The story 5) FAQ/Walkthrough A: Enter the web-head B: Burglary interuppted C: Rooftops by night D: Warehouse 66 E: Spidey Vs. Shocker F: Smoke Screen G: Hangar 18 H: Wind Tunnel (version 1 title: The Plane) I: To catch a theif J: in darkest night K: Heart of Darkness L: Catch that Train! M: Gangland N: Spidey vs. Hammerhead O: Spidey in the machine P: Mission: Spidey Q: The Corkscrew (version 1 title: Downward Spiral) R: Spidey vs. Lizard S: The Gauntlet (version 1 title: Aces High) T: Spidey vs. Sandman again U: Konichi-wa, Spider-San V: Rock of Ages W: Spidey vs. Electro X: The best laid plans (version 1 title: Top of the world) 6) Gallery - Things to unlock 7) Costumes/Cheats 8) Special Thanks Hi this is my guide for the ultimate Spider-Man 2. This game is the sequel to the amazing game 'Spider-Man' from the year 2000. I think this game is a little better than the first, since it has new features and all... You can check out Scott Miller or R- omy N. Junio Jr.'s guides if you want.. But I WASN'T using their guides while writing this one. This is my first guide so I hope I do a good job for you all Spidey-Fans. Lets talk about the ga- me. Spider-Man 2 has 23 levels, 5 bosses and explosive gameplay. What else can I say? Vicarious Visions did a awesome job, and A- ctivison did a great job on this game to. I can't wait until Sp- ider-Man 3... But I still think this game is cool! 2) V E R S I O N H I S T O R Y 5-5-03: Ah, finally started this guide after playing it for a freakin' long time. Made the ascii art, table of contents, and Introduction. 5-6-03: I found out that Spidey-Armor was on 'to catch a theif' level so you won't die. 5-6-03: Found out a cool secret in spidey vs. lizard 5-7-03: Eh, I've been really busy today with my schoolwork, but now I'm working On the guide! 5-10-03: ARRRGGHH, I've been sick the past few days. Well at least I wrote notes to myself while playing the game. 5-10-03: Finished all the level walkthrougs. 5-10-03: Finished the guide, going to start posting it. 3) B A S I C C O N T R O L S / PICKUPS Don't you remember when they first invented PSX? How nice and clean the the controllers were, and now mi- ne is all screwed up and it doesn't work that good. Now I have to use my PS2 controller which is nice and clean. Yeah, I used to rent a bunch of games from my nearby video game store named "Grey World Video". And if you rented one, they wouldn't even let you have the actual game case, and just give you a old cruddy case and you won't be able to read the controls in the X = Jump Square = Punch, Press 3 times for a combo Circle = Kick, Press 3 times for a combo Triangle = Web trap, to tie up enemies with Spider-Man's X + Square = Jumping Punch, Spider-Man will give enemies a powerful headache. X + Circle = Jumping Kick, Spider-Man will majorly knock enemies off their feet. Square + Triangle OR Circle + Triangle = Grab enemie behind the back. Square + Triangle + Square = Grab and punch your enemy on the Circle + Triangle + Circle = Grab and kick enemies in their butt Circle + Circle + Circle = Triple Kick Square + Square + Square = Triple Punch Triangle + Left = Web Spikes Triangle + Right = Web Dome Square + Triangle = Web-yank enemies over your head Triangle + Up = Impact Web Triangle + Down = web-yank Triangle + Down + Left = Web-yank left (this is easier to do with the left analog stick) Triangle + Down + Right = Web-yank right (this is easier to do with the left analog stick) R1 = zip-line R2 = Webswing X + X = Webswing ( on kid mode ) L1 = Targets Spider-Man's web to enemies L2 = Targets objects and enemies Triangle + Up During webswing = Aerial Impact Web X + Triangle + Up = Jumping Impact Web There! Now that you know all of 'do whatever a spider can' moves, It's time we finally do this. Taser Webbing - It's a light green web cartridge with a little yellow in the middle. It's found in some of the later levels (it gives you electric web) Web Cartridge - It's a blue, normal web cartridge that gives you a extra cartridge (duh) Health Spider - Its red and white, It gives you more Freon Webbing - Its a light blue web cartridge that gives you ice webbing. Spidey-Armor - It's a golden spider-icon that gives spider-man another health bar. It gives you armor, and its extremely useful. Comic Book - Eh, well this doesn't increase anything, but if you find a spinning item looking like a copy of Amazing Fantasy 15, COLLECT IT FAST! You've just added a comic to your comic collection in the gallery. 4) T H E S T O R Y Taken straight out of the instruction booklet: The threat of the Symbiote Invasion is over, and Doctor Octopus and his cronies are once again behind bars. The city, and the people that call it home, can collectively breath a sigh of relief. Or can they? Evil abhors a vacuum, and with Doc Ock gone, can it really be that long before another rises in his place? Not likely. Unaware that her work has drawn the attention of sinister forces, Dr. Watts has completed a miraculous new device that would give any man or woman unspeakable power. In the hands of the one such as Electro, who knows what deviltry may be wrought. Electro, for one, intends to find out. As before, Electro has managed to assemble a cadre of allies and followers, from lowly street-thugs to hardened super-villians His goal: to steal and assemble the Bio-Nexus device; and with it bring the city, if not the world, to its knees... 5) F A Q / W A L K T H R O U G H Ah, here we are, the Walkthrough/FAQ! I have some things to tell you first: COMIC ALERT means I will tell you wh- ere the comic location is in the area your in. WHAT-IF MODE means if your playing in what-if mode, I'll tell you what will happen in the level. Understand? Onto the Walkthrough/FAQ... Ok, after you finish watching the FMA where Stan Lee talks, Beast will pop out of nowhere and ask you to do training a- nd stuff. Guess what? Spidey says yes. Ok, webswing toward the first building and look out for the Fantastic Four building, it will be on your right. No one on it? Awwww... That was the part I was looking forward to. Sooner or later you should webswing on a crane, which is the second one. COMIC ALERT (easy): On the second crane, which you are on, on the cab is the comic. Then webswing over to the unfinished building and beat up the henchman and get the ?. Then go over to the building with three crates on it. COMIC ALERT (any difficulty): Web-yank the three crates and then the comic should pop out. Then webswing to the next two building and your done. After you watch the FMV, Take out the two thugs that are trying to kill you. Then webswing around the street and then you should see a alley with a dumpster blocking. Jump over the dumpster and then you should be ambushed by four COMIC ALERT (kid mode): Under one of the trashcans in the area your in, is the comic. Take them all out and then one of the rooftops surronding that area has a basketball on top of it. If you make a h- oop in the basketball court, a health icon will appear. Then search around and you should see two thugs standing near a car (uh oh! Grand theft auto!) and they blow it up for fun. Just beat them both up and spray webbing on both of the car windows, that should smother the fire. Then webswing around the streets some more and you should see some thugs blow up a cafe. Just beat them up and go in front of the fire hydrant. L2 target it and web-yank it to put out the fire. If you stand in front of the hydrant's path, it will blow Spider-Man all t- he way over to very front of the cafe. Then just follow your compass and climb up the building you saw in the cutscene. COMIC ALERT (Normal): On the rooftop next to the one you finish the level on, there is a comic. The rooftop is flatter then cement, so you shouldn't miss it. Once you start the level webswing to the first building. Then keep on webswinging until you see a ?. Get it, then go over to the thug and stop the machine gun. WHAT IF MODE: Jeez, on the third level they finally change something in the game. Eh, it's a giant ban- ana (?!) and if you make a tricky jump onto the banana, it'll take you for a ride until you get to the parts with the machine guns! Then webswing onto the bridge and go across it. You should get a checkpoint. Once you've made it to the end of the b- ridge, get the web cartridge and the health spider. Then beat up the bad guy. COMIC ALERT (hard): Once you've took out all the machine guns, return to the bridge for the comic. Then keep on webswinging and follow your compass. Then your Spider-Sense will tingle and you will have to take out 3 m- achine guns. Just impact web them 2 times and they should blow up. Then just follow your compass and webswing onto Warehouse 66. WHAT IF MODE: The big boxes are now presents with a bow on top! The large barrels show a pic of spidey and says 'Web Soup'. Yum. COMIC ALERT (easy): Under the big barrel left of you when you begin the level. Once you start the level there is ton of bad guys to kill. A easier way to find the bad guys is to zip to the ceiling and crawl around on top of the ceiling to look around. Just keep on beating them up. Sooner or later spiderman should say theres one more left. Just beat him up and finish the level. WHAT IF MODE: Might be some new spidey quotes. Once you begin the level Shocker will keep on blasting his damn blasters at you. Do NOT run up to him and punch him, Because then he'll just blast the heck out of you. COMIC ALERT (hard): Inside the fire, it is very hard to see, is the comic book. Just hop onto the big crates and L2 target the huge crates that are hanging from the ceiling. Web-yank one from Shockers distance. It should fall on Shocker's head, making him lose health. There is another way to kill him, but it is tough. Grab some boxes and kill him. Once you go over to the bomb, just go and collect the 4 keys. Here are the locations I got for all 4 keys: KEY 1: Turn around and go straight. You should see 3 bad guys. Beat them up for the key. KEY 2: Go south from the Activision sign and go on the ground. There are 2 guys there. Beat them up for the key. KEY 3: There are guys next to the NYPD Police Car. WHAT IF MODE: There are flat bananas instead of newspapers scattered around the level. KEY 4: Go even more far from the Activision sign and on the grass there is 2 guys. Get them for the key. Now that you've gotten all four keys (Red-Blue-Yellow-Green) Go back to the bomb and put the keys in the matching color slots. Now onto Hangar 18. Spidey finally arrives at Hangar 18. Now this level is kind of like Rooftops By night, except a little more trickier. Go straight and t ake out the 2 Machine guns in front of you, then take out the machine guns on the left side of the area COMIC ALERT (Kid Mode): Under the big box left of the hangar. and then do the right side. Then you should be finished. 8)WIND TUNNEL (The Plane) WHAT IF MODE: Instead of barrels, they're light bulbs! They do the same amount of damage, too. The main key here is: SPEED! Your gonna need a lot of it, too, if you want to save that pilot. Just clear the barrels out of the plane's path. Once you've gotten to the last room, L2 target the plane's left prepellor, and web it up and then shoot web on the tail of the plane. COMIC ALERT (Normal): Once you've done what I just said, quickly go over back to the very first room. Under the net with the barrels there is the comic. Now hurry back to the plane and finish the Then just web up and stop the right propeller and you've just completed the level. Ok, now finally this is the level where you have to chase the helicopter that Spidey threw a tracer on. This level was pretty tough the first time I tried it. The dang mercenarys fire their dang bazookas at you, and they shoot lazers too. This level is pretty easy to me now, because I found out that there is Spidey armor in this level. Ok, webswing straight and then your on the third building. COMIC ALERT (any difficulty): On a lower ledge on the third building, in the front of it, is the comic book. Then webswing forward to the unfinished building and you should find the Spidey-Armor icon. Collect it fast! This level will be tough if you don't. Then just webswing to finish the level. Well, it looks like spidey made it to the trainyards. I don't really like these levels, but I had to beat the game somehow, right? Ok, once you begin, jump over the train and you should be sneaky, because there is your first guard. COMIC ALERT (easy): After taking out the first guard, in front of the garages that do not open is the comic. Take him out, then go straight to Area 2. Once you've made it past the hallway, there are some guards you'll need to deal w ith. Just be stealthy and no problems will approach. Then head over to Area 3, and repeat the same process. Then head to area 4, and just take out the guys there since they're really annoying. Then push the switch (press square) and now for the hard part. You have to solve a puzzle involving switches, so go over to the yellow light to start off, and shoot web at the sw- itch. You have to make the machine switches all be GREEN, so do nt accidently screw up or something. COMIC ALERT (Normal): You must use all of the seven levers in the level. Hey, I didn't make this thing, you know! Instead of going to door number 7, go to door number 3 and behind the train you'll find the comic. Boy, do I hate this level. Oh well, Jump on the train and hop over the electronic door. Cuz that's the only way you get pas t it. Now follow the spidey compass to the power room. There is freon webbing near the crane so just incase you want to give some enemies a chilly night. Now go to the Power Room and shoot the switch. Then go over to door #1 and then go into the control room there. Shoot all three switches there and then go through door #2 because the other one is jammed. Now go through door #5 once your in the next area. Just keep on going straight and you should find a the second control room. Shoot the two switches. Then go back and exit that area. Now go back into the little room and go through door #7. Then you should be done. WHAT IF MODE: The barrels are now bananas. And there is a huge banana on the train. Hah! Oh, God, not Sandman. I hate him. Ok, just keep on going straight and focus on the train and not Sandman. If you try to defeat him he'll slither away and go regenerate his health bar. He makes huge sand walls so you can't reach the train. Just keep on swinging - It's the fastest way to do this level. Now there isn't time to look for a comic book looking like Amazing Fantasy 15, Right? Uh huh. To put it clearly, Sandman: ignore. Train: focus. Ok, take out the two thugs in front of you, then a hostage should yell 'help'. He's trapped in the elevator. L1 target the ceiling. You should see an air vent. Web-yank it off the ceiling and zip line up it. Crawl through it and you should see a unstable elevator. L2 target the unstable cable and web it up. Then shoot the switch to free the hostage. COMIC ALERT (Hard): After solving the elevator puzzle, return to the first room to find the comic book. Then jump over to the brick wall on your left. Then you should see a passage. Go through it. Your spider-sense will tingle, then two goons will come running toward you. Web them up and go into the next room. There is two hostages and one goon. Take the bad guy out, then free the hostages. COMIC ALERT (all difficultes): Under the photocopy machine, there is a comic. Then go past the hallway and enter the next room, and there some hostages there. Beat up the three goons, then free the hostages. You want to get to the next floor? Well then it's going to be tricky. Go behind the big bookshelf and then L2 target the big air vent that's on the ceiling. Then web-zip up there and crawl through there. Then drop onto the next floor. There is a bad guy guarding there so just take him out. Then go forward and there is a hostage and a guard. K- ill him and free the hostage. Then go straight and two thugs will come out of nowhere and attack you. Kill them and go straight. You should come to two locked doors. Impact web one of them, and free the two hostages inside. Then repeat it with the other door and free the hostages. Now, go to the exit, which is only left of you, to finish the level. Hammerhead kind of seems like the rhino in the previous game... Oh well. It's a sequel, y'know? WHAT IF MODE: When Hammerhead charges and bashes his head into the wall, he'll start cussing. Not bad though. He is almost invincible with his dang machine gun. Just webyank it out of his hands and then watch out, because he might charge at you. Then he'll run to his machine gun and pick it up again. Just beat him up before he reaches it. That way he'll lose health. Go over to the other side of the building where the bar is. COMIC ALERT (Hard): Hop on the bar and pick up the closed sign three times, then the comic will pop out. When you try and beat him with his machine gun, he'll take very little damage. Later probably when he has half life, he should charge and break a window (i can see the repair bill on that damage, Hammerhead!) and now you have to finish the battle with him. Now just repeat the whole dang web-yanking machine gun process I just said. Then just defeat him. Once you begin the level, hop over the bar and then some stupid robot will damage one of the boilers. Shoot web at the red switch and then ANOTHER robot will damage a boiler. Do the same thing. Then there is only one more boiler, so just repeat that process. COMIC ALERT (easy): After you finish the boiler puzzle head up the ramp and on that walkway you will find the comic. Now, go to the hallway and go through it. There will be a cutscene where spidey says that there is huge turbin- es that will kill you if you don't shut them off. Go from the far right of the turbines and then you should see a machine that will shut down the lazer grid to the control room. You'll need to press [],O,/\ in the center to turn off the lazers. WHAT IF MODE: Instead of pressing []O and /\, you can play ping pong! Sometimes ping pong stops dead for no reason. Once you've shut down the lazer grid, go past it and go to the controls room. Shoot the switch on your ri ght, then shoot the switch on your left. Then go back into the big room and hop on top of one of the turbines. Then zip-line up there and crawl through. Now, drop into the next room and go to the control room to get through that door. Zip onto the ceiling and make sure not to accidently crawl into one of the lazers (Ow!) Then once you've made it to the other side, shoot the two switches and go back the way you COMIC ALERT (kid mode): After you finish both lazer grid puzzles, return to the air vents and on the spot where the health Icon is, you'll find the comic. Now, go through door #2 and finish the level. Once the cutscene finishes DO NOT move one bit. Zip-line up and you should reach a platform. Climb onto the top of it and then turn around. Shoot the red switch that's right there, then drop down from that platform onto the walkway you were just on. COMIC ALERT (Hard): Under the first bridge you should see an alcove, inside the alcove is the comic book. Then go through that door and turn left. You should see another locked door. Shoot web onto the red switch and go through that area. Oh boy, drone generators, just L2 target them and Imapact web them. Then hop over that machine and shoot the red switch. Then exit that area and go to the next area. Once your in area 2, if your on a tougher difficulty you better be stealthy to the lazer turrets. Just Impact web them two teimes and you should blow them up. Once you blow all four of them up, jump up and shoot the switch up there, then jump down and shoot the switch down here. Then exit Area 2, and enter Area 3. Now this is one hard area. You'll see a big force feild blocking your way. Go over to the machine and press /\ until it's all the way up, then press O or [] and then press X to exit. Now impact web and blow up the drones, and once they're gone, shoot web at the three switches when the force feilds down, then shoot the red switch over there. Now, just exit that area and go through the door. COMIC ALERT (Normal): After you finish all the puzzles, return to the very first bridge to find the comic book. Ok, this level is a little hard on the normal and hard difficulties. It has to involve switch pressing. This level has four parts, devided by all those smashing jaw doors. First, Jump over the smashing doors at the beginning when they're open, then shoot the two switches to shut down the dangerous stuff. Make sure not to accidently jump into one of the lazers (Ow) Then go past and make it to the second floor and you should see some buttons. Each area is like this, so just make sure you don't get zapped by any lazers, or get shot by any of those stupid drones. Then make your way up to the third area. COMIC ALERT (Normal): In the third area, DO NOT touch one button. Climb up as far as you can, then there is a ledge. On top of it is the comic. Then make your way up to the fourth area, shoot the switches and go up. You should find the door there. This level is a bit of a pain at the beginning. Go over to the computer and you'll need to finish the antidote that Dr. Conners has been working on. You'll need to make three vats. You'll need to use [], /\ and O to do it. DO NOT SCREW UP! You'll have to restart the level if you do. This is pretty tough on hard mode. When the time runs out, Lizard will break through the wall and throw you into the next room. If you did the serum puzzle right, you should see one canister of it once you get up. Now, grab the canister and blast the lizard. Then run over to him and start beating the heck out of him. Repeat this, because this will not work if you don't blast him with serum shots. There is health in the third room. COMIC ALERT (Hard): After you do the serum puzzle, Go to the third room and be quick, then you'll find the comic. There is also health in the second room, too, if you need it. COMIC ALERT (Hard): On a ledge at the back of the building you start on. Now this is when those lazer turrets get REALLY annoying. Always follow the lazer that points to you, then shut it down. This isn't a really hard level, unless you like to get burnt up by stupid police lazer turrets. Then you should see a huge anttena and there is four lazer turrets below it. Just shut down the thing. COMIC ALERT (Normal): Go behind the building with the huge anttena. On the ledge going to the next building is the comic book. Now, sooner or later you should go to the last tower, it's the one without any lazer turrets. COMIC ALERT (Easy): On the ledge of the back of this building, is the comic book. Now, all you have to do is shut down the last one and follow your compass to Dr. Watt's lab. Ok, in this level, always trust your spider-sense or you'll get some serious sand in spidey's tights. There is health near the barrels if you need it. Now, Sandman is vincible to water, right? Well there is a water pump. Go over to the vaulve that has a sign on it. Shoot web on it, then wait until the pressure gets full. Now, go over to one of the vaulves, but not the one you just shot, though, and then start blasting sandman up with water and start beating him up at the same time while he's wet you can quick snag a COMIC ALERT (all difficulties): Go on top of the unfinished building, and then hop onto the crane and there is the Now, after your done snagging that comic, run over to the vaulve and get the pressure back up again. Then repeat the same thing and while he's wet, snag another comic... COMIC ALERT (Easy): Under the portable toilet, is the comic. Now just keep on making him wet and beating him up, and you should kill him. Once you begin the level, the easiest way to defeat the samuri is to just web them up. They'll blow up, so just keep on doing this. You should see a health bar on the upper right corner of the screen. Now, pick up a samuri peice and go to the center room. Now throw it at the thing that's blocking the generator. It should knock it off, now just go and keep on beating samuri and throw their pieces at the generator to blow it up. Just go in the different rooms, one room will have a huge budda statue and two samuri. COMIC ALERT (Easy): Behind the buddha statue, is the comic book. Now just blow up the generator and level complete. I think this level is a pain because at first I kept on getting zapped and falling to the floor. Now, Just keep on crawling past the lighting rings before they zap you. And also, dodge all of the lighting rain that Electro shoots at you. Then sooner or later you should reach the Ice Age level, your halfway through, so don't screw up COMIC ALERT (Normal): Inside the dino picture is the comic. Just crawl past it and make sure not to get zapped. I use to think this level was really hard - Until I just realized it was easier than heck. Sooner or later AGAIN, you should reach the last exhibit level. COMIC ALERT (Easy): On this exhibit level, on top of the car sticking out of the wall is the Now just flip over the fence and you complete the level. Electro, Finally! After 22 levels in the game we finally get to kick Electro's shocking butt. I think this was one of the easiest boss battles, not to brag, but it was downright easy for me. Just activate web spikes and hop onto the platform and pound the heck out of Electro. He should blow you off, but just keep on repeating that. Now go onto the earth model for a comic. COMIC ALERT (Normal): On top of the earth model, which is tough to get to, is the comic. Now just beat up Electro and finish the level! 24) THE BEST LAID PLANS (Top of the world) Ok, now you have to defeat Hyper-Electro. First, before you do anything, run over and hop on top of the tower. Take out the generators so Electro can't recharge his health bar and take you out. Now, go over to the other part of the tower and go over to the generators. Now impact web the things on the sides and make Electro shoot at the generator. It will make him vincible! Go over to him and pound the heck out of him. If your on hard, DO NOT touch him when he's vincible or you'll get electricuted. Just impact web him. Then when he has half life or so, he should try to charge from the broken tower. The tower will fall over. COMIC ALERT (Hard): On the fallen part of the tower is the comic. COMIC ALERT (Kid Mode): On the tower you'll find a comic. Now just keep repeating that process. Here's a few tips I got to help you a little: 1. Stay away from Hyper-Electro 2. Do not touch Hyper-Electro 3. Remember #2 WHAT IF MODE: After you defeat Hyper-Electro there is a little "surprise" _ _ _ _ _ / ONGRATULATIONS! /_ _ _ _ _ _ Hyper-Electro is beaten. Hurray! Give yourself a high-five, now that you've beaten the game, you'll probably won't need a guide next time. But there is still so much more to do! 6) GALLERY - T H I N G S T O U N L O C K Now that you've beaten the game, there is lots of goodies and easter eggs to get. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Character Appears Spider-Man Load the game Henchman Enter the web-head Hired Goon Rooftops By Night Shocker Spidey Vs. Shocker Mercenary Smoke Screen Trainyard guard In Darkest Night Sandman Catch That Train! Gangster Gangland Hammerhead Spidey Vs. Hammerhead Flying Drone Spidey In The Machine Rolling Drone Mission: Spidey Scout Drone Spidey In The Machine The Lizard Spidey Vs. Lizard Animatronic Samuri Koni-Chiwa, Spider-San Electro Spidey Vs. Electro Hyper-Electro The Best Laid Plans Dr. Watts FMV "The Needle" Rogue Load the game Professor Xavier Load the game Beast Load the game _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |MOVIE VIEWER | Movie Appears ----- ------- Vicarious Visions Intro start game Previously on Spider-Man start game Prologue before Enter the webhead The City before Burglary Interuppted Warehouse 66 before Warehouse 66 Manners before Spidey Vs. Shocker Shockers Defeat after Spidey Vs. Shocker City Rooftops before Smoke Screen Police Ambush before Hangar 18 Hangar 18 before Wind Tunnel Daring Rescue after Wind Tunnel Darkness Falls before Catch That Train! A Hero no Longer after Catch That Train! Interlude before Gangland The Needle before Spidey Vs. Hammerhead The Plot Thickens after Spidey Vs. Hammerhead Sneaking In before Spidey In The Machine Mad Reptile before Spidey Vs. Lizard Repentance after Spidey Vs. Lizard Spidey to the rescue before Spidey Vs. Sandman Again Down the Drain after Spidey Vs. Sandman Again Boss... Look! after Spidey Vs. Sandman Again Spidey Monogatorio before koni-chiwa, spider-san Ascension before The Best Laid Plans Epilogue after The Best Laid Plans _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Captain America Foils Plot": Appears before Enter the webhead "Warehouse Theft A Bust": Die on Spidey Vs. Shocker "Rolling Blackouts": Appears after Spidey Vs. Shocker "Spider-Man Apprehended": Let the plane be destroyed on Wind Tunnel "Spider-Ambush": This has to be unlocked during the work of a cheat code or else you cannot unlock it. You enter DRKROOM as a cheat code for all gallery items. If your unlocking everything without codes, make sure to have all the other gallery items first. "Spider-Man Unmasked": Die or miss the train on Catch That Train! "Blackouts Continue": Appears after Catch That Train! "Ball Ruined 1": Die on Spidey Vs. Hammerhead "Ball Ruined 2": Appears after Spidey Vs. Hammerhead "Zeus Tear 1": Die on Spidey Vs. Lizard "Zeus Tear 2": Appears after Spidey Vs. Sandman Again "Spider-Man and Electro": Die on The Best Laid Plans "Thor Saves The City": Appears after The Best Laid Plans _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ |COMIC COLLECTION| Enter the Web-Head: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Spectacular Spider-Man #197 Burglary Interuppted: Web of Spider-Man #100 Amazing Spider-Man,vol 2, #13 Rooftops By Night: Amazing Spider-Man #29 Warehouse 66: Peter Parker: Spider-Man #85 Spidey Vs. Shocker: Amazing Spider-Man #13 Hangar 18: Peter Parker: Spider-Man #92 Wind Tunnel: Peter Parker: Spider-Man #90 To catch a thief: Amazing Spider-Man #185 In Darkest Night: Spectacular Spider-Man #20 Heart Of Darkness: Peter Parker: Spider-Man vol 2, #22 Gangland: Amazing Spider-Man #21 Spectacular Spider-Man #220 Spidey Vs. Hammerhead: Amazing Spider-Man #114 Spidey In The Machine: Amazing Spider-Man, vol 2, #30 Amazing Spider-Man, Annual, #21 Mission: Spidey: Amazing Spider-Man, Annual #21, alternate version Spider-Man #25 The Corkscrew: Amazing Spider-Man #341 Spidey Vs. Lizard: Amazing Spider-Man #44 The Gauntlet: Spectacular Spider-Man #66 Amazing Spider-Man #425 Amazing Spider-Man #217 Spidey Vs. Sandman Again: Amazing Spider-Man #4 Peter Parker: Spider-Man, vol 2, #16 Koni-Chiwa, Spider-San: Amazing Spider-Man, vol 2, 2001 Annual Rock Of Ages: Amazing Spider-Man #422 Spectacular Spider-Man #258 Spidey Vs. Electro: Amazing Spider-Man #9 The Best Laid Plans: Spider-Man #38 Peter Parker: Spider-Man, vol 2, #2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |PARKER'S PORTFOLIO | Each time you win a boss battle, you will get a picture added to your portfolio in the gallery. You will get 12 pictures by Kaare Andrews from beating the game on Easy and Kid Mode. You will get 6 pictures from Mark Bagley from beating the game on Normal. And you'll get 6, beutiful black-and-white, ink and pencil, pictures from John Romita Sr. one of the greatest Spidey Artists. 7) C O S T U M E S / C H E A T S A) COSTUMES: Spider-Man (Powers: No enhanced game powers) Unlock: Load the game Spider-Pheniox (Powers: Invincibility, Enhanced Stregnth, Enhanced Unlock: Beat the game on hard Prodigy (Powers: Enhanced Stregnth, Double Jump Height, Enhanced Web-swing) Unlock: Beat 75 thugs in Attack Challenge mode. Dusk (Power: Stealth) Unlock: Collect all 32 comic books Insulated Suit (Powers: Enhanced Stregnth, Gets half damage from Unlock: Beat the Lizard on any difficulty (including Kid Mode) and only use serum shots on him Alex Ross--Red (Power: Double Jump Height) Unlock: Beat the Sandman (Spidey Vs. Sandman Again) On Hard Alex Ross--White (Power: Enhanced Web-swing) Unlock: Beat the game on Kid Mode Venom 2--Earth X (Power: Enhanced Stregnth, Unlimited Webbing) Unlock: Beat the game on Normal Negative Zone (Power: No enhanced game powers) Unlock: Beat the level 'Smoke Screen' on Normal - Without going back and fourth to restore time Symbiote Spider-Man (Power: Unlimited Webbing) Unlock: Beat the game on easy Spider-Man 2099 (Power: Enhanced Stregnth) Unlock: Beat the game two times on Normal or Hard Captain Universe (Powers: Enhanced Stregnth, Unlimited Webbing, Unlock: Beat the game two times on Normal or Hard Spider-Man Unlimited (Power: Stealth) Unlock: Beat the game two times on Normal or Hard Amazing Bag Man (Power: Can only carry 2 web cartridges) Unlock: Beat the game two times on Normal or Hard Scarlet Spider (Power: No enhanced game powers) Unlock: Beat the game two times on Normal or Hard Ben Reilly (Power: No enhanced game powers) Unlock: Beat the game two times on Normal or Hard Quick Change Spidey (Power: Can only carry 2 web cartridges) Unlock: Beat the game two times on Normal or Hard Peter Parker (Power: Can only carry 2 web cartridges) Unlock: Beat the game two times on Normal or Hard Battle Damaged (Power: No enhanced game powers) Unlock: Beat Electro for the first time B) CHEAT CODES: Unlock Everything: "AUNTMAY" Level Select: "NONJYMNT" Programmer High Scores: VVHISCRS Big Head Mode: ALIEN Big Feet Mode: STACEYD What-If? Mode: VVISIONS Unlock All Training Levels: CEREBRA Unlock All Costumes: WASHMCHN Unlock all Gallery Items: DRKROOM Debug Mode: DRILHERE Cursing Code: Enter a bad word and Spidey will pop up, hit the code and it will change to a nice word. This does nothing else. It's pretty funny though. 8) S P E C I A L T H A N K S --Thanks to EBgames for selling me this game --Thanks to my brother, Jeremy, for letting me use his playstation --Thanks to my Mom and Dad for renting me this game before I bought it --Thanks to JC, since he's my best -Thanks to Vicarious Visions for developing this wonderful game. --Thanks to Activision for publishing this -Thanks to everybody else I know, as well as they helped me write this in --Thanks to YOU, for actually reading this FAQ, unless you didn't like it "Until next time, True Beilevers! Excelsior!" - Stan "The Man" Lee

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Question from wilber5150 Asked: 3 years ago How does Spiderman break through walls? I've tried jumping into the wall, kicking the wall, punching. Submitted Answers You need to use the black suit so that you can break trough walls,press "SELECT" to use the black suit then double tap the forward button so you can dash directly at the wall. Rated: +0 / -0 Respond to this Question Similar Questions question status from How do i get past the subway can you help??? Open petrucci10 Is there any way to have all the upgrades?? Open phoenixsfire How do I get past checkpoint 2 ? Open rabih_khouri Help PLEASE? Open cubano456 Help Please??? Open cubano456

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Review by LeoLion0818 "This is the most revolutionary Final Fantasy game of its time; but it still leaves something to be desired." Final Fantasy III broke all of the typical cliches of its precursors. We no longer have a class system; everybody is essentially equal on FF3. Everyone has very similar stats, rather than having a few people excel in physical strength while other are meant for their magical abilities. Now everybody can use magic, a first in the Final Fantasy universe. Although equipment still varies from character to character there are universal armaments; plus every character can equip their fair share of heavy weapons and light weapons. On FF3, the characters are much prominent throughout the story than in previous FF games. Character development is extraordinary, every event that the characters go through bleeds into the story perfectly; and they portray real human emotions through their actions and behaviors. Even the story is magnificent… at first. We're introduced to a society that has been ravaged by a war, this war set human civilization back 1,000 years; but now there are those who are trying to repeat the war so that they can gain power and control over the planet. Once you reach the game's halfway point (you'll know it once you get there) the action slows down extraordinarily as you spend the remainder of the game regrouping and gaining the necessary abilities to take down the empire. This game is not the middle-aged world filled with castles, villages, knights, legends and other such things that the first two FF games introduced us to. Now we're in a society of machines, empires, underground resistance movements, technology, cities, and eventually an intense mess of a situation. Our heroes are nothing more than ordinary people, only three of them were born with the gift of magic; everybody else has their own unique skills, but they can acquire the ability to learn and use magic as you progress through the game. Story: 7/10 It's hard to truly measure the story of FF3 because it starts off very strong but deteriorates into a fragment of what it could be halfway through the journey. The biggest reason for this being that the climax takes place way too early in the game; but once they got there they realized that the game was too short so they had to double it in length to appease the many people who will play this. It starts off very interesting; the bad guys searching for what will add to their power and they acquire it by manipulating an innocent soul, then the person snaps out of it and joins the returners who are opposed to the empire. Every event, no matter how small, directs the game to the overall goal that we're here to accomplish (which is what a good RPG should do). All of the events bleed into one another, all of the small little tid-bits clash into one massive adventure that will be remembered throughout the times. Unfortunately, Squaresoft couldn't keep up with themselves when writing the story; or they just didn't know how to advance it anymore, so once you get halfway through the story just dies. Although the story is still present at this point the only purpose it serves is to tie up all of the loose ends that couldn't be solved in the first half of the game. Other than finishing up those small, scattered events that remain there's nothing left to do but find all of your remaining party members, and hunt for Espers to increase your strength and magic supplement. You have no sense of direction by this time; you're really just expected to revisit every location and hope that you get something out of it, rarely will somebody tell you where to go next (if you're lucky a townsperson will hint you at something significant going on somewhere in the world, even though it may be completely irrelevant to what you're doing at that moment.) Characters: 10/10 Okay, FF3 has some very strong characters. The emotions portrayed by the heroes and villains are both realistic as well as captivating. FF3 is a dramatic tale dealing with many complex emotions such as: Love, Greed, Betrayal, Vengeance, Despair, and Loyalty; all of which are realistically captured through various interactions. Some people may see the characters as being too whiny or emotional; but in reality this is how people really are, especially during times of war (which is when this game takes place). There is much longing in the second half of the game as everybody does their best to try and fix the world; whereas the world's denizens are all aimlessly wandering around suffering through hopelessness and despair. FF3 is a world filled with very three dimensional characters all doing their best to accomplish their personal goals in life. Battle System: 10/10 Your characters are no longer limited to performing certain actions in battle and having certain strengths and weaknesses as was the case in previous FF games. Now everybody starts on the same scale and they develop evenly over the course of the game. Everybody can learn every magic spell in the game and they each have their own unique ability which is equal in power to another character's unique ability. Once you gain control of Espers you can even guide your characters through their own path by raising certain stats as they level up (An esper may increase a character's Magical Power by 2 once they level up). You have full customization of your characters, and nobody is really any better than anybody else. You are allowed four group members to participate in battles and you're not stuck with a main character who's there for every single battle you participate in. Despite the equality of the battle system there is still a major level of strategy involved. It's about using your character's magic spells to set up the next character or you could have two or more characters using their best spells to take down a powerful foe. It's also about using the right weapons and armor. This game introduces a whole slew of different monsters for your group to deal with; but they're nothing with the right weapons and armor equipped. Difficulty: 10/10 Any RPG game is just as difficult as you want it to be. If you breeze through the game on your first try then beat it at lower levels. If you struggled through your first game then try leveling up some more. If you breeze through the game at low levels then try adding a challenge such as: Solo character, Initial equipment, Beat within X time or before x number of steps. Try it without magic, try it by only using magic; the possibilities are truly endless here. If you're going to play the game normally though (just the right level to scathe by, no additional challenges, etc.) then this game provides a fairly tough challenge towards the end. Actually, throughout the whole game you'll see a major challenge; it's not easy to walk out of certain dungeons or certain bosses alive and intact, but it can be done. With a little bit of time put into it this could be the easiest game that you'll ever play or if you just want to get through it you'll find a decent challenge waiting for you. Level Complexity: 8/10 FF3 has some difficult dungeons to navigate through, however, they're not difficult enough to warrant decent exploration. Most of the treasure chests are comfortably along the main path (in some cases a godsend, but in others pointless). There's really no reason to stray from the main path other than fighting additional battles to level up. With that being said, even a lot of the dungeons are still relatively easy to navigate through as there are never many twists and turns (with some exceptions). Don't expect to spend more than a couple of hours exploring any dungeon in this game; at least half of them only take minutes. Music: 8/10 FF6 has a wonderful soundtrack which fills your ears with many songs of anger, danger, despair, hopelessness, regal life, calmness, joy, and many other emotions that are conveyed wonderfully. FF3 still uses the same music for every town and the same song for every cavern that you enter which makes some of the songs get a little old. Sound: 4/10 This game has very little sound and whatever it does have it lacks, greatly. Kefka's laugther sounds like a woman screaming, explosions are just loud ambient noises synthesized together, a lot of the magic spells just sound plain funky. FF3 tried to have sound, but even for its time there wasn't much to it. Graphics: 10/10 Okay, for 1994 these are awesome graphics. There are very intricate details put into the grass and stone walkways. All of the houses are amazingly detailed and very realistic looking, except for the fact that they all look exactly the same with a different shape and furnature arrangement. For once the people are a decent height and you can tell what kind of a person you're talking to just by looking at them. In battles you can see the different weapons that your characters wield as they fly across the stage in a single stroke. Spells like Fire and Ice look very realistic (Ice 2 is even transparent!) There's a location where it rains all of the time and a stage where it's perpetually nighttime and it's shown on screen as you play the game. Controls: 10/10 It's very hard to have bad controls for an RPG. Gameplay: 7/10 This game starts off fairy simple with straightforward dungeons and linear gameplay, but once you reach the second half of the game things become more complex. FF3 goes from simple to challenging almost immediately. At first your following the path that the game has laid out for you: doing a mission or two here, going to rest over there, but once you reach a certain point the path becomes intertwined and distorted and there's never a clear destination. You wind up just randomly searching at places that you happen to hear about until you find someone or something. Actually there's a lot of the game that's entirely optional; you could either get the three necessary characters and fight the final boss or you could regroup all of your allies, collect more gear and espers, then fight the final boss; but it's really up to you. This allows very open-ended gameplay at the end leaving multiple endings open to the player. Fun Factor: 8/10 FF3 is a fun game, even when you're deciding where to go next there's always a surprise waiting for you. FF3 is full of plot twists and powerful monsters that will leave you guessing and clinging onto dear life until the very end. Shopping is less of a hassle because instead of just upgrading equipment constantly the shops offer whole new sleus of equipment every now and then allowing the player to experiment more and more. The battles are relatively complex and challenging, but still entertaining. There are some storyline battles that are fun to participate in or watch. Aside from battles and shopping there's plenty of fun outside of the main story. Overall Score: 7/10 Reviewer's Score: 7/10 | Originally Posted: 04/16/08 Game Release: Final Fantasy III (US, 10/20/94) Got Your Own Opinion?

http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/554041-final-fantasy-iii/reviews/review-124252

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Vanishing Point Genre Sport -> Racing Today's Rank 33281 Date N/A Publisher Acclaim Date 2001-03-09 Publisher Acclaim Vanishing Point Vanishing Point United Kingdom Retail Box ArtVanishing Point's title suggests the aim of the developers: to achieve a true, endless view without pop-up or fog, so that players can see to the horizon. The game runs at a constant 60 frames per second and features straightforward racing elements; also, it features a stunt mode, in which realistic physics are implemented in unrealistic events, such as slaloms, barrel rolls, and jumping. There are 8 one-player tracks, 4 two-player tracks, and 13 stunt tracks; all of which are available in forward, reverse, and mirrored combinations. Vanishing Point's tune-up shop allows user-friendly but powerful modification of your vehicle's specifications that can be tested on a special tune-up shop track. All of the cars are licensed from top manufacturers like Audi, BMW, and Lotus (to name but a few), and the development team has worked with engineers in the auto industry to ensure that the vehicular physics are both accurate and realistic. Sponsored Links Vanishing Point North America Retail Box Art Vanishing Point United Kingdom Retail Box Art

http://www.gamershell.com/dreamcast/vanishing_point/box.html

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Thief Review: Petty Posted by: Mike Splechta Gamezone Review Rating 6.5 Above Average Your Score Garrett the Master Thief has had a long, ten year hiatus since his last outing in Deadly Shadows. You would think having a long time to gather your thoughts and hone your skills would do a Master Thief good. In reality, it made Garrett all the more rusty. It's a polarizing experience really, with moments teeming with brilliance quickly overshadowed by mission-breaking bugs, bad lip-syncing or overly frequent loading times. Thief shines in the stealth department, which is a relief considering the game heavily relies on it. Sure, you can brute force your way through guards, knock them out from behind or send an arrow through their skull, but the brilliance of the game lies in figuring out a way around them. In that way, Thief's sneaky moments turn the game into a puzzle. Do you go out of your way to put out all lightsources and stay hidden, or do you take the high ground and sneak above unsuspecting guards? Do you use Garrett's various specialized arrows to put out fires around him, or start them with a fire arrow and cause a distraction long enough for him to slip by unnoticed? Choice is the keyword here, and Thief thankfully has a lot of it to offer. Each new location you come across will serve up a buffet of choices in how to tackle them. Garrett's arsenal and move set make him a stealth force to be reckoned with. One of the handiest skills is Swoop, which allows Garrett to quickly move ahead a decent distance, making it one of the most indespensible skills when moving between shadows. Seriously, this ability is amazing. Thief also handles first-person running in one of the best ways I've seen thus far. It just seems natural. From the momentum Garrett gains as soon as you press it to actually navigating when running, the whole process seems super smooth. However the silver linings end there. NPCs in Thief are just plain stupid. Don't get me wrong, I understand the need and importance of guards eventually stopping their pursuit in stealth games, but the way they do it in Thief just seems silly. Here's a scenario. A guard is patrolling near a burning fire. I need to sneak past him, but to do that, I need to dispose of the fire. After shooting my water arrow at it, he gets startled and goes on alert, giving me the chance to sneak by him while he's looking at the fire. That's great, but a mere seconds after, he relights the fire and goes back to his post, ignoring the arrow that's lodged into it. The fact that Garrett turns practically invisible when crouched in shadows also warrants for some silly NPC encounters. For instance, a guard can be standing literally in front of Garrett and not notice him thanks to being in the shadows. You don't even have to hide behind anything. Like Deadly Shadows before it, Thief allows Garrett to explore the City in between missions. The City also holds numerous challenges, such as side missions to complete for Basso and other various clients. Garrett can break into various homes to steal valuables and increase his gold amount as well pick up a number of collectibles scattered around. As much as I initially liked the open-world like structure of the City, it wasn't long before I grew to loathe it. Getting from one place to the next or simply trying to reach the next mission can be extremely frustrating. Instead of the City being one seamless playground for Garrett, it's separated into various smaller districts, all requiring about 20-30 seconds of loading (played on the PlayStation 4). But it's not as simple as running to a door to get to the next district. These places are separated by windows or barricaded alleyways that you're never fully sure lead to the place you want to go. In one instance, I spent about 20 minutes trying to reach one end of the district and kept running around in circles because the most obvious path was always blocked. This frustration is further enhanced by the fact that you don't always know what Garrett can or can't climb or jump across. There are a few visual cues that distinguish a scaleable wall, but there are also ledges that seem like they can be climbed on but can't. It's also frustrating when trying to run across a gap, hoping that Garrett will jump across, only to have him jump down into the streets instead. This makes traversing the town in any efficient matter non-existant. It's a shame, since like I previously stated, I absolutely love Garrett's running mechanics. Yours for the taking Continuing with the theme of archaic game design is the constantly repeating audio loops of NPCs in the city. If you stay in one place for more than 10 seconds, you'll hear the same conversation looping over and over with the same responses. It's maddening. Then come the random bugs that completely ruin the immersiveness of the game. Cutscenes will randomly drop framerate, but the sound will still keep playing, ensuring that the rest of the cutscene is completely out of sync with the audio. Garrett also occasionally has various items stuck to his hands in cutscenes, like his bow. One of the worst bugs I encountered (which required me to completely restart a mission) was having an important NPC get stuck to an object. No matter what I did, he wouldn't budge. Goodbye, last 30 minutes. Visually, Thief is a really good looking game. Sure it's mostly dark and not teeming with color, but it doesn't need to be. The architecture of the City looks absolutely believable. And those unique collectibles, like necklaces and rings look stunning as well. The sound is a mixed bag. While the soundtrack is mostly great, it has a few odd tunes that would fit more in a horror game than here, though admittedly, there is one mission that takes place in a run down asylum. Voice acting is also mediocre at best. Garrett just doesn't sound likeable, though the supporting case, Basso especially, sound pretty great. It might be a silly comparison, but Thief is sort of like the poor-man's Dishonored. Both have cities that are plagued with some sort of disease, and both rely on heavy stealth mechanics to keep the plot going. However, Dishonored had much better level design, voice acting, likeable characters and some sweet powers thrown in for good measure. Maybe it's because Thief is a cross-gen game, but many elements of Thief don't really scream next-gen. The amount of loading screens I had to endure during my playthrough was unbearable. Some might be able to look past Thief's shortcomings and instead only focus on the moments of brilliance. However, I imagine long-time Thief fans hoping for Garrett's grand return might be somewhat disappointed.  [Reviewed on PlayStation 4] Tags: Thief, Square Enix, Eidos Montreal, Garrett Anonymous User

http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/2014/02/24/thief-review-petty

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• Tall Timbers The new ie 9 is really nice (uncluttered to an extreme, and fast), but doesn’t seem to be any more html compliant than before. I look forward to the new releases of Firefox. • FreeYourMind Does any of this really matter at all? So long as you can see information in your browser from a website, what more does it -really- need to do for you?

http://www.geek.com/news/mozilla-teases-possible-new-features-of-firefox-5-1315377/

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The Demoman wiki last edited by minivan on 02/13/14 06:38AM View full history The Demoman is a character class in the Team Fortress franchise. His primary and secondary weapons are his grenade launcher and his sticky grenade launcher, both making the Demoman crucial to the roles of area denial and sentry destruction. He is widely known for being an angry "black Scottish cyclops." His real name was revealed to be Tavish DeGroot in a comic released with the Demo update. • Health: 175 • Speed: 93% of normal • Role: Defensive The Demoman is voiced by Gary Schwartz, who also voices the Heavy. A fierce temper, a fascination with all things explosive, and a terrible plan to kill the Loch Ness Monster cost the six year old Demoman both adoptive parents. Later, at the Crypt Grammar School for Orphans near Ullapool in the Scottish Highlands, the boy's bomb-making skills improved dramatically. His disposition and total number of intact eyeballs, however, did not. It was not long before Crypt Grammar received two visitors: Demoman's real parents, who explained that all Demomen are abandoned at birth until their skills manifest themselves, a longstanding, cruel, and wholly unnecessary tradition among the Highland Demolition Men. • Name: Tavish De Groot • Country of origin: Ullapool, Scotland, United Kingdom • Motto: "Boom, Baby, Boom" • Emblem: Bomb He now currently lives in a large mansion in Badlands, New Mexico. He makes an estimated five million dollars a year, which he makes because he holds down three jobs. Default Weapons Grenade Launcher Grenade Launcher The grenade launcher fires standard grenades that either explode on impact with an enemy (on the full only), or else explode after a couple of seconds. Like the shotgun, they can be fired at any time so long as at least one grenade is loaded, and the grenades themselves bounce off walls making them conducive to firing at enemies around corners or behind cover. For immediate threats to the Demoman's livelihood, it is usually worth aiming to hit on the full, which requires the Demoman to predict where his target will be in about half a second’s time and aim there dependent on the server lag. The best use of the grenade launcher tends to be as a spam weapon, firing rounds into a group of multiple enemies, and not worrying too much if they miss – as long as the enemies are not advancing too quickly, the explosions will still get them. Critical grenades are extremely dangerous for anyone nearby, so they compliment this strategy very nicely. Reloading is slow, so do it often, whenever you get the chance. As of the Pyro Update, Pyros equipped with the standard flamethrower can use their air blast to not only deflect these grenades but to change their color, causing them to do damage the Demoman's team. As a result caution should be taken firing blindly into congested areas. Advantages: Respectable damage plus splash damage, line of sight not required, perfect for harassing targets in or around cover, can be spammed to weaken enemies and deter movement. Disadvantages: Must hit enemy on the full to ensure damage (often difficult), small clip and painfully slow to reload when you really need it to, pretty ineffective against aware and dodging enemies beyond short range. • Ammo: Holds 4 grenades, 16 in reserve. • Base damage: 120 • Critical hits: 295 • Max range: Medium • Projectile: Arcing grenade • Reload: One at a time Sticky Grenade Launcher Sticky Grenade Launcher The sticky bomb launcher (aka pipe bomb or sticky grenade launcher) is more tactical than the grenade launcher, but operates in a similar fashion. Fire the sticky bombs with primary fire and detonate with secondary fire. Only 8 sticky bombs can be placed at a given time, so placing another one will cause the oldest one to detonate, causing standard explosion damage. If you hold down the fire button you will charge up your shot before release, giving it more velocity. It can be used as an anti-personnel weapon in a direct fire fight by firing and immediately detonating the sticky bombs, or by placing the sticky bomb where your target will be in the next few seconds. Chances are he won’t react quickly enough, and you can detonate the bombs right as he walks over them. Both methods are generally used while backpedalling and dodging fire. The sticky bomb launcher also has great tactical uses. First, the sight of sticky bombs in a doorway or narrow path, complimented by the demoman making his presence known, serves as a very effective deterrent to enemies who know that if they walk through the field of bombs, they will most likely explode. As such, visibly covering choke points with sticky bombs, or ‘plugging’ them, can cause enemies to reconsider their path, and if not prevent attacks altogether, at least slow them down. Just be careful not to get picked off before pressing the button because all of your sticky bombs disappear the second you die. If you are still alive when they do eventually walk through (or if the enemy team simply doesn't care about the threat), it tends to be at least one free kill. The other tact is taking the sneaky approach by placing your stickies in hard to see locations and watch them from a distance; tucked into a corner right past a door or hallway is usually a standard spot. Simply wait until an enemy walks past them for a nice bloody mess. Another great use for sticky bombs is for destruction, or the killing of engineer buildings, especially sentry guns. Soldiers and demomen are usually tasked with destroying these dangerous pieces of equipment, and the sticky bomb launcher is the perfect tool for the job. The demoman can pop out from cover, fire a sticky bomb at the sentry gun’s base, and quickly return to cover before the sentry can start firing. Rinse and repeat until about 3 sticky bombs are near the sentry gun, then detonate them. The upshot of this is, unlike the steady flow of rockets a soldier uses to do this, the engineer has no time to repair his buildings – they are destroyed instantly, usually along with the Engineer. The fun really begins when the demoman is übercharged as he can stroll through enemy territory placing sticky bombs on every building he sees. Again, don't wait too long to blow the bombs up as you might get killed the instant the Ubercharge wears off. Advantages: Nice clip size, can stick to most surfaces making it effective for ambushing, ability to charge shot for good range coverage, detonate ability can ensure damage, especially effective against stationary targets (engineer buildings), gives demoman the ability to sticky bomb jump, wall of stickies in a choke point serves as a major deterrent for enemy movement. Disadvantages: Weak for short range face-offs where damage can take too long to be dealt, painfully slow reload, planted sticky bombs can be displaced by bullets and explosions, direct hits on enemies are useless. • Ammo: Holds 8 bombs, 24 in reserve. • Base Damage: 120 (45-114 to self) • Mini-crits: 162 • Critical hits: 180 at max range from explosion, 353 at direct contact. • Max range: Medium (Long if charged) • Projectile: Arcing grenade • Reload: One at a time Whisky Bottle Whisky Bottle Another amusing melee weapon, the whisky-loving demoman busts out an empty xXx whisky bottle bar fight-style and smashes his enemies with it. Critical hits cause the bottle to break, which has no effect on gameplay. • Base Damage: 65 (59 to 72) • Mini-crits: 88 • Critical hits: 195 Unlockable Weapons Loch-n-Load (Replaces the Grenade Launcher) The Loch-n-Load The Loch-n-Load is a craftable primary weapon for the Demoman, released for the The Expert's Ordnance set. It has 60% less clip size. The grenades fired by the Loch-n-Load are much faster, and inflict slightly more damage, but are more hazardous to the Demoman that fired them, giving 25% more damage do the player, and will shatter harmlessly if they hit something other than an enemy player. The Loose Cannon (Replaces the Grenade Launcher) The Loose Cannon. The Loose Cannon is a hand cannon that fires bombs that do not explode on contact, but knock back the target. they also do 50% less damage after contact with a surface. however, the grenades fired have a shorter fuse of 2 seconds, and can be primed before fired. The Scottish Resistance (Replaces the Sticky Launcher) The Scottish Resistance A weapon coming out of the WAR! update. This weapon can lay 14 sticky bombs down at one time, as opposed to the default 8, and carries 50% more reserve ammo. When detonating stickies only the ones in your view will explode, meaning you can set and spring multiple traps independently. This can be useful when used as a defensive weapon on maps with multiple entryways. In an added bonus the Resistance's bombs will destroy enemy stickies instead of just blowing them around. The weapon's main downside is an increased arm time of 0.4 seconds. This may not seem like much but it effectively keeps you from air-bursting your bombs, and overall gives your enemies more time to react, keeping this weapon almost strictly in the defensive category. Also since you need to see the bombs you are detonating you cannot blind fire up into windows. Sticky jumping can prove to be trickier with this weapon. • The player is awarded the Scottish Resistance for achieving " Demoman Milestone 3" (Get 17 Demoman achievements) The Chargin` Targe (Replaces the Sticky Launcher) The Chargin' Targe This weapon was released after the WAR! update. The Chargin' Targe is a small shield that sits on your left arm while using your other weapons, reducing fire and explosive damage. The targe also gives you an alt-fire charge move that hurtles you forward. Can be used to cross terrain, impale your enemies on the targe, or give a critical boost to your melee weapons. • The player is awarded the Chargin' Targe for achieving " Demoman Milestone 1" (Get 5 Demoman achievements) Splendid Screen (Replaces the Sticky Launcher) The Splendid Screen This weapon is a iron shield with four knobs on it, and a large boss in the middle. It gives 60% less fire resistance and 62,5% less explosive resistance, compared to the Chargin' Targe. However, it doesn't have a minimum distance required to deliver damage with the shield bash, and a sucessful charge delivers 70% more damage. The Eyelander (Replaces the Bottle) The Eyelander The last weapon to come out of the WAR! update. This weapon is a mighty claymore with a long reach, and when used in conjunction with The Chargin' Targe it can inflict alot of damage on an enemy. Dashing towards them can quickly put you right into their face and give you a critical buff at the same time. The sword is cursed however, and starts a demo that uses it with 25 less health. However if you satiate the sword's desire for heads by felling your opponents each decapitation will give you a boost in max health and speed. • The player is awarded the Eyelander for achieving " Demoman Milestone 2" (Get 11 Demoman achievements) • The Eyelander does not make random critical hits like other weapons. The Scotsman's Skullcutter (Replaces the Bottle) The Scotsman's Skullcutter DescriptionA seriously savage battle-axe carried by the Demoman into the heart of battle. This giant weapon hits 20% harder than normal melee weapons but it's size means the Demoman moves 15% slower. Although it will decapitate enemies like the Eyelander it does not gain any head bonuses. On the plus side it has the Eyelander's long range but can still make random criticals as well as Targe assisted ones. • Base Damage: 78 • Mini-crit: 105 • Critical Hit: 234 (Enough to kill all unbuffed classes but the Heavy) • The Scotsman's Skullcutter can be crafted by combining an Axtinguisher with a Jarate. The Pain Train (Replaces the Bottle) The Pain Train The Pain Train is a "Makeshift Club" that can be used by either the Demoman or his fellow explosives aficionado the Soldier. This crude piece of weaponry gives you the Scout's ability to count as two people in regards to speeding up a point capture or pushcart. It's downside is that you take 10% extra damage from hitscan weapons (Shotguns, pistols, sentries ect). • The Pain Train can be crafted by combining a Sandman with one scrap metal. • The Pain Train functions identically to the bottle as a melee weapon. Frying Pan (Replaces the Bottle) Melee weapon that was given away during the Left 4 Dead 2 "The Sacrifice" promotion, to players who bought or had already purchased Left 4 Dead 2. Unusual Headless Horseman's Headtaker (Replaces the Bottle) The Unusual Headless Horseman's Headtaker Melee weapon craftable and obtainable since the Scream Fortress halloween event. It's a re-skin of the Eyelander, with all the stats unchanged. Ullapool Caber (Replaces the Bottle) The Ullapool Caber This weapon explodes upon impact, causing every enemy as well as yourself to take damage. It deals 150 damage to all enemies in the blast radius with no damage fall-off due to damage. Only the first hit explodes. After the first hit, the grenade does not crit randomly and does standard damage for a melee weapon. The only way to replenish the explosive charge it to hit a Resupply Locker. Half-Zatoichi (Replaces the Bottle) The Half-Zatoichi When you wield this weapon, you can't change weapons until you kill an enemy. Upon killing, the player's health is restored in full. Anyone wielding a Half-Zatoichi can instantly slay any enemy actively brandishing a Half-Zatoichi of their own. Persian Persuader (Replaces the Bottle) The Persian Persuader This melee weapon is a scimitar with a brass hilt and a bloodied blade, that doubles the recharge rate of the Chargin' Targe and the Splendid Screen when equipped, and converts ammo pickup to health when collected (it doesn't apply to the Payload Cart, the Resupply Locker, and Dispensers) Nessie's Nine Iron (Replaces the Bottle) The Nessie's Nine Iron This community created melee weapon is a re-skin for the Eyelander. It has the appearance of a golf club. All stats and weapon system is the same as the Eyelander. Sticky Bomb Jumping Sticky Bomb Jumping is very similar to rocket jumping, but using sticky bombs instead of rockets (note: a player is able to increase their jump height by using pipe bombs, but the issues of timing and erratic bomb behavior make this impractical). To do a sticky jump: 1. Place a sticky on the ground 2. Run towards the sticky 3. Jump over then detonate the sticky Depending the angle and distance between you and the sticky, you can achieve various distances and heights. You can even use two stickies to achieve ridiculous range, but this is ill-advised unless there is health or a medic near the landing zone (the bombs plus the landing will bring a full health Demoman to under 50 regularly). If you fire a crit sticky don't worry you won't take any extra damage. Also be aware that the period between launching the bomb and being able to detonate it is approximately one second, so don't go too fast or you will miss the jump. • Shoot your sticky bombs on the sides of walls, behind automatic doors, or around corners. Seasoned players will easily notice the sticky bombs on the floor, and it's ill-advised to place them like this unless you're in direct combat, guarding a capture point, sticky jumping or putting them on a slope so that players will not see them until it's too late. • Blind firing the pipe bombs isn't very useful (you can get lucky and take out some people, it's unlikey though), but it can have its advantages. Firing into a spot where you know an enemy has gone can flush them out, or into a busy area from behind cover. • Spreading your sticky bombs around a capture point is an effective, if not overused and obvious, way of protecting your capture point. When you see that your CP is being captured, just go ahead and right click. Meet the Demoman Meet the Demoman was released on October 9th 2007, the day before the release of Team Fortress 2. The video demonstrates the Demoman's love for explosives and also shows us the anger and drunkness the Demoman endures. Grenade Launcher Taunt position when the grenade launcher is equipped. The Demoman lifts up his body armor to show a smiley face taped onto the crotch of his pants and shouts, "KA-BOOM!" Sticky Grenade Launcher Taunt position when the sticky grenade launcher is equipped. The Demoman spins around, thumps his chest twice, and then throws a V-Sign. Whiskey Bottle Taunt position when the whiskey bottle is equipped. The Demoman says "Cheers, mate!", takes a swig from his bottle, and belches loudly in one of two different ways. The Demoman's taunt kill position. When taunting with the Eyelander, Half-Zatoichi, Nessie's Nine Iron, Persian Persuader or the Claidheamohmor equipped, the Demoman brings his sword up in one hand, twirls it, and then slashes it horizontally at neck level, decapitating anyone slow, unaware or simply unfortunate enough to be standing in front of him at the moment of the swing with a one hundred percent chance of death animation. It's necessary to kill someone with this taunt to earn the 'Scotch Tap' achievement. Below is a list of every hat the Demoman can equip in the head slot. Miscellaneous items Below is a list of every item the Demoman can equip in the two misc slots. • Dangeresque, Too? • A Whiff of the Old Brimstone • Scottish Snarl • Pickled Paws • Ornament Armament • Aladdin's Private Reserve • Snapped Pupil • Teufort Tooth Kicker • Professor's Pineapple • Liquor Locker • Bird-Man of Aberdeen • Battery Bandolier • Bearded Bombardier • King of Scotland Cape • Menpo • Bonedolier • Voodo-Cursed Demoman Soul • Deadliest Duckling • Cool Breeze • Mutton Mann • Buck Turner All-Stars • Blind Justice • Bolted Bombardier • HDMI Patch • Scrumpy Strongbox • Dark Age Defender • Tartantaloons • Gaelic Golf Bag • Macho Mann • Gaelic Garb • Whiskey Bib This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for: Comment and Save

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