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Welcome to Gaia! ::
Black Death Goddess's avatar
Interesting Consumer
16,350 Points
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Sooooo, no answer on the Halloween items in the gold shops then?
Daranigan's avatar
Dangerous Hunter
12,850 Points
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• Ultimate Player 200
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When are you gonna put up some new games that don't rely so much on facebook? Seriously. I don't want to have to go to facebook to play a game on gaia.
Thinking about it.
Thinking about what? Adding the games? Making new games that don't rely on facebook? An actual answer? What is going on with this?
Aria T-Loak's avatar
Invisible Elder
Angel Did Epic
Lunatic Lace
What would be your weapon of choice during the zombie apocalypse?
They would use Zero in that time >_>;; I think..
Ozini's avatar
Supportive Shapeshifter
11,050 Points
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Fedelta Hellbond
Fedelta Hellbond
I know that feel bro. ;~;
; x; I've been begging for the black hair similar to gogh reed zero hair for weeks. not even a maybe. Sometimes I wonder why I bother buying gaia cash or even try to do anything on here anymore. Mods don't really care either. I have a friend who was scammed and all they do is ask for screenie shot screenie shot proof more proof even after she gives it to them. Who the hell takes screenies of a gifting anyway!!
D'aww don't say that I'm sure everyone on the Gaia staff truly cares for the members of Gaia. 3nodding
About the hacking I'm sure there are a lot of fraud claims of being hacked so they just want to make sure she is telling the truth. As for the hair maybe in the future they might make a black version of it. c:
Uncle Kenny
We've broken all ties with the store as they basically took all of our inventory, kept it, and just stopped paying us. The store itself is not accessible from our site anymore and any links should no longer lead anywhere but pages that are down. So long story short, we're not in the business of RL merch anymore. The artists do have a RedBubble account that they're selling a few items through though.
I don't know Cali law, but ain't that illegal?
@ Gaia Staff : Will Gaia Consider adding an opt out check box for flying giftboxes and the like??
@Gaians : Click to see petition.
User Image
That's the first time I've heard of such a request, any reason as to why?
Calelith's avatar
Apocalyptic Abomination
I have a serious question. What are people like myself supposed to do on gaia? I joined a long time ago. I started in 2005 and I grew with gaia and I am sorry but gaia is refusing to grow with me. I am now over 18 years old and I know a lot of people that have also grown past the childhood years. I have dumped money into this site and I feel like gaia is saying, "oh your 18 now. well since you crossed that line we no longer care if you go or stay." I''m not saying I want to be able to c-y-b-e-r on the site or anything, but I am tired of watching my back because I am having a more mature conversation with my friends. There are many topics that do not involve any sexuallity that can go above a PG-13 level. I am mature. I am an adult. Is gaia ever gonna do anything to make the site more usable for it's members that grew up on gaia? Or are we just expected to quit something that has been such a big part of our lives for so long?
You do realize that Gaia is not PG-13 right?
"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wagh’nagl fhtagn."
ZeeCats's avatar
Shy Shopper
13,750 Points
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What happened to Waffles?
Fedelta Hellbond
Aaaaaaand its over..thanks again of gaia admins for absolutely nothing..[whimpers and goes away giving up on all hope of gaia]
Pfffffft, you haven't given up all hope and you know it! KNOW IT! :0
If you have something pressing, feel free to pm me with the question/info biggrin
Sisky, I sent you a PM :3
Hannah Yeager's avatar
Amateur Giver
8,150 Points
• Forum Regular 100
• Invisibility 100
• Generous 100
I have some questions that are sort of plot related, but I don't know if they're spoilers...
How exactly do vampires reproduce on Gaia? Is it just through sex? Can a person be embraced? Are both possible? Also, is embrace strictly a bite on the neck? Or is there some form of blood exchange between vampire and victim?
Kagami Noire's avatar
Generous Genius
Black Death Goddess
Would any EI and REI ideas be accepted by the artists?
pleeeeease if you have ideas make one with flowing long straight black hair? ;x; [whimper]
Oh I have a Question biggrin
How do you feel about the pace of our Gaia-verse plot?
And do you care if people are invested in the story?
Recently, I've seen plenty of people bashing the storyline as a whole.
It's slightly saddening to think that these individuals don''t give two sh*ts about the "backstory" (I guess we can call it that) ,
to a site they seem pretty invested in monetarily and otherwise.
Sagebomb's avatar
Aged Prophet
16,700 Points
• 50 Wins 150
• Perfect Attendance 400
In the playplus - Gaia relationship, does playplus do any of the development or is that pretty much a gaia thing? What is playplus in that respect. I.e does all development come from the gaia side of things?
Any clues on whats happening in soul crash dev world atm?
Any chance of getting a achievement granted to the top 10 pirates?
What happened to Waffles?
He got syrup'd.
Guin - Aoiichi's avatar
Hallowed Rogue
I dont know where i read this. BUT are you guys still takeing ideas for new Gaia games???
How bout a side scroller type game? ala Super mario bros? Where two players can compete against each other at once?
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<urn:uuid:731a22a3-8429-4a65-a08d-262668edfc6f>
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http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/ask-the-admin-archives/ask-the-admin-10-01-2012/t.82583617_541/
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CSN Houston, Bankruptcy and Why the Rockets Aren't Just Innocent Victims
Don't expect the Rockets or Astros on your TV anytime soon
Odds are that if you've flown an airline in the past decade, you've flown on an airline going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This is the popular bankruptcy, the one that lets the airline stay in business and keep flying while attempting to come up with a profitable business plan. You're also probably well aware of the awful customer service from the employees who are worried about layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts and loss of pension benefits while the execs who caused the bankruptcy get golden parachutes.
The result is a generally crappy airline that you keep flying because you have no choice while hoping that the company that emerges from bankruptcy has better management, a better plan and happier employees. And that's where CSN Houston is right now. The employees are worried about jobs, original programming might get cut and the executives who made this all happen are figuring out how they can profit.
Looking back, it was easy to tell that the network was doomed. Comcast wasn't exactly popular in Houston. The partner with the biggest ownership interest (Astros) was fielding an awful product that had destroyed fan interest throughout the viewing region. The required viewing footprint for the Astros and Rockets was different (the Astros wanting five states, the Rockets stuck in a sliver of Texas). And the operating structure was set up so that all parties had to agree to any contract, meaning that the Rockets could work out a deal to get the network carried on Direct TV only to have the Astros kill the deal if they didn't think the terms were good enough.
Then Drayton McLane and Comcast allegedly oversold the value of the network to Jim Crane (thus resulting in the fraud suit filed against them by Crane), which was a big deal since the network accounted for a large part of Crane's cost to buy the Astros. At the same time the non-Comcast satellite and cable providers seemed intent on gutting the network as part of some stand against rising RSN carriage fees.
With no other carriage deals than the one with Comcast worked out, the network could not make money. With the Astros threatening to reclaim their media rights from the network due to the network's inability to pay the media rights fees, the network was pushed into bankruptcy court, where for several months the parties have been fighting with each other over whether the network would actually be declared bankrupt.
Throughout this process the Houston Rockets have generally been seen as the innocent party, working hard to make deals happen only to have them vetoed by the greedy Astros (for what it's worth, the Astros told the court that only one carriage deal had been presented for approval, and that was in April of 2013). And it's the Rockets who have taken the lead since November, doing everything possible to work out some kind of deal to get the Astros and Rockets on TV. But briefs filed late last week by the Astros and Comcast make the Rockets out to be anything but innocent victims.
My Voice Nation Help
Sterling Meeks
Sterling Meeks
Good ole greed. The pro sports industry continues to rip consumers off at the box office and on the TV screen.
Not surprising considering Les Alexanders high handed way he controls Toyota Center....hockey anyone? OK but only if Les gets all advertising on the dasher boards, concessions, parking, who knows what else. And concert fans enjoying all those concerts Les has brought to Toyota since the Aeros departure to Iowa. Quite frankly I think Les is really Drayton's brother separated at birth.
From the Vault
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<urn:uuid:8f8f0167-f1a8-4338-9427-550dd02be0b3>
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http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2014/02/csn_houston_rockets_bankruptcy.php
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MUNCIE, Ind. -- Miami rallied from a double-point loss to take four singles victories, giving the RedHawks the 2013 MAC Tournament Championship, 4-3 over Bowling Green. The title is the third in the last five years for Miami, which had dropped 4-3 decisions in the finals in each of the last two championships.
The win was the eighth championship for Miami Athletics this year, a new all-time record for the department. In addition to regular-season and tournament titles in tennis, field hockey and soccer captured both regular- and postseason MAC titles, women's swimming won the MAC Championship and hockey won the final CCHA regular-season crown.
The action was eerily similar to the regular-season meeting between the top two seeds, when the outcome came down to the No. 1 match. That day, like Sunday, junior Nimisha Mohan rallied for the victory, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors in the process.
Mohan trailed 5-4 in the first set, but broke serve and held for a 6-5 advantage. Bowling Green's Nikki Chiricosta forced the tiebreaker and won the first three points, but Mohan rallied. She won four in a row, then after losing the next point, ran off three more for a 7-4 win to take the first set. Mohan rode the momentum to cruise to a 6-0 victory in the second set.
Miami (13-12) dropped the doubles point, falling at Nos. 2 and 3, 8-3 and 8-4 respectively. Christine Guerrazzi and Ana Rajkovic were the RedHawks' winner, posting an 8-1 victory at No. 1.
Alix Thurman evened the match with a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 2, but Bowling Green surged back ahead by winning the No. 6 match 6-3, 6-0. Rajkovic earned a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 5 and Raymond finished off a 6-0, 6-3 decision at No. 3 to give Miami its first lead. The junior was named to the all-tournament team after completing the year 10-0 against MAC opponents.
Bowling Green tied the score at 3-3 when it earned a 6-4, 6-4 triumph at No. 4.
With the victory, Miami earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in two weeks. The RedHawks will learn the opponent and tournament site Tuesday night on the NCAA Selection Show.
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A Stall Team (Peaked at #4 on UU Leaderboard)
Discussion in 'Past Gen Teams' started by Jubilee, Jul 30, 2010.
1. Jubilee
is a Contributor Alumnus
Jun 20, 2009
I began a few months ago to really get into the UU tier. It was just way more fun to me than the boring OU with every team being the same... After doing ok on the ladder, I faced a few stall teams, and I just lost to each one. So I decided to make my own stall team. This team by far is my most successful team, and it peaked at a CRE of 1706 as SUBAKI7134 and got me to #4 on the leaderboard last round.
Team Building Process
Team Building Process (open)
Every stall team needs a Pokemon to set up hazards. Omastar was perfect for this role because it has access to Stealth Rock AND Spikes, something not many UU / NU Pokemon can do. And, it has incredible physical bulk.
Every stall team also needs a special wall. What Pokemon is better than the sister of the biggest OU pink whore? Chansey has incredible special bulk and the ability to Wish pass.
I love Clefable. Its ability is just incredible. I needed a Pokemon who could absorb status / Leech Seed, and Clefable fits that role perfectly. Encore is very, very useful and stops any sweeper trying to set up on its tracks. I couldn't pass Clefable up.
Ok, looking at my team I had three Pokemon weak to Fighting, and had a physical sweeper weakness. I looked through UU and saw Weezing. It was perfect with its incredible Defense, and immunity to Ground and resistance to Fighting moves. I was also looking for a Pokemon to absorb Venusaur's Sleep Powders as well and I saw Weezing's RestTalk set. I had my fourth member chosen.
Now looking at my team, I noticed I needed a mixed wall. Milotic fits that role perfectly with its incredible bulk from both sides, and has access to Recover.
Now I needed a Rapid Spin blocker. Looking through the Ghosts of UU, I had to choose Spiritomb with its great Defenses (Why couldn't Game Freak give him better HP? :( ) Looking at my team I noticed how Ghosts like Rotom and Mismagius ran through my team, as Clefable and Chansey cant touch them behind Substitutes. I saw Spiritomb's Pursuit set and knew I had my spin blocker chosen.
The Hazard Lead
[IMG][IMG] Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
1) Surf
2) Stealth Rock
3) Earth Power
4) Spikes
Description: Max HP / almost max Defense gives Omastar the most physical bulk it can have with 8 Speed EVs to outspeed opposing Omastar leads. Surf for STAB, Earth Power for Qwilfish, Cloyster, and Kabutops leads.
Stealth Rock and Spikes for entry hazards.
Omastar against Top 10 Leads
Uxie - I use Spikes first to see if it's a TrickScarf variant, but if it Grass Knots (fails to KO) then I switch to Clefable.
Ambipom - It Fake Outs, and then I Surf as it Taunts. I then Surf again as it U-turns and act accordingly to what comes in.
Mesprit - I switch to Clefable as it Grass Knots. I then Encore it as it uses Stealth Rock and then Trick whatever comes in.
Omastar - Earth Power and hope it runs the standard spread as I outspeed it for the 2HKO.
Spiritomb - I first Stealth Rock and take 50-60% from Shadow Ball / Hidden Power then switch to Chansey and Toxic it.
Alakazam - Go straight to Spiritomb and Pursuit it as Alakazam fails to do anything to Tomb.
Cloyster - I just keep Earth Powering until it's KOed. It usually gets three layers up... good thing I personally don't see too many.
Moltres - I go straight to Chansey as it uses HP Grass.
Hippopatos - Surf and then Surf again for the KO.
Qwilfish - Earth Power as it uses Taunt / Spikes so it can only get up a max layer of two Spikes.
The Encorer
[IMG][IMG] Flame Orb
Nature: Calm
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 120 SpD / 12 Spe
1) Seismic Toss
2) Encore
3) Softboiled
4) Trick
Description: These are almost the standard EVs for Clefable, giving it the most bulk it can have from both sides. Except, I run 12 Speed EVs to outspeed ALL standard Clefable so I can easily beat them by Encoring and Seismic Tossing them first every time. I use Seismic Toss so I don't have to rely on Clefable's below average Attack stats and Encore for Pokemon trying to set up on me. I chose Flame Orb as I got tired of Pokemon like Rhyperior, Hitmonlee, and Donphan coming in on me to absorb the T-Wave. Afterward, I get to watch one of these so-called "counters" suffer from a burn. Softboiled is used to recover any damage done. Clefable is an extremely helpful member of this team protecting the team from SubSeeders, SubRoosters, Rest-Talkers, and most importantly it has Encore, which without my team would be swept by numerous Pokemon.
The Special Wall / Wish Passer
[IMG][IMG] Shed Shell / [IMG] Leftovers
Nature: Calm
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
1) Seismic Toss
2) Wish
3) Protect
4) Toxic
Description: This is the standard EV spread for a Wish passing Chansey. Toxic is used to stall out special attackers with Wish and Protect. Wish helps heal weakened team members, especially Spiritomb who has no way to recover HP on its own. I know you're thinking that Leftovers is the better option on Chansey, seeing its only use is for Dugtrio who isn't used much. I just couldn't stand being trapped by Dugtrio and being completely helpless against it, although I am considerign changing due to Dugtrio usage dropping. Chansey protects the team from powerful Special Attackers like Alakazam, Moltres, Houndoom, and much more that other members of the team can't handle.
The Mixed Wall / Hazer
[IMG][IMG] Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
1) Surf
2) Ice Beam
3) Recover
4) Haze / Hidden Power [IMG]
Description: Max HP and 58 SpD EVs give Milotic a little special bulk with the rest in its Defenses. Surf for STAB, and Ice Beam for Grass-types who love to come in on it. At first I had HP Psychic over Haze for those stupid Toxicroaks trying to set up on me. But then, I later realized Haze was far better, as it helps me against DD / SD Feraligatr and CM mono attacking Spiritomb, as Spiritomb runs through this team if Clefable is gone. Recover is used to recover off any damage Milotic has taken. Milotic is the only thing keeping mixed sweepers like Blaziken from running through my team and it keeps alot of other dangerous sweepers at bay like Rhyperior, Altaria, and Drapion to name a few.
The Physical Wall / Status Absorber
[IMG][IMG] Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 58 SpD
1) Sludge Bomb
2) Will-O-Wisp / Flamethrower
3) Rest
4) Sleep Talk
Description: 252 HP EVs for max HP, 200 Def EVs for physical bulk, and 58 SpD EVs to give it some special bulk to absorb hits from the versatile Venusaur. Sludge Bomb for STAB and I just didn't like using Thunderbolt / Flamethrower. And, the chance of poisoning is great. I love how Houndoom loves to come in on expecting a Will-O-Wisp or Flamethrower only to be hit by Sludge Bomb. Rest for recovery as I don't like Pain Split much and Sleep Talk so it's not a sitting duck when asleep and so it can absorb sleep moves. And finally Will-O-Wisp to cripple all physical attackers. Weezing is my go to Pokemon for all Fighting- type Pokemon and other strong physical attaclers that the other team members cant handle like Hitmonlee, SD Venusaur, and Heracross to name a few.
The Pursuit Trapper / Spin Blocker
[IMG][IMG] Leftovers
Nature: Sassy
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Attack / 252 SpD
1) Dark Pulse
2) Pursuit
3) Shadow Sneak
4) Will-O-Wisp
Description: These are the standard EVs for Spiritomb nowaday, 252 HP for bulk and 252 SpD to take as much special damage as possible. Dark Pulse for the incredibly annoying Will-O-Wisp Ghosts-, Pursuit for Ghost- and Psychic-types trying to escape, Shadow Sneak to hit Ghosts for quick super effective damage and, Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers like Drapion and Toxicroak who would otherwise take little damage from this set. Spiritomb is a very crucial member of this team protecting it from Substitute using Ghosts that would other wise run right through this team.
A Pokemon I'd love to fit on this team
[IMG][IMG] Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Defense / 4 SpD
1) Close Combat
2) Rapid Spin
3) Foresight
4) Sucker Punch / Rest
Why?: Id love to fit a Hitmontop on this team because my team lacks a Rapid Spinner. And some Pokemon who fail to 2HKO my Pokemon will 2HKO them with enough hazards on my team which could lead to me being swept. It would also take care of my Aggron weakness. The problem is, I don't see anything I can replace it with... if someone could give me a good enough reason on why I should replace it with "X" Pokemon or why I shouldn't, that would be great.
Threat List (Sorry Eo but I jacked this from your RMT ;___;)
Red means this Pokemon is a big threat.
Blue means this Pokemon is a moderate threat.
Black means this Pokemon is easily handled.
UU Threats
Absol - Milotic and Weezing can take a +2 Attack, I just have to hope it doesn't crit either of them, and hopefully I have entry hazards up so it dies quickly from LO.
Aggron - This Pokemon is a MAJOR threat. I can't switch in anything on it, as it 2HKOes everything. If it comes in on Chansey / Clefable, I have to sacrifice them as I cant switch in Milotic and risk Aggron being Jolly and being 2HKOd. A smart player can keep switching it in and out until my special walls are gone.
Alakazam -Switch to Spiritomb, Pursuit it and it's KOed. Not a big threat at all. Chansey can take it on as well, even though a Specs Focus Blast is going to hurt. (Noob thund and your Zam nom :P <3)
Altaria - Clefable can Encore / Trick DD variants, Milotic can Haze / Ice Beam DD variants as well. Support variants are handled by Clefable easily; just Encore and Seismic Toss it until it's KOed.
Azumarill - Choice Band variants are easily handled by Milotic, Weezing, and Spiritomb. SubPunch variants can be Encored by Clefable and taken on by Weezing.
Blaziken - Milotic is my only hope against it, but luckily Milotic isn't 2HKOed by anything it can throw (bar SD variants but those aren't very common at all).
Chansey - Clefable can Encore it and keep Seismic Tossing, while it cant do much to Clefable and my own Chansey.
Claydol - Go to Tomb as it Rapid Spins, Pursuit it, and then it isn't a problem anymore.
Clefable - This is exactly why I run Speed EVs on my Clefable to outspeed the standard Clefable. Encore it on a Seismic Toss and then Seismic Toss it till it's KOed, and Softboiled when I'm on low health. Belly Drum variants are hard to wall as it outspeeds Milo for Haze, but hopefully it isn't carrying a Toxic Orb and I can burn it; also, good thing they're not common.
Cloyster - Cloyster is blue just because I hate him. It gets to set up 2-3 layers of Spikes on Omastar as Earth Power fails to 2HKO...
Donphan - Milotic can Surf for a OHKO. Go to Spiritomb for the spin block, switch to Milo as it EQs, and Surf / Recover depending on the situation and what my opponent's team is.
Drapion - Omastar can Earth Power for good damage, Milotic can take any attack at +2 and Surf, and so can Weezing with Flamethrower. Clefable can Encore / Trick it. Bulky SD variants with Taunt can be annoying though and do some damage to me.
Dugtrio - Weak dicks are weak. Milotic can OHKO it. Has no chance whatsoever against Weezing, and Tomb can Sucker Punch. It can come in on Clefable in low health and KO it though.
Feraligatr - Milotic can Haze and Surf it until it's KOed. Clefable can Encore / Trick it. Weezing can take a +2 Waterfall and Sludge Bomb.
Hariyama - Lead Hariyama is annoying, as I have to switch out Omastar and bring in Weezing. Other than lead Hariyama, it isn't very common.
Hitmonlee - Weezing can take anything it can throw at it and take it out with Sludge Bomb. I usually go to Tomb first as it uses Close Combat, and then Pursuit it for some damage.
Hitmontop - If Milotic / Omastar are in, I usually stay in and Surf as the spinner variants Foresight, then I go to Tomb and Will-O-Wisp it. Then I go to Weezing, but unfortunately it always gets to spin my entry hazards away. Luckily, I always try and keep Omastar in good health for putting them back up.
Houndoom - Good thing Spikes + Stealth Rock + Life Orb take a toll on it, as even Chansey is getting hurt by Fire Blast at +2. Milotic can take a Dark Pulse at +2 but, I try and keep Milotic healthy to wall some of the specific Pokemon only it can take on.
Kabutops - Lead variants are easily beat by Omastar, as it uses Earth Power first turn then Surf. SD variants are dangerous, because without Milo I have nothing to take it out, and even Milo can be OHKOed by a +2 LO Stone Edge.
Lanturn - Clefable can Trick and Seismic Toss it until it's KOed. Chansey can take anything it has and Toxic it.
Leafeon - Weezing can take anything it has at +2.
Ludicolo - Chansey can take all LO special sets easily. I usually go to Chansey as it Surfs, and then Toxic it. If it has Leech Seed I go to Clefable and Softboiled as Toxic takes its toll. SD variants are handled by Weezing, but if Waterfall flinches though it's GG >.<
Mesprit - Go to Clefable as lead variants Grass Knot, and then Encore as it SRs and Trick whatever comes in. Physical Scarf variants are easily handled by Tomb. CM variants are easily handled by Clefable and Chansey.
Milotic - Clefable can handle bulky variants, Encore it on a Surf, and keep Seismic Tossing until it's KOed. LO variants are handled by Chansey.
Miltank - Clefable can Trick any Miltank a Flame Orb which completely cripples it, and Curse variants are handled by Clefable's Encore and Milotic's Haze.
Mismagius - Spiritomb can take CM and Nasty Plot variants, because even at +2 Shadow Ball isn't OHKOing it at full health. The only reason Mismagius is red is because of its Bulky Ghost set. With Taunt / Will-O-Wisp / Shadow Ball / Pain Split it completely shuts down my entire team if Spiritomb is gone.
Moltres - Chansey can Toxic LO variants and Milotic can handle it as well. SubRoost variants are easily handled by Clefable.
Nidoking - Milotic cant really switch in on it, as Earth Power + Thunderbolt + SR is going to hurt too much and possibly KO. I usually have to predict around it and Spiritomb can Sucker Punch it to low health.
Omastar - I Earth Power and hope they run the standard spread which I outspeed.
Poliwrath - Clefable actually easily handles it. Switch it in as it Substitutes on Milotic / Tomb and Encore its Substitute as it tries to Focus Punch. Weezing can handle it as well.
Regirock - Milotic beats it down with Surf, and Clefable handles Curse variants with Encore / Trick.
Registeel - Again Clefable can Encore it as it uses Iron Head / Seismic Toss and Trick it and Seismic Toss it until it's KOed.
Rhyperior - Milo outspeeds and OHKOes all variants. I usually switch in Milo as it EQs / SEs and then Recover as it switches out. It comes in on Chansey / Clefable a lot only to be Toxiced or Tricked a Flame Orb. Without Milotic it runs through my whole team. My only hope is to Trick it a Flame Orb or stall out Stone Edge's PP with Weezing's Rest.
Rotom - Spiritomb can Shadow Sneak / Pursuit it, and Clefable can take on Will-O-Wisp / Charge Beam versions. Not much of a problem.
Sceptile - I usually switch to Weezing to find out what set it's running, as switching to Chansey to take the Leaf Storm can potentially be dangerous as it could be an SD set. Once I find out what set it's running I have each set covered. SD sets are easily handled by Weezing, Specs sets are easily handled by Chansey, and Leech Seed sets are handled by Clefable.
Scyther - Weezing can handle SD variants, even though a +2 Aerial Ace is going to do a lot. Spiritomb can Sucker Punch for the KO (at 50% or so). Milotic can Ice Beam it.
Slowbro - Clefable Encores CM variants, and easily handles bulky variants with Encore / Seismic Toss. Chansey can Toxic it as well.
Slowking - Same story as Slowbro...
Spiritomb - Clefable can Encore / Trick CM variants, and Milotic has Haze CM variants as well. Choice Band variants are handled by those two as well.
Steelix - Omastar and Milotic can OHKO with Surf.
Swellow - Omastar can easily take anything it has, and Weezing and Milotic can take it on as well, although both are 2HKOed by it... Spiritomb can Sucker Punch it as well.
Tangrowth - Weezing does A LOT of damage with Sludge Bomb and can absorb the Sleep Powder, and Clefable can take the Leech Seed and Trick it a Flame Orb.
Torterra - Weezing easily handles any set it has.
Toxicroak - Weezing can Flamethrower for the 2HKO as Toxicroak does shit damage at +2. I used to HP Psychic it with Milo but I changed HP Psychic to Haze. Nasty Plot variants with Focus Blast could be dangerous, but luckily they aren't common.
Uxie - I usually use Spikes and see if it Tricks Omastar. If it Grass Knots then I switch to Clefable. Isn't a threat at all.
Venusaur - I switch to Weezing to absorb the sleep, and Weezing can take on SD variants (Unless I get lucky with Sleep Talk and it hasd Return) and USUALLY can take on LO variants. Bulky variants are easily handled by Clefable.
Weezing - Clefable can handle anything it has, and so can Chansey.
NU Threats
Articuno - Chansey handles LO variants even though they are very, very uncommon, and Clefable easily handles the SubRoost variants.
Cradily - Clefable can Encore / Trick Curse variants, but I haven't seen any other Cradily then Curse ones.
Exeggutor - The only reason it's blue is because I hate it. I HATE Exeggutor. Usually I will sac something for the Sleep Powder and go to Chansey for the Leaf Storm, although I have to be careful for the potential Explosion.
Jynx - Usually I switch to Weezing for the Lovely Kiss, and then Tomb as it Subs. Chansey can handle it as well. Milotic can Haze it, and Clefable can Encore it.
Kangaskhan - Kangaskhan is bulky and hits hard as hell with Choice Band. It 2HKOs everything besides Omastar with Band Double-Edge. I just have to wear it down, but usually something is getting KOed.
Lapras - Special variants are easily handled by Chansey, I have never seen a DD variant but that would be handled by Haze from Milotic, and Trick / Encore from Clefable.
Manectric - SubCharge sets are handled by Chansey. I have to watch out for Switcheroo though.
Magmortar - Just like Nidoking I have to be careful with it. It's very dangerous if it carries Cross Chop, but luckily Spikes + SR + LO will wear it down. Spiritomb can Sucker Punch when it's low on health. Choice sets are easily handled by Chansey though.
Ninetales - Chansey can Toxic it, Clefable can Encore it, and Milotic can Haze and Surf it.
Pinsir - Uhh Mold Breaker is annoying... hitting Weezing hard with EQ. Milotic can take it out in low health with Surf, and Spiritomb can Sucker Punch / burn it. Luckily, it's not very common at all. The only ones I've seen are Scarfed which Weezing can handle with prediction and lead ones which fails to 2HKO Omastar with Earthquake.
Qwilfish - This is why Omastar has Earth Power, because it's annoying as hell. SD variants are very dangerous as it can 2HKO everything on my team and Explode. Just got to wear it down with SR + Spikes + LO.
Ursaring - Spiritomb laughs as it fails to hit it with Facade. Sucker Punch 2HKOs.
Special Thanks: Thanks to Aromaflora for helping me with the team, staying with me on shoddy for hours, and using her awesome grammar skills to check all my mistakes on this RMT! Thanks! <3
2. dws93rd
Jul 12, 2010
Well, from my time playing UU, albeit short, this team looks as though it covers almost every threat and looks like a very solid team.
The first thing I would suggest is to put WoW on Weezing as it will help your team with the Aggron problem since it cripples him and makes him next to useless. Also, I would highly suggest changing Weezing to the standard Weezing and making Milotic's set a variant of a RestTalk set. IMO, Milotic's natural bulk+Marvel Scale activated thanks to Rest, will make it a much better wall and user of RestTalk than Weezing as it will multiply Milotic's Defense by 1.5, allowing it to take hits from just about anything in UU.
I could see Hitmontop filling the spot of Clefable on your team with the set you listed, but with an Adamant nature and 252 Atk Evs, as that way you can always OHKO and Aggron, with or without Entry Hazards
Hitmontop @ leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
1) Close Combat
2) Rapid Spin
3) Foresight
4) Sucker Punch
Not to mention, this set can 2HKO any Mismagius, including the BUlky Ghost you have trouble with. Plus, he can OHKO Chansey(if it takes damage from Entry Hazards tehn its a sure OHKO) and can 2HKO the more defensive Clefables, while OHKO'ing the more offensive ones, such as the StallBreaker. Also, Intimidate softens those blows from physical attackers.
3. Jubilee
is a Contributor Alumnus
Jun 20, 2009
Thanks for the rate dws93rd, I will change Flamethrower to WoW on Weezing and will give it a test. Im going to have to keep Weezing as my Rest Talker though as he can actually stay in on Venusaur. Also I like having Milotic be able to reliably heal its HP with Recover.
I honestly dont like the idea of switching out Clefable for Hitmontop either, Clefables Encore's are very very valuable to this team. If I get more comments on that though I wil try it.
4. tawp64
Feb 8, 2010
If anything, this needs a grounded poison type. Toxic spikes can threaten this team greatly, and weezing can't stop it because he has levitate.
An option is to change softboiled on clefable for wish, and replace wish on chansey for aromatheropy/heal bell. That way, you're safe from toxic spikes.
Then again, Hitmontop helps with rapid spin if you want to replace something.
Or, you could just use the grounded poison like drapion, who provides toxic spikes itself. It's bulky and can stop many sweepers. But idk where to put it.
Anyways, congratualtions on the CRE!
5. NightShadow
Jun 3, 2010
i don't think clefable is very helpful and as dws93rd rightly said, hitmontop should replace it since it can spin away rocks, spikes and t-spikes.
however, you do not have a single pokemon which can set up t-spikes, which is ridiculous for a stall team. i would suggest changing spikes to t-spikes on omastar (if it can learn, i'm not sure =.=).
overall, GREAT team. very solid.
6. Jubilee
is a Contributor Alumnus
Jun 20, 2009
Clefable is very very helpful with Encore, Tricking Flame Orb, and its ability. Ive tried using Hitmontop and I honestly like having Clefable more. Numerous times when I switched out Clefable for Hitmontop id find myself trying to switch in Clefable and realizing "oh yeah took her out". Shes very useful to this team even if both her and Chansey are on it.
Toxic Spikes in my opinion are INCREDIBLY stupid in UU.
Venusaur is the #1 Pokemon in UU, absorbs them and makes those turns of setting them up pointless.
7. august
august its hard to miss you when you follow us around
is a Smogon IRC AOPis a Tutor Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnuswon the 5th Official Smogon Tournamentis a World Cup of Pokemon defending champion
Nov 25, 2007
Alright a few things quick:
Use Careful 252 HP / 252 SDef on Spiritomb or you'll have a ton of trouble with Sub LO Split Rotom and alot more Taunt NP Mismagius troubles. As it is right now, your Spiritomb isn't specially bulky enough to be considered a ghost counter (its nearly 2HKO'd by Scarf Rotom TBolt after SR, and gets nuked by Specs TBolt), and by running Careful you'll have more insurance against CM Zam too since it wrecks stall if Tomb is gone. Will O Wisp would be ideal on Tomb too, so Absol doesn't set up in your face. Speaking of Absol you have a pretty big Absol weak.
I really don't see merit in both Chansey AND Clefable, i'd go for one or the other so you can fit Top on the team and fix the massive weakness to CB Aggron / Absol / Taunt Swords Dance Drapion and a load of other stuff. You also really need a spinner because as it is right now, you lose pretty handily to other stall, seeing as Omastar sets up on Weezing and Spiritomb with no trouble, and Hitmontop laughs at your Spiritomb.
I also don't understand Wish on Chansey. If you use Rest on Spiritomb (which you should) then the only mon without recovery is Omastar. I'd much rather use Aromatherapy / Heal Bell Chansey so you atleast have a cleric, which helps Milo alot considering it has trouble countering Curse Registeel / CM Tomb and stuff like that if it gets Toxiced.
good luck beating other stall without toxic spikes
8. ShinyAzelf
is a Battle Server Moderatoris a Contributor Alumnus
Jan 18, 2010
Hey, fixing your Aggron problem, you could run 84 speed EVs on Milotic, so it can outspeed Jolly Aggron (you hit 219 speed, and Jolly Aggron hits 218 speed) so you can nail it with a Surf.
How about this set?
Milotic @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 244 HP/160 Def/20 Sp. Def/84 Spe
-Ice Beam
-Haze/HP Psychic
I'm not sure if HP Psychic lowers your Speed IV so you may have to run more speed EVs if so.
I know you say you won't change Shed Shell on Chansey, and I might not be able to convince you to change to Leftovers, but whenever someone traps me using Dugtrio while my Chansey is out, Life Orbed Earthquake from Jolly Dugtrio does around 55% which combined with Softboiled and leftovers in my case can stall it out (provided crits aren't present). In your case, you can stall out with Wish/Protect. Yes, I know there are Choice Banded Dugtrios which do 70% to you, so if thats the case, I get a Seismic Toss on him, and in your case, I'd finish him off with a Sucker Punch/Pursuit from Spiritomb, depending what your opponent will do.
Not much about the team. Its great and good luck. =)
9. franky
is a Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Apr 12, 2009
Go for Psychic > Sucker Punch on Tomb to deal with Toxicroak - a problem that can beat your team quite easily given the multiple opportunities it has. To name a few though, it can hit Venu and Hariyama for super effective damage as well. Go for august idea with going 252/252 sassy nature on tomb as it maximizes on checking Missy, Zam, and Rotom (especially sublosplit). There is no need to pour in all of those attacks since most of these aforementioned threats are really frail on the physical end anyways.
Clefable needs to go - both Chansey and Clefable are redundant when they are placed on the same team. i have two propositions to make: go for the ev change for Weezing to a little more specially defensive to maximize on checking both sd, mix sceptile and venusaur variants. However, you'd need to add a physically defensive venusaur in exchange of Clefable! A physical venu will take care of not only leafeon (sd + double edge bypasses weezing), it also deals with Feraligatr and Azum since Milotic lacks hp grass. Additionally, venu gives you a much needed Milotic check because god knows one Milotic that will stay in on Chansey so it will be hard for it to induce Toxic. Go for Leaf Storm / Sludge Bomb / Synthesis / Roar with the evs 252 HP / 168 def / 16 spe / 72 spd with the bold nature. This spread optimizes on checking physical threats, surviving +2 lo shadow ball from missy (if the need arises), and outpaces adamant aggron! Roar is there over sleep powder to add more spikes damage and ultimately help you against enemy stall teams.
As for other options, go for a simple 252/252 bold spread on Milo. Cmon, Moltres is already put in check by the defensive juggernaut Chansey so there is no need to pour in all of that. overall gl!
10. Jubilee
is a Contributor Alumnus
Jun 20, 2009
Thanks for the rate August.
I changed Tomb to Careful 252/252 and I really like being able to take the hits from Ghosts alot better, the damage it does is quite poor though. But its better then him getting KOed and being swept by a ghost (He still 2HKO's Missy / Rotom with Shadow Sneak with the spread you listed).
I used Wish / Protect for Toxic stalling, I tried using Softboiled / Heal Bell with Rest Hitmontop and it worked pretty well.
Thanks for the rate franky.
I cant fit
Shadow Sneak / Pursuit / WoW / Rest / Dark Pulse / Psychic
Shadow Sneak / Pursuit are the two moves I'd deffinately and will keep.
So any opinion on what last two moves...?
Dakr Pulse will prove useful for those evil stall breaking Mismagius's, WoW is nice for things like Drapion and Toxicrok that can set up on this set, Psychic doesnt have much use besides Toxicroak and Hitmontop... Hitting Spinner Hitmontop super effectively looks really nice though lol.
On adding Saur I think I'd much rather add a Defensive Hitmontop then Defensive Venusaur.
I already have changed Milotic's EV's to 252/252, I just forgot to edit my post.
And about everyone commenting on Clefable AND Chansey.
Yea I know they both do almost the exact thing, but Chansey can take attacks Clefable cant, Like +2 LO Houndoom Fire Blast, Moltres, Alakazam (To an extent), and a few others I cant think of right now.
Clefable has Magic Guard and Encore. Two things that have been very important to this team (I cant stress how useful Encore is...), and have deffinately saved me more then once.
Ill give Leftovers a try on Chansey and see how it works.
The Speed EV's on Milo arent something id change though, thats sacrificing too much Defense imo. =/
And yes HP Psychic does lower your Speed IV. :x
11. Diesel
Aug 6, 2007
Lol I'm glad I clicked on this because I made a nearly identical team except I had Hitmontop over Chansey (and more specially defensive spreads on a few pokemon). All I can say is don't do that, because I really didn't have a lot of success and found I didn't have the switch-in ability to certain special attackers, especially if Spiritomb bit the dust early defending my Spikes, and tbh I really don't like Top much in general. Anyway, nice team and congrats on the success I didn't have.
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18 year old, seeking advice!
• Hey guys!
I just signed up for this, because I feel like I need support! I have recently lost a lot of weight. I took a 'break' week in which I ate whatever I wanted and didn't worry about working out. I just weighed myself and I gained ten pounds, in 8 days. My mom is saying it's water weight. Of course this is a huge set back and really discouraging. Can you guys weigh tell me what you think? Thanks :)
• Hiya OneDayAtATime77,
Yep you are going to regain weight if you go back to old habits. Some of that will be water weight maybe due to taking in more sodium than you did while you were eating better.
Some of that weight however is because you ate crap for a whole week. What needs to happen now is that you practice moderation for your favorite foods. You will always regain the weight if you don't and many people regain even more than when they started.
Right now you have a chance to not go back to that place by turning it back around right now. Commit yourself to a LIFETIME of healthy weight by making good food and exercise choices every day.
Body for Life is great in that a "free day" is built in, the other six days a week are eating clean and exercising.
• OneDayAtATime77,
James is totally right. When you get started on the program, you will notice that on on your free day you will put on a little weight- like for me, it's about two pounds, but it goes away within 48 hours after eating clean and exercising (and then more throughout the week...). It is not surprising that you gained over a pound each day for you "free eating" over eight days. Yes, some of if may be salt retaining, but much of it is that old weight gained back.
Again, to reiterate Jame's point, the beauty of the program is the built-in free day, so you can let loose. When I first started the challenge, that free day was my goal every week, and I have never been more satisfied with any "diet."
If you can commit to it you will love the results. Good luck!
"The fruit of life is the joy of discipline"
-Katiebug C1 W10 D7
• Body for Life is just that ... for life. Now you know why. Get back on the wagon and this time work on making it more a lifestyle. Too many people confuse it with a diet. Diets don't last, lifestyles do.
10's in exercise and nutrition = 10's in life
• One day at a time,
How did you lose the weight? If you were not doing BFL, then the diet may have caused you to lose muscle mass, which is one of the reasons that when we go off a "diet" our metabolism is slower, and we can gain weight back quickly. Just get on BFL...eat BFL by the book (follow the original book for best results), and do BFL workouts. The key is to LIFT HEAVY!! Build those muscles so you become a fat burning machine!
But, yes...my bet is that some of the weight is water weight. Come on, you know your mom is always right...mine is! Also, congratulations on losing a bunch of weight. Good job!!
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No Online Dating Site Can Match Up Your Inner Crazy
Online dating's said to be the future of relationships, now that we're all too busy to meet people in real life. But claims that websites can match you with your ideal partner using scientific algorithms are bull, according to a team of psychologists. Because not even fancy math can suss out our own unique brands of crazy.
In a report that's set to appear in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a team of psychologists has studied the ways in which websites attempt to match people up, and what the results mean for the singletons involved. Sadly, it's not great news.
The biggest problem is the promise of websites to match people up using fancy algorithms. Dating websites have a pretty limited pool of data to draw on, and it turns out that you can't really work out a relationship's long-term potential based on hair color, shared love of Chinese food, complementary tastes in mid-70s folk music or even a mutual love of Star Trek.
Instead, the researchers point out that the most important insights in predicting long-term romantic compatibility are things like a couple's interaction style and ability to navigate stressful circumstances. OK, so that is harder to assess, but it's not impossible. Some carefully designed questionnaires could help. Lead author Eli Finkel, Associate Professor of Social Psychology at Northwestern University, says:
So if you're using a dating website that claims to match you up with your dream guy or gal, well, you can pretty much ignore the claim. There is, after all, no way that a website knows about the weird way you shout at people about personal hygiene, the way you glare at people who say "less" when they mean "fewer" or the manner in which you interact with people when you're running late. And how a partner deals with that kind of thing is what really determines longevity.
Elsewhere, the researchers point out that dating websites can often paralyze users with choice, and as a result many people end up treating their quest for love more like a shopping trip. You can't buy love, though, guys. Some chaps in a little Biritsh band said something like that once, and it turns out they're right.
It's not all bad though: the researchers concede that dating websites do let people meet others more quickly than they might do in real life, and that chat and online messages are a good approximation to what it's really like to get a first impression of someone. So, go ahead, give online dating a shot. Just remember it can't take into account your inner crazy. [Psychological Science in the Public Interest via EurekAlert!; Image: Don Hankins]
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I've answered a Java question today. The answer was long and included a considerable amount of code. When I tried to post the answer, I got a cryptic error:
enter image description here
I've copied my text to an external editor, and tried posting parts using binary bisection. After some trial and error, the problem boiled down to a humoristic reference I made to LMGTFY.
It was very frustrating - I put some effort into an answer, and the error message didn't help me understand the problem, and wasn't even anywhere near the offending link (in this example, the link is at the top of the post, error message in the middle):
enter image description here
Could we change that to a meaningful error message, like:
Sorry, but "Let Me Google That For You" is not helpful and might be offensive. See why in our community discussion.
Update: Some comments suggest that we should not help rude users understand why they were rejected. I strongly disagree, for three reasons:
1. There are probably many users who post a LMGTFY link as a part of a good answer as a comic relief. They shouldn't be punished.
2. Users with tendency to rudeness can be schooled with a polite message that explains the reason behind blocking.
3. A frustrated hacked tries to take vengeance on the system. We can expect a lot of url shorteners and other tricks when a user finds out the blocking reasons after banging the head against the wall.
share|improve this question
Shouldn't that error message be a LMGTFY link about the state of LMGTFY on Stack Exchange? You know, to get the message across. – Time Traveling Bobby Feb 25 '13 at 13:18
Wow, that's brilliant. It would make the user smile, rather than grumble. Please suggest that as an answer. – Adam Matan Feb 25 '13 at 13:28
Why help those folks out? They're not helping other people out. – user7116 Feb 25 '13 at 13:50
@sixlettervariables: if someone writes a full answer and includes on LMGTFY link, they'll get that message. If they can't figure out what the problem is, they will probably not post the answer. That's not good. – Joachim Sauer Feb 25 '13 at 13:55
@JoachimSauer: I think the set of users who write good answers AND drop a LMGTFY link into it without knowing it is a problem is a very small set. We could probably live without those answers. – user7116 Feb 25 '13 at 14:20
I prefer "Direct links to lmgtfy.com are too obvious. Please use an url shortener that redirects to LMGTFY instead." – CodesInChaos Feb 25 '13 at 14:31
@sixlettervariables I've updated my answer to explain why. I spent ~10 minutes trying to figure out why an answer I put a lot of effort in was rejected. – Adam Matan Feb 25 '13 at 14:31
@AdamMatan: why on earth did you think LMGTFY would be appropriate in an answer on a professional site? – user7116 Feb 25 '13 at 15:01
@CodesInChaos: You. I like you. – BoltClock's a Unicorn Feb 25 '13 at 15:15
I can't think of an instance where someone would use LMGTFY unless knowingly being at best snarky or pejorative, so I think the thinking here was the issue should be pretty obvious. However, I do rather like the text you suggested, and I tend to favor "here's why you should not do that" (if the 'why' is available) over "don't do that". – Tim Post Feb 25 '13 at 15:25
@TimPost Well, one example that comes to mind is if there is already a post out there somewhere with a LMGTFY link in it and someone goes to edit it to improve some other unrelated problem, they'd get this error message and may not even realize that there's a LMGTFY link in there that ought to be edited out. Another case would be the link coming along for the ride in a copy/paste block making up a quote. – Servy Feb 25 '13 at 15:33
@Servy Yeah, making it more descriptive is good all around. – Tim Post Feb 25 '13 at 15:42
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1 Answer
The error message now shows which phrase is banned:
enter image description here
share|improve this answer
That's closer to CodesInChaos's suggestion than to the original one, though. Since you're presumably storing a list of these banned strings somewhere, wouldn't it be possible to improve the user interface by adding a "rejection message" column (or equivalent) to whatever table they're stored in? It could still default to "X cannot contain 'Y'." if not explicitly specified. – Ilmari Karonen Mar 5 '13 at 21:50
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What's involved in a car tune-up?
July 28, 2009 2:30 PM Subscribe
Car care: (1) How often, generally speaking, should I change my spark plugs and plug wires? (2) When a vehicle gets a "tune up," what, exactly, does this mean? What gets tuned? Thanks!
posted by jackypaper to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
Depends on the age of the car.
On most recent cars original plugs are made to last 100,000 miles.
On older cars without fuel injection, a tuneup means replacing the plugs, and then points and condenser. And then adjusting the carburetion. But most cars in the past 15 or so years do not have those parts, nor do they have carburetors. So, "major maintenance" usually includes changing out the timing belt, and maybe changing transmission fluid, as well as the plugs and plug wires (or however the plugs are connected).
YMMV. . .
posted by Danf at 2:36 PM on July 28, 2009
FYI, replacing the plugs and wires yourself is a fairly easy task. They screw in/out without a problem.
Changing a timing belt or chain seems like a very labor intensive process (I've never done it, but I've read the manual to see what needs to be done).
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:41 PM on July 28, 2009
Speaking really generally, I'd say new plugs and wires approximately every 30-50 thousand miles. At Audi, all of our cars call for new plugs at 55k or before. There may be plugs that claim a 100k lifespan, but every manufacturer that I can think of calls for plug replacement before 60,000.
Plugs may be changed more frequently on an older (pre 1990) car.
It'd be really helpful to know what kind of car you're talking about. Your owner's manual will have a schedule in it.
"Tune up" is somewhat of an antique term. Old cars required adjustments in regards to ignition timing and fuel mixture. New cars run on non-adjustable computer control so a "tune up" these days will consist, generally, of new filters (fuel and air) new plugs and wires (unless it's coil-on-plug), maybe a fluid flush of sorts, and some places will clean the carbon out of the throttle body and even run a solvent through the fuel injectors. Nothing gets "tuned" on a new car, just refreshed or restored.
A timing belt is typically a major service all its own and a major "tune up" style service is performed a half the timing belt interval. For example, a 50k will be a major tune up and 100k will involve a timing belt and water pump replacement.
posted by Jon-o at 2:44 PM on July 28, 2009 [1 favorite]
Not always; the link also gives some info about the increased lifespan of modern spark plugs. Your owners manual will tell you what is recommended for your particular car or you can probably find the info on the internet.
posted by TedW at 2:51 PM on July 28, 2009
In addition to the above, nowadays a "tune-up" will usually include a "thorough 40 point inspection", many of which will include mundane things like looking at the tires, checking their pressure, making sure the headlights work, etc. All for the low low price of $399.00 (or some ridiculous price).
I'm not saying it's a waste to have your car checked by a professional, but a lot of what you get is really straightforward stuff.
When in doubt, your owner's manual will tell you appropriate intervals to change things like air filter (very easy), spark plugs (usually easy), oil (easy but messy), transmission fluid (not always easy, messy), timing belt (professional time for most people), etc. These can vary widely by vehicle and usage.
posted by Big_B at 2:53 PM on July 28, 2009
1) It depends, somewhat, on the age and condition of your vehicle. Late model cars with modern high voltage electronic ignitions, platinum spark plugs, and fuel injected engines, dynamically "tune" themselves, to a great degree, and the reduction of moving parts, and better materials mean you may only need to replace your plugs and spark plug wires every 60,000 or so miles. Older cars, from the 70s and early 80s, often had semi-mechanical ignitions and fuel metering systems, with a rotating spark distributor and mechanical ignition points, as well as a carburetor for mixing fuel and air, all of which needed much more frequent adjustment and/or replacement, perhaps as often as every 10,000 to 12,000 miles. Follow your owner's manual service recommendations, for the type of driving that you do.
2) Again, it depends on the age and condition of your vehicle. In a modern car, there will be recommendations for inspection and replacement of various ignition and fuel system components at 30,000, 60,000, and 90,000 mile intervals (and thereafter, at generally 30,000 mile intervals). Air filters and fuel filters should be changed on schedule, or as dirt found in inspection dictates. Spark plugs and wires will usually be replaced at 60,000 miles. On fuel injected cars, fuel pressure and flow are usually checked when the spark plugs are replaced. Spark timing may be checked with a timing light, but rarely needs to be adjusted. Oil and lubrication services are also generally done at "tune up" intervals, although they should also be done at recommended intervals in between. Engine accessory belts, hoses and vacuum lines, and valve timing belts are also generally checked and replaced as needed.
On older Detroit V8 cars, a 12,000 mile tuneup used to typically include replacement of air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, and an oil change, as needed. Then, spark plug replacement, inspection/replacement of ignition points and condenser, check of spark coil output voltage, test/replacement of spark plug wires, replacement of spark plugs, adjustment of ignition timing and dwell, cleaning and inspection of carburetor, adjustment of idle mixture, check of carburetor accelerator pump function, carburetor float valve level, and a check for vacuum leaks. Inspection of engine accessory belts and hoses. About every 24,000 miles, a cooling system service was also usually done.
posted by paulsc at 2:54 PM on July 28, 2009
A note about spark plugs - internet forums devoted to your car's model are a fantastic resource for this sort of thing. On some cars the coils mount just above or on the spark plugs, and you need to be careful not to damage them while you are working or you are going to start spending a lot more money. I've learned some very valuable tricks on reading forums and can chance the plugs on our 4-cylinder car in five minutes. I have yet to attempt this on my v6.
posted by Big_B at 2:56 PM on July 28, 2009
Wellll...sort of. Many modern cars have individual ignition coils on each plug. Some of them can be downright fragile to remove intact(*COUGH*vw*COUGH*) In other instances, some plugs are almost unreachable. The rear bank on my Maxima, for instance (my aching back!) But, yeah, in general, plugs can be pretty easy. Definitely something a first-time DIYer should have no problem tackling.
Timing belts should be done only by someone who really knows what they are doing. Serious damage can be had if done wrong. Timing chains rarely, if ever, need replaced. Our Maxima has over 300k on it and the timing chain has never been serviced.
Re: "Tune-ups"...A couple months ago, we took one of our cars to the local Midas (I know, I know) for brake work. While there, a woman came in and asked about getting a tune-up for her recent-vintage mini van. To my astonishment, the manager told the woman that, for modern computerized cars, there really was no such thing as a "tune-up" anymore. They would hook it up to the diagnostic equipment, see if there were any trouble codes, check the fluids and pads and that's about all there is, unless the computer finds a problem. I was simply amazed that he didn't just say "Sure, we can do a tune-up" and rob her for $300 or something. I was impressed with the honesty.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:17 PM on July 28, 2009
Generally the term for tune-up is inspection. There is usually a minor and a major, call your dealer and ask them what they do for each.
Here's a quick list of what is usually done for BMW Inspection I/II, I would expect similar for your car.
posted by wongcorgi at 7:26 PM on July 28, 2009
Agreed- no more such thing as a tune up.
My experience: I've had a couple of cars with the 100,000 mile plugs in them, and they did last 100,000 miles. The KEY point when using platinum plugs is to know whether your car uses a "waste spark" system. If it does, you MUST use double-platinum plugs. A dollar or two more a piece, but without that, the plugs eat themselves alive. Also, the spark plugs (in this sort of modern vehicle with the platinum plugs) usually aren't the cause of any problems. They just don't wear out they way they used to.
All cars need these days is maintenance.
-Oil according to the preferred schedule.
-Air filter should be checked often, and replaced when it's dirty. (This *can* make a huge difference.)
-If the manual suggests changing the timing belt, it is usually a good idea to do so when they suggest it. When they fail, they can cause a lot of problems.
If you start getting drivability issues, things to check are spark plug wires, oxygen sensor(s) and MAF/MAP sensors.
Other than that, pretty much just fix stuff when it breaks.
posted by gjc at 7:31 PM on July 28, 2009
If you have the owner's manual for your car, it will have this information in it, as well as the schedule for all other maintenance. Depending on the car, you may be able to find a .pdf of the owner's manual online.
Like other posters have said, modern cars don't really need to get "tuned" the way older cars with carburetors and points did.
posted by zombiedance at 10:34 PM on July 28, 2009
Even if your car calls for plugs only after 100,000 miles, I'd still jump the gun and replace them as early as 70k. Not because the plugs won't last, but because of the increasing difficulty and risk of extracting the plugs. Most new engines have aluminum cylinder heads and at high mileage, after being heat soaked for about 7 or 8 years, the steel threads of the spark plug aren't so willing to unscrew. In the past, I've had three spark plugs SNAP OFF AT THE NUT on high milage cars. A 4.3 Blazer, a 3.0 Ranger, and a 3800 Impala, each with about 100-120k on them. Also, if a spark plug wire goes untouched for 100k, it becomes practically welded in place and the amount of effort to remove them is totally unreasonable, especially on a front-wheel drive V6 like the 3800. The rear plugs and wires are subjected to so much un-dissipated heat. I have vivid and unpleasant memories of sitting on top of the engine in that Impala, struggling to my wits end to remove the spark plug wire in one piece, and the feeling totally sick in my stomach when the spark plug snapped of. Then, I spent the next several hours extracting the old plug, having to view the whole process through a mirror since I couldn't fit my head between the firewall and the cylinder head. I had to chip the old porcelain insulator out of the core and then clear the threads without allowing the metal into the combustion chamber. It sucked.
There is absolutely ZERO harm in changing your plugs early, but the longer you put it off, the more stubborn they become.
posted by Jon-o at 4:09 AM on July 29, 2009
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Manip, although you are correct, this has nothing to do with why the String object is immutable. If I append a few characters to a StringBuilder, the same move/copy/free thing is done, but the StringBuilder class is not immutable.
Let's take a look at an example with a method that both the StringBuilder and String classes have:
String x = "hello";
String y = x.Replace('e', 'u');
StringBuilder a = new StringBuilder("hello");
StringBuilder b = a.Replace('e', 'u');
Console.WriteLine("x: " + x);
Console.WriteLine("y: " + y);
Console.WriteLine("a: " + a.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("b: " + b.ToString());
What's the output of this program:
x: hello
y: hullo
a: hullo
b: hullo
As you can see, the Replace call did not change the String class instance, but it did change the StringBuilder instance (the only reason why StringBuilder.Replace also returns an instance is to make it possible to chain calls. In fact, it doesn't return a new instance, but the same one, so you'll find that Object.ReferenceEquals(a, b) == true).
Now as to why. I don't know all the reasons, but one of them is this. In .Net, String is a reference type, so it is never copied, but passed by reference. Compare this to the C++ std::string object (which is not immutable), which is passed by value. This means that if you want to use a String as a key in a Hashtable, you're fine in C++, because C++ will copy the string to store the key in the hashtable (actually std::hash_map, but still) for later comparison. So even if you later modify the std::string instance, you're fine.
But in .Net, when you use a String in a Hashtable, it will store a reference to that instance. Now assume for a moment that strings aren't immutable, and see what happens:
1. Somebody inserts a value x with key "hello" into a Hashtable.
2. The Hashtable computes the hash value for the String, and places a reference to the string and the value x in the appropriate bucket.
3. The user modifies the String instance to be "bye".
4. Now somebody wants the value in the hashtable associated with "hello". It ends up looking in the correct bucket, but when comparing the strings it says "bye"!="hello", so no value is returned.
5. Maybe somebody wants the value "bye"? "bye" probably has a different hash, so the hashtable would look in a different bucket. No "bye" keys in that bucket, so our entry still isn't found.
Making strings immutable means that step 3 is impossible. If somebody modifies the string he's creating a new string object, leaving the old one alone. Which means the key in the hashtable is still "hello", and thus still correct.
So, probably among other things, immutable strings are a way to enable strings that are passed by reference to be used as keys in a hashtable or similar dictionary object.
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I am currently creating my own framework in C++ (MSVS 2008) which exports a dll with a bunch of functions for a user of my framework to use/call. In the beginning, when my project was still small, all worked fine. I compiled my project. A MyFramework.dll and MyFramework.lib were spit out. I pretended to be a user; put the MyFramework.dll file in my new VS project's Debug folder, put the MyFramework.lib and MyFramework.h file in my project folder, #include-d MyFramework.h in my code and voilá, I could call the (still simple) framework functions from within my new project.
But now I have expanded my framework. It now uses an external dll of its own (let me call it Graphics.dll) and included it in the same way (.dll in Debug folder, .lib/.h in project folder, #include Graphics.h in code).
The problem is that when I nów create MyFramework.dll/MyFramework.lib, include it in my new project and build, the linker complains about not being able to include Graphics.h, which obviously was included in MyFramework.dll somewhere.
So my question. I would like the user of MyFramework.dll to solely have to include the MyFramework.* files in their project and not have the need to copy/paste all external libraries I decide to use in MyFramework. How can I accomplish this? I took a look at this thread. It says something about adding an existing item and pressing the small arrow next to the "Add" button, but...the arrow is nonexistent in my version of MSVS...
Help is very much appreciated.
Kind regards W. Spek
share|improve this question
the linker complaining about an include file? no way! – stijn Oct 15 '09 at 10:20
You're right, it's the compiler. – Waldo Spek Oct 15 '09 at 10:42
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3 Answers
What is happening is the user is including one of your library's header files. This file is then including "graphics.h". If you don't want to require your users to have access to this file you must hide it from your libraries interface.
That is your library must have public api header files and private implementation header files. Your user only includes the public api header files, these do not include any 3rd party or private include files. When these files reference private types or 3rd party types, they can only use pointers or references, these are forward declared. This enables the private part of a class to use private library code and 3rd party types.
The chances are using the Pimpl Idiom will fix this for you.
share|improve this answer
I think you might be right. Right now I am including Graphics.h in the MyFramework.h interface header file. This is wrong. I also spoke to my supervisor who told me the same. This is why the user's compiler is complaining about missing the Graphics.h file. I will have a look at the PIMPL pattern and see if I can fix my problem. Have to do it a bit later though. I will get back on the final solution. – Waldo Spek Oct 16 '09 at 8:08
I was trying to use an unmanaged library from a managed DLL using C++/CLI. Unfortunately my header was using an OpenCV header which meant it needed mixed-mode building, which wouldnt work. Using the Pimpl idiom was exactly what I needed – Fuzz Jan 13 '10 at 3:15
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Have you put the path to the header file? The compiler is reporting that the header file is not in the same directory as the cpp file being converted and its not listed in the additional include directories either.
Go to Project->Properties then select C/C++
The first option you'll see is "Additional Include Directories". You need to put the path to your header Graphics.h in there along with any other paths required all semi-colon seperated. The project I have open at the mo has, for example: "../AudioLibrary;../CoreLibrary;"
Edit: From your comments to Mark's post you say you want to embed the Graphics.DLL in your DLL. My answer is as follows:
If you don't have the source code to the Graphics.dll then you have a problem. What you are asking IS possible but VERY complex to do. Basically you can't use LoadLibrary. You will be forced to write your own for of LoadLibaray and GetProcAddress that will look at the embedded DLL and not try and find it on disk ... Its doable but you are going to need to do a lot of reading on the Portable Executable (PE) file structure.
share|improve this answer
And that exactly pins down what I do not want to have to do. What can I do in my "MyFramework"-project, to not have to include external files in my new project which uses the MyFramework.dll? – Waldo Spek Oct 15 '09 at 10:44
Well you need to know what the function prototype looks like. Using GetProcAddress, as suggested by Mark, is all well and good but either you have to create a header file which has a copy of the stuff in Graphics.h or you have to include the original Graphics.h. Otherwise how can the compiler possibly know what parameters are needed? – Goz Oct 15 '09 at 11:17
I should also point out that if you are going to use GetProcAddress then you will need to create a bunch of correct function pointers with the relevant function prototype embedded in the pointer. – Goz Oct 15 '09 at 11:19
add comment
If you don't want to require the user to have or include Graphics.h, one way around that is to use LoadLibrary to dynamically load Graphics.dll at runtime.
This will mean that the user will be able to compile against MyFramework without Graphics.dll being available, so it might be wise to do some kind of error reporting if LoadLibrary fails.
Once you have successfully called LoadLibrary on Graphics.dll, you'll need to manually import each function (and its signature) using GetProcAddress -- this will actually give you function pointers. How you store the function pointers is up to you; I generally prefer to have wrap a class around the imported functions but there's nothing stopping you from keeping the function pointers in the global scope.
As mentioned in the comments, if you don't want to distribute Graphics.dll at all, it will need to be a static library (i.e. "built in" to MyFramework.dll). If you do want to distribute Graphics.dll (so the user can use Graphics.dll without MyFramework.dll), then the above approach remains the better option. Really, the above approach assumes you are distributing Graphics.dll with MyFramework.dll, but that the user may not necessarily have Graphics.h available.
share|improve this answer
But probably the user will still need a separate copy of Graphics.dll somewhere on his harddisk, right? That too is an unwanted situation. The user need not know about the existence of Grpahics.dll. He should only have to care about the MyFramework.* files... – Waldo Spek Oct 15 '09 at 11:12
Are you talking about embedding the DLL in the executable? If so .. use a static library not a dynamic library! – Goz Oct 15 '09 at 11:20
Yes, I am talking about embedding the Graphics.dll in the MyFramework.dll. So the suggestion is a static library? But what do you mean; make the MyFramework library static, or somehow include a static Graphics library in the MyFramework.dll. Please do note that I do not have source code for Graphics.dll, except for the Graphics.h. – Waldo Spek Oct 15 '09 at 12:04
I think although you include a static copy of Graphics.dll inside MyFramework, you still need to add the .h file in the Client Project. MyFramework.h includes Graphics.h and your Client Project cannot access that file. I'm having this problem right now and i'm not sure how can i solve it. To keep going, I added the Graphics.h folder to Client Project include folders. – HyLian Oct 15 '09 at 12:22
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Your Answer
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Documentation Center
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Copy graphics objects and their descendants
new_handle = copyobj(h,p)
copyobj creates copies of graphics objects. The copies are identical to the original objects except the copies have different values for their Parent property and a new handle. The new parent must be appropriate for the copied object (e.g., you can copy a line object only to another axes object).
new_handle = copyobj(h,p) copies one or more graphics objects identified by h and returns the handle of the new object or a vector of handles to new objects. The new graphics objects are children of the graphics objects specified by p.
Copy a surface to a new axes within a different figure.
h = surf(peaks);
colormap hot
figure % Create a new figure
axes % Create an axes object in the figure
new_handle = copyobj(h,gca);
colormap hot
grid on
Note that while the surface is copied, the colormap (figure property), view, and grid (axes properties) are not copied.
More About
expand all
h and p can be scalars or vectors. When both are vectors, they must be the same length, and the output argument, new_handle, is a vector of the same length. In this case, new_handle(i) is a copy of h(i) with its Parent property set to p(i).
When h is a scalar and p is a vector, h is copied once to each of the parents in p. Each new_handle(i) is a copy of h with its Parent property set to p(i), and length(new_handle) equals length(p).
When h is a vector and p is a scalar, each new_handle(i) is a copy of h(i) with its Parent property set to p. The length of new_handle equals length(h).
When programming a GUI, do not call copyobj or textwrap (which calls copyobj) inside a CreateFcn. The act of copying the uicontrol object fires the CreateFcn repeatedly, which raises a series of error messages after exceeding the root object's RecursionLimit property.
See Also
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The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)
Shofar FTP Archive File: orgs/american/freemen/duke-on-freemen
From Thu Jun 6 07:52:52 PDT 1996
Article: 41336 of alt.revisionism
From: (Rich Graves)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,alt.conspiracy,alt.politics.nationalism.white,alt.politics.white-power,,alt.revisionism,alt.skinheads
Subject: Michigan Militia, Bo Gritz, Charles Duke denouce Freemen as criminals and frauds (was Re: Warning to FBI)
Followup-To: misc.activism.militia
Date: 5 Jun 1996 14:27:03 -0700
Organization: Uncensored Internet,
Lines: 165
Sender: llurch@Networking.Stanford.EDU
Message-ID: <4p4u37$cfv@Networking.Stanford.EDU>
References: <4p29q7$>
Xref: alt.activism:51585 alt.conspiracy:56011 alt.politics.nationalism.white:21662 alt.politics.white-power:31147 alt.revisionism:41336 alt.skinheads:26657
Followups set to misc.activism.militia, which these trollers are avoiding
because everyone with a clue knows that the Freemen are nothing but a
bunch of crooks.
>From today's Los Angeles Times,, also carried in
the San Jose Mercury News, and "MERCURY" on
America Online:
FBI Lets 'Freemen' Talk Themselves Out of Allies
Standoff: Sympathy sours among right-wing groups after negotiations fail.
Federal agents reap the benefits.
By KIM MURPHY, Times Staff Writer
When Colorado state Sen. Charles Duke
first entered the "freemen" compound, it was
with the hope of preserving the rights of free
Americans to oppose their government, and of
ending the FBI standoff without bloodshed.
When he left five days later, Duke--a
longtime supporter of the patriot movement
with sympathies for right-wing groups across
the country--had had enough of this particular
brand of anti-government militancy.
The legislator was so mad that he could
be seen waving his arms in fury from a mile
away. He was yelling, he said, at Rodney
Skurdal, who had--along with the rest of the
freemen--reneged on the second of two
carefully crafted deals, this one to release
two young girls held at the compound.
"You aren't enough of a man to come face
me, get out of that car!" Duke shouted as
Skurdal climbed into an automobile. "I told
him, 'I'm going to go out of here and I'm
going to tell the American people what you're
doing here. You will not get support from the
patriot community, you will not get support
from the militia community and if you die,
nobody's going to avenge you.' "
"People in contact with them understand
now that what they were doing was fraud," said
Randy Trochmann, spokesman for the Militia of
Montana. "With the public, a good percentage
of them want the FBI just to leave, put a berm
around the house and let the state police
patrol it. And another percentage just want
them [the FBI] to go in and finish them off."
It is a position that has not been lost
on the right-wing community, some of whose
leaders have joined a chorus demanding that
the FBI up the ante against the militants.
Duke, who said he twice crafted deals
with the freemen for release of the girls,
ages 8 and 10, said he lost all confidence
when the FBI carefully agreed to the
conditions, only to see the freemen's demands
"Initially, we believed they were trying
to stand for constitutional principles and
were simply trying to do some of the same
techniques that are practiced on a daily basis
by the banks and the Federal Reserve system,"
said Duke, referring to the freemen's
declaration of the U.S. monetary system as
invalid and their subsequent issuance of their
own money orders, the subject of a federal
indictment against about a dozen of the 21
people still at the ranch.
"But the overall group there has very
little to do with the
patriot/constitutionalist movement. They're
trying to hide behind that as a way of
avoiding arrest, in my opinion," Duke said.
"They're just scam artists. And the fact that
they're willing to hide behind those two
little girls, I realized we're not dealing
with honorable people here."
One by one, all of those initially most
prepared to be sympathetic to the freemen and
to help them meet their demands for a public
forum against the federal government have
thrown up their hands in exasperation and
denounced the group as unreasonable.
Gritz, in obvious disgust, said he had
come close to working out a deal in which half
of those at the compound would have left
willingly. "But any time that happens, they
are immediately put down verbally by these
vitamin salesmen who would have to get a job
if this whole thing collapses," Gritz said of
the two to four most militant freemen leaders.
Brent McRae, who is heading the current
petition drive, said the new attitude comes in
part with a growing respect and sympathy in
Jordan for the FBI, which initially was
regarded with suspicion. For months, Jordan
residents have had the chance to shoot pool
and lift a beer with off-duty agents at the
Hell Creek Bar; they run into each other at
the hardware store and the supermarket. They
stop for a chat at the checkpoints on the way
out toward the freemen ranch, where bored but
cheerful agents are continually begging for
homemade cookies and coffee.
"It's humanized a government agency. We
found out FBI agents aren't like they're
portrayed on TV," McRae said. "It's been a
shock to everybody, myself included. The
people have had the opportunity to meet them,
and found them to be very courteous. But
they're frustrated. This isn't what they're
trained to do, to sit and watch. These people
that are here have the ability and the
expertise to bring this thing to a conclusion,
and feel they could do it without bloodshed if
they were given the ability and the go-ahead
to do it."
"At the beginning, it was all about,
'Here was this poor community in Montana that
was being descended on by the federal
government.' But it became very apparent very
quickly to the general public that this was
not a community rising up in opposition to the
federal government, that in fact some of them
had even asked the federal government for
help. To me, that's when the spin started to
unravel out of the right," Toole said.
On radio talk shows across the country,
Toole in recent weeks has said that he had
expected hate calls from right-wing
sympathizers. But instead, "everywhere what I
was getting is: 'The government is
mollycoddling those guys.' "
Toole said that people like Gritz, Duke
and the Militia of Montana's Trochmann
brothers found themselves facing a choice of
courting either mainstream political support
or the freemen. And it was an easy pick. "They
could come out and say, 'Those guys are
extremists, and we're the reasonable middle.'
They could say, 'Those guys don't want to pay
their bills, and they're acting like
2-year-olds.' "
Duke said his talks broke down because
the freemen refused to live up to the bargains
they'd made.
Today's New York Times:
"Long-Running Freemen Standoff No Longer Rattles Locals"
...and so on.
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Browsing named entities in Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Documents and Narratives, Volume 10. (ed. Frank Moore). You can also browse the collection for Vallandigham or search for Vallandigham in all documents.
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ffectual putting down of this rebellion. Mr. Vallandigham declared he had moved his amendment to beorty-four members only voting for it, and Mr. Vallandigham's amendment was then rejected, only twentdeclared that Mr. Burnett, and especially Mr. Vallandigham, misapprehended the spirit of the countryhould be employed actively in the field. Mr. Vallandigham inquired if he was to understand that thevolunteers. The amendment was agreed to. Mr. Vallandigham moved to strike out the second section, T dare to desecrate it to such base uses. Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio, moved to lay the bill on the ta table-yeas, forty-four; nays, sixty-one. Mr. Vallandigham demanded the yeas and nays on its passageussion should be confined to amendments. Mr. Vallandigham objected to that mode of proceeding. Mr.ounced the bill as an arbitrary measure. Mr. Vallandigham denounced the bill as a measure to abrogapotism. Mr. Bingham, of Ohio, replied to Mr. Vallandigham in a speech of great power. Mr. Voorhees[1 more...]
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Key Words: Al-rihla; Medieval Muslim Travelers (MMT); Hajj; Place and space; Positionality
The period between 750 and 1258 C.E. in Medieval Islamic history is characterized as the Golden Age of Muslim civilization during which four Islamic dynasties were established: the Umayyads (756-1031), who designated Damascus as their capital, the Abbasids (750-1258), who selected Baghdad as their capital, the separate Umayyad dynasty in Spain/Al-Andulus, who used Cordoba as their capital, and, finally, the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt and northwest Africa (909-1171) (Turner, 1995). The Caliphs in Baghdad and Damascus sponsored the translation of Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit manuscripts in philosophy, medicine, and other scientific works into Arabic (Turner, 1 995). Within two centuries, Turner asserted that the "major works of Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Archimedes, Hippocrates, Galen, Ptolemy, and many other" (p. 29) and were made available to Muslim scholars. As a result, great libraries were established and learning centers flourished including religious centers of scholarly learning in Baghdad, Cairo, Nishapur, Hijaz (Medina), and Fez. A science academy was established at both Cordoba in al-Andalus and at Toledo, and in the Nizamyya and Dar-al-Hikma universities in Baghdad. Advances in knowledge occurred in a myriad of fields, including philosophy, social sciences, physics, mathematics, medicine, alchemy, geometrical sciences, astronomy, religious science, optics, and metaphysics.
New educational theories and philosophies were developed at the instructional level by Medieval Muslim thinkers including theologians, philosophers, jurists, litterateurs, hadith scholars, and scientists (Günther, 2006). And as a result of the advancement in educational theories, philosophies, and applications of the concepts of talab al- 'Um and talib al- 'Um, the Medieval Muslim civilization became a global center of knowledge not only for Muslim scholars but also for scholars from all over the world. Thus, travel in search for knowledge became a phenomenon and a "normative feature of Medieval Muslim education" (Gellens, 1990, p. 55).
This study intends to analyze three selected Medieval Muslim travelers' accounts to answer two questions: 1) what do the three travelers report about their alrihla experiences? 2) what factors influenced the three travelers' experiences of al-rihla as Muslim travelers in search for knowledge?
Knowledge in Islam is of two kinds: fard ain and fard kifaya. …
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How Can Los Angeles Adapt to Coming Climate Change?
Climate change can’t alter the blue skies or access to the beach and mountains, but it will pose four tangible threats: The summers will grow hotter, the air will be smoggier, there will be more fires, and there will be much less water
© / Janne Ahvo
Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from Matthew Kahn's book Climatopolis.
Los Angeles is a hedonist’s paradise. At night, you can cruise the Sunset Strip. Although The Doors no longer play there, you may run into Paris Hilton or Britney Spears before seeing Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at a red-carpet event. During the winter, you might venture downtown to watch Kobe Bryant and the Lakers play. Every day of the year you can sit outside at Starbucks and try to identify professional basketball players looking for a latte in West Los Angeles. In spring 2009 I spotted Baron Davis of the Los Angeles Clippers at a Westwood Starbucks (but he didn’t seem to recognize me). In fall 2009 I spotted Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys as he strolled in Little Holmby Park (he didn’t give me a knowing nod or wink either). I saw Vin Diesel jog past my house not long ago (again, no seeming recognition on his part). Even the dignified former secretary of state, Warren Christopher, didn’t recognize me as he got out of his car while parking on my block. These cases suggest that I’m not a VIP, but a player such as you will have the option of ending the night at a party at the Playboy Mansion near UCLA.
During the day, LA also offers a variety of natural pleasures. The outdoors is an essential part of every Los Angeles resident’s day-to-day life. Almost every day you can jog along the Santa Monica and Venice paths near the Pacific Ocean. In the afternoon you can go for a mountain climb in Topanga Park in the Santa Monica Mountains. You can walk around in shorts in February, and in the summer there is rarely humidity or a heat wave. If you are depressed, the blue skies and the ocean breeze will cheer you up. Graduate students at UCLA drive me nuts because they surf in February rather than studying or grading exams. The city feels like an unending adult summer camp. Flowers bloom in late February, and you can e-mail your friends in the Northeast and mock them by singing Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” Although everyone is always talking on hands-free cell phones, nobody here actually works for “the man”; LA is not a company town. The largest corporate employers in Los Angeles County are Kaiser Permanente, with 32,000 employees; Northrop Grumman Corp., with 21,000 employees; and Boeing Co., with 15,000 employees. Of course Los Angeles is famous for Hollywood. The motion picture and television show production sector is responsible for roughly 250,000 jobs.1 In a county with 8 million people, this shows that most people are small wheeler dealers.
Almost everyone in Los Angeles was not born here. Many of us are transplants from cold Northeastern cities. Although we differ in heritage and ethnicity, we share a love for the sun and the good life. This city self-selects people who want to live well. With the exception of me, we are well-tanned, physically fit, attractive people. There is an abundance of plastic surgeons; service providers offering you whiter teeth; swimming pools; and life coaches to pluck, wax, and generally improve every part of your body and mind.
Outsiders mock Los Angeles as a city of plagues. They have heard about the car culture, the sprawl, traffic, the smog, O.J., the gangs, the earthquakes, the Malibu fires, the water shortages, and so on. But to residents of Los Angeles, traffic is the only constant menace. Los Angelenos’ average one-way commute time of twenty-nine minutes is a result of many people working at home (their zero-commute time balances out the long commutes). On the roads there are many fancy cars both because people can afford them and because people spend so much time stuck in traffic.
To a New Yorker (I lived in Manhattan for thirteen years and in the New York metro area for twenty-five), Los Angeles really is a strange city. Whereas most cities have a downtown featuring a vibrant employment and cultural center, Los Angeles’s downtown is not such a magnet. Yes, the Lakers play there, the University of Southern California is there, and Frank Gehry has built a funky Walt Disney Concert Hall there, but these three provide insufficient gravitational force to encourage the rest of Los Angeles to go downtown. My UCLA students tell me that they never go downtown and have no desire to.
I am a recent LA home buyer. I made the brilliant financial move of purchasing in May 2008. When we bought our house, we made an implicit bet that Los Angeles would remain a great place to live and work. I have my fingers crossed. Home prices in Los Angeles are more than double those in other major cities. In 2008 the average single-family home in Los Angeles County sold for $578,000, and 10 percent of the homes in the county sold for more than $1,000,000. There are more than 32,000 zip codes in the United States. Of the top 200 zip codes ranked by average housing price in the entire United States, 45 percent are in California, although only 20 percent of the nation’s population lives in California. Twenty of the top 200 most expensive U.S. zip codes are in Los Angeles County, including Beverly Hills 90210.
These high prices are not due to the inherent productivity of working in Los Angeles. In fact, my time spent outside in the sun while in Los Angeles has probably made me a worse economist. Economists at the University of Chicago claim that Chicago’s bad weather raises their productivity by eliminating the option of playing tennis. Los Angeles’s great quality of life is what drives up local home prices. The average buyer of a single-family house in Los Angeles County in 2008 paid $324 per square foot of interior space. If LA’s quality of life declines, my life savings will unravel.
Climate change can’t alter the blue skies or access to the beach and mountains, but it will pose four tangible threats: The summers will grow hotter, the air will be smoggier, there will be more fires, and there will be much less water. In other words, as we saw in chapter 3, climate change is going to shift the competitive landscape of cities, and LA is going to take a hit. And the poorest parts of LA are going to be hurt worst of all. But there’s a lot we can learn from an examination of LA’s probable future—especially the basic lesson that prices matter. Other cities take note. Our tour of LA will show us the key role that market prices of both electricity and water will play in determining this city’s fate. In addition, this case study will highlight how government policy (such as binding land use zoning and caps on water prices) can unintentionally hinder adaptation.
Will LA Lose Its Cool?
California’s cool summers and warm winters distinguish its cities from the rest of the nation. Southern cities are hot and humid in summer. Midwestern and Eastern cities are cold in the winter and humid in the summer. Nobody wants to be in Houston or Washington, D.C., in the middle of summer. In contrast, in Los Angeles today the average temperature in July is 74 degrees F, with little humidity.
Climate change will likely degrade LA’s ideal climate. Leading climate researchers have developed two different models that allow them to predict each U.S. county’s average temperature and rainfall by month for the years 2070 to 2099. Two computer models, with the catchy names CCSM Model and H3A1FI Model, bear bad news. Los Angeles County is predicted to be 13 degrees F warmer on average in July by 2070. The problem for current LA real estate owners (such as myself) is that a fair bit of the value of their assets (my home) rests on the fact that relatively few areas in the United States feature warm winters and cool summers. In the future LA’s climate will look like Jacksonville, Florida’s, climate today. This is bad news for my housing wealth.
You might try to soothe my spirits by reminding me that all cities will face hotter summers. Unfortunately for you, dear reader, I know the lost art of statistics. I have crunched the data to study the relationship between county home prices and county climate conditions. What jumps out from this analysis is that areas with cool summers and warm winters command a huge real estate price premium. There are relatively few such areas (mostly in California), and they are in high demand. Climate change is predicted to strip away much of California’s climate uniqueness, and therefore will strip away the housing price boost that comes with that climate. Mean July temperatures close to 90 degrees F by the late twenty-first century will force down relative real estate prices to reflect underlying changes in climate amenities.
Climate change will cause the most “amenity havoc” for cities in California. San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles are all expected to be big climate amenity losers. The one piece of good news is that California’s major cities are not expected to become much more humid. Climate experts do not believe that there are any plausible scenarios in which California becomes much more humid in summertime in general. After all, climate change is not going to change the fundamentally dry subtropical climate of this region in summer.
In contrast, cities in Florida will actually experience an improvement in their climate bundle as winter temperatures increase (an amenity) and summer average temperatures rise relatively little. Only three major U.S. metropolitan areas are expected to experience an improvement in their climate bundle due to climate change. These are Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. In the case of Las Vegas, its climate bundle will improve because of predicted increases in rainfall. A critic of these climate prediction models would be appalled that they predict an average temperature over an enormous land area such as Los Angeles County, which is more than 4,000 square miles. By definition, such an “average” prediction must mask huge variations. In areas of West Los Angeles such as Santa Monica and Malibu, the cool breeze off the Pacific Ocean will cool the expensive homes of the elite. But inland, in East Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, temperatures already soar into the 100s in summer and are likely to be much hotter in the face of climate change. This suggests that small pockets of West Los Angeles, such as expensive Santa Monica, Brentwood, and Westwood, could actually grow more valuable as the rest of Los Angeles becomes less inhabitable. Millions of people who live in expensive San Fernando Valley homes will suffer from home price declines as their climate amenity premium vanishes.
The poor and immigrants will bear the brunt of exposure to heat waves and midsummer extreme temperatures. As a point of comparison, consider the Chicago heat wave of 1995, which disproportionately killed members of elderly poor black households in the center city. They did not own air conditioners, and their fear of crime led them to not open their windows. The public health consequences of such heat waves depend on whether “victims” know that a heat wave is coming and have access to coping strategies. Not everyone can jump on a plane and head to Idaho for a week during the peak heat.
We count on public service announcements to alert people of an impending event, such as a smog alert (when ambient air pollution is expected to be above a critical threshold level that threatens public health) or a heat wave, or in Asia that a tsunami is brewing. But how do we inform groups that face language and cultural barriers? In inland Los Angeles, the population is mostly Hispanic. Many of the members of these households do not speak fluent English, and some are in the United States illegally. Such individuals are unlikely to be interested in or willing to follow information provided by government sources. These are exactly the people who are most at risk from the shock. Fortunately, community-based NGOs have stepped up to fill this void. In Eastern Los Angeles, one example is the Esperanza’s Community Health Programs, which has been involved in the community by providing access to health information. Such unheralded “little guys” help a diverse city prepare for heat wave challenges.
The Return of Smog?
Given its topography and climate patterns and the scale of economic activity in the metropolitan area, the Los Angeles Basin suffers from some of the highest levels of air pollution in the United States. During the 1970s, before the introduction of stringent new vehicle emissions regulation that began in California in 1972, LA was the smog capital. Millions of people were driving high-emitting vehicles. Polluting oil-refining activity in the Long Beach area contributed to the local smog problem. Old, dirty diesel trucks carrying goods from the Port of Long Beach to consumers around the United States helped to scale up deadly particulate matter concentrations.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, smog levels were awful in Los Angeles. Starting in the mid-1990s, ambient ozone declined sharply in Los Angeles County. Across eight monitoring stations that monitored ambient ozone in 1980 and in 2000, the average annual pollution daily excedence (when air pollution exceeds the Clean Air Act standard) count for these eight monitors declined from 103 days per year to 13 days per year.
These pollution gains are especially notable because between 1980 and 2000, the Los Angeles Basin’s population grew by 42 percent and total automobile mileage grew by 88 percent. Vehicle emissions control regulation deserves a lot of credit. New cars today are 95 percent cleaner than new cars built in the early 1970s. These emissions control improvements persist over time even as the vehicle ages. Put simply, emissions per mile of driving have decreased faster over time in Los Angeles than miles driven have increased.
Climate change could reverse some of this progress. The details of atmospheric chemistry concerning how volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen mix to form ozone are complicated, but it can be said that heat waves are likely to cook up more summertime smog. Smog problems will grow the most away from the ocean, in East Los Angeles. Relative to West Los Angeles, East LA’s communities are poorer and have more Hispanic residents. Due to this differential pollution exposure across demographic groups, climate change will bring environmental justice concerns to the forefront.
It is no surprise that wealthy, white households live in cool, clean West Los Angeles, while poorer Hispanics are more likely to live in the hot, smoggy eastern section of the city. For homes that sold in 2008, the average price of a home declined by 1.4 percent with each kilometer of distance from the beach. This housing price gradient guarantees that wealthy people will cluster closer to the high-amenity area. If climate change increases smog exposure for poor minorities, this would reverse twenty years of progress in achieving environmental justice goals due to effective Clean Air Act regulation. In earlier work, I documented that between 1980 and 2000, the average Hispanic household in Los Angeles was exposed to thirty fewer smoggy days a year because of disproportionate improvements in air quality in communities where Hispanics tend to live. Climate change may reverse this progress.
In Malibu, Barbra Streisand had access to clean air even in the early 1970s when the rest of the metropolitan area was terribly polluted. The Clean Air Act’s success at reducing smog over the last thirty years has had little effect on Malibu and other coastal communities. Instead, it helped to bring about convergence between inland areas and the cool, clean coast. Clean Air Act regulation has narrowed this air pollution exposure gap between the haves and the have-nots. This is another of the main lessons that LA can teach us: climate change is likely to affect the poor far worse than it does the rich. If Malibu did become unlivable for a few weeks a year, perhaps due to high heat or smoke from nearby fires, then Streisand and friends could retreat to a bucolic Montana cabin.
The Death of Green Grass?
When I lived in New York City, I had never heard of koi ponds. Having lived in Westwood for three years, I am now an expert on them. They abound in Los Angeles. Although it rains only 11 inches per year in Los Angeles, millions of its residents expect to be able to shower, flush their toilets, water their beautiful lawn’s grass, play golf on green fairways, and swim in Olympic-sized private pools. As incomes in this mega-city have grown, people have come up with new ways to consume water, including garden waterfalls that help block street noise.
Despite the fact that it rarely rains in Los Angeles, households in this desert area have no incentive to view water as a scarce commodity. They are charged less than one cent per gallon of water. Public water authorities refuse to engage in “price gouging,” which makes voters happy in the short run—we get to enjoy our swimming pools and ample green grass. But it means that a day of reckoning lurks in the notso- distant future. Low prices remove any incentive to get “lean and mean” and reduce one’s water use. This low pricing creates a culture of waste. When my family goes for a walk in our neighborhood near UCLA, we are amazed at the gallons of water being used for watering the lawns and, due to broken pipes and other mishaps, just flooding the roads. Los Angeles has created a “hot line” for reporting such water wastage. Like an Eastern European living under communism, I have reported my neighbors to this “Secret Water Police." Why? Although I dislike my neighbors, I especially dislike their wasting a scarce resource for no good reason. But nobody from City Hall has ever gotten in touch with me, and nobody has given me a medal.
One of the first lessons taught in an introductory economics course is that prices signal scarcity. Climate scientists are emphasizing that climate change will make water a much scarcer resource in the American West. In California, there is great concern about climate change causing the melting of the Sierra Mountains snowpack. This will reduce the state’s water supply. When a precious commodity becomes scarcer, the price should go up. When prices are allowed to fluctuate and reflect free-market supply and demand conditions, a low price means that a given commodity is plentiful. The irony is that California is already in drought, but prices are still very low. The reasons for cheap water pricing remain a mystery to me. (But I must confess that I also support Europeanstyle gas taxes; raise them to $2 per gallon, I say.)
A nonprofit called the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California sells the water to LA households. The agency is not interested in maximizing its profits, nor does it seem very concerned right now about preparing for climate change. Needless to say, the agency disagrees with my pricing strategies.
Let’s contrast the market for water with the market for high-quality coffee. Imagine if the mayor of Los Angeles seized control of all Starbucks located in his kingdom and ordered them to sell their products at a nickel per cup of coffee. Consumers would be happy for about a day as they received deep discounts on their triple lattes. But when the Starbucks shut down because the branches were losing money, the consumers would wish that the mayor would privatize this sector again and let prices rise. Because the Metropolitan Water District does not prioritize earning “profit” (revenue minus costs), the artificially low water prices can persist for a long time. These low prices lull California water consumers into a false sense that the water will continue to flow.
That attitude affects all (or nearly all; I’m exempt, but I’m an economist) Los Angelenos. Consider the case of Tony Villaragosa. Mr. Villaragosa is a successful UCLA graduate and is the mayor of Los Angeles. He is actively pursuing policies to make Los Angeles a “green city.” Yet this mayor used 386,716 gallons of water at his Mount Washington home in the year before he moved into the mayor’s mansion in October 2005. His water consumption was roughly double that of other households with similar-sized lots who live in his area. I would not call the mayor a hypocrite; I would say that he has responded to low water prices by not conserving. He is not alone. Of the 45,000 single-family homes in Los Angeles County that sold in 2008, 16 percent had swimming pools. In the subset of these homes that sold for more than $1 million, 35 percent had pools, and 46 percent of homes that sold for more than $5 million had pools. Presumably the founding fathers did not view private swimming pools as an inalienable right.
How Do We Allocate Scarce Water?
Growing Southern California faces a fundamental water challenge. If we are serious about getting ready to adapt to climate change, then we must allow the prices of water and electricity to reflect their true scarcity. By reducing the supply of available water, climate change will create an imperative, forcing reluctant governments to recognize that water prices must reflect the basic fundamentals of supply and demand. If demand is rising (due to income and population growth) and supply is declining (due to climate change), then the water authorities face a choice between allowing prices to rise or setting up a complex rationing scheme. Rationing makes economists nuts because it is the equivalent of handing a vegetarian a meat pizza to eat and telling the vegetarian that he or she cannot trade it to a meat lover. The authorities are struggling to cope with these expected imbalances in supply and demand caused by ongoing economic growth and climate change.
The irony here is that you can pick up the Los Angeles Times once a week and see an article bemoaning California’s “water shortage.” In response to this “crisis,” cities within the Los Angeles metro area such as the city of Long Beach have adopted serious water rationing policies, including limiting lawn watering to Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and placing time limits on the hours and timing when watering can take place. Any watering must be done between 6 P.M. and 7 A.M. and cannot last longer than ten minutes. People cannot wash down driveways, sidewalks, parking areas, patios, or other outdoor areas with water from a hose. Restaurants can only serve water upon request. Overwatering lawns to the point that there is runoff is illegal.
Starting June 1, 2009, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has proudly announced that it is using prices to address the water shortage. To protect lower-income consumers, the first tier’s prices remain unchanged, but the second pricing tier will increase by a whopping 44 percent. The message is clear: the DWP is doing something. But it’s not as impressive as it sounds.
In the case of water pricing in Los Angeles, something strange is hidden within the rate structure. People who live on larger properties pay less per gallon of water. Permit me to give you an example that strikes close to home. I live in the 90024 zip code. My home is within a half mile of Candy Spelling’s $150-million mansion. She is the widow of Aaron Spelling (the father of Charlie’s Angels and of Tori Spelling) and is seeking to sell her home.
Let’s compare our respective water pricing schedules. According to the DWP pricing schedules, to remain on the first tier (the low pricing of water), you must know the square footage of your lot size and how many people live in your house. During the dry months of June to Halloween, homes whose lots are 7,500 square feet or smaller face a first-tier limit during the winter and spring of 28 x 748 gallons (every two months), whereas those who live on properties with a lot size of 43,560 square feet and larger (like Candy Spelling) stay on the first tier until they consume 76 x 748 gallons.
A gallon of water is a gallon of water, and we should each pay the same price for using it. The state knows that it is in the middle of long-term drought. Leading researchers see a similarity between water conditions today and events during the twelfth century, when a particularly severe drought in Southern California was coupled with persistent low flows in the Sacramento and Colorado rivers, a situation that lasted about sixty years. Los Angeles has set up a system whereby rich people who own more grass actually pay a lower price per gallon of water consumed. In my “real world,” when Candy Spelling and I each show up at the Westwood Starbucks, we each get charged the same price for an espresso. Facing this price, we make a “take it or leave it” decision. Unlike this “fair” pricing, she pays a lower average price per gallon of water than I do, because she has a bigger house! She is getting a better deal than me because she owns more grass! Implicitly, I am paying for a lot of watering of her grass. I present this case study not merely to earn your sympathy. My goal is to call out government for the unintended consequences of its policies. Climate change adaptation will be more difficult in Los Angeles because of its current policies.
Many environmentalists assume that big business is the cause of our environmental problems and that wise regulating government is the only honorable agent that can force these bad guys to act in the public’s interest. But in this case it is government policies that are causing the adaptation challenge.
Economists love to talk about the consequences of bad incentives, but this borders on funny. There is serious drought in the West. Higher prices for water could encourage demand-side conservation. The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power is not doing its part to “solve” the problem. If the LADWP treated everyone equally and charged everyone the same price per gallon of water, or at least exposed everyone to the same tiered pricing schedule, this agency would either collect a lot more revenue from water sales to the rich with large lots, or owners of private “golf courses” (those with big swimming pools and lots of grass) would cut back on their water consumption.
Although they are wimping out on explicitly raising water prices to reflect “true scarcity,” the California water providers are trying alternative incentive approaches for reducing water consumption. California households are offered a variety of rebates for “green” appliances, including:
* high-efficiency clothes washers;
* high-efficiency toilets;
* weather-based irrigation controllers, or “smart” controllers;
* rotating sprinkler nozzles; and
* synthetic turf (limit one-half acre).
These rebates encourage replacement of old, inefficient durables with these water-conserving devices, but this well-meaning “green” subsidy may actually increase water consumption when people continue to face a low price per gallon of water. People may now do more wash (and hence use more water) because the price per wash has declined. To illustrate this point, consider a car that needs one gallon of gas to drive 1 mile. If the price of gasoline is $3 a gallon, then owners of this gas guzzler will pay $3 to travel 1 mile. If the household is given a vehicle that can travel 30 miles per gallon, the price per mile falls to 10 cents per mile. If this household responds to this large drop in the price per mile by driving much more, then its total gasoline consumption could increase because it purchased a more fuel-efficient vehicle! Although I doubt that this “boomerang” effect is large, this example highlights the consequences of pursuing indirect means of reducing household resource consumption rather than simply using prices.
The water utilities are trying to incentivize people to economize on water and electricity consumption, but they are tying one hand behind their backs by taking the best policy option (higher prices) off the table. My mother-in-law got a chuckle recently when she received a check from her California water provider. This money was a reward for “saving water.” According to her water bill, she had sharply reduced her water consumption relative to her baseline consumption. The water provider concluded this by comparing her recent water consumption with her previous water consumption (perhaps the previous year) over the same time period. What the water authority did not know was that she was in Italy for the entire billing cycle. She had not changed her day to day behavior; because she was out of the country, she was not using PGE water to flush the toilets, water the yard, or take a bath. But the water authority is not Big Brother. It does not know why her water consumption decreased (as determined by her Berkeley water meter falling to zero). Without knowing the true cause of her “conservation,” PGE sent her a check that she would say she doesn’t deserve.
Engineering Solutions to Water Shortage?
Rising water prices would trigger innovation that could take some odd turns. There are new water technologies that can effectively increase the supply of water. Today, water desalinization is quite expensive. Somehow water recycling has been tarred with the name “toilet to the tap”—which is actually an accurate description of the idea.14 Certainly anyone who doesn’t trust engineering techniques would wonder whether the water is contaminated with fecal matter, but those who do trust the technology would be happy to guzzle it. Despite the science behind water recycling, in the late 1990s the Los Angeles mayor scuttled a plan that would have used this technology and mitigated water “shortages” in the city, because he was worried about voter backlash from the grossout factor.
Today engineers continue to try to push support for projects such as the reuse of “gray water.” Light gray water is wastewater from the shower, bath, bathroom sink, and clothes washer. Heavy gray water is wastewater from the kitchen sink and dishwasher. Commercial technologies already exist for processing both light and heavy gray water on-site for nonpotable usage. Although the water produced is not clean enough to drink, such technologies effectively increase our supply of water for other basic uses. This is quite valuable in a world where water will become scarcer.
Engineering solutions to the challenges that Mother Nature poses are not always embraced. Consider putting fluoride in the water supply. This has helped to sharply reduce cavities and other tooth decay problems. Recently economic research has documented that people with more teeth earn higher wages. Differential access to fluoridated water during childhood offers a “natural experiment” for testing how this public health intervention affects long-term quality of life. One research team used adult wages as their key outcome measure and found that women who resided in communities with fluoridated water during childhood earn about 4 percent more than women who did not live in communities with fluoridated water.
Although this may not seem surprising to you, such research is necessary to help make the case that public health strategies such as putting fluoride in water improve our health and well-being. But controversy has arisen over this strategy. Some potentially valid concerns have arisen, such as that fluoride intake is not easily controlled and that children could be overdosed. Other objections make less sense. In the 1950s, it was argued that water fluoridation was part of a communist plot.
Climate change will force Californians to have a serious policy discussion about water priorities. As water supplies decline, and if people reject engineering solutions such as the “toilet to the tap,” what is to be done?
Will California’s Farmers Bail Out the City Slickers?
California farmers offer one possible source of supply. It is well known that 80 percent of the state’s water goes to agriculture and that 40 percent of the state’s water goes to growing four crops: cotton, rice, alfalfa, and pasturage (irrigated grazing land). These four crops account for only 1 percent of the state’s annual income. Urbanites generate California’s wealth, but historical property rights allocations have granted the increasingly scarce water to farming interests.
An economics 101 student would say, “Let me get this right. Farmers have the property rights to this water and are growing low-profit crops such as alfalfa and strawberries while thirsty urbanites are willing to pay more than ten times as much for this same water that the farmers are using? Let the farmers sell their water to the urbanites and then California’s cities will suffer less from climate change.”
Unfortunately, many remember the “Theft of Owens Valley.” Although these events took place in the 1920s, farmers have long memories. If water sellers today believe that past farmers did not receive a good deal from the first great water transfers, this will discourage trade today in water transfers.
The Owens Valley case continues to generate wide academic and popular attention. Consider the movie Chinatown. This Oscar-winning film helped Jack Nicholson pay for his Lakers front-row court seat and to perpetuate the myth that corrupt LA stole its life-sustaining water supply from unsuspecting Owens Valley farmers. Although leading economic historians have reevaluated and rejected this version of what happened, the “fact” remains that in the past city slickers outfoxed the rural farmers in a lopsided trade that led to the urbanites’ being enriched at the rural area’s expense. To quote The Who, “We won’t be fooled again.”
Today’s farmers are worried that history will repeat itself as they are suckered by the “big city” sophisticates into a deal that takes their water at too low a price. Climate change will make California’s urbanites more desperate to find sources of water, and the farmers will have property rights to California’s scarce water. A farmer who seeks to maximize profits would diversify his or her portfolio of assets and substitute growing less water-intensive crops and selling surplus water to the thirsty urbanites at a high price. Such privately beneficial actions by the farmer will help Southern California’s cities adapt to climate change.
Come on Baby, Light My Fire
When the Santa Ana winds pick up, you know it. These are surprisingly hot winds, with gusts of 40 miles per hour or higher. The streets of Los Angeles smell like a Boy Scout fire. The odor one smells is not S’mores cooking but rather Malibu homes ablaze. These fancy homes are located in fire zones. The rest of the country fixates on great television videos of multi-million-dollar Malibu celebrity homes burning down. Local media reports have reported that actors Matthew McConaughey and Minnie Driver were among those forced to evacuate in a recent fire, and Red Hot Chili Peppers bass guitarist Flea’s home was destroyed by the flames. A text message from the rock star said his US$10.5-million mansion had “burnt to a crisp.”
Today, climate modelers are uncertain whether climate change will increase fire risk. On the one hand, Los Angeles is predicted to receive 50 percent less rain than it does now, and the combination of less rain and more summer heat means a drier landscape that is more prone to fires. On the other hand, the frequency of Santa Ana winds is predicted to decline as the eastern deserts warm. Within Los Angeles, there is significant variation in the exposure to fire risk. People in the center city of Los Angeles or even Westwood face little risk from these fires, but in other areas such as Malibu, there could be significant fire risk posed by climate change.
There are several possible coping strategies to protect the city against future fire risk caused by climate change. The simplest would be to reduce new housing construction in fire zone regions by requiring homeowners there to pay significantly more for fire insurance. Alternatively, these households could be offered lower insurance premiums if they build their homes with fire-resistant materials and landscape their property so that their homes are less prone to fire risk. Although I hope that local political leaders would support such “safety first” policies, I am pessimistic that these policies could be adopted. Landowners would complain that these proposals represent a property “taking,” stripping them of their development rights and exposing them to the whims of price gouging insurance companies. They would argue that their 3,000-square-foot houses should have the same home insurance premiums as similar homes built elsewhere in Los Angeles. They would say that they are being discriminated against.
On some level, they are right. Different parcels of land face different risks from climate change’s new blows. Those who own land in areas that we now know are risky (due to climate change) are losers. I am not convinced that society owes them compensation for losing a bet. Similar to the developers of the St. Louis hotels located in a flood plain, these fire zone landowners want to flip a one-sided coin. They want access to cheap insurance that bails them out if a nasty fire occurs, but they also want the right to live there as if the area is not at elevated risk because of climate change. If we are serious about tackling climate change, we need to design credible incentives to push more economic activity (and multimillion- dollar homes) away from geographical areas that are increasingly at risk because of climate change.
Consider fire protection in California communities at the wildland/urban interface. The biggest danger is where suburban communities abut forest lands, in counties such as Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara. In areas such as the Sierra Nevada foothills and the interior areas in Southern California, the scenery is beautiful but at greater risk from fire as climate change raises temperatures and reduces rainfall. When forest fires occur, a large amount of damage to life and property can quickly take place. California budgets $519 million for fighting wildfires, with an emergency $182-million fund. The state fights the fires with prison inmates; 4,400 are trained each year to do the grunt work. Given California’s current large fiscal deficit, the governor has been planning to release prisoners earlier. An unintended consequence of this money-saving plan is a smaller firefighting force.
To my surprise, my California tax dollars are being used to pay for firefighting in this high-risk area. I naively assumed that people who live in these fire zones pay for their own extra fire protection services through local property taxes. But this is not the case. Climate change will increase both the size of these zones and the severity of risk that local residents face in them. Current state policy spreads the cost of this fire protection across all residents in the state. But consider a small change in state fire policy. If local governments in fire zones had to pay for the bulk of their own fire protection, they would change their zoning codes to allow less new development in these areas. This would immediately reduce the cost of climate change–induced forest fires.
Los Angeles Has a Subway?
Public transit is not used in Los Angeles. In the year 2000, only 6 percent of LA residents commuted using public transit. The Santa Monica Big Blue bus charges adults 75 cents and students 25 cents a ride, yet this isn’t enough of an incentive to lure mass ridership.
Although the car is cool, a more fundamental reason why people in Los Angeles do not walk, take the bus, or use the subway is that the city is so spread out. Urban researchers have documented that this city has at least sixteen different major employment centers, each with more than 100,000 jobs centered in it. Unlike nineteenth- and early twentieth-century cities, which had a single downtown employment center, the modern city has multiple employment centers. When people work in the suburbs, they are highly likely to commute by private vehicle.
The paradox is that the average Los Angeles resident lives in a neighborhood with 13,100 people per square mile, but few live a “new urbanist” lifestyle of walking and biking to places of work, shopping, and cultural activities. In recent years, the city and federal governments have invested billions of dollars in a subway and light rail system geared to getting people downtown. The Red Line is LA’s subway. It was opened in early 1993, with extensions through Hollywood opened later in the 1990s. The total cost of building this system has been roughly $6 billion, or $300 million per mile. Today, 150,000 people per day ride this subway. In contrast, 5 million per day ride the New York City subway.
Today, Los Angeles is considering building a “Subway to the Sea.” This east/west subway could take people from Hollywood, west through Beverly Hills, Westwood, Brentwood, and then finally to Santa Monica and the beach. My UCLA students tell me that they will take this subway (which will cost roughly $1 billion per mile) the 5 miles to the beach once it opens. If this subway does cost $5 billion to build, and if it attracts 200,000 riders per year, then after twenty-five years it will have attracted 5 million riders. The average fixed cost of providing this service would be $5 billion divided by 5 million, or $1,000 per rider. Critics would argue that a taxi, even a Beverly Hills taxi, would charge much less than $1,000 per ride.
Of course I am partially kidding. There are environmental and congestion benefits from building such a subway, and the subway would live on for years. But transit advocates must admit that in the absence of huge federal subsidies of up to 80 percent, there would be a serious public policy debate over whether subways are a good investment of scarce tax dollars. The case for building such a costly subway would be stronger if the federal government taxed gasoline to reflect its contribution to climate change. One leading economics study concluded that the tax on gasoline should be $1 a gallon higher than it is today. If the average household consumes 700 gallons of gasoline a year, this extra $700-a-year tax on gasoline expenditure would push some of them to switch from using their cars to taking public transit.
Could Public Transit Become Hip in Los Angeles?
Ridership of a new subway would increase if LA’s density increased to match a Manhattan-style density (via higher apartment buildings) on the west side of Los Angeles. Climate change will increase the demand to live closer to the temperate, low-smog coast. If in the near future the United States passes a carbon tax or cap and trade program for electricity consumption and fuel consumption, this will create incentives to live in high-density skyscrapers in West LA locations. In a nutshell, there will be incentives and infrastructure developed to make Los Angeles look more like Manhattan. Given that buildings can live for one hundred years, these changes to the city’s urban form will only gradually be noticeable. Manhattan is the densest county in the United States, with an average of 70,595 residents per square mile. If parts of Los Angeles could achieve a similar density, this would create a market demand for fast subways that would be used and pay for themselves. In comparing the carbon footprint of the nation’s major cities, New York City has a small footprint. This is due to its residents’ use of public transit and living in relatively small homes. Given its temperate climate, West Los Angeles could have an even smaller footprint if people there lived at Manhattan’s density.
Who might demand such new urbanist living? Crime in LA has been on the decline. In the past, suburbanization has been fueled by “flight from center city blight.” But this process could reverse. Amenity-seeking young people and empty nesters enjoy the high quality of life in the center city. Households with young children would be less likely to demand such dense apartment living.
If Los Angeles starts to resemble Manhattan’s urban form, it could help to reduce this city’s notorious traffic congestion. A dense coastal core of high-rise buildings would provide a political constituency who might vote in favor of congestion pricing on LA’s major highways.
Despite its well-known traffic congestion, Los Angeles has been slow to experiment with innovative solutions for this problem. In 2003 London implemented the Central London Congestion Charge. Commuters pay a fee of roughly $15 when they enter the center city during peak times. The road charge could vary over the course of the day. At 3:00 A.M., when the roads are empty, the road charge could be zero. Such incentives would help to spread out driving over the course of the day, reducing demand at the peak and increasing demand off-peak. This would increase traffic speeds during rush hour. The revenue collected from such a program could be used to improve public transit. This is the approach that London has adopted. By improving basic bus service (in its frequency and the quality of a ride), London has managed to lure middle-class people to commute using this mode. As public transit is no longer viewed as a poor person’s travel technology, any stigma effects vanish, and this further reinforces willingness to commute using public transit.
Outside of dense Northeastern cities such as New York City, Washington, D.C., and Boston, and environmentalist cities such as San Francisco, it is not a stretch to claim that the poor and lower middle class disproportionately commute using public transit. But this is not a constant. Improvement in the quality of public transit and densification would both reverse this long-term trend.
Hurdles: Local Growth Controls
To protect LA residents from climate change, we want to encourage more dense development near the water in coastal communities such as Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu, and Pacific Palisades. These communities are cooler and face less smog than East Los Angeles. The densification of West LA would offer global carbon mitigation benefits.
But wealthy, coastal communities are likely to block new apartment towers. Local cities control land use and permitting for new construction. At least up to this point, these communities have not encouraged such high-density land use. There is a certain irony here. The residents of these communities are pro-green Prius drivers, eagerly installing solar panels on their houses’ large roofs. On a day-to-day basis, they are living green and are proud of it. But Barbra Streisand and friends might not welcome thirty-story skyscrapers nearby. By giving their individual communities an implicit veto right on local development, Los Angeles as a metropolitan area loses access to a readily available adaptation strategy.
Consider Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, two beautiful cities located in West Los Angeles. Each has a population of roughly 90,000. Between 1990 and 2008, Beverly Hills averaged permitting 61 new total units per year, while Santa Monica issued new permits for 303 units per year. In this highly desirable community with roughly 30,000 housing units, this is a very small growth rate.
Some claim that the west side of Los Angeles has no land for development, but when I walk from Beverly Hills down Wilshire Avenue to UCLA, I see plenty of land parcels that could be converted from their current purposes into high density housing. In pristine Santa Monica, I see one-story auto repair shops that could be torn down and built up into six-story buildings. If such a building had twelve new units that each sold for $1 million, then the total revenue from this conversion would be $12 million. Could the auto repair shop’s present discounted value of its future profits really be close to $12 million? I don’t think so. This suggests that binding zoning regulation is inhibiting the conversion of scarce land to its highest value use. This grosses out the economist, and it should also upset environmentalists who are eager to see Los Angeles be nimble enough to adapt to changing climate conditions.
Sacrifice Golf to Save the People
West Los Angeles has other parcels of land that might be more desirable than converted commercial properties. Consider the private golf courses. These large green open spaces are reserved for wealthy golfers. I still like Tiger Woods, and I wish I was in as good physical condition as John Daly, but let’s think about what developers could build on the combined prime land at just two golf courses on the west side. Together the Riviera Country Club and the Los Angeles Country Club take up 377 acres (0.6 square mile) of prime West LA real estate. If the land were built up at Manhattan’s density of 70,595 people per square mile, it would yield housing for 0.6 x 70,595 = 42,357 people. If on average there are three people to an apartment unit, then 14,119 new housing units could be built there. If each sells for $1 million, the total new real estate would be worth roughly $14 billion. The increase in supply would cause the price of nearby housing to fall, but this negative supply effect is unlikely to be large. There are a number of people around the world eager to live the West LA lifestyle. Yes, there are tradeoffs. I am sacrificing golf for shrinking our per capita footprint and adapting to climate change. But such densification would create a virtuous cycle, as it would increase the demand and usage of a Wilshire subway. This “Manhattanization” of the west side would offer a variety of medium- and long-term environmental benefits. If West Los Angeles does become more amenable to high density development, there are also fundamental engineering challenges that will have to be addressed. As everyone knows, Los Angeles is prone to earthquakes. Building tall buildings in earthquake zones poses a set of engineering challenges that would have to be tackled.
Readers who love golf may now view me as the great Satan. I apologize for infringing on your constitutional right to play golf in paradise. My real goal here is to encourage a reconsideration of current land use regulations in Los Angeles. With such relatively small changes to status quo policies, this city can make a big push toward achieving a sustainable future in a hotter world.
Prices Matter
A major theme in this chapter has been the importance of getting prices right in our hotter future. I am not talking about Starbucks but rather about basic necessities such as electricity and water. Climate change will simultaneously increase the demand for them while restricting their supply. A consistent irony is that government policy is hindering urban adaptation to climate change. Up to this point, local and federal government policies have not helped our cities prepare for climate change. In both water pricing and electricity pricing, by placing a ceiling on prices and introducing strange implicit subsidies (such as the one directed toward Candy Spelling’s property), Los Angeles and other major cities are choosing not to expose urbanites to real scarcity signals. Los Angeles is risking its green future by its continued mispricing of scarce resources.
My city is not alone in this regard. Similar policies are in place in many U.S. cities. Capped prices matter because many of us need an explicit nudge to change our ways. Behavioral economists emphasize that like Homer Simpson, we are lazy procrastinators. But if we are serious about making a proactive push to adapt to climate change, we must face the truth about rising scarcity in our hotter world.
From Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in the Hotter Future by Matthew Kahn. © 2010 Matthew Kahn. Reproduced by permission of Basic Books, New York, New York.
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Debian Weekly News - November 15th, 2005
Debian Weekly News
Debian Weekly News - November 15th, 2005
the Debian community. Members of the Debian-Edu sub-project have
[1]proposed codenames for the upcoming Skolelinux release such as
Terra, Tellus and Oslo. Adrian von Bidder was [2]looking for very old
Debian installation images. Many can still be found on
1. http://lists.debian.org/debian-edu/2005/10/msg00207.html
2. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/10/msg00709.html
3. http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/debian/
Status of Big Endian ARM Port. Lennert Buytenhek [4]reported that the
big endian [5]ARM port has seen steady progress in the recent weeks.
The sarge distribution is nearly rebuilt and two build daemons are
working on the unstable distribution, both of which are available from
a separate [6]server.
4. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/11/msg00006.html
5. http://www.debian.org/ports/arm/
6. http://armeb.debian.net/debian-armeb/
Travel Sponsorship for Debian Conference. Andreas Schuldei [7]offered
active Debian people limited travel sponsorship if they can't afford
the entire trip. In order to be able to plan the budget he asked those
to [8]register in time. A committee will later decide about the
sponsoring options.
7. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/11/msg00004.html
8. https://www.debconf.org/comas/attendees/new
Oldenburg DevJam Meeting Report. Arnaud Vandyck [9]reported that
several Java people from different distributions have met at the
[10]DevJam for the first time. Developers from different distributions
and upstream packages have [11]discussed the state and development of
the free Java toolchain.
9. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2005/11/msg00005.html
10. http://meeting.ffis.de/Oldenburg2005/java.html
11. http://lwn.net/Articles/152664/
Automatic Clam AntiVirus Database Updates. Marc Haber [12]announced
that a script checks every 30 minutes if new virus patterns have been
released and rebuilds the virus database for [13]Clam AntiVirus on the
[14]volatile host if necessary. If all tests are passed automatically
packages will be moved into the volatile archive. Older packages are
automatically removed.
12. http://lists.debian.org/debian-volatile-announce/debian-volatile-announce-2005/msg00003.html
13. http://packages.debian.org/clamav
14. http://volatile.debian.net/
Debian-Installer Etch Beta 1. Joey Hess [15]announced the first etch
beta release of the [16]debian-installer and explained why the release
took so long. The most time-consuming problem was chasing recently
introduced bugs in various packages the installer depends on. Daily
building installer images only rarely result in working images, which
needs to be improved.
15. http://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2005/11/msg00605.html
Mozilla Public License 1.1. Fathi Boudra [17]sought cover for the
SugarCRM [18]license which is based on the [19]Mozilla Public License
1.1 (MPL). Matthew Garrett [20]reported that various people believe
that the MPL alone is non-free, however, Mozilla is being
[21]relicensed under the [22]GNU GPL and, hence, stays in the main
17. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/11/msg00112.html
18. http://www.sugarforge.org/content/open-source/public-license.php
19. http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/MPL-1.1.html
20. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/11/msg00113.html
21. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/11/msg00121.html
22. http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
FOSDEM: Call for Talks. Wouter Verhelst [23]called for talks for the
Debian room at the upcoming [24]FOSDEM conference that will take place
on February 25th and 26th, 2006 in Brussels, Belgium. The talks should
cover a technical issue and aimed towards people familiar with the
Debian project.
23. http://lists.debian.org/debian-events-eu/2005/11/msg00022.html
24. http://www.fosdem.org/
License for Debian Conference Material. Francesco Poli [25]stated that
[26]DebConf speakers should be required to publish their paper under a
license compatible with the [27]DFSG. Anthony Towns [28]pointed out
that Debian already distributes lots of content that isn't DFSG-free,
such as mailing lists and bug reports.
25. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/11/msg00064.html
26. http://www.debconf.org/
27. http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines
28. http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/11/msg00138.html
October Debian-Installer Meeting. Christian Perrier [29]published the
[30]minutes of the sixth [31]Debian-Installer team meeting held in
October. The progress on the GTK installer has been amazing and all
attendees agreed to make it available as soon as possible. Switching
to [32]udev became a major goal for the future.
29. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/10/msg00770.html
30. http://people.debian.org/~bubulle/d-i/irc-meeting-20051019/minutes
31. http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/
32. http://packages.debian.org/udev
Development Package Dependencies. Gabor Gombas [33]noticed problems in
dependencies of development packages since linking statically and
dynamically requires different packages and because some packages
conflict with each other since they provide the same files. Russ
Allbery [34]explained that the include file path is part of the
programming interface of the Kerberos implementation.
33. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/10/msg00772.html
34. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/11/msg00000.html
Maintaining Basic Network Utilities. Noah Meyerhans [35]wondered how
to best continue maintaining the iputils package that provides basic
network utilities such as [36]ping since the pristine package is
Linux-specific and doesn't compile or work on the [37]Hurd or
[38]kFreeBSD port of Debian. An official fork may lead in the proper
direction but could [39]imply that new kernel features may not be
supported immediately.
35. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/10/msg00799.html
36. http://packages.debian.org/iputils-ping
37. http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd
38. http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu/
39. http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2005/10/msg00854.html
your systems if you have any of these packages installed.
* DSA 890: [40]libungif4 -- Several vulnerabilities.
* DSA 891: [41]gpsdrive -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 892: [42]awstats -- Arbitrary command execution.
* DSA 893: [43]acidlab -- SQL injection.
* DSA 894: [44]abiword -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 895: [45]uim -- Privilege escalation.
* DSA 896: [46]linux-ftpd-ssl -- Arbitrary code execution.
* DSA 897: [47]phpsysinfo -- Several vulnerabilities
40. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-890
41. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-891
42. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-892
43. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-893
44. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-894
45. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-895
46. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-896
47. http://www.debian.org/security/2005/dsa-897
New or Noteworthy Packages. The following packages were added to the
unstable Debian archive [48]recently or contain important updates.
48. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main
* [49]915resolution -- Resolution modify tool for Intel graphic
* [50]avscan -- GTK frontend for the Clam AntiVirus scanner.
* [51]bricolage -- Bricolage Content Management System.
* [52]flac123 -- Command-line flac player.
* [53]kannasaver -- Japanese character screensaver.
* [54]kommando -- KDE wheel-menu to quickly pick menu items with the
* [55]parrot -- Virtual machine to execute bytecode for interpreted
* [56]preload -- Adaptive read-ahead daemon.
* [57]pygmy -- PyGTK client for the Music Player Daemon (MPD).
* [58]rsibreak -- KDE utility which can help to prevent the RSI.
49. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/x11/915resolution
50. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/avscan
51. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/web/bricolage
52. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/flac123
53. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/kannasaver
54. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/kommando
55. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/interpreters/parrot
56. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/misc/preload
57. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/sound/pygmy
58. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/kde/rsibreak
to the previous maintainers who contributed to the Free Software
community. Please see the [59]WNPP pages for the full list, and please
take over a package.
59. http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/
* [60]euler -- Interactive mathematical program. ([61]Bug#338949)
60. http://packages.debian.org/unstable/math/euler
61. http://bugs.debian.org/338949
We still need more volunteer writers who watch the Debian community
and report about what is going on. Please see the [62]contributing
mail at [63]dwn@debian.org.
62. http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/contributing
63. mailto:dwn@debian.org
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Carmel en Reclaiming a Coastal Garden <!--paging_filter--><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The ocean pulls us to its edge with a primeval force. Toes in the sand, face caressed by sea breezes, we worship the beach as the symbol of idleness and renewal. But as a habitat, the beach is no picnic. The sand we so blissfully let slip through our fingers is nutrient poor, doesn't hold water and is constantly shifting. Winds can be battering. And as anyone who has salted a driveway for snow and ice knows, salt can have a withering effect on plants.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </p> <p><a href="" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Ideas Beige Blue Bernard Trainor California Carmel Great Gardens succulent gardens Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:49:10 +0000 admin 87631 at
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RSS Feeds
Romney ad advantage doesn't tell the whole story
Thursday - 10/18/2012, 12:16pm ET
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Independent groups working to elect Republican Mitt Romney have helped him match or even exceed President Barack Obama's TV ad spending in dozens of media markets in battleground states. But the spending disparity doesn't tell the whole story, as Obama is still getting more value for his money with his ads.
An Associated Press analysis of presidential campaign advertising data from April through last week found that pro-Romney spending has exceeded pro-Obama ad spending by at least $65 million across the nine states expected to decide the election: Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Republican outside groups like American Crossroads and Americans for Prosperity have spent millions to complement Romney's campaign advertising, helping the GOP hopeful break even with or surpass Obama in places the president once dominated.
Obama has gotten a boost from Democratic-leaning groups like Priorities USA Action, a "super" political action committee supporting his re-election, but not enough to tamp out the GOP-leaning advantage.
Romney's allies have dropped millions of dollars in key swing state media markets. Without that assistance, pro-Obama spending would have outpaced pro-Romney spending in more than three dozen media markets.
Obama and groups supporting his re-election have spent more than $14.5 million on television ads in Las Vegas, about twice what Romney has spent. But GOP outside groups have dumped an extra $10 million into the market, allowing pro-Romney ads to outstrip pro-Obama TV spots there by $2.6 million.
In Washington, D.C., the main media market for voter-rich northern Virginia, Obama has had a $9 million advertising advantage over Romney. But an additional $13 million in outside ad spending, mainly from Crossroads GPS and Restore Our Future, put overall pro-Romney spending at a $29.6 million, besting the $25.9 million Obama has spent in that market.
Obama has more than doubled what Romney has spent on ads in Tampa, Fla. But $12 million in GOP outside money has poured into the market to help Romney, bringing pro-Romney spending to $19.7 million _ about the same as what Obama has spent there.
Yet despite the onslaught, Obama has retained an overall advertising advantage over Romney and Republican groups. Under federal law, television stations must offer presidential campaigns a discounted price _ it's known as the lowest unit rate _ to run their spots in the two months leading up to Election Day. Independent political groups aren't eligible for the discount, so their ads cost as much to run as do commercials for products like Pepsi or Tide.
The Obama team has taken full advantage of the lower ad rates available to them, having booked their fall advertising last July and August to ensure placement on key shows in top markets. The leading Republican independent groups, American Crossroads and its affiliate Crossroads GPS, also placed their fall ad buys in the summer, but they are paying far higher rates for the same time slots as the president.
For example, American Crossroads had to pay nearly double what Obama's campaign was charged _ $1,400 compared with $765 _ to run an ad during Tampa's morning news program on Fox affiliate WTVT, a review of station records showed. Crossroads bought about four spots (compared with Obama's three) during the 8 a.m. weekday slot.
The pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future did not make its bookings in the summer and is placing ad buys just days before the spots air, jacking up prices even more. In Norfolk, Va., last week, ROF paid $10,455 to air an ad on CBS station WTKR during the Tuesday prime-time, crime drama "NCIS" _ more than double the $4,705 the Obama campaign was charged for the same show.
The Obama campaign also retains an advantage over the Romney campaign when it comes to ad placement, even though both campaigns are entitled to the discounted rate.
Romney's campaign, like its independent ally Restore Our Future, places orders for its TV commercials just a few days before they are set to run. That means fewer ad slots are available to the campaign on a given day and in a given market, forcing the Romney team to pay more than the low rate it is eligible for if it wants to bounce another ad out of a time slot.
Romney's ad-buying pattern was on display again this week. On Monday, the campaign still had not placed ad buys in three swing states _ Nevada, New Hampshire and Ohio _ for spots that were supposed to start running on Wednesday.
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| 0.971909
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet
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El Goonish Shive – Delta
By brokenhero
Author's note: All characters except members of the Cross family owned and copyrighted by Dan Shive. I do not have Dan's permission to write this. I write it for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. So enjoy!
Act One: "Introduction"
-Thursday night, 8:30 p.m.-
"Boys, dinner! Wash your hands!"
"C.J., c'mon," Casey Joel Cross' fourteen year old brother Jon said, pounding on his brother's closed and locked door. "Mom said its dinnertime!"
Inside the room, Casey (as he preferred to be called, even though his mother insisted on putting "C.J." on all the official records) stood at his one of his bookshelves, trying to pick reading material for the dinner table, assuming the 'rents gave him a chance. Jon's dog Aayla lay with her head on Casey's pillow, drooling.
Casey was about 5'9", not really tall enough to be considered tall, but tall enough for him. He had messy black hair, and almost never styled it, after the incident a few years back when he'd spiked it up, and was taken for questioning by police in Murphysboro in connection to gang activity. Casey's wardrobe consisted of cheap flannel shirts from places like the Salvation Army, in numerous colors and styles of plaid. His beaten-up trench coat hung on a peg on the wall. His mother had previously banned him from wearing it in the house.
He grabbed an old paperback Stephen King book and stashed it in one of the cargo pockets of his jeans. He went downstairs to the kitchen, and his mother, Jillian, stopped him at the door.
"I called you three times, C.J.," she said. Not waiting for a response, she issued commands. "Get the ketchup and mustard and the salad dressings. And ask your brother what he wants to drink with dinner."
"I've already got a cola," Jon said, from the next room.
"Fine," she said, and then turned to Casey. "Pour yourself a glass of milk. No, not the 2; why don't you have some skim, it's better for you."
Casey juggled the five bottles of condiment out to the dining room, where his brother sat with a comic book open to a fight scene between a scandalously-clad woman and a giant man with a sword. He was picking out chunks of cheddar cheese from the salad. "Make sure your brother isn't sniping the cheese!" she called.
Jon snickered. "Ha-ha, you fail," he said, and nibbled more cheese.
Casey went back into the kitchen and sneakily poured himself a glass of 2 milk, nearly being caught by his mom, who bustled in and told him to go fetch Dad. So Casey went downstairs to his dad's home office to try and get him upstairs. His dad, Jackson, a furniture salesman, said he'd be right up, but the phone rang again. Jon had finished the easily obtained cheese by the time Casey got back upstairs, and he got an earful of nagging from Mom about it while Jon smirked at him behind her back.
Casey's dad didn't get upstairs until the meatloaf had gone cold and the salad had started to brown. Jillian had excused herself a few minutes before, sneaking outside to the back porch for a badly hidden smoke. Casey pulled out his book, and Jon drooled over his comic. Jackson finally tore himself away from the phone and came upstairs, but he wouldn't let the boys start eating until Jillian got back in. Eventually, she did.
"What's on tap for school tomorrow, C.J.?" Jackson asked, grinding meatloaf in his teeth.
"In Science, we're doing some lab project with goo," Casey answered, softly.
"You had better do well on that goo lab," Jillian said, in between coughs. "Goo creation is very important to your future."
"Speaking of the future, have you put any thought into that tech school in Wisconsin?" Jackson asked.
"…" Casey didn't answer. He didn't want to talk about this again.
"I think you should seriously consider it," Jillian said. "It's only a two-year program, and it's nice and close to home! Isn't that nice? Only two hours away."
"We could visit all the time!" Jon said sarcastically.
"Could I be excused?" Casey asked. "I need to work on the pre-lab, and I still have a bunch of homework besides…"
"Sure, honey," Jillian said. "Just wait until your brother finishes, and you two can clear the table."
Jon was only half done with his meatloaf, even though he'd gone back for a second pop, a root beer this time. As soon as he finished, he took his plate to the kitchen counter and fled upstairs to talk to his girlfriend of the month online. Casey had to clean the dishes himself, and scrub down the cookware too. It was past ten p.m. when he finished. He hated how long dinner lasted at his house.
It took Casey two more hours to finish his daily grind homework, and then he started on the pre-lab for the Goo project. At 1:45 a.m. Casey decided it was good enough and went to bed, exhausted. Thursday mornings were Jazz band, and Intramural Hockey practice had lasted till 4:30. Casey slept uneasily, due to the presence of Jon's dog, who hogged the center of the bed.
Act Two – "Goo"
Casey zoned out most of the next day's classes. Finally, it was last period Science class. His usual lab partner, Liz, the school's resident Goth, had apparently cut 8th period, so the teacher put him with another group with two people. A guy named Elliot and …something named Tedd.
Elliot had a noble air to him. Casey knew he did some kind of martial art, and that some of the jocks had nicknames for him, like "demon", but didn't really know anything about him. Tedd was even more of an enigma, hiding behind thick glasses and a snarky grin.
Halfway through the assignment, the three reached a problem. They discussed it, and Tedd (who Casey had deduced was really male) raised his hand. "Um, Teach?" Tedd asked.
'Uh-oh,' the science teacher thought. "Yes, Tedd?" he asked.
"Our goo kinda came to life and slithered away…" Tedd said. "Is that bad?"
The teacher didn't react well to that. He let his head drop to his hands, and told them to go find it. Most teachers at Moperville North had that kind of reaction when Tedd told them strange things.
A few minutes later, Tedd, Elliot and Casey walked down the hallway, armed with butterfly nets from the Biology room.
"I can't believe we're hunting goo," Tedd said, peering down the deserted hallway.
"Well, it's your fault it's alive, so keep looking," Elliot said, watching the sideboards.
"There!" Casey spotted the goo oozing towards the athletics wing. Elliot rushed towards it and swung the net, but the goo defeated him.
"Hey! It oozed right through the net!" Elliot said, as the goo disappeared around a corner. "I suppose it was foolish to try and capture goo with nets…"
"Blasphemy! We just need bigger nets!" Tedd joked, and Casey laughed, a short barking sound, as if he wasn't used to it.
"We could try using one of the floor hockey nets, Tedd. That large enough for ya?" Casey suggested. Elliot and Tedd chuckled at that, and the three followed the goo around the corner. Elliot wandered down the left-hand hallway and Casey went right. Tedd stayed at the corner, peeking around. Elsewhere, the goo discovered and feasted upon the football team's steroid stash.
Elliot stopped and looked blankly into space. "I sense a disturbance in the goo…."
"I thought I found it, but it turned out to be a sponge," Tedd said, holding a dirty sponge up for Elliot's absent approval.
"Dude, I told you it was a sponge," Casey said.
"No, you thought it was the goo too!" Tedd fired back.
"Did not!" "Did too!"
"Guys, Focus!" Elliot yelled.
After a few more minutes of fruitless searching, Tedd sighed. "This sucks! Everyone else has already gone home."
"We should split up," Elliot suggested. "We'll find it faster that way." The other too looked at him skeptically.
"Dude, have you seen any horror movies in the past thirty years?" Casey asked, incredulously. "Every group that splits up ends up dead!" Tedd agreed.
"Split up? Are you mad?" Tedd exclaimed. "There's goo out there! Going alone is suicide!"
"Oh, c'mon," Elliot said. "It's goo! What are you afraid of?" Casey and Tedd looked at each other.
"Um, goo makes me puke…" Tedd said.
"My mom would get mad if I got killed by goo," Casey said. Elliot turned away, to go off on his own.
"Feh! It's goo! How dangerous could it possibly be?" He asked. Elsewhere, the goo had mutated further: it now had red eyes and a fanged mouth, with nasty teeth and big arms.
Casey told Tedd to wait a minute, and went to the athletic lockers. He dug through a bin of sports gear and pulled out a fiberglass hockey stick. Armed, Casey stalked through the halls searching for the goo himself. He encountered it eating garbage outside the cafeteria. The more it ate, the larger it grew.
"Hey, Goo!" Casey yelled. The monster stopped its feast and turned to glare menacingly at Casey. It reared up a bit to just over five feet tall. "Yeah, ya corpulent pus bag! You ain't' nothin'! My grandma could take you!" Casey's taunts were pissing the Goo off. Casey brandished the hockey stick and spun and flourished it.
The Goo shot an arm at Casey, but it misjudged Casey's speed. He dodged the tendril and sliced it off with a mighty hockey stick blow. The Goo growled angrily.
Meanwhile, Elliot was searching nearby. 'Where is this goo?!' he thought. 'I wonder if it dried up or something. Maybe it went in the cafeteria…' "Holy Crap!" Elliot said. He rounded the corner to see Casey drive the hockey stick deep into the creature's back, but it reacted too fast. As Casey tried to clear his stick from the Goo's sticky flesh, it battered him with a speedy arm. Casey slammed into the row of lockers on the opposite wall, and the Goo broke the hockey stick off in its arm.
"Um… Mr. Giant Goo Monster…" Elliot said, backing away. "Any chance of letting me just …leave safely?" The goo growled at him, moving away from the dazed, but slowly recovering Casey, towards Elliot. "Crud," he said, and then went into a martial arts stance. "Bring it on…" he said.
The Goo hissed and shot its right arm towards Elliot, who jumped out of the way in the last second. 'Damn, I barely dodged that!!!' Elliot thought. Then he noticed possible weapon lying on the ground. 'A fork that someone dropped earlier? Yes! Advantage? Elliot!' He snatched up the fork and threw it at the Goo, yelling "Togateiru Fohku Kohgeki!" (Pointy Fork Attack), but the fork passed through the Goo's head without hurting it. The Goo chuckled sinisterly.
"It didn't do anything to it…! How the hell do you harm Goo?" Elliot wondered. The Goo started for him again and roared, and Elliot took off. Fortunately, the Goo followed him and left Casey alone.
Soon, Elliot came across Tedd, who was wandering around aimlessly. "There you are, Tedd! Listen, I found the Goo, but—"
"No I was not in the girl's locker room!" Tedd yelled, interrupting him. Elliot looked confused.
"Um, what?"
"Ok, maybe I was, but it's not like anyone was in there!!!" Tedd said. Elliot scratched his head in confusion. "Oh, it's just you, Elliot. Sup? Where's Casey?" He asked. After a quick recap, Tedd said, "Hm, so it has become a giant monster… How did you escape?"
"Simple," Elliot said. "I told it a Hero from Dragon Warrior was right behind it and ran when its back was turned."
Tedd was amazed. "Of course," he said. "Any monster that's anything like a Slime would naturally fear a Dragon Warrior hero." Elliot looked around for signs of the goo.
"I don't think that will work twice, though," he said. "I bet it's pretty pissed off right about now. I hope Casey's ok." Tedd thought for a moment.
"Worry not, comrade, for I have a plan!" He said.
"That worries me…" Elliot said, deadpan.
Meanwhile, Casey had finally recovered from the hit and was wandering around cautiously, looking for Tedd and Elliot, not realizing the pair was no longer inside. He ended up back at the equipment lockers, and since it was open and his hockey stick was broken, he decided to upgrade. He tossed the broken stick aside and selected a nice titanium baseball bat. As he swung it around experimentally, he winced in brief pain from his new bruises on his shoulder. He eyed the equipment and had an idea.
Outside, Elliot borrowed a lighter from a good-natured, silent guy in a long wool coat and raced back to Tedd. "Ok, I got the lighter, now what?" He asked. Tedd looked at the freedom of outside, then back at the sinister school.
"Well, as long as we're outside, we might as well go home," he said.
"Home?" Elliot exclaimed. "We're not leaving! That Goo is in there!"
"It was just a suggestion," Tedd said defensively.
""Feh," Elliot scoffed. "So what are we going to do to it, burn it?"
"Actually, Elliot, just the opposite," Tedd said, crossing his arms.
"You mean the Goo's gonna burn us?" a sarcastic voice asked. "I'm not happy with this plan, Tedd."
"Casey! You made it!" Elliot said. "Did you see where it went?"
'What the hell are you wearing?" Tedd asked.
Casey had a catcher's mask on his face, a set of football shoulder pads over a catcher's vest, both of which were stuffed under his trench coat. He wore hockey gloves and catcher's greaves for his extremities, as well as a cup. "Hey, man, I tussled with that thing once and it kicked my ass," Casey said. "I wanted to be prepared for a rematch." He drew the baseball bat from behind him, where he'd slipped it up into a loop on his coat. "You guys want to come back in and get some stuff? The locker's open… now…"
Elliot shook his head. "We don't have time. Tedd, what's your plan?"
The three went inside and Casey quickly liberated a ladder from a janitor's closet. Elliot climbed up to the ceiling next to a sprinkler head. "The Goo is only able to maintain its current form due to a delicate balance of liquids and solids," Tedd explained. "It's absorbent, so if we drench it with water the balance should be undone and all we'd have to do is clean up a puddle.
"Of course, not every area of the school has sprinklers, so we should wait for it to come to us."
"Ok," Elliot said. "Just one question. Is that close enough for ya?" Tedd and Casey spun around and saw the Goo, now filling up the hallway. It roared, and the windows in the display cases rattled.
Casey hefted his bat. "I think we're gonna need a bigger boat…" he joked, softly.
"Now, Elliot, now! Use fire from the lighter to activate the sprinkler system!" Tedd yelled over the Goo's roar.
Casey charged the monster, but it swatted him away. The hit was blunted by his cobbled together armor, so Casey jumped back up and started whacking the Goo's flanks. It was so big, that it couldn't turn to grab him.
"It's not working!" Elliot shouted back. "Something's wrong with the sprinklers!"
The Goo managed to work one of its arms back to grab Casey. It tossed him towards Elliot and Tedd. "Frickin' ow…" Casey said. "I don't think I like this guy very much. Let's tell the principal on him…" He was a little dazed, but more annoyed. The Goo advanced towards them.
"Um, Elliot," Tedd said. "Any ideas?"
"Only one and I'd really hate to do it, but…" Elliot concentrated, and a crackling energy aura surrounded him.
"Um, you ok?" Tedd asked, timidly.
Elliot rushed the Goo with superhuman speed, yelling a wordless battle cry that stunned the monster. He punched through one of the Goo's red eyes and clicked the lighter on. He shoved the lighter into the hole he made and jumped away. The Goo's eye socket filled with flame, and Elliot fled. The monster screeched in pain as flames spread quickly throughout its body. Finally, it exploded, throwing Elliot towards Tedd and Casey.
"Ok," Tedd said. "I don't care if you did use the lighter to set it on fire. It blowing up is just ridiculous." Elliot thrust a gooey fist into the air.
"Yes!" he cried. "I am the man!"
Casey took off his catcher's mask. "Dude! That was the single coolest thing I've ever seen!"
"Except you didn't give any of your attacks pointless Japanese names," Tedd interrupted.
Elliot clapped a hand to his forehead. "Argh! God Dammit! Son of a— Can I get a do over?"
The fire department, police and reporters showed up to question the three, but Casey let Elliot and Tedd do most of the talking. He took off all his gear and stashed it in a spare athletic bag, which he attached to his bike before the authorities showed up. Eventually, everyone left, and the guys were free to go.
"Well, dude, thanks for your help," Elliot said, extending a goo-encrusted hand to Casey. "We probably couldn't have done it without you." Casey shook Elliot's hand.
"Are you gonna give that stuff back?" Tedd asked. Casey considered it for a moment.
"Nah," he said. "I don't think so. Half of it's mine anyway." Casey slung the bag over his back and unlocked his bike. "Besides, it could come in handy the next time the sewer revolts on us." They laughed. "What do you think happened today?"
"Eh, I don't know," Tedd said. He yawned. "I'm not gonna worry about it tonight. You still coming over for a while, Elliot?"
"Yeah, but I want to wash this crap off before it sets completely solid," Elliot said.
"Cool, well…" Casey climbed onto his bike. "I'll see you guys Monday, I guess. Later…." He started to pedal away, but Tedd stopped him.
"You want to come over to my house and play a game of Risk or something?" Tedd asked. "We haven't played it since Sarah stopped wanting to hang out at my house."
"Because you turned her into a cat-girl, Tedd," Elliot said. Casey cocked his head.
'Wait, what?' he wondered. Out loud, he said, "Are you guys sure? Uh, I don't want to seem like I'm inviting myself over or anything…"
"Nah, don't worry about it," Elliot said. "Tedd's dad is used to people just showing up and hanging out. Don't expect food, though. The Verres men are horrible cooks."
"Hey, you know I cook better when my dad's not home and I can 'let my hair down', so to speak," Tedd said. "Just say yes, C.J. It'll be fun!"
"It's Casey, actually…" Casey said quietly, but the others didn't hear him. They were bickering about something called a Transformation Gun. "Sure, I'll go, if you guys don't mind a sausage fest," he said.
Tedd grinned. "We could fix that easily enough…" he cackled.
Casey left his bike at school and rode to Tedd's house in Elliot's car. Casey unpacked the game board while Tedd hid his TF Gun at Elliot's suggestion. Elliot told Casey a little bit about his study of Anime-Style martial arts, and said a little about Nanase.
'I wonder if that's the same Nanase I used to know,' Casey thought, as they chose colors. Casey and Tedd eliminated Elliot rather quickly, and fought each other to a standstill. Eventually, Elliot had to leave, so Casey hitched a ride back to the school to get his bike. Elliot told him to call any time to hang out, and then left.
Casey rode around town for a bit, then went to his Sanctuary and dumped his bag of gear. He planned well enough that by the time he got back to his house, his parents had already gone to bed. Casey went to bed thinking about the interesting and dangerous day he'd had. 'At least I made some friends,' he thought. 'Finally…." He drifted off to sleep more contented than any time he could remember.
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<urn:uuid:7f2b7b23-f3a7-4cb3-9dad-9b145cf0ab1e>
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https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4124836/1/El-Goonish-Shive-Delta
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| 0.986254
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet
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Research company x business model, game dev company
Job Description
1. A quick market analysis based on Porters five forces analysis.
2. A qiuck business model canvas, Not more than 1 A4.
3. I want to know, is there any money in this, can they earn money in the future? Do they have any impact on the market
I need someone how can do this good and fast. I will tell you which company it is once you're hired
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<urn:uuid:fd5321fc-9778-4ea1-9873-93a416a82701>
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https://www.odesk.com/o/jobs/job/_~016dfe57037205d189/
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en
| 0.960997
| 0.920287
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
Warning : totally noob question...
I just started using ubuntu at home, and i love it, but there are some basic stuff that i don't know how to do and is annoying me...
When I install a package using sudo apt-get install ... I don't even know where the installed package is. For some packages it doesn't really matter to me, but for some it does...
Example : I just installed vim, and I would like to create a shortcut to vim on my desktop. How would i do this ? How can i find the folder where it was installed and know which executable I need to shortcut ?...
Maybe coming from the world of Windows, I'm not even thinking like a linux user, so feel free to correct me... :)
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4 Answers
To extend on Ángel Araya's answer. You could run sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends gnome-panel then open gedit and type
[Desktop Entry]
Name=New launcher...
Exec=gnome-desktop-item-edit --create-new
Then save to the desktop as gnome-launcher.desktop. Finally you should have a button to make a launcher on your desktop.
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And welcome ;)
To extend nickanor's answer you can create a .desktop file to point to vim executable. Just open gEdit with root permissions
gksu gedit
and paste:
[Desktop Entry]
GenericName=Vim Editor
Then save the file to /usr/share/applications/ with name vim.desktop. Then you can see vim when you search it in the dash:
enter image description here
Another faster aproach is just to open the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and write ´vim filename´ which will open the editor with specified file.
enter image description here
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if you wish to find the directory of the executable vim, use which command: which vim. It will display where the executable is located.
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vim is located in /usr/bin/vim. Most executables, that is, scripts that start a program are in /usr/bin or /sbin or /usr/sbin. You can find about anything with:
sudo updatedb
locate <whatever>
updatedb indexes a database and takes a few moments, so be patient.
I doubt you really want a shortcut to vim, however, since vim requires an argument; that is, a file to create or modify, for example:
vim newfile.txt
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Your Answer
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<urn:uuid:e6ba24e3-79f4-44ee-8012-c7d77d35c310>
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http://askubuntu.com/questions/229705/finding-an-apt-get-installation?answertab=active
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| 0.858913
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet
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"Catfish: The TV Show"
Credit: MTV.com
"Catfish: The TV Show"
by Jordan Armstrong / KVUE.com
Bio | Email | Follow: @majordyrules
Posted on December 7, 2012 at 4:09 PM
Updated Friday, Jan 18 at 11:45 AM
Have you seen "Catfish: The TV Show"?
First let me ask you, have you seen “Catfish” the documentary? It was on Netflix, and on a rainy Sunday afternoon it changed my life.
The documentary made by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman follows Schulman’s brother Nev as he becomes online friends with an entire family he has never met. He ends up falling in love with one member of the family, though he has talked to her only through Facebook and on the phone, etc.
Of course things start to become fishy, and a few facts about her and the others don't add up.
SPOILER ALERT: She isn’t real. The family isn't real. They were all made up by a sad, lonely woman.
Nev had his heart broken but learned a valuable lesson. He's since turned to MTV and created a show where he travels the country to help poor souls meet their online loves in person.
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure calling MTV for help meeting my online boyfriend is red flag number one.
My friends and I are OBSESSED with this show. I’m always waiting for Chris Hansen to come out, ask someone if they want some iced tea and then tell them they're under arrest.
In the episodes which have aired since the show premiered, the person of interest hasn't been completely telling the truth. In each case the “victim” is led to believe they are in love with this person they never met. But Nev always comes to the rescue.
He and his crew usually find something strange or odd about the person within the first five minutes of being there. All it takes is a Google search and a few questions. Are people really that naïve?
Maybe it’s because I’m a journalist, but everything “detective” Nev does is what I do when I meet a cute boy on any given day.
If someone says they work at the "Chelsea Handler Show", Nev calls to confirm. If someone has privacy settings which exclude “real” photos of them, he checks on them from another Facebook account. If someone says they have two kids, he calls and asks them if they have two kids. It's common sense. It's that easy.
But some of the people on this show believe every word these people are telling them. They've even been in an online relationship with them for sometimes up to 10 years - without meeting them in person.
My generation or younger should know better. Since AOL chat rooms existed, we've been told to watch who we're talking to and NEVER meet an online friend in person. We hear stories about dangerous creeps all the time.
One would think in this day and age, people would "Google" someone before proposing.
For example, a girl in one episode was told by her online "model" boyfriend that his three sisters died tragically in a car accident. A simple search conducted by Nev immediately proved his sisters were alive and well.
It makes me think - with online dating sites and social media becoming more predominant, are we really more apt to fall in love with a computer screen than an actual person?
So far this show hasn’t ceased to amaze me (but it does air on MTV, so only time will tell). Nev is charming (and super good looking!) and seems to be a genuinely nice person. He's always searching for the truth and wants to help others find love - even if it's unconventional.
Am I the only one hoping the person on the other end will be Old Man Withers from "Wayne's World" when the person expects Rob Lowe?
That may sound harsh, but if someone is willing to fall in love with pixels without doing their homework, they run the risk of being shocked on national television.
So why is it called "Catfish" you ask? Here's an explanation from MTV.com:
Cat·fish [kat-fish] verb: To pretend to be someone you're not online by posting false information, such as someone else's pictures, on social media sites, usually with the intention of getting someone to fall in love with you.
You can catch "Catfish: The TV Show" on MTV Monday nights (and other times during the week, 'cause you know MTV repeats the heck out of its shows). Full episodes are also on MTV.com.
For a full understanding, the documentary is also a must-see.
Jordan Armstrong is a digital content producer at KVUE. She holds a degree in Radio, Television and Film from the University of North Texas. Her addiction to television and movies started when she was five years old and wouldn’t stop watching "The Cosby Show." She's a "Power Rangers" fan club card holder and owns every season of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" on DVD. Jordan’s opinions are not a reflection of the views of KVUE.com, KVUE TV, or its parent company Belo Corp. We actually don’t know why we’re letting her have a column.
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<urn:uuid:5947d8da-44c2-4461-8edb-3e9471d27aef>
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http://www.kvue.com/entertainment/have-you-seen/Catfish-The-TV-Show-182581161.html?ref=next
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en
| 0.971111
| 0.14124
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet
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Friday 14 March 2014
Saudi delays execution of seven men
Executions jump in 2011, driven by ME: Amnesty
The number of executions carried out around the world jumped last year, largely due to a surge in use of the death penalty in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. The rights gro
UN chief alarmed over Syria atrocities
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had received 'grisly reports' that Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in the battle-scarred city of Homs after rebel fighters had fled. Ban
Russia appeals to Iraq to not execute Aziz
Russia called on Iraq on Wednesday not to carry out the death sentence on Tareq Aziz on humanitarian grounds, its foreign ministry said. The Vatican has also appealed against the sentence which was passed by Iraq's high tribunal on Tuesday
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calendarCalendar of Events
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Wednesdays 8:00 PM on CW
Arrow Review: The Billionaire, The Friend, The Hero
by at . Updated at .
All of the information we've been clamoring for was revealed on Arrow Season 2 Episode 9.
Oliver was plagued by stress-related hallucinations that gave viewers a lot of insight into his character and prepared us for the big reveal at the end.
The installment was the perfect setup for the second half of Arrow Season 2, and it was also yet another non-Christmas Christmas episode in what has turned out to be the "thing" this holiday season. It does make it easier, I suppose, for those who binge watch in the middle of summer, for example.
The theme of "Three Ghosts" was, of course, a nod to Dickens' A Christmas Carol. What Oliver didn't know was that all of his ghosts weren't in the past at all, and one was manipulating his present. Aha - a Christmas present!
Visions of Ghosts
While it certainly makes sense to give The Flash his own show, having Barry Allen around was a lot of fun and I'll miss his presence. He was the catalyst for change to the team and when someone can have a positive effect on a tight-knit group, they're always welcome.
Although Oliver was dying, he still didn't like Felicity making the decision to reveal his identity to Barry. He was pouty and petulant about it, feeling betrayed. Without Allen, not only would he have died, he wouldn't have gotten his new mask. You have to love the lines the writers gave Barry.
Not to tell you how to do your vigilante-ing but the grease paint thing is a poor identity concealer.
Really? Who knew? Now if only Oliver would cover that gorgeous jaw line which anyone would recognize a light year away.
As Cyrus Gold terrified Starling City, Oliver was seeing ghosts. The first was Shado, and unfortunately we have confirmation of her death. There's no coming back from a bullet to the head. Ivo did that when Oliver "chose" to save Sara by kneeling in front of her instead of Shado.
Her island scenes are over, unless he flashes back even further than the timeline he's in now. Shado's ghost wanted him to live and stop placing himself in jeopardy.
His second ghost was Slade, who accused him of being Arrow to atone for his own sins, such as allowing Shado and him to die. He didn't buy the BS about his father, and told him he belonged with him, wherever that was. Oliver really gets into his hallucinations. He even threw himself into a display case and broke the sucker. That's commitment.
Oliver's third ghost was Tommy, and it was the most surprising. For some reason, I didn't expect him even though there was every reason he should be at the top of the list. Since the first two were from the island, I expected the final visit to be from Robert Queen. Seeing Tommy give the heartfelt speech to his friend wrenched my heart just a bit.
The Internet went wild when Diggle was scouting Cyrus Gold and said "Solomon Grundy born on a Monday," and Oliver said he knew the poem, which symbolized the seven stages of death. It's a moniker that Gold adopts in the comics after he dies and comes back as the first comic zombie after being murdered and dumped in Slaughter Swamp.
Roy, Thea and Sin were still trying to find out about their friend, but it was all to get Sebastian Blood to give Roy Mirakuru. That's right. Little Roy just became a super soldier. He was out most of the time Arrow was saving his ass, so I'm not sure how much of that he'll remember, but if mayoral candidate Sebastian Blood get to him as I'm expecting (the red hoodie and all that), he's going to have a hell of a nemesis for the Arrow in his new soldier.
Roy is still angry at Arrow for shooting him, but he's now healed. The wound was fixed right up after the serum took effect. Thea is behind her guy in his desire to go it alone, which is a far cry from her stance a month earlier. With his new physical presence, her support and Blood's support, things are going to get interesting.
Blood was also getting intimate with Laurel, in one more horrible decision on her part. With Lance in the hospital because of Blood and Gold, she was accepting hugs of concern outside his room without knowing that he was the cause of it all. Someday she will, and it will undoubtedly crush her just a bit more as she searches for rock bottom before she can return as a new version of herself.
There were two big reveals at the end. I'm not sure which was bigger. One has a large impact on the show and one spins off into The Flash; we'll talk about the latter first.
Barry and Felicity had a few moments and he kind of admitted he had feelings for her she didn't return, and he thought she had feelings for Oliver. Once they got all of that out, he was in a hurry to get back to Central City to see the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator turned on. He was late, as usual.
Barry was standing in his office, the floor covered in water during a horrible electrical storm with rain pouring down, when he went over to the sky light to pull on some enormous chains. The accelerator exploded, he was struck by lightening and his face was lit up, kind of like Dorian's in Almost Human. There are nanites or something in Barry Allen now. A new superhero was born.
Both Barry and Roy were infused with powers tonight, but we won't get to see Barry until he either gets his own series or that falls through and he becomes a part of the Arrow-verse. I'm not sure which one I want more at this point.
The second revelation was the discovery of Blood's boss. As expected, a blood donor was at the bottom of the Mirakuru serum. Oliver's ghost was of the present, because Slade Wilson is alive and well, sans one eye, in Starling City. He woke just after receiving his injection on the island and immediately found Shado dead. Hell hath no fury like a super soldier scorned.
Slade told Blood Oliver is his friend, and I think he still considers him that, even though he believes he was betrayed. Time doesn't heal all wounds, it gives them time to fester and bring them to the boiling point. The pain between Slade and Oliver will be an ultimate fight. Will these men stray from the fates of their comic characters? Can they be redeemed?
With the recent mention of H.I.V.E. and the presence of Deathstroke, it will be interesting to see if they come together in the death of Diggle's brother. Slade may be beyond redemption. Given what they've all been through, are any of them beyond that point? I guess we'll find out.
I'm sure there are a hundred other things that happened or are worth discussion that I didn't touch upon. That's your job. Hit the comments and strike up a conversation. Let's get this ball rolling!
Editor Rating: 4.8 / 5.0
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Rating: 4.9 / 5.0 (147 Votes)
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This was such a great episode and I thought it ended the mid-season point on such a strong note. I love how they brought Slade into the present and laid out the revenge he plans on seeking against Oliver. I think knowing that - knowing he's behind the scene pulling strings to manipulate everyone - ups the tension for the viewer. I really want to know where Isabel fits into this. Is she Slade's "insider" at Queen Consolidated? Is that why she targeted the company? Is that why she seems to be poking into Oliver's relationship with Felicity? (Are you sleeping with her, is she just a friend, etc)
It would make sense to me, in a weird way, if it's Oliver/Felicity/Diggle in Team Arrow against Slade/Isabel/Blood on Team Baddie. Weird symmetry there, actually, now that I think about it.
I think almost all the characters are coming along nicely and I'm anxious to see what their fates will be the rest of the season -- Quentin, Felicity, Roy, Thea, Oliver, Diggle... all got me on the edge of my seat.
And yep, I enjoyed the Oliver/Felicity stuff as well. I find it cool that Arrow is having Felicity working to deny how much she's come to care for Oliver. What's Oliver think? How does he feel? When will he realize it? Looking forward to the show addressing that, too. I laughed when someone in a previous comment mentioned that Arrow doesn't really do "slow" in these areas but really... it's been building since season 1 and right now it's still (largely) unspoken. I mean... the two only just hugged. I've got a show I'm watching with a similar pair and after spending only a few minutes together on screen have kissed and I think they slept together this week. So Arrow with Oliver/Felicity? Actually moving at a pretty slow pace. Sometimes I think they could pick that up with Oliver/Felicity just a smidge. ;) And yes. Yes, I did just use the word "smidge." LOL!
So you guys remember the scene where Ivo makes Oliver choose between Shado and Sara and he inadvertently chooses Sara, thereby sealing Shado's fate. What if Slade will seek to recreate that in the season 2 finale? Like maybe he gets Laurel and Felicity side by side and does the exact same thing Ivo did to Ollie on the island. Forcing him to choose? Not saying I want Laurel to die per se but given the fact that she's playing more of a supporting role this season, that could be a viable option... Thoughts?
@ Fearless Diva
Laurel will be Black Canary in the future. So I doubt the creators will kill her off.
@ Fifty
As someone pointed out in one of the Arrow after shows for Laurel to become Canary something has to happen that she gets training. She can't just lose her sister and decide to be Canary. I agree. Perhaps canon won't be followed like Tommy.
@ isoron
It's something to keep in mind that, even though it doesn't come close to the training the other's have had, it's been noted many times Laurel has been training in the martial arts. She handily took down the fellows when she was kidnapped when David Anders guested. We've missed a lot of what she's been doing in the background.
Brother Blood has a boss! And the Boss is Slade!! Super Awesome!!! I guess Barry's pilot as Flash would be off the hook as well. Love to see Red Arrow being born. I agree the green and red won't see eye to eye at first but eventually they will partner up. Conveniently I won't say anything about Laurel except HOPE she would play that role better than the current one coz it sucks!!!
Finally I watched the episode and I really enjoy it. This series is getting better and better. Good storylines and action. Laurel was much better last season, this season she is like a supportive role only.
I like Oliver and Slade as friends but I know Slade is pissed off with Oliver as he believes Ollie is reponsible for Shado's death which is not true, but Ollie feels that guild inside of him that it is starting to eating him. I dont like the idea of Slade become a very lethal enemy to Oliver and harm everyone he cares about cause I knoe he will but I hope Oliver will get thru his senses and make him realize it was not his fault and they can work together as a team btu I believe it will take a bit time before that happens. Slade has this much anger towards Ollie. Poor him.
I hope Roy teams up with Oliver and do not go to the dark path and join Slade.
It's mostly boring.
@ fortyseven
And you are mostly a troll.
Great review!! So. Much. Happening!!!
I really enjoyed this episode. Stephen Amell was on point - the scene where he and Diggle were talking about their ghosts was so well done! Also, for someone playing Green Arrow, he sure has a killer Batman stare-down...
Roy Harper - even in the comics and the animated shows - has anger issues. This is an interesting way to explore them. I'm also REALLY looking forward to the return of Barry Allen.
I have to disagree with anyone who says Shado's death was lame. Oliver was forced to make a "Sophie's Choice" - that kind of choice defines a person and lives with them forever. I'm betting that this will be a turning point for Oliver; the kind of guilt that comes from this death is more than would come with any heroic sacrifice. It's also a much bigger catalyst for revenge for Slade - Oliver can't really argue that it wasn't his fault, and he'll never believe it wasn't.
On another note, I preferred when the Felicity/Oliver thing was a bit more subtle. A slow burn would have been nice. That being said, Arrow's doesn't really do slow, so part of me that is grateful for the pacing and not dragging stories out.
Laurel...oh Laurel. What a crap story this poor character's been given. Katie Cassidy - I'm sorry, but I don't think she's very good at playing the broken woman. She was WAY better last season when Laurel was driven, decisive and strong.
P.S. Among the five contributors, last week's Round Table predicted almost everything that happened in this episode!
PPS. Solomon Grundy!!! I love how great these writers are with throwing names for us comic fans!
@ Robin Harry
@Robin, in all honesty after reading so much of script playing, reviews and comments on my No.1 TV show i.e. of course Arrow, I feel Laurel would be ending up becoming up the Black Canary at the end of the Season 2. Caty Loitz aka the present Black Canary would be tracked down eventually by Nesa Al Ghul the half sister of Talia Al Ghul girl of Ra's Al Ghul. Roy should go through the normal transition i.e he must turn himself into Arsenal and then eventually become Red Arrow. Batman, Nightwing, and maybe who else will make a cameo in Arrow, only the producers and the best writers know. What say @Carissa? over to you. Arrow is undoubtedly the best superhero TV show ever made and surely the best right now running out there IMHO.
Could this show get any better? How well written,I'm impressed.
I loved every Barry scene and I was jumping on my couch as I saw his accident coming.
And I'm sorry, I don't like Laurel. I hope she becomes a super soldier too, with no emotion. She cries too much. I hate that she keeps bringing Tommy's dead. They were no longer dating.
Roy isn't going to be Arrow's nemesis, he is going to be his sidekick, Red Arrow.
@ justme
I don't think that going to be his first stop. He has some growing up to do before he partners with anybody. He thinks he can do it himself, and will even more now that he's supercharged.
Man! Olicity's chemistry was way off the charts in this episode!
@ Helena
Agreed. It was the best part.
@ Helena
What chemistry i don't see it but Oliver and Shado hell yes what a crying shame she is killed off
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Syndicate content
Can a Good Thing Eventually Become Bad?
Aurelien Kruse's picture
Also available in: Español
Submitted by david seddon on
clearly both labour migration and the flow of remittances constitute 'a mixed blessing'. In the absence of a growing economy at home and more rapid creation of new economic opportunities including employment, people make difficult but rational decisions to go abroad. Certainly true that this has negative macro-eonomic implications (just as it has negative as well as positive micro economic implications and social repercussions) but one might as well put it the other way around. Promoting economic growth, creating new businesses and employment opportunities, particularly in import substitution and export domains would help reduce the need to go abroad and increase the balance of trade - but political stasis and no vision of or commitment to development has not helped...
dr david seddon
Submitted by Aurelien on
David. Thanks for your comments. The challenge, we think, comes from the fact that promoting growth and creating jobs (particularly in manufacturing) is harder given the magnitude of remittances (and their impact on the RER) than if Nepal were starting from a clean slate. Therefore what we need is growth policies that take into account - both leveraging their positive effects and mitigating their negative impact – massive inflows of private transfers. For instance it was illuminating that when the Rupee recently depreciated (following the Indian currency) the main worry in policy circles was how to prop up the value of the rupee (rather than how to leverage the competitiveness incentive).
I think anything that is done in excess can get to a point that it becomes bad, while I agree that Fiscal contraction to avoid overheating may work in other countries, I don't think it can work in Nepal because stocks there are short-lived, besides that, I think the country needs more of infrastructure at the moment and not fiscal contraction that could hurt the economy, Sterilization is also another thing I agree will not work in Nepal because of the nature of inflow, all in all, you've highlighted some very important points that is worth noting, Thanks for sharing
Submitted by Dhiraj Sharma on
Dear Aurelien and Chandan, thanks for this interesting piece. To me, the answer is improvement in investment climate. As Lucas observed years ago, capital from rich countries does not chase high returns in poor countries partly because of political risk. But here, capital is flowing from high and middle income countries to poor countries, only we call it remittance. That it is fueling import of consumption durables and creating bubbles as it seeks safe parking spot is undeniable but it does not have to be so. Given right incentives and legal protections for investment, there is no reason why the capital won't bite. We have an example of it in Nepal already: the Kathmandu to Hetauda tunnel project financed under "people, private, and public partnership (4P)" arrangement.
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Re: [media] WAI guidelines yield the highest probability of true Web access
From: David Woolley <david@djwhome.demon.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 22:27:31 +0100 (BST)
Message-Id: <200010252127.WAA16201@djwhome.demon.co.uk>
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
> 1. [top-left cell] Site Name / URL / Company Name
> 2. [top-right cell] High-Level Links
> 3. [bottom-left cell] Lower-Level Links
> 4. [bottom-right cell] Page Content
> This works very well in the screen reader I use for testing, IBM Home Page
> Reader.
In my view this is the wrong order. The best order is generally
1, 4, 2, 3. That means that you can get to the meat of the article
quickly. More important for the authors, it means that search engines
include something sensible from the text as the summary in the search
results. Not all search engines use meta elements.
In normal textual academic papers, it is usual to include the references
at the end, not start with them (commercial documents rarely have
> >5. Create tables that transform gracefully. Tables for layout equals NO-NO.
I thought that tables were reccommended as the best pragmatic approach
to layout, or is this a newer draft than I've read. Table tables can
degrade gracefully if you include redundant <p>'s, spaces, etc. If you
accept my reading order, you can make tables used for layout degrade
gracefully by tricks with col and rowspan.
Received on Thursday, 26 October 2000 02:49:05 GMT
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No recent wiki edits to this page.
Don't fall off!
You control a blob of mercury, guiding it through different puzzles and obstacles while trying to keep as much of the blob as possible from falling off the stage before reaching the finish. The different puzzles will have you splitting the mercury into smaller blobs, going through paint shops and mixing different colors into new colors to pass through gates. You will also need to change the consistency of the mercury by heating it up or cooling it down to be able to pass through certain obstacles. On some stages enemies will try and hunt you down and gobble down all your tasty liquid.
The main objective is to pass the level with as much mercury left as possible, but you are also scored on your time and by your ability to collect bonus items.
There are eight labs that are progressively unlocked by collecting enough mercury while completing each stage. Each lab consists of 16 normal stages, plus a bonus stage that can be unlocked.
One of the later and harder stages
1. Astro Lab
2. Bio Lab
3. Cryo Lab
4. Electro Lab
5. Geo Lab
6. Atom Lab
7. Aero Lab
8. Hydro Lab
Party games
There are also five party games that can be unlocked during normal gameplay.
Race party game
1. Rodeo
2. Race
3. Metrix
4. Shove
5. Paint
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Freelance Cartooning
Everything you need to know about freelance cartooning.
By the MOTHER EARTH NEWS editors
January/February 1970
Freelance cartooning can be a real career if you approach it with a few tips in mind.
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Now look, gang, don't get us wrong: We're most certainly not suggesting that half the readers of MOTHER EARTH NEWS are gonna run out and become freelance cartoonists immediately after reading this article. A few, yes. The great majority, no. We've gone pretty deeply into the how of this particular work-at-home dodge, though, for several reasons:
1. It's a fascinating field.
2. It's part of the communications/persuasion industry which plays an increasingly important part in our lives.
3. Similar to writing, commercial art and various other skills and crafts, cartooning does offer a way out of the 9-to-5 rap for a certain number of talented and determined individuals.
4. It's mainly a mail-order operation which means it neatly sidesteps race, color, creed and most other excuses we all use for putting bad trips on each other.
5. Successful freelancing — whether as plumber, cartoonist, cake baker, baby sitter, candle maker or whatever — depends on a certain lifestyle all its own. The products (skill, drawings, pastry, mere presence, decorator items, etc.) may differ but the ground rules are always the same: You're either your own man, work when, where and at what you like and successfully exchange your output for what you need and want... or you go back to pumping gas on the corner.
So, even if you think you have no drawing ability and you couldn't care less about trying to sell funny pictures to magazines, come on along. You're going to learn how to get a highly specialized art — or other — education for very little money (maybe even free), you'll find a definite step-by-step drop-out-and-do-your-own-thing plan used by one successful cartoonist and Carl Kohler's section, in particular, should (a) turn you on to some immediate money-making angles if you are, or want to be, a cartoonist or (b) just generally turn you on if you're not a 'tooner but need some inspiration from a sassy, successful practitioner of an alternate lifestyle.
So you wanna be a cartoonist? Great! But why?
Why You Should Become a Freelance Cartoonist
If you're just looking for an easy way out, this probably isn't it. Cartooning, like most other endeavors, can be brutally hard work — and, like most other endeavors, it can be deliriously wonderful play that you just happen to get paid for. Let's stop and lay down some ground rules right in front: We presently live in a society that puts a price tag on virtually everything, right? Right. And that can be a real drag, right? Right. Because you always wind up having to put in your time on a job you hate just to get the necessities of life, right? Wrong!
It doesn't have to be that way. It's all in how you look at it. Remember, we said, "The society puts a price tag on virtually everything"? OK. There's no reason why you can't make that work for, rather than against, you. It's easy. First, decide what you really want to do; second, start doing it (as long as you're not putting a bad trip on someone or something else) and third, figure out some way to exchange what you do for what you want and need.
If you're hung up on horses and hate office work, in other words, you'd be damn foolish to work all week as a secretary just so you could pay the rent, put food on the table and — maybe — have enough left over to ride an hour or two each weekend at some expensive stable. Yet that's exactly what an awful lot of babes do. But not my clever little wife. She loves horses so she teaches riding, trains, shows and judges horses and, incidentally, makes twice what any desk job would pay her.
Rule No. 1 in successful living, then, goes something like this: Get yourself together, find out where the action is for you, go there and start making it happen. As Thoreau said, "Build your castles in the air... and then put foundations under them."
So, for the sake of argument, let's say that cartooning is your thing. You're fascinated by the idea of communicating with hand-drawn pictures, you dig the ego trip of being a successful artist or cartooning just appeals to some artsy craftsy element in your nature. It doesn't matter. Don't analyse it. All you have to know is that cartooning is your thing.
Fine. Now, how are you going to start? With 10 years of art school or an expensive home-study course and a fancy studio with all the trimmings? Not on your life — or, I should say, not with your life. You haven't got that much time. You're interested in beginning right here and now. And, just so you can walk away from that factory job (work) and start cartooning (play) any time you feel like it, you're gonna want to make it begin paying off just as soon as possible.
How to Begin a Freelance Career
Every field of endeavor, every sport, every industry, every special interest group — it seems — in the country has one or two or seven or 12 or more magazines, papers or newsletters published just for it. If the publication covers the field, it's called a trade journal. If it's put out by one company or subgroup within the field for "their own," it's called a house organ. Trade journals and house organs are what you look for whenever you want to get inside a field or a special interest group, quickly and easily. As a cartoonist, these publications should doubly interest you because a couple are going to teach you how and the others are going to buy a lot of your finished work.
Forget the shysters who exaggerate the opportunities in the field while selling you an overpriced art course or a truckload of fancy equipment. Forget the dilettantes who always flutter about the edges of the action. Go right to the heart of whatever field interests you by getting your hands on current copies of the working trade journals of that field.
There's no faster, easier, better way to pick up inside language, check out the economics, get filled in on the latest methods, spot developing trends and learn "who's who" in the particular establishment or power structure that interests you.
When I decided to break into cartooning back in the mid-50s, Don Ulsh's New York Cartoon News and George Hartman's Information Guide were the two "bibles" that showed me the way. Through them, I learned very quickly that, while my cartooning was less than professional, there was definitely a market for the gags I was writing. So I switched to writing for other cartoonists (often found listed in those books), and used the money I earned that way to finance the improvement of my drawing. Within six months (while I was still an ignorant 16-year-old Indiana farm boy) I had had gags, drawn by other artists, published in Collier's, true and lesser markets and I was selling cartoons of my own. I had never had (still haven't) an art lesson, I owned no expensive drawing equipment and I definitely wasn't a genius. I had just used the cartooning papers as a magic carpet to get me where I wanted to go.
I've since used my cartoon experience as a springboard into some nice public relations and writing jobs and I've kind of drifted away from the field. If I wanted to get back to the drawing board today (or if I was just starting out), however, my first move would be to get my name on the mailing list for a cartoon-related publication.
I'd also, maybe, invest in Careers in Cartooning by Lawrence Lariar and Jack Markow's Cartoonist's and Gag Writer's Handbook. That, plus the following articles by Kohler, would give me (and should give you) enough marketing information to make it.
Remember, whether you're trying to make it inside or outside the present establishment, the key to success is marketing. If you don't somehow swap what you have too much of (beans, fence posts, cartoons, ripe fruit or enthusiasm) for what you need (shoes, bananas and automobiles), you ain't gonna make it.
But what about drawing. Isn't that important too? Yes, but not as important as you may think. A poorly drawn cartoon with a strong gag that hits the readers of a particular magazine right between the eyes will always sell before the beautiful rendering that isn't really relevant. This is no excuse for lousy artwork, understand, but it does explain why, contrary to what most cartoon course peddlers tell you, you don't need to go to any art school or take any course on the market to become a cartoonist.
As a matter of fact, I feel very strongly that — unless you're really a lazy lout who needs to be pushed, and pushed hard, to start a gag or finish a drawing (and what are you doing in cartooning, in that case?) — you'll find most instruction in the field (and most other fields, too) vastly overpriced and largely irrelevant.
You don't really want all those pre-packaged assignments, penpal letters and a $500 diploma to hang on the wall, do you? Maybe so, maybe not. As for me, I was more interested in kicking the 9-to-5 job — and that meant selling cartoons.
If you're determined to squander your hard-earned loot on a cartoon or commercial — or even fine arts — course, I will give one company a left-handed recommendation: Any of the Famous Artists courses are bargains. I made the rounds, one week, with a Famous Schools salesman and I know about what everything from the salesmen's commission and district manager's override right through the triple-page ads in the glossy magazines costs the company. After all the hype, there isn't much left for art instruction. No worse than other firms in the field, you understand, but not a lot better either.
Besides, there's literally tens and tens of thousands of courses from that one company (and as many, if not more, from each of the others) gathering dust on bookshelves throughout this country. A two-line classified ad in any big city paper should get you a lot of answers and at least one course for $75 — which is what I paid for mine — or less.
A good course, used as a reference, can be valuable to you but it's only worth what you take out of it. The most important thing for you to do if you want to be a cartoonist, is to draw every chance you get. And don't take the lazy man's way out and only draw the things that are easy for you. You're only fooling yourself if you do. Draw, and keep on drawing — from life, from memory, from imagination.
You don't need fancy drawing pencils and pads either. Ordinary note books and regular pencils (whatever number you prefer) are plenty good enough. The really important thing is the developing coordination between your hand and eye.
And here's a fact that should surprise you: The best teachers in the world are all set to help you for free. That's right, the cartoonists who sell their work for the highest prices today are ready to teach you to draw.
All you have to do is leaf through any magazine or newspaper that prints cartoons. If you don't have any lying around, go out and ask the neighbors for back issues... or make a trip down to the nearest waste-paper firm. Get yourself a big stack of magazines with cartoons in them.
Then go through all the publications and clip out all the cartoons you find. Keep it up until you've got drawings by every artist whose work you can get your hands on. These cartoonists are the best teachers in the world. Why? Because these are the guys who are selling their work, right now, today.
Forget all the two-bit teachers who never sold a drawing in their life. Forget all the dated artwork in the cartoon courses. Study what the selling artists are doing. They're the ones who really know what cartooning is all about.
Notice how they place their characters. See how they vary the lines in their drawings. Study their methods of shading. Compare the different ways they draw people. Look at the way they sketch the backgrounds. Soak up every detail of every drawing you can get into your file.
Then try to draw that way yourself. Use every trick you can steal to make your drawings sparkle just like the professionals. Gradually, you'll pick up one idea from one artist, something else from a second and another wrinkle from a third. Pretty soon, you'll be cranking out clean cartoons in a style all your own.
If you don't think you can learn about drawing this way, let me tell you something: The pros do this all the time. It's the way it's done. So go to it.
Some skills, such as learning to draw perspective, you'll probably have to learn from regular art books because it is hard to acquire such knowledge merely by looking at finished art work. In the main, however, you will find that the best cartoon instruction in the world is only as far away as the nearest printed cartoon.
Necessary Tools for Cartooning
As for supplies needed to begin cartooning, here again you can forget the sharpsters who want to sell you everything from hand-engraved sketch pads to chromed drawing tables.
Essential, of course, is a pencil. Ordinary, everyday pencils are plenty good enough for a start. When you think you need something better, you will probably want a few real drawing pencils since you can specify their lead hardness much more exactly. They're graded from 7H (a very hard lead that makes a light line) through F (medium) to 7B (the softest, blackest lead). I usually wind up using a 2H and 4H most of the time. You may find other grades more suitable to your touch.
Paper is another primary must. Professional cartoonists use regular typing paper for the most part and there is no reason for you to buy anything any more expensive. For rough drawing and just doodling, use a cheap 16 pound paper. Inked cartoons that are submitted to editors should be done on a good grade of 20 or 24 pound, 25 percent rag content paper.
Only a few artists who regularly do complicated cartoons with tints and washes (colored or black ink mixed with water and used like water colors on a finished drawing) for the top-paying markets (Esquire, Playboy, etc.) ever use expensive drawing papers or illustration boards... and, then, only after submitting a rough idea on typing paper, usually.
Another essential tool (at least for me) is a good eraser. Again, you can start with pencil erasers. But sooner or later you'll want a good "Artgum"and a kneaded rubber eraser.
Cartoons used to always be done in ink, but that is changing rapidly now and it's not at all uncommon for a drawing done in black pencil and spray-fixed to be bought and reproduced in a middle or minor (or even major) magazine. Still, you should learn to handle ink, because you will be called on to produce an "inker" once in a while. As a matter of fact, while you're starting you'll make a much better impression on editors if you submit all your cartoons in ink. Later, when you're "in" with a few magazines, you can start sending in penciled roughs (rough drawings) or even typers (typed gags for an editor to read so that you only have to draw the particular cartoons he wants to buy). At any rate, black is the only color ink you'll need and most artists seem to prefer Higgins brand.
Some artists use only brushes, other like pens and still others prefer to use a combination of the two for inking. You'll just have to find what is best for you. I've heard of cartoonists using brushes from No. 00 to No. 7. A few popular pen points are Esterbrook 356 and 358 and Gillot's 290, 303 and 404. Gaining in favor are some of the new mechanical pens, particularly the Rapidograph, which are made in various sizes.
A drawing board is pretty much standard equipment. Here again, you can save a lot of money by using a standard bread board or a piece of plywood for a starter. Prop it up on a table and you're in business. Later, when you have the loot rolling in, you can buy a regular drawing table (there's some great bargains in used tables floating around) or make one from a flush door.
Fancy light boards (which make tracing finished cartoons from a penciled rough much easier) are expensive so I made my first one from an old window pane and some scrap lumber. A mimeograph stencil light board also works well for less bread.
A ruler, some paper clips, a few thumbtacks and a small piece of cloth for a pen wiper come in handy. For correcting ink mistakes, some opaque white is useful. Your local stationer's store probably has "Showcard" or "poster" white.
As you progress you can pick up all kinds of stuff such as paste, T squares, a compass, triangles, blotting paper, colored ink, etc. but paper, pencil, black ink, ruler, drawing surface and eraser are all you really need to start.
Remember, it's the finished cartoon you get paid for, not the equipment you used while drawing it.
Cartoon Brainstorming
Now that you're all set to draw, where will the ideas come from? Well, you can use one or more gag writers who will mail typed cartoon ideas to you. You then return the ones you don't like and draw up the others. When you sell one of the finished cartoons, you pay the gag writer 25 percent of the price you received for the drawing.
Let's save the gag writers for your first dry spell. Here's how you'll think up your own gags:
Start a morgue. All cartoonists have one and it's not as gruesome as it sounds. An artist's morgue is just a collection of pictures, cartoons, funny remarks, jokes, sketches and a hundred other things. A cartoonist generally keeps two morgues: One of cartoons and drawings to refer to whenever he needs help while drawing and a separate collection of jokes, gags, etc. to primp the pump when he's writing gags.
Organize your morgues any way you like: in old shoe boxes, cardboard cartons, filing cabinets, albums, notebooks or whatever. But do use a system so you can find what you want when you want it. Add new material constantly. Your morgue is your most valuable tool.
Whenever you need fresh material, you'll start digging in the morgue and letting your imagination wander as you filter various bits of material through your brain. Pretty soon you'll come up with a combination you think is funny. You'll even begin to surprise yourself by suddenly thinking of a situation entirely different from the original idea you used to prime your creative process.
This is just a variation on the way most writers work and the magic word is cram. Cram yourself full of life. Use it all as your gag writer. Watch TV (if you can stomach it), listen to the radio, go to the movies, read, read, read and keep your eyes open. Soak up every impression you can absorb.
Then, when you sit down to shape up some usuable gags, you will never have any trouble pulling ideas out of the air. Some of your best gems will pop out of your subconscious when you least expect it: While you're reading a good book or carrying out the ashes or just as you drift off to sleep.
Once you train your mind to think up humorous ideas, you'll turn out material faster than you can use it.
Selling Your Work
Carl Kohler's excellent pieces which follow this diatribe are really going to open your eyes to the marketing possibilities in cartooning. If you think you can only sell single panel gag cartoons to magazines, in other words, you're going to have your mind pleasantly stretched. Carl's underlying philosophy should prove quite valuable to anyone trying to make it outside the system with anything. Roughly translated, he's saying, "Life is just exactly what you make it."
Although I kinda started at the top and worked down (my gags were published in slick, national magazines first, I next began selling the middle markets and wound up doing local stuff last of all) most beginning cartoonists do best if they concentrate on digging the gold in their own backyard. Every top cartoonist in the country (the world, it seems) is trying to crack Playboy, for instance, but you are probably the only artist knocking on the door of your hometown newspaper.
Prepare a sample kit of your very best work. Make it neat and as attractive as you can. Make two or more sample kits, and you'll have one to show and others to leave with interested prospects.
Now visit local printers and stress the fast, customized nature of your work. There's a blue million "mat" and clip-art services but there's no way for them to customize their art the way you'll be able to.
Stop in at the local newspaper with some editorial or feature cartoons slanted especially for your town. Newspapers have access to more syndicated art work than they can use but most editors are always interested in something with a local flavor.
Offer to do an editorial cartoon or a sports feature about local athletes on a regular basis, of course. Maybe the paper is ripe for a feature reporting upcoming community projects. If you like to do caricatures or portraits, you might work up a regular weekly panel featuring an outstanding citizen: The mayor, industrail leaders, local celebrities.
Merchants can always use good eye-catching cartoons in their newspaper ads, posters, store windows, hand bills and all the stuff they give away such as blotters, mailing pieces, etc. You just have to be enough of a go-getter to sell them on using your stuff.
Do you know the comic strip, Tumbleweeds? It's drawn by a fellow named Tom Ryan. Tom lives in Muncie, Indiana and I've known him a long time. When he was a beginning cartoonist (and that was just a few years ago) he sold one newspaper in Muncie the idea of using a little cartoon character, Benny Beans. This little guy was featured in the paper all the time: When the United Fund was having a drive, Benny Beans would be shown holding a poster or a collection can. During the yearly Paint Up-Fix Up-Clean Up campaign, Benny Beans would be seen sweeping the streets with a broom and on and on and on.
Tom was too clever to stop with that. He sold a local hardware store the idea of having another cartoon character, Jiffy Jackson, in all their ads. And, eventually, Tom landed a syndicate for Tumbleweeds and graduated into the "Big Time," but his local cartoon work helped keep his family eating until he finally made it.
You might think that Tom had the cartoon business around Muncie all sewed up when he was doing the local work. Not so! A number of sign painters were doing the usual cartoons on trucks, billboards, buildings, etc. Another cartoonist occasionally contributed an editorial drawing for a second paper in town; I did some cartoons for WLBC-TV in Muncie; and a housewife successfully launched herself into a seasonal business decorating store windows with water color cartoons of Santa Claus and other Christmas scenes. I understand she still has a long list of regular customers for this service and she earns several hundred dollars every December this way.
We'll go into the working methods of this idea in more detail in a later issue if anyone is interested, but about all it involves is chalking the basic layout on the outside of the plate glass windows of a store and then going inside and doing the finish art work in show card colors. This is a little tricky because you're working backward, but, if you do the finish art on the outside of the window, rain and small boys will soon mess it up.
One of the best ways to sell your work in the beginning is to offer to take your pay out in trade from the merchants you do work for. They like the idea and will often use your stuff this way when they won't pay for it in cash.
George Hartman, publisher of Cartoon World, says he always had 1,000 cans in his pantry throughout the depression just because he took goods in trade in return for printing a small town "shopper"on a mimeograph machine. We'll give you a more complete report on that idea later, too.
Approach the chairmen of various clubs and offer to dress up their programs and announcements when they are planning special events. Maybe you can land a job designing a calender showing the year's important meetings for a club or lodge.
Richard Riley, writing in the August, 1969 Cartoon World says: "Our town has an annual rodeo each spring and since I do a great deal of rodeo-type cartoons I talked to the program manager of the Jaycees. After they had their dummy made up, they gave it to me and I did cartoons in the white spaces. The Jaycees told their customers about me as they sold the ads and I not only picked up a nice check from the Jaycees, but from the ads too. Also, my cartoon book, Lit' Wrangler, will be sold at the rodeo... and I got ten free tickets, too!"
Get a big pad of newsprint or drawing paper and teach yourself to give interesting chalk talks. A size of 2 by 3 feet is good for this and you'll find charcoal crayons handy to work with. One subject you can use is "How cartoonists think up gags and make their drawings." Clubs and other groups will use you as entertainment for 10 to 20 dollars a throw with, usually, a meal for good measure.
A lot of people will pay very good money for a custom mural done on play room or den walls. These are generally colorful scenes done in opaque water colors and varnished over when well dried. Better practice this one first! Banks and restaurants also go for these.
A well drawn replica of a new home will sell to the proud home owner. Merchants will pay for good drawings of their stores. They hang em on the walls and use 'em on letterheads and in advertising.
Most factories print a small paper or magazine for employees. Offer to do art work or a cartoon for them.
Teach yourself to do a nice job of lettering and learn to use transfer lettering. You'll find a lot more jobs coming your way.
Drop in to the local TV station with a portfolio. Local stations can always use locally-drawn "spots." Some cartoonists have even landed a cartoon TV program of their own.
Drawing Cartoons for Magazines
OK. We started telling you about magazine cartooning so it's about time we got back to the main subject.
There are thousands and thousands of specialized publications printed in this country. You know about Life and Newsweek and other national magazines... but have you ever heard of Boot and Shoe Recorder? Or Pure Milk News? Or Printing Impressions? Probably not, but all three use cartoons.
Go to the local library and look through the directories of business and trade magazines. One is Gebbie's and another is published by N.W. Ayres and Sons. They'll open your eyes and give you enough names and addresses to keep you busy for a long, long time. But you'll be submitting your work a little blindly if you only use such directories.
As I mentioned earlier, subscribe to the cartoonists' tip sheets. They'll keep you advised of buying action in the middle and minor magazines. So will Writer's Digest and Author and Journalist. They all list cartoon markets and, if you submit to the magazines listed, you should gradually build up a list of editors that will regularly buy your work, assuming it is of professional quality.
These little magazines are actually pretty easy to work with and, if your gag sense is sharp and you can slant ideas to the readers of a particular publication, your art work can actually be a little rough.
One word of caution: Stick to the fields you know. Because I lived on a farm when I was doing my heavy cartoon work, I drew mostly farm and dairy cartoons and had no trouble selling them to the smaller farm publications. I was also hung up on aviation and developed a secondary market around that interest.
No matter what magazine you decide to submit to, give the editor what he wants for his readers, not what you want them to have. This is called slanting your work. You send farm cartoons to farm magazines, girly cartoons to girly publications and supermarket cartoons to magazines for supermarket managers.
If you run across a new market and you don't know exactly what kind of cartoons it uses, get a copy of the magazine and study it. If you can't find a copy, write the editor, tell him you're a cartoonist, offer your services and ask for samples of his publication. If he's interested, he'll send you a few copies. If he's not interested, it's better to find out right in front.
Most editors are honest and hard working, but you'll find a few that won't return drawings or who use your stuff and never pay for it. Forget them. They don't last very long, anyway. There are more good markets than you can cover. Concentrate on the good ones.
Submitting Cartoons to Magazines
After you've drawn up a good batch of 10 or 12 cartoons (or five or six for a very specialized market), address a 9-by-12-inch manila envelope to yourself and a 9 1/2-by-12 1/2 inch envelope to the editor. Stamp both envelopes with sufficient postage, put the cartoons into the smaller one and put it into the big envelope. A cardboard stiffener is also a good idea. Seal the large envelope and mail. It's now becoming increasingly popular to make a very light fold across the center of the batch of drawings and use half-size envelopes. They seem to stand up a lot better in the mail.
You can seal cartoons, according to the post office regulations, and send them third class as long as you don't include a written note. If your local post office gives you a hard time on this, write to the Postmaster General in Washington, D.C.
Always include return postage and a return address on the envelope in your submission.
Sooner or later, you'll have to set up some kind of system so you can keep a record of the drawings you have in the mail, the ones that have already been to a particular editor, and the ones that haven't. You'll want to put your name and address on the back of each cartoon too. Editors sometimes get several batches mixed up together and this will help to keep everything straight.
Payment for a Beginner's Work
The usual rule for a beginning cartoonist is "Get as much as you can, but get the job!" As you start doing work for local business men and newspapers, you'll find, that many of them can't — or won't — pay a lot for the work they use.
Don't be discouraged. The experience acquired on these first jobs is worth a great deal to you. As you improve your work, you'll gradually slide up from, maybe, 5 dollars a drawing to 15 to 50 dollars or more. Some of the trade journals even pay more than 100 dollars to their regular contributors.
A good artist who keeps at least 10 batches of cartoons in the mail at all times should average 100 to 200 dollars a week. A part-timer with only a batch or two out at any one time can generally pick up 10 to 20 dollars of extra spending money each week. That's not great, but cartooning worked that way can be looked upon as a hobby that pays its way. I've seen a lot of times when that 10 dollars came in very, very handy.
Naturally, since you want to be a cartoonist, you're going to make every last drawing your very best, whether it's a paid-for-in-advance 100 dollar cartoon or a 5 dollar spot.
Cartooning is no bed of roses but it can be a very fun way of making a living and — if you make it to the top with a syndicated strip of your own or as a regular artist for, say, Playboy, you'll be in the big money, indeed.
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9/3/2007 9:33:41 PM
i was sitting helpless with my cartoon works in hand and lots of ideas in mind. now i am charged up and cant wait to mail my cartoons and start earning. please do help me. where and when should i send my cartoons ? visit my blogs , www.arindamart.blogspot.com and www.aritoons.blogspot.com i need it immediately and need your help.
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Any suggestions would be much appreciated!,2013:site.246824 Sat, 17 Aug 2013 08:10:16 -0800 diy paint smallparts spraypaint chrisamiller It isn't easy painting green. How do you paint a stainless steel ring? I bought <a href="">this</a> shamrock ring with the intent of painting the shamrocks green. Now that I have the ring, it isn't working. Every attempt, thus far, has ended with green blobs instead of shamrocks.<br> <br> I am not looking to buy another ring.<br> I am not willing to spend more than $20 on this.<br> <br> What's the easiest way to color the shamrocks green?<br> What's the best way to color the shamrocks green?,2013:site.246382 Sat, 10 Aug 2013 07:32:52 -0800 jewelry paint painting ring stainlesssteel zinon Exterior paint removal question: MILD EMERGENCY Exterior paint removal question: MILD EMERGENCY Hi all-<br> <br> So, I've been scraping the old paint off the house for about two weeks. I expected this to not take so long. I have three walls where basically the whole thing needs to be stripped - they are covered in peeling paint. I need a machine's help before I scrape the whole thing with a 5 in 1 painters tool.<br> <br> Here's what has kinda worked:<br> <br> -orbital sander with 120 grit paper (80 grit and the type that feels like a scrubby pad did nothing) - but there must be something stronger<br> -a hitachi disc angle grinder (it takes the paint off but leaves valleys in the wood)<br> <br> Is there some tool in between these two which I can use? There is so much paint to take off and I'm running out of time to get the old paint off and finish up (about a week and a half left).<br> <br> Thanks in advance!,2013:site.246234 Wed, 07 Aug 2013 16:52:14 -0800 house paint painting power removal tools ashtabula to opelika Did I just kill this bag? I just got paint all over a Filson field bag. Do I have any chance whatsoever of cleaning it? They're painting the hallways at my job. There was an accident. The bag is canvas and according to the painter, the paint is water-based. Most of it did seem to come off in the sink, but there's still a good amount on there. Am I screwed?,2013:site.245389 Thu, 25 Jul 2013 12:03:03 -0800 canvas cleaning paint Venadium How to fix this flooded kitchen floor? Bought this house about three years ago and then learned that the water pipes, under the concrete-terrazzo slab, had burst and flooded the place (no, incompetent inspector did not notice this). The previous owner had then laid down an inexpensive woodlike floor. That was carelessly done but looked okay overall, except that residual water had stained and darkened a few areas. I had the house re-piped and the floor seemed to have dried and healed leaving just those few dark spots. But recently, the HVAC drain clogged, and did a bit more flooding and although that too is now fixed, the kitchen's woodlike floor has buckled some and the stains have spread. It looks pretty crappy. I'll have it all inspected again and be sure it's finally repaired, but now the question is what to do about the ugly floor? <br><br> I intend to sell the house soon so want it to look good, and want to be able to fully disclose this history, but want to minimize further investment within reason and ethical boundaries. I could tear out the woodlike floor in the kitchen only, and then tile that room. But that's work. And pricey. I'm thinking of painting it. Some kind of epoxy? <br><br> What would you suggest? Something waterproof against normal kitchen spillage, something rather glossy but not slick to walk on. The kitchen is black tile, white walls and cabinets, stainless steel appliances. Was thinking black floor, but this is Florida and fear it will be too dark--although the gloss would help bounce light. <br><br> Suggestions for colors, materials, methods, cautions or other, alternative ideas? <br><br> Thanks so much.,2013:site.245127 Sun, 21 Jul 2013 13:19:36 -0800 home kitchen paint renovation repair tile fivesavagepalms Old house - trying to fix up dirty moldy medicine cabinet Just moved into a rental house. House built circa 1920. Medicine cabinet interior was completely lined with nasty old contact paper. I pulled off most of the paper. Now I'm worried about three things: 1. The paint underneath the paper is flaking. Is there danger of lead poisoning? 2. Black mold in the corner crevices under the paper. What's the best chemical for removal? Bleach solution? 3. What's the easiest cheapest way to get new shelves that will fit? <a href="">PHOTOS.</a> Any advice or encouragement is appreciated. How do I make this cabinet clean and functional? <whine>I don't like fixing old houses. Unfortunately there is much to do in this old house. The kitchen is a contact paper festival. The rental market is tight here, so landlords don't have to care.</whine>,2013:site.245101 Sat, 20 Jul 2013 19:46:18 -0800 diy home house lead mold paint repair resolved valannc Painted tile floor - something to paint on for a durable finish? My wife and I are redoing a powder room that had some hideous tiles on the floor. We have neither the time nor the money to redo the tiles, so we've decided to paint over them in a semi-gloss white. It looks fantastic, but we realize now that it could be easily dirtied or scuffed and we're wondering if there's some kind of finish or lacquer that we can put on it to make sure that it's more durable - easily cleaned, more scratch resistant.<br> <br> Help?,2013:site.245064 Sat, 20 Jul 2013 09:51:10 -0800 floor paint fso "Old Reliable" by Sherwin Williams Can someone recommend a specific pleasant white-ish or neutral shade of paint that I can use on my walls repeatedly for like, forever? I'm looking for a basic white/neutral shade that I can paint various rooms and hallways that are not otherwise an actual color. We have only painted a few rooms selected colors, and for the rest, I think I'd like to go with "white". <br> <br> I'm hoping I can find something like 'Sherman Williams - Linen' (I made that up; also it doesn't actually have to be Sherman Williams) that will be around for years to come so that five years from now, I can decide to paint a room the exact same white (it doesn't have to be 100% the same -- 90% the same is good enough.) <br> <br> I'd like a white that's a little on the warmer side, maybe a bit more cream-colored. Parts of the house are extremely bright and if it's too white-white it'll be like having a near-death experience in an Apple store.,2013:site.240515 Tue, 07 May 2013 08:10:47 -0800 color decorating neutrals paint walls white A Terrible Llama The company located next to my house won't stop spraying paint fumes. The company located next my house sprays noxious paint fumes into the air and my yard. Despite years of trying to get them to stop, they haven't. What are the next steps to take? My significant other and I have been renting a house for several years that we love. It's wonderful. The rent is cheap, the place is beautiful, and we don't want to move. However, there is one big thing that sucks, and that is our neighbor. Our house is next to an industrial-zoned area, and one of our closest neighbors (a couple lots away) is a company that creates industrial metal products (don't want to get too specific in case we pursue legal action.) Every day, including on the weekends, they spray paint outdoors. You can hear the paint sprayers, but the issue is the constant presence of paint fumes. We can't use our yard because it stinks like paint. We can't open the windows in our home on the side that faces their building. We are afraid to plant food in our garden. We're worried about our health. <br> <br> We looked up our city's zoning code, and it clearly states in several places that a company in an industrial zone like theirs cannot create fumes or any sort of health hazard that affects nearby residents. A few years ago, we had the city investigate, and they found that the company was violating city code in many ways. However, since then, every time I ask the city for an update, there is always some song and dance about how they are "working on it" and I don't get much more than that. In the meantime, the paint spraying continues. <br> <br> We tried to be neighborly and approached the company, but we didn't get much more than a shrug and a "sorry, it's our business" type of response. I also called the county last year and had them come out to do an air inspection. They inspected and their response was that the company was technically under the legal level of air toxins/emissions/whatever, but the inspector also leveled with me and was like yeah, it's probably not good to be breathing that in. I also approached our landlord (who lives out of town), and while he was kind of like "yeah, that's bad", he's pretty hands-off and I'm not sure I can get him to get gung-ho on this issue.<br> <br> I'm so frustrated. We're not in a situation right now where we want to move - it would be a huge pain in the butt and an unneeded financial hit. As I said, everything else about the house is amazing. What would you do in my situation? Should we hire a lawyer? Or should we just suck it up and get an air filter and never open our windows again?,2013:site.240103 Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:02:45 -0800 air citycode neighbors paint pollution zoning Anonymous Are there alternatives to Coolwall Paint? How much are we talking (in L? I had someone through Costco come out to our house to give a quote on painting the house with Coolwall paint. It wasn't a quote just for the paint, but for all the prep work, repairs in our stucco, and the trim. We don't live in a large house--it's less than 1,400 square feet. He extolled the benefits of this paint. It's highly reflective and thus reduces damage to the paint, and also keeps the house cooler in the summer. The way the guy went on about it, it's a miracle product. He quoted $18,600 to prep and paint our house with this stuff. Again, it's through Costco and has a lifetime warranty. And they don't strip off the existing paint or stucco--they repair it, bond it, and paint right over it. Are there similar alternatives that would cost much less? Costco stuff is good, and I trust it. But $18,600? I want what he's smoking. But one of the things that made it attractive versus regular house-painting was that they wouldn't remove the old paint--which he claims costs about $1,000 for lead abatement.<br> <br> So I ask you--are there reflective, high quality alternatives? Can we get the house painted without removing the old stuff (ie. bonding and painting over it)?<br> <br> How much for a really nice professionally-applied paint job?,2013:site.239148 Sun, 14 Apr 2013 16:12:58 -0800 contractor costco house housepaint paint rybreadmed
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Armando Iannucci: My comedy secrets
Armando Iannucci
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Over the last 22 years, Armando Iannucci has become one of the most innovative and reliable comedy directors in the UK.
The man behind such hits as The Thick of It and its Oscar-nominated spin-off In the Loop, the 50-year-old saw hapless radio DJ Alan Partridge, his co-creation with Steve Coogan, also transfer to the big screen earlier this year.
Iannucci spoke to the BBC about the success of Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and the many guises its hero has adopted over the last two decades.
You've managed to turn a successful TV show into a successful movie twice now. How did you break the curse?
Ha ha! I think by being very aware of it.
Woody Allen isn't someone who goes for huge car chases and special effects, it's just a bunch of people talking in a room. It's important that you go into a film knowing that.
A common thread in your projects is the creative use of language. What lies behind that?
I suppose it's to do with mimicry. When I started off, I always used to do parodies and impressions, mimicking people... and then institutions. You become aware that some institutions have their own language. You almost define yourself by how you speak.
Alan is a case in point: he has a very specific language and the best way we can write Alan is by being him. So we all end up voicing Alan - obviously Steve's the best at it - and it feels like Alan's in the room and you're writing the show with him.
Steve Coogan in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa Alpha Papa saw Alan Partridge become involved in a siege
How real is Alan Partridge to you?
It's strange because he's always been in our thoughts. Although we haven't done that much with him - over 20 years the number of episodes are actually quite small - we kind of know what he's been up to.
When Steve and I meet up, we always speculate what Alan's been up to and, if something comes up that makes us laugh, we always make a point of writing it down. I have a Word file that's 200 pages long that's just stray bits of Alan.
He's not a "stock character" like, say, Homer Simpson, who remains the same in every episode.
I like that he's aged in real time over the years. Because we haven't done five series in five years, it's meant that every time we've come back, we've been able to renew him in a way.
Once he was on a chat show, next thing he's in a hotel, then he's in a caravan, next thing you know he's on the radio - because time has gone by.
Steve Coogan in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa Alan started out in 1991 as a sports reporter on Radio 4's On the Hour
You made a web-only Alan Partridge series called Mid-Morning Matters at one point. Was there more freedom in working like that?
I always feel that if someone says "do what the hell you like", it's actually more tricky. So we always create our own artificial boundaries. For Mid-Morning Matters we knew it had to be 10 minutes, and it couldn't just be Alan talking - it had to have a narrative.
With Knowing Me, Knowing You we had to write it in real time because it was a real TV show; and for I'm Alan Partridge, the thing we told ourselves was Alan had to be in every scene. You couldn't cut away to something Alan didn't know about. So it was all from Alan's point of view.
You shouldn't be aware that those were the constraints that we'd given ourselves. Because the whole point is to arrive at something that covers all that up.
In I'm Alan Partridge, there's a scene where Alan pitches a show called Monkey Tennis to a BBC executive. Is it true you were subsequently asked to make that show?
I wasn't asked, but I have been told by people that Monkey Tennis has come up at ideas meetings on at least three different occasions. And, credit where credit's due, it hasn't been commissioned. Because, when you think about it, it is just monkeys playing tennis.
Peter Capaldi, Armando Iannucci New Doctor Who Peter Capaldi starred as spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It
You made The Thick Of It for the BBC and Veep for HBO. Do you notice a difference in attitude between the two broadcasters? HBO always seems a bit more "full throttle".
That's also the difference between Britain and America. Americans are always unabashed about declaring their successes, whereas we think it's a little bit rude.
I keep saying it to our writers on Veep. They're all British and, whenever we're on the set in America and we've built an enormous life-size replica of the West Wing, they'll say: "This is exciting, isn't it? Oh gosh, they've given us lots of people in the background. Aren't we lucky?"
I have to say: "No, we're not lucky to be here. We're here because we deserve it, because we're writing good stuff."
Does your demeanour change when you cross the Atlantic?
I hope not, but I've always felt confident. When I'm making something, I've always felt in charge and therefore able to call the shots. But what you've got to do is stop that turning into arrogance or despotism!
I always like people to be treated nicely - and I only hire nice people. If I ever see an actor and think, "oh, he's very good - but what an asshole", then he won't be on the show. I just can't be dealing with that on the set on a daily basis.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won two Emmy awards for playing Selina Meyer in Veep
You were vocally opposed to the closure of the UK Film Council in 2009. How do you think the landscape has changed for British films?
Since doing In the Loop, I've been so busy on Veep that I haven't quite caught up on how things are progressing. But what's heartening is I get the sense that funding hasn't decreased.
Every four or five years there's this debate on whether funding should go on experimental or commercial fare - and there's always a danger that what we do is put a lot of money into trying to pretend to be Hollywood and replicating big action movies and big spy movies. And in fact the British films that do best are the ones that have their own style and are confident about their own story.
Steve Coogan seems to have done exactly that with Philomena. There's even talk he'll get an Oscar nomination...
That is a prime example. It's just a road movie, really, with him and Judi Dench - but it says so much and covers so much. And that's precisely the sort of film we should be investing in.
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is out now on DVD and Blu-Ray.
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Review by Flyersfreak85
"How did they go from THAT THIS game?"
Introduction: In 1994, Acclaim decided to release “Spiderman and Venom: Maximum Carnage” on to the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis. It was unique for a couple of reasons, one being that the game pitted two hated foes against each other to take out a much more despised and deadly foe. Another reason was that, for all that was right with the game, Acclaim decided to take the “Final Fight hits the SNES” way out and make it only one player (but I guess Capcom was guiltier, considering the arcade version did have three characters and two players). But over them two reasons was the fact that Acclaim took the high road and made the game an original release, like LJN did with a couple of the Spiderman and X-Men games on the old NES, but I say that because there was an arcade version of Spiderman released in Japan by Sega.
Then, in 1995, Acclaim came back with a sequel for the red colored cartridge game entitled “Spiderman and Venom: Separation Anxiety”. Now, let it be known that Acclaim made SOME improvements from that game to this one, but for the most part, seemingly everything else not mentioned as I forge ahead rolled downhill.
Gameplay: Okay so, in keeping with what Acclaim DID get right from the first game to this one was the most obvious, and that was the addition of a two player function (although to a point, one player HAD to be Spiderman and the other Venom, you could only switch the controllers after you flipped a coin over the issue) but it was a start. Also, Acclaim was nice enough to include passwords, which came after so many levels (you didn't get them after every level, but at the toughest stages you would find them) and were there long enough for you to copy them.
But THAT is where the improvements end, and everything else falls apart from here on. I don't even know how to describe it (but I will try my damn hardest) but if you looked at this game and the prequel, you wouldn't even know they were supposed to be related unless you knew that from the adverts or the game manual.
Basically, the story is that a mysterious group known as the “Life Foundation” has somehow managed to capture Venom and they extracted symbolites from his costume, creating five “children” to the black suited anti-hero. Now, if this was the Venom of “S&V: MC” fame, he probably could have wiped the floor with the ENTIRE group: however, starting the game and seeing how both Venom and Spiderman fight, it's no wonder Big Tough Eddie got captured: it's honestly more surprising how the suddenly tough guy-turned-pansy got away. I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to make them fight like slow moving twerps, but I sure hope that person was promptly hazed and fired.
And if it isn't bad enough that Spiderman and Venom seem to have about one half of the fighting ability that they did in the previous game, the AI now is suddenly a LOT smarter and a LOT cheaper. Yes, Acclaim said they wanted to make this game “original” and “not Maximum Carnage-lite” but can someone explain to me why they kept the SAME DAMN STANDARD ENEMIES FROM THE PREVIOUS GAME? I mean, the ONLY difference is how they are drawn, much like your characters: the thugs, the trench coat guys, and the overgrown girl scouts are all back, albeit only for the opening level. Because after that, you face the “Life Foundation soldiers” who are cheaper than a bubblegum machine ring: they shoot you, they drop little “fart bombs” and they kick you down low, but look like they are break dancing. Oh, and the game brings back the “Floating orbs that look like soccer balls and omit strange lights” while also including a little robot which looks like a cross between a scrap pile of garbage and a mouser from TMNT fame.
But it gets worse, because one of the problems I mentioned with “S&V: MC” returns here with repeating boss fights, and these guys make Shriek and her gang look like pop icons. Amongst them are two variations of a toy soldier, one in blue in white and the other green and white that flies around on a hover board, a guy who attacks EXACTLY like Shriek does, and a guy who is an EXACT copy of War Machine from Iron Man fame. In fact, the last one is a total JOKE considering that Marvel CREATED said character, and then allows Acclaim to turn around and rip it off: nice going kids. Oh, and let's not forget the “Five unwanted Children of Venom”, which range from one who looks JUST like him, to a little brown Venom with Carnage claws, a green little Venom with weeds sticking out of his back, and two girls, one red and orange and the other purple who loves to break dance.
What is a LITTLE bit interesting about the game is that some stages contain maze sections, having you go in the right door or “Ventilation duct” to continue. While some of them are good, (like in the jungle you can find dead ends but they give up valuable items) others are just a PITA (like the aforementioned Duct stage, which has the player as confused as the blonde girl in the corner in the circular room joke).
As with the previous game, Superhero help is available, but while the characters are more well-known, they limit you to only FOUR of them, those being Hawkeye, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, and the returning Captain America: talk about originality.
---Gameplay Grade: 4/10
Controls: The Controls are the EXACT same that they were from the previous affair except, knowing that Acclaim screwed up SO much of the game before it, they had to make some of the control functions impossible. It used to be that if you tapped the D-Button twice right or left your character would charge ahead, but now it randomly happens when you hit it once. Oh, and the hit detection turned into garbage: you would think the closer you were to an enemy that you would connect on hits right? Wrong: this game believes the farther you are away from any given enemy you can hit them, so basically you are now Gumby-come-Stretch Armstrong when attacking foes.
---Controls Grade: 4/10
Graphics: Oh my Dear, Dear God…for ALL that Acclaim screwed up, they MIGHT have committed their worst offense here. They went for a more unique and trendy vibe with this game to separate it from the hard-edged look of the previous, and they failed MISERABLY might I add. If you could imagine the graphics being HALF the size of the previous games' and while the backgrounds are TWICE the size, you get the idea: I swear I put my thumb up against the screen against ANY given enemy and I had no idea they were even there. This goes two-fold for the game's final boss, I don't have to tell you who that is, but they seemed to have shrunk him from a donut to one of them munchkins they make at D&D and he's a total joke. The backgrounds and colors look like a Kindergarten student attacked the campus with water colors, and Spiderman and Venom look BEYOND stupid.
---Graphics Grade: 2/10
Sound: Gone is Green Jelly, and in their place is a mix of trance and techno music that while not offensive, will not be remembered either (The Boss fight songs, MAYBE). The upside is that, it's all original, except for one which they remixed from the previous game, one of the stage songs. But what is the kick in the butt is that Acclaim wanted to make this game original, and like with the first stage “civilian enemies” they ripped ALL of the sound effects from the first game. That means that, when a LF Solider parishes, he sounds JUST like any of the guys screams from the previous, and when the two girl Venom children die, they sound JUST like Shriek, or the overgrown girl scouts.
---Sound Grade: 4/10
Challenge: I think the complaints that were warranted for the prequel can be placed HERE instead: yes, you do have the usage of passwords to continue SHOULD you die (or you and your comrade) but guess what…if you DON'T make it to one of them stages that has one, you go RIGHT back to the beginning. Because unlike in the previous game, there are NO continues to be found. And as another user mentioned who reviewed this game, you can see the LF Soldiers and the bosses being tough on you, but seemingly the CIVILIANS are capable of putting an end to you as well. On the upside, the game is MORE than generous with extra lives and hearts to help your health meter, and the “Superheroes” are pretty helpful as well. But what good does that do when you can't even get out of the jungle of endless cycles and get to a stage that HAS a password?
---Challenge Grade: 7/10
Final Thoughts: Aside from the addition of passwords and a two-player function, everything that “S&V: SA” tried to go for to separate its self from the previous installment failed miserably: it made about as much sense as going in for knee surgery only to have the doctor chop your ears off. The graphics suck, the premise of the game sucks, the entire thought that TOUGH Venom was captured and probed by some stupid group sucks, and the fact that the “War Machine” rip-off captured you when he wanted to and took you to a “trap room” SUCKS too. Thank GOD they did not make a sequel directly related to this game, as I would fear for the general game playing public's safety if it had happened.
---Overall Grade: 3/10
Reviewer's Score: 3/10 | Originally Posted: 01/06/12
Game Release: Spider-Man & Venom: Separation Anxiety (US, 11/30/95)
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Question Browser Javascript Compatibility
Hello everyone,
I am relatively new to using javascript. I had a question about javascript's compatibility with various browsers. For example, I notice some websites that have slideshows and other javascript elements that my browser doesn't block, while other websites have js elements that my browser will block.
Why does my browser block some and not others. Is it how you code it? Perhaps different js libraries are acceptable while others are not?
I know that it is a security measure. Is there anyway around it. I am trying to design a slide show on my home page that starts onLoad and shuffles through pictures. It is a common technique used and I was wondering how people get these slide shows to play without my browser blocking them.
2. #2
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What seems strange to me is that your web browser is blocking some of these web elements and not others.
Can you please help us to understand, perhaps with examples, the problem that you're having?
Programming Group Advisor
Reference: JavaScript, Quirksmode Validate: HTML Validation, JSLint
Car is to Carpet as Java is to JavaScript
3. #3
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Do you perhaps have an internet security suite installed that is blocking certain scripts? Or any browser addons like AdBlock that might be doing something like that?
(Which browser are you using by the way?)
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x richmond
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don't understand where that law came from, i thought a majority is anything that's above 50%, and i don't know where this 60% came from. maybe you could enlighten us on exactly the origin of that filibuster law. host: well, andy, that would take way too long for me to explain, but perhaps we'll do that as a segment on the "washington journal" and take our viewers and listeners through the intricacies of the rules of the house and senate. but thanks for your call. we're going to move on to ron on our line for democrats, calling from florida. good morning, ron. caller: good morning. host: ron, divided party -- one party or divided government? caller: well, that question is -- the underlying point is you're saying a -- in essence, what you're saying is a one-party state, and that just doesn't work. it was proved in the soviet union and the place where i immigrated from, which was cuba. the problem is, as someone said, this is not your father's republican party. when you have a new crop signing a pledge before they even take office that allows them no room to negotiate, on top of that,
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
So I went through an initial interview on school campus, and an on-site interview(one day, mostly technical interviews) with this company, and then a week later, I am told that there will be an additional phone interview with one of their hiring managers, called "Professional Fit Interview", which I have no idea what it is. Before I thought the on-site interview was gonna be the last round, at least that's the impression I got from them.
So what this "professional fit interview" might be? How should I prepare for it?
Thanks a lot!
A follow-up: Thank everyone for the replies. As everybody has mentioned, it's a HR type interview. The interviewer did some introduction of the team, then asked if I have some questions, and asked me a couple of questions like "where do you see yourself in 2 years". Anyway, a rejection email came about one week later.
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Sounds like HR drivel that you probably can't really prepare for. – John Straka Dec 2 '10 at 20:02
For interviews like this, it's a legally clever way to exclude people based on things like age, ethnicity, gender and so forth (which are illegal in the US) as well as things that are legal to exclude people for such as personal appearance and grooming, weight and so forth. – jfrankcarr Dec 20 '11 at 15:15
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5 Answers
up vote 16 down vote accepted
Typically, a cultural fit assessment is something to gauge your personality (and how it'll mesh with the existing employees there). Given that your day of interviews was mostly technical, it's possible that this is what they were referring to.
Just try not to be too much of a richard and you'll be fine. It's typically HR equidae-feces and tea-leaves; you really can't study for it short of reading up on Myer-Briggs and playing the meta-answer game.
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Perhaps could be phrased more diplomatically but +1 anyway – HLGEM Dec 2 '10 at 20:06
Good answer...but I like Tim's response better. The last time I went through a HR interview like that I was told that I 'would not fit into their corporate culture' and 'would not be a good employee'. I'm very glad I was passed over, since the opinion of the just-out-of-college HR drone overruled three developers, two managers, and the VP of IT! – Steven A. Lowe Dec 2 '10 at 21:03
@Steven that the HR rep may have been naive is also shown by the fact that he even told you those things! I'm usually fine with candidness but only if you are 100% sure it will be constructive. – NickC Dec 2 '10 at 21:12
Tend to agree. Cultural fit is a big hiring criteria for any role, but I deal with it as a part of other interviews because it has to be more than one person's opinion. And doing over the phone is a red flag. – Rhys Gibson Dec 2 '10 at 23:26
I learned a new word today, I even got to learn what it means by checking the edit history. – TokenMacGuy Dec 13 '10 at 5:34
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I love the buzz words that this site generates. I am tasked frequently with interviewing programmers. It is common to have several levels of interviews:
• Education / Employment / Experience
This is where we ask your previous employers if they would hire you again. If the job said "[insert degree here] or related experience", we've phoned your university to verify things, or had someone capable of ingesting 'related experience' report on it'. Nothing much to see here.
Additionally, if the job you seek requires additional clearance, we'll investigate the possibility of obtaining that.
Finally, we need to know if you might be a good fit, and move you on to the next step.
• Technical interview
You will be interviewed by a peer. You will be asked to solve problems, give insights into emerging things, and then asked to pick out mistakes in presumptions that you interviewer just presumed. We want to not only gauge your experience, we want to see what happens when someone in authority is obviously wrong.
• Background
Sometimes, we do have to conduct a background check.
By this time, a fellow hacker has interviewed and endorsed you. If you are unfortunate enough to talk to a company psychologist to determine your 'suitability' beyond that .. run, and run like hell.
Seriously, run. If the hiring manager must defer to a HR bot to determine how you might fit in, you don't want to work there. Run like you are in prison and just dropped the soap .. if for no other reason than avoiding needless complexity that will likely introduce needless complexity in whatever they ask you to produce.
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I'd agree with you, but wouldn't you say that if the "Professional Fit Interview" were with members of the team the candidate would be fitting in with (as opposed to an unassociated HR rep), it might actually be a productive thing? – NickC Dec 2 '10 at 21:14
@Renesis, I think the leader of a team should be in charge of who joins it, and I think enough information could be gathered in the technical interview to ensure a good fit. Otherwise, you are staffing a pool .. and .. well.. that sucks for the person being hired. "Six of one hundred, implement logging" .. bah. – Tim Post Dec 2 '10 at 21:19
Agreed. I guess I'm just assuming that this may be a company where there are many more players than those who participated in the tech interview. – NickC Dec 2 '10 at 21:22
@Renesis, I'm arguing that there should not be more than a few moving parts in the hiring process. – Tim Post Dec 2 '10 at 21:24
I strongly disagree with you. I don't think the team leader should be in charge of hiring at all. Neither management. The latter should authorize the process and leader manage it, but IMHO, the team should decide who to hire. Being hired by the team allows immediate integration. It also helps finding the candidate that matches. It also prevent from rejection from the team. – user2567 Dec 3 '10 at 8:46
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A 'Professional Fit interview' is usually a non-technical interview by one or more people from the department you'd be hired into. It could be the senior manager who ultimately pays your salary, but it could also be a couple of engineers who are comfortable talking around various subjects to see if you'd fit in with a team like theirs.
There are some 'positive indicators' that they may be looking for (understands team work, can communicate, familiar with SDLC) that may not have been on your CV/resume nor come up in the technical interviews, but they're looking for them. Try to spot these and answer in a positive fashion. E.g.:
Question: What coding style do you use?
Good Answer: I'll take cues from the style of surrounding lines of code to ensure consistency, or ask colleagues about the team style.
Bad Answer: I like to re-format all code I work on to fit my personal tab/brace/naming style. It's so much better than anything else (yes, I've heard this)
There are some items that would count as 'negative indicators'. It may be illegal/bad form to ask certain questions in an interview (e.g. in UK can't ask about family, marital status, gender or religion), so they may want to talk around the subject until you accidentally let slip something they feel may be a problem for them.
Yes, this is immoral, but it happens in real life. I have seen people rejected because they were gender-unsure even though they were brilliant programmers. I have also seen excellent engineers hired by HR departments but then get ostracised by the team as they just didn't get along with anyone in the team.
Don't volunteer anything you don't need to. For example, no need to mention that you're thinking of starting a family next year - it's none of their business, but some interviewers would immediately think "has outside commitments to distract him from the job". If you can get to the office by ~9am and do a full days' work, no need to make them think that you can't.
My top tips for getting through this:
1. Dress smart. You need to look 'professional', even if the dress code is metal T-shirt and ripped jeans.
2. Professional, objective responses. Don't run your mouth off over anything - you may be lulled into doing so (a common technique), but try to stay on-topic.
3. Do some homework before the interview. Try to have a better understanding of their company, their projects/goals, the market they operate in, etc. As this is interview is further through the process, you should be demonstrably more interested in the job.
4. Be straight with them. Tell the truth. If you don't know, just say - don't waste anyone's time. If you're caught bending the truth, you'd likely fail your probationary period or (worse) be sued.
5. Be alert - although the person interviewing you may seem detached from the job you've applied for, they may try to throw in the occasional technical question to make their own assessment of you or to see you how react. I once had a CTO-level guy in a finance company ask me to compare and contrast two embedded O/S's approach to device drivers. Yep, really.
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How you dress is important, and if you're talking to fellow geeks you do not normally want to wear a suit. Dress on the classy side of your future colleagues, but not beyond that. If it's with HR, you may want the suit. – David Thornley Dec 3 '10 at 2:26
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Have you considered asking them what it is? I have not heard of it. Although, it sounds a little like something we used to do in my company. What we did was have two managers interview a candidate and a developer. The developer afterward would be asked how they felt the candidate would fit in at the company.
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Original answer was perhaps a bit too blunt and was definitely rightly taken in a direction I did not mean for it to go.
To make a clearer point -- it could be alot of things. My team it would be a cocktail hour. Someone else's might be guitar hero. If you are going to be working hard with a small crew, you need to mesh personality-wise and be able to put up with each other. You are probably going to spend more time with this person than with your significant other.
[Original answer for posterity]
15 rounds of cocktails at the local strip club.
[At least for my team]
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How does that work out with female staff? Chippendales? And LGBT staff? You do a survey first to ensure you won't have weird looks in the morning? – haylem Dec 2 '10 at 20:57
How about for people who, for whatever reason, don't drink alcohol? You want to eliminate them right off? Or relatively small people who might find fifteen cocktails a lethal dose? – David Thornley Dec 2 '10 at 21:52
@David: It's a professional fit interview. If you don't drink, you won't fit in with Wyatt's team, by the sounds of it. – Carson63000 Dec 2 '10 at 22:12
@Carson63000: Presumably, but I thought I'd ask. It would be nice to know before interviewing there. I don't drink anything alcoholic, and would prefer not to go on an interview if I'd have to get drunk to get the job. (BTW, if this is in the US he might be in trouble with the Americans with Disabilities Act - alcoholism is probably considered a disability, and refusing to hire based on unwillingness to consume alcohol might be illegal here.) – David Thornley Dec 2 '10 at 22:29
I feel that this is an unprofessional and unhelpful answer. – JBRWilkinson Dec 3 '10 at 0:07
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I am dealing with an application which is using a lot of graphics (the library Raphael and graphdracula). Basically, the application is drawing different graphs. Let's say that we have 3 pages which are drawing graphs:
1. graph1
2. graph2
3. graph3
Let's say we have the following URL:
Now, this URL is going to load the page and the drawing algorithm for graph1. The way my application works now is: if I want to change the layout (say, to graph2), I will have to reload a whole page:
What I want to do is: to make this as a Single Page Application (SPA). When we load the application, I want all the graphs to be loaded, but only one to be visible (I guess this is the way to do it). When I click a button, just to load the stuff I need, not the whole page. Something like, when we open the application's page about graphs, to be:
www.someurl.com/graph#1 -> for the first graph
www.someurl.com/graph#2 -> for the second graph
www.someurl.com/graph#3 -> for the third graph
I want to this asynchronous. I tried to find something for Flask, but without sucess. Can someone please point me into the right direction how should I do this?
Thanks in advance!
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If that's not critical for you to support IE<10 - instead of old-style #hash-navigation, you can use jquery-pjax plugin to load page part by AJAX: https://github.com/defunkt/jquery-pjax
On Flask side - you will have to differ AJAX-requests by their headers or by some additional param like &ajax=1.
See also this question with comparison to history.js : jQuery-pjax vs history.js to load specific content when clicked
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I would like to avoid adding new JavaScript libraries to the project (besides jQuery). Any way around that? – Belphegor Mar 21 '13 at 14:56
You could write your own code for #hash-navigation. I had the same problem , IE7-9 doesnt' support jquery-pjax or history.js, and needs old-style #hash-navigation - and i haven't found some opensource javascript/jquery solution for AJAX-navigation supporting IE<10. So we decided to develop our own simple JS #hash-navigation solution for the project. If you find opensource jquery/JS solution supporting IE7-9 - please let me now as well, thanks. – moonsly Mar 21 '13 at 17:03
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I am with trouble related to Haskell Random generator. At university, i have to deal with Java all my way around, so now I'm, corrupted with it. I am developing a game in Haskell, and now I face something like 'chance to do something', and that chance needs to be like Int -> Bool. In Java, I would have done
new Random().nextInt(100)
and there, problem solved! In Haskell I have to choose something in a monad IO or something with a seed. None of these does what I want. I don't really want to use IO monad in my pure model, and the seed is awkward to use because I need to remember my new seed every time...
Is there something simple like Java's Random?
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Using the IO Monad does not mean that you have to corrupt with IO your whole model... Just get your seed right at the beginning, and give it to your pure computations... Your program will be of type IO () remember ? So you're already in the IO Monad... (if your game is 100% pure, then it must not be really fun to play!) – Ptival Sep 7 '11 at 6:17
You'll 'corrupt' your self soon or later, a game need I/O from player :D – Zhen Sep 7 '11 at 7:25
The top-rated answer on this question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2110535/sampling-sequences-of-random-numbers-in-haskell gives an excellent write-up of how to thread a stateful random number generator through code. – stusmith Sep 7 '11 at 10:57
"I don't really want to use IO monad in my pure model". In Java, new Random() is far from pure. And every time you use nextInt, your Random object mutates. So your goals of 1) a pure model, and 2) something like Java's Random, are in conflict since Java's Random is not pure. – Dan Burton Sep 7 '11 at 14:54
java is soo far from pure model as i see it :P, i meant that. but indeed, I was focused the wrong head, my head is already corrupt! thanks for andswers and comments everybody! – Illiax Sep 7 '11 at 16:20
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4 Answers
It is somewhat unintuitive that something that neither does input nor output needs to be handled as if it had. Let's say you defined it as follows:
random100 = unsafePerformIO $ randomRIO (1, 100) -- This will not work!
That would indeed give you a random number - in a way. What you truly need is a way to encode that you want a new pseudo-random number every time. This means information needs to go from one random number generation to the next. Most languages just ignore this "minor detail", but Haskell forces you to pay attention. You might thank Haskell when you find yourself in the spot to properly reproduce your pseudo-random result in a multi-threaded context.
There's a number of ways you can make these connections, most of which have been mentioned already. If you are reluctant to use a monad: Note that it might generally be a good thing to have your code in a monadic form (but not using IO!). Down the road, you might well come into situations where you want more monad features, such as a reader for configuration - then all ground work would be done already.
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There should be a way to mark code as non-solutions. Because it's too easy to just see the grey box and think that's the answer. – augustss Sep 7 '11 at 12:51
@augustss, huh? I'm not sure how to take your comment. The question was "Is there something simple like this?". A small illustration just seemed like a good idea. – Peter Wortmann Sep 7 '11 at 13:35
Yeah, but this simple illustration, while it "works", will be considered wrong by a good 99% of the community. I think @augustss would like to draw attention to that fact. – luqui Sep 7 '11 at 19:01
@Peter I was just making a general remark about stackoverflow. Sometimes you want to make code fragments that illustrate how not to do something. I can see from your answer that you are not suggesting that this is the right way. I'm just worried that people might not read the text and just copy the code. – augustss Sep 8 '11 at 10:53
Okay, fair point. I added a code comment to reflect that. – Peter Wortmann Sep 8 '11 at 11:15
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I think, "you will have to live with that", is neither useful nor correct. It really depends on the abstractions you are using. If your application is naturally bound to a monad, then it makes sense to use a monadic random number generator, which is just as convenient as Java's random number generator.
In the case of a game using modern abstractions your application is naturally bound to functional reactive programming (FRP), where generating random numbers is no problem at all and doesn't require you to pass around generators explicitly. Example using the netwire library:
movingPoint :: MonadIO m => (Double, Double) -> Wire m a (Double, Double)
movingPoint x0 =
proc _ -> do
-- Randomly fades in and out of existence.
visible <- wackelkontakt -< ()
require -< (visible, ())
-- 'rnd' is a random value between -1 and 1.
rnd <- noise1 -< ()
-- dx is the velocity.
let dx = (sin &&& cos) (rnd * pi)
-- Integration of dx over time gives us the point's position.
-- x0 is the starting point.
integral x0 -< dx
Is there any way to express this easier and more concisely? I guess not. FRP also proves Zhen's comment wrong. It can handle user input purely.
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Believe it or not, you'll have to use different approaches in Haskell than you did in Java. There are a couple packages that can help you, but you will have to get a different attitude in your head to use them successfully. Here are some pointers:
Searching for the word "random" on Hackage's package list will turn up many, many more specific packages for more specific needs.
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You don't "have to". You can use IO everywhere as you did in Java. – Rotsor Sep 7 '11 at 9:06
@Rotsor: Although unless you also put everything into ST (monad transformers are fun), you still need to cope with immutability. And even then it's rather ugly and pointless, so much that I'd expect any sane programmer to abandon it. – delnan Sep 7 '11 at 9:41
@delnan, I agree that it's ugly and pointless (the same way programming in Java is), but don't see how ST is necessary. IO can do everything ST can and more. – Rotsor Sep 7 '11 at 10:01
@Rotsor Except that IO can't encapsulate the effects, which is the whole point of ST. – augustss Sep 7 '11 at 12:50
@augustss: Ah, but encapsulating effects isn't a matter of what IO can't do! Rather, it's about what IO can't not do. Not doing things in very precise ways is more difficult, yet often more effective, than simply doing whatever one pleases all the time. – C. A. McCann Sep 8 '11 at 22:10
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Sorry, but you will have to live with that. How can there be a function in a pure functional language that gives you different values on each call? Answer is: it cannot - only in the IO-Monad or something similiar like the state-monad where you can pass your seed around (and don't have the same input every time) can such a things exist.
You may alsow have a look as this question "How can a time function exist in functional programming?" as it's in the same direction as yours.
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I down voted you because you didn't really give a solution. The obvious solution is to use MonadRandom – Axman6 Sep 7 '11 at 8:10
well thank you ... but the question was if there is something simple and he don't like IO Monad ... do you think MonadRandom is so much better then? – Carsten König Sep 7 '11 at 8:14
@Carsten, of course it is much better because it does not allow arbitrary IO. – Rotsor Sep 7 '11 at 9:08
nevermind ... I had the understanding that the OP don't wanted to enter "monad"-zone or "do"-notation or whatever at all – Carsten König Sep 7 '11 at 9:36
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Job 24 (Revised Standard Version w/ Apocrypha)
View In My Bible
1 "Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? 2 Men remove landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. 3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge. 4 They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. 5 Behold, like wild asses in the desert they go forth to their toil, seeking prey in the wilderness as food for their children. 6 They gather their fodder in the field and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man. 7 They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. 8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and cling to the rock for want of shelter. 9 (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and take in pledge the infant of the poor.) 10 They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves; 11 among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst. 12 From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer. 13 "There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. 14 The murderer rises in the dark, that he may kill the poor and needy; and in the night he is as a thief. 15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me'; and he disguises his face. 16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. 17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness. 18 "You say, "They are swiftly carried away upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards. 19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. 20 The squares of the town forget them; their name is no longer remembered; so wickedness is broken like a tree.' 21 "They feed on the barren childless woman, and do no good to the widow. 22 Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. 23 He gives them security, and they are supported; and his eyes are upon their ways. 24 They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they wither and fade like the mallow; they are cut off like the heads of grain. 25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar, and show that there is nothing in what I say?"
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Graduation candidates celebrated on May 12 at the Centenary College commencement in Hackettstown, N.J. Associated Press
Americans owed $904 billion in student loans at the end of March, nearly 8% more than a year ago, the New York Fed said Thursday in a quarterly report on consumer credit. That compares with the $679 billion they owed on credit cards at the end of the first quarter.
Between the fourth quarter of 2008, when credit-card debt peaked, and the first quarter of 2012, this borrowing fell by $187 billion, or 21.6%, the Fed said. Over the same period, student-loan debt rose by 41.4%, or $264 billion.
Americans are reducing their overall debt burden, a process known as deleveraging that began with the financial crisis. Total household debt—including mortgage, student, credit-card and auto loans—has fallen by roughly 10% since borrowing peaked in mid-2008. It stood at $11.44 trillion as of March 31, the New York Fed said.
Mortgage borrowing is down significantly, the consequence of foreclosures, falling home values, tighter lending standards and weak home sales.
But student debt is quickly rising, in part due to higher tuitions, but also because alternative ways of paying for college—such as home-equity loans—have dried up. The Obama administration has expanded federal loan programs, which offer student loans at below-market rates. And, as usually happens in recession, college enrollments have surged as job openings have been scarce.
Educated workers, on average, earn more than workers with less education and college grads are much more likely to have jobs than those without college degrees.
"Borrowing a reasonable amount for programs that lead to degrees and certificates that are likely to improve an individual's long-term outcomes are good for the economy," said Sarah Turner, a University of Virginia economist.
Jason Delisle of the Washington-based New America Foundation argues most students graduate with manageable debt loads. Three-quarters of four-year graduates owe less than $33,857 upon earning a degree, he said, citing Education Department statistics.
But that doesn't mean borrowing to go to school always makes economic sense; borrowing and not finishing a degree, for instance, usually is much less likely to pay off than graduating.
Some economists see signs of trouble. A rising number of student borrowers are behind on their payments; 9% of the total dollar amount of student loans is 90 days or more behind on a payment. Many new graduates are having trouble finding well-paying jobs even as payments come due, and a growing number of students are dropping out of school, meaning they are left with debts but no degree, recent research shows.
"The high delinquency rate [among student borrowers] could be a source of concern," said Wilbert van der Klaauw, a New York Fed economist. "You have to worry about repayment and how it is going to affect not just consumption but possibly lifetime decisions like marriage, fertility and buying houses."
The New York Fed estimates of student debt are slightly lower than the above-$1 trillion figure cited this year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The New York Fed's estimate is based on a sampling of consumer-credit-firm accounts; the CFPB estimate is based on government data and a survey of private lenders.
The prospect of higher debt is the main reason why Juan Urias, 19, left St. Joseph's College in New York City last year and transferred to LaGuardia Community College, where tuition is lower. The move saved him from borrowing $5,000 more for the coming school year. Financial aid, including federal grants, now covers all his tuition.
"I know how bad it is going to be in the future," he said. Staying at St. Joseph's would have meant leaving school with about $20,000 in student debt. "I can't do it."
Write to Josh Mitchell at
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Search the whole artnet database
Record price for a painting:
at Sotheby's
Nov. 1989
Record for a work on paper:
March, without You (hearts)
at Christie's
May '89
Car Crash
at Sotheby's
May 18, 1999
Untitled (Hearts)
at Christie's
Nov. 16, 2000
Two forks
at Sotheby's
Nov. 15, 2000
Hand painting of the mandala
estimate: $9,000-$11,000
at Christie's
Nov. 12, 1998
Art Market Guide 2001
by Richard Polsky
One hates to give a "sell" rating to an artist who actually knows how to draw and paint -- no small accomplishment in this day and age. Unfortunately, such is the case when it comes to analyzing the market potential of Jim Dine.
During the late 1950s, Dine got his start as a performance artist (back then, performances were called "Happenings"). Often, an artist goes into performance because he lacks any real talent. Jim Dine, however, was different. He possessed serious art skills and soon discovered his direction during the birth of Pop Art.
Dine found representation with the Sidney Janis Gallery and began his series of hearts, bathrobes, house tools and trees. The work won immediate acceptance as collectors found the imagery easy to live with. Had Dine kept moving forward and allowed the work to evolve, he may have had an even more impressive career. Instead, he took the easy way out.
It's been said that once an artist finds acceptance painting a specific subject, it's extremely difficult to move beyond it. An artist can work away for ten, 20, or more years when suddenly a body of work clicks with the public. Your dealer is happy, the positive reviews pour in, and your sales keep increasing.
The truly great artists don't rest on their laurels. They take risks and continue to explore new possibilities. Imagine what would have happened if the great artist Philip Guston had played it safe by sticking with his Abstract Expressionist style. Instead, he chanced everything by painting his now-famous quirky representational subject matter.
For whatever reason, Dine has never felt compelled to endure the painful soul-searching that Guston must have faced. Almost 40 years after painting his first heart and robe, he continues to crank out variations of the same images. This is not to be confused with the example of Gorgio Morandi and his wonderful still lifes. In Morandi's case, his humble bottles and objects were painted over and over, with an ever greater sense of meaning and spirituality. Dine's paintings lack that sort of depth. They are what they are -- attractive depictions of a limited personal vocabulary.
It says something about Dine's market that only one of his pictures has appeared in an evening auction over the last two years. In that one instance, at Sotheby's last May, the picture was of day-sale quality. One sensed they placed it in the sale out of desperation for material. The painting, Car Crash, an immature work from 1959-60, sold for $68,500. Other than that fluke, nothing else has recently come up in the prestigious "Part I" sales, and it's not because the work is scarce -- it's because collectors and dealers are scared to take a chance.
In general, the day sales have been kinder to Dine. Often, when a quality early watercolor or pastel comes up, it sells within, or slightly above, estimate. Two recent examples come to mind. At Christie's (Nov. 2000), a flashy watercolor from 1972 of two hearts, Untitled (Hearts), sold for $39,950, against an estimate of $25,000-$35,000. Over at Sotheby's (Nov. 2000), a convincing drawing from 1975 of a pair of farmer's pitchforks, Two Forks, sold for $24,900, just below its low estimate of $25,000-$35,000.
The message to Dine collectors seems clear. Unless you can find a first-rate painting of a heart or robe, better to spend less money and buy a work on paper. A large heart or robe canvas would probably bring $150,000 to $300,000 at auction. A good representative drawing can be had for $25,000-$45,000. By acquiring a work on paper, at least you end up with something that shows off the artist's real strength -- drawing.
From his gallery's standpoint, Dine is a cash cow. He is rumored to be PaceWildenstein's biggest selling artist. Obviously, unless you're Pace's accountant, you'll never know for sure. But it's a highly plausible theory, given the massive number of prints the artist produces and sells. Once again, when it came to his prints, it appeared that Dine took the easy path.
Occasionally, artists produce black and white etchings that they hand-color with pastel or watercolor. Wayne Thiebaud is one artist who comes to mind who enjoys doing this. However, most artists do this as the exception -- Dine has made it the rule. It's incredible how often he releases a print and then hand-colors the entire edition. By doing so, the dealer can mark up the price and get away with selling the print as unique. These prints often sell in the $5,000-$20,000 price range. If you insist on supporting the artist, better to stick with a regular editioned print.
It's often uncomfortable writing negative things about a legitimate artist. In a way, I have always felt that unless I could do any better, perhaps it was wiser not to say anything at all. It reminds me of the time that I once witnessed the great baseball player, Barry Bonds, come under relentless heckling from a lone fan. Bonds scanned the audience, located his tormentor, and then made a gesture with his bat -- as if he were handing it to the fan. When he made eye contact, Bonds then brought his finger to his mouth, making the universal gesture for silence.
The message, to the now stunned fan, was crystal clear -- unless he thought he could hit a major league fastball, he had better keep his mouth shut. The difference is that the fan was only paying $25 or so to watch the game. Jim Dine's fans pay tens of thousands of dollars. For that kind of money, he had better improve his batting average.
Recommended reading: Jim Dine by David Shapiro.
RICHARD POLSKY is a private dealer specializing in post-1960 works of art. Questions or comments can be directed to him in San Francisco at at 415-885-1809 or
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Dangerous Injections
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Summary: Response to "The Accidental Were" Challenge. Dawn takes the Lycanthropy Vaccine and becomes infected, now she is on the run and hiding out in St Louis.
Categories Author Rating Chapters Words Recs Reviews Hits Published Updated Complete
Anita Blake > Dawn-CenteredStephanieClareFR1511,417091,5292 Jul 112 Jul 11No
Inspired by “The Accidental Were” Challenge, although I don't think I will meet all of the requirements set out in it.
This is an Anita Blake crossover, I have no rights to Anita Blake or to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Laurell K Hamilton and Joss Whedon are responsible for the creation of the characters and plot lines used and referenced in this fic.
The bus was cliché, stealing away in the middle of the night. The fact was though that it was cheap and that Cleveland's bus stops weren't well lit and with any luck the few cameras wouldn't pick up anything too specific about her appearance, or what bus she boarded. Dawn sighed, the roads blurring past her. At best efforts Dawn estimated she had a month before Willow found her, and she needed to have answers before then, needed to have a case to plead. Things between her and Buffy weren't just strained right now, they were now 6 hours and a midnight bus ride past breaking point. It was hard to tell someone that had died to protect you that they were being unreasonable, that they couldn't protect you from the world by controlling your access to it or that it wasn't your fault that Angel and Giles had lied.
The supernatural world was out of the closet and their glittering PR representatives and civilized manners greeting her sister every day from the TV or the newspaper had only served to drive the betrayal home. She wasn't one girl in all the world now, and the lines of black and white were now so very very blurred and gray. Somethings had stayed the same, Buffy patrolled, whether she was needed or not and Dawn was strictly forbidden from attending any similar activities. Dawn was again required to abide by a “live as I wish I had not as I do” philosophy that grated against her very being. Buffy never mentioned Dawns betrayal of her in Sunnydale but it hung over their heads like a fat swinging elephant and with no Xander shaped buffers or end of the world level apocalypses to distract them things had only grown more and more tense.
The first signs that things were not going to change had been when the arguments about college had started. The first Dawn had realized that Buffy hadn't been listening when she had talked about her plans for her Gap Year where when acceptance letters for colleges started arriving at the apartment colleges she had never applied to and had no intention of ever applying to writing to accept her. Willow and Xander were so far away now, both busy with their lives, Giles caught up in the bustle of creating a new council (and on Buffy's no talk list), but they would tell her she was over-reacting that she was blowing things out of proportion, and maybe she should consider that her sister was doing what was best for her. At 18 she was still the baby and there was no chance any of them would be seeing her differently any time soon.
It was Buffy who had insisted that Dawn take the Vaccine, and at the time it had been one of the smaller battles, she had conceded when her sister had looked her in the eye and said she wouldn't allow her to become a monster. It had made her wonder about Oz and the other monsters that had been their friends and when if ever Buffy had stopped considering them as anything but Monsters and if she even remembered that Dawn had been a glowing ball of energy before she became someone who needed protecting. Dawn wondered if Buffy had been aware of the risks, if she would have forced her to if she had know what would happen. The injection had been two weeks ago and it was almost another thirteen days to the next full moon, but Dawn knew, her body had changed, she was running hot, her temper at the surface and deep inside her something paced, it's fur brushing the inside of her skin. Running away probably wasn't her brightest idea, but all Dawn could hear in her mind was the word monster and the look her sister had in her eyes when she had said it.
Her plans weren't very well thought out much further than the actual getting away portion of the evening, she had some cash and a set of the chains they had used for Oz in her bag, but the finer points were still a bit hazy. She had changed buses twice, died her hair in a bus stop bathroom and swapped clothes with a brunette girl headed for Canada. Maybe the whole thing was overkill but she needed time to work things out on her own, to learn the control Oz had found in Tibet, to try not to be a monster. Part of her wanted to keep moving, knowing that she would be found if she stayed in one place for too long. Exhaustion had other ideas, her control weakened she dozed lightly on the bus and in her dreams she ran free, not the hunted, but the hunter running through a forest she had never seen her prey just out of reach. She wasn't alone, in the distance a howl went up, echoed by the calls of the pack as they raced together. Branches whipped by, leaves caught in her fur as her paws pounded the earth with only one goal in mind. The world was different like this, everything sharper and more intense, she could smell her prey's fear. Her own howl joined that of the pack, they were close, she ran harder the prey now in their sights, its sides slick with sweat the doe ran faster. Dawn awoke as her teeth had pierced flesh, her mouth watering with the taste of blood. The other passengers had looked at her briefly and she changed buses again at the next opportunity. If she kept running her beast would have more control and things like this would keep happening. If she lost control they would find her and she couldn't let that happen yet. She needed more time and she needed to stop running and she had to find somewhere safe and she had to do all this on a budget and out of sight.
The sun was setting as she crossed the University Campus heading to the library, after all there was no better place for a random teenager researching preternatural biology to blend in, she was well fed and still out of a place to sleep, but the research had been the easier of the two problems to solve. Jogging up the last few steps, she smiled at two students heading in the opposite direction, doing her best to remember what Spike had told her once about hiding in plain site. Here she was, a runaway newly infected werewolf in St Louis with no place to go, no one to ask for help and just two weeks to try and come up with some answers before she changed for the first time. This was certainly not the way she had pictured things going, but she smirked to herself as she realized that Buffy had at last got her way, here she was studying at university, being enrolled was just a minor detail to be overlooked. Hitting 'Enter' she waited for the search engine to start returning results on her query “Preternatural Community St Louis” she should probably get to know who and what she might come across, the best way to protect yourself was with knowledge and with this in mind she clicked on the first link “Anita Blake Vampire Executioner wines and dines with Vampire Master of city” Dawn rolled her eyes, what is it with Slayers and Vampires.
Apologies to anyone who is waiting on an update to Shepherding Faith, I have really been trying but I just can't seem to take the story in any sort of direction. I am still trying to work on it and I will continue to try to complete that story.
This fic is a bit of a work in progress, I'm still trying to iron out the time line for AB, but be assured that I am already working on the next update I just wanted to get this out so I could get some feedback and ideas going from anyone who reads it. Enjoy!
The End?
You have reached the end of "Dangerous Injections" – so far. This story is incomplete and the last chapter was posted on 2 Jul 11.
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I am running performance profile for a C# application on a virtual machine. The results shows a huge load of "JIT Compiler". When I dig further, it shows something called "Class Loader" as the only method getting called by JIT compiler.
What should I do to bring "JIT compiler" load down?
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2 Answers
up vote 1 down vote accepted
JIT is the 'Just In Time' compiler, this essentially compiles your C# into executable code that can work on the current processor.
.Net comes with a utility called NGEN, this creates a native image of your C# code, that doesn't need to be JIT'ted. There are downsides to this however, have a read of this:
And finally here's a link to the MS info about NGEN:
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So this means JIT load most likely comes at the startup only?? or the first time a function gets executed? – bsobaid Jul 16 '10 at 17:55
The JIT Load will come at startup, or dynamically loaded Assemblies. You'll also trigger it, in ASP.Net when using Control.LoadControl(). – Russ C Jul 19 '10 at 8:01
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You could try using NGEN to pre-JIT your assemblies to native images. This will lessen Jitting overhead on application load:
You should run this tool on the machine where your assemblies are i.e. your virtual machine.
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Your Answer
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(1 x 22 minutes)
The night sky fascinated the ancient Greeks, and they recognized patters in the stars, and created myths to explain them. Here are three of the most popular:
- Orion, in which a mortal, but ever-boastful hunter named Orion catches the eye of the great hunter- goddess Artemis. But when Atermis' twin brother Apollo finds out, things don't go too well for poor Orion.
- Callisto, in which a once-beautiful women is turned into a bear and then almost killed by her own son, until Zeus steps in to set things right.
- Andromeda, in which a vain queen's boasting almost ruins her daughter's life, until the hero Perseus shows up on his winged horse to save her from the jaws of a terrible sea monster.
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Decisions Decisions...
#1Tavy89Posted 5/17/2013 3:53:44 AM
I just bought my 3DS two days ago (and loving it) and today, now that I have been paid, I'm going to get another game. The problem is I can't decide between Tales of the Abyss and Ocarina of Time. I've never really played a Zelda game (I bypassed the N64 and didn't bother on other consoles) but everyone raves about Ocarina. Thing is there is a lot of people talking about Tales of as well and I have played other games in that series and enjoyed them.
Decision is mine to make of course but any recommendations?
(Hopefully unbiased ones cos this is the actual 3DS board and not one of the games boards...)
(PS3 Versus 360) Versus WII U Versus PC.
#2DampeThePoeHuntPosted 5/17/2013 4:06:18 AM
I haven't played Tales of Abyss but I can tell you don't want to pass up on Ocarina of Time. It's a really great experience on the 3DS.
3DS FC: 5413-1158-6036 Name: John. PM me to exchange, don't be a Shyguy.
#3Aarosmashguy27Posted 5/17/2013 4:16:25 AM
I like OoT more on the N64. Link doesn't roll as awkwardly and there are a plethora of glitches to exploit. The 3ds version is still pretty good though.
#4crispyoPosted 5/17/2013 4:42:50 AM
I am (or was) like you, never been a zelda fan and had only briefly played 1 or 2 of them, but OoT was a great surprise for me. Fantastic game and port to the 3ds. It was my first 3ds game too.
3DS FC: 4253-3731-6211
#5noobody1Posted 5/17/2013 6:24:44 AM
There is no decision. There is only Ocarina of Time
Sent from my iPhone via PowerFAQs 1.9
#6BeanBeanKingdomPosted 5/17/2013 6:28:34 AM
Abyss is definitely worth playing, especially if you liked other games in the franchise, but go with Ocarina since you've never played Zelda.
#7stargazer64Posted 5/17/2013 6:29:57 AM
I got tired of Tales after around 4 hours. There's nothing really wrong with it, but it didn't capture my interest. And I don't even have the standard complaint of disliking the main character, as I thought his antics were funny.
The kind of love that makes us functional members of society, the kind of love that makes you consider others' power levels...
-ServantOfErieos having a moment
#8x_stevey_xPosted 5/17/2013 6:42:18 AM(edited)
i hear the zelda "port" is really good and enhanced .. where as the tales port is very lackluster and identical at best
that being said i played both on their original systems and they are both very good.. though OOT is god tier and tales is a notch or two below.. no contest pick OOT!
#9BeanBeanKingdomPosted 5/17/2013 6:46:04 AM
The Tales port is alright, it's just the same exact game as the PS2 version with 3D and much shorter load times. Not worth buying again if you have the PS2 version, while I can easily recommend OOT3D to someone who's already played the original.
#10badboyPosted 5/17/2013 6:48:52 AM
Both are games not to be missed.
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Witold Lutoslawski: Livre Pour Orchestra
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Media: Sheet Music
Arrangement: Orchestra (ORCH)
Composer: Witold Lutoslawski
Catalogue #: HB28915
ISBN: 9780711960213
This Item Earns 39 Musicroom Points
Commissioned by the town of Hagen and first performed there in 1968 by the Stadtisches Orchester, conducted by Berthold Lehmann. Duration, c.20 mins.
Livre Pour Orchestra
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Format: Miniature Score
Length: 74 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Chester Music
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Businessweek Archives
Commentary: Breast Implant Cases: Let The Science Testify
News: Analysis & Commentary: COMMENTARY
It's a legal nightmare. Years after the implant controversy began, U.S. courts are still clogged with tens of thousands of lawsuits from women alleging that the devices made them sick. Yet no one has conclusively proved that the silicone sacs cause disease. So isn't it tempting to put the science on trial? Let a jury decide whether the claims have medical merit--or are the result of a legal system run amok.
That's essentially what the major implant maker, Dow Corning Corp., proposed on Dec. 2 as part of its bankruptcy-settlement plan. The idea: Have impartial, court-appointed experts lay out the scientific evidence in front of a jury of regular citizens picked by the court.
HARD LOOK. The proposal is an excellent idea, though putting it in place will be a tough sell. The hundreds of thousands of women (and their lawyers) claiming injury are already fighting the Dow gambit. But Dow's proposal is part of an encouraging trend: bringing more impartial science into the courtroom.
That surely would be bad news for the plaintiffs. In recent years, epidemiologists from institutions such as the Mayo Clinic & Foundation and Harvard University--who studied thousands of women with implants--failed to find a link between the devices and maladies such as scleroderma, joint pain, chronic fatigue, and arthritis. That's strong enough evidence for most juries to render a "not guilty" verdict. "This question has been answered to a degree that would satisfy almost any objective observer," argues Dr. John S. Sergent, chief medical officer at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, who has testified as an expert before a congressional panel. While some doctors say implants have caused disease in their patients, scientists don't consider anecdotal reports to be scientific evidence. They say the big studies have settled the question.
That means that Dow assumes it will win the "science trial" it is proposing. That would save the company a lot of money. Under the proposed settlement, Dow will spend $600 million compensating women for problems such as ruptured implants or injury to the breast. An additional $1.4 billion set aside for a host of diseases claimed to be caused by silicone wouldn't be disbursed if the claims are dismissed as invalid.
That's why plaintiff lawyers, who depend on wrenching tales of a victim's suffering to sway juries, can't accept Dow's plan. The proposed trial wouldn't give individual doctors an opportunity to testify. That means the jury would be unlikely to hear about a patient who got significantly better after her implants were removed. Such true-life stories are enough to cause even the most objective jury to wonder whether the evidence is as clear-cut as scientists say. While epidemiological studies can show that the risk posed by implants is small, they can never prove that no one was hurt.
CRACKDOWN. As some legal experts say it will simply take more time for the science to catch up to the litigation, some judges are taking matters into their own hands. In Birmingham, Ala., U.S. District Judge Sam C. Pointer Jr. took the unusual step of asking an impartial scientific panel to review all the evidence in an upcoming case. His tactic could embolden other judges to crack down on anecdotal, unscientific evidence. Already, an Oregon judge has barred plaintiffs' experts who can't produce strong scientific evidence from testifying. "I'm very happy to see judges acknowledging that the adversarial process has not worked well," says Dr. Marcia Angell, executive editor of New England Journal of Medicine.
The plaintiffs' bar won't take these developments lying down. Trial lawyers learned the hard way back in 1985, when things went terribly wrong from their perspective. Drugmaker Marion Merrell Dow Inc. used a "science trial" similar to that proposed by Dow to end hundreds of lawsuits alleging that the antinausea drug Bendectin caused birth defects. The lesson of the case, where emotional tales of individual woe were not presented, is that "lawyers have great difficulty winning if you delete the sympathy factor," admits New York trial lawyer Paul D. Rheingold.
Having courts try to pick impartial experts isn't without pitfalls, of course. Few scientists are truly impartial, and very little science is totally certain. But developments such as Judge Pointer's panel and Dow's proposal are on the right track.By John Carey
The Epic Hack
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Hangover Helper
A hopeless (and hapless) romantic on screens big and small, Ed Helms tells Andrew Goldman about one unforgettable love affair…with a box of cereal
Jason O'Dell/Contour by Getty Images
Here's what you'd sound like if you called your best friend to set her up with funny nice guy Ed Helms (right after she poses the inevitable pre–blind date question: How do I know he's not an ax murderer?): "Well, his daddy's a southern lawyer," you'd say, "just like Atticus Finch.... Not good enough for you? Okay, well, he plays banjo.... Yes, but the maniacs in Deliverance didn't play the banjo. Plus, in his freshman year at Oberlin, he sang in the Obertones, an all-male a cappella group.... No, I'm not kidding. I know, right? Serial killers don't go to Oberlin!" Of course, these days, you could just have your friend turn on The Office to catch the 37-year-old playing doggedly dweeby Andy "The Nard Dog" Bernard, or see him reprise his big-screen role as toothless Stu Price in The Hangover Part II. Helms is obviously no killer. Unfortunately for your friend, he does have a girlfriend—and he remains, unsurprisingly, a one-woman kinda guy.
ELLE: Did you ever get any worthless advice about women?
ED HELMS: I did get an awful lot of terrible advice from the older kids on my street. This isn't dating advice, but it will give you an idea of the kind of miseducation I had: I remember the older kids were talking about being hungover, and I said, "What's a hangover?" This kid Josh turns to me and goes, "It's when you wake up in the morning and you hang your dick over the back of a chair."
ELLE: Any other strange childhood misconceptions about human sexuality?
EH: I did for a time think that if you touched a woman's boob, she became pregnant. That was terrifying.
ELLE: Would it have to be skin on skin, or could pregnancy occur after brushing against a breast in an elevator?
EH: It had to be intentional—if you reached up and grabbed someone's boob, she would become pregnant. I think maybe it was just some really demented math equation in my head about the fact that boobs have something to do with sex and babies come from sex.
ELLE: You grew up in Atlanta. What parts of the old South still exist in the city's mating rituals?
EH: The debutante phenomenon still exists. The summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college, I was an escort for one of my friends, and I presented her at the ball. That's pretty old-school. Even though you're wearing a tuxedo and the girls are literally wearing corsets and hoop dresses, these things just turn into DJ parties by the end of the night.
ELLE: I had a friend who was a debutante in Texas, and she told me that in order to be transported to the events in those gowns, the girls had to be strapped, standing, into huge moving vans.
EH: Yeah, like a box truck. I'm not surprised. I never saw that, but I believe it.
ELLE: You had open-heart surgery for a heart murmur when you were 14. If you'd died on the operating table, and I was entrusted to write your posthumous sexual biography, what would have to be included?
EH: That I died with a heartbreaking crush on one of my nurses. And that I'd had lots of sex by that point, but just by myself.
ELLE: You've described yourself as a high school nerd. Provide me with one detail that proves this.
EH: There are many. My friend and I sang an a cappella rendition of Extreme's "More Than Words" at one of our football pep rallies in a desperate attempt to look cool. For a while, I wore pink Converse All Stars because I thought it made me seem daring and irreverent.
ELLE: You had me at "More Than Words." Before joining The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, you did a lot of sketch work and improv in New York. Did being onstage come with a period of great sexual bounty?
EH: I don't know what comedy clubs you're going to. No. You have to understand that, sort of philosophically, I've always had this hurdle with promiscuity. Maybe it's been out of fear and insecurity, but unless a woman pulls me into a closet and rips my clothes off, I'm never confident that I can make something happen. I had a lot of fun in my early twenties, but I don't know that there was ever a period that I would describe as "sexual bounty."
ELLE: Have things changed significantly since you became famous?
EH: It's funny—I have, like, skills in that department, but it's not really what I want anymore. When I didn't have the skills, it's all I wanted. As I've become more confident and secure in terms of what I want, I've been much more relationship-oriented, for the last six, seven, eight years.
ELLE: What's the angriest you ever saw your mother?
EH: My mom was a health nut, and we never had sugar cereals in the house. Raisin Bran was the sweetest thing we got. I went to my best friend Nick's house and he had Honey Nut Cheerios in the cupboard. I couldn't believe he had unfettered access to it. I kid you not, I ate about 10 bowls in a row in the middle of the afternoon. Nick's mom called my mom and was like, "What the hell is going on? Your son just ate an entire box of my family's cereal." I got in a lot of trouble.
ELLE: The poignant part of that story is that you gorged on a cereal that in many families would be the healthy alternative to Trix.
EH: You're right. But my mother said if sugar is one of the first three ingredients, then it's a sugar cereal. Honey Nut Cheerios was on the blacklist.
ELLE: Tell me about your most awkward interaction with a famous woman.
EH: A couple years ago I was introduced to Julia Louis-Dreyfus at a party, and I've been such a big fan of hers for so long that I gave her this big hug that was, like, too familiar—one of those hugs that you'd give a dear friend.
ELLE: Did you feel a tenseness when you were holding on to her?
EH: She was perfectly gracious and warm, but there was a certain lack of reciprocation. In that moment, I could feel that the intensity of my hug was not being reciprocated. A light went off, like, Oh my God. This is a little much.
This Is A Developing Story
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Protestors in Hartford last week. (Staff photo / February 27, 2013)
Josemaria Islas has been targeted by federal immigration authorities as "a priority for removal" under a deportation program that is supposed to focus on stone-cold criminals like drug dealers, rapists and murderers.
Islas, an undocumented immigrant living in New Haven with his sister, nephews and brother, isn't any of those things.
His most serious "crime" in the eyes of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents is that he keeps on sneaking into the United States to find work.
Last week, despite loud protests from Connecticut activists and his family and a civil disobedience action that led to four arrests, a federal judge in Hartford ordered Islas be deported back to Mexico. Reform activists in this state say his case has become a symbol of what's wrong with America's dysfunctional immigration policies, a system that's now under fire from both Democrats and Republicans.
According to ICE, Islas tried four times in August and September 2005 to find a way into the U.S.A. On each occasion, he was caught and sent back across the border.
But on his fifth attempt, Islas made it and found his way to Connecticut and got a job at a Hamden factory. He was on his lunch break last June when he was picked up by local cops looking for suspects in an attempted robbery. Immigration activists say the only description police had was of "a short, brown man," which Islas happens to be.
He was jailed for four months. His advocates insist he had nothing to do with the alleged crime, and ended up taking a plea bargain that scaled the charges back to disorderly conduct simply to get out from behind bars.
"The judge was going to let him go," explains David Amdur, a volunteer with Unidad Latina en Accion, a New Haven-based group working to help Islas in his fight with immigration authorities.
As part of his plea bargain, Islas was also granted accelerated rehabilitation, commonly known as "AR." That's a program in Connecticut that allows all charges to be wiped off a defendant's record if he or she completes required probation, and AR is never used in the case of people charged with serious crimes. Now that he's finished probation, Islas doesn't technically have any criminal record.
Despite those facts, Connecticut judicial marshals called immigration officials because Islas was on a computerized list put out under the federal Secure Communities (or S-Comm) program.
President Obama's administration says the program is only supposed to be used to deport hardened and dangerous criminals. Critics insist that hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who've committed no major crimes have been sent out of the U.S. under S-Comm.
S-Comm has become so controversial that Connecticut officials ordered special reviews of any ICE requests for undocumented immigrants being held in state prisons. Those reviews were supposed to make certain that only people with serious felony records would be turned over for deportation.
Islas apparently fell right through a loophole in that state policy. He was being held by judicial marshals and wasn't in the state corrections system.
ICE spokesman Ross Feinstein insists his agency "has adopted common-sense policies nationwide that ensure our immigration laws are enforced in a way that best enhances public safety, border security and the integrity of the immigration system."
As for Islas not being convicted of any felony, Feinstein noted that he "was originally charged with a serious criminal offense of conspiracy to commit robbery." In a statement issued last week, Feinstein acknowledges that Islas was granted accelerated rehabilitation, but fails to mention that his completion of that probation means he's got no criminal record in this state.
Of course, ICE also targets anyone who "repeatedly violated immigration laws."
Amdur admits Islas broke U.S. immigration laws by repeatedly trying to get across the border. "But that is not a criminal violation," Amdur points out. "That's a civil violation of the immigration laws."
And so his case has become a rallying cry for immigration reform advocates in Connecticut. Four people were arrested last week for trying to block the doorway to the federal building where a judge was ordering Islas to be deported.
Gregory Williams, a Yale Divinity School student who was one of those arrested, says he and the others charged with federal disorderly conduct aren't planning to pay the $175 fines they now face.
"We're going to refuse to pay the fine," says Williams. He says a court trial will offer another opportunity to continue the protest against Islas' deportation. "We want to put as much public pressure as we can on ICE and the courts to reconsider [Islas'] deportation order," Williams says.
Islas, 34, now has 30 days to appeal his deportation ruling and no date for sending him back to Mexico has been set. ICE lawyers could decide to use "prosecutorial discretion" and not push for deportation in this case, says Megan Fountain, of Unidad Latino en Accion.
Follow @GregoryBHladky on Twitter
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Although Diane Sawyer's 20/20 special on prostitution didn't impart much new information about the oldest profession, here's something that did throw us for a loop: A 13-year-old girl has been arrested in Dallas for pimping other underage, middle schoolers for everything from stripteases and "exotic dancing" to actual sex acts. The 13-year old was luring friends into prostitution by offers of large sums of cash. Says a Dallas police officer involved in the case, "One of the remarkable things we learned through all of this is there's a tremendous amount of money in all this, so a huge demand for young girls in prostitution world." [WFAA]
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Businessweek Archives
Broadcom's Brain Trust
Engineers and Co-Chairs Samueli and Nicholas each own 23% of one of the year's hottest IPOs
Henry T. Nicholas III and Henry Samueli, co-founders of Broadcom Corp., the fast-growing maker of communications chips, have much more than just their first names in common. When Broadcom went public on Apr. 17, the two Henrys shared in the riches of one of the most successful initial public offerings this year: The stock's 123% jump the first day was second only to the all-time record 249% gain racked up by in late July. So far, their combined stake--each holds 23%--has soared in value to $1.5 billion.
Their newfound wealth is based on another fortunate similarity: co-chairmen Nicholas, 38, who is also CEO, and Samueli, 43, have long shared a common view of the future direction of communications technology. When they founded Broadcom in 1991, they were convinced that quicker communications would drive the convergence of computers, television, and telephones. So they set out to develop the microchips that would tie together these disparate technologies and allow the speedy transfer of massive amounts of data. It was a prescient move. Now trading at around 70, Broadcom's share price has been pushed skyward by the proposed merger of AT&T and cable giant Tele-Communications Inc., which promises to accelerate the use of cable TV for phone and Internet service in the home.EARLY TO MARKET. Even if that deal never happens, business is booming for Broadcom. Early on the scene with its chips, it already dominates fledgling markets for the electronic brains that control digital set-top boxes and cable modems. Altogether, analysts expect Broadcom to earn $28 million this year on a 300% jump in sales, to $150 million.
Samueli and Nicholas first met at TRW Inc. in 1981. Samueli designed communications systems; Nicholas designed chips. Both were working on a huge Defense Dept. program to advance the state of the art for integrated circuits for communications applications. In 1985, as Nicholas was earning his part-time masters degree at the University of California at Los Angeles, Samueli left TRW to become a full-time professor there. With his research centered on furthering the automated design of communications chips, it was only natural that Nicholas became Samueli's first PhD candidate.
By 1988, when Samueli and three other scientists co-founded PairGain Technologies Inc. to speed data transmission over telephone lines, Nicholas went along to design the chips. But Samueli and Nicholas also had a broader vision. They wanted to figure out how to compress data so more of it could be sent over not only telephone lines but also over TV cables, corporate data networks, and even over the air and via satellite broadcasts. There was a problem, though. Doing so would mean competing with PairGain's customers. Still, they were so certain of their idea that three years later, Samueli and Nicholas quit PairGain--and walked away from millions of dollars in stock options--to start Broadcom.
For Samueli, founding Broadcom was the culmination of a boyhood dream. "I knew I was going to be an electrical engineer in seventh grade," he says. In an electric shop class at Hollywood's Bancroft Junior High School, he decided to build a shortwave radio with five tubes. "The rest of us were just learning to do splices, and here he was building this complicated radio," says Gregory B. Gershuni, a lifelong friend. "Building that radio put me on the path that got me where I am today," says Samueli. "I did not deviate, not one iota."
Nicholas also showed a scientific bent early on, though his career path was more circuitous. Growing up in Malibu, Calif., he dreamed of becoming a test pilot. "He had a mad-scientist lab in his garage to experiment with rocket fuel," says Andrew R. Coulson, a childhood friend who later roomed with Nicholas for six years during and after college. "We used to stay up all night mixing chemicals." Nicholas, Coulson, and another friend even taught themselves aerodynamics and calculus during junior high so they could design rockets that would shoot higher than off-the-shelf models. Although Nicholas made it into the U.S. Air Force Academy, his boyhood dream ended when he grew taller than its 6 ft., 4 in. limit for pilots."YIN AND YANG." These days, Nicholas and Samueli's success in piloting Broadcom is very much thanks to their particular chemistry. Employees describe Samueli as the inspirational leader, the thoughtful, humble, benevolent professor who lets you find the solution so you'll grow. Nicholas is the tough coach who yells at his players to hit new heights and is quick to assign blame when they don't reach them. Colleagues say the two function together so seamlessly, they routinely finish each other's sentences. "They're sort of the yin and yang of Broadcom," says Steve K. Tsubota, who heads the company's cable-TV unit. "If you took either one out of the development of Broadcom, we wouldn't be a tenth as successful as we are."
Nicholas, who goes by "Nick," is clearly in charge of running the company, reversing the old professor-student mentoring relationship. "He's the CEO, and he likes being in charge," Samueli says. "We need Nick's style for working in the business world." It's Nicholas who insists on everyone wearing a suit and tie at all times. He talks a mile a minute, peppering his speech with wisecracks. And he's always pushing the limits, at work and at play. On skis, Nicholas will tackle any hill, and he has broken a collarbone to prove it. A bit of a boaster, he claims that when his wife, Stacey, had their third child, "I delivered it myself." Says Stacey, a former chip designer who worked for him at TRW: "Well, it was really the nurses and Nick."
Samueli, who took a leave of absence from UCLA to serve as Broadcom's chief technical officer, is quiet and understated. A better skier than Nicholas, Samueli will never brag after effortlessly gliding down a double-diamond slope. He prefers to let someone else initiate conversations. "Some people can't handle the fact that he never talks," says his wife, Susan, an IBM programmer he met at a synagogue dance.NO VENTURE CAPITAL. Samueli's reputation among fellow scientists has helped attract a formidable technical team. "He's very focused and he very quickly makes the right decisions all day, every day," says William J. Kaiser, chair of UCLA's electrical-engineering department. "I don't know anyone else like that in the business or academic communities." It also helped that the founders accepted no venture capital, so they could offer unusually large stock options as a lure. "They compensated people with life-changing amounts of stock," says Tsubota. The proof is in the IPO. More than 70% of the company's then 300 employees became millionaires.
Often the enticements didn't end there. To lure world-class scientist Klaas Bult, then with Philips Electronics, Samueli arranged for Bult to talk with UCLA; the school offered him a tenured professorship, with Broadcom funding his research and an outside consulting contract. "Then, it was only a matter of time," Nicholas says. Two years later, Bult decamped for a full-time job at Broadcom. "That type of person is not looking for a job," Nicholas says. All told, 80% of the company's 239 engineers have advanced degrees, 44 with PhDs, and five of them are tenured professors. Quips Samueli: "If our markets head south, we'll open a university."
That isn't likely to happen anytime soon. True, several years ago, the big push for convergence got off to a false start amid much hype and confusion. But the AT&T-TCI deal makes it look as if it will really happen this time. To keep the Broadcom rocket on its trajectory, Nicholas and Samueli expect to solidify links to such fast-growing network customers as 3Com, Cisco Systems, and Bay Networks even as they secure their leadership in the nascent market for cable gear. So far, at least, the two Henrys seem to have all the right stuff.By Larry Armstrong in Irvine, Calif.Return to top
The Epic Hack
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CurlTalk (
- General Discussion about Curly Hair (
- - ZOMG How Happy Am I About My Hair Right Now???!!! (
Jessiebanana 03-29-2013 03:26 PM
That's's over (until a product gets discontinued at least)*. I have my HG's and my hair has never looked so good with so little effort.
I got the Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing Lotion and it's everything I've ever wanted. I have so many feelings right now. It's holding in the moisture, like a good leave in, but it's smoothing my hair and creating/keeping the definition. My hair is pretty defined once it's soaking wet, so it's not making curls happen, but I can squeeze water out or play around with the style of my hair and it brings the curls back...perks them up. My hair feels like hair, not like something with crunchy or sticky or oily product in it. It's not weighed down or poofy.
When I first opened the packaged I smell it, fondled it, rubbed a bit on my dry hair and I had high hopes when it refreshed a curl. I wouldn't use it on dry hair cause I think you would use a lot...and I don't use anything on dry hair. That's just not how I roll.
Being dry and having low porosity kind of sucks. Cause you can't drench hair in heavy things without it sitting there and making your hair gunky, but you still need the moisture. The DB Pumpkin Seed Conditioner has been a blessing for this and the CJ finishes the deal. It's not heavy so I can use as much as I desire to style, but it's not so light I have to use half the bottle to see any results.
It smells really good, but the scent is very light, so if you don't like it it's not a huge deal or if you're wearing another scent it won't over power or compete with it. It doesn't smell like vanilla-cotton candy (that isn't something I'd want on my head all day) I'm not sure why the website says that. It's a sweet, non food or candy, slightly floral smell. I've heard it compared on YT to a certain perfume, I've never smelt that perfume, but it does remind me of a few very nice perfumes or like a tea.
Like my DB, it's on the pricier side and I have to order it, but I can order them all from one place and if I play my cards right I can wait to order during 20% off. Also I only use three products for everything, so I think I'm saving the dollar bills there. When I want to clarify I add a drop of Suave Daily Clarifying to my cleansing conditioner. That bottle will probably last me a couple decades...seriously.
I'm so happy I don't even feel sorry for writing this essay. I needed to share :blob4:!
*Even if a product gets discontinued, at least I can look for formulations like my HG's. I feel like the guess work part is over, if YKWIM.
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Edition: U.S. / Global
The Big City; Turning Tykes Into Zealots For Recycling
Published: April 20, 2001
IN honor of Earth Day, our text is ''RRR You Ready?'' the new waste-reduction manual, weighing five pounds and prepared at a cost of $2 million, that has been distributed to public schools by the New York City Department of Sanitation. For safety purposes, let's begin with Chapter 4, ''How I can be a TrashMaster!''
This chapter instructs students who have learned the modern three R's -- reduce, reuse, recycle -- to ''share'' their knowledge with their families. That means getting their families to follow dozens of rules, including this one: ''Return wire hangers and plastic bags to the dry cleaners.''
Before your family sets up a new bin for dry cleaners' bags, you might consider advice from another source, the American Academy of Pediatrics. ''Never leave plastic bags lying around the house,'' the academy's child-care manual warns. ''Bags from the dry cleaner are particularly dangerous. Knot them before you throw them away so that it's impossible for your child to crawl into them or pull them over her head.''
Perhaps a truly dedicated RRRer could carefully knot each bag, store it out of the reach of children and then unknot it for the dry cleaner. But why take any risk to save a few pennies' worth of plastic? Why waste so much time and effort to save a bag that may well be useless by the time it gets back to the dry cleaner?
You could raise similar cost-benefit objections to just about every other ''waste reducing'' tip in the manual, and you could end up agreeing with the wayward student who appears in an accompanying video. ''Recycling is just another evil plan by grown-ups to keep kids from having fun,'' he complains. ''What's wrong with a little garbage?''
But you, like that unenlightened student, would be missing the point of the curriculum. It's not intended to teach children about economic tradeoffs. Its purpose is to inculcate a system of beliefs and values.
To Catholics who grew up on questions in the Baltimore Catechism like ''Who is God?'' or ''Did Adam and Eve obey the commandment of God?'' the questions in the RRR manual have a familiar feel. ''What is waste?'' ''Why do we need to think about our waste?'' ''Why do we waste so much?''
These are not questions meant to be debated. Our wastefulness is a given, just like Adam and Eve's original sin. ''In previous generations, people lived by the adage of 'waste not, want not.' They were careful to buy only what they needed, and reused whatever they could,'' the manual explains. But now we have eaten from the apple, and it's wrapped in plastic. ''Every time we throw something away,'' the manual laments, ''we are throwing out a lot.''
The manual does mention in passing that recycling is expensive, but it doesn't bother noting that it's more expensive than burying trash. And it certainly doesn't point out how much money (more than $500 million) New Yorkers could have saved over the last decade if there had been no recycling program.
No, the manual instead preaches reverence for handling waste. Students who can't pass reading or mathematics tests are urged to spend classroom time building a museum of garbage, then go home and determine the weight of their family's trash, all the while hectoring their parents to avoid ''overpackaged'' takeout food in plastic containers.
Saving plastic is a new spiritual quest, but past societies have just as passionately revered natural resources and reviled human pollution. The Druids worshiped trees and sacrificed people. Saving dry cleaners' bags seems tame by comparison.
BUT not everyone today shares these values or wants to see $2 million in public money spent on a manual to promote those values in public schools. I don't want my child to be a TrashMaster who weighs garbage and feels guilty for polluting the planet when he writes on only one side of a piece of paper.
I respect the neo-Druids' beliefs, but why should these beliefs be taught in public schools? Robert Lange, the director of the Department of Sanitation's recycling program, answered by pointing to the widespread support for recycling. ''It is a value judgment,'' he said, ''but it's advocated by a large part of the population, including the City Council.''
True enough, but a majority of the population also believes in Christian dogma, and that doesn't justify preaching it in public schools. New York intellectuals like to mock Kansans who insist on teaching creationism, but at least creationism is presented as an alternative to Darwinism. In our schools, recycling is the one true faith.
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Thursday, March 18, 2010
"mpeachObama21" ...What's in a name? Is free speech not part of the game?
Without knowing all the details this appears outwardly as a free speech issue... I'm not even sure they made a good enough excuse for the Bush comment as it is an after the fact what-if scenario. If Microsoft is allowed to get away with this just how soon will it be that Google shuts down many of the bloogers that use's a lot of bloggers out there that would like to see Obama impeached...worst yet, they're are many that would like him thrown in jail. So apparently Microsoft doesn't mind a dictatorial guy in the White House destroying the very country that made Bill Gates one of the richest people in the world. This could mean only one thing and that is Bill Gates is one of them... Them New World Order guys; the elites who will run the world according to their rules. Of course Bill O'Reilly wouldn't agree with this concept for its only a theory. ~ Norman E. Hooben
The following from World Net Daily
Microsoft Xbox: 'Impeach Obama' off limits
'If you were the president, what would you feel if you saw this?'
Posted: March 17, 2010
9:06 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
That's the question Microsoft Xbox LIVE asked WND after it banned a teenager from using "mpeach obama21" as his gamertag, or online username.
"This name is actually, it's not likeable," a Microsoft Xbox LIVE spokesman identifying himself as Jordan said. "If you were Obama, what would you feel if you saw this?"
Father Chad Willis told WND his 15-year-old son tried to log into his Xbox game console to play online, but the screen alerted him to the following message: "In accordance with Xbox LIVE policy, the gamertag mpeach obama21 is no longer allowed. Please change your gamertag before playing on Xbox LIVE."
Xbox LIVE bans 'mpeach obama21' gamertag
Willis said creating a new gamertag costs Xbox LIVE points and, therefore, money.
Jordan referenced the following Xbox LIVE policy as reason for the ban:
"(mpeach obama21) could fall under sensitive current or historical events," Jordan explained. "Obama being president of the U.S. is a historical event for most of the people there. Microsoft doesn't tolerate such things. Microsoft Xbox wants to be a fun place for everyone."
The newest work from the best-selling author of "The Marketing of Evil," is now available! It's called "How Evil Works" and "turns a blowtorch of good upon the putrid cobwebs of evil."
Asked whether Xbox policy prohibits political speech, he replied, "Well, it doesn't actually say anything about politics, but it could pertain to historical events."
Jordan insisted the policy would apply to "mpeach Bush" gamertags as well.
While political speech may not be allowed, the Xbox LIVE Code of Conduct was recently updated to specifically permit gamertags that include sexual orientation. Users may identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bi, transgender or straight.
Stephen Tolouse, director or policy and enforcement on Xbox LIVE, explained the policy change to one blogger: "As our service has grown – spectacularly, I might add – and become much more social, it's not just about games anymore: It's about movies, it's about sharing experiences with your friends. We certainly see now through feedback from our customer base and community that people want to be able to express that stuff."
Willis' son said he has seen numerous inappropriate gamertags "that have the F-word, drugs and other stupid stuff."
His father said, "This just confirms my resolve in making sure that my family and friends are aware of the collusion, albeit veiled, between Microsoft and the current occupant of the White House."
The teenager said he wants his "mpeach obama21" gamertag back "because it's the principle of the thing."
However, Microsoft Xbox LIVE told WND it will not reinstate the name, and he must create a new one.
Note: Concerned individuals may contact Xbox LIVE.
1 comment:
Storm'n Norm'n said...
mpeach obama21 what's wrong with that!
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Spurs lose big, not a worry to Jackson
AT&T Center — The San Antonio Spurs fell to the Portland Trailblazers.
That's not surprising as playoff-bound teams are going to lose to teams not in contention and Portland has been a thorn in the side of the Spurs. What has gotten many of the fan base riled up is by how much they lost.
The Spurs allowed 136 points in that loss, something unseen during the Gregg Popovich era in regulation and also a new high (or low) for the AT&T Center.
While some fans may have wanted to punch the TV or even question the legitimacy of the team's championship hopes, Stephen Jackson offers his own opinion on the matter.
"It happens. I've been in this game a long time… it happens. It's nothing to panic over, it's nothing to try and evaluate too much," said Jackson after the Spurs loss.
Jackson's always been an optimistic player and that's the type of mentality from a leader that helped his eighth seeded Golden State Warriors defeat the first seed Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs.
"They hit their shots, they played better than us and won the game," said Jackson. "Our defense was horrible. That's not the way we play defense. They beat us."
"Captain Jack" has been there before and so have the Spurs. In what may have been a moment to forget to the majority of San Antonio faithful, Tracy McGrady also gave the Spurs a moment that the silver and black legion hanging their heads in shame. On December 9, 2004, the Spurs faced McGrady's Houston Rockets and had the game in hand or so they thought. McGrady went on fire in the last 33 seconds and scored 13 points to propel the Rockets over the Spurs.
I don't want to open old wounds, but look at what happened that season.
The Spurs won the NBA championship and that memory now seems to have no influence on the fan base. If the team can put this incident behind them and there's no reason to believe they can't or won't, this will be a loss that'll be thrown in with that McGrady magic act. You have to also believe the Spurs may have been looking forward to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday and may have looked past the Trailblazers. Whatever the case is, it's not the end of the world or season.
The team is still playing without it's MVP candidate and playing well overall as a team. When Monday comes along and the Spurs come out with a win against the Thunder, this loss won't mean much. If the Spurs come out as the last team standing in June, this loss will be forgotten or lose any meaning. It's just like Jackson said, "it happens."
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China and US in spat over Tiananmen
• 5 June 2014
• From the section China
China has made a formal complaint to the US after the White House urged it to account for the protesters who were killed during the Tiananmen massacre.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he was "deeply dissatisfied" and had lodged "solemn representations".
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Hong Kong to mark the 25th anniversary of the massacre, but all mention of the event was forbidden in mainland China.
Hundreds died when the army suppressed a huge pro-democracy protest in 1989.
The crackdown was ordered after hardliners won a power struggle within the ruling Communist Party.
There has never been another protest of its magnitude in mainland China.
The authorities in Beijing were keen to make sure no-one tried to commemorate the events, and detained dozens of people in the run-up to the anniversary.
Tiananmen protests
Timeline: Tiananmen protests
Why the protests still matter
Chinese media quiet on anniversary
In pictures: Tiananmen protests
Struggling against Tiananmen censors
But numerous governments called on Beijing to use the anniversary to rethink its attitude to human rights.
"We call on Chinese authorities to account for those killed, detained, or missing in connection with the events surrounding June 4, 1989," the White House said in a statement.
During a regular news conference, Mr Hong did not refer directly to the Tiananmen protests.
But he said: "The US statement on that incident shows a total disregard of fact."
Image caption Despite the tight security, Chinese tourists poured into Tiananmen Square as usual
Image caption In Hong Kong, tens of thousands gathered to commemorate the protests
Later, state-run news agency Xinhua published a story quoting Mr Hong as saying China was "strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed" to the US statement.
"We have lodged solemn representations to the US side."
It was unclear what kind of protest Mr Hong had lodged. The US embassy was unavailable for comment.
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| 0.962299
| 0.133295
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Here's some info you might be interested in knowing about cable TV in Le Sueur, MN. For starters, a third of Americans own four or more TVs and all but 3% of people still watch regularly broadcast TV. Because 72% of all TV viewers bundle cable with Internet, it only makes sense that 48% of them stream some content online. That means that 1,401 people living in Le Sueur have at least 4 TVs apiece and most of them, 4,119, watch traditional broadcasts, even though 2,038 also stream TV online.
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Based on the number of Internet bundles, cable subscribers in Le Sueur obviously love cable Internet. There was a 4% increase in Le Sueur's cable Internet usage from 2009 to 2010. Now there are 1,359 Le Sueur residents who use cable high-speed Internet. Cable bundles are popular for many reasons. The first of which is cable high-speed Internet ranges from 5-10 Mbps. That's faster than DSL and 25% -150% faster than the median national average. The second reason is that people who bundle their cable TV and Internet services save $400 per year.
Le Sueur Born Actors
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<urn:uuid:ad739654-db64-4706-863d-7f2ee96a0ecb>
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http://www.cabletv.com/mn/le-sueur
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en
| 0.923243
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet
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You Know You're Paul Rudd When...
…you're an Oord-trained actor who tells boner jokes for a living, the secret of your success is your everlasting obsession with Steve Martin, and you raised a son who thinks he's Elvis Costello. Chris Heath looks for the grownup side of Hollywood's most likable leading bro and comes up laughing
Confront the actor Paul Rudd with the observation that, in almost all circumstances, he seems to convey an immense likability and he replies, "Well, that's nice, thanks." He says this not in an obviously sarcastic way, but more in the manner of a man who has just been handed a slice of cake and is politely grateful for the gift, though not yet sure how hungry he is. But ask him whether this likability has ever seemed to be a hindrance professionally and he will concede that it has. "You know, there were times, probably in my twenties, when I would find it a little annoying. I would always get described as, you know, 'allAmerican,' 'has no edge,' nothing dangerous about me at all." A laugh, genial. "And I knew that was the case. I wasn't dangerous or brooding. Or in emotional turmoil. Any of that, really. And so I think at times I felt frustrated." When it comes to audiences, too, who have their own unfair and perverse instincts, this kind of likability can be a blessing that cloaks a curse within it. There is a kind of actor everyone will be glad to discover is in a movie they are seeing, but few will cross the street to see in a movie, and for a long while it seemed as though Paul Rudd might be one of these.
No longer. "Careerwise," as he observes, "things are very good for me in a way that they have never been before." His recent series of notable supporting parts now seem as though they were designed to build up to his satisfying prominence in last year's Role Models and the current I Love You, Man. Maybe it's just chance, or the fortune of being in the right place to ride the latest comedy wave. Maybe it's that audiences see something new behind his eyes, something that wasn't there before. ("As I've lived longer now, experienced more things, some of the optimism and wideeyed stuff, it just gets beaten out of you," he reflects. "It just does.") Or maybe it's that the likable will inherit the earth eventually, but they need to be very patient.
We meet in his chosen Manhattan diner, not far from where he lives with his wife, son, and a view of the Hudson. He was born a few miles from here, across the George Washington Bridge in Passaic, New Jersey, and his early childhood memories are of New York and New Jersey. "My grandparents lived in every Sopranos location," he says. But it is Kansas he usually refers to when asked where he is from. His parents moved there when he was 10. (His father was a sales manager for TWA, and the airline's hub was Kansas City.) "It's strange," he says, "because none of us really fit the stereotypical Kansan, midwestern persona—kind of the Bible Belt, happy, Christian, really whitebread…"
His parents were nonreligious European Jewish liberals. "It seemed a weird match," he says, "but there is something I really, really loved about growing up there, and something I love about going back. I think the people do seem genuinely happier. They seem nicer."
Why do you think that is
"I think there's something kind of good about growing up in a place you know is not the cool place to be. I think it's good for your head."
Both his parents were born in England—they'd known each other all their lives—and Rudd feels a vestigial connection to that country. "Even from my earliest memories," he says, "of the candy, really. And tea. And that counts for something when you're a kid." As a student, he went to England for a semester to study Jacobean drama at Oord. "I loved that. I associate a lot of happiness with spending time over there and working on scenes or plays that were very English."
He talks a little more about Jacobean drama and then starts laughing. I ask why it's funny. "I don't know," he says. "I think it's because I like that, and then, on the other hand, I'm making a living telling boner jokes."
There's an obvious mistake to make here—to take this as a sign of deep torment in Paul Rudd's soul: a man forced to sully a pure spirit and a higher calling in pursuit of the cheap laughs and large paychecks that come to those who can find a witty, contemporary way to speak of erectile tissue and its associated predicaments and adventures. Probably closer to the truth is to suggest that, as a man with wide tastes and other strings to his bow, Paul Rudd tells all the boner jokes he tells not because he needs to but because he wants to. And also that maybe Jacobean drama—the play Rudd conveniently chooses to mention is 'Tis Pity She's a Whore—isn't so different, anyway. If the grandest, noblest themes endure through human history and drama, then so, too, do the other ones. "Maybe in their own way," he suggests, "a lot of the Jacobean playwrights were making boner jokes and fart jokes."
They were the Judd Apatows of their day
"Absolutely," he says. He seems satisfied by the idea and sound of this, at the very least. "They absolutely were."
Many of the stories Paul Rudd tells of his youth relate to the pop music of earlier days and often reflect choices and tastes that are both peculiar and particular. One of his first memories is of standing on his bed wearing these shorts he thought were cool, with sideway zippers and hammer loops, no shirt, watching himself in the mirror, rocking out with his invisible guitar to his favorites at the time: "Monster Mash," Glen Campbell's "Southern Nights," the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night," and two by Neil Sedaka, "Calendar Girl" and "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen."
Later he fell under the spell of the English pop star Adam Ant. "I really tried for a while to go with the Adam Ant look." He tried to put an Antinspired braid in his hair and asked his mother to shave back his scalp in imitation of Adam Ant's receding hairline, which to the young Paul Rudd was purely a matter of fashion and not a desperate attempt to disguise biological reality as New Romantic flourish. (She refused.) He also asked her to bleach the top of his hair blond in emulation of briefly celebrated synthpop wizard Howard Jones. (She refused.) And to aid in his creation of a Jonesesque rat tail in his hair. (She refused.)
"She wouldn't let me do anything," he says. "Smart."
Even Mother couldn't save him from every clothing calamity. "I had pants that had pleats in the ass," he recalls. "Pleated in front and then pleated in the back. They were already pegged at the bottom, but then I would try and have them taken in more. Until really it looked like I was wearing a huge pair of jodhpurs."
As he got older, his body started to work against him: "Puberty hit me pretty hard. All of a sudden I woke up and I had really curly hair." He tried to blowdry it straight, to no avail. "I wanted that Colt 45 featheredonthesides look. But I looked like Bruno from Fame. It was just a lost cause." He also had bad acne. "I didn't have, you know, a severe chronic case of pustules and things, but for years I had a pretty spotty face, and those are tough years, anyway. I was just kind of: Why Why did this have to happen And I also was not one to pop them, because I had been told that if you do that, another one will come back and another one, and it will scar your face. So I think I unnecessarily walked around with the odd pustule. I remember being at a football game and I had this swimming pool on my chin of pus, this goo, this massive zit—the bubble was ready to burst. I was horrified, just so embarrassed. But I also wanted to be out with everyone, so—this is probably a window into my personality—I made a huge deal of it. I was joking about it. Not trying to appear that it was bothering me so much. And there was a girl there that I really, really liked, and [another] girl said something like, 'You're just keeping that zit because you like Kelly and you just want all this attention.' And I remember going home and [mimes squeezing]. It was the first one I ever popped."
And how did it go with Kelly
"She was the first girl I ever kissed," he tells me. "So pretty damn good."
Though Rudd was also obsessed from an early age with comedy LPs, particularly Steve Martin's and Mel Brooks's, his first thought of a career was that he might be an artist. If not a painter, then maybe a graphic artist. After he went to speech class, and chanced upon one of those inspiring teachers who help you discover the possibilities within yourself, his priorities changed. He would act. As an adult, it amuses him when he listens to contestant after contestant on American Idol meander though the same insincere litany: I was born to sing.… I just want to share this with the world.… I love the craft.…
"It is simple," he says. "We're all looking for attention—that's what it is. Get real."
His youthful enthusiasms may have been the catalyst for his recent successes in a more direct, if obtuse, way. At a dinner party a few years back, Rudd was expressing his love of Steve Martin's character names—in particular, Gern Blanston. Someone at the dinner exclaimed that this explained Judd Apatow's strange email address; this was the name Apatow used. So Rudd—who had never met Apatow—sent him an email, and they started corresponding.
Rudd mentioned this story in the press a while back, and not long afterward he received a copy of Steve Martin's memoir, Born Standing Up. Inside, Martin had signed his own name and then added, in parentheses, "Gern."
"It's one of the greatest things I've ever gotten in my life," says Rudd. "That was definitely one of those life moments."
When I ask Rudd why he believes his career has taken this good turn, he answers, "Just because I, in the last years, got into some comedies that made money, in particular Judd's movies, and I think it's been a great thing to be part of and I really lucked out."
It started with Anchorman, in which Rudd played one of Ron Burgundy's TVstation cronies. "Anchorman was never supposed to be a popular, like, hit movie," he says. "That movie was a cheap movie—it felt like we were working on a weird independent comedy in a way. 40YearOld Virgin was kind of the same. There was probably more expectation with Knocked Up. But I was just happy, honestly, to be working, and still am, on things that I like, that were fun to work on, with people I liked. And as for where I fit in on that kind of food chain, I never concerned myself with it, or cared. I want to enjoy the experiences, and that's become more and more important to me. I don't want to make Apocalypse Now. I think working on something that is miserable for eight months for the sake of art sounds just…miserable." He considers the reality of this assertion. "I don't know. I would probably do it, but I wouldn't enjoy it. And I also think some of the reasons people want to see comedies maybe is just because the world is going through a real tough time."
When I wonder aloud about what may be distinctive about this new generation of comedies, Rudd mentions the amount of onset improvisation and a distinctive use of popcultural references. And also that "a lot of the guys are not typically moviestar guys, you know." This is true, but it is also where Rudd is the odd one out in the gang. If the rest look like the kind of men who might not, in a world run according to the usual cruel and unreal laws of Hollywood, get the girl, then Rudd looks like a guy who probably would.
Another marker of these modern comedies (the Apatow kind, into which movies like Role Models and I Love You, Man seem to naturally fit, even though Judd Apatow has nothing to do with them) is the fresh way in which they seem to meld gross insensitivity and gross sensitivity. In I Love You, Man, a typically effective example of this new hybrid, what is remarkable is not just the ability to embrace both compelling softhearted emotion and longdistance projectile vomiting but its utter comfort in not feeling the need to indicate the difference.
It turns out that what makes Rudd most squeamish is unearned sentimentality. He points out that in Role Models, which he cowrote, after the first few scenes any halfawake viewer should have a pretty good idea of what will happen from then on, at least in a general sense, and of which heartstrings will be pulled along the way. "Nobody wants to make something very treacly. I think we're all very nervous of that. If the jokes are leftofcenter enough, if there's something subversive enough about it, then it makes it a little more tolerable. I know if I'm writing something, or if I'm acting in something, and it seems as though I'm going to deal with anything that might be kind of serious or emotional or vulnerable, it's not uncommon to pepper it with a few jokes. I really do think that that makes it more moving. Because that's how I would deal with my own insecurities and my own vulnerabilities. If something tragic happened in your life, you make the most offcolor joke about it. I do that kind of stuff. Absolutely." He laughs comfortably. "It's horrible stuff."
An example is requested. Rudd thinks for a short while, silent, and I can almost see experiences flit behind his forehead, one by one, each briefly considered then discarded as unshareable. Eventually, an example is offered: "Well, my dad died recently. And I was in a car with a couple of buddies, driving upstate. And I had this song on my iPod by this guy named David Geddes who did the song in the '70s called "The Last Game of the Season." It is one of these great storytelling songs from the '70s, where it's half talking, half singing. It would be the example of the one that is: We are going to set out to make you cry. But they haven't earned any of it, and it's ridiculous. And I love it."
He explains the story told in the song: "It's about this kid on a high school football team that doesn't ever play. And there's always a blind man in the bleachers that cheers on the team. Finally, it's the last game of the season. Nobody has even noticed that the blind man is not there. And it's halftime and nobody even notices that the kid's gone over to make a phone call. The team is getting killed, the hits are so hard, players are going down injured left and right. And the coach is, where is that kid And he comes running out, and the coach screams, 'Where the hell have you been' And he insists, 'You've got to put me in, Coach.' He goes in and just kicks ass. And they win. And the coach says, 'Where did you learn to play like that' And the kid says, 'Well, my father, he's blind, you see, and I just found out at halftime he passed away. And it's the first time that my father saw me play.' "
That's the song he's playing in the car with his friends. And Rudd's just loving it, but one of his buddies isn't so happy. Because his father actually is blind.
"And I said," Rudd recounts with pride, " 'Well, my dad's dead, so I win.' And I started teasing him that his father was only blind."
At this, I openly gawp.
"That's the kind of stuff that always makes me laugh," he says. "That's the way, of course, I deal with any of that tragic stuff."
When you say something like that, what do you feel like it's doing
"Well, I imagine my father cracking up at that."
He would have found that funny
"Oh yeah. He would have loved that shit. The further you go… And so I suppose it makes me feel close to him. But it also genuinely makes me laugh. And that's a minor example. I'm sure I could come up with things that are ten times worse."
Somewhere within these last sentences, Paul Rudd begins to cry. He leans hard to his right—almost as though, at a lower altitude, his tears will seem less evident. "I'm feeling very Barbara Walters right now," he says. I ask whether he wants to continue. "No, it's fine. It's fine. Absolutely." He sits up, wipes. "He was just really funny."
This morning, Paul Rudd woke at around a quarter to seven, and he and his son, Jack, did one of their favorite things to do together. They watched footage from Live Aid, the charity concert that froze in time 1985 pop music's present and past. Today they watched short sets by the Style Council, the Boomtown Rats, and Ultravox. "He loves Live Aid," says Rudd. Jack likes to play the guitar or drum along. Sometimes they'll build blocks. (Jack is 4.)
Pop music also guides his wardrobe.
"He only wears coats and ties," says Rudd. "He likes to wear suits, my son. And I think it was because of Elvis Costello."
He puts on a tie every day
"Yeah. And bow ties, lately. Loves them. And also dress shoes, not tennis shoes. And glasses. He looks like George F. Will."
When Rudd was 24 and just about to make Clueless, the movie that would be his first big break, a friend named Justin was driving in Los Angeles when a truck coming the other way crossed over and hit him headon. They had been doing a play together at the time, about Byron and Shelley. Justin was 22. The death affected Rudd badly.
"And it was weird," he says, "because he wasn't that great a friend of mine, but it hit me." Maybe the play itself didn't help. "You know, Shelley and Byron were haunted by ghosts," he says. "It all seemed to kind of coalesce, this moment in my life, where it really made me question everything and really start trying to figure out things that…I suppose…are unfigureoutable." He started reading a lot of spiritual books: The Prophet; Siddhartha; Many Lives, Many Masters, "a lot of that kind of stuff," he says. "Some of it makes me chuckle now." It felt useful then. "Certain things were comforting. I think it did help me at the time." He began to wonder whether he and Justin were friends in a previous life.
At home in L.A., he started doing these drawings filled with obscenities on a huge sheet of cardboard on his wall. "That was one of the harder moments I had experienced up until that point. And so, you know, when you're a young actor and you experience this kind of stuff…," he says, chuckling, "you have to put it into a big cardboard thing on your wall. It probably seemed the artistic thing to do." He was also upset at the time by the dreadful television show he was on, Wild Oats. "So I was kind of like, 'Fuck this town,' 'Fuck this.…' It was stupid. It wasn't a cry for help. It wasn't anything other than maybe somebody might come over and think, 'That's really interesting.' I'm sure that's what it was. Not to negate the feelings I had while I was making it. And that being said, when my parents came to visit and my mother saw that, I think she was very concerned and wanted me to come back home for a little while."
Around then, Los Angeles seemed to turn on him. One evening during the Clueless shoot, he was mugged. He had gone for dinner with a friend at Jerry's Deli in the Valley. Back out at his car, a guy grabbed him and told him to give him his money.
"This is a real gun," he told Rudd. "Watch out, because I'll fucking kill you."
Rudd assured him that he believed him and that it was fine.
"You don't think it's a real gun" the guy said, and fired it. The bullet went through Rudd's hair.
Rudd told him he had no cash but that he could take whatever he wanted. He offered his backpack and the gunman ran off.
"I just remember the sound of it," he says, recalling the bullet. "I remember people in the parking lot being really freaked out. But I just got very calm. Then I had to go to work the next day. It was a scene at a club. I was dancing. And I had just been shot at the night before."
He also got into a series of car accidents. His car was messed up in a hitandrun while it was parked. He borrowed a friend's car, and the next week, when he braked coming down a hill, it hydroplaned and hit another car. So he rented a car and was awakened one morning by a crash—someone had hit the rental car. He began to wonder whether it was time to get out of town. He had been thinking of moving to New York for some time, but he was waiting for the right moment. Then he went to a theater audition, and one of the monologues he had prepared was from Amadeus, and while walking down the street trying to memorize the lines, he bumped into someone. Improbably, it was Tom Hulce, who in the movie had played the very part he was rehearsing and was one of the actors Rudd most admired. He didn't know Hulce, but he told him what he was doing, and for some reason Hulce asked, "You live in New York" Rudd told him that he was living in California but thinking about moving.
"You should," he told him. "You'd like it."
That decided it. "I didn't need any more signs," Rudd says. After the audition, he called his landlord and said he was moving.
"And I did, and I've been here since."
Paul Rudd wasn't always America's most likable actor. In Kansas he worked for a while glazing hams at the Holiday Ham Company. In Los Angeles he worked at a Bennigan's and as a bar mitzvah and birthday DJ for a company called You Should Be Dancing: "Kind of like The Wedding Singer, but way down. I had long hair and people had to wear tudos, but I was still trying to develop my own look, and I had shorts and Doc Martens and kind of wanted to go for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Mother's Milk kind of phase."
After Rudd's father left TWA, he ran historical tours, leading parties to sites across Europe. He had two areas of particular interest. One was the Second World War. (Whenever Rudd or his school friends had a school paper on Churchill, they would seek out his father.) The other was the Titanic. Way before the wreck was discovered—way, way before Leonardo DiCaprio spread his arms—Rudd's father was a member of the Titanic Historical Society, and the basement was full of Titanic stuff: When Rudd auditioned for the DiCaprio role—"That was the one part I really, really wanted, for my dad"—he thinks he started talking about the shipbuilders, Harland & Wolff. ("Nobody was impressed.")
Rudd says that, in later years, his father took some of his greatest pleasure from expressing his disapproval. "We lived in a town called Lenexa, Kansas, and my friends, we gave him the name the Angry Lenexan. He was a big letter writer. He would write to papers and just give his opinion. They were always brilliant letters. Pointing out the hypocrisy and how pathetic it is. Animal rights…and stemcell research… When he was diagnosed with cancer, he wrote a thing about how dare these people get in the way of so many people getting help because of their misunderstood religious fervor. He would send me copies, and he always signed them 'The Angry Lenexan.' "
The scene in Role Models in which Rudd's character borrows Rudd's own indignation at preposterous coffeechain beverage naming is very much his father's legacy. There is another scene—cut, but on the DVD extras—where Rudd's character is sitting around with a group of kids in a circle, supposedly so they can express things they love, and he says: "I love it when hunters shoot each other."
"That's me, and it's definitely my father," he says. "When people like Dick Cheney have gay children—that's just all funny."
Rudd recently hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time. It was not long after his father's death. His father had known this was coming up and had been excited about it, but he hadn't made it. At the very end of the show, as the credits roll, Rudd, who is standing between Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake, breaks from the crowd of mutual congratulation, grabs with both hands the front of the shirt he is wearing—his father's shirt from the navy—and then looks upward and blows a kiss.
Rudd's conversation is littered with popmusic references. To be specific, while sitting in the diner today, he will introduce into the conversation the following artists, in order: the Style Council, the Boomtown Rats, Ultravox, Adam Ant, Nik Kershaw, Depeche Mode, Blancmange, Yaz, Alphaville, Aswad, the Adventures, Howard Jones, Limahl, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Seals & Croft, John Mellencamp, Squeeze, Boston, David Geddes, Neil Sedaka, Glen Campbell, the Bay City Rollers, Spandau Ballet, Visage, Fad Gadget, Feargal Sharkey, Erasure, Frank Zappa, Fiat Lux, Duran Duran, Ron Sexsmith, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wang Chung, Huang Chung, Go West, R.E.M., the Pogues, Hipsway, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Level 42, Haircut 100, Nick Heyward, Split Enz, Hunters & Collectors, Midnight Oil, the Hoodoo Gurus, the Proclaimers, Roman Holliday, the JoBors, Will Oldham, the Decemberists, Fleet Fos, the Divine Comedy, the Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Hotel, Lambchop, Animal Collective, Television, James Taylor, Elton John, XTC, Sade, Status Quo, Marillion, Camper Van Beethoven, U2, Black, and the Housemartins.
GQ correspondent Chris Heath wrote about Russell Brand in the February 2009 issue.
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http://www.gq.com/story/paul-rudd-oxford-elvis-costello?currentPage=6
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en
| 0.989855
| 0.038183
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Bodies found in mass graves
Sarajevo (Reuter)- Investigators said yesterday that they had exhumed 105 bodies from two mass graves in north-west Bosnia. They are believed to be Muslims killed by Bosnian Serbs at the beginning of the war, state radio reported.
Bosnian investigators found 77 bodies at one site, which they believe to be those of men from the village of Velagici, near the town of Kljuc, killed on 1 June 1992, the radio said. Investigators are still working on a second site, a cave where 28 bodies were unearthed. They believe the cave contains the bodies of up to 150 civilians from Biljani, also near Kljuc.
In a separate development, United Nations investigators have found 200 bodies in a mass grave near Vukovar, Croatia. The victims are believed to be hospital patients executed after Serbs seized the region in 1991.
A spokesman for the UN transitional authority in Eastern Slavonia, a Serb-held enclave due to revert to Croatian government rule next year, said the bodies had been sent to Zagreb for forensic examination. Circumstantial evidence suggests they were killed by machine gun.
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<urn:uuid:03446651-5af3-4f80-813d-99c7a2abecdf>
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/bodies-found-in-mass-graves-1357354.html
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en
| 0.975263
| 0.077227
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Genome Property Definition Page
NameO121(Ec) antigen biosynthesis
DescriptionThe E. coli O121 antigen monomer is a linear tetrasaccharide with the structure [->3)bDQui4NGlyAc(1->4)aDGalNAcAN(1->4)aDGalNAcA(1->3)aDGlcNAc(1->]. The 4-aminoquinovose sugar is also known as viosamine and the NGlyAc is an acetylglycylamido group; GalNAcA is N-acetylgalturonic acid, and GalNAcAN is N-acetylgalacturonamide. Additionally, the DGalNAcAN is reported to be 60% O-acetylated at the 3-position. Three glycosyltransferases are present in the sequenced O121(Ec) cluster, WbqEHI. WbqI shares 47% identity with the WfaH enzyme from the O138(Ec) antigen cluster, and O138 shares the [DGlcNAc-a-1,3-DGalNAcA] reaction. WbqE shares 37% identity with WfbE from the O123(Ec) antigen cluster, and O123 also includes a 4-substituted quinovose sugar in the first position of the monomer, although the incorporated amino acid is alanine instead of glycine. By process of elimination, the WbqH enzyme is assigned to the middle linkage. The N-acetylgalacturonamide is likely derived from N-acetylgalturonic acid by the action of the asparagine synthase homolog WbqG. The O-acetylation is likely carried out by WbqF.
JCVI RoleBiosynthesis and degradation of surface polysaccharides and lipopolysaccharides
Step NameStep NumRequiredEvidence (Method)Evidence Go Terms
source of 4-acetylglycylamido-D-quinovoseQ4NGAcYESGenProp1039 (GENPROP): dTDP-4-N-acetylglycylamido-D-quinovose (dTDP-Qui4NAcGly) biosynthesis from dTDP-D-viosamine
D-GalNAcAN-b-1,4-D-Qui4NAcGly transferaseWbqEYES2904 (RULE_BASE)
D-GalNAcAN 3-O-acetyltransferaseWbqFYES2905 (RULE_BASE)
D-GalNAcA amido-ligaseWbqGYES2907 (RULE_BASE)
D-GalNAcA-a-1,4-D-GalNAcAN transferaseWbqHYES2908 (RULE_BASE)
D-GlcNAc a-1,3-DGalNAcA transferaseWbqIYES2909 (RULE_BASE)
O121(Ec)-specific O-antigen transporter (flippase) wzxwzx121YES2903 (RULE_BASE)
O121(Ec)-specific O-antigen polymerase wzywzy121YES2906 (RULE_BASE)
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<urn:uuid:53270dc5-3bdd-43ae-8eca-8e54b5caf78a>
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http://www.jcvi.org/cgi-bin/genome-properties/GenomePropDefinition.cgi?prop_acc=GenProp1038
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| 0.733319
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Baseball: Singles 1900-1989
Item Title: 1971 Topps Baseball Card # 518 Joe Grzenda
Current Bid: $0.25 by captkirk History
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Item Desc: You are looking a 1971 Topps Baseball Card # 518 Joe Grzenda in VG condition. No crease and clean back. Card will be ship the day after payment receive. Thanks and good luck.
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Saturday, February 19, 2011
I Hit a Student
Yes, you read the title correctly. I lost control and hit a kid in the face this past Friday. It wasn’t my intention, but it just sort of happened. I thought I had the situation under control but I was wrong. This is how it happened…
It was a normal Friday morning and I was in the tile gym. I saw the student standing a measly ten yards away from me. He was mocking me, making faces at me, and even doing a fair amount of trash talking. So, I did it. In my defense though, I was aiming for his gut. However, my release was all off and the ball sailed a little high on me and caught this trash talking student right on the chin.
Soon after I released it I knew there would be consequences of this action as a barrage of bombardments balls flew in my direction. I was hit and out before my ill-fated ball even made contact with the poor student’s face.
I continued to play the rest of the game with the over 200 students in the gym that morning and had a blast. More than the fun of the game, but for the relationship building that happens on such occasions. For most students, teachers are just adults in a classroom that assign homework and give tests. In this case, I was a player just like every other person in the room and the kids love it.
Now when I ask the students to put some more effort into a project they are more willing. Why? The reason is that I am not longer just a teacher, but I am also that guy that will take a shot and play bombardment with the kids in the morning. I shoot hoops with them during study halls, and have been known to play RISK with them from time to time. In kid language it gives me a little street credit and that pays large dividends in the classroom.
Kids will work hard and do what is asked of them if it comes from someone they have a positive relationship with. Those relationships may take days, weeks, or months in a classroom. However, if you look in the right places they can be built in a morning of throwing bombardments balls at each other. They can be found playing table tennis, shooting hoops, kicking a soccer ball, or the host of other extracurricular activities available to kids. Those are great places to build those relationships that will help kids buy-in to your classroom and more importantly into you as the teacher.
Relationships are key in life and certainly key in a student, teacher relationship. How are you cultivating your positive relationships with students?
Friday, February 18, 2011
Are Teachers Obsolete?
I recently saw this commercial on TV and it got me thinking. Technology does move faster than the speed of light and the world is struggling to keep up. I remember not too long ago my parent’s first mobile phone. It was a bag that was kept in the car and had about a ten minute monthly plan and everywhere you went was “roaming”. My cell phone does more thing than the first computers I worked on in school. The reality is that the technology we have now will not be around in its current form when our children are our age.
With that being said, one has to reflect on the technology and teaching in the classrooms. Overheads are largely a thing of the past and interactive whiteboards are all over the place. However, has teaching really changed along with the technology being used? Is the way we go about doing our jobs different than a generation ago? As the technology changes and becomes obsolete, are traditional teachers becoming obsolete along with it?
To be clear I would define a traditional teacher as one that stands in front of the classroom as the grand dispenser of knowledge. Students sit in their desks and takes notes and study hard for their tests. Homework is assigned every night because that is what is done and if you turn it in late your grade is lowered. Tests are given as assessment of learning and certainly no such thing as student choice and retakes. To me this was largely what I experienced growing up in a rural public school system.
Has the practice of teaching changed or just the tools we use? Is the way in which students learn changing, or do we just understand it better now? Can a teacher that taught 50 years ago be successful in our classrooms today without adapting and changing to the students in the seats? Can students learn without a teacher? My 5 year old son is learning how to read with his ipad…and I find it an amazing thing to witness… Do the students need us to teach them? Or have our jobs changed?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Common Sense
It has become abundantly clear to me in recent weeks that common sense is something that truly is not common. Regardless of what the topic or circumstances, common sense is just not common. With that in mind I wanted to share some things that I view as common sense but have gotten feedback to think I may be wrong. Am I wrong or are these things supposed to be common sense these days?
• Students are not motivated by grades.
• Nowhere in the “good teacher handbook” does it say you have to assign homework or grade everything students turn in.
• A five year old boy will always laugh when he farts…and his two year old brother will too.
• Technology is merely a tool and does not guarantee increased learning. Used properly, it most certainly can and will increase learning.
• Education reform is not a buzz word but something being done right now in classrooms around the globe.
• Pregnant women should not drink alcohol.
• Standardized tests are but one measurement of a child. Just as a free throw percentage is but one measurement of a basketball player.
• Good teachers are good because they’re good, not because of tools, resources, or technology.
• Experienced teachers have just as much to learn from new teachers as they do from them.
• The Chicago Cubs will always break my heart.
• Students will not misbehave if they are engaged in meaningful and engaging work.
• You can’t “make” your students do anything, you can only encourage them.
• The best way to see if something works is to try it yourself.
• Everyone is capable of learning.
Again, these are things that I view as common sense but maybe I am naïve. What am I missing that should be considered common sense in this day in age?
To Be or Not To Be...
Over the past few years I have been approached by various peers as well as administrators in my school district about pursuing my administrative degree and joining the administrative ranks. Naturally I find this flattering that anyone would think I would make a good administrator. However, my answer to those requests and comments has always been the same. No. I never say never, but at this point in my considerably short career I don’t see it happening. Recently, I have been trying to evaluate why my answer is always no and why teachers make the choice to become an administrator.
For some people there is a bump in pay which is a realistic and justifiable reason to make the move up the ladder. I don’t do the job for the money so this is not a motivator for me. Teachers that are motivated by money are not doing the job for the right reason and therefore would not make good administrators.
Another reason I see teachers move into administration is for the move up the ladder. In most corporate settings you start as low man on the totem pole and work your way to the corner office on the top. Some educators are not that different and see the move to administration as the move up the “corporate ladder”. I have no desire to move up a ladder and therefore this is not something that appeals to me. I would also argue that administrators that view this as their reason are probably not doing it for the right reason.
The third and final reason that I could think of for becoming an administrator is the increased influence and control that an administrator has in a school or district. Administrators can influence curriculum, school policy, staffing, scheduling, and nearly every aspect of a school. If we have good teachers in these positions we would assume that they could be good administrators. They use the increased influence to move a building or district in a forward motion to increase over all student learning. Through tapping into their experiences in the classrooms, they can look to make positive changes. However, we also know administrators that use their authority to push personal agendas or just keep the status quo.
I got into education because I like teaching. I enjoy working with students on a daily basis and sharing their learning and their lives with them. I enjoy the relationships I build with staff members and students alike. Administrators do have influence on building decisions, but I influence my students’ lives daily on a deeper level than I ever could in the front office.
So, if you are an administrator, I would love to hear why you made the decision to be one. If you are a teacher that does not want to become an administrator, I would like to hear why.
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This is not the first time D.B. Cooper-mania has swept the country. The legendary figure who parachuted from a hijacked plane over the state of Washington 40 years ago this November has been lodged in the American psyche ever since. His caper has inspired a feature film, a novel, myriad true crime accounts and television reenactments, and lots of amateur treasure-hunters. On Saturday, the Telegraph reported that the FBI, still riding high after arresting Whitey Bulger earlier this summer, had gotten a new lead on the mystery, though the bureau was tight-lipped as to exactly what that was. By Monday, more details began to trickle out about a new suspect, dead for 10 years, who hadn't been named before in the case, either by the FBI or as one of the thousands who have claimed credit for the crime over the last four decades.
Cooper's myth has all the irresistible elements--a well-dressed daredevil, a missing treasure, an unsolved mystery. The suspect, who actually called himself Dan Cooper, wore a tie and carried a briefcase when he bought a ticket from Portland to Seattle on Nov. 24, 1971. Once the plane was in the air, he ordered a whiskey, lit a cigarette, and handed a note to the flight attendant: "I have a bomb in my briefcase. I will use it if necessary. I want you to sit next to me. You are being hijacked." Cooper demanded $200,000 in $20 bills, and four parachutes to be delivered when the plane landed in Seattle, holding the passengers hostage. After the delivery, and refueling, he released the passengers and demanded to be taken to Mexico, but after the plane got airborne, he jumped out of the rear door somewhere over the Cascade mountains, the $200,000 strapped to his torso. He was never seen again.
The suspect: While the FBI hasn't named its new suspect, it has identified somebody internally. The man has been dead for 10 years, the bureau said on Monday, which means he lived for some 30 years after getting away with the crime. The Seattle Times reported that he died of natural causes. F.B.I. spokesman Fred Gutt told The New York Times the lead came from a former law enforcement agent who "'had an association with' the suspect from long ago." He told Reuters the suspect was "someone who surfaced who hasn't surfaced before," which is somewhat unique in this investigation that still attracts false confessions, both to the FBI and to news outlets. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote on Monday, "Since 2007, at least a half dozen people have contacted claiming to be Cooper, though none of the messages have given more than what's on his Wikipedia page."
The evidence: The new investigation comes from a tip given to the FBI by a former law enforcement agent, who provided the bureau with an item to be sent for fingerprint analysis, reports said yesterday. The Seattle Times reported that the item was a guitar strap, which was "not conducive to lifting fingerprints to compare to partial prints found in the plane," according to Gutt. But the bureau reportedly has DNA evidence from Cooper's Raleigh cigarette butts,* and the clip-on tie he wore, which it can test against the strap. The agency is working with the suspect's family to get more of his things for testing, The Seattle Times reported.
The frenzy: People love this story so much that even a hint the investigation might not be dead has brought amateur investigators and regular devotees out in force. According to the Post-Intelligencer, "By Monday morning, the whirlwind that forms whenever the FBI publicly discusses Cooper brought the agency more than 100 media calls." Amateur detective forums such as WebSleuths have lit up with the new details, and thousands of news outlets have picked up the story. But Houston Press blogger Pete Vonder Haar contends, via a Pearl Jam anecdote, that the frenzy is outdated and inappropriate:
I went to Lollapalooza in 1992, when Pearl Jam was the second act. During their set, a dude hopped up on stage, dodged security and ran through the band to dive off the opposite side. When the cops inevitably descended upon the kid, Eddie Vedder stopped the show and said, "No, you don't get it: If he makes it from there, across the stage, to there, without you catching him...he wins."
If Cooper survived the jump -- and that's a mighty big if, I grant you -- it means he's been eluding capture for four decades. In other words, he wins.
If the suspect is who the FBI thinks it is, he's already won by running out the clock.
*Since this story ran, Robert Blevins, co-author of Into the Blast: The True Story of D.B. Cooper, wrote to say that the detail of Cooper's cigarette butts had been misreported by the Daily Mail, which is linked in our text. In fact, Blevins said, the F.B.I. has lost the butts. A story last night on The Daily Beast supports that claim.
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UVM Tower The University of Vermont date
A Publication of UVM Extension's Vermont Vegetable and Berry Program
Stay Safe in the Sun
by Vern Grubinger
Vegetable and Berry Specialist
University of Vermont Extension
Ah, summer’s finally here. Long, sunny days that are great for growing crops and getting never-ending outdoor work done. But there is a serious downside to this season’s good weather that warrants attention: unprotected exposure to the sun is bad for your health.
Big deal, you may think, I’ve been working outside for years without any problem, and who doesn’t like a nice tan? The problem is that ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun can lead to skin cancer. Common sites for skin cancer include the face, tips of ears, hands, neck, forearms and lips -- areas that farmers typically leave uncovered.
Know your skin. The skin is the largest organ in the body, and it has 3 layers. From the outside in, they are: the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutis. The top layer of the skin, the epidermis, is very thin and serves to protect the deeper layers of skin and the organs. The epidermis itself has three layers: an upper, a middle, and a bottom layer composed of basal cells. These basal cells divide into squamous cells, which make keratin that helps protect the body.
Also found in the epidermis is another type of cell called a melanocyte. These cells produce the pigment melanin. The tan or brown color of skin comes from melanin, which helps protect the deeper layers of the skin from the harmful effects of the sun.
Two types of skin cancer. Skin cancers are divided into non-melanomas and melanomas. Non-melanomas, usually basal cell and squamous cell cancers, are the most common cancers of the skin. Because they rarely spread elsewhere in the body, they are less worrisome than melanomas.
Melanoma is a cancer that begins in the melanocytes. Because most of these cells keep on making melanin, melanoma tumors are often brown or black, but not always. While having dark skin lowers the risk of melanoma, it does not mean that a person with dark skin will never develop melanoma. Melanoma is almost always curable in its early stages. But it can spread to other parts of the body. Melanoma is much less common than basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers, but it is far more serious.
The extent of the problem. Cancer of the skin is the most common of all cancers. Melanoma accounts for about 4% of skin cancer cases, but it causes most skin cancer deaths. The number of new cases of melanoma in the United States is on the rise. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2006 there will be 62,190 new cases of melanoma in this country. About 7,910 people will die of this disease. Persons with white skin are 10 times more likely to have it than African Americans, but anyone can get skin cancer, regardless of skin color.
Cumulative sun exposure is a major factor in development of skin cancer. Small changes occur in the skin each time it is exposed to sunlight. People who burn easily, rarely tan, freckle or have a fair complexion, have blonde or red hair, or have blue or gray eyes, experience greater skin changes. Skin cancer usually is not associated with a single, painful sunburn, but rather with repeated exposure to the sun and changes in the skin’s makeup. By taking a few simple precautions you can reduce your risk of skin cancer.
Long lunch breaks? Stay out of the sun as much as possible when the sun is most intense during the mid-day hours. While this is not always practical for farmers, it does make sense to take a long lunch break, catch up on phone calls, or do some paperwork in the middle of that day when the sun’s rays are most damaging. Try to work outside early in the morning or late in the day when it’s probably cooler, anyway. While you’re outside, be sure to use sunscreen and to wear appropriate headgear, clothing, and sunglasses.
Use your head. Put on a hat. Protection for the face and other parts of the head can be just that simple, but not all hats do a good job of stopping the sun. The traditional farmer’s baseball cap does not protect vulnerable areas on the ears, temples, face, and neck. Other hats provide better protection, such as wide brimmed hats, pith helmets, and hats with flaps. There are many styles to choose from. If it makes you feel better, you can probably get your favorite farm implement logo sewn on these hats, too.
When selecting a hat, make sure it will be cool enough to wear on hot days, and that it’s practical for other conditions, like strong wind or rain showers. Most important, make sure it’s comfortable so that you’ll actually wear it.
Cover up. Clothing helps block the UV rays of the sun from reaching the skin. If possible, wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and socks. Closely woven or knitted fabrics are more protective because they lack open spaces that let UV rays through to your skin. Clothes dyed in dark colors can absorb ultraviolet rays and shield your skin better than light colored ones. However, some light colored and white clothes are specially manufactured to block UV rays. If not, they can be washed using a detergent with brighteners which can help absorb those rays and improve protection.
Lather up. Sunscreen lotion should be applied to skin that’s not covered by clothes, but sunscreens are not a substitute for wearing proper clothing. Sunscreens recommended for outdoor workers should have a sun protection factor (SPF) rating of at least 15. This means that you are protected from a reaction to the sun’s effects 15 times longer than you are without the sunscreen. Read the label to know when to re-apply sunscreen and whether it is waterproof.
Put on the shades. I was surprised to learn that our eyes need protection from the sun, too. Even the most effective hats can block only 50 percent of the UV rays that reach the eyes. A good shade hat combined with the use of sunglasses is the way to protect eyes from sun exposure. Note that sunglasses vary widely in the amount of protection from UV radiation. A peel-off label on the lens indicates its UV rating as the percentage of UV rays blocked by the sunglasses. If no information is provided by the manufacturer, the sunglasses may not offer any added protection.
The risk of skin cancer is real. Any steps you can take to reduce your cumulative exposure to the sun can help reduce that risk. Make it a habit to protect yourself from the sun.
Return to Vermont Vegetable and Berry Grower Pages
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China Appeals For Calm Amid Fears Of War Over US Escalation In Korea
Chinese officials appealed for calm in the Korean peninsula yesterday, as the United States deployed missiles and further military forces to East Asia amid a standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui had expressed “serious concern” over the Korean crisis, in meetings with the US and South Korean ambassadors.
Hong added, “In the present situation, China believes all sides must remain calm and exercise restraint and not take actions which are mutually provocative, and must certainly not take actions which will worsen the situation.”
Tensions continued to rise, however, amid fears of a border clash in Korea that could trigger a wider war. Washington continued to deploy overwhelming firepower to the region and pressed China—the key ally of North Korea, a small and impoverished state that depends on it for critical food and fuel supplies—to whip Pyongyang into line.
According to Pentagon press secretary George Little, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned his Chinese counterpart, General Chang Wanquan, of a “growing threat to the US and our allies posed by North Korea’s aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons.” Hagel demanded “sustained US-China dialogue and cooperation on these issues.”
Washington also continued to ratchet up military tensions, deploying missile batteries to its Pacific island base at Guam. This came after weeks of US-South Korean “Eagle Foal” military exercises, during which the United States repeatedly sent nuclear-capable bombers and high-tech guided-missile ships to the Korean peninsula.
Details continue to emerge about the US military buildup in the region, which is aimed at escalating military tensions.
Washington is in particular arming the South Korean army, amid its “pivot to Asia” designed to contain China and maintain US hegemony in the region. It is upgrading a shipment of 60 F-15 fighter planes to Seoul, as well as sending a large number of Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) trucks.
USA Today indicated that these trucks, used to guard against roadside bombs in US-occupied Afghanistan and Iraq, would “offer similar protection in North Korea, should US forces need to travel on its roads”—that is, if US forces invaded and occupied North Korea.
American B-1 bomber pilots at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas have reportedly shifted their training programs, training for trans-Pacific flights towards targets in East Asia, instead of flights to Afghanistan and the Middle East. US ground troops have also already deployed to bases in Australia, while the US recently announced plans to send more warships to Singapore.
In another sign of rising tensions in the region, China yesterday cancelled its participation in a joint summit with South Korea and Japan. It cited tensions with Japan over the Senkaku (Diaoyu) islands.
The North Korean regime, for its part, released a statement through the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), stating that “The moment of explosion is approaching fast.” It added that US threats would be “smashed” by “cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means.”
Given that Pyongyang is thought to have only a few crude nuclear bombs, and no means to mount them on a missile—let alone miniaturized, subdivided nuclear devices like those fielded by the United States—such threats appear to be a bluff.
Pyongyang closed down the border crossing between South Korea and the industrial export zone at Kaesong, North Korea. The Kaesong zone generates a vital $2 billion a year in trade for impoverished North Korea, including approximately $80 million in wages to 53,000 North Korean workers. Some 1,000 South Koreans are also employed at the complex; if they returned to South Korea, they will no longer be able to return to Kaesong, as a result of the closure of the border crossing.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin provocatively announced that he is preparing contingencies for “military action” to rescue South Koreans at Kaesong, if needed.
Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute think-tank in Seoul told the Guardian that Pyongyang closed the border crossing at Kaesong apparently due to anger at “having been ridiculed for keeping Kaesong open for financial reasons,” while it was threatening war with South Korea.
Together with reports that sections of the North Korean regime are in discussions with German officials to restore full trading and market relations with the imperialist powers, such comments suggest that media presentations of Pyongyang as bent on waging suicidal nuclear war with the US are misleading. A divided, reactionary bureaucracy in Pyongyang is desperately seeking some form of accommodation in the face of overwhelming US pressure on Pyongyang and on Beijing.
Under conditions where no deal is forthcoming from Washington, however, North Korea’s rhetoric simply further inflames the situation.
Behind the US conflict with North Korea stands preparations and planning for a far wider and potentially devastating conflict, with China—America’s largest foreign creditor, who has also helped block US war plans against Middle Eastern countries such as Syria and Iran.
An article titled “War with China” in Survival, the magazine of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, lays out some of the calculations in leading US circles regarding the possibility of war with North Korea or a collapse of the regime in Pyongyang.
The piece was written by James Dobbins, a former US assistant secretary of state who currently holds top positions at the RAND think-tank. He lists “collapse” in North Korea as the most likely cause of a war between China and the United States, followed by conflict over Taiwan, cyber war, conflict over control of the South China Sea, and conflicts with India.
Dobbins makes clear that aggressive military operations by the United States, sending forces into North Korea, is the heart of any response envisaged by Washington. This action, taken with complete contempt for international law, would rapidly raise the possibility of a clash with Chinese forces stationed along the China-North Korea border.
He writes, “The immediate operational concerns for United States Forces—Korea/Combined Forces Command would be to secure ballistic-missile-launch and WMD sites. If any coherent North Korean army remained, it could be necessary to neutralize its long-range artillery, it could be necessary to neutralize its long-range artillery threatening Seoul as well… While South Korea would provide sizable forces and capabilities for these missions, they would be inadequate to deal with the scope and complexity of a complete North Korean collapse. Substantial and extended commitments of US ground forces would be required to rapidly seize and secure numerous locations, some with vast perimeters.”
Dobbins adds, “The likelihood of confrontations, accidental or otherwise, between US and Chinese forces is high in this scenario.”
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THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web
in Search
Benjamin Nevarez
Fooling the Query Optimizer
Did you ever wanted to know which execution plans the Query Optimizer would generate for your queries should your tables have millions of records? You can actually generate those plans by using the undocumented ROWCOUNT and PAGECOUNT options of the UPDATE STATISTICS statement. These options can be used on small or empty tables and can be helpful for testing in some scenarios where you may not want to spent time or disk space creating big tables.
By using this method you are tricking the Query Optimizer as it will generate execution plans using cardinality estimations as if the table really had millions of records. Note that this option, available since SQL Server 2005, only helps in creating the execution plan for your queries. Actually running the query will use the real data and of course will execute faster than a table with millions of records.
UPDATE STATISTICS WITH ROWCOUNT, PAGECOUNT does not change the table statistics, only the counter of number of rows and pages of a table. But the Query Optimizer uses this information to estimate the cardinality of queries as I will show later. Also keep in mind that these are undocumented and unsupported options and should not be used in any production environment.
Let us see an example. Run the following query to create a new table on the AdventureWorks database
select * into dbo.Address
from Person.Address
Inspect the number of rows by running the following queries. It must show 19,614 rows.
select * from sys.partitions
where object_id = object_id('dbo.Address')
select * from sys.dm_db_partition_stats
where object_id = object_id('dbo.Address')
Run the following query
select * from dbo.Address
where city = 'London'
Running this query will create new statistics for the city column and will show the following plan. Note that the estimated number of rows is 434 and it is using a simple Table Scan operator
We can see where the Query Optimizer is getting the estimated number of rows by inspecting the statistics object. Run this query to see the name of the statistics object
select * from sys.stats
where object_id = object_id('dbo.Address')
Then use the displayed statistics object name in the following statement (the name may be different in your case)
dbcc show_statistics('dbo.Address', _WA_Sys_00000004_46136164)
By looking at the histogram you can find the value 434 on EQ_ROWS for the RANGE_HI_KEY value ‘London’ (Statistics and histograms are explained on previous posts in this blog)
Now run the UPDATE STATISTICS WITH ROWCOUNT, PAGECOUNT (you can specify any other value for rowcount and pagecount)
update statistics dbo.Address with rowcount = 1000000, pagecount = 100000
If you inspect the number of rows again from sys.partitions or sys.dm_db_partition_stats, as shown previously, it will now show 1,000,000 rows. sys.dm_db_partition_stats also shows the new number of pages. Clear the plan cache and run the query again
dbcc freeproccache
select * from dbo.Address
where city = 'London'
Note that the estimated number of rows has changed from 434 to 22,127.1 and that a different plan was generated using this new cardinality estimation. The Query Optimizer decided to parallelize this plan. But this is a very simple query, more dramatic plan changes can happen with more complex queries.
After execution the actual number of rows obviously is still is 434 but the Query Optimizer is not able to see this value.
If you look at the statistics object again, using DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS as shown before, the histogram has not changed. One way to obtain the estimated number of rows shown in the new execution plan is calculating the percentage or fraction of rows for the value ‘London’ from the statistics sample, which in this case is 19,614, as shown on the header of the statistics object. So the fraction is 434 / 19,614 or 022127052. Then obtain the same percentage from the new “current” number of rows which is 1,000,000 calculated as 1,000,000 * 0.022127052 and we get 22,127.1 which is the estimated number of rows displayed in the plan.
Finally, drop the table you just created
drop table dbo.Address
Published Wednesday, January 13, 2010 9:57 PM by Ben Nevarez
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Enter music instruction in Osyoos.
Peregrine Studios, located in Osoyoos, B.C., offers private music instruction in Penticton and Osoyoos. This includes classes, performance opportunities, community concerts and many other ways for people of all ages to experience music and make it an enjoyable part of their lives.
Kelowna Graphic Design by Media Button Communications Inc
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Trial begins for Cottonwood Heights man accused of killing wife
Cottonwood Heights • He killed her because of extreme emotional stress, defense tells jury.
There is no question who killed Touch Choun at her Cottonwood Heights home in 2009; no doubt over who stabbed her 19 times.
"This is Dennis Lambdin," defense attorney Neal Hamilton told the court as the 64-year-old defendant sat just feet away. "This is the man who brutally killed his wife."
Lambdin is charged in 3rd District Court with murder in the death of his wife. And as the defense and prosecution addressed 10 jurors during opening statements Tuesday, no one argued that Lambdin didn't do it. Instead, the defense acknowledged just the opposite.
"This is no whodunit. At the end of this trial, you will find [Lambdin] guilty of killing his wife," Hamilton told the jury. "What I need you to consider is, did he snap? Why did he snap? What was he going through that may have caused him to snap?"
The crux of Lambdin's defense centers around his supposed experiences and emotions at the time.
Choun, 41, they said, was an alcoholic, a gambler, an adulterer. She was having an affair and had gotten pregnant before asking Lambdin for a divorce.
If defense attorneys can convince the jury that Lambdin lost control and killed Choun due to extreme emotional stress, he may escape a first-degree felony murder conviction and a life sentence, and be convicted instead of the lesser offense of second-degree felony manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Meanwhile, prosecutors will try to paint Lambdin as a scorned and calculating husband who wanted revenge.
"He didn't stab her one time or two times or even three, four or five times," said prosecutor Anna Rossi. "He stabbed her 19 times. ... And when he saw that she was still moving, he hit her three times in the head with a hard ceramic ball until she stopped."
Witnesses called to the stand Tuesday discussed the day Choun was killed, Aug. 17, 2009.
Cottonwood Heights police Officer Thom Daugherty was the first to testify. He was also the first on scene.
He recalled knocking on the door, calling in to Lambdin, asking him: "Did you do something stupid?"
"I've done something horrible," Lambdin replied.
Daugherty said he recognized Lambdin.
He had been to duplex at 2192 E. Fort Union Blvd. about a month before on a welfare call after one of Lambdin's coworkers worried he may have tried to harm himself when he didn't turn up for work. It was a false alarm.
But when officers forced their way into the home on Aug. 17, Daugherty said, they found a woman face down in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. Lambdin was bleeding from his hands and a bloody knife sat beside the sink. Upstairs, a rope hung in the hallway. Police were advised Lambdin meant to kill himself.
"His emotions would range from excited and telling us what he did to, just, 'Oh my gosh, what did I do?' " said Cottonwood Heights police Officer Brian Eschtruth.
All who encountered Lambdin that day said he told them what he had done.
"When we were riding in the ambulance, he became very agitated," paramedic Keith Plagemann told the court. "He said, [she] got what she deserved. He said it multiple times."
The case is scheduled to continue Wednesday before Judge Vernice Trease. The case is expected to go to the jury, comprised of six men and four women, by next week.
Twitter: marissa_jae
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Reviews: Anonymous
Very clean and comfortable beds. I liked that every bed had its own lamp and power outlets. The staff was very helpful. I arrived early and the room was not quite ready, but the clerk offered to hold my luggage in the meantime. When asked if there were any nearby places to eat, he was more than helpful in providing several options, of which, I chose the Spanish cafe just down the street (I highly recommend it!). The location felt safe; two blocks from beach, but a decent walk to main areas.
The Chocolate Hostel & Crew House
Fort Lauderdale, USA
The entire staff was extremely friendly and helpful. Very affordable rooms. There were some guys who looked homeless that were just sitting by the dumpster. I saw them several times during my 2-night stay; they didn't seem to be bothering anyone. The hostel was located close to the bus stop and several restaurants.
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Stories Written (3)
Title Age Rating Reviews Chapters Complete Words
Luck Of The Irish Teen 0/5 0 1 No 865
“I don’t know why, and probably never will. But I left my home country and my coven. I came back here, after three years. But there is one thing I have to say; Luck of the Irish my ass!” Aww poor little Maggie, for being an Irish vampire that can tell if you are lying, or not. She sure does have some bad luck. Create your own banner at! (banner by me-lame I know)
Purple Eyes Adult 5/5 1 1 No 1900
(read story notes, they are very importent!)
When a young new born vampire girl is found by the pack, new things and problems come undone. The only reason they did not kill her is because her vampire eyes are not red like the ones that fest on humans and they are not gold like the Cullen’s. They are purple, and they wanted to know why, and that one simple answer is why the pack and the Cullen’s are in so much trouble.
(banner by me)
Butterfly Lies Adult 0/5 2 1 No 1205
It was never to happen but it did. Jasper whole web lies came undone. Bella’s true nature comes forth. Edwards becomes lost, Jacob is dead to everything around him and Alice is broken. Jasper used Alice; made her love him. Only so that he could get closer to Bella. Bella, that used Edward to get closer to Jasper. And it worked. She let Jasper turn her; he took her away, and now are running around free, feasting on human blood. Edward, heartbroken and lost moved to Italy. But Bella did not just break Edwards’s hart, but Jacob’s as well. But Jasper broke Alice in more was then one. Can these heartbroken characters find love again, and with each other? (banner by me)
Series Written (0)
Title Rating Reviews Stories
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Section: Questions Category: Halacha
Halacha - Tznius
Submitted by anonymous Answered by Rav Peretz Moncharsh
Question: In the bedroom, at what level of getting undressed does one have to go under the covers?
Answer: According to the minimal requirements of Halacha it is not necessary to cover ones self other than when removing the underwear. However Shulchan Aruch writes that it is an worthy midas chassidus to always be covered as one would in presence of a king. Mishna Berura explains that one should not even remove the socks and be barefoot if this is not the common manner of dress in his location.
posted:2009-07-04 18:34:30
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Mona Charen
Are you ready because Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state was such a rousing success? As of this writing, Islamist forces are marching south from newly conquered Mosul and Tikrit in Iraq. Wasn't Clinton the chief architect of our foreign policy when we failed to negotiate a status-of-forces agreement with Iraq in 2011? Reviewing that history in September of 2012, The New York Times quoted an administration spokesman: "As we reviewed the 10,000 option, we came to the conclusion that achieving the goal of a security partnership was not dependent on the size of our footprint in-country, and that stability in Iraq did not depend on the presence of U.S. forces."
That worked out well.
When asked in April what she was most proud of in her term, she squirted a lot of ink about preventing another Great Depression and "stabilization" and "positive growth," adding: "I think we really restored American leadership in the best sense. That, once again -- people began to rely on us as setting the values, setting the standards."
With which country are relations better now than in 2009? Canada? Israel? Britain? We've rebuffed and insulted Canada by failing to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, bullied and alienated Israel, betrayed Poland and the Czech Republic on defensive missiles, and insulted Great Britain by, among other things, sending back Winston Churchill's bust.
Has the U.S. position improved vis-a-vis adversaries? Is Clinton proud of the Russia "reset"? It began with a gaffe when she, in a stunt that would have been puerile even if it had gone right, presented to the Russian foreign minister a button that was supposed to say "reset" in Russian. Instead, it said "overcharge." Since then the President Barack Obama/Clinton policy toward Russia has been marked by Vladimir Putin running rings around the U.S. while the president issues clueless rebukes to critics about the Cold War being over.
The surge in Afghanistan was unsuccessful and is now to be followed by unilateral withdrawal. Iraq's fragile peace is collapsing, even as a revived al-Qaida stands ready to dominate large swaths of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon. Libya is heading for civil war. Benghazi, Clinton admits, is a regret. China is throwing its weight around in Asia. America's global popularity declined steeply during her tenure.
Mona Charen
©Creators Syndicate
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The chairwoman of Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton's Broadband Task Force has echoed Republican criticism of a new state sales tax on telecommunications equipment.
Margaret Anderson Kelliher, a former Minnesota House speaker, said the tax could be an obstacle to new broadband infrastructure and lead to fewer jobs in that sector. She has written to Dayton about the tax and told Minnesota Public Radio News for a story Tuesday that the tax should be repealed.
Kelliher is a Democrat and currently directs the Minnesota High Tech Association. She argues the tax will make it harder to reach a state goal of having border-to-border broadband by 2015. The tax moves in the opposite direction of a task force recommendation to expand an exemption so it would cover more types of telecommunications equipment, such as fiber-optic cable.
"This I think is a case where being able to correct this and take it back and make it the way it had been for about a decade or more, makes a lot of sense," Kelliher said.
The tax is expected to generate $75 million over the next two years.
"She doesn't have to balance the budget," Dayton said Tuesday of Kelliher's concern. "We have to balance the budget and we have to do it honestly."
Dayton and legislative leaders are negotiating the agenda for the potential Sept. 9 special session.
He wants it limited to disaster relief to 18 counties hit hard by June storms and a farm machinery exemption to a new tax on business equipment repairs.
House Speaker Paul Thissen of Minneapolis and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk of Cook contend there is enough money available to offset the $28 million needed for the farm exemption. But Bakk said he's not inclined to revisit other newly adopted taxes.
"Beyond that, things get awful expensive," Bakk said.
Senate Minority Leader David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, said lawmakers should be able to plug the holes if they look hard enough in the $38 billion budget.
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UFO Sighting
Sighting Basics
Case Number 57010
Log Number US-06122014-0010
Date Submitted 06/12/2014 05:41 UTC
Date of the Event 06/12/2014 01:53 UTC
Source MUFON
Disposition Unresolved
Summary fast moving object leaving heavy smoke trail, abruptly disappeared
Tags lights
Sighting Location
City Laguna Niguel
Region California
Country United States
Sighting Specifics
Viewing Distance Over One Mile
Sighting Duration Undisclosed
Object Features Unknown
Object Flight Path Straight-line path
Object Shape Bullet, Missile
Weather Factors Unknown
Sighting Details
My wife and I were returning to work from lunch in Laguna Niguel, CA, and we observed a very fast moving object leaving a very distinct smoke trail traveling accross our line of sight at about 60 degrees above the horizon. The speed the object moved caught our attention and we watched it and could see it reflect light at one point, but we could not see wings or any lights or markings. The reflection suggested the object was bullet shaped -we assumed it was a military jet or something similar because of the very fast speed it was moving - much faster than a passenger jet, which are extremely common in the skies above where we work. Just after the point it passed closest to us and began flying away from our point of reference, the object disappeared and the trail came to an abrupt end. Although the object was no longer visible and the smoke trail came to an abrupt halt, the remaining trail was still clearly visible and intact along the path the object had traveled prior to disappearing. I took 2 pictures with my cell phone which focus on the point the smoke trail ended. To clarify, there was not a "trailing off" of the smoke - it just stopped abruptly as if it had been severed, for lack of a better description. The object did not turn or land and the smoke trail remained in a perfectly straight line, from our vantage point. I would estimate the object to have been flying at about 20,000 feet. I am not able to load the pictures onto this computer, but the pictures are available and I can supply them upon request.
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Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Pretend Play at Its Best
If you're looking for a toy that will take your children away from the computer games and television screens - consider giving them a toy the encourages pretend play.
Pretend play is very important for all children developmentally. It encourages them to use their imaginations and that is something many children don't get to do when the majority of their playtime is spent either watching DVDs or playing video games have base value as they do require skill and do develop some hand and eye coordination, but do not take the place of creative left brained thinking nor do they help develop social skills or expand imaginations.
In order for your children to develop to their full creative potential, they should be encouraged to participate in playtime activities that encourage pretend scenarios and other make-believe games. A great pretend play toy is a throwback to your own childhood that you may remember well.
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goblin main
Odd Future's lyrics — particularly those of frontman Tyler, the Creator — aren't for the faint of heart. (Believe it or not, they're even worse than the fiery, president-killing rhetoric of hip-hop renegade and incorrigible cop-killing badboy Common!) They revel in all the worst stuff of life: murder and rape, homophobia and violent misogyny. With Tyler scoring major notice from his mainstream debut, Goblin, a backlash is starting to warm up.
For a while, the unease has been running parallel to the Odd Future hype; way back in November, the Village Voice ran a piece titled "On Odd Future, Rape and Murder, and Why We Sometimes Like the Things That Repel Us" (which nicely summarizes itself). More recently, The Guardian, in the throes of near-fatal UK Wolf Gang fever, has devoted two hefty posts to exploring Tyler's lyrics and persona, coming to the conclusions that: a) Tyler probably isn't homophobic, but he does say "faggot" an awful lot; b) Tyler is pretty great, despite the terrible rapey stuff, and here's hoping he outgrows all that.
This week, Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara upped the blogosphere ante with a post that drew the battle lines clearly: if you tolerate Tyler, the Creator, you're down with misogyny, homophobia, and rape culture. "While an artist who can barely get a sentence fragment out without using homophobic slurs is celebrated on the cover of every magazine, blog, and newspaper," wrote Quin, "I'm disheartened that any self-respecting human being could stand in support with a message so vile. . . . I think people don't actually want to go up against this particular bully because he's popular. Who sticks up for women and gay people now?"
It's strange to imply that enjoying (or even tolerating) morbid lyrics means endorsing their content. I don't think digging Clipse makes you gung-ho about selling coke, or liking "Brown Sugar" means you're down with slave sex. But, hey, shit is getting pretty real out there. Politicians are tampering with the actual definition of rape, and few people are in a mood to joke about it — anyone who wants to choose this moment defend the artistic merit of Tyler's grodier lyrics does so at their own considerable peril.
Quin drifts onto a slippery patch by claiming that critics are afraid to confront Tyler's lyrics for fear of being called racist: "In this case I don't think race or class actually has anything to do with his hateful message but has EVERYTHING to do with why everyone refuses to admonish him for that message." I'm not so sure. It seems to me like the debate is so far proceeding along approximately the same lines as the Eminem furor, and he was white and poor, while Tyler is black and, I don't know, upper-middle-classish. Plus, she'd be glad to know that Tyler is getting some pretty sharp admonishment indeed. More than a few reviews have trashed Goblin for leaning too hard on shock, and one or two have flatly condemned the lyrical content. Even the most glowing notices throw in a few obligatory lines of collar-tugging about the problematic lyrics.
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Related: Photos: Tegan and Sara at the Ames Hotel, The Big Hurt: Bieber fever, The Big Hurt: Sex Pistols perfume, More more >
Topics: Big Hurt , Music, Tegan and Sara, The Big Hurt, More more >
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• WHO CHARTED: SMOOTH JAZZ SONGS | March 12, 2013
See all articles by: DAVID THORPE
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Three identical stars, at the vertices of an equilateral triangle, orbit about their common center of mass . Find the period of this orbital motion in terms of the orbital radius,r , and the mass of each star,m .Express your answer in terms of the variablesR,M, and appropriate constants.
Get this answer with Chegg Study
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OAKLAND -- Anthony Sheppard stood in disbelief Thursday outside the cellular phone store where its well-known and highly respected owner was gunned down the night before during a robbery.
"I heard about it last night and I didn't want to believe it was him," said Sheppard, 30, as he stood near a small crowd outside the store that had been a fixture in East Oakland since 1996. "I was hoping it wasn't him and I got here and it was. He was a good man. Why they do him like that?"
Wilbur Bartley, 50, was found slain about 7:22 p.m. Wednesday inside Marcus Cellular, 9230 International Blvd., a Metro PCS outlet and Direct TV dealership.
Police said Bartley had named the business after his son and many of his customers and residents who knew him as "Mr. Marcus" were saddened and stunned by his death.
Bartley, who lived a few blocks away, apparently was in the process of closing for the evening when he was confronted by someone who robbed and shot him, police said.
Police would not disclose what was taken.
The killer fled before police arrived.
Sheppard, who said he bought his first pager at the store in the late '90s, expressed sorrow Thursday.
"He was a generous man. I was friends with his son," Sheppard said, his voice cracking. "This shouldn't have happened."
Police said Bartley was a hardworking businessman who was always willing to lend a hand to someone in need and who would give tickets to Oakland Raiders games to children.
Officer Robert Trevino, the lead investigator, said Bartley's death "is a tragic situation, not only for his family but for the community.
"We are doing everything we can to solve this case and we are confident that with the help of the community we can," he said.
Police Chief Howard Jordan dropped by Thursday afternoon to meet with the family, as officers urged residents to share any information that may help solve the crime.
"(There's) a lot of community outrage because this gentleman was so well-respected," Jordan's chief of staff, Sgt. Chris Bolton, wrote in an email. "The chief had met him a few times during walks in that neighborhood this past year."
Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said motorists are stopping in the street near the store, holding up traffic, to share their disbelief and plead with investigators on the scene to find the shooter.
"This is an outcry from the community I have not seen before," Watson said.
Many who visited Bartley's business to pay their respects appeared either angry or in shock.
About 11:30 a.m., an unidentified man walked past the business, shook his head, then kicked the side of the building and cursed.
"This has got to stop," the man said, then walked away from the closed business where flowers and candles lined the ground.
Just before noon, Patricia Boens, of Oakland, placed a white teddy bear on the ground beside a dozen red roses.
"He didn't deserve this," Boens said. "He was a nice man."
Shortly after, two women hung up a large white piece of paper to create a memorial wall for Bartley.
"RIP Marcus. The community won't be the same without you," one person wrote.
Bartley had been targeted in a robbery before, in January 2007, by someone who apparently followed him home from the store.
But the robbery was foiled outside the residence by Bartley's German shepherd, Buffy, who had been waiting for him and attacked the robber. The robber shot the dog in the leg before fleeing. The 7-year-old dog was treated, but died a month later.
Bartley's killing was the city's 107th homicide of the year.
Staff writer Kristin J. Bender contributed to this report.
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New Advent
Home Encyclopedia Summa Fathers Bible Library
Homily 50 on the Gospel of John
John 7:25-27
Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? But, lo, he speaks boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? Howbeit we know this man whence he is.
1. Nothing is placed in the Holy Scriptures without a reason, for they were uttered by the Holy Ghost, therefore let us enquire exactly into every point. For it is possible from one expression to find out the entire meaning (of a passage), as in the case before us. Many of them of Jerusalem said, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? But, lo, he speaks boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Now why is added, them of Jerusalem? The Evangelist by this shows, that they who had most enjoyed His mighty miracles were more pitiable than any; they who had beheld the greatest proof of His Godhead, and yet committed all to the judgment of their corrupt rulers. For was it not a great proof of it, that men furious and bent on murder, who went about and sought to kill Him, should be quiet of a sudden, when they had Him in their hands? Who could have effected this? Who thus quenched their absolute fury? Still after such proofs, observe the folly and the madness of the men. Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? See how they accuse themselves; whom, It says, they seek to kill, and yet they say nothing to him. And not only do they say nothing to Him, but nothing even when He speaks boldly. For one who spoke boldly and with all freedom would naturally have the more angered them; but they did nothing. Do they know indeed that this is the very Christ? What do you think? What opinion do you give? The contrary, It says. On which account they said, We know this man whence he is. What malice, what contradiction! They do not even follow the opinion of their rulers, but bring forward another, perverse, and worthy of their own folly; We know him whence he is.
But when Christ comes, no man knows whence He is. Matthew 2:4
Yet your rulers when asked replied, that He should be born in Bethlehem. And others again said, God spoke unto Moses, but as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. John 9:29 We know whence he is, and we know not whence He is; observe the words of drunken men. And again, Does Christ come out of Galilee? John 7:41 Is He not of the town of Bethlehem? Do you see that theirs is the decision of madmen? We know, and, we know not; Christ comes from Bethlehem; When Christ comes, no man knows whence He is. What can be plainer than this contradiction? For they only looked to one thing, which was, not to believe. What then is Christ's reply?
John 7:28
You both know Me, and you know whence I am: and I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, whom you know not.
2. And again, If you had known Me, you should have known My Father also. John 8:19 How then says He, that they both know Him, and whence He is, and then, that they neither know Him, nor the Father? He does not contradict, (away with the thought,) but is very consistent with Himself. For He speaks of a different kind of knowledge, when He says, ye know not; as when He says, The sons of Eli were wicked sons, they knew not the Lord 1 Samuel 2:12; and again, Israel does not know Me. Isaiah 1:3 So also Paul says, They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him. Titus 1:16 It is therefore possible, knowing, not to know. This then is what He says: If you know Me, you know that I am the Son of God. For the whence I am does not here denote place. As is clear from what follows, I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, whom you know not, referring here to the ignorance shown by their works. [As Paul says, They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him.] For their fault came not merely of ignorance, but of wickedness, and an evil will; because even though they knew this, they chose to be ignorant. But what manner of connection is there here? How is it that He, reproving them, uses their own words? For when they say, We know this man whence he is, He adds, ye both know Me. Was their expression, We know him not? Nay, they said, We know him. But (observe), they by saying the, We know whence he is, declared nothing else than that He was of the earth, and that He was the carpenter's son; but He led them up to heaven, saying, You know whence I am, that is, not thence whence ye suppose, but from that place whence He that sent Me (has sent Me). For to say, I am not come of Myself, intimates to them, that they knew that He was sent by the Father, though they did not disclose it. So that He rebukes them in a twofold manner; first, what they said in secret He published aloud, so as to put them to shame; after that He revealed also what was in their hearts. As though He had said, I am not one of the abjects, nor of those who come for nothing, but He 'that sent Me is true, whom you know not.' What means, He that sent Me is true? If He be true, He has sent Me for the truth; if He be true, it is probable that He who is sent is true also. This also He proves in another way, vanquishing them with their own words. For whereas they had said, When Christ comes, no man knows whence He is, He proves from this that He Himself is the Christ. They used the words, No man knows, with reference to distinction of some definite locality; but from the same words He shows Himself to be the Christ, because He came from the Father; and everywhere He witnesses that He alone has the knowledge of the Father, saying, Not that any man has seen the Father, save He which is from the Father. John 6:46 And His words exasperated them; for to tell them, You know Him not, and to rebuke them because knowing they pretended to be ignorant, was sufficient to sting and annoy them.
John 7:30
Then they sought to take Him, and no man laid his hand upon Him, because His hour was not yet come.
Do you see that they are invisibly restrained, and their anger bridled? But wherefore says It not, that He had restrained them invisibly, but, Because His hour was not yet come? The Evangelist was minded to speak more humanly and in a lowlier strain, so that Christ might be deemed to be also Man. For because Christ everywhere speaks of sublime matters, he therefore intersperses expressions of this kind. And when Christ says, I am from Him, He speaks not as a Prophet who learns, but as seeing Him, and being with Him.
John 7:29
Do you see how He continually seeks to prove the, I am not come of Myself, and, He that sent Me is true, striving not to be thought an enemy of God? And observe how great is the profit of the humility of His words; for, it says, after this many said,
John 7:31
When Christ comes, will He do more miracles than these which this man has done?
How many were the miracles? In truth, there were three, that of the wine, that of the paralytic, and that of the nobleman's son; and the Evangelist has related no more. From which circumstance it is plain, as I have often said, that the writers pass by most of them, and discourse to us of those alone on account of which the rulers ill-treated Him. Then they sought to take Him, and kill Him. Who sought? Not the multitude, who had no desire of rule, nor could be made captives by malice; but the priests. For they of the multitude said, When Christ comes, will He do more miracles? Yet neither was this sound faith, but, as it were, the idea of a promiscuous crowd; for to say, When He comes, was not the expression of men firmly persuaded that He was the Christ. We may either understand the words thus, or that they were uttered by the multitudes when they came together. Since, they may have said, our rulers are taking every pains to prove that this man is not the Christ, let us suppose that he is not the Christ; will the Christ be better than he? For, as I ever repeat, men of the grosser sort are led in not by doctrine, nor by preaching, but by miracles.
John 7:32
The Pharisees heard the people murmuring, and sent servants to take Him.
Do you see that the violation of the Sabbath was a mere pretense? And that what most stung them was this murmuring? For here, though they had no fault to find with Him for anything said or done, they desired to take Him because of the multitude. They dared not do it themselves, suspecting danger, but sent their hired servants. Alas! For their tyranny and their madness, or rather, I should say, for their folly. After having often attempted themselves, and not prevailed, they committed the matter to servants, simply satisfying their anger. Yet He had spoken much at the pool John 5, and they had done nothing of the kind; they sought indeed occasion, but they attempted not, while here they can endure it no longer, when the multitude is about to run to Him. What then says Christ?
John 7:33
Yet a little while am I with you.
Having power to bow and terrify His hearers, He utters words full of humility. As though He had said, Why are you eager to persecute and kill Me? Wait a little while, and even though you should be eager to keep Me back, I shall not endure it. That no one should (as they did) suppose that the, Yet a little while am I with you, denoted a common death, that no one might suppose this, or that He wrought nothing after death, He added,
John 7:34
And where I am, there ye cannot come.
Now had He been about to continue in death, they might have gone to Him, for to that place we all depart. His words therefore bent the simpler portion of the multitude, terrified the bolder, made the more intelligent anxious to hear Him, since but little time was now left, and since it was not in their power always to enjoy this teaching. Nor did He merely say, I am here, but, I am with you, that is, Though you persecute, though ye drive Me away, yet for a little while I shall not cease dispensing what is for your good, saying and recommending the things that relate to your salvation.
John 7:33
And I go unto Him that sent Me.
This was enough to terrify and throw them into an agony. For that they should stand in need of Him, He declares also . . .
John 7:34
You shall seek Me, He says, (not only you shall not forget Me, but you shall even seek Me,) and shall not find Me.
3. And when did the Jews seek Him? Luke says that the women mourned over Him, and it is probable that many others, both at the time and when the city was taken, remembered Christ and His miracles, and sought His presence. Luke 23:49 Now all this He added, desiring to attract them. For the facts that the time left was short, that He should after His departure be regretfully desired by them, and that they should not then be able to find Him, were all together sufficient to persuade them to come to Him. For had it not been that His presence should with regret be desired by them, He would not have seemed to them to be saying any great thing; if, again, it was about to be desired, and they able to find Him, neither so would this have disturbed them. Again, had He been about to stay with them a long time, so also they would have been remiss. But now He in every way compels and terrifies them. And the, I go to Him that sent Me, is the expression of one declaring that no harm will happen to Him from their plotting, and that His Passion was voluntary. Wherefore now He uttered two predictions, that after a little while He should depart, and that they should not come to Him; a thing which belonged not to human intelligence, the foretelling His own death. Hear for instance, David saying, Lord, make me to know mine end and the number of my days, what it is, that I may know what time I have. Psalm 39:4 There is no man at all that knows this; and by one the other is confirmed. And I think that He speaks this covertly to the servants, and directs His discourse to them, thus specially attracting them, by showing them that He knew the cause of their arrival. As though He had said, Wait a little, and I shall depart.
John 7:35
Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go?
Yet they who had wished to be rid of Him, who did all in their power not to see Him, ought not to have asked this question, but to have said, we are glad of it, when will the departure take place? but they were somewhat affected at His words, and with foolish suspicion question one another, whither will he go?
Will he go unto the dispersion of the Gentiles?
What is, the dispersion of the Gentiles? The Jews gave this name to other nations, because they were everywhere scattered and mingled fearlessly with one another. And this reproach they themselves afterwards endured, for they too were a dispersion. For of old all their nation was collected into one place, and you could not anywhere find a Jew, except in Palestine only; wherefore they called the Gentiles a dispersion, reproaching them, and boasting concerning themselves. What then means, Whither I go ye cannot come? For all nations at that time had intercourse with them, and there were Jews everywhere. He would not therefore, if He had meant the Gentiles, have said, Where ye cannot come. After saying, Will he go to the dispersion of the Gentiles? they did not add, and ruin, but, and teach them. To such a degree had they abated their anger, and believed His words; for they would not, had they not believed, have enquired among themselves what the saying was.
These words were spoken indeed to the Jews, but fear there is lest they be suited to us also, that where He is we cannot come on account of our life being full of sins. For concerning the disciples He says, I will that they also be with Me where I am John 17:24, but concerning ourselves, I dread lest the contrary be said, that, Where I am, you cannot come. For when we act contrary to the commandments, how can we go to that place? Even in the present life, if any soldier act unworthily towards his king, he will not be able to see the king, but being deprived of his authority will suffer the severest punishment; if therefore we steal, or covet, if we wrong or strike others, if we work not deeds of mercy, we shall not be able to go there, but shall suffer what happened to the virgins. For where He was, they were not able to enter in, but retired, their lamps having gone out, that is, grace having left them. For we can, if we will, increase the brightness of that flame which we received straightway by the grace of the Spirit; but if we will not do this, we shall lose it, and when that is quenched, there will be nothing else than darkness in our souls; since, as while a lamp is burning the light is strong, so when it is extinguished there is nothing but gloom. Wherefore the Apostle says, Quench not the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 And It is quenched when It has not oil, when there is any violent gust of wind, when It is cramped and confined, (for so fire is quenched,) and It is cramped by worldly cares, and quenched by evil desires. In addition to the causes we have mentioned, nothing quenches It so much as inhumanity, cruelty, and rapine. For when, besides having no oil, we pour upon it cold water, (for covetousness is this, which chills with despondency the souls of those we wrong,) whence shall it be kindled again? We shall depart, therefore, carrying dust and ashes with us, and having much smoke to convict us of having had lamps and of having extinguished them; for where there is smoke, there needs must have been fire which has been quenched. May none of us ever hear that word, I know you not. Matthew 25:12 And whence shall we hear that word, but from this, if ever we see a poor man, and are as though we saw him not? If we will not know Christ when He is an hungered, He too will not know us when we entreat His mercy. And with justice; for how shall he who neglects the afflicted, and gives not of that which is his own, how shall he seek to receive of that which is not his own? Wherefore, I entreat you, let us do and contrive everything, so that oil fail not us, but that we may trim our lamps, and enter with the Bridegroom into the bride-chamber. To which may we all attain, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom and with whom, to the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, now and ever and world without end. Amen.
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CMDIChildWnd Class
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CMDIChildWnd Class
Provides the functionality of a Windows multiple document interface (MDI) child window, along with members for managing the window.
class CMDIChildWnd : public CFrameWnd
An MDI child window looks much like a typical frame window, except that the MDI child window appears inside an MDI frame window rather than on the desktop. An MDI child window does not have a menu bar of its own, but instead shares the menu of the MDI frame window. The framework automatically changes the MDI frame menu to represent the currently active MDI child window.
To create a useful MDI child window for your application, derive a class from CMDIChildWnd. Add member variables to the derived class to store data specific to your application. Implement message-handler member functions and a message map in the derived class to specify what happens when messages are directed to the window.
There are three ways to construct an MDI child window:
• Directly construct it using Create.
• Directly construct it using LoadFrame.
• Indirectly construct it through a document template.
Before you call Create or LoadFrame, you must construct the frame-window object on the heap using the C++ new operator. Before calling Create you can also register a window class with the AfxRegisterWndClass global function to set the icon and class styles for the frame.
Use the Create member function to pass the frame's creation parameters as immediate arguments.
LoadFrame requires fewer arguments than Create, and instead retrieves most of its default values from resources, including the frame's caption, icon, accelerator table, and menu. To be accessible by LoadFrame, all these resources must have the same resource ID (for example, IDR_MAINFRAME).
When a CMDIChildWnd object contains views and documents, they are created indirectly by the framework instead of directly by the programmer. The CDocTemplate object orchestrates the creation of the frame, the creation of the containing views, and the connection of the views to the appropriate document. The parameters of the CDocTemplate constructor specify the CRuntimeClass of the three classes involved (document, frame, and view). A CRuntimeClass object is used by the framework to dynamically create new frames when specified by the user (for example, by using the File New command or the MDI Window New command).
A frame-window class derived from CMDIChildWnd must be declared with DECLARE_DYNCREATE in order for the above RUNTIME_CLASS mechanism to work correctly.
The CMDIChildWnd class inherits much of its default implementation from CFrameWnd. For a detailed list of these features, please refer to the CFrameWnd class description. The CMDIChildWnd class has the following additional features:
• In conjunction with the CMultiDocTemplate class, multiple CMDIChildWnd objects from the same document template share the same menu, saving Windows system resources.
• The currently active MDI child window menu entirely replaces the MDI frame window's menu, and the caption of the currently active MDI child window is added to the MDI frame window's caption. For further examples of MDI child window functions that are implemented in conjunction with an MDI frame window, see the CMDIFrameWnd class description.
Do not use the C++ delete operator to destroy a frame window. Use CWnd::DestroyWindow instead. The CFrameWnd implementation of PostNcDestroy will delete the C++ object when the window is destroyed. When the user closes the frame window, the default OnClose handler will call DestroyWindow.
For more information on CMDIChildWnd, see Frame Windows.
Header: afxwin.h
This class is not supported in Smart Device projects.
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Smyths Toy Superstores opening near you soon
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Smyths Toy Superstores are an established and rapidly expanding toy retailer specialising in toys, software and nursery products.
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Monday, 24 August 2009
Theoretical framework
This research is of clients’ relationships with consultants in public sector information technology (IT) projects. It will seek to identify and explain how the client engages with consultants and other suppliers in order to add value to a project.
The research question is:
How do public sector organisations engage with consultants in order to contribute to an effective IT project?
Sub questions include:
1. How does engagement contribute to an effective project?
2. How does engagement influence relationships?
3. How does the quality of relationships contribute to an effective project?
4. How does engagement vary over the life cycle of a project?
5. How does engagement help in adding value to a project?
Empirical answers to these questions could fill the gap on understanding engagement between clients and consultants. Insights could also contribute to public sector practical management of external consultants to reap value from their contribution to a project.
A review of the literature on consultancy has shown that client entities and relationships are complex. This and the literature on project management show that clients must engage with consultants for good project outcomes. A review of the literature on engagement focused on conceptualisations of engagement but also explored its various articulations. However, the literature has little to say on what client-consultant engagement might be. It is not clear how engagement manifests itself, what its factors might be or what sort of engagement leads to effective consultancy projects.
The literature on social capital allows a conceptualisation of the issue of engagement between consultants and clients on IT projects. The following sections will explain how social capital might be used as a framework for this exploration.
1 What is the problem?
Public sector IT projects often use external consultants, but are also notoriously expensive and often fail. A common cause of project failure is lack of effective engagement with stakeholders (OGC, 2002). In the public sector, engagement is “a critical element of a consulting project” (NAO, 2006a). The National Audit Office (NAO) exhorts clients and consultants to engage to ensure commitment, thus implying that engagement will improve performance and add value to a project. Public servants are advised to engage with consultants and consultants with their clients, but it is not clear how engagement happens or what a good quality of engagement is.
Czerniawska (Czerniawska, 2006) implies two meanings to the term ‘engagement’: the contractual engagement and the relationship. A contract of engagement may mean only initial seeking and selection but this research concerns the longer term relationship regardless of contractual arrangements. Unfortunately Czerniawska has little to say on the value of engagement as a longer term developed relationship, although she recognises that engagement as a relationship determines the success of consulting projects.
The NAO exhortation for engagement seems to be aiming at continued shared understanding; engagement must be mutual. The NAO considers from the findings of case studies that senior level engagement is crucial for successful delivery of IT enabled change (NAO, 2006c) because such engagement demonstrates senior management is committed to the change. This NAO report(NAO, 2006c) requires demonstration of commitment through engagement whilst the other NAO report (NAO, 2006a) requires ensuring commitment through engagement. There might be some confusion or inconsistency of understanding of what engagement means and does for an organisation.
So confusion and inconsistency suggest that it is a problem to understand engagement. Whether engagement is a knowable phenomenon is a moot point. Definitions of engagement are woolly and soft. Hence engagement is “a paradigm for change” (Axelrod, 2001), “the art of bringing people together” (Block, 2000), “a journey of sensing and learning” (Buckingham, 2005). It is also a two way relationship between employee and employer (Robinson D, 2004), a management philosophy (Smythe, 2007) and “a process of communication” (McMaster, 1996). Mutual engagement is a dimension of a community of practice that involves processes of community building (Wenger, 1998). In summary, engagement is a paradigm, a journey, a relationship, a philosophy, a process, an art and to the NAO “an element of a consulting project”. This variety of metaphors suggests engagement is a constructed phenomenon.
Since different constructions seem to conflate engagement with other phenomena like involvement, participation, commitment, collaboration or even motivation, I explored them in the hope of clarifying some concepts of engagement. Previous research on engagement seems to have focused on outcomes and products, being mainly surveys or quasi-experimental (Gable, 1996, Saks, 2006, Schaufeli et al., 2006) but the research question requires looking at the process of engagement and how connecting people builds trust and the commitment that the NAO wants to ensure. That process includes an ongoing negotiation of meaning (Wenger, 1998). Exploration of how meaning is negotiated might be possible using the concept of social capital. Adler and Kwon { 2002 } identify social capital as “as the good will that is engendered by the fabric of social relations and that can be mobilized to facilitate action". It may be possible to relate “the fabric of social relations” to the client-consultant relationship and the “mobilisation of goodwill to engagement”. Hence, the concept of social capital could help in exploring client-consultant engagement.
2 Why is this framework feasible?
Social capital theory can provide a way to explore engagement in relationships between clients and consultants. Its literature provides a framework for performing the specific investigation that is being proposed.
Social capital can be conceptualised as a stock of networks, norms and trust. People develop social capital in organisations. Organisations nurture social capital, which supports the development of intellectual capital because it comes though interaction of people sharing knowledge (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). Sharing knowledge, norms, and establishing social capital through people coming together on a project, provides the organisation with an advantage.
Nahapiet & Ghoshal (1998) suggest three dimensions for creating intellectual capital through social capital:
• the structural dimension of network ties, configuration and appropriable organisation,
• the cognitive dimension of shared codes, language and narratives, and
• the relationship dimension of trust, established norms and obligations of how people behave.
Each dimension contributes in different combinations to create new intellectual capital. Combinations of the dimensions of social capital allow exchange of intellectual capital, and anticipation of value through that exchange. Value anticipated in an IT project may be other than an exchange of intellectual capital. Value may be gained from a project that delivers on time, to budget, and meets all or most of the objectives set for it. These project attributes are valuable to the parties involved. Delivery of such IT projects may be facilitated through a combination of the dimensions of social capital.
The social capital framework guides the interview questions, the three dimensions providing headings for asking questions of interviewees about relationships, concepts used and understanding.
The interview schedule relates the research question and sub questions through the social capital framework.
Questions are based round four headings:
1. background (of project and participant),
2. relationships,
3. knowledge (or learning), and
4. value.
Background is important because it provides the context. The questions may elicit structural dimensions of social capital.
Relationships matter. How do the relationships create value? The interview questions here concern social capital in the relationship and structural dimensions. Questions are to identify networks of relationships and the strength of ties between people. One question asks for a specific anecdote or story in an attempt to get more precise descriptions rather than general opinion. See {Kvale, 1996 }. These questions also aim to elicit lack of engagement in relationships, in order to reveal if the consultant and client have little in common, or need no more than a passing connection.
Knowledge: rather than directly asking about knowledge the questions are about learning and what people have learned from each other. How do they use that knowledge? This gives some idea of what value has developed from relationships.
Value: Building shared meanings is part of the cognitive dimension of social capital. There may be value gained through learning and sharing meaning. Sharing meaning may provide valuable non-financial, un-measurable qualitative gain.
Some interview questions elicit information in more than one dimension.
In summary, social capital theory offers enough complexity to provide a conceptual framework for the examination of issues of engagement between clients and consultants.
Is that completely clear? Will it be clear to my supervisors?
ADLER, P. S. & KWON, S.-W. (2002) SOCIAL CAPITAL: PROSPECTS FOR A NEW CONCEPT. Academy of Management Review, 27, 17-40.
AXELROD, R. H. (2001) Terms of engagement: changing the way we change organizations, San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler.
BLOCK, P. (2000) Flawless Consulting: a guide to getting your expertise used, Jossey-Bass/Fpeiffer.
BUCKINGHAM, M. (2005) Chapter FOUR: 'Buy-in', not by-pass: the rules of engagement. Leadership for Leaders. Thorogood Publishing Ltd.
CZERNIAWSKA, F. (2006) Ensuring sustainable value from consultants. MCA. Management Consultancy Association.
GABLE, G. G. (1996) A multidimensional model of client success when engaging external consultants. Management Science, 42, 1175-1198.
KVALE, S. (1996) InterViews : an introduction to qualitative research interviewing, Thousand Oaks, CA ; London, Sage.
MCMASTER, M. D. (1996) The Intelligence Advantage: organizing for complexity, Butterworth-Heinemann.
NAHAPIET, J. & GHOSHAL, S. (1998) Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23, 242-266.
NAO (2006a) Central Government's use of consultants: Building client and consultant commitment. IN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE (Ed.). HMSO.
NAO (2006b) Delivering successful IT-enabled business change: Case studies of success. IN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE (Ed.). HMSO.
OGC (2002) Common Causes of Project Failure. National Audit Office and the Office of Government Commerce.
ROBINSON D, P. S., HAYDAY S (2004) The Drivers of Employee Engagement. Institute for Employment Studies.
SAKS, A. M. (2006) Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21, 600-619.
SCHAUFELI, W. B., BAKKER, A. B. & SALANOVA, M. (2006) The Measurement of Work Engagement With a Short Questionnaire: A Cross-National Study. Educational & Psychological Measurement, 66, 701-716.
SMYTHE, J. (2007) The CEO chief engagement officer: turning hierarchy upside down to drive performance, Gower.
WENGER, E. (1998) Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
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Geoffrey Colvin
Who Lost Super Bowl III?
Summer 1995
We can all recite the list: there was Woodstock and the 1968 Democratic Convention and Kent State and Hair. The King and Kennedy assassinations. Soul on Ice. Close to 30 years after the Great Change in America's culture, authors and filmmakers have pretty well settled on the defining moments of that era and iconized them as definitively as Mount Rushmore. But they've missed a big one. Maybe it seemed trivial in the grand sweep of world historical events. Certainly it was not overtly political or cultural at all. Indeed, it was only a game. But for millions of Americans this three-hour drama made the Great Cultural Change more real, more personal, vital, irrefutable—no joke—than any other. It was Super Bowl III, played on January 12, 1969.
Yes, you're right in recalling that this was one of the most famous football games ever, and it has received tons of media attention over the years. But what hasn't sufficiently been appreciated is the enormous load of symbolic freight it carried, quite accidentally, thanks to the events of the just-ended annus mirabilis of 1968. The game slammed many of its millions of viewers hard in the chest, left them dazed and disoriented, because it was an almost perfectly framed ritualized combat between the Old Culture and the New Culture then at war in the larger society. And the New Culture won.
It may seem audacious or just silly to assert that any football game could exert such an effect. It isn't. We all know—even those who haven't felt it have seen it—that for many people sports hold more immediacy and emotional reality than almost any other part of life. When the University of Nebraska won the national college football title this past January, Nebraskans drove hundreds of miles across the state and waited in sub-zero cold outside the college bookstore in Lincoln to buy Sports Illustrated's commemorative issue—at a rate of 10,000 copies an hour. Many people expend more time and passion debating a coach's strategy or a player's value than settling important family matters. Everyone has witnessed (or joined in) acts of craziness—all of them acts of profound, intense identification with a team—that sports fans routinely commit.
Sports reach into ancient parts of the psyche, especially the male psyche, that adore the pureness of the conflict, the formalized battle in which the two sides, symbolizing what ever the fan cares to see in them, fight it out to unambiguous victory and loss. While celebrating aggression, sports also contain it, codify it, give society a safe place to put it. Screaming for one group to beat the living daylights out of another is apparently something we're going to do no matter what. Asking citizens to do it en masse at an appointed hour and place on Sunday afternoon is not only less risky than letting them improvise; it also tells everyone, fans or not, that this form of theatrical violence as distinct from any other kind is something the whole community can legitimately participate in.
Deeply different communities provided part of the extra tension of Super Bowl III, when the Baltimore Colts confronted the New York Jets, teams whose very names evoked separate Americas. Baltimore was then a fairly grimy industrial city whose blue-collar Colts fans turned out in huge numbers to cheer players with whom they had at least this in common: they earned a living through punishing physical exertion. The Colts were a large enough part of the city's life that priests on Sunday morning would sometimes request divine assistance for the team that afternoon. No one ever, ever called Baltimore glamorous, and it's a safe bet that most of America almost never even thought of it.
New York, by contrast, was, well, the capital of the world, all flash and excitement, the bright, irresistible focus of most everything big. It made sense that plenty of New Yorkers would identify strongly with the Jets, a brash team in a vigorous young league out to make people notice. Johnny Carson loved to make fun of Mayor Lindsay for calling New York "fun city," but the whole nation laughed because New York was the center. It mattered. Hardly anyone said then that the basis of the U.S. economy was shifting from manufacturing to information and services, but it was—and as it did, no one could miss the sense that Baltimore felt like the past, New York like now.
On this day in January 1969, fans could not help but see a great deal at stake. It's hard now to recall the starkness of the conflict between the Old Culture and the New, or indeed much about the vanquished Old Culture at all. Begin by remembering that the Super Bowl was still a novel concept, and in early 1969 it resonated deeply with many of the turbulent events under way in the society. As a matter of bare facts, the Super Bowl represented simply a successful business being challenged by a promising startup: the National Football League had been around for decades, and in 1960 a few businessmen decided to finance some competition, calling it the American Football League. It became sufficiently popular that an interleague championship game made economic sense. Logical enough. But to the NFL's more numerous and more deeply invested fans, this felt like something more.
Identifying in a pre-rational way with their teams, like all sports fans, they saw the established order under assault.
This adrenaline-triggering situation loudly echoed others in the world at large. Cocky young people were speaking confidently about "the Revolution," and while this was obviously nonsense—surely, surely it was nonsense—there had nonetheless been those troubling events at the Democratic Convention in Chicago the previous August, when things had come just that close to getting out of hand. Also there had been similar problems in the streets of Paris the previous May, when the police had seemed by no means in control. Students at Columbia University had taken over the president's office in April; in a memorable photo, a long-haired, mustachioed rebel sat at the president's desk, wearing sunglasses, staring coolly ahead, smoking a cigar, looking just as if he were . . . in charge, For that matter, the North Vietnamese in January had startled the world with their Tet offensive, scoring advances so impressive that Walter Cronkite demanded, on the air: " What the hell is going on? I thought we were winning this war." Plenty of Americans felt the same way. All this had happened in just the previous 12 months. It was worrisome enough to make a person wonder about established orders and whether somehow they were all running out of luck at the same time.
Reading the numerous articles written about Super Bowl III in the weeks before it was played, one is struck by bow many of the writers insist, just a bit too confidently, that the AFL is a "minor league," a bunch of third- stringers who can forget about ever matching the NFL. One senses a strong wish to be convinced that the NFL's seemingly natural superiority would be eternal. You want proof? Just look at the first two Super Bowls in which Lombardi's Packers crushed the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. (The Packers: in our New Culture world, where pro teams are named for sensory pleasures—the Jazz, the Heat, the Magic—it's difficult to summon an earlier age when an important team was christened after men who cut up beef carcasses and put the pieces in boxes.) Of course the Packers, now without Lombardi, wouldn't be playing in Super Bowl III, The Colts were the new league champions, by most accounts even better than the Packers, One could cling to a certain comfort in the NFL's established dominance, just as one could and many did—in the dominance of the police in Chicago and of the U.S. forces in Vietnam.
Even sharper than the symbolism of the established vs. insurgent leagues was that of the players, two players in particular. People naturally see all conflict as personal. Only in that way does it seize the imagination: Grant vs. Lee, the King vs. the Kaiser, Churchill vs. Hitler. The battle between the New Culture and the Old in the late sixties shaped up personally in several highly public arenas, gripping people according to their interests: Gene McCarthy vs. Lyndon Johnson, Abbie Hoffman vs. Mayor Daley, Gore Vidal vs. William Buckley. The most innocent and unlikely of these conflicts nonetheless packed huge emotive power in millions of American souls. It pitted Joe Namath against Johnny Unitas.
Namath was the quarterback for that year's presumed punching bag, the AFL champion Jets, and Unitas quarterback (though no longer a starter) for the Colts, Unitas, immovably established as true of the game's all-time greats, otherwise called little attention to himself. Namath was well on his way to greatness and was also a single young man from the sticks suddenly placed in New York City with a lot of money and notoriety. The press couldn't resist him. As a type, neither man was unusual. But the era made them symbols, and in casting an allegory of New Culture vs. Old Culture it would have been hard to do much better.
The largest point of difference between the two cultures was, of course, how they regarded deferral of gratification, which was either the foundation of civilization or a particularly priggish instrument of Establishment oppression. With this central value of the Old Culture under powerful siege, it was impossible not to see its fate being decided, single-combat-style, in this battle of one who embodied it vs. one who emphatically did not.
Unitas was married with four children and lived in a Baltimore suburb. His idea of a pleasant evening was having friends over for his wife's lasagna and coffee afterward. He went to bed early and got up early, partly so he could make it to Mass before practice or a game. His haircut, a flat-top, appeared to require about three minutes of the barber's time. Rejection and sacrifice were the themes of his story: growing up poor in Pittsburgh, he earned spending money shoveling coal for 75 cents a ton. His talent was apparent in high school, but Notre Dame and Indiana turned him down before the much less exalted University of Louisville took him on. After college the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him, then never played him—not once. Dropped from the team, he signed with the semi-pro Bloomfield Rams for $6 a game. The Colts picked him up there in 1956, and 11 years later, his legend established, he signed a three-year contract at $100,000 a year. His view of the social revolution seemed broadly conventional. "Today they call 'em hippies," he said in 1968. " Ten years ago they were bums." Nearly everything about him was comforting, Eisenhower-era, likable, even admirable. He was one of the last players in football to wear the old high-top black cleats.
Namath lived in a penthouse in Manhattan's East Seventies. He liked staying up late, drinking, and women, and there is very little evidence that he denied himself any of these amusements. He certainly showed up hungover at some practices and probably at some games. He broke training, got into a fight in a bar. When he graduated from Alabama as one of the country's most celebrated college players, the new AFL teams competing with the NFL for talent were pushing salaries up. Namath confided to Alabama coach Bear Bryant that he hoped to get $100,000 a year. On Bryant's advice, he asked the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals for $200,000 and a Lincoln Continental ("I just always wanted one of those cars"). To his amazement, the Cardinals responded within a day: no problem. Thus began bidding that ended with the Cardinals and the Jets both offering an unheard-of $400,000; Namath decided he wanted to live in New York.
Unitas was perfectly clear on how he felt about this, and it was a picture of modesty and high-mindedness. "I've never been one to worry about what the other fellow had, like during the pro war, when some of those college kids were making the big bonuses," he told the Sporting News in 1967. "I was all for them getting whatever they could get. I never worried that I wasn't getting it. Some people in life, though, have a loaf of bread under one arm and are unhappy when they see another man who has two loaves of bread ." Could he really have been this serene? Maybe. In any case, it was the face he presented to the world.
It was far from what the world saw of Namath. Expressing the if-it-feels- good-do-it ethos then gaining strength, he told an interviewer, "As long as I like something and I feel I'm not hurting myself or somebody else, well, I try to do it." His hair was long; a goatee came and went; he grew a Fu Manchu mustache, then shaved it off when Schick paid him $10,000 to do so on camera. Unitas's tastes differed markedly. "Every boy can't have a lot of money to buy clothes, but at least he can be clean-shaven and neatly dressed," he told groups of high schoolers to whom he regularly spoke. "I can't stand kids with this long hair." Namath's vast wardrobe was urgently mod, and a friend reported he had more shoes than anyone had ever seen (Mrs. Marcos's closet having not yet opened to the public). He was the first player in football to wear white cleats.
If the Old Culture was valuable, if it worked—a matter that seemed suddenly, alarmingly in question throughout the society—then could there be any doubt which of these men would win?
In the NFL loyalist view there was simply no comparison. Unitas was not just the greatest quarterback of the age but also, said many, the greatest of all tinge. San Francisco 49er coach Jack Christiansen said, very much in the language of the Old Culture, "As long as the Colts have Unitas, they could play with nine or ten girls and still beat other teams." For the September 1968 issue of Esquire, the editors asked a friend and teammate of Namath's to write an article based on an interview with him. Then, apparently without telling Namath, they asked a sportswriter named Al Hirshberg to append comments, mostly biting, which were printed in the article's margins. Namath praised Jets coach Weeb Ewbank by noting that, even when angry, he never tried to demean Namath by comparing him unfavorably with other quarterbacks he had coached, including Unitas. To anyone who could distinguish the gods from the groundlings of football, this was breathtaking hubris. Hirshberg asked incredulously: "Is it possible that Joe Namath really believes that Weeb Ewbank ever compared him to Johnny Unitas?"
These two symbolized the cultural conflict of the era in other ways as well Don't trust anyone over 30? Unitas was 35, Namath 25. As the divorce rate began to rise and some thinkers even questioned the value of conventional families, who would prevail—the devoted family man or the swinging bachelor who said he "would rather go to Vietnam than get married"? Namath didn't go to Vietnam because his famously rickety knees got him classified 4-F; this didn't stop some from calling him a draft dodger. Unitas was too old to be drafted but visited Vietnam in 1967; on his return he reported, "I didn't see any long hair in Vietnam, but I met a lot of heroes."
Then there was deportment. Unitas conformed to the longstanding athletic ideal of an earnest, modest straightshooter: you said sir and ma'am, and as for the opponents, they're a fine team, and we'll certainly do our best against them. Spurred by some Namath remarks just before Super Bowl III, Bubba Smith, the Colts' enormous 23-year-old defensive end, responded with as fine a statement of the old ideal as one will ever hear: "A football player who's real good doesn't have to talk. The Green Bay Packers were real champions. They never talked. They never had to. This is the way I visualize all champions—solemn, dignified, humble. My father coached me at Charlton Pollard High School in Beaumont, Texas, and he taught us to be humble off the field. Inside, I've got to feel I'm the best, but if I tell you I'm the best, then I'm a fool."
Recalling this ideal takes effort. It's easy to believe that sportsmanship has always been a hazy concept among professionals, who after all don't pretend to be playing for anything but money. Yet standards of behavior have decidedly changed, mainly toward self-indulgence. By now we're accustomed to players spiking the ball after a touchdown, to linebackers doing little mid- field dances after tackles they're particularly proud of. This immodesty was unimaginable in 1969. We're also used to athletes announcing their own greatness, and while by 1969 Muhammad Ali had pioneered this practice, it remained sufficiently shocking to attract plenty of attention for Namath. He thought a lot of himself and said so, often. Someone asked him during the 1968 season if he ever thought about someday succeeding Unitas as the game's best quarterback. "No," he replied, laughing, "because I feel that way now." Worse, he openly disparaged the other side, saying the AFL had at least four quarterbacks who were better than the Colts' scheduled starter, Earl Morrall. Told the Colts were taking these insults seriously, he said, "If what I say upsets them, they must not be pros." And then, in the most famous quote of his life, he told a roomful of journalists a few days before Super Bowl III, with a double scotch in his hand, "We're going to win this game. I guarantee it."
He guaranteed it! Oddly, in retrospect, this remark may have raised more cumulative blood pressure among those who felt the old order threatened than did any other development before the game. One, you simply did not say things like that the old ideal forbade it and two, didn't he know the Colts were 17- point favorites? Like the era's many other suddenly energized insurgents, Namath seemed to be denying all rationality, expressing placid confidence that the world really could be turned upside down.
But how could it? Jimmy the Greek had explained in detail exactly how he had determined that point spread: four points because the Colts' offensive line was better than the Jets', four points because the Colts' linebackers were better, four points because their cornerbacks were better, two points for better running backs, and three points for "the NFL mystique and Don Shula's coaching." It was as clear and irrefutable as our superiority in Vietnam. Further, such reasoning worked: the point spread had accurately predicted the outcomes of the first two Super Bowls. This was the largest spread yet.
By kickoff time, bettors had pushed it to 19 1/2 points.
Skies were cloudy all day in Miami on January 12. These were the days when Super Bowls still began in mid-afternoon, Eastern time, forsaking extra TV viewers avail able in the evening; but on this occasion the sun wouldn't get in anybody's eyes. As planned, Namath started for the Jets, Earl Morrall for the Colts. Unitas had suffered tendonitis in his throwing arm for months, and Morrall, until that season a career second-string quarterback, had come into his own at age 34; sportswriters had voted him the NFL's most valuable player of the season. So while the game began as a clash of forces with plenty of symbolic power, the exquisitely pointed conflict of Namath vs. Unitas would have to wait.
The Jets won the toss and chose to receive. Lou Michaels of the Colts kicked off at 3:05 PM.
No one scored m the first quarter, which is not the way blowouts usually begin. A bit ominously, Morrall kept getting intercepted.
In the second quarter the Jets scored a touchdown when Namath handed off to fullback Matt Snell at the 4-yard line. The half ended: Jets 7, Colts 0.
The effect was disorienting. Still, things had plenty of time to return to their natural order. It was only halftime.
On the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Morrall fumbled at his own 33-yard line. The Jets recovered and after a few plays kicked a field goal. On the next series of downs, Morrall threw an incomplete pass, then threw a completion for no gain, then was sacked for a loss. The Colts punted. Namath then commanded a drive that included four complete passes and set up another Jets field goal. The Jets now led 13-0 with 3:58 left in the third quarter.
Suddenly, somehow, the situation had become desperate. The studied confidence of half time had vaporized. No Colts fan could any longer find a comforting thought.
After the Jets' field goal, Curley Johnson's kickoff hit the goal posts, so the ball was brought out to the 20. Then the Colts' offensive unit took the field. But Morrall stayed on the bench. Out trundled Unitas.
This was, of course, electrifying: the aging, injured legend now the last hope to retrieve a near-hopeless situation. But on this day, in this game, in early 1969, it was much more. Now America's millions would see which culture, Old or New, was ascendant.
On his first play Unitas hand ed off to running back Tom Matte for a five- yard gain. Then he completed a pass for no gain, then threw another pass—incomplete. The Colts punted and the Jets took over.
The Jets pushed forward and early in the fourth quarter kicked another field goal. The score was now 16-0, almost reversing Jimmy the Greek's wide point spread.
This was becoming incredible.
On the Colts' next series of downs, their runners moved the ball to the Jets' 25—a prime scoring opportunity. Unitas threw incomplete. Another pass—intercepted, heartbreakingly, in the end zone.
The Jets took over at their 20 but failed to score. On a fourth down punt, the ball went back to the Colts, who took over on their own 20.
Then Unitas began to do what he was famous for, putting together a rapid 80- yard drive that ended in a touchdown at last, with running back Jerry Hill going in from the 1.
With 3:19 remaining, the Colts tried an utterly predictable onside kick—and recovered. Hope dawned. Dear God, victory was actually possible—and far less improbable than anyone who didn't know Unitas would have assumed. This was just the sort of miraculous, waning—moments come back Unitas had spent a career pulling off. He had done it four times the previous season. In one of those games, against the formidable Packers, the Colts had trailed 10-0 with 6:22 remaining. Unitas had led a touchdown drive, followed by a recovered onside kick, and, with just 1:19 left, had added another touchdown for the victory. Some football writers said these dramatic finishes defined Unitas as a player. He was renowned for his "two-minute drill," a series of plays he would run in rapid succession, without huddles. When fans saw Unitas start the drill in a game's final minutes, they knew what was coming, and the excitement became almost unbearable.
They saw him starting it now. Everyone remembered why he was an immortal. For a flickering instant, the old order opened its eyes and resumed breathing.
Now Unitas needed another touchdown, fast.
Two completions moved the ball 20 yards for a first down.
It was happening.
On the ensuing series Unitas's first pass was complete for a five-yard gain.
Here we go.
His second pass was tipped away by a Jet defender. His third pass was too short.
Two and a half minutes remained.
Unitas's fourth-down pass, if complete, would keep hope alive. If incomplete, then all was lost.
Unitas fired at Jimmy Orr, an end. Jet linebacker Larry Grantham batted the ball away.
Orr never touched it.
At 5:49 PM the game ended. Namath loped off the field, head bowed, his index finger in the air wagging "Number 1." It's a piece of film every football fan has seen and will never forget.
The reasons for the upset are not especially dramatic. The Jets defense, which so effectively shut down the Colts offense, gets most of the credit. Namath actually played a fairly conservative game, passing less than usual. The failure of virtually anybody to predict the outcome, while remarkable, is easier to understand when one considers that the AFL and NFL played no interleague games during the season.
But what did any of that matter? The Jets popped champagne corks in their locker room, the Colts sat morose and silent in theirs.
The question had been decided.
If the millions of Americans who rose blinking from their seats sensed they had seen the beginnings of a new world, later events would confirm the feeling—though few could have seen what was coming. The triumph of the New Culture, the ascendance of self-gratification, the demise of the old sports ethic that Bubba Smith so eloquently expressed all were part of the cultural unraveling that has shaped the past three decades and that continues to be reflected in sports. With the ideal of an athlete no longer defined by an elevated character, or by much of anything other than the size of one's contract, sports began to lose the place of authority they had held in the culture. Slowly but ineluctably they have come to be regarded as another form of programming. Their richer meaning has mostly been drained away. Nothing expressed the trend better than last year's baseball strike, which most Americans regarded as two groups of whining millionaires having a spat, without the dimmest consciousness that anything larger might be at stake. When the game returned, late, for the 1995 season, fans shrugged. What was there here to stir the soul?
This emptiness, so characteristic of this age, is many years and many steps distant from January 12, 1969. But the road between the two is a straight one. Even at the time, Super Bowl III had the feel of a defining moment in the culture. In retrospect, its status is not in doubt.
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Case Number 18958
Universal // 1960 // 197 Minutes // Rated PG-13
Reviewed by Judge Clark Douglas // May 24th, 2010
The Charge
Opening Statement
Facts of the Case
Spartacus (Kirk Douglas, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) has been a slave ever since his childhood. After he bites a Roman soldier, Spartacus is sentenced to death by starvation, but his life is saved by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov, Lorenzo's Oil), a man looking for healthy slaves to participate in gladiatorial games. Spartacus spends many long, hard months training to enter the arena and battle to the death, though he dreads the prospect of actually having to kill one of his fellow slaves. During this time, he meets and befriends a female slave named Varinia (Jean Simmons, Great Expectations), though their interactions are understandably limited.
After being forced to participate in a brutal conflict for the entertainment of the powerful Crassus (Laurence Olivier, The Boys From Brazil), Spartacus determines to take action, leading the slaves in a violent uprising. The gladiators successfully escape from their captors, taking over various territories and gathering recruits as they continue their rebellion. Meanwhile, back in Rome, Senator Sempronius Gracchus (Charles Laughton, The Hunchback of Notre Dame) cunningly creates a plot that he hopes will simultaneously crush the rebellion and allow his friend Julius Caesar (John Gavin, Psycho) to come to power. Do Spartacus and his fellow former slaves stand a chance against the overwhelming might of the Roman army?
The Evidence
Spartacus wasn't the film that most involved wanted it to be. Blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo intended it to be a statement on the treatment of supposed Communist sympathizers in Hollywood. Director Stanley Kubrick thought the screenplay featured too much "stupid moralizing," but had no control over the script. Star Kirk Douglas had hoped the movie would parallel the historical struggles of the Jewish people. There were endless stories of conflict on the set, as rumors came out that some of the key actors (particularly Tony Curtis) were very unhappy while working on the film. Turmoil, conflict, and creative conflicts are often warning signs of a bad film, but somehow Spartacus survived the ordeal and emerged as a satisfying epic. I suspect that it might have been a stronger film if Kubrick had more creative control, but personally I find Spartacus every bit as satisfying as heralded epics like The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur (and even more mature in terms of the subject matter it deals with).
In fact, Douglas admitted that part of his motivation in making Spartacus was wanting to match the spectacle of Ben-Hur, as he had been turned down for the title role in that film. While Spartacus does indeed offer some pretty impressive scenes of epic grandeur, it's often correctly referred to as, "the thinking man's epic." For all the scenes of battle and violence, Spartacus is essentially a film of ideas. Though it's kind of interesting to consider the modern-day symbolism of the dialogue in the film (with its thinly-veiled references to then-controversial subjects like Communism and homosexuality), the film is most engaging on a surface level as a story about oppressed people seeking freedom and equality. The famous "I am Spartacus!" scene remains an iconic and genuinely moving moment, though this is a result of the hard work put into the hours of build-up to that scene.
Most period epics made during the '50s and '60s are badly dated to at least some extent, and this is the case once again in Spartacus (more on this in a moment). However, the strength of the performances goes a long way toward overcoming these problems. Kirk Douglas is a sturdy, steady lead throughout, blending his natural movie star charisma with an understated strength. Laurence Olivier and Charles Laughton seem right at home with this sort of material, turning in reliably convincing performances. However, the movie is nearly stolen by Peter Ustinov, whose deviously playful and inventive supporting turn is a constant source of entertainment (Ustinov deservedly won an Oscar for the part).
Now, most of you reading this review are probably curious to know about the transfer and the supplemental material. The film was restored by Robert Harris in 1991, which added in lost scenes and cleaned up the image a great deal. This restored version was given a magnificent release by the Criterion Collection a few years ago, which boasted a very strong standard-def transfer and an excellent batch of supplements that detailed the film's making and put certain elements into context quite nicely. This was followed by a widely panned HD-DVD release, which was largely criticized for its terrible transfer (I have not seen the HD-DVD release, though I have seen the Criterion version). From what I've read and heard from numerous sources, this Blu-ray release is an improvement on the HD-DVD, though that's not to say the disc is problem-free.
The coloring seems ever-so-slightly different on this disc (a bit more reddish at times), which is only troubling because Harris considers the Criterion release to be an accurate representation of what he intended. To my eyes, the film still looks quite natural and good. The biggest issue is the moderate use of DNR, which occasionally gives the characters a slightly plastic look and prevents detail from being as strong as it ought to be. While it's not the worst instance of DNR I've ever seen, I definitely would have preferred a more natural look. Things are stronger on the audio side of things, as Alex North's aggressive, strikingly modern score (employing far more atonal elements than, say, a Miklos Rozsa score would) comes through with strength and clarity. Most of the dialogue sounds pretty clean and clear, if sort of inconsistent when veering between dubbed and non-dubbed dialogue. The 5.1 mix tends to be pretty front-heavy, but I find it a generally satisfying mix.
The most disappointing factor is the thin supplemental package, a far cry from the awesome Criterion release. You get brief archival interviews with Peter Ustinov and Jean Simmons, a handful of re-edited scenes, a vintage "Behind the Scenes at Gladiator School" (5 minutes) featurette, and a few very short vintage newsreel clips. Finally, you get some image galleries and the disc is equipped with BD-Live. A very underwhelming package, I must say.
The Rebuttal Witnesses
In this post-Gladiator era, those super-short tunics sure do look awfully silly, don't they? The film falls prey to some of the pitfalls of the genre, at times insisting on making sure the actors look more like movie stars than like authentic citizens of ancient Rome. This is particularly problematic when it comes to Jean Simmons, whose radiant hair and make-up contrasts laughably with the tattered rags she wears. The film expects us to believe that she's a beaten-down woman who spends her night providing sexual pleasure to other slaves, but her appearance suggests class and elegance.
Closing Statement
Spartacus is a thoughtful, engaging epic that still holds up pretty will despite its dated elements. The Blu-ray release is kind of mediocre. I suppose it's an acceptable way to check out the film if you haven't seen it, but I can't recommend an upgrade if you own the Criterion release (in fact, there's a part of me that thinks the standard-def Criterion set is still the superior option). Here's hoping this title eventually gets the proper deluxe edition treatment it deserves.
The Verdict
The film is not guilty, but the disc is lacking the qualities this prestigious film demands.
Scales of Justice
Video: 77
Audio: 85
Extras: 40
Acting: 90
Story: 88
Judgment: 87
Perp Profile
Studio: Universal
Video Formats:
* 2.20:1 Non-Anamorphic (1080p)
Audio Formats:
* DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio (English)
* DTS 5.1 Surround (French)
* English
* French
* Spanish
Running Time: 197 Minutes
Release Year: 1960
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13
Distinguishing Marks
* Re-Edited Scenes
* Featurette
* Interviews
* Newsreels
* Photo Galleries
* BD-Live
* IMDb
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Shaolin >
The Shaolin Temple (Chinese: 少林寺; pinyin: Shàolín Sì) is the birthplace of the Martial Arts and Chan approach to Buddhism. The original Shaolin temple is located in Mount Song (Simplified Chinese: 嵩山; Pinyin: Sōng Shān) - the central mountain of the "five sacred mountains" (simplified Chinese: 五岳; traditional Chinese: 五嶽; pinyin: Wǔyuè) of China, near Dengfeng (Chinese: 登封; pinyin: Dēngfēng), Henan (Chinese: 河南; pinyin: Hénán; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan) Province. The name "Shaolin" was inspired by the lush forest of the Shaoshi Mountain. Another story suggests that the temple was built on a piece of land that had recently been ravaged by fire, because the builders planted many new trees. The temple was thus named Shaolin ("Shao" meaning "young" or "new", and "Lin" meaning "forest").
This monastery played a prominent role in Chinese history. For many periods, it was considered to be an imperial temple where emperors of the ruling dynasty would ascend to pray on behalf of the people. However, its fame also brought with it many hardships. During periods of unrest, the temple often becomes a focus for the imperial wraith and retribution. The temple had been destroyed many times only to be rebuilt once again.
Historically, some of the best generals, ministers, poets and philosophers have passed through the gates of this monastery either as layman guests or following the Buddhist path. The Shaolin Temple can be considered to be both a focal point and an education center for some of China's elite. As such, the temple represents an important Chinese cultural landmark. The history of the Shaolin temple is long and controversial, but it is most important to acknowledge its impact on the Chinese population and the Martial Arts.
1. Bodhidharma
2. Ancient History
3. Modern History
4. Shaolin Now
The Shaolin temple was founded in the Northern Wei Dynasty (495 CE), Bodhidharma (Da Mo) arrived at the temple at 527 A.D and for the next thousand years contributed to Chinese civilization as well as struggle for its existence. The temple was destroyed several times only to be rebuilt again each time. According to the Shaolin Historical Records ( 少林寺志) and the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (AD 645) by Dàoxuān, the Shaolin Temple was built in the 19th year of the reign of Emperor Xiaowen (北魏孝文帝,Taihe) of Northern Wei Dynasty (北魏, pinyin: běi wèi, 386-534) in 495 AD for the eminent Indian monk, Bada (跋陀 Batuo, Moha, Pao Jaco) and his two Chinese disciples (Weiguang, Weineng). Bada was recognized as a Buddhist scholar in the Hinayana tradition-not as a martial artist. Any reference to the martial abilities of Bada, his students or the Shaolin temple at that time is conjecture at best. The Shaolin tradition recognized their contribution - the inscription '”Saint from the West”(西方圣人) is written on the signboard hung above the Thousand Buddha Hall in the Shaolin Temple.
Bodhidharma (DA MO, 达摩) is acknowledged as the First Patriarch of Chinese Chan Buddhism and is credited with providing the foundations for the Shaolin martial arts. Although his existence can always be questioned, the following information is generally accepted as historical fact. He was born to a Royal Family in Southern India around the year 440 CE. He studied under Prajnatara, the 27th Patriarch of Indian Buddhism. His teacher gave him the name Bodhidharma, past Mind Transmission on to him, and finally made him the 28th Patriarch. Prajnatara instructed him to transmit Dharma to China, and Bodhidharma traveled east to Guangzhou (Kwang Chou), Southern China, in 528 AD. He was initially honored and welcomed by the Chinese government and obtained an audience with Emperor Wu Di (梁武帝) of the Liang Dynasty (梁朝; Pinyin: Liáng cháo, 502-557). The emperor did not understand the teachings of Bodhidharma and did not retain his services.
Bodhidharma continued to travel north, crossed the Yangtzu River, and eventually arrived at the Shao Lin Temple. During his life he had very few disciples, only three of which have made it into the history books. Bodhidharma transmitted the patriarchy of his lineage to Huike (487-593) (Chinese:慧可; Chinese for short:慧可; pinyin: Huìkě; Wade-Giles: Hui-k’o; Japanese: Taiso Eka). Soon afterwards, Bodhidharma passed into Nirvana. He passed away at Longmen, (洛阳龙门, Luoyang) in 536 AD and was buried in Shon Er Shan (Bear Ear Mountain). A stupa was built for him in Pao Lin Temple. Later, the Tang dynasty Emperor, Dai Dzong, bestowed on Bodhidharma the name Yuen Che Grand Zen Master, and renamed his stupa Kong Kwan (Empty Visualization).
Many stories and legend have been told concerning the time that he spent at the Shaolin Temple:
• He entered the cave beneath the Wuru peak and sat before the cave wall for nine years. When the feat of cultivation, accomplished by facing the wall, was completed, his image incredibly appeared on the wall, hence the famous "wall-facing rock" which can still be seen today.
• When, during mediation he fell asleep, he was so angry with himself that he cut off his eyelids and flung them to the ground, where they became tea plants.
• He saw that many of the monks at the Shaolin temple were sick and weak and therefore could not perform their mediation. He introduced a set of exercises to improve their body and cultivate the spirit. Those sets of exercises are similar to the postures found in Yoga. They were recorded in two books: the Shi Sui Yin Gin Ching (洗髓易筋经, Marrow Washing Muscle Changing Exercises). This classic was first published and available to the public in 1624 and its authenticity has been strongly questioned.
• After his nine-year mediation, he introduced a new form of Buddhism - now known as Chan Buddhism, which appeals specifically to the Chinese mind.
• His student, Huike cut off his left arm and presented it to the First Patriarch as a token of his sincerity at which point Bodhidharma accepted him as a student and changed his name from Shenguang to Huike (“Wisdom and Capacity”).
• Few years after his death, a Chinese official reported encountering Bodhidharma in the mountains of Central Asia. Bodhidharma was reportedly carrying a staff from which hung a single sandal, and he told the official that he was on his way back to India. When this story reached his home, his fellow monks decided to open Bodhidharma's tomb. Inside there was nothing but a sandal. The sandal becomes a metaphor for Chan Buddhism.
Bodhidharma contributed to Chinese civilization in two different ways: the concept of Zen Buddhism changed Chinese philosophy, and the integration of mental training with physical training influenced the future of martial arts.
Ancient History (570 - 1911 CE)
Northern Zhou Dynasty (北周; 557 - 581 CE)
During the Northern Zhou Dynasty (Chinese:北周, 557 to 581 CE), the Imperial government was concerned with the spread of Buddhism. The authorities closed down the Shaolin Temple, and it remained closed for the next thirty years.
Tang Dynasty (唐朝; 618 - 907CE)
At the end of the Sui Dynasty (Chinese: 隋朝; pinyin: Suí cháo; 581-618 CE), Lǐ Shìmín (Chinese: 李世民) fought with the renegade general Wang Shichong (王世充). Legend recounts the story that Shaolin monks including Zhi Cao, Hui Yang, Tan Zong and ten other helped Li in his battles. After Lǐ Shìmín became the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty (Chinese: 唐朝; pinyin: Táng Cháo; 618 –907 CE), he rewarded his supporters according to their military merits and contributions. The Shaolin Temple was reopened and expands to 600 acres of land. The monks also received a royal dispensation that permitted them to train in martial arts in order to protect the property. This is often seen as the first government promotion of the martial culture within the temple. A new class of priest martial artists in the temple were created called Monk Soldiers (Chin.: sēngbīng 僧兵) and later as Warrior Monks (Chin.: Wǔsēng 武僧). Inside the Shaolin Monastery there is a stone tablet (Chin.: shíbēi 石碑) personally inscribed by second Tang emperor, Li Shimin, which honors the Shaolin monks for their aid in subduing the rebels. The 1979 movie, Shaolin Temple (少林寺) starring Jet Li is an account of this story.
Through the Tang dynasty, the fame of the Shaolin Temple grew through the insight of Chan thoughts as well as their expertise in the martial arts. Practitioners from all over China came to visit the temple both to understand the nature of Chan as well as experience the Shaolin martial arts. Not only the Monks but the laypersons that visited all contributed to the rich heritage of Shaolin.
Song Dynasty (宋朝; 960 - 1278 CE)
According to Shaolin history, during the Song Dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝; pinyin: Sòng Cháo; Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao; 960-1278 CE), Emperor Zhao Kuangyin (Chin.: Zhào Kuāngyìn 赵匡胤) studied at the temple. He also allowed his generals to contributed their knowledge and offer material to the Shaolin system. Emperor Zhao is created as the creator of the form called "Great Ancestral Long Boxing" (Chin.: Tàizǔ Chángquán 太祖长拳).The monk Jueyuan (Juéyuán Héshang 觉元和尚)) traveled on a pilgrimage across China to study the status of martial arts. During his travels, he encountered Li Sou (Chin.: Lǐ Sǒu 李叟), a famous martial artist from Lan Zhou, Li’s friend, Bai Yufeng (Chin.: Bái Yùfēng 白玉峰) and Bai's son. Jueyuan convinced the three martial artists to return and train at the Shaolin Temple. After ten years of study, Bai Yu-Feng entered the temple and took the name Qiu Yue Chan Shi. According to the book Shaolin Temple Record, Qiu Yue Chan Shi was described as an expert in bare-hand fighting and narrow-blade sword techniques. He was credited with the improvement of the 18 Buddha Hands techniques into 173 techniques. He also compiled the existing Shaolin techniques and wrote the book, The Essence of Five Fist. This book described the practice methods and applications of the Five Fist (Animal) Patterns. The five animals included: Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Panther, and Crane. Li Sou imparted his matching sets, named for the flowing characteristic of Shaolin, Small and Large Flood Boxing (Xiaohongquan & Dahongquan), as well as stick fighting (Chin.: gùnshù 棍术) and the art of joint-locking (Chin.: qínná 擒拿).
Yuan Dynasty (宋朝; 1960 - 1278 CE)
After the Mongol conquest of China and the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty (Chinese: 元朝; pinyin: Yuáncháo; Mongolian: Dai Ön Ulus/Дай Юан Улс, 1218-1368 CE), martial arts once again was suppressed and the activities of the Shaolin temple discouraged. The Shaolin temple continued to expand despite those repression. Shaolin Abbot Xueting Fuyu (Chin.: Xuětíng Fúyù 雪庭福裕, 1203-1275) personally invited many masters to train at the Temple. Near the end of this era, Shaolin Chan practice and martial arts training spread to Japan. In 1312 CE, Da Zhi (大智, 1290～1366), a Japanese monk, came to the Shaolin Temple to learn the nature of Chan. During the next 13 years, he also learned elements of the Shaolin martial arts (barehands and staff). In 1324 AD, he returned to Japan and became one of the founding members of Zen Buddhism. Dai Zhi’s visit was followed by Shao Yuan (邵元), another Japanese monk. He came to Shaolin in 1329 CE. During his stay, he mastered calligraphy, painting, Chan theory (i.e., known as Zen in Japan), and Shaolin martial arts. He returned to Japan in 1347 A.D. Shao Yuan is regard as a "Country Spirit" by the Japanese people.
Ming Dynasty (明朝; 1363 - 1644 CE)
Chinese society was in turmoil near the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang (Chinese: 朱元璋; Wade-Giles: Chu Yuan-chang) rebelled against the central authorities. Groups such as the Red Turban Army (Chinese: 紅巾軍) and the White Lotus society (白蓮教) turn arms against Mogol rule because of the high taxation and famine. Their eventual success in the establishment of the Ming Dynasty (Chinese: 明朝; pinyin: Míng Cháo, 1363-1644) re-established the glory of the Shaolin Temple. Both Zhu Yuanzhang and the rebel groups is Buddhist in philosophy, their military victories supported the martial arts background of the Shaolin temple. Like Lǐ Shìmín of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang supported and encourages the spread of Buddhism and the growth of the Shaolin temple. Much of the legend surrounding the Shaolin Temple originated in this era. A famous episode accounts how 500 warrior monks responded to imperial decree to protect against the Japanese pirates (Chin.: wōkòu 倭寇), and over 1,000 more were reserve forces at the Shaolin Monastery. Famous monks as Yuekong (Chin.: Yuèkōng 月空) led the Sengbing against the Japanese pirates.
Ming Dynasty (清朝; 1644 - 1912 CE)
The Ming dynasty fell to a foreign power, the Manchus, a tribe in Northeastern China. The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: 清朝; pinyin: Qīng cháo; Wade-Giles: Ch'ing ch'ao; Manchu: Daicing gurun.png) was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912. Like the Yuan Dynasty, the Ching government banned the practice of martial arts for fear of rebellion. The Shaolin Temple suffered from their persecution. During this era, the Shaolin temple was thought to be destroyed by the central authorities only to be repaired. The martial art community including the Shaolin Temple rallied to the slogan "overthrow the Qing, restore the Ming" (Chin.: Fǎn Qīng fù Míng 反清复明), and thus the imperial court repeatedly issued edicts prohibiting Wugong training. According to legend, branches of the Shaolin Temple were secretly established in the South and offered refuge to many rebels. There were many stories of rebellion lead by formal members of the Shaolin Temple. The legend of the Five Elders of Southern Shaolin Kungfu fame is a popular example.
Modern History (1911 - Present)
The turn of the century marks the end of the Dynastic era of Chinese History. The new Republican government (1912-1945) actively encourages to strengthen the Chinese identity. Martial arts were considered to be one example of Chinese culture and this led to the popularization of the Shaolin story. One of the earliest references to "DaMo" or Bodhidharma was in a widely popular novel, "The Travels of Lao Ts'an" (The Travels of the Old Vagabond, 老残游记) by Liu E (simplified Chinese: 刘鹗; traditional Chinese: 劉鶚; pinyin: Liú è, 18 October 1857 — 23 August 1909). This was a satirically description of the rise of the Boxers in the countryside and a commentary on the absurdities of the Chinese government at that time. However, some of his fictitious accounts are now accepted as historical truths. Other stories followed, including: "Shaolin School Methods", in a Shanghai newspaper in 1910, and "Secrets of Shaolin Boxing" in 1919. These works of fiction contributed to some of the mystique and popular misconception of the art.
The Shaolin Temple itself could escape while China was in Turmoil during the Warlord Era (1916-1928). Abbot Shi Henglin (Chin.: Shì Hénglín 释恒林, 1865-1923) at that time led a small regiment of Sengbing to pacify the area. His actions brought him into conflict with the regional Warlord Shi Yousan (Chin.: Shí Yǒusān 石友三). In 1928, Shi You-San's razed the Shaolin Temple. The damage was extensive with the fire lasting for more than 40 days, and all the major buildings were destroyed.
When the People's Republic of China was established, all religion was outlawed. This also applied to the functions within the Shaolin walls. The treatment of the Shaolin legacy was even worst during the wide spread social and political upheaval of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (simplified Chinese: 无产阶级文化大革命; traditional Chinese: 無產階級文化大革命; pinyin: Wúchǎn Jiējí Wénhuà Dà Gémìng; literally "Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution"; or simply Cultural Revolution; abbreviated in Chinese as 文化大革命 or 文革) . The Red Guards (simplified Chinese: 红卫兵; traditional Chinese: 紅衛兵; pinyin: Hóng Wèi Bīng) who were composed mainly of students and other young people were mobilized by Mao Zedong to completely eradicate the 'Four Olds' of Chinese society (old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas). This political movement succeeded in destroying many of the most famous sites through out China and set back the intellectual development of China for more than a generation. The Shaolin Temple suffered tremendously during this period of madness. In 1966 and 1967, the Red Guards destroyed the remaining buildings, statues, and relics at the temple. Six monks out of fifty remained to protect temple and suffered as a result of the Red Guard's abuses. They were former abbot Shi Xingzheng (释行正 ; 1914-1987), Shi Wanheng, Shi Suxi (釋素喜), Shu Suyun, Shi Dechan (释德禅) and Shi Miaoxing. Those monks were shackled and forced to wear humiliating placards acknowledging their misdeeds. They were publicly flogged and paraded through streets in humiliation. After being beaten and jailed, the monks had to beg for food and hide in the mountains surrounding the temple. Despite their hardships, they tried to covertly affect what repairs they could on the few remaining buildings of Shaolin Temple.
The revival of the Shaolin Temple only began as Chinese society recovered from this period of unrest. By 1980, Deng Xiaoping (simplified Chinese: 邓小平; traditional Chinese: 鄧小平; pinyin: Dèng Xiǎopíng; Wade-Giles: Teng Hsiao-p'ing; 22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) finally became the leader of China. He advocated a new era of economic reforms and openness. This includes acknowledging the value of China’s cultural heritage. As part of this open policy, private enterprises and tourism was encouraged.
Shaolin Temple Today
The revival of the Shaolin temple can be attributed to the start of the production of the movie “The Shaolin Temple”. This movie was a Hong Kong production that for the first time included an all mainland Chinese cast as well as help from Japanese Shorinji Kempo association. In 1979, invited by the Chinese Government, So Doshin (Doshin So (宗道臣, 1911-1980), the founder of Shorinji Kempo (少林寺拳法, Shōrinji Kenpō) in Japan, visited the Shaolin Temple for the first time. He erected a stele on the temple grounds and played homage to the birth place of his martial arts. The movie Shaolin Temple finally released in 1982 starring five-time all-around national Wushu champion, Jet Li. It proved to be a resounding success and rekindled the public’s interest in Shaolin Martial Arts.
By the middle of the 1980’s, there were many martial arts schools teaching the Shaolin method to the public. The most notable of those schools are headed by Chen Tongshan (陈同山), Liang Yiquan (梁以全) and Liu Baoshan (刘宝山). Events were changing much slower within the Shaolin temple. In 1979, the Shaolin Monastery set up the Shaolin Wugong Team (Chin.: Shàolín Wǔgōngduì 少林武功队), to be the "dissemination team" (Chin.: xuānchuánduì 宣传队, later, changed to "Shaolin Monastery Warrior Monk Regiment" (Chin.: Shàolínsì Wǔsēngtuán 少林寺武僧团) for the temple- performing Wugong to create interest in the Shaolin Culture and spread the Dharma.
In 1984, a Chinese documentary of Hai Deng (Chinese: 海灯法师; pinyin: Hăi Dēng Făshī; Wade-Giles: Hai Têng Fa-shih; reportedly 1902–January 11, 1989) the 32nd abbot of Shaolin Temple made him one of the most famous modern monks in China. This paved the way for his visit to the USA in 1985. The world got to see a demonstration of his one figure Chan – a technique where he supported most of his body weight on one finger. It would be 1992 before a full contingent of Shaolin monks visited the United States.
Today there are approximated 300 ordained monks (Chin.: Héshang 和尚) at the Shaolin Temple of which only 100 or so know or study the martial arts. This is a reminded that at the root of Shaolin practice is Buddhism and that martial arts is only one technique to achieve those goals.The Shaolin Temple itself has been awarded the honor of being a UNESCO world heritage site and the area is a popular tourist destination. The Shaolin Temple organization are also establishing branch schools in other nations to promote the Shaolin practice.
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Critical views of science in the news
Did Sherlock Holmes Believe in God?
I've become, belatedly, a Sherlock Holmes groupie. I dig the BBC series Sherlock, starring the suddenly ubiquitous Benedict Cumberbatch, and the American series Elementary (which I prefer--Lucy Liu is the best Watson ever).
Sherlock Holmes, in "The Naval Treaty," suggests that a rose might be evidence of "the goodness of Providence."
I've also been plowing through "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" on my Kindle. The stories can get a little formulaic, but Arthur Conan Doyle has a knack for sticking oddities into his narratives to keep us on our toes. Take, for example, "The Naval Treaty," about diplomatic hugger-mugger. Interviewing a young diplomat, Holmes suddenly spots a rose decorating the man's apartment and exclaims, "What a lovely thing a rose is!"
Holmes, whose gargantuan intelligence focuses obsessively on solving crimes (he is interested in science only insofar as it furthers this goal), has never evinced "any keen interest in natural objects," Watson notes. Watson is even more startled when Holmes, after picking up the rose, delivers the following monologue:
Holmes is alluding to what I call the problem of beauty. As I have explained previously, the problem of evil prevents me from believing in God, or at least an all-powerful God who gives a damn about us. But the problem of beauty keeps me from being an adamant atheist. If reality results from sheer coincidence, why is it often so heartbreakingly lovely? As the great physicist Steven Weinberg, an atheist if ever there was one, once wrote, sometimes nature "seems more beautiful than strictly necessary."
My guess is that the hyper-empirical Holmes, if pressed, would say that he is an agnostic, because there is insufficient evidence for either belief or disbelief in a Creator. (Holmes is more rational than his own creator, Conan Doyle, who after the death of his wife and other loved ones consoled himself by believing in ghosts.)
I plan to raise the question of Holmes's religiosity when psychologist and New Yorker blogger Maria Konnikova visits my school this Wednesday, March 5. Konnikova is giving a talk (free and open to all) about her bestselling book Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. If anyone can solve "The Mystery of the Rose-Sniffing Rationalist," she can.
Illustration of Sherlock Holmes from "The Strand" magazine, 1914, via Toronto Public Library and Wikimedia Commons,,_2012.jpg.
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need advice
bernadettebanks posted:
I have stage two kidney disease and have been on a diet so it does not get any worse, and have not had any alcohol. But this Saturday I had a few drinks, Sunday morning i woke up in pain, my right kidney, also had a huge bruise over the area also. It is now Monday and I'm still in pain. There is no blood in my urine, still alot of pain. Not sure what to do...should I see my doctor or wait to see if it goes away on it's own...
P.S. no i did not fall
john-skpt responded:
It's hard to conceive of chronic renal disease of any sort being the direct cause of bleeding or bruising.
What might be going on is that your hemoglobin and hematocrit are lowered due to renal disease, thus making the blood a bit "thinner" and making a bruise easier. Still, early renal disease does not generally affect hematocrit all that much.
So it is up to you whether to wait a bit or see the doc. But the bruising is unusual if you are absolutely certain that you didn't bump into something that might have caused the bruise. It probably is worth checking out in more detail.
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I am experiencing pain in my left side after a grueling 12 hour drive. The car was not user friendly. Could this be a brusied kidney?
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Why You Shouldn't Be Too Quick to Cheer Self-Driving Cars
One of the clear automotive technology trends at CES this year is cars that drive themselves. From Audi to Lexus to Ford, the world's largest car companies are beginning to follow Google's lead in an effort to produce cars smart enough to drive themselves. The thought is that autonomous cars will reduce the number of traffic deaths—more than 100 people per day, currently—while simultaneously allowing car owners to do more productive things on their car trips, like work or read. All of this sounds magical, especially to a traffic-jammed Angeleno like myself, but let's get real: How soon do we actually think state and federal legislators are going to cotton to the idea of robot cars all over the roads?
To be sure, self-driving consumer cars will initially be prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of drivers (some guess costlier than a Ferrari), but if that price point comes down, expect them to be as prevalent as hybrids are today. The one thing standing in the way of that prevalence, of course, could be legal hang-ups.
Optimists will tell you that robot cars have already breezed into street-legality in Nevada, Florida, and California. And that's true—but in each case they did so conditionally, and with a whole lot of uncertainty still lingering over their futures. For instance, in all three states, a self-driving car must at all times be operated by an in-car driver, but how vigilant that driver should be is still a gray area. Under Nevada's law, anyone operating a "driverless" car is, unlike regular drivers, allowed to text. They are not allowed to drink alcohol, however, meaning that Nevada thinks self-driving cars should allow people freedom to not pay attention—but only to a certain point.
Further complicating things is who will be at fault in the likely event that autonomous cars are imperfect and get into accidents. Say a self-driving car on its way to pick up its owner were to blow through a red light—who would pay the ticket for that violation? The owner? The car manufacturer? The people who wrote the navigation software? This sort of query gets even thornier as the potential problems get more harmful: Who is liable if an autonomous car rear ends a standard car with a driver? Will the robot always be implicated? Worse still, what if a malfunctioning robot car veers momentarily onto a sidewalk and kills a kid? Who will pay for that tragedy?
Unfortunately, despite the huge number of very serious questions people have about what sort of laws will eventually govern autonomous cars, some politicians refuse to even acknowledge such issues exist. In October of last year, when California Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill paving the way for legal self-driving cars in California, a reporter posed the question of who would be held responsible if a robot car indeed ran a red light. The governor dismissed the question as being stupid and simple. "I don't know—whoever owns the car, I would think. But we will work that out," he said. "That will be the easiest thing to work out."
I don't know what kind of government bureaucracy Governor Brown is used to, but from what I've seen of the American political system, very few policy questions are "easy" anymore, especially not ones relating to emerging technologies and public safety. To be sure, cars that can drive themselves will be amazing, and I look forward to one day programming a Prius to come pick me up from the airport or a bar at last call. But it's probably best to hold off on celebrating the coming fleets of robot cars until we have a serious conversation about the rules and regulations that will almost surely slow their public adoption, if not halt it entirely for years.
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Plugin Directory
Fanplayr Social Coupons
Add Fanplayr to your WP-eCommerce store to grow your email marketing list, create social referral traffic and increase sales.
What is the cost of using Fanplayr?
Fanplayr can be used with our free plan. For more information please see http://fanplayr.com
Can I use Fanplayr without this plugin?
Yes you can. The plugin does make it easier to integrate your WordPress / WP-eCommerce site with Fanplayr.
Can I use Fanplayr with WordPress, but without WP-eCommerce?
Yes you can. You will not get automatic addition of collected coupon codes to your users carts. We also may not be able to offer support for use with other non-WP-eCommerce stores.
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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Jetstream Sam Review
Though Raiden's adventure may be over, Platinum Games and Konami are keeping Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance going with new downloadable content featuring some of his co-stars. The first add-on gives us a look at Desperado assassin Jetstream Sam, and tells the story of how he came to be a mercenary for hire. Unfortunately, it's not a very interesting tale.
Jetstream Sam's story picks up a short time before the beginning of Metal Gear Rising. Sam has decided to infiltrate World Marshal headquarters in Colorado as part of a training exercise/job interview. It's all very unclear why he's cutting down all these mercenaries employed by Desperado, when in fact he's thinking about joining up with the group. Usually Metal Gear games are over-explained to the point of tedium, but in this downloadable content the story is so bare bones, you wonder if anyone at Platinum or Kojima Productions actually knows Jetstream Sam's backstory and motivations. Part of what made the idea of this DLC so appealing was getting to live a few hours in the shoes of Rising's most compelling antagonist. Sadly, you get more substance from his few appearances in the main game than you do from the hour or so you'll spend with this add-on.
Just because there isn't much meat to Jetstream Sam's story doesn't mean the combat doesn't once again deliver. Sam plays quite differently from Raiden, and it will take some adjustment to get used to the new flavor his moveset brings to the game. His parrying window is shorter (almost to the point of frustration), his attacks are slower, and he doesn't get to use any primary weapons outside of his Muramasa blade. Sam is much quicker to evade, and has new charging attacks to use. This is a character about finesse and patience, whereas even the luckiest button-mashers could make decent progress with Raiden. Trying that same tactic with Sam will almost instantly lead to your obliteration at the hands of Desperado.
It certainly makes playing as Sam somewhat worthwhile, as you can tell a lot of time went into making him a fully realized combatant, even if the same couldn't be said for his character. There are few things as satisfying as completing a nice combo of attacks, and stunning your foes long enough to pull off one of Sam's charged slices. If you time your attacks well, you can absolutely demolish and destroy any enemy in your path with great ease. Miss a parry or two, and forget to dodge, and you'll be restarting checkpoint after checkpoint.
Along Sam's journey, you'll travel through some very similar areas, as the entire add-on is just retreads of Revengeance's levels at World Marshal HQ. Even the boss battles are set to wash, rinse, repeat. First you'll take on LQ-84i (aka Blade Wolf), then Metal Gear Ray, and it all culminates in a throwdown with the Senator. It really is a shame the only new ground uncovered is with Sam's combat, as at least one new fresh area or face could have made all the difference.
Considering how little new content there is in Jetstream Sam, it's tough to recommend this DLC to anyone that isn't an absolute die-hard completionist. It's moderately fun, but doesn't do anything drastically different from the core game, and almost makes Sam himself a bit of a disappointment. Even with a few new VR missions to unlock, there's just not enough here to be excited about.
This review is based on the PlayStation 3 version of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Jetstream Sam. A code was provided to us by the publisher.
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As Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor shows, law is not science
on June 05, 2009 at 5:53 AM, updated March 31, 2010 at 5:35 PM
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor visiting lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Law is not engineering. On an Engineering Supreme Court composed of nine qualified professional engineers, decisions would practically always be unanimous.
But in law we get a lot of 5-4 decisions -- because issues are not clear-cut, especially in cases that make it to the appellate courts.
And the decision-makers bring different backgrounds and ideologies into the mix.
That's what is so laughable about the opinions of right-wing spinmeisters who denounce Judge Sonia Sotomayor for suggesting that her life experience is relevant to deciding cases. She is not supposed to bring her own views into the case -- she's just supposed to decide cases "according to the law." As if legal principles could be reduced to algebraic formulas.
It was the iconic Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who once pronounced that "the life of the law is not logic, it is experience." So a judge's experience is clearly relevant to how she or he resolves complicated cases.
Let me personalize the discussion. As a young man, I was, pardon the expression, a community organizer in my native Baltimore, which back then was a totally segregated city. My comrades and I proselytized for integration -- in the parks, schools, recreation program, theaters, lunch counters.
We had little money and minimal resources. We spread our message by cranking out flyers on an old-fashioned mimeograph machine (this was before photocopiers) and distributing them door-to-door, on busy street corners or at large public gatherings. It was what is often referred to as grass-roots organizing.
Thus, when years later I became a lawyer and teacher of constitutional law, I had great sympathy for poorly financed public advocates who could not afford radio or television advertising or even mass mailings to communicate with their audience. My personal experience helped me to convince the New Jersey Supreme Court that in order to really protect freedom of speech, it was necessary to require privately owned shopping malls to allow leafleting and petitioning on their property, since they were among the few venues left where large numbers of people could be communicated with inexpensively.
Similarly, it made me a better advocate for environmental groups that wished to canvass door to door until 9 o'clock at night despite local ordinances which prohibited such activity. As I explained to the court, there were just not enough people at home to make daytime solicitations economically feasible. The United States Court of Appeals in Philadelphia accepted my free-speech argument in the face of an earlier opinion which had upheld identical ordinances in Pennsylvania.
I am sure that my personal experiences made me a much more convincing advocate on behalf of grass-roots organizations. And if I had ever become a judge, it would certainly have influenced my interpretation of constitutional provisions protecting freedom of speech. And that is precisely what Justice Holmes was talking about.
Which brings us back to Judge Sotomayor, whose job on the Supreme Court will be to give meaning to concepts such as equal protection of the laws and due process. Is her experience growing up in a Bronx housing project as the daughter of Puerto Rican parents likely to provide her with a different interpretation of such abstract ideals than a privileged white male who grew up in relative luxury? Of course it is.
Did Thurgood Marshall, who was denied admission to the University of Maryland Law School because he was black, bring a unique view of race and discrimination to our high court that informed his opinions? And did Justice Ruth Ginsburg, who was offered only secretarial jobs by law firms after graduating at the top of her classes at Harvard and Columbia law schools, bring a different view of gender roles to judicial deliberations? Obviously these are rhetorical questions.
Sonia Sotomayor can only bring a breath of fresh air -- and fresh viewpoints -- to the hallowed, but somewhat antiseptic, halls of the United States Supreme Court.
Frank Askin is professor of law and director of the Constitutional Litigation Clinic at Rutgers Law School/Newark.
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Discuss as:
Congress: Something to agree on?
The AP: "President Barack Obama as well as Democratic liberals and moderates all found something to like Wednesday in an emerging compromise to expand the role of government in the nation's health care system, raising hopes inside the party that passage of overhaul legislation might be within reach after a struggle lasting decades. The same plan drew critics, though -- and the threat of more opponents once closely held details become widely known."
"Liberal and centrist senators at the center of the healthcare debate bought themselves more time Wednesday, saying they would decide how to vote after they saw the bill's final price tag," The Hill adds. "Centrist Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and other senators emphasized they are withholding any promises until they hear from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) about the cost of the new proposals."
The Washington Post: "Industry groups representing doctors and hospitals attacked one of the alternatives in the deal, designed to take the place of a proposed government-run insurance program, in the hours after Senate leaders announced it Tuesday night. They argued that a plan by liberal Democrats to allow uninsured individuals as young as 55 to buy into Medicare would be financially untenable and would jeopardize access to health-care services for millions of Americans."
The New York Daily News on the deal: For seniors, Medicare is a popular program… But those in the 55-64 age bracket would have to pay more -- a lot more -- especially if the program is launched in 2011, as the Democratic senators' plan envisions."
"A California congressman is dropping his effort to honor Tiger Woods with a Congressional Gold Medal," the AP says. "Democratic Rep. Joe Baca proposed legislation in March that called for the golfer to be recognized for promoting good sportsmanship and breaking down barriers in the sport." Whoops. So much for that.
The House Homeland Security Committee voted by a vote of 26-3 to subpoena the Salahis, the couple that crashed the state dinner. The subpoena mandates that they appear on Jan. 20, 2010, which happens to be the one-year anniversary of Barack Obama's inauguration. Mark your calendars. By the way, an amendment to subpoena White House social secretary Desiree Rogers, introduced by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), was defeated.
"The House voted Wednesday to slap higher taxes on Wall Street investment managers to help pay to extend $31 billion in tax breaks for Americans, including popular deductions for local and state sales and property taxes," the AP reports.
"Black lawmakers who have held their tongues during most of President Barack Obama's first year in office are stepping up their demands that the nation's first black president do more for minority communities hit hardest by the recession. While still careful about criticizing Obama publicly, they appear to be losing their patience after a year of watching him dedicate trillions of dollars to prop up banks and corporations and fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while double-digit unemployment among blacks crept even higher.
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The Official Site of the Philadelphia Eagles
Offensive Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg
Posted Nov 2, 2012
Opening Remarks: "A little wrap-up of the last game, (I'm) disappointed that we lost the ballgame. We did some things reasonably well. Certainly disappointed. We all are disappointed in several things. Some of the things we did well: the turnovers, the red zone. Two-for-three; we've been doing pretty good there. The third downs were reasonably good. We need a couple extra, especially early in that ballgame. There were several things (that we were) disappointed in; the main being the end of the game scenario. We hung in and hung in. Things weren't going our way; hung in, hung in, hung in and then we cut that thing to 13 (points) and we get the ball back with about five and half minutes (remaining). We didn't do some things the right way, and we have a chance. Now, odds were against us and all those things, (but) we've been there before and overcome those types of things. So we've got to play better there. The biggest reason we're disappointed is because we've been very good in those situations at the end of games and we failed to accomplish much at all. Now, some other things: (we had) second-and-one, two or three, several times, I believe three times and we gained zero or went backwards. We overcame it several times; we overcame it, but we must be able to pick up those second-and-short and mediums in the running game. And there's many other things that we've got to get better at.
"Now, let's move on to New Orleans. Man, I'm excited. I know our players are excited to go down there to New Orleans and play on Monday Night Football. We've got several things that we're working hard on the field and preparing hard to get better with before this ballgame kicks off Monday night. They've been struggling just a little bit, a little bit more than a little bit on defense and I'm sure they're working hard to get some of these things corrected."
On why the offense has struggled to get things going early in games: "Well, we've been working on that and, you know, our second drive there, we scored. That first drive; everyone's specifically individual depending on game or play. That was one of those third downs I thought we should have had. Well, there's no question if we simply execute the way we're supposed to. But, certainly, our staff has looked at that and we did score on the second drive so we're think that that'll be a little bit better as we move along. We've been excellent in the second and third quarters and then at the end of games, so we need to play at a higher level on more of a consistent basis."
On whether he is worried about how QB Michael Vick is looking to become less conservative on offense: "No, we've talked about that. You're exactly right. That's necessary. Our whole offensive team, you know our mentality. We've talked about that before. We want to be aggressive, aggressive, aggressive; unafraid to make a mistake. When we make a mistake, we admit it, we find a solution, we correct it and we move on and it's that simple. Now, there's reasons why these things occur. Excellence is all about attitude and a certain mentality and so, we've discussed that as a unit and that is important; that attitude and that certain mentality that you were talking about."
On whether he thought the aggressive attitude was missing during the past few games: "I thought at a certain point in that ballgame, I'm not sure it was missing, but we needed more of it. I'm talking about that certain mentality and that attitude. You understand, I'm disappointed because we hung in there and hung in there when things aren't going right and that's typically what you do. Then, you give yourselves a chance to win at the end and we didn't get that thing done. So, right there is where you need it. You need it all the time, but right there. I'm not talking just about me; we're all disappointed as an offensive unit about that."
On how he found the attitude that he thought was missing: "Well, some things are unexplainable, but we talked about it; it's a certain attitude that we are the baddest men on the field and that mentality that we're going to be aggressive, aggressive, aggressive and it's just that simple."
On whether there has been an emphasis on Vick running the ball more: "That's got to flow naturally though, where he moves and/or runs when he's forced. Otherwise, we'll stay with the play and we got away from that just a little bit that last ballgame. We had, certainly, some opportunities to be just a little bit more explosive and against certain teams, you're only going to get a certain amount of chances and we failed to do that."
On the trouble with players recognizing late safety blitzes: "Really, I believe we're in the top ten against the blitz as far as passing, as far as rating and all those type of things. You can figure it out a million different ways. However, at the end of that ballgame, these were a couple of things that we've seen time and time again and done it in the past and we didn't get it done. Very simple; it's a very simple adjustment there. So, we've already talked about that. That was one of the things I was disappointed in there. We've got to be able to catch the football, we've got to be able to do some simple adjustments to pick some safety-type blitzes and some delayed-type blitzes up. It's just that simple."
On whether he is surprised that the offense had trouble picking up the blitzes late in the game: "Well, we've seen it all the time. It's just very simple things. We talked about that just a minute ago about playing at a high level, because, look, we did some very good things. But we've got to do them each and every time and so we've got to play at that high level on a consistent basis."
On how a lack of success in the run game can affect how you call a game on offense: "I thought we were in a pretty good rhythm. Now, we've got to execute just a little bit better on a couple of those. We had some drives; I think we scored on the first three out of six possessions. We've got to be better than that and we've just got to play at a higher level on a consistent basis. As far as the (play calling), you like to pick it up on second-and-short and these type of things in the running game. We did some good things, but we we're down trying to get that thing back within two scores and then ultimately one score and then try to win the ballgame. So, we've got to run the ball on a more consistent high level."
On whether he sees the potential of T/G Dennis Kelly securing the right guard job: "Well, I know this, that he's got a bright future and I know this, that he's going to end up being a heck of a football player. And then we'll see when other men get healthy and these type of things."
On whether Kelly looks better at guard than he did at tackle: "I do know he's got the ability to play both. He certainly can play the guard position and I believe he's got enough athleticism, certainly, to play on the edge as well. Now, he's got a long way to go. He's busting in here, preparing and trying to get better and all those things. Now, people have got some film on him so that's a great challenge right there for him."
On how he would assess Vick at this point in the season: "There's some great things that he's done. He's led us to three late, fourth-quarter, come-from-behind victories and there was another game that he led us to a lead fairly late in the game. So, that part has been excellent and Mike simply needs to play at that high level on a consistent basis, play in and play out."
On whether he believes that the talk of replacing Vick has affected his play during practice or in meetings: "Well, I'm not going to get into the private conversations and we've had certainly a couple of them as of late. Mike was very honest and I think that was important and I believe he addressed that. I'm not sure, but secondhand, I heard he has addressed that. So my point is, for all of our players, we want to play at a high level on a consistent basis and we want to have that attitude and that certain mentality that we've always discussed and had here. We typically have it; we've gone through some hard times as a ballclub in the past and then have come out of it and played well down the stretch. Well, last year, it was too late when we put it all together. We've got put it together now. We've got to get going here."
On how much of a focus or distraction the Vick situation presents for him: "Very little. I will say this, that there are some players that can't play in this city. It's that simple, and then the tough guys, both physically and mentally, can thrive playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and this city. You know, I've been here a while now and I've grown to love and respect our fans. They are passionate. It's almost like, hey, they can say anything they want about their players, but no one else can. We understand that and it's just very simple that outside influences distract us zero. It's that simple and I've talked about that a little bit, generally, here with that certain attitude and that certain mentality."
On how Saints defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's defensive philosophy has evolved: "Well, it has evolved, and that's a good point because he's had a different sort of players at every different spot. Now, it's very, very similar, his system. He's got the system, but what he does during a particular ballgame against a particular opponent may be very different because of the personnel that he has and he's got an awful lot of scheme. So, we're working hard to prepare for all of that and we have certainly some thoughts on how to attack his scheme."
On why the running game has been less impactful and whether he would like to get RB LeSean McCoy more involved: "Well, that was a misnomer back with (QB Jeff) Garcia; we threw the ball just as much as we did before. We just ran the ball just a little bit better when Jeff played or it was very, very close. It was like one run more a game, but we were leading in those games as well. But anyways, that's years ago and Jeff was a heck of a player. The running game is important. It's important to do in a physical manner and we've done some very good things in the running game. I think LeSean's over 500 yards and reasonably good yards per carry, all those things. We've got to do it at a high level on a more consistent basis and that will certainly calm some other things down."
On how the team can be more aggressive without creating more turnovers and allowing the quarterback to get hit more: "Every game is an individual specific. Now, we're always aggressive. I'm just talking about that aggressive mentality and that makes you just a little bit more dynamic. I know what you're saying; however, the last ballgame, I thought we were just a little bit too careful with our mentality and it's just that simple. We've got to play loose and free and we've talked about that. Just simply unafraid to make a mistake; if we make one, we correct it. It's that simple and certainly that mentality will help us just a little bit with some of our dynamic ability there."
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So recently our commercial kitchen got some bunches of bananas with a curious feature. On the inside they were firm and delicious (no jokes, please), on the outside they looked incredibly sickly. Specifically, they had this grey/green/brownish yellow with lots of black spots, some of them with depth.
Situational details: these are Cavendish bananas, and a weekend of ripening in the open air did nothing for them.
This got us curious about the mechanisms of banana ripening - it's clearly not as closely related to how good the banana is to eat as we previously thought! Can someone explain it more?
share|improve this question
closed as too localized by terdon, MattDMo, Mad Scientist Feb 5 '13 at 12:43
Check the situational details I just added. – rsegal Feb 4 '13 at 19:45
Ah, not Canarian then. In any case, this question is not really on topic here as it has nothing to do with the underlying biology. I would suggest,however, that you have one half-opened banana, allowing your customers to see that the inside is fine despite the blemishes. If you place the peeled banana next to the others, your customers should see that they should never judge a banana from its peel! – terdon Feb 4 '13 at 19:49
I couldn't find a cooking/culinary/restaurant .SE, so I posted it here as the most relevant field. – rsegal Feb 4 '13 at 19:50
Yes, indeed, and you took pains to politely acknowledge the possibility of its not being on topic. My last comment was not a complaint. You could try your luck over at cooking.SE. – terdon Feb 4 '13 at 19:57
@rsegal (can I recommend you change this question completely to ask "what are the mechanisms which cause fruit to ripen?" or something along those lines) – rg255 Feb 4 '13 at 21:31
Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.
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Seneca is a city in Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,652 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Seneca Micropolitan Statistical Area (population 66,215 according to year 2000 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau), an (MSA) which includes all of Oconee County and which is further included in the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina Combined Statistical Area (population 1,185,534 according to year 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates). The Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate for 2004, former United States Senator from North Carolina, John Edwards, was born in Seneca. The city is the current home of United States Senator Lindsey Graham. It was named for the nearby Cherokee town of Isunigu, known to the English as "Seneca Town".
Agriculture Law Lawyers In Seneca South Carolina
What is agriculture law?
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Coming Out Swinging
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is often described, not entirely without reason, as a somewhat passive and non-confrontational leader — an accidental politician, with the real strings being pulled, behind the scenes, by Sonia Gandhi. (Manmohan may wear the Pagri, but Sonia wears the pants, as it were.)
However, in the speech he gave yesterday in the Indian Parliament before the Confidence Vote (which the UPA government won, by about 20 votes), Manmohan Singh showed no signs of meekness or passivity. Indeed, his take-down of BJP leader L.K. Advani is rhetorically ferocious. I was impressed:
“The Leader of Opposition, Shri L.K. Advani has chosen to use all manner of abusive objectives to describe my performance. He has described me as the weakest Prime Minister, a nikamma PM, and of having devalued the office of PM. To fulfill his ambitions, he has made at least three attempts to topple our government. But on each occasion his astrologers have misled him. This pattern, I am sure, will be repeated today. At his ripe old age, I do not expect Shri Advani to change his thinking. But for his sake and India’s sake, I urge him at least to change his astrologers so that he gets more accurate predictions of things to come.
As for Shri Advani’s various charges, I do not wish to waste the time of the House in rebutting them. All I can say is that before leveling charges of incompetence on others, Shri Advani should do some introspection. Can our nation forgive a Home Minister who slept when the terrorists were knocking at the doors of our Parliament? Can our nation forgive a person who single handedly provided the inspiration for the destruction of the Babri Masjid with all the terrible consequences that followed? To atone for his sins, he suddenly decided to visit Pakistan and there he discovered new virtues in Mr. Jinnah. Alas, his own party and his mentors in the RSS disowned him on this issue. Can our nation approve the conduct of a Home Minister who was sleeping while Gujarat was burning leading to the loss of thousands of innocent lives? Our friends in the Left Front should ponder over the company they are forced to keep because of miscalculations by their General Secretary. (link)
Unfortunately, I gather the din was too great for the speech to actually be heard. But hey, at least he tried to say it.
In terms of content, the only thing that seems off key here is the reference to Advani’s “ripe old age” — I’m not sure that a 75 year old man can really get away with that comment! (Advani, for reference, is even older — about 81.)
The rest of the speech (read it here in its entirety) is more focused on substantively defending the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal and the general policies of the current government. It is, by comparison to the above, a bit dull… but necessary.
In the interest of opposing dullness, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the second remarkable thing that happened in the chaotic Parliamentary session yesterday:
bjp lok sabha.jpg
3 BJP MPs disrupted the session when they pulled wads of Rupees out of a bag, and claimed they had been paid to abstain from voting. (A video clip of the event can be seen here.)
The allegations are going to be investigated, of course, but my instinct is that it smells like a stunt. The three MPs say they met Amar Singh, who told them “we can’t give you very much money to abstain, because we have the votes to sustain the government.” That sounds like B.S. (why would the SP bother with bribes if the vote was already secure?). And the story of how they were actually physically given the money is also a bit questionable (see this report). Finally, they claim they have video proving the bribe took place — but where is that video? Why didn’t they leak that to the media as well?
Of course, if it comes out that there’s hard evidence supporting the claims of vote-buying, the currently fragile UPA government probably really will fall. And the government falls because they really did buy votes and abstentions this nakedly, I for one won’t be particularly sorry about it.
In the meanwhile, 8 BJP MPs have been expelled from the party for defying leadership, when they either abstained from voting or voted cross-party for the bill. And the Samajwadi Party has filed a procedural complaint (“breach of privilege”) against the 3 BJP MPs who pulled the stunt.
160 thoughts on “Coming Out Swinging
1. Addendum: I’m not trying to give blanket support for every Israeli action. The Jews who claim that Israel is being “victimized by savage Arabs” are usually the same ones who either ignore or are indifferent to civilians killed by the IDF. It’s clear that neither side has the moral high ground, and that neither care much about civilian casualties (a dead Arab is “collateral damage” or “possible terrorist” and a dead Jew is a “dead Zionist” or “future baby killer”), which is why comparing the situation to actual cases of atrocities is incorrect.
2. Its good to see so many desis here so animated about a debate so far away and so removed from their day to day life. Unless there are some nuclear engineers here who are going to gain from this. As we say in India this is “good time-pass” reading (and writing).
Amardeep, you have child-like innocence if you believe that there was no money exchanged here. Was it a stunt by BJP – absolutely. I think that was the objective. So you can have the stunt and at the same time it is also possible that Congress/SP managers were trapped by their own designs. As for the tape, there is one and it was submitted to the speaker by CNN-IBN. Will it show absolutely that a particular individual of a particular party was involved – i doubt it. It will however raise enough stink to show that the vote was not clean. Another point is about the journalistic ethics of the TV channel who refused to show it. You can google several articles on this aspect of why the channel failed to show the tape. I think finally whatever evidence is their will be selectively chosen by both sides to prove their point. And don’t wait for the investigation to be free of politics either. The investigation comm. has 4 MP of the govt. and 3 of the opposition (1 of BJP)
“‘we can’t give you very much money to abstain, because we have the votes to sustain the government.†That sounds like B.S. (why would the SP bother with bribes if the vote was already secure?).” Thats like a summary judgement by Justice Amardeep. You can offer less bribes for people to abstain and more to people to cross vote.
Kush – Cross voting before Anti-defection law was quite different than now. The old cases that you talk about (Indira, Chandra Shekhar etc.) could not invite disqalification from being an MP. Now legally, if a member goes against the party whip, then the party can expel the member(from the party) and then request the speaker for disqualification from the house as an MP. If the facts are found to be true – that in fact the member did act contrary to the whip, then the speaker has no choice but to disqualify a member. The only thing is that the speaker does not have a time limit for these findings. Also in case of very small parties, this can get messy as Speaker has to first determine who is the real party and what constitutes the party line – whip by its parlimentary members or directive of its constituted leadership (who are not neccessarily MPs).
Overall, most parties support the deal but this vote was not about the deal (except for left parties) but for political objectives of forthcoming election and alliances. Did anybody hear one speech which only dealt with Nuclear Deal? Many speeches did not even substantially address it. Most members likely can’t even explain it. Congress and its allies most likely did use its resources to mobilize defections. That does not mean that others did not in this case or do not do it in other situations (BJP also likely did it in Karnataka recently). Manmohan is probably not a clean bureaucrat anymore but that was not his objective. He obviously believes that this was in national interest. As for the BJP, they come out less shining post-trust vote not because of bundles of notes bandied about in the parliment but because they could not control their own stable.
3. Don’t worry, I am sure the poncy Pomona educated Manmohan loves Musharraf. And surely, you do too.
What does the mean? I don’t think Manmohan Singh went to Pomona College.
4. Coming in late to the discussion here, was traveling, and didn’t blog this week. However, I did blog some thoughts on the big picture as I see it, last week,
I’m glad the UPA did finally prevail, and if there was bribery that their side indulged in, that would not be anything new. However, the UPA operatives who carried it out would probably have done so without the direct knowledge of Manmohan Singh, who in any case does not get into party matters too much. So in this case he would have plausible deniability.
The reason Westminster-style parliamentary systems do not separately require treaties to be ratified by the Lower House is simple – the Governments themselves can function only with the confidence of that House. So if a minority government holds office by virtue of plurality in seats, then a confidence vote on a controversial (in this case needlessly so) treaty would be the way to demonstrate that confidence. Note that in the Presidential system as in the US, it is the Upper House that votes on ratification. Originally, and for a considerable time afterward, the Senate was indirectly elected, when it was elected at all (Governors could appoint Senators in some states initially, the rest were indirectly elected by State legislatures. Even today, when vacancies arise due to resignations or deaths etc, gubernatorial appointments can fill out the remainder of the term.) Thus the matter of treaty ratification was given over to the House that did not have to directly face the people, soon, or at all, presumably so that they could properly reflect the status quo in their actions, but at least so that they could deliberate at length and leisure, especially on important treaties. As a matter of constitutional systemic thinking, however, I agree with this. Nobody should have to decide on the ‘merits’ of a treaty of such import when there’s an election to be fought in a few months (where, ironically, everybody on all sides agreed that the treaty wouldn’t be an issue), leave alone when you’re serving time in a district jail somewhere for, among other things, murder.
As a result of this gaping constitutional-systemic contradiction, the vote itself was less on the merits of the deal itself than on matters of political (and supposed geopolitical) strategy. What was really depressing was the several head-spinning volte faces that took place; the sheer hypocrisy on both the Left and the Right, but especially from the BJP; and the advent and persistence of state-level, crass, opportunistic politics into the Centre. In my view, the debate (and voting) on the deal show, as nothing else so far has done quite so dramatically, the fact that India now has an unreconciled (and possibly irreconcilable) polity at the Central federal level, which the coalition politics it has had in one form or other for nearly 40 years simply cannot resolve, and moreover, for which its governance structures are terribly ill-suited.
I argue in a post on my blog that the time has come for India to seriously consider a system with separation of Executive and Legislative power, a more powerful Upper House, and many, many more states, so that: treaty ratification(s) never again become mixed up with confidence votes, and never again in a House the whole of which is so close to elections. One-third of the Rajya Sabha is up for (indirect) election (or appointment) every six years, this body, suitably reconstituted, should decide matters of ‘ratification’. The states can decide how their own constitutions should function, though the separation of powers makes sense even for them.
I also suggest that, with a PM who is not a member of the Lower House, and indeed is not a professional politician at all, and with the powerful Prime Minister’s Office being staffed with so many specialist non-bureaucrats, India is already experiencing a form of the Presidential system, which should be taken to its logical conclusion, an indirectly elected Chief Executive, as in the US.
A continent sized country-civilization, which is, moreover, looking to play a bigger role on the world stage, cannot and should not be ruled via a system evolved in a small island-nation. The Westminster-style system should depart into the sunset along with the (post)Westphalian nation-state. Discussion is welcome on my blog, and indeed, here as well, with Amardeep’s forebearance.
5. Jyotsana:
Indian parliamentary procedure does not provide for ratification of treaties
Jyotsana brings up a serious problem with the Indian Constitution– what kind of national parliament has no power to ratify treaties that the government enters into? Whose idea was that?
…That is done for a good reason – …. I think Guha goes into it, and discussion during the Constituent Assembly in his book “India after Gandhi” in the chapter on constitution….
The flow of thoughts here is appears to be wrong. Here is the relevant article from the constitution
“253. Legislation for giving effect to international agreements.—Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Chapter, Parliament has power to make any law for the whole or any part of the territory of India for implementing any treaty, agreement or convention with any other country or countries or any decision made at any international conference, association or other body.
And yes , the question of whether the PM is allowed to sign treaties, without parliaments explicit approval has been dealt with. An news column on the very subject is here
Relevant excepts “The attorney general therefore contended that no separate legislation was necessary to implement that Indo-Pakistan Agreement.
The Supreme Court opined to the contrary. And the necessary legislation was enacted to implement that Indo-Pak Agreement of 1959.”
“‘All treaties in India need legislation for implementation as, unlike the USA, there is no concept of self-executive treaties.’ (Indian Constitutional Law, Wadhwa & Company, Nagpur, Fourth Edition, Reprint 1994, pg. 291)”
Manmohan Singh says that he does not need parliments ratification. Seriously, did we really need the actual excerpts for the constitution provided above to guess that that was not true? As the old joke goes, how do you make out if MMS is lying ..easy his lips move :-)
6. DizzyDesi:
Manmohan Singh says that he does not need parliments ratification.
He’s right. And you, obviously, are not a student of political science. The Executive, viz. the Council of Ministers headed by the PM, serve at the confidence of the Parliament, and thus are assumed to have the legislative support necessary to govern and implement policies.
Ratification is required when there is a separation between the Executive and the Legislature, to avoid concentration of power into one hand. This is not a need in the Parliamentary system of democracy for there are other safeguards in place, like tabling and moving a motion of confidence/non-confidence. Or, later down the line, legislation required to implement the treaty/policy. Bills are introduced, passed or defeated. But this process cannot be called a ratification, for it is the process of legislation. Govts and PMs can fall during trust motions/legislations – take the budget fr’ex, if it doesn’t pass, the govt has fallen. But that doesn’t mean that a PM who says he doesn’t need his budget ratified is a liar – the PM needs his budget passed, not ratified.
7. Chachaji I looked at your blog briefly..I think the idea of more Indian states is worth considering…IF AND ONLY IF the new entities respect traditional regional identities/cultural-linguistic zones. For example in U.P you could further divide it into Braj, Awadh, etc. and in Bihar you could have new states of Mithila, Magadh, etc. In Punjab (already a tiny state which probably doesn’t need further subdivision) one could have Majha, Malwa, etc. Rajasthan could have the state of Marwar carved out of it. I’m pretty sure even Kerala has at least three historic regions with slightly differing dialects and customs, which could theoretically form political units. Respecting these traditional regions/former kingdoms or whatever would be fine and would still accomplish what you are talking about…BUT I would be firmly opposed to random boundaries that haphazardly throw disparate cultures and linguistic groups into new political entities which have no basis in culture, language or historical identity. That’s what France did when they reorganized quite some time internal boundaries which had no basis in traditional regions…this was done very deliberately to weaken regional identity (and languages) and promote a monolithic, monocultural France. And it worked…they lost a huge amount of their cultural diversity and cultural wealth by so doing. Now some regret it but it’s too late.
8. DizzyDesi: Manmohan Singh says that he does not need parliments ratification. He’s right.
The treaty does not become valid until parliament confirms it. This is close to the very definition of ratification. Most countries method of confirming treaties follows the same procedure as passing any other legislature. (The US with its 2/3 senate majority requirement, is an exception, which may lead to some confusion)
And you, obviously, are not a student of political science
True, but studying in a discipline which emphasized process, logic, getting to the details, and emphasizing digging down to fundamentals has its advantages at times. It might make me waste a ton of time ponder what is the precise meaning of a particular word at times, but it ensures that I usually know the definition and common meanings of something, like say, ratification, before I comment on it.
9. Kush @ 118 says:
However, in principle, in India, one cross votes against the party directive, those members get expelled by the party (Mind, they do not loose their MP seat). That is not because of any legal law
Wrong. Cross-voting was legal until the Anti Defection law was passed in 1985. While party-whips are traditionally not formal institutions of power in Westminister-style democracies, the 10th Schedule gives them some fangs, exercised judiciously with the consent of the Speaker of the House.
The 10th Schedule is surprisingly quite a complex and fascinating bit of legislation, raising some additional values-based questions; there are those who say that it has contributed to a decline in intra-party democracy (it’s now virtually impossible for party MP’s to not toe the party-line, and continue to remain in the party) That, of course, is an entirely different debate altogether. But to respond to your specific point, no, it is illegal for MP’s/MLA’s/MLC’s to vote against the party directive; they do risk losing their seats if they do so.
10. Finally, they claim they have video proving the bribe took place  but where is that video? Why didn’t they leak that to the media as well? Of course, if it comes out that there’s hard evidence supporting the claims of vote-buying, the currently fragile UPA government probably really will fall. And the government falls because they really did buy votes and abstentions this nakedly, I for one won’t be particularly sorry about it.
The videos are out. It looks very interesting.. The Samajwadi party MP convincing the BJP MPs on the amount. Watching it. So far it is exactly as I imagined.. I have seen this in movies negotiating the amount.. :-)–part-ii-of-show.html
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'Muppets Most Wanted' movie review: Kermit the Frog, a comic caper -- and a case of deja vu
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on March 21, 2014 at 6:20 AM, updated March 21, 2014 at 3:04 PM
Tracking the trajectory of the Muppets' big-screen career reveals a pretty-hard-to-miss arc. It's roughly the same arc you'd get if you viewed Gonzo the Great in profile.
This is a franchise that was at its height in 1979 with the lovely, lively and laugh-filled original "Muppet Movie." The eagerly awaited sequel would end up being a somewhat less lovely and less lively caper film ("The Great Muppet Caper"), followed by a string of decreasingly clever movies that would eventually to a Gonzo-shaped nose-dive into shrug-worthy material worthy of little more than the direct-to-DVD bin.
Fast-forward to the post-Disney-acquisition of Jim Henson's beloved creations and the subsequent rebooting of the franchise, and it's hard not to feel a bit of déjà vu.
The Muppets' second big-screen life launched with 2011's lovely, lively and laugh-filled "The Muppets," which wisely followed the blueprint set by the 1980 original, incorporating a raft of fun celebrity cameos as well as playfully quirky production numbers. Now, with the arrival of the follow-up "Muppets Most Wanted," it would appear the Muppet masters might be following the blueprint a bit too closely.
This just-amusing-enough second outing is also a somewhat less lovely and less lively caper film. Can the direct-to-DVD bin be far behind?
That's not to say "Muppets Most Wanted" is all stuffing and nonsense. The franchise hasn't declined that much just yet. There are entertaining moments to be had here, for sure.
For starters, songwriter Bret McKenzie -- who won an Oscar for his tune "Man or Muppet" from the 2011 reboot -- is back for more, penning a number of dead-on genre satires that double as concise bits of toe-tapping character development. A personal favorite: the MGM-style musical number "We're Doing a Sequel," in which Kermit and pals acknowledge that follow-ups are rarely as good as the original.
That, it turns out, is downright prophetic.
McKenzie's songs are smart and silly and fun -- and they are what many non-kindergartners will likely wish the rest of "Muppets Most Wanted" was. Unfortunately, though, "Muppets Most Wanted" is decidedly less clever on the whole. In fact, it comes dangerously close to being "just another" Muppet movie.
Even the story feels like one the Muppets have told before: While they are out on a world tour, their fearless froggy leader -- that would be Kermit the Frog -- is kidnapped by a criminal genius named Constantine, who harbors secret plans for an elaborate jewelry heist.
As it turns out, Kermit is key to that plan, since Constantine is a nearly flipper-for-flipper twin of him, and since the Muppet world tour would take Constantine to venues that are within striking distance of the targets for his brand of amphibious nefariousness. And so just like that, Kermit finds himself locked up in a Russian gulag while Constantine fools all of the other Muppets into thinking he is the real deal.
Naturally, none of the sweet but simple Muppets notice that Kermit has been replaced by an imposter. Neither do they seem to notice that the new "Kermit" speaks with a thinly disguised Russian accent. That is the downside, I suppose, of having a head made of felt, fur and/or feathers.
Director James Bobin, who directed 2011's "The Muppets," also returns for this one, and he's got a strong human cast to assist him. In addition to those aforementioned cameos (Lady Gaga, Zack Galifianakis, Stanley Tucci, Salma Hayek, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christoph Waltz ...), we get supporting performances from Ricky Gervais as Constantine's No. 2; Tina Fey as the iron-fisted commander of a Russian gulag; and Ty Burrell as a very Clouseau-informed detective.
Mike Scott picks 'Grand Budapest Hotel' for 'The One' movie | The Times-Picayune's movie critic Mike Scott picks one movie each week as the movie to see.
Those are three funny people, and they make the most of what they have to work with here. But there are still too many lulls in the film's nearly two-hour running time, and too many opportunities for ordinariness to creep into the mix.
Oh, your pre-schooler will probably enjoy the novelty of seeing a singing, dancing frog alongside a joke-telling, hat-wearing bear and a lovestruck pig. But the Muppets have always been at their best when they remember to include the parents in the fun along with the tadpoles.
Unfortunately, that's one area where "Muppets Most Wanted" is left wanting.
2 stars, out of 5
Snapshot: A family-friendly adventure in which Kermit the Frog -- unbeknownst to his Muppet brethren -- is kidnapped and imprisoned by a nearly identical criminal genius who then assumes his life as head Muppet.
What works: Songwriter Bret McKenzie, who won an Oscar for his work on the 2011 "The Muppets," once more contributes several dead-on genre satires that are turned into clever and toe-tapping production numbers.
What doesn't: The fun is more sporadic than in its 2011 predecessor, with a film that feels dangerously close to being "just another" Muppet movie.
Cast: Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, Ty Burrell, Jemaine Clement, with the voices of Eric Jacobson, Steve Whitmire, Dave Goelz, Matt Vogel and Bill Barretta. Director: James Bobin. Rating: PG, for some mild action. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes. Where: Find New Orleans and Baton Rouge showtimes.
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My application uses Visual Studio 2010 to develop an application in SharePoint 2010. I created a visual webpart and added a <SharePoint:SPCalendarView ID="EventsCalendar1" width="100%" runat="server"></SharePoint:SPCalendarView> I also found that there are many other controls which appears in intellisense. How can I add these controls to the toolbox? Is there any documentation available on how to use these controls?
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1 Answer 1
1. In Visual Studio on the Tools menu, click Choose Toolbox Items.
2. Click Browse.
3. The Open dialog box appears.
4. In the My Places Bar, select My Computer to browse for items installed on your computer drives. —or— In Look in, select My Network Places to browse for items located on a network share.
5. Click OK.
enter image description here
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I was specifically asking for SharePoint controls like SPCalendarView, SPGridView etc – Suja Shyam Dec 10 '12 at 12:11
Inside the .NET Freamework Componets are SharePoint controls as well. The procedure to add is the same too. Are you getting reference issues while opening the control? – Benny Skogberg Dec 10 '12 at 12:28
Your Answer
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http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/53592/how-to-get-sharepoint-2010-controls-in-toolbox
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Abdominal radiography: To cut or not to cut (Proceedings)
Abdominal radiography: To cut or not to cut (Proceedings)
Nov 01, 2010
Abdominal radiographs are a rapid, readily available method to give an overview of the abdomen. Though most people believe ultrasound is the new modality of choice for abdominal evaluation, the limitations of ultrasound not being able to penetrate gas as well as the technical ability and time to acquire images still make abdominal radiographs a great first modality in the patient with acute abdominal pain.
Ultimately, the question for the clinician with an abdominal patient is whether surgery is indicated or if medical management is the best course of action. With radiographs providing an overview of the entire abdomen, and the use of the gas within the bowel to provide contrast, abdominal radiographs can be useful as a triage tool that can be augmented and finding further characterized using abdominal ultrasound.
When evaluating the stomach, generally most abdominal radiographs include a right lateral and ventrodorsal projection. The question always arises on why this is performed. These two views have become the standard since a right lateral projection places gas in the fundus of the stomach and fluid in the pyloric antrum. To evaluate the pylorus, a ventrodorsal projection is used to put fluid in the fundus and gas in the pyloric antrum. At Michigan State University, we take 3 view radiographs of all abdomens to include a right lateral to seen the fundus, a left lateral to evaluate the pylorus and look for pyloric outflow obstructions and a ventrodorsal to provide more information about the pylorus and to better evaluate the colon.
With the availability of ultrasound, the use of contrast medium for upper gastrointestinal contrast medium procedures is not routinely performed. However, in clinics without the benefits of ultrasound, barium or iodinated contrast medium procedures still provide some use to evaluate if a luminal obstruction exists, if the bowel wall is think or infiltrated, look at overall motility or assess for a rupture. The main drawback to this procedure is that if any of those differential diagnoses are suspected, an exploratory laparotomy is indicated rather than a contrast procedure that could delay surgery by 3-6 hours.
Barium contrast medium is the most universally used for gastrointestinal imaging. It is safe, the dose is 6-10 milliters per pound and generally is administered through a gastric tube. If aspirated, barium causes physical obstruction of the airways with no inflammatory component, but may cause granulomas if it leaks into the peritoneal or pleural cavity. For this reason, barium is contra-indicated if a ruptured bowel or ruptured esophagus is suspected. Iodinated contrast medium is generally used intravenously but can be administered orally. The main limitation is that it has a bad taste, is hypertonic so it will draw fluid into the bowel and since it is hypertonic, will cause an inflammatory reaction if aspirated into the lungs.
Positional radiography can also be used to evaluate for free gas in the abdomen. Since an air/fluid interface is needed to help to see gas within the peritoneal space, a horizontal beam projection with the dog on its left side and obtaining a ventrodorsal projection will put the gas in the right lateral abdomen near the pyloric antrum. Since the pylorus is small, the gas accumulation will be identified caudal to the diaphragm.
For gastric dilation with volvulus, the main feature is to obtain a right lateral radiograph. No other projection is needed. If the pylorus is seen in the craniodorsal abdomen, a GDV is confirmed. Numerous times people have been fooled by the normal appearance of the ventrodorsal projection and decided the case was just gastric dilation. Nothing else can put the pylorus in the craniodorsal abdomen except for a GDV.
Small intestinal wall thickness is also something frequently evaluated on survey radiographs. This cannot be done. Since soft tissue and fluid are the same opacity, it is impossible to know if the structure observed is a thick wall or just a combination of fluid summating with the small intestinal wall.
The abdomen is divided into two spaces, peritoneal and retroperitoneal. The retroperitoneal space contains the adrenal glands, kidneys and sublumbar lymph nodes and the peritoneal space contains the remaining organs. This determination is important since it will aid in the differential diagnoses of a mass that is present or the cause for gas within the abdomen. The retroperitoneal space is dorsal to the colon. Therefore if a soft tissue mass displaces the colon ventrally, then the mass is likely retroperitoneal indicating it is either arising from the kidney or adrenal glands. If gas is present in the retroperitoneum, this is likely secondary to a pneumomediastinum rather than a rupture of the gastrointestinal tract.
Radiographs are useful to determine if a surgical obstruction or mass is present or at least provides a general overview of the abdomen. Though barium contrast medium can be used, this has largely been replaced with ultrasound or exploratory surgery. By the end of this lecture, the audience will seen numerous examples of radiographs for surgical and non-surgical lesions and how a better understanding of the limitations and benefits of abdominal radiography.
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