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Scientific Method / Science & Exploration New type of chemical bond may form in extreme magnetic fields of stars Hydrogen and helium may bond magnetically near white dwarfs and neutron stars. Artist's impression of a neutron star, showing the intense magnetic field lines (in blue) surrounding it. Such strong magnetic fields could create a new type of molecule. Bonds between atoms are electrical in character: atoms share electrons or mutually ionize, creating an attractive force binding them together. However, researchers are now suggesting that it may be possible to generate magnetic bonds, resulting in stable molecules of different types than exist on Earth. While these molecules can't be produced with even our strongest laboratory magnets, they could form in the extreme magnetic fields near white dwarfs and neutron stars, and their unique spectral signatures may make them visible through observations. As described in a new Science paper, Kai K. Lange, E. I. Tellgren, M. R. Hoffmann, and T. Helgaker performed detailed quantum mechanical calculations for two atoms in exceedingly strong magnetic fields. While previous work had shown that a relatively weak bond could form when the molecule is parallel to the magnetic field, Lange and colleagues discovered an additional stronger bond might result when the molecule is perpendicular. Their calculation relied on very few assumptions, so it is useful for determining the properties of the molecules formed. Intriguingly, their model also described a magnetic molecule could be made from helium, which is famously inert and doesn't form stable electric bonds. The strongest laboratory magnets can produced magnetic field strengths of about 40 Teslas (40T). However, fields surrounding white dwarfs can be a thousand times greater, and neutron star field strengths are even stronger. (For comparison, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines may run as high as 7T, and Earth's magnetic field ranges from 25 to 65 microteslas.) In other words, the magnetic environment near extreme stellar remnants is substantially different than anything we can produce on Earth, so it's unsurprising that at least some new phenomena could arise in such a setting. The authors used a common method in molecular chemistry and physics known as an full configuration-interaction (FCI) calculation, in which atoms are modeled directly with a minimum of assumptions. In this way, they were able to obtain all the possible molecular binding configurations. They focused on hydrogen, which has the twin advantages of being simple (one electron per atom) and common. At low temperatures and negligible electric or magnetic fields, hydrogen forms the two-atom molecule H2 through covalent bonding, where the electrons are shared equally between the two atoms. However, the environment around white dwarfs and neutron stars is too hot for this bond to survive, and the molecules dissociate. Intense magnetic fields could change that, based on the FCI analysis. As the magnetic field strength increased, the researchers found the electron orbitals (the patterns of the electron cloud of an atom) distorted, making the atoms themselves magnetic. This effect, known as paramagnetism, is seen in many materials: they are magnetic only in the presence of an external field (as opposed to ferromagnets—"permanent magnets"—which don't require an external field). In the case of hydrogen atoms in extreme magnetic fields, the result of the paramagnetism was the formation of an H2 molecule that's held together through magnetic bonding. While previous calculations had found magnetic bonding when the two atoms were oriented perpendicular to a magnetic field, they didn't show bonding in other orientations. The new results revealed the bonds persist when the atoms are rotated by any angle relative to the field, though the perpendicular orientation was still preferred. Additionally, in the earlier results, bonding was due to motion of the electrons, not a paramagnetic effect. The differences arise because of the approximations used in the earlier work used, which are not present in the current one. The researchers also performed FCI calculations for helium, which only forms molecules under extreme conditions—and even then the results are highly unstable. They found magnetic bonds were possible, meaning quasi-stable paramagnetic He2 could exist. As with H2, however, the molecules were found to break apart when the external field was turned off. Because of the fundamentally different character of magnetic H2, its spectrum—the wavelengths of light absorbed and emitted—will be different than the spectrum of covalent H2. Similarly, magnetic He2 has a unique spectrum. If magnetic molecules exist in the atmospheres of white dwarfs or neutron stars, they might be detectable, assuming they are produced in sufficient quantities. While current laboratory magnetic fields aren't strong enough to create magnetic molecules, new pulsed magnetic fields are able to achieve higher strengths for brief periods of time. While the molecules would only persist as long as the field was switched on, future experiments should be able to hunt for their predicted spectra. Science, 2012. DOI: 10.1126/science.1219703 and 10.1126/science.1224869 (About DOIs). Expand full story You must to comment.
Seeking Alpha Profile\| Send Message\| ( followers) Massive, obviously. It is reviewing as being one of the best games ever. A major coup for Nintendo (OTCPK:NTDOY), following so close after Super Mario Galaxy [SMG] and preceding Mario Kart. This is like an AAA production line and will do much to give the Wii a far higher attach rate than many (including me) were expecting. So it has sold 840,000 in its launch week in Japan, getting to one million after eleven days. And with expectation at a fever pitch, it will definitely launch at number one in America and Europe. But will it be one of the biggest games of 2008? No, and the reasons are obvious. For the same reason that SMG, also one of the best reviewing games ever, was only number 30 in the UK sales chart for the whole of last year. Basically Super Smash Bros, Brawl [SSBB] and SMG are gamer’s games. They are mainly bought by people for whom gaming is a hobby. And whilst many Wii owners are gamers, most of them aren’t. Most Wii owners are casual game players, and whilst some of these may well be interested in SSBB, most won’t be. A major difference between gamer's games and casual games is the profile of sales over time. Gamers games sell massively at launch but after just a few weeks they are selling very few. Casual games just sell steadily and keep on selling. Just look at how long Brain Age has been in the charts, for instance. Another disadvantage facing SSBB is that there are a lot more HD consoles (Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox 360 and Sony (NYSE:SNE) Playstation PS3) in the world than there are Wiis, and most HD console owners are gamers. So gamer's games brought out on both HD consoles have the potential to massively outsell SSBB, even if they are not as good as games. GTA IV will sell several times as many as SSBB, and by the end of the year there will be many HD titles that feature on the annual charts ahead of SSBB. But it is not just the HD titles that will outsell SSBB. There are Wii titles that will. The casual titles. Wii Fit for instance. Admittedly it took a few weeks to sell its first million in Japan, but this was because it was supply limited, they couldn’t make enough Balance Boards. They probably won’t be able to make enough to meet worldwide demand for some time. Meanwhile, it will keep on selling. Week after week, month after month. After SSBB is long forgotten Fit will still be in the charts. So by the end of the year it will be well ahead. Maybe by a factor of two or even three. Also, from Nintendo’s point of view, Fit is a lot more important than SSBB. Because Fit will be a system seller, bringing the Wii to whole new demographics, whilst SSBB will mainly sell to existing owners. Source: How big will Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl be?
Welcome to the official BlackBerry Support Community Forums. inside custom component Native Development New Contributor Posts: 7 Registered: ‎05-09-2013 My Device: Blackberry z10 Accepted Solution Does blackberry 10 have a clockupdated() event? Does blackberry 10 have something like a clockupdated() event or something similar that is called every minute.Even if there is something that is called after every 10 or 20 minutes is good enough for me.I want my app to subscribe to that even so that it can perform some tasks after every few minutes.Previous versions of blackberry had a clockupdated event and a realtime clock listener which was used by my app to perform a task every minute. Any help is appreciated. Posts: 1,512 Registered: ‎12-18-2012 My Device: PlayBook, Z10, DAC Re: Does blackberry 10 have a clockupdated() event? As you already found out, this can be done using QTimer, but it's unreliable. Events can be discarded and not fired if the event loop was busy and they couldn't be delivered on time. If you need this event to occur reliably, some sort of workaround has to be applied. For example, fire the timer more often and in it's handler check if the event was performed during last 20 minutes, storing the timestamp of last performed event. Andrey Fidrya, @zmeyc on twitter
Stress in the Workplace Gap-fill Exercise For all the difficulties in describing it, there could still be something going wrong in the workplace. But the of increased stress bear little scrutiny. The first of these is that working longer hours causes stress. But hours worked have been in long-term decline-in the mid-19th century the average was 60 hours a week; they have also dropped . Long hours mostly affect British men: four out of five of those working 48 hours or more per week are male. Yet between 1997 and 2002, the of men doing this dropped from 35% to 30.7%, according to the labour-force survey. A second theory holds that innovations in and increased surveillance of workers have made life more . Derek Sach, president of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that “stress and have undoubtedly increased as the internet and mobile phones have quickened the pace of life in the workplace”. That might be plausible if it had not been heard before. In the 1870s a doctor called George Beard identified a new group of neurotic disorders caused by the pressures of advanced . “Neurasthenia” was, he said, caused by a speeding up of life due to the railway, the telegraph and the press that combined to sap reserves of “nerve force”. Mr Wessely thinks that the causes of now neurasthenia resemble those blamed for stress. What has changed is the of workers to say they are stressed. That's self-reinforcing: information on the prevalence of stress is collected through surveys. But the more people are asked whether they are stressed, the more willing they are (see chart) to say yes. Philip Hodson, of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, reckons this is part of a process: as people get richer, their sense of to happiness increases and their threshold for worry often becomes lower. Stress, unlike, say, , also has few connotations, making it to acknowledge. “Stress can almost become a badge of honour,” says Mr Teasdale. (Never a dull moment (Aug 26, 2004), The Economist )
Ayn Rand’s Anthem for Us All 5100JeLxQaL._SS500_ If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? According to the World Council of Scholars in Ayn Rand's Anthem, a prelude to her later and more popular work The Fountainhead, the answer is no. All men would have had to be present and in agreement that a sound was made. In the super-socialistic society Rand depicts, decisions must be made in complete concurrence, the word "we" is used when speaking of yourself, and there is no place for childhood, marriage, career goals or even philosophy. Once a year men and women are paired up to procreate and when a baby is born it is sent to the Hall of Infants and given an equally de-humanizing name like the novel's narrator, Equality-72521. "We" live only for our brothers and the republic. Sound intriguing? It's a short read, perfect for an end-of-summer day at the beach exercising your free will. We—scratch that—I highly recommend it. —Laura Geiser, Photo Assistant
The Horse Forum The Horse Forum (/) - Horse Health ( - - What's causing him to stumble/twist an ankle? ( offinthedistance 02-17-2011 07:45 AM What's causing him to stumble/twist an ankle? Whn in trot, my four year old (overweight) cob appears to trip. His back feet seem to catch in the ground or his ankles go weak and he collapses through them. It's very hard to describe because I'm on top and I've only seen him do it once on the lunge. I know he's still finding his feet being a youngster and all. His legs click a fair bit so I walk him lots in corners/curves until the clicks lessen before moving on. It's like he twists his ankles. He doesn't limp afterwards just hold the bad foot up a while then carries on. any ideas? Sarahandlola 02-17-2011 07:51 AM Bad joints I guess... Same thing happens to me XD When I run my ankles collapse under me and my knees are nearly always sore after. I am only 19 =/ Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.5 Copyright ©2000 - 2014, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007 Climate Change 2007: Working Group I: The Physical Science Basis Carbon Cycle Feedbacks Induced by Nutrient Cycling and Land Ocean Coupling Rivers deliver carbon (DIC, DOC) and nutrients to the ocean. Rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere and land use may lead to increased chemical and physical weathering, resulting in increased carbon and alkalinity loads in rivers (Clair et al., 1999; Hejzlar et al., 2003; Raymond and Cole, 2003; Freeman et al., 2004). Depending on the lithology and soil composition of the catchment areas, increased levels of alkalinity, DIC or DOC can lead to local positive or negative feedbacks. Mobilisation of silicate carbonates from soils and transfer to the ocean would lead to a negative feedback to atmospheric CO2 on long time scales (Dupre et al., 2003). Variations in nutrient supply can lead to species shifts and to deviations from the large-scale average Redfield ratios mainly in coastal waters, but also in the open ocean (Pahlow and Riebesell, 2000). Nutrient supply to the ocean has been changed through increased nitrate release from land due to fertilizer use as well as nitrogen deposition from the atmosphere in highly polluted areas (De Leeuw et al., 2001; Green et al., 2004). Dust deposition to the ocean provides an important source of micronutrients (iron, zinc and others, e.g., Frew et al., 2001; Boyd et al., 2004) and ballast material to the ocean. Areas where iron is not supplied by aeolian dust transport in sufficient amounts tend to be iron-limited. A warmer climate may result on the average in a decrease of dust mobilisation and transport (Werner et al., 2002; Mahowald and Luo, 2003) although increased dust loads may result as well due to changes in land use (Tegen et al., 2004) and in vegetation cover (Woodward et al., 2005). A decrease in dust loads could result in a net positive feedback, further increasing CO2 through a weakening of marine biological production and export of aggregates due to clay ballast (Haake and Ittekkot, 1990; Ittekkot, 1993). Changes in plankton species composition and regional shifts of high production zones due to a changing climate could lead to a series of further feedbacks. Light absorption due to changes in bio-optical heating may change and induce a respective temperature change in ocean surface water (Sathyendranath et al., 1991; Wetzel et al., 2006). An increase in blooms involving calcifying organisms as indicated for the high northern latitudes (Broerse et al., 2003; Smyth et al., 2004) can temporarily increase surface ocean albedo, though the effect on the radiation budget is small (Tyrell et al., 1999).
Ken Clarke fights amendments to security bill Former justice secretary says judges alone would decide whether to order a secret hearing under new justice legislation Ken Clarke Ken Clarke made an impassioned plea to legal experts and civil liberties groups that his legislation will improve the justice system. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Judges should be given the "maximum amount of discretion" in deciding whether or not to order a secret court hearing under the justice and security bill, Ken Clarke has told MPs and peers. The former justice secretary, who had asked to appear before a parliamentary committee, made an impassioned plea on Tuesday afternoon to legal experts and civil liberties groups that his controversial legislation will improve the justice system. The political battle over expanding "closed material procedures" (CMPs), also known as secret courts, into civil courts is turning into a test of strength between Clarke and parliament's joint committee on human rights. The committee's last set of proposals led to the bill suffering a series of crucial defeats in the House of Lords. Made up of peers and MPs with extensive legal experience, the committee has warned that it intends to produce a further critique of Clarke's latest changes – which reversed many of the Lords amendments – before the bill goes back to parliament in the coming weeks. In his evidence, Clarke went further than ever before in saying that judges alone would decide whether or not to order a secret hearing at which claimants would not be entitled to hear the full details of the evidence against them. "We have tried to go for amendments which give judges the maximum amount of discretion," he told the committee. "It's the judges who will decide whether or not there are closed proceedings." But he was less inclined to give ground to requests that he introduce a clause that using CMPs should be a matter of last resort. He also resisted moves to reintroduce the House of Lords amendment allowing judges to carrying out an explicit "balancing exercise" between national security interests and the public interest. "I think public interest immunity certificates [PIIs, which prevent information being used by either side in a trial] are wholly inferior to CMPs," Clarke said. With PIIs, nothing is heard by the court, he added. His amendments, he said, carried through the spirit of the committee's earlier amendments. "We are getting down to legalist hair-splitting" over detailed hypothetical cases, he warned. Clarke's reassurances are unlikely, however, to wash with civil liberties groups opposed to the basic concept of secret courts. The Conservative MP Richard Shepherd, a member of the committee, also expressed fundamental concerns. "I find the greatest difficulty in accepting that an applicant to a court may not know the reasons why they have lost their case," he told Clarke. "It seems to me that confidence in our judicial system is profoundly damaged when you can't say to your client why they have lost their case. " A spokesman for the human rights group Reprieve said after the hearing: "The alternative [to CMPs] is not 'silence', but rather that the government comes clean on the serious abuses it became involved in in the 'war on terror'. "For example, we know from documents found after the fall of Gaddafi that MI6 colluded in kidnapping his opponents and sending them back to Libya along with their wives and young children. "Given that mechanisms already exist which ministers can use to protect information which is a genuine threat to national security, the conclusion that must be drawn is that the plans for secret courts are aimed at sparing the blushes of ministers and their officials, and have nothing to do with either justice or security." Today's best video Today in pictures
Learn to Cook: Boiled Eggs Learn to Cook: Boiled Eggs Serves 12 Nobody likes overcooked, rubbery breakfast or Easter eggs. Here's how to get perfect hard-cooked or soft-cooked eggs every time with no guessing. • 1 dozen large eggs Arrange unshelled large eggs in a pot that is wide enough to allow for a single layer. Cover eggs by 1 inch with cool water. Over medium-high heat, bring water just to a boil. Remove pot from the heat, cover with a snug lid and set aside for 12 minutes (or 3 to 5 minutes for soft-boiled eggs). Using a slotted spoon, transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water, stirring gently to cool them down. Once cooled, pat eggs dry and store in the refrigerator until ready to use, or peel immediately and serve. For accurate timing, be sure to choose the right pot for the right job. If you're only cooking a few eggs, use a small saucepan; for a dozen eggs, use a large, wide pot so that the eggs are arranged in a single layer. Nutritional Info: Per Serving:Serving size: 1 egg, 80 calories (50 from fat), 5g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 185mg cholesterol, 60mg sodium, 1g carbohydrate (0g dietary fiber, 1g sugar), 6g protein Special Diets: Recipe Discussion
hide menu User avatar #96 - foongusamoongus (07/04/2012) [-] Okay i'm not trying to seem like an ass, but I love the water temple, it's not hard, it's just tedious. User avatar #97 to #96 - rossdabigboss (07/04/2012) [-] you tend to hate it while you are doing it, but love it once it's done haha i know that feel User avatar #98 to #97 - foongusamoongus (07/04/2012) [-] Yeah it was challenging the first time, but since then I've loved it (and the master quest version) Friends (0)
writeDefaultPrefs :: IO ()Source .[^/] ^_ ~$ (^\|)CVS($\|) end{verbatim} A newly created repository has a longer boring file that includes many common source control, backup, temporary, and compiled files. You may want to have the boring file under version control. To do this you can use darcs setpref to set the value `boringfile' to the name of your desired boring file (e.g. verb-darcs setpref boringfile .boring-, where verb-.boring- is the repository path of a file that has been darcs added to your repository). The boringfile preference overrides verb!_darcsprefsboring!, so be sure to copy that file to the boringfile. You can also set up a `boring' regexps file in your home directory, named verb!~.darcsboring!, on MS Windows~ref{ms_win}, which will be used with all of your darcs repositories. Any file not already managed by darcs and whose repository path (such as verb!manual/index.html!) matches any of the boring regular expressions is considered boring. The boring file is used to filter the files provided to darcs add, to allow you to use a simple verb-darcs add newdir newdir-\verb-- % cabal haddock barfs on adjacent without accidentally adding a bunch of object files. It is also used when the verb!--look-for-adds! flag is given to whatsnew or record. Note that once a file has been added to darcs, it is not considered boring, even if it matches the boring file filter. data FileType Source
What is meta? × I came across this suggested edit today. The only edit was to change variable names in the code sample. (probably to make the code sample easier to read) The rest of the question was unedited. Is this acceptable? It sure doesn't seem right to me at all. enter image description here Permalink to the edit in question share\|improve this question After seeing ChrisF's reply, I re-read this question and realized - you think this edit was made to a question! That doesn't really change my answer, but it does make me wonder if the review page needs to make this a bit more obvious (right now, the only major distinction is "answered" vs "asked" next to the original author's name). – Shogging through the snow Nov 22 '11 at 0:01 4 Answers 4 up vote 11 down vote accepted When in doubt, read the edit in the context of the question! Note how the asker edited her question shortly after asking it, shortening all those long class and variable names down to things like "abc" and "ABC"? The suggested edit did the same thing to the answer. So far as I can tell, it was a perfectly appropriate edit, preserving the intent of the answerer while removing the confusion introduced by the edit to the question. On a more general note, there's nothing inherently wrong with editing code to make it easier to read (whether by reformatting whitespace, adding comments, or simply renaming variables). When evaluating an edit, try to determine if it actually improves the post - don't look for hard and fast rules by which you can accept or reject without thought. share\|improve this answer As implied by Shog9's answer, I allow these edits when made by the OP to the accepted answer. In fact, I usually "Improve" the edit, as this automatically "Accepts" the OP's changes. Otherwise, they are usually rejected by people who don't check the whole question-context. share\|improve this answer Changing variable names in code could substantially improve the question/answer by making the code much easier to understand. Every case needs to be evaluated on its own merits, and I have no opinion on the case you cite, but in general, I believe that renaming variables can constitute a legitimate, constructive edit. share\|improve this answer Always take care with editing code in questions. It's all too easy to correct the mistake that's the cause of the problem. In the context of this question it might be that the OP has reused a variable incorrectly, or mistyped it a second time for example. In these cases reject the edit and leave a comment for the OP asking if the error is just a typo in the question. share\|improve this answer In this particular case, the edit was made by the asker to an answer (a fact I now realize was missed by the OP here as well... Perhaps the suggested edits page does not do well at distinguishing between questions and answers?) after making a corresponding edit to the question itself. – Shogging through the snow Nov 21 '11 at 23:53 @Shog9 - I realise that and perhaps should have made it clearer that I was addressing a slightly tangential issue. – ChrisF Nov 22 '11 at 9:13 You must log in to answer this question. Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .
Paul Waldman Recent Articles Why the 2016 Republican Primaries Will Be a Messy Venn Diagram This guy's coming back! (Flickr/Gage Skidmore) The 2016 Democratic presidential primaries are promising to be rather boring—although anything can happen, at the moment it looks like Hillary Clinton won't have much competition, and if she does it will come from the less-than-electrifying likes of Martin O'Malley . The Republican side is where the sizzle is going to be, with a bunch of interesting personalities slashing each other to pieces in an exhilarating deathmatch. One of the themes of the commentary about that race will be the candidates' attempts to woo and ultimately secure as many of the GOP's constituency groups as possible. And I think there's a mistake in how we often think about that particular process. It's not a contest with an end point where one person wins. To see what I mean, let's take a look at this interesting article from Tim Alberta and Shane Goldmacher about the early struggle between Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee to win evangelicals : The courtship of Christian leaders by White House contenders—"the... The Government We Deserve Vote for me, because these are hogs. This may be the most expensive midterm election in history, but it isn't necessarily the dumbest. That's not because it's smart in any way, just that elections in America are always dumb. To take just one tiny data point, the hottest Senate race in the country may be in Iowa, where everything turns on just how mad the Democratic candidate got when his neighbor's chickens kept crapping in his yard. Madison and Jefferson would be so proud. Commentators with brows set high and low periodically try to redeem a public that falls for this kind of stuff, with varying degrees of success. Political scientists often point out that accumulating detailed political knowledge is an inefficient use of time, when you can just use party identification as a proxy and almost all the time your decisions will be the same as they would if you knew as much as the most addicted political junkie. Perfectly true. But other attempts are less successful. I point your attention to a piece today in the Times by... What's Wrong With Political Legacies? That's Jebbie in front of his dad. (Wikimedia Commons/George Bush Presidential Library) If you were Jeb Bush, you'd probably think this is a golden opportunity to finally mount that presidential bid you've been thinking about your whole life. The current Democratic president isn't particularly popular and has been serving for two terms, making the "time for a change" argument a natural for Republicans. The party is desperate for someone who can "reach out" to Hispanic voters, and you've long been known as the guy who can do that — your own wife is Mexican, and you speak Spanish. Perhaps most importantly, although there are a couple of Republican governors who might end up running, the competition at the moment doesn't exactly look like a field of giants. So over the weekend, we got new indications that Jeb '16 is on its way. Today's New York Times features an article about the Bush family's eagerness for Jeb to run, including sought-after endorsements by Jeb Jr., George W., and George H.W. Jeb's son George P. Bush appeared on ABC's This Week and said that his father is... No Love for Obama as Election Day Approaches Official White House photo by Pete Souza Rand Paul Continues Record of Brilliant Media Manipulation As I've probably made clear by now, I am 1) abundantly skeptical of Rand Paul's ability to be president of the United States, and only somewhat less skeptical of his ability to win the presidency; and 2) in tremendous admiration of Paul's skill at working the media. There will be abundant time to explore #1 in the months ahead, but today offers us yet another example of #2. Paul, you see, is convening a super-secret meeting of his brain trust to discuss his upcoming presidential campaign, and somehow, news of the meeting found its way to the National Journal and reporter Shane Goldmacher: Sen. Rand Paul is summoning his top strategists and political advisers to Washington one week after the November election for a strategy session over his widely expected 2016 presidential bid. The gathering of Paul's top lieutenants in the nation's capital has been quietly organized by Doug Stafford, his chief political strategist, who began reaching out to key figures in Paul's political world...
No justification for migration law changes Posted September 19, 2011 07:14:14 When Immigration Minister Chris Bowen released, late last Friday, his legislation to resolve the High Court's recent torpedoing of third-country processing of asylum seekers, he put it this way: "The Government has released draft exposure legislation that would give effect to its commitment to restore power to the executive enabling the removal of irregular maritime arrivals for third country processing." Note that phrase: "restore power to the executive". This a not-too-subtle way of saying that persons seeking asylum will have no recourse to a court of law which acts in a democracy as a necessary check on the executive. The Gillard Government's draft law invests enormous power in one person - the Minister responsible for the administration of the Migration Act. It enables the Minister to decide, purely on the inherently nebulous and therefore dangerous ground of the 'national interest' that another country will be a destination to which asylum seekers can be sent. Furthermore, the fact that the designated country has a record of ill-treatment of refugees, no effective court system and a repressive government is not relevant. The "designation of a country to be an offshore processing country need not be determined by reference to the international obligations or domestic law of that country," the draft law says. This means not only Malaysia is back on the table, but so could be Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, and Indonesia - all countries with very chequered track records when it comes to protection for vulnerable citizens, let alone non-citizens. The law makes it clear that in making that decision the Minister is not bound by the rules of natural justice and nor can the Parliament revoke the declaration. This is legislation which allows a minister in a democracy to play God with the lives of fellow human beings desperate enough to pay a people smuggler to ensure they are safe from threats of harm or death. But not only does this proposed law invest such immense power in the hands of the Minister, those responsible for removal of persons to a declared country - presumably military, customs and federal police personnel - can use such force as is reasonably necessary to do so. In other words, Taser guns, handcuffs, physical violence and capsicum spray would all be available for use on frightened men, women and children. Given that the use of force will take place in locations like Christmas Island where there is little capacity for there to be independent witnesses, the chances of officials removing asylum seekers being sanctioned for excessive use of force is virtually zero. The proposed law then provides an invitation by the Gillard Government for rough treatment of asylum seekers. While the draft law does not contain a specific clause - much loved by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's colleague Philip Ruddock when the latter filled Mr Bowen's shoes - that explicitly prevents a person who will be forced to go to a declared country from seeking a court hearing, the nature of the discretion given to the Immigration Minister is so broad that it will be difficult to challenge in the courts. And you could not rule out, in the negotiations between the Coalition and the ALP over the coming days, the insertion of what is called a privative clause being inserted into this proposed law. Both the major parties in Australia sadly loathe the courts intervening to protect asylum seekers. Both parties want for there to be effectively a dictatorship of the executive in this area of public policy. The proposed changes to the migration law unveiled by the Gillard Government should frighten Australians in the same way that the Howard government's anti-terror laws should have almost a decade ago. Both represent an extreme reaction to an event or series of events and both amounts to a suspension of what is most fundamental in a democratic society, adherence to the rule of law. Tom Bingham, a now sadly departed leading English judge, observed in 2010 that if there is to be any departure by a government from the rule of law which is that all people in a state should be bound by laws that a publicly administered by the courts, then there needs to be a clear justification. In the case of these migration laws, as it was it the case of the anti-terror laws which provide for controls on the movement of people despite their not having been convicted of any offence, there is no such justification. The problem of people smuggling for Australia remains minute on a global scale and the harm done by sending asylum seekers to countries where they will be persecuted or perhaps be killed does not justify the making of laws which allow for a rampant executive to avoid judicial or even parliamentary scrutiny. Greg Barns is a Barrister and National President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance. Topics: laws, federal-government, refugees, immigration
BEIRUT -- Syrian troops and rebels fought Tuesday in suburbs of Damascus as well as near Aleppo's airport, stopping all flights in and out of the northern city, activists and state media said. The intense fighting underlined the rebels' tenacity in the capital and around Aleppo, Syria's largest city, but also the determination of the Bashar Assad regime to carry on fighting. Activists say more than 45,000 people have been killed in the 22-month civil war. In the past few weeks, rebels have stepped up their attacks on airports in Aleppo province, trying to chip away at the air power that poses the biggest challenge to their advances against Assad's forces. The Syrian air force has been bombing and strafing rebel positions and attacking towns under opposition control, but the rebels have no planes or effective anti-aircraft weapons to counter the attacks. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting around the base of Syrian army Brigade 80, part of a force protecting Aleppo's airport, led to the closure of the airport late Monday. "Heavy fighting is taking place around Brigade 80," said Rami Abdul-Rahman who heads the Observatory. The Observatory relies on a network of activists around Syria. "The airport has been closed since yesterday." The Syrian government had no comment on the closing of the airport. On Saturday, Syria's national airline cancelled a flight to Aleppo because of fighting nearby. Rebels have warned that they would target civilian as well as military planes using the Aleppo International Airport, saying the regime is using civilian planes to bring in supplies and weapons. Activists also reported heavy fighting in the Damascus suburb of Daraya. The Observatory and activist Mohammed Saeed, who is based near Damascus, said Syrian warplanes took part in bombing Daraya on Tuesday. Daraya is few kilometres from the strategic military air base of Mazzeh in a western neighbourhood of the capital.
Sign in to comment! Nicole Kidman Diplomatic About Tom, Katie Nicole Kidman (search), star of the upcoming movie "Bewitched," is carefully not casting judgment on ex-husband Tom Cruise's (search) relationship with Katie Holmes (search). When asked in early May about Cruise's very public romance with Holmes, Kidman didn't address the subject directly. However, when asked about photographic publicity stunts in general, Kidman tells Vanity Fair in its July issue, on newsstands June 14: "In terms of your life, if you start to exploit it, then what's real, and what's not? What's yours, and what isn't?" Kidman and Cruise divorced in 2001 after almost 10 years of marriage. "When it all exploded and we were in Cannes with 'Moulin Rouge.' ... `My sister and I slept in the same bed together. She would just hold me," Kidman told Vanity Fair. "When we came out of the big screening and there were swarms of people, I felt like I couldn't breathe. So I just sort of eyeballed her as if to say, 'Help! Help!' Taking absolute control, she took me into the bathroom, unlaced my corset and the dress I was wearing, took my shoes off, and said, 'You're going to be OK.'" Cruise and Holmes were photographed together in Rome in April and later confirmed they were dating. During an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" last month, the 42-year-old actor exuberantly professed his love for the 26-year-old actress. He stars in Steven Spielberg's (search) upcoming "War of the Worlds" and Holmes will co-star with Christian Bale (search) in "Batman Begins."
Regretting abortion (154 Posts) Namechanger012345 Fri 07-Jun-13 01:22:40 I had an abortion nearly 3 weeks ago and I feel awful about it. I feel so much regret I don't know how I can get past it. Night time and early morning is the worst, I just lie in bed and can't stop crying. I keep thinking about my baby and wishing I was still pregnant. I feel sick thinking about what I've done and I have that kind of hollow sick feeling in my chest like I've made a terrible mistake. I can't believe I actually did it. I spent weeks on the decision and for the first while I could hardly even contemplate abortion as a serious option. I felt so panicky and upset even thinking about it. Then when I decided to do it I think I just made myself zone out about it and it didn't even feel real so the reality of what I did didn't hit me until days later. I feel like I ignored my emotions and gut feeling to just go with the decision that was "right" based on logical reasons, and I know they were good reasons, but emotionally it feels so hard. I know it wouldn't have been emotionally easy at all either if I had kept my baby because we would have been struggling and it would have really hurt to see my child growing up like that, so maybe how I'm feeling now is still the better option, but I keep thinking what if... I feel guilty and sick and exhausted and ashamed of myself, and I feel so jealous of people I see with babies. I feel like I desperately want to go back and change my decision but its pointless even thinking that. I know it's all my own fault but it just hurts a lot. RaRaZ Mon 10-Jun-13 21:45:15 It's the same with any drug - everybody reacts differently. But I'd suggest you're in the minority lissieloo as a lot of people use agnus castus to great success to regulate their cycle, reduce menstrual cramps, ease menopausal symptoms, and stimulate ovulation. A herbal expert wouldn't be able to predict how the OP would react to it - she'd need to try it and see if it works for her. If it's no good, she can easily stop. lissieloo Mon 10-Jun-13 22:44:05 I'm really, really not. Honestly, using AC is a very very bad idea without consulting a specialist. lissieloo Mon 10-Jun-13 22:48:53 If you are already ovulating then AC can seriously screw up your cycle, it took me 9 months to get back on track, it shortens your cycle which is why its prescribed for ovulation issues and affects your cervical mucus as well as causing minor contractions. There are lots of threads on here and on places like fertility friend about how bad it is if taken without consultation. Namechanger012345 Mon 10-Jun-13 22:57:45 Ok interesting, thanks for the info on that. I didn't know agnus castus had an effect on ovulation, fertility etc. That makes me a bit wary. I don't really know anything about it tbh! I think my exam okay was okay... Not great but I don't think it was terrible and at least it gave me something to focus on for a while. EMUZ Tue 11-Jun-13 00:01:58 I terminated on the 14th of May. I feel heartbroken, angry and the grief is incredible I've actually been to the doctors who have put me on a high dose of citalopram to try to help. It was a feeling of I don't want to die, I just don't want to be here. Kept having crying outbursts of just sitting sobbing for hours and I feel like I need to punish myself for it Guess what I want to say is you're not alone. Someone gave me a forum link, I've signed up but you have to wait for activation smile kotinka Tue 11-Jun-13 12:58:30 Message withdrawn at poster's request. Branleuse Tue 11-Jun-13 13:22:53 youre in the middle of a massive hormonal crash, which is similar to baby blues. They dont always mention this when you go in for a termination but i had a low patch afterwards which did pass when my hormones went back to normal. Be gentle on yourself, and remember that we all make decisions that are right for us at the time we make them. There was no "right" decision here, because to carry on with the pregnancy would have had its own problems and would not have necessarily been any easier. Please dont feel guilty x RaRaZ Tue 11-Jun-13 20:04:29 I think you need to make your own decision on Agnus Castus rather than be guided by other people's experiences. Some people here have obviously had bad experiences; I've had nothing but good - it's the only thing that rids me of period cramps (and the only thing that really helped with pains during pregnancy and cramps after both TOP and MC, incidentally), has never caused me any side affects and hasn't stopped me ovulating (which I know as I've been pregnant twice since starting to take it). However, none of us are YOU, and everyone's different. I'd suggest you try it and see for yourself - but I'm a big fan of herbs and I really believe in giving them a go. You may feel differently. I'd recommend doing your research so you can make an informed decision. However, that's getting away from the real issue of you coping. How are you feeling? I hope things are getting better. They honestly will - though it may not feel like it right now. I hope someone's looking out for you x MaterFacit Tue 11-Jun-13 22:36:30 Thinking of you today OP, hope things will look a little brighter soon. Namechanger012345 Wed 12-Jun-13 00:03:41 Had a bad day today. I slept really badly in the night, eventually did sleep in the morning and then didn't get out of bed til about 4pm because I just couldn't make myself feel motivated to do anything. Feeling so sad and empty. My boyfriend stayed over last night and we had sex for the first time since the abortion which stirred up some weird feelings. Emuz, sorry you're going through this too. It's shit isn't it? EMUZ Wed 12-Jun-13 00:42:03 It is utterly shit thanks <un MN hug> I have a coil fitting on Friday and I'm dreading it. Never had one before and my termination was so painful Not sleeping well and falling asleep at 4-5am then waking up late and not sleeping at night again I wrote something but I don't know whether to post it madasa Wed 12-Jun-13 07:08:40 You made the right decision based on your circumstances at the time. Remembering this was one of the things that helped to get me through. You are grieving Namechanger, be kind to yourself. flowers for you and for Emuz RaRaZ Wed 12-Jun-13 13:37:22 OP , I wish I could change things for you. That's exactly how I felt, and I've had more nightmares since the TOP than I've ever done before; they were every night (sometimes more than one) at first, and now still several times a week over two months later. It's not easy at all, and your mind and body need time to recover. I've suggested things that helped me, but ultimately we're all different and you need to find something that helps you, something that eases the emotional pain/makes it easier to deal with and something that helps you find a goal to push forwards with your life. But remember that it's ok to cry. If you don't mind me asking, how far along were you when you had the TOP, and what 'weird feelings' did sex conjure up for you last night? LongWordsBotherMe Wed 12-Jun-13 13:44:12 I'm sorry you are both feeling like this. One organisation that does offer post abortion and pregnancy loss counselling is care confidential. They might be worth a google as they can talk on phone or online. Namechanger012345 Wed 12-Jun-13 15:11:49 I was 10 weeks. Weird feelings because I felt like I desperately wanted to get pregnant again but at the same time I also felt scared of getting pregnant again, because I know the circumstances are still the same and realistically they're not the right ones for having a baby. Also I have some issues to do with being raped when I was 17 which I never fully managed to get over (I am a lot better at dealing with it now than I was at the time, but its never really completely gone away...) and after the abortion when I had checks because of very heavy bleeding they did an internal examination which was quite traumatic and triggered rape memories for me (I know it sounds pathetic) and I have been having flash backs and feeling bad about that too. There were some of these feelings when we had sex especially as it was quite painful at first. I don't want to feel like that about it and I know he would never hurt me on purpose. It did feel fine after a while but I bled a bit the first time. This morning I also felt really really angry at a friend who said something like that she thought I was feeling better, and keeps making crap suggestions like if I can't sleep drink some hot milk. I know she is not being nasty but I feel like she's completely minimising my feelings and not recognising how overwhelming this is at the moment. Just adds to the feeling of being alone and no one "getting" it. I know that's not true and lots of people have felt like I do, but it just feels lonely in my head at the moment sad Namechanger012345 Wed 12-Jun-13 15:12:12 Thank you long words, I will google them. LongWordsBotherMe Wed 12-Jun-13 15:33:37 I hope that they can be useful, I know they do pregnancy crisis counselling too. EMUZ Wed 12-Jun-13 15:35:40 Definitely look at It has loads of helpful stuff and a forum thanks I hate it when people have said "oh you should be over that now" kotinka Wed 12-Jun-13 15:44:51 Message withdrawn at poster's request. RaRaZ Wed 12-Jun-13 16:15:08 OP : I was 14 weeks and it was agony for me too, so guess I know where you're coming from, sadly. I'm sure your friend means well, but it really is impossible for anyone who hasn't been through it to understand; the feelings, both mental and physical, are like nothing else and I don't think anyone could ever truly put themselves in your shoes. Of course you shouldn't be 'over it'. There's no 'should' about it - it'll take as long as it takes and you're better (imho) to let it take it's course than fight it. It's gonna hurt, but you have to allow yourself to have time to come to terms with it. Re the rape, I'm really sorry to hear that. You're not stupid or pathetic at all - in fact, I think you're really brave! I cried my eyes out during the first four internal exams/scans I had and found them uncomfortable/painful without having your history. They're horrible for anyone, and much more so with what has happened to you. Don't be ashamed for feeling like that. I think you're brave to be in a relationship and having sex full-stop - I had an abusive ex, and I felt like I'd never trust a man again. You're doing really well, but you still need time to heal. x Salbertina Wed 12-Jun-13 16:31:35 Op- teally sorry to hrar how youre feeling and the more so abiut your rape. A lot to deal eith. If it helps, completely true that others have said, people don't get it if they haven't been through it and may therefore end up- unintentionally saying some really invalidating/hurtful things. I think they just don't know what to say. A good friend said to me "don't know why you're upset, you've got plenty of time to have another" shock Many years and 2 dc later, that's forgiven but not forgotten. Salbertina Wed 12-Jun-13 16:32:03 Oh god, sorry for typos! Bloody iphone! Namechanger012345 Wed 12-Jun-13 22:15:33 Another exam tomorrow and I have barely managed to study. I'm trying to make myself concentrate but I keep ending up staring into space and then realising loads of time has passed. RaRaZ Wed 12-Jun-13 22:42:39 I was the same. Still am sometimes. Usually I'm always busy and flying around doing stuff; now I can waste whole days doing not very much. It's grief I suppose. Good luck with your exam. Could you ask for mitigating circs to be taken into account? Namechanger012345 Wed 12-Jun-13 23:18:43 I can either sit the exam or defer it, but if I take it and mess up then its basically too bad. There are no mitigating circs that they can use to improve the grade or anything. I think if I can make myself get up, go in and do it I will pass and it will probably be okay. It definitely won't be a great mark because I feel slow and kind of fuzzy and detached but I should scrape by and luckily my average from the earlier exams is high so I have some room to lose marks. What I'm worried about is whether I will even be able to go or if I will feel like I can't face it. I didn't even get dressed til about 6 pm today. The problem with deferring the exam is that if I do then I might not be allowed to start my job in the intake I'm supposed to be in. If I have to defer the job it will cause me all sorts of problems, like I have no idea what I would live on til the next entry opportunity, so I do want to take it tomorrow, but just concerned that the last couple of days I have barely felt able to do anything and have just about managed to get up and get dressed. I'm realising I need to be honest with the doctor, tell her how I am feeling and maybe accept that I might have to go back on anti depressants and/or try some kind of therapy again. I don't like any of that and I always want to cope on my own but its not clearly working very well at the moment. I feel like everything is too much. Join the discussion Join the discussion Register now
Here some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on SN. You'll never guess what the transport escort did today??? (13 Posts) She gave DS a tape measure for his birthday!!! A chocolate one, so we don't have to suffer for long grin mrslaughan Thu 22-Nov-12 19:45:44 So Cool..... TaggieCampbellBlackFriday Thu 22-Nov-12 19:46:59 How lovely. I must ask though. Where the bloody hell do you buy a chocolate tape measure? mymatemax Thu 22-Nov-12 20:13:33 zzzzz Thu 22-Nov-12 20:32:30 A chocolate tape measure!!! Is she magical? grin No idea. It came in a box labelled 'chocolate tools'! 2old2beamum Thu 22-Nov-12 21:06:22 Hope he isn't tube fed grin Seriously for once how lovely NoHaudinMaWheest Thu 22-Nov-12 21:12:18 How truly nice of her. Pebbles69 Thu 22-Nov-12 21:31:01 Thats so lovely. badgerparade Thu 22-Nov-12 21:34:21 Aww, that's great grin PolterGoose Thu 22-Nov-12 21:37:48 How lovely grin Will he actually eat it though? If it was my ds he'd be desperately trying to find a way to preserve it forever and then leave it on the radiator! someone will eat it. I promise. starfish71 Thu 22-Nov-12 21:44:26 That is great, really good too that he has a lovely escort! Join the discussion Join the discussion Register now
Rhapsody App for Rhapsody International, Inc. Perfectionist (Bonus Tracks, Explicit) Perfectionist by Natalia Kills Released: Aug 2011 Label: Interscope Records It's difficult to take Natalia Kills seriously, in spite of (or maybe because of) her desperate desire that we do so. The British singer-songwriter's debut is stuffed with dramatic, heavily stylized dance pop featuring Natalia as a self-destructive, kinda violent victim of love. Heavily drawn shades of Gaga color much of the album, but with dark-fairy-tale allegories ("Wonderland") and heavy-handed irony ("Kill My Boyfriend") in place of Gaga's playfulness. Does that all sound negative? It's not. When treated as the high-camp dancefloor theater it is, Perfectionist kills (sorry). Rachel Devitt Rhapsody app on your desktop or mobile device. Available on iOS, Android, Windows and Web.
Epley maneuver for vertigo Epley maneuver: Step 1 Photo of the Epley maneuver: Step 1 slide 1 of 4 You will sit on the doctor’s exam table with your legs extended in front of you. The doctor will turn your head so that it is halfway between looking straight ahead and looking directly to the side that causes the worst vertigo. Without changing your head position, the doctor will guide you back quickly so that your shoulders are on the table but your head is hanging over the edge of the table. In this position, the side of your head that is causing the worst vertigo is facing the floor. The doctor will hold you in this position for 30 seconds or until your vertigo stops. This maneuver is done with the assistance of a doctor or physical therapist. A single 10- to 15-minute session usually is all that is needed. When your head is firmly moved into different positions, the crystal debris (canaliths) causing vertigo will move freely and no longer cause symptoms. Last Updated: December 29, 2008 related physicians related services
Badge TV & Radio Blog A debate on disability and beauty, or just trash TV? Is BBC3's contest to select a disabled model really concerned with the issues, or is it simply an exploitative entertainment? Britain's Missing Top Model contestant, Jess Jess (left), contestant on Britain's Missing Top Model. Photograph: BBC/Love Productions I expected to hate Britain's Missing Top Model. But we are now three weeks into the show, part of BBC3's beauty season, and I'm still watching. In fact, having watched a sneak preview of tonight's show I can confirm I now care who wins. As with every other reality television programme we've had tears, late night squabbles, and a double elimination. In tonight's show there's the "catwalk challenge", the judges fall out and there are yet more shots of creepy "mentor" Jonathan Phang looking wistfully into the distance as he says "I just wonder if the public is ready for a disabled model". Last week Debbie was booted out for daring to have hint of a stomach, giving the impression that even in fashion, having a disability is one thing, but having curves is another. So far, so very fashion. Of the five remaining contestants, four are blonde, and all conform to traditional western ideals of beauty. (There hasn't been a single non-white model in the show, presumably because whoever chose the contestants decided that a model who was both disabled and black just wouldn't have a cat in hell's chance so let's not even bother giving her airtime.) And yet there is something compelling about the programme - the trouble is I can't figure out what. Is it because it's good television or because I'm a sucker for trash? Here is a show with no subtlety, a distinct lack of irony or humour, and in casting director Mark Summers a man so lacking in social skills that he makes Wayne Hemingway look suave. When the judges discuss whether a deaf woman has as much right to be there as a paraplegic contestant, I'm left feeling a bit grubby. Why so? Is this a serious debate about society's attitudes to beauty and disability, or is it just trash TV dressed up as something worthy? And if so, does watching it make me a willing participant in the exploitation of others or am I being exploited myself? Today's best video
Al-Qaida dealt 'major blow' as deputy leader killed in Pakistan Atiyah Abd al-Rahman rose to his position after Osama Bin Laden was killed in raid on compound in May Atiyah abd al Rahman A US official has said the death of Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, who has been killed in Pakistan, will be a 'tremendous loss' for al-Qaida. Photograph: AP Public Domain Al-Qaida's second-in-command has been killed in Pakistan, delivering a "major blow" to the terrorist group still reeling from the death of Osama bin Laden, American officials said on Saturday. Libyan national Atiyah Abd al-Rahman rose to his position when Ayman al-Zawahiri took command after Bin Laden was killed in a raid on his Pakistani compound in May. Officials did not reveal how al-Rahman was killed but said it happened on 22 August in Waziristan, north-west Pakistan, where members of al-Qaida are thought to be hiding out. A CIA drone strike was reported that day. "Atiyah's death is a tremendous loss for al-Qaida, because [Zawahiri] was relying heavily on him to help guide and run the organisation, especially since Bin Laden's death," one American official said. "The trove of materials from Bin Laden's compound showed clearly that Atiyah was deeply involved in directing al-Qaida's operations even before the raid. He had multiple responsibilities in the organisation and will be very difficult to replace." Since bin Laden's death, counterterrorism officials have hoped to capitalise on al-Qaida's unsettled leadership. The more uncertain the structure, the harder it is for them to operate covertly and plan attacks. Another official added: "There's no question this is a major blow to al-Qaida. Atiyah was at the top of al-Qaida's trusted core." US defence secretary Leon Panetta said on a visit to Afghanistan last month that he believed the strategic defeat of al-Qaida was within reach if the United States could kill or capture up to 20 remaining leaders of the core group and its affiliates. "Now is the moment, following what happened with bin Laden, to put maximum pressure on them," he said. Al-Rahman joined Bin Laden as a teenager in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union. He once served as Bin Laden's personal emissary to Iran. Al-Rahman was allowed to move freely in and out of Iran as part of that arrangement and has been operating out of Waziristan for some time, officials have said.
1. When I can see your visions, you are tripping balls. 2. And they said David Carradine died a few years ago… 3. “That could’ve been me on Kung Fu! That could have been me on Battlestar Galactica! “ 4. One riff per lifetime. 5. “So Carlos, what would you look like if you weren’t wearing that ridiculous hat all the time and shaved your mustache?” 6. Vigo the Carpathian… lol. 7. I am here to protest my own fashion choices Leave A Comment
In times of stress, the appetite turns to ramen for comfort. By flickering candlelight in a West Village restaurant during the hurricane's aftermath, a friend and I sat talking noodles. "Why do all the ramen places in Brooklyn suck?" lamented the Fort Greene resident. "Not sure they totally suck, but I know what you mean," I replied. "The soups often seem too compulsively creative, when you want something... More >>>
Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts will not endure unless Republicans clearly understand the meaning of "the machine" that he ran against and defeated. Yes, it is about a general revulsion at government spending, what is sometimes called "the blob." But blobs are shapeless things, and in the days ahead we will see the Obama White House work hard to reshape the blob into a deficit hawk. Unless the facade is ripped away, the machine will survive. The revolt against the machine began with voters' 2006 ouster of the Republican majority in Congress for making a mockery of fiscal rectitude. An angry electorate then swept Barack Obama into office. Now Mr. Obama is saying voters elected him on the same wave of anger that elected Scott Brown. Sorry, but Messrs. Obama and Brown are not surfing in the same political ocean. Daniel Henninger discusses the political machine that Scott Brown ran against. Daniel Henninger discusses what Scott Brown's victory means for Democrats. They became different than the party of FDR, Truman, Meany and Reuther. That party was allied with the fading industrial unions, which in turn were tethered to a real world of profit and loss. The states in the North and on the coasts turned blue because blue is the color of the public-sector unions. This tax-and-spend milieu became the training ground for their politicians. Until the Obama exception, the only recent Democrats electable into the presidency had to be centrist Southerners little known to the country. Every post-Kennedy liberal who tried, failed, including Teddy. What an irony it is that in the same week the Kennedy labor legacy hit the wall in Massachusetts, the NEA approved a $1 million donation from the union's contingency fund to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. It is this Kennedy legacy, the public union tax and spend machine, that drove blue Massachusetts into revolt Tuesday. He sent public budgets toward the cliff. Getty Images Yes, health care was ground zero, but Massachusetts—like New Jersey, like California, like New York—has been building toward this explosion for years. Enter the Obama administration, the first one born and raised inside this public bubble, with zero private-sector Cabinet members. Act one: a $787 billion stimulus bill, which they brag mainly saved state and local jobs. Then came the six-month odyssey for Obama's $1 trillion health-care bill, dripping with taxes. Independent voters felt like everything was being sucked into a public-sector vortex. This is why New Jersey's Chris Christie won running on nothing. It's why in California Carly Fiorina is within three points of Sen. Barbara Boxer. It's why the party JFK enabled, "the machine," is hitting the wall. There's no way out for these Democrats. They made a Faustian bargain 40 years ago with the public unions. For the outlays alone, they'll get some version of the Obama health-care bill. They'll also go to the same old "populist anger" well. Scott Brown's victory has given the GOP a rare, narrow chance to align itself with an electorate that understands its anger. Now the GOP has to find a way to disconnect from a political legacy that smothered governments at all levels and is now smothering the Democratic Party. Write to
Radio Dabanga (Hilversum) 15 January 2013 Sudan: Families Fleeing North Darfur Tribal Clashes Arrive At Chad Camp Photo: Derk Segaar/IRIN Displaced (file photo) Several other people fleeing the clashes in North Darfur did not manage to reach the refugee camp. They were last seen by Hashim and the others about 60 kilometers away from the border between Chad and Sudan, without food or water. The 40 families come from the villages of Umm Kolol, Medecis, Umm Baua, and from the surroundings of Jebel 'Amer. They all expressed their gratefulness for the warm welcome they received from the other refugees already living in camp Touloum. Touloum's chief, Haider Suleiman Gardia, said the newly-arrived refugees were exhausted by the time they reachd the camp. He told Radio Dabanga these people had not eaten or drunk for several days as they ran out of supplies during their journey. The sheikh stated that different aid organizations visited the 40 families and he urged them to accelerate their provision of food, water, medicine and shelter. Ads by Google
Take the 2-minute tour × I've installed xtrlock on Ubuntu 12.04. I run it manually from the command line in the evening, when I want to lock the keyboard/mouse but still leave the screen active. When I come back the next morning and enter my password, the screen immediately goes black, and then I'm presented with the normal Ubuntu unlock screen. How can I prevent the normal lock from happening after I've unlocked xtrlock? share\|improve this question 1 Answer 1 up vote 1 down vote accepted On Ubuntu-Gnome you can disable the password request on Settings/Brightness, by removing the flag from "Lock" and/or from "Lock the screen after resuming from suspend"...try and check if there's something similar on Unity! share\|improve this answer I'm not sure if I want to do that, as the timed lock is nice in case I forget, but it certainly answers the question and clarifies things. – rakslice May 6 '13 at 21:05 Your Answer
WSJ Blogs Real-time commentary and analysis from The Wall Street Journal Health Blog WSJ's blog on health and the business of health. In Mass., Costs Rise Again for Universal Health Coverage The cost of subsidizing health insurance keeps going up in Massachusetts. Massachusetts MapThat’s noteworthy because the state’s rule requiring everyone to buy insurance resembles Hillary Clinton’s proposal to mandate health insurance for all Americans, and because the Mass. plan has been cited as a possible model in several other states. The subsidized-insurance program — aimed at those who can’t afford insurance on their own — will cost “significantly more” than the $869 million the state’s governor proposed in his 2009 budget just two months ago, Massachusetts’s top financial official told the Boston Globe. The program’s cost is rising not only because all health-care costs are going up, but also because more people than expected have signed up. Meanwhile, a rule that charges a penalty to businesses that don’t provide insurance to their employees has raised only $6 million this year, far less than the $24 million initially budgeted, the Globe says. The state’s looking at a number of ways to lower costs and raise revenues. A panel yesterday voted to raise premiums and copays for some people covered by the plan; starting July 1, the lowest premiums will rise by about 10%, to between $39 to $116 per month. And the panel decided to raise the state’s per-patient payment to insurers by 10%, rather than the 15% the insurers had asked for. But those changes won’t be enough to close the gap between what was originally budgeted and the new projections. “Health-care reform is not sustainable financially and it’s also not sustainable politically if the best we can do is more taxpayer money and shifting costs to consumers,” Nancy Turnbull, an associate dean at the Harvard School of Public Health and member of a state board that oversees the program, told the Globe. “We have to find other ways [to raise money and control costs] and we have to find them very quickly.” Map via Wikimedia Commons Add a Comment Comments (5 of 37) View all Comments » • No: Satin's point "b" is not correct; or should I say it is terribly misleading. Employer-sponsored healthcare insurance - which is what is really being debated here - came into existence just following WWII when we had wage and price controls. Employers were not allowed to raise wages to attract labor, so congress enacted legislation allowing favorable tax treatment of employer-sponsored healthcare and later other benefits. So, depending on the level of corporate tax (let's just use an example of 30%) this means that it costs the EER $0.70 for every $1.00 in healthcare benefits they provide. Several other points I would like to make, but will do so briefly: 1) Spending a greater % of GDP in healthcare is the US does not, in and of itself, signal that this is a problem. Just like other consumption goods and services, it may simply be that Americans have chosen to re-allocate their budgets towards a greater share of healthcare, buying less of something else. Being an income normal good, this is naturally an effect of a rising standard of living. So citing the % of GDP spent on healthcare is meaningless unless put into a cogent context and explanation as to why this is a "bad" thing. 2) International comparisons are meaningless. US business funds a great deal of the healthcare spend; but also pays much higher corporate taxes, so they are getting squeezed; Americans are of a different mindset than those in other countries - especially closed socialist-style economies such as Sweden, with their socialized healthcare, very high taxes and homogeneous population. Americans will not accept European style rationing - just look at the repeated failure of the "Oregon Plan." They will not accept Hillary Care, which in its initial form called for jail terms for patients that went out of their "assigned area" for care and the physicians that treated them. Of course, many polls show Americans want Universal coverage. Who wouldn't want "something for nothing?" But when the camel's nose gets under the tent and they get a taste of what this scheme really amounts to (if you are >50 or >60 and you need bypass surgery? Forget it. You can't have it. This is what rationing leads to my friends. So, get real pollsters who know the issues and have them ask the right questions: what would you be willing to give up for "universal healthcare" in terms of choice, quality of care, innovation, freedom; and what would you be willing to pay for it? Let's see what the polls tell us then. I could go on, but that is enough for now. • Most hospital costs (the biggest costs in health care) are artifically inflated by unions who demand and control the salaries and staffing volumes are most of the hospitals in the U.S. Did anyone read the recent WSJ article that all the laid off factory and auto-industry workers are flocking to hospitals looking for jobs b/c they pay "much more" than they were making as lowly-skilled factory workers?? Nice. Nurses regularly pull down $85,000 per year and techs about $50,000 per year (with only a 9-month certificate!) so when I hear everyone blaming the doctors (who are the cheapest part of the care) I become ill. P.S.- When the day comes when the best physicians no longer accept insurance, we will rue the day we beat them down with all our verbal abuse. Who needs who more? • Health insurance is the reason for skyrocketing health care costs. Hospitals can charge however much they want because they get paid by the insurance company, 99% of the time the patient doesnt even know how much a test costs. A human gets a blood test, the charge is $900. Take your cat or dog to the vet for a blood test, which is virtualy the same (probably sent to the same lab) the charge is $160 (that's with the Vet's mark up). Why? Because veterinary hospitals don't get paid by insurance. They would not have any clients if they charged $900. Solve the rising cost of health care? ABOLISH HEALTH INSURANCE. • Satan's point "b" is awfully accurate. I just don't get why make the claim that doc's income "doesn't keep up with inflation" as Anonymous does. Ever stop to think that maybe those income were too high to begin with and due for a major correction? • Some of you people make me sick with your statements: "The best/brightest doctors should be in front line care, not in a dermabrasion lab, or in a plastic surgery suite" “Doctors are the public face of the healthcare system” 1. Your thinking is Socialist ie USSR Communist. No one other than the doctor should decide where he or she wants to work. Maybe based upon your credentials you should be flipping burgers at local corner burger place. It would help out the store owner and speed up the service to the labor workers on the street. SU!! 2. Doctors should not be considered a public face of health care. If a doctor is a public face to you, then you need to get a job and find a private practice and stay out of the ER or the public welfare office. If you can not obtain such a job, well then oh well, you should have paid attention in school, you should have not committed that crime, maybe move somewhere where there is incentive to obtain a decent job for a decent wage and the cost of living is cheaper. Or are you too good for a real job. Maybe you need two jobs. Oh gosh. Maybe you should have worn a condom. How about some personal responsibility on your part for where you are today. 3. STOP relying on the so called “government” to fix the problems. Name one solution that the “Government” has come up with that did not cause problems in the economy, ie tax burden on middle class workers, lack of decent service. You can not. So SU!!! 4. “Government” is as per the Constitution of the United States, you, me and everyone who is a CITIZEN of this former great nation. But to people like some of ya’ll, “Government” are the people who are going to give you money. Whose money? MY MONEY!!!! You act as if your legislative body has a big Dollar Tree behind the state house and they run out side and shake it. Then the wet backs help them pick it up and put it in baskets. They then divide it up and give it away to everyone, yippy fun in the sun. That’s because you’re a DA!!!! The government you look to, vote in and rely on sends dirty messages to business owners and hard working people who make a decent living, “give us more money” ie taxes, and when they do not the GOVERNMENT sends men with guns to collect the money. Does Lexington Concord sound familiar? Does the Shot heard Round the World ring a F’ing bell in your hollow heads? You have let the “government” do exactly what “we” ie my family line , maybe not yours, fought for and is why you have such lovely parks in and around Boston. Get your head out of your A!!! They take you guns so cant fight back, oh , I am sorry that is to protect the people, public safety. Yes with all the guns laws in MA, there are no gun crimes. Another failed policy. Next time your about to be murdered, dial 911 they are on the way to help you! Posted by an over taxed sick of the welfare state citizen of the former great nation. About WSJ's Health Blog • Health Blog on Twitter • Health Blog on Facebook Most Popular
Overtones or harmonics are the natural parts of any pitch heard when it is sounded. That is to say, that each pitch that we hear contains addition pitches within it that are termed overtones or harmonics. The relative strength or weakness of these overtones determines the tone color or timbre of the pitch. When a pitch is played, the main note heard is the fundamental (the note itself), but there is also present a series of other pitches above it called overtones or harmonics. The first overtone is an octave above the fundamental, the second is an octave and a fifth above the fundamental, the third is two octaves, the fourth is two octaves and a third, and so on, with each following overtone closer to the last than the last was to the tone before it.The series of overtones (harmonic series) for the fundamental pitch C would consist of C-C3-G3-C4-E4 G4-B-Flat4-C5-D5 E5-F-Sharp5-G5-A5-B Flat5-B5-C6. Last Updated: 2013-02-14 14:22:41
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Saints) Jump to: navigation, search In traditional Christian iconography, saints are often depicted with halos, a symbol of holiness; note how Judas Iscariot at the forefront is the only apostle without a halo. A saint is one who has been recognized for having an exceptional degree of holiness. While the English term "saint" originated in Christianity, historians of religion now use the term "in a more general way to refer to the state of special holiness that many religions attribute to certain people,"[1] with the Jewish Tzadik, the Islamic Mu'min, the Hindu rishi or guru, and the Buddhist arhat or bodhisattva also referred to as saints. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either through official church recognition or by popular acclaim (see folk saints).[1][2] In Christianity, "saint" has a wide variety of meanings, depending on its usage and the denomination. The original Christian usage referred to any believer who is "in Christ" and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth.[3] In Orthodox and Catholic teachings, all Christians in heaven are considered to be saints, but some are considered to be worthy of higher honor, emulation, or veneration, with official church recognition given to some saints through canonization or glorification.[4] General characteristics[edit] The English word saint is from the Latin sanctus, in origin a term in indigenous tradition connected to the name of the god Sancus, but in Christian context used to translate the Greek ἅγιος (hagios), derived from the verb ἁγιάζω (hagiazo), which means "to set apart", "to sanctify" or "to make holy".[5] The word appears 229 times in the Greek New Testament,[clarification needed] and 60 times in the corresponding text of the King James Version.[6] As used by the apostolic authors of scripture, saint did not refer to deceased persons who have been granted sainthood, but rather to living persons who had dedicated themselves to God.[5] The word was originally a technical term in ancient Roman religion, but due to its "globalized" use in Christianity, the modern term (in English or Romance languages) is now also seen as translation of comparable terms for people "worthy of veneration for their holiness or sanctity" in other religions. Many religions also use similar concepts but different terminology to venerate individuals worthy of honor in some way,[1] Author John A. Coleman (Society of Jesus, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California) wrote that saints across various cultures and religions have the following family resemblances:[7] 1. exemplary model 2. extraordinary teacher 3. wonder worker or source of benevolent power 4. intercessor 5. a life often refusing material attachments or comforts 6. possession of a special and revelatory relation to the holy.[8] The anthropologist [9] Lawrence Babb in an article about Sathya Sai Baba asks the question "Who is a saint?", and responds by saying that in the symbolic infrastructure of some religions, there is the image of a certain extraordinary spiritual king's "miraculous powers", to whom frequently a certain moral presence is attributed. These saintly figures, he asserts, are "the focal points of spiritual force-fields", exerting "powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the inner lives of others in transforming ways as well."[10] Further information: General Roman Calendar A portrait depicting Saint Francis of Assisi by Italian artist, Cimabue (1240-1302) The Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather, recognizes them.[11] In the Church, the title of Saint refers to a person who has been formally canonized (officially recognized) by the Catholic Church, and is therefore believed to be in Heaven. By this definition, there are many people that the church believes to be in Heaven who have not been formally declared saints but who are otherwise referred to as saints, since they are believed to be completely perfect in holiness.[12] Unofficial devotions to uncanonized individuals take place in certain regions.[13] Sometimes the word "saint" is used to refer to living Christians.[14] In 993, Pope John XV was the first pope to proclaim a saint. At the request of the German ruler, he canonized Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg on 31 January 993. Before that time, saint cults had been local and spontaneous.[15] Pope John XVIII then declared a cult of five Polish martyrs.[15] Pope Benedict VIII would later declare the Armenian hermit Symeon a saint, but it was not until the time of Pope Innocent III that popes claimed an exclusive monopoly on the canonization of saints.[15] Walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope; he was canonized by Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen in 1153.[16][17] A decree of Pope Alexander III of 1170, gave the prerogative to the pope thenceforth, so far as the Western Church was concerned.[16] One Catholic website states that "There are over 10,000 named saints and beatified people from history, the Roman Martyrology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive head count".[18] Rev. Alban Butler published Lives of the Saints in 1756, containing 1,486 saints. The latest edition of this work, edited by Father Herbert Thurston, S.J., and British author Donald Attwater, contains the lives of 2,565 saints.[19] Monsignor Robert Sarno, an official of Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, expressed that it is impossible to say the exact number of saints.[20] In his book, Saint of the Day, editor Leonard Foley, OFM, says this of saints: "[Saints'] surrender to God's love was so generous an approach to the total surrender of Jesus that the Church recognizes them as heroes and heroines worthy to be held up for our inspiration. They remind us that the Church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ."[21] The veneration of saints, in Latin, cultus, or the "cult of the saints", describes a particular popular devotion or abandonment to a particular saint or saints. Although the term "worship" is sometimes used, it is intended in the old-sense meaning to honor or give respect (dulia). According to the Catholic Church, Divine Worship is properly reserved only for God (latria) and never to the saints.[23] They can be asked to intercede or pray for those still on earth,[24] just as one can ask someone on Earth to pray for them. A saint may be designated as a patron saint of a particular cause or profession, or invoked against specific illnesses or disasters, sometimes by popular custom and sometimes by official statements of the Magisterium.[25] Saints are not thought to have power of their own, but only that granted by God. Relics of saints are respected in a similar manner to holy images and icons. The practices of past centuries in venerating relics of saints for healing is taken from the early Church.[26] For example, an American deacon claimed in 2000 that Blessed John Henry Newman interceded with God to cure him. The American, Jack Sullivan, asserted that after addressing Newman he was cured of spinal stenosis in a matter of hours. In 2009, a panel of theologians concluded that Sullivan's recovery was the result of his prayer to Newman. According to the Catholic Church, to be deemed a miracle, "a medical recovery must be instantaneous, not attributable to treatment, disappear for good."[27] Once a person has been declared a saint, the body of the saint is considered holy.[28] The remains of saints are called holy relics and are usually used in churches. Saints' personal belongings may also be used as relics.[28] Some of the saints have a symbol that represents their life. In Church tradition, a person who is seen as exceptionally holy can be declared a saint by a formal process, called canonization. Formal canonization is a lengthy process often taking many years, even centuries.[29] If the application is approved, the person may be granted the title of "Venerable".[30] Further investigations may lead to the candidate's beatification and given title of "Blessed."[30] At a minimum, two important miracles are required to be formally declared a saint. These miracles must be posthumous.[30] Finally, when all of this is done the Pope canonizes the saint.[30] Main article: Saints in Anglicanism In high-church contexts, such as Anglo-Catholicism, a saint is generally one to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated) a high level of holiness and sanctity. In this use, a saint is therefore not a believer, but one who has been transformed by virtue. In Catholicism, a saint is a special sign of God's activity. The veneration of saints is sometimes misunderstood to be worship, in which case it is derisively termed "hagiolatry". Some Anglicans and Anglican churches, particularly Anglo-Catholics, personally ask prayers of the saints. However, such a practice is seldom found in any official Anglican liturgy. Unusual examples of it are found in The Korean Liturgy 1938, the liturgy of the Diocese of Guiana 1959 and The Melanesian English Prayer Book. Anglicans believe that the only effective Mediator between the believer and God the Father, in terms of redemption and salvation, is God the Son, Jesus Christ. Historical Anglicanism has drawn a distinction between the intercession of the saints and the invocation of the saints. The former was generally accepted in Anglican doctrine, while the latter was generally rejected. There are some, however, in Anglicanism, who do beseech the saints' intercession. Those who beseech the saints to intercede on their behalf make a distinction between "mediator" and "intercessor", and claim that asking for the prayers of the saints is no different in kind than asking for the prayers of living Christians. Anglican Catholics understand sainthood in a more Catholic or Orthodox way, often praying for intercessions from the saints and celebrating their feast days. In the Bible, only one person is expressly called a saint: "They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD." (Psalms 106:16-18) The apostle Paul declared himself to be "less than the least of all saints" in Ephesians 3:8. Eastern Orthodoxy[edit] Further information: Glorification In the Eastern Orthodox Church a saint is defined as anyone who is in Heaven, whether recognized here on earth, or not.[4] By this definition, Adam and Eve, Moses, the various prophets, except for the angels and archangels are all given the title of "Saint". Sainthood in the Orthodox Church does not necessarily reflect a moral model, but the communion with God: there are countless examples of people who lived in great sin and became saints by humility and repentance, such as Mary of Egypt, Moses the Ethiopian, and of course Dysmas, the repentant thief who was crucified. Therefore, a more complete definition of what a saint is, has to do with the way that saints, through their humility and their love of humankind, saved inside them the entire Church, and loved all people. Orthodox belief considers that God reveals his saints through answered prayers and other miracles.[4] Saints are usually recognized by a local community, often by people who directly knew them. As their popularity grows they are often then recognized by the entire church. The formal process of recognition involves deliberation by a synod of bishops.[4] If successful, this is followed by a service of Glorification in which the Saint is given a day on the church calendar to be celebrated by the entire church.[32] This does not, however, make the person a saint; the person already was a saint and the Church ultimately recognized it. It is believed that one of the ways the holiness (sanctity) of a person is revealed, is through the condition of their relics (remains).[citation needed] In some Orthodox countries (such as Greece, but not in Russia) graves are often reused after 3 to 5 years because of limited space. Bones are washed and placed in an ossuary, often with the person's name written on the skull. Occasionally when a body is exhumed something miraculous is reported as having occurred; exhumed bones are claimed to have given off a fragrance, like flowers, or a body is reported as having remained free of decay, despite not having been embalmed (traditionally the Orthodox do not embalm the dead) and having been buried for some years in the earth. The reason relics are considered sacred is because, for the Orthodox, the separation of body and soul is unnatural.[citation needed] Body and soul both comprise the person, and in the end, body and soul will be reunited; therefore, the body of a saint shares in the "Holiness" of the soul of the saint.[citation needed] As a general rule only clergy will touch relics in order to move them or carry them in procession, however, in veneration the faithful will kiss the relic to show love and respect toward the saint. The altar in an Orthodox church usually contains relics of saints,[33] often of martyrs. Church interiors are covered with the Icons of saints. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the title Ὅσιος, Hosios (f. Ὁσία Hosia) is also used. This is a title attributed to saints who had lived a monastic or eremitic life, and it is equal to the more usual title of "Saint".[citation needed] Oriental Orthodoxy[edit] The Oriental Orthodox churches ‒ the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Tewahedo Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church ‒ follow a canonization process unique to each church. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, for example, has the requirement that at least 50 years must pass following a prospective saint's death before the Coptic Orthodox Church's pope can canonize the saint. Further information: Universal priesthood (doctrine) In many Protestant churches, the word "saint" is used more generally to refer to anyone who is a Christian. This is similar in usage to Paul's numerous references in the New Testament of the Bible.[34] In this sense, anyone who is within the Body of Christ (i.e., a professing Christian) is a 'saint' because of their relationship with Christ Jesus. Many Protestants consider intercessory prayers to the saints to be idolatry as an application of divine worship that should be given only to God himself is being given to other believers, dead or alive.[35] Many Protestant sects also consider the practice to be similar to necromancy as the dead are believed to be awaiting resurrection, unable to do anything for the living saint. Within some Protestant traditions, "saint" is also used to refer to any born-again Christian. Many emphasize the traditional New Testament meaning of the word, preferring to write "saint" to refer to any believer, in continuity with the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. In the Lutheran Church, all Christians, whether in heaven or on earth, are regarded as saints. However, the church still recognizes and honors specific saints, including some of those recognized by the Catholic Church, but in a qualified way: according to the Augsburg Confession,[36] the term "saint" is used in the manner of the Catholic Church only insofar as to denote a person who received exceptional grace, was sustained by faith, and whose good works are to be an example to any Christian. Traditional Lutheran belief accounts that prayers to the saints are prohibited, as they are not mediators of redemption.[37][38] But, Lutherans do believe that saints pray for the Christian Church in general.[39] Philip Melancthon, the author of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, approved honoring the saints by saying they are honored in three ways: 1. By thanking God for examples of His mercy; 2. By using the saints as examples for strengthening our faith; and 3. By imitating their faith and other virtues.[40][41][42] The Lutheran Churches also have liturgical calendars in which they honor individuals as saints. Further information: Saints in Methodism While Methodists as a whole do not practice the patronage or veneration of saints, they do honor and admire them. Methodists believe that all Christians are saints, but mainly use the term to refer to bibilical people, Christian leaders, and martyrs of the faith. Many Methodist churches are named after saints, such as the Twelve Apostles, John Wesley, etc. Although, most are named after geographical locations associated with an early circuit or prominent location. Some Methodist congregations observe All Saints Day if they follow the liturgical calendar. Many encourage the study of saints, that is, the biography of holy people. The 14th Article of Religion in the United Methodist Discipline states, John Wesley, the theological father of world Methodism, did not practice or permit Catholic practices associated with the veneration of the Virgin Mary or prayers to saints. The beliefs within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) with regard to saints are similar but not quite the same as the Protestant tradition. In the New Testament, saints are all those who have entered into the Christian covenant of baptism. The qualification "latter-day" refers to the doctrine that members are living in the "latter days", before the Second Coming of Christ, and is used to distinguish the members of the LDS Church, which considers itself the restoration of the ancient Christian church.[43] Members are therefore often referred to as "Latter-day Saints" or "LDS", and among themselves as "saints".[44] Other religions[edit] The use of the term "saint" is not exclusive to Christianity. In many religions, there are people who have been recognized within their tradition as having fulfilled the highest aspirations of religious teaching. In English, the term saint is often used to translate this idea from many world religions. African diaspora[edit] Cuban Santería, Haitian Vodou, Brazilian Umbanda, Candomblé, and other similar syncretist religions adopted the Catholic saints, or at least the images of the saints, and applied their own spirits/deities to them. They are worshiped in churches (where they appear as saints) and in religious festivals, where they appear as the deities. The name santería was originally a pejorative term for those whose worship of saints deviated from Catholic norms. Main articles: Buddha and Bodhisattva Buddhists hold the Arhats and Arahants in special esteem as well as Bodhisattvas and Buddhas. Main article: Hindu saints There are many men and women in Hinduism who are revered as saints. Like many religions, Hinduism has no formal canonization process, with numerous individuals reaching the status of saint among their followers and among Hindus in general. Hindu saints are also variously called gurus, sadhus, rishis, swamis, and other names.[45] "Sant" is unrelated to the false cognate English "saint". Traditionally, "sant" referred to two specific groups: a group of Vaishnava poet-saints in Maratha between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, and a loose group of "nirguna bhakti" believers in Punjab and Rajasthan from the fifteenth century on.[46][47][48] Main article: Wali In Sufism, the major wali (friend of Allah) is considered master in the art of spiritual purification. Many Sufis hold the title Hadrat (literally Presence, a title of respectables) in esteem. Scholars have also noted the parallels between the regard for some Sufi figures in popular Muslim observance and Christian ideas of sainthood. In some Muslim countries there are shrines at the tombs of Sufi saints, with the observation of festival days on the anniversary of death, and a tradition of miracle-working.[49] Main article: Tzadik The term Tzadik "righteous", and its associated meanings, developed in Rabbinic thought from its Talmudic contrast with Hasid ("Pious" honorific), to its exploration in Ethical literature, and its esoteric spiritualisation in Kabbalah. In Hasidic Judaism, the institution of the Tzadik assumed central importance, combining former elite mysticism with social movement for the first time. The concept of sant or bhagat is found in North Indian religious thought including Sikhism. Figures such as Kabir, Ravidas, Nanak, and others are widely regarded as belonging to the Sant tradition. Some of their mystical compositions are incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. The term "Sant" is still sometimes loosely applied to living individuals in the Sikh and related communities.[50] See also[edit] 1. ^ a b c "Historians of religion have liberated the category of sainthood from its narrower Christian associations and have employed the term in a more general way to refer to the state of special holiness that many religions attribute to certain people. The Jewish hasid or tsaddiq, the Islamic Mu'min, the Zoroastrian fravashi, the Hindu rsi or guru, the Buddhist arahant or bodhisattva, the Daoist shengren, the Shinto kami and others have all been referred to as saints."Lindsay Jones, ed. (2005). Thomson Gale Encyclopedia of Religion (in Tajik). Sainthood (Second ed.). Macmillan Reference USA. p. 8033. 2. ^ "Veneration of saints is a universal phenomenon. All monotheistic and polytheistic creeds contain something of its religious dimension... " Issachar Ben-Ami (1998). Saint Veneration Among the Jews in Morocco. Wayne State University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8143-2198-0. Retrieved 7 September 2012. 3. ^ Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, "saint", ISBN 0-8024-9697-0, "Christians in general are 'saints' in NT usage, and the term is common in reference to the inclusive membership of a local church . . . Other references in the NT equate Christians in general with 'saints' . . . All these are identified as saints because they are in Christ Jesus." 4. ^ a b c d Bebis G [1] 5. ^ a b "Saints - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology". Salem Communications. Retrieved December 19, 2012. 6. ^ "What does the word "saint" mean in the Bible from a Protestant Sola scriptura point of view?". Retrieved December 19, 2012. [unreliable source?] 7. ^ Hawley, John Stratton, ed. Saints and Virtues, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. p. 239 8. ^ Coleman, John A. S.J. "Conclusion: after sainthood", in Hawley, John Stratton, ed. Saints and Virtues Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. pp 214-217 9. ^ Hawley, John Stratton, ed. Saints and Virtues Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. page 239 10. ^ Babb, Lawrence A. "Sathya Sai Baba's Saintly Play", in Hawley, John Stratton, ed. Saints and Virtues Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. pp 168-170 11. ^ The Catechism of the Catholic Church From the Knights of Columbus website 12. ^ What is a saint? Vatican Information Service, 29 July 1997 13. ^ Folk_saint from Citizendium 14. ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church (Second Edition)". Retrieved 2013-10-12. 15. ^ a b c Luscombe, David and Riley-Smith, Jonathan. 2004. New Cambridge Medieval History: C.1024-c.1198, Volume 5. p. 12. 16. ^ a b William Smith, Samuel Cheetham, A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities (Murray, 1875), 283. 17. ^ "Alexander III". Retrieved 2013-10-12. 18. ^ All About Saints at Catholic Online (USA) FAQs- Saints and Angels 19. ^ "Religion: 2,565 Saints". Time. 1956-08-06. Retrieved 2010-05-23. 20. ^ "Keeping Saints Alive". CBS News. 2010-04-04. 21. ^ Saint of the Day edited by Leonard Foley, OFM, (Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2003), xvi. ISBN 0-86716-535-9 22. ^ Woodward, Kenneth L. (1996). Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn't, and Why. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 13. ISBN 0684815303. Retrieved August 9, 2012. 23. ^ Scully, Teresita Do Catholics Worship Mary? on American 24. ^ The Intercession of the Saints on 25. ^ Patron Saints from Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) on 26. ^ Acts 19:11-12 27. ^ Jenna Russell, "Marshfield man's prayer an answer in sainthood query", The Boston Globe April 28, 2009, B1,4. 28. ^ a b Relics Catholic Encyclopedia on 29. ^ Table of the Canonizations during the Pontificate of His Holiness John Paul II on 30. ^ a b c d e 31. ^ "Article XXII". Retrieved 2013-10-12. 32. ^ Frawley J The Glorification of the Saints in the Orthodox Church at Orthodox Church in America, Syosset, New York 33. ^ Hopko T "The Orthodox Faith" 34. ^ "Beloved of God, Called to Be Saints", New Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 150. 35. ^ "The Sin of Idolatry and the Catholic Concept of Iconic Participation". Retrieved 2012-12-25. 36. ^ A Confession of Faith Presented in Augsburg by certain Princes and Cities to His Imperial Majesty Charles V in the Year 1530 37. ^ Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXI 14-30 38. ^ Smalcald Articles-II 25 39. ^ Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXI 9 40. ^ Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXI 4-7 41. ^ Lutheran teaching 42. ^ Augsburg Confession XXI 1 43. ^ Smith, Joseph Jr. "Pearl Of Great Price". 44. ^ M. Russell Ballard, "Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits", Ensign, Nov 2007, 25–27 45. ^ Robin Rinehart (1 January 2004). Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. pp. 87–90. ISBN 978-1-57607-905-8. Retrieved 3 June 2013. 46. ^ Karine Schomer; W. H. McLeod (1 January 1987). The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-81-208-0277-3. Retrieved 3 June 2013. 47. ^ Jacqueline Jones (2009). Performing the Sacred: Song, Genre, and Aesthetics in Bhakti. ProQuest. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-109-06430-8. Retrieved 3 June 2013. 48. ^ The authoritative Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., has an entry for "sant", with Sanskrit etymology, and one for "saint", but does not cross-reference them in any way 49. ^ Michael Gilsenan (1973). Saint and Sufi in Modern Egypt. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-823181-4. 50. ^ Dwyer, Graham (2002). The Divine and the Demonic: Supernatural Affliction and Its Treatment in North India. New York: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 25. • Beyer, Jürgen, et al., eds. Confessional sanctity (c. 1550 - c. 1800). Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2003. • Bruhn, Siglind. Saints in the Limelight: Representations of the Religious Quest on the Post-1945 Operatic Stage. Hillsdale, New York: Pendragon Press, 2003. ISBN 978-1-57647-096-1. • Jean-Luc Deuffic (éd.), Reliques et sainteté dans l'espace médiéval [2] Further reading[edit] External links[edit]
What is meta? × I'm curious why it is done this way. Surely, it would be simpler to just serve the actual HTML content, rather than a script that writes HTML. share\|improve this question Spin off question: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/114060/… – amanaP lanaC A nalP A naM A Nov 29 '11 at 18:52 1 Answer 1 up vote 17 down vote accepted Historically, this was to keep Google from caching system messages. In the olden days, a page on Stack Overflow would take an hour or so to get into Google and then stay there for a rather long time. This would mean people we're getting "The system is going down for maintenance at 11 PM EST" and stuff days, or even weeks, after the event had passed. Loading the message in via javascript kept Google from rendering it in cache, while still serving the same HTML to everyone (making caching easier, and avoiding cloaking concerns). Of course, it's been a looong time since that code was written and Google's gotten a lot smarter. For one, Stack Overflow pages appear almost instantly in Google (and are frequently refreshed, though we can't guarantee all pages are refreshed). In a less good way, they've gotten a bit smarter about javascript and thus this doesn't actually work anymore. So the system message is appearing (twice for some reason) in cache now. We'll be changing this behavior... when we figure out another workaround. I discovered this while trying to remember why we did this, it's been months since anyone touched anything related to system messages. Ironically, I apparently wrote this code originally and just didn't remember it. share\|improve this answer hehe the cache is funny. wonder why that happens. – amanaP lanaC A nalP A naM A Nov 29 '11 at 19:04 I don't think "Ironically" is used correctly here -- but I'm no native English speaker, so I'll just ask Alanis. – jmfsg Nov 29 '11 at 19:06 Thanks! I had a suspicion it was to evade unintelligent spiders. – Shad Nov 29 '11 at 19:08 You must log in to answer this question. Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .
A point of meaningful unity A point of meaningful unity This has been reported on Ekklesia. But Dave Walker, who is also "official artist" to the Conference has added a personal account and commentary at the Thinking Anglicans website (http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/): "We marched not simply as well-fed bishops of the west but as bishops and spouses from (we were told) some 130 or so countries. Many of those marching live in places torn by war, depleted by poverty, threatened by climate change. They come from dioceses where children have no schools, curable diseases kill many and harvests fail. Physically it was a march of 1500 churchmen and women, symbolically it was a march of the 80 million Anglican worshippers we represent and a march for the sake of the billions in whose countries we live and work. Crowds lined the streets and applauded. Some stopped what they were doing and joined us as we journeyed past the great departments of state in Whitehall, past Downing Street and the Palace of Westminster, past the Abbey and over the river to Lambeth. "I’ve been in meetings before where Gordon Brown (UK Prime Minister) has spoken on the subject of poverty, so I knew it was a passion of his. But even for me, let alone for those hearing him for the first time, this was a speech to remember. It was an integrated effort of heart and mind. Without visible reading of notes he drew on both the macro-economic statistics of poverty and the individual, named, people he has met at the point of their deepest need. There was oratorical flourish in his comparison of the effects of the speeches of Socrates and Demosthenes on their audiences (was this a subtle contrast between himself and his predecessor?). He set everything within the great tradition of campaigning and action on behalf of the oppressed and excluded by Christians and other faiths. But the crux of the speech was in the specific commitments he made on behalf of his administration, and which he pledged to take to the United Nations debate in September. I must have spoken to dozens of people as the day rolled on; I didn’t find anyone who was less than full of admiration for what we had heard. "Can we take this on into the rest of the conference, as a reminder that the world and we have bigger issues to address than what bishops do in their bedrooms (in my case mostly sleep and blog)? I hope so."
Violent tornado strikes steel factory in Italy A violent tornado has hit one of Europe's biggest steel plants in southern Italy, injuring around 20 workers and leaving one person missing. The storm drifted in off the Mediterranean coastline and struck the port city of Taranto, bringing down a chimney stack and damaging a warehouse and lighthouse at the factory's docks, the steel company ILVA confirmed.
Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum ( - Audio, Video, Navigation & Electronic Modifications ( - - 05 WK GC REC to RER upgrade questions ( StephenWyker 01-23-2011 11:25 PM 05 WK GC REC to RER upgrade questions Hey all- New member here but looking for some info (I tried searching but there is so much info, I'm kinda lost) I have an 05' Grand Cherokee Limited, with factory REC, uConnect, Sirius and VES. I want to upgrade the headunit to an RER. I know i need a low-speed model. Easy enough, along with the bezel attachment. Here are my questions: 1. If I order the lockpick, will my existing VES and uconnect work? I've seen lots of stuff about needing additional mics and such? and where does it go? 2. How will my Sirius work? Do I need a replacement antenna or will the factory antenna work? Where would that antenna go if I need to replace it? 3. I saw something about needing to replace the existing GPS antenna? If so, where does the new antenna go. 4. Finally, I see a bunch of people have timing/clock issues. How / what do I need to buy to avoid that? I think that's everything. Just want ot make sure if I am gonna drop the $$$, I do it right ;-) Thanks in advance. SvenskaJeepGuy 01-24-2011 12:10 AM Re: 05 WK GC REC to RER upgrade questions there is a software fix for the clock and i think it comes with the latest lockpick, its not a big deal. you will need to make a bezel for it and buy the lockpick. your sirius subscription is linked to your vehicle and you will keep the same antenna. i also think you keep the same gps antenna. it would have been nice to have the rer, but i think it looks awkward in the 05-07 so i stayed with the rec. Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4 Copyright ©2000 - 2014, vBulletin Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2012 - JeepGarage.Org The Jeep Grand Cherokee Owners Community
U.S. v. JUAREZ-ORTEGA No. 88-2547 Summary Calendar. 866 F.2d 747 (1989) UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Esau JUAREZ-ORTEGA, Defendant-Appellant. United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. January 31, 1989. Ron Barroso, Corpus Christi, Tex., for defendant-appellant. Paula Offenhauser, Henry K. Oncken, U.S. Atty., Robert A. Berg, Asst. U.S. Atty., Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee. Before CLARK, Chief Judge, JOHNSON and JOLLY, Circuit Judges. The defendant, convicted of two counts of distribution of cocaine, challenges the district court's consideration during sentencing of his possession of a handgun, on the grounds that the jury acquitted him of a substantive count of carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. Finding that the district court could properly consider all the evidence during sentencing, we affirm. On January 22, 1988, two undercover detectives purchased six one-hundredths of a gram of cocaine for $20 from Esau Juarez-Ortega, the defendant, at his apartment in Corpus Christi, Texas. Three days later the detectives returned to Juarez-Ortega's apartment where, when asked for more cocaine, Juarez-Ortega told codefendant Rogelio DeLuna to get the substance. DeLuna then produced a small package containing one-tenth gram of cocaine and sold it to the officers for $20. During the transaction, one of the officers observed what appeared to be a small-frame handgun in Juarez-Ortega's waistband. Later that afternoon, the officers returned and found only DeLuna at the apartment. DeLuna produced a plastic bag of cocaine from under his sweater. After the officers saw a handgun in DeLuna's waistband, he was arrested. A struggle ensued as DeLuna reached for the gun. When Juarez-Ortega returned to the apartment, approximately five minutes later, the officers arrested him. Juarez-Ortega was not carrying a gun at that time. After being advised of his constitutional rights, Juarez-Ortega stated that he was illegally residing in the United States and that he had been selling marijuana and cocaine from that apartment. Juarez-Ortega admitted that he had possessed and carried the gun found with DeLuna, a Charter Arms .38 caliber revolver, which had been given to him by his "supplier" for his own protection. DeLuna stated that Juarez-Ortega had transferred possession of the revolver to him "to keep for protection" while he was conducting drug sales outside Juarez-Ortega's presence. Juarez-Ortega was indicted on three counts, two counts of distributing cocaine (violations of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C), and 18 U.S.C. § 2, Counts 1 and 2), and one count of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense (a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), Count 3). After a jury trial, he was convicted of Counts 1 and 2 and acquitted of Count 3. Juarez-Ortega was sentenced to seventy-six months on each of the two counts, to run concurrently, followed by a term of five years supervised release. If Juarez-Ortega is deported the release is to be unsupervised; if he is not deported, the court imposed 200 hours of community service on each count. Juarez-Ortega's codefendant DeLuna was convicted of the two distribution counts and the firearms count (§ 924(c)(1)). He was also sentenced to concurrent sentences of seventy-six months. Juarez-Ortega's sentence on each of the two counts, although exceeding the guidelines and the recommendation of the presentence report, was within the statutorily permissible limits. This court will generally not review the severity of a sentence imposed within statutory limits, "and the trial court's broad discretion in determining the appropriateness of a sentence will not be disturbed absent a finding of arbitrary or capricious action resulting in a gross abuse of discretion." United States v. Adi, 759 F.2d 404, 411 (5th Cir.1985). Furthermore, the court may properly consider past crimes, including those for which a defendant has been indicted but not convicted, as well as the factual basis of dismissed counts. See United States v. Johnson, 823 F.2d 840, 842 (5th Cir.1987). Prior convictions overturned on appeal may be considered. See United States v. Butler, 680 F.2d 1055, 1056 (5th Cir.1982). In the instant case, Juarez-Ortega is challenging the use by the sentencing judge of the facts surrounding his possession of a firearm even though he was acquitted of that offense. Those facts are not disputed as false or unreliable; rather, the appellant is arguing that the judge used those facts to impose on Juarez-Ortega the same sentence imposed on his codefendant. The following colloquy occurred between the sentencing judge and defense counsel regarding the basis for Juarez-Ortega's sentence. THE COURT: The jury could not have made — the jury could not have listened to the instructions. MR. BARROSO: Your Honor, — THE COURT: The testimony was so strong. The gun was even in the apartment. That's all they needed. There was no dispute of that fact. The mere fact that that gun was in the apartment, being used in association with — he didn't have to have it on his person. MR. BARROSO: They perhaps didn't believe it was being used in association with drug-related activity, your Honor. THE COURT: Well, I'll tell you something: I have been disappointed in jury verdicts before, but that's one of the most important ones, because what it did, it set up a disparity in result between the two defendants. Your client was consistently selling cocaine from his apartment and using a firearm. The fact is that the officers came in and testified that it was in your client's waistband and described, had an officer on the stand, a man who is an ATF agent, who is capable and knows what a firearm looks like, telling them, "This is what I saw." There is no reason for him not to have seen that, since it's undisputed that the firearm was in the apartment and it's undisputed that the firearm was used in connection with drug sales and used [for] the purpose of protecting drug sales. And then here in number twelve, there is no doubt at all that the firearm was brought for him. It's all a pattern. This firearm was used. They had to absolutely disregard the testimony of a government agent for no reason — no reason. MR. BARROSO: Perhaps they considered the testimony of the other agent who testified that he couldn't be sure, your Honor. THE COURT: Well, you can take it up with an appellate court, because I've made my findings on the record. Do you have anything further you'd like to say? MR. BARROSO: No, your Honor, other than we would hope the court would follow the guidelines as set forth in the pre-sentence investigation, that being the guidelines of from twelve to eighteen months of determining the sentence of Mr. Ortega. THE COURT: All right. The court is going to disregard the guidelines in this case. Juarez-Ortega argues that the sentencing action of the trial judge "in effect overrode the jury's determination of a fact issue with regard to the question of the firearm." This argument is without merit. Although the jury may have determined that the government had not proved all of the elements of the weapons offense beyond a reasonable doubt, such a determination does not necessarily preclude consideration of underlying facts of the offense at sentencing so long as those facts meet the reliability standard. The sentencing court was not relying on facts disclosed at trial to punish the defendant for the extraneous offense, but to justify the heavier penalties for the offenses for which he was convicted. See, e.g., United States v. Bowdach, 561 F.2d 1160, 1175 (5th Cir.1977). The other aspect of Juarez-Ortega's argument, that receiving the same overall sentence as his codefendant after being convicted of fewer offenses was per se an abuse of discretion, is also without merit. It is within the sentencing court's discretion to treat codefendants differently. See, e.g., United States v. Wheeler, 802 F.2d 778, 783 (5th Cir.1986). A defendant convicted of fewer substantive counts may receive a heavier sentence if justified. See, e.g., United States v. Beecroft, 608 F.2d 753, 761-62 (9th Cir.1979). A defendant cannot rely on his co-defendant's sentence as a yardstick for his own. United States v. Castillo-Roman, 774 F.2d 1280, 1284 (5th Cir.1985). Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in considering evidence of Juarez-Ortega's possession of a handgun despite Juarez-Ortega's acquittal of the substantive firearm offense, the sentence imposed by the district court is 1000 Characters Remaining User Comments Cited Cases • No Cases Found Citing Cases
Report Abuse Report this review to the Review Centre Team Why are you reporting this review? “poor customer support ” Written on: 02/07/2013 by aelnivre (1 review written) it is hard to ask for help from 1&1, but someone from other department rings you and pester you to buying their websites or build a site for you. Not value for money and if you decide to leave because of their poor service you have to pay so much. their prices are not very clear or transparent.
EU criticised for lifting travel bans on Iranian officials Iran's foreign minister, nuclear chief and oil minister have had their EU travel restrictions completely or temporarily lifted Ali Akbar Salehi Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, whose travel ban was suspended to allow him to act as an 'interlocutor' with other countries. Photograph: Reuters The European Union has been criticised for lifting travel bans on three senior Iranian officials after they were promoted. Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, the nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi-Davani, and the oil minister, Rostam Ghasemi, were all previously subject to EU travel bans but have had their restrictions completely or temporarily lifted. When Salehi, a former head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, was appointed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the country's foreign minister in January, questions were raised about his ability to engage with the international community. But the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, soon signalled that Salehi's travel ban could be lifted in hope of an agreement with Iran over its nuclear programme. In May, the EU suspended his travel ban to let him carry out his role as an "interlocutor" with other countries. The move came after Germany's gay foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, made an unprecedented visit to Tehran, meeting Ahmadinejad, to secure the release of two German reporters held in Iran for illegally working without a press visa. Few top western diplomats have visited Iran since Ahmadinejad, who is well known for anti-gay comments, took office in 2005. Abbasi-Davani, a nuclear scientist who survived an assassination attempt last November that killed one of his colleagues, was given Salehi's previous job. Abbasi-Davani was allowed to travel to Vienna in September. In August, Rostam Ghasemi, a former commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, an organisation believed to be responsible for the killings and arrests of protesters in the aftermath of Iran's 2009 elections, took over the presidency of Opec after he became Iran's oil minister. Iran currently holds the presidency of the oil cartel. Ghasemi is expected to appear at an Opec meeting in Vienna in December. Shadi Sadr, a prominent Iranian activist and lawyer based in London who campaigned for travel restrictions for Iranian officials, said the EU decision would "make a mockery of travel bans". "Activists are deeply disappointed by these decisions and think their attempts have been futile," she said. "What is the point of putting individuals on travel ban if they can get away with it with a job promotion?" She added: "For activists, the function of imposing travel bans is to name and shame officials involved in suppressing human rights in Iran. All these three officials are not only involved in Iran's nuclear programme but also serious violation of rights. The travel ban is there to make disruption in their official activities. If not, why is it there?" Barbara Lochbihler, an MEP and the former chair of the Iran delegation at the EU, said the Abbasi-Davani and Ghasemi travel bans had been temporarily lifted so that "both could take part in international meetings in Vienna". The Foreign Office said the three officials were under nuclear sanctions unconnected to human rights. The British foreign secretary, William Hague, met Salehi at the UN in September. The UK has been criticised for not naming the Iranian officials targeted in its new round of travel restrictions. In recent weeks the Iranian media has suggested Ghasemi's name had been taken off the travel ban list but a spokesperson for Ashton rejected the claim and said he would be able to travel only to the Opec meeting. EU regulations say sanctions should not apply "to cases where a state member is bound by an obligation of international law". Activists believe the EU has not been transparent enough about recent decisions over Iran travel bans and say there is a lack of consistency within the EU over decisions. "Some of the EU countries, especially Italy and Germany, have invested in Iran in the past and obviously are reluctant about the bans," said a commentator who asked not to be named. The US is believed to be unhappy about the lifting of bans. "I would have preferred to be informed at an earlier stage, in the same way as the public opinion should be instructed on the exact reasons for such decisions," said Lochbihler. "The EU would make a huge mistake if it decided to isolate Iran completely." Marietje Schaake, an MEP, said: "The comprehensive package of economic sanctions that were imposed by the international community actually fit quite well to the politics of self-isolation the Iranian regime has pursued." The EU might have eased travel restrictions on Iranian officials in order to secure a future visit to Tehran by a group of MEPs, a diplomatic source told the Guardian. Meanwhile, the former managing director of Iran's biggest bank, Mahmoud Reza Khavari, has apparently fled to Canada after being accused of involvement in a $2.6bn financial scam. Sadr said: "He has dual citizenship. Officials related to this regime have found their ways to get past international restrictions. Wealthy officials invest in other countries and get a double citizenship and travel more easily."
Aug 18 2011 12:00pm Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: “Elementary, Dear Data” “Elementary, Dear Data” Written by Brian Alan Lane Directed by Rob Bowman Season 2, Episode 3 Production episode 40272-129 Original air date: December 5, 1988 Stardate: 42286.3 Captain’s Log: Arriving three days early for their rendezvous with the U.S.S. Victory, the Enterprise is just hanging out. La Forge has built a scale model of the sailing ship Victory as a present for the captain of the starship of the same name, with whom La Forge served as an ensign. He also invites Data to spend their down-time on the holodeck playing at Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Data goes all Holmesian fangoober as soon as they enter the holodeck in costume. La Forge plays Watson. However, because Data has memorized all the Holmes stories, it’s all over too quickly, because as soon as someone recites a line of dialogue, he knows the ending. In Ten-Forward, La Forge explains to Data what went wrong. Pulaski overhears and insists that Data can’t learn via inspiration or original thought. Data and La Forge disagree, and accept her challenge. The first attempt to show that Data can deduce as well as Holmes winds up being simply a combination of existing Holmes adventures, which Data sees through almost as quickly. La Forge then calls for the arch (the doorway without opening the door) and asks the computer for a new mystery, one with an adversary that can defeat Data. Pulaski is abducted, and Data and La Forge try to track her down. Unknown to them, Professor Moriarty has also been able to summon the arch and talk to the computer. He is the one who kidnapped Pulaski. However, Moriarty is far more than what he appears. He speaks of new images impinging on his consciousness, and draws an image of the Enterprise. Data pointedly leaves the room and gets away from Moriarty before calling for the exit and telling Picard what’s happening. La Forge realizes that he called for an adversary to defeat, not Holmes, but Data. The holodeck had to give Moriarty sentience in order for him to be worthy of Data. Moriarty is able to transfer attitude control for the ship to the holodeck, where he’s holding Pulaski hostage. Picard gets into period dress and accompanies Data back to the holodeck. Moriarty is aware of his own consciousness, and wants simply to continue to exist beyond the end of this program. However, Moriarty also has moved beyond the fictional character he was created to be, and he understands that he cannot exist outside the holodeck. He therefore capitulates, and Picard offers to save the program in the hopes that one day they can allow him to exit the holodeck. Thank You, Counselor Obvious: Troi senses Moriarty’s gathering sentience, confirming what Data theorizes. If I Only Had a Brain...: Data throws himself into the part of Holmes with even more gusto than he did in “Lonely Among Us,” and this time the references and dialogue are actually straight out of Conan Doyle, complete with explicit references to “A Scandal in Bohemia,” “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” and “The Red-Headed League.” There is No Honor in Being Pummeled: Worf is Picard and Data’s backup when they go back into the holodeck, and he looks incredibly fetching in a nineteenth-century suit. What Happens On The Holodeck Stays On The Holodeck: So apparently the holodeck can create sentient life. This is rather disconcerting (though it would be the subject of many a future Voyager episode centered around the Emergency Medical Hologram). It also has a mortality failsafe that can be overridden. The levels on which that is wrong are simply legion.... I’m a Doctor, Not an Escalator: Pulaski insists that Data is incapable of solving a mystery he isn’t familiar with. While the mystery is cut off at the pass, Data does, in fact, do just fine on the original parts of the mystery, and solves another murder along the way. Sadly, thanks to Pulaski being abducted by Moriarty, she doesn’t get to see how wrong she is. Which is really too bad, because I wanted Data and La Forge to do a victory dance in front of her... However, like Worf (and Picard, Data, and La Forge), she looks phenomenal in period dress. Welcome Aboard: Daniel Davis is a spectacular Moriarty, combining menace with growing sentience and curiosity. Alan Shearman is an adequate if unspectacular Lestrade. And the winner of this week’s Robert Knepper moment is Anne Ramsay as Assistant Chief Engineer Clancy — best known as Lisa, Jamie’s sister on Mad About You, and currently appearing on HawthoRNe as a snotty doctor. I Believe I Said That: “Finally — there can be no argument. The game is afoot.” Data, throwing himself into the part. Trivial Matters: The producers mistakenly thought that Holmes was public domain, but the Conan Doyle estate still required a usage fee. It would be years before this episode was followed up on for precisely that reason, though it was, eventually, in the sixth season’s “Ship in a Bottle.” Reportedly, the original ending had Picard lying to Moriarty, that he could have existed outside the holodeck, the same way the piece of paper on which he drew the Enterprise also stayed intact outside the holodeck. Co-executive producer Maurice Hurley wanted to keep that ending, as it made Picard look clever, but Gene Roddenberry nixed it, saying it made Picard look cruel. Instead, the paper stays intact without any explanation. Make it So: “I accept your wager, Doctor.” A delightful period piece, a good tribute to Conan Doyle, and a fun holodeck-goes-wrong episode, as these things go. Brent Spiner totally owns the episode, modulating from his normal speaking pattern into a slightly overplayed Holmes that nonetheless has favorable echoes of Jeremy Brett (who was four years into his phenomenal portrayal of Holmes on the BBC while this episode was in production). There’s nothing to dislike about this episode, from LeVar Burton’s deliberately awful Watson to Picard in a top hat to Pulaski overloading on crumpets to a stellar performance by Daniel Davis. The script also is conscious of when the holodeck program takes place, with plenty of nineteenth-century references — Moriarty quoting Descartes, Data-as-Holmes making deductions based on common knowledge of the time (rubber soles meaning someone working in a lab, left-footed being left-handed). Just wonderful wonderful stuff. Warp factor rating: 7 Keith R.A. DeCandido has a bunch of new novels out: Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Sun: Under the Crimson Sun, SCPD: The Case of the Claw, and Unicorn Precinct, with another coming out soon called Guilt in Innocence, part of The Scattered Earth shared-universe project. He also writes the monthly Farscape comic book, and will be promoting it this weekend at the Baltimore Comic-Con. Go to Keith’s web site, which is also a gateway to his blog, Facebook, and Twitter, not to mention his twice-monthly podcast Dead Kitchen Radio. Richard Chapling 1. Chappers Would have been a much shorter episode if the computer had thought to challenge Data to a whistling contest, or joke-telling... Moriarty is one of the best characters I've seen on TNG: he's up there with Q in my favourites outside the main cast, and managed to appear in two very good episodes. 2. Rootboy Data and Geordi running around as a couple of dorks playing dress-up is tons of fun. I love Geordi's terrible accent. 3. don3comp Keith: Just out of curiosity, what kept this episode from getting a 10? The holodeck absurdities? (Whoever built this thing does need to be sent back to the drawing board! Oh, and Geordi? That's a pretty big slip of the tongue, pal!) I like this episode too, not only for the period designs, but for the way Data stops taking Dr. Pulaski's snide remarks, but challenges her on them head-on. Even though Data =supposedly= doesn't have emotions until he gets the Chip, he does seem to have a certain amount of self-respect. Oh, and even though the writer's couldn't have known that the sequel would be titled "Ship in a Bottle," there is a nice bit of synergy in the fact that a model sailing ship is built in this episode! 4. Mike S. I'm not a Holmes fan, but I liked this episode too, for all the reasons you mentioned. I thought that all of the main acting was great, and the recreation of 19th-century London was very well done. One other thing that goes unexplained (or is simply a mistake that made it through the sensors): Look at the expression on Moriarty's face as soon as Geordi calls for arch. Then later, he tells someone that he "heard that dark fellow call for the arch." Geordi, however, called for the arch BEFORE he programmed an antagonist capable of defeating Data, yet, that command is citied as the reason Moriarty is sentient. Despite this, the show was a very entertaining piece. Margot Virzana 5. LuvURphleb I dont really have much to say for this episode. While i liked datas holmes i really never preferred to re watch this episode very much. And while i would love to go off about the paper surviving life beyond the holodeck i think ill save my strength for the measure of a man. Would loved to have seen a victory dance though. Haha. Love the rewatches! 6. don3comp I agree that Moriarity is a great, well-acted villain. Even the moment he introduces himself gives me goose bumps. After a certain point, he isn't sure (and neither are we) exactly what he is anymore, and given that, he has the appropriate intensity. Keith: have you ever used him in a novel, or considered doing so? 7. Mike S. Of course, I meant Censors, as in TV censors, not the type that the Enterprise uses for a sensor sweep. Talk about mistakes that make it through the editing process. Forgive me. 8. don3comp Mike S: I'll overlook "sensors" if you'll overlook my inappropriate apostraphe in "writers" (see comment #3). =grin= Just goes to show how important proufReeding is! : ) 9. Seryddwr It strikes me that while season one's episodes are mostly duds, season two's hit the mark more often for two inter-related reasons: the characters are nicely bedded in, and the ideas flying around are more nuanced than 'Enterprise visits planet with strange cultural mores that cause trouble because the crew is too dim-witted to understand them'. 'Elementary, Dear Data' may not answer any questions about sentience and computer-based life forms in the way that 'Measure Of A Man' does, and the pacing is somewhat leaden (the section concerning Data's overly quick problem-solving (premature cogitation?) is far too drawn-out), but it is good fun, and Daniel Davis is indeed fabulous as Moriarty. Good British accent, too - I'm sick and tired of US genre TV casting actors to play stock British characters with fake Cock-er-ney accents. Exhibit A in this regard is 'All Good Things...', which demonstrates that in spite of the staggering technological advancements of the first third of the millennium, charwomen will still find jobs at Oxford University. ('Looks loik a bladdy skunk!' etc.) Or maybe it's just that the United Kingdom is too backward in the 2300s for anyone to care. Ah, diddums. 10. John R. Ellis I love so many character moments in this (and love the sequel episode a few seasons later), but yeah, this entire episode was just proof that the HoloDeck is -way- overpowered and should NOT be available for casual use, much less recreational. What were they thinking?!? Keith DeCandido 11. krad don: Nah, never really thought about using him in a novel. I think "Ship in a Bottle" was a good coda for the character.... 12. dav This and "Ship in a Bottle" may not be my favorite episodes, but they are right up there as the most memorable. When they are on I always watch them. In fact my personal image of Moriarity is of Davis when I read Holmes books/stories. Kristoff Bergenholm 13. Magentawolf Paper surviving beyond the Holodeck isn't that much of a stretch; according to the technical guide (or, as I remember, at least), small objects that get handled are actually replicated on the spot, larger items tend to be simulated with 'hard' low-scale tractor fields. This would be why the snowball thrown by Wes manages to hit Picard in an earlier episode. David Levinson 14. DemetriosX I seem to be alone in not really liking this episode much. The acting is fine as are the characterizations, but the MacGuffin is just too mindnumbingly dumb. I can accept Voyager's Doctor because he was designed to be an expert system and has a lot of data and resources behind him. Moriarty just doesn't have that. The resource-saving approach the computer would most likely use to interpret Geordie's very poorly worded command would be to have Moriarty cheat and make his plans based on what Data has planned. Giving him enough computing power to be able to defeat Data on his own would likely have been an enormous drain on the system. This is also one of the first episodes where the producers didn't really think through the implications of the tech of the week. Given what they've done with Moriarty, Starfleet could have put Jim Kirk on the bridge of every starship in the fleet. 15. DRickard I enjoy the episode, but would give it a lower rating (4-5) for the following issues: 1) the magic-wand factor of the Computer spontaneously creating a sapient program. 2) the writers seemed to drop the original plotline/question (can Data do original thinking?) when Moriarty appears 3) if I remember correctly, Pulaski casually treated Moriarty as a real person--even though she had earlier denied that Data was anything more than a walking calculator. 16. A.C.Wise Something just occured to me that I'd never thought about before in regards to this episode. Leaving aside the question of the computer suddenly being able to create sentient life, the computer in a way does answer the question of Data's capacity for original thought. When asked for an opponent that can defeat Data, it immediately creates a program that is capable of original thought, problem solving, and is basically sentient. In the computer's estimation at least, Data is sentient being. Of course, Pulaski wouldn't take the word of a machine when determining the nature of another machine, but still... 17. critter42 And if some of you are having a hard time placing Daniel Davis, he employed his ability to fake a British accent to great skill as Niles the butler from The Nanny. Given that his two most famous roles involve British characters, most people I know are suprised to learn he was born and raised in central Arkansas :). I can understand how people don't like this episode based on the demonstrated ability for the ship's computer to "create life", but this is one of those episodes that you just have to suspend your inner nitpicker for an hour, it is so fun to watch. I think this and Ship in a Bottle demonstrate that Conan Doyle created one of the greatest villains in literature in Moriarity. Michael Poteet 18. MikePoteet Tell you what, we put Worf in his Victorian garb together with the lady Silurain detective from "A Good Man Goes to War" over on "Doctor Who," we've got ourselves one heck of a genre crossover spinoff! "Alan Shearman is an adequate if unspectacular Lestrade." -- But, in the Canon, Lestrade is adequate and unspectacular! Perfect casting! I may be wrong (goodness knows I have been many times now), but I believe TNG had it right and Conan Doyle's Estate had it wrong. Every Holmes book except, I believe, The Casebook was in fact public domain by this point. See for details. Still, I can see why legal action made TNG skittish about any sequels for a while. I like this episode a lot -- it's one of maybe 2 holodeck stories I enjoy, mainly because it was all still relatively new and its tropes (sentient programs, failed failsafes, etc.) hadn't been done to death. Plus, it really gives Pulaski a chance to shine and to show the needed dynamic of conflict (however mild, really) that she brought to the cast. Amir Noam 19. Amir The really fun thing about the paper with the drawing of the Enterprise is not so much the fact that it manages to leave the Holodeck, but that when Geordy flips it around to show it to the camera, it's obvious that he's been looking at it upside down :-) Adrian J. 20. LightningStorm Now wait a minute, first this "There’s nothing to dislike about this episode..." then "Just wonderful wonderful stuff." but then "Warp factor rating: 7" How's that only a 7? Is this on a scale of 1 to 7? rick gregory 21. rickg @14 - you're not alone. The acting and setting were fun. But there are two huge duspension of disbelief issues here. First, the computer can create artificial intelligence?? Um... so where's the rest of this in the Federation? And second, setting aside the 'paper can survive outside the holodeck' there's this little matter.. the holodeck matter is created using transporter technology. Yet it can't survive outside the holodeck. But.... people who transport around obviously do. So here we have an entirely new state of matter, one that acts differently if it's 'alive' than if it's not... and again, this doesn't seem to manifest outside of this. Both things are just HUGE points that exist only to make the episode work out the way it does. I never have liked seeing the scaffolding. Ashe Armstrong 22. AsheSaoirse I always loved this episode but looking back, I can't help but ask (as others might), if Data can turn off his internal chronometer and other such things...couldn't he have turned off his knowledge of the books or slowed his mental capacity down long enough to enjoy himself? It's one of those weird episodes where Data feels more human than usual too but well before the emotion chip. 23. Hugh Casey Keith, this is why I'm such a fan of Steampunk... EVERYBODY looks phenomenal in late 19th century garb! :-) Keith DeCandido 24. krad critter: I disagree about Conan Doyle. Later writers, and actors, have done well with Moriarty, but if you actually read "The Final Problem," it's by far the worst short story Conan Doyle ever wrote, possibly the worst story ever written in the English language. Morarity is, in fact, an awful antagonist, a lame-ass attempt to retrofit an uber-villain into Holmes's life so Conan Doyle could be rid of the albatross of Sherlock Holmes once and for all. And it didn't even work. 25. zenspinner @22 - This is why I was never a fan of the whole "emotion chip" concept. To me it obscured the point of Data's personal and emotional growth, which we can see developing throughout the course of the series. I had thought one of the whole points of having an android character who wished to be more human would be watching his developmental progress over time. The emotion chip instantly threw all that away, and I feel whatever payoff we got in the form of silly in-jokes and hearing Data swear just wasn't worth it. Loved this episode, though. :) 26. Anony @3 - while I don't have knowledge to this effect, it's entirely possible the writers of Ship in a Bottle had the previous ship in a bottle in mind when they titled the episode. No synchronicity required. The issue in this episode isn't so much the sentience as the intelligence surrounding it. Any simulation capable of complicated response to input could suggest self awareness under the right conditions. But on top of that, the computer creation can sort-of outthink Data, who is usually the cleverest character on the entire ship, in real time. Either this is child's play for the computer, or it's diverting massive resources for holodeck purposes, or it has massive unused resources available to make the endeavor look like child's play. Same problem with Voyager's Doctor, really. The more the simulated character grows and remembers, the more the "real" computer's limits stand out. Most generous interpretation is that the computer could easily do all the thinking required for a mission, but is hard-wired not to due to past experiences with AI, and the holodeck sentiences are the result of unintended or poorly conceived loopholes in its code. Still makes Data's quest for humanity look rather trivial in comparison. 27. Chessara "The game is afoot!" :) I have always loved this episode! I must admit I always liked whenever the crew put on period costumes, for moments like Worf stepping out of the turbolift adjusting his gloves...precious! And kudos to Brent Spiner who does such a wonderful job, he really shines in this epsiode. And yes, Moriarty is a great character, love Davis's portrayal, I remember thinking how menacing he was when I first saw it. As for the rating...I agree with others here, this one deserves more than 7! I'd give it an 8 or even a 9 just for the sheer enjoyment I get whenever I watch it...hey, even Pulaski is alright in this one! :) Question for Keith: In the Season 1 recap (I think) you mentioned you would go as low as 1, which I agree is right for episodes like "Shades of grey" and "Sub rosa"...but will you go as high as 10? 28. Chessara Oops! I forgot to comment on the whole "Holodeck mortality fail safes that can be overridden" :O Hello??? Why would anyone EVER even think about putting that in the programming?? I mean, who devised this thing and how did it ever get approved? It's just the kind of thing you don't think about when you're a kid, but doing the rewatch now it's just ludicrous! rob mcCathy 29. roblewmac Data plays sherlock Holmes vs a Hologram that takes over the ship. I am glad for people that like it. Keith DeCandido 30. krad Quick administrative note--I was at Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend, prpmoting the Farscape comics I write for BOOM! Studios, and was unable to get "The Outrageous Okona" done for today. Don't worry, the rewatch of the episode that features Billy Campbell and Teri Hatcher before they were famous and Joe Piscopo just before he fell into obscurity will be up on Tuesday. ---Keith R.A. DeCandido 31. Mike S. That's OK, Keith... Are we still getting two for the week? Keith DeCandido 32. krad Yup. "The Outrageous Okona" will go up any minute, and "Loud as a Whisper" will go up on Thursday as planned. Ashe Armstrong 33. AsheSaoirse @zenspinner: Yeah, I mostly agree. Plus, later there was the whole awkward thing of Lore controlling Data through the chip. That always bugged me. 34. Jarvis 'Okona' hasn't gone up yet.... But I'm really enjoying this rewatch, and it is good to see a well-deserved high mark after so many low ones. Keith DeCandido 35. krad Okay, it turns out that there were some other technical glitches, so "Okona" will go up in Thursday's slot, with "Loud as a Whisper" going up on Monday. Sorry about that, folks.... 36. Mike S. No problem, just means I won't have to pump in the "Loud as a Whisper" DVD tonight. 37. Jarvis Thanks Keith, always a pleasure to read your thoughts. Will you ever return to writing Trek fiction? (even if two-three eyars is not a long absense, it feels like it is) 38. Liddle-Oldman I have long been uncomfortable with the Federation's casual disregard of sentient rights if the sentient doesn't happen to be an organic. The very first holodeck adventure ends with Picard blandlly murdering his character's detective friend, as the man confeses his fear of being destroyed. They try to vivisect a serving commisioned officer, Data, because it would be interesting. Later, they actualy enslave the entire production run of Emergency Medical Holograms that includes the Voyager's doctor, and condemn them to dirty, boring, forced labor working in environments that would kill an organic. Moriarty is another exellent example, and another example of how little they'd thought through the holodeck at all. They create a self-aware, intelligent person (two, actually, with what's-her-name), and, because he'd inconvinient, try to kill him. The only reason they didn't succeed is that he out-manovered them. I think this ep is a fine look into the moral shabbiness of the ST universe, and the fierce and often fatal racism of it's organic species. Keith DeCandido 39. krad Jarvis: Nothing currently on the Trek fiction docket, but who knows what the future will bring? ---Keith R.A. DeCandido Justin Devlin 40. EnsignJayburd This is a fun episode top to bottom as is this discussion thread. There's plenty to nitpick at here but I agree that sometimes it's best to just let it go. A smart audience's willful suspension of disbelief is always best earned by great storytelling and character development, which is exactly what this episode delivers. This show also marks the beginning of a great run of Data-centric episodes. 41. crzydroid rickg--According to the TNG Technical Manual (Sternbach & Okuda, 1991, ISBN-10: 0671704273) the holodeck emitters are not precisely the same as the transporter. I think they are more like the replicators. The replicators, to conserve power, use molecular-level resolution, whereas the transporter uses quantum-level resolution, so it is impossible to replicate something as complex as a human (according to them, anyway). As I understand, things resembling that complexity on the holodeck are controlled by means of force fields. Only "simple" objects, like paper and snowballs, are entirely replicated. Other holodeck safety concerns: Are they going with the "turning off the holodeck will erase real people" thing like in "The Big Goodbye"? That would otherwise seem the simplest solution: cut the power! Pull the plug, or in this case, remove the ODN conduits. BTW, this is not the only time that I've noticed the computer is seemingly smarter than Data. There are several instances where Data is doing some research, and asks the computer to speculate or theorize on something, which it does in a second. Yet Data couldn't? I feel like everyone makes a big deal out of Dr. Soong creating this perfect android, yet apparently the computer can easily do something similar (ie, Moriarity), or it appears that whoever created the Enterprise computer has more or less done the same thing. The only thing the computer doesn't do is act like a human. As for the safety protocols being able to be overridden--I will agree, what possible purpose could there be to that? Given how the holodeck works, I see the need for safety protocols to be explicitly programmed. I would also be willing to accept that there might be a way for them to be accidentally bypassed in unique circumstances. But to have the option of overriding them? I can see if Moriarity were hacking the code (or is it cracking?), but he seems to simply request it. I've determined I would never use the holodeck. 42. Electone I'm not going to comment on the episode as pretty much everything that needed to be said about it has been said. My only two comments are: did anyone else notice that Levar Burton obviously had a head cold during the filming (especially noticeable when showing the model ship to Data in Engineering), and man, he's a rotten actor. 43. jelsilk Can somebody who knows more about Geordi's visor tell me whether he would actually be able to see anything on the holodeck? 44. Brett Alan @Mike S. mentions Moriarty being able to see the arch BEFORE Geordi's "capable of defeating Data" statment. I've noticed that, too...and I like to think that it helps address some of the issues others raise with this episode. Because they're right--a computer shouldn't be able to just toss together a sentient consciousness like that. And if the Holodeck is so poorly programmed that it takes the instruction to create a Sherlock Holmes-type mystery with a villain capable of defeating Data to mean that it should create someone who can conquer the real ship, rather than someone who can defeat the character Data is playing, well, the Federation shouldn't need the Borg to wipe it out, because they'd manage to do it to themselves. So I prefer to think that the Enterprise computer has, for some reason yet to be explained, been on an ongoing mission to try to create a new form of life. We know, indeed, that at some point it does that, because (spoiler alert) this is the plot of the later episode Emergence, when the ship does just that. I don't think there's anything that states that this has been ongoing, but I don't think there's anything that shows it couldn't be, either. So perhaps the Enterprise was already using the Holodeck to create a new life, and was experimenting with Moriarty when Georgie input his new parameters, giving the computer an opportunity to use more resources for its project without arousing too much suspicion. That still leaves some open questions about the whys and hows, but it helps make sense of this episode, adds some depth to Emergence (which could use it), and possibly helps explain why the Holodecks malfunction and endanger people so often throughout the run of the show. I could see a book putting all of this together.... Subscribe to this thread Post a comment
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Make-Up Secrets of Movie Horror Pictures Link via Boing Boing. child of zippy said... that WASNT a real mummy? he was just make believe? then why was everyone else in the movie is such a tizzy about the fellow? was it the coffee? Bill Crider said... They're all nutty in Hollywoodland.
Originally created 04/15/04 Punctuation prognosis is grim but funny in unlikely best seller BRIGHTON, England -- Lynne Truss fears the English language could be in its death throes. Proper, written English, that is - the kind with correctly placed apostrophes, elegantly positioned semicolons, commas in all the right places and in none of the wrong ones. It's being shoved aside, she thinks, by an electronic onslaught of uncapitalized, unpunctuated, ill-thought-out Internet verbiage. Truss, a longtime writer and editor, is sure that trying to halt the decline would be hopeless, but she wants her new book, "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" to at least serve as a warm and funny eulogy to a little-heralded but crucial piece of the language: punctuation. Despite tackling a subject that's so dry that it's put generations of schoolchildren to sleep, the book has won critics' praise for its humor and readability and it's been a surprise hit in Britain, selling more than half a million copies. Truss also received the book of the year prize at the recent British Book Awards ceremonies - an honor bestowed by a panel of 400 publishers, wholesalers and booksellers, and the public. "Eats, Shoots & Leaves," whose title comes from a corny punctuation joke about a panda in a bar, is a lighthearted, affectionate tribute to the system of jots, dots and dashes that make written language intelligible. "Sticklers unite," Truss urges in the book's introduction. "You have nothing to lose but your sense of proportion, and arguably you didn't have a lot of that to begin with." Relaxing in a sleek hotel lobby in her hometown of Brighton, on England's south coast, Truss, 48, seems to relish the part of linguistic nit-picker. She has bobbed blond hair and a warm smile, and displays a sharp, self-deprecating wit. She insists she's more surprised than anyone by the book's success. Truss - so modest she apologizes (needlessly) for being a poor interview subject - says she was well into writing last year before she felt sure the topic was substantial enough for a book. She eventually concluded proper usage of punctuation was coming to a cataclysmic end, making this exactly the right time to honor it. "It's just a wonderful moment to appreciate it before it goes, like going to see Venice before it sinks," she said. "I sort of feel, well, what a great system and how beautiful and elegant it is, and to have it just dropped and cast aside when there's nothing being offered in its place just seems quite barbaric." She blames the decline on the failure of schools to teach the basic rules, and on the explosion of communication technologies that have allowed punctuation ignoramuses everywhere to deluge others with their poorly organized thoughts. "People who don't know their apostrophe from their elbow are positively invited to disseminate their writings to anyone on the planet stupid enough to double-click and scroll," she writes. In the always hurrying modern world, Truss says, few slow down enough to take care over details that used to be the sign of a thoughtful writer. She sees evidence for punctuation's demise everywhere. Her book is filled with examples - some funny, some just plain atrocious - of punctuation abused, ignored and misplaced. "I saw a sign for 'Book's' with an apostrophe in it and something deep inside me snapped," she writes. "Despair was the initial impetus for this book." She's willing to forgive the greengrocers who advertise "apple's" and "orange,s" but saves particular venom for those publishing on a grander scale and those who should know better. Truss lambasts Britain's National Union of Teachers for a letter in which it refers to "childrens' education," the British Broadcasting Corp. for promising "nouns and apostrophe's" in a grammar lesson on its Web site and the government for a passport application form that asked for the full name of "the person who's details are given in Section 02." All three apostrophes are misused. She's also furious about the apostrophe Warner Bros. omitted from the title of the Sandra Bullock-Hugh Grant comedy "Two Weeks Notice," (make that "Two Weeks' Notice," insists Truss), saying anyone who spends big money on a promotional campaign can afford a proofreader. "How much more abuse must the apostrophe endure?" she pleads in the book. Some examples amuse rather than exasperate. Truss takes a road sign that warns "Children Drive Slowly" as a declarative sentence describing young drivers' lack of speed, and notes that the sign "No Dogs Please" is flat-out wrong. "Many dogs do please, as a matter of fact; they rather make a point of it," she writes. Truss' book has clearly hit a nerve among readers fretful over what she sees as a wider decline in literacy. The book, released in the United States April 13, has been at the top of British best-seller lists since December and has sold a massive 580,000 copies here. Language-loving critics have raved about it. The Daily Telegraph newspaper called it "witty, clear-headed and altogether enchanting. ... It makes you love punctuation; you want to conserve what is still left and perhaps even call for more of it." Impressive stuff for a book whose initial success made its author more nervous than excited. Truss, whose idea for the volume came from a BBC radio series she did on punctuation, "Cutting a Dash," says she originally thought it would be the sort of book people bought nitpicking relatives for Christmas. And even after they did so in enormous numbers, she fretted that all the copies were meant for a few famous sticklers who would return the extras to stores on Dec. 26. They didn't. "I think that was when I relaxed, sort of about mid-January, when we realized that people were still buying it," she said. The book's blockbuster success also surprised editors at Profile Books, the small company that published it. Kate Griffin, of Profile, said she groaned when managing director Andrew Franklin first told her they would be releasing a book on punctuation. "When he said it would be fun, I didn't understand. But when I read her first chapter, I thought it was marvelous," Griffin recalled. Great reviews just before the book's November release drove advance sales and Profile immediately began boosting its initial print run of 15,000 copies, she said. Truss spent most of her career as an editor and journalist, writing three comic novels on the side that sold poorly. She expected "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" to be a modest seller, too, and says she's been stunned by the way it's caught on. Still, she says, there's little chance it will make a difference. "The forces toward barbaric illiteracy, I dare say, are much too strong ... for a few people," she sighs. "I don't think we're going to stop the rot."
Disk formatting From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Format (computing)) Jump to: navigation, search Disk formatting is the process of preparing a data storage device such as a hard disk drive, solid-state drive, floppy disk or USB flash drive for initial use. In some cases, the formatting operation may also create one or more new file systems. The first part of the formatting process that performs basic medium preparation is often referred to as "low-level formatting".[1] Partitioning is the common term for the second part of the process, making the data storage device visible to an operating system.[1] The third part of the process, usually termed "high-level formatting" most often refers to the process of generating a new file system.[1] In some operating systems all or parts of these three processes can be combined or repeated at different levels[NB 1] and the term "format" is understood to mean an operation in which a new disk medium is fully prepared to store files. As a general rule,[NB 2] formatting a disk leaves most if not all existing data on the disk medium; some or most of which might be recoverable with special tools.[4] Special tools can remove user data by a single overwrite of all files and free space.[5] A block, a contiguous number of bytes, is the minimum unit of storage that is read from and written to a disk by a disk driver. The earliest disk drives had fixed block sizes (e.g. the IBM 350 disk storage unit (of the late 1950s) block size was 100 6 bit characters) but starting with the 1301[6] IBM marketed subsystems that featured variable block sizes: a particular track could have blocks of different sizes. The disk subsystems on the IBM System/360 expanded this concept in the form of Count Key Data (CKD) and later Extended Count Key Data (ECKD); however the use of variable block size in HDDs fell out of use in the 1990s; one of the last HDDs to support variable block size was the IBM 3390 Model 9, announced May 1993.[7] Modern hard disk drives, such as Serial attached SCSI (SAS)[8] and Serial ATA (SATA)[9] drives, appear at their interfaces as a contiguous set of fixed-size blocks; for many years 512 bytes long but beginning in 2009 and accelerating through 2011, all major hard disk drive manufacturers began releasing hard disk drive platforms using the Advanced Format of 4096 byte logical blocks.[10][11] Floppy disks generally only used fixed block sizes but these sizes were a function of the host's OS and its interaction with its controller so that a particular type of media (e.g., 5¼-inch DSDD) would have different block sizes depending upon the host OS and controller. Optical disks generally only use fixed block sizes. Disk formatting process[edit] Formatting a disk for use by an operating system and its applications typically involves three different processes.[NB 3] 2. Partitioning divides a disk into one or more regions, writing data structures to the disk to indicate the beginning and end of the regions. This level of formatting often includes checking for defective tracks or defective sectors. 3. High-level formatting creates the file system format within a disk partition or a logical volume. This formatting includes the data structures used by the OS to identify the logical drive or partition's contents. This may occur during operating system installation, or when adding a new disk. Disk and distributed file system may specify an optional boot block, and/or various volume and directory information for the operating system. Low-level formatting of floppy disks[edit] Consider a standard 1.44 MB floppy disk. Low-level formatting of the floppy disk, normally writes 18 sectors of 512 bytes to each of 160 tracks (80 on each side) of the floppy disk, providing 1,474,560 bytes of storage on the disk. Physical sectors are actually larger than 512 bytes, as in addition to the 512 byte data field they include a sector identifier field, CRC bytes (in some cases error correction bytes) and gaps between the fields. These additional bytes are not normally included in the quoted figure for overall storage capacity of the disk. Different low-level formats can be used on the same media; for example, large records can be used to cut down on inter-record gap size. Several freeware, shareware and free software programs (e.g. GParted, FDFORMAT, NFORMAT and 2M) allowed considerably more control over formatting, allowing the formatting of high-density 3.5" disks with a capacity up to 2 MB. Techniques used include: • head/track sector skew (moving the sector numbering forward at side change and track stepping to reduce mechanical delay), • interleaving sectors (to boost throughput by organizing the sectors on the track), • increasing the number of sectors per track (while a normal 1.44 MB format uses 18 sectors per track, it is possible to increase this to a maximum of 21), and • increasing the number of tracks (most drives could tolerate extension to 82 tracks: though some could handle more, others could jam). Linux supports a variety of sector sizes, and DOS and Windows support a large-record-size DMF-formatted floppy format.[citation needed] Low-level formatting (LLF) of hard disks[edit] Low-level format of a 10-megabyte IBM PC XT hard drive Hard disk drives prior to the 1990s typically had a separate disk controller that defined how data was encoded on the media. With the media, the drive and/or the controller possibly procured from separate vendors, users were often able to perform low-level formatting. Separate procurement also had the potential of incompatibility between the separate components such that the subsystem would not reliably store data.[12] User instigated low-level formatting (LLF) of hard disk drives was common for minicomputer and personal computer systems until the 1990s. IBM and other mainframe system vendors typically supplied their hard disk drives (or media in the case of removable media HDDs) with a low-level format. Typically this involved subdividing each track on the disk into one or more blocks which would contain the user data and associated control information. Different computers used different block sizes and IBM notably used variable block sizes but the popularity of the IBM PC caused the industry to adopt a standard of 512 user data bytes per block by the middle 1980s. Depending upon the system, low-level formatting was generally done by an operating system system utility. IBM compatible PCs used the BIOS, which is invoked using the MS-DOS debug program, to transfer control to a routine hidden at different addresses in different BIOSes.[13] Transition away from LLF[edit] Starting in the late 1980s, driven by the volume of IBM compatible PCs, HDDs became routinely available pre-formatted with a compatible low-level format. At the same time, the industry moved from historical (dumb) bit serial interfaces to modern (intelligent) bit serial interfaces and Word serial interfaces wherein the low level format was performed at the factory. Today, an end-user, in most cases, should never perform a low-level formatting of an IDE or ATA hard drive, and in fact it is often not possible to do so on modern hard drives because the formatting is done on a servowriter before the disk is assembled into a drive in the factory.[14][15] Disk reinitialization[edit] While it is generally impossible to perform a complete LLF on most modern hard drives (since the mid-1990s) outside the factory,[16] the term "low-level format" is still used for what could be called the reinitialization of a hard drive to its factory configuration (and even these terms may be misunderstood). The present ambiguity in the term low-level format seems to be due to both inconsistent documentation on web sites and the belief by many users that any process below a high-level (file system) format must be called a low-level format. Since much of the low level formatting process can today only be performed at the factory, various drive manufacturers describe reinitialization software as LLF utilities on their web sites. Since users generally have no way to determine the difference between a complete LLF and reinitialization (they simply observe running the software results in a hard disk that must be high-level formatted), both the misinformed user and mixed signals from various drive manufacturers have perpetuated this error. Note: Whatever possible misuse of such terms may exist (search hard drive manufacturers' web sites for all these terms), many sites do make such reinitialization utilities available (possibly as bootable floppy diskette or CD image files), to both overwrite every byte and check for damaged sectors on the hard disk. Reinitialization should include identifying (and sparing out if possible) any sectors which cannot be written to and read back from the drive, correctly. The term has, however, been used by some to refer to only a portion of that process, in which every sector of the drive is written to; usually by writing a specific value to every addressable location on the disk. Traditionally, the physical sectors were initialized with a filler value of 0xF6 as per the INT 1Eh's Disk Parameter Table (DPT) during format on IBM compatible machines. This value is also used on the Atari Portfolio. 8-inch CP/M floppies typically came pre-formatted with a value of 0xE5,[17] and by way of Digital Research this value was also used on Atari ST and some Amstrad formatted floppies.[NB 4] Amstrad otherwise used 0xF4 as a format filler value. Some modern formatters wipe hard disks with a value of 0x00 instead, sometimes also called zero-filling, whereas a value of 0xFF is used on flash disks to reduce wear. The latter value is typically also the default value used on ROM disks (which cannot be reformatted). (Some advanced formatting tools allow to configure the format filler byte.[NB 5]) One popular method for performing only the zero-fill operation on a hard disk is by writing zero-value bytes to the drive using the Unix dd utility with the /dev/zero stream as the input file and the drive itself or a specific partition as the output file.[18] This command may take many hours to complete, and can erase all files and file systems. Another method for SCSI disks may use the sg_format[19] command to issue a low level SCSI Format Unit Command. Overwriting the drive with a zero-fill-command is not necessarily a secure method of erasing sensitive data[not in citation given], or of preparing a drive for use with an encrypted filesystem.[20] Main article: Disk partitioning On MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, and UNIX-based operating systems (such as BSD, Linux and Mac OS X) this is normally done with a partition editor, such as fdisk, GNU Parted, or Disk Utility. These operating systems support multiple partitions. High-level formatting[edit] The entire logical drive or partition may optionally be scanned for defects, which may take considerable time. In the case of floppy disks, both high- and low-level formatting are customarily performed in one pass by the disk formatting software. 8-inch floppies typically came low-level formatted and were filled with a format filler value of 0xE5.[17][NB 4] Since the 1990s, most 5.25-inch and 3.5-inch floppies have been shipped pre-formatted from the factory as DOS FAT12 floppies. In current IBM mainframe operating systems derived from OS/360 or DOS/360, this may be done as part of allocating a file, by a utility specific to the file system or, in some older access methods, on the fly as new data are written. Host protected area[edit] Main article: Host protected area The host protected area, sometimes referred to as hidden protected area, is an area of a hard drive that is high level formatted so that the area is not normally visible to its operating system (OS). Reformatting [edit] Reformatting is a high-level formatting performed on a functioning disk drive to free the contents of its medium. Reformatting is unique to each operating system because what actually is done to existing data varies by OS. The most important aspect of the process is that it frees disk space for use by other data. To actually "erase" everything requires overwriting each block of data on the medium; something that is not done by many PC high-level formatting utilities. Reformatting often carries the implication that the operating system and all other software will be reinstalled after the format is complete. Rather than fixing an installation suffering from malfunction or security compromise, it is sometimes judged easier to simply reformat everything and start from scratch. Various colloquialism exist for this process, such as "wipe and reload", "nuke and pave", "reimage", etc. DOS, OS/2 and Windows[edit] MS-DOS 6.22a FORMAT /U switch failing to overwrite content of partition format command: Under MS-DOS, PC DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows, disk formatting can be performed by the format command. The format program usually asks for confirmation beforehand to prevent accidental removal of data, but some versions of DOS have an undocumented /AUTOTEST option; if used, the usual confirmation is skipped and the format begins right away. The WM/FormatC macro virus uses this command to format drive C: as soon as a document is opened. Unconditional format: There is also the /U parameter that performs an unconditional format which under most circumstances overwrites the entire partition,[22] preventing the recovery of data through software. Note however that the /U switch only works reliably with floppy diskettes (see image to the right). Technically because unless /Q is used, floppies are always low level formatted in addition to high-level formatted. Under certain circumstances with hard drive partitions, however, the /U switch merely prevents the creation of unformat information in the partition to be formatted while otherwise leaving the partition's contents entirely intact (still on disk but marked deleted). In such cases, the user's data remain ripe for recovery with specialist tools such as EnCase or disk editors. Reliance upon /U for secure overwriting of hard drive partitions is therefore inadvisable, and purpose-built tools such as DBAN should be considered instead. Overwriting: In Windows Vista and upwards the non-quick format will overwrite as it goes. Not the case in Windows XP and below.[23] OS/2: Under OS/2, if you use the /L parameter, which specifies a long format, then format will overwrite the entire partition or logical drive. Doing so enhances the ability of CHKDSK to recover files. Unix-like operating systems[edit] High-level formatting of disks on these systems is traditionally done using the mkfs command. On Linux (and potentially other systems as well) mkfs is typically a wrapper around filesystem-specific commands which have the name mkfs.fsname, where fsname is the name of the filesystem with which to format the disk.[24] Some filesystems which are not supported by certain implementations of mkfs have their own manipulation tools; for example Ntfsprogs provides a format utility for the NTFS filesystem. Some Unix and Unix-like operating systems have higher-level formatting tools, usually for the purpose of making disk formatting easier and/or allowing the user to partition the disk with the same tool. Examples include GNU Parted (and its various GUI frontends such as GParted and the KDE Partition Manager) and the Disk Utility application on Mac OS X. Recovery of data from a formatted disk[edit] As in file deletion by the operating system, data on a disk are not fully erased during every[25] high-level format. Instead, the area on the disk containing the data is merely marked as available, and retains the old data until it is overwritten. If the disk is formatted with a different file system than the one which previously existed on the partition, some data may be overwritten that wouldn't be if the same file system had been used. However, under some file systems (e.g., NTFS, but not FAT), the file indexes (such as $MFTs under NTFS, inodes under ext2/3, etc.) may not be written to the same exact locations. And if the partition size is increased, even FAT file systems will overwrite more data at the beginning of that new partition. From the perspective of preventing the recovery of sensitive data through recovery tools, the data must either be completely overwritten (every sector) with random data before the format, or the format program itself must perform this overwriting, as the DOS FORMAT command did with floppy diskettes, filling every data sector with the format filler byte value (typically 0xF6). However there are applications and tools, especially used in forensic information technology, that can recover data that has been conventionally erased. In order to avoid the recovery of sensitive data, governmental organization or big companies use information destruction methods like the Gutmann method.[26] For average users there are also special applications that can perform complete data destruction by overwriting previous information. Although there are applications that perform multiple writes a single write is generally all that is needed on modern hard disk drives. The ATA Secure Erase can be performed by disk utilities to quickly and thoroughly wipe drives.[27][28] Degaussing is another option, however this renders the drive unusable.[27] See also[edit] 1. ^ E.g., formatting a volume, formatting a Virtual Storage Access Method Linear Data Set (LDS) on the volume to contain a zFS and formatting the zFS in UNIX System Services. 2. ^ Not true for CMS file system[2] on a CMS minidisk, TSS VAM-formatted volume,[3] z/OS Unix file systems[citation needed] or VSAM in IBM mainframes 3. ^ Each process may involve multiple steps, and steps of different processes may be interleaved. 4. ^ a b The fact, that 8-inch CP/M floppies came pre-formatted with a filler value of 0xE5 is the reason, why the value of 0xE5 has a special meaning in directory entries in FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32 file systems. This byte configuration allowed 86-DOS to use 8-inch floppies out of the box or with only the FAT initialized. 5. ^ One utility providing an option to specify the desired format filler value for hard disks is DR-DOS' FDISK R2.31 with its optional wipe parameter /W:246 (for a format filler byte of 0xF6). In contrast to other FDISK utilities, DR-DOS FDISK is not only a partitioning tool, but can also format freshly created partitions as FAT12, FAT16 or FAT32. This reduces the risk to accidentally format wrong volumes. 1. ^ a b c Tanenbaum, Andrew (2001). Modern Operating Systems, 2nd Edition. section 3.4.2, Disk Formatting. ISBN 0130313580. 2. ^ IBM (2008), "z/VM CMS Commands and Utilities Reference", z/VM Version 5 Release 4, IBM, SC24-6073-03, When you do not specify either the RECOMP or LABEL option, the disk area is initialized by writing a device-dependent number of records (containing binary zeros) on each track. Any previous data on the disk is erased. \|chapter= ignored (help) 3. ^ IBM, "Virtual Access Methods", IBM System/360 Time Sharing System System Logic Summary Program Logic Manual (PDF), IBM, p. 56 (PDF 66), GY28-2009-2, The direct access volumes, on which TSS/360 virtual organization data sets are stored, have fixed-length, page size data blocks. No key field is required. The record overflow feature is utilized to allow data blocks to span tracks, as required. The entire volume, with the current exception of part of the first cylinder, which is used for identification, is formatted into page size blocks. 4. ^ Hermans, Sherman (28 August 2006). "How to recover lost files after you accidentally wipe your hard drive". Linux.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012. 5. ^ Smithson, Brian (29 August 2011). "The Urban Legend of Multipass Hard Disk Overwrite and DoD 5220-22-M". Infosec Island. Retrieved 22 November 2012. 6. ^ "IBM 1301 disk storage unit". IBM. Retrieved 2010-06-24. 7. ^ IBM 3390 direct access storage device 8. ^ "The LBAs on a logical unit shall begin with zero and shall be contiguous up to the last logical block on the logical unit"., Information technology — Serial Attached SCSI - 2 (SAS-2), INCITS 457 Draft 2, May 8, 2009, chapter 4.1 Direct-access block device type model overview. 10. ^ Western Digital's Advanced Format: The 4K Sector Transition Begins 11. ^ Advanced Format – The Migration to 4K Sectors, Seagate Corp. 13. ^ Using DEBUG to Start a Low-Level Format, Microsoft 14. ^ The NOSPIN Group, Inc. (n.d.). Low level formatting an IDE hard drive (archived). Retrieved December 24, 2003. 15. ^ The PC Guide. Site Version: 2.2.0 - Version Date: April 17, 2001 Low-Level Format, Zero-Fill and Diagnostic Utilities. Retrieved May 24, 2007. 16. ^ Many enterprise class HDDs can be low-level formatted to block sizes other than 512 bytes, e.g., Seagate SAS drives support sector sizes of 512, 520, 524 or 528 bytes and can reformatted from one size to another 17. ^ a b Andrew Schulman, Ralf Brown, David Maxey, Raymond J. Michels, Jim Kyle (1994). Undocumented DOS. Addison Wesley, second edition. ISBN 0-201-63287-X, ISBN 978-0-201-63287-3. 18. ^ How to Securely Erase (Wipe) a Hard Drive for Free with DD 19. ^ SG.danny.cz 20. ^ Quickly fill a disk with random bits 21. ^ Device Support Facilities User's Guide and Reference 22. ^ "AXCEL216 / MDGx MS-DOS Undocumented + Hidden Secrets". Retrieved 2008-06-07. 23. ^ "MSKB941961: Change in the behavior of the format command in Windows Vista". Microsoft Corporation. 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2012-10-24. The format command behavior has changed in Windows Vista. By default in Windows Vista, the format command writes zeros to the whole disk when a full format is performed. In Windows XP and in earlier versions of the Windows operating system, the format command does not write zeros to the whole disk when a full format is performed. 24. ^ "mkfs(8) - Linux man page". Retrieved 2010-04-25. 26. ^ Deleting files permanently 27. ^ a b "Secure Data Deletion". June 7, 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2013. 28. ^ "ATA Secure Erase (SE) and hdparm". Created: 2011.02.21, updated: 2013.04.02. External links[edit]
I've got a graph and an iterator object gives me all its nodes according to a depth first search. The source code looks like this: DepthFirstIterator dfit = new DepthFirstIterator(graph); while(dfit.hasNext()) { // ??? I want to create another graph object inside the while loop. How should I treat the graph nodes which come from "dfit.next()"? Do I need a stack? Simply copying the graph isn't possible, because the two graphs must come from two different libraries (JGraphT (origin) and Prefuse (target)). All I can do additionally is to check whether two nodes in the origin are connected. I'd appreciate any help!
Take the 2-minute tour × I need to configure filter settings (In Apache2) based on RequestContent header. Is it possible? Specifically changes based on the value of one header. (I'm using mod_line_edit to filter html in reverse proxy) EDIT: I'm doing reverse proxy and I want to filter out some tags (I can do that with mod_line_edit) I only want to apply this rules when there is specific RequestHeader present. share\|improve this question 1 Answer 1 I don't believe this is possible, and if it were it would be a REALLY BAD IDEA -- Allowing you to change configuration settings on a server by magic in the client's request headers would be a pretty serious security hole. Perhaps if you can tell us more about what you're trying to do someone can suggest a less painful way of accomplishing it? share\|improve this answer I tried to improve my question – Hurda Nov 21 '11 at 21:18 Your Answer
Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter Forgot your password? Comment: Live free or die (Score 2) 186 Banning cars could save more lives - Does that mean we should ban cars? What effects would that have on the economic productivity of the country ? In turn, how much poverty will that create ? How many extra people will die as a result of not affording medical care ? And this is a simple utilitarian exercise where you compare lives lost with lives lost. What about more complex dilemmas (see title of post) ? Should a nation never send troops in any conflict and accept any onerous terms the adversary imposes, for the sake of preserving all lives ? Should we ban all individual choice and responsibility, ban all sugary drinks, impose a state-controlled healthy diet ? The notion that "lives can be saved" is not and cannot be used as the sole deciding argument on a societal issue. We are free individuals, we associate in a community seeking to improve our perceived welfare - one cannot treat the welfare as a goal in itself segregated from what we as individuals want. Anything dumb your lawyer says can't be used against you (since he cannot be witness against his client) or against himself (since he's not the suspect). A really really dumb lawyer can be charged with conspiracy and end up next to the defendant but it's exceptionally rare and the burden of proof is monumental (mafia lawyers involved in the same operation with their client). You, on the other hand, are already a suspect, the tiniest slip ('I didn't like him, but I did not kill him !') can send you to the gauntlet ('Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defendant despised the victim - by his own official testimony'). The greatest trick your lawyer has is that he isn't you. Talking to the police while suspected of a crime is like performing brain surgery on yourself. Comment: Re:Castle Doctrine Defense (Score 4, Insightful) 358 by Stellian (#47306067) Attached to: Florida Man Faces $48k Fine For Jamming Drivers' Cellphones he was acting in self defense to prevent an idiot driving while on a cell phone from causing an accident "The signal is bad around these parts... let's switch to message chat !" This is a prime example of why we have societies, laws and regulations - in this case those designed to stop mobile phone usage. Going for an individual solution quickly devolves into mayhem: thousands of bystanders affected, emergency calls interrupted, and probably not a single accident prevented. Comment: Re:HOPE to exploit it (Score 1) 106 by Stellian (#47280301) Attached to: Researchers Find "Achilles Heel" of Drug Resistant Bacteria More importantly, is this something fundamental to how gram-negative bacteria develop, or is it simply the current solution evolution has produced ? It would be nice to develop biotechnology that takes evolution into account and is ready to predict a few moves ahead and minimize the probability of a helpful mutation. It seems to me that from a computer security point of view, the human biological computer has low entropy keys and we are dealing with a massively parallel adversary that tries trillions of keys every second (billions of people infected with thousands of strains of bacteria). Meanwhile, our current "cyber defenses" (drugs) are rather crude pattern match filters that look for things like <script>, SELECT *, and other static characteristics of what we consider to flag an attacker. Luckily, biology has endowed us with a key switch defense algorithm that ensures a "rooted" system does not compromise the whole network; unluckily, the mechanism will also take unrecoverable systems offline. Comment: Solutions to the wrong problems (Score 1) 396 by Stellian (#47247005) Attached to: "Super Bananas" May Save Millions of Lives In Africa The "root cause" of malnutrition is societal dysfunction. We have more than enough food, energy, water, fertilizers or the potential to obtain them in every country on earth, enough to feed the world ten times over. Every person on earth prefers a balanced and diverse diet, if it's a available. When people starve or go sick it's because they are trapped in a low productivity economy, caused by corruption, war, mismanagement of public resources and usually enabled or instigated by some western power friendly to the local chieftain. This is techie myopia at it's finest, from the "give laptops to the poor" or "internet balloons" to "vaccines via mosquitoes". We know how to make the internet work and we know how to deliver vaccines: just like we do it in the rich countries. Poor people don't need technical solutions designed to work in anarchy, they need societal reform and functional public services. While the intention behind these schemes is laudable, we should not believe for a moment they are more than bandaids in lieu of peace, democracy and working governments. Comment: Re: This reminds me of a great Simpsons episode (Score 5, Informative) 625 by Stellian (#47228021) Attached to: EU's Top Court May Define Obesity As a Disability Yet, the vast majority of obese people have perfectly working thyroids. This is not about recognizing that some medical conditions can derail your metabolism, which I believe no one is arguing, and should be covered by existing disability laws. This is about treating all obese people, the vast majority of which are so because of their own choices, as disabled. Inability to control your own actions becomes a valid form of disability. It's a slippery slope because it legitimizes self harm and forces society to take responsibility. If obesity is a form of disability, so is tobacco or gaming dependence. And if treating obesity is not about making people eat less, then clearly treating dependence is not about smoking or gambling, we as a society should hold together and provide comfort: smoking places and breaks, subsidies for food when all the person's paycheck is lost in the casino, job protection when the addiction interferes with work performance, free medical coverage for resulting problems etc. BTW, I write the above as a 220 pound man, who use to be as large as 260 pounds, and knows full well how hard it is for an obese person to control her appetite and weigh. But I fully understand it's MY body and MY choices, I'm fat because I love food, it's one of the great pleasures of my life and I wouldn't dream to blame nature or society for my fate. Comment: Re:Yes, good idea. (Score 2) 322 by Stellian (#47191511) Attached to: Fixing China's Greenhouse Gas Emissions For Them Actually, the US is twice as efficient at GDP/ton of GHG, about the same as Canada, Australia, and Finland. That's because a whole lot of that 15 trillion GDP is produced on Wall Street, Redmond and Hollywood - non tangible goods. As the GP said, per inhabitant USA produce far far more CO2 than China, and a CO2 tax would absolutely cripple US manufacturing and exports. Comment: Embryo (Score 2) 323 by Stellian (#47121373) Attached to: 'Curiosity' Lead Engineer Suggests Printing Humans On Other Planets Comment: Re:I got tired of waiting (Score 5, Insightful) 213 by Stellian (#47106613) Attached to: PHP Next Generation JS on the server is clearly big contender for PHP: it's great for quick and dirty prototyping, awful for large projects, and significantly faster than PHP. JS is the perfect recipe for language lock-in that's even stronger than PHP: front end developers already "know" it, they write a botched version of the backend code that 10 years later turns into an incomprehensible behemoth; any attempt to rewrite it will be rejected for "performance" reasons. Comment: Re:Duh... (Score 1) 265 by Stellian (#47064459) Attached to: IT Pro Gets Prison Time For Sabotaging Ex-Employer's System Anyone in IT that might be disgruntled? What you need to expect in a case like this (assuming you can pull the perfect crime, technically speaking, and leave no digital tracks) is be prepared to face the most vicious face of law enforcement. The officers will know you did it, but they will have no proof, so they will push you to the extreme, for months or years, until they get a confession. They will ransack your home, multiple times, harass your employers and loved ones, etc. All in all, not a good side project for a geek with no soft skills. I mean, if you can pull the perfect cybercrime and resist the best prosecutors in town, then why not hack into City Bank and transfer a billion dollars to some nice old lady in Russia ? Surely a billion dollars is better than some momentary satisfaction. You can even set aside 500 million for the purpose of bankrupting your ex employer. Comment: Re:Cue "freedom" NRA nuts in 3.. 2.. 1... (Score 1) 274 by Stellian (#46952783) Attached to: First Arrest In Japan For 3D-Printed Guns Because guns don't kill people. People with guns kill people 2 hundred times lower, actually. You can point all you want at countries like Canada and Norway but the truth is the much lower GINI and higher equality of these countries produces an overall violence level that US can only dream of. Still, they are at the same order of magnitude to US at gun violence (when adjusted for ownership rates) debunking the "cultural factor" hypothesis (Bowling for Columbine, etc.) The dominant factors for a country's violence level are gun availability and inequality: unequal countries with lots of guns, like US, some African and some South-American countries have significantly more homicides, and by significant I mean statistically significant at the > 99.99% confidence level and pretty much an established scientific fact. Comment: Re:It's a government contract job. (Score 1) 288 by Stellian (#46876653) Attached to: Decommissioning Nuclear Plants Costing Far More Than Expected With respect, the state can go straight to hell. Spent fuel storage is a national emergency, not a political issue. Than the nation should pay for it. Every affected state should bid for storage in the Yucca mountain repository, and if it reaches a reserve set by Nevada, they can use it. All proceeds go to Nevadians, after expenses. If no one is willing to pay what Nevada is asking, then no one is allowed to store their shit in Nevada. What you are proposing is that the Government can step right it, declare your backyard a nuclear waste repo and all their industry lobyist can dump toxic shit there because it's "a national emergency". As a staunch nuclear proponent, you can go straight to hell. MS-DOS must die!
add artist photo Dropkick Murphys Add Explanation Add Meaning Dropkick Murphys The Legend Of Finn Mac lyrics New! Read & write lyrics explanations • Highlight lyrics and explain them to earn Karma points. Dropkick Murphys – The Legend Of Finn Mac lyrics Cumhailthis mighty soldier on the eve of the war He waged told his troops of lessons learned from battles fought: "May your heart grow bolder like an iron--clad brigade" said this leader to his outnumbered lot. Known as a hero to all that he knew, long live the legend of Finn Maccool! The brave fearless leader of the chosen few, long live the legend of Finn Maccool! Lyrics taken from Please input the reason why these lyrics are bad: Write about your feelings and thoughts Min 50 words Not bad Write an explanation Your explanation Add image by pasting the URLBoldItalicLink 20 words Explanation guidelines:
Skip Nav elementary, my dear watson >> So I put my mad Sherlock Holmes skills to work again last night, and was able to deduce that you guys are super interested in three people -- Kate Moss, Mary Kate Olsen, and Ashley Olsen (since I did get two separate emails about the same three people like ten minutes apart). So here's a little some'n some'n to whet your tastes: Ash_sidesandAsh_sand Question Numero Uno: "Hi! Thanks for finding the brand of MK's boots last time!! Since you're so good at it... I thought I'd give you another try... I was wondering if you happened to know who made these sandals that everyone (Ashley Olsen, Kate Moss, Nicole Kidman) seems to be wearing." - Chi Hello my friend, we meet again. I know you want toMistral_white get down to business, so let's do it. I looked at the pictures you provided me with, and looks to me like Miss Ashley Olsen has been trekking around town in a pair of black Bernardo Mistrals, which retail for $89.Kate_shoes Milly_silver Coincidentally, the pair of shoes Kate Moss is wearing in the picture you sent me are also Bernardos. Hers are the black Millys, also available for $89. And now on to Query #2: "Hi, I am particularly interested in the styles of Kate Moss, and Mary-Kate and Ashley. I was wondering if you had further insight into where they get their clothing or what brands they wear." - Ananda Absolutely -- since you didn't have any specific questions, I'm just gonna pick an outfit or two from each person you mentioned. Mk_pirate_dita Really though, the whole deal with these girls is that they mix andMk_marni match high street stuff, vintage stuff, and runway stuff. That's why their outfits are so interesting in the first place -- all of them are very eclectic. So obviously you have the two pairs of shoes above to start you off, and Mary Kate's boots, red Dita sunglasses, tank, scarf, and pants that I've all found before. For a few more Mary Kate finds: on the left there, she's wearing her Dita shades, a vintage Chanel bag, and the Alexander McQueen pirate scarf from his Spring/Summer 2003 collection. On the right, she's wearing a linen blazer by Marni that is available at for $549. Mary Kate is just all about the layers, the non-matching, the grunge... dumpster chic, as I'm sure you've heard before. Ash_bvbag As far as Ashley's style, in the recent picture on the left, she's carrying a Bottega Veneta Intrecciato Leather Bag with Grommets, available at for $2180. Her shoes are the Mukluks that were so popular this past winter, retailing for $395. On thePosen_dress_1 right is Ash in the cover pic of the July 2005 Harper's Ash_harpersBazaar, wearing a gorgeous dress from Zac Posen's Fall/Winter 2005 line. Generally speaking, Ash just has much more of a penchant for put-together, feminine looks than MK does, and you can see that come through in the second picture. As far as more information on both of their styles, I would suggest taking a look (when you have a good chunk of free time) at this thread on MKA -- the people keep up with candids really well, and they know their clothing. While MKA tend to shop the whole realm of fashiondom, I would venture to sayKate_1 that Kate Moss sticks more to the high-end stuff (with exceptions, of course). recently did an editorial called "Kate's Picks," in which she went through the new fall lines and chose her favorites. Also, this thread has an extensive gallery of Kate photos. Really, there's no set designer that she prefers. She just likes what she likes, which is how we should all operate. Of course, if I had to pick one staple item for Kate, it would be her Hermes Birkins. (And her opaque black tights, her fur coats, grungy 90's skinny jeans, leggings, pirate boots, white blazer... basically a lot of black and white with a little red thrown in there for color.) Hope all that helped you two! **sources: angelaolsenfanz, bergdorf_tales Latest Fashion
Japan-EU agree to free trade talks; autos a flashpoint TOKYO/BRUSSELS Mon Mar 25, 2013 9:08am EDT Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a speech during the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) annual convention in Tokyo March 17, 2013. REUTERS/Toru Hanai Credit: Reuters/Toru Hanai TOKYO/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Japan and the European Union agreed on Monday to launch talks on one of the world's most ambitious trade deals despite opposition from European carmakers, a test of how far both sides are willing to go in their hunt for economic growth. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy discussed the plan by phone after Brussels postponed an EU-Japan summit scheduled in Tokyo due to the crisis in Cyprus. "The leaders decided to launch negotiations for an agreement covering political, global and sectoral cooperation," Abe, Van Rompuy and Barroso said in a joint statement, adding talks should start in April. Brussels and Tokyo want to deepen a relationship that encompasses a third of global economic output but is hampered by regulations closing industries to outsiders. A breakthrough - and any resulting benefits for growth - will not come quickly. The talks are expected to take around three years, with Japan seeking to win greater access to the EU market of 500 million consumers for its cars, electronics and investment. The Europeans hope for more business in lucrative Japanese markets such as processed food and railways. "The (free-trade deal) should be deep and comprehensive, addressing all issues of shared interest in order to stimulate economic growth both in Japan and in the EU and to contribute thereby to the development of the world economy," the leaders said. The world's third-largest economy, Japan is the EU's seventh largest export market, buying 69 billion euros ($89.68 billion) worth of European goods in 2011. For Japan, the EU ranks as its third-biggest market with shipments of 6.5 trillion yen ($68.79 billion) in 2012. The European Commission believes a free-trade deal could lift the economic output of both sides by almost 1 percent each. Japan already has low or zero import tariffs on EU goods, with no duty on cars, Scotch whisky or French cognac for instance, so the real prize for Europe is removing special regulations on everything from music to imported cars. Reform-minded Abe, who was elected in December, has so far given positive signals his government is ready to move, allowing two European companies to join bidding for Tokyo railway contracts. His decision to join the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership that would link Asia, the United States, Australia with several Southeast Asian and South American nations is seen as another step to opening Japan's economy to unlock long-stalled growth. European carmakers doubt Tokyo's commitment to opening up its market. "We're more than deeply skeptical. There's not a single foreign (car) manufacturer in Japan, so there's really no possibility to enter the market," Stephen Biegun, Ford vice president of international governmental affairs, told Reuters. At first sight, the EU market is more protected than Japan's, with a 10 percent tariff on imported Japanese cars and 22 percent on trucks. But EU carmakers say numerous barriers hinder exports. One is Japan's use of its own safety and environmental standards rather than international ones adopted by the EU, which makes approvals costly and time consuming. Another contentious issue is Japan's category of "light" cars. These benefit from tax breaks, but most small European cars do not fit the category's criteria on size and power. Such rules particularly annoy France and Italy, whose automakers specialize in smaller cars and struggle with foreign competition and a shrinking market at home. Car sales in Europe fell to their lowest level in at least 23 years in February. EU trade negotiators have been told to pull the plug on talks after a year if Japan does not show sufficient willingness to bring down its "non-tariff barriers". "It is now important for both sides to stick to the commitments made in the scoping exercise mainly on the continued dismantling of the non-tariff barriers," said European Union trade chief Karel De Gucht, in Tokyo for the announcement. (Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Patrick Graham) Find your dream retirement town
Briton Broady into round two • Last Updated: June 23 2014, 20:50 BST Naomi Broady bucked the trend of British frustrations at Wimbledon by claiming a first-round victory over Hungarian Timea Babos. Naomi Broady celebrates her victory over Babos Naomi Broady celebrates her victory over Babos The 24-year-old Brit fended off a fast start from the world number 94 to eventually ease home 2-6 7-6 (9/7) 6-0. Broady's win lifted British spirits on the opening day of Wimbledon after first-round exits for Johanna Konta, Dan Cox and James Ward. Broady has moved into the world's top 200 this year - she is currently just below her career-high at 164 in the WTA list - but had looked up against it against a player ranked 70 places higher. The Briton was two points defeat in the second-set tie-break but took it on her fourth set point. Having missed her chance, Babos seemed demoralised and, playing some impressive tennis, Broady dominated the decider to book her place in round two where she will face either former world number one Caroline Wozniacki or Shahar Peer. Broady was famously stripped of LTA funding after posting a raunchy picture of herself on a social-networking site when a teenager and has gone it alone in the tennis world since. "This time last year I was lucky enough to get a wild card into the qualifying for Wimbledon," said Broady, who ground down Babos 2-6 7-6 (9/7) 6-0. "But the week before that, I was researching how to become an au pair, and I was going for Paris. "I was looking at doing first-aid courses, language courses, to become an au pair because I couldn't afford to play tennis. "Last year I won a round through qualifying and that gave me enough money for the next few tournaments. "I didn't want to stop at all: I've played some of the French money tournaments, to fund the national tournaments. "It was literally to the point where I've won the tournament, cashed the cheque, bought my ticket and flown off to the next competition the next day. "Finally wins started coming, and the difference a year can make is amazing: if you keep going, you never know when it's going to switch." Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund, Dan Cox, James Ward and Johanna Konta all failed to advance to the second round, leaving just Broady and Murray progressing of the Brits in action on Monday. Broady admitted her £43,000 second-round windfall will fund the best part of another year's professional tennis. Unfazed by adverse reaction to that Facebook fuss seven years ago, Broady did admit she hopes the LTA will not try to muscle in on her new-found success. "It quite went over my head, the whole incident, it happened and I still to this day don't particularly see what was the big deal," she said. "It was just a stupid, jokey pose that looked horrible: it's not really disrupted my tennis other than financially. "I don't think they (the LTA) will try and take credit for it. I think it's pretty clear I've been the only person at every practice session for the past few years. "I'm the only one that's been there every single day. I'll laugh in someone's face if they try and say it was them. "It's definitely made me hungrier: if I don't win, I don't have any money." Broady toasted victory by hoisting young niece Lola Rose in front of the Court 16 crowd. "She has just turned five," said Broady. "We are very close: she let me give her kisses today. Normally she wipes them off, but I was allowed to give them today."
Take the 2-minute tour × I've searched around for an answer to this, but I can't seem to find it. Perhaps someone here can help? I've created several M4V files through Handbrake from a DVD I own, and added them to iTunes. The episodes of the TV show appear OK, but the soft-coded subtitles I selected in Handbrake don't appear as an option when playing the episode on my iPad. But, if I open these same M4V files through VLC Player, the subtitles are there, and can be turned on and off. If they're in the M4V file, why can't I enable these subtitles on my iPad? :( share\|improve this question 4 Answers 4 up vote 6 down vote accepted As you discovered, DVDs often store subtitles in the VobSub format, which are images, not text. QuickTime and the iOS Video app only handle SRT/3GPP format text subtitles. Using the very handy (and free) Subler, VobSubs can be converted to SRT subtitles and packaged in an MP4/M4V. It does this using OCR, but I've found the results to be quite accurate, since the source material is pretty clean. If you need support for non-english subtitles, you need to go here and download the proper Tesseract language file, unzip it (so you have a .traineddata file), and place it in the Contents/Resources/tessdata folder in the Subler.app bundle. Converting from VobSub to SRT with Subler 1. Open Subler, and create a new file. 2. Import your existing MP4/M4V (or MKV) file (File → Import → File…). 3. The import settings should be automatically set up properly, but make sure that the subtitle track's action is set to 3GPP Text, not Passthru. • Other tracks should be set to Passthru, unless you have audio in a format the MP4 container doesn't support (but this should have been taken care of by Handbrake). 4. Click Add. 5. Optional: Click on the subtitle track and change the Forced setting to All Samples Are Forced, if you need forced subtitles (i.e. always on, for foreign languages). 6. Optional: Add any metadata you might want. Subler has a nice auto-search option (File → Import → Search Metadata Online…). 7. Save the file. This should be relatively quick, since it's not transcoding any of the video or audio. share\|improve this answer Great answer, but you make a mistake in your first sentence. Subtitles are sometimes stored in Closed Caption format on DVD. These can be read by Handbrake with ease. Fantastic to know there's a way to deal with the common VobSub format, though. Thanks! – Django Reinhardt Oct 5 '12 at 8:20 Is there a Windows alternative for Subler? I want to add srt subtitles to a mp4 file, without re-encoding the whole video (like HandBrake does). – compie Dec 30 '12 at 13:53 After doing more research, it appears that the following is true: There are three types of subtitles: • Closed Captions • Vobsub • SRT (external file) Basically, according to this post on the Handbrake forums, only Closed Captions can be used to reliably "soft code" subtitles into M4V files for use on iOS devices. ("Soft code" meaning the subtitles can be turned off and on.) You can only "hard code" (aka "burn in") Vobsub subtitles (I think they're actually images), and SRT files can often corrupt, meaning you only get part of a sentence. Slightly annoying, but good to know: Go with Closed Captions when you can. Unfortunately that also means that if you don't have CC (or an SRT file) then your iPad will not let you enable subtitles -- even if they're there -- as it doesn't support Vobsub. share\|improve this answer Burned in means the subtitles are added as part of the video stream, so directly in the picture. You should be able to burn in any source of subtitles, though evidently this way you can never turn the subtitles off. – Gerry Oct 4 '12 at 13:45 I would not group SCC Closed Captions with Soft Subtitles. They are very different from one another. SCC Closed Captions are a binary format that can only be installed at encode time. Make a mistake and you'll have to re-encode the entire video file. Most soft subtitle tracks, OTOH, are text files, the simplest being SRT (SubRip). There are many places on the Internet where you can obtain the SRT files for popular movies and TV shows. You'll see this referred to as "fan-subbing." If you want/need to create your own SRT files, Jubler is a good, free choice. QuickTime also supports SCC Closed Captions but you'll need to use Composer ($50) to install them. For my purposes, I favor SRT/3GPP soft subtitles over SCC Closed Captions because soft subtitles look better and are much more flexible. share\|improve this answer Go back to version 9. There is no other solution for a certain type of problem. Starting with Version 10 and carrying on with 11 and 12 (the current version only recently released) all refuse to honour soft subs that were previously compatible. This type of sub is present in the m4v file on your computer but is actually stripped by itunes from the file when transferred to your ipod. That's really important so I'm going to repeat it in caps: Itunes versions 10 through 12 (and this has been happening for years so future versions will probably do the same) STRIP THE VALID TX3G TEXT STREAM FROM THE FILE WHEN SYNCING SO THERE ARE NO SUBTITLES PRESENT ON YOUR IPOD. I have done this with numerous video files though on a limited number of devices (mainly classics and nanos) and it is possible that newer devices do not experience the same stripping. Method to confirm this: 1. Confirm via a suitable program like MediaInfo that the soft subbed file has soft subs compatible with ipod. There will be a text stream called something Timed Text in TX3G format. The very useful Handbrake encoder will convert external SRT and some muxed subs to TX3G subs automatically if requested. For a one hour video the size of the text stream shouldn't be much bigger than 200 kiB and could easily be smaller. If it's VobSub or several megabytes in size then you're dealing with a bitmap sub which as explained above won't show on an ipod. 2. Sync this file to your ipod with your current version of itunes. 3. Using finder/explorer navigate to the video file on your ipod. I like to find the video size on the hard drive then search by file size in the music folder (even though it's a video it's in the music folder) in ipod_control folder of the ipod. 4. Check the file on ipod with your media info program. If using version 10 or later there will be no text stream present; using version 9 the same stream found previously will still be present. 5. Remove/mark as watched/uncheck the video in itunes it and resync so that the file is removed from your ipod. (If you don't remove it then you won't see any changes in step 7 since the file won't have been transferred by a different version of itunes.) 6. BACKUP your itunes library. Later versions of library are 100% incompatible with earlier versions. 7. Roll back or "upgrade" itunes and repeat the process with the same video file to get the opposite result. 8. Reinstall your preferred version and restore backed up library if necessary. In older versions of itunes I've also seen the problem that the ipod will display subs during the wrong video, that is, the text stream looks as if it has been transferred to the wrong file. I thought of this confirming method too late to check that a file that should have a sub doesn't at the same time that one that shouldn't have one does have one. share\|improve this answer Your Answer
About your Search to say for the country, only nasty words to spew about the people running it or hoping to. john mccain, who served the country so admirably, has become an angry fellow from dawn until dusk taking an occasional break to remember who he is and saying enough of this when his new allies get out of hand. when ted cruz starts attacking the loyalty to america of one of mccain's fellow vietnam vets, a combat vet at that. the viciousness is something we haven't seen before because of the combination of mccarthyism and this weird unconnectedness, attacking chuck hagel, for example, because no one will give us info or anyone info about the benghazi situation even though hagel wasn't even in the government when benghazi happened. sick stuff. and it seems to be growing in inverse proportion to obama's popularity. the better he looks, the worse these characters, inhofe, cruz, mccain, and lindsey graham, are determined to look. did you notice the smile on john boehner's face sitting up there behind the president during the state of the union? if you did, you're imagining things. so afraid of the hard for cloture and move on to his nomination. >> that's right. senators john mccain and lindsey graham will vote to end debate on the confirmation of chuck hagel, eventually, but today, they just didn't feel like it. they towed the party line and voted to block hagel's nomination. the procedural vote failed 40-58 with one senator voting present and one senator not voting. 54 democrats voted in favor as did four republicans. no cabinet member nominated for a national security post has ever been filibustered. only two cabinet secretary nominees in history have been filibustered. both eventually cleared their cloture votes 85-8. and both were eventually easily confirmed. today, senate majority leader harry reid knew he did not have the votes to clear the republican procedural hurdle, but scheduled a vote anyway to demonstrate this. >> republicans have made an unfortunate choice to ratchet up the level of destruction here in washington. there's nothing going to change in the next ten days about the qualifications of chuck hagel. i guess to be able to run for the senate as a republican in most places in washington, d.c. that can do sunday shows? john mccain would be good. >> yeah, he's 234not going to v for him. at the earliest, it won't happen until lawmakers return to washington next week after a ten-day recess. senator john mccain, one of hagel's most outspoken critics, pushed back against suggestions that his opposition was meant to settle old scores. >> is it payback time for chuck hagel? that's what this process has amounted to? >> of course not. 99% of it is to do with the positions that senator hagel has taken. the positions he's taken on various issues has frankly been not only out of the mainstream but far to the left. we will have a vote when we get back, and i'm confident that senator hagel will probably have the votes necessary to be confirmed as the secretary of defense. we have an obligation of advice and consent. i don't intend to give those up when other senators continue to have reasonable questions. i mean reasonable. >> but you're not a yes vote for your old friend? >> no, i don't believe he's qualified, but i don't believe that we should hold up his nomination any furthe 's the new organization. it's if latest example, republicans turning on each other. john mccain tried to humiliate nominee chuck hagel. and this is just the beginning. >> are you going to answer the question, senator hagel. the question is were you right or wrong? that's a pretty straight forward question. >> but karma caught up with mccain quickly. about an hour after that, he berated hagel. here's how rand paul reacted to mccain's comments. let's listen. >> i find the argument spurious and really frankly absurd. >> on laura ingram's radio show, louisiana senator marco rubi on the emigration issue. >> i love and respect marco, i think he's amazingly naive. >> wow, in other words, he cares about hispanics. in a colossal put down, chris chistie hung the blame for post-sandy suffering squarely on republicans. >> there's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims. the house majority and their speaker, john boehner. >> you know, joy, this was an old democratic problem. >> yes. >> it was called democrats in disarray. you could put it up on every newspaper hoover. >> are we really to believe that senator john mccain, who once had a few objections of his own towards george w. bush, is really upset because chuck hagel compared w. with herbert hoover? you are republicans trying to subvert the foreign policy of the united states over an old and bitter grudge? let's bring in ari melber and democrat strategist julian ep sto epstein. what is senator mccain's problem? is he trying to defend a mode okur president bush or is he trying to defend a failed war in iraq? >> i think it's more iraq where we know senator mccain has long stood by our presence there and adding troops there, but bottom line if you take this as the mccain filibuster standard, then no one in any democratic administration ever gets a vote because, guess what? a lot of them have good faith and i think well-grounded disagreements with george w. bush. so this cannot be the standard. it's not defensible on its own terms and that's the problem. they are erecting a supermajority hurdle for all of this legislation and all of these nominees. this is an old problem from the way the repu and you know, john mccain is actually the perfect example of why it is about the man himself, and that is he said last night after he had kind of given lots of different explanations, all of them i think are credible from his point of view, that the real fundamental thing that has bothered most of hagel's fellow republicans here, former colleagues here, is the way that he defied his party, defied his president, then george w. bush, on iraq, and that really did not sit well with many republicans here, and they remember that. it's a whole bunch of other issues but that at its core is the fundamental problem. >> so rich, i'll ask you as a republican strategy, are the concerns over chuck hagel serious enough to filibuster and block confirmation? that's the first time this has before happened in the history of u.s. politics. >> well, everybody says that, but that would get two thumbs up in the political fact check so john bolten was blocked and the ambassador to the u.n. was a cabinet level slot. the republicans i think dana have said that they'll probably let this thing go after at the faces we see of the republican party, the lindsey grahams, the john mccains, the john boehners, they're angry old men. they're not appealing as human beings. forget issuewise. and clearly the democrats have barack obama. and i want to come back to a debate that we were having. you've covered president after president. it doesn't matter how they shift on the issues until they have the right delivery system, the right human beings who are not tone deaf to an attitude that this country wants. they're never going to get back. ronald reagan got that. to your point earlier, john connelley didn't get that, joe. we said this off the air. that's why he was not elected president. i think it's all moot until they change literally and figuratively the faces of the party. >> well, it can't be just the cosmetics, however. >> not cosmetics, but humanity. >> a combination of the two, it's about the subject matter they're dealing with as well as the manner in which they present it. ronald reagan -- my favorite story about ronald reagan was when he was in a deep recession, they decided they had to do Terms of Use (10 Mar 2001)
Matt Harvey and Mariano Rivera Have to Start MLB All-Star Game, for New York Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more stories Mike Stobe/Getty Images The 2013 MLB All-Star Game will be held at Citi Field in New York this season, and while David Wright has been given the keys to the game as honorary ambassador for the Mets, it's one of his teammates, Matt Harvey, who should be the first guy with the ball. Across town, Mariano Rivera is halfway through his year-long retirement tour to end an illustrious Hall of Fame career, and despite coming out and stating he doesn't want to start the All-Star Game, well…tough. It makes too much sense for him not to. "What I do is close the games, I don't start the games. It's a privilege and honor, but I'm not contemplating it," he told's Michael Mazzeo. The quote is both magnanimous and entirely expected from the Yankee great, but it's still the wrong decision. Rivera should start the game for the American League. Sure, he says he's a closer and would probably feel more comfortable coming out of the bullpen, but given how the game "means" something now, what are the chances Detroit Tigers manager—and American League All-Star skipper—Jim Leyland will have the chance to put Rivera on the mound in a save situation? Hannah Foslien/Getty Images The story would be perfect for Rivera to get the ball in the bottom of the ninth inning to face the heart of the National League lineup and retire them in order, winning the All-Star Game for his league and finishing his 13th All-Star appearance as the American League hero. Hell, give him the MVP award to boot. Only, the likelihood of that happening is rather slim. First, the American League would have to be leading as the game heads into the bottom of the ninth inning. Second, Leyland would have to set up his bullpen to keep Rivera as the closer instead of Joe Nathan who, based on his numbers, probably would deserve the role if the game were being played in any other city or the other option wasn't named Mo. Last, what if the stars align and then Rivera blows the save? Wouldn't that be a disaster for both him and the American League? Now, it's not likely that Rivera would blow an All-Star save opportunity, and Leyland can't manage a game based on "what-ifs," especially if the speculation is predicated on the greatest closer of all time blowing a save in his own city, but why even risk the scenario where he could blow the save? I will be the first to admit that if this scenario were to happen—if Rivera were to come in to pitch the bottom of the ninth of a one-run game and get the save for the American League—I'll be one of the first to write about how poignant the ending was. Perfect, even. But that's sportswriter and baseball fan-nerd wishes. That's not sensible baseball planning. Why hold Rivera back when the chance of a save is, at best, 50-50 heading into the game? Circumstances will dictate the best time in the game to use someone like Rivera, and surely Nathan would understand being used in a setup role in deference to Rivera, but what if Leyland holds Rivera out too long and he doesn't get to pitch at all? What if Nathan or another reliever comes into a tie game in the bottom of the ninth and gives up a game-winning hit with Rivera playing long toss in the pen? Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports That should be enough hypotheticals to make the point pretty clear. Starting Rivera is the only way to ensure he gets in the game in the proper situation to get his due from the hometown crowd. Sure, this year's All-Star Game is in the Mets' stadium, but Rivera has meant more to New York baseball over the last 20 years than the Mets ever could. It's not as if the American League has a lock pitcher to start the All-Star Game anyway. Max Scherzer has great numbers this season—the 13-0 record in 18 starts sure looks pretty, even if wins are hardly indicative of a pitcher's quality—with a WHIP under 0.95 and a strikeout-to-walk ratio over 5.00. Scherzer's batting average against is .200, second best of all the American League starters named to the All-Star Game to Yu Darvish. Plus, let's not forget that Scherzer is Leyland's guy. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports The only other viable option for the American League would be the Seattle Mariners' Hisashi Iwakuma, is among the league leaders in several categories, including ERA (2.60), WHIP (0.88) and K/BB (5.72). Scherzer and Iwakuma are both making their All-Star debuts this season, so it stands to reason that entering the game in the second inning would be understandable, and still quite the honor, for either starter. Rivera may say he does not want to start, but it makes to much sense for him not to. As for Harvey, starting him is about as no-brainer as it gets. The Mets ace deserves to start the All-Star Game no matter where the contest was held, but with Citi Field the site in 2013, any debate about another starter taking the hill should be quashed. But it's not. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports Harvey is slated to start on Saturday, making an appearance in the All-Star Game a bit up in the air until the Mets can see how deep he goes into that game. Yet after his 121-pitch no-decision against the Giants on Monday night, manager Terry Collins said the Mets may be willing to accommodate Harvey by skipping his start on Saturday or, at the very least, putting him on a modified pitch count so he's fresh enough to play in the Midsummer Classic. Via Before [Monday's] game, Collins, a coach on [Bruce] Bochy's staff for the All-Star Game, was questioned about Harvey's usage in the All-Star Game and if he could envision a disagreement over how his star pitcher will be used. Harvey has also been struggling with a blister, which would be a terrible reason to miss pitching in the All-Star Game, but could be reason enough for Bochy to pick another starter. The short list of candidates for the National League starter includes Clayton Kershaw, who leads the league in ERA, batting average against and WHIP (1.89/.186/0.90), millimeters ahead of Harvey's numbers in each category (2.27/.194/0.91). Both pitchers are 1-2 in WAR for pitchers according to There are a lot of other options for Bochy as well. Jordan Zimmermann is 12-3 with a 2.57 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00. Patrick Corbin is 10-1 for Arizona with a 2.40 ERA and a WHIP nearly as good as Zimmermann's. Wins aside, Jeff Locke of Pittsburgh might have better numbers than both of them. Adam Wainwright is 11-5 and has a lower ERA than both Zimmermann and Corbin and a WHIP under 1.00, with an insane strikeout-to-walk ratio of 9.00, nearly double that of the next pitcher, Cliff Lee, who himself is a viable candidate to start the All-Star game with a 10-2 record, 2.73 ERA, WHIP under 1.00 and strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.67. Denis Poroy/Getty Images ( - I've said as often as I can that wins don't matter for pitchers, yet I still put each pitcher's record because they inexplicably still matter to some inside the game. It will be hard for an old-school manager who still believes that wins matter for a pitcher—this topic comes up every year for Hall of Fame votes, too, so don't think it is going away—to select someone like Kershaw, who is 8-5, over Corbin, Lee, Zimmermann, Locke or Harvey, who have all won more than 75 percent of their decisions. Wins shouldn't matter, but to some they still do, especially in cases like this.) The National League has nine starters on its roster, and it would be hard to complain if as many as seven of them started the All-Star Game. Still, the decision for Bochy has to be down to Kershaw or Harvey, which makes the choice really easy for a guy who will be managing a game in the home ballpark of one of his options. Jason Szenes/Getty Images Having lived in the New York market—the Subway Series was nearly unbearable for an outsider to get through—I know how people (read: New Yorkers and those in the media) have a tendency to romanticize the greatness and lore of Big Apple sports. Things in New York matter more because of where they take place. I'm fully convinced if Mariano Rivera had won as many titles and notched as many saves in Cleveland or Kansas City as he has in New York, he wouldn't be nearly the legend he has become. And yet he is that legend, and it is New York. Baseball's biggest stage deserves its brightest stars. With two struggling ballclubs slogging through the hot days of summer, there is no brighter star in New York this year than Harvey. Unless it's Rivera. Let them both start New York's All-Star Game. Load More Stories Follow B/R on Facebook Out of Bounds
HOME > Chowhound > Home Cooking > Dried Shrimp? • 9 Just for the heck of it I tried out a different supermarket today, one that caters heavily to the various local Hispanic communities, and was enjoying "sightseeing" all the unusual foods and mysterious packages when I found myself entranced by a cellophane bag filled with medium-sized head-on dried shrimp. Anyone have a recipe that uses these? Usually I'm dealing with a recipe that uses exotic ingredients that I can't find--this place is a treasure trove of exotic ingredients needing a recipe! 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. This should get you started: Surprisingly you can find those shrimp in a lot of large grocery stores in the Latino section with the spices. Yeah, the Latino markets are great. Usually they will make their own chorizo, which often tastes of chile, cinnamon ... and for the dry variety ... vinegar. 2 Replies 1. re: rworange cinnamon...really? is there a special kind to ask for? id be interested in that/ 1. re: kare_raisu Each market makes it differently. So try a small piece to check it out. Some markets make two types of chorizo, a fresh chorizo that is refrigerated and a dry version usually dangling like a long-looped snake off a bar on the wall. Here's some of my chorizo adventures Usually these markets make tamales, often near the register. Some will make their own moles and salsas that will be on top of the meat counter. Some will even make their own tortillas ... those are usually next to the resister. A few, make their own queso fresco. Each market I've visited has some different and unique thing. It's been interesting. 2. The Chinese use it in wide variety of veggies and soup dishes. One is a napa cabbage cooked in chicken broth and dried shrimp. 3 Replies 1. re: theSauce I love regular cabbage stir fried with plenty of dried shrimp. I re-hydrate the shrimp in water, then sautee the shrimp in oil, add the cabbage, stir fry a little, add the reserved soaking liquid and some salt, cover to let the cabbage steam a little, then stir fry some more. Yum! I actually just had myself a very simple meal with cabbage and a side of Chinese sausage and garlic today. Delish! I'll also rehydrate them, chop them up, and throw in fried rice for some fishy flavor. 1. re: Pei Are these shrimp still wearing their heads or shells? If so, how do you deal with that? 1. re: Sharuf If you get dried shrimp with the shells/heads still on, you can easily crumble off the shells with your fingers. Commercial producers of dried shrimp in Louisiana tumble the shrimp in large air driers (kinda like clothes driers) that rub off the shells during the drying process. 2. Never seen 'em with the heads still on, but dried shrimp are a common enough ingredient in cajun cooking. Use as a substitute for fresh shrimp in liquidy things like gumbo, or my favorite dried shrimp recipe: a thick potato stew (or "fricot") with a couple handsful of (headless) dried shrimp thrown in. Also good with smothered squash, or in a rice filling for stuffed green peppers. 1. I like them in potato pancakes with sausage, mushrooms, corriander, and scallion.
deals6" cold cut combo or meatball marinara for $2.00 I got spinach on mine instead of lettuce (Could still taste the bologna) @dazoneranger: Sure ! I have them add lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, green peppers, onions - try it ! (sure, include the pepperoncinsis as well) then have as much parmesan as they'll put on (a light dusting, as if it comes out of their pay...). can I order a meatball sub, hold the meatball? those things are GROSS! Oh and as far as Customer Appreciation Month goes...they have the $2 subs like twice a year, I believe. Last year, if I'm not mistaken, it was in November, not December. I will eat at least 5 of each of these, this month (or maybe 6 cold cuts and 4 meatballs...we'll see. Thanks for the heads up. Right on time, too - December just got here! The cold cut combo is actually what I'd normally order, if I went to Subway, so this is perfect and the last time they had this deal, I got a couple of the meatballs and was pleasantly surprised at how good they were. Anybody add anything else to their meatballs, other than meatball & cheese? I have them add some peperoncinis to it, which really makes it great. The order takers always ask me what I want on the sandwich, though, like I'd want lettuce and other veggies, which is something I had never considered. Do people dress their meatball sandwiches up with more than just the sauce, balls & cheese (and peperoncinis!)? @tarantino: Right? I was so disgusted when I saw the nutritional info that I'm definitely going to think twice before eating there again. So much for them advertising it as a "healthy meal". @tarantino: just think if your artist adds salt! I never did understand the whole idea of diet subs, I am sure Claire Huxtable would agree. This conversation reminds me of this: Mr. Hogan: Well, who can say no to 49-cent cheeseburgers? Carla: Sure, but tack on the cost of medicine, your room, and pumping your stomach, and that 49-cent cheeseburger is gonna run you in the neighborhood of thirteen hundred dollars. Mr. Hogan: Heh. See, that's how they get you @kd1357: 1140 in sodium as shown. 1620 sodium on cheddar bread and adding pickles. Wow. Just Wow. @shiranissosexy: I have yet to be forced into buying two separate 6" instead of one footlong whenever they run a special like this. It's slightly less work for the employee and same amount of material out of their pocket. @dpwellman: ehhh. Subway is, by far, the worst chain sub shop. But I must say, a meatball sub at any chain isn't anything to shout about. Might as well only pay 2 bucks for it. Well, it's no Lenny's Jersey Mikes, or Blimpie. . . but in the relm of chain "sub" shops: A meatball sub is a meatball sub. @doodude: if the sandwich already went cold that poke in the eye sounds mighty tempting xD lol Meatball sandwich for $2 or a poke in the eye.? Uh, meatball it is... they appreciate their customers with their two grossest subs :D (I'm probably still gonna buy em cuz they beat McD when I'm on the road) is it safe to say that a footlong of one of these sandwiches is 4 dollars? will you have to buy two separate 6 inches if not? @geognerd: You missed it. Subway Customer Appreciation Month: SCAM Either way, I'm going to pound these back for lunch many times this month. Thanks OP. I notice they have these 2 sandwiches for $2 roughly once every three months. @geognerd: Actually, I'd be more inclined to think just the opposite. Lots of holiday parties and small get-togethers that picking up a variety of subs and cutting them up into smaller serving sizes is quick and easy. Stopping to grab subs for lunch or dinner becuase everybody is too busy shopping, decorating, visiting, traveling, etc to cook. And, with several big meals within a pretty short period of time, I think a lot of families do go for something like this for meals more often than normal because they get enough full meals otherwise. Just something interesting I came across recently: You can calculate the nutrition information for your sandwich (obviously it varies a little based on who makes your sandwich) at that page. I was surprised at how easy it is to make a sandwich with >>1000 calories (especially if you like footlongs). Would it be a good assumption that December is Subway's slowest month, so they call it Customer Appreciation Month and offer a deal to drum up sales? Lots of holiday leftovers around, so less reason to eat out. Also, a lot of people take time off during the last couple weeks of December, so maybe Subway's usual lunchtime crowd is smaller.
Sir, that beard isn't hiding anything beard,covering up,face tattoos,facetoos - - There's very little in terms of face tattoos that can be considered even remotely acceptable. Needless to say, this is not in that category.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 teacher gifts (and a giveaway) Have I mentioned B's preschool class has 4 full-time teachers? (1 head teacher, 2 aids, and a speech therapist, because some of B's classmates have developmental delays). That translates to a lot of one-on-one attention for the kids...but it also means we give a lot of teacher gifts. Plus, this spring her head teacher underwent chemotherapy and surgery (she's okay), so there was a regular substitute who the kids got to know very well. That makes 5 gifts...I wanted to give something personal and creative but not expensive, so I decided to make some cloth coffee cozies and pair them with gift cards to a coffee shop. As B said, "teachers and mommies like coffee." I wonder why?? To make the cozies, I traced one of the cardboard sleeves from Starbucks, adding an inch or so around each side for seam allowances, and used that as a template. I used scrap fabric and quilt batting to provide the insulation. There are several patterns online if you search for "cloth coffee sleeve," but honestly, it's easy just to trace and sew on your own like I did. Just remember to layer the batting on the bottom, then one piece of fabric right side up, then the other piece of fabric right side down (so the right sides are facing each other). Sew around the edges, leaving one end open, and turn it right side out. Next, sew the open end closed. I also sewed around all the edges again to give a finished look. Finally, fit it to your cup and sew the edges closed, or you can add velcro to make them adjustable. It took about 10 minutes to sew each sleeve. I tucked a note and the gift card inside each cup and wrote the teacher's name on the outside of the cup with a Sharpie. GIVEAWAY: I have an extra cozy here, and I'd like to send it to one of you! To enter, just leave a comment on this post. On Friday night, I'll choose a winner at random. To increase your chances, "like" this post on Facebook, link to it, or Tweet the link, then come back and let me know in the comments and you'll get another entry. GIVEAWAY HAS NOW CLOSED Good luck! Sunday, May 29, 2011 millions of peaches Yes, even in the desert. Even when the temperature is measured in triple digits. You can still find a shady orchard and pick your own peaches. So, we did. We brought home about 9 pounds. Next up: peach ice cream, peach pie, peach smoothies, grilled peaches, peach preserves... Friday, May 27, 2011 while you were out (bathroom before & after) Big things tend to happen when the hubs is away. Way back, when he traveled on weeks-long expeditions in the uncharted wilds with no phone contact, I'd find ways to keep busy. Rather than lie awake at night brooding over his safety, wondering if the bush plane would pick him up on time...I'd focus on other stuff. Happier stuff. Our dog Ollie, our "first born," our "bastard child" was actually an impulse buy. I adopted him eight years ago while Kris was trekking in Corsica. Surprise, honey! Also, many years ago, when Kris was away, I blew my first freelance paycheck on a race-worthy mountain bike. It cost more than my first car. We weren't married, and it was my money to spend...but we had talked about marriage and a house and saving. But the bike was just so pretty and so fast. And I did race with it a handful of times before the kiddos came along. Things also tend to break down when Kris is away. At our old house, the hot water heater busted and leaked while Kris was in Alaska. I'm adept at fixing garbage disposals and dishwashers because they've failed frequently during Kris' business trips. And, of course, you know what happened when Kris was away last fall... Kris' adventures are less dangerous than they used to be, and slightly less frequent. But I still like to keep myself distracted whenever he's away. So, when he traveled for work this past week, I set my sights on our ugly brown powder room: It's tiny and the beige walls just made it feel so dark and gross. I realized we had some paint leftover from our master bathroom. And a couple pieces of artwork in the garage that had not yet found a home. So, I was able to do a quick transformation: The wall color is "China Blue" by ACE. And I spray painted the mirror frame a sunny yellow. That was my only expense for the room, actually: $3.49 for a can of spray paint. Not a bad makeover for $3.49! Eventually I'd like to replace the light fixture with something smaller and more modern. But for now, it works, so it stays. Kris says he loves it. But really, he's just glad I didn't buy a couch or adopt another puppy. Photography note: I took the "before" photos with my iPhone. For the "after" photos, I stood in the pitch-black bathroom and bounced my flash off the ceiling. Without a flash (using just the bathroom light), the photo looks like this: Not bad, but the walls look gray, which isn't accurate at all. The photos with the flash give the best representation of the room. Monday, May 23, 2011 life is good We sipped cold beers from the bottle and popped fat, organic blueberries into our mouths like candy. The clean, smoky smell of grilled free-range chicken and roasted fingerling potatoes wafted through our neighbors' backyard. The kids were in the grass, gathering the grapefruit and oranges we'd just picked from their tree. Someone mentioned the Rapture. What if you knew it was going to happen? How would you spend your last day on earth? Would you see the world? Stay close to home and pray? Does travel time count against your last 24 hours? Who would you want with you? I thought back to this past week and realized I wouldn't do a thing differently. Not every week is so lovely, but during the past seven days I savored my time with my kids and my husband. I also jetted off to surprise one of my best friends who is recovering from major surgery--spending fewer than 24 hours with her, yet hours packed with rest, laughter and sweet conversation. The desert wooed me this week with a few rare, mild days. I walked to the local coffee shop with new friends and our babies and sipped lattes on the patio. The last of the ripe citrus hung low on trees, begging to be plucked before the heat settles in. We took the kids to the zoo for a birthday party and stayed long enough to wave to the zebras and ride the carousel. We napped and cooked and danced and laughed and made big messes every day. We didn't always clean them up. I felt ill Saturday night and Kris took care of the kids while I curled up and finished a book I'd been reading. It was a welcome retreat. Then we closed the weekend with a casual, fun dinner with new friends. It felt easy, like the years-old friendships I've missed so much since we moved. We're rounding the corner on our first year in the desert, and so much of that year has been challenging. And, with the weatherman predicting a high of 105 on Friday, it would be easy to brace myself for more suffocating heat, more isolation, more challenges this summer. But I don't think that will be the case at all. I predict we'll be bobbing around our pool with new friends and exploring museums and escaping to the mountains. And I've begun my list of projects to complete inside the house, under the cool blanket of air conditioning. Hopefully we'll have a few more precious evenings of grilling out with friends and sipping fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice on the patio in the mornings. I think I kind of like it here. Thursday, May 19, 2011 positive reinforcement Me: B, you get a pink star for being a good listener today. And another star for being helpful. B: Yes, but sometimes I pick my nose a little bit. Me: I don't have space on the sticker chart for that. B: There are whales underwater, and sometimes they blow their nose. But not in our pool. I tell them they can't pee in our pool. I only pee in the ocean now. Me: Ok, you can have a star for that. Tuesday, May 17, 2011 making babies So, fast forward a few weeks to this past Saturday. Another hot day. Another opportunity to make cupcakes. The best part of this project was B. She flipped through the cookbook and found cupcakes shaped like babies. And for the next several days, she told EVERYONE she encountered that she was going to "make babies soon." I took her to the grocery store with me, and she stopped this strange man in the baking aisle and told him she needed ingredients to make babies. The look on his face was priceless. Turns out all you need to make babies is a few marshmallows, Starburst candies, mini vanilla wafers, jelly beans and frosting. I made one of the blankets out of fruit leather, and it just wasn't as cute (see the punk on the upper right?) Once again, Mommy's attempt to make healthier sweets fails miserably.... Monday, May 16, 2011 the cupcake series, redux Last fall, my aunt sent us this cupcake cookbook, and I joked about cooking my way through it à la "Julie & Julia." By "...anyone can make" do you think they mean these people? Because, I don't have the motivation to take on such an endeavor. But, as it turns out, a 3-year-old does. The opportunity arose a few weeks ago on a 100-degree day. We were inside, bored, and Kris suggested that he and B make butterfly cupcakes. The book makes it look....not simple. But doable. So, I offered to buy the ingredients and Kris and B would work their magic. The first steps were simple. They prepared cupcakes from a mix, set them aside to cool and then frosted them. (The book offers recipes to make the cake and frosting from scratch, but Kris went the easy route, anticipating the challenge ahead) Then came the fun...making paper-thin chocolate monarch butterflies on wax paper and transferring them to the tops of the cupcakes. By this point, B had already lost interest. So I helped Kris make a few butterflies. Our techniques differed. I molded the slightly melted chocolate (kind of like a thick paste). Kris melted the hell out of it, then added a little bit of water (his crucial mistake) to make it more "fluid." In the end, his butterflies were more beautiful. Mine were more functional. His never set fully, so they didn't transfer well off the wax. Mine, while sturdy, were too heavy to be supported by the cupcake. B didn't care either way, as long as she could eat them. Which she did. Next up, we made cupcakes in the shape of babies. I'll post about that tomorrow... Friday, May 13, 2011 baby name wizards Kris and I just watched the premiere of "Pregnant in Heels," a Bravo reality show featuring Rosie Pope, a "maternity conceirge" on Manhattan's Upper East Side. In short: Rosie's paid big bucks to hold couples' hands and help them navigate the incredibly terrifying world of diapering, decorating, and finding a night nurse so they don't lose a wink of sleep. (If you're reading this and you hired a night nurse, no offense. I'm just jealous.) The episode we watched profiled this couple who hired Rosie to help "brand" their baby with the perfect name, one that would ensure a lifetime of wealth and success. They commissioned a think tank of corporate and linguistic experts, and once they narrowed the list down to 5 promising names, Rosie held a focus group to gauge first impressions and dissect the names even further. Their rules were strict: No Js or Rs. No "decorative" names. Nothing too popular. Easy to spell. Avoid the letter "e" Can you guess which names were high on the list? For those of you who don't know...we spelled Bronwynn with two n's because we really love the name Wynn and considered it for a nickname. Can you believe we came up with such brilliant names for free??! I'll sleep better tonight now that our choices have been validated by a brain trust. Spoiler: In the end, the couple vetoed these options and went with a name that NO ONE recommended and several experts hated (Bowen). P.S. Kris wants me to tell you that we're for hire. Wednesday, May 11, 2011 there is so much I don't know How is it that the thing my 3-year-old resists most is the thing I most crave? Rest, my dear. You'll thank me later. But why, Mommy? I'm not tired. Why? Because we have fun things planned. You need to rest so you'll enjoy them. You're tired. I'm not. I think you are. I know I am. You're tired, Mommy? Why? I don't know who tripped the Why Switch, but it's on, and I can't turn it off. Why do we need sleep? Why do we comb our hair? Why is it hot today? Why did the mailman come? Why do I go to school today? Why can't I go to school on Saturday? Why is the light green? Why is that truck there? Why is it not here instead? Why is water wet? Why do we poop? Why do ants bite? Why do caterpillars become butterflies? Why can't they stay caterpillars forever? Why can't Spiderman sleep over at my house? Why do flowers die? I am just me. There are things I don't know. But I look at her eyes and I'm not just me, I'm THE MAMA. And she expects an answer. I swallow hard and search for the words that will stop the whys...not in a "because I said so" sort of way or in a forced-teaching-moment "let's research this together" sort of way, though there is a place for that. But I'm not sure she really wants precision or textbook answers. Sometimes, sure. But often, I think she wants patience and a witness to her growth. She asks "why? why? why? but, WHY?" and I picture this: Too many tweets. Her brain is over capacity. Let's rest together, I tell her, and snuggle her in tight next to me on the bed. In a while, she is still, and I can smell her hair and stroke her cheek and drift to sleep myself. So brief and so sweet. Like caterpillars, I tell her. Tuesday, May 10, 2011 déjà vu Do you guys remember THIS video? (the first one in that post) Ok, so watch this one: Same DNA? I believe so. Saturday, May 7, 2011 I'm not sure how it's possible, but I've been shooting photos consistently for 300 days. Some I've loved and worked really hard for, some I just snapped with my iPhone so I could tick off my to-do list. It's too early to say, but I think once I reach Day 365, I will keep going, because I'm finally getting the hang of shooting on manual all the time (I used to always shoot on aperture priority mode)... And I really want a new camera body and a 100mm lens :) We have two perfectly lovely camera bodies (a Nikon D70 and D100), but they're old and sometimes a little slow. One of them is held together with duct tape. I find myself drooling over the D90 or the D300s, which I actually had my hands on at one point (Kris had a loaner for a while that he reviewed for a magazine). Has anyone tried these cameras? Thoughts? Suggestions? Anyone want to join me for the next 365? We'll get started in July... Friday, May 6, 2011 shutter sisters Have you checked out Shutter Sisters? It's a great community blog for aspiring and professional women photographers (and I'm sure the guys would be inspired too). They offer a lot of how-to and monthly challenges. I was delighted today when they featured one of my photos! Check it out HERE peer pressure Backstory: For the past year or so (i.e. one third of her life), B has refused to wear anything but dresses. No shirts. No skirts. No shorts. Often she will wear pants under a dress. But that's about it. Also, it helps if the dress has flowers on it and something pink and/or yellow. B: Mommy, can I wear a shirt? I like shirts now. Me: You do? B: Yeah, I don't like dresses anymore. Me: Oh, really? Why not? B: Because I'm too sweet to wear dresses. Dresses make me angry. Me: Why do dresses make you angry? B: I want to be like my friends. Me: Which friends? B: I have some friends. Their names are Ben and Zachary. They wear shirts and pants. Me: Oh, so you want to be like them? B: They said don't wear dresses anymore. (pause) Mommy, do you like dresses? Me: Yes, I do. B: Do you like shirts and pants? Me: I do. B: I like both too. Maybe next year I'll wear dresses... Me: You know, you can wear dresses some days and pants and shirts on other days. B: Really?! OK! Me: Glad that's settled, then.* *Lord help me in 10 years Monday, May 2, 2011 south of the border We just rolled in from Mexico where we competed in the Rocky Point Triathlon with several other families. We stayed in a casa right on the beach--the kind of place that's so airy and gorgeous, you want to hug the walls and never leave. Kris and I slept in a hand-carved wooden bed with no fewer than 3 paintings of the Virgin Mary hovering over us and the ocean mere steps from our balcony...I can tell you I've never slept more soundly. (Also noteworthy: B slept in our room on a floor bed we MacGyvered for her and Miles was in his pack n' play, and it was so peaceful to have my children close all night. Turns out B sometimes laughs in her sleep...to think--her perfect innocent self and the dreams that incite laughter--makes me weep for the sweetness of it.) The triathlon took place Saturday at a nearby resort. Some intense winds and blowing sand made for an interesting race, but we all had fun. To sum up, it was a weekend of firsts: First time our kids have left the U.S. First time driving across a border (for Kris) First-tenth street taco (Kris, Gina, B & Miles) First words in Spanish (hola & agua spoken by Miles) First tidepool exploring (B & Miles) First hermit crab catch-and-release (B) First athletic competition since having kids (Gina) First place (Kris, leading his division in the bike leg) I didn't break any records for my performance, but my team finished 9th in our division, and it felt sooooooo good to be swept up in the adrenaline of a group event again....Before the munchkins came along, Kris and I competed in sprint adventure races, and I absolutely LOVE the camaraderie you find at multisport events. Even better when there's cerveza at the finish line. Tomorrow I face the reality that no one will be delivering fresh, hot breakfast burritos to my doorstep. 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elerea-0.1.0: A minimalistic FRP library Elerea (Eventless Reactivity) is a simplistic FRP implementation that parts with the concept of events, and uses a continuous latching construct instead. The user sees the functionality through an applicative interface, which is used to build up a network of interconnected mutable references. The network is executed iteratively, where each superstep consists of two phases: sampling-aging and finalisation. As an example, the following code is a possible way to define an approximation of our beloved trig functions: sine = integral 0 cosine cosine = integral 1 (-sine) Note that integral is not a primitive, it can be defined by the user as a transfer function. A possible implementation that can be used on any Fractional signal looks like this: integral x0 s = transfer x0 (\dt x x0 -> x0+xrealToFrac dt) s Head to FRP.Elerea.Internal for the implementation details. type Time = DoubleSource Time is continuous. Nothing fancy. type Sink a = a -> IO ()Source Sinks are used when feeding input into peripheral-bound signals. data Signal a Source A signal is represented as a transactional structural node. Functor Signal Applicative Signal The Applicative instance with run-time optimisation. The <> operator tries to move all the pure parts to its left side in order to flatten the structure, hence cutting down on book-keeping costs. Since applicatives are used with pure functions and lifted values most of the time, one can gain a lot by merging these nodes. Eq (Signal a) The equality test checks whether to signals are physically the same. Fractional t => Fractional (Signal t) Num t => Num (Signal t) Show (Signal a) The Show instance is only defined for the sake of Num... :: Signal a the top-level signal -> DTime the amount of time to advance -> IO a the value of the signal before the update Advancing the whole network that the given signal depends on by the amount of time given in the second argument. Note that the shared time signal is also advanced, so this function should only be used for sampling the top level. time :: Signal TimeSource The global time. :: (Time -> a) the function to wrap -> Signal a A pure time function. :: a initial state -> (DTime -> a -> a) state transformation -> Signal a A pure stateful signal. :: a initial state -> (DTime -> t -> a -> a) state updater function -> Signal t input signal -> Signal a A stateful transfer function. The current input can only affect the next output, i.e. there is an implicit delay. :: Signal a s: initial behaviour -> Signal Bool e: latch control signal -> Signal (Signal a) ss: signal of potential future behaviours -> Signal a Reactive signal that starts out as s and can change its behaviour to the one supplied in ss whenever e is true. The change can only be observed in the next instant. :: a initial value -> IO (Signal a, Sink a) the signal and an IO function to feed it A signal that can be directly fed through the sink function returned. This can be used to attach the network to the outer world.
Take the 2-minute tour × I just finished reading this paper, which describes the situations in which Japanese allows a dative subject and a nominative object. For example, the verb 分かる can be used like this: "彼" is the subject but is marked with "に" instead of "が", and similarly "英語", the object, is marked irregularly with the nominative particle "が" instead of the usual "を". According to the paper, this happens in Japanese when a verb 1) licenses this case marking and 2) the verb is transitive (there is an object). There are two parts to my questions: 1)The 可能形 licences dative subjects: but not This is still ruled out for intransitives, so 5a in the paper shows that you cannot say 「*赤ちゃんにもう歩ける」. Does this change if we add another argument such as a location? Can I say 「人間にはその道が歩けない」 (let's say it's covered in lava or something). 2) The paper also mentions that there are exceptions to this rule, one of them being certain kinds of questions. Can anyone think of a Japanese question with a transitive verb or a verb that doesn't normally allow a dative subject, but which has a dative subject anyway? share\|improve this question I cannot think of examples of the other exception either "not in embedded clauses(Shibatani 1977: 807, Dubinsky 1992)". I don't feel like paying 38$ for the referred paper, but it would be interesting to hear any listed examples. – dainichi Mar 14 '12 at 8:28 I've requested it through interlibrary loan, so if I get a copy I'll post them here. – Nate Glenn Mar 14 '12 at 16:46 Btw why do you say that in the sentence "彼に英語が分かる", "彼" is the subject? If the translated sentence is "English is understood, as for him.", shouldn't "英語" be the subject? – Pacerier Mar 30 '12 at 21:41 I would not translate it that way, and that is not how it is treated in the literature. – Nate Glenn Mar 30 '12 at 23:37 1 Answer 1 1. >Can I say 「人間にはその道が歩けない」 Yes I think you can say that. Maybe you can also say 人間にはその道は歩けない/人間にその道は歩けない. 2. Hmm... Would it be something like... you can say 君に(この車が)運転できるかい? but not 僕に運転できます。?? 私には耐えられない/私に耐えられるだろうか but not 私に耐えられます。??　or maybe 私にやって行けるだろうか/私にはやって行けない but not 私にやって行けます。?? share\|improve this answer Are "私には耐えられない" and "私にはやって行けない" meant as questions or statements? – Nate Glenn Mar 14 '12 at 1:25 @NateGlenn They're negative statements... That's why I wasn't sure. – Choko Mar 14 '12 at 16:29 Your Answer
Shopping with a social conscience Retailers and manufacturers targeting Gen X and Y shoppers this holiday season should introduce more transparency into their product labels and identify fair trade, conflict-free and environmentally friendly practices. Results of a new survey by KPMG LLP reveal that nearly 70% of consumers younger than age 30 consider social issues such as sustainability, human rights and fair trade before making a purchase. This outpaces the fewer than 50% of consumers overall who feel the same way. The survey reveals that young consumers focused more on social issues when considering big-ticket purchases such as automobiles, computers, consumer electronics and jewelry versus everyday items such as gasoline, toys and food. Thirty-four percent of consumers younger than 30 always or frequently consider social issues when buying everyday goods, compared to 41% when buying big ticket items. “Many regulations are accelerating trends that would take place anyway,” said Jim Low, audit partner, KPMG LLP. “Retailers are increasingly asking their suppliers to assess their environmental and social sustainability. Several of the leading retail and grocery chains have recently introduced ranking systems to help consumers identify sustainable products. Consumers and investors continue to increase pressure on companies to adopt more sustainable practices.”
Hi all. First all, I'm sorry for my poor English. Well. I have instructions for a proffesional multiuser instalation for LO Writer and LO Impress ONLY. Without Calc or Draw or... Then, I've installed only Writer and Impress. That's ok. But, when I open some doc or some presentation with LO, and I close it, not the application, only document, I see the window for desktop of LO (the attached file). It's bad for me to see calc or base or draw, dissabled like that. Can I to avoy that window? Thanks.
Don't Miss Home / Uncategorized / PEOPLE v. JACKSON April 21, 2005 v No. 254640 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 03-009003-01 Defendant appeals as of right his jury trial convictions for one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC I), MCL 750.520b(1)(b), and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC II), MCL 750.520c(1)(b). The jury acquitted defendant of four additional counts of CSC I. Defendant was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of twelve to twenty years for CSC I and seven and one-half to fifteen years for CSC II. We affirm. Defendant first argues that he was denied a fair trial because of prosecutorial misconduct. We disagree. Defendant did not object to any of the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. Therefore, we review to determine if there was plain error that affected defendant?s substantial rights. People v Rodriguez, 251 Mich App 10, 32; 650 NW2d 96 (2002). ?Reversal is warranted only when plain error resulted in the conviction of an actually innocent defendant or seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.? People v Callon, 256 Mich App 312, 329; 662 NW2d 501 (2003). Additionally, this Court will not find error requiring reversal where a curative instruction by the trial court could have alleviated any prejudice to the defendant. Id. at 329-330. Defendant argues that the prosecutor improperly questioned him about the credibility of certain witnesses. We agree that it is improper for the prosecutor to ask a witness, including the defendant, to comment on the credibility of another witness. People v Buckey, 424 Mich 1, 17; 378 NW2d 432 (1985). However, the questions ?are curable with a limiting instruction? from the court. People v Messenger, 221 Mich App 171, 180; 561 NW2d 463 (1997). Here, the trial court sua sponte instructed the jury that it was to disregard testimony from a witness that another witness was truthful or untruthful and that the jury alone was to determine credibility. Because jurors are presumed to follow the instructions given, People v Rodgers, 248 Mich App 702, 717; 645 NW2d 294 (2001), the curative instruction alleviated any possible prejudice to defendant. Messenger, supra at 180. Defendant next argues that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct by making remarks during her rebuttal closing statement that were meant to appeal to the jury?s sympathy for the victim and her mother. People v Wise, 134 Mich App 82, 104; 351 NW2d 255 (1984). We have reviewed the challenged comments and do not find them to be a blatant and improper appeal to the jury?s sympathy. Counsel was not suggesting that the jury should convict regardless of the evidence. Rather, the comments were tied to the evidence presented at the trial and were clearly made in response to characterizations raised in defense counsel?s closing argument. Defendant also argues that the cumulative effect of the errors denied him a fair trial. However, ??only actual errors are aggregated to determine their cumulative effect,?? People v Rice (On Remand), 235 Mich App 429, 448; 597 NW2d 843 (1999), quoting People v Bahoda, 448 Mich 261, 292 n 64; 531 NW2d 659 (1995). Having found only one instance of harmless error, defendant?s argument fails. We also reject defendant?s argument that his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the above alleged instances of prosecutorial misconduct. Because there was no Ginther1 hearing held in the trial court, this Court?s review is limited to mistakes that are apparent from the lower court record. People v Riley (After Remand), 468 Mich 135, 139; 659 NW2d 611 (2003). Because the prosecutor?s rebuttal argument was proper, defendant?s trial counsel could not have been ineffective for failing to object to it. Counsel is not ineffective for failing to make a meritless objection. Id. at 142. Although we conclude it was error for the prosecutor to question defendant about the credibility of other witnesses, this error was not prejudicial to defendant, primarily because the trial court gave a curative instruction to the jury, even without an objection by defense counsel. Therefore, defendant cannot show that ?there is a reasonable probability that . . . the result of the proceeding would have been different? had counsel objected to the prosecutor?s questioning. Strickland v Washington, 466 US 668, 694; 104 S Ct 2052; 80 L Ed 2d 674 (1984). Defendant finally argues that he is entitled to resentencing based on the United States Supreme Court?s decision in Blakely v Washington, 542 US___; 124 S Ct 2531, 2536; 159 L Ed 2d 403 (2004). However, our Supreme Court in People v Claypool, 470 Mich 715, 730 n 14; 684 NW2d 278 (2004), specifically opined that Blakely does not affect Michigan?s sentencing scheme. Defendant argues that our Supreme Court wrongly concluded that Blakely does not apply and urges us to reject it. However, this Court is bound by the decision in Claypool. See People v Drohan, 264 Mich App 77, 89 n 4; 689 NW2d 750 (2004). /s/ Richard Allen Griffin /s/ Richard A. Bandstra /s/ Joel P. Hoekstra Leave a Reply Scroll To Top
Similar to the over-hyped Catapult of Greek origin, it is a siege engine used by Ninjas in order to fire more Ninjas to distant places, usually over city walls, pirate ships, and/or giant mythical creatures infected with rabies. Myth has it that it was once debated whether or not Ninjapults were ever required by the ninja armies of Ninjtopia, seeing as Ninjas possess otherworldly powers (such as teleportation, walking through walls, and blowing up objects with their minds) that would simply render the Ninjapult as an obsolete device before it was even created. The Supreme Ninja Chancellor Chuck Norrisdecided to peacefully end this debate by explaining that Ninjapults were simply implemented for the addition of style points. The delegation completely agreed with Chuck Norris, and offered him the prestigious 'Nobel Awesome prize', to which Chuck Norris responded with the collective murder of the entire room by questioning the Ninjapult in the first place. Note: Contrary to popular belief, The Ninjapult DOES exist and is still used to this very day. If you don't believe me, try to explain Watergate Steve: Did you know that the Greeks took over a decade to get into Troy? Bob: Are you kidding me?!?!? Hadn't they ever heard of Ninjapults? Steve: What are Ninjapults? (Steve died tragically .035 seconds later due to Post-roundhousekick-stress) de Johannes Climacus 30 Iulie 2009 E-mailuri zilnice
Take the 2-minute tour × I have a perl script that sends mail out to a mailing list. On my old dedicated server, it worked fine, and sent one email per second basically. I recently switched to a new dedicated server, with about the same specs, and it's going extremely slow, about one mail every 30 seconds. I set up a test script to watch what part takes the longest: open(MAIL,"\| /usr/sbin/sendmail -tv -d8.7 $recipient_email"); print MAIL <<EOF; From:Test Sender <$sender> Justw ant to see how long this takes The -d8.7 there is a debug option that lets me watch the output of the script. I will paste that here, there are 3 spots which both hang for too long, I will mark them here: dns_getcanonname(receiving_server.com, trymx=1) dns_getcanonname: trying receiving_server.com. (A) 5 second delay here YES dns_getcanonname: receiving_server.com getmxrr([], droplocalhost=1) andrew@receiving_server.com... Connecting to [] via relay... 220 my_server.com ESMTP Sendmail 8.13.8/8.13.8; Fri, 18 May 2012 06:55:04 +0200 >>> EHLO localhost.localdomain 250-my_server.com Hello localhost.localdomain [], pleased to meet you 250 HELP >>> MAIL From:<root@localhost.localdomain> SIZE=115 10 second delay here 250 2.1.0 <root@localhost.localdomain>... Sender ok >>> RCPT To:<andrew@receiving_server.com> >>> DATA 5 second delay here 250 2.1.5 <andrew@receiving_server.com>... Recipient ok >>> . 250 2.0.0 q4I4t4Lu014501 Message accepted for delivery andrew@receiving_server.com... Sent (q4I4t4Lu014501 Message accepted for delivery) Closing connection to [] >>> QUIT 221 2.0.0 my_server.com closing connection As far as I can tell, my /etc/hosts and /etc/resolv.conf seem fine, and these are the only things that Google suggests might be broken, anyone have any ideas? share\|improve this question 1 Answer 1 It looks like 1. Delay to resolve name via DNS 2. Recipient check by remote SMTP server 3. Sender check by remote SMTP server Is the remote server the same as before? Do you have any visibility of that server? Have you run tcpdump on that interface to see if there is any protocol activity during the gaps? Try this (as root) - # tcpdump -vvv -w output.pcap -i eth0 'port not 22' This will capture all traffic except your SSH session traffic and output to the file 'output.pcap'. I don't suppose there's any chance you've moved to an IP that is on a blacklist somewhere? Sites like the following can help you find out - share\|improve this answer This is the same across multiple different remote SMTP servers - Gmail, Hotmail, a bunch of university servers, all of them have the same delay on step 2. Also the DNS delay seems to happen no matter what DNS servers I put in (my providers, or ones I have on another server). I have to figure out the tcpdump thing, I'm not very good at sysadminning, I'll look that up, thanks! – Cocorico May 18 '12 at 5:40 No problem! I'll put a command in the answer for tcpdump. – Andrew H May 18 '12 at 5:44 Also, it would be interesting to know how quickly 'dig g.co' returns on your server - it's a dns lookup which will use the servers in /etc/resolv.conf. – Andrew H May 18 '12 at 5:49 109 msec for the g.co thing.. I have used nslookup to look up a bunch of servers and they're all similarly fast. I'll go run the tcpdump stuff and whatnot, thanks! – Cocorico May 18 '12 at 6:25 Ahh, I am on 6 blacklists. I will look into getting off those, but in the meantime, would that actually slow things down? I mean, I understand it would for some servers, but do you think ALL the servers are checking those lists? Cause it's literally this slow on every single one I sent to - AOL, prodigy, msn, hotmail, etc etc etc. Oh yeah, I actually just tried sending to a server I have somewhere else, and it's slow to that too, and I know it doesn't check any lists. – Cocorico May 18 '12 at 6:30 Your Answer
Take the 2-minute tour × I have perl script for TSM reporting which was working fine in AIX version 5. After upgrading AIX to version 6, the script is not working. I'm getting this error: byteloader version mismatch expected 0.5 , got 0.6 . I guess after upgrading OS perl also got upgraded from perl 5.8.2 (working) to 5.8.8 (not working). What do I have to do to make this script work on AIX 6? share\|improve this question 1 Answer 1 Your perl script apparently uses bytecode. Bytecode is kind of like compiled code. It is pre-parsed code which loads more efficiently than normal script code (really bad explanation, wikipedia probably does a better job). However in perl, running the bytecode is restricted to the version of the module it was built with. So what this means is that you used ByteLoader 0.5 to build the bytecode, but the box you're running it on has version 0.6. The solution is either to rebuild the script with the newer version of the ByteLoader module (it's documentation contains instructions for doing this), or to run the normal non-bytecode script. However both require that you still have the normal non-bytecode version around. share\|improve this answer Is it possible to remove bytecode 0.6 module and install bytecode 0.5 in perl , if yes can you let me know steps . – Amit Singh Jul 10 '12 at 13:56 i got it worked recompiled the source with bytecode 0.6 . – Amit Singh Jul 12 '12 at 21:59 Your Answer
Owl of Thebes From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia Revision as of 16:02, May 3, 2008 by One-eyed Jack (talk \| contribs) Jump to: navigation, search Thebes is an ancient town upstream from Cairo and Memphis on the Mississippi River of Egypt. It is the gateway to two of the Seven Wonders of the World: the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx. (Stevie is not one of the Seven Wonders, or there would be eight of them.) The Owl of Thebes is a mythological bird similar to the Phoenix of Arizona, but smaller and less smoggy. Mythology and Scatology Osiris pictured with the Owl of Thebes on his knee. The Owl of Thebes entered the mytho-scatology of the Mississippi Egyptians around 4000 BCE, when the Egyptians were conquering the Mohicans and inventing paper. From these earliest times the Egyptians associated the Owl with freedom -- in particular, the freedom of unobstructed bowel movements. Living as they did on a diet of malted millet, caramel, and camembert, the ancient Egyptians desperately needed a little colonic liberation. In early Egyptian paintings the Owl perches on the lap of Osiris. Ovoid glyphs on Osiris' thigh may represent offerings to the totemic bird or they may represent owl droppings; archeologists disagree. However, hieroglyphic writings from the reign of Buttkahamen (midway through the Turd Dynasty) invoke the Owl as "protector of latrines" and the "titular deity of the porcelain throne". Paintings discovered in the tomb of Little Sheba show the Owl carrying rolls of toilet papyrus and playing snooker with scarab dung beetles. Question and Answer Q: Is there any relief in sight from these cheap jokes about poo-poo? A: No, we're afraid not. The Owl in Classical Literature The romantic poets of the 19th century celebrated all things Egyptian, so it is no surprise that the Owl of Thebes is referenced in many poems, plays, and manga cartoons of the period. Shelley referred to the Owl in his monumental poem The Constipation of Hepatica, the climactic 144th verse of which we quote here: As brightened the rosy and amethyst sky The day-star awoke and morning was nigh. So Empress Hepatica rose with a cry And gath'ring her strength she then clenched what she must, And called to the Owl: "Now to shit...or to bust!" Widely regarded as Shelley's most excremental poetry, this is nevertheless the first known use of the phrase "shit or bust" and so its place in literary scatology is assured. In 1814 the artist-poet William Blake drew the Owl as a companion of the archangel Humbert in his painting The Serpent Buys a Ticket to Leamington. He added a single couplet at the bottom of the canvas: Doth the Owl of Thebes stoop and take A poop upon the fat slithering Snake? Alfred Lord Tennyson bought Blake's painting at a rummage sale, thinking it was Tintoretto's Pope Parmagiano ICVCI Blessing the Commode. After examining the work and discovering his error he pasted a Hello Kitty sticker over Blake's verse, and upon it he wrote: I care not what the Owl of Thebes does at home, but I wish he'd not deposit his droppings in my soup pot. Scholars regard Tennyson's act of vandalism as the death-knell of the romantic age. And a good thing, too. The Owl In Movies "The Cassowary", a short film by Tulse Luper referenced by Greenaway's "The Falls". The Owl of Thebes received thematic treatment in Peter Greenaway's mysterious film The Falls. The character Juliet Fallarón (played by Lara Romanov) obsessively attempts to make a nest inside a cracked bidet while speaking only in VUE language Strigolaux-G (which consists mostly of owl-like hoots and muffled straining grunts). The scene segues into a film which has become Juliet's guiding metaphor, the short feature The Cassowary (1972) by Tulse Luper. Luper summarized his work as follows: A jet aircraft on a cloudless night began its landing flight-path twenty miles east of the airport where it was due to land. For the first five miles of its descent, the noise from the jet's engine and exhaust disturbed no-one. At the sixth mile, an ornithologist, birdwatching on a reservoir, was irritated by the jet-noise just enough to give the aircraft a quick glance. He turned into a swan. At the seventh mile, a naturalist and his wife saw the aircraft through the bathroom curtains and were turned into crows. At the eighth mile, four children in a school lavatory saw the aircraft through a sky-light and turned into herons. At the ninth mile, seven night-nurses in an old peoples' home saw the plane and turned into swallows. Their supervisor became the Owl of Thebes. At the tenth mile, twenty-one members of eight families saw the plane and turned into gulls. By the nineteenth mile, twenty-four thousand, nine hundred and twenty-seven people in two towns, four villages and a camping-site had seen the plane. Most of them turned into penguins. When the plane exploded on the air-strip, a cassowary with a purple beak stepped from the wreckage and checked himself into the VIP lounge. In Francois Truffault's Gunfight at the O.K. Outhouse a lone white owl flies up from the symbolic latrine just as the first shot is fired, and critics see this as a veiled reference to the Owl of Thebes (and to Truffault's well-known problems with diarrhea). However, the Owl is most explicitly referenced in Alfred Hitchcock's Porko when Marryin' Crane (played by Carol Cleveland) is flossing her toes before taking the ill-fated shower. Miss Crane laments, She is interrupted by the muffled voice of Norman Bates (Bill Murray): No it doesn't. Near the end of the film the forensic psychiatrist Oakland (Eric Idle) declaims: What frees the prisoner in his lonely cell, chained within the bondage of rude walls, far from the Owl of Thebes? Oakland then holds up a carton marked Ex-Lax to the camera and cries, Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! In Closing The mighty Owl of Thebes remains viable in modern mythology as a symbol of all that things bowel-related. Sadly, many other ancient symbolic birds no longer mean anything except to historians. For example, who now celebrates the Chickadee of Manassas, the Phalarope of Brisbane, or the Goatsucker of Tenochtitlan? We certainly don't, and neither do you, smartypants. But like the Dusky Tit of Hollywood -- which Janet Jackson so evocatively evoked in her famous interpretive dance at Superbowl XXXVIII -- the symbology of the Owl of Thebes flourishes in the global art scene. Long may it poot! Er, hoot. Personal tools
Roleplaying game From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia Revision as of 12:58, June 4, 2012 by (talk) Jump to: navigation, search "RPG" redirects here. For other uses, see Rocket-propelled grenade. “You are not truly a man (or woman) until you are at level 42.” ~ Oscar Wilde on Roleplaying games THAT type of role playing? Dammit, I'm in the wrong quote section!” ~ Glenn Quagmire on role playing ~ Christian Parents on RPG's “I call bullshit” ~ Players on previous quote/anything the GM throws at them For those without comedic tastes, the self-proclaimed experts at Wikipedia have an article about Roleplaying game. Behold! The Kingdom! Welcome, noble adventurer, to the Lande of the Role Playing Game, or the RPG for short. Learning the Art of the RPG is a simple task for all but the most retarded of prospective adventurers, but beware of danger! Far from being peaceful Kingdoms of busty maidens and loveable comic relief sidekicks, RPG's are lands of terrible mages and foul breathed Dragons! But take heart! With nothing more than a mouse, a keyboard and one of the many RPG games available, you, an otherwise sad excuse for a human being, can become a powerful Mage-Knight in the services of the King's magnificent army! Read on, for information and advice about these, the most Role-Playish of the all the Games... edit History The Dungeon Master praying for a girlfriend. Role-playing games (or, in their original Sanskrit Vidderkatten Kamen-tu) have been around for thousands of years, and were initially developed to allow horribly crippled hunters to experience the thrill of taking down game (such as Woolly Mammoths, Jews and Battle Droids) without having to leave their caves. Many scholars believe that the role-playing game reached its pinnacle with the creation of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: The RPG, but others believe that the RPG developed by Jesus, One Of You Will Betray Me: A GURPS Experience is the apex of the role-playing game form. edit Variaties There are two basic types of games: crunchy games and storytelling games. edit Crunchy games Crunchy games have lots of numbers and let you roll lots of dice. Much of the time is spent optimizing your character (also called munchkinizing) so that he is way cooler and more powerful than those of the other players. In these games it is player vs. gamemaster. The gamemaster is the judge of the game who tells the players the outcome of their rolls and tries his best to kill them. In terms of high school dynamics: players who prefer crunchy games are "the jocks" and those who prefer storytelling games are "the geeks". Most of them, no matter what type of gamer you are, has a distorted notion of reality and wouldn't know the difference between a girl and an ogre. "Jocks" would try to kill her while "geeks" probably would try to seduce, drink her blood and then kill her. edit Storytelling games Storytelling games were first played by goths who popularized Vampire: The Masquerade. Later, other social outcasts joined in and storytelling games took off. Storytelling games have very few stats and instead of simply rolling to see if you killed the enemy, the idea is to talk about the scenes and decide what happens that furthers the story. Sometimes there is no killing or looting, and crunchy gamers find this very confusing. Some storytelling games don't even involve paper or dice, and the main rules consist of complaining about how monstruous one is, how life is going to end terribly quick and trying to stop cataclysm is just stupid. edit Others There is a third kind of role-playing game, which is much less seen although accepted more widley in society. In the playing of this game, one person dresses up as a nun and the other as an altar boy and much spanking is involved. This kind of game is rarely seen at gaming conventions like GenCon. edit Game systems Most people start with 2 strength (str), 2 dexterity (dex), 2 wisdom (wis), 1 intelligence (int), 3 cuteness (cut), 2 Cows (cow), and 7 mangos (mgo). Of course, this all depends on your d20 roll, but its a weighted die. The goal of life is to get as many mangoes as you can. One can gain mangoes by: • Singing olde Elton Jon toons in front of strangers loudly and off key(you must be wearing something loud and leather so you get the full effect of Ye Olde Jony Boy) • Slaying half-troll newt-daemons • Buying mangoes • Calling girls who you see online "ugly" despite the fact that the girl in the picture wouldn't bang you no matter how many of her family members you threatened to kill edit Character Creation "I choose to stand like this..." effervesces Nigel FitzPatrick, his hand clutching his pommel.... The first thing you must do is create a character. He must be strong, smart, brave, valiant, charismatic, and talented; in other words, he must be your opposite in every way. ((cowbell)) Most RPGs allow you to select various attributes to put 'skill points' into. Some common RPG attributes are: 1. Strength 2. Agility 3. Alcohol Retention 4. Improved Comedy Talent 5. Dwarf Tossing Ability 6. Friendliness 7. Shoe Size 8. Metabolism Rate 9. Odor 10. Political correctness 11. Masturbation rate and speed 12. If they like Spam or not A good RPG character must strike a cunning balance between these attributes to stand a chance against the vicious hordes of Rats and Small Children he will have to defeat in quest to become a powerful Knight. Putting too many points into one area or too few in another may hamper your character in unexpected ways; you must guess which attributes will be most useful, and you must place your Skill Points wisely. For example, many players neglect to put points into Alcohol Retention, and instead choose to maximize Shoe Size, to wear the powerful Clown Shoes of Tralfamadore. This may seem like a smart idea at first, but late in the game, when you're required to challenge Governor George Bush of Texas to a drinking contest, you will not be able to win. A lot of good those fancy shoes are then, huh clown boy? As you can see, effective point placement is key for any RPG character. Web site example: website with rpg content compatible with any RPG games edit Starting Out When you first begin an RPG, you are alone in the tavern of a remote village, which is caught up in a war against the forces of evil. You have to first assemble a party out of the local Drifters, Alcoholics, Dwarves, and Magic School Dropouts. A good party should have a good balance of all these character classes, but should have more Alcoholics than other classes. A good party generally requires 3 alcoholics, but you can get by with 2 if your character's Alcohol Retention is high enough. Each character class has a specific role: 1. Alcoholics are your main fighters. Alcoholics have the ability to throw darts at enemies and smash them over the head with pool sticks. Alcoholics can take an immense amount of damage before succumbing, and can lay down a mean Karaoke version of Y.M.C.A. by the Village People. 2. Dwarves can be tossed as weapons if your Dwarf Tossing skill is high enough. They are high damage weapons, capable of taking out multiple enemies at once. Dwarves are best used in conjunction with alcohol, as drunk dwarves do double damage. When used effectively, Dwarves are the most powerful weapons in the game. Beware though! If you mis-toss the dwarf, he will bitch you out, causing you to waste valuable time getting him drunk to shut him up, which can be deadly in a heated battle. 3. Drifters are the sneakiest party members. They engage enemies in meaningless conversations about how they used to be in the army and steal their money when they are not looking. They can also break into abandoned houses to allow your party much needed rest. Drifters have an endless supply of old newspapers and refrigerator boxes, which can be used in numerous ways. 4. Magic School Dropouts are able to cast spells, albeit not very well. Starting off, their spells are limited to minor cantrips such as Cause Flatulence and Get Target Wet but by the end of the RPG, they are mighty foes indeed, capable of summoning terrible demons (like the infamous level 5 Mujah Hid'een) and putting masses of foes to sleep (Training a drifter as a barkeep will give it a similar ability). A Dropout is a necessary part of a balanced breakfast party. edit Plot The plot of all RPGs is the same: A small town is threatened by an evil King and his terrible hordes of clichéd monsters such as Orcs, Goblins, Dragons, and Hitlers like that one You start off as a loner outcast with only a broken stick for a weapon; after 400+ hours of gameplay, you and your party are now mighty enough to take the Evil Lich Genericboss in his castle. It's up to you and your party to slay the douchebag and return the Kingdom to peace, until the sequel or expansion pack, in which you have to save the hapless village yet again. Usually there are a few random sub-plots which involve slaying a dragon in some faraway hills, retrieving some guy's watch, and helping an old man reshingle his house. Generally the plot is unimportant and only exists to give you a reason to click on poorly animated monsters for hours on end. Most of the plot was stolen from the Lord of the Rings anyway. A typical RPG plot involves: • Leaving your home town in order to perform a very silly task (like deliver bread to your grandma) • Getting stuck somewhere in the road because of an earthquake • Discovering that the earthquake was caused by a giant hedgehog, known as Sonic which fell on earth in ancient times. • Discovering that the only way to beat that ultimate evil is by collecting 7 crystals. • Each crystal is broken into 4 pieces, scattered in the west, east, north and south side of a temple. • Each side of the temple is guarded by a monstrous guardian, which can be reached and defeated only by performing specific tasks. • These specific tasks usually involve running back to a town miles away to pick up an item. • Once the 7 crystals are collected, the player faces the betrayal of a party member. • Which results in all the crystals being lost. • And everything in the game has to be done once more. edit Combat A mighty swordsman Combat in an RPG can range from simple point-and-click to more complex point-and-click, or, to simplify, from boring to complex and boring. Many weapons are used in an RPG, including staples such as the sword, the bow, the ninja-star and the tossed dwarf. The tossed dwarf can either be the most effective or least effective weapon. If your tosser is sufficiently drunk and has a high enough dwarf tossing skill, the effect can be deadly; if not, the dwarf is likely to turn on your party and steal your alcohol. Dwarves must be handled with care if they are not in use, as they can go on a drunken binge at any time. Not to be left out, magic users can be effective in battle, even they are total pussies who stand behind the fighters, staring at their asses. A few well-timed Greater Insult spells can incapacitate even hardiest of foes. Indeed, powerful mages can wield numerous, deadly, Insult spells to great effect. For example, the high level spell Insult: You Fight Like a Cow can instantly defeat any low to mid-level monster (With the exception of cows) with its frightening power. Even drifters can be effective, if the fight happens to take place in a back alley or similar area. They may be slower than regular characters, because their pants are always down, but don't let this fool you: It's merely an attempt to cause enemies to lose their focus, and give the drifters an oppurtunity to knock them out with stories about how the world is going to end or how things aren't like they used to be. edit Quests Stat Roll Quests are the glue that holds RPGs together. Quests can be loosely defined as "Shit you're told to do during the course of the game." Quests can be either completely awesome ("Please, slay the dragon and I'll let you have intercourse with my beautiful daughter!") or completely tedious ("Help me find my vase, I think I dropped it under the bed.") It's a safe bet, though, that an RPG will have a dragon slaying quest, a quest in which you must compete in a mud wrestling competition, and a quest where you party must master choreographed dance moves and song lyrics and win a Kingdom-wide pop music contest. These quests are loosely tied together by the aforementioned 'plot'. edit Dialogue An RPG must also have hundreds of pages of boring dialogue to make it seem as if something important were occurring within the game. Many is the hour spent listening to priests and lords telling you of impending evils, drunks telling you of the size of their 'pet snake' and old women asking you to please stop doing that to her cats. Although tedious, dialogue serves an important function in RPGs: It progesses the story and gives you new information and quests to complete. Common character archetypes you'll encounter in an RPG are 'the old, tired fighter', 'the smart-ass wizard', and 'the jovial baker'. Each of these characters has a separate dialogue tree and attitude. For example, the Baker is a nice character, who wishes you a good day and supplies you with Danishes and Eclaires if your Friendliness skill is high enough. Some people say that the real game lies in these dialogues, but those people have no social life, so what do they know? edit Items Required edit Other Items that would be good to have edit Items that are not allowed edit Gameplay Say you're stopped in a dark alley by a MUGGER. 8 str 7 dex 6 int 6 wis 2 cut 12 mgo d12 for 47 hp equipped: GUN (dmg 27, d8 accur.) You have selected the most honourable path in life of UNNECESSARILY EXCESSIVELY NERDY COMPUTER 3 str 1(0) dex (paralysed in fright) 6 int 6 wis 3 cut 8 mgo 28 hp equipped: PEN (dmg 2, d12 accur.), VERY THICK GLASSES (2 Damage Resistance) MUGGER has higher incentive: first strike uses gun rolls 7d8 hit delivers 27 dmg VERY THICK GLASSES resists 1 dmg you forgot to uncap PEN. PEN snapped in half by MUGGER. 0 dmg delivered. MUGGER uses GUN, rolls 8d12 hit: Delivers 27 damage to UNNECESSARILY EXCESSIVELY NERDY COMPUTER MUGGER receives 12 gold and a library card. Whoops, you died. But that's life. You should have paid 46 gold to have that wizard bless you with more wisdom. Note: The mugger also died because he was in a dark allay, thus he was raped horrifically. edit Popular RPGs UA Cover Unknown Armies, which isn't actually a roleplaying game, but deserves mention because of a common misconception. • Dungeons and Dragons, in which players lock themselves in their basements ("Dungeons") and develop tough, scaly skin ("Dragons") from lack of general hygiene. • Call of Cthulhu, in which both characters and players go insane and die. • Cyberpunk 2020, which is a game that isn't really worth mentioning. • Shadowrun, which is like Cyberpunk, only it has magic. • Jesus: Dreadful Bio Monster, max out your stats on Jesus' pious minions of doom! • Kingdom Darts, keep mashing X to show off a small selection of darts to shoot at your enemies, the Dartless! • Fireborn, which is like Shadowrun, only it takes place in a modern setting and you play as dragons. • Paranoia, which, oh, click on the link! • Warhammer, which is like a board game version of Warcraft, but actually Warhammer was made first. • Munchkin, which is any of the above, only it's Players VS. GM. • GURPS, which is all of the above rolled up into one game, carpet, and breakfast cereal. • BURPS, the Banally Unimaginative Role Playing System, which uses only d2's (coin flips) to resolve any uncertainty • RISUS, which is like any system mentioned above, below and elsewhere, only more so. The most serious rpg system invented so far. When you learn it, you'll laugh at all the other systems. • Exalted, in which players compete to roll ever-vaster numbers of dice. • Star Kingdoms • Harry Potter, Mostly played on myspace or proboards, usually vastly out of character and many Mary Sues live in this fandom. Only one myspace group exists that makes sense which is the HPRPU [1] no proboards make sense. • Neopets • DARKON is like D&D for jocks (and nerds). There is no dice and no paper (except rolling paper at campouts). It is full-contact (tackling, fucking, shield bashing, molesting, tea-bagging, dick-slapping are all allowed). Players use real armor, and are physically forced to sign a safety waiver. You can get your ass kicked by a history buff, fuck one of the many, many slutty Darkon chicks after they get plastered at campout (Mmmm, sluts), and even get in a neverending grammar debate with a loud-mouthed noble of the realm! You even get to scare away women and children at soccer games in the fall and become a major dork! • Star Trek: Armada II is a strategic role-playing game where people come to destroy each other morality, trash talk the living daylights out of, and ultimately all around be ugly. Sometimes the game is sooo boring. That people turn to calling each other names. Good job Activision. Nooobs! edit Conclusion RPGs are a fun past-time for many of the nation's unloved teenagers. RPGs teach us about bravery and honor, and lessons of life and love. RPGs provide an escape from our dreary lives. RPG players give us a punching bag, to make more fortunate members of society feel better about themselves. RPGs help us destroy tanks in our time of need But mostly, like a cheap hooker with a dimebag of coke in her spandex pocket, they give us a good time for only $50 bucks and the eternal derision of the rest of the human race. And you know what? I say that's a small price to pay. A small price indeed. edit Quotes “In Soviet Russia, games roleplay YOU!!” ~ Russian reversal on Roleplaying games ~ Oscar Wilde on Roleplaying games “My Liege, I offer you my services, your wish is my command” ~ Noel Coward on Role Playing Games “whenever there is an RPG quest unfinished, a straight republican jock is born.” ~ Final Fantasy Cult Leader on Unfinished Quests “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, even if it costs me 57 million leera, makes me have to grow my Woodcutting to level 99, have to go on the Advanced Quest to Londore to defeat the evil Cheese Baron, and slay a dog and crucify its innards!” ~ Somebody on RPGs “rpgs r killin tings wit sords an saeving the word frum evil lol its that simpel man” ~ OblibianMan123 on Role Playing Games “once i was playing one and hitler came back 2 life and broke it and then died again because thats what hitlers do. and penisesers” ~ 12 year old on Role Playing Games edit See also edit External links Personal tools
Email updates Keep up to date with the latest news and content from BMC Oral Health and BioMed Central. Open Access Highly Accessed Research article Association between salivary pH and metabolic syndrome in women: a cross-sectional study Monique Tremblay, Diane Brisson and Daniel Gaudet* Author affiliations Université de Montréal, Department of Medicine, ECOGENE-21 Clinical Research Center; Chicoutimi Hospital, 305 St-Vallier Street, Chicoutimi (Québec), Saguenay, G7H 5 H6, Canada For all author emails, please log on. Citation and License BMC Oral Health 2012, 12:40 doi:10.1186/1472-6831-12-40 Received:22 December 2011 Accepted:30 August 2012 Published:8 September 2012 © 2012 Tremblay et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. The salivary flow rate is an important determinant of salivary pH. It is influenced by several metabolic syndrome (MetS) components as well as the menopausal status. The cluster of cardiometabolic risk factors that characterizes the MetS could be exacerbated following menopause. The objective of this study was therefore to document the association between salivary pH and MetS expression in women according to the menopausal status. In this cross-sectional study, unstimulated saliva collection was performed on 198 Caucasian women of French-Canadian origin of which 55 were premenopausal women (PMW) and 143 menopausal women (MW). Student’s t test, ANOVA and correlation analyses were used to assess the association between salivary pH and MetS components. The salivary pH level was significantly correlated with several MetS covariates, namely triglycerides (TG), apolipoprotein B (apo B) and plasma glucose concentrations as well as waist circumference and the number of MetS components present in the whole sample and PMW only. Mean pH levels decreased as the number of MetS components increased (p = 0.004). The correlations between salivary pH and variables associated with MetS components tended to be stronger in PMW. The proportion of the variance (R2) of salivary pH explained by MetS-related variables in PMW, MW and the whole sample was 23.6% (p = 0.041), 18.1% and 17.0% (p < 0.001) respectively. The increasing prevalence of obesity calls for the development of new technologies to more easily monitor health status without increasing the burden of healthcare costs. As such, the salivary pH could be an inexpensive screening tool. These exploratory data suggest that salivary pH may be a significant correlate of the expression of MetS components. However, other studies with different populations are needed to confirm these findings before our observations lead to practical use in clinical settings. Salivary pH; Cardiometabolic risk; Metabolic syndrome The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of interrelated common clinical disorders, including obesity, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, increased apolipoprotein B (apo B) levels, inflammation and hypertension, associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) [1]. MetS has received worldwide attention in the past few years because of its prevalence, now ranging from 20% to 30% of the adult population of almost all western countries, rising in parallel with that of obesity [1]. It has also been shown that its prevalence increases significantly during the perimenopausal and early postmenopausal years, independently of known CVD risk factors [2]. This may be a direct result of ovarian failure or, alternatively, an indirect result of the metabolic consequences of central fat redistribution with estrogen deficiency [3]. In response to the increasing prevalence of obesity and associated disorders coupled with the aging of the western population, the MetS and the burden of its consequences should become even more frequent in the coming years. It thus becomes imperative to improve the development of preventive and therapeutic strategies to slow down MetS progression and reduce the risk of T2DM and CVD. However, because of the insidious development of the MetS, its early detection proves difficult. Indeed, most people affected by it ignore their condition [1]. Consequently, the MetS is often diagnosed at a late stage when signs and symptoms compel the affected person to seek medical care [4,5]. This situation limits preventive interventions and calls for new ways to carry out simple, early assessments of MetS expression without increasing the burden of healthcare costs. To meet this need, the measurement of salivary pH, which is readily accessible and inexpensive, could provide an interesting avenue. The salivary flow rate is critical for the maintenance of whole body health. Saliva helps bolus formation by moistening food, protects the oral mucosa against mechanical damage, plays a role in preliminary digestion and has defense functions against pathogen microorganism [6]. The saliva flow rate is also a modulator of salivary pH. At low flow rate, less bicarbonate is released, and pH decreases [7]. The salivary flow rate varies widely between subjects [8,9]. Women have lower flow rates and seem to have more variation in salivary pH than men. Hormonal fluctuations during events like puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause could explain those differences [10]. Salivary pH and flow rate are also affected by various MetS components, such as obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension [11-15]. Moreover, degenerative alterations in the acinar cells, which cause a decrease of the saliva flow rate and a diminution of salivary pH, are frequently observed among diabetic and dyslipidemic patients [11,12]. The aim of this study was to examine the association between salivary pH and MetS component expression in women, taking into account their menopausal status. Subjects and clinical data The sample used in this study was composed of 198 Caucasian women of French-Canadian origin followed at the Chicoutimi Hospital Lipid Clinic (Quebec, Canada). Two groups were formed according to the menopausal status: 55 premenopausal women (PMW) and 143 menopausal women (MW). Menopausal status was attributed to women who self-reported that their menses had stopped for at least 12 months without surgery or had occurred in the past 12 months but not in the last 3 months. The menopausal status was also attributed when the hormonal cycle arrest was diagnosed by the physician or was automatically attributed to all women of 50 years old or older who had not confirmed that they still had menses at the time of the interview. A dry mouth is more prevalent in climacteric women than in premenopausal ones [16]. Considering that the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis can affect saliva output and can be affected before a woman reaches menopausal status, the age limit of 50 was chosen in order to include perimenopausal women [17]. Anthropometric variables were measured according to validated procedures [18]. MetS components considered were: abdominal obesity (waist circumference >88 cm), high triglyceride (TG) level (> 1.7 mmol/L), low HDL-cholesterol level (<1.3 mmol/L), elevated blood pressure (≥130/85 mm Hg or diagnosed hypertension) and elevated fasting glucose level (>5.6 mmol/L or diagnosed T2DM) [1,19,20]. T2DM was defined according to the World Health Organization criteria as a 2-h glucose concentration ≥11.1 mmol/l following a 75 g oral glucose load, whereas an impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) state was characterized by a 2-h glucose concentration between 7.8 and 11.1 mmol/L [21]. All hormonal drugs were combined in a same unique covariate. The lipid-lowering drugs were also grouped and processed as user/non-user of medication. A written informed consent was obtained for all participants, and all clinical data were de-identified. The project was approved by the Chicoutimi Hospital Ethics Committee, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Biochemical analyses Blood samples were obtained after a 12-h overnight fast into vacutainer tubes containing EDTA. The HDL subfraction was obtained after precipitation of LDL (d > 1.006 g/ml) in the infranatant with heparin and MnCl2[22]. Cholesterol, glucose and TG levels were measured by enzymatic essays on a Multiparity Analyser CX7 (Beckman, Fullerton, CA, USA) [23]. Plasma glycerol concentrations were measured with an Technicon RA-500 analyzer (Bayer Corporation), and enzymatic reagents were obtained from Randox (Randox Laboratories). Apo B levels were determined using nephelometry. Saliva collection and pH measurement Although stimulated saliva is generally taken as the index of salivary function, whole unstimulated saliva collection was chosen for the purpose of this study because it is the greatest contributor to the total salivary output [9,16,24]. All saliva samples were collected at least 2 hours after any food intake or smoking, and the same day as blood samples. Unstimulated saliva was allowed to accumulate in the floor of the mouth, and the subject then spat it out into a test tube during 10 minutes. The pH of the saliva sample was measured with Accumet Basic AB 15 pH Meter (Ottawa, Canada), a 13-620-96 Micro pH electrode, 1.5” stem (127 mm) x 3 mm diameter with a pH range of 0 to 14 (Na + < 0.1 N) and a selectable resolution to 0.1, 0.01 or 0.001pH. The measurements were performed 3 times on each sample with a 0.01 resolution. The final result was the mean value of the measurements. Statistical analysis Due to their skewed distribution, plasma TG, glycerol and apo B values were log10-transformed before analyses. Geometrical means are presented in Table 1. Differences in continuous variables were compared by either the Student’s t test or ANOVA. Categorical variables were compared using the Pearson χ2 statistic or Fisher’s exact test. Pearson’s correlations were performed to assess the relationship between MetS components and salivary pH. Fisher’s Z transformation was used to compare the correlation coefficients. All-in-one models multivariate regression analysis was constructed in order to investigate the relationship between salivary pH and covariates potentially affecting its concentrations, namely: age, smoking habits, waist girth, glycemia, TG and apo B levels. Use of medication as a covariate, including hormonal therapy and lipid-lowering drugs, did not change the results in the different models. All statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS package (release 11.0, SPSS, Chicago III). Table 1. Subjects’ characteristics according to menopausal status Subjects’ characteristics are shown in Table 1. The differences in mean values between PMW and MW reached the significance level (p < 0.05) for age, body mass index, waist circumference, plasma glycerol and TG levels, systolic blood pressure as well as the proportion of subjects under exogenous hormone therapy. In addition, the percentage of glucose intolerance in MW was significantly increased as compared to PMW (p <0.001): the percentage of T2DM in MW showed a 50% non-significant increase when compared to PMW. As shown in Figure 1, mean pH values decreased as the number of MetS components increased from 0 to ≥3 in the whole sample (p = 0.004), after adjusting for age and smoking habits. The results remained significant even when hormonal therapy was included as a covariable. The same trend was observed in both PMW and MW (respectively p = 0.057 and 0.042). There was a significant interaction effect between the number of MetS components and the menopausal status on the salivary pH (p = 0.001). thumbnailFigure 1. Mean salivary pH according to the number of metabolic components taking into account the effect of age and smoking habits in the whole sample as well as among groups of PMW and MW. The MetS elements considered are: abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia (high TG and low HDL-C levels), hyperglycemia and hypertension. Significant correlations (Table 2) were noted between salivary pH and various MetS components. Plasma glucose, TG and apo B levels as well as the number of MetS components were significantly correlated to salivary pH in the whole sample and PMW, even after adjustment for age. The correlation coefficient between apo B and salivary pH was significantly higher among PMW as compared to MW (p = 0.04). The correlation between plasma glucose and salivary pH also tended to be higher among PMW (p = 0.06). The correlation between salivary pH and waist circumference and the number of MetS elements reached the significance level in the whole group and MW when corrected for age. Finally, plasma TG levels were significantly correlated to the salivary pH among all groups of women, even when the results were corrected for age. Table 2. Correlation between salivary pH and variables associated with the metabolic syndrome As shown in Table 3, the proportions of variance of salivary pH explained by age and MetS-related variables were 23.6 (p = 0.041), 18.1 and 17.0 (p < 0.001) for the PMW, MW and the whole sample, respectively. Although R2 tended to be higher in the PMW group, the difference was not statistically significant. With the exception of age, the only variables to have a significant effect in the multivariate model were TG in MW (p = 0.032), and apo B in PMW (p = 0.021) and the whole sample (p = 0.007). In the multivariate analysis, age reached the significance level in MW and the whole group, but not in PMW. Table 3. All–in-one models multivariate regression analyses of the relation between salivary pH and metabolic syndrome elements In our study, we found a significant correlation between salivary pH and the expression of MetS components expression among women. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the association between the MetS and salivary pH. Although numerous studies have shown correlations between serum and saliva levels for a wide range of components, none has studied saliva from this simple perspective [9,11,12,25-28]. The correlation between salivary pH and MetS component expression remained significant even after the inclusion of age as a covariate but tended to be stronger among PMW. This could be explained by the facts that aging is an important risk factor for the MetS and menopause is often associated with additional metabolic alterations [2,29,30]. Moreover, the role of hormones in several metabolic processes suggests that the onset of menopause may influence the relationship between salivary pH and MetS component expression. Estrogen deficiency may notably influence salivary flow rates by indirect pathways. Dyslipidemia, diabetes and hypertension have been related to a decrease of the salivary flow, and their simultaneous presence could act as a confounding factor [9,16,24]. Menopause, as a risk factor for almost all components of the MetS [31], may put a woman at risk of developing salivary dysfunction. In addition, other disorders associated with aging, including but not limited to obesity [31], rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia [32], depression [33] and nutritional deficiencies [34], could also reduce the salivary function. The associated permanent histological changes in the salivary glands they can trigger may also explain the differences we tended to observe between PMW and MW in the present study [35]. Among the different variables associated with the MetS, TG is the most significantly related to salivary pH, followed by apo B and glycemia. Our results are therefore consistent with those of previous studies that have shown associations between salivary dysfunction and high plasma lipid levels, particularly hypertriglyceridemia and increased apo B concentrations [36-38]. However, plasma levels of apo B and TG are not independently related to salivary pH. Their relations with salivary pH vary when other covariates are added to the models (Table 3). Hypertriglyceridemia is part of a complex network of interrelated metabolic abnormalities that act as confounding factors when multivariate analyses are used [39]. This could contribute to explain the decrease of the effect of hypertriglyceridemia in the multivariate analysis. The significant result of apo B observed in MW may be explained by a redistribution of body fat to the abdominal region. Such a distribution is often associated with both menopause and increased TG levels [40]. Many studies have found that the saliva flow rate and pH are related to the level of glycemic control, particularly in the presence of a severely impaired control of blood glucose [41]. There is evidence that adverse hormonal, microvascular and neuronal changes in poorly controlled diabetes could contribute to salivary gland hypofunction [11,24,42-46]. The present study indicates that differences in salivary pH could be linked with glucose control, particularly in PMW. In addition, studies have reported conflicting results on the relationship between salivary pH and hypertension or hypertensive therapy [24,47-49]. Our observations are therefore consistent with those of studies that have found no difference between normal and hypertensive subjects. Finally, considering that a BMI over 25 kg/m2 in adults and obesity in childhood have been linked to hyposalivation [31,50], pH changes could also be driven by the increase in waist circumference frequently associated with a rise in plasma TG and apo B concentrations. This is consistent with the results of the univariate analysis, while no significant effect of the waist circumference on the salivary pH was observed in the multivariate models. The lack of significant association between age and salivary pH among PMW could be due to the combination of various factors including the small size of the group, the smaller age-range and the lower variability of the sample dispersion. Our study has some limitations. Because of the cross-sectional nature of the study, confounding factors such as medication or permanent alterations in salivary glands were not taken into consideration. Also, we didn’t have information about the percentage on which subjects had undergone a hysterectomy/bilateral oophorectomy or where late perimenopausal. Moreover, this study does not give any information about the potential causal pathway affecting the salivary function. As an individual’s flow rate and salivary pH remain relatively constant during the different life stages, salivary gland hypofunction is commonly associated with concomitant diseases and daily use of drugs. Thus, a longitudinal study design with disease or medication pre-test and post-test should be more conclusive. Finally, our study should be replicated in larger samples of women with various risk levels of MetS components to obtain the real positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) as well as specificity and sensitivity values. However, despite its limitations, our study emphasized the important association between systemic and oral health. In the near future, further scientific advances in salivary diagnosis could lead dentists to be more involved in diagnosis and monitoring of MetS components. In the context of the increasing prevalence of obesity and the MetS, efforts may need to be directed at the identification of new, simple, non-invasive and inexpensive screening tools to improve preventive strategies without increasing the burden of healthcare costs. In this pilot study, the salivary pH appeared as a possible correlate of MetS component expression. However, further studies are needed to confirm our findings. They should include more subjects from various populations in order to develop our observations into a definitive methodology to monitor MetS components onset and progression utilizing salivary pH. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contribution MT conceived the study design, performed the data analysis/interpretation and wrote the manuscript. 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Porter SR, Scully C, Hegarty AM: An update of the etiology and management of xerostomia. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2004, 97(1):28-46. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 36. Goldman JA, Julian EH: Pseudo-Sjogren syndrome with hyperlipoproteinemia. JAMA 1977, 237(15):1582-1584. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 37. Izumi M, Eguchi K, Nakamura H, Nagataki S, Nakamura T: Premature fat deposition in the salivary glands associated with Sjogren syndrome: MR and CT evidence. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 1997, 18(5):951-958. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 38. Baum BJ: Evaluation of stimulated parotid saliva flow rate in different age groups. J Dent Res 1981, 60(7):1292-1296. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 39. Austin MA: Plasma triglyceride as a risk factor for coronary heart disease. The epidemiologic evidence and beyond. Am J Epidemiol 1989, 129(2):249-259. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 40. Despres JP, Lemieux I: Abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome. 41. Jawed M, Shahid SM, Qader SA, Azhar A: Dental caries in diabetes mellitus: role of salivary flow rate and minerals. J Diabetes Complications 2011, 25(3):183-186. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 42. Ben-Aryeh H, Cohen M, Kanter Y, Szargel R, Laufer D: Salivary composition in diabetic patients. J Diabet Complications 1988, 2(2):96-99. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 43. Chavez EM, Borrell LN, Taylor GW, Ship JA: A longitudinal analysis of salivary flow in control subjects and older adults with type 2 diabetes. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2001, 91(2):166-173. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 44. Cherry-Peppers G, Sorkin J, Andres R, Baum BJ, Ship JA: Salivary gland function and glucose metabolic status. J Gerontol 1992, 47(4):M130-M134. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 45. Marder MZ, Abelson DC, Mandel ID: Salivary alterations in diabetes mellitus. J Periodontol 1975, 46(9):567-569. PubMed Abstract OpenURL 46. Meurman JH, Collin HL, Niskanen L, Toyry J, Alakuijala P, Keinanen S, Uusitupa M: Saliva in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients and control subjects: The role of the autonomic nervous system. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 1998, 86(1):69-76. PubMed Abstract \| Publisher Full Text OpenURL 47. Ben-Aryeh H, Schiller M, Shasha S, Szargel R, Gutman D: Salivary composition in patients with essential hypertension and the effect of Pindolol. J Oral Med 1981, 36(3):76-78. PubMed Abstract OpenURL 48. Rahn KH, van Baak M, van Hooff M, Schols M: Studies on salivary flow in borderline hypertension. J Hypertens Suppl 1983, 1(2):77-78. PubMed Abstract OpenURL 49. Streckfus CF, Wu AJ, Ship JA, Brown LJ: Comparison of stimulated parotid salivary gland flow rates in normotensive and hypertensive persons. 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2 hóspedes do Brasil fizeram uma reserva na última hora Reserve agora, pague ao se hospedar! Cancelamento GRATUITO para a maioria dos quartos Golfe of Tunis e arredores Ver hotéis nas cidades próximas: Outras Acomodações Mais Temas de Hotéis Redes de hóteis mais procuradas Outras opções para se hospedar em: Golfe of Tunis Golfe of Tunis - Hotéis em destaque Veja onde outros viajantes estão se hospedando... El Mouradi Hotel Africa Tunis Bom 7,1 I had mixed feelings when I read some of the reviews on this site but when I arrived at the hotel everything changed. The service was great, the location fantastic, the breakfast buffet was ok, the a la carte restaurant on the fifth floor was excellent, the room was large (as well as the bed) and the room cleaning service was great. Most importantly, the price for it was excellent. What else can I ask for? Yes, the hotel could use some renovations but it is nonetheless a great hotel for what Tunis has to offer. Yadis Ibn Khaldoun Ok 5,8 The location free internet Good staff Dar El Medina Bom 7,1 the attentiveness to detail eg offering fruit juice as I checked in, and letting me stay an hour after check out time Tunisia Palace Satisfatório 6,9 top location, staff very caring Ariha Hotel Satisfatório 6,6 Diplomat Hotel Satisfatório 6,4 Tunis Grand Hotel Satisfatório 6,9 The Hotel Manager and his team were great! They went out of the way to ensure that my stay was comfortable. Hotel Le Pacha Aceitável 5,1 Ambassadeurs Hotel Bom 7 Its good, satisfied with the service and support, and cleaniness, wifi all good location good, Hotel Carlton Bom 7,7 O pessoal de recepção é optimo, todos eles muito simpáticos e prestáveis. A localização do Hotel não podia ser melhor, pois está localizado numa avenida lindíssima ficando muito próximo da Medina. Foram estes os principais motivos que levaram à nossa escolha, pela 2ª vez. O hotel foi remodelado há pouco tempo. Hôtel La Maison Blanche Bom 7,5 The room was magnificent. It was spacious, the bed was comfortable and the rest was good Acropole Tunis Bom 7 10 minutes away from the airport. When asked for, the room has airco. In my case this meant a room change. Nice personnel! Villa 78 Muito bom 8,1 Very charming place where a lot of attention has been given to decorative details, which creates a very warm, personal atmosphere. Feels like living in somebody's home. Strongly recommend it if you're a single traveler. Good location. Villa78 has a nice garden and is a good place to meet young active people in Tunis. Bring your own book or read one of the books in the Villa78. Good breakfast and snacks options and friendly staff. Samarons Hotels Fantástico 9,4 The Penthouse Minhas listas Listas Escolha uma data de entrada Escolha uma data de saída
Three Saskatoon firefighters accused of assaulting police officers on the Broadway Bridge have been found not guilty. On Wednesday, a provincial court judge dismissed all charges against the firefighters, who were off-duty when events unfolded on the bridge during the summer. On Aug. 12, police spotted two men having what they said was a fight. When officers tried to break it up, a third man joined the early morning melee. 'We are not in a police state.'—Morris Bodnar, defence lawyer Clifford Hamilton, Jeffrey Tysdal and Keith Walliser were charged with assaulting and obstructing police officers. Police testified it looked like a fight, but the firefighters maintained they were just roughhousing. Before acquitting the three, the judge said there were discrepancies in the testimony of the police officers, compared to what was in their notes. The judge also noted police admitted on the stand that the firefighters tried to de-escalate the incident. When the judge said the three were not guilty, applause erupted in the packed courtroom. After court one of the defence lawyers, Morris Bodnar, said the differing accounts presented by the officers was important. "It's crucial," Bodnar said. "But you know, contradictions occur sometimes when facts aren't there." Bodnar said the officers misread the situation and overreacted. "We are not in a police state," he said. "We live in a society where there are rules that have to be followed by everyone, including police officers." In making his decision, Judge Barry Singer noted the police officers moved from conducting an investigation into what they saw on the bridge to making a number of arrests — and laying charges — without talking to people who were trying to explain what was happening. Outside court, acting fire department chief Dan Paulsen said he does not expect the ruling to sour relations between police officers and the fire department.
Reports \| August 16, 2010 22:35 Danailov: 'Are we going to murder ECU with political dependence?' Danailov: 'Are we going to murder ECU with political dependence?'"What I see are two of the candidates becoming victims of political games, tying themselves and the future of European chess with the choice of one or another personality for FIDE President", says Silvio Danailov in his official statement for running for President of the European Chess Union (ECU) which was sent to chess media this morning. Are we going to murder ECU with political dependence? By Silvio Danailov , Candidate for ECU President The elections for European Chess Union President are dawning upon us. The intentions of the candidates and their teams in the campaigns are now clear. What is also clear is that the faith of the European chess will depend on in which hands we will decide to surrender it. Now, just days before the final dash, is the right time for us to stop and rethink what has been said and done by the candidates for the Presidential position. To have a sober judgment on whether they are offering real things or soap bubbles, whether they are capable of fulfilling their promises and, of the very most importance, whether they are telling the truth. Regretfully, the facts are very disturbing. What I see are two of the candidates becoming victims of political games, tying themselves and the future of European chess with the choice of one or another personality for FIDE President. As to clarify, Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici does not keep his relationship with Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov secret and neither does Mr.Robert von Weizsa?cker with the other candidate for FIDE Presidency - Mr. Anatoly Karpov. Is this what we want – political equilibrists, puppets on strings, whose decisions and actions will follow third party interests, remaining deaf to the actual needs of the European federations? Is this what we want - the faith of the ECU to be decided not by the European federations, but by FIDE clerks? Apart from being contrary to common sense, an eventual choice of one of the two politically dependent candidates is in full dissonance with the characteristic of the EU geopolitical emancipation – Europe to solve its problems not under the command of, but with the cooperation of the other world factors. The pre-election outwitting is at its peak. Candidates are giving their pre-election promises – one is offering to the European federations 300 thousand dollars a year, another is proposing to cover travelling expenses for FIDE Executive Board and General Assembly. There is a catch - please notice that this will happen if and only if after winning the ECU Presidency the corresponding partner of theirs is elected for FIDE President. But what if the candidate for FIDE President in question is not elected? There is no plan B! Upon us is the moment for an important and responsible decision – what person do we want for President of our organization? Political equilibrists, who are experienced only in giving beautiful promises, who once elected will begin to explain beautifully why they cannot fulfill their campaign promises? Or an independent candidate and a businessman with professional team, who will turn the ECU in a working and profitable organization, without putting its future at stake depending on political games and pretty lies. I am convinced that you, just like I, want to have a strong and independent ECU, belonging to the European federations. That is why I appeal to you to be extremely careful in your choice because the future of European chess in the coming four years will depend on it. Will we murder ECU with political dependence? Together we can change the chess politics, together we can eliminate the strictly political factor and walk towards an independent European Chess Union. European Chess Union which will closely cooperate with FIDE for the benefit of chess stakeholders as a self-sufficient partner, not as a subordinate or dependent. Share \| Peter Doggers's picture Author: Peter Doggers ZeroCool's picture Well, maybe most of the people do not like Danailov, so what? The most important question here is who could be able to do much for Chess in Europe as ECU President? The questionmarks Danailov did set are great, but he misses at least one point: The ECU candidate Weizäcker may has only be "created" in order to get the preparation done to exchange him by another current member of the board by the german chess federation's election 2011. We do not have to guess whom I am talking about, don't we? Well - beside of the basic level of chess activities (club level, where chess is mostly promoted by hard work) since 2009 this guy is member of the board within ALL other existing levels of chess organizations in Germany (FOUR out of 5). Weizäcker himself does not have a clue what's going on here (within ECU and in Germany itself). Good luck Danailov! Henk de Jager's picture Danailov´s track record speaks for itself. He is not to be trusted. He is a manipulative, power hungry burocrat whose first concern is most likely not the bright or not future of European chess, but his own agenda, wallet and ambitions. Emmannuel's picture He just brought 10 millions to chess, organized five high-class tournaments and a world chamionship with extremely large dotations, he turned a promising 18-years old champion into a superstrong grandmaster, while prof von. i-dont-know-what is just unable to bring any penny to his national team. While Yacizi is maybe not so bad, but he's just not so good ! Emmannuel's picture So that is completely true, his record speaks for itself (and for "himself" ^^) Thomas's picture At the start of his campaign, Danailov said there's no need for him to run for FIDE president as he's perfectly happy with the current one. Makes sense from his perspective: Ilyumzhinov gave Topalov a free point in Elista, a shortcut to the next WCh match and two matches in his home country. Then it looked like Karpov might win the FIDE elections, and Danailov tried to get on good terms with him inviting him to the Sofia WCh match. Then both candidates disappointed him, wanting to move the candidates event to Kazan or Kiev rather than Sofia ... . Now Danailov sells himself as being independent. Call this flexible or opportunistic, either way it takes guts to consider it an asset in the election campaign. Corinne's picture Yown . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz liverseck's picture Danailov is very untrustworthy Fadirah's picture I think Danailov is right when he is speaking about puppets in strings :) If you analize deeply, just this 2 guys are puppets and only looking who will winn FIDE elections: what they can bring to European Chess? Ali Yazici is declaring he will bring all nations to play European Championship and like following UEFA, but this is bullshit! how you can unrated chessplayers from several small countries compare with great players? system 1 contrey 1 vote is perfectly working during elections because every nations decerved to have a voice, but what does it mean proff sport - this is a competition for Best European playersa nd nothing to do with politic! And German candidate is speaking about millions of $...on behalfe KARPOV!!! He is a son of former President of Germany, great countrey and can't bring to his federation which he is serving any Euro...shame!!! I am a chess lover from Malaysia :) Teplitz's picture Why is the job of FIDE President such a bitterly fought campaign? All these accusations of lies, corruption and murder etc...whats the big attraction? Does Mr President get a huge salary, an official residence and a lear jet? it the girls, the power, the machismo??? Running for the Presidency of the United States seems tame in comparison. gg's picture Sounds above average for a chess politician :) test's picture I have never seen a news story where the ECU acts as a union on behalf of the players. So why does the chess world need them anyway? Arne Moll's picture @test: apart from a union, what about a separate ECU rating? Or ECU rules of chess? Danailov is not proposing any of those either, so it's indeed questionable what exactly the ECU is good for. Apart from that, I don't really see what's wrong with supporting a FIDE presidential candidate. If ECU is really the independent body Danailov says it should be, then why would this matter at all? Alexander's picture Danailov's successes are of course very real and palpable, but they are mostly due to his political connections in Bulgaria. In fact, I don't see other reasons for his presidency than his ability to squeeze a million of two out of Bulgarian government and corporations. So I don't know why he should consider himself any less political than the other candidates. Besides the point, ECU is probably good for 1. financing European Championship 2. financing European Team Championship 3. financing chess bureaucrats. Someone's picture Danailov looks like in no man's land. Paul's picture Danilov a ---deleted--- you shouldn't give him any publicity. ChessGirl's picture @ Arne. I don´t know which of the candidates is more appropriate, but I think Danailov might have a point if what he says is true. That is, if candidate A offers a budget for the ECU but this budget depends on the fact that his respective candidate for FIDE president wins the elections, what does candidate A have to offer if his respective FIDE candidate doesn´t win? Candidates for ECU presidency should have an independent program to offer, one that they can guarantee independently of who becomes FIDE president. Other than that, I´m not especially against ECU candidates supporting one particular FIDE candidate. Arne Moll's picture @ChessGirl: Fair enough, but independence is really impossible in this game, don't you think? For instance, suppose according to this principle we separate Danailov from the Bulgarian businesspeople supporting him, or from the Bulgarian government - what's left of him? Not much, I'd say. Zagreb 1959's picture Tired of all this Danailov bashing here. We know you don't like Toiletgate. No need to repeat it over and over again. john's picture has danailov done more good than bad for chess? i think despite Toiletgate the answer must be yes. He knows how to get matches/ tournies and money into chess. Latest articles
Skip to main content 5 things that could still complicate budget deal By Leigh Ann Caldwell and Paul Steinhauser, CNN updated 8:36 PM EST, Mon December 16, 2013 • The Senate is expected to take up the budget on Tuesday • 2014 and 2016 politics will play into Senate budget vote • The fallout from the filibuster rule change has left hard feelings in the Senate • Fear of another government shutdown has pushed some to support the deal Washington (CNN) -- The federal budget has always been a tool for partisanship, but never more so than in the past few years. Like the awkward and irreverent distant relative at the dinner table, the Senate tried for several years to ignore it. But everyone knew it was in the room, helping to create a permanent state of partisan gridlock. But the government shutdown in October caused so much political fallout that most Republicans and Democrats in a Congress already rated poorly by the public didn't want to go through it again with midterm election campaigns just getting off the ground. Passing a budget became an imperative. Two ideologically opposite lawmakers agreed to the same spending plan -- a notable feat considering Congress has lurched from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis since President Barack Obama took office, deeply at odds over taxes and spending. Perhaps more miraculously, the House, which has been the hotbed of partisans, passed the two-year budget plan last week overwhelmingly before leaving town for the holidays. Republicans and Democrats supported the deal, even though neither side swooned. Some of the most liberal and conservative members opposed it. But for the first time in years, a core of the House came together to support federal spending. The vote was 332-94. The proposal then traveled across the marble corridor of the Capitol to the Senate, where bipartisanship is usually more common. But this is where the whole thing gets more difficult due to arcane rules of the Senate, political realities ahead of midterms and the 2016 presidential race, concerns about spending, and a bruising fight over how the Senate operates that has sharpened partisan feelings. Senate supporters think they have votes Most insiders believe the bill that aims to avert a possible shutdown in mid January, relax sweeping spending cuts under the so-called sequester, and give everyone some political breathing room from the issue for two years, will ultimately pass and be sent to Obama for his signature. Those chances seemed to improve by the hour on Monday as supporters gained some conservative backing needed to clear a 60-vote procedural hurdle on Tuesday. Still, there are a number of Republicans who oppose the measure and nothing's certain yet. A confluence of factors -- both relating to the budget and not -- will influence the outcome. Here's how things look: 1. 2014 reelection worries The numbers tell the story. Seven of the 12 GOP Senators running for re-election next year are facing primary challenges from the right. And that list includes the top two Republicans: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas. McConnell will not vote for the agreement. Cornyn appears skeptical. Some major conservative groups have criticized the budget agreement, including Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth, Heritage Action for America, Freedomworks, and Senate Conservatives Fund. They are influential with tea party activists and other grassroots advocates who vote in big numbers in the Republican primaries -- aka, the kind of voters these Senators will need to win reelection. "Yes. I think the primary challenges and the threat of future primary challenges is a factor when Senators go to the floor to vote. It may not be the biggest factor, but to ignore the impact of primaries would be silly," said Nathan Gonzales, political editor of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report. One other factor that could be at play when it comes to Senators in the GOP leadership: This is not their deal. There is not Senate equivalent to the agreement struck by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and his Senate counterpart, Democrat Patty Murray. 2. 2016 politics Sentiments of those same Republican primary voters could be why three GOP Senators not up for re-election in 2014 quickly opposed the deal last week. Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Ted Cruz of Texas are all considered possible contenders for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Because of that, just about every vote they take will be scrutinized by outside conservative groups influential with core voters in presidential primaries and caucuses. Durbin says 2014 and 2016 politics is a factor when it comes to Senate Republican opposition. "A handful of members of the Senate are vying for the presidency in years to come and thinking about this vote in the context. And others are frankly afraid of this new force, the tea party force, the Heritage Foundation force, that is threatening seven out of the 12 Republican senators running for re-election," Durbin told "Face the Nation." Don't expect Boehner to totally change his tune 3. Read the bill Members on both sides of the aisle aren't enthusiastically supporting the budget deal -- a good sign that it is a true compromise. On the left, some are opposed to the fact that it doesn't include an extension of unemployment benefits, cutting off 1.3 million Americans three days after Christmas. "It's really unconscionable," Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa said on Radio Iowa last week. On the right, Republicans oppose the amount of government spending. It preserved about 60% of the automatic sequester cuts that went into effect in March, reducing them by about $45 billion. With proposed federal spending at $1.012 trillion for this fiscal year and $1.014 for next, some Republicans say that's too high. "I'd really like to stay within the (spending) caps," complained Sen. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican about limits imposed by a 2011 budget law. Others oppose cuts to military retiree pensions as a way to save money. "We need to find a better way to save $6 billion than take it out of the hides of our retired veterans," said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, who said he would vote against the bill. Opinion: Obama's very tough year 4. Filibuster fallout After Democrats changed the Senate rules to weaken the ability of minority Republicans to block presidential appointments, the GOP may not be in the mood to play nice. The Senate was locked in fierce partisan bickering over this while the House was passing the budget. Angry over the rules change, Republicans took advantage of Senate procedure and forced two consecutive all-night sessions, an attempt to prove a point and annoy Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid responded to Republican tactics by telling them he can't "heal hurt feelings" and said he would press forward to pass the budget and other items before the waning time left before Christmas. "I understand that Republicans are still upset," Reid told reporters last week. "I can't wave a magic wand and heal hurt feelings, but I can appeal to my colleagues to be reasonable and work with us and to schedule votes in a timely manner on the important work we have left to do." Republicans, who don't love the budget deal, might feel like making things a little more difficult. 5. Fears of another shutdown The 16-day government shutdown was a political disaster for the GOP. Conservative Republicans triggered the political debacle by insisting that money to fund the government be tied to defunding Obamacare, which they despise. The public mainly blamed them, and their poll numbers quickly dropped in the so-called generic ballot, a key 2014 metric in the battle for control of Congress. Republicans currently control the House and Democrats, the Senate. Many Republican lawmakers are quietly worried the GOP brand would suffer further damage if they take the blame for another shutdown even though Democrats and Obama have their own problems with voter sentiment on their job performance. Opinion: Democrats lose on budget deal Ryan, in touting his deal on Sunday, highlighted that "we're preventing two government shutdowns from possibly occurring." Republicans say they plan to campaign against the Obamacare health reforms under the Affordable Care Act as they work next year to try and regain the Senate, which Democrats hold by 10 seats and keep their double-digit majority in the House. Another government shutdown would sidetrack them from their mission. "Democratic political strategists would like nothing more than for the GOP to take the focus off Obamacare again and to shoot themselves in the foot with another government shutdown," said Brian Walsh, a GOP strategist and communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. "This agreement takes that scenario off the table and keeps the Democrats firmly on defense with their disastrous healthcare law heading into 2014." 5 reasons why Congress might (finally) pass a budget CNN's Ted Barrett contributed to this report
Is it illegal to give a cash prize for a prize draw? (3 Posts) MrAnchovy Thu 28-Feb-13 22:05:27 If there is an element of skill involved it is not a "prize draw" it is a competition and no license is required (that is why you get those ludicrous questions with obvious answers on TV pay-per-minute phone-ins). A license is only required for a "lottery" which as well as no element of skill also charges for entries: again this is why you see "no purchase required, to enter send a SAE to ..." on back-of-cereal-packet promotions which turns them into a "free draw". Whydobabiescry Thu 28-Feb-13 18:36:29 Seems innocent enough and anything that gets some response from agents is a good thing however I expect someone will inform you of some requirement for a licence. Ring the licensing officer at your local council who will be able to confirm if a licence is needed. Innat Thu 28-Feb-13 18:31:28 I am offering an prize for completing a quiz at a school event and putting it in a box. The general concensus is that cash would be most appreciated by parents as a prize but are there any legal implications? There is no charge to enter (it is not a raffle). Does anyone know? Thank you Join the discussion Join the discussion Register now
Permalink for comment 421200 RE[5]: Kind of scary by bert64 on Wed 28th Apr 2010 10:05 UTC in reply to "RE[4]: Kind of scary" Member since: Classified government data being leaked would be a threat to national security and could potentially be classed as treason. It would be a direct attack against the government and you would expect that government to use their agents to deal with the issue. Stealing a cellphone from apple (assuming it was even explicitly stolen, rather than simply found) is no different than stealing a cellphone from a guy on the street - a crime which occurs every day. It happens so often that the police don't have enough time or resources to deal with it. I had my phone stolen a few months ago, it was an iphone 3g and i could see from my mail server logs that it was still active. The police weren't interested and just gave me a crime number, the telco weren't interested either and just disabled the simcard. The police could have recovered my phone quite easily by tracking its location via cell tower triangulation, and doing so might have solved other crimes too (the thieves might have other stolen items in their possession)... But they weren't interested because an individual has no influence in this corporate dictatorship. Reply Parent Score: 3
Permalink for comment 554960 Comment by Nelson by Nelson on Sun 10th Mar 2013 15:20 UTC Member since: H264 licenses are not covered under commercial usage that includes subscription video in excess of 100,000 users, at which point, the license fee is not to exceeed $0.02 per title. It is worth putting into context "End-users" here, end users cannot be targeted by the MPEG LA for patent litigation unless they are part of the distribution chain of the unlicensed publication -- in other words, if you're just hitting play on a video on the web, the extent of your liability is limited by United States patent law. harass the hell out of end users while patent trolls Ironically, the bar for claiming damages against individuals is significantly higher for patents than for, say, copyright which is why the RIAA is free to are exactly that, trolls, if they start to go after users. Basically, if you have video on which you make profit exceeding minimum thresholds, you pay a ridiculously small licensing fee. At that point, it is questionable if its still honest to classify these people as normal end users -- given that that much revenue makes the license insignificant comparatively. There is a distinction between content owner and content distributors, even if under certain circumstances they may be one in the same. I don't really think this opinion piece is grounded in reality with regards to the situation with VP8, FOSSPatents goes into the issue pretty well: While the MPEG LA might have gotten their share, things remain more dubious for VP8 because there are likely legitimate stake owners with patents that are not part of the deal with the MPEG LA and are not obligated to any FRAND terms. One such example is Nokia, that the day of the agreement, launched an offensive against HTC for patents it believes that VP8 infringes. To claim that VP8 is more safe than H264 is ludicrous. Reply Score: -2
Leon Saphanels Known out in Real Life™ as Sean (or even S. C.) Allen, Leon Saphanels is some sort of author, which is one who fabricates fictional nonsense for the enjoyment of others. His career as a writer began around the tender and juicy age of 11 or 12, when he penned the (hardly) epic work of fantasy "Sir Drake and the Dragon." The original draft was a bloody swath of violence and gore, but since the story was written for a 5th grade fairy tale project, it quite obviously underwent heavy revision at the hands of his teacher. The end result was... Just as horrible as the original draft. Luckily, there exists only 2 or 3 printed copies in existence, so most people will never know the horror of it. Oh, and the author illustrated it as well. Had the governments of the world known of the book's existence, the Geneva Convention would have been swiftly amended to ban the use of "Sir Drake and the Dragon" as a form of "persuasion" during wartime for being cruel, unusual and a blight upon mankind. It would be nearly a decade and half later before Mr. Saphanels would risk placing ink to paper, but after so many years atoning for his past sins, he came to learn at least the basic rules of the complicated art of novel writing. In 20XX, he released, FOR FREE, his first fantasy novel, "The Black Knight." With such a clever and innovative title, success was sure to follow! Yeaaaah, not so much. The novel was released way too soon, lacking many layers of editing and polish. However, it was a learning experience. He begun work on another piece of fantasy, inspired by the work and world of a somewhat popular, gothically influenced musician who shall remain nameless. However, after a bit of a falling out, the project was shelved. There's more than an even chance that the story will be resurrected in time. Someday. When the planets align JUST RIGHT. But until then... Now, Leon is back in the saddle with The New Thing. Hopefully, it'll resonate with more than a few people. Thus begins the genesis of "The Engine Lords," a fiction which could best be described as 70's and 80’s cinema grindhouse in novel form. The tale will begin with "Volume Zero" which will be comprised of three individually released short stories, leading to the first full novel, "Volume One: Kingmaker." So, sit back and enjoy the ride. ...oh, and Black Knight II will happen at some point, and it will actually be good. I promise. Where to find Leon Saphanels online The Engine Lords - Volume Zero, Part One Series: The Engine Lords. Price: Free! Words: 18,230. Language: American English. Published: December 8, 2014. Category: Fiction » Adventure » Action Deep in the vein of 70's and 80's action cinema, 'The Engine Lords - Volume Zero, Part One' begins the blood-drenched and oil-soaked journey of Aria, a cold woman with a plan to not only survive a newly reborn America, but to thrive; and Dirge, a man quick to violence and holding no goal but to bring his once proud gang, The Engine Lords, out from the stigmatic shadow that has been cast upon them. The Black Knight Price: Free! Words: 161,960. Language: English. Published: January 4, 2012. Category: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic After a grave betrayal, a young Princess is sent on a quest to search for a figure of mythic status: The Black Knight. Hailed by some as a hero, by others he is seen as evil incarnate, but the truth is more complex than any could imagine. This young Princess finds herself embroiled in a conflict she thought impossible, entering the front lines of a war fought between the veil of life and death. Leon Saphanels’s tag cloud
When you retire, you have to establish a new identity, purpose and relationships. When Nancy Schlossberg, a professor of counseling psychology at the University of Maryland, retired at 67, she thought it would be smooth sailing. It wasn't. "It took me a while to figure out who I was. It was a difficult transition. At first, I literally couldn't say the words — 'I'm retired.' " Over the next few years, she interviewed more than 150 retirees and conducted several focus groups with retirees, and she realized that many people had prepared a financial portfolio for retirement, but they hadn't taken stock of their psychological portfolios. NEW: USA TODAY Retirement Section Schlossberg, now 84 and living in Sarasota, Fla., found that some people spend years preparing themselves psychologically for this transition, but others don't think about it until they actually quit working. Based on her research, she wrote Revitalizing Retirement: Reshaping Your Identity, Relationships, and Purpose; and Retire Smart, Retire Happy. Even contemplating leaving a job creates a lot of anxiety for some, she says. "They love their work, and they are busy. They have an established life, an established routine, established relationships at work and established assumptions about themselves and the world. When you leave all that to retire, you have to establish new routines, new relationships and a new way of seeing yourself and the world." To prepare yourself mentally for retirement, Schlossberg recommends taking a hard look at three areas of your life: Your identity. It's who you are to yourself and the world. You can think of it as what you put on your business card or your tagline under your e-mail signature, she says. "When I was a professor at the University of Maryland, it was very easy to say that, and people got a picture of who I was. If you are a roofer, painter, artist, teacher — that's part of your identity. One man who retired as CEO of a Fortune 100 company had plenty of money for his golden years, but he said his retirement felt 'hollow' because he hadn't thought about his new identity." CHANGES: Boomers reinvent themselves in retirement Some people may be OK with saying "retiree," but others will be happier if they strive to define a post-retirement identity that will provide structure to their days and meaning to their lives. Your purpose/mission. This is related to your identity. It's what gets you going in the morning. It's your passion. It can take some time to sort out, and you may have several different missions or purposes during your golden years, Schlossberg says. You can ask yourself what you wish you had done in your life and turn that into a new focus. "One woman said to me, 'I help organizations develop mission statements, but I don't have a mission statement myself.' " Your relationships. When you leave your work life, you often lose touch with people who were once a part of your everyday life, so you need to develop new relationships, new communities. You might do that by engaging in volunteer activities, going to a health club or even hanging out at Starbucks, Schlossberg says. This is the perfect time to spend more time with your children and grandchildren. "I love to play in the sand with my grandchildren." Your relationship with your spouse or partner may change, because you'll probably be spending a lot more time together, Schlossberg says. Sometimes too much togetherness causes people to get on each others' nerves for minor things, so couples may need to negotiate some new ground rules, she says. RETIREMENT LIFESTYLE: Don't let retirement stress marriage: Plan to be busy Developmental psychologist Adam Davey, a professor of public health at Temple University's College of Health Professions and Social Work, agrees. "There's an old statement about couples and retirement: 'I married him for better or for worse but not for lunch.' "Suddenly having a husband home and underfoot can be a source of irritation. Since men's friendships are very often concentrated around work or activities, the transition to retirement can place unwanted expectations for wives." Davey says one good strategy he heard from a retiring couple is they told friends and family that they were going to take the first three months of retirement just for themselves so they could fully "enjoy the honeymoon period of their retirement." The important thing is to make sure you realize that you still count, Schlossberg says. "When you retire, you can feel marginalized. Some people feel they no longer matter, but feeling that you matter, that you are appreciated and depended upon is important to experiencing a happy retirement." Based on interviews with more than 150 retirees, Schlossberg identified the following ways that people approach retirement: Continuers who keep using existing skills and interests. They still use skills, interests and activities but modify them to fit retirement. "I am a continuer. I don't teach or have a salary, but I still write and speak about things I've always been interested in." Adventurers who start entirely new endeavors. They see retirement as an opportunity to make daring changes in their lives. "I'm not talking about becoming mountain climbers, but these are people who start something new. For example, a bank teller might become a docent in a museum. An investigative reporter might become an artist. It is about adventures in new arenas." HEALTHY RETIREMENT: Key to a healthy, happy retirement: Having fun Often, people take some of the regrets they have about things they wish they'd done and turn them into a plan, she says. Searchers who explore new options through trial and error. This means you look into different activities. You talk to people in the fields you're interested in. You volunteer for different projects or programs, and if you don't like one, you try something else. This is much like what happens to many high school and college graduates who don't know exactly what they want to do when they graduate, so they search and struggle to find their way, Schlossberg says. Easy gliders who enjoy unscheduled time letting each day unfold. "They let the day unfold. Maybe they'll babysit the grandkids one day. Maybe they'll go the movies. They may just hang out. They don't have an agenda, and they are comfortable not having one." Involved spectators who care deeply about the world, but engage in less-active ways. This may be an art director who is retired but still goes to art museums, or a politician who is still a news junkie, she says. Retreaters who take time out or disengage from life. There are two kinds of these folks: people who are couch potatoes and people who are taking time out to figure out what to do. "Many combine paths, and over time, one's path might change," Schlossberg says. "The point of looking at paths is to realize the many options for everyone during retirement." Follow Nanci Hellmich on Twitter @nancihellmich Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1gD2SgU
Spencer Pratt: Why Heidi Filed for Divorce Celebrity Body Jul. 30, 2010 AT 3:16PM Spencer Pratt: Why Heidi Filed for Divorce Credit: MTV/Miranda Penn Turin Looks like it's official. Heidi Montag filed for divorce from Spencer Pratt Friday in Santa Monica, Calif. Superior Court. "Well, some say if you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen. Heidi couldn't handle King Spencer's fame so she got out of the marriage," Pratt, 26, tells UsMagazine.com. PHOTOS: How the stars of The Hills have changed Montag, 23, cites irreconcilable differences in her petition. She filed for legal separation from Pratt in June. The Hills stars wed in April 2009. PHOTOS: Hollywood's ugliest breakups Montag recently dropped out of a planned reality show with her former BFF Jen Bunney. "She has a lot to deal with right now," blogged Bunney -- who left The Hills in the second season after feuding with Lauren Conrad over Brody Jenner. Indeed, a rep for Montag told Us shortly after the split news broke: "Heidi is going through a difficult time." PHOTOS: Heidi and Spencer's wedding A source close to the couple says that Montag initiated the breakup when she moved out of their home. "Heidi loves Spencer but she had lost contact with her friends and family," the insider explained. So will they reconcile? "This breakup is the latest part of Spencer's master plan," an insider recently told Us Weekly, explaining that the couple is in panic mode now that their MTV reality show has wrapped up. Another source adds that duo is "laughing over" the breakup headlines "and having a blast." comments powered by Disqus
Wealth Adviser Preparing the Adult Kids for the Inheritance Updated May 2, 2013 5:42 p.m. ET The father and mother, both 58 years old, wanted to teach their two grown children financial responsibility before the kids inherited their parents' multimillion-dollar estate. The father worked at a hedge fund and the mother had inherited wealth later in life. As a result, they had nearly $50 million in investable assets. But their son, an artist, and their daughter, a stay-at-home mother, had little experience with investing and... Available to WSJ.com Subscribers
Opposable Thumbs / Gaming & Entertainment Review: Yoshi’s New Island is a solid new Yoshi’s Island It doesn't reach the brilliance of the original, but it does a decent imitation. Trying to improve on the original Yoshi's Island is, in some ways, a fool's errand. When the original game came out in 1995, it both redefined what a Mario game could be and set a new definition for inventive, original, and entertaining platform games. Some might be more partial to Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World, but for my money, Yoshi's Island is the pinnacle of the 2D Mario games (and I have spent a fair bit of time thinking and writing about Mario games to reach that conclusion). Nintendo has tried to follow up on the perfection of Yoshi's Island a few times in the past. I had high hopes for Yoshi's Story on the Nintendo 64, but that spiritual sequel took a hard turn toward overly simplistic level designs, sloppy controls, and a presentation that turned the cuteness dial well past cloying (oh god, that level-ending music). Yoshi's Island DS was a bit better at capturing the essence of the original, but it felt a bit gimmicky in its use of new character powers and just a bit off in the control department. The best follow-up so far may actually be Super Mario Advance 3, a Game Boy Advance port which added six excellent new secret levels on top of those already hidden in the original game. Yoshi's New Island is Nintendo's latest attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle, and it does a solid if imperfect job of doing just that. Familiar without being overly familiar and faithful without being a mere carbon copy, Yoshi's New Island doesn't quite live up to its namesake, but it doesn't really mess too much with what isn't broken, either. A remixed expansion pack Oh look, here's the part where you jump on happy balloons, just like in Yoshi's Island. This means, of course, that those looking for something completely new won't find much of what they're looking for in Yoshi's New Island. The game does nearly the opposite of reinventing the wheel, instead seeming to take familiar pieces of the first game and reassembling them into new patterns, to the point where an attentive player can start picking out the tropes and design elements they expect to resurface. Oh look, here's a few levels with those annoying monkeys jumping among the trees, just like in Yoshi's Island. And here's one with those floating penguins that Yoshi can bounce off harmlessly. Here are those overly flappy goonie birds that you can ride like a floating platform. Here's a level where a giant chain chomp chases Yoshi down a series of floating platforms. Here's another extremely long and slow auto-scrolling level in a lava-filled cave (thankfully there's only one of these, and it's not nearly as annoying as in the first game). Just because the overall design and the individual set pieces are familiar, though, doesn't mean the game is just directly copying levels from the title that inspired it. Much like New Super Mario Bros. before it, the levels in Yoshi's New Island feel like modern remixes of familiar patterns and arrangements that were proven timeless decades ago. Platforms and enemies are placed with a certain care and deliberation, and nothing feels thrown together haphazardly just to fill space. There's a natural flow to each level, and the game never dwells too long on any one type of enemy or design theme. In short, it feels like the expansion pack that Yoshi's Island never got, full of new levels that iterate on the same great old themes established in the original game. It might feel a bit too familiar to some, but there are much worse games to evoke the memory of. Like the original Yoshi's Island, the challenge in Yoshi's New Island isn't simply in getting to the end of the levels. There wasn't a single area in the game that cost me more than three or four lives to get through, in stark contrast to a game like Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, where I could lose four lives on a single jump. Your self-satisfied grin will match Yoshi's as you find a bevy of hidden items. Instead, the challenge is in finding the 20 red coins and five giant flowers hidden within each level (not to mention finishing the stage with a perfect health meter of 30 stars). Some of these items practically smack you in the face with obvious placement, but plenty are squirreled away in out-of-the-way or hidden areas. Collecting these items constantly requires going outside the run-left-to-right comfort zone in terms of both platforming and puzzle solving. In the greatest Mario tradition, it always feels like there's something just beyond the surface waiting to be discovered if you look hard enough. I wasn't scouring levels with a fine-toothed comb or anything, but despite looking in the most obvious likely hiding spots, I still finished my first playthrough missing a few items in almost every level. Finding the rest will be an enjoyable reason to go back and really explore the well-designed levels once more. Nitpicks and changes That's not to say nothing has changed since 1995. Nintendo has thrown some new game mechanics into the mix, seemingly out of a sense of duty to satisfy an "innovation" checkbox. The most notable new feature is the gargantuan, screen-filling eggs that can take out solid concrete blocks as they fly. It's a promising idea, but it's used exclusively in extremely contrived situations, where the game gives you as many giant eggs as you need to easily clear a roadblock and move on. Yoshi's New Island also makes a slight modification to the sections where Yoshi transforms into a number of different machines (a submarine, a jackhammer, a bobsled etc.) These sections are now somewhat annoyingly controlled by tilting the entire 3DS to change Yoshi's direction, with occasional button taps to slow or advance his progress. Overall, these sections aren't integrated very well into the rest of the game, and they feel like distractions from the platforming and puzzle solving it does best. Most of the things I didn't like about Yoshi's New Island were primarily disappointments when compared to the near perfection of the original game. (Have I mentioned how much I liked the original Yoshi's Island recently? In case it was unclear, I liked it a lot). The new game's bosses, for instance, alternate between battles with the Magikoopa Kamek and fights against giant-sized versions of familiar enemies from recent levels. Each battle requires a unique strategy, and some show off especially clever design, like a battlefield littered with arrow-clouds that redirect both your projectile eggs and the incoming blasts of the boss in hard-to-follow patterns. Still, the bad guys seem a little less animated than those in the first Yoshi's Island, and they don't show the same level of inventiveness in the strategies needed for their defeat (throwing an egg at the right place/time is pretty much always the way to go). The giant shy guys are laughably ineffective as enemies, but they make for good giant egg fodder. It also feels like the developers are trying a little too hard to emulate the unique, hand-drawn art style and animation that made Yoshi's Island so distinctive. It's as if the artists took basic 3D models of all the characters and layered a crude "paintbrush stroke effect" filter on top to imbue them with a slightly uncanny facsimile of a human touch. Everything animates a bit too perfectly as well, like the morphing shapes and stiff movements of the early days of Flash animation. It doesn't look bad, exactly, just a little overdone and lifeless compared to the effortless verve and charm of the original game, or even Yoshi's Island DS. Since we're still in nitpicking territory, I feel I have to mention the slight changes to the tight, pitch-perfect controls found in the original Yoshi's Island. When Yoshi starts aiming an egg, for instance, there's now a half-second or so of animation before the targeting reticle is fully extended and ready to fire. It's not the end of the world, but it's a distracting alteration that messes with any muscle memory left over from the original game. The same goes for Yoshi's now-familiar mid-air flutter, which is now just a little harder to execute multiple times on a single jump. These are minor issues, though, compared to the relative failure of the game's music. Compared to the vibrant, catchy tunes of the original, the new background songs are overproduced, meandering ditties, often featuring a sort of high-pitched kazoo effect that comes across like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. At least the sound effects are comfortingly familiar. If it feels like I'm being hard on a game I enjoyed, it's only because it shares most of its name with a game that I feel sets the standard for its genre. Even judged on that lofty scale, Yoshi's New Island holds its own quite well, serving as a solid alteration and extension of a true classic, with a minimal amount of changes to screw things up. The Good • Largely captures everything that made Yoshi's Island brilliant • Level design that shows care and deliberation • Plenty of well-hidden items that encourage exploration and discovery The Bad • General design and set pieces may be too familiar for some players • New game mechanics seem thrown together and unecessary • Controls are off ever so slightly from Yoshi's Island's perfection The Ugly • The background music—load up the original game's soundtrack on your phone instead Verdict: Buy it, but don't expect another flawless masterpiece like its predecessor (which I loved). Expand full story You must to comment.
HOME > Chowhound > General South Archive > Sushi on a budget.[Louisville] • 5 Okay, i'm new to town and am in college, so my budget is a tad tight. I fell in love with sushi and (i might spell this wrong) sashimi in my old hometown and now don't know where to go to find some good, cheap sushi. I live near Okolona, and googled searched and came up wih something about a norita sushi factory, anyone been there??? Or are there other places that could be recommended??? Please help, my craving is killing me!!! P.S. I am a current culinary student and love to watch people make food, is there a sushi bar anywhere I could watch them make it??? 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. Where is Okolona? Just a guess but sushi has to be made with higher grade fish which is why it is on the expensive side. You'll find it less expensive at a grocery store than in a restaurant. 1. Putting a city name in your post title will increase your response rate. Usually, I don't even check on a post for cities with which I am unfamiliar. My love of sushi caused me to deviate from my norm. 1. Ok, Okalona is a small town in Louisville, Sheperdsville road runs right through it, and the Outer Loop is nearby. Just anyplace in Louisville would be nice, i'd like some names please... or suggestions for resturants as the stores sushi is terrible and far between. 1. Norita isn't a sushi factory... it makes Sushi grade seaweed wrappers for sushi...Theres a place going out towards Tom Sawyer Park that has AYCE sushi for like $22.00 I'll have to get the name.
HOME > Chowhound > Home Cooking > What parts of a pig should I ask for: not the meat, tho? DB is butchering a pig this week, what parts should I ask for? I want his family to get the meat, but I want all the other parts. So far I will get the head, hopefully split. I've also asked for all the bones, tail, trotters, liver, pancreas. Should I ask for the skin? Belly? I'm sure there's more. 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. I'm not able to give you advice about the parts that you mentioned, but I had pork liver only once many years ago. It had a very gamy flavor which I did not like, and have not had it since that time. It will needs some special rub or mixture of herbs to get rid of the gamy flavor. 2 Replies 1. re: ChiliDude I've never had pork liver by itself, but my father makes an old family recipe for a dish that was always eaten for breakfast - think "scrapple" kind of thing, but different. I love it, and have noticed no gamy flavor. 1. re: ChiliDude i prep for pig liver is to thinly slice it then make a soup of it with ginger, scallion and not much else... the fresher the better and the ginger, my guess is, takes away some of the gaminess... http://chowtimes.com/2008/08/30/pork-... 2. Did a little searching and found this useful link. Scroll down and you will see plenty of variety meats, including rectum (which I've seen packaged for sale in my Asian market). About por liver, it is an essential ingredient in Louisiana boudin. My family made and sold it when I was growing up. Here's the link (pdf is safe): 1. If you get the head (helllo, head cheese) -- you'll also get the cheeks -- the treasure of the whole pig. 8 Replies 1. re: sunshine842 Are pork cheeks akin to beef cheeks--meaning they would have a very singular kind of texture/structure? I found beef cheeks flavorful but not especially appealing as regards texture for something like pot-roast. Of course, if you shred the meat finely for some other purpose, that wouldn't be an issue. 1. re: Bada Bing guanciale comes from the pork cheeks. 1. re: hotoynoodle Yes. Love guanciale for Bucatini (or other pasta) all'Amatriciana. But it does require being cured, which is, for people, in most climates, doable. I wonder what similarly cured beef cheeks would be like? 1. re: Bada Bing Beef cheeks, or cachete de res, are so tender they really don't need much help. They are usually a premium priced taco meat when you can find them. 1. re: Veggo Tender, no doubt. But they lack the kind of muscle structure that one finds in even the most cartilaginous cuts of beef, like chuck or shank or short rib. The one time I made a pot roast from beef cheek, the taste was fine, but the meat texture was halfway between tender chuck and jello. Not that there's anything intrinsically wrong with that, but it made me feel that I wouldn't re-do beef cheek for a preparation in which some structural interest is part of the picture. Or maybe I overdid them.... 1. re: Bada Bing I think that is why they are best suited for tacos rather than a stand alone plated item. 2. re: Bada Bing Pig cheeks are very suitable for a long braise. I find them fairly easily in the supermarket (although not free-range or organic ones) and they're so cheap. I usually cook them to this Mark Sargeant recipe (although the amount of honey needs consdierably cutting down to around 2 tablespoons): http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/586366 1. re: Bada Bing I make braises from both pig and beef cheeks -- they're succulent, have nice texture, and wow flavor. 3. Well I'd get the all the lard I could and have him separate out the leaf lard from the rest. 1. If you can get the Belly, grab it! Make your own Bacon.
.223 Remington From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search ".223" redirects here. For other uses, see .223 (disambiguation). .223 Remington 223 Remington.jpg A variety of .223 Remington cartridges and a .308 Winchester (right) for comparison. Bullets in .223 cartridges (left to right): Montana Gold 55 grain Full Metal Jacket, Sierra 55 grain Spitzer Boat Tail, Nosler/Winchester 55 grain Combined Technology, Hornady 60 grain V-MAX, Barnes 62 grain Tipped Triple-Shock X, Nosler 69 grain Hollow Point Boat Tail, Swift 75 grain Scirocco II. Type Rifle/varmint Place of origin United States Production history Designer Remington Arms Designed 1964 Variants .223 Ackley Improved, 5.56×45mm NATO Parent case .222 Remington Case type Rimless, bottleneck Bullet diameter .224 in (5.7 mm) Neck diameter .253 in (6.4 mm) Shoulder diameter .354 in (9.0 mm) Base diameter .376 in (9.6 mm) Rim diameter .378 in (9.6 mm) Rim thickness .045 in (1.1 mm) Case length 1.76 in (45 mm) Overall length 2.26 in (57 mm) Rifling twist 1 in 12 inch (military style rifles use 1:7 to 1:10 to stabilize longer bullets) Primer type Small rifle Maximum pressure (SAAMI) 55,000 psi (380 MPa) Maximum pressure (CIP) 62,366 psi (430.00 MPa) Maximum CUP 52000 CUP Ballistic performance Bullet weight/type Velocity Energy 36 gr (2 g) JHP 3,750 ft/s (1,140 m/s) 1,124 ft·lbf (1,524 J) 55 (3.5 g) Nosler ballistic tip 3,240 ft/s (990 m/s) 1,282 ft·lbf (1,738 J) 60 (3.9 g) Nosler partition 3,160 ft/s (960 m/s) 1,330 ft·lbf (1,800 J) 69 (4.48 g) BTHP 2,950 ft/s (900 m/s) 1,333 ft·lbf (1,807 J) 77 (5 g) BTHP 2,750 ft/s (840 m/s) 1,293 ft·lbf (1,753 J) Test barrel length: 24 inches (61 cm) Source(s): Federal Cartridge[1] The .223 Remington is a cartridge with almost the same external dimensions as the 5.56×45mm NATO military cartridge. The name is commonly pronounced either two-two-three or two-twenty-three. It is loaded with a 0.224-inch (5.7 mm) diameter jacketed bullet, with weights ranging from 40 to 90 grains (2.6 to 5.8 g),[citation needed] though the most common loading by far is 55 grains (3.6 g).[citation needed] While the external case dimensions are very similar, the .223 Remington and 5.56×45mm differ in both maximum pressure and chamber shape. The maximum and mean pressures for some varieties of the 5.56 (different cartridge designations have different standards) exceed the SAAMI maximum for the .223 Remington, and the methods for measuring pressures differ between NATO and SAAMI.[2] The 5.56 chamber specification has also changed since its adoption, as the current military loading (NATO SS-109 or US M855) uses longer, heavier bullets than the original loading. This has resulted in a lengthening of the throat in the 5.56 chamber. Thus, while .223 Remington ammunition can be safely fired in a rifle chambered for 5.56×45mm NATO, firing 5.56 ammunition in a .223 Remington chamber may produce pressures in excess of even the 5.56 specifications due to the shorter throat.[3] The .223 Remington (5.56×45mm) is a cartridge that is ballistically in between its predecessors, the .222 Remington, and the .222 Remington Magnum. The .223/5.56 was developed to fit the action length of the new M16 service rifle. The .223/5.56 quickly became popular as a civilian cartridge because of the availability of brass, and the chambering of commercial varmint rifles in that caliber. Shortly after military acceptance of the M16, the semi-automatic version, the AR-15 became available, making the .223 cartridge even more popular. Cartridge dimensions[edit] The .223 Remington has 28.8 grains (1.87 ml H2O) cartridge case capacity.[4] .223 Remington.jpg .223 Remington maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).[5] Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 = 23 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 305 mm (1 in 12 in), 6 grooves, Ø lands = 5.56 millimetres (0.219 in), Ø grooves = 5.69 millimetres (0.224 in), land width = 1.88 millimetres (0.074 in) and the primer type is small rifle. According to the official Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives (C.I.P.) guidelines the .223 Remington case can handle up to 430 MPa (62,366 psi) piezo pressure.[6] In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. This is equal to the NATO maximum service pressure guideline for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. The SAAMI pressure limit for the .223 Remington is set at 379.212 MPa (55,000 psi), piezo pressure.[7] The .223 Remington is one of the most common rifle cartridges in use in the United States, being widely used in two types of rifles: (1) varmint rifles, most of which are bolt action and commonly have 1-in-12 rifling twist suitable for bullets between 38 to 55 grains (2.5 to 3.6 g), and (2) semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 and the Ruger Mini-14, which are commonly found to have twist rates of 1-in-7, 1-in-9, or 1-in-8. (Most modern AR-15s use 1-in-9 which is suitable for bullets up to 69 grains or 4.5 grams or 1-in-7 which is suitable for slightly heavier bullets, but older M16's used 1-in-12 twist rates, making them suitable for use with bullets of 55 grains or 3.6 grams.) The semi-automatic rifle category is often used by law enforcement, for home defense, and for varmint hunting. Among the many popular modern centerfire rifle cartridges, .223 Remington ammunition is among the least expensive and is often used by a wide range of target shooters, particularly in the "service rifle" category or 3 gun matches. The .223 is also used in survival rifles. .223 Remington versus 5.56×45mm NATO[edit] Size comparison between .222 (left) and .223 (right) The .223 Remington and 5.56×45mm NATO cartridges and chamberings are similar but not identical.[8] While the cartridges are identical other than powder load, the chamber leade, i.e. the area where the rifling begins, is cut to a sharper angle on some .223 Remington commercial chambers. Because of this, a cartridge loaded to generate 5.56×45mm NATO pressures in a 5.56×45mm NATO chamber may develop pressures that exceed SAAMI limits when fired from a short-leade .223 Remington chamber. Brass Case[edit] The dimensional specifications of 5.56 NATO and .223 Remington commercial brass cases are identical. The cases tend to have similar case capacity when measured, with variations chiefly due to brand, not 5.56 vs .223 designation. The result of this is that there is no such thing as "5.56 brass" or ".223 brass", the differences in the cartridges lie in pressure ratings and in chamber leade length, not in the shape or thickness of the brass.[9][10] Size comparison between .222 Magnum (left) and .223 (right) C.I.P. defines the maximum service and proof test pressures of the .223 Remington cartridge equal to the 5.56×45mm NATO, at 430 MPa (62,366 psi). This differs from the SAAMI maximum pressure specification for .223 Remington of 380 MPa (55,114 psi), due to CIP test protocols measuring pressure using a drilled case, rather than an intact case with a conformal piston, along with other differences.[11] NATO uses NATO EPVAT pressure test protocols for their small arms ammunition specifications. Because of these differences in methodology, the C.I.P. pressure of 430 MPa (62,366 psi) is the same as a SAAMI pressure of 380 MPa (55,114 psi), which is reflected in US Military specifications for 5.56×45mm NATO, which call for a mean maximum pressure of 55,000 PSI (when measured using a protocol similar to SAAMI).[12] These pressures are generated and measured using a chamber cut to 5.56×45mm NATO specifications, including the longer leade. Firing 5.56×45mm NATO from a chamber with a shorter .223 Remington leade can generate pressures in excess of SAAMI maximums. The 5.56×45mm NATO chambering, known as a NATO or mil-spec chamber, has a longer leade, which is the distance between the mouth of the cartridge and the point at which the rifling engages the bullet. The .223 Remington chambering, known as SAAMI chamber, is allowed to have a shorter leade, and is only required to be proof tested to the lower SAAMI chamber pressure. To address these issues, various proprietary chambers exist, such as the Wylde chamber (Rock River Arms)[13] or the ArmaLite chamber, which are designed to handle both 5.56×45mm NATO and .223 Remington equally well. The dimensions and leade of the .223 Remington minimum C.I.P. chamber also differ from the 5.56×45mm NATO chamber specification. Using commercial .223 Remington cartridges in a 5.56×45mm NATO chambered rifle should work reliably, but until recently, it was believed this was less accurate than when fired from a .223 Remington chambered gun due to the longer leade.[14] Although that may have been true in the early 1960s when the two rounds were developed, recent testing has shown that with today's ammunition, rifles chambered in 5.56 can also fire .223 ammunition every bit as accurately as rifles chambered in .223 Remington, and the 5.56 chamber has the additional advantage of being able to safely fire both calibers.[15] Using 5.56×45mm NATO mil-spec cartridges (such as the M855) in a .223 Remington chambered rifle can lead to excessive wear and stress on the rifle and even be unsafe, and SAAMI recommends against the practice.[16][17] Some commercial rifles marked as ".223 Remington" are in fact suited for 5.56×45mm NATO, such as many commercial AR-15 variants and the Ruger Mini-14 (marked ".223 cal"), but the manufacturer should always be consulted to verify that this is acceptable before attempting it, and signs of excessive pressure (such as flattening or gas staining of the primers) should be looked for in the initial testing with 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition.[18] It should also be noted that the upper receiver (to which the barrel with its chamber are attached) and the lower receiver are entirely separate parts in AR-15 style rifles. If the lower receiver has either .223 or 5.56 stamped on it, it does not guarantee the upper assembly is rated for the same caliber, because the upper and the lower receiver in the same rifle can, and frequently do, come from different manufacturers – particularly with rifles sold to civilians or second-hand rifles. In more practical terms, as of 2010 most AR-15 parts suppliers engineer their complete upper assemblies (not to be confused with stripped uppers where the barrel is not included) to support both chamberings in order to satisfy market demand and prevent any potential problems. Effects of barrel length on velocity[edit] Barrel length helps determine a specific cartridges muzzle velocity. A longer barrel will typically yield a greater muzzle velocity, while a short barrel will yield a lower one. In the case of the 5.56 NATO, M193 ammunition loses or gains approximately 25.7 feet-per-second for each inch of barrel length, while M855 loses or gains 30.3 feet-per-second per inch of barrel length.[19] Related cartridges[edit] P.O. Ackley created an improved version of this cartridge, called the .223 Ackley Improved.[20] It has the straight sides and steep shoulder, typical of the Ackley design improvements, yielding about 5% extra case volume. This, in turn, provides longer case life, less stretching, and up to 100 ft/s (30 m/s) faster velocities.[citation needed] Wildcat cartridge developers have for a long time necked this cartridge up to create the 6mm/223 or 6×45mm. At one time this round was very popular for varminting and competition, but has been replaced by current popular competition cartridges using short, fat cases, such as the 6 mm PPC and the 6mm Norma BR.[citation needed] The Thompson/Center Ugalde family of wildcat cartridges are also made by necking up .223 Remington cases, for use in the Thompson/Center Contender target pistol.[citation needed] See also[edit] 1. ^ "Federal Cartridge Co. ballistics page". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-25. 2. ^ "Miscellaneous Questions 4". 3. ^ ".223 Remington". AccuratePowder.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. 4. ^ "223 Rem + 223 AI Cartridge Guide". 6mmbr.com. 5. ^ C.I.P. decisions, texts and tables free current C.I.P. CD-ROM version download (ZIP and RAR format) 6. ^ "223 Rem.". C.I.P. Archived from the original on 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2 July 2013. 7. ^ "SAAMI Pressures". Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-29. 8. ^ .223 Remington and 5.56×45mm NATO Chamber dimensions differences 9. ^ 6mmbr.com. "223 Rem + 223 AI Cartridge Guide". 10. ^ "http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/5-56-vs-223/". Retrieved 13 June 2013. 11. ^ "Cartridge Pressure Standards". Retrieved 14 June 2013. 12. ^ US Mil-spec MIL-C-9963F, MIL-C-9963G, and MIL-C-63989A(AR) 13. ^ Rock River Arms 14. ^ News and Press Releases: .223 Rem VS 5.56mm, winchester.com, 5/4/2001 15. ^ Patrick Sweeney, "Chamber Reality Check", Peterson's Rifle Shooter, Volume 16, Issue 2, March/April 2013, pp. 32–36. 16. ^ "Unsafe Arms and Ammunition Combinations" at SAAMI web site 17. ^ SAAMI on 5.56 v. .223 Remington. The Gun Zone. Retrieved on 2011-01-08. 18. ^ TECHNICAL NOTE 45: 5.56 NATO vs SAAMI .223 REMINGTON CHAMBERS, armalite.com, December 4, 2002 19. ^ http://rifleshooter.com/2014/04/223-remington5-56-nato-velocity-versus-barrel-length-a-man-his-chop-box-and-his-friends-rifle/ 20. ^ Anderson, Dave (April 2003). "Pumping up the .223: experiments with a self-loading .223 Ackley Improved". Guns Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-10. External links[edit]
Transition metal From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Transition metals in the periodic table Hydrogen (diatomic nonmetal) Helium (noble gas) Lithium (alkali metal) Beryllium (alkaline earth metal) Boron (metalloid) Carbon (polyatomic nonmetal) Nitrogen (diatomic nonmetal) Oxygen (diatomic nonmetal) Fluorine (diatomic nonmetal) Neon (noble gas) Sodium (alkali metal) Magnesium (alkaline earth metal) Aluminium (post-transition metal) Silicon (metalloid) Phosphorus (polyatomic nonmetal) Sulfur (polyatomic nonmetal) Chlorine (diatomic nonmetal) Argon (noble gas) Potassium (alkali metal) Calcium (alkaline earth metal) Scandium (transition metal) Titanium (transition metal) Vanadium (transition metal) Chromium (transition metal) Manganese (transition metal) Iron (transition metal) Cobalt (transition metal) Nickel (transition metal) Copper (transition metal) Zinc (transition metal) Gallium (post-transition metal) Germanium (metalloid) Arsenic (metalloid) Selenium (polyatomic nonmetal) Bromine (diatomic nonmetal) Krypton (noble gas) Rubidium (alkali metal) Strontium (alkaline earth metal) Yttrium (transition metal) Zirconium (transition metal) Niobium (transition metal) Molybdenum (transition metal) Technetium (transition metal) Ruthenium (transition metal) Rhodium (transition metal) Palladium (transition metal) Silver (transition metal) Cadmium (transition metal) Indium (post-transition metal) Tin (post-transition metal) Antimony (metalloid) Tellurium (metalloid) Iodine (diatomic nonmetal) Xenon (noble gas) Caesium (alkali metal) Barium (alkaline earth metal) Lanthanum (lanthanide) Cerium (lanthanide) Praseodymium (lanthanide) Neodymium (lanthanide) Promethium (lanthanide) Samarium (lanthanide) Europium (lanthanide) Gadolinium (lanthanide) Terbium (lanthanide) Dysprosium (lanthanide) Holmium (lanthanide) Erbium (lanthanide) Thulium (lanthanide) Ytterbium (lanthanide) Lutetium (lanthanide) Hafnium (transition metal) Tantalum (transition metal) Tungsten (transition metal) Rhenium (transition metal) Osmium (transition metal) Iridium (transition metal) Platinum (transition metal) Gold (transition metal) Mercury (transition metal) Thallium (post-transition metal) Lead (post-transition metal) Bismuth (post-transition metal) Polonium (post-transition metal) Astatine (metalloid) Radon (noble gas) Francium (alkali metal) Radium (alkaline earth metal) Actinium (actinide) Thorium (actinide) Protactinium (actinide) Uranium (actinide) Neptunium (actinide) Plutonium (actinide) Americium (actinide) Curium (actinide) Berkelium (actinide) Californium (actinide) Einsteinium (actinide) Fermium (actinide) Mendelevium (actinide) Nobelium (actinide) Lawrencium (actinide) Rutherfordium (transition metal) Dubnium (transition metal) Seaborgium (transition metal) Bohrium (transition metal) Hassium (transition metal) Meitnerium (unknown chemical properties) Darmstadtium (unknown chemical properties) Roentgenium (unknown chemical properties) Copernicium (transition metal) Ununtrium (unknown chemical properties) Flerovium (post-transition metal) Ununpentium (unknown chemical properties) Livermorium (unknown chemical properties) Ununseptium (unknown chemical properties) Ununoctium (unknown chemical properties) In chemistry, the term transition metal (or transition element) has two possible meanings: Jensen[4] reviews the history of the terms "transition element" (or "metal") and "d-block". The word transition was first used to describe the elements now known as the d-block by the English chemist Charles Bury in 1921, who referred to a transition series of elements during the change of an inner layer of electrons (for example n=3 in the 4th row of the periodic table) from a stable group of 8 to one of 18, or from 18 to 32.[5] Transition metals in the d-block Group 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Period 4 Sc 21 Ti 22 V 23 Cr 24 Mn 25 Fe 26 Co 27 Ni 28 Cu 29 Zn 30 Period 5 Y 39 Zr 40 Nb 41 Mo 42 Tc 43 Ru 44 Rh 45 Pd 46 Ag 47 Cd 48 Period 6 57–71 Hf 72 Ta 73 W 74 Re 75 Os 76 Ir 77 Pt 78 Au 79 Hg 80 Period 7 89–103 Rf 104 Db 105 Sg 106 Bh 107 Hs 108 Mt 109 Ds 110 Rg 111 Cn 112 The typical electronic structure of transition metal atoms can be written as [ ]ns2(n-1)dm, following the Madelung rule where the inner d orbital is predicted to be filled after the valence-shell s orbital. This is actually not the case; the 4s electrons are higher in energy than the 3d as shown spectroscopically. An ion such as Fe2+ has no 4s electrons: it has the electronic configuration [Ar]3d6 as compared with the configuration of the atom, [Ar]4s23d6. The elements of groups 3–12 are now generally recognized as transition metals, although the elements La-Lu and Ac-Lr and Group 12 attract different definitions from different authors. 1. Many chemistry textbooks and printed periodic tables classify La and Ac as Group 3 elements and transition metals, since their atomic ground-state configurations are s2d1 like Sc and Y. The elements Ce-Lu are considered as the “lanthanide” series (or “lanthanoid” according to IUPAC) and Th-Lr as the “actinide” series.[6][7] The two series together are classified as f-block elements, or (in older sources) as “inner transition elements”. 2. Some inorganic chemistry textbooks include La with the lanthanides and Ac with the actinides.[8][9][10] This classification is based on similarities in chemical behaviour, and defines 15 elements in each of the two series even though they correspond to the filling of an f subshell which can only contain 14 electrons. 3. A third classification defines the f-block elements as La-Yb and Ac-No, while placing Lu and Lr in Group 3.[4] This is based on the aufbau principle (or Madelung rule) for filling electron subshells, in which 4f is filled before 5d (and 5f before 6d), so that the f subshell is actually full at Yb (and No) while Lu (and Lr) has an [ ]s2f14d1 configuration. However La and Ac are exceptions to the Aufbau principle with electron configuration [ ]s2d1 (not [ ]s2f1 as the aufbau principle predicts) so it is not clear from atomic electron configurations whether La or Lu (Ac or Lr) should be considered as transition metals. Eric Scerri has proposed placing Lu and Lr in group 3 on the grounds of continuous sequences of atomic numbers in an expanded or long-form periodic table.[11] Zinc, cadmium, and mercury are sometimes excluded from the transition metals[4] as they have the electronic configuration [ ]d10s2, with no incomplete d shell.[12] In the oxidation state +2 the ions have the electronic configuration [ ] d10. However, these elements can exist in other oxidation states, including the +1 oxidation state, as in the diatomic ion Hg2+ . The group 12 elements Zn, Cd and Hg may be classed as post-transition metals in this case, because of the formation of a covalent bond between the two atoms of the dimer. However, it is often convenient to include these elements in a discussion of the transition elements. For example, when discussing the crystal field stabilization energy of first-row transition elements, it is convenient to also include the elements calcium and zinc, as both Ca2+ and Zn2+ The recent synthesis of mercury(IV) fluoride (HgF ) has been taken by some to reinforce the view that the group 12 elements should be considered transition metal,[13] but some authors still consider this compound to be exceptional.[14] Position in the Periodic Table[edit] The d-block as stated earlier, is present in the centre of the long form of periodic table. These are flanked or surrounded by elements belonging to s and p-blocks on both sides. These are called transition elements since they represent a transition i.e., there is a change from metallic character of s-block elements to non-metallic character of p-block elements through d-block elements which are also metals. As pointed above there are four transition series in this block. Since the filling of electrons takes place in (n-1)d orbitals, the periods to which these series belong, is actually one more than the actual series. For example, the elements included in 3d series belong to fourth period ; the elements included in 4d series belong to the fifth period and so on. Electronic configuration[edit] The general electronic configuration of the d-block elements is [Inert gas] (n-1)d1-10n s1-2 The d-sub-shell is the penultimate (last but one) sub-shell and is denoted as (n-1) d-sub-shell. The number of s electrons may vary from one to two. The s-sub-shell in the valence shell is represented as the ns sub-shell. However, palladium (Pd) is an exception with no electron in the s-sub shell. In the periodic table, the transition metals are present in ten groups (3 to 12). Group-2 belongs to the s- block with an ns2 configuration. The elements in group-3 have an ns2(n-1)d1 configuration. The first transition series is present in the 4thperiod, and starts after Ca (Z=20) of group-2 which has configuration [Ar]4s2. The electronic configuration of scandium (Sc), the first element of group-3 with atomic number Z=21 is[Ar]4s23d1. As we move from left to right, electrons are added to the same d-sub-shell till it is complete. The element of group-12 in the first transition series is zinc (Zn) with configuration [Ar]4s23d10. Since the electrons added fill the (n-1)d orbitals, the properties of the d-block elements are quite different from those of s and p block elements in which the filling occurs either in s or in p-orbitals of the valence shell. The electronic configuration of the individual elements present in all the transition series are given below: First (3d) Transition Series (Sc-Zn) Element Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Config. 3d14s2 3d24s2 3d34s2 3d54s1 3d54s2 3d64s2 3d74s2 3d84s2 3d104s1 3d104s2 Second (4d) Transition Series (Y-Cd) Element Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd Config. 4d15s2 4d25s2 4d45s1 4d55s1 4d55s2 4d75s1 4d85s1 4d105s0 4d105s1 4d105s2 Third (5d) Transition Series (Lu-Hg)[15] At.No 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 Element Lu Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Config. 5d16s2 5d26s2 5d36s2 5d46s2 5d56s2 5d66s2 5d76s2 5d96s1 5d106s1 5d106s2 Fourth (6d) Transition Series (Lr-Cn) At. No. 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 Element Lr Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Cn Config. 7s27p1 6d27s2 6d37s2 6d47s2 6d57s2 6d67s2 6d77s2 6d87s2 6d97s2 6d107s2 A careful look at the electronic configuration of the elements reveals that there are certain exceptions shown by Pt, Au and Hg.. These are either because of the symmetry or nuclear-electron and electron-electron force. The (n-1)d orbitals that are involved in the transition metals are very significant because they influence such properties as magnetic character, variable oxidation states, formation of colored compounds etc. The valence s(ns) and p(np) orbitals have very little contribution in this regard since they hardly change in the moving from left to the right in a transition series. In transition metals, there is a greater horizontal similarities in the properties of the elements in a period in comparison to the periods in which the d-orbitals are not involved. This is because in a transition series, the valence shell electronic configuration of the elements do not change. However, there are some group similarities as well. Characteristic properties[edit] • the formation of compounds in many oxidation states, due to the relatively low reactivity of unpaired d electrons.[16] Coloured compounds[edit] From left to right, aqueous solutions of: Co(NO (red); K (orange); K (yellow); NiCl (turquoise); CuSO (blue); KMnO Oxidation states[edit] , and +5, such as VO3− , which contain a Ga-Ga bond formed from the unpaired electron on each Ga atom.[18] Thus the main difference in oxidation states, between transition elements and other elements is that oxidation states are known in which there is a single atom of the element and one or more unpaired electrons. The maximum oxidation state in the first row transition metals is equal to the number of valence electrons from titanium (+4) up to manganese (+7), but decreases in the later elements. In the second and third rows the maximum occurs with ruthenium and osmium (+8). In compounds such as [MnO and OsO the elements achieve a stable octet by forming four covalent bonds. (oxidation state zero) and [Fe(CO) Main article: magnetochemistry Transition metal compounds are paramagnetic when they have one or more unpaired d electrons.[19] In octahedral complexes with between four and seven d electrons both high spin and low spin states are possible. Tetrahedral transition metal complexes such as [FeCl Catalytic properties[edit] Other properties[edit] As implied by the name, all transition metals are metals and conductors of electricity. Many transition metals can be bound to a variety of ligands.[20] See also[edit] 2. ^ R.H. Petrucci, W.S. Harwood and F.G. Herring “General Chemistry” (8th ed, Prentice-Hall 2002), p.341-2 3. ^ C.E. Housecroft and A.G. Sharpe “Inorganic Chemistry” (2nd ed, Pearson Prentice-Hall 2005), p.20-21 4. ^ a b c Jensen, William B. (2003). "The Place of Zinc, Cadmium, and Mercury in the Periodic Table". Journal of Chemical Education 80 (8): 952–961. Bibcode:2003JChEd..80..952J. doi:10.1021/ed080p952. 6. ^ Petrucci, R. H. et al. (2002), “General Chemistry”, 8th edn, Prentice-Hall, pp. 49–50, 951 7. ^ Miessler, G. L. and Tarr, D. A. (1999) “Inorganic Chemistry”, 2nd edn, Prentice-Hall, p. 16 9. ^ Cotton, F.A. and Wilkinson, G. (1988) “Inorganic Chemistry”, 5th edn, Wiley , pp. 626–7 10. ^ Housecroft, C. E. and Sharpe, A. G. (2005) “Inorganic Chemistry”, 2nd edn, Pearson Prentice-Hall, p. 741 11. ^ Scerri,E.R. (2011), "A Very Short Introduction to the Periodic Table, Oxford University Press. 13. ^ Wang, Xuefang; Andrews, Lester; Riedel, Sebastian; Kaupp, Martin (2007). "Mercury Is a Transition Metal: The First Experimental Evidence for HgF4". Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 46 (44): 8371–8375. doi:10.1002/anie.200703710. PMID 17899620. 15. ^ This table follows the proposal of Scerri (see above) and considers Lu rather than La to be a transition metal in the 5d series. As noted in the section on Classification, not all chemists agree. 16. ^ Matsumoto, Paul S (2005). "Trends in Ionization Energy of Transition-Metal Elements". Journal of Chemical Education 82 (11): 1660. Bibcode:2005JChEd..82.1660M. doi:10.1021/ed082p1660. 18. ^ Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997). Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0080379419. p. 240
AAPL and momentum Posted by: FSM AAPL and momentum - 02/20/08 06:33 AM most stocks tend to move in trends. there's a chart that measures this momentum called the MACD. if you look at AAPL over the past year and past 3 months you can see the trends in momentum:<br><br><br><br><br><br>actually, AAPL has very little momentum below the red line so they aren't a good stock for this MACD (i even mislabeled when to buy in the chart above because i was just looking at the 3 month rather than the whole year chart). but right now, AAPL is in it's down trend . . . presumably it will head up soon; although, it had UP UP UP for so long that it's hard to tell. i am reading a new book on short term stock trading. the book is trying to make things safer (also reduces the potentially for a big gain). they recommend waiting until the momentum hits the the middle in this chart, so not buying now is what they'd suggest even though the stock is priced so low (perhaps now is the time for long term traders though). so i'd be buying at a little higher rate and selling probably a little lower than i could make, but i'd be playing the momentum trends and i'll typically gain in this model over the shorter term (though, Poly and others will hate me). many people use this MACD for selling short (so they can make money when the stock drops in price, for example). my book explains that, but i don't understand it enough to trade that way yet . . . plus, it's apparently not very accurate so i likely won't do that.<br><br>i am far from using this for trading (maybe 6 months or so of playing with paper money), but i think it's interesting to see how these momentum swings work even if i was just using it for simple straight forward short term trading (e.g., 1 day to a few months). here's more info on MACD -- http://www.streetauthority.com/terms/macd.asp<br><br>
New York's Crusading A.G. Demands AIG Bonus Disclosure New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is giving AIG until four o'clock to name everyone who got a bonus Then the subpoenas drop! This is wonderful and hilarious grandstanding, thank you, Andrew. Cuomo sent a letter to AIG's CEO demanding the names of everyone in the insurance company's Financial Product unit—you may know them as "the credit-default swaps guys" or possibly "those motherfucking cocksuckers who broke the global economy"—who got "retention pay," because yeah you really want to hold on to those guys. Clearly the best part of this is the 4 p.m. deadline, like Cuomo is a damn gunfighter or something. If this is the sort of stuff he's going to pull before running for governor and then resigning in disgrace after a year because he slept with a hooker, than more power to Andrew Cuomo, we say. (IT IS HAPPENING AGAIN.)
This Is What it Takes to Shoot Royal Love In case you weren't aware, two very rich and good looking people in England just got married, and everyone in the world went into a frenzy about their hats and hair and shoes. So photos were key! Here's the gear. This is the Reuters photo team's Super Royal Wedding World Bonanza 2011™ arsenal. Some serious stuff: "10 cameras and a vast array of glass from 800 and 600mm lenses down to a 15mm fish eye and an even wider lens on a Go-Pro action camera. Conservatively this is 50kg (110 pounds) of kit each," notes Reuters photog Phil Noble. He and partner Kai Pfaffenbach will be split all of that hardware, meaning they each schlepped around 110 pounds of camera power each. Anything for love! [Reuters via PetaPixel]
GTA Wiki Rocket Launcher 10,408pages on this wiki Revision as of 23:02, February 25, 2014 by TheAdamBomb2 (Talk \| contribs) Rocket Launcher (RPG) Appearance(s): All games Weapon type: Heavy Weapon Damage: Maximum Weight: Heavy Ammunition capacity: 1 rocket Available from: Phil's Army Surplus (III) Phil's Place (VC) Underground arms dealers (IV) Price: $25,000 (III) $8,000 (VC) $15,000 (rockets $5,000) (IV) — GTA Vice City Website. GTA III — GTA Vice City Stories In the HD Era , the rocket launcher again resembles the Russian RPG-7 portable anti-tank grenade launcher; however, it is not fitted with the PGO-7 optical sight usually seen on the launchers. Its front cross-hair is more like a standard gun sight. Unlike the GTA III Era, the player aims the rocket launcher from the over-the-shoulder perspective, allowing the player to move while aiming. Also, the rocket can be fired while in cover. Because of GTA IV's emphasis on realism, a rocket can be deflected if the tip of the rocket does not hit a solid object. This is the most powerful weapon in the game, able to take on cars, trucks, enemy players, motorcycles, and even the fearsome Annihilator gunship. Unlike other GTA games, the player does not explicitly need a direct hit on a helicopter to destroy it as the force of a self-detonating rocket can cause a helicopter pilot to crash. In GTA V, it is less accurate, but even more powerful. It's appearance mostly remains the same as the one in GTA IV, but it can be changed at the Ammu-Nation. Customizations (GTA V) • Grip (more stability, slightly increases accuracy) - $320 • Rockets (2 rounds) - $100 • Black (default) - Equipped by default • Army Tint (Desert sand) - $100 • LSPD Tint (Metallic Blue) - $600 In-game models HUD icons GTA Vice City Rocket Launcher's locations map GTA San Andreas GTA Liberty City Stories GTA Vice City Stories GTA IV + Episodes from Liberty City GTA Online • Unlocked at rank 100, then can be purchased for $36.500 at Ammu Nation. • Spawns at waves 4, 7 and 10 in survival mode. • The Grand Theft Auto IV era launcher can be found in the Paleto Bay Ammu-nation hung on the wall. • In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, when fired with the infinite ammo cheat turned on, the Rocket Launcher will fire much quicker than it normally does, with a speed comparable to the MP5. Same goes with the Heat Seeking variant. • When blind-fired from a standing cover while facing left Niko/Johnny/Luis will release their left hand and then fire the RPG using only their right hand. This should be impossible since the RPG's trigger is pressed using your left hand. • In GTA IV multiplayer, when firing the rocket towards the ground, it will go somewhat into the ground for a few milliseconds before exploding. As of on single player the missile would usually slide across the ground when firing towards it at a certain angle. • You can use the RPG to rob a store, but better use standard weapons, because the NPC on the store may pull a weapon, and if you fire a rocket, both the player and the NPC will die because there is small space and you might need to leave quickly if you are near-death. • Unlike every GTA, it's impossible to commit suicide by firing a rocket too close to the ground, unless the rocket ricochets back and hit the user. This is because even old rockets like the RPG and the LAW, have what is known as the timer fuse. This fuse will not engage the primary fuse until a certain amount of time has passed after firing for the specific reason so the rocket will not detonate too early and harm the shooter for any reasons, such as striking the ground or and other obstacles. • In GTA III, the RPG is the only weapon that cannot be acquired if the player uses the jumping in between the girder and steel beam off the Callahan Bridge trick to get to Staunton and Shoreside before they are opened normally. This is because one of the hidden package on Staunton is hung up in the air on the draw bridge that connects to Shoreside. Since this bridge is not operational until the mission Grand Theft Aero, there is no way to get to it until Shoreside opens normally. • However, one is located at the top of a garage in Cedar Grove, using the exploit can be an easy way to obtain it. • It's still possible to get RPG by collecting last hidden package in GTA III. You should get a Dodo from the airport and use the road as a runway to "jump" the bridge. You don't have to fly it, just drive to bridge, get top speed and take off airplane. Single impulse will be enough to land on draw bridge. Once Dodo is on draw bridge use it as platform to jump to package. It's hard but not so impossible. • There is a huge bug in GTA: VC with the rocket launcher. This bug is much more apparent if the player gains the "fast reload" ability. When ripple firing the rocket with the ability and swings around quickly, there is a off chance the launch tube will hit the rocket, causing it to explode and do major harm to the player. This is also true for the Hunter attack helicopter. Ripple firing its infinite rocket launcher while swinging around too quickly will also sometimes detonate the rocket too early due to the pods impacting on the rocket. • Another bug affecting the rocket launcher in GTA:VC and sometimes GTA III is sometimes the correct collision detection files may not load correctly (most apparent on the PC version), causing the rocket's collision detection to go off-kilter. This is especially true for close in target. Even though the target is around 20 meters away (close but should not harm the player), it may cause the rocket to explode instantly right in the player's face. This happens when police closes in or when police Mavericks are dropping SWAT rappelling off the helicopter (when aiming at the rappelling lines). This bug will only harm the player, but not the target. • In GTA V, Lester Crest calls his RPG "the noob tube." This is a reference to first person shooters such as Call of Duty and Battlefield where many players criticize the grenade launcher weapon attachment, calling it "the noob tube" because it is widely considered a misused and "cheap" attachment. See also Around Wikia's network Random Wiki
Howard Hughes and His Larger-Than-Life Dream Machine, the Spruce Goose Howard Hughes' at the controls of his H-4 Hercules troop transport plane, the "Spruce Goose," November 1947. J.R. Eyerman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Not published in LIFE. Howard Hughes at the controls of his H-4 Hercules troop transport plane, the "Spruce Goose," November 1947. Industrialist, record-setting aviator, movie mogul, recluse — Howard Hughes was one of the most accomplished and mysterious figures America has ever produced . . . and, in the end, one of the most pitiable. An almost preposterously wealthy and dashing figure of the 1930s, Hughes was an engineering prodigy who, even as a young boy growing up in Texas, pushed the proverbial envelope. In 1916, when he was 11, he built the first radio transmitter ever used in Houston. He was forever tinkering with engines and electrical devices, re-designing and making them more efficient, more powerful, more useful, better. By the time he was in his early 20s, he had discovered another lucrative talent, and was living the high life in Los Angeles, producing movies. And in everything he did, whether backing films or flying and engineering fast (and faster, and faster) planes, Hughes was a hands-on kind of guy. When contracted by the U.S. government in the mid-1940s to build a military transport plane, he responded in his usual modest style and set about creating the H-4 Hercules, a massive wooden plane later famously dubbed the “Spruce Goose” which would, when completed, be the largest flying machine ever built. (The plane was actually made of birch, not spruce: the contract required that the aircraft be built of “non-strategic materials” during the war. But the catchy nickname — which Hughes always hated — stuck.) Despite its enormous size, the Hercules was meant to be flown with a crew of only three people. Its planned “cargo,” meanwhile, was beyond impressive: up to 750 fully equipped military troops, or one 35-ton M4 Sherman tank. “I want to be remembered for only one thing,” the billionaire once said, “and that’s my contribution to aviation.” Before long, however, his contributions — as well as his integrity and his honesty — would be severely questioned by elected officials who never had much use for the flamboyant Hughes. In 1947, for example, he was compelled to testify before a Senate committee led by Sen. Owen Brewster (R-Maine). Brewster effectively accused Hughes — at the time, the head of TWA, in addition to his myriad other projects and businesses — of misusing $40 million in government funds during the development of two planes: the Hughes Aircraft XF-11 and the H-4 (the Spruce Goose), neither of which was ever successfully delivered to the government. During the hearings, which ended inconclusively, Hughes stirringly defended his work on the H-4, in particular: “The Hercules was a monumental undertaking,” he testified. “It is the largest aircraft ever built . . . I put the sweat of my life into this thing. I have my reputation rolled up in it and I have stated several times that if it’s a failure I’ll probably leave this country and never come back. And I mean it.” Brewster claimed that the H-4 was a classic and disgraceful boondoggle and would never, ever fly. On November 2, 1947, for a few minutes at least, Hughes famously proved him wrong. With co-pilot Dave Grant and assorted engineers and mechanics, Hughes flew the monumental plane (its wingspan of 320 feet remains the largest in history) for about a mile, roughly 70 feet above Long Beach Harbor. The plane never flew again — but Hughes felt vindicated. All the controversy and political palaver around the plane’s construction, meanwhile, obscured something about the H-4 that, to this day, is often overlooked in any discussion of the mammoth aircraft: namely, its sheer, sleek aesthetic power. Putting aside for a moment the technical complexities and challenges inherent in designing a flying vessel the size of the Hercules, one can do a lot worse than focus on the beauty of the thing. As an object, the Hercules looks like something Brancusi might sculpt — if the great Romanian artist dabbled in aeronautics and wished to create a work 220 feet long, 25 feet high and 30 feet wide. Here, offers a series of photos — many of which never ran in LIFE — of the largest “flying boat” ever built and the aviation genius who designed and flew her. As the years passed, Hughes retreated deeper into a severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, drug abuse and the debilitating, deadening isolation for which he later became so famous. By the time of his lonely death in April 1976, he had devolved from a rakish, even debonair man of the world into a skeletal wreck. Postmortem x-rays revealed hypodermic needles (likely used to inject codeine, to help manage his chronic pain) embedded in Hughes’ arms. His six-foot, four-inch frame weighed roughly 90 pounds. His hair and nails had grown freakishly long. He was wholly and frighteningly unrecognizable. He was 70 years old. Related Topics: , , , , , , Powered by VIP Get every new post delivered to your Inbox. Join 6,460 other followers
RE: New version of Passwords in the Clear From: Rice, Ed (ProCurve) <ed.rice@hp.com> Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:02:24 -0600 Message-ID: <C91FD2C6C8E31445A2C55A27DFF493B3CB0680@G3W0072.americas.hpqcorp.net> To: <noah_mendelsohn@us.ibm.com>, "John Cowan" <cowan@ccil.org> Cc: "Vincent Quint" <Vincent.Quint@inrialpes.fr>, <www-tag@w3.org> Are you suggesting that if the server application is accessed via a VPN than it should be ok for the password to be transmitted without an Secure Socket? If that's the case, than anyone on the same VPN has access to the password as well, and since most vulnerabilities happen within the confines of the 'corporate' firewall.. I'm not sure that an adequate safeguard. The only possible exception I could see would be if you had only two computers on your network and they're together in a locked room. But then its outside of the scope of the world wide web so the finding doesn't apply. My 2c. -----Original Message----- Of noah_mendelsohn@us.ibm.com Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 9:21 AM To: John Cowan Cc: Vincent Quint; www-tag@w3.org Subject: Re: New version of Passwords in the Clear John Cowan writes: > Vincent Quint scripsit: > > Thanks to Ed, a new version of the draft finding "Passwords in the > > is available at: > > > > > This draft mentions HTTP basic authentication only obliquely; it > should make it clear that using it is an instance of I wonder whether the problem isn't the failure of the finding to more "clearly" define the phrase "in the clear". In fact, I think it's a rather subtle concept, because it's relative to who you think is doing the looking. We think of http basic being "in the clear" when used over ordinary TCP connections, but less so over SSL or other "encrypted" connections. Why? I think it's because we understand that, as the finding pretty much says, messages sent using HTTP basic without SSL wind up in a lot of places where a lot of people have the tools necessary to see them in their original form, i.e. as plain text. There are log viewers, proxy caches that can be searched, etc. It's assumed that many fewer people, if any, have the tools to crack digest authentication, so in that sense passwords sent using digest are in the clear for a much smaller community, and indeed we hope only for the intended recipient. Indeed, perspectives on what's 'in the clear' may change over time. I believe there was a time when if you said that you were using spread spectrum transmission techniques the military would have presumed you were using an advanced encrypted radio channel. Now we all have 802.11 receivers that readily "crack" at least one form of spread spectrum transmission. So, I wonder whether it would be worth more carefully defining what we mean by "in the clear"? =========SUGGESTED ROUGH DRAFT OF NEW SECTION ========================== 2. When is a transmission "In The Clear"? Computer messages are encoded at a variety of levels. For example, text may be encoded using Unicode, which in turn is represented using some transmission protocol, and ultimately transmitted or stored as electrical impulses, optical brightness levels, magnetic polarizations, etc. If you have the necessary equipment and are able to decode the encodings used, you can retrieve the information in a message. This finding concerns itself with assuring that certain messages, and in particular passwords transmitted in such messages, be safely hidden from those who are not intended to receive them. Definition: Accordingly, we say that a message or a password is "in the clear" if the representation used to transmit it is likely to be decodable by those other than the intended receiver. In particular, we observe that messages transmitted using HTTP over TCP (as opposed to HTTP over an encrypted channel such as SSL or TLS) tend to be decodable from message logs, from Web caches, by using packet sniffers, and with a wide variety of other commonly available tools and software libraries. Accordingly, this finding takes the position that, unless additional means are used to protect the content, any message sent using HTTP over (unencrypted) TCP should be presumed to be "in the clear", and thus vulnerable to unintended inspection. One common means to ensure that messages or portions of messages are not in the clear is through use of encryption, by which we mean encodings that are easy to decode when certain particular information such as a key is available, but impractically difficult to decode otherwise. Encryption may be used to encode a message prior to submission for transmission, or may be achieved as a byproduct of using an encrypted channel (which typically only protects the message while it's in transit, as opposed to at the sender or receiver.) A message sent using encryption is viewed as being "not in the clear" to the extent that the encryption used is sufficiently difficult to decode by unintended receivers, I.e. that its methods a robust against decoding without a key, and that key distribution is done sufficiently carefully that unintended recipients are unlikely to obtain the necessary keys. With that in hand, I think the admonitions to "not solicit" passwords in the clear and not "transmit passwords in the clear" take on some teeth. This definition allows us to do what I think John is asking, which is to talk a bit more about basic vs. digest authentication, and to explain the senses in which each is or isn't "in the clear", when transmitted using ordinary HTTP over TCP vs HTTP over SSL or TLS. Noah Mendelsohn IBM Corporation One Rogers Street Cambridge, MA 02142 Received on Wednesday, 15 November 2006 18:03:01 GMT
Tough few days for Serena Williams WIMBLEDON, England -- Over the past year, after losing to Virginie Razzano in the first round of the French Open in 2012, there have been precious few moments on the court when Serena Williams hasn't been in control. She is 74-3 since, with Wimbledon, US Open and French Open singles titles to her name. Add to that a Wimbledon doubles title, Olympic gold in singles and doubles, a year-end championship, a return to the world No. 1 ranking and a current 31-match winning streak, and there is no question who the overwhelming favorite is to win Wimbledon, the tournament Williams has already won five times. Jon Buckle/Getty Images Will the off-court distractions affect Serena Williams at Wimbledon? Those numbers don't lie. If anything, they underserve the explanation of not only what Williams in the past year has done to the women's tour, because they don't measure intimidation and aura and intangibles. Williams is the best player on every surface in her sport. Her chief rivals are not named Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, but Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. Control is the athlete's best friend, the security blanket, the domain where everything makes sense. It is the athlete's language. Whether it is controlling the point or controlling the line of scrimmage, the best players believe that control is always a choice. It is a mindset that works during a rally but not always in life. In her universe, Williams took control of Wimbledon a day before the tournament started by pouring a bucket of ice water on controversies that have overshadowed protecting her championship, hot coals of her own creation that have been roasting under her feet. She was cornered by a dangerously naïve world view expressed in a now-infamous Rolling Stone article in which she implied the 16-year-old victim in the Steubenville rape case was partly responsible in the tragedy, which led to Williams' apology to the teenager and her family. In the same article, Williams commented, apparently without naming names, on Sharapova's romance with Grigor Dimitrov, a particularly hypocritical moment for someone who, as she said in her news conference Sunday, deeply values the privacy of her personal life. Williams has been linked romantically with her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, but neither has confirmed the extent of their relationship. On Saturday, Sharapova responded very sharply. "Obviously, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Serena and what she's achieved on the court. You can never take anything away from that. … I just think she should be talking about her accomplishments, her achievements, rather than everything else that's just getting attention and controversy. "If she wants to talk about something personal, maybe she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend that was married and is getting a divorce and has kids. She has so much in her life, many positives, and I think that's what it should be about." To add to Williams' trouble, she won't be defending her Wimbledon doubles crown because her sister Venus withdrew from the tournament with an injured back, making the last week a startlingly messy way to defend a title. Control is to understand when it can be applied. Perhaps Sharapova didn't accept Williams' apology, but that isn't so important. Perhaps the damage is irreparable. Or maybe Sharapova needs time to recover from the insult. Or maybe there was never anything to the relationship worth saving. That part of the communication belongs to Sharapova. "You know, I'm not really gonna comment on that, whether I'm disturbed or not," Williams said when asked if she was disturbed that Sharapova may not have accepted her apology. "I know she also said that I should definitely focus on the tennis here, and I feel like that is another thing I can definitely take her advice on." The truth is that it doesn't matter if Sharapova accepted the apology. What matters is whether it was sincere (which is already being debated in the Sharapova camp) and whether she took some measure of responsibility for a thunderstorm that didn't need to be. The real issue isn't whether Williams needs to be more careful with reporters, as she said. Nor is it whether Sharapova is upset or whether they meet in the final or whether Williams doesn't win and traces her defeat to the distractions of the past couple of weeks. The real issue is Williams' comments regarding the Steubenville case, and the fact that her first instinct seemed to be to deny she had even said the quotes attributed to her. Williams, though, took the correct path and apologized last week. There were even moments Sunday during her news conference in which the old Williams defiance and imposition of blame on others resurfaced. She talked about needing to have all the information on a subject before talking, but then said she also needs to have her "guard up at all times," convinced that the writer deceived her. Finally, she stood down to rise up by saying, "I take full responsibility," and the tone of the afternoon changed from defiant to someone who realized trying to assume a position of power did not work to her advantage. When the Rolling Stone reporter, Stephen Rodrick, said he had the interview on tape, Williams regrouped. Sometimes the way to redemption is to be defiant -- in your retreat and contrition. Not being in control is a foreign impulse to a professional athlete. They are trained that their superiority and preparation in pressure situations will provide its own solution, a position reinforced by the constant tripe on the sports pages. Williams, in her quotes, if not in her mind, applied sports thinking to real life: If the victim's parents had done more, and if the victim herself had acted differently and if she hadn't put herself in that position, the outcome would've been different. It was the same Sunday, the alpha figure in control, the person in the position of power, even of her apology. "For me, I always stand up, but I'm the first person to apologize," she said. "I'm the first person to reach out to individuals and people I feel that something may have hurt them or something may have been misconstrued." Maybe it was just the fear talking, the fear that we all have, to make sense of the senseless and the senselessly violent, a self-defense to keep the horrible from happening to us, to say if we were ever in a violent, powerless situation we would, like athletes, find a way to survive. And if not, it was due to lack of preparation. That's the athlete's brain, but life isn't like that. Maybe it was fear of the reality that we all have far less control than we think we do. In real life, these sports analogies are grotesque, naturally. Williams framed rape, a woman's worst nightmare, within a narrow athletic mindset. Williams intrinsically seemed incapable of understanding how a loss of control is possible, how it can be taken away, because it rarely happens to her in her occupation, which is still just a game with rules, and in the process fell into the pattern of blaming the victim. Instead of choosing her words or her reporters more carefully, the real challenge for Williams is to make sure she's seeing the world through all of its shades of power, and that includes sometimes being powerless against violence. "For me, I take full responsibility I definitely wanted to apologize to the family," she said. "They've been through so much. In talking to them and learning the whole story, you learn just how strong the young girl is, how strong she's been able to make me through this process, which I think is incredible." There was no clean way out, except to stand down and admit she was wrong, and to be better for it. If she did, and was sincere, there is honor in that, too. Related Content Around the Web
Take the 2-minute tour × Problem: This console app calls a long running webpage hosted on Azure twice. I want it to call it only once. The console app fails with a caught exception: The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a receive. so question If I call the page from Chrome, it runs once (as expected) public class ExtendedWebClient : WebClient public int Timeout { get; set; } protected override WebRequest GetWebRequest(Uri address) HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)base.GetWebRequest(address); if (request != null) request.Timeout = Timeout; request.KeepAlive = false; request.ProtocolVersion = HttpVersion.Version10; return request; public ExtendedWebClient() Timeout = 1000000; // in ms.. the standard is 100,000 class Program static void Main(string[] args) var taskUrl = "http://secret.net/SendWeeklyEmails.aspx"; // create a webclient and issue an HTTP get to our url using (ExtendedWebClient httpRequest = new ExtendedWebClient()) var output = httpRequest.DownloadString(taskUrl); catch (Exception ex) Console.WriteLine("Exception was: " + ex.Message); share\|improve this question @smarx - how did you find that duplicate? Just interested – Exitos Jun 24 '11 at 6:20 Can you run fiddler and monitor the traffic to see whats going on? – Exitos Jun 24 '11 at 6:20 @Pete2k I read everything with the "azure" tag, so I'd just seen it. :) – smarx Jun 25 '11 at 4:35 I linked the duplicate in the question.. thought it may help people googling in the future, and tried to attack problem a different way. Appreciated everyone. Fiddler didn't work.. Wireshark gave me a clue to a possible keepalive by Chrome after 45secs. – Dave Mateer Jun 27 '11 at 4:11 1 Answer 1 up vote 0 down vote accepted Simple answer - I don't believe this client calls the page twice! If your call is long running and Azure doesn't allow you to do long-polling, then you will need to rearchitect this app so that you have separate calls for starting and then progress monitoring this "SendWeeklyEmails" task. You could even do this using your command line client code, instead of using the web app. share\|improve this answer Am going to close the question - yes a rearchitect as a console app is the way forward. Thanks. – Dave Mateer Jul 10 '11 at 7:13 Your Answer
Take the 2-minute tour × I have a DTD and I have a text where I can identify different structures. I need to code the text accoding to the DTD structure (elements/attributes). I wonder if there is some robust support in Python 2.6 to facilitate this task. Any suggestions about how to tackle the problem? share\|improve this question 1 Answer 1 if you can push your text into a dictionary with the elements/attributes you need, than you can use one of the solutions suggested here, to transform the dict to XML. Is this what you need? share\|improve this answer Your Answer
Take the 2-minute tour × I have had a Patriot Torqz 128gb SSD for a little over a year. It never gave me any trouble until last week, when I returned to the office after about 30 minutes to find Windows hung. After multiple different attempts and strategies, I was never able to recover. I pulled the drive and put it in a USB external enclosure. I can now access it and recover almost all of my files. The most important file, however, is a 3.2GB backup of all my e-mails over the past couple years, and every time I try to copy this file off the SSD, it hangs at the same location (about 940MB into the copy). The most important thing to me is this particular file. I would gladly consider the drive a loss if I could get this file back intact. Is this possible? If so, how? share\|improve this question I have had this too for over a year. I've managed to avoid the spot, but once I hit it, my system freezes (that's on Linux and Windows, BTW). I'd consider the file lost. Better save the rest while it still works – sehe May 23 '11 at 15:34 What format is your mail backup? Plain text? Outlook PST? Or ? – Mark Johnson May 25 '11 at 20:56 @Mark: It is a PST – keithwarren7 Jul 11 '11 at 0:36 2 Answers 2 I presume you've tried chkdsk to see if the filesystem is in a consistent state? You might try booting a Live CD/DVD flavor of Linux such as Knoppix...you'll at least be able to see what errors are being generated at the SATA level. Also, you can try try recovering byte ranges of the file with dd. As ultrasawblade points out, there are variants / wrapper scripts to automate the process (see the linked article). You're probably not getting the whole file back, but you can maybe get most of it back. Hopefully most of it is better than none of it. The Unstoppable Copier that music2myear mentions sounds like a way to go if you want to stay with a native Windows Solution. SSD Data Recovery is a Black Art, it's expensive when it's even possible. However, if your data is worth enough to you, you might consider going that route. Definitely check with the manufacturer to see who they recommend, if anybody. I think all the details about how the logical addresses are mapped to physical addresses are proprietary and vary by manufacturer. You might take the Indilinx SSD Status Tool for a spin and see if it turns anything up. You could try upgrading the firmware if you're not at the latest rev, too, but I'd exhaust all other options first. Since you are trying to recover an Outlook PST file, once you've gotten as much of the file back as you're going to get, you're going to want to make a copy of it and turn the Inbox Repair Tool loose on a copy as music2myear suggests. share\|improve this answer Use dd_rescue instead. It doesn't stop when it encounters an error. – ultrasawblade May 25 '11 at 20:22 Use Unstoppable Copier http://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=29 to recover the file and then the Inbox Repair tool (scanpst.exe) to repair the PST. share\|improve this answer Your Answer
Take the 2-minute tour × 1. I was wondering as image formats, what pdf (eps, ps) and djvu are classified into, raster image, vector graphic image? 2. I think pdf (eps, ps) and djvu can all contain both raster image and vector graphic image, so are they hybrid image? share\|improve this question 1 Answer 1 up vote 1 down vote accepted PDF's are largely comprised of vector elements and AI treats them as vector (e.g., you can open/edit/save). Yes, they can contain raster elements, but it treats them as vectors and attempts to scale them as it does embedded fonts and illustrations. Call it a hybrid if you will, but the raster support is more a concession than original intent. share\|improve this answer Thanks! How about djvu? – Tim Jun 11 '11 at 12:06 Sorry, not familiar with djvu, but from the wikipedia page, it sounds like a pdf alternative, so the same vector-style scaling should apply. – hyperslug Jun 12 '11 at 23:18 Your Answer
WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio Now Playing Study: Many Could Face Obstacles In Voter ID Laws A new report finds that millions of potential voters in states that require photo ID at the polls live more than 10 miles from the office that issue IDs. Nearly half a million of these people don't have access to a car or other vehicle. With the new requirements, "it certainly looks and feels like a poll tax," says one voter advocate.
When you print a document that contains lots of raster data, the generated EMF (Enhanced MetaFile) spool file may become very large, resulting in printing process decreases in performance. This is more noticeable with higher resolutions. NOTE: Microsoft Word documents and Adobe .pdf files may contain lots of raster data, causing a 1 MB documents to generate a 500 MB EMF spool file. This behavior occurs because the GDI (Graphics Device Interface) does not compress EMF-related raster data. To workaround this behavior, bypass EMF spooling: 1. Open the printer's Properties dialog. 2. Select the Advanced tab. 3. Check the Print directly to the printer radial button. 4. Press Apply and OK. NOTE: When you Print directly to the printer, print processor features, like N-up, Watermark, Booklet printing, Driver collation, and Scale-to-fit, are disabled.
Unwanted at home, free to strike again FLUSHING, N.Y. — Qian Wu thought the man who brutally attacked her was gone forever. She was sure that Huang Chen, a Chinese citizen who slipped into America on a ship and stayed in the country illegally, would be deported as soon as he got out of jail for choking, punching, and pointing a knife at her in 2006. But China refused to take Chen back. So, after jailing Chen on and off for three years in Texas, immigration officials believed they were out of options and did what they have done with thousands of criminals like him. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below They quietly let him go. Nobody warned Wu, or prosecutors, or the public. The petite, 46-year-old woman learned Chen was still here when he stormed into her unlocked apartment one day in January 2010 and announced, “I bet you didn’t expect to see me.” Terrified, she called the police, and he fled. But for two weeks, Chen was free to stalk her and finally, to catch her as she hurried home with milk and bread one afternoon. Chen then finished what he had started earlier, bashing Wu on the head with a hammer and slashing her with a knife. As she lay crumpled in a grimy stairwell, he ripped out her heart and a lung and fled with his macabre trophies. “She lived in horror in the last two weeks of her life,” said Yongwei Guo, Wu’s widower, through an interpreter in New York. “She knew there was somebody coming to kill her and we asked the police for protection, and also the government, but they did nothing.” Wu is just one casualty of an immigration system cloaked in a blanket of secrecy that the Founding Fathers could not have imagined, a blanket that isn’t lifted even when life is at risk. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its sister agencies have emerged as the largest law enforcement network in the United States since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and they are increasingly dealing with criminals, but they play by very different rules than the local police, prosecutors, or even the FBI. A yearlong Globe investigation found the culture of secrecy can be deadly to Americans and foreigners alike: Immigration officials do not notify most crime victims when they release a criminal such as Chen, and they only notify local law enforcement on a case by case basis. And even though immigration officials have the power to try to hold dangerous people longer, that rarely occurs. The Globe also found that the pattern of secrecy extends to the treatment of immigrants who end up behind bars, though they have no criminal records. Foreigners in immigration detention have fewer rights than ordinary criminal suspects and limited ability to get word to the outside world about their plight. Even their names are kept secret, purportedly for their own protection, and many never get a public hearing to make their case. Taken together, the system produces a litany of consequences: A young Lynn woman with no criminal record died in immigration custody from a heart ailment without a chance to ask a judge for medical help; a father of five in Texas disappeared from his family for several days after he was detained; a Cuban man in a wheelchair languished for an extraordinary 14 years in immigration detention, invisible to the world outside. It is also a system in which — as Wu would learn in her final days of terror — Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, routinely releases dangerous detainees to the streets of America without warning the public. Over the past four years, immigration officials have largely without notice freed more than 8,500 detainees convicted of murder, rape, and other crimes, according to ICE’s own statistics, mainly because their home countries would not take them back. Deporting illegal immigrants requires more than simply putting them on an airplane to their own country. People being deported need travel papers — such as a passport like anyone else who travels abroad. If their native country refuses to issue the necessary papers , the United States cannot send deportees there. And the Supreme Court has said ICE cannot hold the immigrants forever; if immigration officials cannot deport them after six months, the court said, they should generally set the immigrants free. When the Globe requested the names of the released criminals under the Freedom of Information Act, federal immigration officials refused, saying it would be a “clearly unwarranted invasion” of the immigrants’ privacy. Officials said public interest in their names was “minimal” anyway. “In the absence of any identified public interest or explanation as to how the disclosure of the arrestees’ information will advance that interest, the personal privacy interests will prevail,” Matthew Chandler, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration, said in a written statement to the Globe. But a disturbing number of foreigners have been arrested after their release, including some for heinous crimes. Abel Arango, an armed robber who was released when his native Cuba wouldn’t take him back, shot and killed a Fort Myers, Fla., police officer who responded to a report of a loud fight between Arango and his girlfriend in 2008. Binh Thai Luc, an armed robber from Vietnam, couldn’t be deported either, so he was released. In March, he allegedly massacred five people in a San Francisco home. McCarthy Larngar, a Liberian national who served several years in prison for shooting and wounding a man in Rhode Island, was released in 2007 when Liberia would not take him back — even though a Boston immigration official had described him in court records as “a danger to the community.” After multiple brushes with the law, Larngar was arrested last year and charged with tying up and robbing a man and a woman in a bizarre kidnapping in Pawtucket. His lawyer said in court documents that he is not guilty, and he is now in a Rhode Island jail on a violation from an earlier crime. In New England, immigration officials have released as many as 10 convicted murderers since 2008. They include Hung Truong, a robber who repeatedly stabbed a bound and gagged 15-year-old Everett girl during a 1989 kidnapping that left the girl and her mother dead. Massachusetts released Truong on parole about 20 years into his life prison sentence in hopes that he would be deported to his native Vietnam in 2010. But ICE could not deport him because Vietnam has refused to accept deportees who came to the United States before 1995. Now, he’s back in prison after failing a drug test that was part of his release deal with the state Parole Board. As part of its investigation, the Globe filed more than 20 different public records requests to obtain more detailed information about the people held — and released — by the immigration system. Many requests were rejected or the responses were heavily censored, prompting the Globe to file a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in November. But this much is clear from the available documents: Federal officials are releasing people that they regard as dangerous and doing little to force recalcitrant countries to take their citizens back. More than 20 governments from Jamaica to China routinely block deportation of their citizens, even dodging calls from US immigration officers seeking to expedite the process, and critics say they suffer few consequences. Some, such as US Representative Ted Poe, a Texas Republican, argue that the United States should stop accepting diplomats from countries who do not repatriate their citizens, but the State Department has shown little interest, preferring to work through diplomatic channels to deport immigrants. Federal officials have refused to issue visas to only one nation, tiny Guyana in South America. Even when foreigners cannot be deported, immigration officials, under a 2001 Supreme Court ruling, could seek to hold them longer on the grounds that they are a danger to the public. Immigration officials say the legal standard for holding an immigrant longer for that reason is very high, limiting their ability to use it. They point out that immigrants are detained for civil immigration violations and not crimes. But the Globe found that immigration officials almost never try to declare a detainee dangerous: In the past four years, immigration officials have released thousands of criminals, but court officials say they have handled only 13 cases seeking to hold immigrants longer because they are dangerous. Too dangerous to release Immigration agent Earl DeLong and his colleagues wasted little time in trying to put Shafiqul Islam on a plane back to his native Bangladesh two years ago. As soon as he finished his prison term in New York for taking pictures of himself sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl when he was 17, immigration agents called the Bangladeshi consulate in Manhattan. Initially, the Bangladeshis were reassuring and a consular official, Mamunur Rashid, said he sent the agent’s request for clearance to deport Islam to authorities in Dhaka. But as time dragged on, the cooperation waned. Whenever DeLong and others called the consulate over the next few months, Rashid was increasingly unavailable. The receptionist said he was not in. He was on vacation or out to lunch. Sometimes, a person at the consulate answered the phone and just hung up. Other times, the phone rang but nobody answered. “Spoke to a person at the consulate four different times, never able to speak with Mamunur Rashid,” one agent wrote in a secret federal log that became public as part of a lawsuit. US officials had seen stalling tactics from Bangladesh before: The impoverished Asian nation typically took several months to provide passports for criminals being deported last year — if they provided the documents at all, according to federal statistics. Foreign countries are understandably reluctant to accept criminals, especially those such as Islam who were raised in the United States, and they have little incentive to do so since the United States rarely takes action against them, such as refusing to issue them visas. State Department officials acknowledge that they try to avoid reaching the point of sanctions with nations like Bangladesh, but insist that they do apply diplomatic pressure. “It is a matter we take very seriously, and consistently raise it at high levels with all countries where this is a concern,” said department spokesman Ken Chavez. Hoping Bangladesh would clear Islam’s return, US immigration officials told Islam in April 2011 that they were going to continue to hold him even though more than six months had passed since Islam’s sexual abuse sentence ended. Islam responded with a lawsuit, charging that immigration could not continue to detain him because it was unlikely that Bangladesh would take him back. In the lawsuit, he pointedly noted that the consulate appeared to be dodging the immigration agent’s calls. Islam’s lawsuit made public a host of immigration documents that are normally kept secret. The documents revealed both immigration officials’ concerns that Islam is dangerous and their frustrating attempts to contact the Bangladeshis. But there is no evidence in the file that immigration officials requested an immigration court hearing to determine if they could continue to hold him as a threat to public safety. Instead, the records show that on Oct. 3, 2011, immigration officials gave up and released Islam. Seven weeks later, Islam was at Lois Decker’s door. Everyone loved the retired school lunch lady, a friendly 73-year-old grandmother who taught Sunday school and lived her whole life in Hillsdale, N.Y., a rural hamlet just across the border from the Massachusetts line. Decker raised five children, but she lived alone in the house her daughter bought for her on Cold Water Street. Sheriff’s deputies say they are unsure what drew Islam to Decker’s house that day, but family members said she had planned to rent out an apartment in the basement. Islam had a construction job in the Berkshires. Hours after Islam visited Decker’s house, police arrested him in a traffic stop in a nearby city. He had stolen Decker’s white Hyundai, crashed it, and then tried to steal the truck of good Samaritans who had stopped to help him. He finally stole yet another truck, but did not get far. When police arrested him, he was spattered with blood, and had Decker’s credit card in the truck. Sheriff’s deputies discovered a gruesome scene at Lois Decker’s house. The woman had been strangled, court records showed, and her face and throat were slashed. Officials found Islam’s semen on a sheet in the house, though officials did not find bodily evidence that Decker was sexually assaulted. Columbia County officials were incensed and demanded to know why ICE had let such a dangerous person go free. They had convicted the high school dropout on sex abuse charges in 2008. Now he’s serving 20 years to life for Decker’s murder. Paul Czajka, the silver-haired district attorney and a former judge in Columbia County, said immigration officials should have argued that Islam was dangerous enough to hold longer. “He was a child abuser and registered sex offender, therefore by definition he was a danger to the community,” said Czajka. “It would not have been a difficult hearing to make that case.” But ICE spokesman Ross Feinstein said the agency had little choice but to release criminals such as Islam and Chen because the courts have made it difficult to hold even mentally ill immigrants longer without new criminal charges against them. “For this reason, the agency’s ability to utilize the continued detention of removable aliens . . . is extremely limited,” Feinstein said. Lois Decker’s grieving relatives say they’ve been told very little about how Islam gained his release and was able to kill her. Until a Globe reporter contacted the family, they had no idea that Islam had filed a federal lawsuit to get out of jail. “It’s crazy to me that we don’t know this information,” said Decker’s daughter Diane Demarest, a veterinarian who lives in Oregon. Some US and Bangladeshi officials involved with Islam’s case did not even realize he had killed Decker until contacted by the Globe. Gail Y. Mitchell, an assistant US attorney in New York who defended ICE against Islam’s lawsuit to get out of jail, said the case ended because immigration officials released him. She would not say why they didn’t pursue the case and did not know that Islam had gone on to murder Decker. Bangladesh consul M. Shahedul Islam said he did not know that Islam had killed Decker either. “This guy?” the consul said, raising his eyebrows and pointing to four passport-sized photos of Islam in a file with letters from US immigration officials asking for help with deportation. The Bangladeshi consulate said Bangladesh did not approve Islam for return because they could not verify he was a citizen of their country. “We always cooperate with Homeland Security,” said the consul, who is not related to Shafiqul Islam, and he apologized if his staff hung up on ICE agents. But, for Decker’s family, the conflicting explanations don’t help. “How could someone not have stopped him along the way?” asked Demarest. Light sentences for heavy crimes The uncertainties of the deportation process have another little known effect: Some foreigners get reduced prison sentences when they are convicted of crimes because judges believe they are sure to be deported after their sentence is over. Federal immigration officials warn against the practice, saying that deportation is not a 100 percent certainty even for the worst offender. No one knows that better than the man Antonino Rodrigues allegedly shot between the eyes this year. Rodrigues, a convicted drug dealer in the country illegally from Cape Verde, was facing almost four years in federal prison in October 2010 for possessing a stolen, loaded weapon. New Bedford police had caught him: They knew Rodrigues had outstanding arrest warrants and they were pleased when a detective spotted him bar-hopping on the city’s south side. When Rodrigues appeared for sentencing before US District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock in Boston for the latest in a string of convictions, federal guidelines called for 37 to 46 months in prison. But defense lawyer Syrie Fried argued that Rodrigues deserved a lighter punishment because he was going to deported anyway. She told the judge Rodrigues had “no prospect of release back into our society.” Woodlock went along, giving Rodrigues just two years in prison with credit for time served, clearing the way for Rodrigues to finish his prison sentence in March 2011. “Given the defendant’s near certainty of deportation, the sentence is sufficient but not greater than necessary,” the judge ruled. But Cape Verde officials did not take Rodrigues back, so immigration officials released him late last year. The Cape Verde consulate in Boston did not respond to questions about why they did not accept Rodrigues. On June 17, 2012, Rodrigues resurfaced outside an apartment on New Bedford’s Walnut Street, where police say he shot Monzes Goncalves in the forehead with a .22-caliber gun. Goncalves miraculously survived and identified Rodrigues as the shooter. Rodrigues denied shooting Goncalves and turned himself in to police because he heard they were looking for him. Fried, the lawyer who helped Rodrigues win a shorter prison sentence in 2010, said she was surprised to learn that her client was still in the United States. She said she did not stay in touch with him because, typically, foreigners who are convicted of serious crimes leave the country. “I was under the impression . . . that he was going to go straight from serving his jail sentence and be deported,” she said. The fact is, Rodrigues’ case is not unusual. In Massachusetts over the past four years, the Parole Board has granted early release to 22 immigrants convicted of second-degree murder or manslaughter, several times stating that their willingness to free the prisoner was influenced by his expected departure from the United States. Some prisoners told the board they planned to leave voluntarily for a job in Sierra Leone or a place to live in Cambodia. However, at least five of the 22 were still here as of July, and, it’s unclear what happened to the other 17. One of the five still here under state supervision is Hung Truong, the Vietnamese national who helped murder an Everett mother and her daughter. Truong had been disciplined more than 30 times in prison, but the board said his behavior had improved — and Truong was possibly leaving anyway. “It is the judgment of the board that he should be paroled [to federal immigration officials] for possible deportation,” wrote the parole board in its unanimous vote on Sept. 24, 2010. More than two years later, Truong is still here—in MCI-Shirley, a Massachusetts prison, after flunking a drug test he was required to take as a condition of his release. No one has to tell Qian Wu’s widower about immigrants getting light sentences for heavy crimes. Yongwei Guo’s wife was killed by an illegal immigrant who prosecutors said was initially sentenced to only 30 days in prison for attacking her the first time. Immigration officials ultimately detained Huang Chen off and on for more than three years in hopes of deporting him, but it wasn’t enough. “They are not taking responsibility,” Guo said. “They can’t let such a dangerous man free merely because China won’t take him.” No warning for victims Long after her assailant went off to prison, Qian Wu kept an eye out for him in her Flushing, N.Y., neighborhood, scanning the crush of pedestrians flowing into the markets, the take-out joints, and the massage parlors nearby. She quizzed the fruit vendors on the street. Nobody had seen Huang Chen. Nonetheless, Wu kept a restraining order out against him — just in case. Wu had a tough exterior, but those close to her said her attitude masked her fear. She was thin and walked with a limp from injuries she suffered in a car accident years ago. She hardly spoke English, and she had fled political repression in China. And until she remarried in 2008, Wu was a woman on her own, running an employment service for immigrants. “She was disabled, so she had to be tougher than the others,” said Guo. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country at a detention center in El Paso, federal officials were trying to figure out what to do with Chen, a man who could seem normal one moment and mentally unbalanced the next. Immigration officials continued to hold Chen for another year after his 30-day sentence ran out, holding out hope that China would take him back. When that didn’t happen, an immigration agent dropped Chen off at a local homeless shelter, in April 2008. But just two months later, El Paso police arrested Chen after he punched two men in a plaza downtown. Then, just days after Chen got out of jail for the assaults, police arrested him again on a disorderly conduct charge for attacking a man on a bicycle right in front of them. Police described him as “a danger” to himself and others in their report. Chen returned to the El Paso detention center to await deportation, but again China refused to take him back, so in October 2009, immigration officials again released him. This time, he made it clear that he wanted to get back to New York. He blamed Qian Wu for his troubles, court records later showed, and he knew exactly where to find her: Apartment 3F in a building on 40th Road. When Chen walked through Wu’s unlocked front door for the first time since 2006, she ran downstairs and begged neighbors to call 911. She asked police and prosecutors for help with a new restraining order, since hers had expired, but never managed to get one. Guo warned his wife to stay inside. One desperate night, Guo recalled, he asked Wu what they should do, and she responded bitterly. “She said we can just wait to die,” he said. Most victims, including Wu, have no idea that the criminal who victimized them has been released, based on a Globe analysis of ICE’s little-known victim notification program and the number of immigrants released from its custody. Federal immigration statistics show ICE has released or deported more than 1 million criminals over the past decade, but they have made just 1,000 to 3,000 victim notifications. Currently, only 336 crime victims are enrolled in ICE’s program, compared with 2.2 million victims in the Justice Department’s electronic notification system in 2010 alone. Immigration officials say they want more crime victims to sign up for their system, but it’s up to the victims to register. Wu’s widower was unsure whether she had been offered the opportunity to enroll, though he knows she would have been interested. The Queens district attorney’s office, which handled Chen’s attacks on Wu, said they were not aware of Chen’s release. ICE officials say they are under no obligation to contact law enforcement officials when civil immigration detainees are released, though they do so when officials request it. In Flushing, court records show, Chen stalked the panicked Wu for days. He moved into the same building, a few doors down. He tried to reach through the metal gate on her door and unlock it. He even took the $200 her husband gave him to go away. On Jan. 26, 2010, security camera footage showed Chen leaving Wu’s building, his green sweater soaked in blood. Police arrested him at a local hospital seeking treatment for a hand wound. Chen, now 50, made no secret in court that he wanted to kill Wu as revenge for his long stint in prison. Justice Richard L. Buchter called the murder “cold-blooded and grotesque,” and especially senseless because Chen was not supposed to be here at all. “I just — I am just disturbed by what you told me regarding the fact that this person should have been deported and was not,” said Buchter, who sentenced Chen to 27 to 29 years in prison. Wu’s widower has filed claims against ICE and multimillion-dollar lawsuits against the New York City Police Department and Chen. From his offices in Times Square, lawyer George W. Clarke said Guo’s case is one of the toughest he’s had in years, because immigration officials provide so little information. They ask him questions he said they should answer, such as when they released Chen, and refuse to provide documents. “They’re not telling us anything,” Clarke said. Later, he added: “I think it’s just the immigration service doesn’t want to be bothered or exposed to liability for releasing people who may be guilty of crimes and who have no right to be here, such as Huang Chen.” Officials at the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to e-mails and phone calls about Chen’s case. The whole experience has shaken the Rev. Bill Morton, an El Paso priest who gave Chen a cleaning job when he got out of detention and sometimes drove him to meetings with ICE. Over time, he became concerned about Chen’s mental health and, looking back, he wonders why immigration officials didn’t express similar concerns, or warn volunteers like him. “I’m totally pro-immigrant, but I’m certainly not pro-ignorance or indifference where you’re exposing criminal people or insane people on an unknowing public,” Morton said. “That’s not helping immigrants or the US or the person themselves.”
Deinonychus (genus Deinonychus), Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.long-clawed carnivorous dinosaurs that flourished in western North America during the Early Cretaceous Period (145.5 million to 99.6 million years ago). A member of the dromaeosaur group, Deinonychus was bipedal, walking on two legs, as did all theropod dinosaurs. Its principal killing devices were large sicklelike talons 13 cm (5 inches) long on the second toe of each foot. The slender, outstretched tail was enclosed in bundles of bony rods. These extensions of the tail vertebrae were ideal for helping the animal maintain balance as it ran or attacked prey. Deinonychus was the model for the “raptor” dinosaurs of the motion picture Jurassic Park (1993). The name raptor has come to apply to dromaeosaurs in general as a contraction for Velociraptor, a genus of dromaeosaur that was considerably smaller than Deinonychus. However, the term raptor (from the Greek word for “seize” or “grab”) is more correctly applied to birds such as hawks and eagles, which grasp prey with their talons. Deinonynchus measured about 2.5 metres (8 feet) or perhaps more in length and weighed 45–68 kg (100–150 pounds). It was evidently a fast, agile predator whose large brain enabled it to perform relatively complex movements during the chase and kill. Dromaeosaurs and troodontids are the closest known relatives of Archaeopteryx and existing birds. These dinosaurs share with birds a number of features, including unusually long arms and hands and a wrist that is able to flex sideways. Such adaptations apparently helped these dinosaurs to grasp prey and later enabled birds to generate an effective flight stroke.
Social Fortress cofounder Adam Ghetti wants to protect us all from our social-media-loving selves. His company, which launched at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference today in San Francisco, makes it so that no matter how you communicate—Facebook, Gmail, Google+, or Twitter—your stuff can never be seen by anyone but the intended recipients. Communications are encrypted so electronic eavesdroppers just see a bunch of bits. There's a key difference between virtual private networks and other security tools: If you send a Facebook message, the copy stored on Facebook's servers will be encrypted, too, and even Facebook can't decode it. The company says that it is targeting both enterprises and consumers and is free for consumers to use. There is a catch: Your friends and family have to install a viewer to read your encrypted messages—similar to the way Adobe Acrobat works. It's unlikely to become very popular with consumers because of that. But it's true potential is with the enterprise. Businesses can install it on all the devices employees use and then never need worry that an employee will be snooped on. In June, Social Fortress raised $2 million from Sig Mosley, an Atlanta-based venture capitalist, and other investors. Ghetti said that it is already being tested by several large, security-conscious enterprises. It's an interesting concept. Services that allow us to protect and control our own data is something the average person just might want, if a startup can make it painless to use.
In Search Of Joe Sixpack Surveys, Citizens, and the Making of a Mass Public By Sarah E. Igo Harvard University Press; 398pp; $35 Reviews below) Editor's Review The Good A fascinating glimpse at the world of social science research and scientific polling. The Bad The academic writing style is occasionally a tough slog. The Bottom Line A rewarding look at the evolution of an information revolution. With all of the data now available on consumers' wants and needs, it's hard to imagine that less than a century ago market research consisted of little more than knowing the number of widgets your business sold in Muncie. Then, in the years after World War I, commerce was revolutionized by the dawning of modern social science research and scientific polling techniques. A fascinating glimpse of the upheaval that forever altered the way Americans see themselves, sell products, and operate election campaigns may be found in The Averaged American: Surveys, Citizens, and the Making of a Mass Public by University of Pennsylvania historian Sarah E. Igo. It was a rocky road to social transformation. In the early years of scientific research, Igo writes, it took a lot of work "to persuade business owners...that collecting information about their customers' buying habits was worthwhile." Many did not believe that citizens would answer prying questions about personal habits or political views from strangers knocking on their doors. And a large number of skeptics, she observes, did not "trust the assembled answers as either trustworthy or true." Igo, a rising star among American historians, presents detailed analyses of three milestones in the emerging field of survey research: Robert and Helen Lynd's best-selling Middletown studies of 1929 and 1937, which dissected the lives of residents of an unnamed, average town in Middle America (Muncie, Ind.); the creation by George Gallup and Elmo Roper of the first public opinion polls in 1935; and Alfred Kinsey's shocking sexual-behavior reports of 1948 and 1953. The key for the survey-research industry was defining "the average American." That's the everyman (yes, in those days, marketers wanted to appeal to "the man of the house") who will buy your products or vote for your candidate. As Newsweek noted in 1947, "a shadowy figure [is] beginning to emerge...American majority man." But, as Igo wisely notes, the search for the average American intentionally excluded large swaths of the population. The Lynds' Middletown research excluded African Americans and immigrants, and Kinsey limited his sexual studies to Caucasians. Early polling often undersampled the poor, racial minorities, immigrants, Southerners, and others seen as less likely to purchase consumer goods or vote. "Even if [the portrait] was never particularly accurate or representative," Igo writes, the new typical Americans played "a vital role in consolidating the [concept of a] national public." The world of surveys spawned businesses that were designed to explain these average Americans and "the public" to those who would buy the data, from politicians to companies. Business Week in 1934 called the Lynds' work "a godsend to marketers." Gallup saw similarities in how people think "from politics to toothpaste." Roper predicted that the science of polling would become "a veritable gold mine if we could learn fast enough how to use it in all of its ramifications." It did become a gold mine for Roper, as he signed up companies that were eager to sell their products to average Americans. Among the first to embrace the new way of doing business: Ford Motor (F), Standard Oil, the American Meat Institute, the National Broadcasting Co., RCA Victor, and the Spiegel catalog company. As the polling business became more sophisticated, Gallup and others began to study gender, class, and geographical differences to help clients appeal to groups once "routinely ignored," including housewives, Southerners, and blue-collar workers. With the coming of the civil rights movement and the sexual revolution of the 1960s, "pollsters recalibrated their strong majoritarian frame, detecting new significance in how men and women, young and old, Latinos and Asian Americans assessed presidents and purchases differently." Niche markets and microtargeting became buzzwords on Madison Avenue. At the dawn of the 21st century, survey research is continuing to evolve. Using state-of-the-art technology, pollsters examine brain scans to determine which product pitches or political platforms cause flashes of neural activity. The growth of Internet polling has raised debates over the scientific validity of Web-based survey techniques. Polling, once considered a scandalous invasion of privacy, is now an accepted practice. More than 20% of Americans were polled at least once in the past year. As Igo aptly concludes, "we will continue to live in a world shaped by, and perceived through, survey data." By Richard S. Dunham The Good Business Issue blog comments powered by Disqus
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Harmoni Sandlin knows so much about her husband — that he likes licorice tea, for example, and mango She's comfortable enough to chat with him on her cellphone while she's using the restroom (sometimes she tells him; sometimes not). During the day, odd little occurrences remind her of him, and she makes a mental note of them. Thinks, I've got to share this with For his part, Tim Sandor knows much about his wife. He knows the faces she makes when she slips into photo booths. He knows her affinity for wordplay, indie bands and macaroni and cheese. He knows she's drug-free, a teetotaler, spiritual but not religious. Sadly, he knows that if he were to climb into his car and drive to her, it would take 37 hours. Harmoni lives in Las Vegas, and Tim lives in West Palm Beach. They first met 2 1/2 months ago in an online debate room. Now, they communicate in some way every day. They may e-mail, chat over the phone or exchange music and photographs. They've even talked about creating a calendar together (her poses would include a dominatrix-type shot of her in a Catholic school uniform, another perhaps as a cheerleader; he'd pose as a priest, he says, and a gritty farmer sitting on a They're at that point in their relationship where they've got pet names for one another — he's her Analog and she's his Apron — and yet they've never met face-to-face. Theirs is a fictional union, a digital farce. One online personality "wedding" another. There is no legal backing behind their union, no long-term commitment, no signed marriage certificate, no tax benefit to reap or prenup to deal with. Just a guy who likes an online girl and a girl who likes an online Together, they're exploring what could be the latest frontier in relationships: online marriage. The unions are increasingly common, thanks to highly interactive online games (i.e. World of Warcraft), social-networking sites (like MySpace.com) and virtual worlds (such as SecondLife.com). One Beijing-based publication estimates there are 100,000 online married in China, a country where the practice seems to be mushrooming. "They're not looking for monogamy or any kind of serious deal," say online dating gurus Jamie Kiffel ("Miss Gemini") and Larisa Fuchs ("Miss Scorpio") of geminiandscorpio.com. "They want a chance to lay claim to someone they found online without any of the real-life, dirty-sock-and-underwear-on-the-floor problems that real relationships Most virtual spouses fall into the under-18 set. Among adults, the unions go a step beyond chat room friends, e-mail acquaintances and instant messenger buddies. They range from farcical, spur-of-the-moment unions (a role-playing dwarf in San Francisco might marry an orc from Miami in World of Warcraft, for instance), to long-lasting, substantive Or, as in the case of Tim and Harmoni, two Gen-Xers might genuinely identify with one another, get "married" on a whim, and, whether they intended to or not, end up experiencing real feelings — like tension, bliss, passion and longing. "A part of me realizes that this whole thing is just ridiculous, but I'm so fascinated with it," he says. "I'm very much attracted to this girl, and I'm fascinated by that attraction. Whether or not there's a point . . . I can't really speak to the long term for that because I don't know. I can't see that far ahead. But as for right now, it's like, I'm happy with things as they are." There's no doubt that Tim and Harmoni have a meaningful relationship, but their interactions raise questions: Are they wasting their time in a fantasyland? Are they afraid of real-world interactions? Why invest so much time in something that promises no physical intimacy? They didn't get into a relationship expecting romance, and they've deconstructed their behavior every step of the way. That's partly what attracts him to Harmoni, he says, her ability to step outside of herself and analyze what they're doing. "We're both into sociology and well-versed enough in human interactions to know that there's definitely a lot of unreality to the whole virtual community," Tim says. Their development of feelings for one another, that just sort of happened. It's a new form of love, perhaps, in a digital age. Call it binaric swooning, cyber enchantment, avatar amore. Whatever it is, the two are ready to take it a step further, toward reality.

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