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0.021696 | <urn:uuid:77176ebc-6c82-4321-b09b-9395ee2846ff> | en | 0.943859 | Native is a magical Northumbrian fairytale. Set in Northumberland England, the story follows the journey of the Raven and its quest to dispel a mysterious despair floating on the north-easterly wind....towards us. With the help of four paladins, the trees and the forest creatures we can only hope that raven will succeed and save our people, to save everything.
The story of Native is told entirely through live music and dance. Native was a site specific dance performance piece funded by the Arts Council England and involved over 100 community performers and crew. Filmed entirely on location at the stunning Cragside Estate in Northumberland, home to 7 million north American pine trees. This live public performance and subsequent film was produced by Dansformation and PictureCircle Films
It should be noted that because of weather conditions on the performance day, the show was canceled. The spirit of all involved, be it performer, crew or spectator, was such that we did an impromptu performance in the more sheltered courtyard and not the intended steep wooded valley stretching below. Despite this dramatic and spontaneous change of direction, the film en-devours to portray our original vision, using a mixture of rehearsal footage from the valley and footage from the courtyard to create a magical North Land fairytale on film, derived solely from a live site-specific dance performance.
August 2011.
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0.272441 | <urn:uuid:edbc799a-41e7-4c63-b22d-5000c64a0c7f> | en | 0.936898 | “ENTROPY” is a participatory interactive space and object-based installation, where what is normally perceived as “digital” and “virtual” entity is transferred to the “real” and “analogue” so that viewers can play with real time data visualisation at the same time influencing that data.
“ENTROPY” corresponds to the concept of production, emission and consumption of heat (and thus energy) in “ordered” and “un-ordered” manner (corresponding to the definition of the entropy phenomena). Through that the installation questions issues of production and consumption of energy and its emission and transmission and the human relation to a concept of energy on global and very intimate level. It involves real time data visualisations aimed to provide in such a way so that viewers can have an intimate, tangible and tactile relation/interaction with something as abstract as data. As such it also explores data (as real time feeds) as an independent force making the artwork alive. It also plays with mixing “digital” and “virtual” making it tangible in “analogue” and “real” space.
Audience enters the embedded within the exhibition setting. The interaction is natural and unexpected, and the main agent between data visualisation and a viewer is a simple everyday object mostly associated with energy - a light bulb. By interacting with it - moving closer or touching it with a hand, the energy in a form of on-body projection mapping is transmitted onto a viewer - so that a data is “placed”on a viewer making her/him a carrier/transmitter of it. The “energy” then can be transmitted between one person and another as well as spilled in the environment.
The real time data feeds is from a number of hacked data sources (for “global energy”) and from the arduino sensors placed within the exhibition space. Through the choice of technology live feeds come to “live” being picked up, spread/transmitted around by viewers, making them partially responsible for that data and thus their own experience.
“ENTROPY” takes the act of interaction with that data and motion based mapping - which not only happens on moving objects, but can be transferred from one object to the other - so that new interpretations, meanings can be created and perception of the world can be transformed.
Conceptualised, created and produced by Kasia Molga & Bram Snijders
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0.662779 | <urn:uuid:34284127-91d2-43b1-8c67-eabe0544ddb5> | en | 0.669113 | or cancel
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0.33563 | <urn:uuid:ad9daed8-bc70-46bf-9b6b-5b583bdfc233> | en | 0.973239 | Banana Frankenstein
Milky Way Galaxy
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Francesca isn't my real name; it's my Addams name. I am a 15 year-old girl who is an oldies lover, which means that I find enthusiasm in old stuff. My only hope is Allah (God), and my dream is to gain Allah's (God's) approval, because once you gain Allah's (God's) approval, he will surprise you with all the good things. But don't worship him just for the good things, worship him to gain his approval. To Allah, gaining his approval is so much better than the good things he will give us.
Thank you very much (,
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1. Realmac Software | http://vimeo.com/user16466545 | dclm-gs1-120970001 | false | false | {
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0.946857 | <urn:uuid:91b42f6f-7bbc-4c1a-ad33-c6e3aa9a0a98> | en | 0.81486 | Omar Cruz
Seattle, Washington
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I'm a software engineer by profession. Tech geek. Loves good quality films with profound and well put stories. Outdoor guy. Lover of Jesus. =) Yes, I am.
1. Desiring God
2. Terry Crews
3. Riley Hooper
4. Jason Magbanua | http://vimeo.com/user2781162 | dclm-gs1-120980001 | false | false | {
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0.755757 | <urn:uuid:fd2aae75-eb11-4073-b780-e0ac6654db16> | en | 0.97038 | Kiss & Tell (baisuzhen) wrote in wow_ladies,
Elven interest
Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,
Being quite the lore geek, and as well as a pseudo aspiring anthropologist interest, I often wonder, how has the evolution of the Night Elves come about. During Azshara's time, all elves were purple skinned aren't they? Including the High Elves right?
After they were exiled, how long did the High Elves evolve to the current pinkish/human skin? Also they shrunk in size?? How long would such a physical change take? Was it a gradual process or a sudden(magic)?
Are you a High Elf because of your beliefs or because of your heritage? How many of them were exiled? I mean the current population of Silvermoon City, while small compared to the Humans and Orcs, are still substantial enough. Given the rate of elven reproduction, just how much genetic differences were there available for them to populate up to a city range?
Also just how devoted as a race the Night Elves are towards Elune? Do High Elves in Azshara's time still follow Elune? When the time of their banishment came about, how do they cope with the loss of the Moon Goddess? Culturally speaking, and as well as daily lives, do they revolve around Elune? How do Elune feel about the loss of her elven children? Does she even care or she's simply a racist xenophobic deity whose interest is only if you are still purple-skinned?
There has been absolutely no word from Blizz regarding An'she the Sun God. He simply reappeared in Cata, and then no further word. Was he even integral to Elven life? Do the High Elves, after being banished from nocturnal lives and adopting diurnal lifestyles know even of the Sun God's existence?
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Your IP address will be recorded | http://wow-ladies.livejournal.com/16394145.html?mode=reply | dclm-gs1-121030001 | false | false | {
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0.025579 | <urn:uuid:d6179a19-baa8-45a5-bc24-e3928551774a> | en | 0.95943 | November's Books to Film (You KNOW! the season is upon us)
Brian Selznick's charming Caldecott Medal winner The Invention of Hugo Cabret : a novel in words and pictures (2007) is one for the whole family to hit the big screen on November 23rd. In this moving and entertaining film adaptation, an orphaned boy secretly lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station and looks after the clocks. He gets caught up in a mystery adventure when he attempts to repair a mechanical man. Martin Scorsese directs a star-studded cast of Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Johnny Depp, and Jude Law.
Based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn – Part 1 is the highly anticipated next chapter of the blockbuster The Twilight Saga. The new-found married bliss of Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen is cut short when a series of betrayals and misfortunes threatens to destroy their world. Wide release on the 18th, savvy fans know the drill.
The gritty noir novel London Boulevard (2001) by Ken Bruen has been adapted into a feature film starring Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, Ray Winstone. An ex-con hired to look after a reclusive young actress finds himself falling in love, which puts him in direct confrontation with one of London's most vicious gangsters.
In A Dangerous Method, adapted from the book by John Kerr, on the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, it explores the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, the beautiful but disturbed young woman who comes between them. Starring Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, and Viggo Mortensen.
George Clooney, Judy Greer, and Matthew Lillard star in The Descendants, adapted from the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Wealthy Hawaiian landowner Matt King has his life upended when his wife, Joanie, is involved in a boating accident. King struggles to reconnect with his two daughters as the three of them take a journey to deliver the news of Joanie's imminent death to the man with whom she was having an affair.
My Week With Marilyn, is based on Colin Clark’s (played by Eddie Redmayne) controversial memoir. The film centers on the tense relationship between Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) during production of The Prince and the Showgirl. In the early summer of 1956, 23-year-old Colin Clark, just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl. In his diary, one week was missing, and this is the story of that week when Colin introduced Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life.
I'm looking forward to seeing "Hugo"!!! It's a gem of book.
So many GREAT movies coming out! Looking forward to these through the holidays!
I got to go to a test screening of My Week With Marilyn. It was amazing, and I say this as someone who doesn't even like movies that much. Michelle Williams was absolutely incredible.
You are one lucky duck. Glad to hear you liked it. It's on my list for the holidays. | http://www.aadl.org/node/191008 | dclm-gs1-121050001 | false | false | {
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0.038767 | <urn:uuid:5065d0d0-bc91-44e2-b189-53e09912f9f4> | en | 0.948645 | Australian Broadcasting Corporation
LOCATION: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2006/s1569019.htm
Broadcast: 13/02/2006
Political wrestle of AWB issue intensifies
Reporter: Greg Jennett
TONY JONES: There's evidence that the Iraq wheat bribery scandal is starting to threaten Australian farmers. Iraq's grain board has suspended all contact with the monopoly exporter AWB Limited, potentially affecting millions of dollars worth of wheat sales. As the commercial clouds gather, the political wrestle over the affair has intensified. The Government has ruled the subject off limits at this week's Senate estimates hearings, preventing its most senior public servants telling what they know. From Canberra, Greg Jennett reports.
GREG JENNETT: With one pre-emptive strike, the quest for answers on the Iraq wheat bribery scandal was over before it began.
SENATOR NICK MINCHIN, GOVERNMENT SENATE LEADER: I should inform the committee that the Government has directed that officials appearing before Senate legislation committees should not answer questions directed to them on matters before the commission of inquiry.
GREG JENNETT: Frustrated by the Cole Commission's terms of reference, Senate Estimates was the best chance Labor thought it would get to discover what the Government knew about AWB's payments.
SENATOR JOHN FAULKNER: The public probably think your Government is completely corrupt.
SENATOR NICK MINCHIN: That's an utterly ridiculous and offensive assertion, Mr Chairman. I'm not gonna sit here and put up with that sort of assertion.
GREG JENNETT: The 'no-go' rule had been imposed last Monday.
JOHN HOWARD, PRIME MINISTER: This was a decision of Cabinet, and it's an entirely proper decision.
GREG JENNETT: The Prime Minister reached back to the Hawke Government in 1989 in search of a precedent.
JOHN HOWARD: There was a decision taken by the Cabinet that officials in an entire department could not answer any questions on a subject called Coronation Hill.
KIM BEAZLEY, OPPOSITION LEADER: This is a cowardly government, a weak government, running for cover, using its power.
GREG JENNETT: Beyond the political pursuit, the real consequences of AWB's kickbacks are beginning to bite. Just as Iraq looks at awarding new contracts for up to $100 million worth of wheat, its grains board has frozen contact with AWB until the Cole inquiry is finished. The Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, says he'll instruct Australia's ambassador to Baghdad to try to get the decision reversed.
KEVIN RUDD, SHADOW FOREIGN MINISTER: Australian wheat farmers are now paying the price for the Howard Government's failure to pick up warning after warning about the AWB's activities in Iraq.
GREG JENNETT: And the Opposition today picked up another warning it says the Government couldn't have avoided - a 2003 US Defence audit naming AWB and highlighting a sale to Iraq potentially inflated by up to $15 million.
KEVIN RUDD: Is it not a fact that by turning a blind eye to this report, that the AWB's corrupt contracts with Iraq continued to run for another 12 months after this September 2003 warning?
MARK VAILE, TRADE MINISTER: The Government didn't turn a blind eye to anything.
GREG JENNETT: He didn't deny the Government had access to the report. Greg Jennett, Lateline. | http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2006/s1569019.htm | dclm-gs1-121070001 | false | false | {
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0.691257 | <urn:uuid:44e01ebf-ba5f-4691-8165-9e1a376bd08f> | en | 0.904531 | Scientific Attitudes?
Scientific attitude involves certain techniques to solve a problem. These techniques are objectivity, humility, skepticism, ability to accept failure and perseverance. The most useful scientific attitude is Bhaskara Rao scientific attitude, which involves certain steps to solve a problem.
1 Additional Answer Answer for: scientific attitudes
Essential Tenets of the Scientific Method
The scientific method offers scientists a basic example of how to conduct experiments to ensure that the experiments reach certain quality standards and that the conclusions that the experiments yield will be credible. Understanding the essential tenets... More »
Difficulty: Easy
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A scientific attitude is an important aspect of a personality of someone who wants to be successful in the field of science. It requires rationality, inquisitiveness, and a need to
A first vital attitude a scientist must have is the belief that truth is evident and discoverable. A good scientist believes that the facts are there to be beheld, and he is willing
[Someone typed: "go tl helol, a way of responding without getting their answer removed. No, it wasn't me. Everything modern science does depends upon what's called the empirical
Some scientific attitudes are: empiricism, determinism, parsimony,
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Scientific attitude is respecting facts. If you have a scientific attitude about life it simplifies things. Science is not complicated. Something is scientific ...
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The scientific attitude is what defines how a scientist should be. Examples of a scientific attitude are logical, open-minded, persistent, consistent, honest and ... | http://www.ask.com/question/scientific-attitudes | dclm-gs1-121170001 | false | false | {
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0.039602 | <urn:uuid:00ccd325-1b0b-46dd-b4f7-966b51bf2b02> | en | 0.914262 | What Does a Bone Spur Look like?
A bone spur is a smooth, round bony growth that occurs on a normal bone. It usually occurs on the spine, hands, hips, shoulders, feet and knees. When pressure is applied on a bony spur, it can cause pain, wear and tear on the tendons, ligaments and nerves in the body.
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Images of bone spurs
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Bone spurs are smooth bony growths that usually form along the joint margins in the body. They can cause wear and tear when pressed against other bones or soft tissues like the ligaments, nerves or tendons. Bone spurs are commonly found on the shoulders, hands, knees, spine, hips and feet.
Q&A Related to "What Does a Bone Spur Look like?"
Bones spur are cause by abnormal motion at the level of the joint over course of time cause spur to form. It a overgrowth of bone most commonly seen at the joint ( the place where
Treatment for bone spurs often depends on the amount of pain the bone spurs are causing. If there is little or no pain, there often will be no treatment recommended. Bone spurs can
Osteophytes, also know as bones spurs, occur around the margins of joints. One of the most common causes is arthritis, followed by other degenerative disorders. They typically will
Many people have been able to eliminate bones spurs with a certain calcium magnesium supplement. Visit the related links. Sorry but the only cure for a bone spur is to have it removed
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Bone spurs in the shoulder refers to small bony growths that are usually smooth found at the edges of bones. They grow like mulberries and are very painful compared ...
Heel spur is an abnormal type of bone growth that extends from the heel. It is caused by the attachment of the plantar fascia to the bottom of the heel bone. People ...
Bone cancer will make the bone appear less dense and paler on a x-ray. Cancer can lead to breaks in bones as well. Bone cancer cause the bones to be weak. ... | http://www.ask.com/question/what-do-bone-spurs-look-like | dclm-gs1-121180001 | false | false | {
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0.058947 | <urn:uuid:3d87c8a6-b5b1-4e72-af4f-21b9de69b506> | en | 0.975475 | Hi guys, recentley had a problem with the 'BRAKES' flashing like mad in my DIS and the handbrake sign.. After a scan, guessed it was the ABS PUMP or ABS ECU.. I couldnt find the exactly part number, but I found a part from a 2005/54 2.0 TDI same as mine.
I have since had the part fitted, warning lights reset, and theres no fault with the ABS now.....
However, my traction control light is still displayed, and won't go off..
On VCDS I have no traction faults at all..
However there was a few faults to do with the ABS system, wrong coding?
I will get the exact errors up in a little while, but has anybody else come across this?
I can confirm my traction does not work, as in the damp, if I am abit heavy footed, the revs just climb and I go nowhere.. | http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-sportback-8p-chassis/111131-abs-pump-errors-recoding-help-please.html | dclm-gs1-121210001 | false | false | {
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0.024349 | <urn:uuid:34c06301-eff9-430a-ab0d-ee3a0b7d5ad9> | en | 0.898547 | Tata Pixel Concept
Tata Pixel Concept - Click above for high-res image gallery
Tata has revealed its Euro city car concept in Geneva today and it's a trick little piece. First off, Tata says it is the most efficiently-packaged four-seater in the world, comfortably seating four regulation-size adults in a car just 10 feet long.
Even more trick is the car's zero turning radius system, which, in simple terms, rotates the rear wheels in separate directions to make parking as easy as possible in tight spaces. According to Tata, the system works with the help of something called a "Zero Turn turoidal traction-drive Infinitely Variable Transmission. Right. The effect is that the outside rear wheel spins forward while the inside wheels spins backward, creating a pivot point.
In keeping with the modern microcar trend, Tata claims that the Pixel will return more than 60 mpg and only releases 89 grams of C02 per kilometer. The efficiency comes by way of a 1.2-liter three-cylinder turbodiesel, which, though it isn't a full hybrid, employs stop-start technology and regenerative battery charging.
Could we be looking at a blueprint for a future Nano? Perhaps more in form factor than in specific technologies, but either way, this is a nifty looking little space egg.
Related GalleryTata Pixel Concept: Geneva 2011
Photos copyright ©2011 Drew Phillips / AOL
[Source: Tata]
Show full PR text
The Tata Pixel, a new city car concept for Europe
The Tata Pixel also introduces "My Tata Connect" -- the first integrated human-machine interface (HMI) concept from Tata Motors for its new generation programmes. "My Tata Connect" enables seamless integration of the user's smartphone or tablet with the vehicle's infotainment system and also allows controlling key functions of the car. This provides a customised, user friendly, all-in-one touch screen display, while also allowing the driver to remain seamlessly connected to the external world in much the same way as they would be when at home or in the office,istening to favourite songs, internet news and sport or stock updates. In addition to serving as the infotainment display when docked in the instrument panel, the tablet also allows temperature, ventilation and air-conditioning settings to be adjusted through its touch screen, as well as displaying information on the vehicle's performance.
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0.265801 | <urn:uuid:a027e127-63cf-4ed3-9291-b0a883e537d5> | en | 0.988789 | There have been rumors swirling around this week about Grigorenko not really being 18 years old, but actually being 20.
That being said, if this causes him to fall in the draft and he's available at #24, should the Bruins take a chance on him? If he truly is 20 years old, it could mean he's almost reached his potential, and who knows what his ceiling will be at the NHL level. Not to mention the Russian risk..
| http://www.boston.com/community/forums/sports/bruins/on-the-front-burner/mikhail-grigorenko-did-he-lie-about-his-age/100/6296214 | dclm-gs1-121320001 | false | false | {
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0.11504 | <urn:uuid:c4b2810e-0023-475e-a4b5-e7a02d077af9> | en | 0.963055 | Buffalo Wild Wings is testing out a whole new pricing system for its wings.
Chicken wing prices are at a record high and they're cutting into the chain's profits.
The chain currently buys them from suppliers by the pound, then sells them to the consumer in fixed numbers of wings.
The new method downplays the actual number of wings in each order. Instead, it presents variable-size portions based on weight.
"I think that it’s important for, and this is the harder part to communicate, is that because the wing sizes have gotten so much larger, five wings yields more ounces of chicken than six used to," said CEO Sally Smith on the company's Q4 earnings call with analysts. "So the guest I think is seeing a value in additional protein, I guess. It is – it probably does take a little bit getting used to if we’re consistently serving five."
The move is essentially a price increase, noted Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Kelter on the call.
"But it’s probably a more conspicuous price increase than any other you could take because it does change the way the consumer interacts with the concept," said Kelter.
The new system is in place in 64 Buffalo Wild Wings locations and it includes both company-owned and franchised restaurants.
How is the test going so far?
Well, it's still being tweaked. Buffalo Wild Wings is still having trouble figuring out the right portion sizes.
Smith explained on the company's Q4 earnings call with analysts — helpfully transcribed by Seeking Alpha:
"We have been testing different ounces of meat in let’s say the single, double, of wings in the single, double and triple. A franchisee for example was using a targeted amount. We had been using a targeted ounce amount similar to when the wings were smaller. And we just want to get that right. So, no, we haven’t been getting push back. I think a lot of it has to do with how we explain to our guests, whether we say, okay, today we’re serving five wings for a small order or six wings and making sure that, that guest understands. So as they, you know, this has been the way we’ve served wings for 30 years, and making that transition, we just want to make sure we get it right."
Watch Below: The Definitive History Of Deep Fried Food | http://www.businessinsider.com/buffalo-wild-wings-has-new-wing-strategy-2013-2 | dclm-gs1-121360001 | false | false | {
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0.02054 | <urn:uuid:5e5b0328-4478-467c-a017-947a069e1773> | en | 0.972626 | Attorney: Streaker at Browns game 'got caught up in the excitement'
By Ryan Wilson |
Browns streaker gets jacked up.
As you might expect, this streaking escapade ended badly for this Browns supporter. (Instagram)
Browns fans are long overdue for a winner. Passing the time until that fateful day can lead to all sorts of strange behaviors. Like, say, by taking your clothes off and running around the field.
This happened Thursday with predictable results: The streaker was absolutely destroyed by a security guard as he tried to make his escape. It was an inevitable as another losing season for the Browns (or maybe this year is the exception).
That poor, naked sap you see above is 20-year-old Anthony Saveriano and he has an explanation for his, ahem, exploits.
"He got caught up in the excitement," Saveriano's attorney, Fred Crosby said, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "He's a good kid."
Crosby added that alcohol didn't play a major factor in Saveriano's decision to streak, just that there hadn't been much excitement on the field at that point. (Did Saveriano not see what Brandon Weeden was doing to the Lions? That's about as exciting as things have been for the Browns since Derek Anderson was winging the ball all over the yard back in '07.)
Saveriano declined comment after his court appearance, and he's scheduled to return to court on Sept. 10 to be screened for a first-offender's program. On the upside, at least he didn't get bodyslammed by James Harrison.
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0.023645 | <urn:uuid:2f455d3e-0b29-405d-bf52-dd2ad5152165> | en | 0.980625 | Sometimes basketball is more than a game.
Before 1966, the sport had never seen an all-black starting lineup. That was until Don Haskins led underdog Texas Western (now the University of Texas-El Paso), a mostly African-American team, to the NCAA national championship.
"There's not that much basketball in 'Glory Road.' It's a much bigger story," says actor Josh Lucas ("Stealth," "Sweet Home Alabama"), who stars as no-nonsense coach Haskins.
The film, the feature debut for director James Gartner (who'd previously done only commercials), tells a little-known story that transcends sports and still resonates.
"With not only the death of Rosa Parks but also the racial issues with what went down in New Orleans, the country's being challenged again right now [by racial questions]," Lucas says.
Derek Luke ("Antwone Fisher"), who plays star guard Bobby Joe Hill, says audiences are increasingly interested in seeing films in the same vein as "Glory," including "Crash," "Syriana," and "Good Night, and Good Luck." "What it says about the culture is that people are having a broader taste for the truth," he says.
In fact, Lucas and the cast of "Glory Road" witnessed first-hand the lingering presence of racism. When the cast went out one night in the south before filming (the movie was shot in Texas and Louisiana) a passerby made a racist remark to one of the black actors. "One of our white athletes jumped him and there was a whole sense of this team being bonded by that and really awakened to the fact that things haven't changed that much," Lucas says.
"Racism doesn't die," says Mehcad Brooks, who plays forward Harry Flournoy Jr. "It just morphs."
The movie also could change the way people look at basketball today, adds Al Shearer, who plays forward Nevil Shed. "A lot of people are just going to have a better appreciation for [players like] Michael Jordan, Lebron [James], Tracy [McGrady] and AI [Allen Iverson] because they wouldn't have ever happened if [the Texas Western championship] hadn't happened," he says.
While the movie is certain to provoke general debate, athletes may feel a special impact. Lucas recounts that, after Miami Heat coach Pat Riley (who served as an adviser on the film and played on the Kentucky team that lost to Texas Western) saw the movie, he declared, "I'll make the [team] see this movie in the next few days because these guys don't know."
Originally published Jan. 11, 2006. | http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/mmx-060111-chicago-movies-glory-interview,0,7861184.story | dclm-gs1-121410001 | false | false | {
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Published: Wednesday, 6 Jul 2011 | 11:52 AM ET
By: Jay MacDonald, Bankrate.com
Here in Florida, the Foreclosure State, we thought we'd already cataloged every genus responsible for this plague on all our houses, from the predatory lenders to the oblivious robosigners and rocket dockets to the no-mod-for-you bank Nazis. That was, until we caught wind of the HOA chasers.
Getty Images
The St. Petersburg Times recently profiled an opportunistic little industry that discovered a loophole in the state's foreclosure laws and is milking it for all it's worth.
Florida law allows homeowners associations, or HOAs, to foreclose on properties when dues are in arrears and does not require the HOA to notify the primary mortgage lender. Florida has 40,000 homeowner and condo associations, many struggling to keep basic services going with so many owners behind in dues. The HOA's lawyers encourage them to foreclose because, if the bank beats them to it, they usually won't see a cent.
Here's where opportunity creeps in: Since most homeowners owe less than $15,000 in association dues, the HOAs can file their foreclosure cases in county court rather than in circuit court, where caseloads are backed up. This allows the associations to get final judgment on a foreclosure in as few as 270 days verses the 617 days it now takes for the average bank foreclosure.
Yes, a mortgage lender would gladly pay the back dues to protect their investment -- if they knew about it. But because the HOA doesn't have to notify the bank of its foreclosure actions, it could be months or even years before the primary lender forecloses.
Enter HOA chasers like Barry Haught and his associates. They acquire HOA foreclosures in private for pocket change, since they only have to pay off the delinquent HOA dues, not satisfy the mortgage. They then rent the property, and sometimes live there, for the months and even years it takes for the bank to foreclose.
This loophole has allowed Haught and his associates to acquire 71 properties in Tampa's Hillsborough County worth $8.2 million for a little more than $220,000. Among his deals: a $1.2 million home on Tampa Bay for $10,010; a 3,700-square-foot home for $8,090; and dozens of single-family homes for $4,000 apiece.
Did I mention that this is all perfectly legal?
We're kind of used to this stuff in the Foreclosure State, where the unofficial state motto is: Only in Florida!
But I'm wondering if this HOA play happens elsewhere?
abstract goes here
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0.020025 | <urn:uuid:06080378-9d8f-489b-aadf-7d33d844bdaa> | en | 0.975191 | Aces fever on the rebound
UE basketball attendance fluctuates with wins
It's a Tuesday night at Roberts Stadium and the University of Evansville men's basketball team is holed up in the locker room with head coach Marty Simmons.
It's 45 minutes before children line the court to give high fives to Aces players as they trot out of the tunnel behind male cheerleaders hoisting purple A-C-E-S banners.
Hardcore Aces fans
UE backers love their basketball team
n What: University of Evansville basketball double-header (women vs. Creighton at 4 p.m., men vs. Indiana State at 7:05 p.m.)
n Where: Roberts Stadium
n Tickets: $16, $11, $8 (18-and-under, 65-and-over), $25 for family of four
See Steve Ford's previews of the games on Pages C1-C2.
Ruth Ann Scott, left, holds her 9-month-old granddaughter, Penelope Scott, as her other granddaughter, Avery Scott, 3, watches Ace Purple give a high-five to Jakob Scott, 9, before the UE men's basketball game against Northern Iowa at Roberts Stadium last season.
Photo by Jason Clark
JASON CLARK / Courier & Press
(File Photo) A young Purple Aces fan, Dalton Walsh, uses his head while showing his team spirit during the University of Evansville men's basketball game against Northern Iowa at Roberts Stadium on Tuesday.
Longtime Purple Aces fans Jim and Gloria Williams cheer for the team before the start of UE's men's basketball game against Northern Iowa.
But the stadium's concourses already are filling with 5,400 fans clicking through turnstiles — not as many as the heyday of the 1960s and 1990s, but enough to create an occasional roar for a floor-burn defensive stop or timely three-pointer by Jason Holsinger.
On this night, the Aces (11-5) will play poorly at home for the first time this year, losing to a methodical Northern Iowa club 58-47. But signs still point to an awakening of a program that has seen eight straight losing seasons.
Signs that Evansville fans are bleeding purple and white — not red.
"People follow a winner, and this team has been winning at home," said Bob Clayton, his season chair back a few rows above midcourt.
Clayton played on the last of UE's five college division national championship teams in 1971, a team he calls "fast as greased lightning."
"I think this community is hungry for the Aces to do well," he adds, "and it was a stroke of genius to bring back Marty."
He was referring to the popular former UE player in his second season as coach after five uneventful years with Steve Merfeld at the helm.
Clayton grew up in Fairfield, Ill., in the early '60s, following the Aces on TV when the team went 56-3 from 1963 to 1965, including the Jerry Sloan-led team that finished 29-0 in March 1965 and drew an average of 10,901 fans per game.
It was fast break basketball with players wearing long orange robes like a boxer when they were sitting on the bench.
"It kept you warm," laughs Clayton. "That was coach Arad McCutchan's idea. Arad was great, too, at analyzing games."
The robes won't return — one is on display in the stadium's Corridor of Champions, along with a giant picture of the '65 team, a bust of McCutchan and an area devoted to the plane crash that wiped out UE's first Division I team in 1977 — but fans hope the 20-win seasons will.
If '60s fans were the Redshirt Army because of McCutchan's red socks, and '90s fans were the Purple Pride under former Bob Knight assistant Jim Crews (six straight seasons averaging more than 10,000 fans a game from 1991-96), today's fans could be the Hungry Hardcore or the Mule Train. "Mule" was Simmons' nickname as a player.
"It's beginning to come back," claims Norbert Woolley, proud that he was an Evansville College cheerleader from 1947-1950.
"I haven't missed a home game since 1952, back when the Aces played in the old Armory," he said. "We'd draw a crowd of 1,200 if we were winning, 500 if we were losing, no different than today. Maybe we won't win the Missouri Valley Conference this year, but the people of this town will see us win it again."
Bill Hazelip and his wife, Dorothy, sit in Section 3, Row 8. Back in 1956, Hazelip was making $60 a week at Whirlpool Corp. when he plunked down $36 for Aces season tickets in a brand-new Roberts Stadium.
He says a special relationship existed between the Aces and the town long before the plane crash or the undefeated season. When Evansville was on its knees in the late 1950s — having lost major employers Chrysler, Servel and International Harvester — the jobless rate was double-digits and people were moving away.
"I had one neighbor headed to St. Louis who couldn't sell his house here. He wound up letting someone take over the payments in return for a washing machine," Hazelip recalled.
Into this mix came a new stadium and a legendary coach, McCutchan, whose teams began winning, beating such big boys as Purdue, Notre Dame and Iowa.
"More and more fans started going to games (7,200 per game in 1959). The Aces were the only thing that picked up our spirits," recalls Hazelip.
Dorothy Hazelip confesses she's already told her husband, "If I die on the day of an Aces game, go ahead and go to the game."
There are skeptics who say the Aces fan base is old and dying off, that lifestyles and social habits have changed and a university as small as UE (2,500 students) can't compete at the Missouri Valley level — factors that will continue to hinder attendance, now averaging about 5,700 a game.
UE sports information director Bob Boxell doesn't buy it.
"When I came here in 1982, people were saying the exact same thing, that the old fans were dying off," he said. "When we started winning under Jim Crews, suddenly we had a lot of younger fans and families."
UE drew a record 11,750 fans per game in 1992-93. Also, fans forget that in McCutchan's final seasons, turnout had dwindled to 4,500 per game.
Not far from the Corridor of Champions, Lee Hoagland, 36, and his children, 2-year-old Emily and 7-year-old Ben, stand beside the Aces souvenir counter. Emily, in her dad's arms, wears a $30 mini-Aces cheerleader outfit.
The Hoaglands are new to Aces basketball.
"I grew up in central Indiana near Crawfordsville," said Hoagland, a hospital radiologist who moved his family to Newburgh four years ago. "My wife and I like college basketball. She's an Indiana University fan, I'm a Purdue fan. We bought Aces season tickets our first year here. It's family time, a way to learn about the community."
Hoagland wasn't around to see Aces players Eric Harris, Theren Bullock and Larry Olsthoorn play their hearts out before a roaring crowd of 12,488 at Roberts Stadium on Dec. 2, 1978, losing to Larry Bird and Indiana State 74-70.
But he senses the tradition.
"Marty's been doing a good job," he said. "I hope he can turn it around."
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Comments » 33
mpyle46#196863 writes:
I think Marty is turning it around...I think that is why you see such disappointment when this team doesn't play with intensity....the fans, the community, really are hungry for Aces basketball to return to the excitement it has been before. Aces, if you read these blogs...just realize that there are thousands of fans out here who believe that we are coming back..and we believe that you are the beginning of the return to greatness. We're with you!
Lawnboy writes:
Yeah, Purple Pride! I'm feelin' it.
Bring back the wooden bleachers, let's make some noise. Go ACES !
voice_of_reason writes:
Great article. Loved it.
retiredminer writes:
That pic of Ace the mascot... is he holding a hockey stick?
Lawnboy writes:
He's holding a walking stick (cain).
scary_gary writes:
Sorry, I'm not seeing the "fever". I've been to four home games this year, (the Aces won three of them)and in each one Roberts was like a morgue. We know the old folks will show up; but they don't make much noise. The student section is a MAJOR disappoinment.
UE's current student body seems different than it was when I attended back in the 90's. The current students seem more interested in body-piercing, video games, and being "goth". There were more sports-minded students on campus back then...former high school jocks and cheerleaders, business majors, frat guys...a football team...students who like to attend sporting events. I just don't think a goth kid majoring in literature or theatre is going to be very interested in watching Aces basketball. I know, I know, we need liberal arts majors and cultural diversity. However, it doesn't translate into student support for Aces basketball when it becomes a majority on campus. On side note: We also had attractive women on campus back in the 90's, unlike now. My old fraternity invites women from USI to attend mixers, because the UE women "aren't up to par". Just thought I'd throw some red meat out to the P.C. crowd!
byroncraig writes:
Regarding that giant picture of the '65 team---
that's not the 65 team. That picture is the 63-64 team. How do I know? Wayne Boltinghouse is in that picture in uniform. He graduated in 1964.
TheJohnGaltLine writes:
Bring back football- bring back school spirit. Students are trained to either go home or do something not school-sports related on fall weekends. The university has even stopped attempting a fall homecoming. You can't suddenly create school spirit in December and January.
(BTW, this isn't a knock on the UE student body; it's more directed at the short-sighted school administration who thought it was a good idea to drop football.)
bumblebore writes:
scary_gary, talking about the womens appearance is just classless.
retiredminer writes:
tks lawnboy; why does he need a walking stick(cain) sp? Is he crippled?
uestudent writes:
I frankly believe that the UE athletics dept. doesn't give a crap about us showing up to the games. They don't offer us any incentives to show up to the games. They charge us $325 for a full year athletics pass. Freakin outrageous if you ask me.
But I guess that the tight atheltics department has to find a way to pay off Merfeld's buyout ;)
I think that this buyout, along with many other numerous factors, is causing the athletics department to be so tight. If you don't believe me, look at the coaches for UE. For the most part, they are very young. The tennis coach just graduated from college last year, the baseball coach is a cheap assistant, which is prolly cheaper than going to find a new coach elseware.
mpyle46#196863 writes:
I think that UE should not charge students...or should charge only a much-reduced price..for all athletic passes. Surely with the cost of UE tuition they could afford it. As a good community-strengthening move the university should help the students back their sports teams - Aces basketball has always helped to bring identity to Evansville and UE business leaders should do their part. Creative students could then do their part to liven up the student section. Drama and creativity should abound in a liberal arts school. And, if UE is smart, they should be trying to find Crazyman, to see if he is still interested in leading the fans in vocal support of the team. I remember nights of roaring fans, balloons and beach balls in the stnads, and electricity in the air, starting way befofe the tip-off. Big-time atmosphere was here and there is no reason why it can't return. Go Aces!
me4jimmies writes:
I am a student and the athletic department does not charge us $325 for a full year athletics pass. They DO have a $325 student activity fee, but that goes to many different things such as Athletics, the Theatre Department, the Fitness Center building, the Ridgway University Center building, the Crescent and the Yearbook. As part of that, a UE student can get into any athletic event FREE as long as they show their student ID.
I do agree that the student body is not as enthusiastic as it could be, but that is because in the last few years the team has not been winning and people don't want to watch a team that can't win. But the athletics department has tried to make an effort to listen to what the students want to get them to games. I am part of a group of students that is in the front row for every game (except for Christmas break when we go home) and I can attest to that.
krag writes:
me4jimmies...I enjoyed your comments. I have noticed your group at the games. I have also noticed the Lambda Chi men at the games. I know that Coach Simmons appreciates the support and is working hard to get more students to the games. Winning is the key! However, the effort this team puts into the games makes the trip to the stadium worth it! Go Aces!
gargantua3#57798 writes:
UE should send 100 tickets to every high school in the area for every game during the year. Fill the seats and make the money on concessions.
GoVols23 writes:
Nope, still not good enough to go watch for free even if they were playing out in the driveway!
voice_of_reason writes:
Great point about the fee, me5jimmies. "UEstudent" tends to want to put a negative spin on things. Thanks for posting. The truth is, things are looking way up for the basketball program. Oh, and the games I've been to have been far from a "morgue" atmosphere.
bigredmachine writes:
SMG gets all the money on concessions. That's why the Bluecats and SIAC basketball are gone. What a shame that none of our kids get a chance to play basketball at the stadium. SMG would rather have the place sit idle instead of giving a discount to the local schools or the Boat Show.
dell writes:
the picture above with the older couple, says it all. he isn't clapping hard enough to hear him and she is holding a cup of coffee. now the little kid pictured above them is making some noise. time to swap out season tickets if you want a stadium that doesn't feel like a morgue!
mpyle46#196863 writes:
to del..hey, these "older" people have been loyal fans probably for decades, paying their money, coming out to games....I hope every single one of them continues to come..and to bring their children and grandchildren. Age shouldn't matter when it comes to support of the team....I know a lot of older fans (me included) who are plenty loud at the we need a full student section making a lot of noise.
uestudent writes:
mpyle--honestly, I don't think that UE will have a full student section making a lot of noise ever again. The school just isn't big enough. The students that do go to school here predominantly do not care for basketball. The school is 60some% females. The only fraternity that primarily attends the games are Lambda Chis. When the football team left, the jocks left as well.
I would say that many more students attend the game than you think, but we just sit above the Students Section and watch the game. How can you expect us to get crazy about a game like UNC A&T, Ball State, or Missouri State? I thought the students did a great job against USI, though.
uestudent writes:
mpyle--I also wanted to add the more global approach to the student population, compared to the past, has led to this lack of student participation as well. Many of these students just don't understand Indiana basketball, or basketball in general.
tractordaddy writes:
Killing off football turned off a good many loyal Aces fans, including myself. Add in a basketball program that basically spun its wheels under Merfeld's tenure, and you can understand why people quit coming.
Marty's a good guy, the team has some decent talent now, don't get me wrong, but the UE administration has made enough mistakes that it will be years before we see big numbers of fans in the stands on a consistent basis ... if ever.
scary_gary writes:
UE student is correct. The student population is vastly different than it was back when many of our older fans attended UE. A significant number of current students are international, the majority seem to be from Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. I'll bet none of them have heard of Jerry Sloan or Don Buse. Not too many Evansville natives on campus anymore. I think most local kids who want to stay close to home attend USI. Things have changed dramatically over the past ten years, beginning with the demise of the football program.
pepelapep#36355 writes:
Eliminating the football program was absolutely the stupidest thing the administration could have done. They claimed it was a financial reason, but how many students did they ultimately lose because of this decision. But enough of that GO ACES.
jsdugan65#85261 writes:
Great article... I can remember where I sat at the Larry Bird led Indiana St. game, near the top of the wooden bleachers! It was packed between the bleachers with people standing.
With Roberts, it's never been about the student section, it's always been a small school. It's always been about the community, that's what this article is about. I love that, if I die on game day, go ahead and go to the game.
This is the first year in a decade that you can hear the return of crowd support. Still there are gut wrenching times of silence. If you win, they will come!
Let's get em tonight ACES!!
jokers1 writes:
I say dump basketball and bring football back. I would go watch a decent college football team. Football is largely America's new "past time." It is simply where Americans attentions are aimed. As far as the article goes. The record will even out and the "fever" will be gone again when they get to the conference part of their schedule. Maybe USI will go get a football team. I think Evansville has changed and is ready for a college football program.
dontstartisback writes:
You win, people will come to your games. They are call bandwagon fans. Your real fans will come even when you lose. Put them all together it makes a fun atmosphere no matter why they are there.
As far as getting students to come, the ones that can do that more than anybody is the players themselves. They need to go ask their fellow classmates to come see them play. If they like them they will come.
hemicuda writes:
Bring back UE football??? Seriously? really? You all do remember how god awful they were right? I was on one of those teams and any semblance of football was purely accidental.
uechic writes:
As one of the apparently "goth" and unattractive humanities majors at UE, I'd just like to agree with dontstartisback's comment about the players themselves. I would consider myself a relatively popular UE student in that I am friends with or at least know of pretty much everyone. While I have numerous friends on other sports teams, in almost four years here I've never met any of the men's basketball players. I'm sure they are great people and I would be happy to be friends with them, but the fact is that UE has become so clique-oriented that it's basically impossible to interact with athletes unless you are one. It seems that most basketball players are studying subjects other than the humanities, which is perfectly fine, but when I have all my classes with non-athletes and don't have opportunities to meet athletes outside of class, it's pretty easy to decide on weekend plans. I don't really have any stake in going to basketball games since I don't know anyone, but, on the other hand, I can go to a theater production and support at least a dozen friends. Furthermore, the games are poorly advertised, and I hardly hear about them unless I personally know someone going. This isn't blaming the players at all (who I know work at least as hard as any other organization on campus) - just the frustrating social structure of the school. I think the student body has definitely changed since a lot of older fans attended, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily a bad thing - just a major factor in the reason students don't go to games as much anymore.
mpyle46#196863 writes:
uechic...I hope that you venture out of your regular activities and come with your friends to the UE basketball games, even if you don't know the players personally. I would think that your group could add a lot to the atmosphere in the are needed! I, as a much-older fan, attend Aces games and attend the wonderful theater productions that the university is famous for.....both basketball and theater help to give UE its identity. Hope to see you Tuesday night, wearing your purple, and adding some "drama" to the cheering section. Go Aces!
mxbadboy writes:
gargantua3: Giving away free tickets to the high schools is a great idea!
I hate to buy tickets for anything now that Ticketmaster rules the world.
The fans will come back slow but sure as they win more games. That's just a fact of team sports.
Chicago had to give tickets away before Jordan showed up.
Conservative writes:
UE student.....your attitude says it all. "They don't offer us any incentives to show up to the games." Have you ever heard of school pride? What do you want besides free tickets and a free ride to and from the game?
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Comments Threshold
By Diesel Donkey on 1/25/2008 4:37:14 PM , Rating: 2
I would think that finding the material with the right strength vs flexing properties and channels of the correct widths on the order of tens of nanometers might be kind of hard to come by. Coming up with the basic idea behind the process may be simple, but actually making it work is, I'm sure, orders of magnitude more difficult.
By MatthiasF on 1/25/2008 5:20:49 PM , Rating: 3
Right, so it just happens that the exact material found to have these qualifications is PEG, one of the most used emulsifying agents on the planet (makeup, synthetic motor oil, paint balls, hand lotion, even food).
Doubtful. It's more likely that the scientist was talking up the discovery by explaining it in grandious language to make it seem more fantastic.
I wouldn't be surprised if others have already done the same thing, but they just don't have a well tuned nationalist PR system like South Korea hyping it.
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Comments Threshold
RE: I hate ethanol
By Danger D on 1/22/2009 11:34:58 AM , Rating: -1
So the alternative is cellulosic ethanol. Why don't we just use that then? Oh yeah, it's not yet commercially viable. People love trying to poke holes in whatever solution starts to gain traction. They then cry praises for a range of currently unavailable technology to take us to the promised land.
Corn ethanol is better than gasoline. It's here now. It works in our gas tanks so we don't have to overhaul the vehicle fleet with new fuel systems. It uses a feedstock that we currently know how to grow, harvest and transport.
I do firmly believe cellulosic ethanol will be a reality, but only because corn ethanol is currently creating the infrastructure, market and public awareness necessary to change over our fuel supply.
The only real alternative to corn ethanol today is regular gasoline, which pollutes more and provides income for our foreign enemies.
RE: I hate ethanol
By JasonMick (blog) on 1/22/2009 12:06:40 PM , Rating: 1
Incorrect. Corn-based ethanol increased carbon dioxide and other emissions and uses an equally toxic slew of chemicals to process as gasoline.
To cite just a few studies:
Again, ridiculous. Cellulosic ethanol is IDENTICAL chemically to corn ethanol, barring a few minor organic contaminants. Cars could run on cellulosic E10 just as easily as corn-based E10. And are you inferring that we don't have the technology to harvest corn stover? Or that our nation grows no plants that produce crop waste byproducts? If you are, you're entirely wrong.
If you want to call yourself an environmentalist, you really can't support corn ethanol.
Its better to wait and work towards a good solution, than to adopt one that only makes the problem worse. Again, I've talked to many experts with industry experience far beyond yours or mine and they say corn ethanol is ultimately a horrible proposition (in so many words). The ONLY people corn ethanol benefits is farmers and refinery owners.
Its bad for the environment, polluting, and bad for the consumers' pocketbooks. The holes are being poked because its a bad technology, plain and simple.
RE: I hate ethanol
By Danger D on 1/22/2009 1:02:18 PM , Rating: 2
Greenhouse gas emmisions study released TODAY by Dr. Ken Cassman and others, published in Yale's Journal of Industrial Ecology:
"Direct-effect GHG emissions were estimated to be equivalent to a 48 percent to 59 percent reduction compared to gasoline, a twofold to threefold greater reduction than reported in previous studies."
Why? Because the studies you cited "rely on estimates of energy efficiencies in older ethanol plants that were built before the recent investment boom in new ethanol biorefineries that initiated production on or after January 2005."
Those new facilities represent 60 percent of the ethanol produced.
If you average in the old plants, sure it looks worse. But that's an unfair basis for saying we shouldn't build new plants. New plants are better, and they keep improving.
There's plenty of other research out there showing GHG reductions.
And I understand cellulosic ethanol is IDENTICAL. Ethanol's ethanol. My point is that it's useless to rave about using techology that isn't commercially viable. We've been doing that for 20 years and it hasn't gotten us anywhere. Corn ethanol will get us to cellulosic ethanol. But don't trash the "good" in pursuit of the "perfect."
RE: I hate ethanol
By Screwballl on 1/22/2009 1:23:26 PM , Rating: 2
Also remember that many of the older studies used vehicles that did not have the same pollution controls that newer 2004-later vehicles have.
These pollution controls force the engine to work harder thus use more gas thus lower mileage and release more pollution.
Why is it a 1990 Geo Metro with a 4 cylinder can get 45 mpg yet a 2008 model car with the same size engine is rated at 30mpg (and they advertise it as if 30mpg was some great prize)? Hell 5 years ago I had a 76 GMC truck with a 350 V8, 4 barrel Edelbrock carburetor, NO pollution controls of any kind (previous owners removed them) and when it was tuned to run slightly lean and I kept my foot off the gas pedal, I could see 30 mpg part city, part highway. Usually city mpg was around 26mpg, and highway was 32-33mpg when I drove it like an old lady.
I only tried E10 in there once... made it run like crap, even driving like an old lady I still only saw 22mpg plus I had to clean the jets because the Ethanol clogged them.
RE: I hate ethanol
By MrBlastman on 1/22/2009 1:57:36 PM , Rating: 5
What planet are you from? Do you live in Antarctica? I generally refrain from spearheaded counterpoints but your post has so much wrong in it I can not help but turn the heat on.
Ethanol uses food currently. Food we eat.
That food we eat grows on land, a non-renewable resource, which can yield either food to eat or food to burn in our tanks.
The net yield of all the land in America is barely enough to yield enough ethanol to fuel America.
This net yield would create a net zero yield of food crops.
A net zero yield of food crops would create a huge increase on reliance of food imports from abroad.
Have you looked at China lately and all of the food problems they have caused over here?
Do you honestly want to bet your own life on food imported from sources that have proven to be harmful to our citizens - from sources that are far less regulated than those in our own country?
The result thus far of paying farmers to grow more fuel crops has been a substantial increase in food prices for consumable crops. The farmers make more if they grow stuff that we burn.
The economy has gone to heck - and you say we should pay more?
Oil prices have dropped considerably, which had risen not because of logic but because of irrational spot price trading. OPEC cut supply and the prices still dropped.
Ethanol costs more now than it would be to use gasoline.
Ethanol produces less power output than gasoline with our current, gasoline-tuned engines.
Ethanol could be useful if we had engines tuned for it, lighter cars that needed less energy to propel, and if it is produced from waste products rather than food sources.
Can I be any clearer?
Ethanol, in its current form, is rediculous. It isn't even worth any praise. Cellulosic ethanol, or waste product ethanol, is a huge step in the right direction for a change. We'll see how it turns out. Personally, I'm bigger on the algae farms pooping out oil as a waste product of its photosynthesis while hanging in plastic bags. It is more logical to me... for the time being.
RE: I hate ethanol
RE: I hate ethanol
RE: I hate ethanol
RE: I hate ethanol
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0.058564 | <urn:uuid:ec2f132f-32f7-4d70-8cd2-2dd95d49d965> | en | 0.968159 |
The new ad promotes the new Samsung Note
Samsung Galaxy Note
Sources: YouTube, All Things D
Comments Threshold
RE: Customer Service
By steven975 on 2/6/2012 12:27:26 PM , Rating: 3
Agree here.
With Samsung, the support procedure is:
Email or call. Wait. Go through a bunch of half-assed troubleshooting for like 5 exhanges. If you manage that, you return the product to Samsung. At your expense. And wait...and hope.
With Apple, you go to their site, set an appointment, and THEY will call YOU with someone usually quite polite and knowledgable. Or you can go to their store, and get taken care of if you are in warranty...and sometimes not.
THIS was the prime factor that made me choose a Macbook Air as my laptop. It's already had a problem, but it was resolved lickety-split. No shipping, no Geek Squad service plan to go through, no broken anything. If I had any other brand, I'd be down a month for a broken AC adapter. Overall, I like the product...still like Win7 better than OSX (I use both on the laptop). The only nagging problem right now is Apple writes incomplete drivers for Windows, specifically for the BT controller.
RE: Customer Service
By TakinYourPoints on 2/7/2012 3:13:17 AM , Rating: 2
A friend of mine had a Macbook Pro that was nearly three years old. It started having random crash issues. It turned out that it was an issue with the motherboard. A replacement mobo (free and covered under warranty) didn't fix the issue, so he took it in a second time. They tried again and it still didn't solve the problem.
So what did they do? They gave him a brand new MBP, completely updated from his three year old model. Another friend got his iPhone wet and bricked it, totally his fault. They replaced it even after he said it was no fault, no problem.
There's a reason why Apple is rated so highly for customer satisfaction. Dell and HP consumer divisions, good luck (business is a different story). Your Samsung story doesn't surprise me. They are among the worst in terms of supporting new OS versions with their phones, I don't expect good service for damaged hardware either.
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0.032972 | <urn:uuid:7bc5d28c-3331-4534-82a2-287a19888ed3> | en | 0.926114 | Itching for anything Guitar Hero-related to tide your over until the third iteration hits? If you just so happen to have two unwanted PS1 controllers, a whammy bar, a few screws, a motion sensor, some wood (or similar), cutting instruments, and whole slew of other random tools (seriously, it's a lengthy list), you've got a tremendous challenge ahead. An admittedly stouthearted and presumably resolute individual managed to not only create a fully-functional PS2 Guitar Hero controller from a fairly impressive list of scrap parts, but he actually took the time to assemble a how-to guide for anyone else with enough knowledge and vacation time to do the same. Put simply, this DIY endeavor ranks pretty high up there on the complexity meter, but if you think you've got what it takes, let this be the dare that gets you started. Check out the video of the axe in action after the break.
[Via HackNMod, thanks Joe]
Crafty gamer builds PS2 Guitar Hero axe from scratch | http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/30/crafty-gamer-builds-ps2-guitar-hero-axe-from-scratch/ | dclm-gs1-121710001 | false | false | {
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0.124317 | <urn:uuid:1f70107a-b977-4a60-9cd1-775d1aa4cf37> | en | 0.95708 | Beginner's Guide: Fighting Games
The ultimate combo ice breaker.
In theory, fighting games should be one of the easiest genres to define - it's pretty much all there in the title. Two people trade karate chops, dragon punches and flying kicks until one is knocked unconscious or mercilessly killed, the only real complication coming from the clicking timer (fighters tend to suffer a cardiac arrest if they break the 60 second rule, you see.)
Except, it's not always one-on-one, as Marvel vs. Capcom lets you tag your characters in and out like professional wrestlers. Sometimes it's not just about feet and fists, as Soulcalibur furnishes its fighters with short swords and gigantic claymores.
There's even a distinction between how 2D and 3D fighting games operate, and once you factor in advanced terminology like super cancelling, zoning, turtling, juggling, parrying, tick-throwing and wave-dashing, it's clear that the fighting genre is one of the more complex around.
And fighting games mean different things to different people. Daishi Odashima, Director of Soulcalibur V, sees them as an advanced form of chess. "I think fighting games are like puzzles. You have some alternative actions and moves in every circumstance, and players need to find them. When I play fighting games seriously, I sometimes examine several moves like when playing Shogi. If you understand the rules of fighting games, they are almost the same as card games, but with a shorter time limit."
Yie Ar Kung Fu (1985) - It may look simple by today's standards, but without this Konami classic, Street Fighter may never have happened.
But Paulo Garcia, Lead Designer on Mortal Kombat, has a different take, seeing fighting games as more akin to competitive sports. "Part of what makes sports so much fun to watch is their ability to showcase not only the skill of the players, but the unpredictability of humans," he says, "Fighting games, more than any other game, capture this feeling in digital form. There are only so many ways that two boxers can swing their fists at each other, but the journey to that final knockout is never the same."
In this sense, fighting games are about reading your opponent and searching for an opening - just like in a real-life sparring match. For Katsuhiro Harada, Producer of Tekken 6, it's about much more than that, and he sees fighting games as something altogether more philosophical. "You channel your intelligence, your philosophy, your pride and your discipline into your character, then face an adversary to prove and express yourself. The fighting game means endless battling and a way of life."
This is an impassioned take on what the genre means to hardcore players. But in the hands of a casual audience, fighting games can be enjoyed with frenzied button mashing - in much the same way you don't need a car license to enjoy the delights of Forza 3.
A Brief History
The seventies saw a surge of interest in martial arts cinema, with 1971's The Big Boss and 1974's The Street Fighter hitting big. Video games, unsurprisingly, weren't going to miss a trick, and in 1976 - the same year a generation fell in love with Rocky Balboa - Sega released Heavyweight Champ.
It featured a boxing glove that could tilt up and down to perform high and low punches, and while its side on perspective is reminiscent of modern fighting games, it was far from a pioneer. Tim Skelly's vector-based 1979 game Warrior is more fondly remembered, and with its top down perspective featuring two battling knights it can lay claim to being the first weapons-based fighting game.
But the true grandfather of fighting games is none other than 1984's Karate Champ. Known in Japan as Way of the Empty Hand, this arcade game introduced the "best of three rounds" format alongside a varied move set. It also had a bonus stage where you punched a charging bull in the face.
'When I first played Street Fighter II (1991), I decided against Zangief because he always lost on the demonstration screen' - Daishi Odashima
Following Karate Champ was Yie Ar Kung Fu (1985). This Konami classic introduced characters with different fighting styles, health bars, female fighters as well as projectile attack - and it also featured a digitised voice that yelled "perfect" when you won a match without a scratch.
Then in 1987, Capcom released the original Street Fighter, a game that introduced the wandering Ryu and let players discover his fireball, dragon punch and hurricane kick techniques - all performed with circular motions of the joystick. Street Fighter was also the first fighting game to use a six-button layout split between punches and kicks. It was mildly innovative, but the best was yet to come.
In 1991 Capcom defined a genre with what is arguably the most important fighting game of all time. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior let you choose between eight different characters - each with their own special moves. It also pioneered the "combo" system that became synonymous with both the series and the genre.
"Street Fighter II had a big influence on my life", Namco's Harada enthuses, "I hold my arcade pad like I hold a wine glass. It's a strange way to hold a pad, but I played Street Fighter II so much that I bruised my left hand and it got covered in blisters. I still have the scar even today."
Street Fighter II's success kicked off a golden spell for the genre, spawning the likes of SNK's Fatal Fury: King of Fighters (1991) and Midway's Mortal Kombat (1992). Fatal Fury was released less than a year after Street Fighter II and introduced the Bogard brothers as well as an intriguing background/foreground switching system. Mortal Kombat, meanwhile, became Street Fighter's first true rival and sent the media into a frenzied hysteria thanks to its rushes of pixelated gore.
Comments (54)
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0.332206 | <urn:uuid:9c8d3763-e886-40f0-9b21-21b180204644> | en | 0.910773 | The American Heart Association urges the public to be prepared for cardiac emergencies:
• Know the warning signs of cardiac arrest. During cardiac arrest a victim loses consciousness, stops normal breathing and loses pulse and blood pressure. They may suddenly collapse.
• If you don’t know CPR or haven’t been trained, call 9-1-1 and push hard and fast on the center of the chest until help arrives.
What is cardiac arrest?
Cardiac arrest is the sudden, abrupt loss of heart function. It’s not the same as a heart attack. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become rapid or chaotic, which causes the heart to suddenly stop beating. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle is blocked. A heart attack may cause cardiac arrest.
What causes cardiac arrest?
The most common reason for patients to die suddenly from cardiac arrest is heart disease.
Other factors besides heart disease and heart attack can cause cardiac arrest. They include respiratory arrest, electrocution, drowning, choking and trauma.
Cardiac arrest can also occur without any known cause.
Can cardiac arrest be reversed?
Brain death and permanent death start to occur in just 4 to 6 minutes after cardiac arrest.
Cardiac arrest can be reversed if it's treated within a few minutes with an electric shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat. This process is called defibrillation.
How many people survive cardiac arrest?
Each year, EMS treats nearly 300,000 people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital. More than 92 percent of cardiac arrest victims don’t survive to be discharged from the hospital. In cities where defibrillation is provided within 5 to 7 minutes, the survival rate is as high as 30–45 percent.
What can be done to increase the survival rate?
Early CPR and rapid defibrillationcombined with early advanced care can result in high long-term survival rates for witnessed cardiac arrest.
If bystander CPR was initiated more consistently, if AEDs were more widely available, and if every community could achieve a 20 percent cardiac arrest survival rate, an estimated 40,000 more lives could be saved each year. | http://www.foxnews.com/story/2009/06/25/fast-facts-on-cardiac-arrest-from-american-heart-association/ | dclm-gs1-121770001 | false | false | {
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0.02198 | <urn:uuid:95405420-862a-4a70-aac4-7a63b19aeb9f> | en | 0.969439 | Connect to share and comment
South Korea accuses North of cyber attacks
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea accused North Korea on Tuesday of mounting cyber attacks on the websites of its presidential office and other government agencies, saying it had identified signature malicious computer codes and an internet address.
The cyber attacks took place last month, on the anniversary of the beginning of the 1950-53 Korean War which left the peninsula divided between the rival countries.
North Korea has been suspected of masterminding previous cyber attacks on South Korea, including one in March that paralyzed tens of thousands of computers and servers at major broadcasters and banks.
North Korea has repeatedly denied responsibility for such attacks saying it has also been a victim of hacking.
The malicious computer codes and technique of the attack were similar to those detected in previous hacking attacks traced to the North, officials added.
The accusation comes as the two Koreas wrangle over the reopening of a joint factory park just inside North Korea that North Korea closed during a period of tension that began when it conducted its third nuclear test in February.
They failed to reach agreement on Monday on the reopening of the complex.
South Korea's defense minister said at a recent conference that North Korea had about 3,000 highly trained cyber warfare personnel, according to media reports.
In March, the North suggested the United States was behind cyber attacks on its internet servers after reports of disruptions to its main news services.
A hacker collective known as Anonymous said it had attacked North Korean websites on the anniversary of the Korean War.
The group denied through Twitter posts any involvement in attacks on South Korea.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Robert Birsel) | http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/thomson-reuters/130716/south-korea-accuses-north-cyber-attacks | dclm-gs1-121840001 | false | false | {
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0.03047 | <urn:uuid:796a7378-b874-43e6-8baf-2d5b4c7b47e2> | en | 0.849317 | Scandinavian Fruit Recipes
Enjoy our collection of scandinavian fruit recipes submitted, reviewed and rated by community. Meet people who are looking for scandinavian fruit recipes.
CA: 5
Scandinavian Fruit Soup
MAKING 1) In a slow cooker, combine together the apples, apricots, prunes, tapioca, cherries and grape juice. Add enough water to cover the contents. 2) Cook over low heat for a minimum of 8 hours. 3) Stir in the remainder of the ingredients right before... - 40.1007
Scandinavian Fruit Soup
Combine fruits, raisins, currants and water. Cover, bring to boil, lower heat and simmer until tender. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 10 minutes. Cool, chill and serve with hard French rolls and unsalted butter. - 37.1855
Scandinavian Fruit Slaw
Toss salad ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients and mix well. Gently stir dressing into salad. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Use within 2 days. - 34.9502
Scandinavian Fruit Toddy
MAKING 1) In a large pan, combine the frozen-juice concentrate and water, mix thoroughly. 2) Add the whole cloves and almonds, allow to sit for 10 minutes. 3) Strain the mixture, return to the pan and reheat. 4) Pour the mixture into mugs and spoon a few... - 34.8469
Scandinavian Fruit Soup
Measure all ingredients except cherries into large saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until fruit is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in cherries (with syrup) and heat. - 31.2974
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Scandinavian "fruit" Pie
The scandinavian fruit pie is a mixed fruit pie made with a filling of thick apple sauce with prune juice, orange juice, lemon juice and pitted prunes. Filled in a pie pastry shell along with eggs, cornstarch, sugar and added currants the sandinaivian fruit... - 49.1295
Carolyn S Scandinavian Fruit Soup
Soak raisins, apricots, and prunes in water overnight; pour into heavy-bottomed cooking pan. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, covered, 1 1/2 hours or until well-flavored. Chill and serve cold. Can be made several days in advance and kept refrigerated... - 36.5204
Scandinavian Fruit Soup A Dessert
MAKING 1. In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, add fruits, sugar and cinnamon and pour over the water, half the beer and the orange juice. 2. Place pan over a medium flame and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. 3. Reduce the flame and... - 47.4581
Scandinavian Christmas Fruit Bread
Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixer bowl. Add milk, sugar, salt, cardamom, egg, shortening, raisins, citron and 2 cups of the flour. Beat on low speed, scraping bowl constantly, 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2... - 47.6542
Fruited Pork Roast Scandinavian Style
1. Make pocket down center of roast by piercing with a long, sharp tool such as a steel knife sharpener; leave string on roast. (Alternate method: Remove string. Using strong knife, cut pocket in pork by making a deep slit down length of loin, going to within... - 34.5531
Fruited Pork Roast Scandinavian Style
GETTING READY 1) At the center of roast make pockets by piercing with a long, sharp knife. Let there be strings on the roast. 2) Alternately remove strings and with a strong knife, cut pocket in pork making a deep slit down length of loin. MAKING 3) In a... - 43.4094
Scandinavian Pudding
Mix the apple juice and water in a saucepan. Bring to a rapid boil. Stir the mixture while gradually adding the farina. Cook gently for five minutes or so and remove from the heat. Beat by hand or with an electric mixer until the mixture is smooth. Fold in... - 35.5584
Scandinavian Raspberry
In blender container, puree 1 package raspberries; strain to remove seeds. In medium saucepan, combine pureed raspberries, orange juice, brand and cornstarch; mix well. Over medium heat, cook and stir until slightly thickened and clear; cool. Stir in... - 34.9054
Scandinavian Whipped Berry Pudding
Pour the raspberries with the can juice into a medium sized fine wire strainer held over a medium sized mixing bowl. Using the back of a wooden spoon, rub the fruit through the strainer to form a puree. Discard the pips in the strainer. Alternatively, blend... - 38.5471
Scandinavian Pork
MICROWAVE 2 MINUTES on HIGH, or until hot but not boiling - 18.5481
Scandinavian Fruit Recipes By Category
Scandinavian Fruit Dish: | http://www.ifood.tv/network/scandinavian_fruit/recipes | dclm-gs1-121920001 | false | false | {
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0.038432 | <urn:uuid:9023ae88-9325-423b-b1a9-0f089c7160f7> | en | 0.884222 | New campaign: Npower
Npower is launching a TV campaign in association with Wembley Stadium. The ads promote a competition to win a pair of Club Wembley 10-year season tickets, worth approximately £85,000. Voiced by veteran football commentator John Motson, ads feature Npower's two orb brand icons playing out a famous goal in front of a group of builders. The 40-second spot, which promotes, a website where people can enter the competition, breaks on Friday to coincide with the FA Cup semi-final weekend. The contest is designed to raise awareness of Npower's status as the official energy supplier to the redesigned Wembley Stadium, which opens in May 2006.
Creative agency: Isobel
Media agency: Vizeum
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SXSW14: What have we learned from the last five days? | http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/470521/new-campaign-npower | dclm-gs1-122060001 | false | false | {
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0.778514 | <urn:uuid:d924fbeb-0e92-4dbb-8e29-d08eaf28325b> | en | 0.729127 | Documentation Center
• Trial Software
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Working with Handle Graphics Objects
Graphics Objects
Graphics objects are the basic elements used to display graphs and user interface components. These objects are organized into a hierarchy, as shown by the following diagram.
When you call a plotting function, MATLAB® creates the graph using various graphics objects, such as a figure window, axes, lines, text, and so on. Each object has a fixed set of properties, which you can use to control the behavior and appearance of your graph.
For example, the following statement creates a figure with a white background color and does not display the figure toolbar:
Common Graphics Objects
When you call a function to create a graph, MATLAB creates a hierarchy of graphics objects. For example, calling the plot function creates the following graphics objects:
• Figure — Window that contains axes, toolbars, menus, and so on.
• Axes — Coordinate system that contains the lines representing the data
• Lineseries — Lines that represent the value of data passed to the plot function.
• Text — Labels for axes tick marks and optional titles and annotations.
Different types of graphs use different objects to represent data. All data objects are contained in axes and all objects (except root) are contained in figures.
The root is an abstract object that primarily stores information about your computer or MATLAB states. You cannot create an instance of the root object. The handle of the root object is always 0.
Object Handles
When MATLAB creates a graphics object, MATLAB assigns an identifier to the object. This identifier is called a handle. You can use this handle to access the object's properties with the set and get functions. For example, the following statements create a graph and return a handle to a lineseries object in h:
x = 1:10;
y = x.^3;
h = plot(x,y);
You can use the handle h to set the properties of the lineseries object. For example, you can set its Color property:
You can also specify the lineseries properties when you call the plotting function:
h = plot(x,y,'Color','red');
You can query the lineseries properties to see the current value:
The get function returns the answer (in units of points for LineWidth):
ans =
Finding the Properties of an Object
If you call get with only a handle, MATLAB returns a list of the object's properties:
If you call set with only a handle, MATLAB returns a list of the object's properties with information about possible values:
Setting Object Properties
All object properties have default values. However, you can change the settings of some properties to customize your graph. There are two ways to set object properties:
• Specify values for properties when you create the object.
• Set the property value on an object that already exists.
Setting Properties from Plotting Commands
You can specify object property value pairs as arguments to many plotting functions, such as plot, mesh, and surf.
For example, plotting commands that create lineseries or surfaceplot objects enable you to specify property name/property value pairs as arguments. The command
[x,y,z] = peaks;
plots the data in the variables x, y, and z using a surfaceplot object with interpolated face color and light gray colored edges.
Setting Properties of Existing Objects
To modify the property values of existing objects, use the set function. Plotting functions return the handles of the data objects that they create (lines, surfaces, images, and so on). For example, the following statements plot a 5-by-5 matrix (creating five lineseries objects, one per column), and then set the Marker property to square and the MarkerFaceColor property to green:
y = magic(5);
h = plot(y);
In this case, h is a vector containing five handles, one for each of the five lineseries in the graph. The set statement sets the Marker and MarkerFaceColor properties of all lineseries to the same values.
To set a property value on one object, index into the handle array:
Setting Multiple Property Values
If you want to set the properties of each lineseries to a different value, you can use cell arrays to store all the data and pass it to the set command. For example, create a plot and save the lineseries handles:
h = plot(magic(5));
Suppose you want to add different markers to each lineseries and color the marker's face color the same color as the lineseries. You need to define two cell arrays—one containing the property names and the other containing the desired values of the properties.
The prop_name cell array contains two elements:
prop_name(1) = {'Marker'};
prop_name(2) = {'MarkerFaceColor'};
The prop_values cell array contains 10 values: five values for the Marker property and five values for the MarkerFaceColor property. Notice that prop_values is a two-dimensional cell array. The first dimension indicates which handle in h the values apply to and the second dimension indicates which property the value is assigned to:
prop_values(1,1) = {'s'};
prop_values(1,2) = {get(h(1),'Color')};
prop_values(2,1) = {'d'};
prop_values(2,2) = {get(h(2),'Color')};
prop_values(3,1) = {'o'};
prop_values(3,2) = {get(h(3),'Color')};
prop_values(4,1) = {'p'};
prop_values(4,2) = {get(h(4),'Color')};
prop_values(5,1) = {'h'};
prop_values(5,2) = {get(h(5),'Color')};
The MarkerFaceColor is always assigned the value of the corresponding line's color (obtained by getting the lineseries Color property with the get function).
After defining the cell arrays, call set to specify the new property values:
Functions for Working with Objects
This table lists functions commonly used when working with objects.
Find all children of specified objects.
Find ancestor of graphics object.
Copy graphics object.
Delete an object.
Find all graphics objects (including hidden handles).
Find the handles of objects having specified property values.
Return the handle of the current axes.
Return the handle of the current figure.
Return the handle of the current object.
Query the values of an object's properties.
True if the value is a valid object handle.
Set the values of an object's properties.
Specifying Axes or Figures
MATLAB always creates an axes or figure if one does not exist when you execute a plotting command. However, when you are creating graphics from a program file, it is good practice to create and specify the parent axes and figure explicitly, particularly if others people use your program. Specifying the parent prevents the following problems:
• Your program overwrites the graph in the current figure. A figure becomes the current figure whenever a user clicks it.
• The current figure might be in an unexpected state and not behave as your program expects.
The following example shows a MATLAB function that evaluates a mathematical expression over the range specified in the input argument x, and then plots the results. A second call to the plot function plots the mean value of the results as a red line.
function myfunc(x)
% Evaluate the expression using the input argument
y = 1.5*cos(x) + 6*exp(-.1*x) + exp(.07*x).*sin(3*x);
% Calculate the mean
ym = mean(y);
% Create a figure, axes parented to that axes
% and the using the axes
hfig = figure('Name','Function and Mean');
hax = axes('Parent',hfig);
% Hold the current plot and add a red line along the mean value
hold on
plot(hax,[min(x) max(x)],[ym ym],'Color','red')
hold off
% Add a tick label that shows the mean value
% and add a title and axis labels
ylab = get(hax,'YTick');
set(hax,'YTick',sort([ylab ym]))
title ('y = 1.5cos(x) + 6e^{-0.1x} + e^{0.07x}sin(3x)')
xlabel('X Axis'); ylabel('Y Axis')
First, define a value for the input argument and call the function:
x = -10:.005:40;
Finding the Handles of Existing Objects
The findobj function enables you to obtain the handles of graphics objects by searching for objects with particular property values. With findobj you can specify the values of any combination of properties, which makes it easy to pick one object out of many. findobj also recognizes regular expressions.
For example, you might want to find the blue line with square marker having blue face color. You can also specify which figures or axes to begin searching from, if there are more than one. The following four sections provide examples illustrating how to use findobj.
Finding All Objects of a Certain Type
Because all objects have a Type property that identifies the type of object, you can find the handles of all occurrences of a particular type of object. For example,
h = findobj('Type','patch');
finds the handles of all patch objects.
Finding Objects with a Particular Property
You can specify multiple properties to narrow the search. For example,
h = findobj('Type','line','Color','r','LineStyle',':');
finds the handles of all red dotted lines.
Limiting the Scope of the Search
You can specify the starting point in the object hierarchy by passing the handle of the starting figure or axes as the first argument. For example,
h = findobj(gca,'Type','text','String','\pi/2');
finds the string π/2 only within the current axes.
Using findobj as an Argument
Because findobj returns the handles it finds, you can use it in place of the handle argument. For example,
finds all red lines and sets their line style to dotted.
Was this topic helpful? | http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/learn_matlab/understanding-handle-graphics-objects.html?nocookie=true | dclm-gs1-122100001 | false | false | {
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0.031502 | <urn:uuid:560b1c2d-6319-4fc7-ab0a-3567cf542b80> | en | 0.936709 | New Play Control! Pikmin Image
Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critics What's this?
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Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings
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• Summary: Players control a Spaceman who has crash-landed on a strange world inhabited by Pikmin -- plant-like creatures who selflessly follow the spaceman's orders. Controlling these Pikmin, it's up to you to help the Spaceman defeat the Pikmin-munching predators, solve puzzles and ultimately find a way to escape the planet. [Nintendo] Expand
Score distribution:
1. Positive: 27 out of 36
2. Negative: 0 out of 36
1. The most important thing is: Pikmin is worth playing. It's simply indispensable in any fan collection and a sample of the different way Nintendo makes its games. On the other hand, if you've already played it fully on GameCube, maybe the new version is dispensable
2. Pikmin is a little gem that puts you in touch with the power, the beauty and the cruelty of the Nature in a wonderful way. Just don't mind if you already played the game on Gamecube.
3. An incredibly charming adventure.
4. Pikmin newbies and curious Wii owners alike should definitely take a look at New Control Play! Pikmin, especially if they have a craving for something a bit different.
5. Pikmin, the Miyamoto's RTS experiment, comes to Wii with slightly improved controls and a lower price in order to attract wiimote's fans who couldn't play eight years ago one of the most original and fresh ideas for our dear but dead Gamecube.
6. 75
The Wii interface is a brilliant fit for the game, giving it the speed and fluidity of a true RTS.
7. Pikmin was a good game back in 2002. Maybe Nintendo thought they should release it again. We rather wished they didn’t. The game is a complete waste of time. The game hasn’t changed a bit since the original and brings no new content. That’s just ridiculous. If you never played Pikmin’s your chance...wooptiedoo!
See all 36 Critic Reviews
Score distribution:
1. Positive: 4 out of 4
2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
3. Negative: 0 out of 4
1. Paratroopa
Mar 18, 2009
Recently, I once created a discussion named "Mario Tennis Wii is this? NO! IT CAN'T BE!!!" and that discussion is about New Play Control! games shouldn't come out. Actually, I don't have Pikmin on Gamecube, so I'll give it a try. When, I played it, the graphics are slightly improved. The soundtrack? Awesome. The gameplay? Well, I heard the Gamecube version is quite frustrating because it's hard to aim. But the Wii controls make it easier. Like that, you are free to throw your Pikmins in any direction you want! What's more? Well, there's a day-to-day save functioning. You can restart the day you saved and start over. Cool! Overall, "New Play Control! Pikmin" is a great game. It proved me wrong about New Play Control! games which I think is horrible. Oops. There's a "New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat" and "New Play Control! PIkmin 2"! See ya! Collapse
2. Feb 25, 2011
Ah, Pikmin. one of the best RTS series of all time.
it's so great. it's mixes fighting and scavenger hunting so well that My brain should be
splattered on the wall from an awesomeness explosion. Why that hasn't happened yet, I'll never know. Expand
3. Rubbermade
Mar 27, 2009
This is a fantastic game. It is a remake so how can anyone criticize it on having bad graphics or no new content or for not being Pikmin 3? New Play Control Pikimin is better than the GCN Pikmin. I can see now why people claim that the Wii has no games rated highly on this site and its because the critics are bias against the Wii and closed minded. Expand
4. RB
Mar 10, 2009
Excellent with the Wii controls, it's as though the game was made for the Wii. While there's nothing new, they made minor changes (such as the Bulborbs no longer roaring when they die, which I am very disappointed at) and the Wii controls like I said are awesome. Expand | http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/new-play-control!-pikmin?user_review_id=422738 | dclm-gs1-122150001 | false | false | {
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0.047455 | <urn:uuid:580dc3a1-3f95-472b-94db-1f46de0db1d3> | en | 0.827295 | Skip to main content
Photo 6 of 27
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WE ARE MARSHALLKate Mara as Annie Cantrell and Ian McShane as Paul Griffin star in a story about a plane crash that claims the lives of 75 members of the Marshall University football team and fans. The team's new coach Jack Lengyel and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.
UPLOADED ON 2009-01-02 01:06:36 PHOTO BY Warner Bros.
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0.037572 | <urn:uuid:4f73cfdc-67b2-4beb-9195-1e28b94130b9> | en | 0.907608 | Futuremark launches Powermark battery benchmark
Trying to find out just how long a battery will last on a PC laptop can sometimes be a guessing game. Today Futuremark, best known as the creators of the well known 3DMark PC graphics benchmark, have announced an all new software program called Powermark. This new software is designed specifically for Windows 7-based PCs.
Powermark has three basic tests that it runs to determine the battery life and power use of a PC, laptop, tablet or other device. One is the productivity test which runs simulations based on web browsing and word processing tasks. Another is the recreational test that simulates how a PC might run if it was handling video and gaming applications. The third test is called a balance test which simulates web browsing, word processing, video and gaming on a PC equally.
The software also allows the user to adjust settings for different situations such as, for example, the brightness of a laptop screen. Powermark is available now for enterprise users. Businesses can purchase 10 activations of Powermark for $200 ($20 per activation). There's no word if the software will be released for non-commercial customers nor if there are any plans to release a free demo of Powermark.
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Sony Xperia Play LTE phone in the works? | http://www.neowin.net/news/futuremark-launches-powermark-battery-benchmark | dclm-gs1-122280001 | false | false | {
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0.019016 | <urn:uuid:014d683e-9b57-4d97-8557-ed15a278c325> | en | 0.965419 | Last updated: March 15, 2014
Data suggests 'skilled' flyer turned jet
THE investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is increasingly focusing on something going wrong in the cockpit.
Obama's Funny or Die skit gets 15m hits
US President Barack Obama
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NZ and Australia work together on oceans
NEW Zealand and Australia want to work together in an international forum trying to improve the way oceans are managed.
Retrial set for US man in loud music death
MICHAEL Dunn, who is white, faces a retrial on a murder charge over the shooting death of an unarmed black teen in Florida.
World Breaking News
Nine die in Damascus car-bomb attack
Government forces walk through the destruction in Aleppo
Syrian troops are facing fierce battles as rebels try to seize Aleppo's airport and an airbase. Source: AAP
AT least nine people died when a car bomb exploded in the Syrian capital, a watchdog says, amid reports of battles raging around a major airport and a military airbase in the north of the country.
Many people were seriously wounded in the car-bomb attack in a northern Damascus neighbourhood, and the death toll may climb, the group's director Rami Abdel Rahmane told AFP on Friday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of fighters and doctors to monitor the conflict in Syria, said the attack occurred in an area with a large population of Alawites, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam and the minority community of President Bashar al-Assad.
State news agency SANA said the incident was a "terrorist attack" targeting a petrol station near a hospital.
Insurgents on Thursday besieged troops on the perimeter of Aleppo's international airport and around Taftanaz airbase in Idlib province, a day after the United Nations said 60,000 had died in the 21-month civil war.
The airport in Aleppo has been closed since Tuesday after repeated attacks by rebels, according to an airport official.
Hundreds of fighters from two hardline Islamist rebel groups, the Al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham, battled soldiers around the Taftanaz airbase, the Britain-based Observatory said as regime warplanes pounded rebel positions.
The military source told AFP that clashes outside Taftanaz had been non-stop for more than 48 hours and there had been a large number of rebel casualties.
Three rebels were also killed by troops around the Deir Ezzor military airport, as fighting broke out in the provincial capital in the east of the country.
In the town of Mleha, just east of Damascus, bodies were being recovered from a service station hit by a regime air strike on Wednesday.
The Observatory said at least 12 bodies were recovered, including several rebels. The Local Coordination Committees, a grassroots network of activists, estimated at least 50 people died in the attack.
Pakistan's UN ambassador Masood Khan meanwhile said international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi could meet with the United States and Russia next week to discuss ways to end the Syrian conflict.
Khan told reporters he had spoken to Brahimi on Wednesday and there was a new effort under way to find a political resolution.
"We are hoping there will be a trilateral meeting sometime next week between Moscow, Washington and Mr Brahimi," said Khan, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council.
On the humanitarian front, a 33-truck aid convoy organised by Turkish and Qatari relief groups left Istanbul on Thursday carrying 850 tonnes of flour.
"Assad's regime is bombing the bakeries and there is a very huge need for flour in Syria," said Huseyin Oruc, the vice-president of Turkey's IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation.
The estimated death toll of 60,000 in the Syria conflict has unsettled observers.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday called it "truly shocking".
The average number of deaths recorded in recent months was five times that registered by mid-2011, reflecting intensifying viciousness and the government's increased use of air strikes.
Pillay said "this massive loss of life could have been avoided" if the government of President Bashar al-Assad had not chosen the "ruthless suppression" of what initially were peaceful protests.
Karim Bitar, an analyst at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations, was sceptical the new toll would have a political impact.
"The world has become unfortunately so toughened to these figures, sort of anaesthetised. There is this terrible Stalin quote: 'One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic'," he said. | http://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/syria-rebels-try-to-seize-airbase/story-e6frfkui-1226547486087 | dclm-gs1-122290001 | false | false | {
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0.033555 | <urn:uuid:3095ab32-9d2e-4f1a-af4b-eb511394e5cb> | en | 0.96788 | Edition: U.S. / Global
A Clear Choice Confronts the Voters In One New Jersey Assembly Contest
By JOSEPH F. SULLIVAN, Special to The New York Times
Published: October 15, 1989
In a year when Republican control of the New Jersey Assembly could vanish with the loss of only two seats, Democrats are hoping to upset two veteran Republicans in the Sixth District in Camden County. Democrats are banking heavily on differences over abortion to give them a victory in the district, but Republicans, who now hold a 41-to-39 edge in the Assembly, say the race here will turn on other issues.
The incumbents, Republican Assemblymen John A. Rocco, 53 years old, and Thomas J. Shusted, 63, oppose a woman's right to choose abortion, while their Democratic challengers, former Assemblywoman Barbara Berman, 51, and retired Superior Court Judge Mary Ellen Talbott, 67, support that right.
Mr. Rocco would allow abortions when a woman's life is in danger or in cases of rape or incest. Mr. Shusted would make no exception.
The incumbents and challengers acknowledge that they present a clear choice to those for whom abortion is the overriding issue, but they differ on how important the issue will be in deciding the winners on Nov. 7. 'Our Overall Record'
''This is a pivotal issue in this campaign,'' Mrs. Berman said, ''and it is one that will attract Republican votes to our side.''
Volunteers from an abortion-rights coalition knocked on doors in Haddonfield, Voorhees and Cherry Hill on Oct. 7 to urge support for the Democrats, and they plan to return.
Mr. Shusted, however, disputes the notion that the abortion issue is pivotal. ''There are people on both sides who will vote based on this one issue,'' he said. ''But we believe the majority will not vote on a single issue but on our overall record.''
The two incumbents have been in office for 10 years in a district where enrolled Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 10,000 people but where independent voters are almost as numerous as those affiliated with the major parties. 'Get Them Out!'
Voters in the district do have other issues on their minds. Joe DiRose, pumping gas at a Texaco station on Route 70, said he would support candidates who promise to get government out of people's personal lives. ''They pass laws to force us to wear seat belts and tell us we can't smoke,'' he said. ''What is this, Russia? ''And if they want to reduce auto insurance rates, they should stop requiring us to buy such expensive coverage,'' Mr. DiRose said.
For Paul Maguire, an insurance agent who listens to motorists' gripes about insurance costs in his office in the Springdale Plaza mall, the issue of whom to vote for is clear. ''It's simple,'' he said, ''Whoever is in office, get them out!
''The state hasn't educated the public to the causes of the high policy costs,'' he said. One cause, he said, is the state's dense population and number of cars, which leads to high accident rates. ''I think the national average is something like 94 cars per square mile, and here in New Jersey it's 863 cars.'' Clogged Highways
Insurance rates are an issue in this suburban district where residents range from blue collar to upper-middle class, and roads clog with traffic at any hour of the day. Mr. Rocco and Mr. Shusted said that they voted for four Republican bills that would have helped control auto insurance costs, but that the measures were rejected in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Mrs. Berman and Mrs. Talbott said a compromise measure supported by the incumbents and enacted last year takes away a motorist's right to sue unless the driver exercises an option to recover that right, at a higher premium cost. In addition, the new law requires those injured in an accident to pay $1,200 of the first $5,000 of medical costs from the accident unless their medical insurance pays it, they said.
Mrs. Berman is a lawyer, as is Mrs. Talbott, who went to law school after her husband died and earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 41. She became the first woman appointed to the Superior Court bench in Camden County.
Mr. Shusted, also a lawyer, is a former member of the State Commission of Investigation and a former Camden County Prosecutor. Mr. Rocco, a former associate professor at Rider College, is the vice president of a title insurance agency. Aid for Camden
Mr. Rocco, who is the Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore, and Mr. Shusted, who is Judiciary Committee chairman, urge the district's voters not to throw away their political clout in the Assembly. They also point to their support for bills that aid Camden, even though it is not in their district. Mr. Rocco is the sponsor of the bill that will locate an aquarium in the city and another that established the successful bond referendum that provided $7 million to refurbish Rutgers University's business school there.
''Helping Camden is important because it is the county seat, and any erosion in the city's tax base shifts the burden of paying county taxes to suburban towns,'' Mr. Rocco said. ''In this county, for every $1 of property taxes that supports local services, $4 goes to the support county programs.''
Democrats hold a slim 4-to-3 majority on the county freeholder board, and with two seats and control of the board on the ballot below their names, and the gubernatorial race above them, Mr. Rocco and Mr. Shusted said they feel like the filling in a sandwich.
James J. Florio, the Democrat who has represented parts of Camden County in Congress for 14 years, is running against Jim Courter, the Republican Representative from Hackettstown for the governorship. Mr. Florio is the area's best known public official, and his presence on the ballot worries the Republican incumbents, even though they won re-election in 1981, the last time Mr. Florio ran for governor.
''The lead he appears to have in the governor's race has to concern us,'' Mr. Shusted said. ''Our job is to get some of those who may vote for him to come back to our column and support us.''
''It's never easy in this district,'' Mr. Rocco said. ''Democrats outnumber Republicans by 10,000 and we've always been a target, but we've been getting stronger in each election.''
Map of the Sixth District in New Jersey (NYT) | http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/15/nyregion/a-clear-choice-confronts-the-voters-in-one-new-jersey-assembly-contest.html?src=pm | dclm-gs1-122330001 | false | true | {
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0.087995 | <urn:uuid:e13b226d-4f60-47e3-97c2-0d9e5c72451b> | en | 0.951813 | Edition: U.S. / Global
2 Groups of Physicists Produce Matter That Einstein Postulated
Published: July 14, 1995
By chilling a cloud of atoms to a temperature barely above absolute zero, scientists at a Colorado laboratory have at last created a bizarre type of matter that had eluded experimenters ever since its potential existence was postulated by Albert Einstein 70 years ago.
The creation of this Bose-Einstein condensate -- named for Einstein and the Indian theorist Satyendra Nath Bose -- was hailed yesterday as the basis of a new field of research expected to explain some fundamental mysteries of atomic physics.
A Texas group later produced similar results. The achievement should allow physicists to peer directly into the realm of the ultrasmall.
In a comment being published today by the journal Science, Dr. Keith Burnett, a physicist at Oxford University in England, said, "The term Holy Grail seems quite appropriate, given the singular importance of this discovery."
Details of the achievement were disclosed in a technical paper published by Science and at a news conference yesterday in Boulder, Colo.
Separately, a research team led by Dr. Randall G. Hullet (pronounced HEW-it) of Rice University in Houston, announced yesterday that it had independently created a Bose-Einstein condensate made of atoms different from those used in the Colorado laboratory and using a somewhat different method.
A Bose-Einstein condensate is a gas of atoms that have been so chilled that their normal motion is virtually halted. In this almost stationary condition, the wavelengths of individual atoms -- the dimensions that define the regions in which they may be found -- grow to relatively enormous size, overlapping each other and merging into a kind of super atom. This merged atom, despite growing to a range of sizes typical of those of bacteria, obeys the rules of quantum mechanics, the physics of the ultrasmall.
The creation of this unique state of matter by the Colorado group occurred on June 5, when a microscopic blob of Bose-Einstein condensate abruptly appeared in the glass vessel containing super-cold rubidium atoms. The condensate was destroyed when a laser probe flashed through it, but it survived long enough to leave its image on a computer screen. The scientists withheld news of the momentous achievement until yesterday to allow time for independent researchers to study and evaluate their results.
(There is no formal definition of the term "state of matter," although gases, liquids and solids are clearly different states of matter. The Colorado group said that distinctions between states are fuzzy, and that a Bose-Einstein condensate could be regarded as a substate of gas.)
The Rice team said that it reached the elusive condensation goal on Tuesday and that its results were still preliminary.
The Colorado team, known as JILA, from the surviving acronym for the former name of the laboratory, the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, is a research coalition of the National Institute of Standards and Technology at Boulder with the University of Colorado. Money for the project came from the standards institute, the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
Dr. Eric A. Cornell of the standards institute, a leader of the Colorado team, said: "I could hardly believe we actually had it, under just the conditions that had been predicted. It was like a dream come true."
Dr. Cornell described the Bose-Einstein condensate as a kind of matter analogous to a laser beam. In a beam of ordinary light produced by a flashlight, the wave-particles of energy known as photons behave chaotically in a variety of mismatched "quantum states." By contrast, the photons in a beam of laser light march in lockstep with each other, behavior described as "coherent." Similarly, ordinary atoms in a cloud of gas exist in a chaotic state, but in a Bose-Einstein condensate, they are coherently matched with each other, sharing a common quantum-mechanical wave function and losing their individual identities.
Atoms merged with each other in this intimate way to form super atoms represent a kind of bridge between the everyday world of normal objects and the ultrasmall world of atoms and elementary particles, ruled by the peculiar laws of quantum mechanics. This bridge, physicists hope, will make it much easier to study such quantum mechanical phenomena as superconductivity (the ability of some materials to conduct electrical current without any resistance) and superfluidity (the ability of certain fluids to flow through even the thinnest channel with no impeding resistance). When liquid helium is chilled to about two degrees above absolute zero it becomes a superfluid that scientists believe exhibits some of the manifestations of Bose-Einstein condensates.
The world's first verified Bose-Einstein condensate, which physicists believe has never existed in nature anywhere in the universe, occurred when the laboratory's table-top apparatus forced the atoms inside it to a record low temperature of 170 one-billionths of a degree above absolute zero. With further cooling, the laboratory drove down the temperature still further, to as low as two one-billionths of a degree | http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/14/us/2-groups-of-physicists-produce-matter-that-einstein-postulated.html?src=pm | dclm-gs1-122360001 | false | true | {
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0.159492 | <urn:uuid:63e0cf08-43a4-40f2-90d4-eb88f327b67f> | en | 0.672555 | Challenge Cup Betting Odds
Handball» Europe»Challenge Cup
Azoty-Pulawy - Tongeren ---
Cocks - Metaloplastika ---
Odorhei - Aquas Santas ---
Challenge Cup page help: Odds Portal lists all upcoming Challenge Cup handball matches played in Europe. "B's" column indicates number of bookmakers offering Challenge Cup betting odds on a specific handball match. Columns 1, X and 2 serve for average/biggest Challenge Cup betting odds offered on home team to win, draw and away team to win the Challenge Cup match. The top line of upcoming matches table (Handball - Europe - Challenge Cup) lets you click-through to higher categories of Odds Portal betting odds comparison service. | http://www.oddsportal.com/handball/europe/challenge-cup/ | dclm-gs1-122380001 | false | false | {
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0.021822 | <urn:uuid:d59debf6-4755-4537-8263-5e86599937c6> | en | 0.954878 | The Jeep Cj5 muffler was installed in your car primarily to minimize the sound emerging from your engine. Through the years however, a muffler also has evolved from simply being a basic noise-reducing,a to one performance-improving component on your Jeep Cj5. To help with making your vehicle have enhanced overall performance, this particular product effectively decreases the air-flow constraint triggered by its noise-suppressing enclosures in a muffler.
It's very considerably crucial to maintain the good shape of your mufflers on your Jeep Cj5. Constricting and air leaks are considered the biggest enemy of the vehicle's muffler. Having a whole new muffler on your Jeep Cj5 is needed when the those built in in your Jeep Cj5 begins to fail. There are lots of top-notch items that are offered for use on your car. Built using no more than the top materials, all these exhaust system items have proven to be engineered and made to satisfy and also exceed a maker's requirements.
Your automobile's every need are available here as Parts Train continues to be providing you easy access for your uncommon items for pretty much 20 years now. Provide your motor vehicle immediately having that great, dependable and also high-quality Jeep Cj5 muffler. Purchase your car's exhaust parts from Bugpack, Gibson, OEQ and more therefore move and get hold of your own immediately. | http://www.partstrain.com/ShopByDepartment/Muffler/JEEP/CJ5 | dclm-gs1-122410001 | false | false | {
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0.976661 | <urn:uuid:2b4a1c78-837a-45dd-96ac-d30a5afb4782> | en | 0.930502 | Every Geo built after 1980 includes an oxygen sensor. The Geo oxygen sensor is part of its emissions control system. It is there to help your engine perform at its optimum level while keeping emissions low. Your Geo has a unique oxygen to fuel ratio that is considered perfect. The oxygen sensor can read that ratio and send the information to your engine's computer. Too little air in the mixture is considered rich, while too much air is considered lean. Either way, the information is read by the oxygen sensor and sent to the engine's computer. The engine's computer will then adjust the fuel level until the ratio is back to its optimum level. A broken oxygen sensor will not be able to send this vital information to the engine's computer. This means that the engine's computer has to "guess" the air level. This may result in hesitation, poor acceleration, surging, emissions test failure, and poor engine performance. | http://www.partstrain.com/ShopByDepartment/Oxygen_Sensor/GEO | dclm-gs1-122420001 | false | false | {
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0.023003 | <urn:uuid:ac7d1c5f-c9eb-4137-bdd6-a5cdc8f93c4b> | en | 0.9205 | U.S. patents available from 1976 to present.
U.S. patent applications available from 2005 to present.
Ear plugs and method of forming same
Patent 7096872 Issued on August 29, 2006. Estimated Expiration Date: Icon_subject September 27, 2022. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
Abstract Claims Description Full Text
Patent References
Apparatus for making high speed corrugated plastic tubing
Patent #: 3981663
Issued on: 09/21/1976
Inventor: Lupke
Disposable ear plug
Patent #: 4434794
Issued on: 03/06/1984
Inventor: Leight
Chainless mold drive for a corrugator or the like
Patent #: 4504206
Issued on: 03/12/1985
Inventor: Lupke , et al.
Washer cutting procedure
Patent #: 4617849
Issued on: 10/21/1986
Inventor: Ligon
Washer cutting apparatus
Patent #: 4708624
Issued on: 11/24/1987
Inventor: Ligon
Slow recovery earplug with largely impenetrable surface
Patent #: 4774938
Issued on: 10/04/1988
Inventor: Leight
Corrugator with intermeshing overlapping moldblock halves
Patent #: 4789322
Issued on: 12/06/1988
Inventor: Chan , et al.
More ...
No. 10256644 filed on 09/27/2002
US Classes:
128/864, Aural protectors (e.g., ear)128/865, Inflatable or expandable181/135, Ear insert264/508, Continuous or indefinite length264/48Including surface treatment of porous body
Primary: Brown, Michael A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm
Foreign Patent References
• 0 707 935 EP 04/01/1996
• 1 209 189 EP 05/01/2002
• 1 110 287 GB 04/01/1968
• WO 01 83187 WO 11/01/2001
International Class
A61F 11/00
The present invention relates to an improved earplug and more particularly to an improved extruded earplug made of a foamed thermoplastic.
Earplugs are a common expedient to protect ears and their sensitive structures from excessive noise and from the entry of undesired debris or other matter. Recent designs for earplugs have employed plastics. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,774,938 and 3,872,559 disclose molded plastic earplugs. Other earplug designs are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,811,742; 5,573,015; 5,203,352; 5,188,123; and 4,434,794. Another recent effort to make foamed plastic earplugs is exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,981. All of the above-noted patents are hereby expressly incorporated by reference for all purposes.
There remains a need in the art for a low-cost and efficient approach to the manufacture of earplugs, particularly foamed and extruded thermoplastic ear plugs. There is also a need in the art for improved earplug structures for enhancing usercomfort, handling and overall earplug performance.
The present invention meets the above needs by providing an improved earplug that is made by a process that includes the steps of:
a) extruding a foamed body of thermoplastic material;
b) shaping the thermoplastic material; and
c) separating the resulting shaped material for forming individual earplugs.
In a particularly preferred embodiment the earplug is a thermoplastic elastomer material that is waterfoamed, and the foamed body is extruded in the form of a tube.
Materials and dimensions shown in the drawings are for illustration purposes. They are not intended as limiting. Other materials and dimensions are possible as will be appreciated.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate cross-sectional views of examples of earplugs in accordance with the practice of the present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic of a production line for extruding and shaping an ear plug according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates a sectional view of an earplug precursor.
FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative configuration of an earplug according to the present invention.
The present invention is predicated upon the discovery of an improved process for the manufacture of an earplug 10 (10'), such as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, which process includes the steps of extruding a foamed body of thermoplastic material;shaping (e.g., by plastically deforming a resin) at least a portion of the thermoplastic material; and separating (e.g., by at least partially cutting) the resulting shaped material for forming individual earplugs. In a particularly preferred embodimentthe earplug is a thermoplastic elastomer material that is waterfoamed.
As will be appreciated from the discussion that follows, one of the unique aspects of the present invention is that novel earplug structures may be produced using a foamed plastic, and particularly from an extruded foam tube of a thermoplasticmaterial. For example, the present invention may be used to make solid core earplugs. However, as seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B, one unique structure for an earplug 10 is prepared from the extrusion of a tubular profile, and includes a hollow core 12 (12'). In addition, processing according to the present invention allows for the formation of a skin over substantially the entirety of the outer surface of the earplug. Referring to FIG. 1A, the earplug 10 may also include a stem portion 14, that adjoins aninitially bulbous portion 16 (the latter shown in phantom to depict its initial state and including the hollow core 12). The thickness and structure of the walls defining the respective portions are such that hinge points are formed where the portionsadjoin. In this manner, the stem can be used as a gripping surface for inserting the earplug 10 into an ear. The bulbous portion 16 will deform (as illustrated by the phantom lines), and effectively collapse upon itself, forming a mushroom-like head 18about the stem. The resulting collapsed structure can then be maintained within an ear canal. It will be appreciated in all embodiments that ear canal retention may also be enhanced by expansion of a compressed foam after placement in the ear canal.
A preferred approach is to foam the earplugs while they are being extruded, while they are being shaped or both. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the earplugs are foamed using a waterfoam technique, by the liberation of gas from waterthat is mixed with the feed material prior to extrusion. By way of example, the teachings of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,398,997 and 6,110,404, hereby incorporated by reference, illustrate one preferred approach for waterfoaming. Those patents teach a methodfor extruding foam of a plastic resin material, such as a thermoplastic elastomer (which is used herein, without limitation, for illustration purposes), which includes the steps of mixing the resin (e.g., thermoplastic elastomer) with water, introducingthe mix to an extruder, melting and compressing the resin (e.g., thermoplastic elastomer) and water and extruding the resultant mix as foam. In more detail, a first quantity of resin (e.g., thermoplastic elastomer) in pellet form is mixed with a secondquantity of water, and optionally soaked for a predetermined period of time after mixing. It will be appreciated that pursuant to this technique, superheated water within the resin (e.g., thermoplastic elastomer) is in a generally liquid state, owing tothe high pressures encountered in the extruder die. When the resin leaves the die and the pressure upon is reduced (e.g., to atmospheric), a resulting effect of the pressure reduction is to flash the liquid to a gaseous state, thereby forming poreswithin molten or semi-molten plastic. As the pores and plastic grow, if unconstrained, the volume of the foam increases and the density decreases. A layer of densified or unfoamed plastic, effectively a skin, may be formed on an outer surface of thefoam, for example, by being cooled for solidifying before the foam expands on the outer surface.
As seen in FIG. 2, the mixed water and thermoplastic elastomer is introduced to an extruder 20. The thermoplastic elastomer is melted, compressed, and mixed with the water to a uniform mix of thermoplastic elastomer and water. The mix isextruded through a die 22 of the desired shape, wherein the water expands in a vapor form to create foam cells (which may be open cell, closed cell or a combination thereof) with the cells having walls of the thermoplastic elastomer, thereby forming anat least partially foamed extrusion 24. A skin optionally may be formed over the some or all of the exterior of the extrusion at this point. In another embodiment, water retention is enhanced by exposing a first quantity of the thermoplastic elastomerin pellet form to steam to increase an amount of water retained by the thermoplastic elastomer. For example, the amount of retained water is preferably in a range of between approximately 3% to 6.75%. Other foaming techniques may also be employed asdesired, such as the use of an art-disclosed chemical blowing agent.
Preferably, upon exiting a die 22 of the extruder 20, the extrusion 24 will be a substantially completely foamed material, although it may only be partially foamed. After exiting the die 22, the extrusion is shaped as desired.
The step of shaping may be done in any suitable manner. For example, it is possible to have opposing surfaces, one or both of which are shaped to a desired configuration, contacting the extrusion for plastically deforming it, (e.g., while thetemperature of the extrusion is still at or near the melting point of the extrusion material. In a preferred embodiment, shaping is performed nearly simultaneously about substantially the entirety of the periphery of the extrusion 24. A particularlypreferred approach to shaping is by deformation of the extrusion in accordance with a suitable method, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,789,322; 4,504,206; and 3,981,663; hereby expressly incorporated by reference. An example of a suitablemachine for use in the present invention is commercially available from Corma, Inc., such as under the Model numbers VO52. Preferably, the machine will have a line speed of at least about 1 meter per minute, more preferably at least about 5meters/minute, and still more preferably at least about 12 meters/minute and even still more preferably at least about 20 meters/minute. In this manner, it is contemplated that amounts of products ranging from about 5 to about 30 kg/hour or higher, andmore preferably about 15 to about 25 kg/hour are possible.
In general, as seen for example in FIG. 2, it is contemplated that a suitable shaping machine 26 will include opposing webs 28, chains or the like that rotate about a sprocket or other suitable roller 30 and which each include a plurality ofsuccessive traveling mold portions 32 (which optionally may be heated, be removable, be interchangeable with other mold portions, or contain a sharp edge for cutting). Upon placing an extrusion between the mold portions 32 (e.g., aligning it with asuitable guide device or in a channel disposed between the mold portions) the webs 28 are synchronously advanced for feeding the extrusion through the opposing mold portions 32, whereupon the extrusions are shaped to the desired shape (corresponding tothe shape of the mold portions) for an ear plug, and may optionally be cut, such as with a blade associated with a suitable cutter 34. A preferred approach is to form a cavity within the mold portions that substantially approximates the shape of theresulting desired earplug. Thus, as seen in FIG. 3, an earplug precursor 36 is effectively formed upon passage of the extrusion 24 through the shaping machine 26, which corresponds in size and shape with the respective mold portions of the shapingmachine. Optionally, mold portions may be fitted with suitable vacuum lines for aid in forming the earplugs, fluid lines (e.g., air or water) for temperature control of the product as it is being shaped, or a combination thereof. It will further beappreciated that controlled cooling of an extrusion could have the effect of forming a skin, which in turn, could help impart rigidity to the part so that it is strong enough for subsequent handling, without undesired deformation.
The shaping machine may be located immediately adjacent an extrusion die or spaced apart from it. Thus, it is possible that some foaming may occur during shaping. In this manner, it is possible that the temperature of the extrusion may becontrolled during the shaping by heating or cooling it along the line. Other like continuously fed shaping machines and techniques may also be employed and the present invention is therefore not limited solely to the above embodiment.
As described previously, individual earplugs are formed upon the separation of the extrusion into segments. Thus, before, during or after shaping, the earplug precursors are at least partially cut at their respective end portions 38. Thecutting may be performed with any suitable tool. For example, the edges of the mold portions 32 may be adapted for cutting or for closing the ends of each earplug precursor. A blade may be associated with the extruder upstream or downstream of theshaping machine. An example of a suitable cutting machine for use in the present invention is a commercially available puller/cutter from The Harrel Company (e.g., one that employs one or a combination of a machine under the designations of ROLLERPULLERor NOCLUTCH CUTTER). Another alternative would be to employ a suitable die cutting machine (e.g., a rotary die cut machine, such as is available from Delta Industrial). The cutting machine may optionally employ a suitable sensor (e.g., an opticalsensor) to sense to location of a predetermined feature of a workpiece for triggering the cutter to cut the workpiece.
Other processing steps may also be employed as desired. For example, during extrusion, during shaping or both, the extrusion 24 or earplug precursors 36 may be stretched, cut with a hot blade, or both for forming a skin on one or both ends ofthe earplug. Examples of suitable stretch-cutting techniques that may be employed are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,624 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,849, hereby incorporated by reference. Thus, the extrusion 24 or earplug precursors 36 may bestretched longitudinally and cut transversely while stretched. It is also possible that flash will be generated during processing, and the present invention also contemplates that a step be employed for flash removal, in instances when control overprocessing and equipment cannot avoid the formation of flash in the first instance.
The outer surface of an earplug in accordance with the present invention may exhibit any suitable surface texture, contour or combination thereof. It may include a smooth surface as illustrated in the above embodiments. Alternatively, as seenin FIG. 4, an earplug 40 may include a corrugated outer surface 42 or otherwise shaped effectively for forming one or a plurality of longitudinally disposed sealing rings 44. Though shown for illustration purposes as being generally egg-shaped, suchearplug 40 may have any other suitable shape.
The extrusion or earplug precursors may be coated over some or all of their bodies with a suitable coating, such as a tackifier, a powder, a reduced friction material, a medicament (e.g., a fungicide, a bactericide, or another medicine), anantiseptic, or combinations thereof. They may have a design or text printed on a surface (e.g., screen printed, laser printed, hot stamped or the like). Though smaller earplugs are also possible in accordance with the present invention, preferably theearplugs are at least about 25 mm in length.
In one highly preferred embodiment, though not a necessary requirement to fall within the scope of the present invention, a preferred foamed earplug is believed to be capable of exhibiting a mean attenuation level (in accordance with ANSIS3.19-1974) of at least about 10 dB, and more preferably at least about 20 dB within a frequency range of about 125 to about 250 Hz; and at least about 20 db, and more preferably at least about 35 db for frequencies greater than about 500 Hz. A highlypreferred ear plug in accordance with the present invention is believed to exhibit an NRR mean attenuation level of at least about 40 db at a frequency of about 3000 Hz. Thus, though again not a necessary requirement to fall within the scope of thepresent invention, preferred earplugs in accordance with the present invention are believed to and preferably will exhibit a Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) of at least about 5, more preferably at least about 15, and still more preferably at least about 20;and in one preferred embodiment, the earplugs may have a NRR of between about 15 and 40, and more preferably between about 20 and 35.
The material selected has a density sufficient to produce earplugs having densities ranging from about 12 to 31 pcf (about 0.2 to 0.5 g/cc), or more preferably, within a range of from about 20 to 25 pcf (about 0.3 to 0.4 g/cc). In addition, inone preferred embodiment, the material of the earplug (in an unfoamed state) would exhibit a Shore A durometer hardness of between about 60 and about 80.
Foamed materials herein may be an open or closed cell material. In one preferred embodiment, at least about 50% by volume, more preferably at least about 65% by volume of the overall cell volume will include closed cells. The foamed materialsof the earplugs may be skinned or unskinned. They may have a continuous or uniform density throughout, or a density gradient. Preferably the material employed will be sufficiently pliable and elastic that a user will be able to compress the materialfor insertion into an ear and the earplug once inserted will expand, so that the earplug will be retained in the ear. Thus, generally it will be appreciated that the material of the earplug will exhibit a relatively low compression set and a relativelylow load/deflection.
Preferred materials for forming the earplugs are low density thermoplastic elastomeric materials such as thermoplastic polyolefins/ethylene-propylene (PEP OR EPDM), thermoplastic block copolymers/styrene-butadiene (SBS) and styrene-isoprene(SIS), thermoplastic polyester, thermoplastic polyurethane (PU)/polyester/polyether, thermoplastic vulcanizates (e.g., comprising blends of cured olefin rubber and thermoplastic olefin resin), poly (vinyl ester) (e.g., chemically blown), melt processiblerubbers, polyamide blocks, thermoplastic rubber, and viscoelastic polyurethane. Santoprene.RTM. thermoplastic rubber (e.g., such as that sold by Advanced Elastomer Systems under the designation 123-52W242 or X123-48W242) may also be used. Otherthermoplastic foams may alternatively be employed. Blends of the above materials likewise may be employed.
In one embodiment where a low friction surface is desired, the ear plugs are coated over at least a portion of their external surfaces with a low friction coating, which may take the form of a powder, wax, an oil, or even a polymer (such as afluoropolymer, a high-density polyolefin (e.g., HDPE), a silicon-containing compound (e.g., an organosilane) or the like. The coating may be emulsified or dispersed in a liquid to facilitate the coating step. Alternatively, for example, when a polymercoating is employed it is possible that it is coextruded with the foamed thermoplastic. Other suitable coating techniques may be employed such as dipping, brushing, curtain coating, spraying, swabbing, or the like. Other organic or inorganic coatingsmay also be employed. Additives or reinforcements may also be incorporated into or on the surface of the earplug, such as colorants, stabilizers, fillers, or other art-disclosed additives.
Earplugs prepared in accordance with the present invention may be packaged at a point of manufacture (e.g., at a manufacturing plant) or at a packaging site that is remote from the point of manufacture (e.g., at a wholesale or retail distributionoutlet). One embodiment of the present invention thus contemplates the production of a plurality of earplugs that facilitate the shipment or transport of the earplugs from the point of manufacture to the point of distribution. Accordingly, in thisembodiment, the earplugs (e.g., at least partially joined at their ends) are extruded to form a continuous length of straight or coiled material (e.g., coiled about a core), which can subsequently be cut into individual earplugs or into pairs of earplugs(e.g., with a partial cut allowing for ready detachment of a pair into individual earplugs) that can be separated from each other by the end user. Suitable handling equipment may be employed during these operations, such as a stacked cooling conveyor topermit for cooling without uncontrolled plastic deformation. At the end of the conveyor, the extrusion could be placed on a core and coiled.
The earplugs manufactured in accordance with the present invention can be provided alone or in combination with other items, as part of a kit. For example, it may be possible that a kit would include ear plugs of the present invention along withan eye covering (e.g., glasses, goggles, blinders, or the like), one or more toiletries for personal hygiene, a head covering, a carrying case, a breather, a face mask, a protective body suit, a safety hat, steel-toed boots, a strap for connecting theear plugs into a single assembly, a light, a reflective safety garment, or a combination of at least two of such items.
Thus, it is possible within the present invention that the ear plugs herein are provided for use by a construction worker, a musician, a concert-goer, a firearm range user, an air transport passenger, heavy tool equipment operators, persons whowork in a factory, automobile or boat racers or race spectators, airfield workers, or the like.
The methods taught herein are not limited to the manufacture solely of earplugs, but could be extended to the manufacture of other foamed thermoplastic articles, such as (without limitation) caps, plugs, covers, feet, clips, hangers (e.g., for awiring harness or fluid lines) fasteners, tubing retainers, or other parts (particularly parts in which a hollow core is desired) that can be molded from an extruded profile, by moving dies or other mold portions downstream from the extruder die.
The present invention also contemplates the performance of the methods herein for the manufacture of shaped co-extruded articles. Accordingly, in one embodiment, a coextrusion is shaped in an operation downstream from the extrusion die.
Dimensions and materials identified in the attached Figures are for illustration purposes and may vary depending upon the intended application in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. The present invention is not intended to belimited to the specific features of the Figures even though the invention encompasses the same.
The illustrative embodiments set forth in the above constitute examples of the principles of the present invention. Numerous alternatives will readily occur to the person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the presentinvention as set forth in the following claims.
* * * * *
Other References
• International Search Report dated Jan. 16, 2004. (PCT/US03/28165).
• Website at www.envirosafetyproducts.com/html/leight_hearing.htm dated Aug. 19, 2002 (5 pages).
• Website at www.eraser.com dated Aug. 23, 2002 (1 page).
• Website at www.corma.com/html/products/specs.htm dated Aug. 23, 2002 (1 page).
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0.022698 | <urn:uuid:6afc8796-f1e3-4858-b484-41d7d0cfb069> | en | 0.947815 | Hard Reset review
Richard Cobbett at
Hard Reset review thumb
There are at least three reasons not to fight here. All are labelled EXPLOSIVE.
There’s a bit more plot than that, but it’s not worth worrying about. Hard Reset’s story bits, which mostly serve to give you something to look at while the next level loads, are a confusing, barely coherent mass of graphic-novel type scenes that fail miserably at introducing any of its characters, or even explaining why an army of machines is attacking a city named after a lump of hair dug out of the digestive system. Beyond ‘shooting stuff’, I honestly couldn’t tell you what I was doing for most of it, right up to the point where Hard Reset just decides it’s had enough and ends with nothing actually resolved.
Luckily, it’s a much better shooter than storyteller. Members of the team worked on both Bulletstorm and Painkiller, and it shows. Weapons and environmental explosions have terrific weight to them, and enemies attack in hordes of whirling-blade death machines instead of just a couple of tough guys at a time. You spend most of your time circle-strafing and running backwards: cover mostly exists to be blown away by a charging tank and scenery is every bit as deadly to you as the enemies. Ammo is plentiful (and recharges on its own if you run out), as is health. That doesn’t mean you won’t be seeing your own splattery death a lot, however, especially in multi-wave arena fights where you have to ration your pick-ups carefully to survive.
Sometimes your best weapon is a smile. Not here. Here, it's the shotgun.
As good as all this feels, it doesn’t take long to get repetitive. There are very few enemy types, and none of them require any more advanced tactics than dodging a charge or switching to a rocket launcher to hit a boss’s brightly glowing weakpoints. Bar a spectacularly hateful final boss, you feel like you’ve seen it all very early on... and actually will have before very long. On Normal difficulty, I polished off the campaign in a casual afternoon’s play and was left with no incentive to replay it. There aren’t any multiplayer modes, and you’ll have all the weapons you actually want long before the end.
As a one-of-a-kind game, perhaps the nostalgia factor would be enough to compensate. Unfortunately for Hard Reset, it has company from both the original Painkiller and the balls-out cheer of Bulletstorm, with Serious Sam 3 close on its tail. In comparison to any of them, its back-to- basics charm feels firmly in tech-demo territory – albeit really good tech, and with great combat for the short while it actually lasts.
An explosive ride of a game, but limited long-term satisfaction, priced roughly £10 too high for its own good.
Tags: , , | http://www.pcgamer.com/review/hard-reset-review/ | dclm-gs1-122460001 | false | false | {
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0.038455 | <urn:uuid:21495c1e-61af-440d-9696-e6cdbfcc498e> | en | 0.748372 | Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks Joe
Think about Loose Coupling
Comment on
Following is a sample code file name is
#! /usr/bin/perl use strict ; use warnings ; my $i=0 ; while (1) { print "Testing $i\n" ; $i++ ; sleep(1); }
I have compiled this code by using
perlcc -o compiled
Then I executed the normal code "" and compiled code "compiled". I seen the memory and cpu usage using the ps command
ps axo %cpu,%mem,command | grep "while\|compiled" 0.0 0.0 /usr/bin/perl ./ 0.0 0.1 ./compiled
why complied code taking more memory comparing with
How to avoid the memory usage of the compiled perl code?
In reply to why the perl complied code takes more memory? by arunstunner
and: <code> code here </code>
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0.02371 | <urn:uuid:17f9384b-0479-4a0f-ae63-a77353cd5b1a> | en | 0.902089 | Hench Nutrition Pro Active Whey Protein Powder 5lb / 2.25kg (Strawberry)
Released on 03 November 2011
Brand: Hench
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Hench Pro Active Whey Protein has been designed with one thing in mind; to build lean, hard muscle that will transform your body. Its carefully formulated recipe is uniquely tailored to provide your body with the precise amount of protein, fat and good carbs that it needs to maximise muscle growth and improve body sculpture beyond recognition. Hench is totally committed to using pioneering ingredients that push the very essence of body development to new limits with exciting and never-before-seen results. The Hench Whey mix provides large amounts of protein with hardly any fat content (actual ratio is a staggering 8:1), providing the perfect combination for lean muscle growth. Combined with this, its added fat-fighting ingredients make it the only 'all-in-one' solution of its kind leaving the competition way behind. Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla, Banana & Toffee - 3 different sources of protein that constantly keep your muscles flushed with the essential amino acids needed for solid, powerful muscle growth and recovery. - Added MCT Oil (medium-chain triglycerides) that burn away excess body fat and calories to aid body toning and increase definition. - Precisely engineered formula to force-feed your muscles with amino acids that lead to prominent levels of muscle growth and overall impressive, masculine physique. - Revolutionary casein ingredients that maintain a strong skeletal structure and tissue for increased power & endurance, helping support intense training and active lifestyles. - Produced in the UK under the toughest control measures and from the highest quality ingredients available anywhere in the world. Amount Per Super Serving (80g) Calories: 308 Protein: 31.4g Fat: 3.6g Carbs: 44.8g Trans FA: 0g Each tub contains 56 x 40g servings.
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0.083298 | <urn:uuid:308f7a1d-08fc-4894-af6a-bf50da70046a> | en | 0.970646 |
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Tuesday, Sep 8, 2009
A closer look at a study on men and their relationship with hypersexualized female avatars.
From Mass Effect
From Mass Effect
Several surveys over the past year have pointed out the glaring discrepancy between the treatment of men and women in video games. Although most games show men that have bodies that are just as physically absurd as women, the difference is that women are almost all sexualized and objectified in video games. This often does not vary even if I am actually playing as the character myself. Considering that this a video game, one has to wonder if a player is relating to their avatar in the game the same way that they do an NPC.
The logic behind having me play as a woman in a skimpy outfit with large breasts goes back to a fairly simple discovery in advertising: heterosexual men will pay attention to you if you have one in your commercial. There are basic rules for how to maximize this effect. Skimpy clothing is obviously a factor, but it’s a bit more complicated than just getting naked. A pursed, open mouth indicates submission. Shoulders wide, arms to the side and hanging also arouse attention. Characterizing this sexuality in terms of dialog usually involves the female asking lots of questions or needing the male figure to do something for them. As a consequence of these classic Hollywood and advertising formulas, video games are overflowing with them. Why do you think so many games have a woman, typically very attractive, constantly portrayed as the one giving you orders and asking you to do things? In a medium that targets men with empowerment fantasies, the objectified women in them are often just another part of that formula. And yet when you change the hypersexualized female from a person I’m observing into one that I’m playing as my avatar, none of these concepts work anymore. You are not sexualizing an object for the player’s desire, you are sexualizing the player.
From Tomb Raider
From Tomb Raider
This is the same issue that a study raised a while back, and they were kind enough to post the results on the internet. They applied a two part test to a group of men and women. First, a picture of a hypersexualized female game character was shown to them and they were asked what role they thought she played in the game. The second test presented the subject with two types of games: an FPS where you play a woman and a third person game where you play as either a hypersexualized avatar or a curvy, more reasonably proportioned avatar. Players would randomly start on one kind of game and could switch to the other whenever they chose. They had a set amount of time to play either game. Afterwards the subject filled out a lengthy questionnaire asking how well they identified with the avatar and which game they preferred. The results are not what you’d expect.
For the first part of the study, both men and women immediately noticed the hypersexualized state of the avatar. Although there was a portion of men who thought she might be the damsel in distress, for both genders the overall reaction was to assume that the avatar was the villain or a secondary character. That is, men did not rate the character any more positively than women in terms of liking her.
To summarize the study’s brief description of the sexualized versus curvy avatar, a hypersexual body is a comic book style figure, Curvy is a more normalized ratio of breasts to waist. That is, something that’s physically reasonable. Men both preferred playing as and rated more highly the curvy avatar. Women preferred playing as the hypersexualized avatar. The questionnaire asked men if they would recommend the game to a friend along with their sense of immersion or presence. The study explains, “Men had higher responses on presence and recommending to a male friend when playing as the Curvy figure, whereas women were higher at the Hypersexual figure. In fact, both of these interactions were strengthened. In addition to these two variables, two other engagement variables became significant in the control groups…Men said they would recommend the game to a female friend more often when they played as the Curvy character, while women again indicated higher recommendation when playing the hypersexual avatar.”
The reasons behind this radical departure from expectation are guessed at in the survey. It explains, “The men may be rejecting the hypersexual’s abnormal stature as ridiculous, as one male participant relayed how they often laugh at such portrayals when they play games featuring such characters. A more realistic body type, while still somewhat idealized in terms of voluptuousness, may provide a better draw for male gamers.” Given the inherently empowering nature of a video game, they further speculated that the discovery that women preferred playing the hypersexual avatar says more about the media’s message to women more than anything else. The study notes, “It cannot be simply concluded that women want to play as such characters, as they did not indicate enjoying playing as these characters, nor were they overtly supportive of them in their appraisals. While they might have had some negative perceptions of the character, this did not prevent them engaging with the game more when playing as that character.” That is, they didn’t particularly like the avatar, but they were more engaged and felt more powerful playing as the hypersexualized one. The study theorizes, “A woman may see such a body type as desirable due to the positioning it has in society as the form required to achieve success, particularly in regards to heterosexual romantic relationships. If women perceive this is what men want, and there is an importance ascribed to being attractive to men, then they may be more likely to accept at some level the hypersexual portrayal as the goal.”
A film critic named Laura Mulvey outlined the distinction between when a film is sexualizing a woman and when she is shown as ‘possessed’ by the male character in her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. The male audience is first shown the character as voluptuous and beautiful. Every character in the film is in awe of her beauty. But as the hero wins her over and she becomes his romantic interest, her sexuality is played down. The male hero, the male viewer is supposed to be empathizing with, asserts his dominance and this dominance then should not be contested by having other people interested in his objectified female. The problem with video games is that the player is both the hero and audience. The avatar who is sexualized is also the person that we are identifying with anytime we are playing the game. As Mulvey points out most men, “cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification. Man is reluctant to gaze at his exhibitionist image.”
From X-Blades
From X-Blades
The issue of objectified and hypersexualized women in video games is often glibly dismissed because the target demographic for games is still 18 to 35 year old heterosexual men. That’s why the study is really interesting, it disputes the entire notion that this demographic enjoys playing as these hypersexualized avatars. Mulvey’s explanation for this discrepancy obviously comes with caveats: a great deal of this comes from Western Culture instead of any universal rule for men. Still, it’s important to realize that appreciating the trailer and images from Bayonetta engages this group with the usual formulas taken from film and advertising, but playing the game is another deal entirely. Perhaps the reason a game like X-Blades bombed was not just the shoddy gameplay, it’s that no one in the primary demographic that is targeted by it wants to play as a woman in a thong.
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Friday, Sep 4, 2009
It seems that whenever the subjects of games and social values crossover, it’s always in a negative way. Earlier this year, Resident Evil 5 faced accusations of racism for its portrayal of African natives. There’s no doubt that the game did contain some loaded imagery, but the game itself didn’t have anything to say about racism. Just a couple weeks ago Shadow Complex was caught up in a controversy over its association with Orson Scott Card. Some gamers were reluctant to purchase the game, giving money to Card, an outspoken opponent of gay rights. Yet once again, the game itself didn’t have anything to say on the subject. But that’s not an argument in defense of these games, it’s more of a criticism of the industry. There seems to be a lack of social commentary in games.
This game wasn't supposed to be real and that was OK.
This game wasn’t supposed to be real and that was OK.
In fact, it seems that most games go out of their way to avoid it. As more effort and thought is put into video game narratives, there’s also more effort put into avoiding any social commentary. The games that do have something to say only tackle vague, general themes. Far Cry 2 explores man’s inhumanity to man. Shadow of the Colossus explores love and loneliness. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a powerful war story when certain aspects of its gameplay are taken into account, but it’s also set in a fictional Middle Eastern country. It may say something about war, but it doesn’t say anything about a war. It stays within the safe boundaries of ambiguity. What does it say about the industry when Resident Evil 5 is the closest any game has come to commenting on racism, or that, despite its title, no Call of Duty has actually explored a citizen’s duty to serve in war?
But there is social commentary in games, it’s just hidden in the fiction. Fallout 3 is filled with examples of this: the mission, Oasis, is all about euthanasia, but instead of killing a senior citizen, which would probably have generated controversy, we’re asked to kill a tree mutant. Tenpenny Tower is all about prejudice, but Fallout 3 makes mutant ghouls the discriminated minority instead of a specific race or gender. Then you have the Grand Theft Auto games that take on immigration, gang life, and the pursuit of the American Dream, but they are set in fictional cities. They may be imitations of real cities, but they are still fake. Nothing is really real.
This game was supposed to be real and that wasn't OK.
This game was supposed to be real and that wasn’t OK.
It makes sense that games would avoid directly addressing such topics immediately after seeing the public reaction to previous games that have tried to do so. Six Days in Fallujah was a war game set during the Second Battle of Fallujah in Iraq, and would have followed a squad of Marines over the course of six days as they fought in the city. The game was widely criticized by gamers and non-gamers alike. Non-gamers criticized the entire medium as inappropriate for such a subject, and gamers criticized certain mechanics in the game as inappropriate. Then there’s the case of Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, a game that gave players a unique perspective of the events at Columbine (without condoning them) while inviting discussion about them. It was naturally met with hostility by the mainstream press and many gaming outlets, and even after being selected as a finalist for the Slamdance festival’s Guerilla Gamemaker Competition, it was quickly removed from the competition by the event’s organizer. But unlike Six Days in Fallujah, Super Columbine Massacre RPG! was a finished product that anyone could play and judge for themselves, and as such, it had many supporters within the gaming industry who appreciated its attempt at social commentary.
Super Columbine Massacre RPG!
Super Columbine Massacre RPG!
Considering people’s reactions to these games, it seems that games are free to comment on societal issues as long as the commentary remains allegorical. When games try to portray something real, an actual war or actual violence, there’s a backlash from non-gamers who see this as insulting to the source and from certain gamers who wish to keep games “fun.”
But there’s another angle in all this to consider as well: the impact of player choice. Super Columbine Massacre RPG! was a direct commentary; it was saying something about the events and wasn’t leaving much room for interpretation or at least leaving no more room for interpretation than any other standard narrative, whereas Fallout 3, took on all sides of an issue at once. The latter game didn’t directly comment on euthanasia, whether it’s good or bad, it just gave the player a choice, and through the consequences of that choice, the player was able to form his own opinions. Did you feel bad killing Harold, or did you feel it was noble? Did you feel bad forcing him to live, or did you feel it was for the best despite his wishes?
If you did feel bad about your decision, you could always reload a save and do something different. In this way, games have the innate ability to show both sides of an issue. Of course, this does dilute the significance of our actions since we can always rewind time and make a different decision, but this issue of permanence is another discussion entirely. As it stands now, some gamers are guaranteed to play though a choice-driven game multiple times, and that’s when games can take advantage of their branching paths by imbuing each path with a different message.
Games should not be limited to this kind of diplomatic social commentary. They should be able to offer a direct opinion without being stigmatized for it, but I think the former approach is better for the medium as it takes advantage of the interactivity of games. After all, any medium can preach a message to its audience, but only games can let us experience and analyze both sides of an issue without preaching a single thing.
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Wednesday, Sep 2, 2009
In the case of fashion, rules exist that can at least be conformed to and learned in order to succeed. And isn't that the nature of playing a game anyway?
Game critics and journalists have been talking for years now about the appeal or lack thereof of video games for a female audience. While there are numerous attempts at creating games for girls, the deluge of low budget Barbie and Bratz games doesn’t do much to capture a more mature audience. The Sims is one of the most overtly successful attempts to tap into this demographic, though the virtual doll house that The Sims essentially is was successful among both male and female gamers. It was even called Doll House in its earliest conception –- assumedly the change had to do with capturing the attention of gamers across gender lines. The resulting game was treated with a bit more maturity and had an addictive and well thought out style of game play.
While female gamers have always been interested in other genres like shooters, RPGs, puzzle games and the like, The Sims managed to capture a model of traditional female activity (playing “house”) and actually make it into a game that women would want to play. As a result, such success makes me wonder how what might be considered traditionally feminine interests might be translated into games that girls could grow up with and continue to enjoy as adults. The thought has crossed my mind that televisions shows with high female demographics, like Project Runway or America’s Top Model have the potential to be winners as game licenses. The problem, however, for dealing with translating games oriented towards evaluating style and image is that “style” and “image” seem like concepts that on the face of them are difficult to quantify and become then very difficult to translate into game mechanics.
If one were to play a digital version of Project Runway, which is in and of itself a competition and thus at least game-like, how would an outfit that a player designed be evaluated by a virtual Nina Garcia or Michael Kors? Because it is assumed that making judgments about what seems to (as Tim Gunn might say) simply come down to “a matter of taste,” any scoring in the game would come down to arbitrary decisions that are either based on the player conforming their taste to a game mechanic or to sheer caprice. However, that everything is simply a matter of taste when it comes to fashion is simply not true to anyone who is aware of how fashion actually “works.”
Several games have already confronted some issues related to style and image and been fairly successful in at least providing the gamer with choices about style. The most obvious example of style and customization is the now nearly ubiquitous convention in games that allows the player to select what their character is supposed to look like and how they dress. Role playing games are an obvious good fit for such a system where much of the interest of the game lies in developing a character of your own. Many open world games like Saint’s Row, Grand Theft Auto, and Bully also allow you to either design the overall look of the character that the player will be using or at least make some choices about how the character dresses, and thus, how the character will be viewed by others in their virtual world. There is something very pleasing about styling a character in a game and this in and of itself is “play worthy.” Intriguingly, around the time of its release, many players of the massively multiplayer online role playing game City of Heroes reported in online forums that they often found themselves spending hours with that game’s character creation system, simply because designing a superhero’s costume was often as fun as, if not more fun, than playing as a superhero.
That players want to “play” with the creator enough that some of them have called it a “game” in and of itself testifies to the potential pleasure that could be derived from a game based on styling. Cryptic’s new title, Champions Online and character creator has yet to be released (at my writing) but it is already provoking comments like these that indicate a fascination with styling characters:
After seeing the character creator video and having read a lot about the character creator experience I was thinking it would be great if Cryptic did what SOE did with EQII’s release. There was a pre-order (as usual) that contained the character creator as a stand-alone app that allowed you to save a template file to load for later use.
I’m thinking, that one, it would give Cryptic a big pre-order campaign boost to include such a thing, and two would give us a chance to work on making our characters before the game launches since it will probably take a LONG time to do that. Win Win, IMHO.
The sheer robustness of Cryptic’s character creator (which allows for potentially hundreds of thousands of styling options) at the very least suggests that a fashion oriented game could be generated with sufficient tools to create a lot more style options than a DS game would provide. The question of course remains, how would an artificial intelligence determine whether or not a clothing design is actually any good?
Before answering that question, first, I want to return to my other potentially image oriented game license, America’s Next Top Model, to consider how its interests as a competition would have mechanics that prior games have created precedents for. Taking photographs is something that a game can obviously (and has) emulated in the past. Limited ways have existed to evaluate the successfulness of photography in video games like Grand Theft Auto and Playboy: The Mansion. In GTA missions in which your rather unscrupulous character has to take blackmail pictures largely just boil down to a very limited evaluation of precision: did you manage to get the intended blackmail victims and their questionable antics in frame? Playboy: The Mansion, which is a game about putting together issues of Playboy, and thus, photography becomes a major component, treat evaluation in a seemingly less elegant way. Given the Sims-style networking component of the game, players network in order to provide content for the magazine. From a pragmatic standpoint, the relationship that exists between a Playmate and their photographer coupled with the photographer’s skill is somewhat sensible in determining the quality of pictures produced during a shoot. One would assume that collaboration of model and artist would matter in saome way. But it is a limiting factor in that the actual test (in terms of the game’s mechanics) of whether or not the actual images created are erotic is completely arbitrary. A picture of a model’s elbow can become a 5-star issue cover if the model and photographer really get along well.
The immediate sensibility of the mechanic, though, does begin to touch on one element of style that is obviously important: relationships. The somewhat less successful fashion oriented version of The Sims, The Urbz, demonstrates this importance and a much more interesting and thoughtful approach to evaluating what “taste” might mean. The Urbz is predicated on the idea that the character that you will be playing is interested in becoming a fashionista of sorts. Doing so is determined by how well the player fits into various counter cultures that are largely defined by style choices. Moving between various parts of the city, our urban sim is forced to redesign their own look each time that they meet a new group of people, be they punks, skaters, ravers, or the upper classes. Character creation, or more appropriately, character recreation becomes a critical element of The Urbz, and while the choices that one makes are not specifically evaluated (as long as you wear clothes that are associated with punk, the punks will like you), it acknowledges an actual rule of fashion and style: consensus.
Fashion choices like these suggest that “taste” is not the only factor in determining successful style. Such choices are very much social constructions that depend not only on what the individual likes but how the people that individual interacts with respond to those choices. The Urbz at least successfully simulates how the consensus of cultures and subcultures effects choices and how conforming to that consensus is potentially beneficial.
Playboy: The Mansion suggests that it is a reasonable guideline that successful photographs depend upon some degree of chemistry between photographer and subject, which shows that there may be other mechanics to help govern a player’s “fashion” score. Part of what distinguishes games from play is that games tend to need purposes, boundaries, and goals to determine how successful the player is. The Urbz likewise acknowledges that fashion and style is also governed by social boundaries. This is a major step in recognizing how style needs rules in order to be played like a game and that it already is one.
Watching an episode of What Not To Wear will rather quickly educate the uninitiated in the “rules” of such a game. Both Stacy London and Clinton Kelly spout copious amounts of rules about what looks best on what kind of body type, how to visually lengthen the leg, enhance the figure, etc. Likewise, Project Runway‘s Tim Gunn has written a Guide To Style that suggests many similar rules that govern broader social concerns with how to “play the game” of looking good correctly and successfully. But as anyone schooled in the visual arts knows, illusions are the nature of visual design. Getting a flat piece of paper to represent distance, depth, and texture are governed by “rules” that actually work. Surely some of London, Kelly, and Gunn’s rules could be translated into ways of measuring the success of virtual garments or models?
For that matter, much of art history has been interested in examining the way that the mind reacts to visual imagery and what is pleasing or not pleasing to the eye. From the discovery of and influence of the The Golden Ratio on music, painting, and architecture to psychological studies on the pleasant and unpleasant nature of symmetry and asymmetry, there are a great many choices of rules to help in governing how one can evaluate style with criteria that might allow for a degree of objectivity. In the case of fashion, rules exist that can at least be conformed to and learned in order to succeed. And isn’t that the nature of playing a game anyway?
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Tuesday, Sep 1, 2009
Some of the ideas in Scott McCloud's classic piece offer some interesting insights when applied to games.
When they are first starting out, all forms of media borrow from other forms until they are able to stand on their own two feet. Movies mostly often recreated plays and books for their first few decades to give a recent example. At a certain point, this act of borrowing becomes problematic because the medium must eventually rely on its strengths, yet appropriating new ideas is always a useful tool for innovation. One of the most interesting borrowing of techniques that’s going on in video games is borrowings from graphic novels. For a variety of reasons, abstract concepts in the form of visual symbolism are constantly applied in video games. This is something that is still relevant to both 8-bit graphics and the still awkward characters seen today. Matthew Gallant pointed out in the comments of the above post that Scott McCloud’s book Understanding Comics develops this concept and lately I’ve been seeing a lot of game designers reference it in their blogs. So, here’s a breakdown of what the book brings to video games.
The most important thing McCloud outlines in his book is how abstraction works in comics. A photograph is an example of something with no abstraction; it is a visual approximation of a person’s face. A smiley face is the ultimate abstraction because it could potentially represent anyone. As McCloud explains, “The more cartoony a face is…the more people it could be said to describe.” (31) Most comics fall somewhere in the middle of these two standards because abstraction allows a person to psychologically project themselves into a character. Citing Marshall McLuhan’s research into driving and inanimate objects, this concept can even extend to vehicles. They become “an extension of our body. It absorbs our sense of identity. We become the car.” (38) This is extremely important to grasp when looking at a video game. They are constantly balancing between enough abstraction that you project yourself into the avatar while at the same time supporting more realistic graphics and art styles. Many developers balance out their graphics with techniques like the silent avatar or by never letting us see a character’s face. Others rely more heavily on comic book styles by keeping the visual environment that characters inhabit within a comic book or anime template. In all games, some degree of abstraction is needed to allow for projection.
The more complex levels of abstraction come from communicating a projected identity back to the player. McLuhan’s car example is a good one for understanding the inherent problems in this process: nothing physical is actually happening in the game. This relates to the second point that McCloud makes in his book on how symbolism works. The letters that you are reading right now are technically phonetic symbols strung together that represent what these words sound like when spoken aloud. This is only one kind of symbol, another example would a the red circle of a no smoking sign or the icons on your computer. These are visual representations. The phonetic symbol is less abstract than the visual symbol. There is nothing to project into when you are looking at the written word, instead you are thinking about what it means and internalizing that. As McCloud explains, “[Visual] icons demand our participation to make them work. There is no life [t]here except that which you give to it.” (59) He uses the example of a drawing of only his upper body, explaining that our mind is filling in the rest of the details and thinking of him as a whole person despite the literal depiction.
In terms of games, the most readily applicable place for these ideas is the HUD. A bar that decreases until the red better communicates the player’s health rather than a sentence saying “You are hurt.” One is more abstract and requires our mind to engage with it, while the other is just informing us of information. Where this representation really starts to come into play are in complex RPGs and other games that have extensive interfaces. A game like Fallout 3, which relies heavily on numbers, has to balance this quantatative infromation with other elements like coloring and bars. Sound effects and direction indicators for where damage is coming from also build on this principle of finding ways for the player to project into the game. A fully realized abstract interface should be able to allow the player to visually observe information and physically flinch in a manner relative to that information. The sizzle and dwindling health of your character when they fall into lava, the flash of red when a bullet tags you, these are all ways of feeding information back to the player more smoothly and thus make them “feel” it more.
This is possible because of a principle in comics that McCloud refers to as “closure.” That is, I don’t have to punch you in the face to make you sense a mild approximation of that feeling. Take the example of only seeing part of McCloud’s body yet assuming he is a whole person and transfer that to the notion of action itself. A picture of a man swinging an ax at another person can be followed by an “EEYAA!!” without having to show me an axe mutilated corpse, I can infer the action that has occurred. McCloud explains, “Every act committed to paper by the comics artist is aided and abetted by a silent accomplice. An equal partner in crime known as the reader.” (68) In film, this would be the same thing as showing a couple kissing and falling into bed before cutting to a shot of the next morning as they lay sleeping together. You don’t have to show the audience a scene of the couple having sex to get the point.
In application to video games, closure highlights yet another reason why comparing film and video games breaks down fairly quickly. Cutting the player’s visual feedback for any reason is problematic, much less removing the visual reaction to an act that they have performed. The player is going to want to see the ax connect, the couple having sex, etc. because they instigated it. Where closure does kick in is explaining the bridge between seeing a bullet hit my avatar and inferring that I have been hurt. The abstract symbols of the HUD, along with its visual representation, communicate that the event happened. The process of closure, due to the abstractions creating it, is what makes the player feel this moment. Like seeing the visual image of a man swinging an axe at a person and feeling horrified, seeing a bullet hit our avatar is communicated through our imagination. The player must actively participate with the game’s imagery and HUD for it to create an immersive experience.
Other portions of the book are interesting but difficult to apply to games. McCloud touts the importance of balancing words and imagery and relying on both to properly communicate a story (156). He highlights several techniques for doing this and the cultural origins of them. The final chapter presents a useful diagram for how an artistic creation starts (idea), develops through a tool (a pen for comics), is observed by a reader (eyeball), and leads to them forming their own ideas. He explains, “Media convert thoughts into forms that can traverse the physical world and be re-converted by one or more senses back into thoughts.” (195) He considers this process a kind of artistic gauntlet and laments how hard that it is to maintain an artistic vision as one makes their way over all of these hurdles.
One can’t help but wonder what a visual diagram for a video game would look like. There have been attempts at it numerous times, but it always ends up a jumbled mess of circles and lines going between developer and player that all connect into a giant explosion in the middle. A few things do remain consistent though. As with all other media, eventually the game leaves the developer’s head and has quite a journey to make before it becomes an idea in the the head of the player.
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Friday, Aug 28, 2009
When Shadow Complex came out last week, it was met with an unusual controversy, which Christian Nutt explored in an article on Gamasutra. The controversy centered around some gamers’ decision to boycott Shadow Complex because of its connection to Orson Scott Card, an outspoken opponent of gay rights. Card wrote Empire, a novel about a leftist army taking over the capital, and Shadow Complex is a prequel to that story.
The decision to boycott raises some interesting questions: Is it fair to boycott the game for its connection to Card? Games are not made by a single person, and Card’s contributions to the game are already slim. Before Nutt (who is himself gay) learned of the controversy around the game, he met with Donald Mustard, the creative director and co-founder of Chair Entertainment, the developer behind Shadow Complex, and wrote, “…over an hour after I had initially mentioned it, he wished me well in my long distance relationship with my boyfriend in Michigan. “It worked for us,” he said, referring to himself and his wife Laura.”
That show of support lies in direct contrast to Card’s stated beliefs. In addition, the game is written by Peter David, described by GayGamer in their own look at the controversy as “a straight but extremely gay-friendly comic book writer…He also just “outed” two characters, Shatterstar and Richter, in Marvel’s X-Force, giving the company its highest profile gay relationship yet.” So now there are two conflicting views represented in the creative talent behind the game. To support one is to support the other and to hurt one is to hurt the other. But if we’re taking Card’s, Mustard’s, and David’s ideologies into account, what about the many others who worked on the game? At what point do you draw the line?
And what of the game itself? Shadow Complex actually has nothing to say about homosexuality. It offers no commentary, no opinion, and no mention of anything even remotely related to sexual orientation. However overblown the cries of racism in Resident Evil 5 were, the game did contain some potentially insensitive imagery, so at least there was something in the game itself to get upset over. Not so in Shadow Complex. In fact, Nutt quotes a friend of his in saying “it subverts the Empire universe severely.”
However, Card has been very vocal in his opposition. He’s part of the board of directors for the National Organization for Marriage, a group that seeks to prevent the legalization of same-sex marriage, and he’s been quoted saying “Laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books, not to be indiscriminately enforced against anyone who happens to be caught violating them, but to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society’s regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society.” Certainly the degree and high-profile nature of his opposition makes it understandable for someone to want to boycott his works, or anything he’s worked on, out of principal.
To that end, that’s all one can go on: principle. Are you so opposed to Card that you’re willing to hurt David and Chair Entertainment financially? Or vice versa? There is no right or wrong answer; it’s people’s personal beliefs conflicting with the purchase of a video game. The article on GayGamer suggested a rather elegant compromise: “if you’re obviously too disgusted to enjoy the game, avoid it, and speak out. However, if you want to play the game, play it. Enjoy it, but offset the hate: if you buy Shadow Complex, donate $5, $10, $15 if you can spare it to a gay charity.” While the game may say nothing about the controversy now, with more thought and effort being put into game narratives, I wonder how long until the personal and political beliefs of the creators start to find their way into their games. And would this really be a bad thing? As Nutt says, “If we can have meaningful political discussion in other media, we can have it in games.” If anything, it would certainly spur some interesting discussion.
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0.076322 | <urn:uuid:64bf9769-c564-4cf9-846e-ab7cd2c89010> | en | 0.949918 | Teen Essay: Small adjustments will not solve football's injury problem
The fact that football is a dangerous game isn’t exactly new. As far back as 1860, universities such as Yale banned the sport due to its natural violence. Still, football continued onward, and 45 years later, in 1905, there were 19 fatalities nationwide, inducing clamoring for some sort of reform. Since then, various modifications have been made along the way, from the advent of thigh pads to moving kickoffs up to the 35-yard line, but it remains evident that football isn’t safe, and never will be, despite any new helmet technologies that might arise. Thus, expecting a real decrease in head injuries by teaching proper tackling techniques or something of the sort is entirely unrealistic.
Just as one can take a tiger out of the jungle, but can’t take the jungle out of the tiger, one can try to water down the contact in football, but the naturally occurring violence is impossible to remove.
Changing small things here and there like kickoff distances, or restricting how hard a quarterback can be hit (Ahmad Brooks knows this too well after the 49ers vs. Saints game on Nov. 17), is entirely unproductive.
If the football-obsessed American public is really serious about curbing the number of head injuries sustained by players, the real way to do so would be to entirely change the way football is played. This would entail essentially eradicating tackling, which obviously would be unpopular with even the most casual of football fans. A more dramatic risk, of course, that would be run, if the proposal of changing traditional football to a flag variation went forward, is that footballmad states like Texas would secede from the Union. That would do more good than harm, however, for the simple reason that it would remove the burden of Ted Cruz and Rick Perry from the nation’s conscience.
On the other hand, America, as the football-obsessed nation it is, could collectively say “screw it,” and football could continue as it has in years past, though fans will constantly be forced to wonder who the next Junior Seau will be.
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Rules of the Game: The distance between the posts of an official goal is 8 yards (7.32 m) and the distance from the lower edge of the crossbar to the ground is 8 feet (2.44 m). The Passback program provides used but playable soccer gear to needy teams and organizations around the world and here at home. The mascot for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico was a boy character named Jaunito. The first soccer game based on English FA rules in the United States took place between Rutgers University and Princeton University on Novermber 6, 1869. Manchester United has won more English titles (19) than any other team in England. | http://www.soccer.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Ne=1329&N=4294637532&Product_Id=11040933 | dclm-gs1-122740001 | false | false | {
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0.162594 | <urn:uuid:0e1d8183-4126-448d-8390-b4adf44ea154> | en | 0.960062 | Red light or green? Not a problem
Nov 7 2011 - 10:13am
Illustration by EDEN PARKINSON/Bonneville High School/
Illustration by EDEN PARKINSON/Bonneville High School/
Whenever I mention that I'm colorblind, the first thing my companions do is immediately point to the nearest object and ask what color it is. They then proceed to point out every object in the room and pose the same question, becoming increasingly surprised as I answer each one correctly.
What people fail to realize is that colorblindness does not always imply black-and-white eyesight, like a dog, or a confusion in my eyes that mismatches every color I see. Just like every other disease or disorder, colorblindness varies in type and degree.
There are three main types of colorblindness: total colorblindness, red-green colorblindness, and yellow-blue colorblindness (for technical terms see monochromacy, dichromacy and trichromacy), with a few even rarer cases of not being able to see other colors. Both total and red-green colorblindness are hereditary and typically affect only the male side of the gender pool, although they are passed down the generations on the mother's side of the family.
Total colorblindness is the typical vision we expect dogs to have (although many scientists now believe this to be a myth), meaning affected individuals only see varying hues of black, white and gray. Total colorblindness is extremely rare (0.00001 percent of males and females) and is even considered by some to be a completely separate category of vision impairment.
The colorblindness affecting most people, myself included, is red-green colorblindness. Red-green colorblindness affects approximately 7 to 10 percent of all males and (contrary to popular belief) does not render every individual unable to distinguish between the colors of the lights on a stoplight. I have had my driver's license for two years now, and never have I received a ticket that resulted from such a matter.
Red-green colorblindness can result in someone seeing the color red as green, or the color green as red but, most of the time the problem with this color deficiency is not in being unable to "see" the different hues of the colors but in not being able to distinguish between them when their values (lightness or darkness) are really close.
For example, you hand me a dark red ball and a bright green apple, and I will have absolutely no problem telling you which color they are. However, you take that same dark red ball and put it next to another ball that's a slightly dark brown color -- or put the bright green apple next to a yellow-green apple -- and I may have some trouble. Many times in elementary school I would be asked to pass the red crayon and would end up passing the brown one. Of all the colorful objects I have the most trouble with, pastel paints and socks have to be the worst.
While red and green are the main colors I have trouble distinguishing, I also have a hard time with dark blue and purple, dark brown and black, or other closely related colors like that. Socks and pastel paints abound in varying shades of each, and I have sworn never to attempt searching through my mom's paints again because it always results in multiple trips up and down the stairs and burning calves. I always end up sending my sister downstairs in the end anyway, so I've finally decided to always send her after them first if, by some chance, I need to use them. Matching socks was also at one time a difficult task and I was even excused at one point from doing this part of the laundry because I couldn't figure it out.
Now I've figured out ways to get around my "matching" difficulties; for instance, with the socks, I take time to assess the colors rather than rushing through the job. This provides an excellent explanation for the reason I've only met two or three other people with colorblindness in my life, that I knew of.
Most colorblind individuals find a way around their difficulties and don't express their deficiency. Just like everyone else, we've found ways to make do with what we have and learn from our mistakes.
Shane Goudy is a senior at Northridge High School. Email him at
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0.03603 | <urn:uuid:bd977d58-9818-4342-a8e4-b2cdd2e37b1f> | en | 0.975619 | The future is here: Nick Kyrgios (left) and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The future is here: Nick Kyrgios (left) and Thanasi Kokkinakis. Photo: Wayne Taylor
Thanasi Kokkinakis, one half of Australia's new teenage tennis sensations, believes he and close friend Nick Kyrgios can become the face of world tennis.
The teenagers have lit up Melbourne Park in the first week of the Australian Open and have tennis fans across the country daring to dream of a new golden era in the sport.
Kyrgios' exuberance captured the hearts of Australians in his gruelling five-set loss to Frenchman Benoit Paire on Thursday night, while the 17-year-old Kokkinakis earned plenty of admirers in his loss to world No.1 Rafael Nadal.
Kokkinakis insists the possibilities are endless and has set out to put Australia back on the tennis map with his 18-year-old compatriot by his side.
''We want to be the face of Australian and hopefully world tennis,'' Kokkinakis told Fairfax Media.
''That's the end goal. I think we've both got the potential to do really well in the sport, as we've shown so far. We just have to keep on progressing and one day be the face of tennis. I've always known that.
''But being a tennis player is more than just being good at tennis. It's doing media and everything that goes with being successful. It's being someone who people respect for what they do off the court.''
Kyrgios, 18, showed off his qualities as an entertainer in the second round, turning Margaret Court Arena into his own private kingdom.
While Kyrgios has always possessed plenty of flair and charisma, Kokkinakis insists it was amplified under the bright lights of a grand slam.
''He is like that, but I think he took it up another level on Thursday night,'' Kokkinakis said. ''He was like that a little bit in the first round, but he was just so eager to get out there. It was funny to watch. He usually just has the slits in his hair but this time he went for the mohawk and the slits so he was feeling pretty confident obviously.'' | http://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/thanasi-kokkinakis-and-nick-kyrgios-can-become-face-of-tennis-20140117-310h5.html | dclm-gs1-122800001 | false | false | {
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0.040958 | <urn:uuid:08480100-4f7a-4d47-b0ce-b70b00bf9750> | en | 0.917819 | Walk with Muriel Gray
Somehow, spending every minute of available light outdoors heals the soul on these dank, dark days in a way that shuffling through the Hades of strip-lit shopping malls could never hope to manage.
To this end, it's ideal to plan a circular walk that keeps you outdoors the entire time. Twenty-five miles east of Fort William, the Ardverikie estate, where the BBC films the unintentionally hilarious Monarch Of The Glen, boasts a 10-mile route of such breathtaking grandeur and variety that even the inevitable driving icy rain will do little to diminish its beauty. Offering exposed wilderness in addition to the more domesticated shelter of towering forest, it makes the walk possible even for those whose outdoors skills are more Natalie Appleton than Ernest Shackleton. Starting from the lay-by on the A86 at the western end of Loch Laggan, a rough track snakes a thousand feet up into the hills to the twin lochs of Lochan na Hearba, a glittering ribbon of water slashed between towering cliffs, one of which features the famous Ardverikie wall rock climb. Travelling east, the track meanders through native oak and birch, down to Ardverikie Castle, the fairy-tale baronial pile that Queen Victoria contemplated as her royal residence before settling on the considerably tamer and less midge-infested Balmoral. The castle broods on the edge of magnificent Loch Laggan, seven miles of deep, peaty loch, backed by the mighty bulk of Creag Meagaidh, a formidable plateau-topped mountain of nearly 1,000m. From here, the track turns back west to the start point, staying lochside and hidden deep beneath the original silver firs brought back to Britain by legendary plant hunter David Douglas. Mossy aromas fill the senses, deer scuttle between the massive trunks that punch their way up to a 60ft canopy. If darkness hasn't fallen around you by the time you return to your car, then frankly, you have wasted your day.
Today's best video
• The NSA files trailblock image
Today in pictures | http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2005/jan/01/weekend7.weekend1 | dclm-gs1-122870001 | false | false | {
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0.87647 | <urn:uuid:b429bce1-d347-4fc1-a578-c533c9d38278> | en | 0.954656 | LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- It's never easy to figure out what to put on your résumé. But we're helping you out this morning. Here are five things you should consider leaving off of your résumé.
Check out the full list from Career Builder:5 things to leave off your résumé
1. Objective statement - Objective statements, which usually start with, "I'm looking for a job that..." have long been considered out-dated. Employers aren't reviewing your résumé to find out what you want in a job; they want the résumé to tell them why they should want you.
2. References available upon request - Including a list of references or the statement, "References available upon request," isn't necessary, because it's expected that you have references, should an employer request them. Instead of taking up valuable space, create a separate document that lists your references and their contact information.
3. Outdated or irrelevant information - Résumés are about quality, not quantity. Hiring managers don't have time to read through three pages' worth of positions held, dating back to when you were a dog sitter in high school. Consider removing any experience that is more than a decade old, especially if it's not applicable to the position for which you're applying.
4. Personal attributes - Unless you're applying for a modeling job or another position where looks are a factor, leave your picture off your résumé. Most employers shouldn't, and legally can't, care about your appearance; they just want to know why you'd be good for the job.
5. False claims - Besides running the risk of getting caught, why would you want a job if you're not adequately prepared for it? If you don't know what you're doing, the jig will be up quickly, and you'll just find yourself jobless again and having burned important bridges. | http://www.thv11.com/story/local/2013/07/04/1761612/ | dclm-gs1-122920001 | false | false | {
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0.138477 | <urn:uuid:2e090013-587f-4230-b70c-6963157537a4> | en | 0.916261 | Making love in the club is now high on my list of priorities after seeing Marcos Alberti's 'Later in the Club' series. 'Later in the Club' is a sensual photo shoot that follows one man's steamy escapades in an upscale club.
Marcos Alberti does a great job setting the scene for 'Later in the Club,' making you actually believe that you're looking at private photos of a dapperly dressed playboy's night out. My nights out suddenly look shabby in comparison. | http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/marcos-alberti | dclm-gs1-122950001 | false | false | {
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0.088588 | <urn:uuid:9c634d90-78b9-4dc9-bb3f-c13212b38ed7> | en | 0.956579 | The least expensive way to arrive in Key Largo is to fly into Miami International and drive a rental car down the Florida Turnpike to US 1, which will bring you to the northernmost Key in a little over an hour, though depending on the season it could be longer due to traffic. If you plan to fly into Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International, you can still easily drive into Key Largo, however the trip will be about an hour longer than a Miami departure. If you want to avoid renting a car altogether, Greyhound offers a shuttle bus to Key Largo three to four times a day for approximately $30 for a one-way ticket. Those who prefer travel by sea, a natural choice considering the vast saltwater gap between Florida's mainland and Key Largo, can charter a private boat, or can sail in on their own, though the Atlantic coast can be tricky to navigate and should only be attempted by a seasoned crew. For the truly ambitious, or perhaps patient is the correct term, driving to Key Largo from home is always an option, though travel by car to Florida during the high seasons of December and spring break is often nightmarish due to hordes of travelers heading south and sky-high gas prices, thus a flight might be a more sane and economical option. | http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g34344-s301/Key-Largo:Florida:Arriving.And.Departing.html | dclm-gs1-122970001 | false | false | {
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0.057874 | <urn:uuid:8f14e302-57fa-4f2f-aba4-8711019c0cc2> | en | 0.911699 | First: Mid: Last: City: State:
Annette Yurchak
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0.37272 | <urn:uuid:89546c5b-6950-4f16-ad41-dce5d40bcc12> | en | 0.85591 | First: Mid: Last: City: State:
Kimberly Underkoffler
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Name/AKAsAgeLocationPossible Relatives
1. Underkoffler, Kimberly Ann
Associated names:
46 Sellersville, PA
Quakertown, PA
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0.070585 | <urn:uuid:2bfc742e-e275-48c0-9894-2505d97d67f3> | en | 0.969497 | Obama's Next Big Challenges: Afghanistan and Pakistan
The president will address concerns about the Taliban in a meeting with Zardari and Karzai.
As he basks in the glow of the favorable reviews of his first 100 days, President Obama faces two looming crises that jeopardize the outlook for his next 100 days—Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama acknowledged the twin challenges at a town meeting in Arnold, Mo., last week. "In Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, we do have real problems with the Taliban and al Qaeda," he said. "They are the single most direct threat to our national security interests." He will address these concerns today and tomorrow when he hosts Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai at the White House.The weak government of Pakistan is having enormous difficulty pushing back against increasingly aggressive Taliban insurgents on its own territory. Obama told a news conference Wednesday night that he was "gravely concerned" about the situation in Pakistan and the possible emergence of a "nuclear-armed militant state." Gen. David Petraeus, whose responsibilities as head of U.S. Central Command include the region, is seeking congressional support for more flexibility on assistance to increase U.S training and equipment for Pakistani forces, which traditionally have focused on neighboring India rather than on counterinsurgency operations.Afghanistan, the focus of a major policy review by the incoming Obama team, is another potential disaster area. Obama calls the war there the central front in the battle against terrorism, and he is sending 21,000 more U.S. troops into that country to help root out and destroy al Qaeda terrorists and their allies. Those additional American forces will raise the total U.S. troops level to 60,000, still short of the number sought by his commanders.The U.S. military admits that the war in Afghanistan has not been going very well. Obama's new strategy couples increased U.S. military power with expanding political and development efforts. But the anti-American forces are following a long tradition of successful operations against foreign occupiers. The Soviet Union invested vast sums of money and thousands to troops but failed to tame the country in the 1980s, and the U.S.S.R. eventually was forced to withdraw in humiliation. In fact, scholars say the cost of the Afghanistan war, in which the United States supported the anti-Soviet insurgents, was one reason the Soviet Union collapsed.In the 19th century, the British also had a miserable experience trying to pacify Afghanistan. The writer Rudyard Kipling summarized the situation in a poem, "The Young British Soldier":
"When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to our Gawd like a soldier."Such is the vicious nature of warfare in Afghanistan. And it's worth pondering that Afghanistan has a long history of prolonged resistance to outside forces, not only the Soviets and the British but also Macedonians, Persians, Scythians, Mongols, and Arabs.Today, the situation is complicated by the elected Afghan government, regarded by many Afghans as ineffective and corrupt, and by the lucrative cultivation of opium poppies, a major source of income for Afghan farmers and for the Taliban. U.S. experts say more development aid is needed for farmers because eradication programs otherwise push aggrieved farmers into the hands of the Taliban.Even though Obama is wading in deeper, with both military and civilian aid, his conservative critics say that he still isn't doing enough. "He needs a new strategy," says a GOP activist who advised Republican presidential candidate John McCain last year. "When he distanced himself from Iraq, he emphasized the need to focus on Afghanistan as the central front in the war on terror. Now he needs to do whatever he can to solve it, but his party's left wing is holding him back."Obama addressed this pressure when he told his town meeting, "I had some grumblings and complaints from certain factions in the Democratic Party" when he decided to send in extra troops. He said, "As commander in chief, it is my responsibility to make sure that bin Laden and his cronies are not able to create a safe haven within which they can kill another 3,000 Americans."A former senior official at the State Department says, "Having a positive outcome in that part of the world is always problematic." And now it is Obama who is in the hot seat. | http://www.usnews.com/news/obama/articles/2009/05/06/obamas-next-big-challenges-afghanistan-and-pakistan | dclm-gs1-123010001 | false | false | {
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0.018264 | <urn:uuid:602d29cf-0015-496c-9f5b-b55a63ec5f38> | en | 0.962429 | What the Founders Would Think of Occupy Wall Street
Economic liberty was not the top priority of Thomas Jefferson.
If you haven't already checked out blogger Will Wilkinson's work at BigThink.com, do yourself the favor. His post this morning on John Rawls—the preeminent modern liberal philosopher of the 20th century—is worth a read.
Wilkinson responds to New York Times "opinionator" Steven Mazie, who says the Occupy Wall Street protestors should look to Rawls for moral guidance:
[See photos of the "Occupy" protests.]
Wilkinson says that wasn't Rawls's "boldest claim," since anyone who subscribes to a basic notion of "common good" will accept that claim. Where Rawls was truly bold, argues Wilkinson, is when he gave short shrift to economic rights in the hierarchy of basic liberties:
Political liberty and its adjuncts are first among equals in Rawls scheme. The "right to hold (personal) property" is duly mentioned, but it tags along with "freedom of the person," and Rawls never explains exactly what does and doesn't count as personal property (t-shirts? wages? stock in Google?), though it eventually becomes clear that it's not a lot. The freedom to buy and sell, to enter into contracts, to start a business, to hire and be hired, to save and invest, to trade freely across borders—none of these are among the basic liberties to be established under the first principles.
I'm not as well-versed in these matters as Wilkinson is, but I think he's mistaken. If that is Rawls's boldest claim, then he never made a bold claim.
I think most people intuitively agree that personhood, and the rights attached thereto, precedes the litany of economic freedoms Wilkinson cites. This is true in a strict chronological sense: You must first be allowed the right to live—"to be born," I would argue—before you can avail yourself of any other rights.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the economy.]
Whether or not I'm correct about most people's intuition here, I would say it's extraordinarily difficult to believe that the Framers themselves gave pride of place to economic liberty—at least not in the way that Wilkinson would argue.
Look at the way Jefferson (via George Mason), in the Declaration of Independence, rank-ordered the unalienable rights with which we were endowed by our Creator: "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," with the last clause being broadly understood as synonymous with property.
If you're thinking to yourself that it doesn't matter in which order these rights were given, think again. Mr. Jefferson and co. were meticulous carpenters of sentences. The three branches of the federal government created by the Constitution are technically coequal and interdependent, but Congress famously got Article I—and so it's the "First Branch."
Consider also the context in which the founding documents were written. I'm not engaging in Dead White Man-bashing here. This is simply the ineluctable truth: Economic liberty, at the time, was enjoyed by a tiny subset of the American population. If economic liberty was considered by the Framers as fundamental as the right to life and political equality, then progressive historians like the late Charles Beard had a legitimate beef about the country being founded for the exclusive benefit of property-owning white men.
[Read about 7 groups with reason to protest.]
Jefferson wrote in an 1814 letter to John Adams:
Every one by his property, or by his satisfactory situation, is interested in the support of law and order. And such men may safely and advantageously reserve to themselves wholesome control over their public affairs, and a degree of freedom, which in the hands of the canaille[roughly from the French: pack of dogs] of the cities of Europe, would be instantly perverted to the demolition and destruction of everything public.
Shorter Jefferson: "Right to life and liberty for thee—the right to property for me." In quite a different way than Rawls, the Framers, too, considered economic liberty apart from "basic liberties."
I suspect most of us are glad that both the franchise and economic liberty have, over the last 100 years, been more broadly extended to the whole population.
Does that make me a Rawlsian?
It just makes me not a libertarian.
• See a collection of political cartoons on the Tea Party.
• See a collection of political cartoons on Occupy Wall Street
• Read Debate Club "Is Occupy Wall Street the Next Tea Party?" | http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/scott-galupo/2011/10/25/what-the-founders-would-think-of-occupy-wall-street | dclm-gs1-123020001 | false | false | {
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0.06056 | <urn:uuid:a85a8656-b4b0-4f45-b006-93a7e4cf9353> | en | 0.968403 | City, County Commissioner Spar Over Potholes
By: 13 News
By: 13 News
Topeka (WIBW) - A Shawnee County Commissioner called out Topeka city officials Monday over how the city is addressing pothole problems.
Vic Miller wants the county to opt out of a state law requiring it give more than $2 million in motor fuels tax money to the city. Miller argues the city is getting more than it needs from a half-cent sales tax voters approved for street maintenance. He says the county could use the money to hold down property taxes.
But Mayor Bill Bunten and Councilman Jeff Preisner told Miller losing the motor fuels money would mean slower snow removal and fewer potholes filled.
They disputed Miller's arguments that the sales tax money was intended for potholes. Bunten explained that the motor fuels tax money is used for a short-term fix to potholes and the reason the city is currently behind is because there aren't enough crews to keep up. He said the sales tax money is used for a long-term, major overhaul for the streets - not just filling the holes, but doing a permanent fix to the street as a whole. Bunten says such work is going on right now on 6th and 10th streets.
Preisner said the ballot question voters approved never used the word pothole, and he said the City Council never promoted the question. He says that was left to a group of business leaders.
Miller responded that it didn't matter who did the promoting, that voters clearly believed if the sales tax was approved, the pothole problem would be addressed. Miller says city officials could decide to use the sales tax money for potholes, they choose not to.
Even with the money reserved for a major overhaul, Miller questioned the costs. He says a road analysis commissioned by the city found it would cost $50-60 million to repair the streets. Now, Miller says, the city has budgeted $150 million in projects over the next 10 years. Miller says, even if the county takes away the $20 million the city would have received in motor fuels tax money over that time, the city still has much more than the amount its study says it would cost.
Preisner says he would like more time to gather information on costs and projects, which Miller said he would appreciate.
Miller says he wants commissioners to discuss the issue as they form their 2011 budget.
Opting out of the ordinance would require either a unanimous vote of the commission or commissioners could decide to put it to a public vote.
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0.06112 | <urn:uuid:a887a43d-19e5-418a-a6dc-cf8efdffb1f5> | en | 0.949295 | Social Dimension
Collective Nouns for Facts
With my book about facts and knowledge coming out soon, it might be worth reviewing possible words for collective nouns for facts.
We all know about collective nouns – those words for groups of things of a single kind. From a pride of lions and a gaggle of geese, to a fixie of hipsters, these terms conjure up wonderful imagery and fill gaps in our lexicon. So, let’s say you have a bunch of facts; what do you call this? While it’s unclear what to say for a collection of substantive bits of information (though some use the term miscellany of facts), for small and relatively unimportant facts, the choice is clear: a pursuit of trivia.
Top image:yuheitomi/Flickr/CC
Finding the Sources of Epidemics
Network science started with trying to understand the structure of large-scale complex networks, from social connections to the makeup of protein interactions. It then proceeded to explore the behavior of processes that occur on top of networks. And one of the most important ones is diffusion: how something, such as information or disease, propagates over a network.
But what about the reverse problem? Given that something has diffused across a network, can we infer the source of this epidemic’s spread?
In a new paper in Physics Review Letters (general summary here), a team of scientists led by Pedro Pinto attempted to do this. And unlike other methods, they explore how observing only a small fraction of the nodes of a network can be used to identify the source of the diffusion process.
It all comes down to a process of maximum likelihood estimation, where the most likely values of the parameters of a statistical model can be calculated. In this case, the parameters are related to the source of the diffusion given the possible paths that the disease or bit of information could have taken across the network.
It seems to work. They compare their method to an actual cholera outbreak in South Africa in 2000 and found good results, which could be determined using only 20 percent of the nodes in the network, where the nodes represent different communities in the region. In their supplemental case studies, they explore how the leader of a terrorist organization can be identified, and even show how this methodology could be used in finding contamination sources in a subway system. They found that they could determine the source of a contamination to within a single subway stop by monitoring the behavior fewer than 20 percent of the stations:
Of course, it’s not always easy to implement this kind of detection. There are certain assumptions about how the epidemic diffuses and how the detection works, as well as the assumption that there is even only source, which don’t necessarily hold in every diffusion situation. Nonetheless, exploring the source of diffusion is an exciting problem and one that demands further attention for everything from gossip to disease.
Top image:Enzo Figueres/Flickr/CC
Metabolic Scaling of Social Insects
There is a clear order to how animals use energy. Specifically, there is a clear relationship between the metabolic rate of organisms and their masses. Known as Kleiber’s Law, this has been known for nearly a hundred years. Specifically, metabolic rates scale sublinearly with the mass of different animals, which means that as species get bigger, they use less energy per pound:
The theory and empirical work on this subject have shown that there are economies of scale related to energy use such that cells in larger, more complex animals require less energy per capita. For eusocial colonies, it has long been posited that these “superorganisms” experience similar relationships with colony size, perhaps owing to shared constraints on the delivery of energy and materials (e.g., branching distribution networks, space-filling surface area to volume constraints). But empirical evidence for these relationships is scarce. This hypothesis deserves further attention because, if unitary organisms and eusocial colonies show the same size-dependent allometries with respect to energy use, this may suggest that selection acts on colonies much as it acts on individuals.
So they tested this, finding somewhat mixed results. Metabolic rate (based on oxygen consumption) seems to scale according to a 3/4 power with mass and hence is sublinear, but it turns out that it is indistinguishable statistically from scaling linearly. However, since the results are fairly consistent across species, it is likely that there is sublinear metabolic scaling in social insect colonies.
And this is bolstered by the fact that colonies grow just like individual organisms. As seen below, just as animals start small and grow larger according to a certain shape, so do insect colonies:
This is certainly gratifying for anyone who has read Gödel, Escher, Bach and remembered its sentient ant colonies. Now just be careful with that magnifying glass.
Top image: Samantha Henneke/Flickr/CC
The Return to Downtowns versus Jewish Suburban Infrastructure
In recent years, there has been a growth in the idea of the importance and value of downtowns and mixed-use walkable neighborhoods. But at least one population has some difficulty moving back to urban centers: religious Jews. From an article of mine in The Atlantic Cities:
Despite all this renewed interest in downtowns today, many Orthodox communities are stuck in suburbia, and it comes down to one major factor: the “eruv.”
I discuss the importance of walkable Jewish neighborhoods, embodied in the idea of the eruv (check out Wyatt Cenac’s discussion of the eruv as well). But in the end, it comes down to the following factor:
As Yoni Appelbaum noted: “The broader lesson here is that the infrastructure of community is difficult to relocate, making families less mobile.”
Read the rest of my piece here.
David Shankbone/Wikimedia Commons/CC
Urban Populations of the Summer Olympics
While the Winter Olympics has often been located in places not known for their urban density and huge populations—witness Lake Placid’s two times hosting the Winter Olympics—the Summer Olympics has in general gone to large metropolitan areas.
But what have the populations of these cities been when they hosted the Olympics, and how has this varied over time? Using a dataset of urban populations over time, along with some interpolation, I was able to examine how the host city populations has varied over time:
And there actually seems to be a somewhat cyclical nature to these populations. It often seems that the International Olympic Committee seeks to distribute the host city geographically (although hardly completely evenly), which could also entail a cyclical pattern to the population of the host city, as populations are not distributed smoothly. But of course, a small cyclical pattern does not make a long-term trend.
While I have not done a similar analysis for the Winter Olympics (the populations will be far lower), it would be intriguing to see if any similar cyclical patterns occur.
Top image: Paul Wilkinson/Flickr/CC | http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/socialdimension/page/18/ | dclm-gs1-123110001 | false | true | {
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0.07595 | <urn:uuid:5a696525-1765-42f8-856d-a1e4cd224f91> | en | 0.985352 | Jessica Ennis-Hill Q&A: 'heptathlon has taught me amazing life skills'
Last Updated: 29/11/13 3:57pm
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She stands at the pinnacle of athletics - but how did Jessica Ennis-Hill go from novice to Olympic champion?
In part one of her interview with Youth Sport Trust chair Baroness Sue Campbell, London 2012 gold medal-winning heptathlete Ennis-Hill explained how mental toughness and motivation helped her to break barriers.
Check out Part One here
Click on the video above to watch part two and find out how the Sky Sports Living for Sport Ambassador gained the self-confidence to take on and beat the world, plus:
- The importance of learning new athletic and people skills, as well as how crucial it is to have an effective support network around you
- How understanding your weaknesses and coming up with a plan to improve them leads to success that will stand you in good stead
- The crucial role planning and effective time management plays in getting the best out of yourself - both at school, work or in your personal life
- What it felt like to stand on top of the podium at London 2012 and how it endorsed all of the hard work and effort put in
Watch The Sunday Times & Sky Sports Sportswomen of the Year Awards 2013 on Sky Sports on December 5.
Ennis-Hill Q&A, Part two
Baroness Sue Campbell: You have a big team around you, don't you? All athletes do. You have coaches and nutritionists and the like. How important is it that you have a good relationship with that team and that you really work hard at being not just an athlete but a real friend and, in a sense, a work colleague with those people?
"At school, like in athletics, you've got to be strong in all your events - you don't want to come out with some really great GCSE's while the rest are poor."
Jessica Ennis-Hill
Jessica Ennis-Hill: It's really important. People see you competing on the track but the team around you is so, so important. They are there every day, whether it's your coach coaching you, your physio making sure that everything's right and your body is working how it should be and they really get the most out of you so you've got to have a really good relationship with them. My team is just amazing - they are so passionate about what they do and they give it absolutely everything for me to go out there and achieve my goals and dreams. It would be incredibly hard for me to do what I do without them.
BSC: And in terms of your people skills that you've developed? You obviously have great people skills. Have they been helped by having to work as part of a team and all of that international travel that you've done? Where have all of these wonderful people skills come from?
JE-H: A huge chunk of that has definitely been down to being involved in sport. So from a young age it just gave me a bit more confidence and I just believed in myself a lot more and then working in a team, having to work with different people who you might not have worked with before, travelling to different countries and seeing different cultures and mixing with different people - that does bring a lot to your personality and who you are. It's just picking up little bits and being able to communicate with people, whether it's your physio or fellow athletes. There's so much that sport can give you.
BSC: I think one of the things we underestimate enormously is self-confidence - I think that's a huge part of being able to get on with people and so many kids today don't interact with a lot of people or they are too busy looking at the old gadgets, so sport is a wonderful place to give them that opportunity. So presumably you see that at these masterclasses - kids being able to talk to you and have conversations with you?
JE-H: At the start of the day they were quite quiet and a bit shy and I was thinking 'are we going to be able to get them excited and involved?' Then, halfway through, they were asking lots of questions, getting involved. Once you get that kind of relationship going they pick up a bit and are able to communicate with you on a different level, which is really important.
High Jump Olympic gold medalist Jessica Ennis-Hill gives her top tips when it comes to high jumping.
BSC: Just building on that a little bit... You do these incredible seven events, which require endurance and speed, which require strength and agility; it's amazing really. But of those seven disciplines are any favourites and are some least favourites?
JE-H: I used to love the high jump - that was one of my favourites - and I still love the high jump and the hurdles, which is definitely a favourite event for me. I think if I was to do anything else, it would be the hurdles.
BSC: Have you studied those events in the sense that you really understand technically what's required or is that something you coach knows?
JE-H: When I began athletics it was all new to me - I didn't know anything about the technique of going over a hurdle or high-jumping. It was all taught to me, so my coach would tell me exactly what to do. I wouldn't really ask any questions because I didn't know the event and then as I grew up and learnt the event I now understand it a lot better. We can communicate, we can change bits that we want to work on and I feel confident that I could help to demonstrate how to hurdle or how to high jump and how to do it properly to other young people.
Hurdles Olympic gold medalist Jessica Ennis-Hill gives her top tips when it comes to hurdling.
BSC: How important do you think that is - being good at something, really understanding it?
JE-H: It's really important. You need to understand it. It comes with age, though, and experience but you do need to understand your event to know how you can get the most out of your performance and understand your body and how it works and the different positions you need to be in. it's really important to be aware of it.
BSC: In terms of the seven events, this is a bit like youngsters at school - they're doing seven subjects and there's three of them they don't like very much but they've still got to do them. How do you motivate yourself or work at getting yourself really into those parts of the heptathlon that are your least favourite?
JE-H: For me it's the understanding that unfortunately they don't come as individual events, it is the whole event together; it's the seven events that work together. You can have an amazing two events at the beginning of the heptathlon or an amazing two events at the end but if the ones in between are poor then it brings your whole performance and score down and your shot at a medal has gone. So it's understanding that you need all of these parts to work together for you and you have to focus on your weaknesses because how are you going to get better at them? You don't want them to ruin your really strong, positive performances. At school you've got to be strong in all your events - you don't want to come out with some really great GCSE's while the rest are poor. You want them all to be on a par and on a level. So it's important to be organised and structured in what you do so you are covering weak events and strong events equally.
BSC: I think that's a big lesson to learn from watching you. I know that some of the events have been a real struggle for you - the javelin, for example, has hardly been your favourite and yet you've worked incredibly hard and been extremely successful at it.
Watch the best bits as Jessica Ennis attended this year¿s Sky Sports Living for Sport Awards
JE-H: Javelin has taken a long time. It's that knowing and that understanding that you are not going to be good at it overnight, especially if it's an event that doesn't come naturally to you; it's going to take time, it's going to take years and it's doing it over and over and over again. There have been points in my career where I've just thought 'I can't throw, I'll never be able to throw'. Two years down the line I've suddenly got to grips with it and I'm throwing personal bests and it all changes. It's just that moment that you work so hard for when it turns around and it changes.
BSC: That's terrific. Tell me about planning and prioritising your time. At one point you were a schoolgirl with homework and family; now you are married, you have a dog and a new house (or not so new!). You've got so many other things in your life. Are you very organised? Do you have to be very organised to get all this in?
JE-H: You definitely have to be; I had to be very organised last year before the Olympics in particular. That has come through sport. I started at the age of 10 when I had school, homework and training to do - I had to be organised so that I could do everything properly and get the most out of my schoolwork and my sport. It's just about managing your time and being focused in what you do and then you can use that for the rest of your life, not just in sport; you can use it in your work life and home life as well.
BSC: Do you ever find yourself conflicted? You are meant to be going to training but the dog's not very well or the husband's not very well?
JE-H: I have lost the dog a few times when I was supposed to be training and that's been a bit of a stress! It is that balance and knowing yourself what's important and what takes priority. Last year and the few years leading into London everything was about athletics but, obviously, different things go on in your life. As a teenager you have friends doing different things and you want to be involved but it's just about prioritising things and knowing what's important to you.
Jessica Ennis says that she still can't believe she's the Olympic Heptathlon champion.
BSC: Finally, I've got to ask you the inevitable question. All of this comes together, all of these wonderful skills that you've got, this hard work over years, the dedication you've put in. You get out on that stage in London, you win the heptathlon, you win that amazing 800m which I think I ran every step with you and then you are standing on that podium. What did that moment feel like, if you can even describe it?
JE-H: It's so hard to describe - it's just that moment where it's almost calm and you almost stand there, hear your national anthem, see that amazing crowd and your family in it and know that all of the hard work, everything that you've put in over the years - the setbacks of the year before when I won the silver medal in Daegu and not the gold that I was expected to win - and the injuries have all been worth it because that was my journey to that point. I had done it when had actually mattered. I'll have that for the rest of my life. It was an incredible moment on the podium.
BSC: And it was an incredible moment for us. Thanks Jess.
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0.12084 | <urn:uuid:e9a76771-9205-4b45-b654-208fe7cf81ec> | en | 0.957845 |
The Republican race
Mitt Romney dodges a bullet
But the narrowness of his victory in Michigan portends a long struggle ahead
See article
Readers' comments
"So all the indications are, increasingly, that the nomination contest will be a long and bitter affair. That can only benefit Mr Obama..."
That was the conventional wisdom about the drawn out and dirty Democratic primary battle between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama 4 years ago. People said that the eventual winner would limp to the convention with depleted coffers while Mr. McCain could focus on the general election and fundraise. In fact the protracted primary race kept Mr. Obama squarely in the spotlight for months, he had no difficulty replenshing his coffers, and the supposed rift with Hillary supporters healed quickly despite his haveing spurned her as a running mate.
Cherubino in reply to tmbass
the difference between clinton and obama was mainly a matter of personality. The GOP field, other hand is deeply divided by ideology. when people were asked why they preferred clinton to obama, a lot of them said she's more experienced. If you ask republican voters why they support Santorum, many would tell you cos Romney isn't a conservative. Did you hear democrats call clinton, obama or edwards, not a democrat in the last election? that's how different the two races are.
Why has the GOP alienated every intelligent voter in this country by raising the flag of retarded religious fundamentalism. This obsession over abortion, menstruation, contraception, prayer, sex, marriage, and homosexuality has driven educated people far away from the party. Add in xenophobia and they have lost even the latinos who are otherwise willing to support the third world religious agenda.
It's as though a democrat is planning their strategy and destroying them from the inside.
The GOP blood-letting is very amusing, with luck it will continue up till a brokered convention. The more they haemorrhage money in the fratricidal carnage the better for the people of the USA. The candidates on offer are grotesque and make the British system seem wonderful in comparison. Those who founded the USA must be spinning in their graves to see the abortion of a political party that the GOP has become.
tmbass in reply to Cherubino
"If you ask republican voters why they support Santorum, many would tell you cos Romney isn't a conservative."
What (some) Santorum and Gingrich voters would tell you, perhaps, but not "Republican" voters. Mitt leads handily among Republican primary voters (delegates committed and votes cast) and among self-identified Republicans in national polls. Polls also show that he is broadly acceptable to all Republicans, most of whom already assume that he will win the party's nomination.
Some of the qualities that hurt Romney in the primaries with elements of the conservative base - social conservatives, specifically - make him better able to reach out to independents in the general election. That sais, he will find it much easier to win the nomination than the election.
Yes, Romney will have to "tack" to the center this Fall. But fear not! If anyone can alter, deny or reinterpret what he's recently said, its good ol' Mitt! That's for sure.
Truly Yours
The spectacle of the GOP shooting itself in the foot is just desserts for the party that stacked the Supreme Court with ideologues who ruled (FEC v. Citizens United) that unlimited monies may be spent to manipulate our elections. In America today, dollars speak louder than voters.
The billionaires who are funding Gingrich and Santorum's blood feud, Sheldon Adelson and Foster Friess, are vivid demonstrations of the moral turpitude of the oligarchy, which is destroying America in its greed for short-term profits.
john4law in reply to tmbass
The Democrats had record turnouts in their primaries and caucuses in 2008. The Republicans have mediocre to low turnouts in this election
cycle. That is not great news for November prospects for the Republicans in the Presidential contest.
Meanwhile Santorum and Gingrich who both have no hope of ever being president because sane people won't vote for them will destroy the only GOP candidate who could win. I hope they are very very proud of themselves.
They will give us 4 more years of Obama.
Well done!
AtlantisKing in reply to Apple
Funny, I thought that what led us to the brink of disaster was extending credit to people who could not handle it. That has stopped, despite the sincere efforts from the Fed and the Government in the opposite direction. Currently, the only irresponsible debtor to receive excessive credit is the U.S. Federal government - but that will be curtalied soon enough.
Friedman has nothing to do with any of this. If you are interested in his theories, try reading his books instead of bumper stickers.
DullerBill$ in reply to john4law
Yes but the issue was different though equally important.
Come ageneral election anything can happen who can be sure any of the current batch will be alive,electable or not indeendants bar the incumbent.
Like most democratic elections the result will be determined bya very samll number who I identify as two groups
1 The 3% of eligible voters who actually vote and are not already decide by party,if there is a 3rd candidate,their influence hikes.
2 The few thousand republican delegates and their fewwer paymasters who will determine the GOP candidate.Why peer into the crystal ball when you can read te bookies.Despite Paddy powers 70$% lean to Obama today (with an unkown opponent). Up against a more electable candidate and bad news from e.g. a Gulf War ,Taleban hostage scenario a la Jimmy Carter or simply economic debacle President Romney seems set for the job.
Despite this I think brighter GOp talent may await a better run in 2016
What is missed in this political forum is that neither candidate, Romney or Santorum, walked away with a political victory. What is truly sad is that it appears that the average American voter seems incapable of judging the core values of a candidate. Santorun is very aware that the United States will never become a manufacturing giant in the future. His "blue-collar base" is unaware that their man is advocating a two tier economic system where they occupy the bottom of one of the tiers.
There's a very old saying that none of these candidates appear to heed: "United we stand, divided we fall."
Republi-cants....what a circus. These holier-than-thou clowns just LOVE to tell you what you can’t do. Their campaign slogan should be “No you can’t”. The headlines just keep coming: Republicans condemn condoms! Republicans legislate forced trans-vaginal probes. Republicans tell us to have children of rape ...as a gift from God. Republicans insult women in hateful word and deed ....degrading women who simply want to plan their families, and control their own bodies. What’s next with these guys? Republicans mandating missionary-position only? Procreation, not recreation...or else? I really really hate to admit it, but Newt was right. ‘Cause Newt and all his Republican friends SHOULD set up a moon colony.... AND GO THERE! Then they could tell each other what to do, and how to live, and who to love.... and who to hate...while leaving the REST of us alone, in peace, back here on Earth. Newt, I always KNEW that you were a problem-solver. Unfortunately, you and your Republican friends ARE the problem. P.S. We may laugh, and smile, and ridicule...but I know that this is not a game. People that are elected DO affect our lives, and the lives of those we love. It does matter. If I want a find a preacher I go to my place of worship, NOT my voting booth...
Milton Friedman and his theories has led us on the brink of
disaster; with Romney, we will make a step ahead.
Country Boy
It is so very wrong to even contemplate the possibility of electing for president someone who is clearly evading taxes through fiscal paradises.
If the President of the country evades taxes, then what… are we becoming Venezuela?
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Products & events | http://www7.economist.com/node/21548971/comments | dclm-gs1-123200001 | false | false | {
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0.019259 | <urn:uuid:9ef44b81-e228-49d4-9c26-872322e7f777> | en | 0.954773 | Ironic politics in Maine hospital debt debate
Posted April 30, 2013, at 12:04 p.m.
Maine’s continuing hospital debt dispute demonstrates the often befuddling, contradictory political process of creating legislation. But the latest twist might just provide the political cover Gov. Paul LePage needs to allow Medicaid expansion to go forward.
Think of what could have been accomplished if it had been politically possible for Democratic and Republican lawmakers to meet with LePage months ago and negotiate a plan to repay the hospital debt, issue a new liquor contract and expand Medicaid. It may have looked like what the Democrats are now proposing: Pay the hospitals the debt they are owed by issuing revenue bonds backed by the state’s future liquor revenue (LePage’s idea) and agree to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (mostly supported publicly by Democrats).
Yet the resistance has been fierce. LePage called the Democrats ’ proposal an “ultimatum,” “a sin” and “criminal.” House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, R-Newport, called it an “irresponsible, last-minute stunt.” The House Republican Office issued a press release detailing times in the last two months when Democratic legislators complained about tying one legislative initiative to another.
Political irony abounds. Democrats initially resisted tying together the liquor contract and hospital payback plan — until they put together a plan to do just that. Their proposal at first, though, required a large upfront payment from the winning liquor vendor to pay the hospitals rather than a revenue bond. Now — after an independent analysis revealed the upfront payment would cost the state more in the long term — Democratic leaders are putting together a new bill. It would have revenue bonds pay off the hospital debt, just as LePage wants, and require the state to expand Medicaid access by raising income eligibility limits, just as a majority of polled Maine residents want.
Meanwhile, Republicans encountered their own political irony. Fredette on Monday issued a statement to say the hospital payback plan “deserves a clean, up-or-down vote,” even though the plan has never been solely about paying off the hospital debt. LePage has also tied in voter-approved bonds, saying he will not release them until the Legislature approves a hospital-repayment plan. The state’s hospitals are owed $484 million, dating back to 2009, because they provided services to Medicaid patients but were not reimbursed.
Ideally, LePage and other Republicans would agree to Medicaid expansion based on its own merits: providing all Maine residents access to health care. Analyses have shown Maine is likely to get a good deal in terms of federal funding, especially in comparison to other states. But if LePage has so far not agreed to expand Medicaid, what would have to change for him to do so?
The Democrats may have finally hit the political sore spot: Will LePage veto a bill that does exactly what he has been requesting for months — pay back the hospitals — if it includes Medicaid expansion? The politics may have been convoluted until this point, but the intention is clear: The odds are greater that he’ll approve an omnibus bill that includes the hospital payback plan than a bill that only addresses Medicaid expansion.
After all, the Maine Hospital Association, which represents the state’s 39 hospitals, supports both getting the money they are owed and expanding coverage for Maine’s low-income residents.
Members of each party face their own political ironies. The ultimate question is whether the GOP will be willing to bend as Democrats have, acknowledge their contradictions, and move on. In the end, the policy, not the politics, will have the longest-lasting impact on Maine people.
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0.031707 | <urn:uuid:bdfc6037-8bed-42c4-acf5-8f8a42107572> | en | 0.939027 | New PayPal app brings mobile payments to the high street
PayPal has announced that its UK customers will now be able to use their smartphones to pay for goods on the high street.
The PayPal inStore app can be used at stores owned by the Aurora Fashions group, which include Coast, Oasis, Warehouse and Karen Millen.
Available on Android and iOS, the app gives PayPal a huge head start on its rivals in the mobile payment industry.
As previously reported, NFC is the technology that most people assume will eventually become the standard for mobile payments and Visa is planning a limited trial during the London Olympics.
However, security concerns among consumers and limited availability of NFC enabled smartphones remain barriers to widespread adoption.
PayPal's app wil face similar concerns, but the tie in with well-known high street stores should enable it to gain traction with consumers.
Also, a lot of people will already recognise and trust the PayPal brand having used it online.
No financial data is actually stored in the app and if a user enters their PIN incorrectly three times then their account is automatically terminated.
PayPal inStore works in a similar way to Starbucks’ loyalty card app.
The customer enters a PIN to open the app where they are presented with a unique barcode and transaction number.
The cashier then scans the barcode and the payment is automatically deducted from the customer’s PayPal account.
It even works when there is no Wi-Fi or 3G access, as the app stores multiple codes for use when offline.
From Aurora Fashion’s perspective, the app may offer the chance to improve their multichannel marketing.
Mobile is a key tool for creating a single customer view, as it can enable retailers to gather data on their customers while they are in-store.
Furthermore, Aurora will be able to drive loyalty and improve sales by targeting customers with specific deals based on their demographic profiles.
PayPal inStore allows customers to sign up to offers within the app and any discounts are then deducted at the till.
Topics: Mobile Strategy & Operations Customer Experience
Add your own
Reader comments (5)
1. James Perrin James Perrin
Content Marketing Manager at Koozai
10:42PM on 30th May 2012
This is a really interesting development in mobile payments. All the talk is of NFC, but having an App like this really does show that there are other options available to the consumer.
There are a few issues though. Generally speaking, the ease at which people can pay for things via their phone has come under scrutiny. Specifically, this App is no different. It will take time to load, enter your password and then wait for a barcode to appear for the cashier to scan. Also, only being available to the Aurora Fashions group at the moment does limit its appeal somewhat.
However having the might of PayPal, a recognised payment brand will be hugely beneficial, and who knows, if it's successful they may take on many more retailers. I'll be watching the developments of this closely. Thanks for the update.
2. Avatar-blank-50x50 AC
12:02PM on 31st May 2012
So, without seeing the technology in store, or knowing the exact steps in the "in-store" process, isn't there a security risk here ?
If the photo is correct and it is a "1d" barcode, I could look over the shoulder of the person in front and then memorise the number.
Then all I need to do is mock up the screen that is being shown in photoshop and show it to the cashier, or am I missing something ?
3. David Moth David Moth Staff
Deputy Editor at Econsultancy
12:06PM on 31st May 2012
@AC, that's a cunning plan you have there, but I don't think it would work :)
Each transaction code is unique, so once it has been used for a transaction it can't be used again. Therefore, assuming you could memorise the code and create a mock-up, the barcode scanner would reject it anyway.
Plus I think people will be quite cagey about it, in the same way that you cover up your PIN when entering it into a card reader.
4. Avatar-blank-50x50 AC
12:34PM on 31st May 2012
Ah i see, I had missed the point about it storing multiple codes.
Still something a little uncomfortable about the offline aspect of it.
I wonder if there is a way to disable the stored codes if the phone is stolen ?
If someone steals my phone. As the phone doesn't go online to validate the pin, the pin must be stored in the phone somewhere.
So a skilled hacker could work out the pin, then they can present one of these offline codes and collect a brand new Karen Millen dress.
I know this is no worse than someone stealing my debit card and use a mag strip reader to get the pin, but I would have hoped we would have moved past those kind of risks with new technology!
5. Avatar-blank-50x50 Philip Cohen
10:57PM on 31st May 2012
Read about it and weep, John Donahoe ...
eBay / PayPal / Donahoe: Dead Men Walking
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0.026146 | <urn:uuid:1156d90e-2f93-47b4-9070-50981482b4bd> | en | 0.874223 | add another hard disk on Fedora Linux
James Wilkinson fedora at
Fri Nov 18 08:32:35 UTC 2005
Tim wrote:
> Does anything use hard links? I've cloned a drive using the cp command
> (with appropriate parameter), and not noticed any problems.
Something like
find / -noleaf -type f -links +2 -ls 2>/dev/null
will give you an answer for you system, but in general:
Stuff like zcat, gunzip, and gzip are the same binary hardlinked under
the same name. It uses (either switches or) the command name to work out
what it's supposed to do.
If you've installed kernel-devel, you'll find you have a number of
directories under /usr/src/kernel. The RPM install symlinks together the
files that *haven't* changed between kernel releases, which can save a
*lot* of space on disk.
There are probably other examples...
E-mail address: james | The attitude ``The computer said so, so it must be | right'' is always amusing to the people who program
| them.
| -- Geoff Lane
More information about the users mailing list | https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/users/2005-November/259330.html | dclm-gs1-123260001 | false | false | {
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0.219052 | <urn:uuid:94e33953-676a-44a6-8039-6eb297beb261> | en | 0.958695 | Roll vs. Role: Dwarves
Dwarves are a stubborn, fierce and skilled race of subterranean warriors with wills of iron and hearts of stone. They have resisted all attempts at conversion by the empire and hold fast in their mountainous homes in the Granite Curtain. However, like all people, there are many walks of life among the dwarves. Some dwarves embrace change and have decided to forego the ways of their people to walk a different path. Thus are dwarves still a very active part of the daily world in the Empire.
Dwarves in the curtain and those that still favor the old ways keep to a barbaric appearance and lifestyle. Outlandish and frightening hairstyles, piercings, and tattoos are worn to frightening enemies with a monstrous appearance, while an intricately styled and immaculately kept beard designate status, power, and wisdom. Overall, dwarf culture is surprisingly complex with many social cues to be read on immediate sight, if you are a dwarf. Overall, however, the culture maintains that freedom and strength are the most important things in a dwarf’s life and anyone trespassing on their land is there to take something.
Some dwarves veer away from this philosophy to the point of outright rebelling against it. The ‘Mordaki’ or ‘Beardless’ in dwarven are a group of dwarves that have left the ancestral mountains of their forefathers and have forsaken the complexity of dwarf culture. They are most known by their shaven heads and tight cropped goatees; a far cry from the massive manes of hair seen in most dwarves. They tend to favor cunning and insight over traditional wisdom and are even removed from the stones and bones of their ancestors that most dwarves view as sacred. As with all races, their is middle ground; dwarves that live in villages or cities, or even in the mountains, that while they forego the tribal lifestyle of their kin have also not forgotten the importance of their ancestors and maintain a startlingly well kept beard.
Dwarves have a tragic history that makes them so violent. They were pawns in the war between Arkhosia and Bael Turath. Whilst the demons of Bael Turath enslaved the orcs as extra warriors, the dragons “conscripted” the dwarven people, forcing the young race into endentured servitude. The Dwarves at this point were little more than cavemen, as they had spent centuries, even millennia embroiled in war with derro & duergar in the depths of the world, constant war and combat along with defense against drow raids making it impossible for them to develop as a true society. But when the dragons came, they offered the dwarves steel and gold and magic, and the dwarves took to it eagerly. But the price was steep, in some cases too steep.
Entire clans were wiped out, and any dwarf that wished to be released from the agreement was stripped and dumped back in the mountains; sure death at the time. The Duergar people even forged pacts with the demons, hoping for an edge against the steel wielded by the dwarves. So the dwarves had to continue to serve to keep that edge. The toll it took on the dwarvish people was high. So high, that when Metroniel smote the dragons and demons, the dwarves retreated, swearing to never pay heed to another again. And so it has been.
The only people that the dwarves worship really, are their own ancestors. They believe that when a dwarf dies his spirit goes into the rock and the stone and the earth, becoming one with the spirits of all of his clansmen there. Therefore, it is extremely important to dwarves that they be buried on the hollowed ground of their ancestors, so that they may join the collective spirit of their ancestors. The dwarves have worshipped their ancestors since the beginning of their history and the Ancestral Guardians are a sacred cast in dwarven society, the only dwarves immune to the constant feuding and infighting of the dwarvish people.
While they are skilled craftsman, learned from centuries of practice to honor their ancestors, overall dwarf-kind refuses to be controlled by any other source. They will fight the imperium bitterly to the last dwarf. But at the same time, the only land the dwarves want is under the mountains of the curtain, so the Empire is content to let them be…for now.
New Feats:
Live Free or Die
Prerequisite: Dwarf
Benefit: Whenever you are subjected to an effect with
the charm keyword that stuns, dazes, or dominates you,
you may spend a healing surge and make a saving throw
with a +2 bonus. If you succeed, you are not dazed,
stunned, or dominated.
Channel Divinity: Ancestral Guidance
Prerequisite: Any Divine Class, Dwarf
Benefit: You gain access to the Ancestral Guidance
channel divinity power.
Ancestral Guidance
Your ancestors guide your hand in skill that have
been passed down to your people for generations.
Encounter # Divine
Free Action
Trigger: you make a class skill roll or a skill roll
for a skill which you have a racial bonus for.
Effect: you may add your wisdom modifier to the
result of the triggering roll.
Channel Divinity: Ancestral Wrath
Prerequisite: Any Divine Class, Dwarf
Benefit: You gain access to the Ancestral Wrath
channel divinity power.
Ancestral Wrath
The fury and skill of your ancestors makes a your
blows all the more dangerous.
Encounter # Divine
Free Action
Trigger: you score a critical hit.
Effect: you may deal an extra 1[W] damage on your
critical hit.
Prerequisite: Dwarf
Benefit: You gain a +2 racial bonus in Streetwise
and Insight, but all other racial bonuses you would
normally receive suffer a -2 penalty.
Roll vs. Role: Dwarves
Rise of the Ashen Crown Dark_Knight_Jack | https://rise-of-the-ashen-crown.obsidianportal.com/wikis/roll-vs-role-dwarves | dclm-gs1-123280001 | false | false | {
"keywords": ""
} | false | {
"score": 0,
"triggered_passage": -1
} | false |
0.241287 | <urn:uuid:467cca56-efb5-4c33-996e-6dbd40ad0feb> | en | 0.98849 | A/N: This is a side story to my original horror series, Nightfall. If you really want to know more about this world of vampires that the Predator has come to, then I suggest you check it out.
As far as the Nightfall "time-line" goes, this story takes place roughly around #45-46, and it is possible that some of these characters may make the cross-over to the main Nightfall story-line.
Ky'Reel studied the readouts on his instruments, unsure of what to make of them. It had been only two years since his people had been here, a respite ordered by the Council of Elders in light of a few of their members being bested by the "local wild life" in as many years, but there was no accounting for the readings he was getting now. Well, there would be a plausible reason if he were also detecting traces of radiation, but that was not the case. No, these readings hinted that some other catastrophe had occurred; something that had wiped out millions and millions of life forms.
Life readings were still being detected, though they were far less than the numbers reported by the last Party that had come here. Thinking the matter over, deciding that he had at least three days before a reply would be received from the Council, Ky'Reel made up his mind. He dispatched a survey reading to Home World then set a course for one of the vast cities below him, a city reading one of the larger concentrations of life, and engaged his craft's engines.
If there had been some natural disaster, something that had wiped out nearly everyone on this backwater planet, then surely the survivors were the fittest of the race. Ky'Reel felt his anticipation grow as he thought of the hunt to come.
Yes, it would be interesting to see what had become of the creatures of this world called Earth.
Captain Byron Miller stood shaking his head in disbelief at the message being displayed on the monitor before him. General Brightton, possibly the highest ranking military official left, since they had heard from no one else for months, was once again making a plea for all remaining armed forces to regroup at Solution Center. It amazed Miller that the General would continue making this announcement, day after day, in light that their numbers were so low. To Miller it seemed like utter insanity to pull all of their forces to one location, a centralized area that the vamps could easily target, and attack.
Rumors already indicated that Solution Center had been compromised twice. As ineffectual as the military might was proving in this war, Miller couldn't believe that Brightton wanted to pull everyone in, making them one big target. No, there had to be something else that the General was up to, something that he wanted a lot of backing for, and Miller wasn't about to put his remaining men in a dangerous situation without a damn good reason.
"I wish I knew what that man was up to," muttered Miller.
"Uh, Sir?" broached the Comm Officer. "I, uh, may have heard something about that."
"Oh? And how did you come by this supposed info, Airman?" asked Miller, straightening.
"I have a cousin, Sir, a Private Winger, stationed at Solution. He works in the communications center."
"Go on."
"Well, last night, we were, uh, talking…"
"Despite the communication ban," noted Miller.
"It was on the secure link, Sir. Directly through Solution's own satellite."
Miller simply nodded.
"Anyhow, he said that General Brightton's authorized a nuclear strike against a nest in Denver…"
Miller's eyes widened with surprise. He knew that Brightton was egotistical, but he had never imagined that the man would go to such lengths as using a nuclear device.
"A really big nest," continued Airman Larson. "Supposedly, it's one of the biggest nests this side of LA or New York."
"That crazed bastard," muttered Miller.
"Nothing," replied Miller, a plan already forming in his mind. "Did your cousin tell you when this strike was to be carried out?"
"Twelve noon, tomorrow, Sir."
"You did the right thing, Larson."
"Thank you, Sir," beamed the Airman.
"Now, have Alpha Team meet me in staging area three, stat. I've got an assignment for them."
Ky'Reel hovered over the sprawling complex that registered a number a life forms, wondering why, since there was an immense number of buildings, that nearly all of them were gathered in just a few structures. He continued monitoring the area, taking in all of the data that he could, trying to formulate a plan for his upcoming hunt, when his sensors showed that a small group of eleven was making its way to a large building, further from the core groups.
They were moving briskly, on foot, heading towards a large, stone and metal building near a vast stretch of concrete. Ky'Reel recognized what the area was, he had seen it in several of the surveillance scans of the planet, and knew it to be a launching point for their primitive aircraft. There was a lone life form in the building that was their destination, and Ky'Reel thought it ironic.
It is a sign from the Gods of the Hunt, thought Ky'Reel.
Twelve, the number of Hunt Gods that his people worshipped.
Twelve, the number of Kills he yet needed to achieve Elder status.
Twelve, the number that he would soon be stalking.
Ky'Reel maneuvered his craft a short distance from the meeting site of the humans, and landed, in full stealth mode, the craft's anti-grav drive keeping so much as a cloud of dust from stirring. After gathering a small selection of weapons, Ky'Reel slid on his helmet and attached the life support system before moving into the airlock. Activating his personal stealth unit, Ky'Reel stepped from his craft and scanned the horizon, activating his helmet's night vision in response to the darkening of nightfall.
It was time to begin the hunt.
"What are you doing here, Briggs?" asked Miller of the straggler tailing Alpha Team. "This is an official op."
"The people, few of us that are left, have a right to know," replied Briggs, smiling. "Come on, Byron, you remember our agreement."
"That was for info about the war against the vamps, Briggs," stressed Miller. "Not other matters."
"What other matters could there be, Captain?" asked Briggs, growing more curious. Miller had never kept info from him before, hell, the Captain had practically shoved it down his throat when it ment bolstering the moral of the civilian population. And, considering that the world had been overrun with vampires, Briggs couldn't imagine what 'other matters' could possibly concern Alpha Team. Alpha Team's entire purpose was to be an elite vampire elimination squad that did what ever was necessary to protect the population left of Robins AFB, and they were damn good at it. In the last four months, not a single human had been lost to the vamps, and it was aggravating Shannon, the Master of Atlanta, to no end.
There was no doubt that a war would soon be coming to Robins, and Briggs was thinking that perhaps Miller was finally going to go on the pre-emptive, sending Alpha Team after the Master.
Miller glanced over at his team, paitently waiting next to seven F-15 Eagles, constantly kept secured, and made his decision. He had always been honest with Briggs, had always trusted the man to do, and say, what was right for the people that Miller had taken responsibility for, and knew that this time could be no different.
"Okay, Briggs, here's the deal," said Miller, wrapping an arm around Briggs, and moving him away from his squad. "Remember General Brightton?"
"Yeah. The guy that's trying to pull all the military together."
"Correct. Well, apparently the General is a little more extreme in his desire to end the war against the vampires than the rest of us."
"How so?"
"He's planning a pre-emptive nuclear strike against Denver to see what the affects of the weapon would be against vampires."
Briggs gapped at him with wide eyes, not believing what he was hearing. During his previous life, back when things had been normal, Alan Briggs had been one of the Atlanta Star's finest reporters, and a strong advocate against nuclear weapons. He had never imagined that the threat of nuclear weapons would become an issue again, not while the vampires were the dominant threat to the human race, instead of man's petty issues.
"This can't get out, Alan," stressed Miller. "You know, as well as I do, that there are people here who would agree with Brightton, no matter how crazy the idea is. We can't let this issue become a driving wedge between our people, not after we've done so much to bring them together."
"That… That… That's crazy," stammered Briggs.
"I know. That's why I've called in Alpha Team," said Miller. "I'm sending them to place Brightton under arrest."
Briggs looked over at the gathered team, shaking his head in realization that if anyone could bring in Brightton, it was Alpha Team. Briggs had covered all of their previous assignments, and he knew how good they were, how well they worked together as a team.
"Do I have your silence on this?" asked Miller.
"Of course," replied Briggs, sounding hurt that the Captain had even thought to ask that question.
"Thank you," said Miller. "Now, since you're here, how would you like to cover the op?"
Briggs couldn't contain his smile. He had always wanted to go on an assignment with Alpha Team, but Miller had constantly shut him out, allowing him to only interview the team afterwards. He had no idea what had made Miller change his mind about this op, but he wasn't going to buck his change in luck.
"This is a military matter," explained Miller, "and it would do us good to have it well documented. In case anything comes up down the road."
"Afraid that if we win, Brightton'll have you brought up on charges?"
"This might not be an op against vamps, but it'll be just as dirty, Briggs. It's a serious matter."
"Hey, I'll have you know that when I was just getting into this field, that I covered Desert Storm."
Miller cocked an eye at him.
"Well, the clean up after Desert Storm," offered Briggs. "And I was sort of an assistant then."
"Come on," said Miller, turning back towards the team. "I've got a briefing to give."
Shannon glided over the buildings of Robins AFB, her senses picking up the life forces of the multitude of humans housed within three central buildings, and strained her skill even more. She sought out the signature of the leader of these mortals, a life force that she had encountered only once, but had committed to memory, and she was determined to find him.
The name burned in her mind like a searing poker, driving her anger beyond anything that a mere mortal could comprehend, and she was going to see his life end. He had organized the humans of this area, had formed them into a force that was not terrified of her brood, and had even sent teams of them to strike against her family.
She had had enough. Tonight she led ten of her strongest to hunt down the man, Miller, and to slaughter him before his own brood. She was going to send a message to the humans that would be loud and clear, and one that they couldn't possibly ignore.
That the vampires were now Masters of this world, and that humans were nothing more than food.
Swooping in lower, oblivious to any threat of detection, Shannon detected a slight trace of life resembling the one she sought, and she banked westward. The sense of humans came from near the airstrip, growing in strength as she neared the scattering of buildings, and she could soon make out that there were eleven others with Miller.
It was them!
The humans that had dared come into her city and strike at her brood. Shannon smiled with rapture, already seeing their demise in her mind's eye, and she envisioned a violent death for each and every one of them. She would decorate her lair with their skins and entrails, she would bathe in their blood, she would feast on their carcasses.
And she would do it all before every human that inhabited Robins.
It would be a show of control that the Lord Bartholomew would be proud of, and one that would be forever told among the clans. No human would dare oppose the vampires once she was done making an example of Miller and his people.
Shannon called to her soldiers, summoning them to her location, and glided to a soft landing before the building that housed Miller. Her soldiers, mere vampires, were not as powerful and swift as she, and it would be a few minutes before even their incredible speed allowed them to join her.
Shifting back to her human form, crouching nude before the concrete and steel hangar that Miller and his people were in, Shannon smiled in anticipation to the slaughter soon to be occurring. So enraptured was she in the visions running through her mind, that she failed to notice the slight shimmering of darkness that drew near the hangar, hesitating a moment before finally continuing towards the heavy, metal doors of the building.
Ky'Reel studied the female for the briefest of moments, nearly growling in contempt for the life form, seeing that she would be no sport at all, then moved on to what he had determined was the only entrance to the building housing his prey.
Blasting through the door was not a viable option, Ky'Reel wanted to catch his prey by surprise, so it was gratifying to him to find that the lock to the door was a simple one. Ky'Reel held up his arm, and began punching in commands on his wrist band, the device sending out a powerful signal that overrode the codes of the electronic lock, and caused the door to slide open with a thunderous rumble.
The noise had been unexpected, and caused a brief flash of panic in Ky'Reel, but he quickly recovered and dashed into the hangar, totally invisible in the darkness. The images displayed to him within his mask showed the group of twelve humans, about ten meters from him, already moving into action in response to the door opening.
One of the humans held up a small, black device, and pointed it towards the rumbling doors. Running a passive scan, Ky'Reel determined it to be a control unit for the doors, and he watched paitently as the doors suddenly halted in their opening then reversed direction.
Weapons, primitive yet affective, graced the hands of all but two of the humans, and Ky'Reel fought down the excitement building within him. This was going to be an outstanding hunt, of that he had no doubt.
Shannon turned as her brood joined her, their silent footfalls still a noisy patter to her enhanced senses, and shared her vision with them. The vampires' blood lust growing at the sights she sent into their minds, they grew more determined not to fail their Master, and steeled themselves for the coming battle.
The group of vampires suddenly grew serious in their demeanor, their attention drawn to the large, metal doors of the hangar as they slid open with a deep rumble that cut through the silent night with an anger. The fear that Shannon felt, that they had already been discovered, was shared briefly with her minions, but she quickly replaced it with the mental order to storm the now open building.
The vampires, led by Shannon, flowed towards the hangar, desperate to gain entrance through the doors which were already resealing in response to Miller's electronic key.
Shannon cursed the fact that only four of her brood had made it into the building with her, but she was determined not to fail. She commanded her quartet to secrete themselves until she could learn their situation, and she floated up into the thick blackness that hid the ceiling.
Alpha Team moved into action the instant the doors to the hangar began to open, weapons and night-vision goggles coming into play in a matter of seconds, and took up a defensive parameter to protect Miller and Briggs.
"One. What do we got, Three?" called Gabe Trent, leader of Alpha Team.
"Three. Door's clear," replied Dillon, scanning the door, and its surrounding area.
"One. Do a sweep, people," ordered Trent. "That door didn't open on its own," he added, casting a glance at Miller.
Miller shook his head in confirmation that he hadn't opened it accidentally.
"Seven. I'm coming up empty," reported Julie, scanning the rear of the hangar through green-lit goggles.
"One. Do it by the numbers, people," ordered Trent.
Alpha Team began moving out to perform a full sweep of the massive hangar, vanishing from the small circle of light given off by the portable lamps they had brought with them, and entering the darkness that enveloped most of the building. Miller hadn't deemed it necessary to fire up the generator for the hangar, a choice that he now regretted, and it was proving to be working against them.
"We need lights in here, Trent," said Miller. "If the building's been breached by vamps, then we're at a serious disadvantage."
Trent nodded, then called out, "One. Get us some illumination, Five."
"Five. Roger that," came a voice from the darkness.
"One. Go to whisper mics, people," added Trent, activating the communications unit built into his vest. He pulled the ear piece form its pouch and slipped into place, then checked his throat mic.
"One. Check in, people," he called, quickly getting confirmation that his entire team had gone to whisper. "One. Keep it focused, people. I want to know if there's so much as a cockroach in this place."
Ky'Reel sat perched a top what his sensors told him was a power generator, though not a very efficient one, and monitored the progression of the one called Five. The human was nearing his position, moving carefully, constantly scanning the surrounding area, and Ky'Reel pondered whether or not the humans had detected his presence. Even if the human knew that he was here, Ky'Reel knew that they would not be able to locate him, they simply did not have the technology to penetrate the stealth.
Or did they?
A number of their Hunters had been bested by these creatures of limited intelligence. Perhaps the humans were smarter than even the Council believed.
Ky'Reel tensed, ready to pounce at the slightest indication that the human was aware of his location, but it was a move he did not have to make.
The female that Ky'Reel had seen outside, the one that he had deemed harmless, dropped from above, moving more silently than a Hunter. She landed on Five in a blur of movement, twisting her body to deaden any noise that his fall might make, and tore into his throat with glistening fangs.
Fascination was not an emotion that Ky'Reel had often felt, but it was what he was experiencing now, as he watched the female drink the blood of her victim. Curious, Ky'Reel began running every scan available to him, and let out the equivalent of a gasp as streams of data told him of the differences between the female and the other humans. The female's DNA had been rewritten, completely changed from its original structure, and her body had been enhanced by the process, becoming far more superior to that of the basic human.
Bringing his scanners to full power, Ky'Reel made a complete sweep of the hangar, and learned that four more of the enhanced humans were in the building. Noting that the enhanced humans were apparently hiding themselves from the basics, Ky'Reel suspected he now knew what had become of most of the population of this planet.
The rules of the hunt had suddenly changed.
Ky'Reel's field of vision shifted as he quit focusing on the data being displayed within his helmet and concentrated on the female. For the first time since he had been a Suppling, Ky'Reel felt fear as he realized that the female was starring at him.
Impossible, thought Ky'Reel.
Shannon was not about to let the humans gain any advantage, and set herself to tracking the one called Five. She moved silently through the web of support frames that covered the ceiling, dropping down on the man only a few feet from his destination, and tore into him with abandon. She drank from him hungrily, and relished the sweet, coppery taste as his blood flowed down her throat, setting her body afire with ecstasy.
Her senses burning with renewed strength, her perceptions heightened to their maximum threshold, Shannon was suddenly aware of another presence near by, watching her silently though her eyes saw no one. Sniffing slightly, letting her surroundings talk to her, Shannon knew that there was someone…something…perched on the generator.
Starring just above the machinery, letting her mind drink in every single detail that was there, Shannon saw the barest glimmer of something in the blackness. Nearly invisible, and deathly silent, was the hulking form of something that was far more than human.
For the first time since she had awakened to having been given the power of a Master, Shannon felt fear.
A faint sound had come across the comm units, almost like a cry of surprise that had been cut off, and Trent called out for a check-in. The numbers rattled off in order, stopping at Four, and silence reined on the comm channel as the remaining team members paused a beat before Six continued the check-in.
Five was down.
"One. Listen up, people, we've got company," voiced Trent, though the team was well aware of the fact. "Regroup on my twenty. Stay frosty."
As Trent waited for his team to reconverge, he slipped three clips from a pouch on the side of his pants leg, and handed them to Miller. The Captain took them without question, and quickly replaced the clip in his own gun with one of the new ones.
"Remember Father Del?" asked Miller, seeing Briggs' questioning glance.
"Of course," replied Briggs, recalling the Father with sadness.
Father Del had been a Priest that had, to his shame, hidden what he was, since the vamps had targeted Holy persons with extreme prejudice, and had only revealed his true calling shortly before his death. God had apparently called the good Father home, the Priest dying in his sleep only a few days after confessing his sins to the group.
"The day before he died, Father Del began blessing our ammo."
"Uh, he what?" asked Briggs, surprised.
"He blessed our bullets," repeated Miller. "It was a very involved process, not one that he took lightly, and it took time. He didn't manage to get a lot done, but what he did… Let's just say that the rounds are highly effective."
"Sort of like a .45 caliber stake," added Trent. "We've been conserving them, saving them for special ops."
The last of Alpha Team finally rejoined the group, and Trent laid out his plan. They were going to move, all together, and make their way to the generator so that they could get the power on, then they were going to systematically search the hangar and clear it.
Trent turned to lead them in the direction of the generator, confident that his team could pull this off without losing another member, and recoiled, along with the others, as an explosion ripped through the far end of the hangar.
Then all hell broke loose.
Ky'Reel remained motionless, unsure if the female could see him or not, and waited for her to make the first move. She did, but it was not as he had expected, and he had been caught off guard as her four underlings pounced upon him, knocking him from his perch to slam onto the floor with a bone jarring thud.
The strength of the enhanced humans was fantastic, and Ky'Reel found it impossible to free himself from their grip. Pushing the panic from his mind, Ky'Reel concentrated on the battle, and brought his weapons into play.
With a flick of his wrist, Ky'Reel fired off his meshnet, the highly dense, highly durable net capturing the closest attacker and pinning him to the side wall of the hangar. The meshnet began constricting almost immediately, slicing into the vampire and rendering it into tiny pieces that fell about the floor in bloody chunks.
With his arm now free, Ky'Reel extended his twin blades, and buried the twelve inch long pieces of metal into the neck of another attacker. With a sharp twist and tug, Ky'Reel separated the head from the body of his victim, astounded when the body blew apart in a semi-moist cloud of dust.
What manner of beings are these enhanced humans? wondered Ky'Reel.
That question was driven from his mind as his neck suddenly felt as if it were on fire, one of the creatures having latched onto his throat. His entire body felt electrified, pain raining upon his senses as the thing drank of his blood, and Ky'Reel let loose with a blast from his plasma cannon. The bolt of energy completely disintegrated the head of the creature, its body dusting in the next instant, and continued on to strike a shelf laden with plastic containers.
The numerous gas cans, their fuel intended for the generator, went up in an orange and red ball of flame that stretched clear to the ceiling. The flames leapt over Ky'Reel and his remaining assailant, the enhanced human bursting into his own fireball of green and blue, and Ky'Reel caught a quick glimpse of the female, leaping away, before the wall of flame enveloped him.
Though she couldn't see it, Shannon knew that the invisible thing was holding its gaze with hers, and she sent out a call for her soldiers to come to her aide. She remained motionless, keeping her eyes fixed on the location, and she knew that she had its complete attention, distracting it from the approach of her underlings.
The pride that Shannon felt at how swift her underlings took down the invisible creature was replaced by rage out how fast the thing responded, killing the four in mere moments. The last was obliterated by a strange blast of energy, the beam continuing on to strike the shelf of gas cans for the generator, and Shannon knew what would happen next.
Shannon leapt with all of her might, shifting into her monstrous, vampiric form as she did, and screamed in rage as the flames of the explosion licked at her fleeing form.
The vampire Master landed in a tumbling heap, pain lancing through her, and she rolled to a stop before the startled group of humans, some fifty feet from where she had previously been. Shannon looked up at the humans, and roared in defiance as they brought their weapons up to bare.
Trent gasped in shock as the form catapulted from the darkness, hitting the ground and rolling to a stop before them, and he instantly recognized its twisted, brown, leathery form to be that of a Master. He raised his sidearm, as did everyone else, and thumbed back the hammer as the thing let loose with a soul chilling roar.
The creature ceased as Trent pressed the barrel of his gun against its forehead, and just glared at him with all too human hatred. Trent was about to pull the trigger, when he noticed three pin points of red light settle on his hand, much like that of a laser sight.
"Holy shit," exclaimed Trent, casting a glance to his right.
Other exclamations rose from the rest of the team as they turned to see a huge, burnt form come stomping out of the shadows, its body dancing with tiny blue sparks of energy as it faded in and out of visibility.
When it finally became fully visible, and remained as such, the humans stared at it amazement. Yellow-green, reptilian-like skin covered its body, which stood nearly eight feet tall. Breathing deeply, the thing slowly removed the dull silver helmet that it wore to reveal a scrunched up face that sported four mandible-like fangs which folded over its inner mouth.
"She's mine," gargled Ky'Reel, using some of the bits of language that it had learned from the observation tapes.
"What the hell is that thing?" asked Briggs, watching, along with the others, as it grabbed a thick, foot long tube that had been hanging from its belt.
"Back off, people," ordered Trent, lowering his weapon.
Shannon looked at the humans, her expression a pleading one, but she saw no compassion in the faces backing from her. Her entire existence had been for the slaughter of humans, and now it was coming back on her, and she thought it incredibly ironic. She would have laughed if the thing hadn't roared a challenge to her just then, drawing her mind from the thought.
"I won't be as easy as the others," snarled Shannon, launching herself from the floor.
Ky'Reel had been expecting the attack, and brought up the tube he had been holding, pressing a stud on its side as he did. The ends of the tube telescoped outward, turning the tube into an eight-foot long, blade tipped spear, and Ky'Reel held it firmly.
Shannon twisted, trying in vain to alter her trajectory, and screamed out as she became impaled on the spear. Shannon had propelled herself with such force, that her body slid nearly three feet down the metal shaft, stopping just short of the original tube, which Ky'Reel held with both hands.
Bloodied, bruised, and burnt, it took all of the strength that Ky'Reel could muster to hold the spear upright, keeping Shannon in place. Pressing a second control on the spear, Ky'Reel sent a wave of energy coursing through Shannon's writhing form, rendering her unconscious. Ky'Reel swung the spear around, placing it over his shoulder to better bare the weight of Shannon's limp body, and turned towards the hangar door.
"Open," gurgled Ky'Reel, fatigue threatening to overwhelm him.
"What are you going to do with her?" demanded Trent, standing before the Hunter.
"Trophy…lives," replied Ky'Reel, as if that simple statement conveyed vast meaning.
The fire from the gas tanks was beginning to die down, the flames having finally devoured the fuel, but the smoke was getting thicker, threatening to choke the humans, and Miller knew that they didn't have much choice. They were going to have to open the door whether they wanted to or not.
"Cover it, people," barked Trent, stepping out of Ky'Reel's path.
"Targets!" cried Julie, sighting the six vampires still outside.
The roar of gunfire echoed through the confines of the hangar as Alpha Team opened up on the creatures, decimating them in seconds. The Blessed rounds tore through the vamps, dusting them instantly, and Ky'Reel felt a tinge of respect for these humans surrounding him. Perhaps he had been wrong in his assumption as to which group of humans were the enhanced ones.
The humans trailed behind the Hunter, constantly scanning their surroundings for any indication of more vampires, and came to an abrupt stop as a patch of air suddenly began shimmering. A craft like no other solidified a short distance from them, and they gapped in wonder as they realized what the Hunter was.
An alien.
"You can't let it leave," said Briggs, his mind racing with dark thoughts of horror.
"What do you suggest we do?" asked Miller.
"No!" yelled Briggs. "You don't understand. You have to stop it! Think about it. An alien being, with the ability to travel to other planets, taking a Master vampire with it as some sort of trophy. No matter how remote the chance, if she should escape and change them, then we'd have a race of intergalactic vampires!"
Ky'Reel sluggishly made his way up the ramp of his craft, eager to get the female secured so that he could place his ship on auto-pilot, and slip into the Rest Chamber for the journey home. He was becoming more disoriented, his very blood feeling as if it were on fire, and he wondered if he had contracted a virus from the human that had bitten him.
The members of Alpha Team traded looks with each other, the horror of Briggs' statement sinking in, and they turned towards the alien craft as they brought their weapons up. The rounds pinged harmlessly off of the craft's armor, but a number of shots caught Ky'Reel in the back, nearly dropping him.
Moving on by sheer will alone, Ky'Reel half stumbled, half fell into his ship, slamming his fist on the control panel to seal himself in. Dropping Shannon to the floor, Ky'Reel stumbled out of the airlock, and decided to just lock her in there, knowing that he was not going to survive much longer unless he got to the Rest Chamber.
"Keep firing," yelled Trent, turning to run back towards the hangar.
"Where are you going?" cried Briggs.
Trent vanished into the hangar, pouring on the speed as he heard the unmistakable whine of engines powering up. He didn't know how much time they had left, but he doubted it would be much. He had to get to the weapons locker if they were to have any hope of stopping the alien.
Blackness threatening to overtake him at every step, Ky'Reel lumber down the main hall of his ship, uttering out commands to the computer. He would let the ship do all of the piloting, now hoping that he would make it to the Rest Chamber before it was too late.
Trent emerged from the hangar as the alien craft began to rise from the ground, waves of an unknown energy rippling beneath it as if pushing it from the earth. It was an incredible sight, this piece of alien technology rising upwards, and Trent wished that he had another option.
But he knew that he did not.
Dropping to one knee, Trent lifted the rocket launcher to his shoulder, and sighted on the raising craft. The HUD display on the clear, over-sized targeting screen showed that the weapon had locked onto the craft, and was followed by a steady beeping that confirmed it.
Trent gently pressed the firing stud, and the area around him was briefly lit in a red glow as the rocket's thruster fired it from the launcher. The projectile left a thin trail of smoke as it shot on a direct course for the alien craft, connecting with it in a matter of seconds.
Ky'Reel fell into the Rest Chamber and surrendered to the blackness as the door began to seal behind him. His mind had nearly shut down, the numbing affects of the chamber already at work on him, when he felt a violent shudder through the ship. Ky'Reel tried to force his eyes open, but his body had been through too much, and his spirit could resist no more.
"Yes!" cried Trent, though it was lost to the cheers of the others, as the alien craft listed to one side in response to rocket's impact.
The humans continued to watch as the alien ship banked slowly around, dropping from the night sky as a second explosion ripped through it. It was with disbelief that the humans suddenly realized that the craft was spinning wildly back towards their location, trailing flames and smoke as it headed directly for them.
"Take cover!" yelled Miller, though it was unnecessary.
Miller, Briggs, and Alpha Team bolted further into the darkness, away from the hangar, as the alien craft came screaming down from the sky. The craft careened into the top of the hangar, tearing through the roof of the structure, and smashed down within the building.
There was a series of small pops, and then the sky lit up as the entire hangar exploded into a mushrooming fireball. Pieces of debris rained down on the area, some as big as a jeep, and everyone rose from where the shock wave of the explosion had knocked them down, seeking new cover.
Within minutes it was all over, a smoldering crater all that was left of the hangar, and everything that it had contained. Alpha Team's equipment, vehicle, and weapons were all gone, wiped from existence by the explosion of the alien craft.
"I guess we won't be going to Colorado," said Dillon, joining the others as they gathered before the ruins of the hangar.
"Kinda looks that way, doesn't it, Three," said Trent, his voice thick with sarcasm and disgust.
"We'd better get back to the main building," said Miller. "If there's any vamps around, they'll becoming to check out the explosion."
"If the Master was killed in the explosion, won't her entire nest be wiped out now?" asked Briggs.
"Not something I feel like checking out right now," replied Miller, turning and starting to walk back towards their main stronghold. "Maybe in the morning." | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/262074/1/NIGHTFALL-PREDATOR | dclm-gs1-123340001 | false | true | {
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0.02974 | <urn:uuid:ec3cc3f2-90c1-4661-b513-626ea884c92f> | en | 0.992285 | Kanna led the way to the next stop on the list, Kiri. She talked with her fellow ambassadors about how to handle Kiri nin. Both Girls found it interesting what Kanna was saying. Kakashi confirmed her every detail. It seemed that Kanna knew Kiri better then Kakashi. That surprised everyone, even Temari. Kakashi asked how she knew so much. She told him that her father sent her everywhere on business. She told them that she has been an ambassador for about six years. They were all impressed. Naruto didn't get the political part of it, but he understood the time she spent on her job.
Once in Kiri, the nin took a break. They spoke very little and mostly slept. When they were all ready, the went to see the Mizukage. It turned out the the Mizukage was doing the same thing. Only they hadn't sent out any ambassadors yet. That made things very easy for Kanna, Temari and Sakura. The Mizukage sent an ambassador of their own to accompany the others. It was also a female, by the name of Hoshi.
The group then went to Kumo. There they had no success. The Raikage saw them, but quickly turned down the plan. Kanna knew that he was set in his ways. The others wanted to try and change his mind. Kanna convinced them it was hopeless and they left, downhearted. Hoshi also knew it was hopeless and helped Kanna prove her point. Luckily, Kanna had contacted a friend in Iwa. While she was busy here, he was setting it up with the Tsuchikage. He told her via a letter that it was all good on his end.
Kanna told everyone that they could now go home. Hoshi nodded and was off. Temari stayed with the Konoha nin. Kanna went home. Among the letter from her friend, she ot one her father telling her to hurry home. She did, knowing her father was not one any one could go against, not even her own mother. Kanna told Temari to say hello to Gaara for her. Then she left with one last joke.
Kanna arrived home at midnight that very night. Her father was waiting impatiently for her. Her mother and the rest of her father's followers were inside the house. They all eyed her as they always did. But said or did nothing more, afraid of her father's wrath. Kanna sat down beside her mother and father.
"Pein, are we ready yet?" Kanna asked her father.
"Yes daughter, we are. The first target is one you can help us with. The new Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara." Konan spoke this time.
Kanna's eyes widened. She didn't want to disobey her father, but she didn't want to have a hand in Gaara's death either. She chose now, in front of her father and the rest of the Akatsuki, to stand up. She stood up and looked at her father. He looked at her, waiting for her reason.
"No, I will not help you kill my friend. He is the best friend I ever had. If you're going to kill him, you will have to kill me first. If you don't-"
Pein, having no mercy or love, killed her. It was then that the Akatsuki realized just how evil and fearful their leader really was. Konan felt immediate grief and sorrow, but she knew better then to repeat her daughter's actions. She loved her daughter, but she loved herself more. Pein shortly sent Deidara and Sasori after Gaara.
I don't own Naruto. Sorry for the short story and chapter. Sorry for the sad ending, but I couldn't think of a good ending and wanting to end the story, so I came up with this. | https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4290376/3/Gaara-Makes-A-Friend | dclm-gs1-123380001 | false | false | {
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0.301704 | <urn:uuid:a93a8a64-771d-45b3-a996-2bbba864bfb6> | en | 0.963638 | 1. Skip to navigation
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Hyperinflation Is Not Inevitable (Default Is)
Mises Daily: Monday, August 20, 2012 by
Hyperinflation is always a possibility for any national government or central bank. If a national government is running massive deficits, it can call on the central bank to buy treasury bills or treasury bonds with newly created money. This digital money is transferred to the treasury, which then spends the money into circulation.
There have been cases of hyperinflation in the past that have become legendary. The most famous of all of these hyperinflations is Germany from 1921 through 1923. Simultaneous with that hyperinflation was a hyperinflation in Austria. These were not the worst cases of hyperinflation in history, but they were the worst cases in industrial societies. The worst case was Hungary for two years immediately after World War II. The second-worst case took place a few years ago in Zimbabwe. Both were agricultural nations.
There have been hyperinflations in Latin America after World War II. One of the worst was in Brazil in the 1980s and 1990s. The statistics of catastrophic inflation are available here. This went on for two decades. I know of no other case of hyperinflation that lasted more than three years. This is why I regard Brazil's inflation as the worst hyperinflation in modern history. The political authorities did nothing to stop it, and the central bank inflated. The devastation to the middle class was almost total. If people did not get their money into gold and silver and foreign currencies, they were wiped out. The country went to barter.
Destroying Creditors
When we think of the traditional arguments in favor of hyperinflation from the government's point of view, we think about the ability of the government to pay off creditors. As I will show, this argument no longer is valid.
It is valid for private corporations. Some large business that has issued a 30-year bond is in a position to pay off those bonds with money that is essentially worthless. The person who extended credit to the company did so when the currency had far higher purchasing power. Then comes hyperinflation. Most bonds allow the debtor to pay off early. This will destroy the creditors.
Wherever creditors exist, debtors are happy to repay their loans with money that has depreciated ever since the time that the loan was established. This is especially true if the loan had a fixed interest rate. If the rate of interest cannot be hiked by the lender, he is trapped in his debt. Long-term interest rates begin to skyrocket because of the effect of hyperinflation on consumer prices. New creditors demand a higher rate of interest in order to compensate them for the expected decline of purchasing power. But when hyperinflation speeds up the process of depreciation even faster, creditors who demanded higher interest rates find that the interest rate was not sufficient to compensate them for the decline of purchasing power. So, the next time around, creditors demand even higher rates of interest.
Every time the rate of long-term interest rises, the market value of the existing bonds declines. So, the creditor class, which had faithfully extended credit to businesses, finds that it gave up money that was of considerable value, and now gets back money that is essentially worthless. This destroys the creditor class, which then proves unable to supply new rounds of credit to borrowers.
In the case of central banks that adopt policies that produce hyperinflation, there is no doubt that creditors are ruined if the lenders have the right to pay off the loan with the newly issued currency. If there are no gold contracts or silver contracts governing the payment of the loans, the creditor is helpless in the face of lenders who use the depreciated money to get out of their obligations.
Short Bursts of Hyperinflation
When the Social Security trust fund administrators or the Medicare trust fund administrators estimate the obligations of each program, they use the figure of 75 years. They talk about what is owed over the entire 75 years. This means that any period of hyperinflation that is less than 75 years will be insufficient to abolish the political debts of the US government. It cannot escape the obligation by paying retired citizens whatever they are owed over the entire time period. Hyperinflation will enable private corporations to escape their obligations to creditors, but it will not enable the federal government to escape. The government will be able to escape the burden in the years of the worst time of hyperinflation, but when the hyperinflation ends, and the central bank issues a new currency, this does not solve the problem facing the government.
The hyperinflation ends when the money is worthless. At that point, the government cannot buy goods and services. Neither can its dependents.
The government today faces a political problem. It is not simply that it has issued nonmarketable IOUs to the Social Security trust fund and the Medicare trust fund. It has made specific promises to the entire working population. These promises have the force of law. They also cannot be escaped by means of short-term monetary expansion. It is possible for the government for a brief period of time to get its hands on money that is depreciating, but there are cost-of-living escalators built into Social Security payments.
Furthermore, if the government uses the fiat money to pay healthcare providers, and the money does not cover the cost of providing healthcare, healthcare providers will go out of business. It does no good to go to hyperinflation in order to reduce the costs to the government of healthcare. If the government attempts this, it will find that healthcare providers go into another line of work.
All those forecasters who say that hyperinflation is inevitable in the United States never discuss this problem of the 75-year obligations. They never spell out in detail how hyperinflation will enable the US government to escape its obligations. These obligations stretch out over 75 years. No hyperinflation has ever lasted longer than 20 years, and most of them have not lasted longer than about 3 years. So, the policy of hyperinflation wipes out the middle class, and it wipes out most of the creditors who transferred money to corporations in exchange for long-term bonds. The corporations will simply pay off the bonds early with depreciated money, and will then be the possessors of whatever productive assets they bought with the borrowed money. So, when the government comes to potential creditors and asks for another round of debt, it will find the creditors are too wise to provide this credit.
The on-budget debt of the United States that is owed to the general public has an average maturity of approximately eight years. The Federal Reserve System is using "operation twist" to buy larger quantities of 30-year Treasury bonds. This lowers the rate on these bonds and also mortgages issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The private purchasers of these assets will find that, for any period of hyperinflation, the market value of these assets declines. The money, which is not much, that the government will pay to them as interest will not buy much of anything. The government cannot get rid of these debts by hyperinflation. It can pay interest on these debts cheaply only during the time of hyperinflation.
Kotlikoff's Figures
This brings us back to the deficit in the most important category: off-budget debt. The general public is almost completely unaware of this debt. This debt comprises mainly the obligations of the government for Medicare, Social Security, and federal pensions. These debts extend out for 75 years, according to the calculations of the government. These are extremely long-term debts.
Professor Lawrence Kotlikoff of Boston University has been monitoring the growth of these debts for several years. He relies on the statistics published by the Congressional Budget Office. This is legally a nonpartisan organization that is set up to provide information on various aspects of the government's budget.
Early in August 2012, Kotlikoff and financial writer Scott Burns published an article on the increase of the unfunded liabilities of the US government. According to the figures issued by the Congressional Budget Office, Kotlikoff concluded that there had been an increase in unfunded liabilities over the past 12 months of $11 trillion.
The total obligation of the federal government to voters that is not funded at the present time is now $222 trillion. This does not mean that, over the entire life of the program, the government will be short $220 trillion. It means that the present value of the unfunded liability is $220 trillion. This means that the government would have to set aside $220 trillion immediately, invest this money in nongovernment projects that will pay a positive rate of return, and will therefore fund the amortization of this debt. I have written about the estimate here.
The federal government at the present time is running annual on-budget deficits of about $1.2 trillion. It spends something in the range of $3.7 trillion. But it needs to have $222 trillion immediately to invest in private markets. It of course does not have this money. There is also the question of which markets could absorb a total of $222 trillion overnight and be able to gain a constant rate of return of, say, 5 percent per annum? It simply is not possible.
Kotlikoff's figures indicate that the federal government at some point will have to default on large portions of the long-term debt. The numbers do not lie. Kotlikoff's numbers are larger than most estimates, but other economists have estimated the total unfunded liability in the range of $90 trillion. This number is as unmanageable as $222 trillion.
The Congress of the United States could not come to an agreement in 2011 on how to solve an official deficit of $1.2 trillion per year. Congress kicked the can down the road until January 1, 2013. At that point, the government will have to slash spending, according to the agreement made in 2011. The Bush tax cuts of 2002 will expire unless Congress extends them.
It is obvious that Congress cannot come to an agreement to solve the problem of $1.2 trillion annual deficits. What Kotlikoff and Burns reveal is something far more extraordinary. They indicate that the actual increase of the federal deficit over the last 12 months is in the range of 10 times greater than the increase in the official government deficit. This means that the compounding process that is taking place in the area of unfunded liabilities dwarfs the compounding process that we see in the on-budget statistics.
If Kotlikoff's figures are incorrect, then some government economist or other expert should publish a detailed study of the correct methodology to examine the figures issued by the Congressional Budget Office. If he has made a mistake, the public deserves to know what this mistake was, and what the correct answer is. I am aware of no such study as yet, but perhaps it will be issued soon. The question will then be this: to what extent did Kotlikoff exaggerate the figures? If it turns out that he is wrong by, say, $50 trillion, the critic will have a point, but the point will be essentially irrelevant to the future crisis of the US government.
Even if Kotlikoff is wrong by $100 trillion, it becomes clear that Congress is completely incapable of dealing politically with this problem. It could not possibly raise the funds to balance the budget if the budget really is increasing by, say, $5 trillion per year. The difference between $5 trillion and $11 trillion is huge, but irrelevant in relationship to the ability of the government to deal with it. The government does not have the money, nor does the free market provide sufficient investment opportunities to enable the US government and all of the other Western governments, including Japan, to solve the problem.
This is not simply an American problem. This is the problem of Western civilization. This is a problem created by every group of politicians in the world who have overpromised what each national government is going to be able to deliver in the future.
If Kotlikoff's figures are wrong, there should be a hue and cry in Congress over the magnitude of his misrepresentation. There is no hue and cry. We hear the silence of the Congressional Budget Office and also the silence of Congress in general. This persuades me that Kotlikoff's figures are sufficiently accurate, so that we can make judgments about what is likely to happen to the solvency of the US government and its ability to send out checks every month to its recipients.
Kotlikoff and Burns do not estimate the year in which the crisis will become obvious. I don't blame them. We cannot be certain about this date, because we cannot be certain about Federal Reserve policy. We can be certain about this: there is no way to repay the obligations that the federal government has negotiated with the voters. It has pretended that it can continue to make its payments on time, but it has not shown how this is going to be possible over the long haul. Meanwhile, millions of baby boomers have started to retire.
The Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve cannot solve the problem of the 75-year debt which has unfunded liabilities in the present of $222 trillion. There is no way that the government of United States can solve this problem without simply going into default. So, it does not pay the Federal Reserve to adopt a policy of hyperinflation, which is necessary to destroy the debts of the various levels of civil government in the United States.
The Federal Reserve may go to mass inflation. By mass inflation, I have in mind rates of consumer price increases of 25 percent or thereabouts. We have never seen this in peacetime America, but it is possible. It will enable Congress to sell some of its rollover debt as this debt matures. The average maturity of the federal debt now is about eight years.Download PDF
This does not solve the major problem, which is the unfunded liability of the federal government for long-term old-age retirement programs. The central bank could hyperinflate for a few years and enable Congress to kick the can down the road for another three or four years. But this does not solve the fundamental problem facing the federal government, namely, that it has overextended its promises vastly beyond its ability to deliver on these promises.
Economists at the Federal Reserve understand this as well as I do. I ask this: What possible incentive is there for the Federal Reserve System to hyperinflate the money to zero value, when the political obligations of the old-age retirement system will survive the time of hyperinflation? What is the advantage of the Federal Reserve to hyperinflate the money supply?
Maybe it would do this in order to intervene to save specific large New York banks, but their obligations are minimal compared to the total obligations of the US government.
In other words, the default will be much more open. The government is going to have to renege on promises made to the vast majority of people who are now dependent on the federal government for their retirement income, and it will also default on the workers who are still in the workforce, who are paying each payday into Social Security and Medicare.
Anyone who makes the case for inevitable hyperinflation needs to present evidence on how hyperinflation will enable the US government to escape the political obligations of the promises that it has made to retirees.
If Congress nationalizes the Fed, then we could get hyperinflation, just to meet present bills. But this will not solve the long-term problem: government unfunded liabilities. After the currency dies, the debt will still be there. | https://www.mises.org/daily/6159/Hyperinflation-Is-Not-Inevitable-Default-Is | dclm-gs1-123460001 | false | false | {
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0.135653 | <urn:uuid:8b18d19e-c9b5-45b0-ab2d-1381cd76103a> | en | 0.887113 |
Re: [Linux-cluster] Multicast for GFS?
> Can you explain why this should be INADDR_ANY rather than the local IP address?
i knew i forgot something...
i've been having some trouble with
memcpy(&mreq.imr_interface, he->h_addr, he->h_length);
since it contains my mcast addr instead of real host addr. I'm debugging
it now to see where the error happens...
Temporarly, I've changed it to htonl(INADDR_ANY)...
seems like "temporarly" is a bit streching term for me :)
> You also mentioned in another email that the "cman_tool leave" should issue
> a setsockopt to leave the multicast group, does this not happen automatically
> when the socket is closed?
Actually no. When you close the socket that was a member of Mcast Group,
node does not sent "IGMP leave" message to router, so mcast packets
continue to arrive until router issues "membership refresh" procedure
(which, depending on configuration, is at every 30 seconds).
If node does not confirm it's membership (and it won't since kernel
can't find any socket for the multicast group), mcast path gets pruned
at a router, but stays valid for another 2-3 minutes (also depending on
> If it isn't then cman_tool leave can do this I
> suppose. In the case where the cluster software exits without the help of
> cman_tool it will be fenced anyway so there shoudn't be a problem :-)
That's true for fenced nodes, but it's not a clean solution, so, if it
isn't much of a trouble, I'd really like to have membership drop
implemented before socket gets closed.
Lazar Obradovic, System Engineer
laza YU net
YUnet International http://www.EUnet.yu
Dubrovacka 35/III, 11000 Belgrade
Tel: +381 11 3119901; Fax: +381 11 3119901
This e-mail is confidential and intended only for the recipient.
Unauthorized distribution, modification or disclosure of its
please notify the sender by telephone +381 11 3119901.
| https://www.redhat.com/archives/linux-cluster/2004-August/msg00096.html | dclm-gs1-123490001 | false | false | {
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0.0183 | <urn:uuid:73adb10f-b750-4de8-8a41-af4c8b442d59> | en | 0.929044 |
Shown Here:
Introduced in House (10/07/2009)
Assuring Coverage for Americans with Pre-existing Conditions Act of 2009 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide to each state an amount equal to 50% of the state's expenditures to provide for the use of a high-risk pool, reinsurance pool, or other risk-adjustment mechanism to subsidize the purchase of private health insurance for the high-risk population (not to exceed 50 cents multiplied by the average number of state residents in a fiscal year). | http://beta.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/house-bill/3741?q=%7B%22house-committee%22%3A%22Energy+and+Commerce%22%7D | dclm-gs1-123590001 | false | false | {
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0.029142 | <urn:uuid:be0e8147-68ee-4c55-aa97-37fd0e493b07> | en | 0.950592 |
FIR against Moily?
FIR against Moily? As absurd as one against Kejriwal
You are here:Home» Topics» Sachar committee
Patriots Forum questions need for Sachar Committee ET
Patriots Forum, a group of devoted to preservation and promotion of ancient Indic culture argues against the merits of such a committee.
Government to set up Equal Opportunities Commission for minorities ET
The govt cleared a proposal for setting up the much- awaited Equal Opportunities Commission, a statutory body to check discrimination of minority communities in jobs and education.
BJP government has failed to address issues of minorities: Congress ET
Manmohan Singh asks people to guard against divisive forces ET
Launching a veiled attack on Narendra Modi, Prime Minister urged people to be "cautious" of those who work against India's secular thought by attempting to "redefine secularism".
Scope for doing more for minorities exists: PM ET
Civil society members demand strong Lokpal Bill ET
They said the measures include a strong Lokpal law, Grievance Redress law, Whistleblower Protection law and measures for judicial accountability.
Nitish Kumar lashes out at Narendra Modi's remarks ET
Contesting allegations by Narendra Modi that his arrogance was higher than Mount Everest, Nitish Kumar said he was from a "poor family".
There are no Quotes on Sachar committee | http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Sachar-committee | dclm-gs1-123720001 | false | false | {
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0.024071 | <urn:uuid:2892c810-48c6-4094-a59c-31cadb3c8f7a> | en | 0.846952 | Adrenal fatigue
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Adrenal exhaustion)
Jump to: navigation, search
The term "adrenal fatigue" may be applied to a collection of mostly nonspecific symptoms such as "tiredness, trouble falling asleep at night or waking up in the morning, salt and sugar craving, and needing stimulants like caffeine to get through the day". There is no scientific evidence supporting the concept of adrenal fatigue and it is not recognized as an actual diagnosis by the medical community.[1]
Blood or salivary testing is sometimes offered by alternative medical practitioners to diagnose adrenal fatigue, but these tests lack a scientific basis.[1] The concept of adrenal fatigue has given rise to an industry of dietary supplements marketed to treat this condition. These supplements are largely unregulated in the U.S., are ineffective, and in some cases may be dangerous.[1]
See also[edit]
1. ^ a b c d "Myth vs. Fact: Adrenal Fatigue". The Hormone Foundation. August 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
2. ^ "Adrenal fatigue: What causes it?". Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Archived from the original on 5 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
External links[edit]
Discussion of adrenal fatigue at Science Based Medicine | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_exhaustion | dclm-gs1-123740001 | false | false | {
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0.026794 | <urn:uuid:1a2fb23a-8375-4f16-96bc-9edf0d76c94a> | en | 0.976923 | Talk:Imperial Guard (Russia)
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WikiProject Russia / History / Military (Rated Start-class, Mid-importance)
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This article is supported by the history of Russia task force.
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WikiProject Military history (Rated Start-Class)
History of the Imperial Russian Guard[edit]
Shouldn't the history be added?--Mrg3105 12:58, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Units of the Imperial Guard[edit]
Lets see how long it takes someone to add these in-- mrg3105mrg3105 07:34, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
renaming proposal[edit]
The official name was the Imperial Russian Guard (Imperatorskaya Russkaya Armiya), and in all cases where they applied to structures and organisations under Imperial authority the name of the organisation was preceded by Imperial.--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♣ 21:58, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
However, this does not read well in English, and we're writing in English in this part of wikipedia. Fine for the Ru-section, but as I said at GABTU, we need to stick to good English, not translations that replicate Russian word order. Buckshot06 (talk) 22:10, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
Do you mind explaining to me why Imperial Russian Guard does not "read well" in English? I can understand being uncomfortable with the French Garde impériale becoming Guard Imperial (though consider Queen mother) rather then Imperial Guard, but why here? I have more of a problem with Military history of Imperial Russia which should be Military history of the Russian Empire.--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♣ 23:44, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
It sounds ugly. Sorry, I know it's really hard to understand, but the English phrasing works better with the 'Imperial Guard' as the noun and the 'Russian' as an adjective in front of it. In the same way you'd be at a loss to explain how terms are constructed in Russian to me, it's a bit hard for me to explain it in the other direction. As for Military history of the Russian Empire, if everything is at 'Russian Empire', rather than 'Imperial Russia' - so we're consistent - just fine with me. Raise it on the talk page, leave it for ten days, and if noone objects, go ahead and move it. Buckshot06 (talk) 00:49, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
Yes, I appreciate the issue of putting the adjective before the noun, but the rule, if there were any rules to that effect in English, does not apply to official titles and organisation names, only to prose grammar.I can ask Philip Beard though, but I see nothing wrong with it.--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♣ 01:11, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
Try a google test; I think you'll find more references to 'Russian Imperial Guard' that 'Imperial Russian Guard'. Um, and by the way - are you trying to tell me, the native English speaker, what the rules of my native language are, and that you know them, and I do not? It sound blunt, but that seems to be what you're doing. Buckshot06 (talk) 02:45, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
I don't think he was doing that at all, and please, let's keep this on the "civil" side of "blunt". There's in fact no grammatical rule that determines order of adjectives in English: it's purely a matter of pattern of usage. If you feel that one "works" and the other doesn't, it's likely because similar phrases use the "Imperial Guard" pattern, rather than the reverse, but there's nothing immutable about it. In fact, googlefighting them in this case is a narrow "win" for "Imperial Russian Guard", but it would be preferable to look at what appropriate, reliable sources use. If that's still an effective "tie", I'd personally going with the more direct translation, but let's cross that bridge when we come to it. Alai (talk) 18:53, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
Similar phrases - sounds roughly right. In that case, that similar phrases use across Imperial Guards would be the basis of my argument. Buckshot06 (talk) 22:28, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
That's interesting; I googlechecked it (after) I wrote that, and found it something like 888 Imperial Russian Guards and 1040 for Russian Imperial Guard. Buckshot06 (talk) 22:28, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
Google does all sorts of localisation and assorted black magic so that search results are often not consistent from person to person, or even from day to day, which is yet another reason to take such results with a pinch of salt. More importantly, it doesn't distinguish between results by "quality" in a way we'd like, as far as determining which is conventional usage (if there is such a thing). Alai (talk) 01:04, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
Buckshot06, while I was not insinuating that you personally need any English lessons, the blanket application of "I'm a native English speaker, therefore I know better" is patently false when one looks at the amount of grammatical and spelling errors that are corrected daily in English Wikipedia, which overwhelmingly edited by English spakers.
(Not blanket. My case. I think if you look, you will find my grammar and spelling pretty good (I make mistakes, but I usually correct them before hitting the 'Save' key), and my phrasing and sentance structure has been good enough to get two articles promoted to FA without copyediting for ease of word flow. I agree completely about the majority of editors here. Buckshot06 (talk) 22:28, 4 April 2008 (UTC))
In any case, I was simply pointing out that there is no order preference rule in least not in any sources available to me.
The reason for change is that the name of the higher organisation was Imperial Russian Army per Zhurnal Voennykh Deistvii Imperatorskoi Rossiiskoi Armii (Journal of combat actions of the Imperial Russian Army), St. Petersburg, 1807 as a source used by Alexander Mikaberidze, in The Russian Officer Corps in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 1792 - 1815, and therefore by extension the name of one of its components would be Imperial Russian Guard. Alexander is an academic on the subject, and has written a number of works on the Imperial Russian Army, this work being an encyclopaedic reference which attempts to list all significantly notable Russian officers for the period.
The logic of using Imperial Russian, and not Russian Imperial is because the the forces were Imperial first and Russian second in that the Commander-in-Chief was the Emperor of Russia, and that the composition was not solely based on the Russian population, what with most of the hussar regiments being recruited in Ukraine, and not a few infantry units (including Guard) coming from the Baltic and Finland areas, and this only for the 18th and 19th centuries. The character of the Empire's forces became even more multinational by the time of the First World War.--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♣ 22:11, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
I so dislike Google counts being used as a proof of anything--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♣ 22:11, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
Great source to draw information from - I'd actually seen you adding references to it in places. But it's in Russian - that's my point. We're talking about how to render it in English. (Um - you've got me unclear on the makeup of the Russian Empire. Was the Ukraine, the Baltic, etc not part of the Russian Empire at this time?) Buckshot06 (talk) 22:20, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
Given that the usage in this case was from a time before English grammar was formalised, I dare say nothing can be said about the usage of transposed words being correct or otherwise.
Yes, but we're writing for an encyclopaedia for 2008-.., not then. OK, if you wish, go ahead and move it. Buckshot06 (talk) 23:28, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
At the time of the Russian Empire coming into being Imperial would have counted for much more with those in England (before 1707) who could write then Russian, which was still called 'Moskovy' in many publications. Russian Empire begun before Ukrainian and Baltic territories were added to it. In fact there were never Ukraine and Baltic states within the Empire, although there always was a Ukrainian cavalry unit of some sort in the Army. The use of Russian Empire is obvious since the Russian population, and its aristocracy, were the predominant source of its power, however the forces had changed over time of its expansion, and lets not forget the article is to cover over two centuries of history. I think it would be inappropriate to place Russian up front, considering the many officers Peter Ist used to create the forces were Germans, Swedes, English, Italians and Scots, of which a descendent of one who essentially saved the Imperial Russian Army to fight another day at Borodino despite insultingly called a "German", and a Georgian who gave his life for the Empire.--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♣ 23:04, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
Let's not try to determine "logical" usage, just actual such! If I went to the bookshop and had a look at a book on Russian history, or attended a War Studies conference, etc, would I be more likely to see the term "Russian Imperial Guard", "Imperial Russian Guard", or something else? (For example, if the most common usage were just "Imperial Guard", the logical title would be "Imperial Guard (Russia)", though that's even further from the form mrg3105 favours.) Alai (talk) 01:13, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
I guess it depends on who was speaking ;o)
In my own library the "opinion" is almost evenly divided although at least half of it is from pre-1970s days, and therefore in my opinion not that reliable. I note that Boris Mollo, John Mollo do have a book on Uniforms of the Imperial Russian Army, and Bruce W. Menning makes the point in the title Bayonets Before Bullets: The Imperial Russian Army, 1861-1914. I also had a look in Google books, and found that Pertti Luntinen (a Finn) also uses The Imperial Russian Army and Navy in Finland, 1808-1918, no doubt because of Mannerheim where in absence of the article the link is given as Imperial Russian army. Albert Seaton who had written several books on the Russian Armies in the late 60s and 70s uses Imperial Russian Army also. Then there is the volume I do not have, M. Lyons' The Russian Imperial Army;: A bibliography of regimental histories and related works from the Hoover Institution bibliographical series published in the 1960s. Roger Reese wrote his The Russian Imperial Army 1796-1917 (The International Library of Essays on Military History), but N. T. Iziumchenko, Peter Brock, and John L. H. Keep wrote Life in a Penal Battalion of the Imperial Russian Army: The Tolstoyan N. T. Iziumchenko's Story both of which are currently in print. However a commonly accepted authority on the Russian Army, George F Nafziger (also a publisher), has the The Imperial Russian Army, 1763-1815, though its earliest version which I also have is simply called The Russian Army, 1800-1815. I would go with George though, and I don;t think you will find many military historians who will disagree because many use George as a source of reference! --mrg3105 (comms) ♠♣ 06:29, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
I'm not going to presume to try and pick and choose between your many sources there, but hopefully it's lots of food for thoughts for editors more familiar with milhisty things. Many thanks. Bear in mind that that it's Imperial Russian/Russian Guard that's at issue, not the Army as a whole, so the most specific sources on that would be preferable (though the pattern of usage is pretty likely to be similar, one would have thought). Alai (talk) 14:12, 5 April 2008 (UTC) | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Imperial_Guard_(Russia) | dclm-gs1-123770001 | false | false | {
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0.0195 | <urn:uuid:f1362995-1dbc-4470-894b-1414a07908a3> | en | 0.971135 | Manchester United news
Utd may delay Singapore float
September 16, 2011
Anti-Glazers banner Old TRafford
GettyImagesMan Utd fans have continued with anti-Glazer demonstrations
• Singapore flotation nears for Utd
United, who have privately dismissed renewed speculation about a potential £1.5 billion sale to the Qatari Royal Family, have been given permission to launch a flotation.
It had been thought the Glazer family would actively pursue a move that would allow the whole process to be completed by the end of next month, which is still possible. However, with the club keen to ensure a successful flotation, insiders say they are currently "in no rush'' to execute their plans.
One of the reasons for this could be to allow the Stock Market to settle, thereby maximising returns which the Glazer family are hoping will be around £600 million if, as anticipated, they opt to put 25% of the club on the market.
Details are yet to be released. However, it is expected the listing will involve a complicated mixture of primary shares, new shares which would dilute the Glazer family's interests, with the money going to the company, and secondary shares, which would involve the sale of existing shares, with the proceeds going directly to the Americans.
Opponents of the Glazer family have already called on them to use the money raised to clear United's debt, reduced to £308 million in the most recent accounts, released earlier this month. However. it is not known how the American owners managed to pay off £220 million of payment-in-kind notes in November last year. | http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/957675/manchester-united-in-no-rush-to-float-in-singapore?cc=5739 | dclm-gs1-123790001 | false | false | {
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0.154445 | <urn:uuid:c88c1f5e-2bd3-4043-9de0-ed82448378d1> | en | 0.915661 | In addition to a big, head-trippy single-player campaign, the upcoming Far Cry 3 will feature a fleshed-out 4-player co-op campaign. It's more than your standard "kill the enemy waves" setup; FC3's co-op has a story, complete with four different playable characters. There's the hardassed chick, the goofy older russian dude, the wiseass cockney (or some such accent?) criminal, and the big tough action dude.
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0.973781 | <urn:uuid:31fa50e2-14b2-4298-9651-16d871e35879> | en | 0.722342 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
$X_t$ is a Brownian Motion, it reaches becomes -1 forever once it reaches -1.
Mathematically, $T = \inf\{t: W_t = -1\}$ is a stopping time.
When $t<T$, $X_t = W_t$ ,while $t\geq T$, $X_t = -1$.
What is the expectation of $X_1$?
Part of my solution is
$\mathbb{E}[X_1] = \mathbb{E}[X_1|T<1]\mathbb{P}(T<1)+\mathbb{E}[X_1|T\geq1]\mathbb{P}(T\geq1)$
I know
$\mathbb{E}[X_1|T<1]=-1$ and $\mathbb{P}(T<1)=2(1-\Phi(-1))$
but how about $\mathbb{E}[X_1|T\geq1]$ ? Can anyone help one help me on it? Thank you so mush!
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$X_t = W_{t \wedge T}$ is a martingale... – Nate Eldredge May 19 '12 at 12:22
So do you mean $\mathbb{E}[X_1] = \mathbb{E}[X_0]=0 $? – pidig May 19 '12 at 14:51
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Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question. | http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/147007/a-brownian-motion-starting-from-0-it-becomes-1-once-reach-1-what-is-its-expe | dclm-gs1-123940001 | false | false | {
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0.020141 | <urn:uuid:a96f6695-b958-4e2b-ba1c-366b2e7cae73> | en | 0.957523 | Philly's Fringe festival gets new waterfront home
Staff reports Modified: February 25, 2013 at 2:39 pm • Published: February 25, 2013
Former Gov. Ed Rendell, who was mayor of Philadelphia when the Fringe began in 1997, said it helped revive the city's downtown and make it a more attractive place for young people to live and play.
"I remember people came to me and said, 'They're starting this thing called Fringe Festival,' and I said, 'Oh my gosh, are there going to be arrests?'" Rendell said with a laugh. "And they said, 'No, no, it's going to be all right."
The state has provided $1 million in seed money for the project and the remainder is coming from grants and donations, with all but $600,000 of the $7 million total already raised. The Fringe bought the building last summer for $750,000.
Organizers also unveiled the festival's name change to FringeArts, which previously was known as the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe.
"We needed a name that fit on the marquee," Stuccio said.
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sex in the city
How Often Is Sex Not ‘Rape by Deception’?
Lying about something.
A Palestinian man was sentenced to eighteen months in prison in Israel this week for leading a Jewish woman to believe he was Jewish in order to sleep with her. His crime? "Rape by deception." As a judge explained, "If she hadn't thought the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a serious romantic relationship, she never would have cooperated." So watch out, guys who try to get laid by pretending to be wealthier, smarter, kinder, healthier, younger, older, more popular, more romantic, more important, less stingy, less bald, or less married than you actually are — i.e., everyone. [NYDN]
Photo: iStockphoto | http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2010/07/how_often_is_sex_not_rape_by_d.html | dclm-gs1-124090001 | false | false | {
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0.421726 | <urn:uuid:64af9bd5-3609-41c7-84b9-dd532f5559be> | en | 0.945209 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
A quick and dirty definition of User Story:
In this commonly accepted definition there is little space for defining business rules, constraints or user input.
Trivial example just to illustrate:
As a <librarian>, I want to <register new books> so that <students
can find their availability online>
In this silly example, where would one define the fields needed when registering a book? Should it be written anywhere? Or should the required business rules be passed as word of mouth by the Product Owner?
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up vote 3 down vote accepted
The fields are part of the conversation that should be had. They may be written down if that is useful but that is a judgment call. Keeping the documentation up to date may be challenging whereas the working software could be seen as documentation to some extent.
User Story - A Promise to have a conversation would be a blog entry about this.
Your trivial example has a couple of points that I don't know how well you'd notice this. What does it mean to "register new books?" What is "Find their availability online?" Those are where the conversation begins and once the story is done there may be new stories as perhaps those registrations have to be kept on file or reports have to be generated periodically.
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Typically on a broad encompassing user story that has many facets I try to get the most general example of the story, and then for specifics I create child user stories that inherit from it. Many Agile project management tools like RallyDev allow you to do this easily and I find it makes sense.
Registering new books is broad, so perhaps there are 10 other child user stories about how <role> would like books to be registered.
Extreme details of these things or bizarre fringe details I usually define in one or more tasks under that user story. The tasks help define development and design work that should be done (on a general level) to meet that user story (Eg. Write validtor to ensure input in description field is less than 50 characters...) EDIT: I just wanted to add that it is probably better to keep extreme details out of user stories because it likely isn't something that a user will really care much about. Users want to explain software in general terms and they are depending on software developers to figure out and hide the details from them.
This is just how I approach the problem but I am sure there a number of different ways.
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0.131756 | <urn:uuid:54c6cf3e-e80c-424c-b522-9daea680c7d3> | en | 0.982791 | Special Report
Ninety-Two Years and Counting
Even our president doesn't know just how long the U.S. has been guilty of a "failure to appreciate Europe's leading role."
By 4.8.09
Send to Kindle
Last Friday, a Fox New panel kicked around the matter of President Obama's remarks at the G-20 meeting where he had characterized the U.S. attitude toward Europe as "arrogant," dismissive," and "derisive." The United States, its President had said, was guilty of a "failure to appreciate Europe's leading role," in world affairs.
This was too much for Charles Krauthammer. In what he described as "a turn of phrase I'm sure I will regret," Krauthammer said impatiently that Europe had been "sucking on the [American] teat for 60 years."
The phrase, actually, was entirely apt. But Krauthammer was short by almost 32 years.
On Good Friday, April 6, 1917, Congress gave President Woodrow Wilson the declaration of war on Germany he had requested four days earlier. It was, in the words of military historian J.F.C. Fuller, "the most fateful day in European history since Varus lost his legions."
For nearly three years, the Europeans had been busily slaughtering one another in battles like the Somme where the British lost nearly 20,000 killed in one day and Verdun where approximately 400,000 Frenchmen and 300,000 Germans were casualties in 11 months of inconclusive fighting. Europe was exhausted, bled white, and broke. But unable, or unwilling, to find a way out of history's most catastrophic war. A war whose origins John Keegan has charitably called "mysterious." A better word for the conflict would be "pointless."
Still, the United States joined in; at a cost of more than 250,000 killed and wounded. Europeans tended to downplay the military contribution of the United States while a number of Americans believed that without their country's help, the Allies wouldn't have won the war. Winston Churchill agreed, though that did not mean he considered this a good and desirable outcome.
"America should have minded her own business and stayed out of the World War," he told an American newspaper editor. "If you hadn't entered the war the Allies would have made peace with Germany in the Spring of 1917. Had we made peace then there would have been no collapse in Russia followed by Communism, no breakdown in Italy followed by Fascism, and Germany would not have signed the Versailles Treaty, which…enthroned Nazism in Germany."
We got the Treaty wrong, too. At least according to John Maynard Keynes who wrote to a friend that America "had a chance of taking a large, or at least humane view of the world, but unhesitatingly refused it."
So, wrong in war; wrong in peace. Meanwhile, the United States helped get Europe back on its feet and kept thousands of civilians from starving. Herbert Hoover had a large hand in this effort.
Then, the United States went home and Europe went back to its old habits. According to the standard texts, American isolationism deserves a share of the blame for the rise of Hitler and, then, for World War II. Still, it is true that Hitler never made much of a secret of his intentions and that France had more tanks than he did, right up until the time he invaded and crushed her in about six weeks time.
The United States eventually got into that war, too. And this time, Winston Churchill was not so churlish about it. "To have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy," he wrote, describing his reaction to news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. "Now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all! Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder."
The United States sent millions of men and all manner of materiel across the Atlantic and deferred with vast politeness, as we still do, to the vanity of the British and the French. (We didn't have to defer to the Germans; at that time, our relations with them were exceedingly straightforward.)
De Gaulle threw tantrums to get his way and Eisenhower was treated as some kind of amiable dunce by the Brits who believed they knew so very much more about war than the Yanks who, after all, had never lost 20,000 men in a single day without gaining any ground to show for it. They pushed for their man, Montgomery, whose great war-winning offensive failed in Holland in part because he was slow. At one point, his columns stopped for tea.
Meanwhile, the uncouth American fire-eater Patton, who would have advanced and won, was held back and deprived of supplies.
So that war ended and this time we stuck around. We put some Germans on trial and hanged them. Also helped create NATO. Rebuilt Europe through the Marshall Plan. Sustained Berlin with an airlift that no other nation in the world had the capacity -- not to mention the guts -- to bring off.
Europe was not overrun by Russian tanks. So France, under De Gaulle, pulled out of NATO as a gesture of gratitude.
The United States, innocent to the last, hung in. Until, finally, the Berlin Wall came down and we were, truly, not needed any longer. NATO was irrelevant -- a mere social club that existed as an excuse to maintain a headquarters and conduct lavish conferences. This point was most emphatically driven home when a genocidal conflict erupted on Europe's flank, in the very region where the events that had precipitated the world's stupidest war had occurred. NATO -- Europe -- couldn't manage a response. The United States, eventually, did.
"Some damned fool thing in the Balkans," Bismarck had said when asked what would bring war to Europe. He was right. August, 1914 turned Europeans into cynics and fatalists and maybe with reason. They didn't have an especially good century and they became bitter, cautious, and touchy. If a nation's birthrate is a measure of civic optimism, then Europe is populated by pessimists.
Americans don't see the world that way and don't really need to apologize for being arrogant, derisive, and dismissive. We've groveled enough before the airy sophisticates. Let them keep the headquarters in Brussels for meetings. They can assemble all their combined military might on the parade ground (since the troops certainly won't be in Afghanistan or anywhere that actual fighting is being done) for a full-dress review after which the ministers and their aides can adjourn for a good luncheon. That's the sort of thing they are good at.
We, meanwhile, can look north, south, and west where the next opportunities and threats will come from.
And write the last 92 years off as an honest, well-intentioned mistake.
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0.126458 | <urn:uuid:2465b7d4-31ae-42e2-b40a-1a80f3142c88> | en | 0.864569 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
This answer:
cancelling mouseout event when element is overlaid
Gets somewhere near, but isn't really what I am after as it's sort of reversing my problem.
I am making an image gallery similar to the Facebook image viewer.
An image is loaded into an absolutely positioned div which is centred on screen and floats above the main page with a z-index value.
To the left and right of the image are small div elements with absolute positioning and a z-index 1 higher than the image. These div elements are left and right arrows to click through the gallery.
The arrows are hidden when the image loads, but then when the user moves his mouse over the image, the arrows should fade in, then if they move off again, they fade out... just as the Facebook viewer does.
I am using hoverIntent to achieve this, and it works fine.
BUT... when the user moves his/her mouse into the arrow div, hoverIntent sees this as a mouseleave event on the image which is underneath and hides the arrow...
So... what I need is to be able to have hoverIntent ignore the arrow divs.
The code I am using for hoverIntent is quite straight foward:
function showArrows() {
function hideArrows() {
$(img).hoverIntent(showArrows, hideArrows);
Obviously img is the jQuery image object and .imgNav is the classname for the arrows.
I have created a fiddle here: http://jsfiddle.net/jhartnoll/cE6gu/
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could you share rest of the code? – dmi3y Dec 4 '12 at 20:13
sorry for delay, been manic. It's quite complex but I'll try to strip out the relevent parts and post above – Jamie Hartnoll Dec 6 '12 at 16:03
I have created a fiddle here: jsfiddle.net/jhartnoll/cE6gu – Jamie Hartnoll Dec 6 '12 at 16:18
okay based on example you just need change the way how hoverIntent calls $('#imageViewer').hoverIntent(showArrows, hideArrows); // set up hoverintent on these menus, not sure though it it will works – dmi3y Dec 6 '12 at 16:37
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up vote 0 down vote accepted
Using your fiddle example, changing
$('.enlarged').hoverIntent(showArrows, hideArrows);
$('.imgViewer').hoverIntent(showArrows, hideArrows);
did the trick for me http://jsfiddle.net/cE6gu/4/
Note, on hoverintent website it says its designed to ignore children (here) so you just need to make sure you call hoverintent on a parent element that contains all these divs.
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Lovely! Didn't realise it was that simple! – Jamie Hartnoll Dec 6 '12 at 17:23
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0.238167 | <urn:uuid:1844e0cb-5f0a-4e4e-b9ad-f8bafc7bf5cf> | en | 0.890544 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
i want to implement following scenario Client Application will have function which will 1)get a image as parameter 2)convert it into byte of array 3)encrypt it call a web service and pass this byte of array to that service
Service Will have a function which will 1)recieve byte of array as parameter 2)decrypt it it 3)generate image from that byte of array.
1)what i should use to encrypt data and how is there any sample application or article which can help me. 2)symmetric or asymmetric encryption 3)any issue which i will face
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Depending on whether you have a key exchange problem, you could use either symmetric (faster) or asymmetric (don't need a secure channel to exchange keys) encryption. In either case, you should be using a well-tested crypto library and not trying to roll your own from crypto primitives.
More importantly, you need to ask yourself why you're doing this encryption yourself instead of letting HTTPS handle it. If all you need is a secure channel, you're extremely unlikely to be able to do a better job than HTTPS.
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+1 For the mention of HTTPS – tschaible Nov 12 '09 at 12:32
Forgot about asym. – Will Nov 12 '09 at 12:32
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It if the sole purpose of the encryption is to pass the object over the wire - than use a standard encryption provided by WCF (or whatever communication foundation you use). You don't need to deal with it yourself.
in WCF you'll have to install certificate so if there is unlimited number of clients it wouldn't be good practice.
if you want to implement your own encryption - there are plenty of APIs for that - but your real problem will be key management (which is actually the same problem as before...)
For choosing Symmetric or a-Symmetric - again - it will be derived from your key management options
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0.860112 | <urn:uuid:3cfd211b-6ef2-4a51-8735-de6ad7517ff3> | en | 0.776593 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
How do I find the time difference between two datetime objects in ASP.NET?
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up vote 40 down vote accepted
The following example demonstrates how to do this:
DateTime a = new DateTime(2010, 05, 12, 13, 15, 00);
DateTime b = new DateTime(2010, 05, 12, 13, 45, 00);
When executed this prints "30" since there is a 30 minute difference between the date/times.
The result of DateTime.Subtract(DateTime x) is a Timespan object which gives other useful properties.
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You want TotalMinutes, not Minutes - the latter returns the minute component of the TimeSpan, e.g. 10 in 1:10:32 – Ben M May 12 '10 at 17:13
this is what i want – MarsMan May 12 '10 at 17:19
To display the difference, do something like this:Console.WriteLine((a - b).ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss")). See: MSDN Custom TimeSpan Format – ishmael Nov 5 '12 at 20:07
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You want the TimeSpan struct:
TimeSpan diff = dateTime1 - dateTime2;
There are various methods for getting the days, hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds back from this structure.
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What you need is to use the DateTime classs Subtract method, which returns a TimeSpan.
var dateOne = DateTime.Now;
var dateTwo = DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(-5);
var diff = dateTwo.Subtract(dateOne);
var res = String.Format("{0}:{1}:{2}", diff.Hours,diff.Minutes,diff.Seconds));
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The way I usually do it is subtracting the two DateTime and this gets me a TimeSpan that will tell me the diff.
Here's an example:
DateTime start = DateTime.Now;
// Do some work
TimeSpan timeDiff = DateTime.Now - start;
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You need to use a TimeSpan. Here is some sample code:
TimeSpan sincelast = TimeSpan.FromTicks(DateTime.Now.Ticks - LastUpdate.Ticks);
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Or just TimeSpan sincelast = DateTime.Now - LastUpdate; – Ben M May 12 '10 at 17:17
Thanks for the tip. I had no idea you could do it that way. – Jason Webb May 12 '10 at 18:06
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IF they are both UTC date-time values you can do TimeSpan diff = dateTime1 - dateTime2;
Otherwise your chance of getting the correct answer in every single possible case is zero.
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private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
TimeSpan timespan;
timespan = dateTimePicker2.Value - dateTimePicker1.Value;
int timeDifference = timespan.Days;
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| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2821040/how-do-i-find-the-time-difference-between-two-datetime-objects-in-asp-net | dclm-gs1-124390001 | false | false | {
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0.696838 | <urn:uuid:51189212-185c-4c9d-a57d-d06fe8b8f693> | en | 0.703325 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
If i uncomment this code, i get blank page at site. If i comment this, site works. Here is my exit code (auth by sessions):
function exit($action='') {
if ($action == "true") {
echo "Exit.";
$login = $this->session->userdata('username');
if ($login == NULL) {
redirect('/blog/login/', 'location', '301');
$array_itmes = array('username' => "$login");
redirect('/blog/exit/true/', 'location', '301');}
after normal login:
$newdata = array('username' => "$name");
in other actions i using:
if ($login !== NULL) {
echo $login;
and I get my username. where is an error in first code? i`m from Russia, so sorry for bad English.
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Not sure if I'm following you 100% which is why I can't answer your question, but defining a method called 'exit' might be problematic, since it's a reserved word for PHP. Try renaming it and see if that changes anything. – polarblau Mar 19 '11 at 21:23
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2 Answers
up vote 0 down vote accepted
Nice! Just replace it with $this->session->sess_destroy(); But thanks :)
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If this solves your problem please accept your own answer to close this question. Cheers! – polarblau Mar 19 '11 at 21:37
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$array_val = array('userid' => '','username' => '', 'email' => '');
This is remove individual session details.
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| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5364929/codeigniter-function-to-clear-session | dclm-gs1-124420001 | false | false | {
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0.314324 | <urn:uuid:f8f9c3ba-b25b-417e-af8e-4033df1ad6c8> | en | 0.872697 | Take the 2-minute tour ×
Does it works correct(does nothing) when I use
vector<T> v;
I want to use something like
Should I if is it v.end() or not?
There is no info about it on C++.com and CPPreference
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4 Answers
up vote 11 down vote accepted
Erasing end() (or for that matter, even looking at the target of end()) is undefined behavior. Undefined behavior is allowed to have any behavior, including "just work" on your platform. That doesn't mean that you should be doing it; it's still undefined behavior, and I'll come bite you in the worst ways when you're least expecting it later on.
Depending on what you're doing, you might want to consider set or unordered_set instead of vector here.
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thanks, i do know what is UB, I just was wanted to know, is it really UB. – RiaD Mar 6 '12 at 19:12
@RiaD: Yes, it is UB. The solution is very simple, though, just check before you erase: { auto it = v.find(x); if (it != x.end()) { v.erase(it); } } – Kerrek SB Mar 6 '12 at 19:13
Question for you @Billy. Out of curiosity, does end()-1 work? How is this different from pop_back()? – Gaffi Mar 6 '12 at 19:13
@Gaffi: end-1 will work if and only if the container is not empty. (Same as pop_back) – Billy ONeal Mar 6 '12 at 19:14
@KerrekSB, yes I know I can check, it's quite easy:D. It just some ugly and I was thinking about replacing it:) – RiaD Mar 6 '12 at 19:15
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The standard doesn't quite spell it out, but v.erase(q) is defined, "Erases the element pointed to by q" in [sequence.reqmts]. This means that q must actually point to an element, which the end iterator doesn't. Passing in the end iterator is UB.
Unfortunately, you need to write:
auto it = std::find(...);
if (it != <the part of ... that specifies the end of the range searched>) {
Of course, you could define:
template typename<Sequence, Iterator>
Iterator my_erase(Sequence &s, Iterator it) {
if (it == s.end()) return it;
return s.erase(it);
my_erase(v, std::find(v.begin(), v.end(), whatever));
c.erase() on an associative container returns void, so to generalize this template to all containers you need some -> decltype action.
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+1 for standardese reference. – Billy ONeal Mar 6 '12 at 19:13
docs says that " erasing elements in positions other than the vector end causes the container to relocate...". It looks like alowing of end() as parameter. And nowhere said the opposite explicitly. I dont like this... – Pavel Jan 8 at 18:13
@Pavel: then you'll have to take it up with the authors of "cplusplus.com". It is not the C++ documentation, the standard is the C++ documentation. But it defines position as "Iterator pointing to a single element". An end iterator does not point to a single element. – Steve Jessop Jan 9 at 10:47
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Have you tried this?
v.erase(remove_if(v.begin(), v.end(), (<your criteria>)), v.end());
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-1: Algorithms do not remove elements from containers. – Billy ONeal Mar 6 '12 at 19:05
Lack of other correct answers does not make your answer correct. – Billy ONeal Mar 6 '12 at 19:07
I don't know why this has been downvoted (other than maybe an initial answer that has been edited). The code as it stands is correct. – David Rodríguez - dribeas Mar 6 '12 at 19:08
@DavidRodríguez-dribeas: As originally posted, it was not correct. Now that it has been edited to be correct, I have removed my downvote. – Billy ONeal Mar 6 '12 at 19:08
i needn't remove_if, I guess – RiaD Mar 6 '12 at 19:09
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You can use the pop_back function to erase the last element of the vector.
Instead of v.erase(v.end()); try v.pop_back();
Further informations in: http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/vector/vector/pop_back/
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It doesn't answer the question. – RiaD Jun 5 '13 at 12:06
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| http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9590117/erasing-vectorend-from-vector | dclm-gs1-124430001 | false | false | {
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0.053476 | <urn:uuid:9b00fade-5512-4d88-9784-3ff3a918895b> | en | 0.97446 | Caroline Glick
Recommend this article
In this vein, Livni has consistently sided with Obama, the Palestinians and the international Left against Netanyahu, and blamed Netanyahu for their attacks on Israel. For instance, when during his visit to the US in May, Netanyahu rejected Obama's hostile call for Israel to retreat to the indefensible 1949 armistice lines, Livni defended Obama as a friend of Israel and accused Netanyahu of harming Israel's ties to the US.
Indeed, Livni called for Netanyahu to resign.
Livni ignored Obama's shocking renunciation of pledges his predecessor made to the Sharon government regarding Israel's right to defensible borders and US rejection of the Palestinians' demands for unlimited immigration to Israel and for Israel to vacate all the Israeli towns and villages built beyond the 1949 armistice lines.
Livni ignored the fact she herself demanded that the Palestinians renounce the so-called "right of return," and blamed Netanyahu for all the unpleasantness. As she put it, "A prime minister that harms the relationship with the US over something unsubstantial is harming Israel's security and deterrence."
As for the Palestinians, as far as Livni is concerned, they can do no wrong while Netanyahu is in office. Although the Palestinian negotiations department documents that were leaked earlier this year to The Guardian show Livni arguing that the Palestinians have to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, since Netanyahu took office, she has abandoned this position in favor of blanket support for the Palestinians against Netanyahu.
The fact that her friends in Fatah just signed a unity deal with Hamas is insignificant. As for their bid to ditch the peace process and ask the UN to recognize a Palestinian state without peace with Israel - that too is an opportunity to attack Netanyahu.
Last month, Netanyahu told an interviewer that the conflict with the Palestinians is not about territory but about their rejection of Israel's right to exist. He asserted that as a consequence, it will be impossible to resolve the conflict until they change their view of Israel.
As is her wont, Livni treated her opponent's observation about an unpleasant reality as equivalent to creating that reality. Attacking Netanyahu from the Knesset podium she hissed, "Who are you to tell the citizens of Israel that they and their children, and later their children's children, will continue to live by their swords forever? Who are you to bury the chances of a deal and of normal life here, after just a few hours in the room meant for negotiations you didn't conduct?"
Due to J Street's hostility, the government has rightly shunned it. But Livni has embraced it - mainly in a bid to make Netanyahu look petty.
Then there is her outspoken support for anti- Zionist Israeli and foreign organizations that participate in the international Left's campaign to delegitimize Israel. Many of these groups worked with the Goldstone Commission and others to criminalize Kadima's leadership - including Livni - as war criminals.
The original anti-boycott bill was co-sponsored by Likud MK Ze'ev Elkin and Kadima MK Dalia Itzik. Several Kadima MKs were vocal advocates of legislation punishing those waging economic war against Israel.
For instance, Kadima MK Otniel Schneller said, "Those who oppose the bill with phony democratic claims are legitimizing the international trend of boycotting Israeli academia, culture and economics, thereby damaging the legitimacy of Israeli democracy and Jewish morals."
But Livni would have none of it.
Last week, Livni forbade Kadima MKs to support the legislation in any form, and then led the charge in attacking it with those very same "phony democratic claims."
By acting as she did, she didn't merely hurt the government. She hurt the country. Now everyone from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, to B'Tselem, to the International Solidarity Movement will cite Livni's position as proof that there is nothing wrong with waging economic warfare against Israel. They will quote her to claim it is reasonable to single Israel out from the rest of the nations of the world for delegitimization and divestment.
Although many Kadima MKs object to her positions and criticize her for being too radical, they realize they have no choice but to go along. If they want to remain in Kadima and in politics, they must appeal to Kadima's voters - who are all on the Left.
This is why Livni's rival for party leadership Shaul Mofaz has adopted a peace plan that is even more radical than Livni's plan to give Fatah everything it wants. Mofaz's plan is to recognize and seek to negotiate a settlement with Hamas.
Livni has always been an opportunist. When Netanyahu brought her into the Knesset in 1999, she was a super hawk. When in 2004, then-prime minister Ariel Sharon adopted the far Left's strategy of wholesale territorial surrender, Livni moved from junior minister to senior minister in less than two years by adopting the positions of the far Left.
Today, as she attacks Netanyahu for advancing positions that most Israelis agree with, she does so not because she believes Netanyahu is wrong. After all, she advanced many of the same positions when she was foreign minister. She attacks him because she wants to bring down his government so that she can have another shot at getting elected to replace him. That her behavior's affects Israel's ability to withstand political and military aggression is clearly of no concern to her.
It is hard to quantify the damage Livni's opportunistic attacks on the government have already caused the country. As we move into an uncertain future, it is disconcerting to consider the damage Livni will cause with her shameless exploitation of Israel's vulnerabilities for her own political gain.
Recommend this article
Caroline Glick
| http://townhall.com/columnists/carolineglick/2011/07/22/israels_premier_opportunist/page/2 | dclm-gs1-124520001 | false | false | {
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0.763975 | <urn:uuid:ef90859e-2b39-4109-ae94-efff8f9af041> | en | 0.961564 | Has anybody here photographed in Namibia? What was it like? Was there a lot of wind (makes it difficult with the 4x5)?
For a long time I've wanted to go there because it looks like there are many strange things to photograph. I want to see the lions and the shipwrecks on the beach. I'd also like to see the desert dunes falling into the ocean.
I'd appreciate any helpful advice on Namibia. | http://www.apug.org/forums/viewpost.php?p=157 | dclm-gs1-124600001 | false | false | {
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0.458986 | <urn:uuid:a9f255c7-94e4-49ab-887d-5658d307e5e5> | en | 0.852457 | Have an Old Fisherman's Charm Were Can I Found If It Is Worth Something?
The best places to go if you want to find out the value of that fisherman's charm you found is either a jeweler or an antique shop. Typically something like that has more value to the person that lost it than anyone else. If it is gold or silver you may have a few found bucks in your pocket. | http://www.ask.com/question/have-an-old-fisherman-s-charm-were-can-i-found-if-it-is-worth-something | dclm-gs1-124630001 | false | false | {
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0.049427 | <urn:uuid:259dcae1-6b74-41f8-b854-ca58e0930f16> | en | 0.920404 | How Much Would an Indoor Pool Cost?
A heated and air conditioned indoor pool, plus the outbuilding would cost around ?40,000 - ?50,000.
Q&A Related to "How Much Would an Indoor Pool Cost"
Indoor pools can be a great way to go in the long run. There can be less worry of leaves in the pool, little or no bug and a temperature controlled environment. The price to install
1. Measure the room where plan to install the pool. Draw the pool's shape on a sheet of graph paper, using each cube to represent 1 square foot of space. Leave at least 3 square feet
How much pools cost depends upon if you want an above or in ground pool. An in ground pool is going to cost more because you have to dig a whole in your yard.You can find more information
A lot of factors really bear on the cost of such an indoor pool project, including the following: The cost of material and labor greatly varies by location. Fortunately, there are
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You can calculate the fuel cost to drive from Poole, United Kingdom to London, United Kingdom based on current local gas prices and an estimate of your car's best ...
It is fairly inexpensive to replace a cartridge pool filter with a sand filter. The cost of a sand filter is $50-$100 depending on where you purchase it. ...
The cost for putting in an 18 x 36 inground pool is going to vary based on the type of pool you are installing for example, a concrete or fiberglass one. Are you ... | http://www.ask.com/question/how-much-would-an-indoor-pool-cost | dclm-gs1-124640001 | false | false | {
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0.403205 | <urn:uuid:0207bdfd-7737-43cc-ad1f-208d7fc855ea> | en | 0.854909 | Auto Answers » View Question
Lgaetano1 2/23/2013
1995 Toyota Corolla DX 4Cyl1.8L - Engine
why does my car after driving when warmed up stop at the store when I come out it will not start until it cools down
205006 plugs,wires,distributer,toyota coil,cap,rotor.altantor ,belt. Does it all the time when the car is warmed up. no check engine light. jumped obd1 to see if a code was stored none. If I run short distances it will start right up. Only if I drive it for a while. Temp gage is where it should be
1 Answer
• HouseCallAuto
HouseCallAuto 2/23/2013
Replace the crankshaft position sensor located on the pass side front of engine. probability nearly 100%.
Preview Answer
AutoMD Verified Customer
AutoMD obtained proof this customer interacted with the shop. | http://www.automd.com/answers/car-driving-warmed-stop-store-start-cools_q124799/ | dclm-gs1-124680001 | false | false | {
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0.079048 | <urn:uuid:48284071-b5bf-4d51-8c0e-a2d608db4993> | en | 0.956442 | or Connect
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Posts by Paulo Teixeira
In the past, we almost had a Nindendo PlayStation.
The V750 does seam like what you're looking for. Same internals as the W850 but without the second camera. It's also only $600.
We cannot just compare bit rates of 2 very different H.264 codecs. The Z100's codec is Intra frame based while the AX100's codec is GOP based. A fairer comparison is against the AX1 that also uses a GOP based codec. 2160 / 30p is 100Mbps for the highest setting and 60Mbps for the lower setting. With that said, it would be nice if Sony offered a 100Mbps setting for the AX100. It's a given that people will try to hack the GH 4K camera. No guarantee of being successful but...
With H.264, their are many different variations and all you have to do is look at all the different GH2 hacks. It was said on Personal-View that the GH3 and even the AC90 I believe allows for even better tweaks in the codec if they were to ever get hacked. It's a bit depressing knowing that the codec in the AX100 is a bit on the low side but we'll have to see native clips. With newer encoders and the right tweak in the codec, it's probably a little better than what we...
You do have some user reviews here: http://www.amazon.com/M-O-J-O-Micro-Console-Android-Not-Machine-Specific/dp/B00FM5IS48/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389468473&sr=8-1&keywords=madcatz+mojo
That could have made the camcorder slightly bigger and more expensive at this time. Besides, at least this will give people a reason to buy the 2015 model.
The V750 for $600 seams to have equal specs except for the second camera. Both seams like successors to the V720. No successor to the X920 yet. Their is also a wearable 4k camera but like the GH 4K, Panasonic isn't releasing all details yet. http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/07/panasonic-first-person-4k-camera-debuts-at-ces/
They use the words "official release". They probably mean releasing late February. With that said, Panasonic has a bad track record keeping up with initial demand for every single GH release especially in the US.
It sort of reminds me of the HC1, my first HD camcorder. Anyway, it wouldn't surprise me if the GH 4K didn't do 60p eighter. It would be interesting comparing the 2 when it comes to the 4k video quality.
It wouldn't surprise me if heating issues is one of the issues for it to not have 2160 60p eighter. Just look at the size of the AX1 for example. Having a 20x lens is one reason why it's so big and the 2160 60p could have been another reason. If it had a 1 inch chip, the body might have had to be even bigger. Granted in the future, when technology gets better, we should see a 60p version of the AX100. I do wonder how the manual controls are. If you can't adjust the...
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Posts by JDenham
FW 1054.4 ?? Any issues ?
May have to give them a call. I notice it on all channels lately. I went to Directv bc I moved to a house where AT&T ist available in my area :-/
I'm kinda lost on this issue guys :-/ anyways I woke up Sunday morning and notice the tv channels were kinda laggin behind in scenes. Almost like a fade ghost effect. I didt touch any wires etc.. Could it be my Directv ? I tried rebooting the reciever acouple times with no fix :-/
Thanks bud. I did notice a crease bend in the HDMI cord coming from the tv input. Maybe I ruined the cable ?
Hey fellas needing some info. 1st. I'm having some issue with what seems to be picture quality fuzz when watching Directv channels. Espically during darker scenes it can be seen.I started noticing this when I had re arranged my wires etc and had put a dresser underneath the tv and had to bend the Coax Cable coming out from the wall. And also notice there's a slight bend in my HDMI cables coming out the input slots could this cause pic fuzz ? 2nd I hooked up a soundbar...
Sweet thanks man. I'm pretty happy with DirecTv HD pic quality.
Just got DirecTv hooked up. Got the Genuie reciever HD. Any tips on adj the settings for best picture ? I had AT&T before :-/
Finally found my remote to the tv after months gone missing hahaha. Now I'm debating if I wanna update my FW from 1047 to 1051 ?
Heyhey frank, what's the diff between the two ? I had bought a mount from best buy but I want a mount that sets the tv as close to the wall. Is there any heat issues being so close to the walls ?
Does anyone have or herd about the Samsung wall mount ? Supposly hangs the tv really close to the wall ??
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0.05406 | <urn:uuid:396dc93a-4abc-4ec4-8ffb-b663baab3872> | en | 0.991331 |
During an acting career that spanned six decades, Newman, who died Friday at 83, brought to life some of the most vivid characters in American cinema and avoided the traps that tripped other leading men.
"He was such a handsome man that it would have been easy for him to get stuck in a narrow range," says Jeanine Basinger, the Corwin-Fuller professor of film studies at Wesleyan University. "You can have a definition assigned to you. He didn't let his looks limit him. That was what his longevity was about."
Newman gained fame after playing a series of intense characters in the late 1950s and early 1960s but his acting gifts were most obvious later in his career during "The Verdict" and "Nobody's Fool."
"In some ways, he was the Greta Garbo of male stars," Basinger says. "We say that we relate to movie stars because we feel understand them, know what they're thinking and feeling but Paul Newman is one of the exceptions that proves the rule. He had this air of quietly contained power. He didn't let you inside and that's what holds you to him. There is something unknown about him. He kept his mystery. He kept his secret."
Newman studied acting at Yale University and then at the Actor's Studio in New York under Lee Strasberg.
His first notable performance came in "Somebody Up There Likes Me," the story of middleweight champion Rocky Graziano.
The portrayal earned him comparisons to Marlon Brando, another student of Strasberg.
Newman explained to host James Lipton during an episode of "Inside The Actor's Studio" that Graziano told him Brando had been in the gym studying the middleweight champion before "A Streetcar Named Desire."
"Marlon and I were working off the same guy," Newman said.
After earning praise for "The Long, Hot Summer" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," Newman moved beyond the Brando comparisons when he played pool shark Eddie Felson in "The Hustler" in 1961 and the title character in "Hud" in 1963.
These were not mere star turns, with Newman trading on his rugged features and liquid blue eyes, but roles that required a subtlety that would become his trademark.
"Paul Newman is a big name. He doesn't lose his identity in these roles," Basinger said. "But you could think of him as Hud or Fast Eddie or [Cool Hand] Luke and those are three distinctly different characters."
Basinger, whose latest book is "The Star Machine" — an examination of the star-making studio system, says that Newman managed to survive when that movie-making machinery collapsed in the late '50s and '60s.
"He represents the last of the studio-developed great stars," she says. "He kept going on his own terms and defined himself by and for himself and make it work."
Newman emerged as "the outlaw figure: the man who fights the system and the establishment."
Newman was famously indifferent to his early work.
He said it was all "too big," but his portrayal of Felson and, even more so, Hud, signaled a willingness to play flawed men without apology.
"He allowed a nasty streak to be shown," Basinger said. "Most movie stars, even when they play a negative role, usually find a way to let you know that they are only acting. He never did that." | http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/hc-webnewmanactor,0,4556763.story | dclm-gs1-124720001 | false | false | {
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0.024948 | <urn:uuid:ef41f199-6943-4dc3-975b-8074008c3181> | en | 0.969467 |
VIDEO: Glendale Police Department busts identity theft ring
The men — Edgar Alaverdyan, Karen Nazaryan, Serob Yegoyan, Edvard Martirosyan, Levon Mkrtchian and Emil Morkus — were allegedly making card-skimming devices, which were used to steal victims' account information. They were also manufacturing credit cards that were recoded with the victims' information to purchase gas, which was later resold to truckers, Glendale Police Sgt. Dan Suttles said.
"This is how they make their money," he said.
PHOTOS: Glendale authorities bust major identity theft ring
"It can be extremely dangerous," Suttles said. "It's gasoline rolling down the street. We don't know about it and it's a homemade gas tank, so you have the potential for bad things to happen."
Detectives from the Financial Crimes Unit launched the roughly seven-month-long investigation into the theft ring after officers stopped Mkrtchian and David Yezgatyan, in January for a window tint violation, according to Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz.
During the stop, police recognized Mkrtchian as someone the Orange County Sheriff's Department had requested that other law enforcement agencies be on the lookout for, he added. Police allegedly discovered a flash drive and an illegal re-encoded credit card, so they arrested the pair.
Detectives later obtained a warrant to search the pair's physical therapy business in Glendale, where they discovered equipment to manufacture re-encoded credit cards.
Aided by the Los Angeles Police Department, the attorney general's office, U.S. Secret Service and the Orange County and Los Angeles County sheriff's departments, detectives continued their probe for months and discovered seven additional men were connected to the ring.
Prosecutors with the attorney general's office will likely file charges against the men in Los Angeles County, police said.
Video: Glendale police seek identity of two Americana kiosk burglars
Three people suffer minor injuries in Glendale house fire
| http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/tn-gnp-me-sting-nabs-seven-in-los-area-card-skimming-scheme-20130814,0,3002705.story | dclm-gs1-124840001 | false | false | {
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0.76255 | <urn:uuid:fdc8efd1-ff98-4632-96a1-665361566016> | en | 0.948664 | Email this article to a friend
I, Claudius exposed him to sinister stalkers, deranged actors and a bizarre proposal from a lesbian heiress: Derek Jacobi on the role that made him a star
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0.019113 | <urn:uuid:b1c70b56-b7e5-4f76-a712-52f9d1e97321> | en | 0.96118 |
Under the crust
Tracking the noble pasty through south-west England
See article
Readers' comments
Pasties are great, although the over-emphasis on Cornwall is simple nonsense. Cornish history is almost identical to Devon history (including food, industry and language) and it seems that the Cornish are trying to assert their nationality by attaching the word "Cornish" to everything.
Pasties are a tradition for us when we visit our Michigan Upper Peninsula. We can start as early as the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula, in Mackinaw City. There, the Mackinaw City Pastie Company can be found a few blocks from the main tourist area, down the street from the smoked whitefish store.
We have a pastie shop in our hometown near Detroit. To my amazement, it has been in business for over ten years. Somehow, we never seem to patronize the store. Pasties need the right environment for their full savor.
Actually, one can also find pasties (or a version of them) in Hidalgo state, Mexico as well as Australia.
Info on Mexican pasties can be seen here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paste_(food)
I understood the traditional pasty would consist of savoury meat and vegetables at one end coupled with a sweet fruit (apple) filling at the other. Thus it was a two course meal in one convenient to carry (and edible) pastry container.
It's also nice to see that an Economist journalist is able to earn a crust even when on holiday ;-)
Jet Screamer
Aren't pasties those things that cover an alluring stripper's more enticing bits and pieces?
- In any case... here's me moving to Cornwall... good 'on you, wind-swept Cornwall, see (and taste) you soon!
Flynewhampshire: Do you have meat pies of any kind? (Steak and Kidney? (I doubt that....not kidneys) Chicken and Mushroom? Pork pies?)
Just fruit pies I think.
You don't know what you are missing!
It is with great pride that the descendants of Cornish tin miners who came to work in silver mines around Pachuca in the State of Hidalgo, Mexico in the 19th century, recreate the pastes of their forefathers with considerable flair. Although this is considered a regional dish, those who make them are fully aware of their origin. To my mind, the great variety of ingredients and the added Mexican spices enhance the original product considerably. The Cornish must be congratulated for introducing such a succulent addition to Mexican cuisine.
"Food critics" or "experts" is a conundrum in that land of fast food, the USA! How can there be such people in the country whose major contribution to international cuisine is rubbery MacDonald's hamburgers, plastic fruit and vegetables, saline injected bacon and ham, antibiotic/hormone fed beef cattle and other animals and genetically engineered crops?
As to the traditional Cornish pasty form Cornwall (as against its pale imitations) by all means it deserves an "AOC" label. Good food products deserve legal protection. And, by the way, Devon does not have the same cultural origins as Cornwall!
My father, who grew up in a Welsh coal-mining town, said his mothers pasties had such a hard crust you could put it in your pocket going down the mines, of off to school without fear of it crushing. Thank goodness for strong teeth!
rachel novak
One thing I noticed in the UK is that the pasties I saw/tried had more of a puff-pastry like crust, whereas the ones I'm used to in the states (mostly in the gold country of California) are made with a very plain shortcrust. But I lived in Scotland, so perhaps they are different down in Cornwall.
Delicious! There are puritans , but those who would enjoy the best life has to offer would try them all. If the crust is good, it beats any form of regular sandwich.
Here I am in the center of Texas, and we have a local British outfit that makes pasty's and thats the way it should be. (We also have a little British company here that makes "sticky toffee pudding" which is not as good as home made, but is very good.)
Pasties are almost unheard of in the USA (Apart from some parts of Michigan). Always surprised me as I feel they are an excellent fast food which should be successful in the US market. Maybe a business opportunity for an enterprising pasty maker, from Cornwall of course.
By the way I cannot find them in Singapore either.
ultraviolet catastrophe
kemubu: It's pronounced "PASS-tee." Another less than obvious pronunciation is "KEE-wuh-naw" for Keweenaw, as in the Peninsula on top of Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP), home of pasty.com and purveyors of frozen pasties shipped around the US (sadly, but understandably, not during the height of summer). The Keweenaw was a big copper mining region years ago and the Cornish miners who moved there brought the pasty with them, passing along the tradition to the Finns and other locals. When I was growing up we'd make the drive from Detroit up to the ancestral family cottage on Lake Superior every summer and pass quite a few pasty stands along the road once we got north of the Mackinac (MACK-i-naw) Bridge. There are some Finnish enclaves around the country where pasties can be found, but they're mostly a UP delicacy. ;)
Please enlighten me: is "pasty" pronounced PAY-STEE or is it pronounced PAS-TEE ? (I'm in northern Michigan, I've eaten them, like them, but still don't know the CORRECT way to pronounce them!) Thanks!
I have tried hard to find (an authentic) Cornish Pasty made from Halal meat to no avail! Perhaps this might be a slight twist to be considered - after all plenty of younger (and older) British Muslims getting a taste for more 'traditional' British food. Perhaps unfortunately theres just not enough of us in Cornwall to make this suggestion worthwhile! But I wait in hope!
As a fellow pasty enthusiast, one of the best ones I ever had was at Muldoons Pasties in Munising Michigan. They are consumed widely in that part of the world and are known as U.P.(Upper Peninsula)Soul Food. Those Cornishmen got everywhere.
James Yarwood
steven314: 'I understood the traditional pasty would consist of savoury meat and vegetables at one end coupled with a sweet fruit (apple) filling at the other.'
I believe that is a Bedfordshire Clanger rather than a Cornish Pasty. Excellent nonetheless!
Jose Fernandez Calvo
I would venture that the pasties go way back in history to the arabs and, through Spain, the Celtic migrations around Europe took them to Cornwall. (See the "Empanada" entry in Wikipedia).
A variation of Pasties (known as Empanadas) were brought from Europe to the Americas by the early Spanish settlers.
It would make sense that the cornish miners adapted an existing dish to their mining life ... including the addition of the sweet desert at one end of the pasty!!
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Products & events | http://www.economist.com/node/14249231/comments | dclm-gs1-125050001 | false | false | {
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0.024476 | <urn:uuid:d044ef2b-67c5-463a-bc95-fbc425a70427> | en | 0.97167 | CALL them Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's babies. Most are newcomers to the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament. Some, like Carsten Schneider, at 23 the youngest member of the 669-seat legislature, are from the ex-communist East. All belong to the Social Democratic Party, which Mr Schröder has led only since April, after the abrupt resignation of his predecessor and finance minister, Oskar Lafontaine. And, to put it plainly, they are fed up.
In a six-page manifesto, 13 of these young Turks have let off steam. They claim that, for a biggish chunk of the party establishment, “ideological navel-contemplation” has become the main stuff of politics. Down, they cry, with turgid argument about what is “left” and what is “right”. Up with pragmatic reform: among other ideas, they want to cut state debt, rejig archaic professional training, chop the all-but-interminable time German students can spend at university, trim the bureaucracy and encourage self-reliance.
Worthy stuff in its way, though not, on the face of it, much of a danger to fixated navel-watchers. But there is more. The restive 13 also back a joint paper issued recently by Mr Schröder and Tony Blair, Britain's prime minister, on modernising the left—a document that incensed many of the Social Democratic old guard. Moreover, the genesis of the manifesto seems to have been a hitherto little-noticed nocturnal pow-wow between the chancellor himself and some Social Democratic under-40s in May.
Did the government and the party boss put the young reformers up to it then, with at least implicit promises of reward? Not really, it is claimed. He just dazzled them with talk of a “new middle” in politics, which he extolled a lot in last year's general-election campaign, but only got round even to part-defining in the paper with Mr Blair. Still, it can hardly be coincidence that Mr Schröder has made one of the 13, Hans Martin Bury, his minister of state at the chancellery charged with smoothing the often-fraught relations between the government and the states. At 33, Mr Bury is a tough talker with an almost palpable yen to get on, and no hang-ups about, for instance, giving business a better deal. In short, a true Schröder man.
Perhaps none of this should come as a surprise. There has never been much love lost between Mr Schröder and his party, at least those running it at federal level. From his former mini-pinnacle as premier of Lower Saxony, he treated the apparatchiks at the party's Bonn headquarters with suspicion, and the parliamentary group, “that cartel of mediocrity” as he once called it, with near-contempt. Most Social Democratic power-brokers much preferred the leftist party chairman, Mr Lafontaine, but in the end reckoned, rightly as it proved, that “steamroller Schröder” would be the election winner. With Mr Lafontaine now gone, Mr Schröder is starting to shape the party to his taste, taking Mr Blair's New Labour as a model and enlisting the young to his cause.
In a way, this recalls the strategy of the late party chairman, Willy Brandt, who deliberately fostered youthful rebels—his “grandchildren”—against the status quo in both party and government. The difference is that most of the Brandt lot, including Mr Schröder at the time, were pretty far left; they were out on the streets rubbishing NATO and demanding a still bigger role for the state. The new “babies” are, if not exactly the opposite, at least firm enemies of dogma—proof, perhaps, that the “new middle” may come to something after all.
This does not mean that Mr Schröder is bound to get the party just where he wants it. Plenty of Social Democrats, backed by the trade unions, are appalled by the government's latest drive to cut spending and trim social benefits while giving tax breaks to business. And the Jusos, the party's traditionally far-left youth organisation, is livid that what it regards as its unprincipled rivals have popped up with the chancellor's blessing and grabbed the headlines. Stand by for the next Social Democratic congress in December, and expect slaughter—for someone. | http://www.economist.com/node/228229?zid=309&ah=80dcf288b8561b012f603b9fd9577f0e | dclm-gs1-125070001 | false | false | {
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0.018412 | <urn:uuid:966709f3-cf4b-46a2-b264-60b072016137> | en | 0.968775 | MIGHT George Bush yet succeed where Europe's leaders have not, in forging a common foreign policy for the European Union? Having settled little of their own business at their Stockholm summit (see article), over dinner the EU 15 decided to step in where America still hesitates to tread: their president for this half-year, Sweden's prime minister, Goran Persson, together with the Union's two top foreign-policy officials, Javier Solana and Chris Patten, will meet North Korea's Kim Jong Il sometime in May. The aim, said Mr Persson, is “to express support for the [peace] process started by the South Korean president, Kim Dae Jung.” The point, said Sweden's foreign minister, Anna Lindh, is that Europeans are getting twitchy at Mr Bush's more “hardline” approach towards North Korea. Europe, she added, “must step in.”
Such twitchiness is not confined to Mr Bush's Korea policy. Europeans expected the smack of firmer leadership from the new administration in Washington, but have been taken aback that so far it seems all smack and little leadership. They listen nervously as Mr Bush talks more of threats than of diplomatic opportunities, whether the issue is North Korea, missile defences, relations with Russia or arms sales to Taiwan. He had rattled his NATO allies even before he took office by allowing Condoleezza Rice, now his national security adviser, to think aloud about pulling American troops out of the Balkans. He has since torn up his promise to limit greenhouse gases, an issue dear to greener European hearts. And where Mr Clinton was deeply engaged—in talks with North Korea, mediation in the Middle East and peace-making in Northern Ireland—Mr Bush has deliberately stepped back.
But does that necessarily mean that Europeans can—or should—step in? A common foreign policy based only on their differences with America would serve European leaders ill, and they know it.
“This is the hour of Europe, not the hour of the Americans,” declared Luxembourg's foreign minister almost exactly ten years ago, launching a notoriously futile mission to mediate in the Balkans. The minutes ticked away to years as the Bosnian crisis claimed many thousands of lives, got Europeans themselves at cross-purposes and all but ruptured the transatlantic alliance.
Ten years on, the EU has started to craft some common foreign policies. But its leaders are also being careful not to pick unnecessary fights with the United States. For example, although some, notably France's President Jacques Chirac, remain deeply sceptical about Mr Bush's plans for new missile defences, believing they could diminish Europe's security rather than enhance it, all now accept that a bust-up within the alliance over the issue would do even greater harm all round. Russia, which had been attempting to cosy up to Europeans in the hope of presenting a hostile common front to America, was told to back off.
Once Mr Bush has more of his new team in place, other foreign-policy differences may start to seem more apparent than real. America's switch to promoting “smart” sanctions against Iraq—ones that tighten controls on military imports and oil smuggling, while relaxing restrictions on other goods—is already helping to heal a rift that has split France and Britain as much as Europe and America. In the Middle East, Europeans recognise that, whatever their irritation at having to write most of the cheques, America is the outsider that counts. Their worry now is just that a too hands-off Bush administration will lose what few opportunities there are to get talks going again between Israel and the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, faced with yet another Balkan crisis, this time in Macedonia, the Europeans and Americans are working closely together, both diplomatically and militarily. While Balkan policy, like everything else, is up for review by the new administration, Europeans were greatly reassured recently when Colin Powell, Mr Bush's secretary of state, pledged that Americans and Europeans would go “in together and out together” in their Balkan peacekeeping mission. This comradeship could, however, be sorely tested if Macedonia, like Bosnia and Kosovo before it, were plunged into bloody civil war—especially if it claimed American peacekeepers' lives.
The Balkans aside, the trickiest transatlantic differences over the next two years could well be over the EU's plan to set up its own rapid-reaction force by 2003, and over NATO's plans for further enlargement. Some European officials worry that, to the extent that Mr Bush welcomes a greater European defence effort, it will be so that he can turn his attention and military resources away from Europe to Asia, as his defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, implied last week. That might not bother France, which wants Europe to be more “autonomous” in defence; Britain and Germany, however, want to keep the transatlantic link strong. Conscious of the difficulty of finding the cash for really useful soldiers who would be available to NATO as well as the EU, their officials tend to worry that failure to put in the extra defence effort promised will produce recriminations that could damage NATO.
Just as troubling to the Europeans is what they fear may be a big row before next year's NATO summit over which countries, if any, should now be invited in as new recruits. Opinion within Europe is divided, though most countries would probably prefer no new members, since it is proving expensive enough to assimilate Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The biggest difficulty will be over Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Russia is hostile to any of its former territories joining NATO; some on America's Republican right seem equally determined to bring the Balts in, precisely in order to spite the Russians. Europeans are not sure what to worry about most: another great Russia-NATO bust-up or the possibility that the United States and Russia could cut a deal over their heads to finesse their differences over other issues, including missile defences.
And where does the EU's Korean initiative fit into all this? The idea has been in the works for some time, in the hope of encouraging the northern Mr Kim to make a promised but much delayed visit to South Korea. North Korea now has diplomatic relations with all EU governments except France and Ireland. Mr Persson and his team can help keep the diplomatic traffic moving at a time when America is still thinking through its North Korean policy.
And the bit of grandstanding at the EU summit? Neither North Korea nor South Korea has any illusions that the Europeans have influence, or indeed till now much interest, in Korean affairs. Although the EU takes part in the consortium that is keeping a freeze on North Korea's nuclear programme by supplying two less proliferation-prone western reactors, its financial contribution to the project is minuscule. When it comes to forging a genuine foreign policy for Europe in the wider world, words not deeds still come easiest and cheapest. | http://www.economist.com/node/555350/print | dclm-gs1-125080001 | false | false | {
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0.915344 | <urn:uuid:73b1c1d9-7737-4492-ae5d-a0f4b671a761> | en | 0.938268 | RE: floating point and Sun T2000
>My point is that the engine does not have FP underpinnings for scalability.
>You know, those things that happen, uh, like millions of times per second
>like spinlocks, dba hashing, chain walks, etc.
I agree with you that for the engine it isn't a problem.
The only time it's possible to have millions of floating points operations per
second is while a nice SUM(amount_sold) on the large fact table is running.
Other related posts: | http://www.freelists.org/post/oracle-l/floating-point-and-Sun-T2000,9 | dclm-gs1-125170001 | false | false | {
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0.249429 | <urn:uuid:e13da279-b387-48bc-ab6f-b68bcd8aa4f3> | en | 0.700718 | Iron Flesh, full Havels
#1zyrax2301Posted 1/10/2013 6:16:32 PM
- Can't roll
- Can't run
- Can't backstep
- Can leap in the air in celebration
Makes perfect sense to me.
Why? Because **** you is why.
#2newjerseyplayerPosted 1/10/2013 6:18:28 PM
You can also do jumping attacks, and attacks that have a running animation.
U mad bro?
PSN: rjlikestv, Alt PSN: matt_2143, alt PSN #2: aalltt_1234
Yes I believe in Jesus Christ. He is our Saviour.
#3zyrax2301(Topic Creator)Posted 1/10/2013 6:20:04 PM
I am very mad, bro
Why? Because **** you is why.
#4zyrax2301(Topic Creator)Posted 1/10/2013 6:20:33 PM
I wanna see this badboy on a tramp-o-line.
Why? Because **** you is why.
#5Cvdf3Posted 1/10/2013 6:25:38 PM(edited)
Use Butcher Knife. Can now sprint
#6Ravens_27Posted 1/10/2013 6:22:02 PM
Glory allows the Soul and body to soar.
Dem G'faqs mods- complete idiots.
#7grimsoldierz351Posted 1/10/2013 10:14:10 PM
Don't forget the mighty Curved Sword backflip!
soul silver FC: 4426 4921 4755
PSN: grimsoldierz
#8GodsPoisonPosted 1/10/2013 11:29:09 PM
^^ Or the Abyss Gratswords Spinnig Frontflip! Quick someone do a compilation video of all the !Fantastic Moves! you can do while using full Havels and Iron Flesh! Oh and set it to some wonky ass Techno music!
#9SolidKnightPosted 1/10/2013 11:44:50 PM
Full Havel's Armor + Wolf Ring + Iron Flesh + Havel's Shield's Special | http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/606312-dark-souls/65148175 | dclm-gs1-125180001 | false | false | {
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0.097072 | <urn:uuid:e6cf12b9-ae7e-4536-837b-bed40ca030a5> | en | 0.967569 | Review by UnholyTancred
"The best version of Mortal Kombat 2 on a home console..."
The first 2 Mortal Kombat games were ported to almost every single system possible at the time. Hell, the first Mortal Kombat was ported to the Sega Master System. It was also ported to the Sega CD which didn't make any sense. If they did it earlier, I'd understand but Mortal Kombat 2 was already in arcades and was already in the process of being ported to the home consoles. Really stupid. It didn't make any sense.
Many people claim the Super Nintendo version of Mortal Kombat 2 is the best. Well those guys didn't seem to play the 32x port.
Graphics - 10/10
Almost arcade perfect. Unlike the SNES and Genesis counterparts, there are no missing frames of animation here. The sprites are bigger and move much more fluidly. Also because the 32x enhanced the amount of colors that could be on screen, it's much better looking than the muddy colors of the Genesis port. Also, all the little tidbits that were removed from the Genesis version (mostly background stuff like flying dragons) are all present here. This port has the 2nd best graphics on any home console. The Sega Saturn version is the only one with better graphics as the sprites are much bigger.
Sound - 6/10
Probably the only area that this port lacks. The 32x had a poor sound chip and the music in this game is almost identical to the Genesis tunes. They are slightly enhanced however but it's only slightly. But, all the missing screams and sound effects from the Genesis port are all present here.
Story - 10/10
The Mortal Kombat series had a pretty solid story in my opinion until Mortal Kombat: Deception when stuff just turned stupid. The plot here is summed up with the short introduction before the game starts. All the characters have their own short reasons for participating in this tournament and each characters has an ending. It's simple but pretty good for a fighting game.
Gameplay - 7/10
It's Mortal Kombat. You either love it for it's absurd amount of gore and it's digitized realistic looking characters or you hate it because the fighting engine is complete nonsense compared to the more combo oriented fighting games. I, for one, always loved the Mortal Kombat games. Much of the previous year I started getting into more fighting games and I simply fell in love with the likes of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo for the 3DO and the King Of Fighters series. The fighting engine in those games is very complex and in depth. Yet, after playing the likes of all them fancy games, I still love Mortal Kombat. The only reason that I made the score only a 7 in this area is because I have a huge complaint about Kintaro the sub boss and Shao Kahn the main boss. Very goddamn cheap. At least you're given the option of having a maximum of 30 credits and after much frustration you probably will beat the game.
Overall - 10/10
Simply fantastic. However, there is not much of a reason to own this game if you have it on a different console. If you have a SNES, then stick to that version. It's a very solid port and is only slightly inferior to the 32x version. If you have the Genesis version, same thing really. The graphics are worse and the sound is lacking but you still have a solid game. The 32x has very few good games for it and is a pretty expensive add-on even today. And it doesn't help considering the fact that most people who sell the 32x online are pretty ignorant and don't even realize that they don't have the cable you need to connect the 32x to the Genesis. That cable alone could run you about $20. Luckily I got a complete boxed 32x for around $40 with all the cables and those worthless metal clips.
Unless you're a Mortal Kombat fanatic or you have a Genesis and a 32x but don't have Mortal Kombat for the Genesis, then there isn't really much of a point of owning this game. There is no reason for anyone to go through all the trouble of getting this game when there is a wide variety of slightly downgraded versions available everywhere.
Reviewer's Score: 10/10 | Originally Posted: 02/13/07
Got Your Own Opinion?
| http://www.gamefaqs.com/sega32x/918266-mortal-kombat-ii/reviews/review-110680 | dclm-gs1-125230001 | false | false | {
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Some engine design musings (Read 1346 times)
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Offline aldacron
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Java games rock!
« Posted 2004-01-15 17:34:55 »
I recently posted about my new project, Simplicity. On the project home page I spout off my views regarding how I feel about generic game engines, and how I want to keep Simplicity tailored to a limited subset of games. I think I'm in the middle of a paradigm shift.
Having expanded the original project goal of supporting only LWJGL to now include support for JOGL (and thereby JOAL and JInput), I sat down to knock up some interfaces. My initial plan was to keep scene management and the rest as a core part of the engine, without support for pluggability. The biggest reason for this is that I have a non-traditional method of scene management on paper, tailored for the specific types of games I had in mind. I couldn't imagine how I could develop interfaces generic enough to support a different implementation.
Eventually, the JOGL and LWJGL support became pluggable, rather than core components of the engine. This was to keep AWT/Swing dependencies out of the core for those who don't want or need it. After some long thought and a couple of waste baskets full of wadded up designs, I'm now thinking that making the entire engine pluggable may not be such a bad idea.
My initial reasonings against generic engines still hold - I still don't want bloated code or performance hits just because the engine supports multiple game types. However, a completely pluggable system seems to give the best of both worlds. I believe it's possible to keep the core interfaces simple enough (read small) such that no excessive bloat occurs when implementing them. Meanwhile, it will still be possible to tailor each plugin to the specific type of game required. So in this sense, the engine becomes an engine framework (dare I say container?) rather than an engine.
Certain issues arise, such as what to do about functionality required by an implementation that is not supported by the interfaces? An example of this would be the need to fetch a GLCanvas/GLJPanel Component representation when building an editor. The answer is, deal with it specifically in the app. My initial idea for the JOGL render system plugin includes a method to do just that, even though it is not present in the interface. I figure if you need it, then you won't be using LWJGL anyway (at least until SWT support gets into LWJGL core).
On the one hand, implementing special methods beyond those provided by the interfaces would be considered breaking pluggability (or breaking the contract). But on the other, the goal is not so much to allow drop in replacement for all components as it is to allow the developer an easy means of customizing the engine to fit the needs of a particular game. As long as the specified interfaces are implemented, then the default plugins will be able to interact with any replacement.
Anyway, the more I think about it the better it sounds. Restricting the engine to certain types of games limits the usefulness to the community. Being able to expand on this while still alowing a mechanism for game-specific optimizatrions can't be a bad thing. The hard part is coming up with some of the interfaces. The audio/renderer/input/resource stuff is easy. Scenes and entities are giving me fits. And regardless, there will be some things that will be forced on the user. For example, if I make all entities Controllable, so that they can be controlled by input, ai, or network messages without difference, then the interfaces will need to account for that .
Anyway, I've been at this for hours and I'm most likely rambling. But I'm looking for opinions of the usefulness of such a design.
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by Roquen | http://www.java-gaming.org/index.php?topic=3172.msg29637 | dclm-gs1-125310001 | false | false | {
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0.435524 | <urn:uuid:33b89d5d-caee-49ee-953c-4a1a1697c748> | en | 0.951309 | Legal Marijuana Use Can Still Get You Fired
Now that two states have legalized marijuana altogether and another has decided to allow it for medical purposes, you may be thinking you can finally have the occasional toke if you're in one of the lucky states. But don't bogart that joint just yet.
Marijuana use is still illegal under federal law. That includes medical marijuana use. Even if you have a disability that is protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act, the feds say too bad.
How does this affect your job?
If you use marijuana and your company finds out about it (or you're near someone who smokes and test positive due to secondhand smoke), you can still be fired.
Drug testing: In a recent case, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that their state law doesn't keep employers from drug testing employees and firing them for positive results. Same with a recent case in Michigan against Wal-Mart.
State laws against discrimination: Some states have made discrimination against medical marijuana users illegal. Connecticut, Arizona, Rhode Island, Maine, Colorado and New York all have prohibitions against workplace discrimination regarding medical marijuana users. Other states prohibit licensing and disciplinary boards from penalizing medical marijuana users. Even those states that prohibit discrimination based on marijuana use have exceptions to those legal protections, so be careful to make sure you are legally protected before you light up.
State off-duty activities laws: Some states prohibit termination/discrimination based upon an employee's lawful activities off-duty. These states include California and Colorado, so employers will need to be careful not to violate other related laws as marijuana becomes legal. Other states prohibit discrimination against employees for use of "lawful consumable products" such as tobacco, so the same laws will likely protect marijuana users as it becomes legal in those states.
Americans With Disabilities Act: Although many politicians pound tables yelling about "states' rights," the federal laws and courts still don't recognize the state laws making marijuana use legal. So far, courts have not recognized medical marijuana use as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans With Disabilities Act. More importantly, even though you might not end up in state prison, the feds can still prosecute you for marijuana, so be careful.
While the clear trend is to legalize marijuana, opening up a huge new tax base, eliminating the huge waste of resources spent on prosecuting marijuana cases, and giving relief to severely ill patients, the fact is that you may still be able to be fired for using marijuana even for medical purposes while not at work. The times are changing, but it will take a while for the employment laws to catch up with this important legal trend.
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