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WOODSTOCK – A Huntley special-education teacher and cheerleading coach was acquitted Wednesday on charges of stealing a student's cellphone and iPod.
Kimberlee L. Hoffman, 43, was charged with theft, a misdemeanor. After a bench trial, in which a judge determines the verdict rather than a jury at the defendant's request, McHenry County Judge Charles P. Weech found her not guilty.
The student testified she left her iPod Touch and Motorola Atrix cellphone in a bathroom stall at Huntley High School on Sept. 5. She said she saw Hoffman enter the stall, realized that she had forgotten the items and saw Hoffman leave. The student said she didn't stop Hoffman and ask for her things back.
Hoffman's attorney, Dan Hofmann, who is of no relation, said that his client grabbed the items and put them in her cheerleading bag, told several coaches that she had found them and then forgot about them.
It was homecoming, a very busy time of year, and the items simply were not a priority, he said. "She forgot, just like [the student] forgot."
In the meantime, the student's parents had repeatedly sent texts, called the phone and tracked it using a GPS application.
It wasn't until Hoffman was approached by police five days later that she said she had the items, and she eventually turned them over.
The iPod had been wiped clean and restored to its factory settings, which Hoffman's son testified that he did, thinking it was his sister's.
Prosecutors said that the time lapse, as well as Hoffman's decision not to turn in the items to a nearby lost-and-found or make any effort to find the owner, were evidence that she didn't intend to give them back.
But Hofmann, the defense attorney, said the entire case was evidence of a "nanny state." He criticized both police and prosecutors, whom he said bowed to the wish of the student's parents to have his client charged.
Judge Weech said the case was an example of how quickly life can change and clearly a "coulda or shoulda" situation.
There was a protocol for lost items by turning them over to the office, but Hoffman made a choice not to follow it, Weech said. "Could Mrs. Hoffman taken 30 seconds to turn the items in?" he said. "She could have, clearly."
However, one of the elements that prosecutors had to prove was that Hoffman intended to permanently deprive the owner.
They did not do that, Weech said.


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(12) Anonymous, November 10, 2011 7:30 PM
(11) Anonymous, November 3, 2011 9:10 AM
One day not to far away
Your words ring true. I feel an intense force pulling me there - it is the almighty. I have felt it for many years - even before I truly realized why I was supposed to go, and why I belong there. It seems like that which I am enduring was always meant to be the catalyst to get me going. I work my mind day and night to do what needs to be done here before I make the eventual move to Israel.
(10) Anonymous, November 3, 2011 4:22 AM
Hi Lori, I too watch your videos weekly. I have stopped swearing since I heard you say that we have a finitre number of words allowed to us. I thought, " How cute " but it made a profound impact on me. I sing in a choir at a Chabad shule in Melbourne and regularly lead the mincha service in shule. Kol Tov, David, Chiropractor, age 76.
(9) Dorit, November 2, 2011 7:40 PM
ok i'll try it!
I have had both positive and negative experiences sharing Jewish tradition and insights with my family and friends. I am baalet teshuva and the first time I made Shabbos dinner for my family, they were floored, everyone loved the food and really enjoyed making kiddish and lighting candles. On the other hand after the meal, they were not so thrilled about not turning on the t.v. I think we have to use our better judgement about when to share what we are learning with non-frum people, and always know when to back off. As observant Jews we must always be extra careful with everything we do to make sure we always act in ways that sanctify Hashem. Lori you have inspired me to give it another shot with a couple of people though! A couple bad experiences of reaching out to people has put me in a funk where I have stopped trying so much. Thanks to you're video, it gave me renewed zeal for sharing my learning!
(8) Jodi Marchese, November 2, 2011 7:11 PM
Have been returning home to my faith for awhile now and it is a blessing.
It is so important that people of my generation (products of the 60's) begin to realize how important it is for us to return home to our Jewish faith. I love your video I think it said it all. Thank you for sharing this with us. I have already forward the Aish.com web site to numerous friends and will continue doing so.

subset: commoncrawl


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U.S. News
World AIDS Day Strikes a Chord Across U.S. Campuses
December 5, 2013
This article was reported by USA Today.
USA Today reported that many colleges and universities across the nation were expanding their HIV/AIDS awareness events in association with World AIDS Day, held each year on December 1. Campus wellness centers and students staged a wide variety of events to increase HIV awareness and educate their peers about prevention and treatment.
University of Houston-Downtown students organized a march in which one of every five marchers wore a t-shirt reading, "I am HIV-positive," to raise awareness that approximately 20 percent of HIV-infected people in the United States were unaware of their status. The East Carolina University Campus Wellness Center sponsored a runway fashion show featuring outfits made of condoms. Two Texas Tech University medical students organized a week of HIV awareness events. Emory University students created AIDS memorial quilts in honor of HIV-infected people to remind students that HIV still presented a threat. Southern Illinois University Carbondale events included free HIV testing, a vigil, and a panel discussion that aimed to provide an environment in which students were comfortable asking questions.
Ebonie Parris, a wellness coordinator at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami-Dade County, stated that the week was a "teachable moment" for students who might not know the difference between HIV and AIDS. FIU events included "edutainment" tools such as a "spinning wheel HIV/AIDS education game." Miami-Dade County has the highest per capita AIDS rate in the nation, according to Florida Department of Health data.
CDC estimated that 1.1 million US residents were HIV-infected, and that 26 percent of new infections occurred among people ages 13-24 in 2010.
This article was provided by CDC National Prevention Information Network. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update.
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ST. PETERSBURG — Three candidates, all with education backgrounds, are competing to represent the Tarpon Springs, Palm Harbor and Safety Harbor area on the Pinellas County School Board.
The candidates emerged quickly after board member Robin Wikle announced in February that she would retire from the District 4 seat halfway through her second term. The election is Aug. 26.
Beverley Billiris, 66, quickly earned Wikle's endorsement. Billiris spent 12 years as mayor, vice mayor and city commissioner for Tarpon Springs, where Wikle grew up and is an active member of the community. She also worked as a corporate accountant, owns Sponge Merchant International with her husband, and recently retired after about 14 years of teaching at Tarpon Springs Elementary School.
But that hasn't deterred Ken Peluso, 57, from trying again for the school board. Peluso lost to Wikle in the 2008 school board election by half a percentage point. The retired chiropractor and former chairman of the Early Learning Coalition has served as a Palm Harbor Fire District commissioner and as Palm Harbor's honorary mayor. Peluso has endorsements from the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association and the Pinellas Education Support Professionals Association, as well as the Pinellas Realtor Organization.
John Nygren, 70, retired as a math teacher at Dunedin High in 2011 but has been a consultant for the school district, creating math curricula for the Summer Bridge programs and other teacher training workshops. Nygren served on the school committee in Lynn, Massachusetts, from 1980 to 1984.
Peluso never spent time teaching in a classroom but said his experience with the Early Learning Coalition and Florida's Early Learning Advisory Council, as well as years on the board for Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater, have provided insight into education models.
Peluso said there needs to be more collaboration between district personnel and teachers, and more career options for children. And he said officials should look at methods that work in high-performing private and charter schools and try to replicate them.
"I've always been passionate about education and have found ways to get involved with community organizations," Peluso said. "We need to be preparing our students for the future."
Peluso took heat at recent forums for saying he would support teaching creationism alongside evolution in science classes. No other candidates supported teaching creationism. Peluso said he misspoke, and while he supports creationism being taught in religion courses, he understands it's unconstitutional to teach the theory in a science class.
Nygren has taught math for about 10 years in Florida, at three schools in Pinellas, and for 25 years in Massachusetts, while working part-time at convenience stores and UPS to support his family of five children and 15 grandchildren. Nygren advocates a back-to-basics approach that emphasizes discipline in schools, efforts to boost teacher morale and to optimize their planning time, and vocational-technical alternative high schools instead of only operating programs at existing high schools.
"I just don't think our students are getting a fair shake and I don't think the school board is heading in the right direction," Nygren said. "Our 71 percent graduation rate is nothing to be proud of. To me, personally, that's absolutely pathetic and we should feel a sense of urgency to address that instead of saying it's better than we were. It's incredibly frustrating to see year after year from a classroom."
Billiris says she is the only candidate who has taught the new Florida Standards, education benchmarks that stress more reading, writing and critical thinking in all grade levels. Billiris left teaching in June in disgust over the "cookie cutter standards" being taught in classrooms. Teachers need more freedom with their lesson plans, and students need clear expectations and information presented in the classroom, she said. Every year the standards have changed, Billiris said, and that was a huge impetus behind why she decided to run for office.
"Of course we need standards, but we need more local autonomy of how that's being implemented," Billiris said. "Yes, it's a mandate, but I've faced many a mandate in political office. You gather and join with other counties that have the same mindset and you go to Tallahassee, you go to Washington and to the people that make those decisions and you let them know it's not working."
Teachers need more training on the new standards, and the school board can make smaller changes, from giving teachers more time to prepare to selecting curricula that allows more creativity, she said.
Peluso has raised more than $37,000 for his campaign, while Billiris has raised about $10,000, and Nygren has raised $2,000. If one of the candidates does not receive more than 50 percent of the vote during the Aug. 26 primary, the two with the most votes will go to a run-off election Nov. 4. The election is only open to voters living within District 4.
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A Trust Issue
There was revealing stuff in The Independent this morning - a list of all twenty of next year's Premier League clubs, along with what their current estimated debts are and how much they're expecting to be able to spend on new players for next season. Surprise, surprise, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool top the bill in both the size of their debt and the amount of money they're likely to spend. The combined debts of the top four are a jaw-dropping £1.862bn. The supposed beacons of success within modern English football are almost two billion pounds in debt. Set against this, the debts of the remainder of the clubs in the Premier League are relatively minor (though one can see just how important Fulham's win at Portsmouth on the last day of the season was - at £149m in debt, relegation would have almost certainly been the last that the Premier League would have seen of them, and a Leeds or Sheffield Wednesdayesque implosion could well have been on the cards), but the clubs will at least receive a greater income from television revenues next season as the new contracts kick in and, if all else fails, there are always the fans to bleed a little more money out of. Season tickets are rising at an average rate of 7.2% this summer (over twice the current rate of inflation), though this may yet backfire on them, coming in the middle of a year when the cost of mortgages is expecting to rise sharply and the cost of food has already made the front pages of the newspapers. Can football really buck the wider trend and continue to grow in the face of what might turn out to be the roughest economic environment in a generation?
We have done the argument on here before over how football supporters should define success (the very existence of their clubs rather than the winning of trophies), so I'm not going to go over that old ground again. I would, however, return to the subject of football's economic model and question whether the most established way of running football clubs can ever be regarded as sustainable. We always knew that Chelsea were a billionaire's plaything, but what has only recently become apparent is the extent to which they are - everything that they own is now mortgaged to Roman Abramovich. Massive, massive loans made to chase a dragon that one is starting to suspect that they might never catch up with. Manchester United may be backed in theory by the Glazer family, but that would be an over-simplistic analysis of the financial situation at Old Trafford. United are, in practice, owned by the myriad of banks and hedge funds that loaned the Glazers (or, rather, loaned Manchester United itself) the money for the buy-out in the first place. Manchester United are mortgaged up to their necks - the interest payment alone on their debt last year was £42m. Liverpool have joined the race, too. A club with a serviceable debt that was in the region of £50m last year are now £350m down, and what have Liverpool's supporters got for this money? Well, nothing of any real substance. The promise of a new stadium that will have to be paid for through bigger and grander loans, something approaching civil war at board level and Fernando Torres. You don't even have to think that this sort of financial behaviour to think that it is at best high risk and at worst reckless.
"The other way", however, seems to be working reasonably well. Clubs run by supporters trusts won four promotion places this season, at Stockport County, Exeter City, AFC Wimbledon and FC United of Manchester. All four of these clubs face challenges going forward. At Stockport, the race is still on to raise £1m as the deposit to start the process of buying their Edgeley Park stadium back. Exeter City have to, having taken five years to get back into the Football League, hold onto their place there. AFC Wimbledon will be trying to balance the budgeting of improving their squad in order to challenge for a place in the Conference whilst continuing to make payments on the loan taken out to buy their ground in the first place and paying for much-needed improvements to it. FC United of Manchester have arguably the biggest challenge of all - their groundshare at Bury's Gigg Lane doesn't appear to be working (they make very little money from match day revenues when they should be, in theory at least, one of the better off sides at their level). Can they find another home and maintain a ground development fund that would allow them to build a stadium of their own? They've managed two successive promotions, but are now up into the Unibond League Premier Division, where the competition will undoubtedly be greater.
The challenges facing clubs like these may look like a different universe to the worlds of the likes of Manchester United, but all four of them are doing what they can to plug that gap. Would you seriously bet against all four of them being in the Football League in ten years' time? Stranger things have happened. As long as they are open and transparent in their dealings, don't act in an irresponsible manner with regard to their finances, and keep their revenue streams intact by working within their communities to ensure that they are at the heart of them, giving people an affordable alternative to the hyperbole of the Premier League, there is nothing to suggest that they can't continue to develop. Maybe other clubs will start to take note - after all, four promotions when there are only fifteen trust-owned clubs in Britain is too many to just be a coincidence. In a season that has often made me want to bang my head against the wall, the sight of four well-managed clubs, run by supporters for supporters and trying to do things the right way both on and off the pitch is a real success for the English game in general.


text: cqueues is a comprehensive event and networking library for Lua 5.2 and LuaJIT using modern Unix O(1) polling facilities. It includes libraries for buffered socket I/O, SSL/TLS sockets, DNS querying, signal handling, threading, file change notification, and X.509 key management. It natively supports Linux, *BSD, OS X, and Solaris systems without third-party dependencies, and is interoperable with any event loop that accepts plain descriptors, or is usable standalone.


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Do Whatever You Want All The Time
Released: 08-04-2011
Buy Now
1) Easy Peasy
2) Flabbermouse
3) Honey Touches
4) Beyondersville//Flight of Fancy
5) AwayWay
6) Tush
7) Music Tunes
Three years after the release of Ice Cream Spiritual, and despite news of a breakup, Ponytail is back at it with Do Whatever You Want All the Time.
Named after some free-association stage banter by vocalist Molly Siegel, the collection promises to be the outfit's most complex set of tunes yet. Following some downtime, Ponytail got back into the recording studio with Ice Cream Spiritual producer J. Robbins (Jawbox) to lay down the atmospheric tracks that make up Do Whatever You Want All the Time. While the album is "their most sophisticated recording to date," the band's frenetic, feel-good spirit remains.
Do Whatever You Want All The Time from WEAREFREE on Vimeo.
Ponytail || Easy Peasy from Ray Concepcion on Vimeo.


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I am reading a page one story in The New York Times about a dying suburban town that has been transformed by the energy and optimism of Latino immigrants. The story describes how new arrivals from Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru are taking advantage of the abandoned storefronts and cheap rents in the depressed downtown to open thriving shops and ethnic restaurants, drawing customers from more affluent communities nearby. The immigrants are described as "the lifeblood'' of the town, "which fell on hard times in the 1980s and '90s after factories and mills closed and an older generation of Italian immigrants moved away or died off." The story is so familiar I almost don't need to check the dateline, but sure enough, the town is Port Chester, N.Y., where I grew up.
The story didn't really surprise me because Port Chester has always been a starting point for immigrants, just of a somewhat different complexion. My high school yearbook lists the graduates Abruzzese, Agonito, Agresto, Amendola, Anastasio, and four other Italian surnames, and that's just the As. We were first- and second-generation assimilators whose grandmothers often didn't speak English (mine didn't). Now 72 percent of the students at Port Chester High are Hispanic — and 94 percent of them go on to college.
Some of the immigrants quoted in the Times story are in the US illegally, afraid to give their names. They opened their businesses with paperwork provided by friends or relatives. They can't travel, receive most federal benefits, or vote, but they do pay taxes, and they stimulate the economy in ways the English-only crowd would rather ignore. As the immigration reform bill makes its way through the US Senate Judiciary Committee this week, the story of Port Chester is worth keeping in mind.
Because it's the oldest story in America: the drive and achievement of immigrants. A recent study by the business-backed Partnership for a New American Economy found that 18 percent of this country's Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants, and more than 40 percent by children of immigrants. They include the iconic names of American industry — Dupont, Pfizer, Kraft, Goldman Sachs — but the names weren't always so all-American. Sun Microsystems was founded in 1982 by three Stanford University students, two of whom — Vinod Khosla and Andy Bechtolsheim — came to the US from India and Germany, respectively. Russian-born Sergey Brin cofounded a little start-up called Google.
Not every immigrant's business becomes Google, of course, but success stories are hardly rare. The share of the overall US population with a bachelor's degree is 28 percent, according to the US census. Many immigrant groups can match or beat that average: 35 percent of those with Colombian origins have bachelor's degrees; 28 percent of Peruvians. Every year, the list of high school valedictorians from the Boston public schools is a crazy-quilt of ethnicities; 18 of last year's 39 valedictorians were born outside the United States, bringing their ambitions over the oceans from Colombia, Haiti, Nigeria, and Morocco.
Opponents of laws that would give illegal immigrants new ways to assimilate seized upon an eye-popping study published earlier this month by the Heritage Foundation, which estimated the net cost to taxpayers of legalizing 11 million undocumented immigrants at $6.3 trillion. Never mind that the report stretched its costs out over 50 years (instead of the more common ten) to make the number bigger. Or that under the Senate bill immigrants would have to wait 13 years until they could become citizens and thus access Social Security, public housing, and the like. The report was quickly denounced by conservative worthies like Grover Norquist, Senator Marco Rubio, and the Cato Institute, who said bringing illegal immigrants into the real economy would almost certainly increase GDP and reduce the deficit.
The Heritage report is spurious not just because it overestimates the likelihood that immigrants will become resource-sucking wards of the state, but because it wildly underestimates (read: ignores) the dynamic effects of giving immigrants provisional legal status so they can open businesses, create jobs, and save ailing communities. If they want eye-opening, the authors should get out of their think tank and pay a visit to Port Chester. I know where they can get some good Peruvian ceviche.Renée Loth's column appears regularly in the Globe.'


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The Universal Decleration of Human Rights
- Artículos
By definition, Human Rights are inalienable, fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because he or she is a human being. However, with such a broad and shady definition, one is left to fill in the blanks to what Human Rights truly are to them. Naturally, we all tend to shy away from defining such a big and scary topic, as we are afraid of giving a wrong answer and being judged by our opinions.
Even in this scenario we are given a basic Human Right that needs to be followed: The right to voice our opinions without fear of judgment. So far in our world, there are 30 Natural, or Human, Rights that have been written in Ink and widely accepted. This list is called, "The Universal Declaration of Human Right". I believe in the idea of this list, but I feel that because of the lack of enforcement of these rights, it only does as much good as writing your grocery list down. Sure, you'll remember them better, but will that stop you from ignoring or adding something to the list? You can't force your friends to follow your own grocery list as they have their own.
Clearly, without any type of enforcement, a list of guidelines won't do much to help the children forced into war slavery in Uganda, or the thousands of homeless men and women who rarely have enough food to eat. Sure, the list may say, "Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others," but will these words really change anything? Personally, I believe that Human Rights are the conscious decision of all of Humankind to treat everyone (regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, and income) equally. Cruel punishment must be abolished. Religious enforcement must end. Food must be supplied to all those in need.
In my opinion, the World must simultaneously agree to enforce such rules and regulations for this idealistic idea to become a reality. The fact of the matter is, writing 30 laws on a paper won't do much unless the World joins forces and follows these rules. We must agree that, though it may be nice to see these rights written in ink, they are only a plausible idea if we work as a team and create a world where all Men are truly created equal.


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Tom Bridges has worked in public health for a long time, and he's seen a lot in his 38 years as a public servant.
Tom Bridges has worked in public health for a long time, and he's seen a lot in his 38 years as a public servant.
On Dec. 1, Bridges will retire as Henderson County's health director — a title he's held since 1998.
Looking back, this wasn't where Bridges thought he'd end up. He started out in an anatomy graduate program in Mississippi with the goal of being an anatomist. A trip to North Carolina, however, changed that.
"I sort of discovered public health by accident," he said.
Bridges discovered the campuses at Duke and North Carolina and came to the realization that he didn't want to be an anatomist. Instead, on a whim he packed up and moved to Chapel Hill with no job prospects or living arrangements. That was in 1973.
He finally landed a job at Memorial Hospital in the hematology lab. After that, he landed a job in as a research assistant at UNC in the School of Public Health. And that's when the direction of his career took a sharp right.
Bridges enrolled in a graduate program at the School of Public Health and finished up in 1978. His first job in public health was in New Bern. He spent the next 20 years building up a career in protecting the health of the general public.
"Things just kind of came together," he said.
Bridges took the director's job in Henderson County in 1998 and came into what he called "a strong situation."
Since coming to the county, Bridges has worked hard at building coalitions. He dove head-first into the Partnership for Health. He's been an active participant in WNC Health Impact, a coalition of regional health departments.
The biggest thing accomplished during this tenure, however, was the construction of the new health complex. With former county manager David Nicholson leading the way, the health department went from the tiny, cramped quarters on one side of Spartanburg Highway to a complex on the other side.
"That was an amazing thing," Bridges said.
More importantly, he has focused on training middle management on the workings of the department's budget, and how to understand the ways in which everything connects. He's trained staff to understand their budget and the allocation of their resources, and has involved them in any decisions that had to be made.
"It not only makes my job easier, but it helps the programs serve the people better," Bridges said of his approach. "I see public health as a form of ministry."
County Manager Steve Wyatt sees those strengths in Bridges and acknowledges that he's going to be hard to replace.
"He's made a difference in the community," Wyatt said. "He's done a fantastic job for the people of Henderson County. Tom Bridges is a fine man outside of being a great health director."
In the end, however, public health is about one thing — something Bridges is passionate about.
"It's the people," he said. "It really is the people. This is like a family."
Reach Millwood at 828-694-7881 or at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Late night at Tottenham Court Road tube station, returning from tonight's gig and transferring to the Central Line, I passed a busker with what seemed an unusual technique to try and earn money. He was playing his guitar, but instead of singing was quiet aggressively saying "Fuck off" and "Fuck you." Initially I admired his refusal to toe the line and his artistic decision to try and antagonise, rather than entertain. But then I realised that this was not performance art but that he was in fact addressing one particular commuter who had pissed him off for some reason. The man was standing further along the corridor, clearly rather drunk and swearing back at the foul-mouthed guitarist. Perhaps he had just heckled the busker or thrown something that wasn't money into his tin. I wasn't there to see it, but my guess is that the drunk man had started this and that the busker, maybe a bit tired and frazzled from his largely fruitless attempt to entertain people who had little desire to be entertained had risen to the bait. It's possible that the busker was insane and just liked to goad big drunk men to see what happened, but logically it seems more likely the the drunk man had been rude or aggressive in his crapulous state and that the busker had snapped and (perhaps foolishly) decided to give as good as he got. As I got round the corner I saw that the drunk man had an even drunker friend, red-faced and clearly feeling invincible in his invisible lager armour. Alcohol had also made him affronted on his friend's behalf and was encouraging him to release some of the pent up anger that had accrued due to whatever frustrations he had in his daily life. He was walking back in the direction of the busker, with some purpose and saying, "Let's go and fuck him up." He was 100% intent on smashing this busker's face in, placing me as a sober passerby into a quandary. It wasn't my fight, but I guessed the busker was only guilty of having allowed these guys to get to him. Did he deserve to be smashed in the face? Perhaps he was ready for them (I presume he has to deal with such incidents on at least a nightly basis) but if a fight began in this tiny enclosed space and guitars started swinging around, then some innocent passersby were bound to be hurt. And yet I also knew that in all likelihood the busker had done nothing really to promote this primeval anger in a stranger and that the drunk man's friend was just looking for something soft to punch and that an interfering busybody's face would be just as welcome a target for the jackhammering penis that was his fist.
Luckily the less drunk of the two men was not in the mood to spend the night in a cell and had not drunk enough to have lost his sense of reality and he talked his furious friend out of this course of action. Maybe the drunker man had known in his heart that this would happen all along. He got to look like an avenging warrior, but he didn't have to risk having to pick pieces of shattered guitar out his scalp.
I don't know if I would have intervened if the proposed assault had gone ahead. I am not sure I could have stood by or walked on, but would I have been able to prevent the assault without becoming the victim of it?
It was all over in under ten seconds probably, but what an exciting little drama in the theatre that is the world. A lot more intense, enthralling and thought-provoking than anything I've managed to write in the last three months. Though like my play I think it included a character who was a repressed homosexual, who decided to take his own self-hatred out on a relatively innocent person.
And maybe the busker secretly wanted to be attacked by the penis fists of a stranger. Why take the 11pm Friday slot at one of the busiest intersections of the tube system otherwise? At the very least you're trading off the fact that drunk people are looser with their money against the fact that they are also much looser with their fists.
I salute the brave buskers of this country. It might be the most dangerous job you can do.


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The Windsor-Plymouth playoff series in the OHL has made travel for the league's scouts and GM easy, as consensus top-two prospects Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin are squaring off in the series. Even Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli was on hand to take in the action Thursday night.
Some are saying the series might serve as a sort of tie-breaker when it comes time to choose one player over the other in June, but Chiarelli told The Sporting News' Craig Custance he and his staff already have their mind made up.
"We've got one guy higher than the other," Chiarelli told Custance. "Unless there's a monumental change in this series — but I doubt that will change our mind."
Of course, then there's the whole matter of the Bruins even getting a chance to pick between the two or take the one that's still available. Toronto keeps inching up on Florida, the New York Islanders and Carolina in its attempt to escape next-to-last place in the overall standings. Nothing would stop the Bruins from trading up if they wind up with a pick outside the top two, but then Chiarelli would be in the unenviable position of convincing other GMs he has an assets worth taking.Blake Wheeler? Matt Hunwick? If you value those guys, I have some Enron stock to sell you.


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Many political leaders say the solution for failing school systems is a takeover. But can mayors, governors or other government leaders actually fix broken schools? Guest host Celeste Headlee discusses the expectations and consequences of school takeovers with Emily Richmond of the National Education Writers Association.
Struggling Schools Targeted For Takeovers
By editor • Apr 1, 2013


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diabetes triglycerides and fish oil supplements.
Apr 4, 2007
Dear Doc, I just read in AIDS MEDS newsletter that Fish Oil lowers triglycides in people with HIV. My t-cells are around 347 and I am undecticable. I am a 52 year old male living with HIV for 11 years now on meds, Atripla, Glucophage 500 2x a day,Fosinopril 10mg 1 x a day . My cholesterol is 160 my a1c is 5.8 my glucose fasting varies from 105 -147 my triglycides are 195, I am on a low GI high fiber diet and I exercise regularly. Can you tell me if a fish oil supplement would be good in lowering my triglycides? And if so how much can I take daily and what are the side effects as well as it effecting my glucose levels? Can you recommend a fish oil supplement? Thanks in advance for any info you can shed on this. CS
Response from Dr. Wohl
It sounds like you are taking excellent care of yourself. While the 'target' triglyceride goal is 150 or below, 195 is pretty darn close and I, even as one of the people who conducted the studies of fish oil in HIV, would not feel strongly at all that you start anything to lower your triglycerides.
Triglycerides are generally not as big a contributor to cardiovascular disease as high LDL cholesterol and/or low HDL cholesterol. There is also some variability in the triglyceride tests so that your number one day could be 195 and the next 145.
There may be benefits of fish oil beyond its effects on triglycerides. In studies outside of HIV, it has been associated with reduction in inflammation and survival benefits among those with cardiac disease. There is some support that it may improve survival in general.
Doses of 2 to 6 grams of fish oil a day have been studied in HIV. The ingredients that count are called EPA and DHA. These are what you add up when counting the grams. You can buy fish oil over the counter. There is also a prescription formulation. All of these can lead to fishy burps. Too much fish oil can suppress the immune system (bad) and make blood harder to clot (also bad).
I treat people with 3 to 4 grams a day when the triglycerides are over 500. There should be no effect on glucose. You will read some things about mercury in fish oil supplements. Check out the brand if you do decide to take this as a supplement.
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White Papers and
Application Notes
- Thermal Management of Buildings
- Hardware and Simulation Software Advancements
- Modeling the Lithium-Ion Battery
Conference Collections
- User Presentation 2017
- User Presentation 2016
- User Presentation 2015
- User Presentation 2014
- User Presentation 2013
Additional Reading
Chip Drop After Silver Sintering ProcessM.H. Poech[1], M. Weiß[1], and K. Gruber[1]
[1]Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology, Itzehoe, Germany
Since a couple of years, sintering becomes more and more important for power electronics. To press a semiconductor under high temperature in silver paste on a substrate promises benefits for durability. Tests with semiconductors of different thickness expose some problems. After the cool down, some of them fall slightly from the substrate. Stress in the boundary layer, caused by different expansion coefficients, is probably the reason for this effect. To describe the reasons and mechanisms of these phenomena, some simulations with different programs were started. The aim is to understand and specify the effects of different thermal expansion coefficients in such a thermal stack.
- Gruber_pres.pdf - 0.63MB
- Gruber.pdf - 0.18MB


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Tag: Ain't No Love In The Heart of the CIty
5 "Ain't No Love in The Heart of The City" In the Lincoln Lawyer
Last night, my wife and I had a date night, and went to see the movie The Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew McConaughey. The movie was good, but the opening of the film got me thinking about Whitesnake. The beginning of the movie opened up with the song, "Ain't No Love In The Heart of the City". This is an old song written by Michael Price and Dan Walsh, and first recorded by the Bobby Blue Band. It was the Bobby Blue Band version that was in the movie.
The first time I ever heard this song was the far superior Whitesnake version that was on the classic and hard to find Whitesnake EP, Snakebite.
Have you heard both versions of the song? Which one do you prefer?


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Reviewed By Patrick M (Little River, SC) Reviewed for a 2003 Toyota RAV4 —3/23/2010 8:19 PM
I bought this for my father as he has begun to work out of his car a lot. He has a 2003 Toyota Rav 4 which is pretty small and it still fits well. Also makes it easier to clean the seat in case you have a passenger. Good product for anyone traveling a lot for business in their car.


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Our faculty work together to bring legal theory and practice to life, whether in the classroom, clinic or courtroom. Known for their commitment to a "law-in-action" teaching approach, and equally, to the success of our students, our faculty make UW Law School a place where transformative learning experiences happen. This is the first profile in a series featuring innovative teaching at UW Law School.
"We're like archaeologists," Professor Michele LaVigne tells her third-year UW Law students. "We uncover the shards of a client's story, piece by piece, just like the scientists in South Dakota who discovered Sue the T. Rex."
LaVigne, along with Adjunct Professor Dean Strang, is teaching Defense Function, a new criminal defense course that combines practical and theoretical learning to equip future lawyers to start their own firms. The course focuses on the whole range of issues private practitioners face in criminal court, from attorney-client interaction to sentencing to managing cases and budgets.
She created the class in response to a trend in the legal services sector: more new law school graduates working at smaller firms or going into solo practice. The emphasis on criminal defense prepares graduates to contract with public defender offices, where caseloads are on the rise.
LaVigne tapped Strang to team-teach the course because, she says, "We wanted a top-of-the-line lawyer who understands the business side of private practice."
Students—and employers—appreciate the new course and the combined expertise LaVigne and Strang bring to the class, says student Rachel Krueger. "As private practitioners, we have to think about how we can manage our work and be profitable." When she graduates next spring, Krueger has a job lined up at a small firm where she'll be the first attorney to practice criminal law. Her future employers were excited to learn she was taking the course, she says.
On this day in the classroom, students watch as LaVigne and Strang loosely reenact an actual 1996 Wisconsin court case that involved alleged hunting crimes. The two instructors, playing the roles of public defender and client in an intake interview, interrupt their performance frequently to invite critiques and questions from students.
The bones of a client narrative emerge, as LaVigne and Strang show how dialogue can build trust and rapport in an attorney-client relationship—or cause it to go awry. "You already have the DA's account," Strang says. "In order to represent your client fairly, you need to take care to learn who he is, what he does, what he cares about."
Student James Drennan calls the class a "3-D learning experience," where he observes and interacts with attorneys who have been doing criminal defense for a long time. "Skills-based courses like these will help me hit the ground running after graduation," he says. "It's an invaluable experience, and might even make the difference between becoming a good attorney and a great one."
LaVigne says this semester's course serves as the beta version for what will become a larger instructional strategy. "We're talking about new approaches for preparing students to be very good at criminal defense in the everyday world of private practice."
But today, she and Strang are demonstrating for their students how to be legal archaeologists. "We're getting shards of information here, and we have to put them together. This case is our 'Sue,'" she says.
Submitted by Law School News on February 25, 2015
This article appears in the categories: Frank J. Remington Center, Articles


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As a consumer, I assumed security.
As a technological thinker, I feared this.
Joke's on them. The GPS in my Nokia phone is so piss poor as to be unusable. 5-10 mins to lock on a signal and requires clear view of the sky (In pocket won't do). If they try to track me using that my response is simple laughter.
Technology can be hacked and used against you? Dang.
If everyone has access to the information (signals flying through the air) it will eventually be used against you! This is yet another reason why people should never carry their phone all the time, unless you don't mind being tracked.
Privacy these days is a dying luxury!
If you were really that worried, you could turn the phone off and/or take the battery out until you were ready to phone home.
It's not an "if". Anyone who cares to has access to the signals your phone is sending through the air. Never forget that the act of transmitting radio signals is called broadcasting for a reason. Even if an eavesdropper can't decrypt your encrypted signal, they can do simple traffic analysis to identify when and where, and use other investigative methods to figure out who, and possibly what.
People don't really think about their own privacy much, and if they do they simply assume it just works via magic o
The Android market has an app that claims to change a device's GPS location. Is their an equivalent for cell tower tracking?
How about deleting location cache file.
Hijacking? Kidnapping??? Who IS this guy, Donald Rumsfeld using a nom-de-plume? Or perhaps a nom-deguerre as the case may be.
How about just saying someone could use it for mischief, instead of giving us the Ultimate Doomsday of Deadly Doom?
In his defense most of the people that use these devices do so because they are concerned about their cargoes being hijacked or their children being kidnapped. If that is not the case, then more traditional means of tracking cargoes and children are probably more than adequate.
While I would say you could be correct, I would suspect most people use their devices to track their vehicles or suspected cheating spouses and boyfriend/girlfriends and errant teenagers. The original Zoombak's were designed for tracking pets - dogs - not people. Though, what people use them for is their own business.
This guy is trying to drum up business for his consulting firm. This isn't to say his attack isn't real or represent a real threat to the industry. But, for the common thief or sexual predat
He's talking about devices specifically designed to track cargo in transit and to tell paranoid parents where their kid is at all times. So he's pointing out that these devices not only don't help with what they are designed for but in fact make things worse.
or just marry a woman who can barely turn on a computer...
Uh, or just take out the battery, so she doesn't see that you left it.
I take out the battery when I go places sometimes just to confuse the tracking systems.
It's amazing how we have brought these listening devices into our lives...
The article was quite Slashdotted, bad link, or something... found it and reposted below.
(Also, I found the bold sections funny.)
Weaponizing GPS Tracking Devices
Posted by Kelly Jackson Higgins on Friday Apr 22nd at 5:05am
Those low-cost embedded tracking devices in your smartphone or those personal GPS devices that track the whereabouts of your children, car, pet, or shipment can easily be intercepted by hackers, who can then pinpoint their whereabouts, impersonate them, and spoof their physical location, a researcher has discovered.
Security researcher Don Bailey at SOURCE Boston today disclosed the newest phase of his research on the lack of security in embedded devices, demonstrating how he is able to hack vendor Zoombak's personal GPS locator devices in order to find, target, and impersonate the user or equipment rigged with these consumer-focused devices. Bailey, a security consultant with iSEC Partners, decided to call out the widely available products from Zoombak after the vendor and its parent company Securus Inc. didn't respond when he alerted them about the security weaknesses. Mitigating these attacks would only require a few simple changes to the product, he says. Meanwhile, the threat is real, he says. "Anyone with a little hardware knowledge could reverse-engineer this," he says. "Children are physically at [risk] because these devices can be turned into weapons."
Bailey also released tools today for each of the three attacks he demonstrated at SOURCE Boston.
"Embedded devices are low-cost, easy to use, and easy to debug. And the security landscape is very small," Bailey says. "There is very little capability for integrating secure communications on the devices and ensuring that it's your code executing on there."
The underlying issue is that the low-cost and rapid commoditization of these embedded systems precludes their being properly secured. "There's a low entry point for people to develop them, so you have a serious problem because new developers and new startups don't have an understanding of security. It's an insecure product by default," he says.
Embedded system security is tricky in that there are so many moving parts in the final products, including baseband, GPS firmware, application firmware, and SIM software, according to Bailey.
It's not just consumer GPS tracking devices that are vulnerable, either. Bailey says he was also able to hack server SCADA embedded systems. "I was able to remotely compromise the box in its entirety" via the microcontroller on it, he says.
With the Zoombak device, Bailey was able to discover the tracking devices, profile them, using what he calls "war texting," to intercept their location. Zoombak uses a Web 2.0 interface that provides a map showing the GPS-equipped person or payload's physical location. The devices receive commands via SMS text messages.
In the first attack, Bailey forced the device to send him its physical location using techniques to grab the GPS coordinates and local cell tower information. "I can force those devices to bypass the manufacturer's controls and give me their information and they have no idea that I've intercepted their location," he says.
Once he fingerprinted the device, he can determine just what it is. "I know if it's a semi, a mail van, or a teenager driving the family car just by watching the vehicle for a certain period of time. I can use traffic cameras on Google satellite," he says. That would leave the GPS-outfitted person or payload prone to physical attack, he says.
Bailey was also able to impersonate the Zoombak personal GPS tracking device. "I use it as a weapon to fake the location data. If it's a truck on I-70, I can take the device and force it to send false location to the server and meantime, could hijack the truck," he explains. Zoombak's command and control channel is in the clear, unencrypted.
These devices could be locked down with some type of PKI on the microcompu
as no-one RTFA anyway
Haha, good point.
>>"by watching the vehicle for a certain period of time. I can use traffic cameras on Google satellite"
Wait... what?
I suspect Zoombak will close the hole fairly quickly. Fear not.
I would love to read more on his methods.
The question is which Zoombak devices did he compromise? Was it their Zoombak 520, 521 or the Securus eClick (Zoombak was acquired by them) series?
I run a server to host these tracking devices. The communication protocol used is very ridiculous on most cheap/affordable devices (haven't tried the top of the line devices, as there is little market for them). Handshake is just a simple 'Hello this is device #XXXXXX' and the whole session is just based on that simple handshake. There is NO authentication, NO encryption of any kind. Any person with basic knowledge of the device can wreak havoc on the server just by using simple perl script. Mind you that t
You'd think he'd know the difference between "hackers" and "crackers", right? Oh no, not him. He keeps peddling the use of "hacker" as an offensive pejorative term.
Did he actually demonstrate SPOOFING a message from an arbitrary Zoombak device (i.e. one he did not have physical control of) OR did he send a message from one who's SIM he removed?
Unless he demonstrated that he can SPOOF any Zoombak device at any time, all he did was capture a request to the device, figure out what the response looks like, and send back a bogus response to their server. And, he destroyed the device in the process to get the SIM out. So much for his warranty.
So, where is the insecurity,
I THINK MAN INVENTED THE CAR by instinct. -- Jack Handley, The New Mexican, 1988.


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I want to get a belkin wireless laptop pcmia wireless card working on my SuSE profesisonal 9.2 edition. I have had a go with ndiswrapper, is there any broadcom linux wirless adapter out there or any other way to get my network card working, possibly using generic settings.
thanks comcamel!


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Microsoft - at least in comparison to Apple - has a veritable romance underway with Adobe. But that hasn't stopped Microsoft from flirting with other, more Apple-friendly technologies. Case in point: Microsoft has dibs on H.264-based HTML5 for the all-important web video content market.
In recent days, we've all witnessed Apple's relationship with Adobe deteriorate into a vitriolic war of wars between two former allies in a brave new tech world ripe for the software and technologies of both companies. But with Steve Jobs' latest published rant effectively dismissing Adobe as a thing of the past, Apple is clearly notifying the tech world that Cupertino is moving in a new direction and that everyone else - that is, if they want their content available through an iDevice - should follow along.
Strangely enough, one of the first major names to seemingly get on board with Apple in recent days is Microsoft, which is now also propping up the H.264 standard for HTML5 video content. According to Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft general manager for Internet Explorer:
The future of the web is HTML5. Microsoft is deeply engaged in the HTML5 process with the W3C. HTML5 will be very important in advancing rich, interactive web applications and site design. The HTML5 specification describes video support without specifying a particular video format. We think H.264 is an excellent format. In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video only.
By no means is Microsoft dumping Flash. But Microsoft is clearly no longer looking at Flash as a thing of the future. Microsoft and Apple are now arguably united in a likely perception of Adobe as a lingering blast from the past.
Image via geckoandfly


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Mozilla community is killing Firefox with their super-fast releases. we went from 4 to 7 in no time.. (i'm on the beta channel)
Addons break non stop because of upgrades
Bugs arent being fixed
= Users will leave soon ?
I think Firefox lost "good" long before the rapid releases began. Rapid releases were just a (failed) attempt to fix the suck.
I'm not sure Firefox ever really lost anything, though. It's possible my tolerance for lame cross platform solutions has just gone way, way down.
Mozilla Foundation has always been badly managed. In the beginning it was managed by Winifred Mitchell Baker, a socially backward lawyer with no technical experience.
Add-ons are the reason people use Firefox. Decisions are made that break Firefox Add-ons, without notice.
Firefox is extremely important because it is the only browser that has such an extensive list of add-ons. (Unfortunately, Add-ons are also called "extensions" and "plug-ins".) For some uses, the add-ons are so convenient that they can be considered necessary.
Mozilla is not breaking add-ons anymore. Now, addons are scanned by a bot and if no problems are expected, the addons compatibility version range is automatically extended to the current version. I have seen this with my addons.
Addons are themes and extensions. Plugins are something completely different, for instance Flash and Movie players, i.e. implementations of the nsplugin-api. This is clearly defined by Mozilla.
I agree, but what is the alternative?
Safari is bloated by the inclusion of Quicktime, Apple Updater and half of MacOS just so that the fonts render the Mac way.
Chrome is fast but still a bit rough, and the developers make Mozilla look caring when it comes to long standing feature requests. I suppose they only care about things Google cares about like making pages load faster, rather than usability issues or bug fixes. Sounds oddly familiar... Does anyone other than Google do significant work on it? Annoying
6 weeks is an awful short time between releases. Why not make it 4 or 6 months? That's still 2-3 version numbers a year. Current cycles means Mozilla are releasing over 8 versions a year, too many to keep track of, it seems Bugzilla is finding it hard to keep up too.
I've pretty much given up on Mozilla, I no longer triage bugs for them. There is no time to take bugs seriously, everything is focused on the next version number and the one under-the-hood thing that gets added in the new version.
I completely fail to see the connection between the actual version numbers in releases, or release frequency, and the bug tracking system, or how they influence each other.
Care to explain?
One thing I could imagine is that it is more likely that the developers will ask you to test something again on the latest release. Not a big change here, I'd guess before they'd have asked you to test on a nightly.
Way to read the article. Tyler specifically mentions in the first 10 sentences that he love Rapid Release, and it has absolutely nothing to do with his departure.
His complaint is the same as the complaints have always been for Firefox-- it takes forever for bugs to get fixed.
I'm still waiting on a bug to be fixed that dates back to version 4 beta. It's not something trivial, I get a BSoD after about 15-20 minutes of regular use. I've looked online, I've submitted bugs, I've done just about everything they've suggested, save one: 'Turn off Crossfire whenever I use their browser', and frankly, that's in no way a real solution at all. Every other suggestion has been useless and not fixed the problem, and the problem continues to persist with every release...and based on the nu
I'm still waiting on a bug to be fixed that dates back to version 4 beta. It's not something trivial, I get a BSoD after about 15-20 minutes of regular use. I've looked online, I've submitted bugs, I've done just about everything they've suggested, save one: 'Turn off Crossfire whenever I use their browser', and frankly, that's in no way a real solution at all.
Applications per se won't give you a BSOD, because that generally means something went horribly wrong in kernel mode. Sounds like the ATI drivers have a bug that causes a crash with Crossfire enabled, and Firefox can't rewrite those drivers for you.
Oh how the times have changed. For info about QA for Netscape 4.0, see this short refresher course:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarro_boogs [wikipedia.org]
--- cut here --
The following comment is provided in the Bugzilla source code to developers who may be confused by this behaviour:
Zarro Boogs Found
This is just a goofy way of saying that there were no bugs found matching your query. When asked to explain this message, Terry Weissman (an early Bugzilla developer) had the following to say:
I've been asked to explain this
--Terry Weissman
Mozilla has no such position as "Community Lead". Tyler was/is (he is still engaged in constructive discussion) a valued volunteer member of the Mozilla QA and triage community, but he does not have the title "Community Lead".
There are several things which Mozilla's new more rapid release process has made a bit rocky, as Johnathan Nightingale, the Firefox development manager, noted in a recent blog post [johnath.com] (syndicated at the Future of Firefox blog [mozilla.com]). This is one of them.
And, of course, when Tyler says we have told bug reporters we don't care about their bug reports, that's not actually true. He is suggesting that this is what it might seem like. And clearly, it's not great when a bug report is filed and just sits there for months. Mozilla's success has made this a perennial problem for the last decade. We've cracked it, to a degree, before and I'm sure we can do it again.
we have told bug reporters we don't care about their bug reports, that's not actually true. He is suggesting that this is what it might seem like.
As a longtime Firefox and Thunderbird bug submitter, let me assure you that this is in fact what it does seem like, and so it is effectively true. I've had some bugs open for 7 or 8 years; I recently saw a bug report complaining that it'd been open for 11. This doesn't cover those odd, irreproducible cases users will always submit - these were just plain bugs.
I w
Although he may not have that official title, some people get this title naturally. In every project, some people will shine above the others with natural leadership which might lead them to be recognized as community leaders. For outsiders or newcomers, the distinction might be hard to make. Maybe the wording is simply inappropriately chosen here, presenting it as an official position.
And, of course, when Tyler says we have told bug reporters we don't care about their bug reports, that's not actually true. He is suggesting that this is what it might seem like.
This is actually worse. If you're not going to act like you care about bug reports, don't tell people you do care about bug reports.
It's worth noting that Mozilla is still far, far better than pretty much every open source project ever at managing its bug database.
Chromium developers don't even pretend to use the bug database. Even bugs here at Slashdot are utterly ignored 95% of the time.
"Saying we value bug reports and then ignoring our bug database" is pretty much standard operating procedure in the open source world. Kudos on Tyler Downer for making a stand.
We do care about bug reports, and we try and appear we care about bug reports - both by saying that we care, and trying to handle them. But Tyler is suggesting that our failure to handle all of them means that it might appear that our actions speak louder than our words.
If you want to help the two match up, do get involved with Mozilla
We do care about bug reports, and we try and appear we care about bug reports - both by saying that we care, and trying to handle them. But Tyler is suggesting that our failure to handle all of them means that it might appear that our actions speak louder than our words.
If you want to help the two match up, do get involved with Mozilla
Gerv - I don't doubt your good intentions, but given that you know that most bugs are not carried through to resolution (i.e., a change in released software), you should set that expectation with people who work on bugs. Don't set an expectation based on what you hope to someday be true (but probably won't ever happen). Likely, their bug reporting/triage/patching will not lead to anything useful; as long as you're up front about it with people, there's no problem.
Mozilla will revert the whole-number version scheme. Major_version.minor_version.bug_patch, or even Major_version.bug_patch, was not a bad arrangement at all, why reinvent the wheel?
why reinvent the wheel?
Because after long enough time, there's always someone who's irked about the performance of the wheel and wants to replace it with conveyor belts or robot legs. Sometimes even square wheels. And because we've done round wheels for so long, old lessons have faded or been deemed outdated and so we try it. Then it turns out it's not that great except for very limited use cases, but we're too deep invested and stubborn so we'll try fixing it. After a lot of fighting against windmills, we slowly reinvent and rediscover the reasons why we used a wheel in the first place. Then the cycle starts over. Same with most NIH projects, they start out as being radically different and then end up looking much the same after tackling the same challenges.
Obviously the original wheel wasn't round enough...
Just to clear some things up and possibly prevent irrelevant posts...
This has nothing to do with the rapid-release; he states in the 2nd paragraph that
First off, I did not leave because of rapid release. I love the idea of rapid release, and I think the recent spurt of posts to the planet on how Rapid Release will be beneficial in the long run does a great job of explaining it.
His issue is that Triage isnt good enough for rapid release-- not that rapid-release doesnt work with Triage (but thanks for stirring the muck, anonymous reader / soulskill).
But Id like a clarification-- if there were 13,000 bugs 15 months ago, and now there are 6000, doesnt that speak to massive improvement? Why not leave back in spring 2010?
But Id like a clarification-- if there were 13,000 bugs 15 months ago, and now there are 6000, doesnt that speak to massive improvement? Why not leave back in spring 2010?
Well, IIRC, unconfirmed bug reports (UNCO) are where every bug submission goes before it gets triaged. These bug reports run the gamut of "My internets not working with Firefox" to "Firefox dumps core with gtk+-2.0.3-foobar". It sounds like a lot of bugs, but UNCO is the large gaping pit where every bug report goes before it becomes confirmed. It takes no technical knowlege to issue an UNCO so many of these could just be PEBCAK bugs.
I tried googling but all I get are hits about a college. No one ever defines what UNCO is. I even found INCO, but no definition for that either.
I would guess that it meight stand for UNCOrrected.
I tried googling but all I get are hits about a college. No one ever defines what UNCO is. I even found INCO, but no definition for that either.
UNCO is short for UNCONFIRMED, the state a bug is in between being filed and being rejected because its asking for something a general user would want.
Depends, were there 13k bugs or was that 13k bug reports. Often times you can nominally reduce the number significantly by going through and merging or closing duplicate reports and get a seemingly significant reduction in bugs without changing any code.
Also, many of them may have been related to code which is no longer present in Firefox.
13k unconfirmed bug reports.
Almost certainly fewer than 13k bugs in those.
But Id like a clarification-- if there were 13,000 bugs 15 months ago, and now there are 6000, doesnt that speak to massive improvement? Why not leave back in spring 2010?
IIRC, most of the decrease was because they automatically closed old, unconfirmed (UNCO) bugs that weren't being worked on. Which sent the same message to the people who took the time to file the reports that Tyler Downer decries: "Thank you for filing a bug report with us. We donâ(TM)t really care about it" or about your time.
But Id like a clarification-- if there were 13,000 bugs 15 months ago, and now there are 6000, doesnt that speak to massive improvement? Why not leave back in spring 2010?
Number like that mean absolutely NOTHING. It MAY be that 7000 bugs have been solved in a proper way by one or more developers who has either committed a fix or closed the bug if it objectively does not indicate a problem with Firefox. Unfortunately, it is just as likely that the 7000 bugs have been closed by bug triagers obsessing over the
Basically, bugs have a lifecycle [bugzilla.org] - they may start out UNCOnfirmed, move to confirmed, then in progress, then resolved and finally rest in verified.
I used to do volunteer triage for Mozilla back in 2000 (folks like Gerv, Timeless and Asa probably don't remember me though
However the reality is that there a lot of people filing bugs at a rate that is very high. Generally speaking there are not enough people to look at bugs at the best of times and this
Firefox gets personas, syncs, tab groups, etc. instead of bug fixes.
Version number treadmills.
Ad nauseam.
Change for the sake of change. Bleeding edge bullet points for the bloggers instead of bugfixes for the users.
How about returning to our roots and building software which runs faster with less bugs. There are plenty of commercial options for those who want the glassy artwork and UI equivalent of smooth jazz.
How about software for people who need to get things done.
Remember when we took pride in something like Apache being vastly superior to IIS? Now the community seems to hang its head in shame that Mac has spiffier icons and a hipper dock or Chrome gets new version numbers on a faster schedule.
Has anybody told Captain Smith there's an iceberg ahead?
I guess Firefox has chosen to hand it's considerable market share back over to MS. Many users who left IE over the countless bugs and security issues. The benefit of switching to Mozilla/Firefox is quickly evaporating with each half-assed bug filled release. Plug in hell. Run away memory usage. Unpleasant GUI changes. Change for the sake of change.
So will users flee to Chrome or will gravity pull them back to IE?
Sad, but for the first time since the mid-nineties when I started using Netscape, I'm considering switching. That includes the Netscape6, pre 1.0 Mozilla days.
None of my plugins work and I'm asked to install and upgrade major versions every few weeks it seems.
Microsoft has the nasty habit of tying their Browser releases to their OS sales. That's why you won't be able to install IE 10 to Vista, or IE 9 to XP. Also, they don't backport the render engine as a middle ground. How about an IE 8.5 that has mu
We currently have 2,598 UNCO bugs in Firefox that haven't been touched in 150 days. That is almost 2600 bugs that have not been touched since Firefox 4 was released.
In a related story, from this point forward "Debbie Downer" is no longer the correct pseudonym for an overtly depressing person. Hereafter, that person shall be cited as "Tyler Downer".
All hail our new horribly sad overlord.
As 13 years are not enough to handle a major bug [mozilla.org].
They are focusing on HTML5 (which is not a standard but a draft) and leave HTML4 implementation with all existing bugs.
They think that all web pages will be rewritten in HTML5 as soon as it will land as real standard. It will instead take years.
The problem with that bug is that the HTML 4 requirement in question is not really consistent with the CSS layout model.
So you can have that HTML feature or you can have CSS applying to your HTML, but not both. Your pick. Most people seem to have picked CSS.
While not directly related to Firefox, I submitted a bug for Thunderbird's import mechanism about 6-12 months post launch. Every year or so I get someone else posting to this still outstanding issue...
Bug fixes/support, the achilles heal of FOSS. Where are these folks who want to maintain existing software? Paging all autistic OCD programmers!
It's not just a FOSS issue. There are bugs throughout commercial software that never get fixed. They usually promise that it will be fixed with the next release, though often it never does, but you've paid $6k a seat, so you build a workaround.
So true, there are major issue that can be found in every single version of windows from 95 to 7 (and maybe even before, I have not checked).
My *critical* top100 bug from 2002-02-07 is still opened.
Assigned To: Nobody; OK to take it and work on it
It is only natural that with open source bugs gather less volunteer enthusiasm. Ask any programmer and I doubt they enjoy squashing bugs over implementing new features. Debugging is the grunge work, or rather, the toilet cleaning of coding, yet it can also be the hardest part, requiring your very best resources.
With that said, IE sucks the worse. Just imagine how many bugs IE would have if they had the same bug reporting system? "Our software has bugs, we don't care, and we are sitting on billions of dollar
Hey Tyler,
I have some questions:
>In Spring 2010, we hit roughly 13,000 UNCO bugs in the Firefox product on BMO.
Don't blame this shit on me.
There are bugs that where introduced back when I was still in high school like 5-6 years ago that I am still waiting on.
Mozilla's objective should be to release great software, not to close bug reports. In fact, if they can release the software while touching fewer bug reports, that's more efficient.
The problem is that Mozilla continues to be careless about setting their community's expectations (on other issues too). They solicit bug reports from people, who invest time and effort in reporting, testing, following up, and even patching -- but then Mozilla does nothing with the bugs. It's disrespectful to use people's time like that.
Mozilla needs to set expectations clearly from the start: Feel free to report it, triage it, patch it, etc., but realize that most bug reports are never implemented.
Is this push for more features, more releases, and lower quality coming from the people Google has working on Mozilla? Google has an incentive to migrate people to Chrome, where they define and control the platform.
Okay, we get it now. Being a leading browser is a huge deal, and it's a massive thing just to keep up with the bug reports, much less the bugs themselves.
I know of a troll who files bug reports just to piss people off; last time he tried to claim an About window displaying the same information as every other GUI app in existence is "a bug and confusing people". Maybe you should ban people like him from the system, just saying.
Always leave room to add an explanation if it doesn't work out.


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Bella & Edward continue fighting the odds, including surprise vists from unwanted guests, and a surprise set-up by Charlie.
First Story, Be easy. I don't own any of these characters.
1. Part One: Impossible
Rating 0/5 Word Count 332 Review this Chapter
Darkness consumed my room, I noticed as I awoke in the blackness. Reaching to my bedside table, I flicked on the lamp, and looked around with a sigh. In the chair by my window sat, the now familiar Edward Cullen, his natural pallor reminding me of his eternal life.
I raised my stiff body from my bed, and made my way to close the window that he'd left open. Apparently, he'd forgotten that I could still feel the cold the seeped through. Once I was back on my bed, I rested my head on my knees, thankful for the silence that gave me the chance to relish his God-like image.
How can such a beautiful person, love someone as ordinary and plain as me? I thought, with furrowed brows. The evidently broke the silence, for Edward rose and took my seat, sliding me to his lap.
"What are you thinking about, Bella?" he asked, as he patted my back soothingly.
"Of us…" I replied, only to feel him tense beneath me. "It's good on your behalf, though." I quickly added.
It took a moment for him to untense, and when he did he spoke in that velvet voice that melted my insides.
"Bella, I love you because you are true. You are unique. You are my singer! I don't think there was ever a time that I didn't love you. And I know…" I looked away and he guided my chin back towards him with two fingers, "…I know there never will be! We'll always be together! Forever! "
It took me a moment to realize that he'd said forever, and I seized the moment to reply "So…You do see me in your Eternity?"
He silenced my jeer by placing my head to his stone cold chest, and lightly stroking my back. I knew it wasn't the right thing to say, but sometimes words escaped my lips before reason could interfere.
"Oh, how I do love you Bella." He murmured, as he looked through the window and out into the darkness.
- Author
- TheCullenCult
- Rating
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- Reviews
- 14
- Words
- 1500
- Views
- 1
- Published
- 21 Mar 07
- Updated
- 01 Apr 07
- Status
- In Progress


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Into town this morning to be filmed for a campaign to try and encourage men to examine their testicles. To help them find out if they've got cancer rather than just for fun, but there's no reason why it can't be both. I had to say that it's best to check them after a warm shower or bath because that's when they're at their most relaxed, but I did point out that I had been told that by someone else. It's not like I spend all day ascertaining how relaxed my testicles are and then writing down the results in a notebook. And anyone who says I do do that is lying.
I had my photo taken with me grabbing my (fully clothed) crotch and asked the photographer if he was pleased with where his career was going. I could have asked myself the same thing.
Then an enjoyable afternoon doing some reading and research for "I Killed Rasputin". I don't know if my play can reveal the truth about what happened that night back in 1916, but it's fascinating trying to unravel the lies and bullshit that surrounds the event and try to work out what really happened. Whatever the case Yusupov is a fascinating character. A man happy to admit to and profit from a murder (which he possibly didn't commit, though was surely involved in), though not able to openly admit his true sexuality. What a world where a murder can go unpunished, but loving someone is a crime. Interestingly, like Rasputin, Yusupov had a spiritual side that was compromised or at least at odds with his sexual behaviour.
Yusupov was certainly lying about what happened on the night of Rasputin's death, but it was a lie he kept up right to the end, partly because he gained notoriety, fame and money from the lie. But who was he protecting? And why did he keep up that protection until the 1960s when pretty much everyone else involved was dead? He could perhaps have received a whole new wave of fame and profit if he'd finally cracked, but it would have been hard for him to do this in 1967 when the play is set as he was promoting a film which purported to tell the truth. Based on all his previous subterfuge.
I don't think I can piece together the exact truth, though I have some strong feelings about what might have happened, but that's not really the purpose of the play. At the moment I have a confusing mass of material and themes that I need to try and filter down into an 80 minute piece. But I am excited, if not a little terrified, by the mountain that lies ahead of me. It's probably going to be a bit more serious than you're expecting, but there should be lots of laughs. The whole story is full of madness and excess and ridiculous lies. Just by applying logic to some of the certain facts you can go some way to wiping off some of the bullshit. Did Rasputin really free his hand from his bounds after he'd been shot point blank in the head? Or did that just happen naturally while his body was in the river? Or was he, in fact, bound up before he was shot?
There's some more reading and research to be done before I can get my teeth into this, but I am looking forward to getting this up and running. It has to be good. If this project fails then it can actually break me. Which is a good incentive to make it as brilliant as I can.
The RHLSTP with Josie Long is now up for people with a series pass (or who just want to buy that one episode. See a free clip of the chat here. The free audio will be up in the next few days. And remember if you sign up to give us a pound or more a month then you can see an exclusive clip of Josie (and other recent guests) on your secret channel.
The full version of episode 2 of Meaning of Life, about the paranormal, featuring Richard Wiseman is also now available to those of you with a series pass (or who just want that one episode). It includes the complete (and very entertaining) interview with Richard and loads of stand up that won't be in the shorter free version. That free version will be up on iTunes, the British Comedy Guide and the vimeo channel after Easter.


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I want this hatch to become a quite interesting and satisfying one, and I have set a standard for it. This standard must be met in order for you guys to participate, if you like it or not, these are the rules:
1) You may only run either a Tamagotchi Original (Angel, Morino, Ocean, p1, p2, Santa, Devil) or the single pet connections (which rules out the v5, and v6).
2) You must post atleast once in 2 days, preferably each day, and photos are allowed but not necessary!
3) No spamming, hating, raging, or whatever, the TamaTalk rules apply, and must be obeyed.
4) Most importantly, have fun, without this, it would be a bad and unsatisfying hatch. We don't want that do we?
I dont have a set date yet, any input on that is welcome, but I am kind of aiming at tuesday, please provide your input of you want a different date!
Shijimaru - Angel or P2
Edited by Shijimaru, 18 May 2012 - 02:03 PM.


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c.1300, from Old North French gardin (13c., Modern French jardin), from Vulgar Latin hortus gardinus "enclosed garden," via Frankish *gardo, from Proto-Germanic *gardaz- (cf. Old Frisian garda, Old Saxon gardo, Old High German garto, German Garten "garden," Old English geard "enclosure," see yard (n.1)). Italian giardino, Spanish jardin are from French.
Garden-party is by 1843. Garden variety in figurative sense first recorded 1928. To lead someone up the garden path "entice, deceive" is attested by 1925.


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Latest update : 2012-10-31
A fresh take on the news big and bizarre in the newspapers, on websites, blogs and social media. From Monday to Friday at 8.45 pm Paris time.
2018-05-23 Mark Zuckerberg
Remembering Philip Roth
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dominates coverage of the "Tech for Good" summit here in France. Some have accused the French president of cosying up to US tech firms at the expense...
2018-05-18 royal wedding
Royal wedding: Pomp & controversy
On the eve of the royal wedding, the eyes of the globe are on the UK town of Windsor. While some businesses are capitalising on the country's biggest event of the year,...
2018-05-17 racism
Racism revelations from New York to Paris
MediaWatch takes a look at a viral video that shows brazen, aggressive racism from a fan of Donald Trump. A New York lawyer was filmed "flipping out" over Spanish being spoken by...
2018-05-16 France
France and the age of consent
France has downgraded its attempt to crack down on sexual crimes against children. The government has stopped short of introducing an age of consent in its new bill, meaning sex...
2018-05-14 Israel
'Violent contrast' in images from Jerusalem, Gaza border
Many media and social media users have commented on the marked contrast between Monday's reception at the US embassy in Jerusalem and the violent clashes at the Gaza border, with...


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Cheyenita Allen, Director
About the Club
The Platinum Adventures Club is a unique travel and activities group for our customers aged 50 and older. Join our club for great opportunities to meet new people, make new friends and enjoy activities such as:
- Day trips to interesting and unusual sights in Chicago and neighboring communities, such as trips to the latest museum exhibits and theater productions - incorporating delicious meals in our adventures whenever possible
- Extended travel to neighboring states, North America and eventually, even international destinations. Our adventurers will travel in style with deluxe transportation and superior accommodations
- Information seminars on timely topics and discussions of current best-selling books
Joining the club is free and simple. If you are at least 50 years of age, you are eligible! The only expense you incur is the cost of the events and trips you attend.
Please stop by the bank today to visit with a personal banker, fill out an application card and pick up the latest calendar of events. You can also call the bank to have an application card and calendar of events mailed to you. For further information contact Cheyenita Allen, Director at 773.752.4600.
Platinum Adventures Newsletter
Click here to see the newest edition of the Platinum Adventures newsletter.


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Happy birthday! Cake baked. Check. Party planned. Check. Driver's license renewed — oops, there may be a problem with that one.
Anjolena Scassa lost her driver's license a few days ago.
The northeast Massillon resident went early Thursday afternoon to the Massillon Bureau of Motor Vehicles office on Wales Road NE for a replacement. That's when she found out the computer system was down.
Scassa said she filled out a form and went home, but a BMV worker called her a half hour later to come back because the computer problem was fixed — at least temporarily.
It was the same scenario for many drivers seeking license renewals or replacements this week across Stark County and Ohio, as the state deals with computer problems that have plagued BMV offices since Monday.
"It was OK because they called me right away when I got home," said the 20-year-old Scassa who went back to the BMV around 3:30 Thursday to take care of business. "Then they got me in right away without any wait."
A BMV worker said the system was back online shortly before 3 p.m., but there's no guarantee it'll stay online — meaning folks could experience problems again today.
"It's a statewide issue, and across the state, it's just hit or miss," said Ohio BMV spokeswoman Lindsay Bohrer.
As of late Thursday, there still was no estimated time for full system restoration.
A federal software update for commercial driver's licensing shut down the regular system that includes access to the Problem Driver Pointer System, explained Bohrer. States use the national database to check whether a person has outstanding issues in other states before issuing a license.
As far as she knows, Bohrer said, other states have not had the same problems as Ohio. She did not know what specifically caused Ohio's system to crash but said the state was working with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators to restore service.
"We're trying to get it fixed as soon as possible," she said.
People who need to renew a license can call ahead and see if their local BMV is operating, or visit the office to receive a standard letter issued during system malfunctions. Bohrer said drivers can carry the letter and present it to police if stopped.
"Law enforcement should be used to seeing this letter," she said.
Stark County Auditor Alan Harold said the Plain Township BMV office wasn't busy earlier in the week because of the colder weather, but the county-operated BMV had to turn away a few dozen customers Thursday. Computer systems were working about 4 p.m. at the Whitewood Street NW office, though Harold said there was no telling how long they would function.
"It's been sporadic at best since Monday," he said.
Harold couldn't recall a computer glitch in the past six years this widespread. He said local deputy registrars have to wait for the fix at the state and federal level, and the BMV has been communicating as best it can with people seeking to renew their licenses.
"It really is the inconvenience to the customer that is problematic," he said.
Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or
On Twitter: @kbyerREP
Reach Steven at 330-775-1134
On Twitter: @sgrazierINDE


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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Arlington police are investigating after a man with mental disabilities was found dead inside a hot car.
Police spokeswoman Tiara Richard says the man was found in a sport utility vehicle Thursday afternoon. The SUV was parked outside a group home where Richard said people with special needs were cared for.
Richard said the man, who has not been identified, was in his late 20s or early 30s but had "the mental capacity of a young child."
Investigators believe that a group of people went out in the SUV Thursday morning and people were dropped off somewhere off-site, but the man apparently didn't get out with the others. The SUV then returned to the group home.
An employee who went to the SUV later found the man unresponsive.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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You are here
Region I | Leadership
Seth A. Goodall
Seth A. Goodall was appointed by President Obama to serve as SBA's New England Regional Administrator on July 10, 2013. As Regional Administrator, Goodall oversees SBA's six New England district offices and is responsible for the delivery of the agency's financial and technical assistance and government contracting activities throughout New England.
As an entrepreneur, public servant and attorney, Seth has a long history of working with and on behalf of small businesses in New England. He formerly worked as an attorney at Dyer Goodall, P.A., where he represented small businesses, individuals and municipalities in a variety of matters.
In 2008, while practicing law, Seth was elected to the Maine Legislature as State Senator representing Sagadahoc County and the town of Dresden in Lincoln County. Seth was re-elected in 2010 and 2012, at which point he began serving as the Senate Majority Leader. Goodall worked on and sponsored legislation on economic development and small business matters in the Legislature, co-chairing the Joint Select Committee on Maine's Workforce and Economic Future and serving as a member on the Joint Select Committee on Regulatory Reform and Fairness. He also co-chaired and served as a member on the Joint Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources. During his tenure he was appointed to the Maine Economic Growth Council, a non-partisan council of business, policy and economic development officials charged with measuring Maine's economy and developing a long-term state economic plan. Prior to the Legislature in 2007, Seth was elected to the Selectboard in his hometown of Richmond, Maine, serving one year as Chair of the Board.
As an entrepreneur, Goodall co-owned a full service landscaping company from 1992 to 1999—building the foundation for a successful, multi-million dollar company. He also previously helped launch Starting Out, a Maine start-up company focused on career and workforce educational resources.
Goodall has a J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law in Portland, Maine, and a Master's Degree in Plant Science and a Bachelor's Degree in Agronomy from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut.


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Secret Stash Records is an independent record label owned and operated in Minneapolis, MN. They are dedicated to releasing great music in great collectible LP packages. Whether you are a DJ looking for rare grooves to sample, or just an average Joe looking for great music, they've got you covered.
Secret Stash made a huge impact in 2012 to bring to life elements of a bygone era in the local music scene with the release of Twin Cities Funk & Soul: Rare R&B Grooves from Minneapolis/St. Paul 1964-1979. The compilation unearthed a cavalcade of vintage sounds from the 1960s and '70s Twin Cities music scene that had been heard rarely if ever, igniting renewed interest in and an insatiable fervor for the music. The record quickly became a bellwether for serious Minnesota music fans, and it had other unexpected results: a lot of the artists on these classic tracks still lived in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, some of them still involved in the local music scene.
With the success of the compilation, putting a show together with the original artists was an irresistible idea. Thus was born the Twin Cities Funk & Soul All-Stars, a collective who have been filling rooms for sold out events for the past year. With shows full of passion and precision, they are finally receiving the attention and accolades for their contributions which has been long overdue.
At this year's sold out 8th Birthday Party for taste makers 89.3 the Current they were definitely crowd and critic's favorites. As critic Chris Riemenschneider put it, "The veteran R&B makers added a touch of style and contrast to the sometimes overly trendy 89.3 playlist with their utterly timeless quality. Let them be a litmus test for future birthday parties."
For two special nights, the Secret Stash Soul Revue with Sonny Knight, Maurice Jacox and vocal group the Valdons will be returning to the stage for another look back into the Twin Cities Funk & Soul music. Also included will be a rare appearance from legendary Twin Cities R&B DJ, promoter and MC, Jackie Harris.
As this music has gained steam so has the effort to push it forward into the future with new songs and a special guest vocalist and Secret Stash favorite, Chastity Brown, who has been added to the mix and will be featured throughout the evening.


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|© MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
SAL notes: Bell answering the call04/19/2012 11:17 AM ET
By Bill Ballew / Special to MLB.com
Rick Sofield remembers well the challenges associated with playing in the professional ranks for the first time. Thirty-seven seasons ago he was an 18-year-old in the Appalachian League, fresh out of high school in Morristown, N.J. The adjustments, both on the field and off, were a challenge for the young outfielder, who admits he had to grow up fast in order to keep pace.
"You got to go through it at some point if you want to get to the big leagues," said Sofield, who reached the Majors with Minnesota for the first of three seasons in 1979. "That's why these guys are here, to learn how to handle the ups and downs and become better players and better men."
As manager of the West Virginia Power, Sofield realizes one of his prized pupils, outfielder Josh Bell, is experiencing the proverbial emotional roller coaster that has left the 19-year-old from Dallas feeling at times as if his head is spinning. Bell is making his professional debut with the Power after signing late last August and is discovering pro ball is a whole new game.
"I'm in a different part of the country and it's definitely new territory in terms of playing," Bell said. "I'm just trying to get used to the game right now and used to playing every day.
"In high school, if I had a bad game, I'd have four or five days to recover and get better. Now that it's every day, I have to make adjustments on the fly and try to let the game come to me."
Through his first 11 outings, Bell has shown flashes of his brilliant potential, batting at a .255 clip with a home run, three doubles and 10 RBIs. His defense has been solid, not unlike his incredible athleticism in all phases of the game. At the same time, he has experienced some difficulties in terms of being patient and making consistent contact. In Bell's initial 47 at-bats, he had 17 strikeouts and one walk, leading to a modest .260 on-base percentage.
"There's so many things I need to get better on," Bell said. "Some days my legs aren't there, so I have to make adjustments. You have to be careful about what you eat and you need to focus on getting enough sleep at night, which can be challenging at times when we're on the bus. I'm still learning what works for me and what doesn't work."
Considered one of the top high school position players in last year's Draft, Bell slipped to the Pirates in the second round because most teams deemed him unsignable. His mother is a professor at Texas Arlington, and Bell's commitment to becoming a Longhorn at the University of Texas appeared to be ironclad. Pittsburgh, however, presented Bell with a $5 million signing bonus, the largest ever given to a player selected outside the first round. That type of money, along with the chance to become an impact player in a rebuilding organization, was simply too much for Bell to turn down.
"When it comes down to that type of investment, you're going to get more opportunities," Bell said. "I decided that if this is really what I want to be doing for the rest of my life, this is the best shot I'm going to get. If there are struggles, I feel I'll have more chances to prevail in the future if I signed now. That's why I decided to sign out of high school instead of going the college route."
Pittsburgh officials believe Bell has the ability to become an impact player in the Major Leagues in the not-too-distant future. With his intelligence and baseball instincts, he should add power to his offensive package as his 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame matures. He also has the range and arm strength to be an All-Star-caliber right fielder.
For now, he's simply learning the protocol and building a foundation for the long haul.
"I really didn't have any expectations when I signed last year," Bell said. "I'm just trying to let everything come to me and learn as I go. I never planned to go this route, so I'm trying to take everything in and do the best I can."
In brief
Tourists have the Power: Bell's West Virginia Power have already seen enough of the Asheville Tourists, who have a 5-0 record in head-to-head match-ups. The Tourists have outscored the Power, 57-23, and plated 10 or more runs in four of the five contests, including a 16-0 victory on April 16.
The dominant Dylan: No pitcher in the Minor Leagues has been more dominant in the first two weeks of the season than Delmarva's Dylan Bundy. The Shorebirds right-hander did not allow a hit in his first three starts, all of which have been limited to three innings. He issued his first walk of the campaign in his third appearance, on April 17 against Hagerstown, and has struck out 15 of the 28 batters he's faced.
No Power in Rome: The Rome Braves rank last in the Sally League in most offensive categories while getting off to a 2-9 start, including a 1-4 mark at home. A more traditional power outage occurred at State Mutual Stadium on April 17, causing the R-Braves' contest with Savannah to be postponed in the top of the fourth inning.