text:
Exemplar ausleihen
Suche nach Bibliotheken, die diesen Titel besitzen ...
|Exhibition catalogues
Exhibition catalogs
|Physisches Format
|Online version:
Picasso and portraiture.
New York : Museum of Modern Art : Distributed by Abrams, ©1996
|Pablo Picasso; Pablo Picasso
|Alle Autoren:
Pablo Picasso; William Rubin; Anne Baldassari; Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.); Musée Picasso (Paris, France)
|0870701436 9780870701436
|"Published on the occasion of the exhibition ... the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in collaboration with the Musée Picasso, Paris"--Title page verso.
|495 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 31 cm
|Reflections on Picasso and portraiture / William Rubin --
Picasso's self-portraits / Kirk Varnedoe --
Three portrait-manifestoes of poets : André Salmon, Guillaume Apollinaire, and Max Jacob / Hélène Seckel --
"Heads faces and bodies: : Picasso's uses of portrait photographs / Anne Baldassari --
To fall "like a fly into the trap of Picasso's stare" : portraiture in the early work / Marilyn McCully --
Portraiture in Picasso's primitivism and cubism / Pierre Daix --
The modernists' dilemma : neoclassicism and the portrayal of Olga Khokhlova / Michael C. FitzGerald --
Picasso's blond muse : the reign of Marie-Thérèse Walter / Robert Rosenblum --
"For charming Dora" : portraits of Dora Maar / Brigitte Léal --
A triangle of ambitions : art, politics, and family during the postwar years with Françoise Gilot / Michael C. FitzGerald --
The Jacqueline portraits in the pattern of Picasso's art / William Rubin.
|edited by William Rubin ; with essays by Anne Baldassari [and others].
"Portraiture has managed to flourish in modern painting in spite of the popularization of photography, the decline of traditional patronage, and modernism's increasing emphasis on abstraction. However problematic modern styles have been for representational art, painters have continued to discover new possibilities in the imaging of the human face. This book explores the challenge of the modernist portrait through the multiple solutions proposed by its foremost protagonist and, in so doing, becomes the first volume ever published on the subject of Picasso and portraiture. The hundreds of works reproduced here - most of them unfamiliar, some virtually unknown - demonstrate the remarkable range of Picasso's experimentation in all its stylistic and psychological diversity. The book opens with an authoritative, broad-ranging essay by William Rubin; the nine essays that follow - all by major contemporary scholars and critics - examine different periods and aspects of Picasso's career and clarify personal relationships between the artist and his subjects. It closes with an essay by Mr. Rubin on the late portraits. Numerous photographs, some never before published and many by outstanding photographers, present the portrait subjects as seen through the eye of the camera. This book, published to accompany a major exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, opening in April 1996, no doubt will long remain the definitive work on its subject."--Jacket.
Ähnliche Titel
- Picasso, Pablo, -- 1881-1973 -- Exhibitions.
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text:
The NFL officials were welcomed back as saviors Thursday night for the Browns-Ravens game in Baltimore.
The adulation is sure to continue this weekend with the rest of the Week 4 slate, including in Buffalo, where the Patriots take on the Bills.
Might as well have the officials carried into stadiums on palanquins by fans. Players and some coaches would probably join in.
Conquering heroes, those officials.
Accomplices to kidnapping would be more like it.
The officials had just as much to do with the game being held hostage for the first three weeks as NFL owners or commissioner Roger Goodell.
It's just easier to demonize owners, with their sweet suits and private jets. And let's be honest, they deserve the criticism. They aren't stewards of the game, they're overseers of the bottom line.
But don't let the officials skate on this.
According to sources with the NFL and the NFL Referees Association, both sides were dug in until they realized the breaking point was coming in Week 4 — because of competitive-balance issues when bye weeks start — and then the tipping point of the Monday night fiasco in Seattle.
Both sides finally saw the possibility they ignored for the sake of doing business: a team, the Packers, being robbed of a victory by a blatant missed call (or three) on the Fail Mary that gave the Seahawks a cheap 14-12 victory. Not that you could tell from Pete Carroll's ridiculous celebration.
"This isn't a perfect business. It's a bit imperfect, in a sense," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Thursday from New York, where he was on hand for the negotiations. "I had talked with Drew Bledsoe and he reminded me that he had to come out of the locker room twice when he thought games were ended.
"Even the regular refs, it's been a struggle at times. They are the highest qualified, they do a great job, and I think these replacement refs had a great deal of scrutiny on them. We just wish it had never come to that."
Well, it did. And those who love and take part in the game were the ones hurt.
After the Inaccurate Reception, the sides finally buckled down and hammered out a deal.
Well, sorry if I don't stand up and applaud either side.
A group of grown-ups finding predictable middle ground while making the country's most popular sport a punch line and taking advantage of the loyalty of fans?
You should be slapping them upside the head, not on the back.
Look at the deal they hammered out. It came down to two areas of negotiation.
The NFL wanted changes to the pension plan that would save money, and convert a defined pension plan into a defined contribution plan, a 401(k).
The union wanted to protect jobs by resisting the NFL's effort to open up an avenue to full-time officials — most officials want to keep their current full-time jobs — and to replace underperforming officials, even during a season.
Neither side budged.
"Anyone who is a half-decent businessman knows the money is always an issue, but it was not the main issue," Kraft said.
The owners knew they could break the union, if it came down to it, by replacing all the referees after the good college officials finished their seasons.
The referees used their expertise with the rules, experience in the game, and integrity of the game for leverage.
And both sides knew the fans and the integrity of the game would be caught in the middle.
"We are sorry to have to put our fans through that, but it is something that in the short term you sometimes have to do to make sure you get the right kind of deal for the long term and make sure you continue to grow the game," Goodell said.
Fans and the game were collateral damage. And the owners and officials were fine with that.
The owners wanted to fatten their wallets a little more. The officials wanted to protect their cushy part-time gigs, ridiculously good benefits, and jobs, even for the weakest officials.
In the end, the sides came to a reasonable compromise.
On the pension, new hires will get the 401(k) immediately, and veteran officials with less than 20 years service time will be brought into it in five years.
On the personnel side, the NFL can start hiring full-time officials next season. And the league can start training other officials to use down the road.
A reasonable agreement. And one that could have been reached before the season if either side truly cared about the game and the fans.
"You can't always force an agreement at a particular time," Goodell said. "That is the frustrating thing about labor-management negotiations. You have to move people to a place that they are comfortable making the kinds of concessions and long-term commitments that are going to be necessary that improve our game for the long term. I think that is where it got to."
Goodell, who is paid a lot of money to do the dirty work for his 32 bosses, also deserves criticism.
Since being named commissioner Sept. 1, 2006, Goodell has alienated his two largest constituencies: fans and players. Unfortunately, they don't pay him; owners do.
Along with overseeing lockouts of players and officials, Goodell burned the evidence from Spygate, kept at least some of the evidence from the bounty scandal private, battled with retired players, and created a punishment system that at times lacks consistency and due process.
But his bosses are thrilled with Goodell and have given him a raise.
Doesn't that kind of say it all?
Goodell and the owners operate on the premise that because money, television ratings, and the popularity of the game increase every year, they must be doing a good job.
It's almost comical that they think that is related. Correlation does not imply causation.
But the hands of the officials are just as dirty for the travesty that was the first three weeks of the season. They wanted to keep their pensions the way they were, and to keep young and upcoming officials from taking their jobs.
So the groups charged with protecting the game — the owners off the field, and the officials on it — put their own interests ahead of it.
Remember that when you have the urge to thank either side for order being restored this weekend.Greg A. Bedard can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Aurora Rose Nagel and Robert Justin Cristiano would like to announce their engagement and upcoming wedding.
The bride is the daughter of Steve and Marie Nagel of Altoona, Iowa, and the granddaughter of Argyl Nagel, a Traer resident since 1946. The groom is the son of Robert and Judy Cristiano of Newport Beach, California.
The couple met after a chance encounter at a USC football game in November of 2010. The bride-to-be met the groom's parents, arranged a date later that week and fell in love. The couple currently resides in Austin, Texas.
Article Photos
The wedding will be held on June 1, 2013 in Newport Beach, California. The ceremony and reception will both be held at the Newport Beach Pacific Club.


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The Henderson County Sheriff's Office is consulting with an Atlanta design firm to find a balance between renovations and security enhancements at the 1995 courthouse, where state offices have moved out and a congressman's staff has moved in.
The Sheriff's Office is working to fill two deputy positions to be added to the courthouse's security staff of eight. The Henderson County Board of Commissioners approved funding for the positions at its meeting last month.
County Manager Steve Wyatt said "all of the state offices" have moved out of the courthouse and into the renovated former Health Department building on Spartanburg Highway. The board plans to address ideas to renovate and reallocate some of the space their departure freed at its planning retreat next week.
Congressman Mark Meadows moved into seven empty offices and a conference room on the ground floor of the courthouse with some of his full-time staffers on Jan. 3. They have an agreement to occupy the space for at least two years.
Wyatt said commissioners agreed to pay for office renovations that include carpet, painting and moving a wall. Meadows will pay a flat monthly fee of $500 for utilities, but no rent.
Sheriff's Office Maj. Jerry Rice updated the Board of Commissioners Monday on the courthouse's evolving security measures.
"That particular facility is approximately 100,000 square feet. When Sheriff McDonald took office on March 8 of last year, only a fraction of that facility was being screened for security purposes," Rice said. "There's been some readjustments of some entrances; some entrances closed off. There's now a single focal (entry) point for screening of the public on the north side of the courthouse. That way, it allows 100-percent screening of anyone gaining access to the courthouse."
Another entry line is open to courthouse staff and officials who use the building on a daily basis. The courthouse's main entrance on the facility's west side is now used solely as an exit, and its entrance on the south side has been closed to thru-traffic.
Rice told the board that funneling the public through a tighter security checkpoint manned with guards and metal detectors has helped them catch "all kinds of weapons, drug paraphernalia (and) drugs" that might have otherwise found their way inside the courtroom.
Wyatt said that the times he was there, the checkpoint was efficient and the lines moved "very quick."
"The comments I've heard is that the people who work there 'feel better about the situation there,' and that's not everything, but that's something that we've done to improve that," he added.
"We feel like with those measures, we've taken at this particular point have been effective," Rice said, adding that they are working with a consultant to balance ongoing renovations with enhanced security.
The consulting firm, Rosser International, will identify security upgrades that can be done now without negatively impacting the more major renovations to come.
"I want to commend you guys for what you've done, coming in to take over security and making a major change; the way you had to do it, we were apt to have some problems, but you guys handled it very, very well," said Commissioner Mike Edney.
"In 1995, a study was done as to what it took to do security in that courthouse above and beyond the metal detector on the second floor from the courtrooms. At that point in time, it was determined there needed to be eight law enforcement people in that building, and maybe we're finally getting there," said Commissioner Tommy Thompson.
"I think we are," Rice said. "On March 8, we had six there, and we're slowly getting the proper amount of staff that we need to provide security there."
Reach Weaver at emily. email@example.com or 828-694-7867.
Officials trying to beef up courthouse security
The Henderson County Sheriff's Office is consulting with an Atlanta design firm to find a balance between renovations and security enhancements at the 1995 courthouse, where state offices have moved out and a congressman's staff has moved in.


text:
Innovation Strategy for Business to Business Market Penetration
Strategies must align innovation capabilities to foster business model, since it mediates between the technology and the economic platforms domain. Here we consider the elements influential to technology innovation process in the context of a business to business technology-driven enterprise, considered within the perspective of technology maturity and organizational life cycle. The study subject was the Operacional Têxtil Ltda, a Brazilian textile systems automation enterprise, serving Latin-American textile industrial market. Main conclusions indicate the enterprise could be (a) an innovative business process generator and make this the leading strategy to compete; (b) an innovative product launcher and make this the leading strategy to compete; and/or (c) a technology-driven innovator using this strategy to improve market penetration.
Full Text:PDF
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v5n2p137
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
International Business Research ISSN 1913-9004 (Print), ISSN 1913-9012 (Online)
Copyright © Canadian Center of Science and Education
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text:
EADS's decision to change its name to Airbus Group is more than cosmetic. The rebranding symbolically concludes more than four decades of cross-border consolidation while recognizing the formidable power of the Airbus moniker. Given the European aircraft manufacturer's modest start in 1969-70—when Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed enjoyed a robust near-monopoly worldwide—this switch in names is a remarkable achievement.
However, EADS's top executives, led by Tom Enders, had no plan to mimic Boeing, placing a civil-military portfolio under a unified name. This Airbus Group is adhering to a strictly European strategy that takes into account complex rules peculiar to its European origins. In contrast to Bill Boeing's legacy, Airbus does not refer to a founding father's name: the brand was, in essence, created by the popular press. Europe's plan to develop an innovative high-capacity, short-haul, widebody twinjet was initially christened Galion in a French feasibility study, but the media dubbed it aerobus or airbus. It later evolved into the A300B concept (300 referring to the twinjet's seat capacity, later downsized) and, without great debate or fanfare, the decision to add a capital letter was made by company insiders. The choice to run with the Airbus appellation has never been questioned over the years.
Remembering Airbus's early days, its pioneers' will to succeed and the initial skepticism that greeted the enterprise, there must be some gratification that Airbus now supersedes EADS.
But analysts often underestimate the difficulties of the past. The 143,358-employee group, a world-class player, still suffers from the lack of a unified industrial policy stemming from its multi-national genesis. Boeing and other U.S. giants never had to thread through and reconcile four countries' divergent laws and regulations or cultural differences, nor did they have to fight unfavorable exchange rates. The A300B and its early successors' development costs were funded by governments and the taxpayers' deep pockets. The French partner (Aerospatiale) was a state-owned enterprise and bouts of national pride frequently made corporate governance a nightmarish undertaking. These facts alone recognize EADS's huge merits and make its abandonment of legacy names in order to complete the unification saga all the more understandable.
Having said that, the fact is the choice of the Airbus brand, although probably unavoidable, is far from ideal. Yes it replaces an obscure acronym, but it has already created a few identity problems, for example in the helicopter market. Eurocopter—the robust Franco-German rotary-wing subsidiary—is now Airbus Helicopters, an incongruity. Apparently, no other option was seriously considered, such as "European Aerospace," to avoid establishing and imposing an all-new brand. Moreover, the rebranding underscores EADS's commercial transports' business dominance, in other words its inability to balance civil and defense revenues. However, this is certainly not Enders's responsibility: Had EADS successfully completed a merger agreement with BAE Systems, the ratio would now be different. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's resolute opposition to the consolidation plan dramatically confirmed that political interference is still alive and well.
The group, now profitable, faces more problems. Airbus Defense and Space is suffering from the A400M military airlifter's cost overrun, delays and fragile backlog. Despite hopes to acquire more orders in the export market, the program might never reach the financial break-even point. Adopting the broad view, Airbus Group executives admit that military sales are suffering from "the changing market environment with flat and even shrinking defense and space budgets in the Western hemisphere."
The A380 mega-transport also has had its fair share of travails. Sales remain weaker than predicted and the average production rate is significantly lower than 45 aircraft/year—the initial goal. With the exception of Emirates, which plans to buy as many as 90 A380s, major airlines are reluctant to put a 525-seat-plus aircraft into service. The program is crippled by heavy cost overruns resulting from an early production debacle and, to a minor extent, wing rib feet repairs.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the overall economic outlook, optimism trumps pessimism: Establishing the Airbus Group is the European aerospace company's ultimate victory.
[This commentary ran in the August 26th edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology.]


text:
Georgia Highlands College - Adjunct Faculty
Mr. Jeff Hargett, B.S., M.S.Ed., Ed.S.Adjunct Biology Instructor since 1993
Mr. Hargett graduated from the University of North Alabama in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology Education. He received his Master's degree in 1981 from Jacksonville State University where he continued graduate work and received an Education Specialist degree in 1987. Coursework was also completed at the University of West Georgia, Georgia State University, State University of New York, and the University of Georgia. Mr. Hargett has been teaching Biology and Anatomy & Physiology since 1976 at West Rome High School, Rome High School, and Georgia Highlands College. In addition to working as a part-time instructor at Georgia Highlands College, Mr. Hargett also serves as Coordinator of Instructional Technology for the Rome City Schools.
Contact Information:email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Links to Course Syllabi:
Biol 2121 Anatomy & Physiology I
Course content (PowerPoints, Outlines, Audio or Video Lectures, Online Test Review Quizzes) is available online at the D2L Course Link.


text: Forgot to mention I shoot with a 6D. I've shot with the Sigma and wasn't that impressed, but then again I was comparing it to the Canon. I don't want to pay that high of a price if similar image quality can be had with the Canon 1.8 at half the cost.


text:
New York Times visits a breakfast club in Norwich
I am a big fan of breakfast restaurants, and so I was surprised to read in The New York Times about a place in eastern Connecticut that I had never heard of.
It wasn't a food story or a restaurant review, either, that mentioned Butch's Luncheonette and Breakfast Club in Norwich. (Norwich is described quaintly in the same piece as "an old mill town on the Thames River.")
Times reporter John M. Broder wrote about his unplanned visit to Butch's in a story about a test drive in a new $101,000 416-horsepower Tesla electric car.
Broder was sampling Tesla's new East Coast charging network, which is supposed to allow Tesla owners to charge up on trips and extend the range of their battery systems.
It was Broder's bad fortune to run low on charge power on his trip from suburban Washington to eastern Connecticut, a shortfall apparently exacerbated by the cold weather.
After charging up at a Tesla center off Interstate 95 in Milford, he went on to Stonington for dinner and then spent the night in a Groton motel.
He woke in Groton to discover the remaining estimated range in his Tesla had inexplicably fallen, and he didn't have enough juice to get back to Milford. Numbers on the 17-inch dashboard touch screen indicated the car's half-ton lithium-ion battery pack was nearly dry.
Tesla representatives, when he called for help, diverted him to a public charging facility run by Norwich Public Utilities.
Broder never did finish driving the Tesla to Milford, but I am getting ahead of the story.
He reported, in his Feb. 8 piece, "Stalled Out on Tesla's Electric Highway," that he found Butch's as "the only warm place nearby" while the Tesla "drank its juice" at the Norwich Public Utilities station.
After reading Broder's story, I called Butch's to see if I could come out and write about the breakfast club. After all, how many breakfast clubs are there?
I reached Butch himself. He immediately quashed the idea of my coming to do an interview. He said he didn't want to answer any questions or have a story appear. He did say he has been at it 38 years and plans to close the club soon.
I decided to make a visit, anyway, to see what a breakfast club might look like. I arrived after the regular hours of 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and managed to get a glimpse while peering in from the sidewalk on North Main Street.
It looks like a charming luncheonette that's been around 38 years, with vinyl-covered counter stools and old wood paneling with black and white photos on the walls.
While I was standing out front, member number 39 walked up and introduced himself. He said the club has 1,700 members who each pay $5 a year to belong.
You can order whatever you want to eat, from eggs to steak, and the food is amazing, number 39 said.
The other remarkable thing about Butch's, he said, is that you can smoke inside. It became a club, he said, after state laws were changed to ban smoking in restaurants.
As long as I was at Butch's I decided to pay a call at the Norwich Public Utilities' charging station.
In a blog that followed his piece on driving the Tesla, Broder wrote more about the Norwich station, which was built with stimulus funds. He quoted a utility official as saying the station has not been very popular.
Well, of course it isn't.
Who would go there to charge their electric car, except someone eating at Butch's?
Broder, whose Tesla eventually had to be towed to Milford, later got into a blogging fight with Elon Musk, the billionaire chairman of the car company, who accused the reporter of bias against electric cars. He said Broder intentionally made his Tesla run out of juice.
As a reader, I believe Broder's account of his trip. And I am offended the carmaker would suggest reporter sabotage.
As a new electric car driver, though, I read Broder's comments about the under-used Norwich charging station as a bit snarky, reporting that only five people have opened accounts to use the chargers. He makes it sound like it is a appropriate harbinger of bad times in the electric car business.
No doubt Tesla's Musk is rightly a little sensitive, too, especially after The New York Times wrote that a $101,000 car didn't make it from Washington to Connecticut and back without a tow, even with the electric-draining cabin heat off and the driver often holding to speeds of some 50 mph or less.
At least the driver got to visit Butch's, though.
This is the opinion of David Collins
Three decades later, Desiree Michaud's friends and family still seek closure
Full game: Stonington 12, East Lyme 10 in ECC girls' lacrosse final
'Pink House' author says it's time for a new ending to eminent domain story


text:
Glen Campbell reportedly moved to Alzheimer's facility
Updated 3:59 pm, Thursday, April 17, 2014
Grammy-winning "Galveston" crooner Glen Campbell moved into an Alzheimer's care facility earlier this month, People.com reports.
"He was moved to an Alzheimer's facility last week," a family friend told the site. "I'm not sure what the permanent plan is for him yet. We'll know more next week."
Billboard.com notes that the singer was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in early 2011.
Fans began posting comments on Campbell's official website almost immediately.
The Alzheimer's Association honored the singer March 26 with its inaugural Glen Campbell Courage Award.
Campbell, who turns 78 on April 22, has sold more than 45 million albums in his career. He was named Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year during the first-televised CMA Awards in 1968. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
The Nashville Film Festival is set to show the world premiere of James Keach's documentary, "Glen Campbell ... I'll Be Me," on Friday, April 18.
People.com reports that the documentary "follows Campbell, his wife, and their three adult children – Cal, Shannon, and Ashley – as they deal with the various stages of the disease and perform on the road together."


text:
To the Editor:
I'm prefacing this letter by stating I don't own a gun, my choice. Being raised in a rural area, guns were second nature to me, I just decided when I started a family I didn't want guns in the house. Once again, my choice.
With that being said, I firmly believe that games, not guns, foment the violence in our society. What passes for entertainment in this country, be it the big screen or video games in one's living room, border on the obscene. Video games are the most violent – points and kills become synonymous. After hours of playing these games, is it any wonder how reality can be blurred, especially if an individual is not balanced.
A common thread I've noticed in these mass killings is the clothes they wear. They're not committing these atrocities in T-shirt and jeans, shorts and flip-flops. They are role-playing, and are taking great care to dress themselves in garb that reflects their heroes. Unfortunately, their heroes no longer wear white hats.
There's another school of thought that the perpetrators of these heinous acts are striving for fame by being the top story in a 24-hour news cycle. I do not agree, but if it were the case, why not create legislation that would not allow the assailant's name to be published until he's buried or his trial starts.
Steve Moore


text:
BTW, I'm planning fanart featuring our furry friend.
Stay Tooned (pun intended)
Josegil "Kiggy" Rivera
Don Kiggxote, C.I. - Companion of the Order of Jubal.
Paradox Trip: Ever wished you could go back to your High School years and REALLY live them the way it should
[ This Message was edited by: Kiggy on 2002-03-30 10:51 ]


text:
Well that blows
Cappy hooked me up with the line-up. Ullstrom played great and Nabby played clutch at the end. Notice the lack of running the net with Carkner in there. Now just don't change the lines.
I wish I still lived on the Island,,,,,,because no doubt I would be there sunday.
Go ISLES
great win by the Isles
great to see arrogant Jets Fan from Sh1tsburg eating some well deserved crow.
Fuk yeah!!!!!! One more time Kyle Fukin Okposo!!!!
What a great win! Fuk Cindy Crosby....fuk him in the ear!!!
Was a good game. Gotta give the isles credit for not caving at the beginning. They owned 90% of that game.
Fischler made a good point just before......Martin=Nystrom.
If not in September, sometimes soon it's going to be:
Martin - Tavares - Strome for 10+ years.
Great win, totally surprised they stuck with it. Impressed. Way to go.
Nice punch by Okpuncho.
Man was I pissed after the first 5 minutes. Even was a little shltty towards my son. Feel a little bad about that, though he was annoying the piss out of me. Had the game on in the background while I read a magazine for the second period. Glued to the TV for the third.
Gotta tell ya, though, I'm not sure how I feel about Nabby.


text:
ACC M5: 11.19.12 EditionPosted by mpatton on November 19th, 2012
- Raleigh News & Observer: After several months of beating his drum, Dan Kane finally found a whistleblower from the North Carolina athletic support staff. Mary Willingham is the first named source to come out and directly say that plagiarism was tolerated by the tutors and professors in many no-show classes at UNC. A witness has been the missing piece to this story, and Willingham's criticism is damning to say the least. She alleges special treatment for revenue sport athletes, both in terms of admissions and questionable classes. Willingham's comments will take some further dissection but do not look good for the school at first reading.
- ESPN: The biggest news over the weekend was the bombshell dropped out of College Park when sources within the athletic department told ESPN that Maryland is far enough along in negotiations to join the Big Ten (along with Rutgers) and that an official announcement could come as soon as later today. This makes the ACC's recent addition of Notre Dame even more important, though it could also spark additional expansion moves (does Connecticut become an ACC target?). By switching leagues, Maryland would likely see a significant boost in television profits in the long run, but the recently increased $50 million dollar ACC buyout could cripple an athletic department already in the red in the short term.
- Washington Post (pro and con): Two Maryland legends spoke out for and against the Terps' potential move to the Big Ten. Gary Williams is all for the move despite supporting the ACC throughout all the expansion rumors. It should be noted that Williams serves as assistant to the athletic director, so it may color his opinion a little (though Williams was never scared to speak his mind before this). He cited the increased television revenue and hinted at a lack of respect from the ACC (noting the conference tournament was only hosted in Washington, DC, once in his 22 years). Len Elmore on the other hand fought for tradition: "Anything that's driven solely by dollars, it'll turn out badly." Elmore took some shots at Maryland's president and athletic director for not having Maryland pride. Expect more from us here at the ACC microsite on the potential move today.
- Wilmington Star News: NC State's Debbie Yow earned herself an extension with increased supplemental compensation. Yow's new deal runs through June 2017 and is a direct result of a successful coaching search (in hindsight at least) and the steady improvement that the Wolfpack's athletic teams have seen under her tenure –most prominently, on the basketball court. Yow will continue making $354,000 a year with an extra $150,000 in supplemental earnings and an enhanced bonus structure going forward.
- Hampton Roads Daily Press: David Teel sat down with John Swofford to talk all things ACC. The majority of the interview is covered in his excellent profile, which ran Sunday. But the extras are also worth reading, especially Swofford's optimism on merging the Notre Dame and ACC football deals in the near future. He also talked briefly about working above Dean Smith at North Carolina and the ongoing scandal in Chapel Hill.


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Office Space to Rent in Attleborough
We have a variety of serviced offices available to rent in Attleborough. Each office space is offered at the best rates and suited to your individual needs and requirements.
We have a variety of serviced offices available to rent in Attleborough. Each office space is offered at the best rates and suited to your individual needs and requirements.
This is a modern business centre providing a range of furnished offices, workshops and studios that are available on flexible terms. The centre is fully telecoms & IT enabled and provides free car parking. The offices range from 315 to 650 ft2 (29 to 98 m2) and each has its own services with lighting, heating and carpets. The workshops range from 974 to 1366 ft2 (91 to 127 m2) and benefit from powered roller shutter doors, 3-phase electricity, lighting and WC facilities.
The centre is fully equipped with all the infrastructure that a modern office requires. The centre contains various sized offices with many established clients.
Business office space set in a recently refurbished Grade II listed building. Flexible terms offered in office ranging from 150 square feet through to open plan areas 6,000 square feet in size. The building has been a finalist in major regeneration scheme awards and presents an ideal environment to work in.
A landmark building in Hinckley town centre, providing conventional style office space on a flexible license agreement. All offices have external entrance doors onto a central car park. Parking for 10 cars. A pleasant building and location within easy walking distance of the town centres shops, banks and eating places.
A recently restored former hosiery factory, full of character, this small business centre has its own private carpark and licensed meeting room offering a full catering service.
Newly converted factory into twelve studio / offices with gas fired conventional central heating, suspended ceilings, disabled facilities and parking available.
This fully refurbished business centre offers superior office accommodation in a range of sizes. Facilities include reception support, meeting rooms, onsite café and catering, ample parking, 24/7 access and security. The main interiors have a light and airy feel, and the main reception manages to combine recent refurbishments with original period features such as its grand sweeping staircase and Amtico flooring. Business services and the latest in IT and telecommunication systems are also on offer. The centre can also provide unfurnished offices at reduced rentals.
This business centre offers flexible modern office space with excellent on site facilities, support and service from its dedicated team. Providing a range of services from meeting rooms, kitchen areas, attended reception,onsite parking and security, this centre is the ideal place to meet your business needs. Recently refurbished and available immediately, with broadband available at an additional cost.
This office has newly opened in 2016. It offers ample parking and 24 hour access.
The centre consists of 2 buildings and 1 of them is the only remaining timber framed property of many that once lined this street and dates back to the 16th century. The restoration of this period building, provides 5,000 sq.ft. of serviced offices. The refurbishment and integrated technology, creates a stunning image for your company in the most historical part of the city centre. If you are looking for a full service solution rather than a traditional let, this centre in Coventry is the perfect base for your company. So whether you are looking for workspace for just one, or up to fifty people your individual requirements can be accommodated.
Below you can see the nearest areas to Attleborough where you can find serviced offices:


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North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died this past weekend. Host Michel Martin looks at the significance of Kim's death and what it means for the future of North Korea. She speaks with David Kang and Sandra Fahy of the Korean Studies Institute at USC.
What Will 'The Dear Leader's' Legacy Be?
By editor • Dec 19, 2011


text: Keep your hands soft and smooth with the Hand Sh*t Hand Cream. Presented in a handy tin which you can pop in you bag for on-the-go application, this hydrating hand cream will banish areas of dryness, and a little goes a long way. The delicious apple blossom and verbena fragrance is also completely irresistible! - L.M. Directions for Use: Apply directly to your hands as often as required.Check stock and price


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If he were taken away from me, I wouldn't know what to do. I'd have to find someone else to be the object of my unreflective scorn. And that would prove difficult, given that Habermas, or anyone else who might fill this slot, has very particular views (the ones I love to hate), and installing a disciple or a simulacrum in his place would not really be satisfying....Ha ha. He's saying that knowing that people use him that way (which he's okay with, since it means he's important). Just spell my name right is the old saying. And Stanley Fish is a lot easier to write than Jürgen Habermas. Also a lot easier to read.
[W]ere I ever to meet him, the odds are that I would like him (the public record suggests that he is an admirable fellow) and if I liked him it would be hard for me to continue beating up on him....
[W]hoever are the characters filling out your precious roster of perfect villains and nogoodniks, take care not to meet them. And if one of your antiheroes happens to turn up in a coffee shop you're sitting in, get up and leave immediately.
And by the way, this is why I like writing from my remote outpost in the Midwest. I don't want to encounter the various politicos I want to inspect and criticize and mock. I need to protect myself from the squishiness that would infect my writing. I have gone out of my way not to meet, say, a Supreme Court Justice.
And this is why political candidates go roaming all over the countryside, looking for hands to shake, eyes to contact. Stay away. Don't let them infect you with their camraderie.


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Rabid Gophers
Kill the gophers. Save the farm. Rabid Gophers is a series of reaction based mini-games where players blast, detonate and snipe away rabid gophers in order to achieve the best time. Play for hours to master each mini-game and attain LIVE Leaderboard bragging rights, or just hop in and play some quick games when you only have a few minutes. Share best times locally and over Xbox Live.
Release Date: April 11, 2009


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The Lollipop Kid
"We need to stop at the Sugar Shop," I tell Greg. Meeting in Vegas for the weekend we're ready for a night of dancing and debauchery when he reveals that he's been having a hard time nailing his hotel roommate. The two have a hush-hush hookup history, but that was long ago. Their once sordid love affair has all but turned into a casual friendship with occasional flirting. "Then why are you two sharing a bed?"
"Because I'm testing the waters," Greg says, sauntering along the strip in cowboy boots. "I decided Vegas would be the perfect place to put myself out there, but he needs to make the first move so I can blame him when it all goes to shit." We take the thousandth flight of stairs into the thousandth mall for the day but he doesn't complain. He likes the way it tightens his butt. "I want the cock...his cock! Do I have to spell it out for him?"
"Some men need a prompt," I advise, heading into the Sugar Shop, where I purchase a red lollipop in the shape of a gaming die. "Try this," I say, handing it to him. "It's a no-brainer. He'll be tired from gambling when he comes home. He'll be drunk, horny...unguarded. And you'll be on the bed casually licking an innocent lollipop. Taking it in ever so gently."
He eyes me dully. "A little obvious, isn't it?"
I push him to the outside, where colors and light sparkle in a fountain, reflecting on a billboard for the Bellagio Hotel. "Get over it. Sometimes obvious is all a gay boy has," I tell him. "Besides, it can be a great tool, especially when defenses are down. Now, let's talk about positioning."
"Positioning? This is too complicated," he protests, as a woman in a dirt-stained Hello Kitty costume panhandles nearby, causing him to contemplate. "Do you think Hello Kitty has these problems?"
"Hello Kitty has a lot of problems, beginning with hygiene. My God. I can't believe people let their kids near that thing. The prostitutes in this city are cleaner." I steer him to the other side of the sidewalk, beyond the men dressed like Superman and Iron Man. "Now, again, think positioning. You need to be ass up on the bed when he comes home. And make sure you're wearing slinky undies."
"Ok. Ass up. Slinky undies. Lollipop," he agrees. "Got it."
He's primed, ready, and lubed for action 'til the next morning when I get a frantic phone call. Things didn't go according to plan. He awoke with the ability to sit without pain. He didn't get butt-punched and he isn't happy. He meets me at the casino. "I did everything you told me," he says.
"Sucking gently?"
"What about the slinky undies?"
"Boxer briefs."
"Boxer briefs!!!???"
"Nothing else was clean."
"Well no wonder he wouldn't fuck you. Nothing says 'I'm going to bed' like boxer briefs. You might as well have shit on the floor."
Upset, he puts a quarter into a slot machine and pulls the handle. "So much for waking up in Vegas. That Katy Perry song made it sound so fun."
Things only get worse later that night when Greg's man begins flirting at the casino with some random guy. The incident leads to an argument, which Greg calls a heart-to-heart conversation. It's more entertaining than the Celine Dion show 'til the two begin rehashing all that went wrong the first time they fucked. Then it plays out like the Titanic. We're all sinking. And I'm the bastard for taking the only life preserver, returning to my room.
"I can't believe you left me," Greg says, sunbathing at the pool the next day. "It's your fault this started. We were up all night-" He rolls his eyes. "Talking."
I sigh. "I don't get it. You must be the only person alive who can't get laid in Vegas."
"I know. It's pathetic," he admits, sipping a red cocktail. "But I tried everything."
I roll over to allow the sun on my back, thinking how many times have I heard this, from how many friends? He never calls me. He doesn't seem interested. He doesn't give me enough attention. Why won't he fuck me? At some point in every friendship there comes a time when someone starts drowning. It takes tough love to air the truth.
"Well, you know what they say in Vegas. When you're down on your luck...." I give him a wink, tossing him a pocket vibrator. "Try another machine."


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"There's blood in the water," as a former editor of mine used to say, cheerfully, whenever a story like this came along. All that's left now is to watch how many get eaten and in what order. This is Ottawa at its most brutal. The Harper Conservatives know the phenomenon well, having delighted in it when they were in opposition. They expect no quarter, and will be given none.
[np_storybar title="Duffy resigns from Conservative caucus" link="http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/16/sen-mike-duffy-resigns-from-conservative-caucus-over-expenses-scandal/"%5D
Conservative Senator Mike Duffy has resigned from the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent amid a furious controversy over his expense claims.
Only a week ago, the Conservative government was hailing Duffy's leadership for repaying the $90,000 in housing allowances the Senate said he owed.
Now a government official says there are a growing number of questions about Duffy's conduct that don't have answers.
The imbroglio ensnared Stephen Harper's highest-ranking adviser after it came to light that the prime minister's chief of staff Nigel Wright wrote a personal cheque to Duffy to cover the bill.
The Prime Minister's Office, in testudo formation, appears to be steeling itself for a long siege. It could spare itself the trouble and cut to the denouement: Sen. Mike Duffy is already gone, out of the Tory caucus as of late Thursday. Chief of Staff Nigel Wright is next in line. Prime Minister Stephen Harper hits "reset" on his office and then on his government, with a far-reaching cabinet shuffle, as has long been planned. Then they pray for a break on pipelines, and trade.
Those are the PM's best options, under the circumstances. But even if he moves surgically and swiftly, this mess doesn't go away, as others have. The reason is simply that the government, at its highest level, appears to have condoned deception and fraud. Or, as people who "work hard and play by the rules" might express it: lying and theft. True-blue Conservatives in Alberta, in rural and small-town Ontario, indeed everywhere, will be staring Ottawa-ward and wondering: What the hell?
This scandal of a kind has never before come close to touching the prime minister, personally. Though Harper's office says he didn't know his most senior aide had personally cut Duffy a cheque for $90,172, to reimburse the Treasury for the latter's improper housing allowance claims, the flechettes are parting the PM's hair. It doesn't matter, really, if he knew or didn't. His office wields more power than any PMO in Canadian history and the most powerful man in the room, other than Harper himself, is Wright. He is an instrument of the prime minister. What touches one necessarily touches the other.
No taxpayer money or Conservative party money was spent? Well, yes. It's true enough, if the PMO's narrative is accurate, that this was Wright's personal money, from his personal bank account. It was a gift. But on what strange and magical planet can they be living, to imagine that makes it appropriate? Is it Pandora? If anything the gifting makes it worse. Why would Wright do such an extraordinary thing? What was the quid pro quo?
The quid pro quo matters, after all. In 2009 former prime minister Brian Mulroney was pilloried, then set on an ice floe and gently pushed seaward by the current prime minister, for having accepted large cash payments from a German businessman, Karlheinz Schreiber, after he, Mulroney, left office. The reason this was so controversial – the heart of that scandal – was the lack of clarity about what the former PM did in exchange for the money.
Rules have been broken. The Senate Conflict of Interest Code is pellucid on this point: "neither a Senator, nor a family member, shall accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or other benefit, except compensation authorized by law, that could reasonably be considered to relate to the Senator's position." The exception is when a gift is given as "a normal expression of courtesy or protocol, or within the customary standards of hospitality that normally accompany the Senator's position." Do not expect Wright, Duffy or the PMO to try to explain how Wright's gift didn't break those rules. The reason is that, based on any common-sense reading, they can't.
Worst of all is the deception, piled on deception. It begins with Duffy being appointed a senator from P.E.I. when he is, in fact, from Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa. It continues with his claiming the up-to-$22,000 annual Senate living allowance that he was not entitled to claim. It further continues with his saying in February, with an air of stiff righteousness, that after talking it over with his wife he had decided to return the money. That decision, we now know, was made only after the senator was assured by the prime minister's chief of staff that it would not cost him a penny. This is not King Leonidas sacrificing himself for Sparta.
Then comes more deception, this time from the government. Duffy showed "leadership," in repaying taxpayers, Government House Leader Peter Van Loan claimed in the House of Commons last week. The truth would be safely obscured in the fog, even now, had CTV's Bob Fife not broken this story Tuesday. The subsequent confirmatory statement from the PMO Wednesday was forced. On Bay Street this is known as "taking a writedown." When bad news is inevitable you get it out there, assume the fetal position, and let the blows rain down.
Even in Ottawa, encased as it is in a scabrous shell of permanent cynicism, this doesn't pass. It is shameful, and sad. Stephen Harper's 30-year-old self, if he were around, would be beside himself with fury – and in the vanguard of those demanding better.


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I briefly mentioned this once but not in very much depth: I don't think of myself as an "albums" person.
I just respond to the song for the song. And think of songs for themselves.
It's a way of thinking that differentiates pop people from rock people. My friends tell me I should lay off on my insane habit of trying to fit everything into categories that somehow support my ongoing unified theory of everything, like this whole thing I have going about "Wheat Thins people" vs. "Triscuits people", but you can tear "rock people" vs. "pop people" from my dead hands.
Rock people consider albums, pop people consider songs. Rock people consider artists, pop people consider personalities. Rock people value obscurity (in lyrics and in music and in life and in everything) and pop people value universality. And clarity.
If you are sensing a bitterness here toward rock people, you're not wrong. But it's just a bitterness born out of a frustrated desire to connect. I understand that we are all residents of the same bizarre and lonely country.
But personalities are mutable, which is generally a good thing. And so I've been listening recently to albums.
Some of my current favorites are Tusk by Fleetwood Mac, There Goes Rhymin' Simon by Paul Simon, and Tattoo You by the Rolling Stones. And I sense myself getting ready to fall into a Dusty in Memphis phase, hard.
The thing is -- and here's where I am going to get REAL vulnerable on you for a second -- listening to albums is a solitary pursuit, but of the sort that is really best shared with one other person. Like snow-shoeing, or watching Antiques Roadshow. And I do not have that one other person in my life, in that sense, so listening to albums sometimes makes me feel unbearably lonely.
I'm okay with that feeling in general. Loneliness is its own thing, a hobby that is painful but productive, and though it's hard to admit to feeling it's good when you do.
(There's this impulse when you are lonely to feel reluctant to admit it out of a desire to not seem like there is Something Wrong With You. Well, I feel like I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that there are lots of things Wrong With Me. There's lots of things wrong with you too. Let's all just admit that and acknowledge that it's not the end of the world because, it gets exhausting.)
So, yes. I am beginning to understand the albums thing. It's fun to come back to something again and again and to find it unchanged except for in the ways you have yourself changed. It's fun to grow the patience to give an album time to develop itself over a few songs. It's fun to try to think about the making of the album and how you can hear that in the music.
Fortunately for me there is one album in my rotation right now that soothes more than it inflames my sense of loneliness and general self-pity about the realities of trying to make connections with others as a super-damaged and painfully-introverted person who is 25 years old.
Can you guess? Remember that what soothes feelings like that is the knowledge that someone else has felt them.
You got it: It's Back to Black.
What gets me about this album is that it's just so confident. When I listen to it I try to remember that when she made it Amy Winehouse was unknown. A super-driven person with an unusual artistic vision and the good sense to partner with good musicians like Mark Ronson (who produced it) and the Dap-Tones (who are the back-up band to Sharon Jones and are, seriously, amazing. I've seen Sharon Jones perform with them a few times and they really fulfill the desire to see handsome black men in shiny teal suits do synchronized dance moves that lies deep within my Motown-loving heart.)
But an unknown person. And when I think about it I feel that there's no wonder that she could never follow this album, because part of what makes it so charming is her lack of self-consciousness and when she got famous she developed self-consciousness. Tragically so.
The first time I loved this album she was alive, and now I've come back to it and she's dead. It changes the way I listen to it. Also the first time I loved this album I was 19 and going through a painful, yet normally so, breakup and now I am 25 and just sort of living in an actually mostly un-dramatic way. So that must affect it too.
But one thing I noticed both then and now is how this song is, quietly, the centerpiece of the whole thing.
Listen to it on its own and it's a song about disappointed love. There are many. This is a good one.
Listen to it on the album and you'll have already experienced the bravado of "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good", the sly "Me and Mr Jones", the alarmingly candid "Just Friends", and the title track "Back to Black" which like all title tracks is sort of trying to sum the whole thing up for you.
In other words you'll already be in love with Amy Winehouse and the particular blend of her personality and her skill.
And then it's "Love is A Losing Game", softer and quieter than "Back to Black", covering some of the same territory -- but dropping all and any cynicism. Like when you know someone for months or years and then she tells you something about herself you never heard before, like a moment when the curtains come up.
The song: Amy Winehouse, "Love Is A Losing Game"; 2006
Right now I am resisting the strong desire to disclaim this post: I have friends (of more quantity and quality than I could have asked for, to be frank), I have a life and a job and reasons to leave the house, so I'm not THAT lonely and it's not THAT bad. Which is true. It's not THAT bad. But it still feels bad sometimes, and I'm not in the mood to hide that anymore.
Guess that's just the Triscuits person in me.


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CountryWide Saturday 8 June 2013
People, events and happenings around the country, presented by Damien O'Reilly.
As farmers continue to count the cost of the fodder crises, the good weather this week has allowed them to begin the process of harvesting fodder to see them through next winter. The silage season may be running two or three weeks behind but better late than never as big machines continue to roar into lush green fields across the country this week.
Frances Shanahan found a bust but happy farmer tending to his field of silage on her travels in Gortanumera Galway this week
Country style fashion is all the rage at the moment ! Mandy Maher (famer and model)her husband Ger and Ag Science student Enda Rabbitte join Damien to talk about the 'country chic' fashion craze !
Well of course you can always be guaranteed good weather when the Leaving and Junior Cert begins. This can be a stressful time for students and their families but could their diet actually help calm the nerves. Gaye Godkin is a nutritionist and she offers some suggestions for the students in your house.
Summer has arrived and it means the farmers are at last getting some relief from the fodder crises as the first cuts of silage are underway. Contractor Peter Farrelly from Kells in County Meath speaks to Damien
The KBC Music in Irish Houses festival kicks off this week at Killruddery House in Bray, Co.Wicklow. Nancy Previs took a tour of the farm and spoke to Lady Meath about the great music in Irish House Festival.
Damien travelled to Cork to meet a worm farmer called Dan Grubert.
Speech Broadcaster of the Year Damien O'Reilly and the CountryWide team feature the events, people and happenings that bring colour and life to communities, towns and villages across the country.
Presenter: Damien O'Reilly
Producer: Ian Wilson


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June 25, 2013 > Newark Unified selects Classified Employee of the Year
Jesus Loza came to Bunker Elementary School in Newark at the start of this school year and entered a facility that had not been properly cleaned in over ten years. He brought his fantastic, positive attitude with him and got down to the business of bringing our facility up to the standard and expectation required of educational facilities. After all, these facilities serve our children and support our teachers in the important work they do each day. And, these facilities reflect the respect that we have for our students and their families. To that end, Jesus has cleaned and organized every single room in our school and made staff feel comfortable in every corner of the campus.When an emergency happens (and they do at an elementary school), Jesus' answer to our radio call is ALWAYS, "O.k., I'll be right there!" and I've watched him run after he's received such a call. During those half-hour periods when past custodians could be seen talking on a cell phone, enjoying a snack at the break room table, or hanging out and talking with another staff member, I have NEVER once seen Jesus at rest. He is always busy - removing staples from the cafeteria walls, painting doors that have not seen a new coat of paint in twenty years, sprucing up a hallway by scraping gum off the sidewalk, or even brightening the stage with a new coat of paint. I've gone into small closets where no one has gone for years and the room has been totally organized, dusted, and is ready for use. One can always tell that Jesus has been there - his M.O. (method of operation) is tidy, organized, and attention to detail.Jesus clearly loves working hard and doing his best. He beams when complimented, but shyly responds, "But, that's my job." Our Maintenance Department has directed each one of their employees to follow the "new expectations" for standards of cleanliness in our district. From Jesus, there is only one response, "That's the way our school should look." He is such a breath of fresh air and we are thrilled he chose Bunker as "his school!"Employees of the Year are chosen because they exemplify the best in practice and in outcomes. Jesus Loza is quite simply a reflection of each of those. If one was to have taken a "before Jesus" and an "after Jesus" photo of Bunker, one could see evidence of this fact. A school that once received parent complaints at the school board level about cleanliness now hears praise of the changes at Bunker.We shine! There is only one person we can point to for making that happen, Mr. Jesus Loza, our Classified Employee of the Year.


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let's snap this losing streak, a homeseries with the pirates is just what we need to get back to winning and alittle homecooking.
let's snap this losing streak, a homeseries with the pirates is just what we need to get back to winning and alittle homecooking.
Bailey owns the Pirates. I like our chances to win and feel a little relief tonight.
I hope it rains here so I can avoid the high school football game and stay hope and listen to the Reds.
My son's not playing varsity so let it rain.
We only live in patches. - H. G. Wells
I expect a 90 pitch complete game shutout tonight from Bailey.
i figured out how dusty is doing the lineup. insider info from my buddy in the clubhouse.
He puts Votto and Rolen 3 and 4 everyday that Rolen plays.
Flips a coin on whether bphil bats leadoff or 2nd. Heads is leadoff, tails is second.
puts the rest of the names into a hat and the first 5 position players out are who plays.
Lol, Maholm. Bailey better have 9 shut out innings in that right arm (plus he better knock in the run) as Reds can't hit Paul at all.
We need a win in the worst way. Luckily it's the Pirates. But it's amazing how many people were like "oh its no big deal everything is wrapped up for us" last Friday when I pointed out how things could go downhill in a hurry. Now we've lost 5 in a row, 6 of 7, and it's a pretty big deal to start winning - and NOW.
more on tonights season opener?
big crowd tonight
Looks like an empty stadium for the most part. Can't say I blame em. The way the team gave up on the road trip doesn't deserve any praise.
The Reds activate two outfielders from the DL, neither one of whom is ready to play. Awesome.
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Some of the methods Adelson used in Macau to save his company and help build a personal fortune estimated at $25 billion have come under expanding scrutiny by federal and Nevada investigators, according to people familiar with both inquiries.
The company's general counsel and an outside law firm warned that the arrangement could violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It is unknown whether Adelson was aware of these warnings. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bars American companies from paying foreign officials to "affect or influence any act or decision" for business gain.
The internal Las Vegas Sands documents were obtained by reporters working for the University of California's Investigative Reporting Program as part of an ongoing collaboration with ProPublica and PBS Frontline. The documents shed new light on an issue separate from Alves' work: the company's difficulties in avoiding contact with Chinese organized crime figures as it built its casino business in Macau.
Gambling is illegal in mainland China, as is the transfer of large sums of money to Macau. The junkets solve those problems, providing billions of dollars in credit to gamblers. When necessary, they collect gambling debts, a critical function since China's courts are not permitted to force losers to pay up. Weidner said junkets are a natural result of China's controls on the movement of money out of the country, channeling as much as $3 billion a month from the mainland to Macau. "To Westerners, the junkets mean money laundering equated with organized crime or drugs," he said. "In China where money is controlled, it's part of doing business."
Allegations about the company's dealings with Alves as well as its purported ties to organized crime are prominently mentioned in a 2010 lawsuit filed by Steven Jacobs, former CEO of Sands China.
"Maybe in a roundabout way, foreign money is coming into an American political campaign," said McCain, an Arizona Republican.
Other sources:
From MSNBC.com:
Discussion about Adelson's motivation for backing the Republican Party usually rotates around two things: his support for Israel's government and his opposition to labor unions. But a new investigation finds that there may be a third motivation: saving himself from a Department of Justice investigation.
Prostitution is legal in Macau. But in the email, Jacobs told top Las Vegas Sands executive Michael Leven that before beginning a planned crackdown on soliciting for sex on the casino floor at Sands Macau properties, he wanted to make sure Adelson agreed. Jacobs said in the email that another executive told him Adelson personally approved allowing prostitution "as it would help our overall gaming revenue."


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SOURCE: SilkRoad technology, inc.
November 14, 2012 12:39 ET
Point Social Collaboration Software Selected as Bronze Winner for Best New Product of the Year
Point Social Collaboration Software Selected as Bronze Winner for Best New Product of the Year
CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - Nov 14, 2012) - SilkRoad Technology, a leading global provider of cloud-based social talent management software, today announced that its Point™ social collaboration software has been named a bronze winner for Best New Product of the Year. The Best in Biz Awards are the only independent business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts.
Point is a groundbreaking new employee-centric solution that connects employees to each other and their organization by uniting the popular features of social collaboration with talent management. Point gives employees a centralized talent management platform with a forum to share expertise and be recognized by peers and leaders; therefore allowing them to drive their own careers and increase employee engagement. Companies benefit by having a platform that reveals emerging trends and associated subject matter experts to better understand who and what is driving their business.
More than 400 entries were received in this year's awards program, from public and private companies of all sizes and from a variety of industries in the U.S. and Canada. Best in Biz Awards 2012 honors were presented in more than 50 categories, including Company of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, Executive of the Year and Best New Product of the Year.
"What differentiates Point from any other social collaboration software on the market today is the integration with a complete talent management suite and its ability to organically pinpoint the influencers within an organization, which empowers them to drive company and career success simultaneously," said Edward Vesely, EVP and chief marketing officer of SilkRoad Technology. "We are honored to have this innovative new application recognized by our industry peers as 2012's Bronze winner for Best New Product."
Winners of Best in Biz Awards 2012 were determined by an independent panel of 32 judges from top-tier news, business and technology publications, as well as broadcast outlets and analyst firms. Outlets included ABC, Businessweek, Computerworld, ECT News Network, Entrepreneur, eWeek, Examiner, Financial Times, Forbes, FOX News, Hartford Business Journal, IDG Ventures, IEEE Institute, Inc., Insight Media, King Features Syndicate, Lab Reviews, Network World, The News and Observer, PC Magazine, ReadWriteWeb, South Florida Business Journal, Tech-Gaming, Techtalk, Upstart Business Journal, USA Today and ZDNet.
For a full list of gold, silver and bronze winners in Best in Biz Awards 2012, visit: http://www.bestinbizawards.com/2012-winners.
About SilkRoad Technology
SilkRoad is a leading global provider of cloud-based social talent management software. Their passion for creating the finest employee experience drives everything they do. The award-winning SilkRoad Life Suite® is an integrated set of employer-branded TM/HCM solutions that power businesses with the latest Web 2.0 and social media innovations: OpenHire® for recruiting, RedCarpet® for onboarding and life events, WingSpan® for performance management, GreenLight® for learning management, Point and Eprise® for Social Collaboration and Content, and HeartBeat® for trusted HRMS. The Life Suite is ideally suited for businesses of every size because of its unique and open "start anywhere" architecture -- implement the complete suite or begin with one solution and add functionality as you need it. Either way, it's the fastest path to develop more productive and empowered employees who can rapidly boost business performance. Visit www.silkroad.com, follow them on Twitter @SilkRoadTweets or call 866-329-3363 (U.S. toll free) or +1-336-201-5100.
About Best in Biz Awards
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ContactMegan Kessler
SHIFT Communications
ContactMegan Kessler
SHIFT Communications
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Go ahead – give your newspaper a hug.
Just a little squeeze of the hand will show you care.
No, a kiss would be too much.
But it is National Newspaper Week.
So, show your favorite local information source some love.
You know what they say: You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone ...
YES, YOUR NEWSPAPER has changed a lot over the years.
More newsy. More opinionated. More colorful.
More interesting, too, we think.
Do you ever find yourself talking about something you read in the newspaper?
Some people say the newspaper is dying. Don't believe it.
We're doing quite well, thank you.
We should have many, many more years together.
When people tell us the newspaper is dying, we offer a wager:
We bet that a newspaper will publish their obituary.
IN FACT, THESE DAYS this newspaper has more readers than ever.
Although sales of printed editions are not growing as they once did, our digital business is brisk.
Last month our website had nearly 1.3 million page views. A decade ago that was zero.
When you count people who read this newspaper on their smartphones and tablets – which totaled zero a couple of years ago – page views in September climbed to more than 1.5 million.
Our Facebook friend count is approaching 7,500. Just a few years ago, it was zero.
And all that is in addition to the 40,000 or so folks who see our print edition on a daily basis.
Newspapers are not dying.
What is dying is the notion that a newspaper delivers only a printed edition.
BUT THERE IS NO denying that we are different.
For example, we feature "moving pictures" on our website. Some call it video.
You won't find kittens in our videos, but you will find Nick Sheley, Rita Crundwell and a host of other hometown newsmakers.
You might also have seen a video we posted last April when Army SFC Kyle Hacker returned from Kuwait to surprise his 5-year-old daughter, Greta, at East Coloma School in Rock Falls.
If you have seen it, you're not alone.
That YouTube video has had more than 700,000 views in the past 6 months.
A decade ago, we would have published a couple of photos of the father-daughter reunion for our print edition readers to see.
Now, people from all over the world can watch the video. Hundreds of thousands have (and still are).
Yes, we have changed.
CRYSTAL BALLS ARE constantly foretelling a sad fate for newspapers in this digital media age.
One interesting view showed up recently in an article in American Legion magazine, which reader Darryl Wahler passed along to this editor.
"Black & White & Read No More" was the foreboding title.
"A longtime reporter observes the twilight of American newspapers," the secondary headline said.
The author, Paul Glader, wrote for newspapers for 20 years and now is CEO and managing editor at WiredAcademic.com.
He sees a future like this:
"BY 2020, MOST newspapers will be published only on weekends, preferring to deliver news, features and commentary to subscribers during the week by electronic devices – tablets, smartphones and other electronic gizmos.
"During the next eight years, we will see the ongoing, painful transition as printed products become pricey, boutique items. ... [R]eaders will grow more accustomed to paying subscription fees for the online news content they value. ...
"Then, one day, newspapers will cease to exist. ... Instead of 'newspapers' [they] will be called 'news publishers,' 'news producers' or 'news organizations.' More and more, we'll read news on digital devices alongside our coffee, oatmeal and toast."
WELL, MAYBE. BUT don't bet the farm on his timetable.
Dire predictions of our doom have come amid the explosive growth of digital competitors over the past couple of decades.
All of those "competitors" offer information. All of them want a piece of the advertising pie.
In large cities, several TV, radio and Internet outlets challenge newspapers for local eyeballs and ad dollars.
That is Mr. Glader's orientation after having worked for big city newspapers.
But markets like the Sauk Valley, while not immune from digital influences, are somewhat insulated from them.
More than 75 percent of newspapers are published in similarly small markets, where the newspapers themselves are not merely print products, but the dominant providers of digital news and information.
Such communities have no local TV stations. Local radio stations have little or no news staff and depend on the local newspaper to know what's going on.
Besides saukvalley.com, what other local Internet sites do people around here turn to for local news and sports?
THIS REPRESENTS THE evolution of all of society, not just the media.
Online shopping has affected brick-and-mortar retailers.
Online booking of flights and lodging has changed travel agencies.
Do you think Amazon and digital tablets have had an effect on bookstores?
Cellphones ... well, do you know anybody who has one?
The world has changed – is changing.
Should we be surprised that newspapers, too, have changed?
AS WAS REPORTED last week, Suburban Life publications have been acquired by Shaw Media, this newspaper's parent company.
The family-owned Shaw group already owned seven daily newspapers, several non-dailies and weeklies, as well as websites, community magazines, and other ancillary publications throughout northern Illinois and into Iowa.
Now the company has added 22 weekly newspapers in Chicago's west suburbs, plus the group's website.
All of Shaw's publications – print and digital – survive in the expanding media world because they have a niche: delivering local news to local people, and local shoppers to local businesses.
And doing it better than anyone else.
Don't worry. We're going to be around for a while.


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Coyotes Raising Money for Fallen Firefightersby Jerry Brown / Arizona Coyotes
GLENDALE -- No one has to explain to Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett what it's like to fight a forest fire.
As a teenager, Tippett was part of a crew that was dropped out of helicopters and into fires that threatened northern Saskatchewan. The memories and the feelings from those years, once awakened, come roaring back.
"It gives you the ultimate respect for fire and how hard it is to contain," Tippett said. "It's a hard job that has to be done, and firefighters are something that's near and dear to my heart."
On June 30, 20 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew from Prescott, Ariz., raced into flames to fight a raging forest fire and attempt to save the small town of Yarnell, Ariz. A change in wind direction and speed allowed the fire to surround and trap the crew; 19 members of the team, most in their early 20s with young families, died.
The Coyotes will join what has been a long and continuous show of support for the "Yarnell 19" on Wednesday when they stage an intrasquad game in conjunction with the city of Glendale at Jobing.com Arena. Tickets will be priced at $5, with all proceeds from the night going directly to the families of the firefighters.
The proceeds from the 50/50 raffle held that night as well as lapel pins sold by Glendale firefighters also will benefit the families of the tragedy.
"You see firefighters put themselves in harm's way so often, especially the guys who fight the Arizona forest fires because it's so hot and the forest is so dry," Doan said. "They always seem to come out of it OK. When this happened and so many of them from one crew gave their lives and died together, it was incredibly heartbreaking."
The Coyotes' ownership group also has announced it will match all proceeds raised from the evening to double the donation given the families of the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots.
"You think about those families left behind and how their husbands and fathers sacrificed themselves to save lives and property of so many people," Doan said. "Anything we can do, small as it is, is an honor and a privilege."
It will be another night of player evaluation for the coaching staff as the countdown to the Oct. 3 season opener against the New York Rangers continues. But there also will be a special feeling in the air for what is being accomplished off the ice.
"You look at those young men and what a hard job that is, trying to help our communities and keep people safe," Tippett said. "You're talking about heroes, and when you suffer a loss like this it's not a matter of whether or not you'll help, it's only how much can you do to help.
"I'm very glad and proud that we're able to put something together and help these families."
Fans are also encouraged to donate online at http://coyotes.auction-bid.org/ or by texting "Coyotes" to 68494.


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MIAMI -- Dwyane Wade scored 22 points on 10 for 14 shooting, LeBron James finished two assists shy of a triple-double and the Miami Heat improved to 4-0 at home for the first time in franchise history by beating the Brooklyn Nets 103-73 on Wednesday night.
James had 20 points and 12 rebounds in only 30 minutes, and Rashard Lewis scored 13 points for the Heat (4-1). Miami -- which plays its next six games on the road -- has won its four home games by an average of 17.8 points.
Kris Humphries had a double-double by halftime, then was silent in the second half and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets (1-2). Deron Williams scored 14 for Brooklyn, which got 12 off the bench from MarShon Brooks.


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Too often, students are pressured into enrolling in a university simply because it is prestigious—not because it will lead to the future they want. Not everyone is cut out to be college student, nor will they benefit from it; many students are choosing vocational paths, which can be just as financially rewarding and personally fulfilling, and they can complete their training in less time than college students.
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If you are looking for the Go-To-Gal Designer Challenge, scroll on down! :)
Be sure and stop on over to the Crafty Power Blog today to learn more about this card. And about the cute stamps from A Jillian Vance Designs. Did I mention there were prizes? What are you waiting for? :)
thanks for stopping by!


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Hi guys, I'm new to the world of web development and I'm trying to build cool things to put on my own personal website. Right now I'm trying to build a blog. The backend has been pretty easy, so I have a functional blog with static pages and permalinks, but now I want to do some cool client-side stuff to make navigating the blog fast and fun.
I'm trying to build my own version of GitHub's tree slider. For the lazy who don't want to click the link, the relevant Javascript/JQuery code is:
// handles clicking a link to move through the tree
$('#slider a').click(function() {
history.pushState({ path: this.path }, '', this.href) // change the URL in the browser using HTML5 history module
$.get(this.href, function(data) {
$('#slider').slideTo(data) // handle the page transition, preventing full page reloads
return false
// binds hitting the back button in the browser to prevent full page reloads
$(window).bind('popstate', function() {
Ok, hopefully that's understandable. Now here's my interpretation of what's going on here, followed by my problem/issue:
The callback function for the GET request when navigating through the tree is the slideTo method, and an HTML string is passed in as an argument to that function. I'm assuming that slideTo is a function defined elsewhere in the script or in a custom library, as I can't find it in the JQuery documentation. So, for my purposes, I'm trying to build my own version of this function. But the argument passed into this function, "data", is just the string of HTML returned from the GET request. However, this isn't just a snippet of HTML that I can append to a div in the document, because if I perform the same GET request (e.g. by typing the url into a web browser) I would expect to see a whole webpage and not just a piece of one.
You still with me? Am I interpreting this code correctly? I hope I'm not being too confusing. Ok, I am going to continue now. Here is my problem
So, within this callback function that I am defining, I would need to parse the "data" argument into a DOM so that I can extract the relevant nodes and then perform the animated transition. However, this doesn't make sense to me. It generally seems like a Bad Idea. It doesn't make sense that the client would have to parse a whole string of HTML just to access part of the DOM. GitHub claims this method is faster than a full page reload. But if my interpretation is correct, the client still has to parse a full string of HTML whether navigating through the tree by clicking (and running the callback function) or by doing full page loads such as by typing the new URL in the browser.
How would you approach this problem? When I write this code myself and try to make it work on my own, I feel like I'm doing something horribly inefficient and hacky.


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In the run-up to the Jubilee juggernaut, the western media has become obsessed with the newfound brand success of the British Royal Family aka Brand GB - pomp and circumstance consolidated holdings. Whatever your feelings on Good Queen Bess and her spawn, it's impossible to ignore the remarkable difference in public attitudes-particularly among younger demographics- to those you'd have found at a similar point in safety-pinned '77 or icily indifferent '02. However, is it all really so rosy? Or is this just another fad? Perhaps, arguably, the greatest PR turnaround for any institution.
The Jubilee is a time for nostalgia, so let's look back. When Lillibet placed herself upon the throne in a docile fashion in '52, it was in uneasy shape. A collapsing Empire, a half-baked socialist zeitgeist and the ominous first tremors of the multifarious cultural revolutions to come were imperceptibly weakening the crown's hold over the Nation. As an organisation, too, the Royal Family was troubled: a gaggle of distant siblings led by an increasingly remote matriarch.
Her initial decade or so in power saw a golden period with the public. Over the subsequent 50 years, however, the Royal Brand's PR fortunes waxed and waned. The overall trend was destructive. The rise of the tabloid press, the growing disruptive iconoclasm associated with late 20th century youth culture and some ridiculously poorly judged behaviour on the part of key figures culminated in a post-Diana brand ground zero. The monarchy barely figured in public attention at all, other than when the media got it together to disinterestedly spit some bile at Harry's latest sartorial nasty or nightclub fumble. Not a great idea to dress up as a Nazi for a night of revelry.
Possibly beginning with the surprising (eventual) success of 2002's celebrations, a phoenix has since risen from the ashes. Thanks to a new cast possessed of a range of not unhelpful qualities from benign exuberance (Will and Kate) to roughish good cheer (Harry MK II, a bit like the last version but with approximately 20% less banter) to distractive assets like Pippa, the show has become a good deal more watchable. These, coupled with occasional use of well-managed legal and some admirably ego-free PR pixies pulling the strings, have comprised the kind of comprehensive brand laundering exercise rarely seen outside of BP's Tony Hayward's wet dreams.
The Will and Kate effect is a remarkable thing - anyone who's seen me speak will know that I habitually hold it up as a shining case study to organisations and brands of all stripes. Their PR epitomises all that is great in good communications: healthy cynicism, transparency, definition, strategy, digital fluency, mutual understanding and, above all else, a compelling set of stories. I'm sure they're genuinely very happy, but the Royal Couple presented to the public is also a triumph of propaganda. Even a genuflection to Hollywood royalty?
The sum total of it all is that the Royals have made sense of themselves for the popular understanding again. They struggled before because they didn't have a purpose in an increasingly fragmented world: they had no power, no authority, no meaning. What they've done is to spot a pertinent niche in the public appetite- an austerity fed hunger for Downton-esque pomp and circumstance- and cleverly slotted in to fill it as a cuddly comfort blanket.
In some ways, I get the media surprise: when things were bad, they were really really bad. Prince Edward's Right Royal Knockout remains one of the most excruciating moments in TV history (though one, it must always be pointed out, never endorsed by her majesty).
However, one should never underestimate the power of a royal PR machine honed over centuries of carefully managed events and stunts. From Queen Victoria's expertly judged publication of her youthful diaries in 1868 to Kate and Wills's post balcony kiss, open top Aston Martin photo-op, the Royals' appreciation for event PR has seen more highs than lows.
The concern now has to be deepening and drawing out this purpose. The problems on the horizon aren't hard to spot. Theoretically at least, Britain is at some point going to snap out of recession and go back to cheerfully consuming itself into meaningless emptiness, no kitsch nostalgia necessary. What's more, no amount of socio-historical theorising can ignore the fact that, where the current monarch is a cuddly old dear, and her assumed successors are a friendly scout leader and his fit spouse, her actual successor is a malodorous, gypsy-poaching organic food baron. Now there's a PR disaster waiting to happen. Publicity gets more than a little tiring. You want it, you need it, you crave it, and you're scared as hell when it stops
The natural next step is for a Royal birth and christening, something I'm sure is figuring heavily in the prayers of Palace officials. The Jubilee will make an peerless experiential marketing event, and one which will undoubtedly bewitch the rest of the world. We'll see a boost in tourism and a greater confidence in Britain as a potential safe place for money from beneath various European floorboards. Whilst I'm sure complacency won't be creeping in any time soon, the issue is to capitalise on this success - it is only the beginning of a new, potentially more turbulent chapter.
Ah yes, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers


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MP3 Ins and Outsby Jon Udell
Until recently, my audioblog experiments were mainly focused on interviews with various folks with whom I discuss the high-tech topics that I research and write about. Over the holidays I tried something new: an NPR-style podcast that weaves music, spoken-word quotations, and narration into a story. In this case, the story is about open source audio.
The exercise got me thinking about the process of audio storytelling. The pros at NPR and elsewhere make it look easy, but of course it's not. I guess that's mainly because all storytelling is hard, at least for me. Factor that out, though, and you're left with a bunch of logistical challenges: finding quotes, blending sources, linking, and making a smooth and consistent final presentation. We all take all these things pretty much for granted in the text medium, but it's new territory for the majority who (like me) lack experience with audio and video.
Wearing my critical hat, I'd have to say that my first effort barely cleared the bar in terms of acceptable production values. Fortunately most of the reviews suggested that I did clear that bar and that listeners were willing to overlook the technical imperfections of the podcast in order to appreciate the story that it told.
One comment took me by surprise, though. Marc Canter wrote:
Jon Udell's first audioblog - congrats Jon! Now where's the playlist? The meta data? The annotation?
Come on dude - you're a nerd - you know how good this COULD be!
Your excellent description of the audiocast was elucidating - but I can't imagine you writing one up like that - for every one you make!
Help us Jon! Help us! [Marc's Voice]
When I followed up with Marc, I learned that what he wished I had supported was Media RSS (specification, FAQ). Media RSS is a Yahoo!-sponsored RSS 2.0 module that's intended to complement the <enclosure> tag, supplying metadata—about the media file itself, its classifications, and its creators—that will make the content easier to discover.
Although the FAQ claims Media RSS is mainly for video enclosures and specifically aims to enhance Yahoo!'s video search engine, Marc's interest clearly was broader. He believes that all online media files are metadata-impoverished, and he wants to enrich them.
I believe the same thing. I have no objection to Media RSS, and if it gains traction I'll be happy to support it. I don't believe, however, that the lack of Media RSS, or some other media-specific XML metadata standard, is the high order bit that gates the future success of podcasting, or vlogging, or screencasting.
We could always use more and better formal metadata than we have. Standards that define that metadata, and tools that help media creators apply it, will certainly be helpful. But one of the key points I've been trying to make in this series of columns is that if we hope to contextualize media content, formal metadata produced by content authors is not the first and best line of attack. The blogosphere itself is a living context engine that works at planetary scale. It will process media content for us, just as it processes textual content, if we can expose the right kinds of entry points into the stuff. The fuel that powers the blogosphere's engine is a 50/50 mix of linking and quotation. If we can make it easy for everyone to link into and quote from media content, we'll unleash powerful forces.
So how do we expose those entry points? What Marc Canter and I violently agree on is that there's no convention. It's not just that we lack a conventional way to represent what Marc calls the "ins and outs," that is, the start and end times of segments. That's trivial. The more fundamental problem is that we lack a conventional way to find and export these ins and outs.
Recently, for example, I blogged this 75-second clip from David Bornstein's Pop!Tech lecture posted on ITConversations. Given a start time of 23:43 and an end time of 24:58, it's easy enough to form this URL:
Doug Kaye provides a helper to make it even easier. But snagging the ins and outs from your media player in order to create that clip isn't always a walk in the park. Let's review the process in four popular players (in no particular order):
Because Winamp uses the HTTP 1.1 Range mechanism I mentioned in MP3 Sound Bites, you can start jumping around in a web-based file immediately, without waiting for the whole thing to load. And using CTRL-J, you can jump to precise minute:second offsets. Added to this goodness is the fact that the left and right arrow keys jump forward and backward in small increments.
What's not to like? If I had my druthers, I'd make the jump increment one second rather than five. You need that precise control to mark the boundaries of a quotation. And mouse-driven scrolling, which applies to all players, of course, lacks the necessary precision.
I'd also like to be able to set one or more pairs of start/stop markers and save that information for later use.
Like Winamp, RealPlayer allows random access into a web-based MP3 file and enables you to jump (Real calls it seek) to exact minute:second offsets. You can also move forward and backward in one-second increments using CTRL plus the left/right arrow keys.
In version 10, we see the beginning of a segment-editing sensibility. When you add a clip to your Favorites, you have the option to set a start time (though not a corresponding end time or duration). On Windows, for the clip mentioned above, the result is this shortcut:
"C:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\realplay.exe" /startpos:00:23:45 \ http://rdscon.vo.llnwd.net/o1/_downloads/itc/mp3/2004/ David%20Bornstein%20-%20New%20Solutions.mp3
I'm puzzled, though, as to why the shortcut couldn't be this instead:
"C:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\realplay.exe" \ http://rdscon.vo.llnwd.net/o1/_downloads/itc/mp3/2004/ David%20Bornstein%20-%20New%20Solutions.mp3?\start=23:43&end=24:58
or, alternatively, a reference to a .RAM encapsulation of that URL by way of a ramgen service. It seems to me that if Real Networks hosted a well-known instance of that service, it could accumulate an interesting library of media fragments.
Something else puzzles me here. If you construct this URL and load it, you'll find that RealPlayer's 23:43 isn't quite the same as Winamp's, or ITConversations', or my own clipping service's, or Audacity's. In RealPlayer, the sentence that begins like so, "Historically when we think of how social change happens," appears not at 23:43, but at 23:50. I've yet to get to the bottom of this discrepancy, which amounts to a whopping seven seconds in this example, but it's clearly problematic. QuickTime, by the way, exhibits the same behavior as RealPlayer.
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player doesn't support HTTP 1.1 random access, so you can only hunt for ins and outs within the portion of an MP3 file that's already loaded. You can move forward and backward using the arrow keys but not precisely: WMP seems to divide this function into 20 increments no matter what the length of the file. And there's no jump-to/seek-to feature.
WMP does, however, take a stab at providing UI for extracting a segment. Its Media Link for E-Mail feature offers these controls: Mark In, Mark Out, and Send media link in e-mail. The lack of precise selection control makes it hard to establish the right ins and outs. There's no way to review or adjust the segment you've selected. And the resulting description is only accessible by way of e-mail. But the e-mail does include this interesting XML attachment:
<Asx Version = "3.0" > <Param Name = "AllowShuffle" Value = "yes" /> <Entry> <Param Name = "SourceURL" Value = "http://rdscon.vo.llnwd.net/o1/_downloads/itc/mp3/2004/ David%20Bornstein%20-%20New%20Solutions.mp3"/> <StartTime value = "00:23:43" /> <Duration value = "00:01:15" /> <Title > David Bornstein - New Solutions</Title> <Ref href = "http://rdscon.vo.llnwd.net"/> </Entry> </Asx>
This is an ASX file. The complete set of ASX elements is documented here.
When I opened the ASX attachment I'd sent myself it did play the referenced segment but only after loading half the 20MB file; as already mentioned, this is because WMP doesn't do HTTP 1.1 random access with MP3s.
When it comes to capturing ins and outs, the standard version of QuickTime may be the least useful of the bunch. It doesn't support HTTP 1.1 random access for MP3s, and it won't let you jump to a specified offset. The arrow keys afford precise cursor control, but there's no way to establish or adjust a segment.
QuickTime Pro, by contrast, does offer in/out markers. You can adjust these precisely with arrow keys and, thanks to the ability to play only the selection, you can review and tweak a segment. However, there's no way to export the ins and outs.
Finally, as I mentioned, QuickTime's notion of 23:43 corresponds to RealPlayer's but differs from the notion held by the other players mentioned here. If someone can explain that to me and suggest what to do about it, I'd be grateful.
A modest proposal
In the final analysis, no single player has all these features:
- HTTP 1.1 random access
- Seek/jump to offset
- Precise cursor control
- Selection marking and review, with precise adjustment of segment boundaries
- Export in/out times
If we want the natural contextualizing forces of the Web to work on media files, we'll need to establish this feature set as a de facto standard. And we'll need UI conventions that make the selection of time-based content as universal an idiom, across platforms and applications, as the selection of text already is.
Jon Udell is an author, information architect, software developer, and new media innovator.
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