text:
Welcome Back Kernel.org 94
Hummdis writes "After more than a month of being offline due to a security breach at Kernel.org, they're back! While they were down, they took the time to 're-architect' the site for developers and users. A statement reads: 'As noted previously, kernel.org suffered a security breach. Because of this, we have taken the time to re-architect the site in order to improve our systems for developers and users of kernel.org. To this end, we would like all developers who previously had access to kernel.org who wish to continue to use it to host their git and static content, to follow the instructions here. Right now, www.kernel.org and git.kernel.org have been brought back online. All developer git trees have been removed from git.kernel.org and will be added back as the relevant developers regain access to the system. Thanks to all for your patience and understanding during our outage and please bear with us as we bring up the different kernel.org systems over the next few weeks. We will be writing up a report on the incident in the future.'"


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University of Kentucky Team Page
SEATTLE, Wash. – After capturing a 4-1 win over No. 17 Texas back in the closing weeks of January, the seventh-ranked University of Kentucky men's tennis team booked a spot in the 2013 Intercollegiate Tennis Association's National Indoor Championships, which will begin on Friday in Seattle, Wash.
No. 7 Kentucky will face No. 10 Mississippi State in a clash of two Southeastern Conference teams in the opening round on Friday at 2:00 p.m. ET. The Wildcats are one of seven SEC teams which qualified for the championships, by far the most of any conference in the tournament.
UK enters the match with Mississippi State on a two-match winning streak and an 8-1 record overall on the season. UK swept a doubleheader on Tuesday with No. 29 Notre Dame (4-3) and Eastern Kentucky (7-0) after beginning the season 6-0.
In the Wildcats win on Tuesday over ND, the Irish were the first team to take the doubles point from Kentucky as the Wildcats had taken the doubles point in each of the first seven matches of the season. No. 43 Tom Jomby/Kevin Lai earned one of their biggest wins of the season as the duo moved to 7-2 on the season in doubles with a win over No. 15 Greg Andrews/Spencer Talmadge of the Irish 8-6.
Kentucky took down Mississippi State 6-1 last year in Starkville in the last meeting between the two sides.
Kentucky has played one of the toughest schedules this season, as the Wildcats have already recording three wins over top-25 teams, and five wins over teams currently comprised in the ITA's top 50. The Wildcats are undefeated at home this season, with a 5-0 mark at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center in Lexington.
The match in Seattle will begin at 11:00 a.m. PT, 2:00 p.m. ET versus the Bulldogs. There will be a live blog available at UKathletics.com and live scoring that will be provided by the University of Washington, who is hosting the championships this season.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Same law allows homeowners to cancel roofing contract if
homeowner's insurance company denies the claim
In response to concerns from consumers, insurers, and other contractors, the 2010 Legislature passed a bill (SF 1886) that will have a direct effect on licensed building contractors who contract with homeowners to repair roofs damaged by storms.
Effective Aug. 1, 2010, the main provision of this new law is a prohibition on advertising or offering to pay or rebate all or part of a homeowner's insurance deductible. Although CCLD does not have direct enforcement authority over this prohibition, a contractor who advertises or promises to pay or rebate all or part of a homeowner's deductible in soliciting roofing work may be subject to a civil action by the homeowner or their insurance company to recover any damages they sustain as a result of the violation. Also, an insurer does not have to consider the estimate prepared by a contractor who offered to pay all or part of the homeowner's deductible.
Another provision of the bill allows homeowners to cancel any contract for roofing work if their homeowner's insurance company denies the claim. Contractors must include in their contractor for roofing work a notice of right to cancel that a homeowner can use to notify the contractor of their decision to cancel the contract. This cancellation must be made within 72 hours of the homeowner receiving notice of the claim denial from their insurer. In the event of such a cancellation, the contractor must refund any down payment to the homeowner within 10 business days of receiving the cancellation notice. CCLD does have authority to sanction contractors who fail to comply with the cancellation notice provisions of this law.
Questions regarding residential building contractor laws and rules can be directed to CCLD Enforcement Services staff at (651) 284-5069 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
View the full bill (SF 1886)


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CHARLESTOWN - Entering the final week of regular season play in the Valley Forge Christian College Men's Basketball Summer League, sponsored by Embassy Suites Philadelphia-Valley Forge and miler Flooring Company, teams are fighting for playoff contention.
Bella Napoli Pizzeria remains atop the leaderboard, remaining unbeaten at 6-0 going into the final week. Chris Meszaros of Countryside Realty, Mishock Physical Therapy and Metro Med, Inc., are all tied for the wecond seed at 4-2 with Countryside Realty owning the outright tiebreaker.
Bistro on Bridge has secured a spot in the postseason but is looking to move up in the rankings. Dave Hoffman's Auto Repair, Corwn Trophy and Phoenixville Federal Bank and Trust are all bying for positions while Integrated Promotions has not yet been eliminated from postseason play.
July 9
Mishock Physical Therapy 44, Metro Med, Inc. 43: Mishocky's Mike Stum drained a long 3-point field goal to give Mishock its first lead of the game since the first half. Meto Med missed a layup as time expired. VFCC product Latrell Alford finished with a game-high 20 points for Mishock PT while Kevin Mack had 14 with 7-for-8 foul shooting.
Crown Trophy 76, Phoenixville Federal Bank and Trust 59: Mahamane Toure and Demetrius Muse paced Crown Trophy with 15 points apiece while Mike Handley topped Phoenixville Federal with a game-high 20 points.
July 10
Bella Napoli Pizzeria 65, Dave Hoffman's Auto Repair, Inc. 64 (OT): Bella Napoli Pizzeria opened the game with a 15-2 run, but the contest became a nailbiter after that start.
Bella Napaoli's Mike Gary drained all three free throws after a misssed 3-point field goal attempt in which he was fouled. Bella Napoli's Tai Crutchfield tied the game at 61 with 18 seconds left to play and eventually sending the game into overtime.
Leading Bella Napoli Pizzeria was Tkyler McGrath, who finished with a team-high 20 points, followed by Crutchfi9eld and Neil Halberstadt, who finished with 15 and 12, respectively. Dave Hoffman's Matt King led all scorers with 25 points, including an impressive 10-for-10 foul shooting. Jon Crabtree and Dan Delcont each ended up with 15 points.
Phoenixville Federal Bank and Trust 68, Chris Meszaros of Countryside Realty 58: After a 31-kall first half, the teams again traded baskets throughout much of the second half. With just under two minutes left to play Countryside Realty began to pull away. Ryan McKee paced Phoenixville Federal with a team-high 19 points, followed by Brian Miller (12) and TJ Klinger (11). Countryside Realty was led by captain Andrew Meszaros, who finished with a game-high 24 points. Ross Reber added 13 and Corey Gordon had 10.
July 11
Bistro on Bridge 94, Integrated Promotions 64: Captain Eric Burnett paced Bistro with 24 points, aided by Justyn Mitchell (23) and Kevin McGarvey (21). Greg Peters led Integrated Promotions with a team-high 23 points and Zach Wise produced 16 counters.
Chris Meszaros of Countryside Realty 65, Crown Trophy 63: Captain Andrew Meszaros led Countryside Realty with a game-high 29 points. He got help from Nick Quigley and Corey Gordon, who each finished with 13. Crown Trophy got 29 from Frank McLusker and 15 from Demetrius Muse.
STANDINGS: Bella Napoli Pizzeria 6-0, Chris Meszaros of Countryside REalty 4-2, Mishock Physical Therapy 4-2, Metro Med., Inc. 4-2, Bistro on Bridge 3-3, Dave Hoffman's Auto Repair 2-4, Crown Trophy 2-5, Phoenixville Federal Bank & Trust 2-5, Integrated Promotions 1-5.


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environment? Want to discuss issues, options & possible solutions?
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Nelda Toothman Scholarship
- $775 annually
- Education Major
- Non-traditional Junior or Senior
- Have financial need
- Statement explaining why you should be selected as a recipient of a Thomas University Endowment (max 2 pages)
- Contact information for three references (cannot be a relative)
- Recommendation from Education Department
Recipients must also apply for all applicable state and federal grants, which includes completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This application can be completed online at www.fafsa.gov. Thomas University School Code – 001555


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Zach Roberts documents the largest climate rally in US history in this photo essay.
A reported 50,000 people attended the 350/Sierra Club rally yesterday in Washington DC - making it the largest environmental march in decades.
There were also dozens of smaller rallies across the country, including in Los Angeles, San Diego and St. Louis.
The action in DC drew in people from around the country - Jim and Bonnie, full time climate activists both took the train from Portland, Oregon. They held a sign that called on the President to be true to his own words "We cannot afford more of the same timid politics when the future of our planet is at stake."
At the speakers podium Native leaders from Canada and the US spoke out against the Tar Sands and the pipeline - calling both nations leaders to task for not hearing their concerns. Chief Jackie Thomas of the frog clan at Saik'uz (in British Columbia) warned that "Oil will spill, is always does." She went on to thank Enbridge, the company is contracted to create much of the Keystone XL pipeline "Never have I seen white and Native work together… thank you Enbridge."
She ended her speech to the crowd amassed in the shadow of the Washington Monument "I'm here to ask you, we need your help, I need someone to stand with me when the bulldozers come." At that the crowd cheered.
There was no civil disobedience planned for the day - though earlier in the week several protestors, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Bill McKibben and Daryl Hannah were arrested in front of the White House. DC Police reported they had no plans to arrest anyone during the action. About a dozen members of Occupy from DC and from New York did poke and prod at the police to arrest them - standing on the White House fence and declaring 'We're BACK' and asking if Obama wanted to come out and talk to them.
He seemingly had no interest, or was otherwise occupied.
The Occupy protestors did have many words for him though- demanding that he stop the pipeline immediately, take action on climate change - make a real living wage instead of his $9 an hour proposal at the State of the Union, among other things (some not suitable for print). Earlier members of Occupy Sandy marched around the White House with the 350.org and Sierra Club members - making the connection between the Hurricane that devastated much of the East Coast and the climate.
Unlike many protests of late (thanks to the promise of no police action,) there was a great number of younger protestors. On the bus that I took down from New York (organized by 350.org and Sierra Club) a 14 year old boy was celebrated for his first protest, and his first visit to DC - he was joined by his parents. No doubt the celebs speaking helped bring some of the younger crowd as well - Rosario Dawson spoke out against fracking, and Modern Family's Nolan Gould (Sierra Club Youth Ambassador) appeared on stage with Evangeline Lilly. Evangeline spoke briefly - apologizing for Canada for their digging up the Tar Sands and for pushing the pipeline.
US Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who received some of the biggest applause, had these words to rally his audience - "The polluters don't want you here ... they've got the politicians in their pocket ... until you showed up."
On the way back to New York the protestors on Bus #4 (the one with the sign that said "girls varsity basketball") shared stories of their local actions, and swapped e-mail addresses. Someone made the announcement that the protest had made it on the front page of both Huffington Post and The New York Times website. Even though a good number of the crowd was young - enough of them, at least on this bus were old enough to remember the protests of the Bush years that garnered no press, or at best coverage with drastically low attendance numbers - so they took these as victories.
The New York Times though, did cite the attendance as "in the thousands."


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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Soldiers Prepare for Iraqi Elections
By Army Staff Sgt. Natalie Hedrick
Special to American Forces Press Service
Dec. 17, 2009 - With Iraq's national elections approaching, U.S. soldiers are preparing to support the Iraqi army and police while remaining in the background. The soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, who are responsible for assisting Iraqi forces in and around Najaf, take that mission seriously.
Coordination of the elections for Najaf has been organized by Iraqi police and army units, said Army Capt. Neil Pentilla, commander of 1st Battalion's "C" Company. The company is stationed at Forward Operating Base Endeavor outside Najaf, and Pentilla said he and his soldiers try to stay in the background as much as possible. "It's the Iraqi plan," he said. "We're incorporated into that plan as a safety net. We go on their command."
During the elections, the U.S. battalion will provide enablers -- intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, for example -- to the Iraqi army and police. The soldiers also will be ready to provide support at the Iraqi commander's request.
As part of a reconnaissance mission, soldiers of "C" Company traveled to various polling sites in Najaf on Dec. 3, recording their locations and ensuring they will be accessible during the elections.
Pentilla said he feels confident in the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces in Najaf, and that his confidence extends to his soldiers' readiness if they are called.
(Army Staff Sgt. Natalie Hedrick serves with the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team public affairs office.)
Posted by Raymond Foster at 10:26 AM
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Last Tuesday, Sullivan's Island Elementary School (temporarily housed in Mount Pleasant) was buzzing with activities from dry land surfing lessons, Zumba and yoga to lessons on dental hygiene and heart health.
It was the school's grand finale of its multifaceted, yearlong wellness initiative and an effort to reinforce the lessons learned during the school year two days before summer vacation started.
The virtual festival of fitness also capped for me an awareness that teachers, administrators and parents, despite all that is heaped on them, seem to be creating a wellness culture at many schools in the area.
As you may have read in this space a week ago, the Medical University of South Carolina Boeing Center for Children's Wellness celebrated the efforts of 72 of 80 schools in the Charleston County School District meeting criteria for wellness. Each received $1,000 from Boeing to be earmarked for wellness efforts. Goodwin Elementary School in North Charleston won an additional $2,000 for racking up the most points on a checklist.
Coleen Martin of MUSC Boeing noted this was the first year that the Berkeley County School District has partnered with the center on a similar program. Twelve of its 21 schools qualified to win awards, and nine schools in Dorchester District 2 did the same.
But Sullivan's Island is a trailblazer of sorts. It won top school in Charleston County for 2010-11, the first year the prize was offered. And it's not resting on its laurels.
School wellness committee member and physical education teacher Abbie Buckheister says the finale was a way to bring all the lessons they learned and apply it during their summer break, including protecting themselves from the sun and being smart in the water as well as on bikes and boats.
"Everything they are going to do throughout the summer, we just wanted to reinforce that (they) can be safe and healthy and continue to eat the right things and drink plenty of water," says Buckheister.
Wellness Committee Chairwoman Linda-Marie Hamill says that the school's yearlong effort continues to evolve according to what works and what doesn't.
This year, for example, the school received a grant from the Cooper River Bridge Run to provide Zumba 7:10-7:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The early morning movement, Hamill says, paid off with students charged up to learn.
One of the aspects of Sullivan's Island's approach, as with some other schools, is incorporating eco-friendly living into wellness. At the finale, a recycling station was one of many stops at the event.
Like so many things in life, change typically starts with children. Adults often can be resistant to change. Sometimes their children can help them. But the course is better set in childhood.
Sullivan's Island Elementary's demonstration of its commitment gave me some hope that the Americans of the future will practice health in nearly all elements of their lives.
After all, healthy living is a lifestyle.
Reach David Quick at 937-5516.


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This software, supplied free of charge, allows any Diris A60, via an Ethernet or RS485 connection, to extract EN50160 event management data, sag, outage and swell, as well as the associated curves. It also enables storage of all this information in CSV format (Excel standard) with a view to offline ...
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Obviously slow starts are on my mind. So I got to wondering if this was normal among the personnel the Astros have used this season. Below is a list of the most active Astros who have seen time this season, and their career March/April OPS (and their rank among other months):
Geoff Blum's career April OPS: .601 (6th/last)
Michael Bourn: .631 (5th)
Pedro Feliz: .692 (4th)
Jeff Keppinger: .869 (1st)
Carlos Lee: .808 (6th)
Kaz Matsui: .699 (4th)
Hunter Pence: .690 (6th)
J.R. Towles: .733 (2nd)
Aha. So this tells us that the Astros are fielding a team who take the first month of the season to get used to playing again, as Jeff Keppinger is the only Astro that April is his "best" month of the season. Blum, Lee, and Pence all post the worst OPS' of their respective seasons in the month of April. So...
Friday, April 9, 2010
The Astros and slow starts
Labels: Statistics
2 comments:
Out of sheer, morbid curiosity... where does Berkman's rank?
- April 9, 2010 at 11:04 AM
- The Constable. said...
Berkman's March/April (stupid MLB, making us type out March for one game against the Padres on March 30) OPS: .929. Worst, with August (.934) as next worst.
It's easy to rail against Berkman for his seemingly-lollygaggin' personality (which Richard Justice is first to mention that's not true - and I believe him), but when you take a look at his career numbers, they are pretty incredible. And to think that Matsui's best month, OPS-wise is still 150 points worse than Berkman's worst month...
- April 9, 2010 at 11:27 AM
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0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
"It could be worse. It could be snowing."
Expressing a different opinion: "Oh, you like warm weather? I prefer winter."Moaner: "I can't believe how cold it is!! Why does it have to be soooo cold?? I hate winter! Why can't it be sunny and 85 degrees every day?!!?!?"
Could someone clarify for me exactly what constitutes 'moaning'? Because calling someone a moaner for expressing a different opinion seems a little rude to me.
I don't think the second example is rude, though. I don't see it as any different to "this hot weather is glorious! I sooooooooo love the sun! why can't it be 85 degrees all year round?"
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I'm out
That sounds fair and Democratic first rattle out of the box.
You're a few decades too late on that one, the requirement to put up surety money to show you're not wasting the auctioneer's time is a long-established practice that arose because of more than a few spoilers who had no real intention of fulfilling their obligations and were effectively....damn, the word for it is on the tip of my tongue. You know, when you don't have the assets for anybody to make a claim on you regardless.
Perhaps you're looking for "judgment-proof".
The problem arises not just from wasting the auctioneer's time, although that is certainly a problem. Allowing people not serious about paying also wastes the seller's time, the other bidders' time, the time of the banks and accountant of the other bidders if the price is high enough, and potentially the time of the courts. Another big problem is that it tends to waste the money of the winning bidder in favor of the seller as the only real reason to bid without th
The problem is not putting up surety money, the problem is auctioning off the assets in blocks so large that only very wealthy people or institutional investors can participate. That's what's antidemocratic about it.
Really? It's a filtering mechanism based on some assumptions as to what the final bids will be. I don't see anything anti-democratic about it. As Rick Masters said:
"The fact is that if you can't come up with the front money you're not for real." [imdb.com]
You are missing the point of GPs statement. There is no reason all 29,656 have to be auctioned in a single block. There is no reason they couldn't be auctioned off in blocks small enough to let a person with far less be able to participate in trying to get some of the bitcoins they stole from a legitimate businessman.
Why did you bother to reply if you weren't going to even slightly address the point I made?
The point I made was not that requiring surety money is unreasonable -- it is reasonable. The point I made was that 3000-bitcoin blocks, which requires every bidder to have $1.5M in liquid assets in order to participate, is unreasonable when it would be almost as easy and much more democratic to sell them either individually or in 10-coin blocks. You could still have a surety -- again, that's completely reasonable! --
They could have split the 29656 BTC into as many lots as they wanted. They intentionally split it into a few lots worth over $1M rather than more blocks worth less. Arguing over the amount of the surety money is missing the point. $200K is a reasonable amount assuming the final bids will be over $1M, but that is just ignoring the question as to why the blocks are that large in the first place. The intentional decision to auction the bitcoins in the completely arbitrary size of 3,000 blocks presumably simpl
If they have 29,000 bitcoins, why do they have to sell them in such large chunks? Even switching to 29 lots of 1000 would open the door to significantly more bidders/
When they bust a drug dealer, they don't sell his entire car collection in a single massive lot, so why are they doing such large bundles this time?
I think the government doesn't really want the public to have these bitcoins, and they are only selling them because they are legally required auction-off seized assets.
Their ideal buyer would be so
That's a non-issue. The bitcoins are being auctioned in lots of 3,000 which means each lot is worth about 1.7 million dollars. Anyone who can afford to make a reasonable bid will have no difficulty putting up a $200k deposit.
That doesn't seem like a very profitable plan.
You should give two bit coins. This would drive the auctionators crazy.
Not possible. You'll have to buy one block of 3000 bitcoins.
Can't read eh? The summary quotes the article so you just had to read the summary
But I'll help you out
the winner must pay the full amount in cash.
maybe he can use his bitcoin to buy you a sense of humor.
I bid fifty quatloos on the newcomer.
I bid fifty quatloos on the newcomer.
I see your fifty quatloos, and raise you 5 ningis.
They're laundering the coins. The high bidders will end up being shell companies for TLAs.
Even worse than laundering: the US government is ensuring that only the rich have access to these bitcoins sold at a reduced price.
The coins should be sold on the open market and the proceeds put in the same coffers as tax money to reduce that burden. Instead of doing that, they are ensuring that the wealthy can acquire more items of value that can then be directly liquefied.
Which "open market" should the government use? What system should they use to manage the sail of those coins? How should they ensure that the market they use is legit and secure? What process should they use to ensure that the Silk Road guys aren't just re-buying their stuff? Who will handle oversight to make sure this all goes off accordingly?
Pretty much answering any one of those questions would be a process that costs far more than the estimated value of the bitcoin they have.
Far better for them to use t
Far better for them to use their existing process of auctioning off random shit they seize.
So, you're saying that when they seize some drug dealer's $5000 car they wait until they have a lot of 3,000 cars to sell off at once?
I ask because that's exactly as stupid and unfair as what they're doing here, which is excluding all "normal person" bidders by aggregating the bitcoins into huge lots instead of selling them individually for no good reason.
I didn't say anything about the intelligence of the process, or the fairness - just it is what it is.
They want their money as fast as they can get it, and couldn't care less about being "fair." They organize the sales of their items in whatever ways will make it more likely to sell and to make it as easy as possible for them to get rid of those things because they are not in the business of managing assets.
They are allowed to bundle things in a way that allows them to sell stuff and minimize overhead. To wi
You can sell something either at retail or wholesale. Retail has higher overhead so things cost more. And I am not sure how much retail business the government should be in.
To your point, when you sell cars at wholesale you tend to do it by the car. That is the natural lot size.
The government would only be favoring the reach and well-connected if the spread between auction price and the market price was higher – which can be hard to tell when you are dumping a huge supply of something – but the
There are exchanges that handle that many coins daily: http://bitcoincharts.com/marke... [bitcoincharts.com]
And three investment funds on Wall Street with more than that amount already.
All you need to do to not crash the price is arrange a private sale, or release the coins gradually. About 3800 newly created coins are generated every day, and the market absorbs that, so just keep your daily sales smaller than that, like 1000 a day or less.
The coins should be sold on the open market
Other than the restriction about not acting in concert with Silk Road et al., there's precisely nothing closed about this market. "Open market" does not mean "cheap".
Why would a TLA want bitcoins? How would it help for a TLA to use a government-granted budget to buy bitcoins? Theres still a paper trail.
If not couldn't they end up 5 years later getting a judge ordering them to return the bitcoins at whatever the going rate is? Does the government routinely sell off shares in companies they seize too?
I don't want to get into the "is it money" argument but since this case is still pending [bloomberg.com] isn't it a bit premature to be selling assets of any kind until guilt is proven in a court of law? I guess we've completely trampled on the constitution here especially the fifth amendment.
Well that's the seizure portion of it and the recent Supreme Court ruling, one of the worst in history, [washingtonpost.com] doesn't say anything about the sale of those assets. That decision is so horrible because a lot of prosecutor's budgets are funded by seized assets creating a conflict of interest and violating the 5th and 6th amendments. We've seriously gone to far on the war on drugs and the police state mentality [distractify.com] in this country and it has to stop. If this guy is convicted then the assets obtained illegally should be forfeit, agreed but wait until the fucking trial is at least concluded and guilt or innocence is determined. Defendants also must have the right, as written in the 6th amendment to choose their own counsel and that requires funds to provide an adequate defense. If the assets are seized, then you have no right to chose your counsel creating a no win situation. That's a secondary consideration but as a citizen I'm very concerned that something like this could happen to me or my family and while I'm fighting in court the government is just selling everything off that we've worked our entire lives to acquire and protect. Right now the government has built a case but it's only been seen by a grand jury in the Ulricht case, that doesn't mean a conviction and selling the assets is a violation of his 5th amendment rights.
That's all well and good assuming Ulricht was actually claiming ownership over the said bicoins, but assuming the other commentors above are correct, he never claimed ownership over them. If true, the gov after a small amount of time waiting for someone to step forward, can then liquidate property. It makes sense a lot more when they're houses, boats and cars but the same applies to BitCoins.
Now in a situation where police break up a million dollar coke bust with a mil in coke and a million in dollar bills,
That's all well and good assuming Ulricht was actually claiming ownership over the said bitcoins
You know that's a good point but something a trial would surely explain. In this case the feds are acting the the role of judge and jury, sure if the evidence is there that Ulricht is the Dread Roberts and they can prove that the bitcoins are associated with illegal activities, forfeiture can occur. For all we know he was probably stealing the bitcoins from mgtox. [forbes.com]
the government has to prove that the 100m in bitcoin were used in illegal activities, that's for a court to decide not the police or the prosecutors. It's not like bitcoins can be impregnated cocaine residue [theguardian.com] to prove their connection to illegal activities. Nor does the possession of those indicate that something was done illegally. If that were the case we'd all be guilty of drug trafficking.
There's a matter of due process, sure. Go ahead and step forward as the owner of these coins. They won't sell them out from under you until they are done prosecuting you for claiming to have run Silk Road. Right now it's unclaimed property.
Could you even pretend surprise when the public purchase of a large block of the coinage placed you on the interesting list with the TLAs?
On the economic side of the equation, wouldn't they keep the price higher if they spread out the block auctions a bit more? That's a lot of coin to dump quickly.... unless taking down the coins value is the intent.
It's kind of adorable that you think they don't already know this kind of thing, given the amount of internal snooping they do already.
Also that you think they couldn't tank the value much more easily through other means, if they cared to.
Or that they actually care much about bitcoin beyond "how can we tax it?" type of questions.
They have a thing that they want to turn into cash. They want to do this as quickly as possible, and they don't want to spend time or money trying to take into account the vagaries
And sorry, I didn't mean to be condescending there by saying adorable - I was more trying to shit on the snooping the US government does on random, inconsequential shit.
There is just too much information out there in to be sifted through, so unless you behave in a manner that arouses their interest, you can still fly under the radar.
And I can live with condescending. It's practically the price of admission to speak with a lot of smart people. Just don't ever renege on "adorable" again.
Okay - I take it back, and you will forevermore be considered "adorbs."
With regards to they (in this case law enforcement agencies involved in busting Silk Road) knowing everything:
I think as part of their investigation and bust of Silk Road, they almost certainly became aware of the identities of multiple people who are both interested and able and willing to buy the bitcoins at auction. I'm also willing to bet, given the strong libertarian/fuck the federal government bent of many people participating in b
We'll see...
Bitcoins will be transferred to winning bidders in the order that each winning bid was received. No bitcoin transfer will be made until the USMS has confirmed receipt of all purchase funds. The winning bidder(s) will be given private instructions related to the transferring of the bitcoins.
You'll note it doesn't provide a deadline for when the bitcoins will be transferred to the winning bidder. Hence, if it takes 60 days to transfer, BTC could be worth 1/10th of its current value.
Would not touch this US Marshall's mess with a 10 foot fuckstick.
If it did as opposed to going to a standard exchange this would make sense. If it would normally just change them for Dollars at a bank at a KNOWN RATE then this Bitcoin auction makes no sense. The government may get only 50% of the value or less of these Bitcoins by doing it this way when a known US company such as Bitpay or Coinbase could do it for them at a pre-arranged rate.
kinda makes you wonder why they are selling them at this point in time, and whether they know about something that is soon going to affec tthe price of bitcoins (beyond their own big auction).
But you generally don't see 100 yachts sold as a single item.
They have $18 million worth of property, and there only breaking it into $2 million chunks.
A more real-world example would be a car collection seized from a drug dealer, they don't auction the entire collection as one single item do they?
What is it called when someone's property is taken by force?
What do you call the one who takes what does not rightfully belong to them?
Now the stolen goods are up for sale. Are there laws against receiving stolen property?
If the US government seized Euros or Yen or Pesos or whatever, they would just convert them to USD through foreign exchange. Why aren't they simply converting these Bitcoins through a Bitcoin exchange into USD and getting their money that way?
The unfacts, did we have them, are too imprecisely few to warrant our certitude.


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Sometime a couple of years ago, someone on the board created a Bowl Pick'em spreadsheet that used Sagarin ratings to create a "Watchability index" that looked for games where Sagarin predicted close games and used this budget his time over the holidays, and also to help him pick winners. I haven't seen anyone post this yet this year, so I figured I'd go ahead and make one up.
Here is a link to the spreadsheet. It is setup to work with the Yahoo Sports system, so the games are sorted in order of most confident picks (Arizona State over Navy) to least confident (Northwestern of Mississippi State). There's a "PREDICTOR Pick" column which indicates which team the PREDICTOR model would pick to win the game (Sagarin regards PREDICTOR as the best model of game outcomes). If you prefer, you can also pick by RATING and ELO_CHESS differences using the appropriate columns in the sheet. Enjoy.


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WCSU announces new dean, school of arts and sciences
DANBURY, CONN. — Western Connecticut State University's new dean of the school of arts and sciences, Dr. Mary "Missy" Alexander, will begin her new position on July 9.
Currently the assistant dean of the school of communications and the arts at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Dr. Alexander has also served as the director of the Master of Arts program in communications and as an associate professor of communications at Marist, in addition to teaching as an adjunct instructor at Western and several other universities.
Dr. Alexander earned a doctorate in media ecology from New York University's School of Education and a master's degree in communications from Hunter College. She has also written numerous articles for scholarly publications and conferences and was honored as the Teaching Fellow of the Year during her doctoral candidacy.
"Dr. Alexander's leadership philosophy of working with faculty and students to attain scholastic excellence will help us to continue building on our already thriving educational environment," WCSU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Jane McBride Gates said. "An experienced communicator who values critical thinking and writing skills, Dr. Alexander sets high educational standards while also meeting the needs of students by helping them achieve their own intellectual and professional goals. We look forward to her energetic and holistic insight and guidance."
Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England's best small private universities.


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Activision introduced a brand new revenue stream by launching Call of Duty Elite, a premium subscription service for gamers that are addicted to the COD franchise. So, what's EA doing? It's launching the T-Club, a premium service for Tetris addicts.
Debuting with today's updated release of Tetris for iOS, the T-Club is available for $2.99 a month, or $29.99 a year. But what does a subscription get you?
The T-Club is described as "the only Tetris fan club to give members exclusive access to new mobile challenges and content." Finally! New ways of experiencing blocks falling from the top of the screen. Membership will also unlock "exclusive discounts and content," in addition to "premium Tetris Log challenges." Finally, the T-Club will allow players to boost their Tetris Rank faster.
Unlike Call of Duty Elite, T-Club's offering seem much more vague. Without knowing exactly what kind of content you're paying for, the membership fee seems exclusively designed for gamers that simply need to have their arbitrary ranking go up faster. Next-Gen notes that over 100 million people have purchased Tetris on mobile devices--so T-Club can be quite a profitable venture if it appeals to even a fraction of a percentage of players.


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Based on my work with clients and the content I curate on business storytelling, figuring out how to write you 'About Page' effectively is hard to do.
Here's my latest blog post on creating 'About' pages on your website. Here are the top 5 articles I could find on creating storied bios for websites.
With the volume of material I curate, it is sometimes hard to find the best articles on any given topic. So I thought I would make it easy for you when you are wrestling with, or upgrading, your website.
I hope these help you!
This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it


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Sir Alex Ferguson led the way in welcoming the Football Association's decision to clear Mark Clattenburg of racism allegations, with the Manchester United manager claiming everyone in the game "apart from Chelsea" was pleased.
Clattenburg had been accused by Chelsea of making a racist remark to John Obi Mikel during a game with United at Stamford Bridge last month. There have been calls for Chelsea to apologise and the club are understood to be considering how to respond.
Ferguson, who had spoken up for Clattenburg in the immediate aftermath of the allegation, said: "I did not believe it anyway. The unfortunate thing for Mark is that he has had to carry that stain for the last few weeks. Everyone in the game is pleased for him now - apart from Chelsea."
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2012, All Rights Reserved.
Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: https://www.givemesport.com/writeforgms


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St. Joe's 56 Aquinas 49 | News
KENMORE, N.Y.-In a Saturday matinee at St. Joe's the Marauders beat Aquinas out of Section 5 Rochester 68-46. A 19-0 third quarter run keyed the St. Joe's victory.
Marauders head coach Mark Simon told Two On Your Side's Stu Boyar "we were down 37-30 and then had a 19-0 run. It was an amazing thing to see. We did a lot of good things. We rebounded better and played better defense."
Senior # 3 Jaylen Morris led St. Joe's with 24 points. Another senior, # 30 Louis Oliveri had 11 for the Marauders. Aquinas was led by # 12 junior Kyron Allen who finished with 15 points.
With the win St. Joe's improves to 6-1 on the season. Simon told Stu "the key to the 19-0 run was rebounding. They killed us on the boards in the first half. Morris had 11 points in the third quarter. Our team played great. For us to have a 6-1 record at this point is fantastic but we still have a lot of work to do. I like the way we're getting better at both ends of the floor."
Former St. Joe's quarterback Chad Kelly, now at Clemson, was seen talking to athletic director Peter Schneider before the game.


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Feb 27, 2000
Feb. 27, 2000
The UCSB vs. Pepperdine baseball finale, scheduled for 1:00 pm at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium on Sunday was cancelled due to the rain. No make-up date was announced, but the coaching staff will work hard to find possible dates for both teams.
Assuming there are no possible dates for a make-up game, the Gauchos won't play again until March 6 against Cal Lutheran in Santa Barbara at 2:00 pm.


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And these aren't your ordinary golf balls. A low-compression core eases spin off drives, translating into increased yardage. Low-drag dimple designs improve distance on mishits. And best of all TaylorMade® golf balls are optimized for unbeatable Tour-level feel and spin.


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Hi Appleheads...
I was finally able to "purloin" my daughters Macbook Pro yesterday
to take a look at the /dev drawer.
/dev/audio and /dev/dsp do not exist in/on that OS...
Q: Is it possible to install "oss-compat" to Apple gear?
Q: If not then what is/are the audio devices used on the MacOS?


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Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) on Navy Pier clearly put much effort and energy into making William Shakespeare's romantic comedy As You Like It, directed by Gary Griffin, an encaptivating spectacle. The physically challenging stunt-work, enchanting music and song, and strong casting decisions (for the most part), made the overall experience for an audience member like myself very enjoyable. The larger themes of love, gender, family, exile, and nature were each fruitfully explored in this lively production.
While the language of William Shakespeare can often be a daunting task to listen to and understand for common laypeople like myself, I can satisfyingly say that the actors in this production conveyed the messages of the play well and made the language understandable. This was done through physical comedy, clear enunciation of the language, and the gathering together of the ensemble in moments of monumental conflict and joy.
Humor abounded in this production, staying true to the romantic comedic nature that Shakespeare intended for his play. Touchstone, a clown, played by Phillip James Brannon was especially playful and nimble, and was enjoyable to watch, especially in contrast to the more serious tones the play took on. His rapidly developed, overtly sexual relationship with young country girl, Audrey ( Hillary Clemens) led to many laughs. In a fashion somewhat similar to the relationship between Touchstone and Audrey is that of Phoebe and William. The way that eccentric and kooky Pheobe ( Elizabeth Ledo) vies to get away from the more socially inept, nerdy William ( Nathan Hosner) creates a relatable love relationship that audience members can identify with. The sensual desire by one lover combined with the sheer repulse by another is something we see often in life (though hopefully not too often!). This relationship further escalates throughout the play, leading to a circular and warped love chase of William desiring Pheobe, Pheobe desiring Rosalind (dressed as a man), and Rosalind desiring Orlando. This scene and general circumstance brought much laughter to the play, with each character haplessly chasing the other in a circular, seemingly unending trail.
Ultimately, the play's creative execution of scenarios like these helps bring the age-old and complicated language of Shakespeare's work to life, allowing the audience both to relate and to have a hearty laugh.
The coincidental connections between and amongst characters in the play also adds good-natured humor to this comedy. The fact that Celia and Rosalind, two cousins (who really act like sisters), fall in love with Orlando and Oliver, two brothers is ironic, and farcical!
One moment I particularly savored was the wrestling match between Orlando ( Matt Schwader) and Charles (Duke Frederick's wrestler), played by Nathan Hosner. While itself a serious, darker fight scene, the added moments where Rosalind and Celia giddily cheered Orlando on on the sideline after only just meeting him minutes beforehand was fun and light-hearted. Their youthful behavior invoked modern teenage girls with raging hormones, and gave me a way to connect to the two women despite our very different circumstances and very different time periods. Another memorable scene was when Orlando boldly interrupted the picnic in the forest with knife in hand, foolishly ready to steal all the available food for himself. Upon realizing that these forest fellows were more than willing to share their lot with him, Orlando remarks "I thought that all things had been savage here." The humor comes from the stark contrast between Orlando's fervent boldness and uncharacteristically violent attitude with the mild, sunny disposition of the picnickers. The scene is nuanced and interesting because what the audience expects to happen, does not---a dark seemingly savage forest actually turns out to be a rather peaceful, welcoming place, for strangers and friends alike.
In terms of acting, I found Touchstone ( Phillip James Brannon) and Audrey ( Hillary Clemens) strong, freely playing and experimenting with their more humorous characters and engaging in a quite a bit of physical comedy. Jacques, or shall I say, "Monsieur Melancholy" ( Ross Lehman) played his part with lucid passion. His sarcastic personality and calm, deep voice fit in well with his melancholy, philosophical persona. I also appreciated the bold, confident decisions Celia ( Chaon Cross), Pheobe ( Elizabeth Ledo), and William ( Nathan Hosner) each made with their quirky characters. Interestingly, I was a little disappointed with the two main characters, Orlando ( Matt Schwader) and Rosalind ( Kate Fry). I found Schwader played the ingénue Orlando in a very common, unnuanced way, playing his character, in actor's terms, quite generally. His strength lay more in his stunts and acrobatics than in his acting. While Fry connected particularly well with her scene partners, at times I questioned her sincerity, particularly in her emotional love scenes. After discovering her love for Orlando and disguised as Ganymede in the forest, she seeks to know for certain whether Orlando's love letters are indeed intended for her. Her consistently high, characteristically girly voice conveyed her desperation for her love Orlando, but did so in an overly simplified way, limiting the ways her character could naturally respond to the high stakes of the scene. In other words, her simplified reactions and unchanging voice gave her character fewer layers and dimensions, making her character more an idea than a living, breathing person.
While the sincere love between cousins Rosalind and Celia was not quite as evident at the beginning of the play, by the second act, one could really sense the deep love the two shared for each other. Their genuine emotional connection provided good reason for why each was willing to sacrifice being with their own fathers and in the comfort of their own homes for being with each other. Their physical proximity (they are practically joined at the hip!), the way they addressed each other, and their body language all conveyed this sense of unshakeable love and care for each other. Additionally, the bubbly and more playful Celia played an apt foil to the more serious, level-headed character of Rosalind.
The music and song that were incorporated into the production were also quite impressive, and all original (composed by Jenny Giering)! All of the music (whether just the acoustics or with the words incorporated) gave an aura of wonder and optimism that enhanced the overall message of the play. At one point in the latter part of the first act, however, when one of the pages sings in the forest to Jacques, Orlando, and the other foresters, I almost felt like I was suddenly transported to a Broadway musical, like "Rent"! The music elicited a modern Broadway feel and did not seem fitting for a Shakespearean genre, though I must say the music was beautiful and a surprising treat to the ears. Though I was a bit perturbed by the mismatch of the genres, at least the song's content fit in well with the action and plot of the scene.
The set itself was beautiful and serene. The dark forest, seemingly made out of a paper mache-like-material, was particularly artistically designed, with the roots delicately draped like shades and the leaves lightly dangling from long strings. Suitably, the forest plays an important part in the play and is where most of the critical moments occur. Contrary to what might be expected, it is in the forest where love and reconnection with family members occurs, not in the duke's palatial confines. The freedom to engage in thought and to be free both physically and mentally occurs in the wild forest, not in the bounded, man-created space of a kingdom.
One aspect of Shakespeare's play entrenched in the story line---that of love-at-first-sight--- was hard to fully comprehend in today's terms. As You Like It abounds with cases of love-at-first-sight and is stated aptly by Pheobe when she asks "who ever loved that loved not at first sight?" The three main couples---Rosalind and Orlando, Celia and Oliver, Audrey and Touchstone, each create a bond of love with each other within minutes, seconds really, of meeting. The physical attraction and chemistry within one short conversation rapidly escalate and before you know it, all three couples are happily sharing their wedding vows. It was hard for me to comprehend how a couple could choose to marry after only speaking with each other briefly, and even harder for me to understand how one could fall in love with someone just by observing them and not even speaking to them! To illustrate, at the end of the play, Celia and Oliver set their eyes on each other, the two become instantaneous lovers, and in what seems like hours later, the two are married. While I found myself confounded by this quickly achieved "true love," I also found it fascinating, and it allowed me the opportunity to analyze the way love has transformed itself over the years since Shakespeare wrote his plays.
The end of the play is incredibly optimistic and warm-hearted, an almost quintessential aspect of Shakespeare's comedies, with four marriages all occurring at once. Fitting in with the rest of the production, this up beat scene occurs in the unsavage-like forest. As such, I walked out of the theater with hopeful feelings about love (both between lovers and between brethren), and with the feeling that in the end, with enough time, many of the knots we experience in life can be untangled. Family members reconnect, those destined to be with each other come together, and those once in exile are brought again to freedom. While life does not always attain such lofty ends, Chicago Shakespeare Theater's production left me with the hope that good changes can occur with just a bit of fate and just a bit of freewill. See it and be uplifted!
January 5 – March 6, 2011
800 East Grand Avenue • Chicago, IL • 60611 • Box Office 312.595.5600
Photos by Liz Lauren


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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad has issued a proclamation of disaster emergency and activated an assistance program for four Iowa counties affected by recent severe weather.
Branstad said in a news release Friday that the Iowa Individual Assistance Program has been activated for Cass, Harrison, Montgomery, and Ringgold counties. Pottawattamie County was declared under a disaster emergency on Tuesday and is open to the assistance program.
The program provides grants of up to $5,000 to households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or a maximum annual income of less than $40,000 for a family of three. The money is available for home or car repairs, clothing, food and temporary housing.
Severe thunderstorms hit portions of Nebraska and Iowa on Tuesday. Baseball-size hail and heavy rain was reported.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) -- It was a tense situation in Shawnee County Court Thursday as four of the nine people charged with killing a Topeka woman in July, appeared for their preliminary hearing.
Natalie Gibson, 40, was shot in her car outside her home. Four of the nine people charged in the case are minors, and one adult waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Prosecutors called that man to testify against the four other adults Thursday. That man, Bayate Covington, 20, agreed to take the stand for the prosecution, but wouldn't answer questions when he got there. Then he tried to flee the courtroom, but security caught him at the door. He later took the stand again on Thursday, as court continued until about 8 p.m. Covington said he had butterflies in his stomach that sent him running for the door. He later implicated the four other adult defendants, placing them at the murder scene.
Gibson was shot and killed sitting in her truck outside her home at 307 Quinton, last July.
Ronald Wakes, Michael Wilkins, Anceo Stovall, and Kevin Wilkins Jr., all in their 20s, are charged with first degree murder, aggravated and attempted aggravated robbery, and seven other felonies - including killing a dog at a home at 1801 Southwest Plass just days after Gibson's murder.
Lori Allison, who was with Gibson, and also shot by assailants last July, detailed her experiences on the stand, and another witness who is also charged in the killing, took the stand.
Now 18-year-old Duane Richey placed himself and all of the defendants at the scene, saying they were all there to "hit a lick."
News cameras were not allowed to shoot video of any prosecution witnesses in Judge Evelyn Wilson's courtroom Thursday, including the defendants when they took the stand.
The hearing recessed just before 8 pm Thursday. It will resume next Thursday, when Covington is expected to return to the stand.
When testimony is complete, the judge will decide whether the evidence is sufficient to bind over the suspects for trial.


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Item 36 of 37
Alumni Gymnasium, Farmington State Normal School, ca. 1946Item 69870 info
Mantor Library at UMF
Alumni Gymnasium was opened at Farmington State Normal School in 1931.
Prior to the new building's existence, the school used the basement of Merrill Hall for exercise classes, and the school's basketball team had to rent a hall for home games and played in various places. This new school gym allowed not only athletic events, but dances and other entertainments to be held on campus.


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SBA Montana District Office
Join SBA's Montana District Office on Thursday, November 15th in Helena for a 2-hour Veteran Business Opportunity Workshop. Learn about SBA loan programs, specifically the Patriot Express loan program, as well as how to apply and what to have prepared when applying. Also learn about federal contracting opportunities for Veteran's and other federal contracting certifications.
What: Veteran Business Opportunity Workshop
When: Thursday, November 15th | 10:00 a.m. - Noon
Where: Lewis & Clark Library | 120 N. Last Chance Gulch | Helena, MT
Registration: By November 13th via http://events.sba.gov/eventmanagement/eventlisting.aspx?state=MT
All SBA programs and services are provided on a nondiscriminatory basis | Reasonable accommodations will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance


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In late January, Chris Markl, a former Florida State College economics professor, walked into an entrepreneurial event at the University of North Florida where all interested professionals were welcome to pitch business ideas and hear feedback from their peers.
He pitched his plan, the people voted, and his business idea placed in the top three out of over 40 original pitches.
He got what he came for—confirmation that his idea, ReStartUp, really did have the potential he imagined it to have.
Now Markl's idea will be making its global debut at One Spark 2014, where he is registered as a creator seeking $50,000 toward building awareness and demand for his startup business.
AnyInc, the new name of ReStartUp, is an online platform for failing startups that have enough potential to be taken over by a new owner.
"I wanted to create a marketplace for what was originally called failed businesses, but now we're not going to call it that," Markl said. "We want to redefine what success is to the entrepreneur."
The failure rate in startups is 80 to 95 percent. Markl and his team aim to corner that market and provide interested entrepreneurs with a jump in the competition.
In essence, AnyInc will be a digital space for entrepreneurs to hand off their struggling business to someone who has the resources and passion to continue it. The entrepreneur will post the failing startup on the website for a flat fee, and then searching entrepreneurs can bid on it.
Think of it as a matchmaking or dating site, but for struggling businesses.
When a bidder gets chosen, stakes are discussed and a deal is set. Ultimately, the goal is to make it in the entrepreneur's best interest to mentor the bidder through the process of taking on the business.
If the new owner succeeds, then the old owner will benefit, too. If all goes as planned, the value created by the original entrepreneur will be enhanced, not lost.
"We're really focused on creating economic development," Markl stressed. "One way to do this is by making it easier to become an entrepreneur. If you start with branding and a track record, you're getting a huge jump on the competition."
At One Spark 2014, Markl and his team will be using AnyInc's creator space to engage potential customers in an instantly beneficial way.
"There will be thousands of people looking to launch businesses," Markl said, "so we're going to show them how."
Quite literally, too.
Visitors can register on AnyInc's platform using computers provided in AnyInc's creator space. Beyond that, Markl and his team will be using the five-day One Spark festival to host an AnyInc Launch Accelerator.
"A sort of entrepreneurial conference," Markl said, "but fun."
The goal is to create five days of entertainment that includes office hours, business lunches, networking opportunities and even pitch competitions. Still, the atmosphere will be kept laid back and casual.
Later in the night, there will be another exciting component to add to the schedule for the AnyInc Launch Accelerator.
"We're doing the first USA screenings of The 'Samaritans' at One Spark," Markl revealed. "It's a comedy TV series from Kenya about an NGO that does nothing.
"They've blown up in the press lately—CNN, Salon, Huffington Post, BBC, etc."
One Spark visitors will be the first in the US to sit back and enjoy the comedy.
After the debut, AnyInc will close out the night with music by NickFRESH, a local DJ who will also be speaking at the Accelerator on how to become a music entrepreneur.
This story was reported by Ignite Media, an independent news bureau created by University of North Florida students.


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Monday's IHSA Shabbona Lake Sectional bass fishing tournament – initially scheduled for Friday but postponed due to inclement weather – begins at 7 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.
While a majority of Chronicle-area coaches are employees of their school districts, Kaneland coach Chuck Wehrmann is an electrician by trade.
"Taking a vacation day," he said.
The tournament also includes boats from St. Charles East, St. Charles North, Batavia, Geneva, Marmion and Aurora Christian. Check out Saturday's Chronicle for more on sectionals.


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A suspicious device found this morning at Babson College was destroyed in a controlled detonation by State Police bomb technicians at 10:57 a.m., college officials said.
There was no damage, and the area has been deemed clear of any threat, Babson spokesman Michael Chmura said in a statement.
He said the bomb squad acted out of "an abundance of caution."
He had no comment on whether the device was actually a bomb. He said the college was cooperating in an investigation of the device, which was discovered at about 7:10 a.m. near the Babson Executive Conference Center.
Wellesley Deputy Police Chief Jack Pilecki said in a telephone interview today that the object was "what appears to be a pipe with a piece of small copper tubing coming out of the top and what looks like to be a rubber base to it.''
After the object was found by Babson public safety officials, Wellesley police and firefighters and State Police responded and a portion of the center was evacuated.John R. Ellement can be reached at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.


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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Gauchos concluded their homestand on Thursday afternoon with a big win against visiting 49th-ranked George Washington University, 6-1. UCSB went 3-1 in their four-game homestand and improved their overall record to 6-5.
The Gauchos gained the doubles point with wins at courts 1 and 2. Benjamin Recknagel and Axel Bouillin started the Gauchos off with a victory at court 2, dropping George Washington's Zelenkov and Fomin 8-5. Andrew Riminton and Miles Seemann lost in a close 9-7 decision at court 3 but UCSB came back to clinch the doubles point with an 8-5 win by Gaucho pair Mbonisi Ndimande and Ziad Sultan, who stretched their winning streak to four matches.
Coach Marty Davis praised his team for keeping up the strong play since their difficult loss against #41 San Diego.
"After the San Diego State match the question was: could we come back and play that way again? We did against Utah and now we've played well again here today," said Coach Marty Davis. "Today's match really came down to fitness, we're much fitter than this team and that was the difference," he added.
UCSB's superior fitness helped them to win five out of their six singles matches en route to the 6-1 victory. Andrew Riminton was first off the court with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the No. 6 position to grab the quick 2-0 lead for UCSB. Senior Benjamin Recknagel and sophomore Ziad Sultan added wins in straight sets at courts 2 and 4, respectively. In both matches, the Colonials served at 5-4 for every set but Sultan and Recknagel broke serve and won.
At the No. 1 position, Senior Mbonisi Ndimande was down a set, before taking the second set 6-4. His opponent, Nikita Fomin, cramped up in the third set and couldn't continue the match. Sophomore Axel Bouillin also lost his first set but came back to take the next two sets 6-3, 6-3 as his opponent, Zelenkov, couldn't keep up and faded away in the third set at court 3.
The Gauchos only loss was at court 5, where Sasha Gryaznov lost 6-2, 6-4 to Thomsen.
Coach Marty Davis said of his team, "We're on track. We're winning the doubles [and] we're doing the right things."
The Gauchos will hit the books for finals week before returning to the courts on a four game road trip over Spring Break. UCSB will head to Boise, Idaho for games against Utah St. and Boise St. before traveling to Colorado to face the University of Denver in Denver and Air Force in Colorado Springs. Action is set to begin against Utah St. on Wednesday, Mar. 27 at 1:00 PM.
UCSB 6, #49 George Washington 1
1. Ndimande/Sultan (UCSB) def. van Gils/Thomsen (GW) 8-5
2. Recknagel/Bouillin (UCSB) def. Zelenkov/Fomin (GW) 8-5
3. Dias/Lapentti (GW) def. Riminton/Seemann (UCSB) 9-7
1. Mbonisi Ndimande (UCSB) def. Nikita Fomin (GW) 1-6, 6-4 (Ret)
2. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) def. Francisco Dias (GW) 7-6, 7-5
3. Axel Bouillin (UCSB) def. Danil Zelenkov (GW) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Ziad Sultan (UCSB) def. Alexander van Gils (GW) 7-5, 7-5
5. Ulrik Thomsen (GW) def. Sasha Gryaznov (UCSB) 6-2, 6-4
6. Andrew Riminton (UCSB) def. Viktor Svensson (GW) 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles (2, 3, 1); Singles (6, 5, 4, 2, 1, 3)
UCSB SEASON RECORD: 6-5; Big West 0-0


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Exactly. But now we have the ubuntuites dictating that I must like Ubuntu, that I must use it, and if I dare even speak out that I dislike it, I'll get moderated down. Again, we have a spate of my comments being f--king moderated down by dimwit f--king idiots, for no apparent reason at all. We have the osnews.com spineless f--king staff doing f--k all. I might just continue to keep swearing all the time just to piss them off, because in reality, I want my account removed. This website has become so f--king useless, so f--king lawless that it's a waste of time even visiting it, let alone trying to make a sane comment.
I asked the staff a few weeks ago to remove my account, and they haven't even done so. Do I have to formally serve a subpeona on you guys to make yo do it? I can't stand this site anymore, and I can't stand the inability of the staff to ensure that things are done right.


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I was bound and determined to figure out why Krivsky did this trade, so I decided to look at a bigger picture. I believe the main reason the trade was made was for this season because our bullpen is awful and we have a lot of offense and no pitching. Did I think we would have gotten a starter out of Lopez and Kearns; Yes but we didnt. That makes me think there was a larger picture to this trade than just bullpen help. Let me start out and say that in no way do I think this is a salary dump. So here we go.
Ive done some research into some salary numbers for next season. Feel free to critique any of these numbers. Many of you all know more about arbitration figures and things like that. The dollar figures are in millions and for some it is the correct price and for some it is my estimates so look over it and correct me if you see something wrong. I will put an * by the players whose salary figure I know and did not estimate.
I have looked over the 25-man and 40-man rosters and come up with a list of players who I think will be on the team next year no matter what. (Unless they are traded which as you all know is defiantly a possibility). I found 9 pitchers that will be on the 25-Man roster going into next year.
Milton- $9.0*
Arroyo- $3.8*
Harang- $4.0 (I will admit Im clueless on what he will get paid)
Claussen- $.47
Ramirez- $.5
Majewski- $.4
Belisle- $.44
Coffey- $.5
Brey- $.33
I hope and pray our rotation doesnt look like that next year and I figure some of those starters will move to the bullpen when pitchers are signed or traded for.
I also looked into the salaries of the hitters on the team.
C: LaRue- $4.2*
C: Ross- $1.0
IF: Phillips- $.5
3B: Encarnacion- $.4
OF: Denorfia- $.35
CF: Griffey- $12.5*
LF: Dunn- $10.5*
Utl: Freel- $1.7*
I believe those are the players who will defiantly be a part of the 2007 Reds. I figure there will be a few more trades that might take away from this list but for the most part that is everyone on the current roster who will be here next year for sure. That is 17 players and the math will show you that we need 8 more players for a full roster. Maybe it will be Votto or Standridge or Shack that might make the team but for the most part those players are neutral when looking at the overall payroll. That is roughly $51 million dedicated to the team.
I believe there are a few players on the roster that have a chance to be resigned or their option picked up.
IF: Aurilia- $2.0*
IF: Castro- $1.0*
IF: Hatteberg- $2.0
P: Balfour- $.4
That is a total of roughly $5.5 million making my total payroll for the 2007 Reds to be between $51-56 million. And also having between 17-21 players signed.
A quick look at those players who will be back and I see that we need a 2B if they want to keep Freel coming off the bench. Maybe a 1B if Dunn is not moved there, but I seriously believe Aurilia or Hatteberg are going to be signed to play there if Votto doesnt. We defiantly need at least one SP and a Closer if no one steps up.
So we need 1B, 2B, SP, and a Closer. Some of those positions can be picked up for cheap (1B: Votto or Hatteberg) and some might not need to be picked up at all (2B with Freel). But at the most I believe that is what we will need. And if we stick with a $65 million payroll then we have $10-15 million to spend. So I wouldnt be surprised if they have $15-20 million to spend this offseason.
That was a whole lot of words to say this: Even though Krivsky is going to say the move was made for this year; I believe it was also made for payroll flexibility going into this offseason. Im not writing this season off just yet, but naturally as a Reds fan I am looking forward to next year, and I know there are going to be a lot of new faces in 2007 but with our available money I believe these new faces also have a chance to be good baseball players. So I look for the Reds to be very active this offseason.
Feel free to critique this thread or flat out tell me I took too much time coming up with this cause it makes no sense or its too early to look towards next year.


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I have followed the incredibly passionate debates over gun control with a profound sense of irony.
Both pro and anti forces have divergent and deeply held convictions that they are extremely vocal in stating, ranging from honking horns at the state capitol to letters to the editor to interviews to the many anonymous commenters on websites.
Let's be honest: the gun issue is not going to be resolved legislatively when there is already at least one gun for every human resident of the USA out there already. The larger issue is why we have over 11,000 gun deaths annually, while other industrialized countries average at most a few dozen or far less. It would seem we need some remedial work on our social contract.
But to me the most ironic part is how issues like the number of rounds in your hand cannon got so many people's knickers in a twist on both sides, but when issues like war and peace, hunger, climate change, species extinction, and on and on are brought up, there is the social equivalent of "crickets."
Having done fund-raising for various causes, I have always been amazed how many people can simply turn away from issues that have great impact on every resident of the Earth, regardless of their preferences or politics, but something like gun magazine size or sports teams lights their fire. I sincerely hope that all of those who were galvanized into action over gun issues will study issues that could affect continued life on the planet, and shift their laudable activism to things that really count, things that they might actually be able to positively work on solutions for with their fellow citizens.
Lock and load, America! Let's save human society and the planet we live on, and sweat the minor details later.


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Monday, October 10, 2005
Proof that Bookies Smoke Pot...
7 comments:
- Benny Friedman said...
It's not the bookies who smoke pot, it's the bettors. The bookies set the lines based on how people will bet, hoping for an even amount on each side. Obviously, the public isn't sold on PSU yet.
Also, let's not forget that PSU has been on the road only once this season and was very fortunate to beat Northwestern in that game. Plus they're coming off a huge, emotional win. Plus, we're fighting for our season. I think that all factors in. Oh, and we've won more college football games than anyone else and have the best helmets in football. That helps too.
- October 10, 2005 2:27 PM
- Yost said...
BF writes: "Also, let's not forget that PSU has been on the road only once this season and was very fortunate to beat Northwestern in that game."
Which *might* mean something if The Big (Quiet) House wasn't the least intimidating home field advantage in the country. And I stand by that statement (just wait until you see the post I'm cooking up). We might as well be playing at a neutral field. The only way playing in A2 negatively affects PSU is if they get caught in a traffic jam coming to the stadium.
- October 10, 2005 2:33 PM
- Wangs said...
Griese even commented about how quite the "Big House" can be. When our yachtsman AD returns from his around the Great Lakes boat trip, I hope he'll get around to adding the skyboxes and a little architectural adjustment to keep the sound in. Those keys jangling will make a hell of a racket with the right acoustical design - I'm sure.
- October 10, 2005 5:37 PM
I hear there's this new kid who can beat the line 80% of the time. Call Al Pacino, he's got his number.
- October 10, 2005 7:00 PM
- Yost said...
IMHO, it has NOTHING to do w/ keeping the sound in. Ain't no sound to keep in if folks are sitting on their arses all game and bitching about "Down in front!" Can you imagine someone in the Swamp or at Texas or even tOSU telling someone "Down in front"!?! That person would be hoisted up a flag pole...or worse.
- October 10, 2005 7:42 PM
- Benny Friedman said...
Speaking of problems with the stadium, how about the clock not working for the last 2:30. Obviously it didn't affect the outcome of the game, but was there anything more annoying that not knowing how much time was left? Oh, wait, maybe that 60 run was more annoying.
- October 10, 2005 11:58 PM
- Yost said...
Yeah, I guess if it was going to be the complete disaster that it turned out to be (from kicking to coaching, both offense and defense), might as well have the clock screw up as well. Just to make it totally horrific.
- October 11, 2005 12:00 AM


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An hour with Michael Palin. That'll be jolly nice, I thought, and so would have anyone. He'll be chatty and friendly and a bit funny, but not in a smartypants way, and above all he will be jolly nice. Well, he's Michael Palin, isn't he? And we all know what Michael Palin's like. I do, apparently.
There was an awful moment of confusion when we met because I said it was nice to see him and he said "again!" To the best of my knowledge I have never met him before, but he was certain I'd interviewed him last time he was in Auckland. I did do a telephone interview with him a long time before that, which I really had forgotten, so perhaps he's right and somehow all evidence of this other in-person interview has disappeared from the archives ... Perhaps he was just being nice.
Anyway, this made for an awkward beginning. If it had been almost anyone else I'd have said: "You must have been drunk the last time you were here," but you can't say things like that to Michael Palin, now can you? He's awfully, Englishly, polite for one thing and also, I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings. He is, I think, quite sensitive, but why I think this I have no idea - perhaps I noted it the last time I didn't interview him. I'm being a bit silly and must stop it. Because, despite all of the Monty Python dead parrots and fish slapping dances and lumberjack songs, that was a very long time ago, and he's not generally very silly, really, is he?
"Oh, yeah! On the inside. I behave perfectly normally; the right shoes are on the right feet. I don't dress up as mad carrots." Did he really say mad carrots? I'm not absolutely certain, but it's so silly, I'm going to choose to believe he did. He said: "I do appreciate silliness."
A mad person told me I had to ask him whether he did Gumby flower arranging at home and I said, don't be silly, of course I'm not going to ask him that. (If you don't know what Gumby flower arranging is you haven't lived - go to You Tube immediately. In the meantime I can tell you it involves wearing suspenders, a knotted hanky on your head, and shouting a lot at flowers.) I asked: "Do you do Gumby flower arranging at home?"
"No, I don't!" he said. He may actually have shouted this, in a Gumby sort of way. I thought, "Oh, dear. What an idiot I am. Imagine asking Michael Palin such a stupid question. Now he'll be grumpy." He can be very grumpy, he says, and apparently his children - he and his wife of 46 years, Helen, have three grown up ones - call him Mr Grumpy. He did look, briefly, a bit like a Mr Grumpy, but then he cheered up and his face crinkled in that lovely friendly way his face does when he smiles. He had a thought. He could do Gumby flower arranging for his grandchildren. They are 3 and 6. "They'd love Gumby flower arranging! I'll have to try and do it for them."
He said: "Well, I think I must be rather disappointing to people who want me to be a Python." Yes, those people who do the skits, with the daft voices, after a few drinks. "Yes. I'm sure. Ha, ha. I can usually avoid that situation. I'm not sort of embarrassed about it and I do talk about it. I'm very happy to talk about Python until the cows come home, but I'm not going to stand up and do lumberjack songs. Unless I want to do it."
On what occasions could he possibly want to do lumberjack songs? "Well, if I'm telling funny stories." When he's drunk? "No, no, no!" Does he ever get drunk? "There's too many questions! I'm still on the first one! Yes, I get drunk and sing lumberjack songs!"
I wish I believed this, but I can't. He's too buttoned up. Here's a description of his telly manner from a review of Brazil: "Palin is so polite and buttoned up and British that he is almost invisible." Weirdly, I think that is supposed to be complimentary. But what does he think of it? "I don't mind as long as I'm doing my work. I really believe that you are judged by your work, by what you do. Why you do it, and who you are underneath it, I wish I knew. It would be very nice if I could say: 'Well, I do this and that for this reason.' I mean, for instance, you ask me things which I can't actually help you out with sometimes, because I don't know the answer myself. That's sort of me not quite knowing why I do what I do and if that comes out as being buttoned up, that's not being evasive, it's just that I don't really know!" That was something of a relief. Because you'd think (or I did) that he'd be easy to interview - chatty and all of that - and perhaps he is if you stick to the books or the telly series. He once said, in an interview, in response to a question about once walking out of an interview (in his own home!) that: "I don't want to be analysed." He says it's more about scrutiny and feeling like something in a laboratory being poked at. "I guess I'm uncomfortable when people are interested in me. I'm more of an observer, really."
He is widely held to be a very good actor but he hardly does any acting these days. (He says the person we see on the telly, in his travel shows, is "pretty close to my natural self".) Acting is too analytical for his taste, perhaps? "Yeah, possibly it is. Yes, well, it is a covering up of what you are." Also, he says acting is being bossed around and so involves a lack of control and that is something he doesn't much enjoy - which tells you quite a lot about him without having to put him in a Petri dish and watch him wriggle.
He is rotten at accepting compliments, really. Although he is too polite to ignore them - he said "thank you" when I said he was a very good actor but he also almost flinched. I'm sorry to have noticed but I was there to have a gawk at him, which is another word for scrutiny. You don't have to do much of that to note that he is terribly accomplished at self-deprecation.
One of his greatest achievements, according to him, was the "Nasal retention" required for the chip up the nose scene in A Fish Called Wanda. "I was quite pleased with that. I might put that on my CV. Nasal retention a speciality," he said, happily, being silly on the outside as well as deflecting any further discussion of his brilliance.
He is a cliche of himself now, of course. I would never have been so rude as to have said so. He did. He mentioned a review which said he'd become like Prince Charles, going around the world shaking hands. He thought this was a good review. "Oh God. He's touched on something, which is what I feel myself sometimes. It's quite interesting, because what I think that what happens over a certain period, however natural you are, you become a cliche for being yourself."
The big cliche about Michael Palin - and saying it is guaranteed to bring out the Mr Grumpy within - is that he is the nicest chap in Britain. I read a very funny headline: "The dark knight rises: Perhaps Michael Palin isn't the nicest chap in Britain after all". That made me laugh my head off. Good try, I thought. When I told him this he didn't quite laugh his head off, but he didn't come over all grumpy either. You couldn't blame him if he did. Who would want to be the nicest chap in Britain? It makes him sound like a particularly British pudding: sweet and comforting but not memorable. "It's just such a bland word. And being nice to people ... that's what most people do, actually, isn't it? I wouldn't say that it's particularly my defining characteristic. It's like treacle. You put your foot in and you can't quite get out." I asked him, a bit later, if he read A.A. Gill whose defining characteristic is most certainly not jammy sponge and custard and he said, not terribly nicely: "I wouldn't go out of my way to."
Now that really did make me laugh, because really, that was a good try at being a bit rude which failed almost completely.
Of course he's bloody nice; it'd be daft to deny it (and he doesn't). And he's still boyishly nice, at 69, in the way that little clever boys can be nice. He's whimsical and curious and endearingly silly. You wouldn't be surprised, if you asked him to turn out his pockets, to find that in them he keeps a pocket knife and marbles and some stamps from his collection. He is supposed to collect stamps. He did as a child. He says he is collecting them again now in the hope that his grandchildren will one day be interested although he holds out no hope of this, really.
"So it will be me going back in my dotage to becoming a stamp collector again!" He likes this idea, or at least likes telling people about it because it makes him sound boring. And who'd want to scrutinise a boring person?
He's so nice, I'd read, that he is the only Python currently speaking to all of the other Pythons. He said, well, I'd have to ask them because he doesn't know who is currently on speaking terms and who is not. He of course likes them all and likes to see them all. "They may not like to see me. I don't know." Oh now really. That is taking self-deprecation to ludicrous lengths. So, I said, not a bit nicely: "Why would they?"
"Exactly! Exactly! Ha, ha! They probably think this is another of Michael's silly illusions." In the same way he thinks he's nice. "Yeah, he thinks he's nice! He's fallen for it!"
Did I? Yes, of course I did, but he's much more interesting and complicated than some nice old duffer who goes around the world shaking hands. The bad news for him is that this makes people like me want to go and gawk at him.


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I vaguely remember that Jason said there would be a mini-collection at the end of the year. I assume that will not happen.
Also announced :
-Integrity's "Toy Fair" will be held on-line (again) and they said the event doll is awesome.
-The 2011 convention will be held in Schaumburg, IL on October 6—8 with a cocktail reception on the evening of October 5.
-There will be a club exclusive Poppy Parker doll.
Link to the article in the Onion:
Chinese Factory Worker Can't Believe The Shit He Makes For Americans


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- Code: Select all
(define (count-pattern pattern lst)
(if (null? lst) 0
(+ (if (check-pattern pattern lst) 1 0) (count-pattern pattern (cdr lst)))))
(define (check-pattern pattern lst)
((null? pattern) #t)
((null? lst) #f)
(else (and (equal? (car pattern) (car lst)) (check-pattern (cdr pattern) (cdr lst))))))
Is there a more elegant way to write this as one function that I'm not seeing, or is what I did acceptable in this case?


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Video Games
What Did You Play This Weekend?
I think as a rule, people who obsess broadly about games leave a fair number of the games they play unfinished. Consequently, most of these gamers find themselves festooned with piles of (physical, and nowadays digital) half-played games which they always mean to get back to, but never quite do. My habits fall easily within this pattern. I take a good, healthy shot at most games, but unless they've got something that keeps me coming back, I'm pretty wont to set them aside for the next hot thing to come down the pike. Of course, the bright side to this is that I've got MANY partially complete games I can always revisit (to name a very few of them that haunt me still: Mass Effect (PC), The Witcher, Lost Planet, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Bully, GTA IV, FEAR 2), should the mood strike. This weekend I hopped back into two of my favorites: Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and Civilization IV. Episode 2 has just about the best ending ever devised for a video game. Is it ART? No. Is it completely awesome? Oh, yes. Two words (and one picture, upper right): Magnusson Device. With Civ IV, I jumped back into a playthrough I'd left sitting for a couple of months now. I just need to figure out how to care a little bit less about what happens to my cities every turn, and I won't wind up needing the rest of my life to nitpick my way through the game. I'm not quite sure how to pull that one off, but maybe I can find help.