text:
That's actually the truth, of which we will be gently reminded by the current economy. Work usually sucked throughout human history. Non-suckful working conditions are not the norm.
The way labor gets to vote is to leave for greener pastures.
There is a difference between how things should be and how they are.
For the foreseeable future there will be no full employment, so employers will start degrading working conditions
Work sucked long before there were corporations and long before Ayn Rand was born. Work is suffering in return for money.
That is NOT to say that if you can compel better conditions through individual or collective bargaining you should not do so. Labor and management are enemies, so get what you can any way you can.
Well yes that sounds nice but doesn't he miss the free market???
"What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom "to" and freedom "from." – Marilyn vos Savant
From my Swedish perspective, in the US, "Freedom From" often gets neglected.
Besides, I doubt taking care of your workforce, for the cases of work where their loyalty and experience actually matters, is really bad business anyways. I do know of one example for a pure development house, where they switched from 8h workday to a 6h workday, as an experiment in productivity. The result? Staff were more focused, more creative and more productive. During the 6h workday, they produced about as much code as previously during 8, but the produced code got cleaner, with fewer bugs, saving a lot of time for new features.
Google may have won "Best Employer" in the US, but they would be considered McDonald's level in Scandinavia and a lot of the western european countries.
Except for the fact that a whole bunch of those "McDonald's" employees are now multi-millionaires. And those that missed the IPO boat are still getting paid WAY more than their equivalent in Sweden. Except for the vacation time (which is a definite lifestyle difference - most engineers I know in the US have 1/2 that much, but never use it all anyway), all of those other perks are more than made up for (ie you can pay for them yourself and still be ahead) by the higher salary.
But hey, people have different priorities. I work with a bunch of engineers originally from a few different Northern/Western European countries with similar working conditions, and they all say they are here because they LIKE the faster pace of the work and the extra disposable income...
Except for the vacation time (which is a definite lifestyle difference - most engineers I know in the US have 1/2 that much, but never use it all anyway), all of those other perks are more than made up for (ie you can pay for them yourself and still be ahead) by the higher salary.
It's a "lifestyle difference" because our corporate culture makes it one. Engineers in the US don't (generally speaking) not take vacation because they abhor time off. They don't take vacation because the company makes it clear to them that vacation time is bad. It's not done in any overt way. People would rebel against a company policy that says "we give you three weeks of vacation, but insist you take only half of it". It's done in the way people who actually use their vacation are treated. The way that you're subtly pushed to not be "that guy".
I've worked in companies where the staff was subtly pushed to avoid time off. I've worked in companies where they weren't. Guess what? In the latter case, everyone finds (perfectly valid and reasonable sounding) excuses not to take time off. In the former, people make use of their vacation time and are happy to do so. I've never really met a fellow worker, engineer or otherwise, who really just liked his/her job SOOO much that they never wanted to take a few days off.
It may very well be true that European countries overdo it. There's probably a reasonable argument there. On the other hand, it seems pretty obvious to me that a lot of American companies underdo it. There's pretty much reams of research showing that productivity at most 60-80 hour a week, never take a break, companies is not significantly different (and depending on the type of work, can even be lower) than productivity at more reasonable companies. Just because you're at work for 16 hours a day and I'm only there 8, does not per se mean you're getting more done than I am.
See: http://www.primitivism.com/original-affluent.htm [primitivism.com] "Hunter-gatherers consume less energy per capita per year than any other group of human beings. Yet when you come to examine it the original affluent society was none other than the hunter's - in which all the people's material wants were easily satisfied. To accept that hunters are affluent is therefore to recognise that the present human condition of man slaving to bridge the gap between his unlimited wants and his insufficient means is a tragedy of modern times."
For the future, see Bob Black:
http://www.whywork.org/rethinking/whywork/abolition.html [whywork.org]
Or me:
http://knol.google.com/k/paul-d-fernhout/beyond-a-jobless-recovery [google.com]
"Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise and Other Bribes" by Alfie Kohn
http://www.amazon.com/Punished-Rewards-Trouble-Incentive-Praise/dp/0395710901 [amazon.com]
"Have Fun at Work" by W. L. Livingston
http://www.amazon.com/Have-Fun-at-Work-Livingston/dp/0937063053/ [amazon.com]
"Disciplined Minds: A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-battering System That Shapes Their Lives" by Jeff Schmidt
http://www.amazon.com/Disciplined-Minds-Criti [amazon.com]
Being fulfilled by your work isn't a promise you can trust when made to you by somebody else. It's more the kind of promise you ought to make yourself, and then keep. I've had bad days at work. Lots of them. But I've never had a job that was more pain than pleasure. Most of the jobs I've done, I'd consider doing for free if I didn't need any money. Come to think of it, all of my jobs have been like that. Is that luck? Absolutely not.
I don't think it's true that work sucks, that it has always sucked etc. I think that no matter how good work gets, people will still find a way to be ill content, and no matter how much fulfilling work is available to them, people will still make bad choices.
The Stoic philosophers had an interesting take on this problem (which is by no means a new one). If happiness is having all your wants fulfilled, the surest path to happiness is to restrain your wants. The more extensive and interconnected you let your desires become, the more certain you are to feel unhappy.
Let's look at the young programmer who desperately wants to work in the games industry. Unfortunately, that's oversimplifying his wants. What he really wants is a job
a) in the gaming industry
b) that is interesting
c) with excellent pay
d) with reasonable responsibilities
e) where he is treated with respect
Now you can probably get any one of these desires fulfilled by a job pretty easily, but all of them? That is a tall order. A stoic career counselor (if there were such a thing), would advise a trimming of desires, and (a) would be right at the top of his list. There are so many people who want to work in the games industry, that a realistic person should see that he'll have to compromise on his other desires in order to get it.
There are undoubtedly people working in the games industry whose talent and skill would enable them to fulfill all their desires if they just let go of (a). If they cannot let go of their other desires in order to achieve (a), they've made a bad choice.
The good news is that if you can compromise on overvalued desires (like working in the game industry, or making a boatload of money) you can probably find a bargain on the undervalued desires, like decent working conditions and personal respect. That also requires disciplining your wants in other areas, like driving a very expensive car or collecting lots of high end home electronics. That may sound terrible, but the payoff is that you get to be happy and fulfilled.
I've had a huge payoff on a job criterion that I got from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Be useful to somebody; be a burden to no one." Most people never even consider the potential of a job to make the lives of people around them easier, more pleasant and rewarding. That property doesn't sound so exciting, but it is extremely undervalued in the job seeker market. That means it's bargain priced. You can get boatloads of the stuff practically for free (i.e. not compromising on other desires). I can almost guarantee that if you put that at the top of your list of job desires, you'll find work that is personally fulfilling.
'Because of the secrecy and competition, a lot of development teams end up having a siege mentality -- batten down the hatches and refuse to come up for air
Sounds like it would make a great game!
Are you kidding? With the chili dogs and other crap those guys eat the stench would make the bean eating scene in Blazing Saddles seem like a fresh summer breeze!
As for tfa, someone here (sorry I can't find your post) said it best when he pointed out, using the classic
"fatigue, hostility, being at odds with one's employer and questioning one's career course is frighteningly common in the _________ industry"
Is this common in your own industry?
FTFC Joel Payne says:
Two decades making games. I've seen a computer fly through a window, I've seen an ex employee trying to sledgehammer through from one companies adjoining wall to ours so he can get to his office and get his "stuff" back, I've seen one of my friends, a long time game vet kill himself on his birthday because nobody would listen to his brilliance . I've seen a barefoot art director tromp down the hallway like a baby to complain to his bosses when his concept art failed to look like the real-time model he expected when the limits of technology at the time wouldn't permit the level of detail he expected. I've had someone say he wanted to kill me and eat me, I've had anonymous threats when I attempted to suggest that we work together and share better ways to make the game better but.. because I was an "artist" my opinion was considered destructive to the game design hierarchy. I've had CEO's and coworkers claim my ideas without mentioning the source. I've had artist apply for a job with my artwork featured in their portfolios when I was the interviewer. I've been told that I had to work a 48 hour day, sleep on a company couch at work or "families will suffer when the company can't pay it's bills when the deliverable isn't met, Joel we're counting on you" I've been a part of countless layoffs, herded into a room with 300 brilliant talents and told that "**blank*** has F*'d us so we have to lay you all off effective immediately.... now" I've shown up to work and handed a glad trash bag and told that our 200K payroll had been stolen and that I'd have 15 minutes to collect my stuff before the company closes forever. I've seen an employee rob another when he was at lunch, deny it, and the discover he was being video taped.. I saw a a man lose his career, his wife and his company when he opened the door of his company to a guy who knew nothing about the game industry offering to help the company go public, but turned out to be a criminal connect to the mafia who ultimately fired every executive, robed the companies payroll and stole the workstations taking them to Florida where they were later found on bails of hay in a barn on his ranch. I've see racism, sexism and some of the most egotistical people in the world in the game industry and yet..... through it all I always remembered something Chuck Jones told me.. "Joel, the entertainment industry is 90% pain and suffering and 10% pleasure, Just make sure the pleasure shows in your work and you'll be fine." He was right.
Is this common in your own industry?
had CEO's and coworkers claim my ideas without mentioning the source.
Yes, that one's very common.
May I recommend you form a union? Or maybe just a guild/mutual benefit society that allows you all to prevent your employer from working you 80 hours a week for no overtime? Just like in show business, there will always be some 17 year old in his garage with no wife, kids or mortgage that would be happy to do your job for less money, more hours and no complaint. Something generally has to be done before the labor pool destroys itself and the ONLY people you can find to do the work are 17 year old greenhorns; the video game medium will never develop artistically if the work environment is actively hostile to people who want to spend a lifetime doing it.
I work on the fringes of both industries at the indie level and I agree completely. Video gaming still has a lot to learn from Hollywood. In 20 years it might actually be a good place to work. Until then, I'll stay indie.
Greetings and Salutations....
Hum...this sounds as if it could be applied to almost ANY industry, not just the gaming industry. Think back to the days when Dave and Bill were running HP and it was rated "the best company to work for". For every ONE HP there were thousands of companies that treated their employees like slaves, and were rampant with the sort of evil doings listed here. That remains true today, alas, and may be MORE true with the stresses of the economy being what they are.
It has been my experience that MOST companies are run by greedy, thieving bastards, and the best the employee can hope for is to not get screwed too badly as the company is drained into the pockets of upper level management.
pleasant dreams
dave mundt
fatigue, hostility, being at odds with one's employer and questioning one's career course
There's nothing trollish about the above AC's comment.
As corporations try to get higher productivity out of fewer workers, despite record profits it's going to cause unhappy employees. The last few weeks had earnings reports that showed huge profits, yet corporations have decided they're not going to hire, because they believe the wage/benefits have not yet bottomed out. In South Carolina (a "right to work" state) there was a story about a factory looking for experienced machinists with advanced training and offering to pay $12 per hour, which is approximately what a fast food worker would make after a year or so.
Declining wages, disappearing benefits, unhappy unsatisfied workers are the natural result of the all-out attacks against labor unions by the corporate/government combine. As Alan Greenspan famously put it, it's good for corporations when workers are "uncomfortable" about their futures. Greenspan was talking about how it was his job to create unemployment so that "comfortable" employees don't expect raises and cause inflation. Well, inflation has been nonexistent for about a decade here in the US, yet corporate America continues their crusade to make workers as frightened as possible. There's talk on Wall Street about how it's good for business to have ten percent unemployment become the "new normal".
Of course workers (in any sector) are unhappy and becoming more unhappy. Workers have been under all-out attack by the elites ever since Ronald Reagan declared war on unions. As we saw in the WWII and post-War years, organized labor raises wages and benefits for ALL workers, creates a strong middle class which helps lower poverty levels. As we started under Reagan to return to the gilded age before the Labor movement we see the opposite happening. Even though it will ultimately hurt our economy and our society as a whole, anti-worker policies do boost short-term profits, and that's all the corporate elite care about.
Get used to it. Unemployed is the new black.
Let me be more specific about what Greenspan said. It was during the Reagan administration, so I don't remember every detail. Greenspan said that as Fed chairman his job was to maintain a certain minimum level of "worker insecurity" so there wouldn't be "wage inflation" – income increases among the middle class.
This is actually a theme that he was challenged on several times during his tenure as Fed chairman by liberal senators like Ted Kennedy who were incredulous at the notion that having the entire middle class "insecure" about their jobs was a good thing. Yet Greenspan stood by his words and reiterated the theme many times.
Of course, this was before senate testimony of the Fed chairman made much news. Greenspan was actually giving voice to a belief held by wall street traders, who consistently reward companies that fire workers and by Chamber of Commerce types who see their role as being the champions of the corporate elite and the enemy of anybody who draws an honest paycheck.
"In South Carolina (a "right to work" state) there was a story about a factory looking for experienced machinists with advanced training and offering to pay $12 per hour, which is approximately what a fast food worker would make after a year or so."
I can verify the South Carolina situation. I live there and work at a vo-tech. (We have retrained a few machinists and machine operators as weldors because there is a modest shortage of those and they can travel nationwide for contract work.)
Machinists are available because manufacturing took a dive. Boeing moved to Charleston for very good reason. Everything is cheaper down here which greatly cushions the effect of low wages. What I'd pay in property taxes in North Jersey would buy a nice house and lots of acreage in SC.
As for "right to work", that "right to compete" is an advantage because manufacturers can simply leave union states and move South. If the South goes union, they can simply outsource and shut down their plants.
As for "right to work", that "right to compete" is an advantage because manufacturers can simply leave union states and move South.
And then workers both North and South suffer a lowering of incomes. The civil war was supposed to be over a few years ago.
"Free trade" agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA made the "free market" radicals and globalists really happy the past few decades, but they've totally screwed anyone who's had to work for a living. And don't tell me how small farmers have benefited, because it was the huge transnational agriculture giants, the ADMs that really cleaned up, and the farmers ended up right back where they started.
When I hear a supposedly educated Southerner refer to the northern states as "union states" it really makes me sad. You know, couchslug, it's no coincidence that the "right to work" states were also mostly slave states.
When when you say "if the South goes union, they can simply outsource and shut down their plants" there nothing "simple" about it. There are still tax incentives in place to encourage them to move jobs overseas. Then there's the bonus that Wall Street gives any company that moves jobs off-shore. But let me tell you where that little game of south vs north vs China ends up: with everyone working for the Chinese wages. It's a race to the bottom and shortsightedness is making people who believe as you do that there's a pony down at the bottom waiting for you. I'm here to tell you there is no pony at the bottom, just low wages, lower standard of living, and lowest futures for both of our kids and grandkids.
Can't really keep first world economies afloat when everyone is making fast food worker salaries though
>Workers have been under all-out attack by the elites ever since Ronald Reagan declared war on unions.
It's amazing to me that anyone wants the middle class to be poor. At first, "I have all the money and nobody else does," sounds like a great idea...until you go outside.
You walk down the street surrounded by poor people. So you get in your Lexus and you are surrounded by poor people in their cars. You go to work and a poor person brings you lunch. You turn on your TV and a poor person is talking abou
The piles of console trash that fill up brick-and-mortar stores have always been terrible. Remember that the vast majority of game releases in the 90s were garbage; you just recall the great ones like Half-Life, Quake 3, and UT99. Well the 2000s have seen many more quality releases.
There's *always* been rehasing of old ideas in gaming. Ever played Pitfall? the Mario before Mario, I guess you could say.
I totally agree with the above poster. Everything is classified into convenient genres and too much money is spent on replicating the exact same experience over and over nowadays. Game producers need to learn to take risks again. Studios need to spend much more efforts on creating something unique, not necessarily in terms of gameplay mechanics but in terms of intelligent plots that are compelling for the primary target group (=adults) and stories that really allow for immersion. Procedural content generation and randomized missions/campaigns would be the way to go, yet most studios choose to go the easy and secure but ultimately boring path of creating short, cinematic games that do not offer anything new except better graphics.
They need to learn to scale back.
Granted, this means if they make a simple game that never gets old (think Tetris), it's hard to build off that premise and any future games would have to compete with that, too.
Plots are nice but ultimately limits replay (a plus for publishers). There's nothing wrong with that but I have a hard time thinking of a game series that built up from game to game both the story and the appeal while maintaining a satisfying end to each chapter. I'd rather they go back to having a
Really, nobody takes any chances? Online only games aren't taking a chance? How about taking a chance on a new platform like iPod touch? Or games that have in-game addons for purchase?
I think people are too down on "the games industry" or maybe too focused on a certain segment (which indeed may be worthy of being negative about).
I think there's lots of crap like there has always been, but there ARE gems. You just have to find them, as has always been the case.
The game industry is trying to wring growth out of a stagnating customer base, that requires increasing the money each customer pays.
Maybe modding will finally move to where it belongs: To opensource engines that give you access to ALL code, not just the parts included in the SDK and no central authority that'll decide it's no longer worth the money to keep fixing bugs because users are supposed to move on to the next iteration of the product..
My guess is that there's not much that can be done to combat this given that game development is such a highly competitive industry. I bet you'd find a similar atmosphere in Hollywood - the millions of wannabee actors and actresses that move to LA all dream of being the next Julia Roberts or Tom Cruise, but the vast majority will end up bitter, dejected, and many will be making porn.
Similarly, all those game developers dream of building the next Warcraft, but the vast majority will end up bitter, dejected, and many will be making porn sites.
So in some ways it is like Hollywood, in some ways it is not. In some ways it is like other industries, mostly not. A financier is in it to make money, and is not going to throw a fit because the grue is the wrong color. An engineer is mostly not going to have a temper tantrum because someone modifies his truss. In most other industries there are measurable. We might get frustrated but life goes on.
This is mostly a case of not confusing a hobby with a job. If one wants total creative control, have a hobby. If one wants revenue, get a job. I think many game developer think they can maximize revenue and simultaneously keep it as a hobby.
Too many people think that just because something is fun to do as a hobby means it'd be fun to do as a job. Not even close. When you are doing something for fun, as you say, you do just the parts you want. If you don't like it you don't do it. That keeps it fun. With work? Not to much.
You can see this in a lot of OSS software. Some programmer threw together an app he wanted because it was fun. However it has a shit UI and no documentation, because that is not fun (for the programmer at least). Fine, but at a job that is probably not an option. A UI designer will look over the UI and say "Make these changes, " and you'll do it, like it or not. You'll be required to write up at least rough draft docs to go on to the technical writers and so on.
No different with games.
Also, for some people, doing something as a job can make doing it as a hobby no longer fun. I used to screw around with things like overclocking and so on. Saved money, was fun, and I'm a tech guy, I can deal with the problems. No longer. The reason is I support computers for a living now. Diagnosing and fixing problems with computers, software, network, and users is what I do all day at work. Thus I seem to have no patience for it at home. I want my computer to work and let me play.
That is why I'm not a game tester. It was a career I'd seriously though about. I love video games, they are by far my main form of entertainment. I also have a good understanding of how computers and programs work, though I'm not a programmer (I do know how to program, I'm just not good at it), I can document well, and so on. I'd be pretty good at it. However I'm also a realist. Testing games doesn't mean playing games, it means TESTING games. You try to break it. You do things over and over to isolate bugs, play on very broken early versions, etc. It is work, not fun. I worried though that in taking a job, where games were work, it would make them no fun for recreation. So I decided not to.
The games industry is a fine place to work, so long as you are realistic about what you are doing. By and large you are NOT making games. The only real person that is true for is the designer, and even then most games have multiple designers who work together, and other people they have to take direction from. If you are a programmer, then that's hwat you do: you program. Your code will become a game, but your job is to code, to solve problems by coding.
So let me get this straight:
You were fired for having a dissenting opinion, and then you gladly accepted to be rehired once your boss came to his senses? Do you really want to work with someone who would fire you over a technical debate?
Most of the people on my team debate with me about the odds and ends of all sorts of technologies. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong. I'd never fire someone for disagreeing over terminology. That just seems like it'd lead to me never getting the advice I really need when I really need it due to employee fear.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." --Hunter S. Thompson
You can replace music with any entertainment industry and it will be accurate.
and many will be making porn sites.
Care to site your sources?
If gaming journalists didn't want half of the flames they get, maybe they could actually try doing their job a little better. Don't get me wrong, I know full well that sometimes committing your feelings and thoughts down to a piece of paper can be a daunting task. Yet, a lot of reviews we all see never jive with their arbitrary scoring system. Why is that if three-quarters of your review is negative, the game still gets an 8.0? An 8? 8 should be considered good. Not great, but well above part. Likewise you'll also see massive praise, but the game will score a 7. Come on. You can't find something negative to say? Something clearly wasn't working for you, so figure it out or up the score.
And then all the reviewers do is complain that people piss and moan about their articles. Well shit son, if I wrote like you did on a consistent basis, I'd deserve all the flames I was receiving too. Yet, when you point these very things out to them, it goes right over their head.
Really, are we readers possibly asking for too much when we want their arbitrary scoring system to coincide with what's written?
Really, are we readers possibly asking for too much when we want their arbitrary scoring system to coincide with what's written?
Yes, you are asking too much when you expect an arbitrary scoring system to be anything but arbitrary. They're idiotic because they are made for idiots. Read the reviews, read the critiques, ask your friends, play the demos, and forget the stupid score card.
So true - in fact, I read replies to letters by the reviewers themselves saying just that in other words. It's just expected so they have to do it.
Why is there so much strife in an industry ostensibly focused on having fun?
The focus is fun for the gamers. For the developers its work and/or business. While the products can be fun the development side can be some of the most technically difficult and challenging. I've worked on software for embedded devices, telecommunications, molecular modeling and visualization, and games. Modern games are far more difficult than most outsiders imagine.
There is hardly a traditional area of computer science where in depth knowledge and proficiency is not required. Architecture, data structures and algorithms, artificial intelligence, database, graphics, numerical methods,
That said, the greater the challenge the greater the satisfaction upon success.
You miss the role that management has on the overall feeling at a workplace. A bad supervisor, manager, or executive can suck the fun out of ANYTHING, and a good boss can make a bad job at least not seem to be all that bad. This applies to everything from software engineering to customer service, and all the way down into fast food. The harder the boss pushes employees who are normally motivated, the worse things will be, and productivity goes down as a result.
Now, if you treat your employees from the bottom to the top like they are a vital part of the team, and you encourage them in a POSITIVE way by showing how vital they are to getting the product out the door, they will WANT to work a bit harder to get things done right, without needing to force them. If you treat employees as just "resources" to be used, they will feel your lack of understanding, and will not want to work there. Now, how many of these business classes teach how to motivate employees in a positive way, because not a single person with a business degree I have ever seen seems to understand that basic idea. The role of management is to get the most productivity out of your employees, and the BEST way is to make the employees happy so that they will want to work overtime to get the job done properly.
I think that what you're saying is true but I don't think managers are trained to be abusive. It's more "The shit flows downhill" that makes bosses jerks. The CEO/President/Big Boss sets the tone for the company. If the chief screams/abuses/threatens the middle managers then that attitude gets passed on. That's why I'm dubious when a manager gets replaced with a new manager about whether anything really improves. Either the new manager will quit because of the threats or he/she will pass on the stress
Also like the tabletop gaming industry, economics is telling us there are too many companies.
what, all 3 of them?
The vast majority of those interested in programming these days try to go into game building. After all, it's not sales reports and data-entry screens that motivate most.
This means there is an oversupply of game programmers, which results in long hours and exploitation.
That isn't exploitation, it's simply that the developers aren't as valuable as they would like to be, because there are plenty more ready to take their place (the aforementioned oversupply).
Even the good ones may be exploited because there are plenty of other good ones to replace them for the same money.
But that's not exploitation; that's what they're actually worth. They just wish they were worth more.
My weirdest experience with gaming has been with the Left 4 Dead series.
In both games, Valve has spent the first two or three weeks after release fixing any bug big bugs. After that they basically only fix a bug if it ends up crashing the game client. Bugs that allow you to lag out the players, crash the server, change maps when you're not supposed to, get maximum scores for an entire map even when your team dies, and spawn extra infected AI bots exist for both games, and never get fixed.
After those first few weeks, the only changes they make are ones that are trivial to implement -- very minor balancing fixes like changing the damage things do, or adding game modes that vary what weapons/monsters get spawned. None of the changes the community actually requests are ever added, like a working lobby system. There is basically no communication between the developers and community.
It's an odd disconnect. Especially for an industry that likes to hire directly out of it's hobby modding community.
The magic of Pixar is that the management understands that you want a positive work environment. Most corporations have clueless managers and executives who have never understood how to motivate people without threats.
Game quality is often taking a back seat to graphics. Case in point, Final Fantasy 13 versus Final Fantasy 7. The story and game play took a back seat to the cinematics. FF13 was just an action game with RPG elements, with a perfectly linear gameplay and lost a lot of what made the game play of Final Fantasy games what they were.
In business terms, this is a loss of **value**. Get that, business people? A spit-polished, so shiny it burns your retina turd is still a turd. Game companies would be far better off focusing on reusing existing technology and focusing on the **content** instead.
This insane focus on bleeding edge everything is killing the actual products.
Er, I played F7 on the PS years ago, and there was never any strategy because you never died (being impossibly easy). You just kept going on and on through the storyline. Compare that to say, Mystaria (Riglord Saga) on the Saturn where you at least had to try a bit.
While I agree there are some games that suck because they focus only on visuals, there are plenty that don't. Square seems to be annoyed you want to play a game, they just want you to watch it. Fine, fuck them. Get Mass Effect. It is a beautiful game with a very compelling story and good gameplay.
You can have good content AND gameplay. Also don't act like good visuals are worthless. Part of a game is creating a fun, immersive, experience and good graphics and sound help.
A-title games today are large, rich worlds with great detail and complexity. That requires an army of people building the world, one tiny bit at a time. That's a factory job.
Developers need a union. Like The Animation Guild [animationguild.org], which represents the workers at Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks, etc. Union contracts have tough overtime provisions. The key point is time and a half for overtime; double time for a seventh day. That makes "crunches" expensive to management, and discourages unnecessary overtime.
Developers need to stand up for their rights, but unions (especially those that dominate an entire industry) can themselves become like the bureaucrats they're supposed to fight against. I'm not usually one to argue for new laws, but I think I'd rather have employees' rights protected through specific legislation than be forced to join or otherwise be represented by a union before being allowed to work for a particular employer.
More and more developer sources I talked to suggested that fatigue, hostility, being at odds with one's employer and questioning one's career course is frighteningly common in the game industry.
And this is different from every other industry how?
There is big money if you can be first to get a game to the public that is a hit. There is also the potential for huge pay for programmers. That means great pressure and that almost always means trouble. Put that together with the fact that there are a few very, very gifted programmers who are highly sought after and have a distinctive artistic type of personality and you might as well hand out sabers and grenades.
I am a mechanical engineer (MIT) by schooling, and one of the first things we learned when actually *designing* and *building* something (as opposed to just messing around with equations) is that you should avoid over-constraining your design both in the dimensions you specify on your drawing, and how you actually bolt things together. Alas, the Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org] is woefully lacking on the subject, so I shall briefly try to explain what this means: if plate A and plate B are bolted together in one spot, and this bolt constrains the plates from moving relative to one another in the X direction, that means that if you place another bolt further down in the X direction, one of the holes it passes through should not be a hole, but a slot oriented in the X direction. This is necessary because you can only drill holes with limited precision. I'm sure many of you have seen first hand why over-constraining with fasteners is bad if you've ever tried to mount a motherboard and use all the screw holes.
The problem this article talks about is industry-wide and not just limited to games development. One thing I have tried to pound into people's heads (but nobody listens) is, you can constrain the feature set you want, or you can constrain a release date, but you can't constrain both. You need to pick either one or the other. Without even checking, I would guess that game developers at Blizzard are happier than elsewhere, because this is a company that clearly has a grasp of this concept - they hold their guns on quality and features, but do NOT stick with release dates. They only announce them when they've entered the polishing phase (and boy do they polish), when almost all the serious development is complete.
Many of us developers are made to suffer at the hands of those who do not appreciate the inherent unreliability of estimation. We are just expected to suck it up, work very long hours, stress out, and - WRONGFULLY - accept responsibility that the project is falling behind schedule. Being a happy developer requires that you grow a pair and just say no, I will not give up my life, and work insane hours, simply because someone doesn't understand that they can hold a schedule, or hold a feature set, but not both.
"For the love of money is the root of all evil."
-Quote from a somewhat popular book
It would be reasonable to say that a significant percentage of people involved in the game industry do it for the love of being part of the game creation process. Programmers, QA personnel, and managers put in crazy hours to fulfill their personal dream of inspiring somebody else with their game. Once they get a great game that sells well, all of them are on top of their game (pardon the pun). Their eyes start filling with visions of being able to live the good life and being able to do what they love. Time passes and more great selling games get made and these people are rightfully feeling like gods of their own domains.
Enter the investors and business people. Their sole purpose is to make money. They do not care how it is made, what widgets are used to make people shell out money for said widgets, only that the widgets generate the maximum amount of profit given the amount of resources used to make said widget. A very significant percentage of business people are only interested in the game of making money, nearly everything else is secondary. Specialized (and sometimes even general) knowledge of those widgets is not necessary at all.
In the case of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick is on public record stating these very things. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/01/activisions-bobby-kotick-brings-cash-but-not-heart.ars [arstechnica.com] When he talks, he isn't talking to the consumer, he is talking to the investors - although I do believe those type of people delude themselves into thinking they are talking to the consumer base. The investors are the most important people you need to make happy to be able to make those large sums of money. By now, the consumer base is so large that a few missteps in execution will be absorbed by the sheer number of consumers. Just as long as the quarterly balance sheet is an improvement over same quarter last year all is well in the money making world.
Meanwhile, the people who have sweat blood and guts getting the company to where it is are dismayed at the change of direction the company is taking. They like the extra money and the even better benefits because the families they have now demand such things. They internally file this under mid-life crisis and buy a big toy for themselves to sooth the ego bruised dream of making a difference in the world through their passion. By now, the patterns of malcontent from the consumers and the many compromises in game design is way too frequent to ignore. The more brilliant people of the core team that made the company great have seen the writing on the wall and have already formed new opportunities for themselves (exit strategies), while the ones not so confident are basically biding their time and polishing their resumes. It is no longer a joy to leap out of bed ready to attack the day with finishing up whatever game related task you may have. You go into work dreading whatever the new edict comes down from upper management. Your life has reached The Dilbert Level(tm). Congratulations.
Eventually, the game company spends of all the consumer good will that was accumulated during the glory days. Even the "sheep" consumers are leaving because there are better games out there. The investors spit up the company and sell the pieces and leave with their bags bulging with money while the soon employed ones are left wondering what the hell happened.
I just hope that Diablo 3 has enough of it's roots in the pre Activision days to be a good game. I already know that it will be the last ActiBlizzard game that I might purchase.
Behind the stress is mostly flooded markets and a lack of cash to go around for everybody.
We've been producing a game called Beakiez (http://beakiez.com), which is a super hardcore bubble pop game. Indie team, no funding, just using savings and odd jobs to fund it. Despite getting reports that it's a lot of fun and that going for the high scores is quite addictive, we've been denied by all the major casual game portals for the following reasons: a. it auto-patches when new versions come out, b. it talks to a central server to list high scores, and c. it's a bubble pop game. Almost all the major portals have strict guidelines that don't allow external server connections or auto-patching, and one really major portal normally associated with being indie-friendly has an issue with bubble pop games, as they've been deemed a "dead genre." As a result, we got rejected from some of the biggest portals out there.
This means we have to get every single player to come to our website and to buy from us directly. As you can imagine, this isn't easy. It can be really hard on morale, but you have to let go and not be angry.
This isn't really just about the game industry at all. One thing that's become extremely obvious to me as a game designer is that capitalism features extremely poor balancing and pacing. Imagine if in WoW, 50% of the players never leveled their characters once, as it was excruciatingly difficult to get to level 2, and really only 5% made it to level 5. From there on out, levels 6 to 80, levels get progressively easier to get past, to where you can literally wake up and find that you've gotten through 8 advanced levels in your sleep, equivalent to waking up and making $100k in interest income, for example.
Capitalism is essentially the world's oldest MMO, and the rules (laws) are so complex and hackishly patched that you have to rent people (lawyers) to interpret small corners of them. The more money you have, the more people you can hire to navigate and circumvent those rules, so you get a lot of cheaters at the top. In an MMO, this would lead to a mass exodus from the game to a competing game, but capitalism doesn't really let you leave. It's the game we all have to play.
I keep hope alive that someday our elected representatives and lawmakers will be accomplished game designers. They know how to motivate people better than just about anyone. They make addictive, balanced, and fair systems for a living. I frankly think our industry's best designers could run circles around today's top politicians and lawmakers.
In the meantime, I think we all just need to keep our noses to the grindstone, lower those burn rates, and try to eek out what satisfaction we can in our work and personal lives.
The videogame INDUSTRY is not about having fun, it's about making money of course.
You can find programmers who enjoy making games all by themselves, in their free time and seeking no (economical) profit. They exist, and I think they are the only ones having "fun" making a game.
I include myself in that category. I don't think I'd be able to do it as my real job, with other people (who are probably clueless or only trying to satisfy random market statistics) telling me what I need to change or whatever. I seek no profit, just fun. For profit I already got a regular job that pays the bills. I can do game creation at my own pace, using my ideas and having to respond to no one.
You'd say it's a work of love.
Employment is a somewhat dynamic equilibrium but still an equilibrium nonetheless. All of the factors for an against ultimately balance out (albeit taking a few years to do so every time there's a boom or bust). Those factors tend to include: pay, working hours, working conditions, perceived sense of enjoyment, desire to be in the field, qualifications needed to get there, and many more.
Every year, millions of kids enter the workforce. Hundreds of thousands of them think gaming is just the coolest thing ever. If they get in via QA/Customer Service, they don't even need a degree to get there. On the positive side: They get to be in a field [they think] they love and they get to work in it with f-all experience or training. Even the coders get in on the back of a basic degree or a successful game mod.
Funnily enough, with a massive supply and only a finite demand for these employees... employers have discovered they can ask for longer hours and pay less for them than they would in fields where hardly anyone wants to do it and they need years of specialized training.
Not exactly rocket science.
I was in the industry for five years. I got sick of the crazy hours and too many people with a maturity level way south of their customers so I left. I'd imagine it took them a second or two to replace me because that crazy supply of people who want to be in the field, no matter what, continues unabated.
The difference between the people complaining/writing rants and myself is that I recognized what the reality was and stopped whining about it being unfair. Of course I wasn't going to get the conditions people in much less desirable jobs have - because I was trading them for getting to do the desirable thing that a million other people would make the same trade to get to do. Sure, after a few years, most people in the field realize the trade off isn't actually worth it and move on - but, like me, they get some great memories, they get to know they lived their dream for a while... and a million new kids get to take their places and do the same... for the few years it takes them to burn out too.
A lot of the guys I used to know now work sane hours for way better salaries in places where they have to wear a tie, not have nerf fights in the office and never release anything a tenth as much fun as a videogame. They don't bitch about that either as they recognize that, too, is a trade off they chose, with a balance point set by millions of other people choosing where their values lie.
In short: You don't have to work in the games industry, or programming, or any other industry. Stop bitching about what you don't get compared to someone else, somewhere else, when they're making other tradeoffs you don't have to. Instead, figure out what's more rewarding to your values than it is for most other people, skewing the equilibrium in your favor, and then reap the benefits of being there.
"It takes all sorts of in & out-door schooling to get adapted to my kind of fooling" - R. Frost


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30 Second Season 1 Promo from Hardly Sound on Vimeo.
Ring in the New Year with great music on KLRU Q. First, we feature a documentary about one man's quest to reunite the Kinks. Next is a mini-marathon of Hardly Sound complete with a countdown at midnight!
8:55pm – Do It Again
Geoff Edgers, a Boston Globe reporter dreading the approach of his 40th birthday, is on an unlikely quest: to reunite the surviving members of the Kinks, the long dormant British Invasion group of the 1960s who rose to the top of the rock world with hits such as "You Really Got Me," "Lola" and "Come Dancing." There are just two small problems: Edgars has absolutely no connection to the Kinks, aside from a passionate love for their music, and there is a long-standing feud between band members and brothers Ray and Dave Davies, who haven't spoken to each other in years. DO IT AGAIN follows Edgers from Boston to California, and from Las Vegas to New York City. By the time he reaches London, he's ready to confront his heroes. But are they ready for him?
9:59pm – Hardly Sound: The Bye and Bye
Follow Austin, Texas twang wave band, The Bye and Bye in their quest to understand their future through the telling of their past.
10:25pm – Hardly Sound: Bad Lovers
Dive into the world of the Austin, Texas garage rock scene with "The Bad Lovers" and all their rock 'n' roll cohorts as they talk about their adventurous past, hopeful future, and the sometimes tenuous friendships that they've formed over the years.
10:51pm – Hardly Sound: Royal Forest
Take to the skies with psychedelic rock band Royal Forest as they lead the Hardly Sound team on an epic adventure through the desert, in a submarine, and up in the air. It all culminates with the band recording a song in a tiny Cessna flying over north Austin. Royal Forest will inspire you with their spirit of adventure.
11:20pm – Hardly Sound: Emcee Eats
Join Vincent Martinez – one of the most stunningly original artists in Austin – as he lives his self-proclaimed "Jazz Life." Then marvel at his undeniable hooks and poetic, personal lyrics as he steps into the studio as Emcee Eats.
just before Midnight —Hardly Sound producers countdown to the new year

subset: commoncrawl


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A good, creaseless, pigmented cream shadow is hard to find – for sure. The best creaseless, all day iron clad ones I can think of usually a little sheer (Jill Stuart Eye Jellies and Shiseido Hydro Power for example). Then there are the very pigmented ones that don't stay put (Illamasqua creases, Nars creases).
So when I saw Too Faced's Lock Down cream eyeshadows I was excited. Apparently these are infused with Shadow Insurance, one of my favourite shadow primers ever (more so that Urban Decay Primer Potion – I think Shadow Insurance gives more time for you to blend and doesn't come in that daft packaging).
Got three shades, bedroom eyes a sheer champagne, the perfect base, dramarama, a rich brown and I'm guilty, a hot tropical blue.
All of these shades are pigmented – very pigmented. Dramarama and I'm guilty really show off how pigmented these cream shadows are. Box one, tickeddddd!
The creams are soft and nice to use, although I would still say it pays to blend quickly and not make a cup of tea mid application. Like a lot of long wear make up, blending quickly works best, before it sets.
Because when this sets…its set. It is very long lasting indeed. Box two, tickeddddd!
But is there any creasing? Well I found a little by the end of the day but I suspect this is because I rushed with the layering as I wanted a super strong effect. For full on look I suggest blending quickly then adding on thin layers, not slapping it all on in one go – one heavy layer will always crease quicker than thin ones.
It's also nice to know that you don't have to use a primer with these if they are already infused with the stuff – infact these cream shadows would be the perfect base for any eye look. Multi purpose as they say.
Overall – I love these cream shadows – one of the best on the market. I want them to bring out more bold and vivid shades like a true emerald green, a hot pink, a black with sparkles, a bright orange…ahhh heaven.
You can buy peruse the range here – you can pick up points this way and they also have 500 point for every 2 items bought from time to time.


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I'm in a bind! gah
I recently have a goodman 3 ton, 75k btu furnace installed into one of my rental properties. It heats an area thats about 1200sq foot with 8ft ceilings.
I figured the math using what information i could find and the furnace should be plenty large.
Anyway, after the install was done, it started getting really cold up here in michigan. My tenants have been calling me saying the furnace is not keeping up with the cold! Its getting as cold as 68 degrees inside. The house has new efficent windows but is not insulated well.
I went to the basment to see if anything obviouse was wrong that might be a quick fix. This is the first time I examined the work. Everything looked nice and good, but he only used 8" round duct work and quite a bit of it is flex Duct work.
The runs are fairly log, probably 15-18ft. I just don't think that duct work has enough area and is restricting the heat flowing to the house. On top of that the temp rise is only about 30 degrees! The heat going out is about 85-90.
The heat bill is out f'ing standing.
My primary house has a probably 20 year old 80% furnace and it blows 110 degree heat. It heats up the house (which is larger) fast and my heat bill is $300 less a month. I have poor windows with storms but they are very drafty. It is insulated though.
My contractor says its an insulation problem, i disagree and say its a duct work problem.
I'd get a 2nd opion, but we have but one contractor I've found willing to crawl in this space. Half the basement is a crawl space. Most contractors wanted me to do my own duct work and they will hook it up and check it. I guess in a small town you get to pick and choose your jobs.
Thanks in advace for your help!


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A Guided Tour
It's time to take our tour. The table below lists some interesting places to explore. This is by no means a complete list, but it should prove to be an interesting adventure. For each of the directories listed below, do the following:
© 2000-2018, William E. Shotts, Jr. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this copyright notice is preserved.
Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.


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The lights are on
On an unrelated note, I'm pretty sure my dreamscape is gonna be shifting toward Robin-Raven tonight...
PSN ID: UserMaatRe666
I finally reviewed Bioshock Infinite. Man, some of the enemies you fight in that game just had me cracking up. Not to mention the music! There're so many easter eggs in that game.
"Iba se ori egun Ìlà arun, Ìwò arun, ariwa arun, gusuu arun, egun orun, egun ayie, ase."
The Holy Trinity of GIO:
GIO Usage Guidelines, Newcomer Cheat Sheet, Site Feedback
*Throws away bloody gloves* Done...wait...whats neutering again? Shoot! I took brains instead of brain(s)....back to surgery!!!
*Throws away bloody gloves* Done...wait...whats neutering again? Shoot! I took brains instead of brain(s)....back to surgery!!!
Wy dd yo ddo tat too meh??
Twitter / Newcomer Cheat Sheet / Usage Guidelines
Lunar, be nice now!
She doesn't have to be nice. She can moderate the forums all on her own.
Id like to see someone try to neuter me. I would break walls and necs and doors and toilets.
So whats up in life with everyone this april.
I'm a Legendary GI member.
@Snake- I can fix it! I just need some duct-tape...and a dead arnucki beast...back in a sec...
@Meta-Done...see? You didn't even notice!
@Crypt-You give me waaaaay too much credit. Lol. But i'll take it! :p
@Orochi-But this is nice...i haven't auctioned any brain...:(
Kill'em with kindness, it's a slow painful death.
Usage guidelines, Newcomer Cheat Sheet, Site Feedback.
Y'know, I'd be perfectly willing to help you rule the forums. I could be the Soundwave to your Megatron.
you cannot call soundwave I am soundwave sir.
No, you're more like Knock Out.
See? Just like Knock Out.
Oooo i get to be megatron? Works for me! You two must have a battle-royal for second though...i've already prepared the pit of doom! :)
Wait, why would I want to be your second? The second is the guy who you know will try to usurp you at some point, like Starscream or Airachnid...or Dreadwing, once he realizes that you have no honor, and he just wants to kill Screamer to avenge his zombified twin.
nah im Transformers Armadas Jetstorm or Jetstream...whichever the rockets name was.


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Original URL: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/26/firefox_3_6_beta_4/
Mozilla dishes up fourth Firefox 3.6 beta alongside deep-fried turkey
A generous dash of sugar in your sweet potato mash
Posted in Software, 26th November 2009 16:58 GMT
Praise be - Mozilla has spun out yet another beta for Firefox 3.6, the next iteration of the outfit's popular browser, just in time for Thanksgiving.
A finalised version of Firefox 3.6, based on the Gecko 1.9.2. engine, will rock up next month - unless Mozilla is hit by any last-minute showstopping bugs, that is.
The Firefox 3.6 beta 4 update comes loaded with over 100 fixes.
Mozilla noted that "almost 70 per cent" of the thousands of Firefox add-ons had now been upgraded by their authors to be compatible with the browser.
Extensions are extremely popular in Firefox, so it's hardly surprising to see Mozilla making a big play for the hearts and minds of the developer community ahead of 3.6's arrival in December.
Changes and new features in the latest beta include support for the HTML 5 file API, a tweak to how third-party software integrates with Firefox to beef up stability, and a mechanism to prevent incompatible software from crashing the browser.
Mozilla, which hastily shoved a third beta for Firefox 3.6 out the door just last week, has the full rundown on the latest preview of its upcoming browser here.
Apparently playing with the beta is fun for all the family this Thanksgiving. ®


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2. The 'One Microsoft' Re-Org
Microsoft unveiled a sweeping re-organization in July just after its Worldwide Partner Conference that created more than a half-dozen new business units and placed several lesser-known Microsoft executives into prominent positions. The goal was to quell the warring factions within Microsoft's product groups and get everyone marching to the same beat.
"Going forward, our strategy will focus on creating a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most," CEO Steve Ballmer (pictured) said at the time in an email to employees.
Five weeks later, Microsoft said Ballmer would be stepping down as CEO within 12 months. At this stage, it's unclear if the new CEO will keep the re-org in place or go in a new direction.


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Nick Alexander, the self-proclaimed "king of the $12,500 maidens at Golden Gate Fields," hopes to shed that lowly image when his Grazen runs in Saturday's $200,000 California Cup Classic presented by City National Bank at Oak Tree at Santa Anita.
The 66-year-old Alexander is hoping that Grazen, a gray 3-year-old son of Benchmark, can distinguish himself in the Classic at 1 1/8 miles and perhaps advance to the $1-million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 7.
Grazen, winner of four of six career starts including the Grade III Affirmed Handicap against open company last June 20, is trained by Mike Mitchell, who won the 2006 Classic with Texcess. Grazen is the even-money favorite in a compact field of six. Bold Chieftain, a 6-year-old horse who won the 2007 Cal Cup Classic, is the 5-2 second choice on oddsmaker Jon White's morning line.
Trainer Bill Morey Jr. was pleased that Bold Chieftain bounced back from a disappointing sixth-place finish as the 9-5 favorite in the Cal Dreamin Handicap at Del Mar on July 26 to win the Governors Handicap by five lengths at Sacramento on Sept. 7.
Although Morey has acknowledged that his homebred has "lost a step from the gate," he's hoping Bold Chieftain fits well with this year's Classic field and can achieve a victory that would elevate him to millionaire status. Bold Chieftain, a son of Chief Seattle, has a 12-6-4 record from 30 career starts, with earnings of $963,411.
The Classic highlights a 10-race program including nine Cal-bred stakes.
The field for the Classic, which is the sixth race: Bold Chieftain, Russell Baze, 122,
5-2; Star Nicholas, Michael Baze, 119, 4-1; Grazen, Garrett Gomez, 117, 1-1; Lethal Heat, Alex Solis, 118, 7-2; Blackbriar, Brice Blanc, 112, 30-1; and One Chin Again, Rafael Bejarano, 111, 30-1.
Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird enjoyed a walk in the park—Santa Anita Park—Wednesday morning, as is customary, after working five furlongs on Pro-Ride Tuesday in 1:01.80 towards the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic hosted by the Oak Tree Racing Association on Nov. 7.
First up, however, is the $350,000, Grade I Goodwood Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 10, a race that is expected to lead to the Classic at 1 ¼ miles. Shortly after Mine That Bird's work, trainer Bennie (Chip) Woolley Jr. had targeted next Tuesday for the 3-year-old son of Birdstone's final pre-Goodwood breeze, but hedged on that date Wednesday morning. "It could be Monday or Tuesday," Woolley said. "I really haven't decided yet."
Probable for the 28th Goodwood: Chocolate Candy, Victor Espinoza; Colonel John, Garrett Gomez; Mine That Bird, Calvin Borel; Parading, Rafael Bejarano; Richard's Kid, no rider, and Tiago, Mike Smith.
Richard's Kid worked six furlongs on Pro-Ride Wednesday under Joey Steiner in 1:12.40. The Pacific Classic winner worked in company with Limestone Edge, who was clocked in :59.80 for five furlongs.
The Oak Tree Racing Association hosts the Breeders' Cup World Championships for an unprecedented second straight year in 2009, and if things go as well as last year, the 31-day meet that starts today and concludes on Nov. 8 will be considered a success.
The 26th Breeders' Cup will be highlighted by six championship races on Friday, Nov. 6, and eight on Saturday, Nov. 7, totaling $25.5 million in purse money.
Oak Tree's meet ended strongly in 2008 when all-sources handle on Friday, Oct. 24, reached $47,863,774, and on Saturday, Oct. 25, totaled $107,610,778.
"The Breeders' Cup brings in fresh faces and some new horses, which make our races more competitive and interesting," said Oak Tree Director of Racing Mike Harlow. "Typically, that's what happened last season. We had one of the most successful Oak Tree meets as far as field size, and I believe quality of racing, that we've had in a while. We averaged nine horses a race.
"I think the climate in the industry is somewhat different right now, as far as the economy and the horse population is concerned, so we're cautiously optimistic we can do as well as we did last year. If we arrive anywhere close to that, I'll be happy."
The sky's the limit for Zensational, now that he's learned to relax. After an inclination to be headstrong early on, the brilliantly fast son of Unbridled's Song has won three straight Grade I sprints--the Triple Bend at Hollywood Park and the Bing Crosby and Pat O'Brien at Del Mar—thanks to Bob Baffert's patience and Victor Espinoza's strength.
Zensational faded to fourth after leading in his debut race on Aug. 6, 2008, and lost a five-length lead in the stretch, finishing second as the 1-5 favorite in a one-mile optional claiming race last March 29. He has won his four subsequent starts.
Owned by Ahmed Zayat, Zensational worked four furlongs Wednesday on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride in a bullet :47, breezing, and will train up to the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Sprint at six furlongs on Nov. 7, Baffert said. Zensational recorded an identical workout one week earlier.
"He'll go directly to the Breeders' Cup," Baffert said. "Zensational still hasn't really relaxed that much. Victor's really strong, and he's been able to manhandle him down the backstretch a little bit."
Espinoza is unbeaten aboard Zensational in his last four starts, including the three Grade I triumphs.
"Since I've been riding him, he's never been rank at all," Espinoza said. "He might have been for other jockeys who have ridden him, but never for me. Maybe it's because he's more relaxed, or he's matured. He's a fast horse, but I can control him without fighting him."
For the first time in its 41-year history, the Oak Tree Racing Association will institute a full menu of "Free Fridays" throughout its six-week meeting, which begins today and concludes Nov. 8.
This Friday will mark the first of five "Free Fridays," which all will have a special first post time of 2 p.m. All fans attending Fridays will receive free general admission with the exception of the first day of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Friday, Nov. 6.
In addition to free general admission, fans will be offered free box seats, while supplies last, along with $1 beers, sodas, hot dogs, popcorn and coffee.
"This promotion was a resounding success and extremely popular with our fans at the Santa Anita winter/spring meet and we're very confident it's going to be a big hit here at Oak Tree," said Oak Tree director and executive vice president Sherwood Chillingworth.
"We also like the idea of two o'clock first post time," he added. "We feel this is going to make it easier for people who are getting off work to come out, have a good time and get their weekend off to an enjoyable start."
The first Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting was first conducted in the fall of 1969. Oak Tree will be hosting the Breeders' Cup World Championships for an unprecedented second consecutive year on Nov. 6 and 7.
HRTV's commitment to showcasing many of the sport's top international races
will continue this Sunday when it presents live coverage of the prestigious Qatar Prix de l' Arc de Triomphe from Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France.
The $5.8 million Arc, the richest race in Europe, will be headlined by one of Thoroughbred racing's brightest performers, Sea the Stars. The five-time Group 1 winner is expected to be the odds-on choice in a big field slated to go postward in the 11/2-mile turf race.
HRTV's Sunday coverage will begin at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT, with estimated post time for the Arc slated for 7:15 a.m. here.
HRTV will show a number of other outstanding races on the Longchamp card, including a pair of Group 1 events--Prix de l'Opera at 6:30 a.m. and Prix du Cadran 8:45 a.m.
HRTV will inaugurate its first-ever coverage of the popular six-week Oak Tree at
Santa Anita meeting today with the debut of two original shows--"Grandstand" and "The Edge."
A new show, "Grandstand," will be unveiled at 4 p.m., hosted by Laffit Pincay III, Gary Stevens, and Jeff Siegel. "Grandstand" will air for 60 minutes on Wednesdays and Thursdays and expand to two hours on Fridays. Saturday and Sunday editions will air for 90 minutes. The show will include comprehensive live coverage of Oak Tree's feature race, as well as a complete look at that day's major races from across the country. It will also present features, interviews and previews of upcoming races.
On Fridays at 6 p.m., HRTV will produce "The Edge," a weekly half-hour show featuring a rotating group of HRTV analysts on a weekly basis, as well as Daily Racing Form's Southern California correspondent, Brad Free. The group will offer an in-depth preview and analysis of the Pick Six races for Saturday Oak Tree cards and branch out for other handicapping challenges once Oak Tree concludes.
"The opening of the Oak Tree meeting is an exciting time and offers a perfect opportunity to debut these two unique shows," said Amy J. Zimmerman, executive producer for HRTV.
"These shows will become a staple of HRTV's programming line-up even after Oak Tree concludes and join the network's award-winning 'Inside Information,' 'RaceDay America,' 'Across The Board,' 'Pursuit of the Crown,' 'Pursuit of the Cup,' 'Against the Odds,' and 'HRTV Rewind' as anchors of our original shows."
FINISH LINES: Unbeaten Del Mar Futurity winner Lookin at Lucky worked four furlongs on Pro-Ride Wednesday in a bullet :46.80 for Sunday's Grade I Norfolk Stakes. The 2-year-old son of Smart Strike trained by Bob Baffert worked in company with Magic Max, who was timed in :47.40 . . . John Sadler, runaway training leader at the recent Del Mar meet, will guest on tonight's HRTV's "Across the Board" show at 5 p.m. . . . Today's second race was named for Hall of Fame tennis legend Jack Kramer, who died Sept. 12 in his Los Angeles home at the age of 88. Scat Thief, a 5-year-old gelding who finished a game third in that race, is owned in part by the Jack and Gloria Kramer Living Trust . . . Ron McAnally is in France, where he will attend Sunday's Arc de Triomphe. "He'll return after that race," said his long-time assistant, Dan Landers . . . Paul Atkinson resumes riding at Oak Tree after missing last year's Santa Anita winter/spring meet when he was hors de combat. "I had problems with my knees," the 40-year-old jockey said. "I had some injuries over the years where the knees would bother me, and the right one got pretty bad, swelling up and stuff. I missed the whole Santa Anita meet, and I didn't ride Hollywood, either. I gave the knees time to get stronger rather than come back too soon. I finally rode at Del Mar and won two races at Fairplex." Atkinson's book is handled by agent Tommy Ball.


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See what was happening in Redwood Falls 50, 25, and 10 years ago this week.
1964—50 years ago • Up to 10,000 buffalo burgers — prepared from the meat of one of the Ramsay Park buffalo — were being prepared to be served at the city's centennial celebration set for the following week. • The ReVera Study Club's petitioned the city council to have a wading pool for small children be built next to the main public swimming pool. • A Wisconsin man won the grand prize at the 7th annual Minnesota Inventors Congress with his device for making welding helmets safer. • A Morton couple celebrated their 40th anniversary at the Redwood Falls hospital where the husband was a long-term patient and the wife was injured in a fall at home. Both were released on crutches on their anniversary. • A Gazette columnist thanked Steve Inglis, Bob Buckley, Jack Smith, and Frank Stevensen for not playing in the golf club's tournament the previous weekend, thereby giving someone else a chance to win it. 1989—25 years ago • The county board declared a grasshopper emergency, and asked for state funds to control the baby grasshoppers before they came out of the grass and started eating crops. • The school board expected to pay as much as $52,000 to have asbestos removed from Reede Gray Elementary School and the high school. • The Redwood Falls Lions Club honored Norm Bailey for 43 years of perfect attendance, the longest in the state of Minnesota. • Kris Warner came in second place in the state high school shot put competition with a throw of 38 feet, 11 inches. The previous year she missed qualifying with a throw that was half an inch short. • Four first-time donors pushed the blood drive over its goal in Redwood Falls. 2004—10 years ago • Alan Reed, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, appeared at the Minnesota Inventors Congress not to publicize an invention, but a service: he'd bronze your last cigarette butt and make it into a necklace. • Jeremy Soupir won the boys state shot put competition with a throw that bettered his previous personal best throw of 51 feet, six inches by over eight feet, at 59 feet, 2 inches. • RVHS student Caitlin Larsen, in remission from a form of cancer that traveled through the blood, volunteered to hold hands with first-time donors at the RVHS blood drive. -compiled by Joshua Dixon


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Oklahoma State Department of Education district and school site report evaluation
The Oklahoma State Department of Education report card evaluation for our district and each school site can be found on the top navigation bar under the "District" tab in the section titled "Accountability Reports".
Please click on the link in the "Quick Links" area to the right to bring up the report card for Spring Creek.
The following link will redirect you right to the "Accountability Reports" section on our website. Please note that you will no longer be at Spring Creek's website after clicking on the link below:


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|2007-08-27, 09:47
|Link #62
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: San Francisco
Age: 35
After a highly disputed fight with Wong Jack-Man in San Francisco (Lee and his wife said that he won, Wong said that he won, other eyewitnesses said that they don't remember), Lee decided that his Wing Chun wasn't good enough on its own. (It is worth mentioning at this point that Lee's knowledge of Wing Chun was woefully incomplete -- he only learned one-third of the system -- yet chose to blame the style rather than himself.)
Lee developed a high disdain for traditional martial arts after this fight. And his philosophy of "take what works, discard what doesn't" will work for him, but would not work for everyone when looking at future generations of martial artists.
Let's say that a fighter learns a particular style, and finds that he doesn't like joint locks; he'd rather stick to punching/kicking. So he doesn't use them, doesn't train them, and completely abandons them. But what of the fighter's students? They will be denied the knowledge of previous generations, denied the opportunity to learn what does and does not work for them personally.
|2007-08-27, 11:00
|Link #63
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: In Florida
As for how much of Wing Chun did Bruce Lee learn. That seems to depend on the source. Some claim he learned the first 2 forms and began learning some of the third form, while others claimed he didn't learn any of the third form. Wong Shun Leung has said that Bruce Lee did manage to learn some of the advance techniques on his own...well he claimed he discretely taught some techniques wrong so Bruce Lee could figure it out on his own.
|2007-08-27, 20:42
|Link #65
You could say.....
Join Date: Apr 2007
having seen a few fights in my time (this is what you get when your local pub is a dive). I have to say in IMO grapple based Martial Arts are more realistic in terms of real world use. Real world fights go one of two ways, one maybe two strikes thrown or it hits the deck and becomes a wrestle. Very rarely outside of organised competition have I seen a traditional style fight with people squaring up.
|2007-08-27, 21:09
|Link #66
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Trinidad.....anyone get me out of here !
Real fighting is fighting without rules. In any technique or style you are taught to defend against a specific type of punch or kick. Now in the real world people may not know how to punch properly rather a way they are accustom to. And you aren't taught in Karate or Kung-fu how to defend against someone throwing a shoe at you or slamming a wooden chair on you. If you must train in a style, learn it, master it then achieve it ! Don't be bound by its' limitations.
( Same goes for life )
|2007-08-28, 20:41
|Link #67
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: San Francisco
Age: 35
- "All fights go to the ground -- learn how to fight there."
- "All fights start standing -- keep them there."
- "Be prepared to fight standing or on the ground. (Note that if you train both equally, you will excel at neither -- which is a conveniently forgotten fact.)"
I already said this before in the thread -- I would avoid the ground at all costs in a fight. When you're standing, you can still run away.
And no teacher worth anything will train you to counter "Eagle Dives to Pick Plum Blossom" with "Phoenix Ascends to the Heavens" or any such thing.
If there's a punch coming at your head -- any punch -- you have to either:
Martial arts drills will train your body to instinctively do one of them. If you learn no style, or do not drill, you'll take too much time considering what to do, and end up getting socked in the face. That's really all martial arts are.
|2007-08-29, 12:52
|Link #68
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: In Florida
|2007-09-02, 18:57
|Link #69
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Trinidad.....anyone get me out of here !
Bruce Lee was an old fighter. We don't know how he would do for now days. I don't know but since then maybe the fighting has changed and the way people think. Because the way people think greatly affects their fighting.
|2008-01-05, 22:44
|Link #72
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Marctial arts sorry can't speel lol ^_^
I was just wondering out of every body here whos into martcial arts and witch ones your in... I'm curently in tae kwon do and kum do I used to do boxing kick boxing and karate so what what are you about? ^_^
|2008-01-06, 01:32
|Link #76
When I was a wee lad, my father signed me up for seibukan lessons, but the lessons were slow, and I eventually stopped due to time constraints.
In junior high, though, I met two friends, one of whom was a black belt in tae kwon do and an assistant instructor at his mixed kung fu dojo, and the other a friend that sparred with him. I practiced informally with them, and thoughout high school and college we practiced bits from other styles we weren't formally trained in (including some Japanese fencing... with wooden practice swords. DO NOT REPEAT THE RISK-TAKING OF MY YOUTH!). Their form was always better than mine because of my desire to learn something new once I'd reached adequacy instead of instead spending time perfecting my technique, but I got to the point where I was sparring on the same level as them.
If you had to pigeonhole me, I'd say my style is jeet kun do.
I need to fill some of my holes by studying more kung fu and aikido and starting jiu jitsu (grappling is a serious weak point in my knowledge). I'd also REALLY like to study capoeira. I am several years out of practice (and it was poor practice to begin with).
|2008-01-06, 01:49
|Link #77
Feeling comfy
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 43
I'm not sure that poor spelling is someting to be "lol'ed" about, especially when a spell-check function is available.
There is an existing thread on martial arts found here: Martial Arts and Combat Sports
|2008-01-06, 03:39
|Link #79
Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
I used to do Judo. Had orange belt. Was nearly getting the next belt but I quit. Why? Not interesting anymore. It was self-defence. At least thats why I started doing it. But after a while I asked If I could use it as self-defence and the sensei said I couldn't. Then I was like:
WTF?! A self-defence sport which you may NOT use outside of the dojo or whatever you want to call it.
So I quit... ^^ It lost it purpose. Now it's 4/5 years ago I stopped. When I think back I think like: Dude I could do it anyway outside the dojo. >o<
|Thread Tools


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People change. We're meant to. #YOLO.
There are countless reasons why people choose to revisit old relationships for a second or twentieth time, but is it ever a good idea? It depends on why you split in the first place and why you're coming back for more.
If you rushed into things the first time in a passionate flurry of non-stop banging and hanging, breaking up might have given you a chance to step back and get to know your ex-sweetie with her clothes on. Especially if you stopped sleeping together but kept in touch as friends, you might suddenly find that you've accidentally "taken things slowly" and have gotten to see this person in a new light unclouded by sex goggles.
If you're wanting to resuscitate this type of relationship, it means that you're drawn to this person for who they are besides a hot piece of ass. That's awesome, but it means that, entering round two, you need to reintroduce the physical piece intentionally and carefully so you don't overdose on the sweet stuff again.
If someone cheated or otherwise violated your relationship boundaries, you need to be sure that they've learned from their mistakes and can actually recommit. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice and I once again have your mistress' STD, and it sucks. Rekindling this romance takes a lot of space and observation; if you witness the person's behavior change and can see that their infidelity is something they honestly regret and have learned from, it might be safe to try again. If they're cheating on their new boyfriend in order to rekindle things with you…need I say more?
If you initially parted ways because you were feeling like a fidgety farmer who needed to sow wild oats, spending time apart may have given you the opportunity to flex your muscles by plowing other people's fields. You might be able to return to your babe more committed and settled after this, especially if you realized that what appeared to be greener pastures were actually dried-out fields unsuitable for hoeing.
Successfully re-dating an ex has its perks. You get the excitement of a new relationship with the comforts of a familiar face; the sex will probably be that especially hot combination of make-up/break-up/I hate to love you sex specially reserved for exes; and all your dirty laundry has been aired, so you can start clean.
Especially if your initial breakup was of the nasty variety, you probably let out some mean-but-honest disclosures—from the banal ("I hate the way you chew cereal!") to the more serious ("I slept with your best friend!"). With the cards on the table, you can come back to the relationship with a clear vision of what you need to work on.
However, make sure you both have an understanding of what you can/can't change and what you can/can't live with. Hate that he watches baseball when you bang? Changeable. Hate that her ex is your arch-nemesis? Gotta deal with it.
How to make dating your ex work:
Check your expectations: It didn't work in the past, so it might not work again. Certain patterns are unchangeable; after all, what makes a pattern a pattern is that it's unendingly repetitive.
Acknowledge your contribution to the initial split.
Be sure you utilized your breakup time wisely. Did you do some inner work, regain your independence and grow from it all?
Learn from old arguments, but don't rehash them.
Accept the path your ex traveled during your time apart. If she busts out a hot new move in the sack upon your reconciliation, you could downward spiral into jealousy ("Where'd she learn that?"). Step away from the dark and learn to differentiate between your unique relationship and what happened when you were apart.
When it won't work:
If your motives include being merely lonely or horny.
If you're wrongly idealizing the relationship or justifying the reasons why you broke up. If your relationship was emotionally or physically abusive, do not resuscitate!
Finally, sometimes your ex is your ex for damn good reasons—you can't change people, you were meant to flee and…#YOLO.


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TRAGIC! 'Celebrity Apprentice' Star Bret Michaels Had A Brain Hemorrhage & Is In Critical Condition!
Bret Michaels is now in the ICU after suffering a brain hemorrhage last night. We hope he's OK!
Reality star Bret Michaels is in the hospital after suffering a brain hemorrhage April 22, and is currently in critical condition, reports People.
The 47-year-old Celebrity Apprentice/Rock of Love star self-diagnosed himself with a horrific headache last night before doctors realized he had undergone a 'massive subarachnoid hemorrhage,' and are unclear if the former Poison singer's recent emergency appendectomy is to blame for the tragic incident, reports People.
"After several CAT scans, MRIs and an angiogram, [doctors] decided to keep Michaels in the ICU and are running several tests to determine the cause. [It] will be touch and go for the next few days while he is under intense observation," the insider explained.
Our thoughts go out to the divorced father of three, his family and his friends during this painful time.
–Kirstin Benson
Will Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren really get divorced? (PopEater)
CHECK THIS OUT! The top ten celebs who've mistreated animals! (The Frisky)
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Is Lindsay Lohan out of control? (E! Online)
Follow HollywoodLife.com on | Become a fan


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Gayle Anderson was live in Long Beach at the Los Angeles Travel & Adventure experiencing the culture of Indonesia.
Tickets are available online for $9 with promo code "LAPR" at http://www.latravelshow.com/ or at the door for $12. Admission is FREE for children under 16 years old.
For more information, contact:
L.A. Travel and Adeventure Show
Saturday, January 12th & Sunday, January 13th, 2013
Long Beach Convention Center
300 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA 90802
(203) 878-2577


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Nov. 24, 2006
IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team picked up its second win of the day with a 30-26, 30-28, 28-30, 30-25 victory over Western Michigan Friday evening at the Baden Thanksgiving Classic in Long Beach, Calif.
With the win, the Gauchos extend their current win streak to five straight matches and end the regular season with a 19-11 overall record and the Broncos fell to 20-14.
Junior Brett Quirarte led UCSB in the win with a career-high 25 kills on 37 attempts with two errors for a .622 hitting percentage. The Long Beach, Calif. native also had three blocks, one solo and one assisted. Senior Jamie Garbisch posted her second double-double of the day with 18 kills and 15 digs and also added three service aces. Senior Olivia Waldowski was also solid for the Gauchos tallying 17 kills and a team-high four blocks (one solo, three assisted).
Freshman Stephanie Brandt handed out a career-high 73 assists in the win, the most helpers recorded in a match by a Gaucho since rally scoring format was implemented in 2001. The setter also had a team-high 16 digs and tied Garbisch with a match-high three aces.
The Broncos were led by Ashley Vogl who tallied 21 kills, posted a .409 clip and collected a match-high six block assists. Setter Jenifer Sulewski had 61 assists and Caitlin Strimel picked up 28 digs for Western Michigan.
Game one saw eight tied scores and four lead changes and the Gauchos were able to outhit the Broncos .273 to .235 to take the 30-26 win. The second frame proved to be a little harder fought as the teams fought through 15 ties and six lead changes with UCSB taking the 2-0 advantage into the locker rooms with a 30-28 win.
The Broncos were not willing to go down easy and prevailed through a match-high 17 ties and outhit UCSB .459 to .370 to take the game at 30-28. UCSB displayed its best hitting of the evening in the fourth frame as they collectively hit .395 helping seal the match win with the most decisive game victory at 30-25.
Tonight's match marked the end of the Gauchos' regular season schedule and the team will now have to wait until the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament selection show to see if they have received an at-large bid into the 64-team first round. The selection show will air on ESPN News Sunday, Nov. 26 at 12 p.m. PST.


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Fritz Rodriguez
Fritz Rodriguez begins his 14th season as an assistant for the Bulldogs in 2008. A 1992 graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, Rodriguez has considerable experience coaching youth soccer, serving as an assistant for Yankee United Nova, a Connecticut under-19 team that captured the national championship in Phoenix in 1997. In addition, he has been the assistant coach for the under-16 Weston Soccer Club, which captured the national championship in 1998. He also was an instructor at Victory Soccer School.
In addition to his duties with the soccer team, Rodriguez is an assistant athletic director at Yale. He works with the admissions and financial aid offices, coordinating recruiting for the athletic department.


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UVM Faculty Connor, Woodruff Win Engaged Educator Award
- 04-02-2014
- By University Communications
UVM faculty members David Conner and Kate Woodruff have won the Vermont Campus Compact Engaged Educator Award for 2014. This state-wide award recognizes "faculty, staff, or other campus leaders who are committed to advancing the engagement agenda on their campus" and who demonstrate long-term commitment to, and demonstrable impact in, their engagement. Conner and Woodruff were chosen from a pool of candidates representing all eighteen member institutions of Vermont Campus Compact. They will receive this award at the Vermont Campus Compact Engaged Campus Forum on April 4.
Both are faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Department of Community Development & Applied Economics (CDAE), where they demonstrate a fervent commitment to providing students with community engaged learning opportunities within their courses, while leveraging UVM resources for the development of a robust, sustainable local economy and non-profit sector.
Since 2011, they have joined forces to create and teach the Cabot Marketing Challenge, a designated service-learning course that brings together students and local businesses, with financial support from the Cabot Creamery Cooperative. The course pairs groups of students with socially responsible, local businesses and non-profit organizations to develop unique, targeted outreach and marketing plans, the most promising of which are then funded and implemented with grants from Cabot.
Targeting public communication and other CDAE majors, Conner and Woodruff's Cabot Marketing Challenge course provides real-world opportunities for students to put their studies into practice. They learn how to work directly with clients, operate within a limited budget, tailor their marketing strategies to different audiences and based on different goals, and navigate the challenges of marketing smaller businesses and organizations. Upon graduation, students are able to demonstrate professional experience as they seek employment opportunities.
For community partners without expertise or capacity to develop in-depth marketing plans, the partnership provides a valuable service that would otherwise be too costly or time-consuming to undertake. At least one local business owner credits the marketing plan with keeping her shop open, while another drew on student work to help significantly expand its operations. Cabot has been so impressed with the results that they are committing an additional two years of funding for the course. As CDAE chair Jane Kolodinsky wrote in support of their nomination, Conner and Woodruff "worked tirelessly and overtime on building this course, shepherding it through growth and development, and now sustaining it into the future," bringing level III service-learning experiences to students, building community relationships and contributing to the economic development of Vermont communities.


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Quitman will be celebrating Quitman Fest on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.
Quitman will be celebrating Quitman Fest on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. at the Quitman Sports Complex. According to Quitman Mayor Cyndi Kerr, Quitman Fest has been a Quitman staple for several years, though not all in a row. "We've been holding Quitman Fest for several years, then we stopped, started it back up again for a couple years and stopped again," she said. "However, this is the second year in a row we've brought it back and it is already bigger than last year. We went from about 25 vendors last year to over 60 this year."
The extra vendors are allowing lower costs to get in and participate in events. "Admission is $2 for all and that gets everyone in for all events except for the carnival type games, petting zoo, and pony rides," Kerr said.
According to Kerr the festival will run from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with an antique car show from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., over 60 arts and crafts vendors, inflatables and other entertainment for children, and several food vendors including Cajun food. "There will be an old timers softball game beginning at 6:30 p.m. and two great bands, Reading Ezra, a contemporary Christian rock band, that will perform at 5 p.m. and Storm, a rock band, that will perform at 7:30 p.m. Our goal is to get families out to enjoy a day together and listen good music and generally have a good time."
There will be plenty of parking at the sports complex, which is also well lit.
According to Kerr, all the money from Quitman Fest will go toward the library. "We've already started construction and it will be finished in December," Kerr said. "This is a good community structure and we are wanting to get it paid off as quickly as possible and all the money from the festival will go directly to the library."
For more information you can visit their website: www.quitmanfest.com or visit their Facebook page:


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UH Manoa Researcher Finds Adolescent Girls Who Consume More Calcium Weigh Less
CTAHR's Rachel Novotny presents findings at national nutritional sciences meeting in San DiegoUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Dept. Chair
Kristen Cabral, (808) 956-5039
Public Information Officer
The first large study to look at total calcium consumption in adolescents found that girls who consumed more calcium weighed less and had lower body fat. The findings were presented recently at the Experimental Biology 2003 meeting in San Diego, as part of the American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS) program.
Dr. Rachel Novotny, chair of the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences of the UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, and colleagues, and the Kaiser Permanente Clinical Research Center, studied 321 white, Asian, and mixed ethnicity girls aged nine to 14 years (average age 11.5 years). The girls were enrolled in the health plans of Kaiser Permanente Honolulu Clinic during 2000 and 2001.
For three days, each girl recorded everything she ate and drank and any calcium or multivitamin supplements she took. A researcher recorded the girl's weight and the amount of fat at the iliac, just above the hipbone near the belly button. This skin fold thickness is a measure of abdominal fat.
As expected, girls who consumed more total calories and exercised less were heavier and had more body fat. However, when the researchers compared groups of girls at comparable age, height, level of maturation, calorie intake and exercise level, they found that girls who consumed more calcium on average weighed less than similar girls who consumed less calcium. It made very little difference if the calcium came solely from dairy products in the diet or from total
calcium including supplementation.
It didn't take much calcium to make a difference. An increase in one serving of dairy — a cup of milk or a thumb-sized piece of cheese, about 300 mg of calcium — was associated with 0.9 mm lower skin fold (about half an inch) and 1.9 pounds in lower weight. A similar increase in total calcium intake from all sources, including supplementation, was associated with a 0.9 mm lower skin fold and 2.1 pounds in lower weight.
These findings are consistent with other studies in 30 and 60 year old women, as well as preschool children. They can be explained, says Novotny, by the fact that as calcium intake increases, the body increases its ability to break down fat and decreases fat synthesis.
Novotny believes these are significant findings because 15 percent of all children and teens in the United States are considered obese. High body fat contributes to many common diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. While caloric intake and physical activity remain imperative for maintaining weight and body fat during adolescence, Novotny says this study suggests that fairly small changes in calcium intake would have a positive effect.
The American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS) is the premier research society dedicated to improving the quality of life through the science of nutrition. The ASNS meets annually at "Experimental Biology," the organization's annual meeting and highlight of the membership year, where attendance often exceeds 12,000 participants interested and/or presenting the latest research findings in nutritional sciences.


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Watch The ::God Is Imaginary Videos On YouTube ::
No. Many people have a hard time with conjugating smite. Not trying to give anyone a hard time. Just trying to help you become a more literate person. Please don't confuse my smites for your bad posts as me having a grudge against you. They were simply feedback for you to hopefully improve.


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Starter of games. Twister of words. Snooper of the forums.
Here's your goal.
Describe the person above using the first things that comes to mind (e.g. TSteel: obnoxious, never shuts up, makes stupid games) when you read their post.
Then give your name, quick description of who you are or where your name came from in the most imaginative name possible. Song, Poem, Essay... idc, just make it good, you're being judged.
Let's get the forum games back up and running again! (More to come in the future if people come back to Off Topic!)