text:
Here's how CopyRouter would work, according to the company's slide show: A law enforcement agency would make available a list of files known to contain child pornography. Such files are commonly discovered in law enforcement raids, in undercover operations and in Internet searches that start with certain keywords (such as "pre-teens hard core"). Police officers have looked at those files, making a judgment that the children are clearly under age and that the files are illegal in their jurisdiction, before adding them to the list. Each digital file has a unique digital signature, called a hash value, that can be recognized no matter what the file is named, and without having to open the file again. The company calls this list of hash values its Global File Registry.
Whenever an Internet user searched the Web, attached a file to an e-mail or examined a menu of files using file-sharing software on a peer-to-peer network, the software would compare the hash values of those files against the file registry. It wouldn't be "reading" the content of the files -- it couldn't tell a love note from a recipe -- but it would determine whether a file is digitally identical to one on the child-porn list. If there were no match, the file would be provided to the user who requested it. But if there were a match, transmission of the file would be blocked. The users would instead receive another image or movie or document, containing only a warning screen.
The makers of CopyRouter claim that it can even be used to defeat encryption and compression of files in the Internet's Wild West: the peer-to-peer file-sharing tools such as Gnutella and BitTorrent.
This will cause huge latency issues and cost beaucoup bandwidth. ISPs would be shooting themselves in the foot if they did this with all traffic. OTOH, I could see laws requiring such tools for P2P traffic -- in fact that may well be inevitable, with the **AA's "ruling class" status these days.
On the flip side, having this would in place could potentially make you liable for the material your customers are transmitting. So much for common carrier status. If I were an ISP I'd be fighting this thing tooth and nail.
The parent is an example of typical slashdot idiocy. ISPs aren't common carriers. Though my karama will end up a smoking crater for breaking with the established GroupThink, so I'm making this post anonymously.
The immunity ISPs currently enjoy in the US come from various other safe harbor laws (i.e. Â230; DMCA). The constant slashdot drone of "ohhh.. ISPs can't suppress my free speech: common carrier common carrier!" is both entirely incorrect and dangerous, since it causes the geek squad to under-estimate the risks and the importance of things like net neutrality.
The parent is an example of typical slashdot idiocy. ISPs aren't common carriers. Though my karama will end up a smoking crater for breaking with the established GroupThink, so I'm making this post anonymously.
Yet, for all your noise and handwaving - you fail to establish that an ISP isn't a common carrier.
From what I understand from dabbling in ISP-ism back in the mid-90's, the only common carrier protection a ISP enjoys is for a USENET server; a court ruling established that USENET had common carrier protection, therefore a ISP could not be prosecuted for what was on a NNTP server, unless they attempted to censor it; if they attempted to censor it, that would imply that anything illegal that got transmitted was purposefully allowed to remain on the server. The only protection is to just ignore it unless it
Yes, but his basic point is still valid. The DMCA only provides a shield against claims of copyright infringement. This isn't the issue here at all.
Once the justice system recognizes some kind of legal obligation for the ISPs to scan the files passing through their pipes for child porn it is only a matter of time until some mother of an abused child sues the ISP for failing to properly monitor it's customers on the theory this would have prevented the abuse of her child.
Now you might respond that any law
This will cause huge latency issues and cost beaucoup bandwidth.
A soft touch with this would yield far better results depending on your intent. I would imagine an ISP that is sick and tired of certain traffics could utilize a system like this to start taking a closer look. Catch a few token users and then you have a excuse to throttle/monitor/block at will. I mean think of the children! What worries me is that with so many computers doing the bidding of people other than their owners, who knows what kind of traffic is being exchanged. Seems like an easy way for law enforcement to take a closer look at an individual... I've come across very questionable images via Google from rather inane, yet obscure, search queries. You could be one Russian rickroll away from the authorities and those around you having some nasty suspicions in their head.
If my ISP told my opponent what porn i watch, they'd be sued. To the GROUND.
You would still lose the election.
but would he lose his erection?
You would still lose the election.
but would he lose his erection?
Only if he's Asian and speaking English.
If my ISP told my opponent what porn i watch, they'd be sued.
Your ISP doesn't care about your stroke material.
This is all about P2P, the RIAA and collecting data for government and marketing purposes. Don't kid yourself that your ISP is so broken up about the possibility of sketchy porn traveling their network.
Just today I read an article quoting telecom execs about how SKYPE and other VOIP applications are going to make us less safe from terrorists. It's about profit and control, nothing more nothing less.
Your ISP will have people who are of various political persuasions working there. Someone will one day think "This customer is a candidate for the election. What are they looking at?"
Before you know it there are leaks and regardless of the outcome for the leaker, the candidate will be hurt and probably lose the election.
It's the same as having every single phone call bugged and recorded. Someone will use it against someone else, or at the absolute minimum, data will end up sold to marketing companies.
"Well Mr. Smith's ISP reports he downloads copies of "Playboy's College Girls". Is this really the man you want to be your next state represenative???"
What, am I going to not vote for him because he watches boring porn?
I'm not sure whether there's any major prestigious prize given out in the field of crypto, but if there is, you just won it. Please publish!
But if all they are doing is comparing hash files, couldn't you just as easily change the resolution of the file, or insert a couple different bits around to change the file slightly, which ends up with a completely different hash?
Yup. That, along with good encryption, means the bad guys get around this easily, while innocent bystanders are caught up by hash collisions.
Encrypted files on the peer-to-peer network could not be decrypted by CopyRouter, but the company claims it can fool the sender's computer into believing that the recipient was requesting an unencrypted and uncompressed file.
So basically what they do, is if your bittorrent client requests the files in encrypted format, they intercept that and instead request them unencrypted. They aren't decrypting the file, they are just asking for an unencrypted transmission of the file. If the file is in an encrypted zip file, then there is no way that they could see the actual files being transmitted.
but the company claims it can fool the sender's computer into believing that the recipient was requesting an unencrypted and uncompressed file.
That's not hostile, much. As is common in our corporatocracy, here's a company that starts from the assumption that their customers are their enemy. So now we're going to pay our ISPs to "fool" our computers. Some "customer service" huh?
No thank you.
How about this: We pay you, and you give us bandwidth and stay the fuck out of our business. If we're using too much bandwidth, then spell it out in our contract and charge us more, so we can choose to give our business to someone else.
I would imagine an ISP that is sick and tired of certain traffics could utilize a system like this to start taking a closer look.
So now it's our responsibility to make sure our ISP doesn't get "sick and tired" of our traffic? And we're supposed to give up the privacy of our transmitted data to insure that our ISPs are happy?
I've come across very questionable images via Google from rather inane, yet obscure, search queries.
Interesting, I was just thinking about how seldom I see anything remotely offensive i
"Each digital file has a unique digital signature, called a hash value, that can be recognized no matter what the file is named, and without having to open the file again. The company calls this list of hash values its Global File Registry."
Wait a second. Hash value? I sure hope the law enforcement people have been told about hash collisions [wikipedia.org]! I know it's unlikely in a large binary file like images or videos, but, taking one example, md5 hash collisions and ways to find them do exist, and it's inevitable
Hash Values are useless anyway; change 1 pixel in an image and voila, new hash. They could use loose hashes as used for Spam-filtering, but the chances for collisions are higher.
The other issue is of course, it won't work on encrypted connections. It might not even work for obfuscated connections. AFAIK, Authorities are seriously shooting themselves in the foot using these techniques. They will only drive CP and others further underground, to a point that finding and prosecuting the bastards becomes too difficult and expensive.
If you think that this has anything to do with combating child pornography, then you are seriously naive.
hash collisions! I know it's unlikely in a large binary file
I thought with the premise that MD5 and friends are based off, that hash collision possibility is not related to size of source.
Looks like this does nothing to address encrypted traffic, it's just matching files transmitted in plaintext to a database of MD5/SHA1 hashes. Actually knowing the level of incompetence demonstrated by most enforcement agencies, probably something that generates a 40-bit hash or so, just to ensure as many collisions as possible.
So bring on net-wide encryption.
but it would determine whether a file is digitally identical to one on the child-porn list
So if this thing does perform a hash on a file, then changing one small part of it would completely alter the result. Presumably there's more to it than that - otherwise anyone wanting to post an image (that was on a list - there's nothing that limits this to kiddie porn) would make a near-identical copy and the whole detection system becomes worthless.
The makers of CopyRouter claim that it can even be used to defeat encryption and compression of files in the Internet's Wild West: the peer-to-peer file-sharing tools such as Gnutella and BitTorrent.
What are they going to do? Detect and Man in the Middle [wikipedia.org] every single connection attempt that goes through their router? The file sharing tools will simply upgrade to stronger encryption, such as AES [wikipedia.org], and harden the connection handshaking against MITM attacks (perhaps by introducing public key infrastructure with well known key server(s)). It was my understanding that the present crop of file sharing tools provide obfuscation (ROT13 and the like) and not real encryption to set the bar just high enough to prevent packet inspection. However, it would not be difficult to implement stronger encryption methods (if they haven't done so already), should that prove necessary. In fact, the CopyRouter folks are at a distinct disadvantage in any encryption arms race since MITM and other cryptanalysis techniques are much more computationally expensive than the encryption itself AND the users outnumber the routers by thousands or even tens of thousands to one. The NSA might more credibly claim to be able to do this, but they have acres of underground super computers consuming as much electrical power as a small country, so I am very skeptical when anyone claims to be able to "defeat encryption" and doubly so when a private company mentions it as a bullet point in their power point presentation. It is more likely that this is a private company trying to sell a pig in a poke to ISPs and governments who don't inspect the merchandise to carefully or don't know any better.
No problem the next step will be just to make encryption illegal.
We must not continue to allow our fundamental rights to be taken away under the rhetoric of "protect the children" and "watch out for the terrorists."
Here endeth my rant for the day.
Please, folks, remember when you go to vote that both Obama and Biden have taught constitutional law so they at least know that programs such as this one violate the First and Fourth amendments.
If they're such experts, why do they keep trying to violate the 2nd?
Seems to me that if a user attempts to download a file that happens to have the same hash as a "known bad" file, they could be in for a world of hurt unless the system does verification of some kind. And if the verification step is conducted manually rather than automatically -- in the interest of expediency, of course -- what do you bet the odds are that some law enforcement types aren't going to be bothered with niceties like actually checking that some file is indeed prohibited material?
Try mounting you
absolutely. U.S. ISPs continue to justify overselling while complaining about "power users" using too much bandwidth and overloading their network.
when will they realize that packet shaping and other intrusive network filtering/monitoring technologies such as this generate more overhead and are a waste of resources. instead of trying to manipulate/control subscribers, they should be upping bandwidth supply to meet the growing demand. then perhaps the U.S. wouldn't be left in the dust both in terms of average broadband speeds as well as cost of broadband.
you don't employ mandatory property searches to combat child pornography. not only would it be ineffectual, but even if it did it still wouldn't be worth the encroachment of our civil liberties. frankly, idiots who use the banner of fighting child pornography to pass stupid laws to destroy our democratic freedoms or strip away the rights of individuals are a much greater threat to society than someone who just downloads child pornography. those are the real sociopaths IMO.
if you want to protect children, give them free access to health care. give them free access to high education. create outreach programs to at-risk youth. employ social workers at school to watch for warning signs of abuse and provide counseling services at school for victimized children. narrow the disparity in education between the rich and poor so that poor children have equal opportunity to succeed in life.
you don't protect children by creating a fascist society around them.
This could have an upside....
MPG? Have you been in a coma for the last eight years or so? I honestly haven't come across an MPEG file of a movie since the late 90's!
You probably have, but they're usually encapsulated in a container format like AVI or MKV.
"The tool can 'check every file passing through an Internet provider's network -- every image, every movie, every document attached to an e-mail or found in a Web search -- to see if it matches a list of illegal images.' "
How exactly is this going to be accomplished? The equipment cost must be staggering and would consume allot of power. Way to conserve electricity, I thought we were trying to reduce the amount of power the Internet consumes. Does also this remove the common carrier status of ISP's?
I hope this never comes to fruition.
TFA says they're going to use hash values. This will take a stateful packet inspection filter to catch, but the amount of state is only enough do the hash, and they can throw it away if it doesn't match anything on the blacklist.
While hashing seems easy enough to get around, I think the real thing they're looking for is a repeated pattern of someone sending blacklisted images. If you send/receive thousands of images, there's a good chance that you'll screw up and maybe a dozen of them won't get resampled (or use some other trick) to change the hash value. you'll pop up on a screen someplace, they'll get a search warrant, and you are busted.
Did anyone do that "out of order packet" hack for the linux kernel yet? The idea is you send 99% of the packets in the correct order but 1% of the time you swap the order around. It does nasty things for programs like this. Also someone needs to look at claims of this software compared to what it does and let them know where they are in breach of local truth in advertising laws.
Does also this remove the common carrier status of ISP's?
That's a myth. They don't have it.
Wasn't that the Aussie spyware company attached to Sharman Networks/KaZaA?
Before it got raided, I mean?
I call shenanigans.
I was about to bring up that point. KaZaA was linked to BDE (maybe a parent company or something). I'm not too sure of the exact relationship, but there definitely was one there.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't one of the defenses in the KaZaA court case the fact that they couldn't tell what files users were sharing, therefore they claim they weren't responsible for the distribution of copyrighted material? If this was the case, BDE's new "we can tell what you're sending/receiving" crap could land an A-Bomb worth of trouble in someone's lap.
Can it decrypt SSL/SSH in real time?
Exactly. They claim that the can search "every document attached to an e-mail
Can it decrypt SSL/SSH in real time?
Exactly. They claim that the can search "every document attached to an e-mail
SMTP-TLS and POP3S are pretty bad examples, because they secure the connection but you're still likely to be talking to a mail server that you don't control, and therefore can't guarantee isn't connected to such a thing.
That being said, this is yet another case of "Product which doesn't need to exist and offers little to no real benefit being sold to idiots with some superficially-plausible benefit." Spend any length of time working as a systems manager and you'll see dozens of these.
Right now my favourite
Can it decrypt SSL/SSH in real time?
According to the article they use man-in-the-middle attacks. This is probably quite easy if the server is using self-signed certs.
No. RTFA. CopyRouter merely pretends to be a server and tells the client the client to send data unencrypted. Bittorent just needs to upgrade it's encryption mechanisms.
So what happens when the malware guys decide to have their malware fire off images that are on this list of banned files/images?
Suppose that their 'smart' and have the image embeded in the malware (or otherwise obscured). the malware sits there for a while and infects as many systems as possible... then the SPAM event happens. With this crap... I mean "wonderful, keep-our-kids-safe" software kicks in and drags even more of the internet down, who's gonna pick up the tab?
I know... have the **AA morons... I me
You don't have to actually have the "perverted" pictures to do this, just send out lots of data files that have the same hash. (depending on the lenght of the hashes, its really easy to do) Not to mention, changing just a bit in a file will mess with its hash, so the real kiddie porn traders will just randomly change a pixel or two. Might be fun to send out multiple 25MB files that have the same hash. That would drop their servers to their knees....
Technology evolves faster than moral values and society, thus keeping people in a constant state of panic over it, and causing a mess in the short term (and benefits in the long term). That was always true throughout history, from the discovery of fire (at least according to the theories), to the internet. This will be the same. It may take a civil war, or a nuclear bomb going boom, but we'll either all die, or we'll be better of.
Ok, on really simple protocols, like HTTP or FTP, maybe - but most, if not all, p2p traffic is safe, i think. This is of course because of the chunky nature of transmission - you can't really tell what part of the file went through your pipe just by looking at it, and since parts are sent at random, you cannot rebuild the file with your chunks without guiding information, be it a torrent file, a list of parts for emule, or whatever else there is. And you need the whole file to get your hash-check. That's one. Two: encryption totally kills the effort, as the ISP can in no way examine your file without interfering with your transfer, and SSL exists solely to protect you from this.
Even if my line of thinking is really misguided here, this would require lots and lots of processing power - i mean, on a routing line with a hundred users on one end, it's thousands of hash-checks to be made for every stupid rebuilt file - both processes of course painfully CPU-eating, unless you want false-positives, since you didn't bother to use a proper hashing algorithm.
All in all, this looks to me like a terrible waste of money.
They claim they can scan Gnutella and BitTorrent.
Gnutella I don't know, but BitTorrent, almost certainly.
The common forms of BitTorrent encryption uses a "shared secret". The shared secret for BitTorrent is a 20-byte key known as the "infohash". This infohash is ALSO used as the unique hash to uniquely identify a given set of files. So its ALWAYS given to the tracker, and if the tracker isn't using SSL, that means its in the clear.
Making the encryption in BitTorrent almost laughably insecure. It's good enough to block non-stateful packet filters. It's not good enough to prevent people from listening in.
As for getting a file hash with BitTorrent, that's even easier.
It does it for them.
The ".torrent" file contains a list of hashes. They don't even need to look at the file contents.
I dunno about other P2P systems, but BitTorrent is definitely not safe from this.
i mean, on a routing line with a hundred users on one end, it's thousands of hash-checks to be made for every stupid rebuilt file
Actually, it gets worse than that. Say that I have an "illegal" image that I want to transmit to you. All I would have to do is embed it in a random frame of some 700 MB DivX movie. Then, not only do files have to be checked, but every frame of every video too.
And the age-old question of "is this MP3 file legal"? That is an example of an uncomputable question.
More likely, thi
There is a method in cryptography hat is called packaging. The encryption key is stored within the file but you must have the complete file to get the key from it. Now you can send your last blue ray film. If they store it completely for uncrypting it they have a lot of money to drop by the windows
Time to make a utility that puts a file into an encrypted 7Zip archive, with the password stored in some reversable encryption method (encrypt the password with all zeroes as a key 1 million to 2 million times), so it would take x CPU seconds on some hardware to decrypt it.
This would allow files to still go across the net without requiring passwords or keys, but prevent utilities like this from just passively obtaining traffic, just due to the CPU cycles involved.
Of course, just stuffing a password in the comments field works too, but with a decent text parser, it can be extracted.
Its just more of the same cat and mouse game. The real crooks will not be affected while Joe ISP User will lose his privacy even more.
They're claiming they'll man-in-the-middle p2p users to disable encryption. Major problems there.
They're using a hash for the images/movies. Alter the image tags, or change a pixel, you've beat it. The more they ignore diffs, the more false positives they'll get.
There's my five seconds of thought on the efficacy/ethics of this. If you manage to solve all those problems, come back and I'll give it another five seconds. See you in ten years.
But hey, once it's in place they can use it for the *AA! Which is really what this is about, more free handouts to obsolete business models.
What if the masthead graphics for something like google had the wrong checksum? Then everyone would look guilty.
The problem with all the hysteria around child pornography is that it's too easy to frame someone. A little research, five minutes alone with your computer, and an anonymous phone call are all someone needs to ruin your life and reputation.
Let me be perfectly clear: Even if you're completely innocent, this is a serious threat to you. If someone decides to frame you, you won't be able to prove your innocence, and it won't matter even if you can. That's unacceptable. Yes, child porn is bad, but a society where anyone can anonymously destroy anyone else is much, much worse.
How much would you bet that the MPAA and RIAA are going to try to get laws passed that require ISPs to install and use this software?
They actually use an army of low-wage Chinese and Indian workers to scan all that data. It's cost effective, but the side effect is that in a few years millions of Asians, who might otherwise have become normal, productive, law-abiding citizens of their respective countries, will instead have become deranged pedophiles.
"but the side effect is that in a few years millions of Asians, who might otherwise have become normal, productive, law-abiding citizens of their respective countries, will instead have become deranged pedophiles."
Japan is proof the two aren't mutually exclusive.
...and take up a collection to pay the spammers to send a regular smattering of these files in their usual spam loads.
Because we know that shortly after the 'authorities' can do this, they will be asking to investigate the intended recipients, on the premise that they have 'probable cause'.
I can't hardly tell the difference between the NY Attorney Gener
You know what? In a dozen years of actively surfing porn, I've never encountered kiddie porn in the wild. This great big threat to all mankind so severe that we all need to put woolly pullovers over all our electronic gear and filter all telecommunications is simply and plainly crap. It's a ruse.
There are some people who want to control everyone else. They want to control what you see, what you hear, and as much as is humanly possible, what you think. They want to monitor us all (but not themselves, of course) and make us all cookie-cutter little clones who all think the same harmless little thoughts and are all scared of their authority.
F * U * C * K them.
Anyone telling you this sort of "protection" is necessary is deluded or a liar. Either way, such people should be ignored or in extreme cases, put somewhere they cannot bring harm to others.
"...Internet service providers could easily be seen by the public as "overreaching," making it harder to get public support for efforts of law enforcement. What's needed, said the group's executive director, Grier Weeks, is for cops to investigate the leads they already have..."
"The Department of Justice and all 50 attorneys general are sitting on a mountain of evidence leading straight to the doors of child pornography traffickers," Weeks said. "We could rescue hundreds of thousands of child sexual assault victims tomorrow in America, without raising any constitutional issues whatsoever. But government simply won't spend the money to protect these children. Instead of arrests by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the child exploitation industry now faces Internet pop-ups from the Friendly Bus Investigators. That was always the fundamental difference between the Biden bill and the McCain bill. Biden wanted to fund cops to rescue children. McCain wanted to outsource the job."
This my friends is about the money!
The U.S. Government and Brilliant Digital (ironic business name!) both know this won't work. Brilliant Digital see this as a market to exploit and make millions of dollars. The U.S. Government get a "cheap" way of "dealing" with child pornography and a perception from the general public as "something being done".
I'm sure the Government know about Brilliant Digital's dubious past but the percieved "benefits" are too good to miss.
It's a win-win for both parties!
I have children myself and I find developments like this horrifying.
Someone does not become a paedophile by looking at images on the internet, it's deeper and more complex then this - blocking content will not cure the problem or reduce related crimes in any way.
The last quoted paragraph sends chills down my spine and really makes me angry.
Children can be rescued if the funding is available but a company like Brilliant Digital will recieve the funding instead and the problem is never solved - people are made richer instead.
I really mean Think of the children
%DCL-MEM-BAD, bad memory VMS-F-PDGERS, pudding between the ears


text:
UH Hilo College of Pharmacy welcomes its inaugural classUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Chancellor's Office
HILO, Hawaii - Dr. Rose Y. Tseng, chancellor of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, today announced that the University's College of Pharmacy has achieved the first step in the Pharmacy School Accreditation Process. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) has granted the College of Pharmacy Pre-Candidate Status.
The UH Hilo College of Pharmacy is the first school recognized by the ACPE to offer the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree in the State of Hawaiʻi. It is expected to enroll an inaugural class of 90 students beginning August 2007 45 students from Hawaiʻi and 45 students from the mainland and elsewhere in the world.
"The accreditation of the College of Pharmacy is great news for UH Hilo," Tseng said. "It allows us to address a critical shortage of and increasing demand for pharmacists in the workforce both in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Basin. It is also a significant milestone in UH Hilo's transformation from liberal arts college to comprehensive university."
As noted by Dr. John M. Pezzuto, founding dean of the College, "Achievement of this first step in the accreditation process is a significant milestone for the College of Pharmacy and the State of Hawai'i. The students who will be in the program this semester are highly qualified, and we are looking forward to launching our exciting new curriculum. Being centrally located in the Pacific Basin, the UH Hilo College of Pharmacy is poised to become the center of pharmaceutical education, research and patient care services in the Asia Pacific Region."
The inaugural class will graduate in May 2011.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
On the day that I began to prepare this column, I looked out the window and what did I see -- a cold and windy mixture of rain and snow laughing back at me. But I was inside, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a red sweatshirt, making an effort to stay warm.
No need to complain though, because, after all, it�s April. It�s spring in Michigan, and maybe the sun will come up by the time this is published.
As I write this, the Pine, Chippewa and Tittabawassee Rivers in Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and Midland have overflowed their banks. The golf courses are flooded but a few diehards (wearing hip boots?) just couldn�t wait any longer for drier course conditions so they ventured out to get in a few strokes before the fairways are flooded again �- with competitors.
Because we cannot do much more than to talk about the weather, perhaps a look at some of the special days and observances that take place in April will brighten our outlook a bit.
Many of us have already observed the solemnities of Easter, and Passover, and yesterday was Earth Day. It was on April 22, 1970 that Senator Gaylord Nelson launched the idea of Earth Day. He hoped to create awareness for Earth�s environment. The concept took off and earth-friendly activities take place, not only on April 22 but throughout the year as well.
Tomorrow, we�ll celebrate Administrative Professionals� Day (formerly known as Secretaries� Day) to recognize those who, in so many ways, keep the wheels of progress oiled and running, and who often make their colleagues (bosses) look good.
Individuals and organizations are, undoubtedly, grateful for volunteers who give of their time and resources but we set aside April 21 through 27 as Volunteer Appreciation Week, to honor and thank them in special ways. Volunteer work hours and monetary savings are priceless. What would we do without them?
We, and I use the pronoun �we� reverently, to mean those of a certain age, may want to sing, whistle, or hum �Happy Birthday� to Shirley Temple Black, remembered as �Curly Top� and �Heidi,� who turns 84 today.
The certain-age generation may find it interesting to know that William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, and died on the same date in 1616 and that Lee Majors, the �Six Million Dollar Man� is 76. Max Planck, who lived from 1858 to 1947, was the German scientist who developed the quantum theory of physics.
For baseball aficionados, today is the birthday Warren Spahn, a left-handed pitcher who was known for his talent of outwitting hitters, seemingly without effort.
Friends� children, Julie G., and Trevor, who celebrate their birthdays today, share the date with Ukrainian-born Sergei Prokofiev who composed operas and ballets but is better known to the many of the younger set for his composition of �Peter and the Wolf.�
If your name is George, know that your patron saint was a dragon-slayer. Happy Feast Day!
Finally, my best friend celebrated his birthday on April 23. In his memory, I close this column with words written by William Penn -- words by which MBF lived:
�I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.�
Louise Plachta is a Morning Sun columnist.


text:
THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web
The International Classifications of Diseases (ICD) is a global standard administered and copyrighted by the World Health Organization (WHO). The 10th revision, ICD-10 is the current revision. Some countries adapt the WHO standard. In the United States, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has made two modifications to ICD-10 known as ICD-10-CM (Coordination and Maintenance) and ICD-10-PCS (Procedure Coding System). ICD-10 was originally scheduled to replace ICD-9 as the U.S. standard on October 1, 2013, but the implementation date was changed to October 1, 2014.
Systems must be modified to accommodate this new standard. Schemas must be changed, mappings between old and new must take place. Much work is yet to be done, which is why implementation was delayed by a full year.
The granularity and specificity of ICD-10 codes has been ridiculed by the press. It is helpful to understand ICD-10 instead of laugh at it if you want to win ICD conversion business. Code W22.02XA is the code for "walked into a lamppost, initial encounter" and code W22.02XD is the code for "walked into a lamppost, subsequent encounter". In clinical parlance, an initial encounter is the first time the patient seeks treatment. Followup visits about the same condition are known as subsequent encounters. The term "subsequent encounter" has nothing to do with how many times a patient has walked into a lamppost, which some people have misinterpreted.
The number of codes increased by an order of magnitude when going from ICD-9 to ICD-10. Data professionals should be able to understand and appreciate the intention behind having more specificity to diagnosis codes. If only W22 (striking against a stationary object) was used, the data would be too vague to help with prevention efforts. Just for sake of discussion, let's consider what if the data showed that most people who walk into something actually walk into lampposts instead of walls (W22.01XA) and furniture (W22.03XA). In this contrived example, it might be in the public interest to see if it would be cost effective to develop a lamppost injury prevention program (just kidding trying to make a point about data mining).
Fine grained data lends itself to analysis. Federal payment programs (Medicaid and Medicare) and private insurance companies are already scrutinizing diagnosis codes and withholding payments in some cases. If a patient without an infection is admitted to a hospital and contracts an infection while being treated in the hospital (this is called a nosocomial infection), payment for treating the infection is likely to be denied. This gives hospitals an incentive to be more diligent in preventing infections.
Having more detail gives hospitals and practitioners an improved ability to indicate the extra complexity of a case and get reimbursed at a higher rate. This could give providers an incentive to convert to ICD-10 perhaps even ahead of the October 1, 2014 deadline. More codes means more data, which can lead to projects to expand and optimize systems to accommodate the impending data explosion.
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Here in Australia we've been using ICD10 for a while without a lot of fuss.
The number of trained clinical coders is, unfortunately, decreasing :(
There's generally a bit of misunderstanding between the ICD10 procedure codes, diagnosis codes and how that rolls up in to a DRG. Then there's the effect that has on revenue for the case depending on the health fund involved. It's not too big an area to understand and I'm glad we're not writing software in the US health system where, based on my limited observations, the interactions between patient, surgeon, hospital, fund, etc are significantly more complicated.


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Nancy's Notions Trusted by sewing enthusiasts for more than 3 decades.
Get the best results with an Oliso or Rowenta iron. Starch, seam sticks, and press cloths are good to have on hand to help achieve that perfect look. Most importantly, you need to press with an iron every step of the way using a Cut n' Press or an ironing board.


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Nintendo kicked off its initiative of offering full retail games for download with New Super Mario Bros 2. With that goal accomplished, the company has moved into offering its backlog, with a large eShop update that offers some of its most popular retail 3DS games for digital purchase.
As promised, the 3DS eShop added Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, and Star Fox 64 3D. Each costs the standard retail price of $39.99. These are all first-party games, but the company promises that it will continue to add "select Nintendo 3DS software that is currently available at retail stores." That sounds like it's open to adding more third-party content, but the company didn't detail any criteria for qualifying.
Several of the company's upcoming slate of games will be offered digitally as well, and Nintendo has offered a rare Donkey Kong game as incentive to buy them through the eShop. Nintendo similarly plans to offer full games on the Wii U, once it launches.


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Well, I've got Game Informer. That's about it.
"I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!" ―Cave Johnson
Join the Chit-Chat Crew! :P
Behold: My Sparceloggery
Needs more Dunsparce. Much better
3DS Friend Code: 2938-6384-0441 | Nintendo Network ID: Pikminsi


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IRVING, Texas – East Carolina sophomore Jeff Hoffman has been named Conference USA Co-Pitcher-of-the-Week following his complete game, one-hit shutout against N.C. Central last week the league office announced Monday.
Hoffman picked up his third win of the season Friday night, tossing a one-hit complete game shutout against N.C. Central, striking out seven batters and walking three. He allowed just two runners to reach scoring position and retired 27 of 32 batters faced - including nine of the final 10 batters to close out the victory and faced the minimum of three batters in six-of-nine frames.
Five of his seven strikeouts ended an inning and he had multiple punch-outs in the second and fifth frames. Hoffman's complete game was the first of his career and it was the first Pirate one-hit complete game shutout since Ricky Brooks' gem against Charlotte back on March 26, 2005.
This is the second career weekly honor for the right-hander following his selection back on Apr. 10, 2012 after a 10-strikeout performance at Elon in eight shutout frames.
The Pirates will be back in action on Tuesday, Apr. 2 when they play host to No. 27 NC State at Lewis Field inside Clark-LeClair Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. (ET).


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World Credit Union Conference Opens with Canadian Fanfare
More than 2,000 attendees represent 61 countries for four packed days in Canada's capital
July 15, 2013
OTTAWA, Canada — World Council of Credit Unions officially welcomed 2,376 attendees from 61 countries at the Ottawa Convention Centre in Ottawa, Canada, Sunday evening for the opening ceremonies of its 2013 World Credit Union Conference. From July 14–17, participants will network and learn from top industry experts on topics such as mobile banking, social media and corporate leadership.
The conference opened with World Council's famed international parade of flags, in which flag bearers donned colorful national attire to recognize the 61 countries in attendance. The audience, with impressive Canadian representation, also received a traditional circus performance from Canada's Cirque Fantastic and stood for the nation's anthem, performed by a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police staff sergeant.
World Council Chair Manuel Rabines, general manager of Federación Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito del Peru (FENACREP), the trade association serving Peru's credit unions, welcomed attendees to the event.
Flag bearers donned national attire to represent the 61 countries in attendance during the international parade of flags on Sunday.
Conference attendees heard from Member of the Canadian Parliament and Liberal Advocate for Co-operatives Mauril Bélanger, who spoke in English, French and Spanish, recognizing the importance of the audience's international cooperative efforts.
"I've come to believe credit unions are an element to the solution to some of the world's economic challenges," Bélanger said. "The principles on which cooperatives are built offer real solutions to the vast and complex problems facing humanity."
Cirque Fantastic put on a stunning performance to officially kick off the 2013 World Credit Union Conference.
"Canada's credit union movement began not far from here in 1900 by Alphonse Desjardins who founded what has become one of the greatest credit union movements today. Around that time, he crossed paths with [Edward] Filene from the United States," Burns said. "It's so appropriate to have the conference here in Ottawa because it was the crossroads of credit union leaders in the past, and it is again today."
Prior to Sunday's opening, the conference hosted several other events, including the fifth annual Global Women's Leadership Forum on Sunday. A total of 114 women credit union leaders from around the globe gathered to network, attend educational sessions and hear from keynote speaker Sheryl WuDunn, co-author of New York Times best-seller Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, who presented research from her book and participated in a panel discussion centered on advancement of women leadership in credit unions.
The Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions hosted a golf outing on Saturday and raised nearly US$105,000 to support the Global Women's Leadership Network and World Council programs that benefit women and their families in emerging countries.
More than 70 Spanish-speaking attendees participated in the Latin American Congress hosted by World Council on Saturday, which focused on topics related specifically to credit unions in that region, including technology, message development and regulations.
World Council's Young Credit Union People (WYCUP) program also held its networking and educational session for credit union leaders age 35 and younger Sunday afternoon, during which online communications expert Shel Holtz shared insights on credit union branding through social media. Fifty-eight people from 12 countries attended the session and will participate in several more events throughout the conference specifically designed for young professionals.
The 2013 World Credit Union Conference concludes July 17 with a closing reception at the state-of-the-art Canadian Museum of Civilization.
Follow conference activities, including daily event photos, on World Council's Facebook and Twitter pages at www.facebook.com/WOCCU and www.twitter.com/WOCCU with #WCUC2013.
World Council of Credit Unions is the global trade association and development agency for credit unions. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.
World Council has implemented 300+ technical assistance programs in 89 countries. Worldwide, 68,882 credit unions in 109 countries serve 235 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org.
NOTE: Click on photos to view/download in high resolution.


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After thinking about it I think the frustration comes from not understanding the thought process…
I think the thing that frustrates me the most about people refusing to perform simple internet searches and asking others to do it is the not really understanding the psyche behind people asking other people to search the web for them.
It seems like the simplest and most direct route for someone to find answers. For example: If someone couldn't find a post that had been written on GMG yesterday, last week or last year they could go two routes, right?
Route 1 They either search on the GMG Search box or if they didn't know it even existed they could point their internet browser to Google, type in the search term and get the answer within 30 seconds.
Route 2: They write an email to me, wait til I actually have time to read it, perform the internet search for them, copy the results, email them back. Could take anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple days before I get through the emails that come in.
Now knowing how much quicker it would be to just perform the search themselves I just have to ask myself why? Why in the world does someone refuse to perform the search themselves?
Now we all know those people who pride themselves on "Not being a computer person". Not the feeble minded ones, but the genuinely smart people in every day lives that are really really smart and successful but they wear the "I don't have a smartphone" badge like it's something to be proud of. These are the type of people who would bite their nose off to spite their own face. If you have a smartphone (and it's not about money because you can get free smartphones with any carrier) you know the power you have in your hand. You know that knowledge is power and the information at your fingertips with a smartphone is nearly limitless.
So to trot out the "I'm not a computer person" line in the year 2014 makes you look stupid. I don't mean this to offend anyone. I'm just telling you that saying this line out loud to anyone is basically telling people that you're an idiot. Computers are so dumbed down today, that if you can spell, then you can use an internet browser. A two minute YouTube instructional video can explain how to perform a Google search.
Here's a great internet tutorial for beginners. You may ask how I found it. By golly I actually found it using a search on Google! Crazy right? I knooooow!!! So Crazy!
So then after the "I'm not a smartphone person" or "I'm not a computer person" people, could it be laziness? Do the people that write in these requests for information posted on the web just not want to perform the task of typing in the query?
Again I'm not meaning to offend with these questions, I'm trying to figure out for my own sanity the thought process (or lack thereof) in asking someone else through email to find something online for them when the act of writing out that email request took more time and energy than simply performing the internet search themselves. It actually takes less time and keystrokes for the person asking the question.
So I guess that kinda answers my question there. It can't be that they're lazy because it actually requires more work for them to type out the email than perform the search. So strike lazy.
I genuinely believe the disconnect is a simple 2-5 minute lesson on how to point their browser in the direction of a search engine. Could it be that simple you think? Do you think that people are so afraid of technology that they intentionally refuse to learn how to find a search box? That two minute lesson would open up worlds of information and empower them so much but they still won't take that leap. Being able to search for flights, bus schedules, sports scores, local events, international events, knitting patterns, free music, writing, art, ect, ect, ect, ect, ect, ect, ect, ect……
What percentage of the people who refuse to perform internet searches do you think is due to "
Fear of Internet
Please help me understand. Please. I beg of you. If you are one of these people could you write in (and you can make it anonymous) to help me understand why you wouldn't perform an internet search. Maybe if we hear from a few of these folks we can find ways to help them understand how easy it is.


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Mary Alice McQueen
Mary Alice Rae McQueen, 95, of Levelland, Texas, passed away on Friday, March 9, 2012. Mrs. McQueen had been a resident of the Levelland Nursing Home for the past five years. She was born on Jan. 24, 1917, in Talpa, Texas, to George Elliott and Lillie Mae (Maughan) Rae. She married Daniel Jackson McQueen, her husband of 53 years, on Aug. 20, 1932, in Talpa, Texas. She was a former resident of Sweetwater, Texas, moving to Lubbock, Texas in 1974, then to Levelland, Texas in 1985. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Orange, Texas. She was a past member of the West Side Baptist Church of Sweetwater, Calvary Baptist Church of Lubbock, and Second Baptist Church of Levelland.Mrs. McQueen is survived by one son, Daniel Duane McQueen and wife, Roberta, of Lubbock; two daughters, Sandra Rae McQueen Bullard and husband, Leo of Levelland and Jackie Faye McQueen Bradley and husband, Barry of Orange. She was blessed with six grandchildren, Danny Nations of Levelland, Clarissa McQueen Bell and husband, Keith of Lubbock, Tara McQueen Williams and husband, Michael of Lubbock, Brad Nations and wife, Stephanie of Lubbock, Jeffrey Bradley and wife, Jenny of Allen, Texas and Jonathan Bradley and wife, Angela of Porter, Texas. Additionally, Mrs. McQueen was blessed with 11 great-grandchildren, Chloe, Camille and Kathryn Bell of Lubbock; Caleb and Daniel Williams of Lubbock; Troy and Colby Nations of Lubbock; Anna Claire, Brynley and Brylen Bradley of Allen; and Savannah Bradley of Porter. Her 12th great-grandchild, Madison Elyssa Bradley, is due in July 2012. Mrs. McQueen is survived by two sisters, Lela Rae Fitzgerald, of Hico, Texas and Valta Mae Conner, of San Antonio, Texas; and a host of nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her husband, Jack McQueen; an infant son and daughter; and three brothers, George Elliott Rae, Jr., Vernon Ward Rae and Raymond Rae.Memorial service for Mrs. McQueen will be held on Wednesday, March 14, at 10 a.m., at Walker Funeral Home in Coleman, Texas, with Reverend Barry Bradley, pastor of First Baptist Church of Orange and Mrs. McQueen's son-in-law, officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the memorial service at Walker Funeral Home.Interment will follow at the Talpa Cemetery. Pallbearers will be sons-in-law, Barry Bradley and Leo Bullard and grandsons, Danny Nations, Brad Nations, Jeffrey Bradley and Jonathan Bradley. Since Mrs. McQueen was a 41 year cancer survivor, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718 or the Building Fund of First Baptist Church of Orange.


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About the artist
Based in Mobile, AL, rapper Rich Boy (born Maurice Richards) didn't enter the music industry until after he enrolled as a mechanical engineering major at Tuskegee University. Before then, he did music in his spare time, but eventually dropped out of school and released some independent material that caught fire locally. Producer Polow (Ludacris, Jamie Foxx, Fergie) was impressed enough to have the MC flown into his base in Atlanta, where the two worked on furthering the progress. Rich Boy landed a contract with Interscope and began working on his first album. In the meantime, he appeared on one of Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace compilations and dropped in on a handful of mixtapes -- including DJ Ideal and Jermaine Dupri's Da Bottom, Vol. 5. With DJ Drama, he released the Bring It to the Block mixtape in late 2006. His official, self-titled debut was released during March 2007.
Description provided by artist representative


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Home > Patients & Visitors > Health Library > Gallstones Without Symptoms: When Surgery Is Needed
Experts disagree about whether the gallbladder should be
removed for
gallstones that do not cause symptoms. Surgery may be
needed if you have:
Doctors sometimes recommend surgery for women who are trying
to get pregnant. This may be true for a woman who has had symptoms in the
past that are believed to be caused by gallstones, and the woman and her doctor are concerned that her symptoms may get worse during pregnancy.
They may choose to do surgery to prevent any possible complications, especially
if the woman's pregnancy is likely to be high-risk because of other
Most doctors
do not recommend that people with
diabetes have surgery for gallstones that do not cause
symptoms. The risk of surgery in people who have diabetes may be higher than
the risk of a gallstone attack. Surgery is recommended after the first
occurrence of symptoms.
The gallbladder may be removed during bariatric surgery, even in people who haven't had a problem with gallstones.
ByHealthwise StaffPrimary Medical ReviewerE. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal MedicineAdam Husney, MD - Family MedicineSpecialist Medical ReviewerArvydas D. Vanagunas, MD - Gastroenterology
Current as ofMay 5, 2017
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Current as of:
May 5, 2017
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine & Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine & Arvydas D. Vanagunas, MD - Gastroenterology
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Learn how we develop our content.
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Secrets of the Royal Bedchamber
Six royal beds lie at the heart of this temporary exhibition at Hampton Court Palace. Through stories about royals and servants, it will show how the bedchamber became the most important destination in the palace, and reveal the elaborate and sometimes bizarre bedchamber rituals, unusual sleeping arrangements and decadent excesses of the Stuart and Hanoverian courts. You'll leave knowing how heirs were born, marriages consummated, monarchs were struck down and died, and how important affairs of state were conducted in this most personal of rooms. Watch out for the crafty servants – who will (April 2-September 30) share the fruits of their eavesdropping and keyhole-peaking.
|Event phone:
|0844 482 7777, bookings 020 7492 1561
|Event website:


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Your own little slice of World Bank Open Data
A number of World Bank Open Data users have been taking advantage of the new Databank. Databank offers over 8,000 indicators with which to create and save custom reports with tables, charts, or maps. The saved reports are updated automatically when the data are udpated. And you can revisit, share, and embed the tables, charts, or maps as widgets on websites or blogs.


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Best Places To Cool Off In Wichita Falls This Summer – Dave Diamond's Top Five
"Cool" When the temperature gets on the high side of one hundred, it's something we're all looking for.
But where are the best places to cool off in Wichita Falls?
It's only the middle of June and we've already had several days of 100 degrees or higher with no end in sight … until September. Yeah, we're in Wichita Falls and we're used to summers like this, but that doesn't mean we LIKE them. We've all got our own ideas on where to cool off when the thermometer is in the red. Here are some of my favorites in no particular order.
Idea # 1: Movie theatres.
They're almost always cooler than they need to be (I think that's to encourage couples to cuddle!) and we've got two theaters in town, one from Cinemark and the other from Carmike, so you've got a good selection of flicks to watch. Add to that the fact that the movie companies always roll out the big blockbuster hopefuls during the summer months and you've got it made in the shade. You may even run into a friend or two at the show and you can critique the cinematography, special effects and acting (or lack thereof) later over a cold drink or two.
Idea #2: Someplace that serves ice creaM.
Whether you go for real ice cream, soft serve or yogurt, it all hits the spot! Seriously, what makes you feel cooler when the sidewalk is toasty enough to fry an egg than a delicious frozen concoction from Yogurt Journey, Maggie Moo's or the old standby, Dairy Queen? Many of these shops also have monthly specials throughout the summer months.
Blizzards in June in Texas? You betcha!
Idea #3: Live Theatre.
OK, the hours of operation are a bit more limited on this one as you're pretty much only going to find an open door on weekends, but they more than make up for that with the live aspect. Unlike a movie, which is the same every time you see it, live theatre is like life, it's there for the moment, then it's gone. Sometimes the special effects don't work quite right, sometimes someone drops (or ad-libs) a line unexpectedly, sometimes someone delivers the performance of a lifetime, but no matter what, that show will never be performed exactly the same again. We're doubly fortunate to have two live theatres in operation in Wichita Falls. Seussical The Musical (see my earlier blog about that show here) is running this month at the Wichita Theatre, and Butterflies Are Free is on stage at Backdoor Theatre. While you won't be gawking at the latest Hollywood celebrities or whiz-bang digital effects, you will be watching your own friends on stage. And you may as well go ahead and admit it now, you always wished you had the courage to get up and be a part of a live theatre presentation yourself!
Did you know that the building Backdoor Theatre is in today used to be an ice house? Talk about "Cool"!
Both of these theatres have shows lined up all year round, so check their schedules for the comedy, mystery or musical with your name on it.
Idea #4: The public library.
What's not to love about the Wichita Falls Public Library? It's cool, it's quiet, there's internet access and it's free! You might even learn something while you're there. Like how much fun a good book can be on a hot summer day! In case you haven't been to the library in a while, they have a lot more than books! You can also check out music CDs, movie DVDs and, as I mentioned before, surf the internet, all while someone else pays the A/C bill!
Idea #5: Home.
When it's been a long hot day at the end of a long hot week, sometimes the idea of going somewhere is
just too much to handle. That's when I kick off my Tony Lamas and fix myself a root beer float at home. When it comes to cooling off, it doesn't get much cooler than that.
Those are some of my favorite ideas on the best places to cool off in Wichita Falls this summer. I'm sure you've got a few favorites of your own, too. Go ahead and post them below so we can all share the "Coooooooooooool".
Dave D.
Not near a radio? Click here to listen to Lonestar 102.3 online.


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King held on to the #6 spot in the final NCAA Southeast Region poll to be released before Sunday night's Selection Show for the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship.
Erskine eliminated the Tornado in the first round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament on Monday night, forcing King to play the waiting game to see if they will earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The winners of Conference Carolinas, the Peach Belt and South Atlantic Conferences will receive an automatic bid to the Tournament, along with the next 5 highest ranked teams in the Southeast Region.
The Conference Carolinas semi-finals will be played Thursday night, with the championship game on Saturday. The Peach Belt conference tournament will begin on Friday and conclude Sunday, while the South Atlantic Tournament begins tonight and concludes Sunday.
The complete NCAA Regional Rankings can be found here. The Official NCAA Selection Show may be viewed at 10:30pm Sunday night, March 10 at www.ncaa.com.


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Saturday, February 02, 2013 11:39 pm
Lopez wins in return to ring
By The Associated Press
Lopez knocked Santos down with an impressive flurry with 1:04 left, and the Brazilian boxer was unable to continue.
Lopez, a former junior featherweight titleholder, was in the ring for the first time since losing his featherweight belt to Orlando Salido in March 2010, an epic slugfest that saw Salido go down in the fifth round and Lopez knocked down in the 10th round.
It was what happened after the fight that generated controversy, though.
The fight, close on all three scorecards, was appropriately stopped by referee Roberto Ramirez Sr. when Lopez was clearly dazed in the 10th round. Moments later, Lopez was interviewed in the ring by Showtime's Jim Gray and, still appearing confused, accused Ramirez of having a gambling problem.
In a sport with a long history of murky characters and questionable decisions, the accusation was not well received by the Puerto Rican Boxing Professional Boxing Commission. So despite an apology from Lopez and his promoter, Bob Arum, revealing that the fighter had sustained a concussion in the fight, the commission suspended the popular Lopez for a year and fined him $10,000.
Arum called the suspension "outrageous," and it was widely panned for being overly harsh.
The decision ultimately meant Lopez was shelved for a year because most commissions, including those in the United States, generally recognize suspensions handed down by other governing bodies.
Santos proved to be a good opportunity to shake off the rust.
The 31-year-old from Sao Paulo, Brazil, is not considered a hard puncher, which meant Lopez could stand toe-to-toe - the way he prefers to fight - with little risk of getting hit flush. Santos also was one fight removed from a lopsided, second-round stoppage loss to rising star Jesse Magdaleno.
Lopez improved to 32-2 with 29 knockouts, while Santos dropped to 18-4.
The victory should set up a bigger fight later this summer.
One of the names that's been floated by promoter Top Rank is Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia, who beat Salido two weeks ago by technical decision to claim the featherweight belt Lopez once owned.
Another possibility is Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., the son of one of Puerto Rico's greatest fighters and the brother of Israel Vasquez. He rebounded from a hard-fought, split-decision loss to Nonito Donaire last February with a solid, seventh-round knockout of Jonathan Oquendo in October.


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Morning Five: 06.15.12 EditionPosted by rtmsf on June 15th, 2012
- You're probably reading this post approximately 8-12 hours after textapocalypse went into effect in college basketball last night. As the midnight bell tolled, a new NCAA rule went into effect allowing coaches to bombard high school sophomores and above with as many phone calls and text messages that they can muster. You might recall that one of the very first posts on this venerable site back in 2007 suggested that the NCAA's decision to ban text messages in light of news that Billy Gillispie (then at Kentucky) was knocking out 8,000 messages a month was a good idea. Even in those short five years, how people communicate with one another has changed significantly (texting has essentially replaced phone calls between young people), but that doesn't mean that middle-aged coaches will do any better with it now than they did then. One thing is certain — with social media like Twitter and Facebook today existing side-by-side texts on everyone's smart phone, there's bound to be lots of texting hilarity that will ensue from just the auto-correct function alone.
- Cincinnati and Xavier decided on Thursday that all the on-court fun the players have had at the Crosstown Shootout (now re-branded as the Crosstown Classic – lolz) in recent years shouldn't be limited to the student-athletes punching each other on the floor. With the choice to move the game to a neutral site downtown and tickets split down the middle, this two-year move will allow fans to get in zip each other up while enjoying the game from the stands. Look, we understand the logic behind moving the game away from home sites where the vitriol heaved upon the visiting team produces a volatile situation, but is college basketball turning into a sport where only games at neutral sites are those worth having? Between the Kentucky-Indiana ridiculousness and now this, we have to wonder if the sport is losing one of the very things that makes it special (home-and-home rivalry games). What's next — Duke and Carolina on a Charlotte/Greensboro/Raleigh rotation?
- It didn't take long for former Nebraska head coach Doc Sadler to find a landing spot. Kansas announced on Thursday that Sadler, who has a 149-107 record as a Division I head coach, would take over as the Jayhawks' Director of Basketball Operations. He replaces Barry Hinson, who left KU after the season to become the new head coach at Southern Illinois. Sadler continues a trend of high-major college coaches keeping their name fresh in the industry by taking assistant positions when they come available. For example, former Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey is currently an assistant at Florida, biding his time until another choice job comes available and an AD is willing to take another chance on him.
- Speaking of the Gator program, Florida fans received some excellent news on Thursday when Virginia Tech forward Dorian Finney-Smith announced that he would transfer to Gainesville in light of Seth Greenberg's firing. Finney-Smith joins Damontre Harris as transfers heading south to play for Billy Donovan, giving the two-time national champion head coach a leg up already on his 2013-14 roster. The 6'8″ player averaged 7/7 last year in 30 minutes per game for Virginia Tech, but he clearly needs to spend the off year working on shot selection (33.2%) and bulking up. Finney-Smith is already an elite per-minute rebounder, but with another 30 pounds on his frame he could easily average double figure boards in two years for the Gators.
- The biggest knock on Bruce Weber at Illinois was his recruiting (or lack thereof), especially in the talent-rich Chicago area. As the new head coach at Kansas State, he faces a more difficult recruiting situation in that the nearest major city is Kansas City, a town not exactly known for its prep basketball talent in the same sense as the Windy City. As a result, Weber went on record Thursday stating that he plans to branch out to more places, even as many as all places. Well, except the West Coast. Weber said during a Big 12 coaches' teleconference that he wants to recruit the Midwest, Texas, the East Coast, and of course, Chicago. All we can think is that Illinois fans must be snickering in their cereal this morning.


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School Library Journal
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Gr 9 Up-It is 1941 and 15-year-old Lina and her family are arrested by the secret police and deported from Soviet-occupied Lithuania. Bound for Siberia, they travel across Europe and Asia in an overcrowded train car marked "Thieves and Prostitutes." After being separated from her father, Lina documents her experiences through drawings and letters that she passes along, hoping that they will somehow reach him. The journey takes Lina, her brother Jonas, and her mother over the Ural Mountains to a labor camp in Altai where they spend ten months. They are then moved to Trofimovsk, North Pole, where they are imprisoned indefinitely. Ruta Sepetys's excellent novel (Philomel, 2011) depicts a lesser-known aspect of World War II and its impact on the citizens of the Baltic States. Lina is a compelling protagonist, and her horrific experiences are based on the author's own family history. Emily Klein is more adept at voicing Lina's internal narration than the dialogue. For example, some characters sound jarringly robust even in the direst situations. Flashbacks to Lina's life before the deportation appear in italics in the print version, but because Klein doesn't vary her tone or tempo, it's difficult for listeners to determine when they begin and end. Also, the print edition includes helpful maps. Overall, this reading is not as strong as the novel itself, though the sheer power of the story may propel listeners along with Lina on her journey.-Amy Pickett, Ridley High School, Folsom, PA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


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Inman, SC Rent to Own Homes
|1 Listings Found
or sale: 3000 sq-ft building used as a frame shop + 2 bedrooms one bathrooms home for rent rented
$275,000 - Rent to Own
28 Mill St Inman, SC 29349Details »
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For fancier stuff there are fancier tools (including opendx [opendx.org]), but for simple stuff gnuplot works well, is reasonably priced and is hard to beat.
While I'm always glad to see progress on every front, gnuplot has been sitting on the 3.* level for a long time. I had the idea that the original authors left without properly designating heirs.
The SVG device driver support is intriguing, but being a "Gnu" thing it doesn't take advantage of the extensive plotutils [gnu.org] library that, sadly, seems to have experience strong development only up to a point.
Anyway, for people interested in doing serious xy 2D scientific plots, you owe it to yourself to checkout Gra [weizmann.ac.il]
While I'm always glad to see progress on every front, gnuplot has been sitting on the 3.* level for a
long time.
I was using 3.7 back in early 1999 - so it took 5+ years to past 3.7.x. Nice to see an upgrade to a very useful program.
What I like best about gnuplot is that interactive mode and batch mode use the same commands - makes it really easy to write scripts and easy to write scripts that write scripts. One favorite was writing an awk script that would spit out a gnuplot script to plot 50+ files wor
For me, the best feature of gnuplot was the pslatex [gnuplot.info] terminal, which allows you to let LaTeX take care of typesetting the labels, legends and so forth, making the graph you include look much more integrated into your document than including just a plain
On a side note, xfig [xfig.org] allows the creation of simple diagrams with LaTeX formatted captions.
The developers did a good job of keeping the code portable - not loaded with gcc'isms as is the case with some open source packages. It compiled with no problem other than a scheissload of warning messages under Sun's Forte 6u2.
Documentation is improved and the pdf is much easier to read with Acrobat than was the case for the 3.7 docs.
A bit disappointed with the lack of the "gif" terminal - with the LZW patent now expired in the US. I know "png" is
You know, Callahan's is a peaceable bar, but if you ask that dog what his favorite formatter is, and he says "roff! roff!", well, I'll just have to...


text: Eighth Street Latinas Jaslin Diaz. Today Ramon and I went out for a cup of coffee to see if any hot latinas were out and about. Five minutes later Ramon starts talking to the beautiful Jaslin and the freaky Genie trying to convince them to come back to our place. They both agreed, but Jaslin only wanted to watch Genie get fucked. Genie was taking it doggy style and Jaslin could not resist, so she started masturbating.. What happens next is beyond your wildest dreams.. Enjoy


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EPX Body Restore – EPX Restore
Dr. Brekhman and his followers define adaptogens as:
(1) plants which are entirely safe;
(2) plants which increase the body's nonspecific resistance; that is, they provide valuable support to the human body in coping with the pressures placed on a wide range of its functions by both the internal and external environments; and,
(3) plants which normalize the functions of the bodily systems.
As such, adaptogens are a vital component to human health. Adaptogens are special plants, which have unique properties. These natural biologically active substances or "organic chemicals" protect the body from stress. Adaptogens were classified by the ancient Chinese as the most effective plants to increase physical and mental capacity, reduce fatigue, improve resistance to diseases, and extend lifespan. People discovered that using adaptogens is vital during times of challenges. In China, adaptogens were used by soldiers right before battle. In Siberia, the same plants were used by hunters before long, dangerous journeys. The Tibetan monks were able to get by without food and warm clothes, living high in the mountains for many days using these plants. Despite many legends and thousands of years of utilization of these herbs by many generations of people in China, Russia, Japan, Korea and finally in Europe, the effectiveness of these herbs from a scientific standpoint was not confirmed until 45 years ago. It was done by the Russian physician and scientist Dr. Israel Brekhman. He, and his mentor Prof. Lazarv, named them "Adaptogens." The reason for naming these herbs "Adaptogens" resulted from the scientific discovery, which proved their effectiveness in helping the human body to "adapt" or to "adjust" to strains and changes of daily living. By adapting to changes in the environment, mankind has survived. Scientific studies have shown that both humans and other organisms that are able to adapt best survive longer. In fact, these herbs have managed to survive harsh environments for centuries due to their unique composition of biologically active substances.
EPX Body Restore Studies – Research Findings
Clinical Studies and Research
Stress – Protective Action Research shows that adaptogens, allow the body to more ably cope with stress, whether it is daily, extreme, acute or chronic.
The Immune System Adaptogens exert a strong immunomudulatory influence in healthy test subjects and can be considered non-specific immunostimulants.
Physical Work Capacity Research institutions have discovered that adaptogens are vital for enhancing a person's capacity for physical workloads.
Mental Work Capacity Researchers have demonstrated that addptogens also have the ability to increase a person's mental work capacity.
Performance, Endurance and Rehabilitation Adaptogens provide the basis through which people can build up an energy reserve to be tapped when the body needs it most – under extreme physical tension and during recovery from fatigue.
Normalizing Effect Adaptogens have an important normalizing effect on all bodily functions.
Non-Specific Resistance Adaptogens increase the body's resistance to the harmful factors, such as cooling, overheating, enhanced motor activity, increased or decreased barometric pressure, and ultraviolet or ionizing radiation.
Cardiovascular System Adaptogenic extracts have a favorable influence on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
Antioxidant, Anti-Aging Action Adaptogens cause a reliable decrease in total cholesterol and b-lipoproteids, and increase the level of hydrophilic and liquid antioxidants in the blood.
Eyesight, Color Perception, Hearing and Vestibular Functions Adaptogenic plants have been shown through extensive laboratory study and clinical trials to support and improve the function of the sensory organs.
EVEN MORE RESEARCH AND STUDIES ON ADAPTOGENS The Long List of References( over 80 listed here).
EPXBody Restore Ingredients
Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera Gel) – soothes, promotes healing, boosts immunity, ensures nutrient absorption Green Tea – regulates blood pressure and blood sugar, powerful antioxidant effects Trace Minerals are essential to life, yet all too often people forget, or simply don't realize how extremely important minerals are. Minerals and trace minerals have a tremendous impact on the body, and when these minerals become deficient, for whatever reason, it can cause your body to do a total tail spin. Minerals are as important to the human body as breathing; without the proper amount of minerals our body would cease to function properly, and if the deficiency is severe enough it can and will result in death. Fulvic Minerals are nature's perfect vehicle to carry precious minerals and nutrients directly into the cells. It energizes and balances cells and helps stimulate the natural production of enzymes. Zeolites to help remove heavy metals and toxins from the body to help support the immune system. With as many as 700 different contaminates, present in your body wreaking havoc on your immune system, neurological system, respiratory system, endocrine system, skin, and so on. Eleuthrococcus Senticosus (Acantho Root) – "king of adaptogens"; counteracts stress, increases productivity and endurance, normalizes body systems Schizandra Chinensis (Chinese Magnolia Vine) – primary adaptogen; counteracts stress, increases productivity, combats fatigue Aralia Mandshurica (Manchurian Thorn Tree) – primary adaptogen; enhances mental acuity Rhaponticum Carthimoides (Maral Root) – primary adaptogen; enhances muscles development, improves performance, endurance and circulation Rhodiola Rosea (Russian Rhodiola) – primary adaptogen; enhances mental and physical performance, normalizes heart rate, improves nervous system function, stabilizes mood.


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--President Bush, searching for positive things to say about the Palestinian election.
"What was also positive is that it's a wakeup call to the leadership," he said. Palestinians are demanding honest government, services, decent education and health care, he said. "And so the elections should open the eyes of the old guard there in the Palestinian territories." He said there was "something healthy" about the "competition of ideas" that the elections embodied.
"On the other hand, I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform," Bush said. "And I know you can't be a partner in peace . . . if your party has got an armed wing."


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Final for this year:
9: Oregon (pretty dissapointing)
11: Stanford
21: Arizona State
25: Washington
http://college-football.si.com/2014/01/ ... ida-state/
Next years way too early poll:
#3 Oregon: This feels about right if Mariota stays healthy. Need to replace a few d'linemen, but should be fine.
#4 Stanford: Feels a bit high. Lose some stud o'linemen and some stalward defensive players. They'll still be good, but I'm not sure they'll be top 5 good.
#7 UCLA: 3 pac 12 teams in the original top 10 would be pretty sweet.
#14 USC: We'll see.
#19 Washington: Seems way too high after losing Price, Sefarian Jenkins and Sankey. Their D will have to carry them early.
#22 Arizona State.
As an aside, MIchigan State is ranked 6th, they're coming to Autzen for an out of conference matchup next season, should be a great game.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... 5-rankings


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Want to remind yourself or a friend about this program? Fill out this simple form and klru will email you a reminder on the day that it will air.
Mckenzie River
series: New Fly Fisher
air date: 2/01/14 8:30 AM
Hardcore Atlantic Salmon fisher, Ray Plourde, and Outdoorsman Jon Babulic join host Colin McKeown for a dream fishing trip at McKenzie River Fly Fishing Lodge.
WARNING: Email reminders for this program have already been sent out. Your reminder may not reach the intended address in time for this program's airing.
Back to TV Schedule


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Here is a nice, clean theme. Very small file size and hardly any memory leak. This theme does include today and a slot for weatherbug (just put it in the first position). Also looks very nice when used with the Storm Slider app.
Update 5/1/09
Update includes:
- Click the center screen to get applications menu
- Click the signal meeter (top right) to get manage connections
- Click the battery meeter (top left) for sound profiles
The screen looks way better than these pics.
Original OTA LINK: Dark Blue
v2 OTA LINK: Dark Blue v2
Dark RED OTA: Dark Red v2
Dark Red v3 OTA: Dark Red v3 (OCD Version) - This includes another home screen slot for meterberry
Dark Red v3.3 OTA: Dark Red v3.3 - This is the same as v3 except the today area font is a bold white
I will post screen shots of all the versions tonight.
Support Theme Builders


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DENISON,TX---New heart monitors at the fire department could lead to more lives being saved in the future.
During an emergency every second counts, especially for heart patients.
The department has new EKG heart monitors, so instead of going through a manual list of procedures to check heart patients, the monitors can cut that process down by 30 minutes.
They now have six of them along with three Automatic Heart Defibrillators or AED's.
The EKG test checks for problems with the electrical activity of your heart.
The hospital receives the test from the field to a machine through the internet.
Once they have that information a team will be ready to go when the patient arrives.
"Time is the issue a lot of time's in cardiac issues, and so the quicker we can get them into the cardiac lab and so forth, the better survivability the patient has." said Assistant Chief Bill Ray.
The monitors were funded by the Texoma Health Foundation that was approved by the city council.


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AMD launches Dell's four-core Opteron boxes
Issues ode to joy
Dell's Opteron experience hasn't been all that fantastic. After resisting the Opteron push for so long, Dell embraced AMD's flashy chip just as Intel started to catch up on performance and performance per watt metrics with Xeon. Then, Dell watched as AMD shot itself in the chest with the four-core Barcelona roll out. Dell was left with a bunch of designs that needed the MIA four-core Opteron and surely plenty of questions about why it bothered with AMD at all.
But despite such displeasure, Dell has invested in AMD and remains committed to Opteron for the foreseeable future. So, it upgraded five server boxes with Barcelona – now that the chip is finally shipping without flaws.
Customers can find four-core Opterons in the PowerEdge SC1435, 2970 and 6950 servers and the M605 blade box. There's also the PowerEdge T605 tower unit. All of those are two-socket boxes except for the four-socket 6950.
We're still waiting on Dell's Veso virtualization appliance that was, er, meant to ship in November with a pair of four-core Opteron chips. The box packs in a ton of memory and an embedded hypervisor. Dell had wagged the kit in front of customers to show how ahead of the compeittion it was in the virtualization game. AMD messed up the program just a bit by shipping Barcelona about nine months late. Oh well.
Anyway, AMD was so thrilled about Dell's Barcelona server launch that the chip company issued its own release touting the new gear alongside Dell's own celebratory hardware missive. ®
Sponsored: Minds Mastering Machines - Call for papers now open


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College Students-Taxes
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Department of Revenue is encouraging college students who worked in the state last year to file their taxes electronically before spring break. The department says by using e-file students can receive any tax refunds they may be due in just days. The department encourages everyone to use e-file, but it's using the upcoming spring break holiday to make a concerted pitch to college students. Most people already file electronically. The department says about 80 percent of the roughly 3 million tax returns submitted will come electronically.
Comments are closed.


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The Yale women's golf team took third in the the 2012 Ivy League Championships, ten strokes behind winner Harvard, and just four behind second-place finisher Penn. Sun Gyoung Park had a spectacular weekend for the Bulldogs, taking third overall: her 54-hole score of 231 was just one behind Penn's Isabel Han for second place. Harvard's Bonnie Hu (225) took home the individual championship.
Park fired her best round of the tournament Sunday (76). Her classmate Seo Hee Moon also tore up the leaderboard after a tough opening round, and finished eighth overall (238). Freshman Shreya Ghei made it three Yale underclassmen in the top twenty with her 15th place finish (247).
All five of Yale's golfers finished in the top 25, as Captain Lily Boettcher and junior Alex Lipa tied for 15th with 54-hole scores of 255. Boettcher ended her Yale career in style, firing her best round of the Championship Sunday (82).
Columbia's Michelle Piyapattra - last year's individual title winner - was named Ivy League Player of the Year, while conference rookie of the year honors went to Harvard's Tiffany Lim, who finished 7th.


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NASA astronaut Col. Lee Archambault, U.S. Air Force, will speak to area high school students about leadership at the University of Houston M.D. Anderson Memorial Library, Elizabeth Rockwell Pavilion, 11:30 a.m., Friday, March 12.
Col. Archambault, a veteran of two space shuttle missions, has been with NASA since 1998. Originally from Oak Park, Ill., he holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in aeronautical/astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana. He has logged more than 4250 flight hours in 30 aircraft including the F-111D and F-117A Stealth Fighters and flew 22 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. Archambault graduated first in his class from the Air Force Test Pilot School and is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Officer Training School.
His presentation is the keynote address for the sixth Collaborative Leadership Seminar offered by UH, a free one-day seminar for Houston area high school students. The seminar is a partnership between the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, C.T. Bauer College of Business, College of Technology, College of Education and the ROTC programs known collectively as the "Houston Corps of Cadets." Previous speakers include former NASA astronaut Thomas Jones, UH Head Football Coach Kevin Sumlin and UH System Chancellor Renu Khator.
More than 350 high school students from 40 local schools have attended these seminars which are designed to not only teach leadership, but also motivate students to attend college, consider a public service career, and major in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. This seminar will also recognize the 100th anniversary of Boy Scouting. All students attending this seminar are either Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.
The all-day seminar includes lessons on leadership fundamentals, characteristics of an effective leader, servant leadership, planning and implementation, teamwork and followership, diversity, and lifetime leadership learning. Two case studies are provided including a NASA teambuilding exercise and an event which applies military planning principles to planning and organizing a high school prom.
These are the only leadership seminars in the nation presented by ROTC units and their host university. These events directly support the University of Houston's community outreach efforts and goal of attaining top tier status.
To attend this event, please contact Mrs. Lisa Meza-Duran at 713-743-4932.
|UH Collaborative Leadership Seminar hosts NASA Astronaut Col. Lee Archambault
|11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., Friday, March 12
UH M.D. Anderson Memorial Library, Elizabeth Rockwell Pavilion
|The Houston Corps of Cadets


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Expedia Verified Reviews
Don't miss out on a lower price on this hotel
Get an overview of this hotelFamily-friendly Madrid hotel in Chamberi, near Prado Museum
Popular property highlights
This family-friendly Madrid hotel is located near the airport, within 1 mi (2 km) of Museum of Natural Sciences and Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Prado Museum and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum are also within 2 mi (3 km).
Hotel Features
3 restaurants, a fitness center, and a bar/lounge are available at this hotel. WiFi in public areas is free. Other amenities include a coffee shop/café, a 24-hour business center, and self parking.
Room Amenities
All 171 soundproofed rooms feature free WiFi and 24-hour room service. Comforts include Egyptian cotton sheets and pillow menus, and guests will also appreciate thoughtful touches like espresso makers and bathrobes.
Languages Spoken
- English
Hesperia Madrid
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
Dining is available at one of the hotel's 3 restaurants and guests can grab coffee at the coffee shop/café. A bar/lounge is on site where guests can unwind with a drink. Business amenities at this 5-star property consist of a 24-hour business center, limo/town car service, and meeting rooms.
A computer station is located on site and wireless Internet access is complimentary. This luxury hotel also offers a fitness center, tour/ticket assistance, and multilingual staff. Onsite parking is available (surcharge).
- Express check-in
- Bar/lounge
- Coffee/tea in common areas
- Shopping center shuttle (surcharge)
- Babysitting or childcare
- Elevator/lift
- Fitness facilities
- 24-hour front desk
- Porter/bellhop
- Express check-out
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Meeting rooms 8
- Coffee shop or café
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Self parking (surcharge)
- Free WiFi
- Babysitting or childcare (surcharge)
- Limo or Town Car service available
- Computer station
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Area shuttle (surcharge)
- Luggage storage
- Breakfast available (surcharge)
- Number of restaurants - 3
- Train station pickup (surcharge)
- 24-hour business center
- Gift shops or newsstand
- Laundry facilities
- Total number of rooms - 171
- Number of floors - 9
- Wedding services
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- Multilingual staff
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Casino shuttle (surcharge)
Family Friendly Amenities
- Family Hotel
- Free Wi-Fi
- Soundproofed rooms
- Laundry facilities
- Babysitting or childcare (surcharge)
- In-room childcare (surcharge)
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Languages Spoken
- English
- Arabic
- Catalan
- French
- German
- Italian
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Spanish
Self parking (surcharge)
Room Amenities
- Premium TV channels
- Hypo-allergenic bedding available
- Air conditioning
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Phone
- Minibar
- Turndown service
- Designer toiletries
- Private bathroom
- Bathrobes
- Hair dryer
- Bidet
- Slippers
- Bathtub only
- In-room childcare (surcharge)
- Desk
- Iron/ironing board
- In-room safe
- Daily housekeeping
- Soundproofed rooms
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Free toiletries
- Room service (24 hours)
- Egyptian-cotton sheets
- Pillow menu
- Connecting/adjoining rooms available
- Espresso maker
- Satellite TV service
- Free WiFi
Where to Eat
Buffet breakfasts are available for a surcharge and are served each morning between 7 AM and 11 AM.
Santceloni - This restaurant serves lunch and dinner. 2-star Michelin rating. Reservations are required. Open select days.
La Manzana - This restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A children's menu is available. Open select days.
Hikari Sushi Bar - This restaurant specializes in sushi and serves dinner only. Reservations are required. Open select days.
Scoth Bar - This bistro serves lunch and dinner. Guests can enjoy drinks at the bar. Open daily.
24-hour room service is available.
Nearby Things to Do
Recreational amenities at the hotel include a fitness center.
- Golfing nearby
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
- Accessible bathroom
- In-room accessibility
Hotel Policies
Check-in time ends at midnight
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
Special check-in instructions:
Check-out time is noon
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Kids stay free! Children 11 years old and younger stay free when using existing bedding.
- Rollaway/extra beds are not available.
- Pets allowed for an extra charge of EUR 20 per pet, per day
- Up to 15 kg
- Specific rooms only, restrictions apply
- Pet-friendly rooms can be requested by contacting the property at the number on the booking confirmation
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
Optional extras
- Fee for buffet breakfast: EUR 36.90 per person (approximately)
- Self parking fee: EUR 35.20 per night
- Pet fee: EUR 20 per pet, per day
Hotel Name
- Hesperia Hotel
- Hesperia Hotel Madrid
- Hesperia Madrid
- Madrid Hesperia
- Hesperia Madrid Hotel Madrid
- Madrid Hesperia Hotel
- Hesperia Madrid Hotel
We should mention
Cash transactions at this property cannot exceed EUR 2500, due to national regulations. For further details, please contact the property using information in the booking confirmation. This property offers transfers from the airport (surcharges may apply). Guests must contact the property with arrival details before travel, using the contact information on the booking confirmation. Children 11 years old and younger stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding. Only registered guests are allowed in the guestrooms. The property has connecting/adjoining rooms, which are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property using the number on the booking confirmation. The property allows pets in specific rooms only and has other pet restrictions (surcharges apply and can be found in the Fees section). Guests can arrange to bring pets by contacting the property directly, using the contact information on the booking confirmation.
Awards & Affiliations
- The property is a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts.


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Fox Atomic, the struggling genre film label shuttered in April, is being relaunched as Fox Digital Studios to pair up with Madison Avenue and produce a slate of original brand-backed projects for the Internet and other digital platforms.
David Worthen Brooks, formerly executive creative director of Fox Atomic Digital, will serve as creative director of the digital division and shepherd the unit's branded entertainment offerings, which will be sponsored by marketers or have their products prominently featured within the video programming.
When it bowed in 2007, the now-defunct Atomic film division originally had a mandate to create digital content that targeted the youth demo and could court advertisers to help fund those properties.
Key in landing marketers will be Roger Mincheff, the founder of digital marketing agency Spacedog Media, which successfully found creative ways to integrate such brands as McDonald's, Harley-Davidson, Mazda, Boost Mobile and Qantas Airways into comicbooks, or paired up with them to produce original entertainment projects for the Internet.
Mincheff's title is senior VP of branded entertainment for digital content.
Levinsohn praised Mincheff as having "a proven track record across content, distribution, marketing and technology," adding, "with Fox Digital Studios, we are leveraging our storytelling and production expertise to create a centralized unit solely focused on bringing consumers unique entertainment experiences on the Web and on mobile and gaming platforms."
The first projects to come out of the new unit have not yet been disclosed.
But the timing of its creation comes as MySpace is looking to boost the amount of original video programming it offers on its website, while Fox is also seeking ways for the network to attract more dollars from advertisers — the creation of brand-backed entertainment has long been considered one lucrative way to do so.
Brooks and Mincheff report to Peter Levinsohn, Fox Filmed Entertainment's prexy of new media and digital distribution.