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Thursday, May 03, 2007
Why I Signed
All the negative comments from some people in the community had done more to convince me not to sign than anything else. I'm a pretty laid back guy, but I get really pissed off when people question my integrity.
Few of the comments on my "Why I Haven't Signed" blog entry or the Wiki topic actually tried to make an argument. Most of them amounted to "you're wrong" (that's your idea of a convincing argument?) and "VFP is a great tool" (thanks, know that already).
However, Mike Asherman's comment made me think about this some more. He said, "Adding your name means that you support the cause, not that you believe it is likely to succeed." Good point. I've voted for people I've believed in before knowing they didn't have a chance in winning because it was the right thing to do.
So, I signed as my way of showing solidarity with the community. I still believe this petition is futile and will have absolutely no impact on Microsoft's decision, but I've cast my ballot anyway.
For those of you questioning the reasons why others haven't signed, I suggest spending your time in more productive manners, such as writing code and helping others on community forums, rather than driving the wedge into our community even further. Alienating people by questioning their motives is a sure way to get the opposite of what you desire.
10 comments:
I signed when I saw that people all over the world were signing. It is a good feeling to say what you think, especially if you are at first dubious or (in my case not wanting to be judged by others). The effects of small actions become magnified when many also take those small steps -- even if none of our stated concerns are directly addressed by Microsoft -- it still is a salvo for a cause that is right and it will cause other attacks to be less. You are a leader and your stand will encourage others to follow. Thanks.
- Andrew MacNeill said...
Yeah, I did too a few days ago. Primarily because there were some notices that suggested that the VB 6 petition actually did bring around some changes at MS (although I don't know off-hand of any).
I think the issue of "release VFP 10" is being lost with idea of "develop VFP 10". But anyways...who knows what this will bring, if anything.
- LuisMaria said...
Without doubts you always showed his solidarity with the community with so many hours devoted to it. His signature is a small "big" grain of sand :-)
- Tod McKenna said...
This is great Doug, thank you.
I posted on my (b) blog (http://grengama.spaces.live.com/) this morning about an observation made by another writer: That more people from 'developing' countries have signed the petition than US developers. I think that this goes to show that there are people out there who really count on VFP, and it goes deeper than just 'moving on'.
Chances are good that this petition won't change any minds at MS, but like you said it is your "way of showing solidarity with the community". And this will go a long way IMHO.
- Randy Jean said...
Thanks for signing even if it does nothing to change MS position, it still sends a strong message coming from well known and well respected members of the community.
I was dubious when MS first bought Fox Software, but then I realized it actually helped it to gain acceptance in some corporate IT circles. Their "business case" for officially announcing a definite end of lifecycle pretty much takes that acceptance and flushes it, potentially devastating shops that have built careers on this platform (I see it as a platform, not just a language)
And, by the way, I voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 and I live in Indiana - but I digress....
- Roka said...
- Pablo said...
Hi Doug,
Thanks for signing, but like another FoxPro developer/customer/sympathize who has done yet. I sorry for the negative comments you received, but this out of the MasFoxpro promoters control.
I express again my thanks to you for what you gave to the community over the years, signing is just another act that counts fewer in what you gave to the people.
I agree with Mike and some can sign for the product, some for his bussiness and others for supporting the community. This last is why the MasFoxPro campaign was created.
Support a good product and a good community.
- Jamie Osborn said...
Hey - I signed with exactly the same thought process that you just described - "won't change the MS decision but it shows that the VFP community has some sort of spirit".
I didn't see anything that came back negatively on the signers (or is it signees) so, in the end, what's the harm?
I didn't like the guilt trip being laid down by those pushing the cause but that was no real reason to not sign - they don't solely represent the VFP community - we all do.
- Carl Warner said...
You made the correct decision in my mind, even if it too so long to get through.
As I've written on the VFUG List Server, I want it documented somewhere within the Fox community that I want VFP development to continue at MS. I don't want MS to think that VFP is going out with a whimper where they can say only a handful of people protested, so that their decision at MS to stop VFP development was the right one as far as MS was concerned.
It was correctly pointed out to me that the site's petition further supports the possibility of open source and/or work done by a third party to further develop VFP. My comment that I posted when I signed limited my support to MS continuing development of VFP and not the other alternatives. The other alternartives are unnecessary if MS continues development of VFP.
- jin said...
As someone said, as a sort of captain of the community, I am real glad and relieved that you have signed. Thank you very much. If all those captains sign I believe that we may get MS to act whatever the outcome. For the time being I am staying with VFP and if it's confirm that we will not get life line for VFP in one year, I am moving to Python/Dabo. I still hope that I don't have to make that move. To all VFP developers please have faith that this petition will change the mind of M$. Long live VFP!


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YORKVILLE — On Sunday, Feb. 24, Fox Country Players will host a theatre outing to Drury Lane Theater in Oakbrook, which will include Drury Lane's lavish brunch at noon, and a matinee performance of Andrew Lloyd Weber's highly acclaimed musical, "Sunset Boulevard," at 2 p.m.
"Sunset Boulevard" tells the tale of the faded glory of silent film star Norma Desmond, who is unable to accept the reality of the devastating changes in her life brought about by the "talkies."
Based on Billy Wilder's 1950 movie by the same name, the stage production opened on Broadway in 1994, starring Glenn Close and Alan Campbell, and ran for 977 performances. The show won 7 Tony Awards in 1995, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Performance by a Leading Actress, and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.
The Drury Lane production of "Sunset Boule-vard" stars Chicago act-ress Christine Sherrill, who recently won rave reviews as the infamous Miss Hannigan in the Paramount Theatre's production of "Annie."
Based on a special deeply-discounted group rate, tickets for the outing are priced at $65 per person, and may be purchased online through www.foxcountryplayers.org.
Call (630) 234-5459 with questions or requests to carpool to the show from Yorkville.

subset: commoncrawl


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Rockland Antibody 200-301-964 has been tested in immunohistochemistry, analyzed by an anatomic pathologist and validated for use in IHC applications against formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded human tissues. The antibody was serially diluted and tested at a range of concentrations on at least 22 different human formalin-fixed, paraffin archival tissues, and positive and negative tissues were scored and compared to the published literature on the expression and function of the gene. A representative image from positively stained small intestine shows the localization of the anti Pdcd4 antibody as the precipitated red signal, with a hematoxylin purple nuclear counterstain. Image provided courtesy of LifeSpan Biosciences, Seattle, WA
Western blot using Rockland Immunochemicals Protein A purified Mouse Monoclonal anti-Pdcd4 pS457 antibody shows detection of phosphorylated Pdcd4 (indicated by arrowhead at ~62 kDa) in NIH-3T3 cells after 5 min treatment with 30 ng/mL PDGF (lane 2). No reactivity is seen for unstimulated (non-phosphorylated) NIH 3T3 cells (lane 1). The membrane was probed with the primary antibody at a 1:2,000 dilution, overnight at 4° C. For detection HRP conjugated Rb-a-Mouse IgG was used at a 1:20,000 dilution in blocking buffer (p/n MB-070) for 1 h at 4° C followed by visualization using a Biospectrum® imaging system (UVP).
Western blot using Rockland Immunochemicals Protein A purified Mouse Monoclonal anti-Pdcd4 pS457 antibody against recombinant PDCD4 protein. Membrane was blocked in 1% BSA-TBS-T for 30 min RT and probed with 1° Ab Ms-A-Pdcd4pS457 1:1000 (o/n 4°C in 1% BSA-TBS-T) followed by 2° Ab Peroxidase Conjugated Rabbit anti Ms CUST10M Lot# 20121 at 1:40,000 in MB-070 30 min RT. Bands at ~62 kD and ~32 kD were detected.
Rockland Immunochemicals Inc.Limerick, PA 19468E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com: 800.656.7625
Fax: 484.369.8654


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2006 Cross Country
Bluffton at Earlham
Beavers face tough competition at Earlham Invitational
October 2, 2006
RICHMOND, Ind. - The Bluffton University cross country team traveled to Richmond, Indiana, for the Earlham Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006. The women's team had a team score of 265 as it finished 10th out of 11 teams. Junior Sarah Humphrey (Upper Sandusky/Upper Sandusky) once again led the Beavers as she finished 18th, crossing the line in 21:10. Junior Bree Fetterman (North Royalton/Padua) was the second Bluffton runner to finish as she ended up 52nd with a time of 23:29. Senior Lauren Bailey (Powell/Upper Arlington) and freshman Jennifer Thoele (Laura/Milton Union) finished 63rd (24:58) and 65th (25:37) respectively.
The men's team ended the day with 321 points which was good for 11th place in the field of 13. Bluffton was led by junior Hilary Shilosio (Eldoret, Kenya) who finished 47th with a time of 29:39. Seniors Pat Cooley (Ludlow Falls, Milton Union) and Dave Espinoza (Toledo/Whitmer) crossed the line in 31:07 (63rd) and 31:42 (68th). Senior Joel Koerner was the fourth man on Beaver the squad and he placed 70th, crossing the finish line in 32:12
The Beavers return to action on Saturday, October 6, when they will travel to Ohio Wesleyan for the 2006 All-Ohio Championships.


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I'm trying to setup a "word association" page for learning the Spanish word for various items pictured on the page. The page works just as I'd like it to, less one thing. I want to add a button to play a WAV sound of the word (to be heard right on the page). I found the following source code to do it:
, but it didn't work. It only downloads the file and opens it in WMP.
After a bit of searching, I noticed the following script in the  section:
.
Since I can't access their js file, I have no idea what they put in there to make the sound play, rather than download.
If anyone has had some experience with this and can tell what I need to put in my js file, I'd appreciate your input.
I found the solution I was looking for.


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Topeka, Kan. (WIBW)-Gary Burroughs knows the dangers highway workers face everyday.
"We was stopped to work on a sign, so we pulled over and we were working on the side and the semi come up behind us and hit the tail end of the truck and my partner was clear under the truck and it killed him," he said.
Burroughs and other KDOT road construction workers shared their stories at the National Work Zone Awareness Event in Topeka.
Unfortunately, their experiences are all too common. Last year, 608 people were injured and 8 workers were killed in Kansas road construction work zones.
"Work zone safety is a reminder for drivers that hey this is for you and your passengers in your vehicles as well because of the facts that 90% of injured and killed in work zones are motorists themselves," said Kimberly Qualls, the Northeast Kansas Public Affairs Manager for KDOT.
And as KDOT workers looked at the cones remembering their coworkers, police and workers offered advice to drivers.
"All they got to do is slow down, what's 15,10 seconds? Nothing compared to a person's life and that's really about all it amounts to," said Burroughs.
Statewide transportation partners donated a $3,950 check to go toward work zone safety efforts.


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Last edited by Beltway; 05-18-2013 at 11:54 AM.
CardsFanBob (05-18-2013),MikeThierry (05-20-2013),redhat (05-25-2013)
If your issue is with MLB and how they run the playoff system take it up with bud selig, don't just hate on the teams that have taken advantage of it.
For the record I wish we still had an east and west and only 4 teams got I
No matter how you get in, you still have to win 11 games. And if you get in as a wildcard, you don't have home field advantage for any series (unless your league wins the farce that is the all star game).
We can share the women, we can share the wine.
I have been watching every Cards game I can and I am seeing some great baseball being played....situational hitting is what is winning them games....they are hitting when it counts and they are taking bases when they need to....not to mention their defense has not been hurting them....starting pitching is not only looking dominant but they are doing exactly what they are supposed to do, throw strikes and let your defense work.....they are getting strike outs as well but I have seen more 0-2 fastballs thrown by them than any other team I have seen....the difference is when you throw that fastball down and away the batter usually hits it on the ground as opposed to Cingrani or Bronson throwing it high and it gets placed in the stands about 400 feet away.
I was thinking it was mainly luck but after watching 15 Cards games I am seeing a good team playing team baseball....pitching changes being made when they are supposed to be made and not when they are not.....NOW, lets see if those still apply in 2 months from now.....other teams could be hotter and make the Cards moves look bad, lets not forget that either.....but right now the Cardinals are playing some of the best baseball in all of MLB..
Old school 1983 (05-18-2013),redhat (05-25-2013)
Gast has 4 shutout innings for the cardinals. Looks about as unimpressive as Matt Maloney was a few years ago. Just throws slop and hitters cannot figure out to go the other way with him until at least 3 AB's in.
You're organization should send thank you cards every year to The Braves for how they got in in 2011. Hence once of the reasons for the title of this thread.
Last year your team had many injuries which derailed what would have been an even better season that you had.....so yes their perseverance should be acknowledged along with their bloody good luck.
Cards get out of bases loaded no out jam facing middle of order. Segura pops up to infield on a hanger. Braun gets ahead 3-1 and grounds into double play.
The DP ball that Braun hit was in a good location but i have seen Braun still fight those off and hit them better than that.
And chapman gives up another game. That right there is why cards will win the division. Clutch vs no clutch.
MikeThierry (05-20-2013)
It's a long season and the Redbirds have to go back to the West Coast. Who has two California trips before Memorial Day ?
Oh well, might as well get them out of the way.
We can share the women, we can share the wine.
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|EUROPA: Research Information Centre
|Close window
Last Update: 2013-05-08 Source: Star Projects
|View this page online at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?artid=29926
Reducing forest-fire danger and damage on a European scale
About one million hectares of forests, which corresponds to one third the size of Belgium, are destroyed by fire every year in the Mediterranean basin. Forests are an important economic resource in that region, and the loss of forests weighs on the economies of the affected countries, especially in North Africa where a warming of 2 degrees Celsius and decreasing rainfall has been recorded. It is expected that climate change in North Africa will substantially increase the yearly losses to fire.
In 1998, the European Commission's in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), created a research group to develop advanced methods for the evaluation of forest-fire danger, and the mapping of burnt areas, covering the whole of Europe. The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) became operational in 2000. Over the years, most EU member states, and neighboring countries, including Turkey, joined the network. "The main objective of EFFIS is providing support to forest and civil protection services of the EU and the Member States," says Jesus San Miguel Ayanz, a JRC researcher and the coordinator of EFFIS.
Project details


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Submission + - SteamBox Prototypes Use Intel CPU, NVIDIA GPUs (phoronix.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Valve has revealed their first Steam Machines prototype details. The first 300 Steam Machine prototypes to ship will use various high-end Intel CPus and NVIDIA GPUs while running their custom SteamOS Linux operating system. The Intel Haswell CPU + NVIDIA GPU combination should work well on Linux with the binary drivers and using a range of CPU/GPUs in the prototypes will allow them to better gauge the performance and effectiveness. Valve also stated they will be releasing the CAD design files to their custom living room console enclosure for those to reproduce.


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If we were to read between the lines of an exchange during a State Dept. daily press briefing, Wed. Dec. 12, 2012, then the U.S., through our European allies, are busy trying to get bilateral, face to face negotiations going with the Iranians, over Iran's nuclear program.
As was the case with the North Korean negotiations over the past decade plus, the Jury is out on which works better in the end, group talks or US-only face-to-facers. If anything, the Korean example seems to prove that neither approach really works if the other side is comprised of habitual liars hell bent on destroying us.
That aside, pay attention to the ease with which State's Spokesperson Victoria Nuland glides into the possibility of bilateral talks with Iran.
Nuland took a question on Israeli reports that the Administration is looking to pursue direct talks with Iran over the next four or five months and is doing so without asking Israel's permission.
NULAND: I haven't seen those Israeli reports. What I can tell you is that the European Union has just made clear that earlier today, EU Deputy Secretary General Helga Schmid, who is Cathy Ashton's deputy, had a phone call with the Iranian deputy negotiator Dr. Bagheri in order to discuss the way ahead, including possible dates and venues for another [P-5+1] plus Iran meeting. So we continue to make clear to the Iranian side that in that structure, the door remains open to talks if they are serious.
QUESTION: In the premise of the question, there was the idea that … you would have unilateral talks with the Iranians without the Israelis' permission. I'm wondering … does the Administration think that it needs to get Israel's permission to do that?
NULAND: …In the context … of P-5+1 Iran talks, we'd be prepared to meet bilaterally with Iran. The Israelis are well aware that that is our view and that is the way we would pursue it. So it's not a matter of permission or not permission. They are our ally and partner, and we consult with them regularly, and we're completely transparent in terms of how we're trying to proceed here.
QUESTION: … But you wouldn't ask for their permission, would you? Even if it was outside the P-5+1 context … does this Administration need to ask Israel for permission to … to talk with any other country in the world, including Iran?
NULAND: Again, Israel is our ally. Israel has an existential interest in the way this goes forward. We are very transparent with Israel on how this goes forward. So I don't even think that scenario would arise one way or the other.
QUESTION: Well, can you just say that the Administration – that this country doesn't ask permission from Israel to have talks with any countries —
MS. NULAND: I would say that this country doesn't ask permission from any other country to act. Okay?


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Dell's plan to acquire storage vendor Compellent has the strong approval of some of its top solution providers who find the combination of the two the best way for both to grow going forward.
However, the channel does have some reservations over the proposed acquisition given the potential overlap in storage products between Compellent and the Dell-EqualLogic lines, and the potential for Dell to turn Compellent into a low-margin offering.
Dell on Thursday said it and Compellent are in discussions about Dell acquiring Compellent for a total of about $876 million, a move which would give Dell one of the industry's leading storage virtualization technologies and a big boost to its channel base.
The bid to acquire Compellent is the latest effort by Dell to make itself into a bigger player in the storage market, including its unsuccessful bid in September to acquire 3PAR after a short but intense bidding war with Hewlett-Packard, as well as its successful acquisition in early 2008 of storage vendor EqualLogic, which made Dell one of the industry's top storage vendors.
Patrick Mulvee, vice president of sales and marketing at Sidepath, an Irvine, Calif.-based solution provider and partner to both Dell and Compellent, said his company is ecstatic over the possible acquisition.
A typical customer solution for Sidepath includes Dell servers, Compellent storage, VMware virtualization software, and Brocade networking, Mulvee said.
Sidepath does work occasionally with Dell's EqualLogic storage offering, and has been an EqualLogic partner for years, Mulvee said. "But then we fell in love with Compellent," he said.
Dell can help Compellent accelerate its storage technology development, Mulvee said. "Dell has a ton of money to throw at Compellent to add new features like dedupe and encryption, and to take it to the next level as customers move to the cloud," he said.
The timing of the proposed acquisition is perfect for Sidepath, Mulvee said. "We just doubled our office space, and are building a new demonstration center for Compellent," he said.
Paul Clifford, a principle at Davenport Group, a St. Paul-based solution provider and partner to both vendors, said he was on the telephone all morning talking to customers about the proposed acquisition.
Next: What Do The Customers Think Of Dell-Complellent?


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PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) — A Port Huron-area woman charged with making a false report of rape and tampering with evidence has been ordered to trial.
Sara Ylen (WHY'-lin) accused two men of sexual assault at her Lexington home last September, but authorities say an attack didn't happen.
A doctor testified Tuesday that he used gauze to examine her injuries and found that makeup was used to create phony bruises. A Port Huron judge found probable cause to send the case to trial.
Ylen's credibility has been questioned before. A man who spent nearly a decade in prison after being convicted of raping her was released last fall.
In another pending case, Ylen is charged with fraud in Sanilac County. She's accused of deceiving an insurance company and the public into believing she had cancer.


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If "all those UK boys" flop, wouldn't the talent level have to be readjusted according to those flops?
I know it's subjective, but I think college basketball was phenomenal this past season. There were great teams, great stories, and great games. You won't find a better college game than the Kentucky-IU Sweet 16 game. Unless you saw the UK- UNC matchup in December. The first UK/ IU game was good too, as was the UNC-Duke game in which Rivers hit the last second bomb from 20 feet. Syracuse played two great games-- one against Notre Dame and the other against Wisconsin.
All but the UNC-Duke game were OOC. None of these mention the best game, IMO, of the season-- Kansas' comeback over Mizzou in overtime.
There were great shooters, great defenders, and, yes, great teams in college basketball last season. No amount of "back-in-my-day" poo-poohing will make that any less true.
The athleticism of an Anthony Davis is awe-inspiring, and I'm fairly certain Uwe Blab-- four year player or not-- couldn't hold his jock.


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Lady Trojans improve to 5-0 with win over Raiders
Jesse Story, Chelsey Queen and Taylor Sigmon combined for 39 points, leading the Bandys girls basketball team (5-0) to a win against visiting North Iredell on Thursday.
Story scored 14 points and had five assists in the game. Queen netted 13 points and assisted four times on her own, while Taylor Sigmon ended Thursday's game one rebound short of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Bandys took an 18-3 lead in the first quarter, allowing them to get ahead and never look back in the contest.
Brittani Cartner scored 14 points for North Iredell, and teammate Stacey Lunsford added 10 points.


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Cleaning up Springfields garbage
Meet Alexander Harris-Taylor, trash cop
Alexander Harris-Taylor deftly navigates his city-issued red sedan through the network of streets and snug alleyways in Enos Park, finally stopping in front of 315 E. Rafter.
Bundled in a bulky North Face jacket, he braces against the 4-degree wind-chill and strides toward the rear of the two-family rental house. He whips out a small, silver digital camera and shoots pictures of heaping garbage bags, scattered soda cans and newspapers, and empty cardboard boxes that once held Huggies diapers and Dole bananas.
It's the second visit Taylor has made to the unkempt backyard. Unfortunately for the owners, he's not some modern artist or a Dumpster-diver — he's their friendly neighborhood housing inspector. Since the trash hasn't budged in the five days since his initial inspection, Taylor calls in the department of public works to clean up the mess. The property owner foots the bill.
Cleaning up neighborhood clutter, along with enforcing the housing code, mowing unruly vacant lots and removing varmint-infested, inoperable vehicles, keeps Taylor and the city's four other housing inspectors on their toes. They each patrol two wards, operating on a complaint-driven system. Taylor, who inspects 12 neighborhoods including Enos Park, Pillsbury Mills and Melrose Park, handles five to 20 cases each day in Alds. Sam Cahnman and Frank Lesko's wards.
"We're in and out of our cars all day long — no matter what the climate is," Taylor says. "It could be raining, snow, sleet, and we're out here in this weather. Every day, all day. There is nothing that keeps us
from doing our duties, as far as making sure we clean up and take care of the
people of the city of Springfield."
Robert Law, the housing division manager, says his short-staffed department
manages to handle 10,000 complaints a year (a few thousand are
garbage-related). Thanks to a city trash ordinance passed in October 2007, he
says, property owners are now held responsible for signing up for garbage
service with a private waste hauler like Allied Waste Services, Lake Area
Disposal, or Illini Disposal Inc. At least 500 owners, who previously let their
trash pile up or dumped it elsewhere, have signed up for service at the urging
of city inspectors.
"Things have gotten better in the city in the past year regarding trash and
no-garbage-service complaints," Law says. "There's still a lot left to do, and we're addressing it. It's definitely one of our priorities."
On the frigid February Wednesday, Taylor steers his "mobile office" through the 1000 block of North Fourth Street. He sees a lot of solid waste issues here, and it becomes clear that neighbors are used to seeing a lot of him. They wave and honk their car horns, each time eliciting Taylor's toothy grin and wave in response.
Taylor moved to Springfield from New York City, starting as a housing inspector in August 2004. He was inspired by Mayor Rudy Guilliani's pledge to clean up the Big Apple and wanted to do the same for the capital city. He began work on the east side, inched closer to downtown, then finally landed on the north end last year.
He turns his vehicle down an alley in the 1100 block, responding to a complaint
called in a day earlier about fly dumping. This particular problem, which has
plagued the city for years, manifests when culprits dump their trash and drive
off. Taylor locates the pile of abandoned garbage, and when the nearby property
owner says it's not his, he believes him.
"He's a good landlord," Taylor says. "I've worked with him before, and I'm assured that he's upstanding and this is the truth that he's telling me. Plus, it's at the edge of an alley."
Taylor follows strict protocol in dealing with fly dumping. He snaps on a pair
of rubber gloves and goes to work digging through the garbage. When Taylor
finds old magazines, bills, or mail with the dumper's address, he'll work with the police department to send two citations: one for fly-dumping
and one for not having garbage service.
If city residents still refuse to sign up for service with a private waste hauler, Taylor takes them to administrative court, convened weekly on Wednesday mornings. Many are landlords who own multiple rental properties and, regardless of the new ordinance, leave it up to their tenants to deal with garbage.
"On some of the trash service issues, they are able to get service and they don't have to go to court," Taylor says. "Others will come in and be like, 'Why do I need trash service?' It's a city ordinance for you to have trash service at each one of your properties. If it's rental or if you own it.
"A lot of the property owners will put into their leases that the tenants need to
get the trash service, but now since the ordinance has passed that the property
owners are responsible, I write up the property and send a letter to the owner."
Last week Taylor took two solid waste cases to court. The first was 802 Indiana, for not having garbage service. After his initial inspection Taylor sent the property owners one of his "love letters," informing them that unless they signed up for garbage service, they'll go to court for breaking the law. The case was dismissed when owners eventually showed proof that they signed up for garbage service.
The second was 533 Wood, for harboring solid waste and garbage. Usually when inspectors find trash outside of a property or in the alley — like in the case of 315 E. Rafter, Taylor says — they call on public works. But in this case, the property owner didn't have trash service for three months and instead stacked refuse in her garage. Taylor requested a search warrant to enter the structure to abate the problem.
The city's trash ordinance, which went into effect on April 1, 2008, gives Taylor and the other housing inspectors the support they need to stop these cases from cropping up. Sponsored by Ward 6 Ald. Mark Mahoney, the law mandates waste haulers to provide monthly reports listing their customers' addresses, fines residents $250 a month for not having garbage service and, as Taylor mentions, holds landlords responsible for service sign-up.
When it was approved, several aldermen clamored that the ordinance needed more
regulation. Mahoney told Illinois Times: "I'm satisfied that we took a step. I know some think the ordinance doesn't go far enough, but in a year we'll see how it works and go from there."
In December the city established the Springfield waste and recycling commission to review the ordinance and evaluate whether or not it's working. The nine-member commission, comprised of neighborhood association representatives Polly Poskin, Angela Harris and Margaret Ann Gramlich; licensed waste hauler representatives Don Crenshaw Jr. and Dan Jackson; landlords' association representative Jeff Fickbohm; public representative Ed Wojcicki; and Alds. Mahoney and Lesko, begins meeting Feb. 21.
"We have representatives from all of the interested parties," Jim Donelan, the mayor's executive assistant, says. "We'll get a feel for what were the problems, and how has that changed from a
practical everyday standpoint? We'll hear from the haulers, what's working and not working? The public has an opportunity to weigh in as well."
From Taylor's standpoint, housing inspectors are the spearhead of the ordinance. They're the officials investigating to make sure all residents have solid waste pickup, and they say it's doing the trick.
"It's helping out quite a bit and cutting down on the solid waste issues and problems that we were having," Taylor says.
Donelan says statistics on exactly how many residents have signed up for garbage
service, or been fined for not having service, are not yet available. However,
he says the city shares Taylor's sentiments: "I think it's safe to say that Springfield, since the ordinance has gone through, is
cleaner. From the feedback we get from the people who have an interest in this
topic, it's been good."
A week later Taylor stands at the front of a first-floor conference room at the Carol Jo Vecchie Women and Children's Center, listening to the concerns of the Enos Park Neighborhood Association. A professed customer service-type individual, Taylor says he enjoys helping people, and it shows.
He reports that he's cleaning up the alleys and the no-garbage-service issues on the other side of
North Fourth Street. He reassures residents that he's moving through their four-page list of complaints, all of which should be
alleviated within a few days. He asks for any other questions, and a voice from
the back calls out, "Alex is the man."
Marilyn Piland, the association's executive director, echoes the praise. Since Taylor started as the area's housing inspector, he's enforced the new trash ordinance and cut their list of monthly complaints by
"The area has definitely been improved, but because Alex has the tools to enforce
it," Piland says. "Before, we knew there were people who didn't have trash hauling. They put it out there all the time, or they put it at
someone else's house.
"He's been really a bear about watching to make sure that nobody fly-dumps. If they
do, he digs and gets something to identify them and pins it to them. It's been wonderful."
Taylor says he's not always so popular. Due to the nature of their job, housing inspectors come across irate tenants and property owners constantly. They don't usually appreciate his love letters, he explains. Working with neighborhood associations is a different story — especially ones that are proactive in bringing their homes and throughways up to code.
"When people come together and take pride in their neighborhood, and take the
necessary steps to make it better, and with me being a city worker, if I can
help them, aid them, or assist them, I'm there," Taylor says. "That's what my job is, that's what Mayor Davlin hired me for — to make sure I take care of the health and welfare of the people."
During the first few months of Taylor's tenure in Enos Park, some of the alleys were still in disarray. He worked from alley to alley, street to street, and says the area shows vast improvement just a year later.
He points to the 800 block of North Sixth Street as one of the biggest turnarounds. Fly-dumpers would sneak into the alley and stuff their garbage into a tiny garage that opened on the back side. Once that was boarded up, Taylor says, the problem stopped. Another trouble spot was the alley directly behind the Qik-N-Ez convenience store at Fifth and North Grand. People would dump mounds of garbage, he says, and tossed it into nearby vacant lots. It's now just as clean as some of the neighborhood's most spotless streets, like Eighth and Ninth.
"I love it when I'm on one part of a block and I can look all the way down the alley and not see any solid waste," Taylor says. "Right there indicates to me that I'm on top of it."


text:
Work A Trade & Sign
Say what? This isn't the NBA! Besides didn't you just say that odds were long that Choo would sign an extension anywhere? Yes, I know this isn't the NBA and yes I did say that the odds were long....but not impossible. Trade and sign deals don't happen often in major league baseball but they do happen and should be explored as history shows benefits can be advantageous for the Indians.
The player was Joe Carter and then Indians GM Hank Peters wanted desperately to sign him to a long term contract. He made several proposals to Carter's agent Jim Turner and each one was rejected and Turner made at least one counter proposal which Peters rejected. After the 1989 season Peters made one last offer to Carter for 3 years at $10M and after Carter rejected the offer Peters released a statement to the press announcing that the negotiations had ended and Carter would be traded by the end of the year.
Since Carter, like Choo, was entering the final year of his contract the team acquiring him would want to sign him to a long term extension before finalizing the deal with the Indians. This didn't seem to be much of a deterrent until Turner alerted Peters that Carter would only sign extension with 5 teams (Padres, Dodgers, Angels, Royals, or Cardinals).
Luckily, Jack McKeon was running the Padres who had finished 2nd to the Dodgers in 1989 a mere 3 games behind the San Francisco Giants and had a loaded farm system. The Indians and Padres reached a deal that would send Carter to the Padres in exchange for Sandy Alomar Jr., Chris James, and Carlos Baerga and the next day the Padres and Carter reached an agreement on a 3-year $9.2M contract. The trade became official on December 6, 1989.


text:
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C: \ Education \ Mathematics \ InterReg 2.1.0
InterReg 2.1.0 - Detailed Description Page
Program ID:
Kroll Software-Development All programs by this author
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Interpolation and Regression are fundamental and important calculations in mathematics. Mr. Newton and Mr. Gauss were engaged in-depth with numerical solutions for these problems. Today, there are improved algorithms, that can solve such tasks.
InterReg allows you to do such complex calculations just with some point-and-click. So this program is not only for mathematics and engineers. The applications are many and reach from education over science to productive use in your company: in example a meaningful sales forecast can be done in minutes.
Over this, the software offers some other functionality to do curve sketching, integration and statistics as well. Version 2 calculates with arbitrary precision.
Free for students and schools.
Keywords: interpolation, regression, mathematics, curve fitting, linear, regression, analysis, Shareware, Education, Mathematics, Kroll Software-Development, InterReg
Recent Changes: Some minor improvements
Install Support: Install and Uninstall
Supported Languages: English, German
Additional Requirements: DotNet Framework 2.0
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Perfect for kite flying
Avid wind kite surfers are a close-knit group that keep a watchful eye on the weather and conditions. And Saturday was a good day at Conimicut Point, drawing kite surfers from across Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Alex Sameko from Milford, Conn., seen in these shots, was one of eight kite surfers. He is also a wind surfer but says that's "like mowing grass … you just go back and forth." The exception is when winds are over 40 knots. Sameko made flying look easy and landing just as fun.
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. . . die by the sword. I hate Sony with the heat of a thousand suns, but would love to see them make Apple write an eight figure check.
More than likely we'll just end up with a cross-licensing deal and an end to this particular patent theater of war. Frankly, I don't think Apple's expectation was ever to permanently ban competitors devices, it was simply to delay their release into major markets long enough to cripple sales.
A company that makes no products has no need to cross-license patents.
If the deal extends to its owners, who actually do make products, then it may have needs.
A company that makes no products has no need to cross-license patents.
The *point* of this company is cross licensing. Nokia, Sony etc could establish a complicated network of cross licensing deals, or they can put it into one pool and then take out the rewards relative to their contribution to the coalition.
Apple can just pay the license fee, or contribute enough intellectual property to the pool such that it gets back a share equal to a share of the patent group.
This is how the MPEG group works. MPEG is a collection of dozens of patents from tons of people. If you have something that can make MPEG better you can simply sell your patent to the group and make a nice little royalty. Or you can get your royalty and buy MPEG licenses gaining you access to the rest of the patents.
This is how the patent system should work for complicated systems. You build a cell phone patent pool. Then if you want to create new OS you pay the license fee without having to negotiate with 50 different patent holders.
Apple doesn't have any valuable patents to cross license. That has always been their problem. They are up against companies that have been producing mobile tech for decades and own patents that are essential for many of the standards in use around the world. Apple has a bunch of design patents that can either be worked around or invalidated in court.
My thoughts exactly. Yes, MobileMedia might be a patent troll, but Apple well deserves this lawsuit. I hope that Steve Jobs' thermonuclear approach to Android will backfire on an epic level: once the patent wars leave the shell of dead corporations strewn all over the landscape, people will huddle together and promise themselves "never again" And the only way to do that: no more patents.
Either that, or we wisen up and make the patent system much more reasonable (working prototype, truly limited time, no patents on math or business methods, etc.). I wonder which one will happen first.
once the patent wars leave the shell of dead corporations strewn all over the landscape, people will huddle together and promise themselves "never again
This reminded me of the movie Branded [imdb.com].
I hope that Steve Jobs' thermonuclear approach to Android will backfire on an epic level: once the patent wars leave the shell of dead corporations strewn all over the landscape, people will huddle together and promise themselves "never again" And the only way to do that: no more patents.
That is not the only way. The more probable approach is that the next round of "standards" won't be, that corps involved (e.g., Motorola, Samsung, Sony, and others who are usually involved in actual R&D) will patent t
. . . die by the sword. I hate Sony with the heat of a thousand suns, but would love to see them make Apple write an eight figure check.
Unfortunately the only real winners will be the lawyers.
Apple's stock price down 1.7% as of now. Sellers of Apple stock are also winners.
Some of would get a decent amount of entertainment out of it as well.
They should both be writing billions of hundred dollar checks to pay back all the money they have stolen from consumers.
They should both be writing billions of hundred dollar checks to pay back all the money they have stolen from consumers.
I'm curious. What money have they stolen from consumers?
I get the second and third patents (even if they're blindingly obvious), but that first one....
6,070,068 - In a communication terminal device, the connecting state of a call can certainly and easily be controlled without learning troublesome operating methods which are different depending on the connecting state of a call by providing controller for displaying processing items available to a call a display and controlling the call into the connecting state corresponding to the processing item which is selected and determined by the user's operation of an input unit, the user can control the connecting state of the call by merely selecting the desired processing item.
...seriously, what the fuck does that even mean?
I think it means providing a GUI button for hanging up.
is all of this going to reach critical mass and blow up in their faces???
is there really a debate about if MobileMedia is a patent troll?
They hold patents. Check.
Specifically formed to sue other companies for patent infringement. Check
They don't make a single product or use their patents in any way. Check.
Definitely a patent troll. There is no debate.
I get it.. you hate Apple. But don't pretend like these assholes are suddenly good for everyone.
If they're owned by companies that actually make products, then presumably they're more of a consortium (like the MPEG LA) than a patent troll, per-se.
I don't know, I hate software patents, but I like seeing companies that trying to destroy competitors products by abusing the patent system being themselves a victim of it.
Wealthy corporations consider patent litigation to be a cost of doing business. They are happy to accept the risk of being victimized by a patent lawsuit from another wealthy corporation, in return for the ability to squash any-and-every small upstart that might threaten their empire.
Fellow wealthy corporations are generally not a threat to one another. Even when in the same market space, they just form cartel arrangements, pay each other licence fees, and jointly dominate the market. The only real threat they face are young individuals with novel ideas forming small/nimble businesses that totally upset the existing market landscape. The fact that the ability to build such businesses is the foundation of the American dream (and very good for the economy) means nothing. All they care about is protecting them and theirs from such threats, and patent law does an excellent job of that.
To those who object that small businesses can get patents too: realize that having a patent means jack squat if you don't have the financial resources to afford the patent litigation. Small businesses never do, whether they own any patents or not.
Mod parent up.
It concisely explains all the apparent inconsistencies about patents.
The patent system is damn perfect as it is now, but for a different purpose than the one advertised.
The only real threat they face are young individuals with novel ideas forming small/nimble businesses that totally upset the existing market landscape.
Yes but let's not pretend Apple is a "young upstart" just trying to live the American Dream. They're the problem, as much as any other large corp. And unfortunately this is a clear counterexample to your "the only real threat they face" assertion. Apple won't play nice with the other megacorps. This is really a bigger threat, because it means your cartel-esque arrangements can't be made.
I expect everyone else to band together and make an example out of Apple for any other megacorp who wants to try this in the future, which is what's essentially happening in this case.
The problem with Apple is that they are probably the largest abuser of the patent system going at the moment. They're not a young upstart, they're not "fighting the cartels", they're using patent law to form a monopoly cartel of one because they are even more greedy and evil than their competition. I hope people make an example out of Apple because they are working very hard on breaking the entire patent system and not in a "we're going to free this up for innovation" way, in a "no one will ever do anything at all in the mobile market if they're not us" way.
Who cares. This should be an illegal corporate structure no matter who owns them.
then presumably they're more of a consortium
Companies banding together for anti-competitive purposes is usually called a cartel, not a consortium, and is illegal. For some reason patents are different.
They are a CORPORATION formed specifically to sue. I don't think the ownership is relevant.
Yeah, this is my feeling on the matter as well. Someone who buys up currently useless patents in the hopes that someday they will be useful is what a troll does. A group of companies pooling patents for things they all make sounds fairly reasonable - *especially* in the tech sector.
I'll be interested to see the outcome of this. Given Nokia and Sony's current situations I don't think they will be too aggressive with Apple - I think their short-term need for cash from a licensing deal would exceed their risk
Definitely a patent troll, just a patent troll started by practising entities. The only reason they started this troll is to be able to use the common troll modus operandi: sue with bullshit patents without the risk of being sued because, troll as they are, they have nothing to sue over. This 'company' and its ilk is to the stated purpose of patent law as what high frequency traders are to the stated goal of the stock market: they are parasites.
Pity it is not legal to use a jumbo-sized fly swat on this verm
is there really a debate about if MobileMedia is a patent troll?
Not really. But there should equally be no debate about whether Apple is a patent troll. That is not their sole function, but it is one of their functions. They apply for and get bad patents and then use them to attack the competition when they cannot compete on fair grounds.
This is ridiculous. Apple invented the patent! How could they infringe on one?
U.S. patent 6,427,078, which covers a data processing device
Is so broad as to cover everything like a computer, but smaller.
From the actual patent:
The object of the invention is a device for personal communication, data collection and data processing, which is a small-sized, portable and hand-held work station comprising a data processing unit (2); a display (9); a user interface (10, 11); a number of peripheral device interfaces (12, 17); at least one memory unit (13); a power source, preferably a battery (3); and an application software. According to the invention the device also comprises a camera unit (14). The camera unit (14) comprises a camera (14a), preferably a semiconductor camera, and optics (14b) connected thereto, which are placed in the housing (1) of the device. Alternatively, the camera unit (14) is fitted on a PCMCIA card (15) which can be connected to the PCMCIA card slot (16) of the device. An object of the invention is also a PCMCIA card (15) provided with a camera unit (14).
I'm sorry, but that's Von Neumann architecture with some form of camera attached.
Since it starts with the definition of work-station and then simply says it is hand held, it basically is one of those "with a computer" (or in this case cell phone) patents.
I'm not going to go through each of the claims on the patent, but I'm not seeing anything in here that sounds like an invention -- just a description of a small computer with its own display. Which to me, means this patent should have never been granted.
Probably true, but Apple has been suing the hell out of everyone with the same kind of flimsy portfolio. Sauce for the goose.
Maybe, maybe not.
Unfortunately, with the way the patent system is structured, every company wants to/has to patent as many things as they possibly can. And every company wants to use patents to skew the market in their favor -- either by insisting on licensing of patents which are absurd, or preventing competitors from selling similar products.
At a certain point, the lawyers do well
Maybe, maybe not.
REALLY? Rounded corners? Who are you kidding? There's no "maybe, maybe not" about it. Get real.
REALLY? Rounded corners? Who are you kidding? There's no "maybe, maybe not" about it. Get real.
You get real
Do I think it's a good or sensible patent? Absolutely not. Does that change the fact that it was granted? Not at all.
I think for the most part, patents don't work, are usually overly broad, and do very little to foster anything resembling real innovation.
From there all ma
Maybe, maybe not.
REALLY? Rounded corners? Who are you kidding? There's no "maybe, maybe not" about it. Get real.
Really? Repeating the lie about Apple patenting "rounded corners" to justify defending a patent troll?
Hint: Apple has never claimed to have a patent on rounded corners. That's an invention of the internet. They have a design patent on the overall iPhone design and have only sued the one company that blatantly (and admitted doing so in their own internal correspondence) copied it.
...Repeating the lie...
...the one company that blatantly (and admitted doing so in their own internal correspondence) copied it.
Additionally, if you actually read the infamous rounded corner patent you will see it is definitely not an iPhone. Probably an initial mock-up of an iPad but even then it's not the same. What's more is they specifically point out what is and is not covered in the patent using solid vs. dashed lines. There's not much solid line other than those rounded corners.
Claiming they don't have a patent on something because they have a "design patent" isn't exactly a strong argument.
A design patent? Yes. As that is exactly what design patents are meant to do, protect aesthetic designs.
Repeating the lie about Apple patenting "rounded corners" to justify defending a patent troll? Hint: Apple has never claimed to have a patent on rounded corners. That's an invention of the internet. They have a design patent on the overall iPhone design and have only sued the one company that blatantly (and admitted doing so in their own internal correspondence) copied it.
It is you who should take a hint and stop spouting off randomly about things you apparently have very little knowledge of. Apple was in fact granted a design patent for the "trade dress" of certain products in the EU. A german court granted Apple a preliminary injunction against Samsung tablets based on that design patent. Note: this was not a ruling on the alleged infringement, which has not been decided by the German court, but has already been rejected by a UK court. That does not stop Apple camp followe
Note the dashed lines are not what is patented, just the solid rounded rectangle.
Maybe, maybe not.
There is no "Maybe". It is definite. Rounded corners on a rectangle? A grid of icons? If those can be patented, why not just patent the wheel, which was invented thousands of years ago, and charge royalties to every automobile manufacturer?
So basically all the posturing about "how the patent system is bad" was just pretending, covering up for run of the mill Apple hate. "We like the patent system now that Apple are getting hurt!" Grow the fuck up Mr. Anorak.
We don't LIKE the patent system, but we like abusers of the system even less. Hate the players AND hate the game.
Another obvious patent then. Wanting to make ANY device smaller goes back to the beginning of invension itself.
We need a full fledged effort of some sort to invalidate patents. Maybe even a legal foundation of some sort. It's in the interest (at least for now) for every patent to be summarily accepted so you know the corporate controlled government will never fix it.
I'm not going to go through each of the claims on the patent, but I'm not seeing anything in here that sounds like an invention
Likewise, I'm not going to open the book, but I'm not seeing anything in Moby Dick that makes it decent literature.
The claims are the single most important part of the patent. Everything else is just to make the claims clear enough that somebody else can duplicate the invention. Not reading them is tantamount to judging a book by its cover.
Actually reading claim 1, we see a patent for a handheld computer containing a camera, that uses a radio to transmit the pictures. In claim 2, this is specified to be the
Actually reading claim 1, we see a patent for a handheld computer containing a camera, that uses a radio to transmit the pictures. In claim 2, this is specified to be the cellular phone network. Now what's interesting is that the first cell-phone cameras came to market in the summer of 1997. Surely this is prior art, yes? And the whole patent is invalid?
So, I ask you, before 1995 did we have the technology for a computer to transmit images of a camera over a network? The answer, of course, is in 1991 [wikipedia.org] someone had a webcam which showed the coffee pot.
From the same link, the first commercial webcam was available in 1994, which is now a year before your lower bound. So by then we'd had cameras sending stuff over the network via a computer for years.
So, now walk me through this one, since I'm apparently quite slow
We already had desktop computers. We already had some inklings of hand held computers. We could already hook a camera up to a computer and send images over a network. And, by 1990 we had already reached the point of being able to generalize the concept of 'network' to include arbitrary transport mechanisms [wikipedia.org] (IP over Avian Carrier), so a cellular network is a specific variant of networking instead of something fundamentally new. The general problems of networking had been well discussed for years.
So, given that several years before this patent was even applied for we had mechanisms to "allow a computer to transmit the output of a semi-conductor camera over a network" -- I find it awfully difficult to figure out how this represents anything other than taking several already common things, and putting them into a smaller device which uses a cellular network.
Small isn't magic. Radio isn't magic. Cellular networks aren't magic. So to me, the first web cam of how much coffee was left covers almost all of the functional aspects of this patent -- except in a smaller box. And the last I checked "in a smaller box" isn't really sufficient to differentiate yourself as a distinct patent.
If someone had shown me this patent in 1997, I would have said the same thing -- in what way is taking something you can already do, but on a different device something which merits a patent?
Here is what US patent law says is patentable (this has been the language since 1793): any new and useful art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter and any new and useful improvement on any art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter. Emphasis mine.
So, was the move from wired webcams on wired network computers to cameras on wireless devices new? Yes. Was it useful? Yes. Was it an improvement on an existing something? Yes.
And remember, it isn't the idea of a camera on a cellphone that i
I'm not going to go through each of the claims on the patent...
There's your problem.
... It's about time!
Overall I detest patent trolls for their detrimental effects on innovation and the US economy, but it'll bet if Apple wasn't so aggressive in their own patent troll behaviour this suit probably would never have happened.
If (RejectCall)
There I just wrote the code to reject incoming calls if the number is in the rejected numbers list. How is this patentable?
Enjoy your cease and desist notices!
There I just wrote the code to reject incoming calls if the number is in the rejected numbers list. How is this patentable?
Except that I don't think that is what the patent covers at all. First of all, the iPhone does not let you create a filter list that automatically rejects calls. At least not until iOS 6 (and I doubt the lawsuit was filed since the release of iOS 6 and has a judgement). Instead, I think this is a patent covering the ability to tell the cell tower to stop ringing your phone because you're not going to bother answering. That, at the time it was added to cell phones, was certainly novel as far as I know. I had never seen a POTS phone that let you reject a call instead of just muting the ringer. I didn't bother reading the patent, so I could be wrong. But my guess is the patent actually comes from the Erickson side of the house, and not actually from Sony as it existed at the time of the filing.
I want to side with Apple on this, the patents themselves seem ridiculous. But Apple has misbehaved in exactly the same manner, for the same absurdly ridiculous details. It's apparent that it's not about the individual patents, it's a full-on mud wrestle.
Shamelessly stealing from another post in another thread:
It's like when Hitler went to war against Stalin. You want Stalin to win, but not by too much.
Because when someone else sues *Apple*, they're a "patent troll".
But when *Apple* does the same thing in suing others, they're just "protecting innovation".
Ow. Need to see an ophthalmologist now. I just rolled my eyes so hard I strained something.
MobileMedia has garnered the unflattering descriptor "patent troll" from some observers.
MobileMedia licenses patents held by Sony, Nokia, and MPEG LA. MPEG LA in turn licenses tech developed by global giants in manufacturing and R&D like Cisco, Mitsubishi, NTT, Philips, Samsung, Toshiba and so on. It is idiotic to argue that these guys don't make product or that their contributions to the evolution of mobile technologies are trivial.
What's interesting is that Apple is a member of MPEG LA: http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/Licensors.aspx [mpegla.com]
Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do the work. -- John G. Pollard


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The second episode of Top Chef Seattle brought the newest round of cheftestants into the storied Top Chef Kitchen, at last. Micah immediately went on the offensive, giving his fellow competitors something he referred to as the waterfall look. I'm not sure what that is, but does it mean he was crying? Anyway, their elation at finally setting foot in TCK was short-lived when they saw that they were going to be judged by former cast members Josie (season 2), CJ (season 3), and Stephan (season 5), all of whom are nice, although Stephan's reputation from season 5 doesn't always make that clear.
The QFC entails breaking off into groups of three to create a dish that highlights a local seafood. They have just 20 minutes to pull it off, and choices include crab, mussels, crawfish, razorfish clams, geoduck, and more. Turns out, though, that everyone seems to want the geoduck (which, IMO, has become far too ubiquitous). Let's break it down…
Blue Team: Sheldon, Kuniko, and John create a geoduck sashimi with the coveted geoduck ,and dress it with ponzu, apple, and cucumber. The judges say it's great but could use a bit of salt.
Yellow Team: Josh, Eliza, and Danyele serve a razor clam and grilled corn chowder with Fresno chile and grilled lime. The judges like the grilled lime, but call the dish under-salted.
Gray Team: Bart, Jeffrey, and Brooke make crawfish with pickled red chile, fennel, and crawfish cream. The judges like it, but call it a little bit "old school."
Green Team: Kristen, Mica, and Tyler present a study in contrasts, with a fried and sashimi geoduck with radish, bok choy salad, and yuzu chili vinaigrette. It's a hit, except that the sashimi isn't shimi'd enough. Or, thin enough for those of you who can't crack my code.
Orange Team: Carla, Chrissy, and Lizzie prepare an oven-roasted crawfish with fennel and herb salad. Lizzie thinks it's messy, and the judges think it needs more acid (which, it would appear, that Carla took before entering TCK. I kid!).
Least Favorite Dish: The Yellow Team's razor clam soup. It's "weak" and "underseasoned."


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MSI takes a shine to solar-powered MP3 players
Demo'd at sunny CeBIT
MSI has unveiled what it has been claimed to be the first solar-powered, hard drive-equipped MP3 player, though it appears a custom job kitted out to wow the crowds at the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany this week.
The player is the Mega Player 540, which sports a 1.8in, 128 x 160 colour display - the same size as the one used in Samsung's Z5 player - along with a 4GB 1in hard disk, joystick-like control system and the usual WMA DRM and MP3 song support. It'll also show 320 x 240 videos, not to mention photos, and comes fitted with a recordable FM radio. It's got SRS' WOW sound-enhancement technology on board.
The whole thing measures 9.5 x 5.2 x 1.7cm and weighs 95g, including its integrated battery, which can drive the player for up to eight hours. The custom 540 has a solar cell built onto the back the of the device ready to power the player and recharge the battery for all the time you want to keep it tucked away in your pocket.
There's the inevitable question regarding the wisdom of equipping such a desirable device as an MP3 player with something that needs to be kept out in the open, presumably making it easier to pinch. But we guess the idea is to charge it up at home before taking it out. Even that's more eco-friendly than charging it up off the mains. ®
Sponsored: Minds Mastering Machines - Call for papers now open


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WNA - Stawell Warriors Kirsty Coote was crowned Wimmera Netball Association B grade best and fairest at Monday night's vote count.
It was a tight finish, with Coote taking home the spoils after a best on court performance in Stawell's final round win over Horsham RSL Diggers.
Coote polled 27 votes to finish two votes clear of Horsham's Melanie Scott, while her Stawell teammate Michelle Elvery finished in third place with 24 votes.
When asked if she expected to win, Coote said 'most definitely not.'
"If you listened to the radio, my voice was so shaky and my heart was beating very fast. I thought I'd had a good season but not that good," she said.
Coote played in numerous positions throughout season 2012, beginning the year in centre before moving down to goal defence/goal keeper.
She then moved up into wing defence before finishing the season back in centre.
Coote said she liked playing in all the positions for different reasons.
"One of my favourites used to be wing defence because when I was younger, somebody said to me it was the most important position on the court. I like the defensive end but then I like to go into the middle where I can run and stretch the legs."
In her second year with Stawell, Coote hopes to return to the club in 2013 but it will depend on where her job takes her.
Meanwhile, Stawell defender Emma Henry concluded a successful season by finishing joint third in the WNA A grade vote count.
Henry has had an outstanding year, representing Wimmera in the interleague competition as well as playing a pivotal role as joint coach of the Warriors senior side.
Henry's coaching partner, Jemma Clarkson, was full of praise.
"She's been wonderful and has done a great job. She can play in defence or in goals," Clarkson said.
"She's a really tight defender with her rebounds and she reads the play well."
Henry provides lots of turnovers, gets her hands to the ball and is consistently ranked among Stawell's best players.
Clarkson and Stawell teammate Jade Cross finished in the top 10 - Clarkson came seventh with 16 votes while Cross was ninth with 12.
It could have been a winning trifecta for the Bach family on Monday night, with life member inductees Debbie and Andrew's daughter, Jaiden, leading the C grade vote count after round 15.
However, the Warriors goal attack had to settle for joint-third alongside Jessica Simons from Dimboola.
Alana Nelson of Horsham polled 21 votes to finish on top,.
Other Stawell players to finish in the C grade top 10 were Meg Newton, who finished equal fourth with 14 votes and Laura Farrer polled 13 votes to come in fifth.
In the Wimmera Football League best and fairest, Shane Field was Stawell's highest vote getter.
Field, who played the majority of the year in the ruck in the absence of Jorah Margetson, polled a total of 15 votes to finish fourth.
Phillip Butsch from Horsham Saints was crowned best and fairest with 24 votes, edging out Warrack Eagle Steve Schulz by just one vote.
It was a close contest in the WFL reserves vote count.
Stawell's Daniel Thomas finishing equal fourth with 10 votes alongside five other players, while James Devery finished fifth with nine votes.
Horsham's Carl Obst and Nhill's Luke Oldaker were joint winners of WFL reserves best and fairest with 14 votes.


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Los Angeles Corporate Center, Building 1200
1200 Corporate Center Drive
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Map It!
Arden's Los Angeles Corporate Center (1200) property located at 1200 Corporate Circle Drive, Monterey Park, California is an 83,017 rentable square foot building that is 98% occupied. As part of the company's ongoing energy efficiency program, Los Angeles Corporate Center (1200), constructed in 1986, was chosen as a candidate for a building wide lighting retrofit. Los Angeles Corporate Center (1200) also has an Andover EMS system which controls HVAC to optimum conditions.. The building was retrofitted with air-cooled screw chillers and six fan coils with the ability to deliver 50 degree Fahrenheit low velocity air to cool the building. These additions were conceived as part of the overall efficiency enhancement at the property.
A typical Arden lighting retrofit was accomplished by replacing T-12 light tubes with T-8 light tubes and installing electronic ballasts. The incandescent and fluorescent exit signs were replaced with LED exit signs using only two watts per fixture. Also installed were occupancy sensors throughout the building to reduce unoccupied lighting energy.
In addition to all the lighting and mechanical upgrades, many no cost / low cost measures were taken that reduced energy consumption. These included:
Arden's engineering department recognizes the financial impact of electrical demand charges, and as such, targets their operation towards peak demand reduction. By monitoring electrical demand levels and establishing a peak target, the energy management systems are programmed to selectively reset equipment to keep the demand within defined limits while never compromising occupant comfort.
The payback for these initiatives is approximately three and a half years with a marked increase in tenant satisfaction and comfort.
In a continuing effort to reduce operating costs, optimum start and stop times have resulted in a further reduction of energy.
Arden Realty, Inc., with over 240 buildings in seven markets, is currently the largest commercial office landlord in Southern California, operating over 18 million rentable square feet with an additional 285,000 square feet under development. We have completed 32 HVAC plant retrofits, 47 EMS systems, 20 carbon monoxide sensor projects and 117 individual building lighting retrofits, including occupancy sensor installation. Arden Realty has also completed seven cogeneration plants and one solar photovoltaic array with a total capacity of three megawatts.
Please note: Narrative information in this profile has been provided by Los Angeles Corporate Center, LLC or a representative of this facility. Other building information was verified and submitted to EPA at the time of application. Building energy performance, operating characteristics, and ownership/management may be subject to change over time.
Building Owner:*
Los Angeles Corporate Center, LLC
Property Manager:*
Equity Office (Glendale)
Year(s) Labeled (Rating):
2001 (82)
2009 (79)
2010 (80)
2011 (78)
2012 (76)
2013 (83)
Facility Type: Office
Total Floorspace: 87031 sf
Year Constructed: 1986
Contract Type: None
Technologies Used:


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May, 2013
Who Will Mind the Store? The Value of Emergency Planning
By Drew Stevens, PhD
While attending to office items, the telephone rang and it was the office manager for a chiropractic practice informing me that the principle, Peter, had taken ill and was rushed to the hospital. After several moments, I uncovered that Peter had been having some bouts of forgetfulness - nothing urgent until he blacked out and was rushed to the hospital. In the analysis, it was found he had a brain tumor and was rushed into emergency surgery.
This info comes on the heels of another practicing physician named Brian who recently discovered he had cancer. While he is able to fight it through treatment, he needed assistance with his practice. These stories then remind me - who minds the practice when illness strikes?
It is one thing to create a practice and develop it. But, as with any other business, it becomes necessary to create succession plans. Just about the most frightening thing about your practice is losing it, but providing a succession plan enables you to create financial stability for your family and estate.
One of the most difficult decisions to think about is the transfer of your business - your pride, joy and most important, your creation. Turning over management/ownership authority is not easy for any founder, nor is it easy for the successor. However, if you want your practice to continue to prosper then you must seek a way to do it. Research shows that practices tend to fail after death and fewer than 30 percent are transferred successfully to a second generation or associate.
Getting Started
The first step in any transition is your ability to get your mind in the right context. Succession planning helps you prepare for two basic premises a) crisis and b) retirement. While there are very few statistics in each of these areas, I will bet that less than ten percent of most chiropractors are ready for these categories. The facts are these, one day your practice (heaven forbid) may get hit with a crisis and you will also need to or want to retire. When either occurs, what are your plans? There is an old maxim that says if you "fail to plan then plan to fail." This is very true. Operating a business where you are the sole focus has its positives as well as negatives. The benefits are the financial freedoms and lack of bureaucracy, but there are negatives as well. What happens if you are ill and you cannot bring in revenue or when you retire and you have not placed anything in savings? All this can and will harm you. It is for these reasons that planning is so beneficial.
Convincing chiropractors to have a disaster replacement plan in the event of a tragic event is not too difficult; persuading them to prepare people for advancement years ahead of their actual promotions presents more challenges. Therefore, replacement planning is a start, but only a start.
Consider that many succession plans pertain to most large organizations such as hospitals or healthcare administrators. Most small companies don't have one, much less replacements for key positions such as chiropractic assistants, therapists, associates, etc. Succession planning balances the short and long-term needs and promotes the simultaneous analysis of each.
So, if the stories above concern you and there is a desire to position the practice for continuity, what are some areas of consideration? Ask yourself the following:
As with any succession plan, using a professional approach is a key to your success. It is prudent to think about who might take over when you are incapacitated, die or become involved in some other crisis. The idea here is to provide on paper who will take over, what role they might fill, (not every successor need be a chiropractor) and what support and resource they will provide. However, not every chiropractic practice will have a family member ready, willing and able to takeover.
Chiropractic Events


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The Battered, Triumphant Sage
Tribute to Freud
Freud and His Followers
Social Amnesia
What it Did
I dolatry
The only memorable scene in HD's otherwise muzzy, self-absorbed memoirs of the Professor, mainly taken from two series of meetings she had with him in 1933-1934 when Freud was seventy-seven, occurs during an analytic session. Evidently the deeper fish weren't rising and HD was simply dimpling the surface with her toes. Suddenly Freud begins to beat on the headboard of the horsehair sofa she'd been reclining and reminiscing on till his fist roused her. "The trouble is—I am an old man—you do not think it worth your while to love me."
As Roazen observes, Freud was fifty years old before any of his famous followers came to court. He knew what the lure of maturity was, the accomplishment of a completed self and the magic of a man who has been vouchsafed revelations, not to mention the attraction, too, of someone with livelihoods for sale. But a cancerous old codge—could a libidinous transference be effected for such a precariously pale, jaw-gnawed sage? And can we achieve it today with these spousely familiar texts? how shall they startle our understanding with more than the hammer of an old man's rage?
Paul Roazen's present book on Freud is clearly the result of research he undertook for Brother Animal, a fuller and less cautious description of Freud's friendship and falling-out with Victor Tausk than appears in Freud and His Followers.1 The earlier study is an extended account of this discipleship, and Tausk's suicide in 1919 forms the dramatic center of a kind of biographical whodunit. Roazen was rightly excited by the material his researches began to unearth and the "new not so nice" Freud who began to appear out of the dark fog of flattery and reticence which had always shielded him before—hulking a little, I'm afraid, like a menacing figure in another bad Hitchcock film. Freud had warts. Was he the whole toad?
The man defined by these volumes is said to be a warm and courageous genius, an inspiring teacher, an amusing storyteller and understanding companion, a source of wisdom and example of pure dedication; but he is shown to be aloof, vain, proud, tyrannical, unforgiving and vindictive, suspicious, jealous—in short, a quite unpleasant neurotic. In that difference lies the bias of both books.
Brother Animal is a disturbing work, not because it is critical of Freud while pretending, as Freud and His Followers also does, to be "objective," or because it absurdly overvalues Tausk's talent, or even because the conclusion we are asked to come to is that Freud was a seriously responsible factor in Tausk's suicide (a charge, to this reader, more than totally unproved), but because of its very questionable biographical methods. Roazen's use of quotation, the beautiful placement of his omissions, the implicit and often fluctuating judgments, his style (which might be described as a…
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which happens to also be a great place for astronomy
Huh? How would be at the poles be any good? You'd only ever get to see 50% of the sky, it won't shield you against the Earth as well as the rest of the hidden face of the Moon (which is the place to go for radio-astronomy) and errr.. what are the advantages again?
Am I the only one who sees a self-sustaining materials and manufacturing infrastructure on the moon as being worth any cost today? Without it, we'll never realize our sci-fi dreams of colonizing off the planet.
This is true. I agree with this part. However, everytime the topic of ISRU comes up, I see plenty of armchair engineers talking lightly about applying it from the get-go at very, very advanced levels, and it's clear they haven't given any real thought to what it takes to achieve the sort of results they're talking about. One of the posters above, for example, dismisses building a pressure vessel for a habitat as fairly elementary. That first of all neglects the point about structural mass actually being a minority of the payload needs for a moon base, and secondly shows an ingorance of the large and specialized tooling needed to build such components here on earth. How much can that infrastructure actually be shrunk down, made lightweight, or made multipurpose by simply sacrificing productivity?
As I said, I agree if we're going to live in space truly long term, we need to learn to use the resources out there. Once we reach the trade surplus point, we'll have reached that dream of the lunar-industrial age. But it seems like everyone is assuming with a little clever engineering we can do that right now. That's not so. It will take a herculean amount of engineering, testing, re-engineering, failing, succeeding, and taking baby steps to get there.
That's why the first resource utilization will be simple things. Once you've established a baseline competancy, it's easier to add on to it than to do the whole thing all at once. It also leaves you in a better and less expensive position to react to problems or unanticipated supply or demand changes.
On the point about sending unmanned missions first. That is actually part of the plan. NASA decided last year they should identify several targets on the moon of scientific interest and send short "sortie" mission similar to the Apollo program there. At the same time, they would also pick a site for a permanent base and land equipment there in advance of a crew. Right now it looks like two missions to send power, basic supplies, and a basic habitat. Then short manned mission to get everything set up. This would be followed by a longer missions with stuff like ISRU equipment, a pressurized rover for long exploration missions, and additional living/science facilities.
Here's a good example of what *COULD* be done.
A small solar "digging" rover. It doesn't need to be fast, just reliable. It diggs regolith, and puts it in a bin.
The bin, once sufficiently full, will close up and heat up. The aluminium and oxygen can be separated. The aluminum, melted, could then be released (possibly through a mechanism designed to pump out plates.
The oxygen? Bring up some high tolerance balloons to store it.
If it's so easy, let's see you do the same thing on earth.
You do realize you're talking about dissociating alumina and storing the molten aluminum, right? Inside a lightweight vehicle? 1.7 MJ/mol binding energy? Melting point of 2054C? (There is a reason that Aluminum used to be more expensive than gold.) Even the commercial aluminum extraction process requires dissolving the alumina in molten cryolite (sodium hexafluoroaluminate) at 980C and requires pre-extraction of the aluminum oxide from the ot
(For comparison, the Apollo lunar lander delivered ~25 tons to the lunar surface.)
The Apollo Lunar Module massed about 15000 Kg, including fuel. What actually landed on the moon was pretty close to 7000 Kg.
If it had been designed purely for dropping a payload on the moon, the payload would have been comparable in size to the Ascent Module, which massed about 4700 Kg.
The Apollo Lunar Module massed about 15000 Kg, including fuel. What actually landed on the moon was pretty close to 7000 Kg.
My bad. I misinterpreted this quote from the paper: "100 tons is a credible system mass in terms of foreseeable NASA launch capabilities to the lunar surface, representing very roughly the lunar payload capacity of four Apollo missions to the Moon."
If it had been designed purely for dropping a payload on the moon, the payload would have been comparable in size to the Ascent Module, w
I'm going to go out on a limb here, but according to Wikipedia, the Saturn V delivered about 47,000 kg to lunar orbit. That's 51.7 tons. Using the same ratioo as the LM, that gives you a bit over 24 tons landing on the moon.
I'll buy that. Remember that 1/4 to 1/3 of that 24 tons is the lander itself, which is not necessarily useful payload. Though I imagine that a sizable chunk of it can be designed as dual-use - if nothing else, the fuel tanks can be made into water tanks for the base.
Still and all, th
Is an automated drilling/mining/processing plant. There are mineral deposits up there. If we could go up there and have the materials made on site, so we only needed to set up the base, a long term moon base would be fairly cheap.
Actually, we don't know if there are mineral deposits on the Moon, as it hasn't been explored in enough detail to even make a reasonable guess. Anything below the top couple of centimeters is pretty much a complete mystery. On top of which, it is not clear the Moon has gone thro
Yes, and using web pages on a web forum as an example doesn't preclude me from being someone who's put effort into studing this matter, does it?
No, the amount of knowledge (more correctly the lack of knowledge) you have displayed on the issues, combined with the routine substitution of handwaving and ungrounded assumptions for for facts precludes you from being someone who has studied the matter.
One of the reasons many forms of extraction of infeasible is energy cost. Simply put, that's les
The MoonROx Challenge is designed to promote the development of processes to extract oxygen from lunar regolith on the scale of a pilot plant. These processes have the potential to contribute significantly to the Vision for Space Exploration and space exploration operations.
The MoonROx Challenge is a "first to demonstrate" competition. The team whose hardware can quickly extract breathable oxygen from a supply of lunar regolith simulant using a steady-state process will win the competition.
Sixty five tons of American pride!
Better divide that by about 6.
do they mean using solid fuel rockets for landing and takeoff? That seems silly since you want controllable thrust
Actually, with a bit of cleverness - you only need throttleability for a fairly small portion of the powered phase of landing.
One method is using a 'crasher stage' - where you use a large non-throttleable engine to remove nearly all of your velocity at once, discard it, and then complete the landing using a fairly small throttleable engine. NASA's Surveyor landers used this method, as
Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed. -- Neil Armstrong


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The federal government is indirectly subsidizing a variety of sometimes unproven medical treatments in other countries, as multiple sclerosis sufferers and other patients claim thousands of dollars in medical tax credits for foreign health-care costs
As Canadian governments turn increasingly to generic drugs to try to rein in health-care costs, some researchers suggest duplicates can sometimes differ significantly from the brand-name original, potentially causing trouble for patients
The Saturday Interview: The creator of the Debbie Travis Home Collection explains that it's all about the people, not the wallpaper they put up
The federal government has made good on a two-year-old promise to add bisphenol A, a hormone-disrupting chemical linked to some cancers, to the country's list of toxic substances, in spite of industry opposition.
Pediatricians want to add another shot to the panoply of vaccines Canadian children receive, urging that every baby in the country be vaccinated against a virus that sends thousands of children to hospital each year.
The percentage of Canadian women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer fell sharply after women began turning away from hormone replacement therapy, new research shows. But the finding is adding to the debate over the safety of pills