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Understanding ergonomics at work and the benefits that go along with it.
July 29th, 2010 4:34pm
Reduce accidents and ill health and increase productivity by fitting the task to the worker.
You may have heard of the term 'ergonomics'. This is sometimes referred to as 'human factors'. Not everyone really understands what ergonomics is, what it does, or how it affects people. This leaflet will help to answer these questions and to explain how understanding ergonomics can improve health and safety in your workplace.
It is aimed at anyone who has a duty to maintain and improve health and safety and who wants to gain insight into ergonomics. It gives some examples of ergonomics problems and simple, effective advice on what can be done to solve them.
What is ergonomics?
Ergonomics is a science concerned with the 'fit' between people and their work. It puts people first, taking account of their capabilities and limitations. Ergonomics aims to make sure that tasks, equipment, information and the environment suit each worker.
To assess the fit between a person and their work, ergonomists have to consider many aspects. These include:the job being done and the demands on the worker; the equipment used (its size, shape, and how appropriate it is for the task); the information used (how it is presented, accessed, and changed); the physical environment (temperature, humidity, lighting, noise, vibration); and the social environment (such as teamwork and supportive management).
Ergonomists consider all the physical aspects of a person, such as:body size and shape; fitness and strength; posture; the senses, especially vision, hearing and touch; and the stresses and strains on muscles, joints, nerves.
Ergonomists also consider the psychological aspects of a person, such as:mental abilities; personality; knowledge; and experience.
By assessing these aspects of people, their jobs, equipment, and working
environment and the interaction between them, ergonomists are able to design
safe, effective and productive work systems.
How can ergonomics improve health and safety?
Applying ergonomics to the workplace:reduces the potential for accidents; reduces the potential for injury and ill health; and improves performance and productivity.
Ergonomics can reduce the likelihood of an accident. For example, in the design of control panels, consider:the location of switches and buttons – switches that could be accidentally knocked on or off might start the wrong sequence of events that could lead to an accident; expectations of signals and controls – most people interpret green to indicate a safe condition. If a green light is used to indicate a 'warning or dangerous state' it may be ignored or overlooked; information overload – if a worker is given too much information they may become confused, make mistakes, or panic. In hazardous industries, incorrect decisions or mistaken actions have had catastrophic results.
Ergonomics can also reduce the potential for ill health at work, such as aches and pains of the wrists, shoulders and back. Consider the layout of controls and equipment; these should be positioned in relation to how they are used. Those used most often should be placed where they are easy to reach without the need for stooping, stretching or hunching.
Failure to observe ergonomic principles may have serious repercussions, not only for individuals, but whole organizations. Many well-known accidents might have been prevented if ergonomics had been considered in designing the jobs people did and the systems within which they worked.
What kind of workplace problems can ergonomics solve?
Ergonomics is typically known for solving physical problems. For example, ensuring that work surfaces are high enough to allow adequate clearance for a worker's legs. However, ergonomics also deals with psychological and social aspects of the person and their work. For example, a workload that is too high or too low, unclear tasks, time pressures, inadequate training, and poor social support can all have negative effects on the person and the work they do.
The following examples highlight some 'typical' ergonomic problems found in the workplace:
Display screen equipmentThe screen is poorly positioned – it is too high/low/close/far from the worker, or is offset to one side. The mouse is placed too far away and requires stretching to use. Chairs are not properly adjusted to fit the person, forcing awkward and uncomfortable postures. There is glare on the screen from overhead lights or windows, increasing the risk of eyestrain. Hardware and/or software are not suitable for the task or the person using it, causing frustration and distress. Not enough breaks or changes of activity.
These problems may result in mistakes and poor productivity, stress, eye strain, headaches and other aches or pains.
Manual handlingThe load is too heavy and/or bulky, placing unreasonable demands on the person. The load has to be lifted from the floor and/or above the shoulders. The task involves frequent repetitive lifting. The task requires awkward postures, such as bending or twisting. The load cannot be gripped properly. The task is performed on uneven, wet, or sloping floor surfaces. The task is performed under time pressures and incorporates too few rest breaks.
These problems may result in physical injuries such as low back pain or injury to the arms, hands, or fingers. The problems may also contribute to the risk of slips, trips, and falls.
Work-related stressWork demands are too high or too low. The employee has little say in how they organize their work. Poor support from management and/or colleagues. Conflicting demands, eg high productivity and quality. Poor control of the risks causing work-related stress could lead to ill health and reduced performance and productivity.
Managing the working dayInsufficient recovery time between shifts. Poor scheduling of shifts. Juggling shifts with domestic responsibilities. Employees working excessive overtime. These problems may lead to tiredness or exhaustion, which can increase the likelihood of accidents and ill health.
How do I identify ergonomic problems?
There are many ways in which ergonomic problems can be identified. These can range from general observations and checklists to quantitative risk assessment tools.
Ideally, several approaches should be used:talking to employees and seeking their views. Employees have importantknowledge of the work they do, any problems they have, and their impact on health, safety, and performance; assessing the work system by asking questions such as:
- Is the person in a comfortable position?
- Does the person experience discomfort, including aches, pain, fatigue, or stress?
- Is the equipment appropriate, easy to use and well maintained?
- Is the person satisfied with their working arrangements?
- Are there frequent errors?
- Are there signs of poor or inadequate equipment design, such as plasters on workers' fingers or 'home-made' protective pads made of tissue or foam?examining the circumstances surrounding frequent errors and incidents where mistakes have occurred and people have been injured. Use accident reports to identify details of incidents and their possible causes; recording and looking at sickness absence and staff turnover levels. High numbers may result from the problems listed earlier and/or dissatisfaction at work.
What can I do if I think I have identified an ergonomic problem?Look for likely causes and consider possible solutions. A minor alteration may be all that is necessary to make a task easier and safer to perform. For example:
- provide height-adjustable chairs so individual operators can work at their preferred work height;
- remove obstacles from under desks to create sufficient leg room;
- arrange items stored on shelving so those used most frequently and those that are the heaviest are between waist and shoulder height;
- raise platforms to help operators reach badly located controls;
- change shift work patterns; and
- introduce job rotation between different tasks to reduce physical and mental fatigue.Talk to employees and get them to suggest ideas and discuss possible solutions. Involve employees from the start of the process – this will help all parties to accept any proposed changes. Always make sure that any alterations are properly evaluated by the people who do the job. Be careful that a change introduced to solve one problem does not create difficulties elsewhere. You don't always need to consult ergonomics professionals, and the expense of making changes can often be kept low. However, you may need to ask a qualified ergonomist if you are unable to find a straightforward solution or if a problem is complex. Good ergonomics sense makes good economic sense. Ergonomics input does not necessarily involve high costs, and can save money in the long term by reducing injuries and absence from work.
An understanding of ergonomics in your workplace can improve your daily work routine. It is possible to eliminate aches, pains, and stresses at work and improve job satisfaction. Ergonomic solutions can be simple and straightforward to make – even small changes such as altering the height of a chair can make a considerable difference.
Case Study 1
Eddie works on an engine assembly line. In his job he has to use a hand held impact wrench to fit a temporary adapter to an engine. The assembly line makes up to 2400 engines a day and it takes approximately 3 seconds to tighten each adapter.
As well as the risk from using a vibrating tool, Eddie often had to adopt poor postures to reach some parts of the engine. He had to repeatedly stretch out his arm and constrain his posture while tightening the adapter. After some time on the job, Eddie found he was leaving work with shoulder and neck pain. One tea break, Eddie's line manager saw him rubbing his neck and shoulder and recognized the pain could be due to the type of work Eddie was doing. The line manager told the company health and safety
representative about what she had seen.
The company responded by making the following modifications:They replaced the impact wrench with a smoother running device and suspended it to support the weight. As a result, very little vibration would be passed to the operator. They modified the workplace layout and allowed workers better access to all sides of the engine, so they didn't need to adopt poor working postures. They implemented a job rotation scheme whereby the five workers on the line were moved around a number of different tasks. Some of these tasks still required the use of vibrating tools, but the overall exposure was halved.
As a result of the modifications there was:a reduction in vibration exposure; no need to adopt poor and constrained postures; reduced boredom and fatigue for Eddie's team; and improved productivity.
Case study 2
Dominique is a receptionist in a large financial company. Much of her work involves using a telephone to take messages and redirect calls to appropriate departments. Dominique regularly uses a computer (display screen equipment or DSE) to make appointments, record messages and respond to e-mails.
After working at the front desk for eight months, Dominique found she was leaving work with an aching shoulder and neck, and with sore eyes and a headache. Dominique asked her manager for a risk assessment to identify possible problems with her working arrangements and to determine where improvements could be made.
The risk assessment identified the following areas for improvement:Dominique would often hold the telephone between her shoulder and ear while talking on the phone and typing a message on the computer. She regularly adopted this awkward, static, strained posture during her working day.
During the summer Dominique's computer screen was difficult to read because of glare and reflections from light through the window. This meant she struggled to avoid making mistakes and would repeatedly adjust her posture to view the screen.
The assessment led to the introduction of simple, cost-effective measures to
reduce the risks:A hands-free telephone headset was provided, which helped to eliminate Dominique's neck and shoulder problems. An eye test to establish if Dominique had any problems with her vision. With the help of her manager, Dominique rearranged her workstation so her screen was no longer facing the window, to remove the glare caused by daylight. Dominique's manager arranged for periodical DSE training sessions for all staff, so they were aware of the health problems associated with computer use and how to prevent them by adjusting their chairs, arranging their workstation appropriately, and taking regular breaks from keyboard work. Dominique was much happier in her work, her health problems diminished, and productivity was increased.
An ergonomics program can be a great tool to reduce physical and emotional stress in the workplace. By addressing the environment in which we work can reduce physical strain and allow workers to focus more on the task at hand. Ergonomic Evolution is your source that can improve your workers health while reducing stress thus providing happy and more productive employees. Contact us today to find out how....
Posted in: Business of Ergonomics, Ergonomic Inforrmation, Wellness Programs for Businesses, Politics of Ergonomics
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Great Books create even greater discussions, library group says
What's better than reading a really "great" book?
For the members of the Great Books Discussion Group at New Cumberland Public Library, it's reading at least parts of one, and then getting together to talk about it.
The group, which formed more than 50 years ago, is based on the Great Books Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization that started in 1947 at the University of Chicago to promote critical thinking and social and civic engagement of readers. The original idea of Great Books was that reading the collection of about 100 books would result in a well-rounded person.
Some readers have been members for more than 20 years, and with a current roster of 14, the club welcomes new readers, said member Tony Guida of Lower Paxton Twp. The day meeting time does attract many retired people to the group, but Guida believes there are lots of potential members out there.
"I'm not saying it will go viral, but there is a place for this sort of thing," he said. "I'm amazed by people who seem like Renaissance people and do all the things regular people do, but who have this extra gear," Guida said. "There is talent all around us…It doesn't matter how many degrees you have. All you need is an interest in books."
The group picks the selections they will read each season, which are usually from the Great Books' anthologies. For this session, the authors range from Mark Twain to John Locke in a Conversation Series book.
"In this group you only have to read 20 to 30 pages, so most can find time to do that in the two-week period," said Dan Tepsic, group coordinator. "It's hard in this day and age to read a novel in two weeks," he said. "I have trouble finding time to do that."
Among the current members are a retired lawyer, accountant and social worker, someone who once studied at Oxford, and several who have no formal education beyond high school.
"I like to read and I like to discuss what I read," said Lauretta Lombardo of Camp Hill, a retired educational administrator who joined the group about 14 years ago.
Louise Hutchinson of Hershey, a former dietician, has more of a science than literature background. "I came here to catch up, since my education didn't include those literature courses," she said.
"I've been reading Great Books for about 25 years," said Bill Miller, a retired lawyer, who led the Sept. 11 discussion on H.G. Wells' story, "The Man Who Could Work Miracles." Members take turns leading the discussion, taking the lead from questions in the Great Books' guide.
Miller said the group introduced him to some works he probably wouldn't have read otherwise, including graphic novels. He also is a member of another book club at the library that meets the first and third Monday nights at the library, which follows a somewhat different format for discussions.
The H.G. Wells story was about a man who found he could will things to happen, and brought about chaos when he caused the earth to stop turning. The members had a spirited two-hour discussion about what the story was really about. For Guida, it was "wishes and their implications," while Lombardo read into it a theme of leaders abusing power, as well as a satire on religion.
Rick DeLuca, a retired English and philosophy professor, went so far as to say he didn't think it was a very good piece of literature, and questioned why it was in the book in the first place.
Even though some of the Great Books were written hundreds of years ago, Lombardo said many transcend time. "We discuss them as if they were written yesterday, and ask if these ideas in these characters still exist today. Are they prominent in human nature?" Lombardo said. If not, that sometimes leads to the most controversy in discussions, she added.
Tepsic said what attracted him to the group about 20 years ago was the chance to discuss "all the great thinkers of the past – philosophers, political theorists, great novelists."
"To me it's almost like being in college again and discussing the great themes of life…It's almost like attending a seminar, I guess is the best way to describe it," Tepsic said.
"These themes might have been written many, many years ago, but in terms of human conduct they are still relevant today. That's what particularly interesting – how it applies in today's society."
Members agree to disagree, within reason. "We don't want to ruin a good friendship," Guida added. "All opinions are welcome. There are no ill feelings, but a little heat is sometimes welcome," Tepsic said.
Four years ago, Guida said he was getting ready to retire, and was looking for some new things to do. He thought he had a pretty good liberal acts background, but found there was a lot of classic literature he hadn't read before.
"It was a real pleasure to meet these people and have this kind of discussion, and find out there are all these kindred spirits out there," he said. "It fulfilled something for me. I like how these people have such inquiring minds," Guida said.
A Great Books group has also formed at Cleve Fredricksen Library in Camp Hill, which meets at 10 a.m. Wednesdays, said director Bonnie Goble. It uses compilations of short stories, she said, and is currently full.
What it is: New Cumberland Library Great Books Discussion Group
Where: 1 Benjamin Plaza, New Cumberland
When: 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., second and fourth Wednesdays of each month
Info: 774-7820

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Release Notes: This version improves crawl stability and has been used in a page crawl of 1/3 billion pages. The indexing plugin API was improved to allow plugins to have configure screens. A new example Word Filter plugin has been added. Yioop can now crawl Tor networks. A Manage Groups pane has now been added to Yioop.
Release Notes: This version includes a new hybrid inverted index/suffix tree indexing scheme that should make calculating search results from future crawls faster (doesn't affect old crawls). It can make use of HTTP ETag: and Expire: information when deciding whether to download a URL it has seen before. It also supports the creation of classifiers using active learning. These can be used to label and add scoring information to documents during a crawl. This release includes improvements to the RSS feed news_updater and a segmenter for Chinese.
Release Notes: This release adds a simple language called Page Rules for controlling how data is extracted from webpages during the summary creation phase of indexing. It also adds the ability to index records coming from a database query and adds a generic text importer which works on plain text, gzip'd, and bzip'd text records. Other features in this version of Yioop are Atom support as a News Feed Search Source, a dedicated process new_updater.php for handling news updates, and a better algorithm for distributing archive data during an archive crawl. Many other minor improvements have been made.
Release Notes: This release supports materializing as new indexes query-based combinations (crawl mixes) of old search indexes. This should make query performance of crawl mixes much better. Cache pages of search results now have a new history UI which allows you to search cache pages in all indexes you have, much like the way Internet Archive does. Yioop now supports spell corrections on searches after they have been performed, and it has an API for transliterating between roman and other scripts. Query performance has been improved over previous versions, and lots of minor bugs have been fixed.
Release Notes: This release adds an activity to manage search media sources. For now, one can add Video and RSS sources. When configured, RSS feeds download hourly and are integrated into search results. Also new is a command line tool for configuring Yioop in VPS settings. An Italian stemmer has been added, as well as more translations. This version implements some important bugfixes in robot handling, as well as unit testing of these. Yioop! now works in PHP 5.4 as well as PHP 5.3, and plays friendlier with more recent versions of Xampp on Windows.
Release Notes: This release adds image and video subsearch abilities and improves the formatting of Yioop on smart phones. Exact phrase searching is now done using only posting list information, rather than regex. Archive crawls can now, like Web crawls, exploit the presence of multiple queue_servers. Index iterators and summary lookup operations have been factored apart to better optimize Yioop search speed. Improvements have also been made to keyword suggestions.
Release Notes: This release adds initial support for word suggestions as a user types in queries. The bigramming used to speed common two word queries now works with n word grams. N word gram filter files can now be created using Wikipedia raw page count dumps. This version adds support for * and $ in allowed- and disallowed-to-crawl sites. Using this, the user can crawl sites to a fixed depth. Robots.txt processing now supports * and $ in robot.txt paths. Support for NOSNIPPET, NOARCHIVE, and X-Robots-tag HTTP headers has also been implemented. A tool for editing search summaries after a crawl has also been added.
Release Notes: The crawler now has its own DNS caching mechanism independent of cURL's. Yioop now has a detection mechanism for when websites are becoming congested. The user can also set a quota on the number of URLs downloaded per hour from sites. A webcrawl statistics page can now be generated for a crawl. Bugs in robots.txt handling and in archive handling, which were introduced in 0.82, have been fixed. The demo site now features an example crawl of 100 million pages crawled with the previous version of the software.
Release Notes: This release improved scalability by allowing multiple machines to maintain portions of the "to crawl next" queue. Query processing can also be split amongst machines, with different machines being responsible for documents of a given hash. Yioop! now supports mirroring of machines. Two word phrases as determined by an XML file such as Wikipedia URL dump can now be treated as a logical unit. The Yioop! model-view-controller framework has been made easier to extend and documentation for it has been added to the website.
Release Notes: This version supports starting, stopping, and viewing log files of the queue server and fetchers from a Web interface. One can now inject new URLs into an active crawl via a Web interface. This version of Yioop! supports re-crawling of pages after a fixed number of days. Also, the file extensions that are crawled, the number of bytes downloaded per page, and how Yioop! weighs different page components can now all be controlled through a Web interface rather than just the config.php file. Improvements have also been made to how HTML Processor extracts text to index.


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A US version of the UK show The Real Hustle has been trying out some very simple but effective cons on the American public, and they're getting away with some serious money. Watch,
You've seen the tacky ads; you've been entertained by Ed McMahon and MC Hammer; but hopefully, you haven't fallen for any of it. Cash4Gold has a simple promise; send them your unwa
It seems like new variations of the Nigerian 419 scam pop up every week. The one that caught my attention recently involved renting a home, and it's a nasty trick that could take a
How many of you have received an email telling you that you've one a lottery that you never even entered? Or, that a rich widow wants help distributing millions of dollars to the p
Using the power of your own mind against you is quite a scam and requires little to no set up, no partners, and no real props. See how Derren Brown does it.
For many years now, thousands of folks have been earning a little extra cash by doing Mystery Shopping (aka Secret Shopping). [more]
My favorite scammers from The Real Hustle have been busy. I know over 130,000 of you enjoyed (and hopefully tried out) the friendly scams in my last post . Well, the hustlers have
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"Beware of hubris. For it is the single vulnerable point in your armor. After arrogance, obsession ranks second as a common flaw. Each of us should strive for our best, but maintain balance and moderation as well. Disproportionate ambition is a tremendous liability, and it often leads us to do crazy things in our determination to dominate others."
This then, would seem to indicate the necessity of moderation in my approach to being reunited with Yuliet?
Monday, October 30, 2006
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5 things to know about high performers
In an article on Entrepreneur.com titled, "Getting More from Your Employees," Ray Sullivan defines the 20-60-20 rule: The top 20 percent of employees get 80 percent of the work done, with the rest done by the average employees (60 percent) and little if any done by the worst 20 percent. In an article in HC Online called "End 'equal treatment' today! Focus on high performers," HR expert John Sullivan says those high-performing workers can achieve as much as 12 times more than their average counterparts.
Bottom line, high performers are the people who give discretionary effort and really move your business forward.
While you're not trying to hire average employees, clearly, you could skyrocket your business results if you could find and fill your team with just the top 20th percentile. So how do you separate the brilliant wheat from the everyday chaff? It's not easy, but there are a few behavioral and attitudinal factors you can watch for during interviews.
Here's what we know about high performers:
1. They look great on paper
Closely scrutinize those college transcripts and ask for a copy or photo of their diplomas. Contact every one of their references. They should get glowing reviews from people who are eager to talk about them. Look for awards and letters of recommendation in their files, because these can suggest a super achiever who can hit the ground running.
2. They can articulate their goals
If you ask high achievers what they want to be doing in five, 10 or 20 years, they can describe at least roughly what that looks like and what steps they need to get there. They don't just live in the here-and-now. They think ahead and proactively build the skill sets they need to achieve their goals.
3. They ooze ambition
The very best people want to rise up the organizational ladder. In fact, the best performers want your job. And you want someone like this, because you can't move up unless you have someone to replace you. You can be a role model and a mentor to this person and push him or her to succeed so that other companies don't tempt them away.
4. They focus on key priorities
High performers realize they have very little time to complete high-value tasks. They focus on strategic enablers of business, avoid time-wasters and distractions, and juggle multiple projects with panache. Ask them specific questions and pose some sample scenarios to understand how they prioritize and where they concentrate.
5. They express a can-do attitude
They don't try, they do. In fact, the word "try" rarely escapes their lips. They throw themselves into their work, own their jobs, use their experience creatively to solve challenges, and execute skillfully in the moment. Ask candidates how they would handle hypothetical challenges and listen for this unmistakable perspective on work and life.
In your next staff meeting, make a T-chart with one column labeled "Best Assistant" and one labeled "Worst Assistant." Pose this question to your team: If the company suddenly had limitless budget, and each of you got to hire a personal assistant, what qualities and characteristics would you look for? Write down the responses. Then above that, write "High Performer" and "Low Performer" and challenge them to mentally rate themselves on a scale of 1-5 on the high performing characteristics (don't report out).
Laura Stack, aka The Productivity Pro®, gives speeches and seminars on sales and leadership productivity. For more than 25 years, she's worked with Fortune 1000 clients to reduce inefficiencies, execute more quickly, improve output, and increase profitability. Stack is the author of seven books, including "Doing the Right Things Right: How the Effective Executive Spends Time."


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American Forces Press Service
Nov. 1, 2007 - Afghan security forces killed a top-ranking enemy commander, identified as Malawi Abdul Manan, along with several other enemy fighters in Afghanistan's Khost province Oct. 28, officials announced today. Afghan soldiers spotted 12 enemy fighters attempting to infiltrate from Pakistan near a border checkpoint in the Spira district. They set up an ambush, engaged the fighters with small-arms fire, and killed several, including the infamous Abdul Manan.
In addition to leading a large contingent of militants, Manan also was responsible for the movement of both insurgent fighters and weapons across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Originally from Kandahar province, Abdul Manan later became the senior Haqqani commander of enemy fighters in the Paktia, Paktika and Khost provinces of eastern Afghanistan and was compared to the late Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah Lang, killed by Afghan and coalition forces in May, for his span of control, influence and corruption
"The death of Abdul Manan is a tremendous blow for the enemy and a great success by the Afghan national security forces here in Afghanistan," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. "We are glad to see this important player removed from the picture here in eastern Afghanistan. He was a criminal and an enemy of the Afghan people. His death is huge setback, which will send the enemy into a tailspin. It will slow their ability to conduct attacks and the (Afghan national security forces) and coalition forces will be ready to take full advantage of their confusion."
In operations today in Afghanistan, national forces supported by a small team of coalition troops raided a compound in Amber Khaneh in the Bati Kot district of Nangarhar province, resulting in the death of a militant.
While resisting multiple requests to surrender, the militant barricaded himself in a room. Unbeknownst to Afghan forces, his family was barricaded in the room with him.
It wasn't until after the hostilities had stopped and the team had performed a search of the room that they found two children dead. A wounded adult woman and another child were also found. The injured family members are being treated at a nearby coalition medical facility.
The team was acting on credible intelligence reports that improvised-explosive-device and suicide-bomb facilitators were there. The team began receiving small-arms fire after they entered the compound, and they returned fire.
"It is regrettable when innocent lives are put at risk by militant forces," Belcher said. "Our sincerest condolences go out to the families of the deceased and wounded."
After completing a search of the area, three people were detained and remain in custody of Afghan authorities.
Also today, Afghan and coalition forces engaged and killed several Taliban fighters near the Tarin Kowt district of Oruzgan province.
The combined force was conducting a reconnaissance patrol to protect the establishment of an Afghan security checkpoint when they surprised Taliban fighters setting up mortar positions. Forces engaged these fighters, killing several Taliban insurgents and causing the remaining enemy fighters to flee.
"The Afghan national security forces caught the enemy off guard before they could cause any injury to the ANSF, coalition forces or Afghan citizens," Belcher said. "The increased number of attacks by the Taliban in recent days is a clear sign of their desperation."
(Compiled from Combined Joint Task Force 82 news releases.)
Friday, November 02, 2007
Afghan Forces Kill Senior Enemy Commander, Several Fighters
Posted by Raymond Foster at 1:51 AM
Labels: afghanistan, army, corruption, security
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Mildred Halupnick, 88, of Hudson, passed away on May 4, 2013, at Cedar Valley Hospice Home in Waterloo. Visitation and services were held at Overton Funeral Home in Traer on May 8, and St. Mary of Mt. Carmel in Eagle Center on May 9. Burial occurred at Blessing Cemetery in rural Hudson.
Mildred K. Halupnick was born November 13, 1924 in rural Tama County, daughter of Fred and Emma Benda Cizek. She received her education in country school and later graduated from Traer High School. She then did housework for area families and on September 5, 1944 married Alfred "Fritz" Halupnick at St. Vaclav Catholic Church at Clutier. Mildred and Fritz made their home farming all their married life near Hudson. After Fritz's death on June 12, 2004 she remained on the farm. Mildred's death came on Saturday, May 4, 2013 at the Cedar Valley Hospice Home with her family at her side at the age of 88 years. She was a former member of Blessing Church in rural Hudson and currently was a member of St. Mary of Mt. Carmel in Eagle Center. She enjoyed gardening and cooking and spending time with her family and grandchildren. She also enjoyed volunteering at Harmony House in Waterloo. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, brothers Carl and Fred, sisters Dorothy Popelka and Lucille Harrington and a brother in infancy. She is survived by three sons, Dwayne (Peggy Herman) Halupnick, Steve (Vicky) Halupnick and Craig (Robin Akers) Halupnick all of Hudson, two daughters Jeanette (Darrel) Pedersen of Hudson and Bonnie (Randy) Schumacher of Aurora, IL, two sisters, Pauline Reinberg and Margie Severin both of Keystone, 12 grandchildren, 8 great grandchildren and several step great grandchildren.


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Last week I half-arsedly introduced two accessories made specifically for the iDevice audiophile, the Venturecraft Go-DAP Unit 4.0 and the Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo. Both are able and willing to replace larger, more expensive and decidedly untransportable HiFi gear, but only one is worthy of doing so.
Today, I'd like to briefly introduce two remarkable iDevice accessories: the Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm SOLO and the Venturecraft GoDap Unit 4.0, both portable units that output SPDIF digital signals to high-end audio equipment. iPhone zeitgeist, marked as it was by cute bunny-eared cases, vibrators, and farting apps, has obviously evolved.


text: RapMusic.com/RBL Presents: Text Wars I (Text Tournament) Hosted By: Plumber (J-Nyce) Oneduh Inkwell Sponsored By: Janitor and the good people of RapMusic.com WELCOME to Round 2 of the Text Wars I text tournament. Before posting or throwing up a verse, please read the following rules of combat: CHECK INS ARE mandatory, now as of Round 2. VERSES are due SUNDAY, May 6th, 2007. - Every battler must vote on 3 battles and provide links in this battle thread. - Every verse must be at least 14-20 lines. - NO EXTENSIONS will be allowed unless a case of emergency. - Battlers may up thread twice. - No feeding, biting, or recycling. - No picture battles UNLESS both competitors agree. - No editing after opponent puts up verse. THE FOLLOWING NON-COMPETITORS OF THE JUDGING PANEL MAY VOTE: 1. ResiduaL 2. DaTrusHurtz 3. Mic Booth 4. Inkwell 5. Oz Official Rules & Regulations can be located here: http://board.rapmusic.com/showthread.php?t=1041360 Have a great battle.


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Australian home prices have fallen for the second consecutive year as nervous consumers continue to sit on the sidelines of the housing market.
Home prices eased 0.4 per cent on average across Australia's eight capital cities during 2012, according to the monthly RP Data/Rismark Home Value index released on Wednesday.
Melbourne homeowners fared worst, with prices down 2.9 per cent on average over the year, while Brisbane and Adelaide prices were both down 0.8 per cent.
Darwin had the strongest housing market, with prices up 8.9 per cent, while Sydney prices rose 1.5 per cent and Perth prices climbed 0.8 per cent.
Home prices fell 0.3 per cent across capital cities during December.
RP Data senior research analyst Cameron Kusher said home prices had fallen for two consecutive years and were now 5.7 per cent lower than their historic highs of November 2010.
There was a bright spot in the data, however, with house prices up 1.8 per cent from their lowest point set in May 2012.
But Mr Kusher said recent interest rate cuts had not been enough to spur growth growth in the sector.
"It has become clear that adjustments to official interest rates by the Reserve Bank are not having the same impact on consumers as they have in the past," Mr Kusher said in a statement.
The Reserve Bank of Australia's cash rate, currently at 3.0 per cent, is 1.75 percentage points lower than its level at the start of November 2011.
Over the same period, standard mortgage rates have dropped an average of 1.35 percentage points.
Mr Kusher said that with consumers saving more and spending less, the housing market was likely to remain relatively subdued through 2013, though he did expect prices to rise over the year.
CommSec chief economist Craig James said property investors were still making money, with RP Data figures showing returns from the sector up four per cent over calendar 2012.
"While Aussies are cautious on going into debt, (the) population is still rising while home building has remained weak," Mr James said.
"So rents are still rising and so are investment returns on property."
Sydney remained the most expensive place to buy in 2012, with a median house price of $665,000, while Hobart was the cheapest, with a median house price of $325,000.


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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday pledged to take action to protect the nation's women while the young victim of a gang rape on a New Delhi bus was flown to Singapore for treatment of severe internal injuries.
The Dec. 16 rape and brutal beating of the 23-year-old student triggered widespread protests in New Delhi and other parts of India demanding a government crackdown on the daily harassment Indian women face, ranging from groping to severe violence. Some protesters have called for the death penalty or castration for rapists, who under current laws face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
Rape victims rarely press charges because of social stigma and fear they will be accused of inviting the attack. Many women say they structure their lives around protecting themselves and their daughters from attack.
Singh's government set up two committees in response to the protests. One, looking into speeding up sexual assault trials, has already received 6,100 e-mail suggestions. The second will examine what lapses might have contributed to the rape — which took place on a moving bus that passed through police checkpoints — and suggest measures to improve women's safety.
"Let me state categorically that the issue of safety and security of women is of the highest concern to our government," Singh told a development meeting.
He urged officials in India's states to pay special attention to the problem.
"There can be no meaningful development without the active participation of half the population, and this participation simply cannot take place if their security and safety is not assured," he said.
The victim of the gang rape arrived in Singapore on an air ambulance yesterday and was admitted in "extremely critical condition, to the intensive care unit" of the Mount Elizabeth hospital, renowned for multi-organ transplant facilities, the hospital said in a statement.
Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in a statement that the government, which is overseeing her treatment and paying the costs, had decided to send her abroad on the recommendation of her doctors here.
"Despite the best efforts of our doctors, the victim continues to be critical and her fluctuating health remains a big cause of concern to all of us," he said.
Her family was also being sent to Singapore to be with her during her treatment, which could last weeks, he said.
Meanwhile, police in riot gear manning barricades filled the streets of central Delhi in a show of force ahead of another planned protest march. Near daily protests have shut down the center of the capital for days since the rape. Police quelled some of the demonstrations with tear gas, water cannons and baton charges.
One police officer died on Tuesday after collapsing during a weekend protest. Police said an autopsy showed the officer had a heart attack that could have been caused by injuries suffered during violence at the protest. A journalist at the scene said the officer was running toward the protesters with a group of police when he collapsed on the ground and began frothing at the mouth and shaking. Two protesters rushed to the officer to try to help him. Police charged eight people with murder in the death of the policeman.
Police said the rape victim was traveling on the evening of Dec. 16 with a male friend on a bus when they were attacked by six men who gang raped her and beat the couple with iron rods before stripping them and dumping them on a road. All six suspects in the case have been arrested, police said.
B.D. Athani, the medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, where the woman had been treated, said she suffered severe intestinal and abdominal injuries, underwent three surgeries and had parts of her intestines removed, according to the Press Trust of India.


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I'm curious if any other man suffers from the same syndrome I'm currently experiencing (or women for that matter). I've noticed parallels in both my mountain climbing adventures and the women I've dated. When it comes to climbing, I develop an infatuation with a climb that I haven't done before, and it won't go away till I summit, yes I'm most interested in peaks with some sort of notoriety or mystique about them (we'll call them the 8's, 9's and 10's, aka Denali, Mont Blanc, Whitney, AKA the pretty girls), but do climb other lesser mountains from time to time (the 6's and 7's AKA the challenging local climbs) Anything 5 and under I don't bother with (ie hills, bridges,etc). But once I've climbed a mountain, especially one that I've been preparing for and thinking about for a long time, I lose my interest in it, not to say I won't climb it again, just that, its lost its luster to me.
When it comes to women, especially ones that are that rare personality and looks combination, they are all I can think about when we are dating, I actually can't think straight sometimes just thinking about that girl. I'll tell all my friends how great she is, I'll even look at her FB every so often to check out pictures of her. But once, how should I say, "summited" with her, its like a switch flips in my head, and while I'm still interested in her, its like the mountains I've already climbed, yeah I'll probably climb them again, but they've lost that luster they once had. I'm already planning ahead to the next one.
Now the really kicker is, just like whenever someone says "Yeah you climbed mountain "x", which is great, but have you done it during the winter, or done this route" it renews my interest in it again, simply for the challenge. When a girl I've dated losses interest in me, even though I was already thinking about other girls, the fact that she lost interest in me sort of challenges me again and shes all I can think about.
I don't know if I'm crazy or if I should post this in mountain medicine. By the way, this is a semi-joking/semi-serious thread, just trying to liven things up around here


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I'm always keen to add to the number of plants I can recognise. Weeds are a profitable group in that respect.
Recently my wife pointed out an interesting looking organic rubbish heap on the grounds of Massey University that was home to an odd-looking Solanum. Imagine my delight when, on closer inspection, I found it to be not a weedy exotic but a real indigenous treasure: Solanum aviculare.
Solanum aviculare is one of two similar species known as poroporo. The other is Solanum laciniatum, which is very common and widespread through New Zealand. Solanum aviculare, on the other hand, is on the Threatened Plants lists as "At Risk/Declining". I have never knowingly seen it before, so I was very excited!
Handily, at this rubbish heap the two species of poroporo were growing together, facilitating easy comparison. Although their leaves were strikingly different here, the best way to distinguish them is by their flowers: the petals of S. aviculare are less fused and more deeply cut than those of S. laciniatum.
The DISASTER comes because a week after taking these pictures, this rubbish heap was "cleaned up" – an unfortunate demise for this rarity! Hopefully we can find more S. aviculare locally.
Both poroporo species have similar fruit, which can be eaten when they are ripe (when orange, with bursting skin). However, they're poisonous when green and unripe, so be wary! They belong to the same genus as tomatoes, potatoes, and black nightshade, and the same family as deadly nightshade. It's a minefield of nutrition and toxicity.
Interestingly, both Solanum aviculare and S. laciniatum occur in Australia, where they are known as kangaroo apple.


text:
At the Captiva Memorial Library good stories come from many sources:
Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan
'In the mountains Atticus became more of what he'd always been, and I became less-less frantic, less stressed, less worried, and less harried. I felt comfortable letting him lead, and he seemed to know what I needed. He always chose the best route, if ever there was a question, and my only job was to follow.' "Middle-aged, overweight, and acrophobic newspaperman Tom Ryan and miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch are an unlikely pair of mountaineers, but after a close friend dies of cancer, the two pay tribute to her by attempting to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire's four-thousand-foot peaks twice in one winter while raising money for charity. In a rare test of endurance, Tom and Atticus set out on an adventure of a lifetime that takes them across hundreds of miles and deep into an enchanting but dangerous winter wonderland. Little did they know that their most difficult test would lie ahead, after they returned home. . . At the heart of this remarkable journey is an extraordinary relationship that blurs the line between man and dog, an indelible bond that began when Tom, following the advice of Atticus's breeder, carried the pup wherever he went for the first month of their life together. Following Atticus is ultimately a story of transformation: how a five-pound puppy pierced the heart of a tough-as-nails newspaperman, opening his eyes to the world's beauty and its possibilities. It was a change that led to a new life among the mountains; an unforgettable saga of adventure, friendship, and the unlikeliest of family; and an inspiring tale of finding love and discovering your true self." *
Yossarian Slept Here: When Joseph Heller Was Dad, the Apthorp Was Home, and Life Was a Catch-22 by Erica Heller
"Throughout Erica Heller's life, when people learned that Joseph Heller was her father, they often remarked, "How terrific!" But was there a catch? Like his most famous work, her father was a study in contradictions: eccentric, brilliant, and voracious, but also mercurial, competitive, and stubborn, with a love of mischief that sometimes cut too close to the bone. Being raised by such a larger than- life personality could be claustrophobic, even at the sprawling Upper West Side apartments of the Apthorp, which the Hellers called home-in one way or another-for forty-five yearsHeller's wickedly funny but also poignant and incisive memoir about growing up in a family-her iconic father; her wry, beautiful mother, Shirley; her younger brother, Ted; her relentlessly inventive grandmother Dottie-that could be by turns caring, infuriating, and exasperating, though anything but dull. From the forbidden pleasures of ordering shrimp cocktail when it was beyond the family's budget to spending a summer, as her father's fame grew, at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Erica details the Hellers' charmed-and charmingly turbulent- trajectory. She offers a rare glimpse of meetings with the Gourmet Club, where her father would dine weekly with Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, and Mario Puzo, among others (and from which all wives and children were strictly verboten). She introduces us to many extraordinary residents of the Apthorp, some famous-George Balanchine, Sidney Poitier, and Lena Horne, to name a few-and some not famous, but all quite memorableErica was among those present at her father's bedside as he struggled to recover from Guillain-Barr syndrome and then cared for her mother when Shirley was diagnosed with terminal cancer after the thirty-eight-year marriage and intensely passionate partnership with Joe had ended. Witty and perceptive, and displaying the descriptive gifts of a born storyteller, this authentic and colorful portrait of life in the Heller household unfolds alongside the saga of the family's moves into four distinctive apartments within the Apthorp, each representing a different phase of their lives together-and apart. It is a story about achieving a dream; about fame and its aftermath; about lasting love, squandered opportunities, and how to have the best meal in Chinatown." *
Clubhouse Confidential: A Yankee Bat Boy's Insider Tale of Wild Nights, Gambling, and Good Times With Modern Baseball's Greatest Team
by Luis Castillo and William Cane
"The explosive, inside story of Yankees players and managers by a bat boy who saw it allcome behind the closed doors of the Yankees' clubhouse for the ride of your life in this intimate memoir about the team's recent glory years and the superstars who made it all possible. For the first time ever, Luis "Squeegee" Castillo, bat boy and clubbie for the Yankees from 1998 to 2005, talks about working with Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Joe Girardi, Bernie Williams, Roger Clemens, Joe Torre, and many other modern-day Yankee greats. Luis saw and heard what really happened in the privacy of the clubhouse, at parties, and in hotel rooms, bar fights, and secret meetingsHe even vacationed with some players and got to know them like family, discovering their pitching and hitting secrets, joining them in all-nighters, and learning their often hilarious methods of meeting girls and having fun on the road. Like a fly on the wall, Luis takes you backstage to show you how A-Rod's bragging when he hits home runs annoys teammates. Discover how manager Joe Torre checks racing results during games. Hear what happens inside the sanctity of the clubhouse after Roger Clemens beans Mets catcher Mike Piazza and then-a few months later during the 2000 World Series-throws a bat at him. Find out how Mariano Rivera eats junk food during games, why Posada routinely fights with El Duque, what Jeter is really saying to players on other teams as he rounds the bases, and so much more. Everyone knows what happened on the field. Now pull up a chair and enjoy the secret stories that only Luis can tell about what really happened behind the scenes-and why." *
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever
by Bill O'Reilly
"one of the most dramatic stories in American history-how one gunshot changed the country forever. In the spring of 1865, the bloody saga of America's Civil War finally comes to an end after a series of increasingly harrowing battles. President Abraham Lincoln's generous terms for Robert E. Lee's surrender are devised to fulfill Lincoln's dream of healing a divided nation, with the former Confederates allowed to reintegrate into American society. But one man and his band of murderous accomplices, perhaps reaching into the highest ranks of the U.S. government, are not appeased. In the midst of the patriotic celebrations in Washington D.C., John Wilkes Booth-charismatic ladies' man and impenitent racist-murders Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. A furious manhunt ensues and Booth immediately becomes the country's most wanted fugitive. Lafayette C. Baker, a smart but shifty New York detective and former Union spy, unravels the string of clues leading to Booth, while federal forces track his accomplices. The thrilling chase ends in a fiery shootout and a series of court-ordered executions-including that of the first woman ever executed by the U.S. government, Mary Surrattsome of history's most remarkable figures, vivid detailpage-turning actionhistory that reads like a thriller."*
* book jacket/publisher description


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One of the few lesser-known games I remember playing on my NES.
"Many Slashdotters are probably aware of the 1989 Nintendo Entertainment System platformer classic DuckTales (video, designed around the Disney cartoon series.
Obligatory grammar-related xkcd: http://xkcd.com/859/ [xkcd.com]
Obligatory [non-matched opening parenthesis] xkcd
Ironically, your comment had a similar effect on the geeky part of my brain.
You'd apparently posted a "reply" to something SCPRedMage said, which confused me briefly- nothing in their comment bore any relation to what was quoted and "replied to". I couldn't see any hidden comments, so... WTF was up with the nesting?
Until I twigged that your comment *had* been posted in that position but had nothing to do with the "parent"- you were in fact quoting (and addressing) the summary, but hadn't posted it as a
Hmm. This would have absolutely *nothing* to do with the fact that posting your comment in its correct (top level, end of thread chronological) position would have been much less favourable to its prominence than as an off-topic "reply" to the highest-placed "leaf comment" in the thread... would it?
umm, duh? What's the point of making an awesome comment if it gets buried at the bottom and nobody reads it?
umm, duh? What's the point of making an awesome comment if it gets buried at the bottom and nobody reads it?
Er, yeah. Bad news if you think your comment was so damn "awesome" that it warranted that tedious attention grabbing... it wasn't.
Basically, if everyone was as egotistical as you and followed the same trick every time, we'd end up- in effect- with strict chronological ordering and no nesting, which is a PITA to follow. As it would be if even a significant fraction of commenters did that (it'd still make the nesting near worthless).
What? Every gamer I've ever met that's around my age knows this game.
Here in Duckburg
Holy hell this just made my day.
As a fan of DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, and Quack Pack, I have to say that tht was awesome. And as I just posted in the comments there, it even beats Robin Williams doing Elmer Fudd doing Bruce Springsteen.
oh. absolutely. i had forgotten about this one, and name didn't remind me about anything... but the gameplay video was like ZOMG, I REMEMBER
I was a little too old for the cartoon series at the time, but I really enjoyed the game none the less. It broke the rule I went by during that era:
Game based on move = bad
Movie Based on game = bad
It was usually true - though less solid now it's still a consideration.
It's a Capcom platformer. The original was basically Mega Man with Duck Tales skins. That rules. Capcom has done pretty well with its retro-modern Mega Man games, so I expect this to be good as well.
If you're looking for another decent NES platformer along these lines, I recommend Chip & Dales' Rescue Rangers. Two player is quite fun!
I loved Rescue Rangers too. Same story, too old for the cartoon, but the game was a blast. I used to like to throw a box then get back on top of it.
I would love to see the original NES version as an optional "feature" when they do release it for XBox 360. In other words, a choice between the newer and older version.
Indiana Jones 4 totally subverts both parts of this rule.
This might actually get me to buy a current generation console.
...seriously? An HD remake of the licensed Ducktales game? THAT'S Capcom's next step in their desperate grab for 90s nostalgia bucks that they seem to be stuck on? REALLY?
Look, maybe it's just that I somehow avoided contracting terminal child-of-the-90s syndrome, but... seriously, Capcom? You're just getting desperate now, aren't you?
You didn't play this game back during the NES days, did you? This game was so good it's one of the few NES games I remember at all from my very early youth. A remake of a very old but very good game? This isn't nostalgia because of DuckTales per se, it's because this game was a shining gem of the console.
The reason they are remaking old games is because there's a niche in the market for people that want to play games that played like older games, because game design has shifted since then, not necessarily for better or worse but because of the general trend over time. Point-and-click adventure games are also making a slight comeback (see TellTales's success on that front along with various indie groups). Look at how many Halo-esque or military FPSes are released these days and tell me that this isn't something of a breath of fresh air.
I sure hope they make this available on Steam or some other PC game portal... TAKE ME MONEYS!!!
Well, there is a rumor in Twitter about a Steam version [steampowered.com] in the works...
I sure hope they make this available on Steam or some other PC game portal... TAKE ME MONEYS!!!
Well, there is a rumor in Twitter about a Steam version in the works...
Sorry, here is the correct link [steamdb.info] for the supposed Steam port.
I have great memories of the game. Would have last played it in 1991 though when I was still a pre-teen. What I remember appealing to me was that there were lots of hidden places to go and items to get (it was coins right ? diamonds as well, I think different sizes if them?), and you could break stuff by jumping on it with your cane. The hidden areas were easy enough that I could find them without trouble as a young kid, but there were enough of them that you were always finding more stuff and it made the
Yes, a lot of people do, I thought it was a very good game during my youth, and since most of the people that played the game back then didn't exactly have internet access or not at all like we do now, it appears that this consensus was arrived at entirely by the young gamers of that era. It's regarded as one of the best platformers of the console.
games back then had great midi music.
battletoads arcade.
Lot's of mid to late 80's pinballs.
As well the 90's pinball games
You mean the moon stage? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofbWiDdkHuQ [youtube.com]
the world existed before you noticed your ability to think, and yes it is on par with megaman in the NES classics
Not sure why anyone would be interesting a weak platformer...but Brutal Doom, trust me you will thank me later. http://www.moddb.com/mods/brutal-doom [moddb.com]
Brutal Doom sucks.
Real Guns Advanced mod is 100x better.
Watch behind you.
LURKS behind you....sheesh.
I firmly believe they plan these partial releases from the beginning, and that actual sales has nothing to do with it.
I bet sales have something to do with it. They'll sell the first 3 of 4 seasons, then wait until sales dry up, and then sell all four seasons as a box set. Season 4 will never be sold separately.
I hate reading unmatched parenthesis, like in the summary. Make me feel unbalanced for a little while.
The last lines were:
You're welcome.
I remember my mom driving me halfway across the Chicago area to get this game. And then diving straight into it, having to be forced to go to bed that night. The next night I had a friend over, and I made it up to the last boss (Duckula, was it?... I mean, it was a vampire duck... so...), and I called the Nintendo Game Counselors about the game. They hadn't gotten to that point yet. I finally knew I was better than Seattle college students at that point at something (and the same thing happened when Chip n'
The song from the Moon [youtube.com] is in the top 10 best NES songs on many lists. They need to make sure that they don't break it.
Capcom ruled NES music. The "SupraDarky" best video game music list has it at #40 - out of all systems' songs.
I hope Capcom is having IntiCreates make it.
I've never understood why the Moon song is always the one that gets mentioned; African Mines [youtube.com] was the JAM!
It is literally the catchiest tune in existence.
Second place goes to Doug.
Third goes to the Gummi Bears.
Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed. -- Neil Armstrong


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By CHUCK PLEINESS, @wingsfrontman
TRAVERSE CITY � The Daniel Cleary saga has come to an end.
Wings general manager Ken Holland has confirmed that they have agreed on a one-year deal worth $1.75 million to bring Cleary back to Detroit.
�It�s been a long process,� Holland said. �We talked to Dan in July, just before free agency, and we couldn�t find a solution. Ultimately we made some decisions. I know Dan had some opportunities this week and he made a decision to come Detroit on a one-year contract.
�We talked about my managing style and the way our ownership runs our team with loyalty,� Holland continued. �You look at some of the guys here in the organization, like (Chris) Chelios, (Kirk) Maltby, (Kris) Draper and (Chris) Osgood.�
Cleary, 34, had reportedly accepted an offer to attend Philadelphia Flyers training camp on a professional tryout. When he was a no-show Wednesday for a photo shoot speculation began that he wasn�t going to report.
The contract with the Flyers he was reportedly set to sign was a three-year deal worth $2.75 million a season.
�The one-year deal is $1.75 (million),� Holland said. �It�s a number that fits into our cap. Over the next three weeks we�ll have to make some moves to get cap compliant before the Buffalo game.
�We think we�re a better team with Clears,� Holland added. �He�s a versatile on the wing, he�s good in the locker room. In the end, he flew up yesterday to meet with me and (Mike Babcock) and his message was he wanted to be a Red Wing and he wanted to work with us. He hopes to play until his 38, 39 years of age, he�s 34, and let�s take a one-year deal and trust that things will work out based on the coach knowing him, based upon the people that he knows in the locker room and the history of the ownership in Detroit.�
The Wings are already two over the roster limit of 23 as they head into training camp next week in Traverse City and $637,000 over the salary cap.
When Cleary rejected the Wings� two- and three-year offers prior to the opening of free agency they moved on and signed Daniel Alfredsson (one year, $5.5 million) and Stephen Weiss (five years, $24.5 million).
The Wings� two-year offer to Cleary was just below what he got from Philadelphia. It was the addition of the third year that brought the number down even more, but all three years averaged around $2 million a season.
�We have until a couple of days before the Buffalo game to work on our roster,� Holland said. �Let�s see what goes on. We�ve got some built in options, but let�s let it play itself out.
�Over the last 72 hours as this thing as heated up and Dan Cleary wanted to make a decision, as one of our internal discussions we all felt we�re a better team with Dan Cleary and we�ll sort this out,� Holland continued. �We have some players on our team that are on two-way contract, Dan DeKeyser is an example. There is flexibilities worked in, not that he�s going down.�
Ultimately the Wings will need to trade someone or place them on waivers in order to meet the roster size and salary cap requirements.
�We have to move somebody,� Holland said. �Unfortunately Darren Helm�s not even healthy, we�re hoping he�s back in a week, but I�ve been told it could be a week to three weeks. Let�s see where we�re at health wise and the competitiveness out there.
�We will be cap compliant, have a 23 man roster when we have to submit it,� Holland ended.
Cleary, who had nine goals and six assists in 48 games during the lockout-shortened season last year, has flourished since he joined the Wings for the 2005-06 season.
He�s spent the last eight seasons in Detroit and has reached the 20-goal plateau three times.
He was also the team�s second leading scorer in last year�s playoffs with four goals and six assists in 10 games.
Cleary was a first round draft pick, 13th overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.


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Borussia Dortmund president Hans-Joachim Watzke says football riots are a problem of society and has called upon politicians to act.
According to German police statistics, acts of violence by fans in the country have increased by 120 percent during the last 12 years, but Watzke disagrees with suggestions clubs should take full responsibility for the problem.
"The issue is not within football itself," the 53-year-old told Sky Sport News.
"It is a society problem. There are more injuries (occurring due to riots) at Oktoberfest."
"Pyrotechnics are an absolute no-go, because they are simply too dangerous. That is a fact. We are constantly in controversial and constructive discussions with our fans. We try to convince our fans."
Watzke then took time to reflect on Dortmund's development in the league and commented on the Bundesliga title holders' goals for the season.
"We are satisfied with the draw (against Bayern Munich), because we showed that we can keep up with them," he said.
"However, we should not just talk about Dortmund and Munich. Bayern lost two points of their lead over Bayer Leverkusen. The league is not completely lacking tension."
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!


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Now, Dr. Laura has apologized, both for saying the word all the way out and for not helping the caller. The caller, Jade, was a black woman married to a white man whose friends and family make "racist comments" in front of her, which her husband ignores. Voicing her suspicion that "sometimes people are hypersensitive," Dr. Laura asked Jade to giver her 2 good examples of these "racist comments." Jade says:
OK. Last night -- good example -- we had a neighbor come over, and this neighbor -- when every time he comes over, it's always a black comment. It's, "Oh, well, how do you black people like doing this?" And, "Do black people really like doing that?"Of course, Laura didn't think that was racist, but instead of inviting Jade to contemplate why a well-meaning person might say something like that or how Jade might take a more active role to get the neighbor to stop addressing her that way, Laura opened up the stream-of-consciousness:
... Well, listen, without giving much thought, a lot of blacks voted for Obama simply 'cause he was half-black. Didn't matter what he was gonna do in office, it was a black thing. You gotta know that. That's not a surprise. Not everything that somebody says -- we had friends over the other day; we got about 35 people here -- the guys who were gonna start playing basketball. I was going to go out and play basketball. My bodyguard and my dear friend is a black man. And I said, "White men can't jump; I want you on my team." That was racist? That was funny.Jade then says: "How about the N-word? So, the N-word's been thrown around..." Here, Laura needed to determine whether the husband's friends and family are saying the word. Laura keeps riffing about general things happening out there in the culture:
Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is n*gger, n*gger, n*gger.The friends and family in question aren't black guys (and neither is Jade), so what is the point? That Jade should put up with the n-word, said in her presence? People on HBO say "fuck" all the time too, but if the neighbors come to your house and say "fuck" all the time, you have a legitimate complaint. "Don't be so sensitive" is like saying "Be a doormat." But that lapse of Laura's — the failure to recognize what is special about a person's home — hardly gets any attention, because her saying the word "n*gger" was such an immense distraction. Why on earth would Laura do that? Media tweak.
Yeah, that makes me a tweakee. But there's no tweakee defense for the blogger. We bloggers live on tweaks. Mmmm. Yum.


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Nicholas Paulos Named BCBSNC Blue Chip Performer
Related Links
GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the second straight week, UNCG men's basketball junior guard/forward Nicholas Paulos (Salt Lake City, Utah/New Hampton School) has been named this week's Blue Chip Performer sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. This is the second year that BCBSNC has sponsored the Blue Chip Performer award, which is chosen weekly from all sports in season and runs throughout the 2013-14 UNCG Athletics season.
Paulos set a new school record Saturday afternoon by making nine straight three-pointers against Davidson as he finished the night 9-of-9 from distance, scoring 27 points. His performance tops the previous record of eight straight three-pointers in a game by Kendall Toney against USC Upstate (11/24/07).
Paulos' nine straight three-pointers made was just two shy of the NCAA Division I record of 11 held by Gary Bossert of Niagara in 1987. He has hit 10 straight long distance shots on the year after hitting his last one Thursday against The Citadel. The NCAA Division I record for consecutive makes is 15 by Todd Leslie of Northwestern in 1990 (four-game stretch). Additionally, his nine three-pointers made are tied for second most in a single game in program history (Kevin Oleksiak), trailing only his own record of 10 threes set last year at Chattanooga (2/21/13).
Paulos and the Spartans return to action Thursday evening as they travel to Birmingham, Ala., for a Southern Conference meeting against Samford. Game time is set for 8 p.m. (ET).
Blue Cross Blue Shield Of North Carolina Blue Chip Performer Weekly Winners
Sept. 9 – David Reittinger men's soccer.
Sept. 16 – Shaina Sumney, women's cross country
Sept. 23 – Olivia Humphries, volleyball
Sept. 30 – Katherine Rodriguez, women's soccer
Oct. 7 – Chesney White, women's soccer
Oct. 14 – Carter Jenkins, men's golf
Oct. 21 – Lydia Saina, women's cross country
Oct. 28 – Dustin Gamradt, men's soccer
Nov. 4 – Paul Chelimo, men's cross country
Nov. 11 – Kyle Cain, men's basketball
Nov. 18 – Paul Chelimo, men's cross country
Nov. 25 – Janae' Stevenson, women's basketball
Dec. 2 – Janae' Stevenson, women's basketball
Dec. 9 – Lucy Mason, women's basketball
Dec. 16 – Kayel Locke, men's basketball
Dec. 30 – Kyle Cain, men's basketball
Jan. 6 - Lucy Mason, women's basketball
Jan. 13 – Nicholas Paulos, men's basketball
Jan. 20 – Nicholas Paulos, men's basketall


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Why? Because you can! And pickle, and jam, or otherwise celebrate the resurgence of the domestic arts our forebears held so dear. Put on your best apron and step into our kitchen, won't you?
Liz describes the ups & downs of having a rooster(s) in your flock of backyard chickens. Unfortunately, they are not always welcome, so Liz shares her experience w/ small-scale chicken processing and her family-favorite recipe: Rooster Nuggets!


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Rush Limbaugh: Obama's probably a bully, too
Cites 'Flipside of Feminism' in pointing out White House pay, race discrimination
Talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh cited Suzanne Venker, author of the WND Books hit "Flipside of Feminism," as he criticized the Barack Obama White House for pay and racial discrimination in a recent broadcast.
"There's probably bullying that goes on in there. He's probably one of the biggest bullies as the boss," Limbaugh said.
The London Daily Mail reported that a 2011 annual report of White House staff salaries submitted to Congress shows an $11,000 difference between the median female employee salary and the median male employee salary.
The report said there also has been criticism that women are underrepresented in the White House. It said that of the administration's top 20 earners, only six were women.
The Washington Free Beacon posted a photo released by the Obama campaign that showed a "stunning lack of diversity" in the nearly all white Chicago campaign headquarters staff.
Andrew Stiles at the Washington Free Beacon commented: "The apparent lack of racial diversity at the Obama campaign headquarters comes at a time when the national black unemployment rate is nearly double the rate for whites."
Those factors, in conjunction with Obama's recent announcement that he plans to fight discrimination against working women, prompted Venker to post an open letter to Obama about the issue.
She cited his criticism that "3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women" and "fewer than 20 percent of the seats in Congress are occupied by women."
"In light of this supposed problem, you pledged legislation to close the pay gap," she wrote.
Venker quoted Obama saying, "Right now women are a growing number of breadwinners in the household, but they're still earning just 77 cents for every dollar a man does."
Venker said the "77 cents mantra is provocative, to be sure. But stating that women in America earn less than men – without explaining why – either shows a marked ignorance on your part or it demonstrates your willingness to lie to the American people. What I can't figure out is which one applies to you."
She noted that the pay gap is not between men and women, but between married women and other men and women who spend their lives working.
"According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau data, women ages 22 to 30 with no husband and no children earn a median $27,000 a year – 8 percent more than comparable men in the top 366 metropolitan areas. Women without children do just fine," she wrote.
She said Obama's claim women make less than men for the same job "is a throwaway line to promote the feminist myth that women are victims of employment discrimination. But equal pay for equal work has been the U.S. law since 1963. … If what you said were true, then bosses would hire only, or mostly, women, wouldn't they?"
Limbaugh brought up the issue, talking about "Flipside of Feminism" as well as a book Venker has coming out early in 2013, "How to Choose a Husband."
He quoted her letter: "The bottom line is that the pay gap exists because of a voluntary division of labor, not discrimination by a conspiracy of male chauvinists. Men simply work more hours than women. And people who work more hours – or work at more difficult, unpleasant, or riskier jobs, earn more. And they should."
Limbaugh continued quoting, "You're wasting valuable time and money, Mr. President. There will never be male-female pay parity so long as most women spend part of their lives caring for their children. And thank God they do."
"The government needs to keep out of it," Limbaugh said. "Obama wants to make this issue … his own White House is full of lower paid women, and by the way we got the photos to establish his campaign staff doesn't look like America. His campaign staff … there's a picture of the Obama re-election team. It's all white."
Limbaugh continued, "If the messiah, if the one, cannot bring about pay equity in his own office, why should anyone else be forced to do it. This is my point. These are the utopians. Obama has the power to put together his utopia right in the White House. No bullying, no discrimination, equal pay. Whatever the issues are. Yet all this disparity exists. There's probably bullying that goes on in there. And he's probably one of the biggest bullies in there, as the boss.
"His campaign staff doesn't look like America. Nobody on that campaign staff looks like Al Sharpton, that I can see."
Hear Venker talking about her ideas:
Phyllis Schlafly, the book's co-author and the original "anti-feminist," teamed up with her niece, Venker, on the project.
"The cultural shift in American women's plans for the future – in which husbands and children are presumed to be a drain on women's social and economic identity – has resulted in many unfulfilled dreams. Millions of women needlessly face fertility battles simply because no one told them not to focus so obsessively on their careers," Venker said.
"No one told them that getting academic degree after degree may be counterproductive if having children is part of their life plan. The result is that young women give babies no thought whatsoever until the day they decide they want one – only to realize they literally can't have one.
"A young woman who wants to determine whether she's living an authentic life should ask herself if the choices she has made in her life reflect her values, or whether she's just doing what everyone around her is doing," she wrote.
Suzanne Venker is co-author of the new book "The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know – and Men Can't Say" (WND Books). Her website is www.suzannevenker.com.


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i have been messing around with the race boards and have ridden the thruster and quad, i have found the thruster to be a little more stable while reaching and downwind but the problem is the rocking of the board.
i come from a sailing and windsurfing background so i have a good idea about rtacing but im struggling with eitherthe technique or the equipment! any tips? i have no problems with tacking and the jibes are coming together after 2 practice sessions.
i was also thinking about a single fin board instead of the multiple fins, anyone already tried this?


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I like my gadgets but there is no way I'd pay that much! £49.99 would be a price I could just about justify to myself (okay, okay, the wife) for the Kinect.
Microsoft today announced the Xbox 360 4GB console, along with Wii-type pricing to tempt new punters to buy the Kinect hands-free motion sensor. Xbox 4GB Bundle group shot Going a bundle The two products are bundled along with Kinect Adventures, a games show case for Kinect's capabilities, for £249.99 and they go on sale …
I like my gadgets but there is no way I'd pay that much! £49.99 would be a price I could just about justify to myself (okay, okay, the wife) for the Kinect.
Looks awesome, but a little pricey to be competing with the established, hassle free, no frills, just works Wii?
£250 is not "Wii type pricing, it's not even close it's more than even a top of the range PS3.
This is also the cut-down version of console that needs another £100 spending on it for a harddrive (and another £40 every year to play online).
Kinect is pretty much doomed for failure, there are apparently tonnes of problems with Kinect, namely you need to be wearing the right clothes, you need to be standing up (not sitting down), you can jump, but not too much (or the Xbox will destroy your disks), you can move your hands, but not too much (don't ever cross them), you need to have white skin, you need to have your house decorated correctly and the lighting perfect, no natural sunlight and so forth...
This is even before the problem of pricing, £130 standalone £250 bundle put it's WAY out of range of casual gamers (who you would be hard grasped to spend more than £50 on something like this), and into the ballpark of hardcore gamers, the problem being of course, there are no games that appeal to these people with only Kinectimals type games.
It's also worth mentioning Microsoft's misleading advertising, with it clearly showing 4 players ( http://bit.ly/bJInhs ) when only 2 are actually supported...
"£250 is not "Wii type pricing, it's not even close it's more than even a top of the range PS3."
It was Wii pricing when the Wii was first released. Kinect is on first release and seems to be a Wii beater. Also, you don't need to buy the XBox with it because you might either a) already have one or b) buy a cheaper old-style XBox to reduce the price to £200 or so.
I expect bundle prices will drop, given time.
The main rule still applies though - if you don't want one, don't buy one. If you DO want one, that's what it costs.
Its really cool, bit a of departure into casual gaming for MS. But I fiddled briefly and was completely sold.....
>you need to be standing up
True, but they are working on this - in particular they have made a lot of committments to accessibility and have folk working on that now....wheelchair users etc. The voice control side is getting a lot of positive press in that sector already - voiced controlled MM systems, DVD etc is really expensive currently and it does that out of the box.
>you can jump, but not too much
Tosh. No more likely that with a Wii and that doesn't happen AFAIK. Its a standard DVD drive as in any PC. You need to pick it up and wobble it.
>you can move your hands, but not too much (don't ever cross them),
Tosh, done it no issues. You're thinking of Ghostbusters.
>you need to have white skin
Comedy spoof article, you're gullible.
>and the lighting perfect
Nope. No bright lights behind players maybe, but it was working fine with TV spots all round at E3.
>£250 bundle put it's WAY out of range of casual gamers
Bargain and they won't be able to meet demand on release, just look at pre-orders. Most Xbox PS3 and Wii owners already spend more than that in games alone.
Techrader did a driving game test, and as soon as their hands made it past 00:30, the car veered the other way, it was unable to differentiate between left and right.
"In the most part it was fun, but there were occasions when steering beyond the 90 degree point would make Kinect misinterpret our actions and steer in the opposite direction."
Natal does not see black people too well:
Don't jump too close to your Xbox:
Everything else is also well documented flaws, but I can't post links right now, as most of them are gaming related sites that are blocked to me at work.
>you can jump, but not too much
>>Tosh. No more likely that with a Wii and that doesn't happen AFAIK. Its a standard DVD drive >>as in any PC. You need to pick it up and wobble it.
My little lad has destroyed a number of disks just by bouncing around whilst playing his favourite Xbox games... took a few attempts to find a safe place for the machine.
>£250 bundle put it's WAY out of range of casual gamers
>>Bargain and they won't be able to meet demand on release, just look at pre-orders. Most Xbox >>PS3 and Wii owners already spend more than that in games alone.
Nah, you're well off track there I'm afriad. It is too expensive and anyone wanting to make an initial move into casual gaming will opt for the wii - more established you see, and cheaper.
Wow - technology these days...
MS systems interpreting gestures, so if I raise the correct three fingers does that mean MS will go away?
That'll just get you banned from Xbox Live by the "enforcement" team.
I'd imagine that a significant number of Windows users would prefer to raise just a single finger to make MS go away.
Can't we choose Dance Central as the bundled game intead? Or Kin'animals?
But £130 for Kinect + game doesn't put me off in the slightest.
The price might not, but when you see the problems it has, even now just before launch, that will surely put anyone off.
It's detection, accuracy and lag problems truly have to be seen to be believed...
It's all been rumour, so far. Now it's fact. Punters are again going to be faced with confusing, multiple variations of the same console. Granny buying little Billy's Christmas present isn't going to know the difference, even if some kind soul tries to explain it to her.
Why is it so difficult to make one SKU attractive enough that it's the only one everyone will want to buy? Surely it's simple... if customer wants Xbox, customer pays £199.99 (before retailer-specific discounting). This is not a difficult concept.
I work in a company where it's become a running joke amongst staff about how offering customers too much choice just results in confused customers and a warehouse full of unwanted, unsaleable stock.
Weirdly enough, I'd say it's not just the cost but also the lack of choice that has me pretty much turned off to the idea, and I've been waiting for 'Kinect' for quite a while now. (I still think Natal was a better name).
But Kinect is bundled with 'Kinect Adventures'?!?! Why? Why can't I choose from several options. I saw what was in KA and it's probably the one title above all others that I have absolutely no desire to have... I guess it's probably why it's bundled.


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I have been visiting here off and on for a while but finally joined so I can share a screen template that I created for the Fuze. I a on my 2nd 8G Fuze V2. The first failed a few months after I got it while on a trip to China . Beware of cheap chargers that claim to be 110 - 220V compatible. This may of had something to do with the failure though I have heard of others failing in the same way (won't power on and gets very hot when charging). This made for a long 13 hour flight home.
While I had the first one, I was dismayed by how the screen scratched so easily. My son uses an Invisishield on his i--- and it is an impressive product. Since Invisishield doesn't make a custom screen protector for the Fuze, I thought I'd make one. Zagg has some "Blowout" deals on Invisishield for various discontinued phones and devices (75% off). I just chose a phone that I knew had a big screen and would provide plenty of material. Then I created a template and scaled it for my printer (HP LaserJet 5). I used an Exacto blade to make the appropriate cut-outs. The Invisishield is pretty tough to cut, so use a strong blade. The final result fit perfect.
You may need to adjust the scale a little for your printer as they are all a little different but the proportions should be the same. Do some test prints and compare against your Fuze before cutting material.
If the jpeg is problematic for scaling, I can try to make a PostScript of PDF.
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All of us at the Eli's Cheesecake Company are very proud of our long term partnership with Wright College. For over 15 years, all of us at Eli's have been fortunate to have Wright College as our educational partner and supporter. For the last eight years, this partnership has been even closer as we are fortunate to be part of the Wright Campus.
In the Spring issue of the Prospect, Elmhurst College gives well deserved recognition to Chuck Guengerich, the President of Wright. We are honored that the article starts on a walk over to Eli's University—our on-site educational center with Wright. We couldn't state our philosophy of education than the statement in the article that:
"When you think of higher learning in America, classes in the
backroom of a (literal) cheesecake bakery may not be what springs to mind. For
Guengerich, however, the classes at Eli's go right to the heart of his college's
particular mission. "We're a community college," he says. "We're here to serve
the needs of the community.""


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My guild is made up of long-time gamers, including folks who've been roleplaying for dang near two decades. And even though we like to style ourselves "hardcore raiders," we all have to admit that we have those characterization inclinations from time to time. We like our immersion. We like our stories. So when we came across Lady Deathwhisper, we had to make a story up for ourselves.
As the story goes, we met and defeated Kel'Thuzad back in Naxxramas. But, Arthas wasn't quite finished with his trusted lieutenant yet, and raised him (again) from the dead. But something went horribly, horribly wrong. Lord Kel'Thuzad returned from the grave as Lady Deathwhisper! Naxxramas was only a setback, but it was one heck of a setback!
While this little story of ours has no real basis in real game lore, the comparison between the two characters is absolutely appropriate. Both boss fights involve heavy magic damage, adds that spring from the walls to defend the boss, and more than a little coordination. I actually think Leady Deathwhisper is the most difficult fight of the first wing of Icecrown Citadel, which makes her a decent comparison to Kel'Thuzad.
Let's take a look behind the jump and start breaking down the fight.
Lady Deathwhisper is a two-phase fight. When you approach her in her throne room, you'll immediately note that she is standing on a stage. She's surrounded by a big mana shield. In order to get to her, you have to beat down that mana shield. When you get all the way through the shield, she immediately becomes mobile and starts to fight you.
Of course, you don't get to remain unmolested when you're trying to storm her castle. As you damage down the mana shields, adds will be summoned on each side of the room. They need tanked and killed in very specific ways, or else the adds will swam and destroy your raid.
When the shield goes down, your entire raid gets to go bananas DPSing the boss. Lady Deathwhisper has a couple tricks, though, even in this second phase. First, you'll have to dodge these translucent ghosts. If they touch their target, the ghosts will explode (for what feels like a bajillion damage). Second, she'll be casting spells the entirety of the second phase. (Who would have thought a lich casts spells, right?) The volley raid-damaging spells aren't too big a deal, but the single target Frostbolts are definitely tank killers. Those will have to be interrupted.
With that quick summary out of the way, let's start breaking down Lady Deathwhisper's individual abilities.
Lady Deathwhisper - Phase 1
- Mana Barrier - Absorbs all damage done to Lady Deathwhisper, draining her mana instead. This is the key ability to phase one. Once you've destroyed the Mana Barrier, you go into phase two.
- Shadow Bolt - Inflicts Shadow damage to the current target.
- Death and Decay - Inflicts Shadow damage every 1 second to enemies within the area of the spell. The spell lasts 10 seconds. You can tell it by a bubbling green area on the ground.
- Dominate Mind - Mind Controls 1 player, increasing their damage by 200% and healing by 500%. Lasts 12 seconds. (This is another call back to old Kel'Thuzad.) This effect only occurs in 25 man.
- Dark Empowerment - Empowers a random Adherent or Fanatic, causing them to deal area damage with spells. Also makes the target immune to interrupts.
Many of the abilities are the same as in Phase 1, but get turned up a notch.
- Frostbolt - Inflicts Frost damage to the current target. Can be interrupted. This spell is a tank killer, and should absolutely be interrupted.
- Death and Decay - Inflicts Shadow damage every 1 second to enemies within the area of the spell. The entire spell lasts 10 seconds. Again, this is the bubbling green color on the ground. This is fire that you shouldn't stand in.
- Dominate Mind - Mind Controls 3 players, increasing their damage by 200% and healing by 500%. Lasts 12 seconds. The effect is the same as in phase one, except now it can grab up to three players. It's best to crowd control them, so that you don't lose allies by killing them.
- Touch of Insignificance - Reduces the target's threat generation by 20% per application. Stacks up to 5 times. This is the big gimmick of the second phase, which we'll discuss in depth later. Suffice it to say that the Touch of Insignificance insures you'll need two tanks.
- Summon Vengeful Shade - Summons a Vengeful Shade from the body of a dead Adherent or Fanatic. There are angry angry ghosts! If they catch up to their target, they explode in a Vengeful Blast!
Phase one of the Lady Deathwhisper fight is a practice in add management, and your raid's ability to coordinate which type of DPS attacks which kind of add. There are two kinds of adds, who will spawn in separate sides of the room. You have Adherents and Fanatics. Burn them down and blow them up, as a general rule. In and of themselves, they don't have many hitpoints, and they'll die pretty quickly.
However, Lady Deatwhisper has inherited the ability to raise the Adherents and Fanatics from the dead. When that happens, they gain resistance to either magic or physical damage. While it's technically 99% resistance, I think it's easiest simply to say "Pull out, Wedge! There's no good you can do back there!" There's really not much damage you're going to do them if you're trying to damage the wrong type. Essentially, when the adds are reanimated from the dead, physical cannot effectively damage the Fanatics, and magic can not damage the Adherents. So your physical damage should be attacking the Adherants, and spell damage should be attacking the Fanatics. You'll especially want to kite the Deformed Fanatics, since they'll explode when they die.
If you can balance the damage to the two types of adds, and still keep damage on Lady Deathwhisper's mana shield, you'll be doing great. Keep blowing up that shield until you enter Phase Two.
Phase two is high paced, but a little easier to coordinate. First, make sure that you keep your interrupts handy, and knock down that Frostbolt. Don't let her get it off. While most tanks in contemporary gear levels could live through it, they'd need to be fully topped off in health and ready to take the blow. And any other damage would pretty quickly kill them.
The mind control issue is a real one, especially if it snags your healers. However, if you're rocking a fight against Lady Deathwhisper, you should already be familiar with this dynamic from Kel'Thuzad. If someone gets mind controlled, do not kill them. Use some form of crowd control to keep the enslaved person from wrecking your raid. The effect only lasts 12 seconds, so you should be able to handle it.
Lastly, Vengeful Shades will continually spawn from the dead bodies of the Adherents and the Fanatics. Simply run away from them. It might help to have a raid spotter keep an eye out for the ghosts, and shout out warning when they get near someone.
This fight will feel intimidating, but it's a coordination check. Once you get the dance steps down, you shouldn't have much trouble. Good hunting!
Ready Check is here to provide you all the information and discussion you need to bring your raiding to the next level. Check us out weekly to learn the strategies, bosses, and encounters that make end-game raiding so much fun.


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Icon of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, "Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed. He said to them, "Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.'"A story some 2,000 years old - and yet the words ring so true today.
- Mark 16:1-7
We are still afraid and need to hear the angel's message... we are still among those seeking Jesus, crucified and risen... we still have questions about his life, his death, his rising... we are still frightened but often joyful... Jesus continues to meet us "on our way" - whether we recognize him or not... the Lord still goes ahead of us, always, and yet never leaves our side... others are still waiting to hear from us that Jesus is risen from the dead!
Happy Easter to you all!
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WOODSTOCK – A Cary teen who failed the county's drug court program and violated his probation is headed to prison.
McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather on Wednesday sentenced Nicholas Svoboda, 19, to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Svoboda initially was given two years probation on a case in which he was charged with burglary.
Svoboda made his way through the county's drug court program, which required him to submit to drug tests, visit his parole officer and not be charged with another crime.
Assistant State's Attorney Robert Zalud said Svoboda failed all three.
While on probation, Svoboda was arrested for fleeing and eluding police in what authorities said was a stolen vehicle. He also missed appointments with his parole officer and didn't take a required drug test, Zalud said.
– Chelsea McDougall


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MOUNT HOLLY (AP) — A variety of precipitation is expected to hit New Jersey over the next few days.
The National Weather Service says a storm will move into the area from the southwest by late afternoon Tuesday.
Most of the state will get rain, while the northwestern region will get freezing rain into Tuesday night. Some higher elevations could get snow.
The weather service says that the rain combined with a full moon will make a tidal flooding a concern in the Delaware Bay, Delaware River and Raritan Bay.
Wind gusts could reach up to 45 mph.