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Very cool museum, I think I even saw Brian Kernighan there talking to what looked like young VC types.. Here's some pics I snapped..
http://www.thoughtcrime.com/NSA%20Museum/Site/NSA%20Museum%20visit.html [thoughtcrime.com]
We had a Storagetek silo like the one on display at my current corp, but spec'd out with LTO3 or LTO4.. I'm thinking NSA had one just like it but 10+ years earlier (and with older tape tech of course)..
I was in Kingson Ontario over the weekend and discovered the Military Communications and Electronics Museum [c-and-e-museum.org] on a Canadian forces base. Hadn't planned on going or even heard of the place before -- we just drove by and decided to stop. Among other things they had an Enigma machine.
I would highly recommend stopping there if you happen to be in the area. Admission was free, though we opted to make a donation.
To my surprise, since I went to the link, "The Museum: 10,000 square feet of display area with over 5,000 items to view". It seems well worth the visit.
That is really cool. I think on my next trip in the area, I'll go take a peek. Nice of you to make a donation, that would be my first thought as well. I woulda thought that NSA has a slightly larger budget for their museum than the CF so, the Canadian museum would be much smaller.
They got a sizable donation from us because it was our last stop before crossing the border back into New York and we opted to give them all of our Canadian money rather than go to a currency exchange to get it changed back. I gave them $35 and change, my buddy did almost as much. Also spent some money in the gift shop.
I always walk away with a better feeling when I give my money to a museum than the usual tourist traps that one visits when on vacation.
Somehow I've managed to miss that one despite visiting Kingston several times. I'll have to make it a stop next time I'm there.
I was in Kingson Ontario over the weekend and discovered the Military Communications and Electronics Museum [c-and-e-museum.org] on a Canadian forces base. Hadn't planned on going or even heard of the place before -- we just drove by and decided to stop. Among other things they had an Enigma machine.
I would highly recommend stopping there if you happen to be in the area. Admission was free, though we opted to make a donation.
The National Cryptologic Museum is near the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and MD-32. If you take the B&W Parkway a few more miles to BWI Marshall airport, there is a military electronics museum near the hotels adjacent to BWI Marshall. I visited that museum once. They have old radars and communications equipment on display.
The only thing what was driving me nuts a a foreigner was the wording they used to describe everything:
The Russians where always "spying" on America, the Americans where always doing "reconaisance" on Russia.
And in school, it's called "cheating", but in the military it's referred to as "gathering intelligence".
Love those dichotomies. Usually caused by a prejudiced perspective by the people describing the action. Assign the exact same description to both actions, but at the end tack on " that helps us" or "that hurts us", and poof, you need to pick between different words despite the actions being identical. That bit on the end doesn't have any bearing on the action when taken from a neutral perspective.
Really cool pictures, glad I got to scroll through them all before probably gets slashdotted, I'm definitely going to visit now. Seems like a lot of Museums have enigma machines it's cool to see that they have three different types there, along with a lot of cool 80's type spy gear.
Cheers for sharing your photos, but that webpage totally unnecessarily needs javascript.... it's just some photos.
Anyway, a quick look at the source revealed where the pictures are, and as your server allows directory listing it is possible to browse the pictures without JS (albeit without thumbnails):
http://www.thoughtcrime.com/NSA%20Museum/Site/NSA%20Museum%20visit_files/ [thoughtcrime.com]
I went there a few years ago. It is very cool. I was expecting it to be kind of lame, but quite the opposite. They have an enigma and a purple machine. I am into WWII stuff and at the time worked with ONI/NSA, so I was into it, but I think even if you aren't it's cool.
It's a great idea to get a tour from a dosant. Ours was ex-NSA, and the commentary is was fantastic. There's more than one Enigma there, and also the American version of the Cryptographic Bombe, which broke the 4-wheeled Enigma code. Brings a whole new meaning to "brute force computing".
I wonder if they have any of the devices I repaired in the '80s. KY-3, STU-III, KW-26, KG-13. I'd love to get documents on the KY-3 and emulate it using a DSP and FPGA. Yes it would be easily possible to do that securely but it has a aurally interesting startup sound when synchronizing and the audio quality is good but there is an added component which makes it unique.
There is also an Enigma Machine at the museum of science and industry in Chicago right next to the sub, I don't know of any other displays off the top of my head that could by at a museum solely dedicated to cryptography.
I think the Smithsonian has one on display also. What I found interesting at the NSA museum was that they had a prewar commercial model that was marketed in England. It had fewer rotors than the later military versions.
Most of the stuff in the museum when I was there was WW2 era, notably excepting part of an old Cray computer. I don't think there is much danger of any of it being reclassified.
There is also an Enigma Machine at the museum of science and industry in Chicago right next to the sub, I don't know of any other displays off the top of my head that could by at a museum solely dedicated to cryptography.
In the UK there's Bletchley Park [bletchleypark.org.uk]
They also have a big Polish "bomba" (Enigma decrypting device) IIRC. Also, when I went, the place was empty and one of the guys working there encouraged me and my friend to play with the Enigma machine, so that was pretty cool.
They have examples of phones that did voice encryption from the 1960s or 1970s... you can listen to decrypted audio and it's all garbled but still intelligible.
Neat little museum - not well known, but definitely worth checking out if you happen to be in that part of Maryland or you're
There's also one at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC.
However it's just on display behind glass. At the crypto museum the enigma is accessable and they let you use it. Much cooler, IMHO.
When I last went to the National Cryptologic Museum (2002?) they had at least a half-dozen Enigma machines on display, including the rarer 4-rotor Kriegsmarine version. But the really cool thing was that besides the ones behind glass, they had one in the open that you could actually use.
They even had some scratch paper and golf pencils nearby for writing out and passing encrypted messages.
I've seen a number of Enigmas behind glass but had never laid hands on one until visiting this museum. I hope it's still
Do any of the museums let you play with the enigma?
I was lucky enough to play with a Kommando 3+reverser dial enigma. The first thing I did was press L L L L L L L L L L L
The point is that there are lots of hidden away secret caches of old crypto equipment that are kept as momentos from successful operations and never see the light of day. Of course, like the enigma itself, there are crypto units that are not disclosed because they have been cracked and are still in use by the public. The banking system used enigma until the 1950's even though the UK could decrypt messages effectively a decade before. (do you believe that collossus was really shut down?)
Typical german quality though, the woodwork on the case was fabulous and even 70 years later the lid shuts perfectly. The woodwork had inlaid coloured wood in it not unlike an ornate coffee table; I can only suppose that later enigma were a bit more rushed into production. The wee light bulbs had frosted ends so that cold russian front fingers can unscrew and change the bulbs. Although, if a bulb did go then some poor operator would have to carefully unscrew each bulb and test it in a little tester bulb slot. The operator would then have to do the crypto exercise again because the dials would have to be reset. Every key on the keyboard worked with a smooth action, not unlike a well oiled 1970's typewriter but they had quite a large depression so you could never have touch typed on this. I imagine soldiers on the front lines would have been trained for accuracy rather than efficiency so they probably typed with 1 finger and recorded each lit up character with a pencil and pad one at a time.
It was really heavy. Given that this was a Kommando unit then it probably was lugged about in comms vehicle (I wasn't told the back story) but I doubt that these were used in a ditch on a battlefield.
In my excitement, I can't remember of each dial rotated, or parts of the dial rotated on each keypress - there was a solid clunk and the sound of mechanical movement on each keypress; I would imagine that this would rotate the cipher on each keypress to make it harder to crack. The box had different dials in it - presumably from other machines or replacement units. Each had gears on it and neat wiring - and weighed about 2 lbs.
I don't know what the rules are at the museum but the NSA had a booth at the RSA conference this year and they brought an Enigma with them. They allowed me to use it and it seemed to be in full working order. Dials rotated and the keys made the lights come on. You could even open it up and see the internal mechanism. It was an amazing experience to physically touch a piece of history like that--one of the highlights of the conference for me. A colleague of mine who is fluent in German was reading the instru
The banking system used enigma until the 1950's even though the UK could decrypt messages effectively a decade before. (do you believe that collossus was really shut down?)
Collossus wasn't used to crack Enigma - it was used to crack messages from Lorenz machines, which were more complicated than Enigma. The amazing thing is that the cryptologists at Bletchley were able to figure out the way the machine worked having never seen one (indeed, they didn't see one for over 2 years after cracking it) due to an error by a machine operator. But yes, I do believe it was really shut down and evidence destroyed - that's why it took so many years of painstaking reconstruction from photographs and human memory to rebuild one of the things...
The dials on an Engima rotate btw rather than parts inside of them. Each rotation of the wheels causes different pathways through the rotors to be used, thus changing the output - IIRC you can see the wiring inside some of the rotors at both the NSA museum, and the equally amazing Bletchley Park Museum in the UK (http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/)
Do any of the museums let you play with the enigma?
They do let you play with one of the Enigmas at Ft. Meade, and even have a pad of notepaper next to write down your plaintext and encoded messages.
What they don't let you play with is the limited run Japanese enigma machine, with kana printed on the keys. Apparently the Germans made a couple for the Japanese, but it didn't really catch on and they were never really used.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japanese-enigma.jpg [wikipedia.org]
Most people might not be aware of it
Yes, because it's hidden down a road with potholes large enough to lose a small semi in. And to get to it, you need to all but drive up to the scary looking gates of the NSA before turning down said hidden road.
The NSA has a virtual tour [nsa.gov] of the place on their website. Not exactly an immersible VRML experience or anything, but pretty nice none the less. There are also some nice videos in the flash frame on the main page, including a pretty cool overview of the 2009 CDX contest between the various military academies. The Press release for 2010 notes that Navy won this year (apparently in 2009, NSA Red Cell hacked Navy's website to say "we heart army" as one of their first actions, which probably had them motivate
The Virtual Tour background image is a flag with three stars in the blue, and what looks like morse in six stripes. Hmm.
dah dit dah dit dit dah
dit dah dit dah dah dit
dah dah dit dah dah
dah dah dit dah dit dit
dah dah dah dah dah
dit dit dit dah dit dah dit
Sorry, I don't know how to get around the "junk charachter" filter with regular morse symbols.
Beyond that, NSA is the classifying authority in and of themselves. They can declassify documents on their own authority if they feel the documents no longer require the protection. Of course they rarely chose to do this, but they legally can. Mostly you're right though, the automatic declassification after 25 years is probably how 99.9% of declassification happen.
Wow, they're good! Took 17 years before I even heard about the place!
You know you are in the right place when the receptionist informs you that you can use the Enigma machine while you wait for the next tour group to start. Dig around in their library and look for books printed on line paper, that's the stuff you won't find anywhere else. Oh yea, the tour guides are also recruiters if you think you got what it takes.
The spy museum is good fun though
The National Cryptographic Museum [nsa.gov] is where an old motel used to be (Colony 7 motel) and is a pretty cool place to visit. The Enigma works and you can spin the rotors, type, and encrypt/decrypt messages.
Nearby is the National Vigilance Park [nsa.gov], which has some cold war recon aircraft on display.
Being a geek you might as well do the multi-stage geocache [geocaching.com] which starts at the NVP. The NVP and nearby "unclassified" parking lot have a view of NSA buildings, and typically NSA police are quite visible patrolling the area.
And if you have time, cruise up to the BWI area and visit the National Electronics Museum [hem-usa.org].
Ha! The National Electronics Museum is where I've gone with my dad a few times for a gathering of hams. While he's listening to the speakers, I wander around the exhibits. The addition of the thermal imaging is neat, as well as a few of the (limited) hands on exhibits in the beginning.
Not a great place as far as things go, but certainly interesting to visit for an hour or two.
I second the National Electronics Museum, it is a very interesting museum with some very cool displays. My kids love to play with the IR camera setup there.
My main objection is that the curator was interviewed by Slashdot many years ago but the interview results were never published. Damn bastards probably classified it.
Geocaching outside the NSA? Oh, yeah, that sounds like a fabulous idea. I'll jump right on that next time I want the inside of my ass examined with a flashlight.
I would like to get there with a colleague during our upcoming business trip (if it will be approved - we are Czechs working for American company with office near Washington). However, the opening hours in the museum are quite unfriendly - basically only during the week (we will be at work), plus 1st and 3rd Saturday in month for 4 hours. We hope we will get on Saturday there, will have to plan accordingly.
even if it looks like a converted old school Howard Johnson motel of sorts! They actually have a lot of interesting stuff on display, besides an actual enigma machine that you can play with!
Interesting details that I noticed when I went this past summer:
1) My car (and phone!) GPS suddenly drops dead and gets nothing in terms of signal.. it's like we drove off the planet or something! The onboard GPS had to resort to using car instrumentation data to give us a rough guesstimate of where we are - which we thought was really funny!
2) There's a sign by the main entrance to the NSA there that basically says don't even think about taking any pictures, even of the sign itself that says don't take any pictures!! Note: You make a left right at the main entrance to the parking lots to follow the side road to the museum while passing a permanently parked fighter jet and a gas station right before you get to it. It's really non-descript!
3) At the gift shop - we decided to buy a few things and charged it on the credit card.. when we got home and looked at the receipt - it doesn't even say NSA museum - it had some totally different name to it!
4) Also, they had a totally cheap and reasonable soda and snack machines tucked to the side of the entrance once you walk in! Totally surprising - but nice
and Incidentally, if you're thinking about going to the spy museum in downtown washington DC - *DON'T DO IT!* - it's an absolute travesty and waste of i think it was like $15? The NSA museum blows it away in terms of information and goodies to be seen - and WAYYYYYYYYYyyyyy cheaper too! The spy museum in DC is for kids. The NSA museum is for true Geeks!
1>> Well, one should expect this when one is within shouting distance of one of the most secure buildings in the world. The same thing sometimes occurs near other buildings in the DC region. But Fort Meade? You're lucky you get stuff on your car radio.
2>> I work at that big five-sided building a few miles up the road from the NSA site. I was working a recent Saturday and on my way into the building, I spotted a small contingent of tourists from a friendly foreign nation (at least I hope they're
4) Also, they had a totally cheap and reasonable soda and snack machines tucked to the side of the entrance once you walk in! Totally surprising - but nice
Subsidized with your tax dollars.
Are you sure? I've known places to have soda/snack machines that were "totally cheap and reasonable" compared to usual costs that weren't subsidized at all, they just were priced to cover maintenance on the machine plus the bulk purchase cost of the goods sold, rather than priced to make a profit.
4>> Subsidized with your tax dollars. I worked in a secure building with access restricted to certain people, and the soda machines in there sold canned brand-name drinks for fifty cents. In the "open" building across the parking lot, they were a buck.
Not necessarily subsidized. They may simply be declining to mark it up all that much. Typical retail prices are 50% over wholesale, give or take. Running a soda machine at-cost to keep the workers happy makes sense. But you can't do that in the "open" area without increasing costs substantially; if the people working in the area are constantly dropping by to buy discount soda, you'll get a lot of complaints from area retailers (you're hitting their bottom line), and you now need to refill the machine far mo
1>> Well, one should expect this when one is within shouting distance of one of the most secure buildings in the world. The same thing sometimes occurs near other buildings in the DC region. But Fort Meade? You're lucky you get stuff on your car radio.
Why do they need to do active jamming? If the entire building is essentially a SCIF [wikipedia.org], what the risk? Nothing can leak out.
If the stories further up are true, it looks like converted Motel because it is
I think this is what you saw:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_B-66_Destroyer [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-130 [wikipedia.org]
i went there in 2000, on a trip from the UK. was driving though MD and saw signs to Fort Meade. got lost and ended up rocking up at the main NSA entrance. halfway through security i said "christ, im only here for the museum". at which point the friendly guards laughed and pointed me in the right way.
of course, this was before "the accident". had i been doing that a year later i'm guessing my stay at the NSA would have been considerably longer....
how times change. i genuinely long for the old days befor
I have the tee shirt to prove it.
Lots of interesting cold war information there too. Most Americans don't know how many service men died collecting sigint during period from after WWII until the late 1980's
The absolute best job I ever had was a codebreaker at NSA in the mid 70's when I was with the Army Security Agency. Critical mission, challenging brain-straining job, and the most advanced computers on the planet to play with. Have never been to the museum but imagine it would bring back some memories. Most people immediately think "Oh boy, Enigma!", but that is only the most public of the items, and not necessarily the most interesting. My proudest possession is the Dundee Orange Marmalade jar that I still keep on my desk. You either know what that means, or you don't.
My proudest possession is the Dundee Orange Marmalade jar that I still keep on my desk. You either know what that means, or you don't.
Clearly we either know or we don't... but does this mean you aren't gonna tell us?
If not.... why mention it?
I keep my pencils in one of those - but then, I'm actually Scottish.
... or you look it up in Wikipedia.
I have been there twice. Really interesting to any geek that likes computer history. One time I got into the museum and remembered I forgot to lock the doors on my truck. I mentioned it to an employee there and he said, "Oh, I wouldn't worry. It's being watched".
The day I went, a few years ago, I was fortunate because there was a busload of visitors there the same day (Daughters of the Revolution? Young Republicans? I don't know who they were). They had an official museum tour guide who gave a lot of history and details about what was in the exhibits, way more than was available on the displays alone. I was able to tag along and listen to it all. If at all possible, I urge you to see about getting a group together (through your workplace, school, boy scout tro
My parents stayed at the Colony 7 hotel on the first night of their honeymoon...
"Is it part of the NSA, or is it a separate organization?"
If you don't know the answer to the simple puzzles, why would you bother to go and look at the complex ones?
... when I visited my brother (he lives in Arlington, VA) last year he insisted we visit the museum. I said "sure, why not". I was really glad we did. Lots of great history there, and lots of hardware, too. As a previous poster said, you are able to and encouraged to play with an Enigma machine. Great photos and artifacts and whatnot. I was surprised just how interesting and informative it was - highly recommended to anyone visiting the area.
Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.


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Kasama Polakit Articulates the Message of Public ArtBy Leon M. Rubin
"If we neglect to pay sufficient attention to the individuality of places," British urban design consultant John Dales wrote in a recent article, "we run the risk of a future where everywhere looks the same."
It's safe to say that Kasama Polakit would like to ensure that Broward County's future is anything but homogeneous. Through her teaching and research as an assistant professor in Florida Atlantic University's School of Urban & Regional Planning, she explores and explains what she defines as "place character."
"You can go somewhere and not remember it at all," she observes. "'Place character' is a combination of the place and the people. Together, they create a strong image that you won't forget. They contribute to a place's identity."
As a member of the Broward Cultural Council's Public Art & Design Committee, Polakit has the opportunity to bring her experience and insight about place character to bear in the real-life laboratory that is Broward County. Since joining the seven-member committee in 2009, she has worked with her colleagues to evaluate proposals and make recommendations for new works of art that are located in Broward County buildings, such as those at Port Everlades and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
"The process of art selection is very interesting. It is highly structured, very democratic and very transparent," Polakit says. "I like that. Sometimes we disagree, but it's very healthy. The members of the committee bring diverse opinions. I'm not an artist, but some of them are artists. There's great diversity."
Prior to joining the committee, she served on an art selection panel for public art to be incorporated into the beach renourishment project in Broward County. Her academic perspective on place and space – along with her interest in interdisciplinary design of built environments - made her a logical choice for membership.
Polakit says public art plays an important role in urban design, which she defines as "the space in between architecture and urban planning." Architecture focuses on specific buildings or parcels of land, she explains, while urban planning is concerned with the big picture of a community and a region, including such broad issues as transportation, housing, infrastructure and sustainability.
In an urban design context, "art creates awareness of something. It has a message to the public in general," Polakit says. "Art is a language you deliver to a society.
"Many urban design projects are driven by public art," she adds. "We're always going to have public art pieces in public spaces to enhance the quality of the environment and to educate our younger generation to know who we are and where we are."
In Polakit's view, for public art to be considered truly public, it must be accessible to anyone and everyone. "Urban designers focus on outdoor public art," she says. But it's not just about the piece itself. "Public art makes a strong statement. You can't just put it anywhere. It's site-specific. As designers, we are concerned with where to put it and why to put it there.
"Public art that's the most successful is also the most memorable," she continues. "It doesn't have to be by a famous artist, but it is integrated into the character of the place."
Polakit has been observing – and now participating in – the development of public art in Broward County since 2005, when she joined the faculty at FAU. She holds a Ph.D. with a specialization in urban design and a master's degree in planning and design from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She earned her bachelor's degree in architecture from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. Before entering academia, she was an architect in Thailand responsible for design projects ranging from interior design and private houses to high-rise and mid-rise condominiums, housing developments and resort hotels.
She applauds Broward County's commitment not only to encouraging public art, but to ensuring that it's within the public's reach. She especially likes projects that represent collaborations between individual artists and the community.
"Broward County has made an effort to strengthen the quality of public art," Polakit observes. "Public art is a part of economic development and a part of place-making." By encouraging the installation of public art throughout the county, "We can contribute something toward delivering this message to communities that might not have the chance to have public art on their own," she notes.
This process leads, of course, to the enhancement of each community's distinctive character - and the assurance that, in Broward County, no one can ever say that "everywhere looks the same!"
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subset: commoncrawl


text: Bwood 190 Report post Posted January 18, 2013 Not only up draft boards, but on the field. Lets all just stop and remember that CP is 6'3, 205 pounds. "We just ran our 40 times in Kansas before I came home on break," he said. "I ran, like, 4.21, 4.26 and 4.29. Everything was under 4.3." quote from Patterson I personally think he will run around a 4.30-4.35 at the combine, but still at his size that is crazy fast. He also tried running track for the first time in his life last year, and ran a 10.33 in the 100 meter dash, and a 21.19 in the 200 meter dash. These times are among the best in the nation for college football players. http://u.milesplit.com/meets/106534/results/200178 http://hutchnews.com/jucodaily/hcc-sprinters Even more impressive than his straight line speed is his ability to change direction, and make people miss in the open field. If anyone doesn't have this guy as the #1 WR in the draft, and surely a top 15 pick, you're doing it wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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More thoughts on Sram Red, 22, Hydraulic Disc Brakes (HRD).
Guitar Ted gave his (somewhat predictably) quasi-negative thoughts here. I say "somewhat predictably" not as a criticism of GT–I don't think he's a retrogrouch. But his views on SRAM drivetrains and Avid brakes have been made clear over a long period of time, and I did not expect the combination of those two technologies to act like a double-negative and suddenly win his endorsement. GT indicates that he's heard bad things about SRAM brifters, and hasn't had good luck with Avid hydro brakes…but has had good luck with BB7s, and thus doesn't see a particular benefit to upgrading. Those seem like reasonable concerns.
SRAM also released some more press information on the setup, here.
I've seen a few sources bristle about the perceived aesthetic concerns of the brifters, focused predominantly focused on the proboscis at the top of the brifter.
Again, I can understand that concern. Here are my thoughts:
- I have spent the past couple years throwing everything possible at my Vaya, which is equipped with BB7s and Avid Rival (and now an X0 rear derailleur). The brifters have been flawless. Regular readers will know that it sees extensive gravel, light singletrack, mud, and tons of abuse. The brifters have been flawless under about the worst conditions imaginable. Yes, I do regular maintenance on the drivetrain, but I've never touched the brifters in any way. They've been perfect. I love them, and I love their shape. The guts have never exploded, the brifters have never failed to work. Not once. Never.
- I love my Rival so much that when NCC built the Madone, the only drivetrain choice for me was SRAM Red. It has been flawless. Perfect. It does everything I want, and more. It is light, it shifts like buttah, looks good, and is dead reliable. Adjusting the front derailleur takes a little practice–it isn't like a normal front derailleur (you have to get used to the Yaw), but once you do, it's golden.
- I happen to like SRAM drivetrains. I had Shimano Ultegra on my Ridley, and it functioned well. It did not, however, have the same mechanically satisfying feel of the SRAM Red. I also have SRAM on the Mukluk (where it has seen every kind of abuse, mud, dunking, snow, salt, gravel, dust, etc. imaginable) and on the Superfish. They have all functioned impeccably, and without fail. When we built up the Superfish, I had a choice between SRAM and Shimano…and I went SRAM largely because of the great feel it had when I rode Spearfish in Arizona last year. I had Shimano XT on my last mountain bike before the Superfish, and I liked the action of the SRAM better.
- On the hydro brake side, I have Avid brakes on the Superfish, Mukluk and El Mariachi. All have functioned impeccably. I've never had a bleeding problem, a function problem or an adjustment issue. I wish the SRAM brakes were a bit better designed to integrate with gripshift on the Superfish, but that's a small complaint–from a function perspective, they're perfect.
- I have BB7s on the Vaya. Let's be clear–when they're properly adjusted, they have way more braking ability than you'll ever need on a gravel bike. That isn't the issue at all. If you keep them clean and adjusted, they function great. My frustration with BB7s is related to what they can't do. They cannot self-adjust. They cannot retract both pads to have better rotor clearance if there's a tiny little wobble in the rotor. For me, that means I'm constantly chasing the adjustment, working on getting it just right. That's partially because I'm A/R (ok, perhaps predominantly), and partially because of the inherent challenges of mechanical disc brakes. I've been praying for a hydraulic, drop-bar friendly solution for 2 years.
- I've looked at the TRP and other kludge systems. Sure, they work, but they're compromises. Cable over hydraulic? Blech. Not an elegant solution.
- So add it all together. What if I could get the shift quality of SRAM Red, with hydraulic disc brakes and the great feel and reliability I've come to expect from SRAM? That's a perfect solution. Perfect.
- 22 speed is just a little icing on the top. I don't find myself needing higher or lower gears on the Vaya. With a 50/34 crank and 11-32 cassette, if I don't have a gear high or low enough, the Vaya isn't gonna cut it. I actually suspect that once the 22 is out, I'll go to an 11-28 cassette, to bring the spread between gears down a bit, and give me some more useful cadence gears. 34/28 is plenty low for the climbing I see. I think. I do think it makes perfect sense for SRAM to make their gearing such that they're adding another gear mid-cassette…that's where I'd like to see it for tuning cadence, as mentioned above. So it makes sense to me as an upgrade.
In short, I'm a SRAM advocate and an Avid brake advocate, based upon my pretty extensive experience with both. I view the new HRD as the answer to my prayers–bringing hydro brake functionality in a clean package to my Vaya. I don't find the look of the brifters objectionable, and I'm frankly impressed with how SRAM has integrated the brakes into the brifters without significant alteration in overall function. I'm hoping and praying that these are available soon.
Shimano's announcement is around the corner. I expect Di2 hydros to be forthcoming. While I liked the time I spent on Di2, and while I can see its applications, I'm still a little nervous about putting an electronic drivetrain on a bike that sees so much abuse. Would a Di2 rear derailleur take kindly to being carried through a chest-deep creek, or ridden through BB-deep water? I don't know…but it scares me a bit.
I suspect that I'm the market share that SRAM is looking for with this product, and I'll be the first to geek out and say it: I want to be a fanboy, because the product looks awesome. I will be curious to see what they release for information on hubs…and I'm hopeful that my DT240s will be a cassette body away from 22 speed (though a bit worried that it will require new hubs. We'll see).
So my thoughts: I don't have any aesthetic or durability concerns, and I don't see any reason not to use this technology. I suspect it will function better and more consistently than mechanical disc brakes. The canti/disc debate I'll leave for another day, but when I spec'd the Vaya, I knew disc was what I wanted (and I wouldn't go back).
Based on the specs, I think this will be a hit right out of the ballpark, and I'm looking forward to SRAM Red, 22, HRD. That shouldn't be too much of a surprise, given that I've written about it now something like 15 times.


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Rogers has officially launched the BlackBerry Curve 8520. If you are a little penny pinched but still want a new BlackBerry, you can pick it for $99.99 on a three year voice and data plan. Currently it is only available in black, however in the coming weeks it will be offered in violet as well.
White seems to be a trend these days. T-mobile appears to be getting the 8520 in white. Engagdet snuck a few photos of the white 8520. The white brings quite a different look to the device.


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Davie, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Dolphins and suspended guard Richie Incognito agreed to postpone his grievance hearing until the NFL investigation of Miami's locker room is complete.
Incognito's hearing was supposed to take place Thursday.
"The Miami Dolphins and Richie Incognito have agreed to postpone his grievance hearing during his ongoing suspension. Richie is cooperating fully with the NFL investigation and will meet with Ted Wells," the Dolphins said in a statement.
Incognito, who filed a non-football injury grievance against the Dolphins last Thursday, also released a statement on the matter.
"I have agreed to postpone my expedited arbitration hearing until after the investigation by Ted Wells is complete," Incognito said. "I will cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation with a goal of resuming my career with the Miami Dolphins at the conclusion of this investigation. I love my teammates and hope we can put this distraction behind us soon."
Incognito was suspended on Nov. 3 following allegations of harassment and misconduct toward teammate Jonathan Martin, who left the team prior to its Week 9 win over Cincinnati.
The 30-year-old Incognito is accused of using a racial slur against Martin and threatening violence against him and his mother in a voicemail Martin turned over to the NFL.
Incognito has denied bullying Martin but said he may have been too harsh on his younger teammate and regrets using racist language.
Under Article 43 of the CBA, the maximum a club is allowed to suspend a player for conduct detrimental is four weeks plus an additional game check. Incognito is eligible to return on Dec. 8 against Pittsburgh.


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I originally wrote this review in September 2011 and have modified it slightly (Jan 9, 2012) because using archetypes in your marketing can be helpful. And Cindy Atlee at the Storybranding Group has now come out with some assessments that could also be helpful to you (see Jan. 10 curated post from A Storied Career).
I thought long and hard about posting this piece and finally decided to do it. I hesitated because I don't really care to be hyper-critical. But this really bothered me because people will read the book and think "Oh, this is what business storytelling is all about" when it's not. So here goes.
What I like about this downloadable ebook: it's gorgeous and a beautiful example of a communication rich document. The layout and visuals are spot on and an example I want to emulate. So take some lessons here on presentation.
The focus of the ebook is on using archetypes. That's OK, yet a convoluted way to get at your biz stories. I'm fully aware of archetypes and their power. It can be a part of crafting stories yet I don't know anyone formally trained in storytelling who would start with archetypes. There's nothing on identifying your personal business stories, story structure, story types, essential elements, sensory material, and other story devices that will actually help you find, craft and tell your business stories. So as a how-to book on marketing/branding and storytelling it doesn't work for me.
Archetypes can be very powerful however, when figuring out who your customers are and how to connect with them best. And they are great to use when creating personas of your customers. I do work with archetypes during certain phases of my story work with certain clients. And I love and have used Carol Pearson's work on archetypes in business depending on the client and their specific need. Once your have identified your business stories, looking at the archetypes operating within the stories can also be very useful.
If you are working with big corporations, archetypes become a more important front and center activity. For smaller firms and entrepreneurs, it comes much later. So it really comes down to the size of the client, what their exact needs are, and the particular story approach and story tools that are required to get the work done.
The rest of the material in the ebook is intersting with a few tips here and there. And it is a good example about how branding/marketing professionals approach story work.
Go grab it for its visual presentation, and read through it for those additional marketing insights.


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Student or Learner
I know go on to do and go on doing have their own separate meanings. My memory tells me the meanings of continue to do and continue doing differenciate in the same way, i.e., the former means go and do something else and the later do the same thing. This seems to be supported by my dictionary, which says:
If there were no real difference between continue to do and continue doing, then the two explanations quoted above could conviniently be combined together and read:persist
1. persist (in sth/in doing sth): continue to do sth, esp in an obstinate and determined way and in spite of opposition, argument or failure
2. persistent with stn: continue doing sth in spite of difficulties
The authers of Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, I take, wouldn't have left two explanations here, If they couldn't find a good reason.persistent (in sth/in doing sth), persistent with sth:continue to do sth/doing sth, esp in an obstinate or determined way and in spite of opposition, argument, failure or diffiulties
Then, when I referred to the definition of continue in the same ditionary, what I found is this:
It appears here the linguist who was responsible for this entry thinks the two forms basically mean the same thing.Continue
4. start again after stopping;resume
We continued to rehearse/continued rehearsing the chorus after the break.
Now I am confused.
My question is: If there is a genuine difference, what is it?
Many thanks Richard
The distinction is less clear and they are often used interchangeably.


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From Iron Chariots Wiki
Revision as of 16:37, 25 January 2009 by Proxima Centauri (Talk | contribs)
Books of the Bible
- Old Testament
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Leviticus
- Numbers
- Deuteronomy
- Joshua
- Judges
- Ruth
- 1 Samuel
- 2 Samuel
- 1 Kings
- 2 Kings
- 1 Chronicles
- 2 Chronicles
- Ezra
- Nehemiah
- Esther
- Job
- Psalms
- Proverbs
- Ecclesiastes
- Song of Solomon
- Isaiah
- Jeremiah
- Lamentations
- Ezekiel
- Daniel
- Hosea
- Joel
- Amos
- Obadiah
- Jonah
- Micah
- Nahum
- Habakkuk
- Zephaniah
- Haggai
- Zechariah
- Malachi
- New Testament
- Apocrypha
The Book of Leviticus is the third book in the Old Testament of the Bible. It is, essentially, the Mosaic Law, the laws laid down by Yahweh through Moses. These include what not to eat, how and when to sacrifice animals to the Lord, what is clean and unclean, and what kinds of sexual activities are worthy of the death penalty.
Christians and Jews claim that Moses wrote Leviticus though this is unlikely. In the 18th Century Thomas Pain could see this.
In the first place, there is no affirmative evidence that Moses is the author of those books; and that he is the author, is altogether an unfounded opinion, got abroad nobody knows how. The style and manner in which those books are written give no room to believe, or even to suppose, they were written by Moses; for it is altogether the style and manner of another person speaking of Moses. In Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, (for every thing in Genesis is prior to the times of Moses and not the least allusion is made to him therein,) the whole, I say, of these books is in the third person; it is always, the Lord said unto Moses, or Moses said unto the Lord; or Moses said unto the people, or the people said unto Moses; and this is the style and manner that historians use in speaking of the person whose lives and actions they are writing. It may be said, that a man may speak of himself in the third person, and, therefore, it may be supposed that Moses did; but supposition proves nothing; and if the advocates for the belief that Moses wrote those books himself have nothing better to advance than supposition, they may as well be silent. [1]
See also Numbers


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Travis Daryl Clark has not received any gifts yet
Oh ya I just heard of Project 42 as well :) ... Really hope I can go. But we'll see what comes up i suppose.
Hi Travis. Welcome to this rational world of Internet atheism----this haven of truth and peace, far from the superstitions and fictional god of the masses.
"Well-founded common sense helped by science leads to atheist wisdom."
We invite you to make good friends by joining the busy group "ORIGINS: Universe, Astronomy, Life, Earth, Humans, Religion, Gods, Atheism, Evolution, Darwin..." with 500 discussion topics and 2900 members.
There are actually far more non-believers in North Dakota, Travis. However, 99% of them seem to still be hiding in the closet. I've met several in Fargo who are scared the general public might find out.
Those of us who aren't hiding will be at the Project 42 Freethought Convention next month. www.project42convention.org. (Brought to you by the shameless promotion division of the Red River Freethinkers).
Welcome to the area, Travis. Hope to see you 'round.
Welcome, Travis! Glad you could join us. :D
Please consider joining a group to meet people and talk about anything that's on your mind, Hang With Friends.
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slowly but surely, the US is finally embracing soccer.
it's only a matter of time before Urlacher starts wreaking havoc throughout CONCACAF
Article is almost a month old but interesting nonetheless... check it out, worth the read:
Seattle soccer: A city drinks in Drew Carey's love of the game
The comedian and part-owner of Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders has a grand vision for making the sport popular in the U.S. To Carey, it all starts with the fans.
By Kurt Streeter
June 6, 2009
Reporting from Seattle — "Hey bartender, have you seen Drew Carey?"
"Sure," she says, pointing to a thicket of blue and green. Soccer lovers -- Seattle Sounders lovers to be precise -- crammed inside a beer-drenched bar.
His famous outline emerges, wide and square-jawed. The popular comedian and host of TV's "The Price Is Right" stands by a bar stool, one of the gang -- the gang being the Emerald City Supporters, one of several fan groups that live and breathe the Sounders, the Major League Soccer team Carey partly owns that is playing its first season.
Game time is in two hours at nearby Qwest Field against the San Jose Earthquakes, and the fans are hyped.
Some thank him for bringing big-time soccer -- as big as it's played in America at least -- to Seattle.
"Drew, Drew, never thought I'd see anything like this. You're totally awesome, man!" says one. Others offer advice, from what to do about a struggling player to where the team's crackerjack band should sit. "Drew, bud, we gotta talk. . . ." "Drew, ever think of this . . .?" "Drew, Drew, hey Mr. Carey . . ."
Most team owners would steer well clear of a place like this. But Carey, guided by his populist instincts and curiosity, wants to soak up the fans' energy and hear their opinions.
Carey, schlumpy son of middle America, has become a soccer fiend and one of the game's most ardent evangelists. He wants fans to share his goal of making soccer deeply popular in this country. He wants pro sports teams in the United States, particularly ones like the soulless L.A. Clippers, to replicate the Seattle Sounders' tight, almost brotherly connection with fans.
Impossible, right? Team owners aren't known for welcoming change. To think a trend will develop, says David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute, "is simply wishful thinking."
Soccer is hardly fertile ground for such a movement. This is Major League Soccer's 14th season, yet ESPN this year scuttled its weekly "Primetime Thursday" showcase game because of meager ratings.
The Sounders, though, lead the MLS in attendance, having sold out the 29,000-seat Qwest Field for all 15 of their home games, right up to the final match in October that ends the 30-game season.
On this particular night in late April, as game time approaches, Carey ambles down the street toward the stadium, still surrounded by scores of fans, signing autographs, giving hugs. This is the start of the Sounders' pregame parade. And Carey is at the heart of it.
With the wide-eyed, vaguely surprised look of a man who can't get over his good fortune, he scans the crowd.
"Drew," a woman says, pointing to a sea of fans lifting green-and-blue Sounders scarves to the sky. "Really beautiful!"
"Geez, I thought they'd be cool," he says, noting that to build unity every season ticket holder was given a scarf, the way it's done in Europe. "I mean, look at this. Wow."
There is one more stop before the stadium -- Occidental Park, to listen to one of his great loves, the team's marching band, 53 musicians strong. The rally, two blocks from the stadium, is a swelling sea of blue and green and part of the parade process.
A man approaches, his face painted in Sounders colors.
"Drew Carey, whoa," he says, speaking loud enough to be heard over the trumpets and trombones. "Ever thought of painting half of your face blue and half of your face green?"
"Uh, no," Carey deadpans. "If that's your thing, man, that's cool. Just keep coming to the games."
It was serendipity that led Carey to became a soccer fiend. As a teen, he knew of the North American Soccer League, which included the first incarnation of the Seattle Sounders. He also recalls adults saying that no one would get hurt playing the game, predicting it would be the next big thing. It wasn't. It did have a superstar, though: Brazil's Pele.
When the NASL folded in 1984, Carey felt no loss.
"It was just that league that had Pele and then went down in a heap," he says. "That's all I ever thought . . . that soccer in America equals failure."
By 2004, the comedian had his own fame thanks to his nine-year run on ABC with the sitcom "The Drew Carey Show." He took some time off and returned to a childhood love: sports photography.
To practice, he chose soccer because the sport received so little attention. He could go to a U.S. national team game, sit on the sidelines with his camera and nobody would notice. He did well enough that a wire service hired him to shoot the 2006 World Cup. That changed his life.
"A complete revelation," Carey says of World Cup play. "The sport all the parents tried to sell as not competitive . . . it was violent! Nothing but elbows and forearms. . . . Not competitive? Not tough? That's like if someone were going to tell you, 'Hey, you're going to make your living going up for rebounds against LeBron James, but don't worry, it's not going to be very physical. It's not going to hurt.' I was hooked!"
He soon hungered to own an MLS franchise and arranged a meeting with Joe Roth, the former chairman of Disney Studios who was majority owner of the soon-to-be-launched Sounders.
It was August 2007, and Carey arrived at the introductory lunch with a heavily bandaged left wrist, the result of a prop going haywire that morning during taping of "The Price Is Right." Roth wanted to take him to a hospital. Carey was focused on soccer.
"Joe, forget the wrist, I want to own part of the team," Carey recalls saying. "But, oh, by the way, there are two conditions."
Condition No. 1: A marching band. Carey was in his high school's band and wanted to re-create that experience. Condition No. 2: Involve fans in a way no other team in America had. Carey trotted out prominent European examples: soccer juggernauts Barcelona and Real Madrid. Both hold elections to fill the singularly powerful role of team president. A pricey bond must be secured to seek the office, but anyone can run. Candidates campaign, often promising to sign the best players, and season ticket holders vote.
Roth remembers squirming, and Carey pressing for compromise. Reserve the right to hire the general manager, the comedian said. But every four years let the fans vote on whether the GM should stay. If there's enough anger, fans can call for a no-confidence vote once a year.
"The fans can do your dirty work for you," Carey argued.
Roth was sold, and Carey was in. The team has the band, of course, and all it takes to oust the GM is a majority vote by the 22,000 season ticket holders and fans who pay $125 to join a booster group.
Carey, 51, won't divulge his ownership stake other than to say it's large enough to get his voice heard but not large enough to have a final say. Most important to him, his vision is becoming real. Even better, it dovetails with Roth's.
Roth figured Seattle -- wired, progressive, smarting from the loss of the NBA's SuperSonics -- would embrace his team much as it did the original Sounders in the 1970s.
There are grander plans to create an academy here to house Sounders developmental squads for teens to help scoop up great athletes before they turn to basketball or football. Think LeBron James, striker.
"The future looks really bright. Right now, so does the present," says Greg Roth, a Sounders supporter and no relation to the owner. Roth was elected by fans to a seat on the team's council -- eight members so far -- that operates as a liaison between fans and owners.
This kind of fan involvement seems to be working.
Fueled by the Internet, Sounders booster clubs popped up not only in Seattle, but in L.A. and Denver. Fans chose the team's name, pushed for more seating, created the pregame parade and lobbied to relocate the band to another part of Qwest Field after some complained about being too close to such a loud ensemble.
"We'll help set the bar for what success is," says Roth, the council member, noting that the team is adding 4,000 seats. "We feel we're part of this grass-roots process."
Still, despite Carey's cheeky promise that the Sounders "will give fans pitchforks and torches" so they can remake the team if they're not happy, at this early stage it's not clear how much power fans will have -- or should have.
"Fans operate with their hearts and not their heads," warns USC's Carter. "The key will be how do the Sounders balance fan interaction and input with smart decision making? . . . They have to be very careful not to turn this into a circus."
Greg Mockos, another Sounders council member and leader of the rambunctious Emerald City Supporters, understands such caution.
"There's still a lot up in the air, but the way this team is doing its business is helping build an incredibly positive feeling here," he says. "Drew is a huge part of that. . . . I e-mail back and forth with Drew. Who can say they do that with a dude who owns a sports team?"
At Occidental Park, the marching band, with its fondness for Red Hot Chili Peppers tunes, is going strong an hour before game time, and Carey is 10 feet in front of the band. The attention is nonstop. He poses for pictures, shakes hands.
"Cleveland rocks," says one passing fan, repeating "The Drew Carey Show's" catchphrase. "But Seattle rocks harder, don't ya think?"
Carey nods. "Funny thing," he says, "everyone here always thinks I'm the majority owner of this team, when I'm not. They think I brought them soccer. I didn't. I just jumped on board with some of my ideas."
It is time to begin moving to the stadium, the band in the lead. Carey walks with the fans, holding his Sounders scarf high, never at a loss for ideas. "How about we throw a huge, pregame fan barbecue this summer?" he blurts out, to no one in particular. "Right here, in the park; it'd be awesome."
By the start of the game, Carey is in his box and Qwest Field is rocking with rhythmic chants: "Ooooh to be a Sounder! Oooo. Ooooh to be a Sounder!"
The match begins. Sometimes Carey is calm. Just as often he balls a fist, bites a nail, cusses like the Marine he once was. "I like the idea of this being a movement," he says. "There's no reason a team like the Clippers can't do this, or a team like the Detroit Lions. What do teams like that have to lose?"
Control, someone suggests.
"That was the argument against democracy in the United States," Carey replies, launching into a soliloquy in which he dismisses monarchies and applauds the masses.
"Let the fans vote for the GM? Don't you vote for judges you've never heard of? I believe fans know way more about sports teams than they know about judges, and judge is a pretty important job. Look, the only way fans can ever have a say in the way a team is run right now, with most teams, is to stop coming. And that's no way to run a business. We're going to have lean years. When that happens, I want them to keep coming, and we do that by having them really involved."
The soliloquy abruptly ends when he notices one of the Sounders streaking across the field, heading for the goal.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" he shouts, rising from his seat. "Oh . . . baby . . . yeah!"
Near the end of the first half, a Sounder plows in front of a high-kicked ball, sending it into the net for another goal.
"Chackalackalacka!" Carey shouts. "Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about! Take that back to San Jose, fool!"
The game will end that way -- a 2-0 victory for Seattle. But right now Carey is pumped. When he's not shouting, he's beaming at the band and the fans, amazed. He is like this to the end, as green and blue confetti paints the air and the fans stand en masse, singing, chanting, yelling, unfurling Sounders scarves. It could have been London or Madrid. Maybe, one day, it will be New York or L.A.
"Look at this," Carey says. "Look at what's happening here. This is what American soccer can be."
I love the way Drew Carey, of all people, is running this club.
slowly but surely, the US is finally embracing soccer.
it's only a matter of time before Urlacher starts wreaking havoc throughout CONCACAF
seriously though, the US has tremendous athletic potential, moreso than pretty much any other country out there due to the size of its population.
if some of those gifted athletes start migrating towards soccer... watch out!
Caught Freddy Ljungberg interview on Sirius WSD a little while back. Granted, he has to say the right things, but he had an interesting take on MLS, comparing its level of play to the Dutch league.
Ok, so it may be early on for the new franchise, but Seattle seems to be doing all the right things. Caught one of their games on a week or 2 ago. The atmosphere was awesome, and the fans were into it more than anywhere I've seen in the MLS.
Never saw the Drew Carey angle though. Thanks for posting.
This is great stuff. My family had season tickets from the moment the Metrostars came into existence up until the year before they became the Redbulls and it'd be great to have a real reason to go back. The new stadium hopefully starts to add culture to the team. I do miss watching Tab Ramos and a bunch of other players we had grown to be friends with. Tab still sends Christmas Cards to my grandparents.
Next season Philadelphia is introducing a new club that I'm somewhat interested in: the Philadelphia Union. They'll play in a brand new soccer-specific stadium on the banks of the Delaware River. That might become my new adopted team, if it can hopefully transcend the stigma of "Major League Soccer", as Sounders F.C. apparently is doing.
You're right on all counts, I believe you've just summerised why the MLS has been a pfailiure until now and why it will never be like the european leagues. It can have quality players, and teams in the future but it will never have that passion that european teams feel for their teams.
The American mind set that everything should be run like a business, for a profit. Over here a former presiden of ours was run out of office and is still cursed everytime because he called the fans "customers" once and later apologised for it. Our clubs are not franchises, they are a very important part of our identity.
The first point is made harder in europe because over here the clubs most big clubs are about 100 years old with established traditions. For example Galatasaray was formed by high school students of the Galatasaray Lycee, a french language high school which one of the oldest (Est. 1481) and most influential schools in Turkey, the club still holds its general assemblies in the mess hall of the high school. The first team members had to disguise their Turkish (more accuratly in those days Ottoman Muslim) identitys because it was forbidden for muslims to play sports and congragate. All congragation was seen as a potential uprising against the King. There is a history like this behind almost every big team, so it's never only about the football on the field.
That's why when the Galatasaray wheelchair basketball team won the CL equivelant there were about 5000 people in the stands not giving a **** that the sport on the field wasn't worth watching. It's all about the glory of the club, that sentiment is hard to cultivate when your club is named after a soda.
I think the point the article made, intentionally or not, is that Seattle is trying to do something different than most or if not all of the other MLS teams. It appears they're trying to make it more of a 'club' organization vs a business. Odd's are against it, but only time will tell if it works over the long haul.
I watched the Red Bulls game against them at the beginning of the season and the atmosphere was different from anything I've heard for an MLS game. There's still a ways to go, but that is certainly good for the league. Toronto also seems like they have a strong following compared to the rest of the league.
I do still enjoy attending Red Bulls games though. I've been to about 5 or 6 over the past couple seasons. I'd say NY only averages about 10K or 11K per game (plus you have to factor in that they play in and 80K seat stadium), but if you sit with the ESC behind the goal, it's still a pretty enjoyable atmosphere. They are a solid, hardcore group of fans.
Last edited by DevsJetsYanks88; 07-01-2009 at 04:26 PM.
a Costa Rican just signed with the Sounders. Leonardo Gonzalez, left back.
he SUCKS.


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Cristiano Ronaldo believes Jose Mourinho will not quit his post as Real Madrid manager at the end of the season.
Mourinho's role at Real Madrid has been called into question after a poor start to the season which has seen his side fall 16 points behind rivals and La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Madrid's season so far has also been punctuated with rumours of rifts and falling outs, with Spain captain Iker Casillas surprisingly dropped for Madrid's recent 3-2 defeat against Malaga.
Mourinho has previously expressed his desire to return to the Premier League, ans has been linked with taking charge at Manchester City, Manchester United and his former club Chelsea.
Asked whether Mourinho would leave Madrid at the end of the season, Ronaldo insisted the Portuguese coach is the right man for the job and should stay put.
"I do not know," he told reporters upon his return to training with Madrid following the winter break. "It depends on his situation and the club. I would love him to stay because he is the right coach. He is a top coach for a top club. I think he is going to stay but everyone chooses their future."
Ronaldo also insisted he wasn't surprised by Mourinho's decision to drop Casillas, and said the decision was made for the benefit of the group.
"For me, in football, nothing surprises me," he continued. "His [Casillas'] replacement was a technical decision that we must respect. Here the coach is the boss and he makes decisions for the benefit of the group."
Ronaldo, along with Mourinho, has seen his future called into question this season after he admitted he was 'sad' at Madrid back in September, reportedly because of a lack of backing over his campaign to win the Ballon d'Or.
More recently reports have suggested the Portguese superstar was ready to turn down a contract offer from Los Blancos and try and secure a move back to Manchester United, who he left to join Real Madrid for £80 million back in 2009.
The 27-year-old insists he is not worried about his own future, and wants to instead focus on winning games for Madrid when the action gets back underway in La Liga.
"That issue has already been spoken about. I will not talk any more about my renewal," he said.
"The important thing is to win the next matches. We are fighting for La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. The important thing is being together.
"I intend to repay [my fans] in the best possible way, which is to play well, to give my best for the shirt and to be on top of my game to help Real Madrid."
Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: https://www.givemesport.com/writeforgms


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Eighteen majors? Ain't gonna happen.
The odds are pretty good that Tiger Woods never wins even one more major tournament, never mind catching and passing Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 professional biggies.
Woods has been stuck on 14 since the 2008 U.S. Open, where he edged journeyman Rocco Mediate in the Wounded Knee tournament at Torrey Pines.
At the time, even though Woods missed the remainder of the 2008 season with his knee injury, it seemed a foregone conclusion that he would eventually surpass Jack. But something funny happened on the way to the record book.
First Tiger's marriage broke down, then his golf game broke down (relatively speaking), then his body broke down. Woods has had more injuries than Danny Amendola. Too much time spent pumping iron, perhaps?
Speaking of Tiger's marriage, his ex, Erin Nordegren, rebounded by taking up with billionaire coal-mining mogul Chris Cline. Not bad for Jesper Parnevik's former nanny. Tiger snared Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, but that relationship is rumored to be on the rocks.
Meanwhile, it's been six years since that Open win. The PGA Tour is now deeper than ever, and it's a young man's game. Witness Rory McIlroy, Jordan Speith, Russell Henley, and on and on it goes.
The idea of Tiger Woods winning four more majors (he's 38) has become absolutely ludicrous.
In other sports news...
There's a fundraising effort going on to build a new press box at the Andover High varsity baseball field.
Red Sox Magic? I've got to be honest, I'm not feeling it this year. Maybe 15 more spring training games against the Twins will bring me around. The Yankees spent money like ... well, like Erin Nordegren, and methinks it's going to finally pay off. Derek Jeter won't be much of a factor in the AL East race, but Jacoby Ellsbury and Masahiro Tanaka will.
Brazil had seven years to prepare after winning the World Cup bid in 2007. Procrastination can be a crippling thing. There are four stadiums still under construction for the 2014 World Cup in June, and much of the needed infrastucture upgrades are far from ready. And then there's the 2016 Summer Olympics, also ticketed for Brazil. They're way behind on construction for the Games, and with inflation running rampant in the country it's not really a question of if Brazil will go bankrupt, but when.
The sad thing is, I don't believe Boston could do much better were it to be chosen to host the 2024 Olympics. Look at the Big Dig. Tiles are still falling off the tunnels. Of course, Boston has absolutely no shot of getting the Games, but it's interesting to note that the leading proponent of the effort is John Fish, head of Suffolk Construction. Think there might be a few contracts in it for Suffolk? Hmmm.
If Oscar Pistorious gets off for the (alleged) murder of his girlfriend half of South Africa will celebrate and half will hang its heads in shame, as they should.
In case you missed it: The 1,000-mile Iditarod sled dog race is under way in Alaska, where warm weather has prompted concern over the condition of the trail. I guess they've got the Global Warming that we seem to be missing out on hereabouts. There are reports that the team made up of Golden Retrievers is currently in last place. They won't move unless they're patted.
Dennis Whitton's email address is firstname.lastname@example.com


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Dear all,
I am selling this set as I am willing to upgrade my gear from canon 400D to 550D.
Price : 1250 euros
This set is ready to dive and includes :
- Canon 400D body + 3 batteries
- 18-55mm lens + zoom gear
- Hugyfot housing with an arm
- wide-angle port
- 6 pins connector and optical fiber slot
- 8 Go CF memory card
- valve for the Hugycheck (without the electronic)
- maintenance kit (o-rings and circlips)
Leak detector is non-functional.
Here are pictures I have done with this set (and an Inon Z-240 flash) :
Edited by FanchGadjo, 16 July 2013 - 07:55 AM.


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Wednesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Hot spots for international trade in Florida
Restaurants, aviation, agriculture and the creative fields capitalize on demand in international markets. Read our reporting on Florida's trade hot spots:
» Agriculture: Exports on the Hoof
» Creative Sector: Untrackable Trade
» Restaurants: Evolving Tastes
» Aviation: Flying High
Miami art fair attracts growing Latin American market
As art aficionados and collectors descend on Miami Beach this week for one of the world's top contemporary art fairs, galleries are counting on the rising affluence of Latin American buyers. Latin America's millionaires and billionaires, many newly minted thanks to booming commodity prices and investments from Asia, are making a splash in the global art market. More at Reuters.
Max Planck science institute opens
Business Profile
Chimney sweep's job is dangerous, but essential
» Read a profile of one Florida chimney sweep from the Florida Times-Union.
Neuroscience research institute Max Planck opens its Jupiter center across from Scripps Florida on Wednesday. Max Planck currently has under 100 employees, but has plans to grow to more than 135 plus employees by 2015. More at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Feds funnel millions into Gulf Coast
Days before a newly formed council focuses on long-term Gulf of Mexico cleanup, a report released to The Associated Press shows that one federal agency has committed more than a half-billion dollars to the region in the past two years, nearly one-fifth of it on projects directly linked to recovery from the 2010 oil spill. More at the AP.
Ed Price: A gentle, tireless statesman
Those who admired his statesmanship often thought former Democratic legislator Edgar H. Price Jr. could have — and should have — been elected governor of Florida. Price, who died Saturday at age 94, did not seek higher office after his eight years fighting for civil rights, public education and other causes in the state Senate. Known for his gentle, even-handed personality, Price could also be dogged and relentless regarding the causes he was passionate about. Read more at the Tampa Bay Times and see our Florida Icon Profile of Ed Price.
In case you missed it:


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...saw this in the paper this morning:
Cricket: Black Caps Facing Promotional Games In... | Stuff.co.nz
The money quote:
Unbelievable. And this:Quote:
It was to start this year, but was recently postponed until the middle of 2014 due to logistical issues, most notably a lack of suitable facilities in the US.
I can't imagine that the investment in this project would have been cheap. So New Zealand Cricket have decided they want to be at the forefront of the movement of Cricket to the country with an almost fanatical interest in sports like Baseball and American Football. And this while 20-20 audiences and crowds are trending down.Quote:
He said NZC is contractually bound to the project.
Does anyone think this is a wise investment? Or are we going to be looking at a bankrupt NZ Cricket in 2015?


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Qooq kitchen tablet computer
$399 at qooq.com
Leave it to a French company to develop a tablet computer especially for the kitchen. The Qooq is a costly but clever digital cookbook that can help you crank out hundreds of tasty dishes.
The Qooq features a ruggedized, water-resistant case that looks capable of surviving a moderate amount of culinary abuse. It's also got a kickstand to keep it at the proper angle for reading. Connect it to your household Wi-Fi network and you can use it as a Web browser and a streaming audio player with presets for hundreds of stations worldwide.
But the essence of Qooq is a built-in database that includes about a thousand recipes, ranging from simple fare to fairly exalted cuisine. Cooking instructions are well-written and easy to follow. And there are videos to teach users kitchen skills. While preparing the Qooq's recipe for ginger pork — it was excellent — I boned up on the correct way to slice onions and shallots.
Qooq is hampered by a video screen that's far below the standards of other laptops. And then there's the $400 price. Add in another $99 a year for an online subscription for downloading more recipes and videos, and you've got one expensive electronic cookbook. Still, amateur chefs with deep pockets will get a kick out of the Qooq.
Dragon Mobile Assistant, by Nuance Communications Inc.
Free app for Android phones available at Google Play online store.
Android smartphone owners have a bad case of Siri envy. Ever since Apple Inc. introduced its speech-activated digital assistant to the iPhone, owners of Android phones have longed for something similar. They've been getting some decent substitutes, too. Google Now, developed for newer Android devices, is quite good. And Nuance Communications, of Burlington, is also pitching in, with a free app that needs work but shows considerable promise.
Nuance is the leading maker of speech-recognition software, so its Dragon Mobile Assistant is based on years of experience. It does a decent job of understanding what you're asking. But it doesn't always provide the most satisfactory answers. For instance, while Siri and Google Now can often answer questions aloud, Dragon Mobile Assistant just looks up its answers and displays them on screen.
On the other hand, Dragon has a cool feature that displays multiple online sources of information, and these sources change, depending on the nature of the question.
Ask what is the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean, and you're directed to answers from Wikipedia, Google, and the statistical reference site WolframAlpha. Then again, you also get useless responses at sites like YouTube and Dictionary.com, so the app needs to be a little more selective.
Dragon Mobile Assistant also mimics one of Siri's better features: the ability to launch other apps on the phone. Just say "start maps," for instance, and up pops Google Maps.
None of the various speech-controlled assistants is completely satisfactory, but they keep getting better and more powerful. And with offerings like Dragon Mobile Assistant, Android phone users won't be left behind.
OT-Adapt Bluetooth adapter, by Outdoor Technology
$39.99 at amazon.com
When listening to music on your smartphone, it's not always easy to fiddle with touchscreen controls. If you'd rather work with old-fashioned push buttons, check out this little gadget from a California company.
The Adapt connects to the phone through a wireless Bluetooth signal. Just sync up to the phone, and plug a headphone into the Adapt. The device also supports microphones, so you can use it for phone calls as well as passive listening. You can also plug the Adapt into a home audio system as a handy way to feed music from the phone to your stereo.
The rugged little Adapt can be clipped to a pocket or a belt loop. It has a volume control and lets you click your way back and forth through your music tracks.
The Adapt isn't exactly a necessity. For most of us, plugging our headphones directly into the phone is quite good enough. But tinkering with touchscreens is no fun when you're jogging or cycling, The Adapt makes a handy accessory for those devoted to the strenuous life.Hiawatha Bray can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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UMass Amherst Hosts Workshop on the Acquisition of Quantification [1]
The Workshop on the Acquisition of Quantification was held at UMass Amherst, Oct. 4-5 2013.
The past two decades have produced detailed and wide-ranging investigations of quantification in child language, including important work on:
- "quantifier-spreading" phenomena (Roeper and DeVilliers 1993, Philip 1995, Crain et al. 1996, Drozd 2001, Drozd and Van Loosbroek 2006, Geurts 2003, Smits 2009)
- quantifier scope and quantifier raising (Lidz and Musolino 2002, Musolino and Lidz 2005, Syrett and Lidz 2010),
- distributivity and collectivity in universal quantification (Brooks and Braine 1996, Brooks and Sekerina 2006).
- scalar implicatures and quantificational issues at the semantic-pragmatics interface (Noveck 2001, Papafragou and Musolino 2003, Huang and Snedeker 2009b).
- the connection between quantification and early numerical cognition (Barner et al. 2009, Sullivan and Barner 2011, Brooks et al. 2011).
- knowledge of the syntax and semantics of quantification in L2 learners (DelliCarpini 2003, O'Grady 2006, Ionin et al. 2012).
The workshop's aim was to foster discussion and collaboration among researchers working on the acquisition of quantification, by bringing together work from a variety of languages, experimental paradigms, and theoretical perspectives.
Invited Speakers:
Martin Hackl (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Julien Musolino (Rutgers University)
William Philip (University of Utrecht)
Organizers: Jeremy Hartman, Magda Oiry, Tom Roeper
Source: linguistlist [2]


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New B&B in Mammoth
Sharon Harvey, past President of the Mammoth Lakes Women's Club, and her husband Dave, recently opened Mammoth's newest bed and breakfast, The Swiss Chalet Inn Bed & Breakfast.
The Mammoth Lakes Women's Club and the Harveys will host an open house and invite the public to tour the new establishment on Wednesday July 11, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 101 Hill Street, in Old Mammoth.
Mammoth Lakes Women's Club's monthly meeting will be held after the event starting at at 7 p.m.


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Make progress today...
You can make a whole lot of progress today. So let yourself do it.
You can be free of your doubts, your worries, and the limiting assumptions that have held you back. Decide to make progress, and act on your decision.
You can handle the challenges and find a way to address each problem. See yourself doing it, and then do what you see.
You can discard the excuses and put an end to your hesitation. Remind yourself of the great value in what you can do, and get busy doing it....
Read MORE


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LONDON — To their credit — though perhaps it's a basic tenet, reflecting the ego required to even climb into the starting blocks — none of the Canadians so far have said: "I'm just happy to be hanging out with these guys."
They have run hard, and made it to semifinals, and one or two have recorded personal bests. None of that, however, disguises the fact that there are two track meets going on this week at London's Olympic Stadium.
Especially, there are two sprint meets: the one featuring Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake and very few others, and the one everyone else watches from a distance, including the three Canadian 200-metre men who ran in the first round Tuesday morning.
Toronto's Aaron Brown, part of Canada's new wave, and Jared Connaughton, the 27-year-old national team veteran from Prince Edward Island, both survived the first test, advancing to the semifinals while running modest times of 20.55 and 20.72 seconds, respectively.
Another 20-year-old, Tremaine Harris of Toronto, didn't make it, despite running a 20.70, because he finished fifth in his heat. Connaughton, in a slower group, finished third in his.
But young or old, they are just part of the backup band this week.
The amazing Jamaicans, Bolt and Blake, gold and silver medallists in Sunday's marquee event of the 2012 Olympics, the 100 metres, followed the usual script Tuesday, not quite jogging but definitely not pushing it in running fifth and sixth among the 24 qualifiers for Wednesday night's semis.
Ecuador's Alex Quinonez (20.28), Jamaica's third man, Warren Weir (20.29), and France's Christian Lemaître (20.34) all qualified faster than Blake (20.38) and Bolt (20.39), but there are no medals for first-round times.
As for the Canadians, Brown equalled his best-ever time, Connaughton did not, and Harris was disappointed in his. But the gulf between them and the world's elite is wide, and at this point, Brown and Connaughton would have to run crazily faster than they have ever run before, just to make the final.
"It's going to be tough; it'll probably take 20.20 to make it, so it's a lot to ask for," Connaughton acknowledged. "But I'm in good shape. Hopefully, things pan out. I wish I had continued through the line and won [the heat], because it sets me up better for the next round. I did the same thing almost identically in Beijing, I shut it down and got nipped at the end.
"But getting through was the objective."
Brown, who's seen as a rising Canadian star, admitted he was blown away by the near-capacity crowd that has been at Olympic Stadium every day.
"Man, I've been at world youth, I've been at world juniors, I've been at Pan-Ams . . . nothing compares to this, you can put them all together you still won't get what you get here at the Olympics, it's something else," Brown said. "I wasn't prepared for that. It's crazy."
He looked as though he started to tie up coming out of the bend, but recovered with a strong final 50 metres to finish third in his heat by 1/100th of a second.
"I started to feel the lactic acid kicking in pretty good, maybe a little rust, but then I checked into my brain and I was like: no, this is the Olympic Games, can't shut it down now," he said.
"I was really nervous going out there. Next round, hopefully I can roll out quicker. It's later in the day, too, so that'll help — I'm not really a morning person."
For Harris, this one will have to be chalked up to experience.
"It's different than what I expected. I expected something more like TV, more hype, like," he said. "But it's a track meet. I think a lot of people tend to overthink it, and it's just a situation where you have to treat it like a normal meet and execute like you would every other day."


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Welcome to ITS Online
October 17, 2011
We have been hard at work the past few months developing a new look and updating content for the ITS Online site. It has been a joint effort between every part of our department as we've trimmed down, organized, and polished up our resources.
We hope that you enjoy the site as much as we have enjoyed putting it together. It's a work in progress, but we couldn't wait to share!


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ROCK FALLS – If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a Facebook page, his cover photo might show him standing before a sea of people at the Washington Monument.
If Malcolm X had a Facebook page, his friends might include Elijah Muhammad, Fidel Castro and Muhammad Ali.
And if Jesse Owens had a Facebook page, his status update in August 1936 might have read, "I won four gold medals in the Olympic games."
Sixth-graders at Rock Falls Middle School created mock Facebook pages for famous people in black history – one of several elements of their 3-week-long projects during Black History Month.
Social studies teacher Todd Sigel and language arts teacher Sharee O'Donnell collaborated to create a cross-curricular project that engaged students in not only history, but also research, writing and public speaking.
"We wanted to bring in more intense research, more essay-type writing," Sigel said.
"We really wanted to focus on research – taking knowledge and applying it," O'Donnell added.
The students worked in groups of two or three to research a famous person in black history, then create a mock Facebook page for the person that included many of the same elements as a real Facebook page:
• A cover photo and a profile picture
• An "about" section that detailed basic facts about the person, such as birthday, hometown, family, education and occupation
• A "friends" section that included several people to whom the person was connected (and a brief explanation of the connection)
• A photo album that included a few pictures of moments in the person's life (along with captions and tags of others who might be in the pictures)
• A timeline of 10 events, written in first-person, like real-life status updates
The students did not sign up for actual online Facebook accounts to create their pages; they simply cut out photos and text and arranged them on posterboards to resemble the layout of real Facebook pages.
The students responded well to the project because of its tie to the ubiquitous Facebook – even among middle-schoolers, who technically are too young to use it, the teachers said.
O'Donnell said the students embraced the research portion of the project and internalized the information.
"They worked so well collecting the information, translating it into first-person and getting it ready for the Facebook page, that by the time it came time to write the paper, it was easy for them," she said.
Several students spoke somewhat off-the-cuff during their presentations Thursday and Friday. It was clear they knew their stuff.
The project has been successful and likely could be applied to other lessons beyond black history, the teachers said.
Sigel said he might use it for a unit on women in history.
"We just need to tweak it – pare it down a bit," so students don't spend too much time researching only to use a small portion of the information they collected on the subject, he said.