text:
The Tigers have been like an old rock and roll song early this season.
They have necessarily gotten what they want, but they�ve received what they need.
Their 7-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians Thursday at Comerica Park was a microcosm of the beginning portion of their 2014 season.
The Tigers made two costly errors, by starting pitcher Justin Verlander and rookie third baseman Nick Castellanos, which led to three unearned by the Indians.
Left-handers Ian Krol and Phil Coke were not effective working out of the bullpen. Early in the game, the Tigers� right-handed heavy lineup (seven righty hitters) seemed overmatched by hard-throwing Indians� starting pitcher Danny Salazar, a righty.
Conversely, Verlander, a right-hander, labored against Cleveland�s most left-handed hitting batting order (eight of nine hitters swinging from the left side).
Yet, against conventional wisdom, the Tigers won the game anyway.
It has to do with premier players being, well, premier players.
Second baseman Ian Kinsler hit a clutch 3-run homer. Victor Martinez had a big hit to keep a rally going after the Tigers fell behind. Miguel Cabrera swung the bat much better than he had been lately. Austin Jackson produced a couple RBI.
Combined, those four players are being paid $56 million by the Tigers this year.
Kinsler came to the Tigers with a chip on his shoulder. His Sabermetric number WAR (wins above replacement) in 2013 with the Texas Rangers was a surprisingly good 5.2, making him one of the American League�s better players, according to baseball�s version of new math.
But his percentage of successful stolen base attempts declined. He hit 31 and 32 home runs in single seasons not long ago, but just 13 last season. There was some talk, despite �metrics� suggesting otherwise, he was losing some of his range in the field.
Despite a long-term deal that pays him $16 million this season, Kinsler has played like he is determined to prove any detractors wrong. He popped his second home run of the season over the left field wall Thursday. It was a huge hit. The game and the series against a division rival were not going well for the Tigers at the time. He added another RBI.
Kinsler was the great elixir for the Tigers Thursday.
He is a big-money player, who performs as if he is playing for his next meal.
�The thing that his teammates, and certainly the coaching staff, likes about him is his grittiness,� Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said of Kinsler. �Yes, he has the ability to hit a home run. Yes, he can steal a base and play second base. But, man, he sticks his nose in the dirt. He is just a baseball rat. It�s like you took him off the sandlot and threw him into a big league game.�
Ausmus came under fire for an ill-advised decision to have Torii Hunter bunt in Wednesday�s 3-2 loss to the Indians.
He�s made a few curious decisions, but if Ausmus or his is panicking, there are no outward signs.
Nor should there be. The Tigers are 7-5 and in first place in the American League Central.
Ausmus understands the intense nature of Tigers� fans.
�Part of being a fan is dangling with every pitch and not knowing what is happening next,� Ausmus said. �You�re going to be upset when your player doesn�t get a hit or the manager made a decision that doesn�t work.
�We can�t pick up a pack of seeds and fire them across the dugout every time something goes wrong.�
Especially when not much, really, is.


text:
I'm sorry, can you repeat that, I lost my train of thought. My crackberry just buzzed and I had to read an important email. By the way, tomorrow's department lunch is canceled.
As soon as I finish checking Techmeme and Twitter.
Agreed, I find that... SQUIRREL!
It was too long to read.
Read the article? Who are you kidding?
Also I think that... wait what? Hold on, I'll be right back
And what proof do you have to back up the last claim? Show me a car that can win the Indy 500 and is the most fuel efficient of all cars. Your statement is just words without testing it to prove it is valid.
By fuel efficient, do you mean in distance driven per fuel burned or power produced per fuel burned?
For those too lazy to read the parent's links: anecdotes, personal experience, a priori reasoning, and asking for experiments. In the actual article, you'll find references to actual scientific studies on the subject already done. One of the cool things about science is that it often comes across counter-intuitive results, as seems to have been the case here; maybe you're having trouble accepting their conclusions, or you didn't notice, or you have other evidence (real, this time) you'd care to share with us. The article states that most people aren't good at multi-tasking, only 3% are considered "super-taskers". Maybe you're one of them. Congratulations. But just because that doesn't jive with your personal experience doesn't justify responding to a call for evidence with:
a) poor-form arguments (it's also poor form to spew opinions without backup in the first place [woah, citation needed!]), and
b) anecdotal evidence as if it were the evidence being requested
There's a difference between anecdotes used to explain or make more personal a point already made more fully in a study, and using them as examples of your own a priori reasoning. Journalists have to find a way to make otherwise dry material more palatable, by "bringing it home" to the readers. So yes, the article does use one long-running anecdote for structure, but it's not the true source material. Note that I'm not saying you're wrong -- but at this point, the opposition has provided more evidence than
The problem is that no one can actually focus on more than one thing at a time. In fact, that's pretty much exactly what "focus" means: to pay attention to only one thing. People who are good multi-taskers are merely better at switching focus from one thing to another. The premise of the article is that as you increase your ability in switching focus quickly between many things, you lose your ability to maintain focus on one thing.
While it may be debatable whether or not that's good or bad, I tend to agree
The original article, which seems to be somewhat based on scientific studies, suggests that our new technological "multitasking" is rewiring our brains to always give priority to newer incoming information.
Mr. Nass says the Stanford studies are important because they show multitasking's lingering effects: "The scary part for guys like Kord is, they can't shut off their multitasking tendencies when they're not multitasking."
In most of your examples, you are not engaging in the sort of "multitasking" being described. For example, you talk about setting up different desktops for different tasks, and ignoring anything going on with other desktops. You focus entirely on the task you're working on. That's not multitasking.
Show me a car that can win the Indy 500 and is the most fuel efficient of all cars.
While your analogy is silly I'll point you to the Consulier GTP was getting 21/27 mpg in the 1990 version and was banned from most if not all racing circuits it was in because it always won. Not being "pretty" enough was it's downfall.
http://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/consulier-gtp.html [allpar.com]
http://fueleconomydb.com/specs/1990/CONSULIER/CONSULIER%2520GTP [fueleconomydb.com]
There is no false dichotomy that you can only be good at one or the other, and neither one comes naturally
But there is research suggesting that you can't be good at multitasking, or rather very few people actually are. Link [psychologytoday.com]. Even though talking on the phone and driving isn't necessarily what this article is talking about, I think it does fall into your classification of "boring things".
It would be interesting to see some research actually showing whether you can improve your multitasking skills.
Right the brain is fairly plastic and certainly can and does orient itself around certain work loads. It even at least while we are fairly young seems able to reorient iteself. IE if you change jobs from something high interrupt to something more focus oriented after a few months you can adapt. I went from Network Admin to programming for instance and than back.
Each of those transitions tooks some some. In my personal experience I do not think my brain could arrange itself into a form that would be good
Good at multitasking...very few people actually are.
I don't believe this 2.5% of so-called supertaskers are in any way better at doing multiple things at once. Everyone knows it's possible to multitask, so long as each task isn't too demanding, but that's not the issue. We can drive and talk at the same time after practice, but not so much when just learning to drive. The same is going to be true of people who are extremely socially skilled and confident and talking on the phone to a friend: it's easier
But that study wasn't done with people who were just learning to drive, so I think your point has a little less weight. I think this bit from the article I linked is an apt response:
Researchers Jason Watson and David L. Strayer go on to say that "inattention blindness associated with cell phone conversations makes drivers unaware of their own driving impairments." That's research-speak for "Hey, I am not even aware of my unawareness while gabbing with my pals. I am special. I can do this!"
Brains have a limited amount of "attention" resource to focus on problems, just like computers have a limited amount of CPU time to give to processes. Multi-tasking on the brain is similar to multi-tasking on a CPU. You can do it, but it does impair efficiency. The more frequently you switch tasks, the more switching overhead you incur. Perhaps you can improve your task-switching speed to minimize overhead.
The process of learning to drive is a bit different (I think) than normal multi-tasking demands.
Another example would be driving, when you first start driving, there is so much to do, it is hard to focus on it all. But soon you can switch easily between looking at the speedometer, checking your mirrors, looking in front, checking the temperature gauge, etc. It isn't so much that you are focusing on multiple things at once so much as you've gotten good at switching between them all, and can do them all without any trouble.
While I agree with what you say, I don't believe that it is the whole story with new drivers, or even the biggest piece of a multi-piece problem. Bigger than efficient task switching is that experienced drivers DON'T focus on many of the tasks you point out. Frequently they ignore some tasks that new drivers are told to focus on, and often the ones they don't ignore, they only watch for a change that would call greater attention. I can honestly say that I haven't looked at my temperature gauge more than
In a test created by Mr. Ophir and his colleagues, subjects at a computer were briefly shown an image of red rectangles. Then they saw a similar image and were asked whether any of the rectangles had moved. It was a simple task until the addition of a twist: blue rectangles were added, and the subjects were told to ignore them. (Play a game testing how well you filter out distractions.)
The multitaskers then did a significantly worse job than the non-multitaskers at recognizing whether red rectangles had changed position. In other words, they had trouble filtering out the blue ones — the irrelevant information.
This study is more interesting as an example of selection bias than it is about anything around "tasking". The scenario measures the impact of distraction, which is well known to have a deficit on focus. This is a non-finding, at least as described in the article.
My challenge would be summarized as: How well did the people who had only red rectangles do at noticing movement in the blue ones?
Multi-tasking generally happens because we have the capacity to handle it. The example I quoted demonstrates
If you want to be good at over-simplistic thinking, practice over-simplistic thinking.
I say, let them wait. If it's important they can leave a message - although there's nothing that a normal person can tell us that can't bear being delayed for an hour or two. If they are prepared to do some work themselves, they can TEXT you, instead.
We've conditioned ourselves to stop doing almost everything in order to answer a phonecall. Even if we have no idea who's calling, we are prepared to interrupt most activities and (unforgivably) most people in order to speak to a little voice who almost certainly only called because they want something.
I say, let them wait. If it's important they can leave a message - although there's nothing that a normal person can tell us that can't bear being delayed for an hour or two. If they are prepared to do some work themselves, they can TEXT you, instead.
The problem isn't the technology itself, it is our reaction to it.
We've built some kind of always-on, instant gratification communication system. Folks expect to be able to instantly communicate with basically anyone about basically anything at basically any time.
I get bombarded all day long with phone calls, instant messages, emails, whatever. Many of these are just useless status updates or questions that they could have answered themselves with about 30 seconds of thought... But the impulse is to reach out and touch someone.
And my impulse is to stop whatever I'm doing and respond to the phone call/text message/IM/email/whatever.
It is horribly distracting, but I can't really blame anyone but myself.
I have no cable, leave my landline unplugged (to stop annoying solicitors)
Don't you have call barristering?
The nice thing about cell phones (or at least a subset of them) is that you can silence them without having to answer them. Doing that for a land line doesn't work very well but with most cellphones these days you can check to see who's calling, make a decision and silence it and call back later when it's convenient for you. Removes so much stress.
"We've conditioned ourselves to stop doing almost everything in order to answer a phonecall. "
In the immortal words of Tonto when surrounded by hostile warriors: "Who's "we", Kemosabe?"
I direct all practical commo to EMAIL because I DEMAND non-synchronous communication with a trail. I DEMAND the time to reply with a composed response, and I will have that. (I'm polite, use passive resistance where expedient, but generally "either use email or fuck off".) I don't care to text, I'm away from the landline, and
We've conditioned ourselves to stop doing almost everything in order to answer a phonecall.
The PolygamousRanchMother forbid the PolygamousRanchSiblings and myself from answering the phone during dinner. Her comment was, "if it's important, they'll call back."
Today, I appreciate that training. Especially when I am having a one-on-one with somebody, and the phone rings, and the person jumps as if startled, and that life on our planet will cease to exist if he or she does not answer the phone.
The coolest execs or distinguished engineers that I have met, just take a quick glance at the phone to s
The coolest execs or distinguished engineers that I have met, just take a quick glance at the phone to see who is calling
That requires an extra $100 per year service from the phone company. Execs can afford it; others not necessarily.
some people are. I gladly let the phone ring, or if I am busy I reach over and click silence. I "trained" myself that the phone is my tool and it will do my bidding. not the other way around.
I find it odd how many love to enslave themselves to an object.
I say, let them wait. If it's important they can leave a message - although there's nothing that a normal person can tell us that can't bear being delayed for an hour or two.
Can "I need a ride home" bear being delayed for an hour or two? That's really almost all I use my cell phone for anyway, which is why I'm on Virgin Mobile's $7 per month plan.
If they are prepared to do some work themselves, they can TEXT you, instead.
Three issues:
Yup. Even at work (remote tech support), I've gone from trying to answer every call and work as many problems at once to only working a couple active issues at a time and letting VM catch things.
I've also turned off all audible alarms for email, IM, etc.
For outside of work, I find doing anything with my hands (wood work, drawing, music) really helps stress relief and getting my concentration back.
This is why I pass all calls through to voicemail unless the call is by appointment. People abuse the phone to ask me simple questions where an email would have done it in a fraction of the time. If you want to call and chat for an hour that's still doable, but my phone no longer generates interrupts.
I was convinced I couldn't concentrate thanks to Toxoplasmosis [economist.com]... But I guess if I managed to get through an entire Economist article, I can't be doing *too* bad. Maybe it's just hypochondria?
"This is your brain on computers". It brought back memories of a funny poster they used to have:
This is your brain.
This is your brain on drugs.
This is your brain on drugs with a side of bacon.
My favourite paragraph:
In high school, he balanced computers, basketball and a romance with Brenda, a cheerleader with a gorgeous singing voice. He studied too, with focus, uninterrupted by e-mail. "I did my homework because I needed to get it done," he said. "I didn't have anything else to do."
Huh? Poor show, Brenda!
Apparently the average persons attention span is
Addiction [xkcd.com]
I used to be a good programmer until I got into management. The flood of information, calls, and e-mails that came in seriously did a number on my brain. It felt like it was being remapped.
I've gotten out of that field, but I still feel the effects from it. Now I've taken to learning Russian. I think I enjoy it because of the concentration required.
Russian is better than management!
managers learn to use software tools to prioritize. Outlook calendar, tasks, MS Project and the others. this is about the ADHD people that think they are the borg, but they are not. and making things worse for themselves. it's like a small family business i recently dealt with. one guy they hired was very overworked and they needed another person. but they probably don't want to hire someone because they think it's money out of their pocket instead of growing the business. so i gave my business to someone t
i carry a blackberry and an iphone and think tech is great, but some of these people that are trying to do 5 things at once look like ADHD or OCD cases that can't do one thing right. they get halfway done with something until the next email or IM comes in and it's off to the next thing.
i don't even have the corporate IM client installed because i think it's annoying. worst thing is to be constantly interrupted while writing SQL code or reading an interesting article by someone asking about something not important that can easily be done over email. where i'll read it when i have the chance. i already have all kinds of alerts set up for a real emergency that needs to be looked at right away. the worst people are those that want to call on the phone about things that can be done over email and need to have a written record of communication
it still amazes me that we're in a software dev reboot where our most used OS's and software are going from multi-gigabyte sizes to less than 1GB on mobile devices. and yet it's still full of bugs. sometimes worse than the bloat of desktop software. this may be a reason why. people don't concentrate and are always jumping from one thing to the next.
In related news:
Research Suggests Brain Has a 2-Task Limit for Multitasking [slashdot.org]
"The brain is set up to manage two tasks, but not more, a new study suggests. That's because, when faced with two tasks, a part of the brain known as the medial prefrontal cortex (MFC) divides so that half of the region focuses on one task and the other half on the other task. This division of labor allows a person to keep track of two tasks pretty readily, but if you throw in a third, things get a bit muddled. 'What really the results show is that we can readily divide tasking. We can cook, and at the same time talk on the phone, and switch back and forth between these two activities,' said study researcher Etienne Koechlin of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France. 'However, we cannot multitask with more than two tasks.'"
Replying to self:
Ah, so that's what "MFC" stands for.
And given that it divides half and half, it explains why programs written with it would not support more than two simultaneous threads.
I used to work a job that require me to be on-call 24/7 and I was tethered by these kinds of gadgets... I kind of burnt out and took a job not requiring on-call at all and I also ditched a smartphone altogether. I use a plain Samsung phone and I have an iPod Touch. That's it now. I'm far happier even though I'm less "connected" and it isn't just because of the job change.
Life is essentially one big distraction these days and no one knows how to just enjoy what it happening. People have to contantly be tweeting or on Facebook or snapping pics and talking about the concert/meal/vacation/whatever *while* it is happening. They barely actually enjoy the event because it is instead spent telling everyone else about it. This is going to have a terrible impact long-term and already is. People are more easily frustrated and distracted and have lost the ability to just singularly enjoy something. It's a shame.
They barely actually enjoy the event because it is instead spent telling everyone else about it. This is going to have a terrible impact long-term and already is.
How long have cameras been widely available to the public? There have been people with that character fault for at least a century and we're still mostly OK.
Your kid is playing soccer and you're watching instead of fiddling with your camera? Hell yeah I'm enjoying the game.
We're at (insert scenic outlook/cultural event) and you're looking instead of fiddling with your camera? Hell yeah I'm enjoying the view.
Despite the VERY LOUD claims by the smartphone'd / camera'd folks whom think their lifestyle is th
I understand where you are coming from since we are in the same boat... and if you only hang with similarly-minded folks it would seem that we are all "mostly" OK... but that isn't the case. I worked for some time at a private university and when you actually spend time with and in close proximity to the youth you realize it is not "OK" it isn't a minority, it is an overwhelming majority. Easily 75-80%.
Well, I hate to respond with the weirdest ever combination of Social Darwinism, AA theory, and Buddhism, but either:
1) It's working for them, in which case that's nice for them, and nice for me as long as they stop trying to recruit me into their bizarre worldview.
2) Or life isn't working for them, its all eternally reoccurring suffering and slow death by their own bad choices, in which case you have to have faith they'll admit they have a problem, then find their way thru it, perhaps with our help, in orde
See Future Shock [wikipedia.org] by Alvin Toffler:
Toffler argues that society is undergoing an enormous structural change, a revolution from an industrial society to a "super-industrial society". This change will overwhelm people, the accelerated rate of technological and social change leaving them disconnected and suffering from "shattering stress and disorientation" – future shocked. Toffler stated that the majority of social problems were symptoms of the future shock. In his discussion of the components of such shock, he also coined the term information overload.
Published in 1970 -- based on a 1965 article -- and still timely today.
Published in 1970 -- based on a 1965 article -- and still timely today.
Toffler is pretty much obsolete. He never really understood the shifts the labor market.
Toffler's theory was the middle class would become rich by taking lower-upper class type jobs and educations, leading to the stress of how to spend all that money on things they don't really culturally understand. Kind of like watching folks flail around randomly during the housing bubble run-up when they suddenly got more money than they could handle, but on a larger scale. You could summarize his book to an analysis
I agree with your assessment that Toffler got it wrong when forecasting shifts in labor.
But I believe he was right about "information overload" -- too much, too fast -- and the accelerating rate of technological and social change.
Toffler's theory was the middle class would become rich by taking lower-upper class type jobs and educations, leading to the stress of how to spend all that money on things they don't really culturally understand.
The way it turned out, is the jobs disappeared. Everyone but the extremely rich is poorer. Rather than stressing about which ipod to buy...
Poorer, but buying iPods? Future Shock was writing in a period where something like a portable music player was a pipe dream. Now everyone has one. We all also have cell phones, dvd and blueray players.. We can feed ourselves for a month on one to two days of salary.
We are poor in the sense that you are a jealous ass that doesnt know how well off you are.
The reality is that you are also wrong because your criticism is two decades late. He wasn't writing about now.. Future Shock is about what eventually
We are poor in the sense that you are a jealous ass that doesnt know how well off you are.
Oh, I'm well aware indeed. The lifestyle you describe is for us few remaining middle class folks.
Now everyone has one.
We can feed ourselves for a month on one to two days of salary.
Technology is now hyper-disposable because we are insanely rich. Period. You are rich.
Yes, us rich extremely highly technically trained slashdotters. Joe 6 pack at the median income? No freaking way. Yes I personally am kind of rich, not quite up to the "no longer need to work" level or "buy my own tropical island" level, and I get the feeling you're vaguely near my situation, but everyone is by no means at that point. At the national median income level, your preposterous assumption that on
And those of us who are perfectionists beat ourselves up for not being able to "handle" it all.
Bookmarks and lesser to-do lists, unfinished projects or "projects I should really do sometime" become a guilty burden. When we have the expectation that we're supposed to do everything and follow every lead, we feel like failures when we don't.
I'm very familiar with the phenomenon you're describing.
I call it "Fatal Utopianism" -- the overwhelming, irrational, and unrealistic desire to make Everything Perfect.
I'll bet this accounts for something like 75% of all late software deliverables. (Doesn't it just bug the hell out of you that the variable named "column3" doesn't really refer to a column, but rather to a pull quote? Okay okay, the usage is consistent, the program works perfectly, no one but me will ever see the variable name
..."There is no doubt that technology which is only marginally related influences behavior. We've always had a more or less informal delineation of clubs into "hunting club", "fighting club" and "hit woman over head to catch her club". If one morning we happened to grab the wrong club, what would come of it other than some good natured ribbing from our fellows? But now, with the advent of painting the cave walls with streaks of dye and colored rock powders, creating images of incidents from everyday cave li
The two main studies highlighted in the article both suffer from a sort of self-selection bias: the people in the "heavy-multitasking" group(s) are there because of a chosen lifestyle. Perhaps the reason they multitask so much in everyday life is *because* they can't filter out information as well as the average person?
They can't help but be constantly distracted, so they suffer the downsides of multitasking whether they use technology or not. Deliberate multitasking might actually represent a coping mechanism for them, saturating their awareness with tasks and information sources that are at least somewhat productive, thus leaving no room for truly random distractions. Or perhaps priding themselves on their "multitasking skills" is just a way to paper over their inherent weakness and re-frame it as a positive attribute?
Welcom to the world of ADHD.
We either see it all, or only see the one, and most often we have no control over which.
This article is immensely helpful (print link with pop-up):
No time to read this? Read this. [wsj.com]
Of the three techniques mentioned, the "Pomodoro Technique" works best for me:
I start each day by making a log of things to do, then tackle each in 25-minute intervals called Pomodoros. When a Pomodoro is over, I mark an X on the log next to the item I am working on, then take a refreshing 3- to 5-minute break. Nothing must be allowed to interrupt a Pomodoro. If co-workers barge in, Mr. Cirillo advises trying to defer the conversation.
The method is based on the idea that time-management tools and techniques should be simple
But the reality is that all aspects of time management are not simple, and any plan you make at the beginning of the day will change dramatically by the time you leave the office. Like he mentioned in the paragraph you quoted, if a co-worker barges in, your entire plan is ruined. You have to spend a few minutes rescheduling with the co-worker and then get back into your work... all before the 25min timer goes "ding." What if your boss drops a very important, time-sensitive task in your lap?
500 bucks for an iPad? Now that price really is mental!
Caller ID + voice mail means I can choose which calls to take at any time.
Cell phone profiles mean I can also choose which types of communication actually alert me and which ones are silent until I decide to check my phone.
Not having a Crackberry means that I check e-mail at a time of my choosing.
The "Later" button on my cell phone means that I can postpone reading that text until I have the time and/or inclination to do so.
Not having a smart phone means that I can be away from the internet and all that it distracts.
Not being logged onto a chat program means that I again have control over how people contact me.
It seems a lot of the problems being described are self-inflicted by our fascination with technology and being connected. It's a conscious decision to disconnect at my convenience and then to stick with it. Being 'always on' is the default state for so many people that they have no concept of not immediately picking up a call, answering a text, seeing an e-mail or doing any of the other things that distract from the task at hand. Multi-tasking is not easy nor do you get the same results as when you're concentrating on a single task unless it's all fluff.
Not having a Crackberry means that I check e-mail at a time of my choosing.
And a Blackberry doesn't allow you to check your mail when you choose? Sorry, but I see a small problem with those who claim that completely ridding themselves of technology is needed in order to not be consumed by it. A little personal discipline isn't hard to achieve.
I used to be all about the tech, but as I age I'm finding not only that I can't keep up, but that I don't want to keep up.
Discussions like this remind me of a documentary I saw once about the building of the Erie Canal. It was reported that people along the route hated it when it first opened because it made their lives "too hectic." Barges along the canal averaged at a blistering 3 mph.
FTFA, IMHO, the guy clearly has an addiction to the internet. He just needs to find a balance between his digital life and his real life. I find slinging code, programming AVR microcontrollers, hacking around in Linux, ect. ect. ect. on top of being a UNIX/Linux sysadmin for a living to be quite the wet dream, but it doesn't consume my life. Who wouldn't overwhelmed with hundreds of e-mails in their inbox on a daily basis? I know I am when I'm gone even a long weekend at work. The problem is technologies like text messages, e-mail and instant messaging get abused and often, more times than none, used for the completely wrong situations. What could be solved in a simple hall way conversation gets exacerbated in some bloated, word-smithed e-mail or instant message. Everyone does it for CYA, I get it. They think our brains are going to be re-wired is a big problem? Look at how real, human social interaction has tappered off the face of the earth. Kids next to eachother text one another in the mall. People refuse to pick up a phone and talk to someone because they want their Facebook profile to tell them all the information without any contact.
I mean, anyone wanting to buy my xyz-online company better have met me in person and at least take me out for dinner to discuss the proposal or I'd pass it off as another Nigerian e-mail scam.
Sounds so very similar to ADHD. Only those of us with ADHD aren't just distracted by gadgets, we're potentially distracted by everything. Hell I get distracted by the array of spices in my cupboard (when I'm supposed to be preparing dinner, to the frustration of my wife)
I took their tests and scored perfectly in the first one and better than average in the second.
I'm a heavy multitasker.
Wait. What?
"I will make no bargains with terrorist hardware." -- Peter da Silva

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
* With the issue now resolved, our final word on last week's radio controversy
* Proving we're back to that same ol' blog you know and love, we give you the results of the latest M Zone BCS Clash
As always, thanks for reading.
23 comments:
Good morning whiny little bitches. What crazy spin on sports and complaining do you have in store for us today?
- March 28, 2006 12:12 PM
At least the first post wasn't an LSU whiner. Maybe "Steve" is sleeping.
- March 28, 2006 1:15 PM
- Wangs said...
wds4usc - "Maybe "Steve" is sleeping."
Or maybe he accidently shot himself when he was huntin' opossum's last night.
- March 28, 2006 1:22 PM
- Wangs said...
annonymous 9:12 -
And a good morning it is.
Did you notice that hot chicks read this site?
Who's complaining? We're celebratin' good times. Wooo hooo.
- March 28, 2006 1:25 PM
Congrats on the blog recognition--well deserved. Good luck in the NIT! Remember: Only two schools will end up with a basketball winning streak and you might as well be one of them.
- March 28, 2006 1:27 PM
- Wangs said...
Thanks. We guess.
Interestingly, Michigan has an 8 game post-season winning streak since we won the NIT two years and, um, didn't qualify last year.
Sadly, this post-season "success" will enable Billy "Boat" Martin to relax aboard his yacht this summer and not find us a new basketball coach who could get us into the real Dance.
The NIT "it's better than nothin'". Barely.
- March 28, 2006 1:31 PM
- BaggyPantsDevil said...
I doubt "Steve" shot himself hunting oppossums since I don't think his type of "hunting" involes firearms. I think he just uses a shovel to scrape them up off the side of the road.
- March 28, 2006 1:45 PM
I agree with you although I wish we would have had the chance to play a little bit more. You know what they say: "The NIT is a springboard into next year" although if not handled right it could be a springboard into oblivion! By the way, great softball team. My eleven-year-old who is a pretty good player likes Michigan (no team at SC and Michigan beat UCLA).
- March 28, 2006 1:52 PM
- Wangs said...
"I think [Steve from LSooser] just uses a shovel to scrape [opposums] up off the side of the road."
You're right Baggy Pants. Do you think maybe he got hit by his cousin's Ford F150 then?
"The NIT is a springboard into next year" Yes, it is. Of course, the pool is empty.
WDS4USC - your daughter is awesome. Go Blue.
- March 28, 2006 2:00 PM
- BaggyPantsDevil said...
Wangs, you're so right. And the best part is, his cousin probably scooped him up with his shovel, took him back to the trailer, and ate him without even noticing the difference.
- March 28, 2006 2:03 PM
damn, where is all this louisiana hate coming from? Some flamer jump starts the message board to get a rise out of you guys and you immediately turn it into an anti Louisiana/LSU board. You know you can't group the majority of us in with that Steve guy. Come on MZone. Say it with me......decaf.
BTW, we only eat possom down here when it's in season. We'll be happy to overnight that little delicacy to ya'll. Should we deliver it straight to your mother's basement?
- March 28, 2006 2:19 PM
yeah wds, what happened to "buying the beer" to squash this ridiculous LSU/SC feud?
- March 28, 2006 2:27 PM
- Wangs said...
Annon 11:19 -
It's not Louisiana hate. Just Steve LSooser hate. His whining about winning the coach/assistant ad/intern poll but not the idiot sportswriter poll was tiresome and poisoned my view of LSooser. So sorry. But what's done is done.
I have no ill feelings about the state. I'm sure it's nice and the people are nice and Steve is not indicative of the quality of folk who live there.
But it is curious that he's not whinning today. Something must've happened. Feel free to let us know what you think.
P.S. No need to send the possum dish. We already eat muskrats in Michigan. Well, not me, but I've heard about it.
- March 28, 2006 2:42 PM
Same here! No animosity--we just want "Steve" to get help. As I promised, if I ever get to LA or you come to L.A. the beer's on me. And re John David Booty: Back spasms and he's been out of practice for a bit. Looks like a possible disc but they're not sure yet. Certainly not fair as he's a good kid and doesn't deserve this.
- March 28, 2006 2:47 PM
damn that's horrible for booty. We really pulled for his brothers at LSU, although it's obvious he's the most talented of the three. You guys have Sanchez though, so it's not a huge step back for ya'll, although it's horrible for JDB. Is the 3rd string guy any good?
And no wangs, we don't claim steve. In fact, we're hoping that he chokes on a large piece of 'possom. But you could send down some of that muskrat as I've never partaken.
- March 28, 2006 2:54 PM
Sanchez is good but Booty has had most of the reps until now. Our third-string is Paul McDonald's son, a former walk-on who has one pass in his career (a touchdown no less). My understanding is that John David had the disc problem back in high school although they're not sure if it's the same one. He had an epidural and we'll have to wait and see.
- March 28, 2006 3:01 PM
- WIL 66 said...
aww...come on guys..you can't really be from Louisiana if one of your favorite dishes is 'possum....everybody knows that nutria are the best. if you don't know what it is, think of the biggest rat ever in NYC and multiply it by 3.
- March 28, 2006 3:02 PM
- Wangs said...
"But you could send down some of that muskrat as I've never partaken."
Lesismore - this is exactly the kind of comment that freaks me out and drives me back into my ignorant simplastic view of Southerners. Muskrat are nasty little rodents. Basically 'possum that swim. While it is true that some folks in the Downrivers (south of Detroit) eat them, I DON'T! And I'm a little creaped out that you (a) want me to touch one to package it for you and (b) that you would put it in your mouth. But, I'm sure you're nice and Louisiana is nice so, I won't let what you eat change my opinion of you. Much.
- March 28, 2006 3:02 PM
- BaggyPantsDevil said...
Anon 11:19
No hate for Louisiana or LSU from me either. I've been there and enjoyed myself and the food is OMG delicious. The people are some of the friendliest and funnest anywhere. "Steve" is just long overdue in taking his meds and I completely understand that he in no way represents either ther school or the state.
- March 28, 2006 3:05 PM
Ha! Wangs, it's called sarcasm. Just a little humor in making fun of ourselves based on stereotypes. No, we don't eat possom. Try South Georgians for that. And I wasn't too sure what muskrat is although I really don't want to try it. However, in all seriousness, I have had alligator and it is extremely tasty. Think a tougher chicken and that's the taste.
- March 28, 2006 4:15 PM
BPD, come on down again whenever you can for a tailgate. Whether we're sober enough to make it to the game itself is another story.
- March 28, 2006 4:17 PM
- Wangs said...
WHEW! I was just starting to like you and re-like LSU and then you said you eat 'possums and wanted to try muskrat.
And frankly, I think Louisiana is different from the rest of the South - Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina. So, I'm glad to know that it is the South Georgians who eat rodents and not the Louisianians.
I assume, of course, that you 'rassled the gator first.
- March 28, 2006 4:20 PM
- BaggyPantsDevil said...
Being "sober enough" is highly overrated. Thanks for the invite, too.
- March 28, 2006 4:56 PM


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Submission + - Wayland 1.5 Released (phoronix.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Wayland 1.5 along with Weston Compositor 1.5 has been released. Wayland/Weston 1.5 carry many new user features with a new libinput back-end, XWayland support, a full-screen shell, and many other changes. This release is particularly important as Fedora 21 will run on GNOME Wayland and X.Org Server 1.16 will be released this summer with integrated XWayland support.


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AFTER becoming the first Australian to sign Bill Gates' "giving pledge" to donate half his wealth to charity, Andrew Forrest hit another milestone this week when Fortescue Metals appointed the first woman to its board since it listed in 2005.
Until the appointment, Fortescue was the only company in the ASX top 50 that had no female representation on its board.
It comes as companies have been trying to increase the number of women on boards following the introduction of ASX Corporate Governance Council diversity requirements on January 1, 2011, which requires listed companies to post in their annual reports the proportion of women on their boards, in senior management and throughout the organisation.
Mr Forrest said on Friday the board did not feel under pressure to appoint a woman to the board.
"We were specific in our instructions to a global search firm that we didn't want to be introduced to household names but wanted them to find some up-and-comers showing enormous talent and entrepreneurial flair," he said.
The board finally decided to appoint Elizabeth Gaines, who has a background in accounting. Mr Forrest said before her appointment she was invited to attend a board meeting as an observer. "I can say that we had a short list of some other very impressive names but Elizabeth attended the board meeting, and when she spoke the board listened to her intently because of her experience," he said.
Fortescue also appointed the highly regarded former managing director of Worley Parsons, Peter Meurs, as an executive director. Meurs is at present a director of development at Fortescue. The two appointments have been made to beef up the board as the company ramps up iron ore production to 155 million tonnes a year at its Solomon Mines operation.
Mr Forrest was quick to say that Ms Gaines's appointment was based on merit. "I don't believe appointments should be tokenistic. We have to be careful about doing that," he said. "I would like to have more women on boards, but it shouldn't be based on gender but merit."
It comes as the debate over quotas continues. Earlier this month a Sydney investment banker and company director, Peter Hunt, was reported as calling for the Corporations Act to introduce a board quota of 25 per cent of women.
"This is the elephant in the room - we are seeing incremental change when we need a paradigm shift," Mr Hunt reportedly said.
Since the ASX introduced diversity requirements the number of women on the ASX200 boards has risen from 8.2 per cent to more than 15.4 per cent.
However, an estimated 51 companies in the ASX 200 - a quarter of Australia's top 200 listed companies - still have no women on the boards.
Fortescue finally gets around to appointing a woman to its board
AFTER becoming the first Australian to sign Bill Gates' "giving pledge" to donate half his wealth to charity, Andrew Forrest hit another milestone this week when Fortescue Metals appointed the first woman to its board since it listed in 2005.
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DURHAM, N.C. – Duke center Matt Skura was named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List as one of the top centers in the nation entering the 2014 season, the Rimington Trophy Committee announced Monday.
Skura, a 6-4, 290-pound redshirt junior, started all 14 games for Duke in 2013 and helped the Blue Devils to a program-record 10 wins, the ACC Coastal Division crown and berths to the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game and the Chick-fil-A Bowl. With Skura directing the offensive front, Duke rushed for 178.0 yards per game and threw for 248.1 passing yards per game, both of which were among the top five averages in the ACC. Duke's offense totaled a school-record 54 touchdowns and scored at least 28 points in 11 games.
Skura is one of three returning starters on Duke's offensive line for 2014 and one of eight returning offensive starters. Included in that group are All-ACC wide receiver Jamison Crowder, All-ACC tight end Braxton Deaver and All-ACC offensive guard Laken Tomlinson.
Duke opens the 2014 season on Aug. 30 against Elon in Wallace Wade Stadium. Tickets are available at www.GoDuke.com/tickets or by calling (919) 681-BLUE.
About the Rimington Trophy
The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in NCAA Division I-A College Football. Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised over $2.5 million for the cystic fibrosis community. The fourteen-year old award is overseen by the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis and has raised over $100 million for CF Research.
Dave Rimington, the award's namesake, was a consensus first-team All-America center at the University of Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy's only double winner as the nation's finest college interior lineman.
For more on the Rimington Trophy and a list of past recipients, visit www.rimingtontrophy.com.
About the NCFAA
The Rimington Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 21 awards boast 678 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about its story.


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Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson scored a late winner in his side's 2-1 A-League triumph over Perth at nib Stadium on Saturday night.
The game appeared headed for a draw after Victory skipper Mark Milligan cancelled out his 27th-minute own goal with a 39th-minute penalty.
But Thompson secured all three points when he pounced on James Troisi's well-weighted pass to slot home the winner in the 90th minute.
The triumph lifted Victory into second spot on the table, giving it a one-point buffer over third-placed Western Sydney with just four rounds remaining.
Perth Glory remain bottom of the table after their winless run stretched to nine games.
Victory, which was playing its third game in the space of nine days, now has to back up for Tuesday's Asian Champions League clash with Japanese outfit Yokohama F. Marinos in Melbourne.
There was drama during the warm-up when Glory young gun Danny De Silva was knocked unconscious after being struck on the side of the head by a wayward ball.
De Silva was replaced on the bench by Adrian Zahra, and Glory took a surprise lead in the 27th minute when Michael Thwaite's header deflected off Milligan and into the back of the net.
Glory goalkeeper Jack Duncan pulled off a brilliant fingertip save to deny Tom Rogic three minutes later.
But Victory was back on level terms before half-time when Milligan converted a penalty after Troisi was pulled down by Glory defender Matt Davies.
Clear-cut chances on goal were few and far between in the second half.
But Thompson made no mistake when a golden opportunity finally fell his way, with the fringe Socceroo slicing his way behind Glory's defence before nailing the late winner in front of 7068 fans.
Glory interim coach Kenny Lowe admitted it was poor play for Davies to give away the penalty, but he felt Troisi may have dived.
"I think he had his speedos on underneath his shorts," Lowe said.
"I think he went down rather well. But I can't see from that far away, and (our defender) shouldn't have got involved in that."
Victory coach Kevin Muscat was pleased his men were able to escape with all three points despite not playing at their best.
"I didn't think it was a particularly good game of football. I thought it was so stop-start," Muscat said.
"We tried to build some momentum and build some speed into the game, but the game kept getting stopped every time.
"We persisted and eventually created a good opportunity and scored a good goal."
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Basic Crochet Pullover
This Basic Crochet Pullover is worked in versatile half-double crochet with multiple neckline options, designed to be easy to adapt to many different stitch patterns, gauges or styles.
Finished Measurements: 36 (40, 44, 48, 52)" (shown in size 36")
Yarn Requirements: Sample made with 14 skeins Valley Yarns Northfield, color #24 Stone Blue
DK weight: About 1800 (2000, 2200, 2400, 2600) yds
Worsted weight: About 1500 (1700, 1900, 2100, 2300) yds
Bulky weight: About 1200 (1400, 1600, 1800, 2000) yds
Hook(s): Crochet hook in a size that gives you the desired gauge
Gauge: It's especially important to make a gauge swatch for this pattern. Crochet a large swatch (4" - 6" square) at the gauge you'd prefer for the yarn. Most yarn has a recommended gauge on its tag, which is a useful guideline. Wash and block the swatch the same way you'll wash the sweater. Measure how many stitches and rows you have in 4" (this helps accommodate for an uneven gauge), then divide by 4 to figure out how many stitches and rows you have per inch. In order to be crocheted at any gauge, directions are given in inches instead of a stitch count. So if the directions say to chain 20" worth of stitches for your size, and your gauge is 4 sts to the inch, you'll chain 80 sts.
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The lights are on
The latest installment in the Assassin's Creed series is a drastic departure from its predecessors, focusing on the high-seas adventures of the pirate Edward Kenway. Though the nautical setting is different, the sandbox elements – like collecting trinkets and expanding your influence – are pleasantly familiar. In this episode of Test Chamber, we delve into these side attractions and more.
Join Andrew Reiner, Joe Juba, and Dan Ryckert as we fire cannonballs at ships, try to hunt aquatic animals, and pirate's life a bunch scallywags (yes, "pirate's life" is a verb now). Check out the full episode below.
Email the author Joe Juba, or follow on Twitter, Facebook, and Game Informer.


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Blizzard is pretty comfortable admitting that the late game is the strongest point in World of Warcraft, and the new Warlords of Draenor expansion will include an instant boost to level 90 so you can skip right to it. The studio seems to have figured out that people might pay for such convenience, and has announced plans to test that soon.
A post from the Battlenet blog reviews the pre-order bonuses, but near the end says that soon it will be testing a feature to let players purchase the character upgrade boosts directly. It says it bases this on feedback from players, who say they want some way to quickly bring their alts or characters on other servers up to snuff without buying multiple copies of Draenor.
If you can make do with just one insta-90, you'll actually be able to get it before the expansion is even released. The blog says that pre-purchasing either of the digital versions will get you the boost right then. Pre-purchasing the Digital Deluxe version will similarly net you the exclusive pet and mount upon purchase.
Blizzard says it's giving out the bonuses early thanks to feedback from players who would like the chance to get acquainted with their level 90 heroes before venturing into the Draenor conflicts. Draenor will raise the level cap to 100, so you'll still have some grinding to do.
A closed beta test is scheduled to begin sometime soon, and Blizzard dropped a helpful reminder to opt in and make sure your profile is up to date if you want to be eligible.


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Christine Benz: Hi, I am Christine Benz for Morningstar.
Target-date funds have grown quickly, and there were more than $400 billion in assets at the end of 2011. Joining me to discuss recent developments in the target-date world is Josh Charlson. He is a senior fund analyst with Morningstar.
Josh, thank you so much for being here.
Josh Charlson: Sure, my pleasure.
Benz: You recently prepared a very comprehensive report about the state of the target-date fund industry. I'd like to start with changes that you've seen in terms of how these funds are putting themselves together. There was a lot of criticism following the bear market. Some of the funds for investors getting close to retirement were quite aggressively positioned and lost a lot. What has happened in the target-date industry since then?
Charlson: There definitely have been some modifications, especially with some of the providers who experienced some of those problems you referred to. It probably falls in to a couple of categories. One is providers who reduce their equity in the glide path around that retirement date, sometimes a few percentage points, sometimes bigger. But we did see a number of providers who drop that equity exposure down.
Another area of change has been within the bond portfolios. A lot of the problems were not just on the stock side but on the bond side. So, some of the bigger offenders in the area have cleaned up their bond portfolios, got rid of some of that lower quality credit exposure, changed management in the underlying bond funds. With open architecture series, we saw a lot of people adding PIMCO Total Return as kind of a higher-quality bond exposure.
Benz: So, when you say open architecture that means rather than being wedded to the products from a single firm, the series are able to sort of go across the industry.
Charlson: Exactly. Some of the target-date series have that capability; many do not. And then the other area is--and maybe we can talk about this later--some have added more innovative tools, such as volatility-management tools and hedging types of tools, to combat some that risk at the end of the glide path.
Benz: One thing you talked about in your report, Josh, is what's call the Glide Path Stability Score. It's something developed by Morningstar Ibbotson, and it looks at the extent to which target lineups have actively changed their asset-allocation positioning. Let's talk about some of the things you found when you looked at those scores and looked across fund lineups.
Charlson: This is some great research that Morningstar Ibbotson did, and we kind of broke it down a little more and looked at the series and looked at the numbers. Really what they are looking at is, how much have providers actually changed their glide path over time. So, it's not just the normal shifting of that allocation as you get older, but actually changing the curve over time from one point to another. They found that there has been significant change. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Some providers have changed more than others.
What we found is that you kind of have to look and see what were the reasons for the change and how well has a provider communicated that. It makes sense that over at some of the longer-tenured series like let's say Fidelity, they are going to have made changes over time because asset-allocation philosophies have changed. If you're an owner of a target-date series and you take a look at those numbers, it kind of raises a flag for you to say, "Has there been more change than I expected, and does that mean that this might not look like the same target-date fund that I own today 10-20 years from now?" That could be a concern.
Benz: So, can you give an example of a situation where a lot of volatility in that glide path would be a red flag?
Charlson: Probably it would be in a case where it seemed like the managers were being reactive. Maybe they added equity a lot in 2005-06 and kind of got more optimistic about the stock market. Bad things happened in 2008, and they said, "Maybe we don't believe that story so much anymore." Maybe it makes sense, but you might question a little bit the rigor of their methodology, their commitment to their methodology. By contrast, T. Rowe Price has one of the more aggressive glide paths. It always has. Even after 2008, it didn't budge on it all, and it shows one of the more stable Glide Path Stability Scores.
Benz: Now, I would like to shift gears and talk about performance. It's obviously a very broad basket of different products with different levels of aggressiveness. But can you kind of generalize about within the target-date universe, what types of products, what lineups, have generally outperformed and which have underperformed since you've been tracking them?
Charlson: Sure. As you said, it's been kind of an unusual market that has been sort of dominated in the sense by the down periods, and 2011 was in some ways indicative of that. The series that did best in 2011 were those that have more conservative management philosophies. So, providers like Wells Fargo and American Century, as well as some newer ones like Invesco and Allianz, all did well. If you go backward and look over the five-year period, those more conservative series really have done the best as well because for those that held up better in 2008, that's just carried over that five-year period.
Now, there are series that have more industry-average or even more aggressive glide paths that have done well too because their underlying funds have done well or they have done well on a tactical basis. So, T. Rowe Price, again, is an example of that. They have done much better than other comparably aggressive series because their funds have performed so well underneath. Vanguard, of course, is an index-based series, one of the largest. Their performance has been pretty good, too. Being benchmark-aware or close to the benchmarks has helped more than being extended in diversification, even though over the long-term diversification should help. The last few years if you had emerging markets, if you had lower-quality credits, or if you had certain other commodities, that's hurt you more than it's helped you.
Benz: Now, let's talk about fund flows, and you mentioned Vanguard, Fidelity, and T. Rowe Price. You call them in the report the Big Three because they really do dominate this universe. Are there any other firms that are making a strong showing and gathering assets even though they are not necessarily giant firms?
Charlson: Yes, there are. No one is likely to step into the territory that those Big Three are, but there are firms that have made good ground on them. JPMorgan is an example of one. They are up to about $5.5 billion when we counted at the end of 2011. Their organic growth rate, that is their growth rate apart from market appreciation, has been very strong. One the reasons they've been one of the most consistent on a performance basis. 2011 wasn't great for them, but for the previous three years despite different markets, they were up there in the top echelons of the categories each year.
There are some smaller providers that are making a little bit of noise. Again, they're not going to jump up into the top 10, but through different types of strategies, they've made some distinctive appearances. PIMCO is one of the smaller ones, but they were one of the fastest-growers last year. They have a very unusual strategy that emphasizes real return for investors, so they have high allocations to commodities, real estate, and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, for instance.
Maxim is not maybe a household name. They are distributed by Great-West. They have a very extensive lineup of outside subadvisors that they use that seems to be an approach that has some appeal to plan sponsors. They've grown at a faster rate.
Benz: Another thing you touch on, Josh, is the growth of index-based target-date funds, that they are gathering assets at a greater clip than those that use more actively managed products. What do you think is going on there? Is that just sort of mirroring the trend that we're seeing in flows in the mutual fund and exchange-traded fund markets generally?
Charlson: It could be part of that. There are some specific competitive pressures within the target-date industry, and cost is one of those. Plan sponsors are very concerned about costs, so index offerings obviously are lower-cost. Frankly, because of the lower tracking error, after 2008 there has been a little nervousness on the part of plan sponsors. Index-based offerings do take away that active manager risk.
As you said, we noticed that they are growing at a faster rate. Certainly, they're still a small portion of the industry as a whole. The other thing that's interesting is that there are providers who have actively managed offerings out there that are putting in index based target-date series along the side of their active offering to give people a choice in the marketplace.
Benz: The last thing I'd like to touch on, Josh, is the disclosure going on in the target-date universe or some proposals to add some disclosures for target-date fund participants. Let's talk about what those are and also whether you think that they are good steps forward in terms of the information that target-date participants get.
Charlson: Sure. The SEC has opened a comment period again on its proposal to have some additional disclosure requirements, primarily for marketing materials. One of their top-billed items is adding the allocation of a target-date series at the retirement date in the name of the fund.
Now, every year in our industry survey, we look at the disclosure of the 22 series that we cover with analyst ratings. So, we have a pretty good idea of what's out there, what they are doing well, and what they are not doing well.
What we would like to see is a requirement of an illustration of a glide path in every prospectus that really shows visually how that allocation will change over time. Our concern with just putting the allocation of the target date in the name is that it's just one point, when really the allocation before retirement and after retirement can be important.
We would also like to see a more detailed list of allocations in the prospectuses, where you really get down to levels of bonds within the bond category, within the stock category, commodities, and alternatives, so you really have an idea of what the targets are for those managers. Finally, something we would like to see a better job done on is disclosure about tactical allocation, what sort of bands of deviation from those targets can managers take. Generally, we have not seen great disclosure in that area.
Benz: Well, Josh, thanks for this very thorough overview of this very fast-growing category. Thanks so much for being here.
Charlson: Thanks for having me.
Benz: Thanks for watching. I'm Christine Benz for Morningstar.com.


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|Somebody get Bogert here a tree to chew on
Dawwwww HORSEFEATHERS! My kitties lost another series yesterday to them Yankee bastards. We're over two months into this dadgum season and my boys are playing a bunch of angry coons at my pappy's moonshine still! We just can't seem to put anything resemblin' a winnin' streak together. Fer Pete's sake, we're lookin' up at the White Sox! That is not what I had hoped for at this point. Have you ever been to their stadium? That is NOT my kind of place at all. You can't even find a bar that plays David Allan Coe within an hour of that yard. I don't know if that's a darn crime but it should be.
Before I go any further, TEAM MCCOY! That sumbitch Hatfield deserted the troops and, most importantly, THE CAUSE! Had that bastard stuck around with Randall McCoy then maybe Derek Jeter and A-Rod would not have taken me deep! You know, because this great game would be more "Ty Cobb-ish" if you catch my drift.
Anyway, it was yet another average performance by me yesterdee. I knew that I didn't have my best stuff when, on my way to the yard, my rebel flag AND my Ron Paul bumper stickers flew off of my monster truck. I told this to Skip before the game but he was more concerned with his Marlboro reds. That darn Skip goes crazy when Prince eats his cigs! Speaking of our big free agent, damn does he suck. Bring back Sean Casey...at least he was white! I'm at the point now that if I don't strike everyone out, I just know that no one behind me is even wearing a glove out there. They all suck.
It was an honor to be there and bid farewell to Magglio yesterday though. No one supported asshole dictators in Venezuela better than that Juan Valdez. I'll miss him. Although I really shouldn't because he never had any tamales when I asked him to give me a tamale every day. Where was I? Sometimes I have a hard time staying focused without my oxy.
Oh yeah, another loss. I'll tell ya somethin', Money Shotters, this team has me more angry than my Uncle Tiny eating day old biscuits! I'm half tempted to get my fourth Tasmanian Devil tattoo just to show the fellas that I'm super serious! This losin' has GOT to stop and since I'm not man enough to do it myself, maybe the awesome power of Taz can!
The worst part about yesterday's average outing though was seeing my fourth cousin Roy get arrested after he ran out onto the field in the bottom of the 9th. He thought that he saw a squirrel and got excited. I had to tell him that the Coors Original had gotten the best of him and what he saw was Ramon Santiago. Boy howdy, you should have seen the look on his face!
As for me and yet another garbage start from my arm, I'll recover. We gutter trash are a resourceful bunch. I'll head back to my kinfolk and keep whittlin' my pappy a Father's Day fishin' lure. He's going to love it. The catfish won't know what hit 'em!
Before I turn off my Dell for the night because my missus is complainin' about me hoggin' all the dial-up down here in Verlander's Holler, I've got just one more thing to say to you all...KURT BUSCH FOR SPRINT CUP!!!
Thanks, JV! As I mentioned on Friday, I had the displeasure of running into Dut on Thursday and he was quite adamant that the Tigers are done this year. The more and more that this season drags on, the more that it's hard to do what we all love to do and call him an idiot. It's June already...it is about time to start playing well.
One more thing, Iceman flooded my FB wall on Saturday night after the Thunder evened the Western conference finals. Clearly, he likes to smell his own farts. Well, smart guy, I got so shit-faced on Friday that I was asleep at 9:45 on Saturday night so I have no fucking clue what you're talking about. And if I didn't see it, it did not happen. Boom!
One more thing one more time...FUCK YEAH TIGER WOODS!


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Pembroke, NC Rental Homes and Apartments for Rent
Search rentals in Pembroke, NC. At RentalGuide.net, we have comprehensive rental listings to help you find Pembroke apartments for rent. You can also find rental houses and condos. Click on a listing to view details, or refine your search for Pembroke apartments to search by price, beds and other criteria.
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Pope Francis' First Marriage Comments Don't Include 'Man And Women' Specifics
Pope Francis has made his first comments on marriage in an audience with equality opponent Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. The duo discussed the foundational family of society, among other topics, but it's what wasn't said that might leave you surprised.
In his remarks to Welby, Francis said he hoped they could collaborate in promoting the sacredness of life "and the stability of families founded on marriage." He noted that Welby had recently spoken out on the issue, a reference to his House of Lords testimony.
Significantly, though, Francis didn't say that marriage should be based on a union between a man and woman, which is how Benedict XVI and John Paul II routinely defined marriage.
Vatican officials said it was a diplomatic attempt to make his point without making a provocative pronouncement. Francis has steered clear of the gay marriage debate as it has recently roiled France and Britain, and in general has refrained from making headline-grabbing comments on hot-button current events.
tigtog: there is a link further down the page to Interim suarmmy of responses which has Y/N numbers, but I'm not sure if it is being live-updated.I filled in the survey, but I too hope the raw totals are not used by the parliamentarians. Rights should not be a matter of popular vote. If they were, then women and minorities would not have the rights they have now, because the anti-rights, pro-tradition forces will always outnumber those seeking change at the ballot box.A referendum would risk blowing up into a Prop 8 style mess that could set back equality by decades when the antis combine with the disinterested if it ain't broke crowd to defeat it (c.f the republic referendum). The slow grind of the courts and parliamentary hearing rooms is preferable shoot down the anti arguments one by one until they are left standing with nothing but pure bigotry. Then when there are no valid reasons left, there's no reason to delay any longer.


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The ZootFly Website reveals they have secured the official Mr. T graphic novel license from Mohawk Media, and unveils their plans for a game in which Mr. T and game designer Will Wright take on Nazis (thanks Mike Martinez and Joystiq). While it seems possible this is an April Fools' bit that's been overlooked, we pity the fool that would joke about something so serious. Here's word:
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At least one ballistic missile with an estimated 3,000km (2,000-mile) range is fuelled and ready for launch, US and South Korean sources say.
Pyongyang has been making bellicose threats against South Korea, Japan and US bases in the region.
The threats follow tough new UN sanctions imposed on North Korea last month after its third nuclear test.
Separately, an initial investigation by the South into a major cyber attack last month that affected a number of banks and broadcasters has said the North is to blame.
'Anytime now'
North Korea is believed to have completed preparations for a missile launch after it moved two Musudan missiles to its east coast, Yonhap news agency says.
In anticipation, the South Korea-US Combined Forces have raised their alert level to Watchcon 2, to increase surveillance monitoring, Yonhap quoted a senior military official as saying.
North Korea unveiled the Musudan missile during a military parade in 2010 but has yet to test it. There are reports, however, that it may have been sold to Iran and tested there.
The launch could happen "anytime from now", South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told parliament.
A test launch would be a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1718, passed in 2006, which states the North "must not conduct any further nuclear test or launch of a ballistic missile".
North Korea has tested intermediate range missiles before and during periods of crisis and tension, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul.
So while another test launch would certainly be seen as provocative, it is unlikely to have any major, short-term military significance unless it goes wrong, our correspondent adds.
He says one key date for a launch could be Monday - the birthday of the North Korean state's late founder, Kim Il-sung.
Yonhap also reported that the South's National Police Agency had raised its state of alert by one level from "attention" to "caution".
It said that patrols had been increased at 770 sites, including at embassies and key underground stations.
Japan's Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said his nation was on "high alert", with anti-missile defences deployed in Tokyo as a precaution.
A number of travel agencies in China have reported that tourist trips into North Korea have been suspended.
One travel agent in the north-eastern city of Dandong told Reuters news agency: "All [tourist] travel to North Korea has been stopped from today and I've no idea when it will restart."
The border remains open to commercial traffic.
Meanwhile, an official investigation by the South into last month's cyber attack traced the malicious codes used to six computers in the North.
"We've collected a lot of evidence to determine the North's Reconnaissance General Bureau led the attack, which had been prepared for at least eight months," a spokesman for the Korea Internet and Security Agency said.
The attack on 20 March severely affected the KBS, MBC and YTN broadcasters and operations at the Shinhan, NongHyup and Jeju banks.
The North has warned foreigners in South Korea to take precautions in case of war.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned the crisis on the Korean peninsula may become "uncontrollable".
He once again urged North Korea to tone down its "provocative rhetoric" and to keep open a joint North-South Korean industrial complex.
North Koreans failed to report for work at the Kaesong complex on Tuesday, suspending one of the few points of co-operation with South Korea.
Since the UN sanctions were imposed, Pyongyang has threatened to use nuclear weapons and has said it will restart a nuclear reactor.
The North has also shut an emergency military hotline between Seoul and Pyongyang.
Last week, it warned it would not be able to guarantee the safety of foreign embassy staff after 10 April, and that countries should begin evacuating their diplomatic staff.-British Broadcasting Corporation (April 10, 2013)


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text: Otis is a great looking boy,please do be careful with the choke chain its only on him correctly in the picture of him sitting in the basket. In all the other pictures it not on correctly should only be on for training purposes and then off.Some do not know there is a wrong way and a right way to put it on. Do hope Otis will be around many more years great looking boy.


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The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of AgWeb or Farm Journal Media. The opinions expressed below are the author's own.
Read the latest blog from Steve Cornett.
* The quote marks are around the word "hearing" because that's more what they called this gathering than what it was. But the "hearing" hearers didn't hang around to hear. They talked and left. So it was more of a "talking" than a "hearing." Had I called it a talking you wouldn't have known what I was talking about.
On the plane trip home, some of my cattle feeder friends' eyes looked like Little Orphan Annie. "I had not," one told me, "been exposed much to those R-Calf people before."
I was live-blogging the thing as it happened, so I didn't have time to absorb all of it. (I'm not sure we'll do that again, by the way. At least I bet they get a better typist next time. I can't imagine how court reporters do what they do.)
If anything good comes of the meeting, maybe it is that both sides were finally exposed to each other's opinions, articulately and passionately delivered. After watching both sides' pep rallies on Thursday, this reporter wasn't a bit surprised. Without being negative toward our fellow people of the land, some of us spend so much time with people who think just like we think that we get to thinking not only does everybody else think like we think but that situation is only natural because we're SO right that everybody agrees.
Except fools or knaves. Flat-earthers.
Knowing each other as we do, we all probably agree that not many minds changed or even opened. It is as though our industry decisions are in the hands of talk radio.
That said, it probably won't matter much, either way. USDA is going to do, or at least try to do, what President Obama wants. Whoever at USDA loaded those panels with so many from the packer-basher side knows where the powers-that-be want to go. They say the agriculture marketing system in broken. They think there are too many losers and that means, by definition, there are too many winners. They need more "balance."
They want change, and they want these hearings to do just what they're doing: provide the evidence of "grassroots support" they need to justify the measures they prefer.
One of the guys who supports the "status quo" told me at break that "we're just here to say we tried. This will be settled in the courts. It's hard to tell how much of the proposed rules will survive, and we were cautioned not to "prejudge" the final rule. Advocates on both sides expect some changes in the final rule.
It did seem that both sides agreed that whatever else happened, the concept of Value Based Marketing for beef must be preserved. It's unclear how the Obama folks can do that and still accomplish what they want, given the fact that they seem to think agricultural competition should be something of a charity walk with everybody getting nice tans and a warm feeling inside rather than a race with winners and losers.
Secretary Vilsack doesn't hide his goals. He wants to "rebuild rural America." He wants to lure young farmers. He wants more small producers. He wants more farmers markets. More local produce. He and his fellow thinkers speak of "volume premiums" as if they were prima facie evil.
There were calls from the floor to "break up" the packing companies. There were a couple of people who suggested concentration at the retail level was the root of all the problems. There was no evidence the administration was seriously considering—or not considering—action on either front.
They just said that it's "obvious the (marketing) system is broken" and they want to help.
** A "contract" is an agreement to receive, and pay, for cattle. An example of a contract would be what anybody but a fool would get from a packer before he invested eleventee-umpteen dollars in a pen of "natural" or "grassfed" cattle.
*** They're right. We have more votes.
**** They don't.
Of course they're not going to do that. They think agriculture is different than trucking or the rest of the industry.***
What we're talking about, at the root, is what we want out of agriculture policy. Do we think agriculture should be designed for cheap food or for farmers who farm to live or farmers who live to farm? Should we strive for efficiency or the "justice" of a "more level playing field." Washington has been trying to "Solomonize that baby" for decades.
We have one set of folks who raise cattle for money, who think of cattle as a business. And we have another set who believe the greater purpose of agriculture is living the bucolic life and raising good kids. And many of them think it's a God-given right. Or at least one they inherited. Just about everybody in the cattle business has his heart in the latter. But for many, the brain is with that business thing. They like a little "lah" with their "moo" if you get the drift.
Cow people just aren't all the same. We've got folks who build unattractive but practical metal barns to keep their equipment dry and their feed fresh, and we've got folks who repaint granddaddy's old wood tack room year after year.
I'm not lying to you here: One of the biggest applause lines of the day was about getting back to the 1800s.
This division has been with us at least as far back as I've been watching. It has always been an uneasy détente. I remember my dad saying in the 50s that "any time you go to a bankrupt farmer's auction, you'll see a damn boat."
And how many times have you heard producers grumble about greed when they talk about their more aggressive, successful neighbors? Not you, of course. Or me. But other guys do that.
Some of all that was on display at last week's "hearing."
Perhaps we've reached the point where the old détente is no longer salvageable. It sure felt that way Friday in Ft. Collins.
Maybe anybody wanting to understand the paradox of such seemingly similar people having such conflicting views should read Elmer Kelton's "The Time it Never Rained," with old rancher Charlie Flagg trying to come to grips with hard charging change, standing and shaking his fist at the future; at the choices.
Who's to say what is right? Europe long ago decided to use the power of government to preserve rather than build. You drive that country and it's well kept with lots of tree rows and flowers and old stone and mortar houses aged by vines and centuries. I love it. My dog could shoot post card pictures if she had a thumb. I wouldn't mind my tax dollars going to support it. Moreover, I believe I would love to be a European farmer. With four-row equipment, cows who recognize their names and enough subsidies to keep the furrows from my brow.
On my first trip to Bavaria, among the folks we met was a dairy family. They had 18 Simmental milk cows and something like a half-section of good-looking, manicured farmland. There were two families living off that farm. And two Mercedes automobiles parked out front. It looked like I bet it looked in 1890, which is just where I want to live. (Okay, except with indoor plumbing and rubber tires on the wagons. And somebody to shovel the chicken coop.)
It takes lots of subsidies to make that possible. But it also takes lots of controls to make those subsidies politically palatable. Those two Bavarian families were sharing a house with their livestock. The government wouldn't let them change anything--like building a new house or adding a satellite antenna. Not only do I want indoor plumbing, I don't want Simmentals or even Jerseys at the foot of my bed.
(Things have changed some since that visit in the 1980s. On a more recent visit to Sweden, we stayed with a fellow who had abandoned his ancestral hog operation and invested in a modern confinement system. His complaints were about taxes and all the rules imposed by the government on environmental affairs. But he was still enjoying a nice living off a pretty small deal.)
It's not fair to just dismiss that out of hand. There is much, just like Colorado's governor told us last week, to be said for the impact of farming and farmers on the national soul. I know plenty of business people who prefer farm backgrounds when they hire. Go to these land grant universities and ask the professors who makes better students.
On the other hand, there is that old 4-minute mile paradigm. Nobody could do it until one guy did it and now everybody can do it. That's how the American economy has always worked. It's been a race. The winners get rewards.. And some of us lose and suffer. But we try harder because of it but we all do better than we would do without the challenge, and we call it "progress."
What happens if we now have our government step in and say, "there are too many losers. We've got to "level the playing field so that everybody wins?"
It is that competitive race—applied to our vast natural resource base—that has allowed us to have so much that we've not had to fight over it. Our pie has always been bigger each year. That's why we're not a Mexico or a Venezuela or a Mogadishu.
The beef pie is no longer getting larger every year. It hasn't since the early 1970s. The Obama Administration, unlike any administration since Jimmy Carter's, seems convinced that the American pie will not get larger in the future and their policy leans toward cutting smaller pieces so that more people can have a share.
Whew. Well. Where did all that rambling and ruminating come from? I thought good journalists didn't do that.****
My only excuse is that "hearing" was quite the event. I've heard almost every one of the arguments before—many left on my answering machine after this or that column made this or that side angry—but not in such a mudslide. Watching that lawyer get applauded for being needlessly, cheap-shot, rude, and personally insulting during a debate struck a nerve. I expect that sort of behavior from trial lawyers and Jerry Springer audiences. But not from cattle people. I was ashamed of us.
It's grassburr season at our place, so I spent much of the weekend in the Jefforsonian activity of hoing and thinking; wondering about what I witnessed last week.
I didn't know where to start this post, and I don't know where to end it.
There is so much to think about, besides the pablum and misinformation that consumed most of that "hearing." All those politicians up there telling us they were "advocates for producers," when it was so evident that there is no single "producer" interest to advocate. You pick your side in a deal like this. Call it big guy vs. little guy. Call it winners vs. losers. Call it haves and have-nots. Call it, as so many did, a circular firing squad. But, in the modern world, I'm thinking it's more like oil and water.
I'd like to hear just how much "repopulation" of rural communities the Willie Nelson lobby wants. My dad spent more of his youth talking to the rear end of a mule than he did school teachers. Is that where we want to go? Back to 80 acres per family? Who's going to buy us Steve Jobs' latest widgets?
We can, and should, repopulate rural America. But it won't be around commercial agriculture. Modern agriculture, with all its technology, doesn't need many people unless you want to put us out here like so many make-work WPA workers. There aren't that many people who enjoy mule butts and sweat bees.
But that's all so negative. I don't disagree with where these guys wish they could take us. I'm just not sure it's worth the price we'll have to pay while they try.
But I am not the deepest thinker on the planet. Or in my home county, for that matter. Or, as my wife so often points out, even in my house. So maybe they'll figure out how to get us there without one of the bloodbaths the South Americans euphemistically call "reforma de tierra."


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DANVILLE, KY. (WKYT) - Late Saturday night around 1:30 a.m. the Danville Police Department responded to the intersection of Maple and Main Streets for an accident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian.
The investigation determined that a 2007 Honda Civic, driven by Samuel Medley, 20, of Louisville took a left turn onto Main Street from Maple on a green light. Medley did not see the pedestrian in the crosswalk.
The victim is identified as Anthony Brown, 18, of Berea. Brown was struck and thrown into the windshield of the Honda.
Brown was transported to Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center with unknown injuries. Police say injuries are believed to be non-life threatening.
Medley was arrested on scene and charged with DUI and lodged in Boyle County Jail. Officer Pedro Lemos and Officer Phillip Dean are leading the investigation.


text: I keep thinking that I would like a time line of the history of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels that not only has the beginning of the breed in the UK but it's beginnings in other countries and the timing of the introduction of the worst of the maladies the breed suffers. I'm trying to understand, in a package, when medical problems were first recognized and when diagnostic availabilities were first available. Does this exist somewhere? does anyone know? Maybe this is boring to most.


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20 February 2014, Geneva - Twenty senior officials from the Ministry of Finance of Afghanistan arrived in Geneva on 5 February, 2014 to attend the final module of the Executive Master degree in Development Policies and Practices (DPP). The joint programme in Development Policies and Practices is a unique partnership between the Graduate Institute of International Development Studies of Geneva (the Graduate Institute) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) both headquartered in Geneva.
Before the start of Module 3 on February 6, Afghan officials enjoyed a study visit to the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP) campus in Lausanne where they were warmly received by Professor Maritial Pasquier, Director of the Institute. With the February 9 elections in mind participants received a timely briefing on the intricacies of Switzerland's system of direct democracy given by Professor Dr. Giuliano Bonoli, Chair of Social Policy at IDHEAP. A lively debate followed as questions were entertained by the professors, provoking a lively and extended discussion on democracy. The visit to Lausanne was capped by a tour of the newly renovated (completed December 2013) International Olympics Museum.
On February 7, following the trip to Lausanne, participants took part in a detailed briefing of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Post-2015 Development Agenda at the Palais des Nations presented by Alex Mejia, manager of the Decentralized Cooperation Programme. After the session, a guided tour of the Palais des Nations was provided against the backdrop of the then ongoing Syria peace talks surrounded by white tented media encampments on the lawn of the Palais, the scene added a real time lesson on the significance of the Palais des Nations and its historic meeting rooms.
The three-week academic session began in earnest with an orientation event that took place on Saturday February 8, in the scenic setting of the Graduate Institute's Villa Barton campus overlooking Lake Leman. Students from Ghana, Nigeria, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan met their fellow Afghan counterparts, and each participant introduced themselves and briefly outlined their thesis topic. Whereas the Modules 1 and 2 of the degree programme stressed the theoretical and methodological aspects of the development policy and planning, module 3 in contrast stressed mostly soft skills, focusing on sharpening students communications and negotiating acumen.
The Executive Master's degree programme comes to an end on February 27, and will be marked by a graduation ceremony which will be held at the newly completed Maison de la Paix campus of the Graduate Institute. The ceremony will be opened by Professor Philippe Burrin, Director of the Graduate Insitute, followed by remarks on behalf of UNITAR by United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and UNITAR Executive Director, Ms. Sally Fegan Wyles. The Minister of Finance of Afghanistan, Mr. Omar Zakhilwal, invited as the guest speaker will address the graduating class, with a speech dwelling on the complexity of economic development theory and practice at the national and international level. The event will be witnessed not only by family, friends and colleagues, but also by H. E. Ambassador Tarzi, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan and invited Permanent Representatives from student's countries.
Image 1: Afghan Master's degree candidates together with their colleagues from Africa and Central Asia listen to a presentation by UNITAR Manager Alex Mejia, on the United Nations during a visit to the Palais des Nations.
For more information on the Executive Master, download the flyer here.


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Providence, R.I. - Senior guard Sean McGonagill scored 23 points and freshman guard Tavon Blackmon added a career high 14 points as Brown held off a late New Hampshire rally to defeat the Wildcats, 72-66, in a non-league game at the Pizzitola Sports Center. The Bears improve to 7-6 overall with the win while New Hampshire lost its 12th straight game to fall to 2-12 on the season.
"I'm happy we won the basketball game, especially after dropping our last four games," said Brown head coach Mike Martin. "We did a good job attacking their zone for 32 minutes, getting it inside and playing inside-out. Tavon and Sean did a great job getting us into our offense. We just needed a little more killer instinct in the final eight minutes."
McGonagill, the Ivy League's leading scorer, had 13 of his 23 points in the opening half as the Bears built a 41-31 lead after 20 minutes. He connected on 7-of-12 field goals, including 4-of-8 from behind the three-point arc, and grabbed seven rebounds.
McGonagill became Brown's fourth all-time leading scorer with 1,365 career points, jumping two places past Alai Nuualiitia (1,344 points from 1999-03) and Peter Sullivan (1,361 points from 2007-11). He also moved into third place on Brown's career 3-point list with 204 career treys.
Blackmon's 14 points came on a dazzling mix of treys and drives to the basket. He converted 6-of-8 field goals, including both treys.
Bears' junior forward Dockery Walker earned his first start of the season and responded with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and six rebounds. Freshman Steven Spieth pulled down a team high eight rebounds for the Bears.
Playing without junior Rafael Maia, the Ivy League's second leading rebounder, Brown was out-rebounded by a 42-35 margin. New Hampshire's Patrick Konan pulled down a game high 13 rebounds and completed the double-double with 14 points.
The Wildcats were led by Jordon Bronner, who possed in 23 points, and Jaleen Smith with 15 points.
Brown jumped out on the Wildcats early, building a 16-7 lead at the 13 minute mark after three free throws by Norman Hobbie. The Bears later extended their lead to 12 points, 24-12 on a McGonagill trey.
Blackmon gave Brown its biggest lead of the half, 35-21, on a layup with 6:06 remaining, but New Hampshire answered immediately with an 8-0 run to get back in the game, 35-29, following two free throws by Jordon Bronner with 4:10 left in the half.
The Bears led 41-31 at intermission and pulled ahead by19 points in the first seven minutes of the second half, 54-35, on a McGonagill fast break lay-up. Hobbie's trey with 9:09 remaining gave the Bears their biggest lead, 61-40.
New Hampshire chipped away at the Bears lead and made a late 23-8 run, to trail 69-63, on a trey by Jaleen Smith with 34 seconds remaining.
Brown completes its non-league schedule on Saturday, January 11, hosting Daniel Webster at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Tip-off is 1:00 pm.