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- 1 1. What Kingdom Hearts 3 PS4 Pro talks?
- 2 2. All you should know:
The impressive Kingdom Hearts 3 PS4 Pro was first revealed during E3 2018 with no detailed information about price, releasing date or pre-orders. But after that, this game is set to launch on January 29th, 2019 on both PS4 and Xbox One. Moreover, Square Enix affirmed that Kingdom Hearts 3 would bring you to a Frozen World. What's more, IGN launched the unique Kingdom Hearts 3 gameplay, highlighting the Toy Box, Toy Story, Rock Titan from the Hercules world, etc.
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1. What Kingdom Hearts 3 PS4 Pro talks?
Kingdom Hearts 3 describes a story of the power of light vs. darkness and friendship when Sora and his friends start a dangerous adventure. The main playground takes place in a broad array of Pixar and Disney worlds. That's why you can catch your character, Sora is traveling with Donald Duck and Goofy in order to prevent an evil force from attacking his universe.
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Take risks in Disney and Pixar Worlds
In this challenge, you need to travel across both worlds to defend them from an evil force, called the Heartless invasion. Besides, you have to get acquainted and associate heroes from Toy Story, Monsters, Big Hero 6, Hercules, Tangled, etc. to fight together.
Unlock the power of Keyblades
Kingdom Hearts 3 PS4 Pro has the powerful and mysterious Keyblades that might change other forms into new abilities, animations, and moves. If you own this power, you are able to unlock stunning attacks to kill the enemies.
Enjoy the Magic
You're allowed to cast powerful magic spells to cope with the Heartless. Besides, make sure to call upon your Disney-Pixar friends and other partners to support better.
Experience exciting and action-packed battles
There are lots of actions that you need to perform while fighting off swarms of the Heartless such as diving deep underwater, climbing massive cliffs, freefalling through the air, and more.
Dive in cool minigames
Aside from saving the world, you can take a break by playing more than 20 minigames which are inspired by classic Disney short films.
2. All you should know:
Although you have to wait until January 29th, 2019 to enjoy this stunning game, now you can pre-order to get awesome bonuses.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Standard Edition
It's easy to buy this video game on prestigious channels such as Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Newegg, Microsoft Store, Walmart, Target, PlayStation Store, and Square Enix. And if you ask for a pre-order at this time, the price is about $60. In case you choose Amazon Prime, you just pay $48.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Deluxe Edition
This edition consists of an artbook, steel-book case, and collectible pin highlighting Sora with the game's logo. With $80 per each, you can pre-order it at Amazon, GameStop, Square Enix, Best Buy or Newegg.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Deluxe Edition and Figures
Aside from similar items above, you also get three figures of Sona, Donald, and Goofy for this edition. But, you only buy it on Square Enix with the price $230.
All-in-one Kingdom Hearts 3 PS4 Pro bundle
The bundle consists of Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 HD Remix and 2.8 HD Final Chapter Prologue. Although it's not available for pre-ordering, you can follow other information from the PlayStation Store.
Now, you know when Kingdom Hearts 3 PS4 Pro is going to release and where you can pre-order it, right? And in case you need more information about this cool game, don't mind asking us or waiting for our next posts on this site. We're ready to support you all the time.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Bo's 70th Birthday Party
Chorlton Irish Centre, Wed. July 10
A nice pic of Bo, by Dom Dudill, fiddler of the parish.
Sounds, films, books and scenes (usually that order) that arrest the attention of Mike Butler, erstwhile music scribe
Filed under I was there, Manchester Scene
Bob Jones adds:
Hya Mike, I think it's wrong to associate Bo with the Windrush generation. He was not part of that. His folks stayed in Barbados. He wanted to get out, joined the British Army, went to Germany and became a tank gunner, for which he got awards. He grew up on bajan music, rock and roll, soul, jazz etc. While he fighting for Britain he started playing with guys in the outfit (playing guitar at first) and they spent more time doing gigs than keeping us from Communism. They were given the choice, leave or forget the music.They decided to make a go of the band, were geared up for touring but one of the band had a car crash so that was that knocked on the head. He landed here in New Mills (I forget why) and started playing and making contacts. I met a black guy there a couple of years ago who remembered him (I think his brother played with him in one of his many manifestations). His link-up with Dougie James is from early on. He toured in the US and other foreign lands with the likes of Billy J Kramer.
He's got an amazing memory for tunes, once he's got it, it stays in his head for years. I was always in awe of him and though I've known him and played with him quite a bit, I still am.
Mike King was in the Art College Band in Rochdale the year after ours, '67 I think. I saw him many times in Manchester later on, always rocked. He established his forthrightness early on, he can be somewhat contradictory but he has his sensitive side as vouchsafed on his last album. He got stuck with the Dylan soundalike tag, and though he was inspired by and is a wonderful interpreter of Mr Zimmerman he has his own schtick.
Bob further adds:
Bo's name is Orville Kirton.
Sorry to be picky, but the people playing 'St Thomas' (A Haller, D Roberts, P Wherry, N Shawhulme) are caucasian. All the best, Bob
And this from Bob: -
Thinking about it, it wasn't just me who organised the party either, although I can see the humourous opening and I agree Bo doesn't look like what we imagine people should look like at 70. Bo's missus Pauline and daughter Lisa did loads, as well as Phil Boast, Harold, and Peter Giles. I would have had the do at the Big Western so it could have gone on longer and the reggae crew who didn't get to play could have been accommodated, though the beer and service are shit. Any chance of another tweak?
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Converted by Wordpress To Blogger for WP Blogger Themes. Sponsored by iBlogtoBlog.


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Banner Elk, NC - The Lady Loins soccer team played against Lees McRae College today in their last game of the season.
The Lions and Bobcats would go back and forth in the first half with taking shots on goal and maintaining possession of the ball. The Lions would continue to fight throughout the entire first half but unfortunately they would be unsuccessful in finding the back of the net.
Going into the second half the Lady Lions continued their fight not given the Bobcats any easy plays. The Lady Lions found more ways in the second half to get multiple shots on goal but none were successful until the 70th minute by Jessie Denney, assisted by Hannah Watson. With this goal the Lady Lions won there last game of the season against the Bobcats 1-0.
Congratulation to the Lady Lions on their season and ending it with a win.
For more information on the Lions, please visit www.goeclions.com


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Give & Teach, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization committed to making a difference to the needy of the world through education, training, and resourcing.
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Spiritual: Share the message of the Gospel through methods such as Vacation Bible School, Bible Studies, evangelistic movie nights and prayer ministries.
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Multicenter Low Energy Transvenous Atrial Defibrillation (XAD) Trial Results in Different Subsets of Atrial Fibrillation
Author + information
- Received April 8, 1996
- Revision received September 25, 1996
- Accepted December 11, 1996
- Published online March 15, 1997.
Author Information
- Samuel Lévy, MD, FACCA,*,
- Philippe Ricard, MDA,
- Chu-Pak Lau, MD, FACCB,
- Ngai-Sang Lok, MDB,
- A.John Camm, MD, FACCC,
- Francis D Murgatroyd, MDC,
- Luc J Jordaens, MDD,
- Lukas J Kappenberger, MD, FACCE,
- Pedro Brugada, MD, FACCF and
- Kenneth L Ripley, EEA
- ↵*Dr. Samuel Lévy, University of Marseille, School of Medicine, Hôpital Nord, 13915 Marseille Cedex 20, France.
Objectives. This prospective, multicenter trial was aimed at defining efficacy and safety of low energy shocks during atrial fibrillation in a diverse cohort of patients.
Background. Experimental studies in sheep and preliminary data in humans have suggested that low energy internal shocks delivered between right atrial and coronary sinus electrode catheters may terminate atrial fibrillation.
Methods. Biphasic 3/3-ms R wave synchronous shocks were delivered between two electrode catheters in the right atrium and coronary sinus. The defibrillation protocol started with a test shock of 20 V, and shocks increased in 40-V steps until restoration of sinus rhythm or a maximum of 400 V. Shock delivery was withheld after short RR intervals. In 141 patients with atrial fibrillation, the protocol was carried out under sedation in case the shock was associated with discomfort. The atrial arrhythmia was paroxysmal (≤7 days) in 50 patients, chronic (>30 days) in 53, intermediate (>7 days, ≤30 days) in 18 and induced in 20. Underlying heart disease was present in 88 patients (62%).
Results. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was successfully terminated in 46 (92%) of 50 patients, chronic atrial fibrillation in 37 (70%) of 53, intermediate in 16 (89%) of 18 and induced in 16 (80%) of 20. Mean conversion threshold was 1.8 J (213 V) in the induced group, 2.0 J (229 V) in the paroxysmal group, 2.8 J (272 V) in the intermediate group and 3.6 J (311 V) in the chronic group. The conversion voltage was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in the chronic group than in the other groups of atrial fibrillation and increased significantly with the duration of atrial fibrillation and with left atrial size (p < 0.05). Of 1,779 R wave synchronized shocks delivered with a mean (±SD) preceding RR interval of 676 ± 149 ms, no ventricular arrhythmia was induced. The latter may occur after unsynchronized shocks.
Conclusions. Low energy transvenous shocks in patients with atrial fibrillation are effective and safe, provided that shocks are properly synchronized to R waves with preceding RR intervals that meet appropriate cycle length criteria. This study provides data that may be useful in the development of an implanted atrial defibrillator.
(J Am Coll Cardiol 1997;29:750–5)
Atrial fibrillation, an extremely common arrhythmia, is estimated to occur in 2% to 4% of the general population >65 years old ([1]). The incidence is even higher in patients with underlying heart disease. Atrial fibrillation may be associated with symptoms, hemodynamic impairment of cardiac function and an increased risk of cerebrovascular and systemic thromboembolism ([2]). Antiarrhythmic drug therapy is widely prescribed to prevent recurrence of atrial fibrillation. As pointed out by Antman et al. ([3]), the benefits of treatment with conventional antiarrhythmic agents have not been demonstrated in large-scale, randomized clinical trials. Although newer antiarrhythmic agents, such as propafenone, flecainide or sotalol, seem to be associated with a relatively low incidence of side effects, the long-term safety of these antiarrhythmic agents remains to be evaluated ([3]). Conversion to sinus rhythm represents the ideal end point of therapy for patients with persistent, non–self-terminating atrial fibrillation because it should restore both normal hemodynamic function and a slower heart rate. Restoring sinus rhythm may eliminate symptoms, reduce thromboembolic complications, improve exercise capacity and most likely improve survival. Recent observations reported by Wijffels et al. ([4]) suggest that atrial fibrillation may cause electrophysiologic changes of the atrial myocardium that favor the perpetuation of atrial fibrillation. In their goat model of atrial fibrillation, the increase in duration of the arrhythmia was associated with a shortening of the atrial effective refractory period. Therefore, prompt termination of atrial fibrillation is desirable before these changes take place or become irreversible.
Introduced 30 years ago and popularized by Lown ([5]), external electrical cardioversion is an effective and safe treatment for restoring sinus rhythm. Internal cardioversion was shown to be an alternative therapy in patients with failed external cardioversion ([6, 7]). Both techniques require high energy shocks and general anesthesia. After the report of Cooper et al. ([8]) showing that pacing-induced atrial fibrillation in sheep may be successfully cardioverted with low energy shocks delivered between the right atrium and the coronary sinus, there have been isolated attempts to terminate atrial fibrillation in humans. However, limited data are available on the efficacy of low energy internal cardioversion in patients with long-standing atrial fibrillation ([9, 10]) and no data on diverse populations of patients.
The objective of the present prospective, multicenter study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of biphasic shocks applied between right atrial and coronary sinus electrode catheters in different subsets of patients with atrial fibrillation. A previous report ([10]) described the feasibility of low energy shocks in 19 patients with induced atrial fibrillation. The present report provides the data for 141 patients and includes patients with spontaneous as well as induced atrial fibrillation.
1 Methods
1.1 Study patients.
This prospective study included six centers: Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, St. George's Hospital in London, University of Ghent in Ghent, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois in Lausanne, OLV Hospital in Aalst and Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire Hôpital Nord in Marseille. Entry criteria included 1) age >18 years; 2) an indication for cardioversion, including patients with failed external cardioversion and those with atrial fibrillation induced in the electrophysiologic laboratory in the course of another study; 3) written informed consent obtained; 4) adequate oral anticoagulation with warfarin or a similar agent, for a minimum of 3 weeks or subcutaneous or intravenous heparin for a minimum of 3 days and absence of thrombus on the transesophageal echocardiogram. Patients were excluded from the study if one or more of the following conditions were present: 1) history of cerebrovascular accident; 2) atrial fibrillation resulting from an acute or subacute illness or uncontrolled congestive heart failure; 3) ejection fraction <20%; 4) patients with documented or suspected thrombus in the left atrial or ventricular chambers. Patients with atrial fibrillation were classified into four groups: paroxysmal, chronic, intermediate and induced. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillationwas defined as attacks of arrhythmia lasting <7 days and separated by periods of normal sinus rhythm. Chronic atrial fibrillationwas defined as atrial fibrillation lasting >30 days. Atrial fibrillation was said to be intermediateif it lasted >7 days and ≤30 days. Induced atrial fibrillationwas atrial fibrillation occurring in the course of an electrophysiologic study and mechanically or electrically induced. Whenever appropriate, antiarrhythmic therapy was discontinued for 5 half-lives. However, the presence of antiarrhythmic therapy was not an exclusion criterion. All patients underwent a workup, including history and physical examination, 12-lead electrocardiography, chest radiography, 24-h ambulatory monitoring, M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography, laboratory tests (creatinine, serum potassium, red blood count) and thyroid function evaluation. The protocol received approval from the ethical committee of each participating center.
1.2 Protocol design.
The protocol consisted of biphasic 3/3-ms shocks (Fig. 1) delivered from a custom external atrial defibrillator having a single 80-μF capacitor and a maximal output of 400 V (XAD InControl Inc.). Shocks were delivered through two 6F temporary electrode catheters with nine poles of ∼2.8-cm2surface area each (Elecath). One electrode was positioned in the right atrium such that the electrodes had contact with the anterolateral wall. The other electrode was positioned in the coronary sinus. The right atrial catheter served as the cathode and the coronary sinus catheter as the anode. The external atrial defibrillator allowed the user to program leading-edge voltage and minimal RR interval, after which a shock could be delivered. After each shock, the defibrillator depicted the voltage, energy and impedance. R wave synchronization signals were obtained from electrophysiologic laboratory monitors and achieved through a variety of external synchronization systems, not usually with an implanted ventricular lead. Cardioversion was performed under local anesthesia, in the fasting state, and, whenever needed, conscious sedation was provided. The defibrillation protocol included a single conversion and an initial test shock of 20 V; the energy was then increased in 40-V steps until restoration of sinus rhythm or a maximum of 400 V. One shock was given at each voltage level, and shocks were withheld after short RR intervals (<300 ms). Whenever possible, the RR interval preceding shock was set at ≥500 ms. It was recommended that, after restoration of sinus rhythm, oral anticoagulation be prescribed for a minimum of 1 month.
1.3 Statistical analysis.
All statistic analyses were performed using Statview 4.5. Regression tests were done by both multiple and stepwise regression. Creatine kinase analysis was done by analysis of variance (ANOVA). Differences between groups were analyzed by unpaired ttest after analysis of variance, and, when needed, nonparametric tests were performed. For left atrial size, the Fisher test was used for comparison between groups.
2 Results
2.1 Clinical characteristics of patients.
A total of 153 patients were eligible for the trial, 12 of whom were excluded from cardioversion analysis because the primary rhythm was flutter in 2, and the left-sided lead was placed in the pulmonary artery in 10 because the coronary sinus could not be catheterized. One hundred forty-one patients (103 men, 38 women; mean [±SD] age 58 ± 13 years, range 18 to 87) were therefore enrolled in the trial. Structural heart disease was detected in 54 patients (38%) and included hypertension in 21, cardiomyopathy in 10, valvular heart disease in 15, coronary artery disease in 6 and congenital abnormality in 5. No heart disease was reported in 87 patients (62%). Fifty patients (35%) were classified as having paroxysmal, 53 (37%) chronic, 18 (13%) intermediate and 20 (14%) induced atrial fibrillation. The clinical characteristics of the four groups of patients are shown in Table 1. The mean age of all groups together was significantly different from that of each individual group (p < 0.01), except for the chronic and paroxysmal groups whose mean ages were similar. Body surface area was significantly different in the induced group compared with the chronic or paroxysmal groups. Left atrial diameter was significantly different in the chronic (44 ± 7 mm) versus the induced group (35 ± 5 mm), the chronic versus the paroxysmal (39 ± 7 mm) group and the intermediate (42 ± 5 mm) versus the induced group.
2.2 Response to transvenous cardioversion.
In response to the defibrillation protocol, 115 (82%) of the 141 patients had restoration of sinus rhythm with a mean of 12.4 shocks/patient (range 3 to 38). An example of successful termination of atrial fibrillation using a low energy shock is shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Table 2, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was terminated in 46 (92%) of 50 patients with a mean conversion voltage of 229 V and a mean conversion energy of 2.0 J (range 0.3 to 4.4). Chronic atrial fibrillation was terminated in 37 of 50 patients with a mean conversion voltage of 311 ± 60 V and a mean conversion energy of 3.6 J (range 0.6 to 6.2). Intermediate atrial fibrillation was reverted to sinus rhythm in 16 (89%) of 18 patients with a mean conversion voltage of 272 V and a mean conversion energy of 2.8 J (range 1.1 to 4.4). In the induced atrial fibrillation group, sinus rhythm was restored in 16 of 20 patients with a mean conversion voltage of 213 V and a mean energy of 1.8 J (range 0.3 to 4.3). The defibrillation impedance, calculated as the mean of the impedances measured after each shock and for each patient, did not show any significant difference between the four groups of patients.
2.3 Safety.
A total of 1,779 shocks were delivered to the 141 patients, with a mean preceding RR interval of 676 ± 149 ms (Table 3). No complications were observed after R wave synchronized shocks. Creatine kinase enzyme levels measured before (80 ± 52 IU), immediately after (82 ± 49 IU) and 2 and 6 h after reversion to sinus rhythm (89 ± 59 and 90 ± 66 IU, respectively) or completion of the defibrillation protocol, did not show any significant increase. No other evidence of cardiac injury including monitoring of the electrocardiogram after shocks, was seen during the study.
2.4 Sedation.
Of 141 patients, 50 received sedation at the start of the study, and 91 were not sedated. Of these 91 patients, sedation was needed at some point in 53 because of patient discomfort.
2.5 Variables affecting the results.
When variables that may affect conversion voltage were examined, type of atrial fibrillation, duration of atrial fibrillation and size of the left atrium were significant. The conversion voltage required to terminate atrial fibrillation in the chronic group was significantly higher than that in the paroxysmal or the induced group (p < 0.001) (Fig. 3). There was no significant difference in successful conversion voltage in the chronic group between patients with atrial fibrillation established <90 days (11 patients) and those with atrial fibrillation established >3 months. There was a significant relation between conversion voltage and duration of atrial fibrillation or left atrial diameter (p < 0.05). However, the correlation coefficients for these two variables were low. The variables that were found not significantly related to conversion voltage were age, height, weight, previous RR interval and body surface area.
Although reproducibility was not tested in this study, three patients underwent repeat cardioversion after attaining sinus rhythm. The mean conversion energy changed from 5.8 to 2.5 J.
3 Discussion
3.1 Background.
Synchronized electrical cardioversion remains the most successful and the safest treatment for reestablishing sinus rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation ([5, 12]). It is commonly achieved using anterolateral paddle placement or anteroposterior paddle placement on the thorax and delivering ≥100-J shocks under general anesthesia. Although the overall success of external cardioversion is reported to be high ([5]), this technique may fail in a number of patients ([7]). Among the factors likely to affect the results, transthoracic impedance, energy level and paddle position have been implicated ([13, 14]). Lévy et al. ([6]) reported successful cardioversion of chronic atrial fibrillation using shocks delivered between an electrode catheter in the right atrium (cathode) and a back plate (anode) in patients with failed external cardioversion. This technique used energy of 200 or 300 J under general anesthesia. Previous attempts to terminate atrial fibrillation by delivering intracardiac shocks in the right atrium with low energies have been disappointing. Dunbar et al. ([15]) achieved termination of only 26% of episodes of atrial fibrillation with energies <5 J in a model of talc-induced pericarditis in dogs. Nathan et al. ([16]), using a similar technique, were unsuccessful in terminating atrial fibrillation in patients. Both studies used a catheter (Medtronic 6880) with the anode and cathode on the same catheter. A different approach was taken by Kumagai et al. ([17]), who used a technique in dogs comparable to that used by Lévy et al. ([6]) and were able to successfully terminate atrial fibrillation with monophasic shocks of 1 J in 70% of attempts. Cooper et al. ([8]) found that in an experimental model of pacing-induced atrial fibrillation in sheep, the electrode configuration that resulted in the lowest energy requirement comprised catheters in the right atrial appendage and coronary sinus. In their studies, biphasic shocks resulted in the lowest defibrillation energy requirements of the waveforms tested. These findings prompted the present multicenter trial aimed at evaluating the safety and efficacy of biphasic shocks delivered between the right atrium and coronary sinus electrode catheters in patients with atrial fibrillation.
3.2 Comparison with previous reports.
The present study showed that it was possible to terminate atrial fibrillation in different subsets of patients with ≥75% success with a mean energy ranging from 0.3 to 6.2 J. Alt et al. ([9]) were successful in reestablishing sinus rhythm in 10 of 13 patients with chronic atrial fibrillation with a mean energy of 3.7 ± 1.7 J. Murgatroyd et al. ([11]) were able to terminate pacing or mechanically induced atrial fibrillation in 19 patients, with an energy ranging from 0.7 to 4.4 J. Only four of their patients had spontaneous atrial fibrillation. These patients are also part of the present study. Saksena et al. ([10]) found high defibrillation thresholds using different electrode configurations, in particular, a right atrium to axillary patch electrode (20.1 ± 7.4 J). The best lead configuration resulted in a mean defibrillation threshold of 9.9 ± 7.7 J. The present conversion data in 141 patients are consistent with previous reports using a right atrium to coronary sinus vector and show that regardless of the type of atrial fibrillation, successful termination may be obtained using low energy shocks. Furthermore, the study showed that the conversion voltage required for restoring sinus rhythm in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation is higher than that required for other types (i.e., paroxysmal, intermediate or induced) of atrial fibrillation.
3.3 Safety.
In this study, no complications occurred after 1,779 R wave synchronized shocks. It should be emphasized that according to the defibrillation protocol, shocks were generally withheld after short RR intervals (<500 ms). The latter was based on the experimental work of Ayers et al. ([18]) who showed that synchronized shocks delivered after short RR intervals (<300 ms) were associated with an increased risk of induction of rapid ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation. Murgatroyd et al. ([19]) compiled the experience of a number of different centers evaluating transvenous low energy atrial fibrillation and observed no ventricular tachyarrhythmias in a total of 1,212 shocks. The mean preceding RR interval was 619 ± 214 ms, similar to that of 676 ± 149 ms found in the present trial. However, they observed transient bradycardia and occasional pauses (≤6,280 ms), suggesting that synchronized shocks delivered by an implanted atrial defibrillator would require antibradycardia support pacing. The cases analyzed by Murgatroyd et al. ([19]) included only the partial experience of two of the centers that participated in the present study. We observed a ventricular proarrhythmia in a patient with flutter after an unsynchronized shock due to a faulty synchronization on the T wave. Ventricular tachycardia rapidly degenerating into ventricular fibrillation occurred. Sinus rhythm was restored after prompt external cardioversion. A similar case was reported by Falk and Podrid ([12]) after an attempted external cardioversion of atrial flutter and improper synchronization, resulting in a delivered shock on the T wave and ventricular fibrillation. Saksena et al. ([11]) observed nonsustained polymorphic ventricular tachycardia after a poorly synchronized shock, also in a patient with flutter. Although rare, the possibility of such a serious event emphasizes the importance of R wave synchronization, hence requiring a lead placed in the right ventricle for an implanted atrial defibrillator.
3.4 Clinical applications.
Low energy transvenous cardioversion has a number of clinical applications that may be classified into two types:
1. Cardioversion using an external device and temporary electrode catheters may have a number of potential applications. It may be used to terminate pacing or catheter-induced atrial fibrillation complicating an electrophysiologic study. Low energy transvenous cardioversion does not require general anesthesia, and only mild sedation using midazolam may be needed. This technique may be used to repeatedly terminate recurrent atrial fibrillation in intensive care units, particularly after open heart surgery. High energy internal cardioversion has been suggested as an option in patients with failed external cardioversion ([6, 7, 20, 21]). Low energy cardioversion may be an alternative in patients with high transthoracic impedance, such as obese patients or patients with chronic obstructive lung disease.
2. Low energy cardioversion may have an application in implanted devices. In the ventricular implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, atrial fibrillation is often responsible for inappropriate shocks. The latter may even be responsible for ventricular proarrhythmia. Proper detection and termination of atrial fibrillation may be a useful addition to currently available implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmias. Moreover, our results on the safety and efficacy of low energy transvenous cardioversion support the feasibility of an implanted atrial defibrillator. Such a device may widen the scope of nonpharmacologic therapy of atrial fibrillation and may be an alternative therapy to ablation of the atrioventricular node and pacemaker implantation. The efficacy of low energy cardioversion demonstrated in this study indicates that there may be a subgroup of patients with atrial fibrillation who may benefit from an implanted atrial defibrillator, provided that the safety and tolerability of such device are proved by appropriately conducted clinical trials. In three patients who required repeated cardioversion, the mean conversion energy was lower, which suggests that periods of sinus rhythm may induce remodeling of the atria. More data are needed to support such hypothesis in patients.
3.5 Study limitations.
Although the present report provides information on the safety and feasibility of low energy transvenous cardioversion of atrial fibrillation, it does not address a number of issues. As pointed out by Murgatroyd et al. ([10]), the energy required to restore sinus rhythm with the defibrillation protocol used does not represent a defibrillation threshold. Cardioversion may result from a cumulative energy due to previous ineffective shocks. The same limitation applies to the so-called ventricular defibrillation threshold. The protocol of this trial was not intended to test the reproducibility after a successful shock. Although the protocol included the evaluation of shock-related discomfort, it appeared difficult to present meaningful data for a number of reasons. The type and time at which sedation should be used were left to the judgment of the investigator and to the consent obtained from the patient to undergo the protocol without sedation. In the Marseille experience, only 30 of 42 patients agreed to undergo the protocol without sedation. In contrast, it would be inappropriate to lump together the data on pain from five countries over two continents using a subjective scale because the perception of pain may well be cultural. The issue of pain should be evaluated separately in a specially designed protocol.
3.6 Conclusions.
This prospective, multicenter trial on low energy transvenous cardioversion of atrial fibrillation showed, in a total of 141 patients, that shocks delivered between two electrode catheters in the right atrium and coronary sinus are effective in restoring sinus rhythm. This technique is safe, provided that shocks are synchronized to the R wave with preceding RR intervals that meet appropriate cycle length criteria. Unsynchronized shocks present the risk of ventricular proarrhythmia. Although the technique was successful in restoring sinus rhythm in 82% of patients, the conversion voltage required was significantly higher in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation than those with other types of atrial fibrillation and increased with the duration of atrial fibrillation and left atrial size. The procedure does not require general anesthesia and may be useful in terminating persistent atrial fibrillation in a number of clinical situations. This study provides important data pertinent to the potential use of an implanted atrial defibrillator.
☆ This study was supported in part by a grant from InControl, Redmond, Washington. Drs. Camm and Lévy have consulting agreements with InControl, Redmond, Washington.
- Received April 8, 1996.
- Revision received September 25, 1996.
- Accepted December 11, 1996.
- The American College of Cardiology
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This post was originally going to be "4 Books You Might Enjoy if You Love 80's Teen Movies," but that was just too broad and specific at the same time. For starters, we don't need to limit it to any particular decade. The angst and problems the teens face in the Breakfast Club are timeless, although the 80's were pretty awesome in terms of movies (and music). Also, The Breakfast Club just has a certain vibe that not every 80's movie has.
Title: The Breakfast Club
Director: John Hughes
Writer: John Hughes
Year: 1985
Rating: R
Cast: Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy
IMDb | Wikipedia
Five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought. The story line follows five teenagers, each members of different high school cliques, who spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all more than their respective stereotypes, while facing a strict disciplinarian. Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal (Paul Gleason). The disparate group includes rebel John (Judd Nelson), princess Claire (Molly Ringwald), outcast Allison (Ally Sheedy), brainy Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) and Andrew (Emilio Estevez), the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently — and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.
So, without further ado, here's 4 books you might enjoy if you love the Breakfast Club:
1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Technically, the Perks of Being a Wallflower is set in the early 90's, but it's still a coming-of-age novel that explores similar themes that are present in The Breakfast Club. Perks shows what it's like to feel like an outsider as Charlie navigates high school and the challenges of being a teenager. Perks has wonderful, dimensional characters that will make you laugh, cry, and completely relate to what they're going through. Plus, while it's not set in the 80's, this book absolutely provides a wonderful dose of nostalgia, if that's what you're looking for!
2. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King
Like The Breakfast Club, there's something honest and uncensored in Please Ignore Vera Dietz about what growing up and being young is like. Although the stories are totally different, there's similar themes of coming-of-age and friendship despite the circumstances. This book has hints of realism and there's some pretty weird sections from the perspective of things or places, but all in all, Vera is a book that is heartfelt, funny, and honest.
3. The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos
If you like The Breakfast Club for its amazing soundtrack (Don't You!), then you'll like The Scar Boys. The Scar Boys follows a young boy in a punk rock band. Harry was severely burned in an accident (or more like a cruel incident) that leaves him covered in burns. Harry knows what it's like to not fit in and be bullied for how he appears. But with the help of a friend and some good music, Harry gets through it all. The Scar Boys is a coming-of-age novel that will have you rooting for Harry as he takes you on his journey through adolescence.
4. We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen
It's the summer of 1982, and for Scott and Cath, everything is about to change.
We Are Still Tornadoes is probably THE best 80's teen romance book I've ever read. That being said, the truth is that I haven't read very many. BUT it's still an adorable book about growing up, adjusting to college, and the joy and struggles of friendships. Cath and Scott will absolutely win your hearts from the start. This book is packed with pop culture (particularly music) references from the 80's that will give you a dose of nostalgia.
BONUS: One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
I haven't read One of Us is Lying, but here's a review by Lola @ Hit or Miss books! This book has a summary that practically describes the characters in The Breakfast Club EXCEPT this book is a mystery/thriller! So if you're looking for something a little bit different but still reminiscent of TBC, check this book out! 🙂


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On Tue, Nov 01, 2005 at 11:14:59AM +0200, Lars Wirzenius wrote: > ma, 2005-10-31 kello 22:03 +0100, Javier Fernández-Sanguino Peña > kirjoitti: > > After the feedback of the recent d-d thread, I've adapted the section I wrote > > on the best practices related to system users and groups, it is currently > > available at: > > http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/developers-reference/ch-best-pkging-practices.en.html#s-bpp-lower-privs > > > > I would like developers to review and provide feedback for that section, > > specially in form of patches. I'm considering doing a bug hunt for: > > DON'T do this: > > addgroup --quiet --system $SERVER_GROUP 2>/dev/null ||true > > When (not if!) addgroup fails, the poor system administrator gets no > indication of it. This is a bug, and a pretty bad one. FWIW, that's partially based on what some package's postinst do (exim4-base, fetchmail, ntp-simple, and proftp, for example). I've fixed the sample code to not redirect error messages (that probably should have been a '>/dev/null' and removed the '|| true' too. > If adduser isn't quiet enough with --quiet, then fix that, don't hide > real errors. Remove both the redirect and the "|| true". Done in CVS. Javier
Description: Digital signature


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Update: 2010 – Many Portland July 4th Weekend Events: Fireworks, Music, Parties
July 4th is right around the corner and it is time to make plans. Last year the 4th was on Friday, which is good. This year it is on a Saturday, which is even better. There will be many events going on that day and we will have a large list the Thursday before. But for now, here are a few possibilities:
First time to the Pipeline? Read more about us here: Pipeline Posse
Also, check out our guide to Portland Happy Hours, Bars, Food &Â More
Related Posts/Events:
- July 4: Where to Watch Fireworks on July Fourth in Portland | Many Suggestions
- 75+ Portland Weekend Events & Parties + Free Tickets | July 2-5
- July Concerts in the Park: Portland Summer Concert Series (2009)
- 2009 Portland Blues Festival: The Blues Cruise (Video)
Reminder: Also, we give out free tickets every week to our Portland Facebook Group including to many of the top music and art venues in Portland. Join it if you like free stuff.
- Portland Blues Festival: Big Sam's Funky Nation and: Bonerama, Storm Large, March Fourth Marching Band, Harmonica Blow-Off, and a lot more…full list here. Portland Blues Festival Cruise info here but sold out on July 4 :(
- Watch fireworks at Oaks Park: Annual 4th of July Celebration. Gates open at 10 am, rides start at noon. All picnic spaces are first come first serve. Gate fee is $4.00 for 16 and over, $2.50 for 15 and younger. All personal fireworks and alcohol are prohibited (bags and coolers will be checked). Ride bracelets valid all day… stay and play from noon to midnight! Live entertainment on the Comcast Stage throughout the day. Fireworks begin at 9:55 pm.
- Portland Beavers vs Colorado Springs Sky Sox Independence Day Celebration @PGE park:The first 1903 fans will receive a Patriotic Hat presented by PGE.
- July 4th night of influential electronica at Berbati's Pan with TIPPER: Other musical guests are saQi, performing with members of the Marchfourth Marching Band and Danny Corn. There will also be a live digital video performance during the show.
- Vampire Baseball with cast of Twilight @ PGE park: Vampire Baseballâ¬Å¾¢ played by cast and crew of the Twilight movies. July 4th evening of Portland Beavers' professional baseball and fireworks. Actors scheduled to appear: Rachelle Lefevre, Peter Facinelli, Edi Gathegi, Michael Welch, Solomon Trimble, Christian Serratos, Ayanna Berkshire, Catherine Grimme, Alex Meraz, Kiowa Gordon (more info)
- Goodfoot with DJ Magneto: If you read Pipeline enough, you know I am a fan of Manny/Magneto. He only flies in once a month & always puts on a great show. For Fourth of July, he is going the extra mile. He sent me this message about it:
FROM DJ MAGNETO On Saturday 4th of july '09 we'll be mashing up the sounds like gumbo, perfect for a post-fireworx celebration. and in the spirit of the variety of cultures the US hosts we will be partying to the sounds of the dopest dance music from every corner of the world. Dj E3, a well versed selector with heavy eastern influences, myself with the afro/latin joints and our boy Standing 8 are the selectors of the night. E3 has been in the mix with the international sound since before his record label BSI records, he currently is a resident at Atlas as well as ongoing appearances at Various where the dub flows heavy.
Dj Magneto's, that's me… well, i like to fiesta it up… everything from salsa remixes to original mambo to dancehall cumbia blends. it's basically just a party.
here's what it sound like
And our bwoy Standing 8 will follow suit
- Watch Fireworks in Vancouver, Washington: (apparently not happening this year) Better known as the Fort Vancouver fireworks festival, this is the largest fireworks display in the area and one of the largest fireworks displays west of the Mississippi. The event actually kicks of the day before with a outdoor showing of Happy Feet at dusk. On the 4th there is a pancake breakfast followed by entertainment, a carnival and food vendors, a blood drive and a kids play area. The Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and Pearson Air Museum are also open for an interesting educational experience. The fireworks display is a 30 minute show and is accompanied by live music. The show starts at 10:10 PM.
- From PDXFoodPress: Salty's on the Columbia will offer a special BBQ buffet on Saturday, July 4th from 12pm to 5pm. Cost for the buffet is $26.95. In the summer, there is no better place to enjoy the outdoors than from Salty's decks overlooking the Columbia River. All guests will receive complimentary sparklers to light and enjoy on the decks. If you have a picnic planned, or are hosting your own July 4th festivities, the buffet is also available to-go. For those wishing to take the BBQ home, items will be offered for $8.95 per pound.
- Doug Fir Concert: Afro-Cuban roots reggae from all-star collective Culver City Dub Collective (Jack Johnson's Band), more info dougfir
These are from the large list we put on the site every Thursday. You can find Thursday – Sunday here: 75+ Portland Weekend Events & Parties + Free Tickets | July 2-5
- 4th of July on the Waterfront @ Tom McCall Park (fireworks!)
- Rooftop CD Release Party @ Salmon St. Studios (tons of hip hop artists and a waterfront view of the fireworks)
- Cory O And King Fader @ The Crown Room (4th o' July Dance Party)
- Tipper w/ Danny Corn and Saqi @ Berbatis (glitch, hip hop, electro beats)
- Tipper After Party @ Center Space w/Tyler Tastemaker and Govinda! (Future Blap/Triphop)
- Casual Encounters w/ DJ Automaton @ Rotture (dirty jams and fireworks)
- DJ MAGNETO & Dj E3 @ Goodfoot Lounge
- Let's Smurph w/ DJ Nealie Neal @ Eastburn (funk, soul, rare gems)
- Portland Beavers vs Colorado Springs @ PGE Park (baseball and fireworks … throw in Apple Pie and you can't get more American than that)
- Clarklewis 4th of July Party @ Clarklewis (food, fireworks, drinks)
- Dirty Projectors @ Holocene (abstract rock)
- Blues Festival @ Waterfront Park (bands!! Food drive!!)
- Culver City Dub Collective @ Doug Fir (reggae jazz)
- Dragon Moon Festival @ Chinatown (Chinese culture, music, art and performances)
- 4th Feast in NE @ Irving Park (cookout, fireworks, wiffle ball)
- Afuera 3 @ Secret Location (4th of July rave in the woods)
- MC Escher Exhibit @ Portland Art Museum (art art art)
- Various @ Branx (dubstep)
- Breakfast Mountain @ Potato Champion (concert and poutin from the popular food cart)
- After Dark @ Groove Suite (electro dance)
- Mr. MuMu, DJ Mani and Dun Diggy @ Saucebox (hip hop, electro, dubstep)
- Demetre Baca @ Pala (house)
- DJ Hostile Tapeover @ Valentine's (old school hip hop cassettes)
From Twitter:
PdxPipeline: What are you going to do for the 4th of July? Answers posted later. Some ideas here http://pdx.be/july-4-2009 #pdxevents
PDXRedhead: @PdxPipeline #pdxevents The Oregon Coast – Manzanita. Mo-fos know how to party over there.
Bend Pet Parade? JazzFest?
@PdxPipeline Going to a wedding
Shaking my fist at the sky and cursing the loud fireworks.
valinhorn: @PdxPipeline I am going up to Seattle to watch team USA play Grenada in the Gold Cup
@PdxPipeline House sitting for my boss, party anyone?
MisterBarFly: @PdxPipeline 4July: Road racing action at PIR for the SCCA Double National race weekend – and admission is FREE! http://tinyurl.com/PIR4JUL
BoboPuppyhead: Here's my plan for #PDX4th: Bands & ice cream then bands & bouncy castle. http://tr.im/qTHA & http://tr.im/qTHu respectively.
GunnarSimonsen: Chris Marshall is playing live at the Cooper Moutain Vineyards from 1-5 today. #PDX4th #portland


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Teaching Resource
Easter Bunny Craft Activity
A cute and creative Easter bunny craft activity using foam cups.
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Before I spout my opinion, let me tell you what YOU said.
In a nutshell, roughly half of all respondents felt that Obama would be better, one in four felt Romney would be better; and the remaining one in four either didn't know or felt there was no difference between the two men. To be honest, I find these results not at all surprising... and here's why.
To begin with, Romney himself, during this campaign, claimed that he was writing off anyone relying on government financial support... he was conceding them to Obama. What this means is that any of you who are receiving government assistance for disability or for unemployment, Romney doesn't really really value. He is already convinced you won't vote for him, and doesn't see this as a problem. How does that feel?
Second, although Obama's health care reform is not perfect, it is skewed towards helping those who cannot afford private insurance or who are otherwise ineligible for it. In my years working with many patients with fibromyalgia, I found that many were dropped by their private insurance carrier once fibro was diagnosed. Some individuals who continued to work, lost their insurance when their company switched from one insurance carrier to another, because each employee had to be approved before being covered. Others retained their insurance, but only for non-pre-existing conditions... so, if you had fibromyalgia before your company switched insurers, you were out of luck. Returning to a system that relies predominantly on private insurers, as Romney and Ryan intend (as a priority), will open all these cans of worms again for Americans with fibro, and many will lose their insurance one way or the other. Obama has fought to make sure those who can't afford or are otherwise ineligible for insurance still can get the health care they need (and, in his and my opinion both) deserve.
Also, as someone who has lived and worked as a physician in both countries, let me tell you a little bit about how insurers pay emergency rooms or clinics (as an example) for services, if you happen to go there. Hospitals and clinics generally have negotiated arrangements with insurers, so they pay only a percentage of the actual bill. For example, if you go to the ER and have an X-ray done, the charge might be $350 for the X-ray itself, but also $250 to cover the fee of the doctor who ordered it, and $250 for the radiologist who reads it. The final bill for that one X-ray, therefore, will be $350 + $250 + $250 = $850. Wow, right? BUT, if you have private insurance and they are billed, the hospitalmight only be paid $200, and yet the bill is considered paid. But what happens if you DON'T have private insurance and, hence, DON'T have a pre-negotiated arrangement for the hospital? Answer: You are on the hook for the full $850. It is for this reason that, despite Romney's and Ryan's assertions that the U.S. can't AFFORD universal health care, in fact, universal health care is less expensive... because hospitals and emergency rooms, and clinics and private physicians all have pre-negotiated arrangements with the universal insurance provider, so NO ONE has to pay $850 for an X-ray that the hospital is actually happy to accept $250 for. Evidence of this fact is that health care costs in Canada are much lower, per person, than in the U.S.... the two countries aren't even close. In fact, health care services in the U.S. are among the most expensive in the world. And does that make U.S. health care better? The answer is a resounding no. In a just published study, the U.S. was found to have the worst health care delivery system of any of the world's economic superpowers. Again, I truly believe that Obama's health care plan is intended to change this.
Another issue I'll discuss thaty favors Obama over Romney is their stance on women's issues, since fibromyalgia is predominantly a disease of women, with 80% or more of diagnosed cases being female. According to Romney and Ryan, women's disease screening procedures like mammography (for early detection of breast cancer) are 'non-essential' and should not be covered by insurers. Though long considered an 'invisible disease', the truth is that we now have the technology (via specialized imaging scans like SPECT and functional MRI) to SEE pain, and considerable research is being conducted at several centres around the world to refine such tests, as well as to develop blood tests to facilitate in the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. This is a critical issue because one in four doctors in North America still believes that all fibromyalgia patients are faking. Once an objective test is available to diagnose this disorder, many if not the vast majority of these naysayers will become believers. But if Romneycare won't even cover a long-standing, routine and relatively inexpensive screening test for breast cancer, what chance is there it will spring for ANY of these new tests for fibro? Answer: virtually none.
I pride myself on being a fairly balanced and even-minded person; so I would like to say a few nice things about Romney here; but frankly, in terms of the fibromyalgia and chronic pain issue, I just can't see them. Each person who reads this must make their own decision. But I've made mine as a dual citizen who is eligible to vote in both Canada and the U.S., and as a physician, researcher and staunch fibromyalgia patient advocate.
I'm sorry, Mitt. But Obama and Obamacare have my vote.
Kevin White, MD, PhD, multiple award-winning researcher, author, teacher & speaker


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A confrontation between law enforcement and Native American tribes protesting the controversial Dakota Access pipeline turned violent once again late Sunday night. As temperatures in Cannon Ball, North Dakota plummeted below freezing, protesters reported being attacked with water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray.
The night began as protesters, who refer to themselves as water protectors, attempted to remove burned military vehicles that were blocking Backwater Bridge on Highway 1806. Protesters say they were clearing the route to improve access for emergency services reaching the camp. The Morton County Sheriff's Department said protesters' actions were "very aggressive" and that the water cannons were necessary because protesters were lighting fires.
Video of water cannons being used on protectors in 26°F/-3°C at barricades at barricades in North Dakota 📷: @johnkdangers #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/L8gYUglJ9v
— IndigenousEnviroNet (@IENearth) November 21, 2016
The police retaliation resulted in significant injuries among the hundreds of protesters, according to a statement from several indigenous groups: "Multiple people were unconscious and bleeding after being shot in the head with rubber bullets. A member of the International Indigenous Youth Council was sent into a seizure by a flash grenade. One elder went into cardiac arrest at the frontlines but medics administered CPR and were able to resuscitate him."
Members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, along with other Native American tribes and protesters from around the country, have remained steadfast in their opposition to the $3.8-billion oil pipeline, set to run from North Dakota to Illinois. The water protectors maintain the proposed route is a threat to their sacred sites and threatens the Standing Rock tribe's sole water supply.
Their protests have routinely been met with an aggressive, militarized police force. Native American activists have been pepper-sprayed and shot with rubber bullets while standing in water. They were reportedly kept in "dog kennels" after armed law enforcement cleared one of their camps. Water protectors praying by the side of the road were reportedly swarmed by armed police and threatened with arrest.
Our sisters who got arrested were stripped, marked with numbers, and held in dog kennels. Sound familiar? #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/xKMFcnsUu1
— Linda Black Elk (@lindablackelk) October 28, 2016
As a result, Amnesty International USA sent a group of human rights observers to monitor law enforcement's response to protests last month, saying the group was "deeply concerned about what we heard during our previous visit to Standing Rock and what has been reported to us since." The United Nations is also investigating reports of human rights abuses against Native American protesters.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama said federal agencies were exploring the possibility of re-routing the pipeline to accommodate sacred tribal sites. But on Friday, the head of the company building the pipeline told the Associated Press the project will go forward as planned. "There's not another way. We're building at that location," Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, said.
The Army Corps of Engineers put the company's final approval on hold in September, saying more time was needed to evaluate tribal concerns. Last week, the agency said additional discussion and analysis is needed. "While these discussions are ongoing, construction on or under Corps land bordering Lake Oahe cannot occur because the Army has not made a final decision on whether to grant an easement," the agency said in a statement.
President-elect Donald Trump, who has thus far shown no intention of separating his vast personal financial interests from his new responsibilities as president, has a financial stake in seeing the pipeline completed: He has invested between $500,000 and $1 million in Energy Transfer Partners and another $500,000 to $1 million in Phillips 66, which will have a 25 percent stake in the finished pipeline. Energy Transfer's Warren also gave $103,000 to elect Trump and $66,800 to the Republican National Committee.


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Happy Wednesday to you! Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend. Recently, I had a chance to try out a new restaurant in downtown Tampa called Franklin Manor. It was pretty good. I can't wait to go back so I wanted to share a little more about it with you!
First off, the environment was awesome with a pretty big space inside and outside. I already want to go back for brunch and bring Bowden with me to try a doggie dessert they have 😉
To start the evening, I got myself a Frozen rose which was pretty good and sweet. For dinner, both my friend and I actually ordered the hot chicken sandwich. So delicious and spicy which I love. We were too full for dessert but next time, I'll have to try one out.
PS football games will be great to watch here with how the establishment is set up. Hopefully I can go back and watch FSU go onto a national title there. We'll see how the year pans out!
With that being said, if you're in the downtown Tampa area, you should go and try their hot chicken or brunch menu that is served all day and night. Yes, you read that correctly. Pretty amazing right? Let me know what your favorite menu item is if you make it to Franklin Manor and have a lovely weekend, xx


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Does anyone else find the frogs "anatomy" strange to say the least.
Does anyone else find the frogs "anatomy" strange to say the least.
Oh God it's that ........ing Jamster thing.
makes me want to watch Beverly Hill's Cop, isn't that the same song?
Because I can't.
>> Jamster
They ripped that sound (the car sound) from a pic on the internet years ago with a racing driver. That ........ed me off.
No, I just mean the little frog guy with a weiner.
Govt loves the weiners.
Oh god, please make it stop. Honestly I tried watching 5 minutes of this to see where it was going, but it wasn't going freeking anywhere, and it just kept going....and going no where!
if it's that friggin jamster frog then im not putting myself through the torture of clicking the link, it's on in every advert break on every channel
Yeah, we have that frog in our commersials here as well, but I think it's called Jamba! here.
Last edited by Sang-drax : Tomorrow at 02:21 AM. Reason: Time travelling
Wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully out of obscurity unto the dream.
Aye. That's a big business considering all they do is getting some sounds and converting them to whatever a mobile phone is playing these days. The advertisement sucks, the songs suck... and yet it seems to be a successful business.Yeah, we have that frog in our commersials here as well, but I think it's called Jamba! here.
She was so Blonde, she spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice can because it said "Concentrate."
When in doubt, read the FAQ.
Then ask a smart question.
What the hell, Britain.Originally Posted by adrianxw


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Powered by
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced on September 6 that it is investigating Samsung Electronics for possible abuse of market-dominant position. Apple had sued Samsung back in May regarding its standard patents for 3G mobile telephony.
Samsung is facing a lawsuit at the European Commission for the same patents, too. The EC is currently checking if the Korean handset manufacturer violated its regulations and the Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms during its litigation against Apple. Down the road, the FTC is going to examine the same matter and find out whether Samsung demanded an excessive license fee.
The FTC has already looked into both companies' market share and influence and overall market conditions based on the compliant submitted by Apple. It is also planning to listen to Samsung before making a judgment late this year.
Copyright © The Electronic Times Corp. & The Electronic Times Internet Corp. All Rights Reserved.


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Thursday, January 19, 2006
Amongst other things, the people of the United Kingdom are known to be extremely unclean, Americans are known for their dislike of walking and anti-Muslim politics, the Chinese are known for imitations and the Germans enjoy their beer.
But of course, we knew that already, didn't we?
Check out the Prejudice Map according to Google.
3 comments:
- Vidyut said...
That's an interesting bit of information. I think currently we (Indians) are being more cheated than us cheating others (people who make us work for peanuts). What you say?
- Fri Jan 20, 05:08:00 PM
I am really disturbed by the comment of indian's being unclean, we taught the Queen victoria the importance of bathing if "UK" ites who have this opinion need to learn and research their history.Indians were cheated and looted and hence we as a past colonial cousins were called jewel in the crown..!the prospority of Britian has a share contributed by wealth looted and shipped from india after 1947...!Yes we have a very tolarance for nonscense and we till today do it just the fact it faces have changed ,60yrs back it was british who made us jump,now there are our own politicians .Lastly please do not confuse Indians with people from bangladesh or pakistan...we have same colour but diffrent habits and tempearment.
- Sun Apr 15, 10:04:00 PM
- vivek said...
I Agree 100% with "anonimous"
- Sun May 06, 06:11:00 PM


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Gorgeous grass supply artificial grass to Schools, residential and commercial properties in North Wales and approached us to create a new website for them.
We suggested a website re-design that moved away from the actual products they supply and fit (which wasn't working for them) to a more service based website, highlighting the areas they cover and their specialisations such as the development of outdoor play and growth.
More importantly they NEEDED to be found!
We are presently working on the optimisation of the website and they are now Number 1 for "Artificial Grass Anglesey" and on page 1 for "Artificial Grass North Wales" we are working to get them to the number 1 spot for that keyword and a variety of local keyword searches.


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The abundance of stuff has caught up to me and I'm drowning in paper, unused makeup & unread books – I have it all. To make my life simple, I did two things yesterday:
1) Vowed not to buy anything unless I really really need it and
2) Got rid of old and duplicate makeup items.
It's not much but it's a start.
Paring Down Items
This month I will remove the items that are unused and taking my space, time and attention in Bedroom(closet & side table drawers) – my clothes are all over the place and closet requires serious purging.
Join me if you are in for some serious overhauling of space.


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6253 Hollywood Blvd #1106, Hollywood, 90028
Hollywood Loft Living
Unique two-level penthouse Hollywood loft living at its best in the epicenter of Hollywood at the famed corner of Hollywood and Vine.
Sought after for the ultimate in deluxe Hollywood lifestyle, this airy loft features high end modern finishes, Viking appliances, soaring ceilings and plenty of natural sunlight throughout the day.
The bedroom/office area located downstairs, leads up to an open living/dining area and bedroom.
This contemporary NYC-style loft in the heart of Hollywood, also offers views of the Hollywood Hills and the popular Capital Records building.
The residence building provides 24 hour doorman, rooftop patio and valet parking. Situated across the street from the W Hotel, Katsuya, Pantages Theater, Trader Joe's, the Red Line Metro Station, Barry's Bootcamp, Soul Cycle and Equinox.
This is urban style living in the heart of Los Angeles' entertainment district. The Lofts at Hollywood and Vine is a Historic Mills Act Building which provides for significant property tax savings.
If you'd like to see this Hollywood loft living space in person, email Brian Courville or JB Fung. Or call JB Fung at 323-687-1170, Brian Courville at 310-622-0312 for other Hollywood Historical buildings and Architectural homes for sale. Contact us if you ever wonder "What's my home worth" for a free no obligation home valuation.
Listing courtesy of Nima Tehrany, Keller Williams Hollywood Hills


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Once upon a time, I read books and wrote reviews of them. Book review posts were staples in the Before I Only Wrote About Football blogging days, and were my most regular non-link posts in the early days of this site. Earlier this decade, I wrote reviews-many short, plenty longer-of every book I finished for a blog that nobody else can read. Yet, for one reason or another, I eventually stopped doing that. I switched from full reviews of each football book to capsule reviews in a quarterly post. I started out writing the quarterly post at the end of the quarter. Then a couple weeks after the end of the quarter. By now, it's been nine months since I posted here about anything I read (and it's been several years since I've written a book review for The Locked Site).
I know I'm quite likely never going to go back to writing about football books the way, but I do want to try to return to the quarterly recaps. After so much time, though, I just want to get everything up to date. Thankfully, I didn't read that much the past nine months by my standards. In my last book review post, I mentioned the second quarter of 2015 was my least productive reading quarter (in terms of numbers of books finished) since the first quarter of 2010. Third quarter 2015 was my least productive third quarter since 2009 and fourth quarter 2015 was my least productive fourth quarter since 2009 (I note by quarters because my reading has tended to follow seasonal patterns; since I started keeping track by month in 2004, I finish on average 20% more books in July and August than you'd expect, while I finish 26% fewer in June). For the year, I finished 79 books, my lowest total since 2009, and the 9 football books I finished was the lowest total there since 2006. (By comparison, I averaged 117 books per year in 2011-14, so 79 books was for me a 33% drop.) We'll see what the rest of 2016 brings. In 2010, I finished more books in April than I did in the entire first quarter, but I surely won't replicate that this year.
Anyway, time for the nominal purpose of this post, telling you what I did actually read. Football first, then non-football, my 2015 favorites, and a look at the unread list.
Football Books-2015
Once again, I was involved in writing a book but failed to talk about it here. Yes, Football Outsiders Almanac 2015, the annual tome previewing the NFL and college football seasons from us at Football Outsiders came out. I wrote the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and Tennessee Titans chapters. One day I should really talk about my FOA writing process and give a behind-the-scenes look at what I wrote about, why I wrote about what I did, how I wrote the chapters, and some stuff like that. Today will not be that day.
I mentioned in that previous book review post Chris Brown sent me a review copy of his second book, The Art of Smart Football. It's Chris's work, so of course you should read it. Like his first book The Essential Smart Football, it's a collection of essays, most previously published. For me, it wasn't as essential as Essential, because more of it was familiar to me. Some of the Grantland (R.I.P.) pieces also missed the graphics a digital product can have that a physical book cannot.
When the NFL made all-22 accessible to the public in 2011, one lament/request I heard from fellow outsider fans with an analytical bent was they really didn't know what they were looking at, and it would be great to have somebody knowledgeable explain to them what was really going on. Alex Kirby's Every Play Revealed 2 gives you that kind of guide for the Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl. It's probably best read in conjunction with a re-watch of the game itself. I ended up not having the time to do that, alas, and just read the review PDF Alex sent me. He's done similar books for other games, and they're probably worth picking up if you really want to study that game. Now if we can just get a consortium of people to do it for every other NFL game…
Thursday evening, I was listening to Bruce Feldman (mostly) talk with Kevin Sumlin about RPOs and the one-back clinic, so it's fitting that tonight I finally get to writing about Bart Wright's Football Revolution: The Rise of the Spread Offense and How It Transformed College Football, a history of the spread offense that includes the influence of Dennis Erickson and said one-back clinic. Not a coaching book, but a lot of good interview work and a book I wished I'd read soon after it came out (in the fall of 2013). Recommended.
I wanted more than I got from Brady vs. Manning: The Untold Story of the Rivalry That Transformed the NFL by Gary Myers.
I was a big fan of John U. Bacon's Three and Out, and though about Michigan thought that book could be read quite profitably by people with no connection to the Wolverines or Ann Arbor. Endzone, I thought, was a book that appeals much more to the UM devotee and wasn't as broadly interesting.
Football Books-2016
Writing a biography about a living subject who doesn't cooperate with you is an interesting task. The living subject means that there are contemporaries around, many of whom are probably willing to speak, plus contemporaneous records are generally extant and not too difficult to locate. But you're still in some ways missing the most important voice. Keith Dunnavant's Montana is fine for all that, though I'm reminded of my comment on his Bart Starr biography, America's Quarterback, that was kind of the inflection point for when I got bored with football books.
I wasn't as big a fan as everybody else seems to be of Adam Lazarus's Best of Rivals on the Joe Montana-Steve Young quarterback battle when I read that a few years ago. I was a much bigger fan of his Hail to the Redskins on Joe Gibbs' great Washington teams, plus there's a great Gibbs quote I want to use in a longer piece I'm still in the planning stages on. Recommended.
NFL Confidential: True Confessions from the Gutter of Football by Shmavid Shmolk, er, "Johnny Anonymous" was a suitably breezy and entertaining book by a player about a team-season, in the instant case David Molk on the Eagles' 2014. The veneer of anonymity is paper-thin; the travails of the third-string center who ends up playing probably would've been enough to identify Molk with even minor work, a Monday off day is a give-away for Chip Kelly and the Eagles, and picking out Jason Peters and DeSean Jackson, among others, was pretty easy. Ball Four it ain't, but it's in line with Slow Getting Up as far as recent NFL player memoirs go. The better question is what would a book like Ball Four look like these days? I don't know, really, but has anybody attempted to write a book like Dryden's The Game since that came out 35 years ago? That's a niche I'd like to see filled.
As long as you're not expecting a full biography or anything more than a quick airplane read (which I mention because this was, in fact, where I read it), Bill Polian's The Game Plan delivers what you might want. But while I bet he could've, Polian wasn't interested in writing a great book on the NFL.
I finished Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale out of sheer cussedness to see if I would enjoy it any more, if it made any more sense, if it was any better. Nope, and a couple pages at the very end of academic satire were not enough to carry the rest of the work for me. Very strongly anti-recommended to people who share my tastes (see infra).
Jo Walton's The Just City was an interesting novel about an attempt to set up Plato's city in the "real" world with people from various stages of history. I forgot if it was in this book or the sequel The Philosopher Kings that Walton had a character note they didn't get many people from the Enlightenment or later (beyond the POV female character from Victorian England), (a) for which I credit Walton and (b) #TeamEnlightenment. Being science fiction, this is of course a trilogy, and I plan to get the third volume from the library when it comes out as well.
A friend of mine recommended Sean McMullen's trilogy beginning with Souls in the Great Machine after I asked for books like Anathem in my last book review post. There's an interesting premise here, which carries the first book, and an interesting change of scenery does the sequel The Miocene Arrow well, but I wasn't a huge fan of the concluding volume Eyes of the Calculor (a 2016 finish, but it's not worth breaking up the review for that). Recommended for genre fans.
I did read non-spec fic fiction in the final two quarters of 2015, but not much of it and nothing to recommend.
I was hoping I'd finish Michel Houellebecq's Submission before the year ended so I could just declare it my favorite fiction read of 2015. But I didn't, and if it had really deserved its place there, I probably would have. I didn't enjoy it was much as I did The Map and the Territory.
I suspect I would have enjoyed Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard more as a dramatic performance than as a book.
Some actual non-genre novels I liked Don Winslow's The Power of the Dog and its sequel, The Cartel, about the Mexican drug wars from the mid-1970's onward with a DEA agent protagonist. James Ellroy-esque in how characters overwhelmingly range from shades of gray to black, but much more narrative and much more readable, and epic in scope.
But if you want genre fiction, I did enjoy Daniel Abraham's The Dagger and the Coin series. Five books, concluded satisfactorily with the just-released The Spider's War. And am I the only one who sees the outlines of an alt-universe Anakin Skywalker in Geder?
Based on the reaction of my then-6-year-old niece, the start of Chapter 12 of Ian Toll's Six Frigates on the early U.S. Navy is one of the funniest things ever put to print. She seemed particularly amused by Toll's use of the word "private," describing a letter sent by President James Madison. More … mature readers will find it a well-done history of the time period, capably conveying both the on-land and at-sea machinations, something not often done in naval histories.
I was unsurprised to see Ashlee Vance's Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future make many best of 2015 lists. I'm personally hesitant to put biographies of people who seem like they're still in the prime of their careers there, simply because I want to be sure the best books of a year to still be really good five years later. But anybody who writes a Musk biography in 2020 or 2050 will have to engage in some way with Vance's work.
Economist books: I enjoyed both Alvin Roth's Who Gets What – and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Design, focusing on his work on auction designs, and Richard Thaler's more specifically a memoir Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics. Greg Ip's Foolproof: Why Safety Can Be Dangerous and How Danger Makes Us Safe I didn't love as much as others seemed to (I seem to recall seeing it on more than its share of best of 2015 books), but it's still solid.
Phillip T. Hoffamn's Why Did Europe Conquer the World? was a book I'd been waiting on for a while, since discovering Hoffman's work into seventeenth century France years ago. It was good, but wasn't as much of an addition to the literature as I hoped it would be. I'm not quite sure I'd go as far as R.Albin's review, but nor would I say he's wrong.
I read and enjoyed but didn't love David Hackett Fischer's Washington's Crossing about a decade ago, but had put off reading his Paul Revere's Ride for some time for no very good reason. Like Crossing, it does a fine job of putting the epochal historical event sometimes shrouded in myth and mystery into time-specific context. It shouldn't be your first book on the American Revolution, but it can profitably be read with just a basic knowledge of the American Revolution and probably can profitably be read by those with a great interest in popular histories of the American Revolution.
The Russians are coming: Bill Browder's Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice was a nice mix of personal memoir of doing business in Eastern Europe and Russia in the collapse of Soviet hegemony and then in Putin's Russia, where the life of enemies is cheap. David Hoffman's The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal has its own Moscow betrayal and killing but it set a quarter-century or so earlier, as Adolf Tolkachev spies for the U.S. and then is betrayed and executed.
The problem with a book like North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissentors and Defectors is it's difficult to judge just how good a job Daniel Tudor and James Pearson did of giving us a glimpse into the normally-forbidden and highly-restricted Hermit Kingdom. The available evidence seems to be as good a job as one can. If you can trust it, it's quite an interesting look at a very different world. If you can't, then, of course, it's worthless.
I didn't enjoy Matt Ridley's The Evolution of Everything as much as I did his The Rational Optimist; the two books aren't the same, but I recall a broad thematic similarity and Optimist seems like a better sell. David Starkey's Magna Carta was a thin book, but did a good job of putting the 1215 document in more context. After Dan Jones' The Wars of the Roses, I didn't get as much out of Michael Jones' Bosworth 1485: The Battle That Transformed England, and probably wouldn't have finished it had it been longer. As a fan of the novels of Frederick Forsyth, I enjoyed his memoir The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue; his take on Biafra remains quite interesting, though I lack any context for it (or any detail of the conflict in general).
I've only finished 7 non-fiction books this year, and 4 of those were about football. Fortunately, two of those other three are worth discussing.
I've previously noted I greatly enjoyed Randall Munroe's xkcd comic and his earlier What If?, where he answers absurd hypothetical questions seriously. His latest book is Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, where he explains (with the aid of illustrations) complicated things using just the one thousand most common words. It's a clever concept, I believe first expressed in his Up Goer Five comic. In book format, though, my overwhelming impression was that it's just a clever concept and fine details are normally expressed in specific technical jargon because that's the best, clearest, and most economical way of doing so.
The nature of my project here precludes me from going into too much detail on Martin Gurri's The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium. But this 2014 work is a superb analysis of the basic fault lines in American (and other) society, as demonstrated in the current Presidential election campaign and many other things. Not exactly a casual read, but worth working through and considering. Quite likely to end up on my best of 2016 list, and would have topped the best of 2015 list (infra). For a glimpse of Gurri's thought and analysis, see this recent post of his on D***** T****.
Best of 2015
Brief overview notes, also noted in my past end-of-year reviews: I try to read a balance of fiction and non-fiction. For my fiction reads, I tend to prefer plot-heavy narratives. Beyond minimums, literary quality is a plus but not a priority. Genre is ok. For the most part, the fiction I read suffices and clears my palate for other reads, with few of my choices reaching or even aspiring to particularly high heights. Little stands out among my 2015 fiction reads. The most memorable for me was Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky. I repeat my earlier warnings, that this is the most Not For Everybody, Your Mileage May Vary thing I've ever mentioned on here and if you start it, and you're not enjoying it by chapter 8-10, give up. The Walton books were interesting, but I'll wait to judge those until the final volume comes out. Cixin Liu's The Three-Body Problem was interesting, but (a) it's the first volume in a trilogy, (b) I didn't make any headway into the sequel when I checked it out from the library, and (c) series in progress (at least the English translation thereof). I wish I had non-genre recommendations, but I don't.
For the third straight year, picking my favorite non-fiction read is quite a challenge, and this feels like an even bigger challenge than it was the past two years. Looking over the list, the standouts in my memory include James Whitman's The Verdict of Battle (though I am somewhat loath to recommend this more broadly), Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken, plus the aforementioned Paul Revere's Ride and Six Frigates. But I'd put all of them a notch below my 2014 favorites.
Aside from, of course, Football Outsiders Almanac 2015, my favorite football reads of the year were Wright's aforementioned Football Revolution and, idiosyncratic in some sense it may be, Ran Henry's Spurrier. I finished entirely too many books I disenjoyed in 2015, including The Handmaid's Tale and Ernest Cline's Armada, which I finished out of curiosity to see if it really was that awful. It was (following my Dan Brown parallel, if Ready Player One was his DaVinci Code, Armada is more like his Inferno). I gave up on at least eight books in 2015, including both The Remains of the Day and The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro.
The Things to Read
Over the next month, I'll be spending a great deal of time preparing for the 2016 NFL draft. I've already acquired Optimum Scouting's draft guide and Nolan Nawrocki's NFL Draft 2016 Preview, plus depending on when I get this post up may have already received my pre-ordered copy of Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio. Dane Brugler's forthcoming draft guide is also on the must-buy list, and of course I'll be supplementing all of those with Lance Zierlein's draft profiles for NFL.com. Anything else I end up getting, I'll note on Twitter, and if you want to send me your draft guide, just hit me up.
My book buying tends to go in spurts. Lately, I've neglected that I've been in a long-lived reading rut, and my acquisitions in the past nine months that I have not yet read include, among others, Dan Drezner's Theories of International Politics and Zombies, Timothy Brook's Vermeer's Hat, Tonio Andrade's The Gunpowder Age, Monte Burke's Saban, Ron Chernow's Washington: A Life, Andrew Roberts' Napoleon: A Life, and Ben Austro's So You Think You Know Football?, titles like Alex Kirby's Speed Kills, Peter H. Wilson's The Thirty Years War, and many more sit waiting to be read while forthcoming books like the conclusion to Walton's trilogy and James Gleick's Time Travel (due out in September and pre-ordered) await in the distance.
As always, War and Peace sits on my end table waiting for me to finally get around to reading it, you should still read Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow ($9.07 for the paperback as of right now!) if you have not yet done so, and, of course, de gustibus non est disputandum.


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Everyday Church is led by men and women of all ages and backgrounds, directed by a team of pastors.
Because we are convinced that God uses very ordinary people to do extraordinary things, we believe that the task of senior leaders is to serve those they lead, bringing the best out of all the wonderful men and women that God entrusts to us. Each of our venues is lead by a team of Pastors (sometimes referred to as Elders) and by a team of Ministry Leaders who serve alongside them. Together, the Pastors of these venues lead Everyday Church as a whole.


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In 2017, Tempe, AZ had a population of 178k people with a median age of 28.8 and a median household income of $51,829. Between 2016 and 2017 the population of Tempe, AZ grew from 174,708 to 178,339, a 2.08% increase and its median household income grew from $50,474 to $51,829, a 2.68% increase.
The population of Tempe, AZ is 57.7% White Alone, 22.7% Hispanic or Latino, and 7.86% Asian Alone. N/A% of the people in Tempe, AZ speak a non-English language, and 90.1% are U.S. citizens.
The largest universities in Tempe, AZ are University of Phoenix-Arizona (40,418 degrees awarded in 2016), Arizona State University-Tempe (13,805 degrees), and Rio Salado College (5,302 degrees).
The median property value in Tempe, AZ is $237,200, and the homeownership rate is 40.1%. Most people in Tempe, AZ commute by Drove Alone, and the average commute time is 20 minutes. The average car ownership in Tempe, AZ is 2 cars per household.


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Welcome to LFYO
LFYO provides innovative and cutting-edge programs to youth and adults across all economic backgrounds. Our approach is quite simple: meet them where they are, but help them get to where they are going. We speak the language of our audience – whether urban or suburban – while helping them obtain new heights in their personal and financial development that they didn't think were possible, without ever being judgmental about their life experiences or current standing.
"The problem for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."
Upcoming Programs
Featured Video
2015 Fundraising Gala – 15 Year Celebration
2014 Fundraising Gala
Our fourth annual Fundraising Gala will take place at Ruth's Chris Steak House on May 18th. We are anticipating a capacity crowd of 175 attendees. They'll enjoy a stellar ambiance and an assortment of exquisite appetizers and desserts at one of the classiest five-star restaurants in Central Ohio. More importantly, those in attendance will learn about the impact LFYO has had on youth and families over the past year, as well as our upcoming programs for the remainder of 2014.
This year, Lawrence Funderburke will be interviewed during a one-on-one session with a sports analyst to discuss his background, LFYO, and plans for the future. This interactive format will bode well with the easygoing atmosphere surrounding the 2014 Fundraising Gala. Attendees will also be given a chance to ask Lawrence a few questions.
Last year's keynote speaker, Clark Kellogg, discussed the importance of being difference makers and game-changers in the Central Ohio community. Clark Kellogg is perhaps the nation's most recognizable college basketball analyst. His passion and demeanor were a slam dunk with attendees at the 2012 Fundraising Gala.
All proceeds from our annual Fundraising Gala provide ongoing support for LFYO programs here in Central Ohio. If you would like more information on our 2014 Fundraising Gala, please direct inquiries to email@example.com.