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Once every season, the San Antonio Spurs visit Madison Square Garden — as they are scheduled to do Sunday afternoon — to remind the Knicks, in a larger contextual sense, of everything they are not. And that is not good.
Over the last decade and a half, the Spurs have built one of the most stable and enduring foundations in the history of professional basketball. On the other end of the N.B.A. spectrum, we have James L. Dolan's Knicks, a metaphorical Legoland.
This is not to discount New York's 54 victories last season, the possibility of a repeat performance or the fine people who have taken on the challenge of trying to make the Knicks meaningfully competitive again. But under Dolan's tempestuous ownership, too many of those folks have come and gone in a Manhattan minute, hired, fired and summarily forgotten.
With an ideologically opposite approach to Dolan's method of ownership by the whim of his warring emotions, the Spurs, in the past 16 years, have the best winning percentage of any major American sports franchise. They have won four championships, and they fell short of a fifth last season by the narrowest of margins.
The Knicks, whose N.B.A. title drought dates to 1973 — to be fair, long before Dolan — have won one playoff series in 13 years and seven since the Spurs drafted Tim Duncan in 1997, compared with San Antonio's 30.
The Spurs' coach has for years been affectionately known as Pop. In Dolan's Garden, coaches and assorted executives, though handsomely paid, have been treated like children.
Since Pop, or Gregg Popovich, took a seat on the Spurs' bench in 1996, the Knicks have had eight head coaches, including Herb Williams, who handled the team for one game in 2004 and for 43 as an interim coach in 2005.
Since the management duo of Popovich — who also holds the title of team president — and R. C. Buford, the general manager, united in San Antonio, the Knicks have had six men in charge of their basketball operation. Three have called the personnel shots in the last three-plus seasons. Donnie Walsh was downgraded from president to long-distance adviser after digging the team out of a salary-cap hole the size of the Grand Canyon.
The latest change — Steve Mills in as president and Glen Grunwald out as general manager — bizarrely occurred on the eve of training camp, months after the Knicks won those 54 games and their first playoff series since 2000.
In a 2012 interview, Duncan referred to the Spurs' organizational continuity as a reason he only once considered playing elsewhere (Orlando) but ultimately stayed where he could count on his playoff bread being buttered.
"With the teams we've had, with the focus of the people here wanting to put winning teams together, of having a system and sticking to it, there's no better way to do it," Duncan said. "In other places, coaches come in and out, and there are guys who have four or five in the same amount of years, and that's a situation I can see why you'd want to get out of."
This is where Dolan would probably grunt and argue that the Spurs' strategy has worked for them in large part because they have little else to offer in San Antonio. And that they lucked into Duncan in the draft lottery after being accused of tanking the previous season.
That may be true, but when the pre-Dolan Knicks won the first lottery in 1985, which brought them Patrick Ewing, they surrounded him with chaos for a few years, never delivered a true companion co-star and never won a title.
In pre-Pat Riley days, Ewing actually tried to explore free agency through a contract technicality but failed. More than 20 years later, Carmelo Anthony has disclosed his intention to become a free agent next spring, while no doubt wondering if the continual churn of franchise personnel will ever allow for a sustainable plan.
In San Antonio, after drafting Duncan, the Spurs never had the luxury of luring big-name stars or great draft position to find complementary talent. But they were one of the prescient teams to mine the early international market, landing Tony Parker with the last pick of the first round in 2001 after stealing Manu Ginobili with the 57th (second-round) pick in 1999.
Reacting to global expansion with more provincial hick than urban slick, the Knicks only in recent years began earnestly pursuing foreign-born talent.
There is no news media onslaught in San Antonio as there is in New York, but the Spurs have been patient with their young players, from Parker a decade ago to Kawhi Leonard now.
Under pressure from an impatient public — but also from Dolan's dictums and ever-rising ticket prices — the Knicks invariably dwell more on the inadequacies of a promising talent, like Iman Shumpert.
Walsh made the call on signing Amar'e Stoudemire and his fragile knees before jettisoning David Lee, but it can be argued that the franchise instability and style-over-substance ethos made that risky and now-ruinous move inevitable.
It is well known around the league that Popovich demands a certain kind of player, or at least players with the ability to assimilate into his team-first system. At the Garden, Dolan has welcomed too many heralded saviors turned saboteurs.
San Antonio's owner, Peter Holt, is seldom talked about. In New York, Dolan is a continuing topic of bewildering and derogatory conversation. And that is not good, no matter the context.


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Resources for Cooperating Teachers
On behalf of the Point Park University School of Education, we thank you for agreeing to serve as a cooperating teacher for our student teaching program.
We greatly value the relationships we have with our cooperating teachers and appreciate the quality learning experiences you provide to our students. We know that your experience will also be professionally rewarding and we assure you of our support.
The following resources are for cooperating teachers working with Point Park University education majors who are currently student teaching.

subset: commoncrawl


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The mission of the Center for Criminal Justice Research and Training is to provide today's law enforcement and Criminal Justice personnel with current, relevant and quality training as determined by research and training needs assessments and to establish ongoing working relationships with the California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), law enforcement agencies, Standards and Training for Corrections (STC), and other law enforcement professional associations.
The Center for Criminal Justice Research and Training was created in February 1967 as the Institute of Police Studies. The Center has a long and successful tradition of involvement with various aspects of police research, education and training. Since inception, the Center has been instrumental in the development and presentation of programs to municipal, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The Center's specialized programs encompass technical, analytical, operational, managerial and administrative areas of law enforcement.
The Center is under the umbrella of the College of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Emergency Management in the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) at California State University, Long Beach. The Center itself is operated through the CSULB Foundation. The primary function of the Center is to design and present in-service training seminars and conferences that meet the training standards of the California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). Using subject matter experts (SME), training is provided to law enforcement personnel to provide them with the insight and necessary skills to achieve and maintain excellence as leaders in public safety.
The Center is responsible for the coordination, scheduling and planning of the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute (SBSLI) programs throughout the state. This is an eight week course with assigned readings and intensive leadership coursework.
The Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute (SBSLI) is a program designed to stimulate personal growth, leadership, and ethical decision-making in California law enforcement front-line supervisors. Designed and implemented in 1988 through the efforts of California law enforcement professionals and top educators and trainers, the SBSLI is an intense program based on experiential learning techniques. Students are challenged to learn new ways to resolve issues through group and individual work.
The curriculum takes students through an analysis of management (planning, organizing, directing, etc.) and leadership (inspiring, challenging, developing, etc.) and how each discipline compliments the other. The course progresses from self-evaluation, to interpersonal evaluation, to organizational relationships.
Working in close cooperation with POST, the Center provides training to more than 2000 law enforcement personnel annually, in twelve different instructional programs. Instructional staff consists of judges, attorneys, law enforcement managers, forensic experts, crime analysts and profilers which have helped develop the Center, as well as the University, into a highly respected institution. Funding for the training is generated from tuition charges or contracts obtained from POST.
The Director of the Center is involved with various law enforcement associations that serve to identify trends in law enforcement, develop training to address emerging issues, and toward the advancement of this profession. Much of the research of the Center is directed toward the identification of future training needs and in building cooperative partnerships with stakeholders in the community.
Questions or comments? Please contact the webmaster.
Center for Criminal Justice
California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Boulevard, HSD 118
Long Beach, CA 90840
Phone: (562) 985-4940
Fax: (562) 985-2448
Office Hours
By appointment only
If you would like to be notified of our upcoming classes and special announcements by email please click here to join our mailing list.
POST has suspended reimbursement on a number of courses. Please check the POST web site to determine current reimbursements for classes.


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Print Subscription
Your Investment Property Magazine Subscription
Your Investment Property is a premium consumer magazine featuring the latest industry news and trends, investment strategies, case studies, state market analysis and detailed nationwide property statistics to help guide your investment decisions.
* More data than any other magazine
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Your Investment Property carries the most comprehensive data section of any Australian property magazine, with extensive and exclusive data about every suburb in Australia to help you decide where to put your money.
"Your Investment Property is so jammed-packed and full of helpful ways to profit from property, that you can't better it!" – Rob, VIC
Every issue is packed with practical hands on strategies and advice to help you get the most from your property investment. From where and what to buy to tax strategies, YIP is Australia's most trusted property resource for investors.
You also get independent expert advice on the best investment strategies for you as well as market analysis from Australia's most trusted and experienced property experts. Plus, every month Your Investment Property carries exclusive information about Australia's up-and-coming property hot spots; real-life success stories of ordinary, hardworking Australians who have achieved financial independence through property; and the latest and most practical legal, tax and financial advice to help you invest safely.
Published by the international media group Key Media, the question isn't whether you need Your Investment Property magazine – it's whether you can risk investing in property without it.


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Welcome to our practice and thank you for choosing us to serve your health care needs! This website is designed to answer many of the questions that you may have. The more you know about our policies and methods of practice, the better we may be of service to you.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. It is our goal to provide you the best medical care possible and to maintain a pleasant, long-lasting relationship with each of you.
Our Physicians and Staff will:
Click here to learn more about us.
Copyright ©


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Healthy Aging for Men
Later this year I will be turning 47 years old. Having always looked after myself, I've been fortunate to maintain good health and reasonable fitness. Latterly however, with renewed enthusiasm and focus, and the launch of the F.I.T program back in 2014, I've never enjoyed better health. I'm stronger, leaner and faster than at any stage of my life.
There are a number of hormonal changes however that present challenges for the over 40 male. The attitude however that it's all downhill after 40 is exactly that…..an attitude. Like many males in the context of health and fitness, most of us need a bit of a shock / scare / wake up call to get us to sit up and notice. Thankfully, mine was not too serious…but seeing my bulging waistline in a photo was enough to get me serious about my health. I knew that I was exercising less. I blamed my achy knees from years of distance running.
The reality was that life had gotten busy; I'd let fitness slide down the list of priorities and having a glass of wine in the evening had become the norm instead of the exception. What I hadn't taken into account was the underlying hormonal changes that were occurring and how these might be contributing to these lifestyle decisions I was taking.
A man's testosterone levels peak around age 20. They then tends to drop by 1% per year from that point forward. So by the age of 50, T-levels are half their optimum. Testosterone controls many bodilyfunctions notably energy, mood, libido and muscle mass. Alongside this, the stress hormone cortisol (which is largely in opposition to testosterone) tends to rise as we age. Unless the over 40 male takes specific steps to challenge these changes, weight gain occurs in the 'cortisol distribution' with fat going on around the belly, and muscle mass getting less in the major muscle groups. As muscle tone drops and the waistline expands, many slide into their 40's and experience the stereotypical 'middle age spread'.
Apart from being aesthetically troubling to some men, visceral fat poses risk factors to their health, so it's important for many men to tackle the challenge head on, before they have a major health scare. Keeping an eye on calorie intake and the amount of sugar is important. It's also important to do cardio exercise to manage weight. However, resistance exercise is essential too to maintain bone and muscle mass. As long as the over 40 male has medical clearance, higher intensity workouts, sprints and free weights can help testosterone levels. This makes it easier to gain lean muscle and boost the metabolism. This is as important to maintaining a healthy waistline as watching the calorie intake. I made huge progress in a relatively short period of time doing the F.I.T program. Healthy eating, doing the right sort of exercise and cutting down on the things we all know aren't good for us meant that my body composition changed radically, even though my body weight didn't.
Nutritionally it's important to work out the right calorie intake to ensure you lose, maintain or gain weight depending on your goals and to take these from a balanced intake of macronutrients. It's also important that the over 40 male has adequate intake of vitamins and minerals, particularly zinc, magnesium and vitamin B6. The omega 3 oils as well as glucosamine are also important to support healthy joints.
As a healthy over 40 male, I choose to take the forever freedom each day as well as Argi+, Arctic Sea, Naturemin and Forever Daily.


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cortex(redirected from cerebral cortex, cortex cerebri)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical.
cortex,in botany, term generally applied to the outer soft tissues of the leaves, stems, and roots of plants. Cortical cells of the leaves and outer layers of nonwoody stems contain chloroplasts, and are modified for food storage (usually in the form of starch) in roots and the inner layers of stems and seeds. Because of the combination of its soft texture (especially after cooking) and its role as a food storage tissue, the cortex is the predominant plant tissue eaten by humans and other animals.
Cortex (plant)
The mass of primary tissue in roots and stems extending inward from the epidermis to the phloem. The cortex may consist of one or a combination of three major tissues: parenchyma, collenchyma, and sclerenchyma. In roots the cortex almost always consists of parenchyma, and is bounded, more or less distinctly, by the hypodermis (exodermis) on the periphery and by the endodermis on the inside.
Cortical parenchyma is composed of loosely arranged thin-walled living cells. Prominent intercellular spaces usually occur in this tissue. In stems the cells of the outer parenchyma may appear green due to the presence of chloroplasts in the cells (see illustration). This green tissue is sometimes called chlorenchyma, and it is probable that photosynthesis takes place in it.
In some species the cells of the outer cortex are modified in aerial stems by deposition of hemicellulose as an additional wall substance, especially in the corners or angles of the cells. This tissue is called collenchyma, and the thickening of the cell walls gives mechanical support to the shoot.
The cortex makes up a considerable proportion of the volume of the root, particularly in young roots, where it functions in the transport of water and ions from the epidermis to the vascular (xylem and phloem) tissues. In older roots it functions primarily as a storage tissue.
In addition to being supportive and protective, the cortex functions in the synthesis and localization of many chemical substances; it is one of the most fundamental storage tissues in the plant. The kinds of cortical cells specialized with regard to storage and synthesis are numerous.
Because the living protoplasts of the cortex are so highly specialized, patterns and gradients of many substances occur within the cortex, including starch, tannins, glucosides, organic acids, crystals of many kinds, and alkaloids. Oil cavities, resin ducts, and laticifers (latex ducts) are also common in the midcortex of many plants.
in plants, the peripheral part of stems and roots external to the cambium; it is formed of tissues that vary according to structure and origin. A distinction is made between primary and secondary cortex. Primary cortex is formed at the growing point from outer layers of the meristems between the primary protective tissues (the epidermis in stems and the epiblema in roots) and the central cylinder. It is usually composed of parenchyma and is well developed in the roots of all plants; in dicotyledons and gymnosperms it is well developed in the rhizomes and stems. In the stems of dicotyledonous plants, the outer layer of primary cortex consists primarily of collenchyma; in the roots of monocotyledons, primarily of exodermis. The layer of primary cortex that is attached to the central cylinder (endodermis) is not always clearly differentiated. Secondary cortex (secondary phloem) is formed by the cambium and is composed of sieve-tube members, companion cells, phloem parenchyma, and phloem fibers; it serves for transporting the products of phostosynthesis down through the plant, functioning as a transmittal tissue for one to two years. Old cortex does not perform this function but separates into layers of cork, which thus becomes part of the cortex of many varieties of trees. The cortex serves as mechanical and chemical protection.
The chemical composition of thoroughly dried cortex (of cork phloem) is approximately 16–23 percent cellulose, 7–15 percent pentosans, 6–16 percent hexosans, 8–10 percent polyuronides, 27–33 percent lignin, and 14–30 percent extractive substances.
In practice, the cortex is usually called bark. It can be easily separated from the wood of the stem and the roots of arboreal plants. The bark of young trees is smooth; cracks appear as the trees age. The surface of the bark is furrowed, scaly, fibrous, or warty.
The cortex has great practical significance and is used in a variety of ways. The corky tissue, which develops best in the cork oak and the cork tree, is used for manufacturing corks and heat-insulating sheets. The cork of birch bark is used to make tar oil. Linden phloem yields bast when soaked. The cortex of the roots of the spindle tree contains approximately 7 percent gutta, and the bark of oak, spruce, and willow yields tannins used for tanning hides. The barks of the cinchona and the buckthorn are used in medicinal preparations. The amount of cortex obtained in peeling a round tree trunk amounts to 10–15 percent of the mass of the processed wood.
O. N. CHISTIAKOVA and V. V. FEFILOV


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An explosion inside a candy factory in the border city of Ciudad Juarez on Thursday left one person dead and at least 40 injured, Mexican authorities said. Several workers remain missing.
The blast took place on the second floor of the Dulces Blueberry factory and caused the floor to collapse, injuring people working downstairs, said factory worker Ismael Bouchet.
Ciudad Juarez Civil Protection Director Fernando Mota said firefighters found a body inside and that six of the at least 40 injured are in serious condition. Several workers are missing and could be trapped inside the building, located in this city across the border from El Paso, Texas, he added.
Bouchet said people could smell acid in the area where the explosion occurred and that a steam boiler had been installed there recently.
"Since the morning, several co-workers said there was a bad smell, that it smelled of acid and because it was a new area we thought it was normal," Bouchet said.
He said he saw several people with bone fractures and burns.
"I was able to help five people who walked out of the building but as soon as they were out they went into shock and fainted," he said.
Photographs of workers being helped by paramedics showed people with injuries that resembled chemical burns.
Edited by Steve Wilson


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I've spendt most of my morning looking at this.
For windows
Use manycam to stream the desctop and an adobe server to uploade it. manycam is a vitrual webcam program so you can have multiple webcams effects or desctop feeds from it. feed goes to justin.tv
Use vlc to upload the feed to justin.tv
manycam and the server took much of the computer and the feed were ok
vlc took much too and the feed was crappy
I might feed somethings but if things get complicated like the tarrein in bttf jumps then the feed will look bad.


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Review: Nvidia regains throne, but at a price
Nvidia's Kepler architecture has been around for a while. Kepler was officially launched in March 2012 and became known as the Geforce 600 series. The top of the line was the GK104-based Geforce GTX 680 card that stood its ground for quite some time. This was a 28nm chip that stayed with us for years and it's on sale even today in GTX 760 / 770 based mainstream cards.
Then the world's attention shifted to the GK110, a massive new chip that was announced at Computex 2012 and finally released in November 2012 as the Tesla K20 compute card. This one was based on a brand new, 7-billion transistor GK110 28nm core. It was and still is the biggest GPU even made.
The gaming world met this card in late February 2013 as it debuted as fastest graphics card ever, the Geforce GTX Titan. Titan has 6GB of GDDR5 memory, 2688 Shader processors, 224 texture mapping units and 48 ROPs or render output units. The card is clocked at 837MHz base clock and 876 MHz boost clock and until few weeks ago was the fastest kid on the block. The problem was the $999 price which was enough to burn a huge hole in most wallets.
In May Nvidia launched a cheaper version of the GK110 as the Geforce GTX 780 that came with 3GB of memory, 2304 Shaders 192 texture mapping units (TMUs) and 48 ROPs or Render output units – and it debuted at a much more attractive price of $649 price. AMD launched its now famous Never Settle bundles and fought this card with bang for buck, as its HD 7970 was doing fine, but still ending significantly slower than the huge GK110.
GK110 is made out of clusters and Titan has 14 clusters each having 192 Shader cores. The Geforce GTX 780 has 12 of these cores enabled resulting with 2304 Shader units and the new comer Geforce GTX 780 Ti comes with a record number of 2880 shades, which translates to 15 clusters enabled. You should see CK110 clusters as Borg hives.
The Geforce GTX 780 Ti was something that Nvidia was working on for a while and it decided to release it only when it had enough time to study the new AMD flagship, the $549 Radeon R9 290X based on the new Hawaii chip.
In most cases the Radeon R9 290X its Uber noisy mode ended up faster that the Geforce GTX 780, but also faster than the $999 Titan. Nvidia's response was to slash the GTX 780 price by $150 and launch the Geforce GTX 780 Ti that will apparently be enough to fight the R9 290X. Nvidia insisted that it has a better cooler, that it can keep the temperature down, but we will get to that later in the review.
The GTX 780 Ti has 25 percent more cores than the original GTX 780 and it has the same size as any GK110 chip, 533 mm2. It needs 250W which translates to 0.47 W per mm2 and it optimally works at 83 Celsius, so says Nvidia. We will get back to this in the bench section.
Nvidia has GPU Boost 2.0 that ensures that the graphics card is always running at the highest possible clock and with a massive cooler it should be able to prevent significant fluctuations in operating frequencies.
Nvidia also added Shadowplay, its automatic game recorder that comes with Geforce Experience 1.7 and higher, Shield PC streaming as well as G-Sync readiness. These new features should help add a bit more appeal to the GK110. G-Sync can synchronize Geforce Kepler cards and your G-Sync capable monitors and will come later this year, with real availability in early 2014. This technology will eliminate frame stuttering and tearing due to a lack of synchronisation between your graphics card and monitor, but it requires a new G-Sync enabled monitor and works only on Kepler cards, GTX 780 Ti included.
Nvidia gameworks, powered by 300 hard working engineers, is working to make games better that result with many classy effects that found their place in modern games. A lot of times Nvidia engineers under Toni Tamasi SVP of content and technology and Asu Rege Vice President, Game Content and Technology, come up with new effects that game developers later implement in these cool games.
To name a few Splinter Cell Blacklist has DX11, tessellation, TXAA and HBAO+, Batmen Arkham Origins has GPU PhysX, DX 11, HBAO+, Tessellation, TXAA, Enhanced 4K, Call od Duty Ghost has DX11, GPU PhysX and tessellation, Watchdog has DX11, tessellation, TXAA and HBAO+ and enhanced 4k, Assassin's Creed Black Flag has DX11, Tessellation, TXAA and HBAO+, God Rays and Enhanced 4K and finally Witcher 3 Wild hunt supports GPU PhysX, DX11,tessalation, FXAA and HBAO+. Nvidia thinks that this is the way it's meant to be played and we cannot forget the fact that Battlefield 4 went to AMD.
Geforce GTX 780 Ti comes with free downloadable copies of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Splinter Cell Blacklist from participating retailers and e-tailers. You also get a voucher for $100 off the $299 Nvidia Tegra 4 based Shield gaming console, but the offer is valid only for two more weeks and expires on November 21st 2013.
The card itself looks very similar to the plain Geforce GTX 780, it has a similar cooler, in the dark it glows green like a Fukushima tuna and this can even be adjusted in the driver.
The GK110-425-B1 that powers the GTX 780 TI has 5 graphics processing clusters, 15 streaming multiprocessors, 2880 single precision CUDA cores (Shader units), 960 double precision CUDA cores, 240 Texture Units, 48 ROP units.
With all this its base clock is 875MHz and Boost clock or 928MHz, while the memory runs at 7000 MHz effective. The chip has 1536KB of L2 cache and 3072 MB of GDDR5 memory running on a 384 memory bus. The cards total memory bandwidth is 336GB/s, Texture filtering rate Bilinear is 210 Gigatexels/sec. As we said before the chip has 7.1 billion transistors in 28nm and the card has 2 dual link DVI ports, one HDMI port and one DisplayPort.
Of course this is a dual slot card, needs one 8-pin and one 6-pin power connectors and its TDP (thermal design power) is 250W. Nvidia recommends 600 watts PSU of good quality and you can imagine that if you want to plug two of these babies into your motherboard you would need even more. The 250W TDP is an average usage maximum power scenario but in case you use Furmark or some other benchmark that can get the card on its knees, it can even exceed this number and potentially kill this rather expensive card. The card's thermal threshold is 95 degrees Celsius.
Before we move to test results, let's also note that the Geforce GTX 780 Ti comes with Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Splinter Cell Blacklist, $100 of Nvidia Shield and its suggested retail price is set at $699.
The GTX 780 Ti card is 26.5cm long and 11cm tall. It is a dual-slot design, which is nothing surprising as the cooler design resembles the GTX Titan. On the upper side we see the GeForce GTX logo with LED backlighting, which was also used on the GTX 690 / GTX Titan and GTX 780.
The cooler sports a silver aluminum casing for the cover and a polycarbonate window. Through the window you can see the heatsink. The secret to good cooling is a good vapor chamber design, which also allows engineers to come up with compact yet powerful heatsinks that don't have tons of heaptipes sticking out of them.
The fan management is great, so the 75mm fan seems rather docile and won't surprise you with sudden rpm changes. Nvidia's Boost technology has matured and version 2.0 takes care of things admirably. The GPU temperature threshold is set at 85 degrees Celsius and the card overclocks automatically until the temperature reaches the threshold, provided the load and power consumption readings are not already maxed out. Note that for the GTX 780 the temperature threshold is set at 80 degrees Celsius
During auto-overclocking the temperature could be kept within the 85C envelope by accelerating the fan, but Nvidia wanted to keep things quiet, so Boost 2.0 tends to reduce the GPU Boost clock instead of speeding up the fan. Users who place an emphasis on low noise should like this approach, but performance freaks might want a bit more. We will demonstrate that it's possible to get better results simply by revving up the fan, without manual GPU overclocking.
There are no memory modules at the back of the PCB since the GTX 780 Ti has 3GB of memory rather than 6GB used on the Titan.
As far as video outs go, most users will have nothing to complain about since the card features two dual-link DVIs, 1.4a compatible HDMI and DisplayPort. Note that all four video outs can be used simultaneously. Nvidia included an HDMI sound device within the GPU, so there is no need to connect the card to your SPDIF out to get audio and video via HDMI.
The GTX 780 ships ready for multi-GPU action. In addition to standard dual-SLI, it can also be used in triple- and quad-SLI setups, as it features two SLI connectors. The fact that this is a reference dual-slot design also helps.
A combination of 6-pin and 8-pin power connectors is used on the GTX 780 Ti. The GTX 780 Ti, GTX 780 and Titan have a TDP of 250W, although we expect the GTX 780 Ti to consume a bit more than the GTX 780.
We applied the same methodology we used in our R9 290X tests, which means we heated up the cards before we started running game tests.
First of all we should not that we tested the R9 290X with the Über BIOS, which is clearly stated in the charts. In Über mode the R9 290X is roughly 6 to 10 percent faster than with the normal BIOS, although the gains vary depending on how hot the GPU actually is. We wanted to pit the latest NV and AMD flagships on a level playing field, so we chose the R9 290X in Über mode.
As you probably know by now, the Über BIOS makes the fan run faster, ensuring better cooling and better performance – but it also means the card ends up noisy, almost too noisy. The R9 290X in Über mode is not the loudest graphics card we ever came across, but it is the loudest card in the current generation, especially when compared to the GTX 780 Ti, which is relatively quiet. Even with the standard BIOS the R9 290X ends up a bit louder than the GTX 780 Ti.
The standard R9 290X BIOS caps the fan speed at 40% RPM, which means it doesn't get too loud, but it also means the card can't exploit its full potential. With the Über BIOS the fan speed can go up to 55%, ensuring higher performance and plenty of noise. We hope AMD partners will soon get the green light to roll out non-reference versions of the card with custom coolers, as they would make a lot of sense. That is another reason why we chose to test the R9 290X in Über mode, as it is simply more representative of upcoming custom cards.
However, AMD is not alone in coping with thermal issues, as the GTX 780 Ti also loses its edge when it gets too hot. But Nvidia guarantees the GPU clock will never drop below the base clock, whereas there is no such guarantee with the R9 290X. What's more, the top 1000MHz clock for the R9 290X is only possible until the GPU heats up; our average, after running a few games, was about 850MHz.
To make things a bit more interesting we decided to check the performance of the GTX 780 Ti once the fan is revved up. We did not overclock the card, we just let the Boost engine work its magic after we accelerated the fan to 85%. At this point it was about as loud as the R9 290X with Über BIOS. We expected to get much better results of we maxed out the GPU Boost clock, but there was not much of a difference, which means you don't have to fiddle with the card – it can just be kept in auto mode. This means that the GTX 780 Ti has a virtually ideal ratio of performance, temperature, fan speed and noise. The next two charts show why we got a little better results when we sped up the fan. It is clear that the GPU Boost clock exceeds 1000MHz in many situations and it stays there. There aren't as many variations as in auto fan mode.
Looking at reference design we can tell that the GTX 780 Ti doesn't reach its full thermal potential, so Nvidia AIBs could come up with plenty of OC cards and we see a lot more overclocking headroom on the GTX 780 Ti than the R9 290X.
All in all, when we take a closer look at the scores, we can safely say that the GTX 780 Ti is a card that will ensure top notch gaming. We did not have a chance to test a faster and better rounded card yet. However, the R9 290X with the Über BIOS takes a clear lead in several titles, but the GTX 780 Ti is faster in others. The R9 290X is a lot louder, but it is cheaper, too.
The AMD R9 290X was tested with the 13.11_betav8 driver, while the GTX 780/ 780 Ti / Titan were tested with the 331.70 beta drivers. New drivers and a superior custom cooler could give AMD's card a slight advantage, but the same is more or less true of the GTX 780 Ti.
As far as performance goes, let's look at how the GTX 780 Ti compares to the plain GTX 780. In some games the difference is very big, up to 27 percent, but in other titles, especially on lower resolutions, the difference is just 4 percent. It ends up faster than the GTX Titan as well, up to 13 percent in some cases.
Nvida decided to use practically the same cooler used previously on the GTX Titan and GTX 780, what is a good thing. We already had a chance to get acquainted with Nvidia's reference GTX Titan/780 cooler and we found it being adequate for cooling the massive GK110 chip. The cooler was designed to provide superior cooling performance, but generate less noise than previous Nvidia reference coolers. We can confirm that this is also true of the GTX 780 Ti graphics card, the reference cooler is very good indeed.
The GK110-425-B1 chip used on the GTX 780 Ti is in its core the same as chip used for the GTX 780 but it comes with more shaders and a slightly higher GPU clock; 2880 cores and 875MHz Base clocks compared to the GK110 chip on the GTX 780 which features 2304 cores and 863MHz Base clock.
It is perfectly understandable that the GTX 780 Ti heats up a bit more than the GTX 780, but the good news is that the noise level is roughly the same. The GTX 780 Ti cooler is still very quiet and noise is simply not an issue.
The fan management is excellent and the 75mm fan won't surprise you with sudden RPM changes. You can see how that the fan gradually accelerates when we start a game and slowly decelerates when we're done gaming.
We were wondering what Nvidia did to keep the new card quiet. The cooler is identical to the reference GTX 780 cooler and it was clear that something else was changed. We noticed that the GTX 780 Ti tended to hit 85 degrees Celsius after a bit of gaming. The GTX 780 maxed out on 80 degrees Celsius. Nvidia just changed the max temperature target, trading heat for silence.
Power consumption is on par with the GTX Titan. Max consumption was slightly higher in some cases, but in most situations the GTX 780 Ti didn't suck as much juice as the Titan. The R9 290X is very close to both cards, so this is really not something to waste time on.
Reaching a conclusion after reviewing a new flagship card is usually easy – they tend to be great and pricey. However, this time around the results are puzzling and a simple and straightforward conclusion is just not something we could come up with.
Despite unleashing the whole potential of the massive GK110 GPU the card has trouble keeping up with the R9 290X in some tests. It's a case of win some, lose some. One thing is sure – it is certainly not a Radeon R9 290X killer. It runs quieter than AMD in Quiet mode, but it loses in many benchmarks over Radeon R9 290X in Uber mode. In Normal mode, GTX 780 Ti is faster but we can imagine that R9 290X owners will run it in fastest possible way and live with the noise – needless to say enthusiasts will probably get custom cooled R9 290X cards, which could turn the tables around and knock Nvidia's trump card out if its hands.
The Geforce GTX 780 Ti comes with three games and $100 off Shield and if you are a fan of Nvidia technologies including quite neat Geforce Experience, Shadowplay one click HD game recording, Shield PC stream gaming or G-Sync, this is the card for you. On the other hand, the R9 290X has Mantle and TrueAudio support. However, at $699 it costs significantly more than the Radeon R9 290X but again three games in retail would cost you $150+. It all comes down to what sort of games you're after and whether you prefer AMD or Nvidia. There's another issue – at some point AMD could offer Never Settle bundles with the new card.
Bottom line, the Geforce GTX 780 Ti is the fastest Nvidia based graphics card and it will run all games today at great resolutions and high frame rates. If you went for the $999 GTX Titan, it you might not be happy that a card that sells for $200 less is faster, but that's how it's always been in the GPU market. Whatever you chose an R9 290X or GTX 780 Ti you will be able to run your favourite games for at least a couple of years, so we're calling this a tie, although AMD offers better value for money.


text:
How to customise the Acer Aspire One GUI
Get the look you want
Look at the first entry, for the Connect panel. The
tag_background= points to the title bar graphic while the
<background_picture>...</background_picture> holds the panel graphic itself. For our desktop, we used the
/usr/share/backgrounds/images/home-gray-title.png and
/usr/share/backgrounds/images/gray-bk.png - for the title bar and panel, respectively - throughout.
Backgrounds in /usr/share/pixmaps/backgrounds/cosmos/
We'll come back to the
/usr/share/desktop-directories/Connect.directory file later. For now, change the
<app>...</app> entry to
/usr/share/applications/blue-more.desktop, which is the config file for the blue More arrow. Replicate these entries throughout the first four
<group>...</group> sets.
Save the file then restart the AA1. If you get the old-look desktop, it means you entered some text incorrectly - have another go. If all four desktop panels are now grey with blue More arrows, you've got it right.
Fire up the terminal, type
cd /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/ then
sudo cp group-app.xml group-app.bak so it's there as a back-up if your next set of edits contain a typo and the AA1 replaces them with the default file. We recommended backing up
group-app.xml this way every time you reboot and your edits have been accepted.
The second set of four
<group>...</group> tags define the panels you see when you click on each of the four More arrows. The panels' background and title-bar graphics are set as before and can be changed likewise. Ditto the 'back to main screen' arrows. Again, we changed the panels and title bars to the grey ones, and the arrows to the blue ones, copying the .png and .desktop files throughout.
Plenty of icons in /usr/share/pixmaps/
The final, ninth
<group>...</group> set defines what appears when you click on the main desktop's Settings button.
<dir id="1" parent_dir_id="0"> block specifies what appears when you click on the Play icon in the Fun panel.
Back to the main panels. You can re-arrange the icons by changing their
sequence= numbers - make sure each one is unique and they all run from 0 upwards in each group. They're not fixed, so it's easy, as we did, to choose your 12 favourite apps and simply paste sets of three into each of the 0, 1 and 2 positions across the four panels so they're ready for you as soon as you start your AA1 up.
Sponsored: Detecting cyber attacks as a small to medium business


text:
Al-Awlaki Led Prayer Services for Congressional Muslim Staffers Association After 9/11 (PJM Exclusive)
When a report challenging our national security policy of ignoring Islamic supremacism through Islamic law was released during a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday (disclosure: I was one of the co-authors of the report, titled: "Shariah: The Threat to America"), among the chief critics were representatives from the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association (CMSA).
This group, which has been briefing both Democrat and Republican congressional leadership in recent months, claiming that there is nothing inherently violent in Islamic law, has a very poor history of embracing Islamic radicals -- even al-Qaeda terrorists.
Immediately after 9/11, the CMSA began holding Friday afternoon prayer services on Capitol Hill. Who did they choose to lead them in their prayers? Al-Qaeda sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki, who is currently subject to a kill or capture order issued by President Obama. In fact, video of al-Awlaki preaching to the CMSA was included in the 2002 documentary, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet. (That video clip is available to view via the Investigative Project on Terrorism.)
Identified in that clip listening to the al-Qaeda cleric: Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); then-CAIR communications specialist Randall "Ismail" Royer, who is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence on terrorism charges; and CMSA founder and former president Jameel Alim Johnson.
Jameel Johnson is no stranger to PJM readers. In December 2007, I reported exclusively here on an Islamic conference on Capitol Hill that had been scheduled by Johnson, as chief of staff from Congressman Gregory Meeks. The conference was cancelled at the last minute by the House of Representatives sergeant-at-arms when it was discovered that it was to feature a long list of Islamic radicals, some of whom were known to be on the terror watch list.
So when the CMSA leadership whine to the media about anyone offering an alternative view to our failed foreign and domestic policy of submitting to Islamic radicalism, we must look at the record of CMSA as an organization, and its leadership as individuals. They have given radicals and terrorists, such as al-Awlaki, a voice on Capitol Hill.
This infiltration of our highest government institutions is not limited to the CMSA.


text:
Maude W. Love
WHALEYSVILLE – Maude W. Love, 93, of Whaleysville died Monday, July 9, 2007, at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin.
Born in Whaleysville, she was the daughter of the late Walter P. and Josephine Dale Whaley.
She had been a registered nurse for more than 30 years and retired in 1977 from the Worcester County Health Department as the director of nursing. She was an active member of Whaleysville United Methodist Church and was also a member of Worcester County Women's Club.
She is survived by her son, Franklin W. Love of Whaleysville; her daughter, Dr. Lillian Love and her husband, Burt Saunders, of Naples, Fla.; her sister, Harriett Adams of Whitestone, Va.; and three grandchildren, Franklin Thompson, Jonathan and Matthew Saunders.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank W. Love, in 1990.
A funeral service will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Whaleysville United Methodist Church. Interment will follow in Dale Cemetery. Friends and family may call an hour prior to the service at the church.
Memorial donations may be made to Whaleysville United Methodist Church, c/o Elaine Rogers, 12332 Blueberry Road, Whaleysville, Md. 21872.
Arrangements by Hastings Funeral Home in Selbyville. Letters of condolence may be sent by visiting www.delmarvaobits.com.
George L. Babb
BERLIN – George L. Babb, 76, of Berlin died Saturday, July 7, 2007, at Atlantic General Hospital.
Born in Moberly, Mo., he was the son of the late George L. Sr. and Clara Hickey Babb.
He had worked for Cropper & Brittingham in Berlin for 49 years. He attended Friendship United Methodist Church.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Pauline E. Babb of Berlin.
Memorial donations may be made to Friendship United Methodist Church, c/o Lou Taylor, 12329 Vivian St., Bishopville, Md. 21813.
Arrangements by Hastings Funeral Home in Selbyville.
J. Kennard Hudson
SHOWELL — J. Kennard Hudson, 78, of Showell died Wednesday, July 4, 2007, at home.
Born in Ocean City, he was the son of the late James N. and Gladys Campbell Hudson.
He was a former member of the Showell Volunteer Fire Department, a life member of the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department and a member of Boggs-Disharoon American Legion Post 123 in Berlin.
He is survived by a son, Keith Hudson of Showell; a daughter, Kandis L. Layne of Showell; a sister, Ruth Ann Collins of Millville; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Lillie T. Hudson, in 1998.
A graveside service will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Bishopville Cemetery. The Rev. Berry McCready will officiate.
Memorial donations may be made to Coastal Hospice, PO Box 1733, Salisbury, Md. 21802.


text:
frentymon's Anime
|Seen all▲▼
|Kino's Journey (TV)
|(+) A slow-moving and relaxing approach of countering stereotypes and problems with society, great animation, great relaxing soundtrack, wonderful plot which can be both entertaining and hold meaning at a much deeper level, fascinating characters who have vibrant personalities underneath a somewhat dull exterior, wonderfully thought out situations and happenings throughout each country visited with deeper meaning and symbolism, opening and ending theme are both wonderful
(-) A few small arcs in a few episodes were not the most interesting.
Enjoyment: [95/100]
Quality: [100/100]
Overall:[99/100] Top 10: # 6
|(The) Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (TV)
|(+) Great characters with very distinct personalities built on typical anime character types, very subtle details hidden throughout the series, brilliant order of airing the episodes, gorgeous animation, great music, very strong plotline,
Enjoyment: [90/100]
Quality: [96/100]
|Rumbling Hearts (TV)
|(+) Very immersive and wonderful drama storyline, is able to keep you anxiously wondering what is going to happen next, great balance between the heavy drama and bits of comedy, realistic well-developed characters you are able to sympathize with (I was able to sympathize with just about every single one), soundtrack is very good, animation is also very good, a satisfying ending
(-) First two episodes cause people to dismiss it as "another dull harem series"
Enjoyment: [100/100]
Quality: [92/100]
Overall:[98/100] Top 10: # 1
|(The) Twelve Kingdoms (TV)
|(+) Beautiful, expansive, and immersive world done in incredible detail with complicated workings which are all well-explained, very strong character development, wonderful soundtrack, fights are done pretty well, wonderful plot, good animation, everything is done in incredible detail
(-) Couldn't do enough in only 45 episodes.
Enjoyment: [98/100]
Quality: [95/100]
Overall:[97/100] Top 10: # 2
|Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (TV)
|(+) Lolicest twins, strong character development, some romance tossed into the mix (finally!), great animation and great music like always, "serious" plotline actually makes sense and is very interesting this time, a very...interesting and sadistic villain, is "edge-of-your-chair" exciting
(-) Many things are not fully explained
Enjoyment: [96/100]
Quality: [91/100]
Overall:[94/100] Top 10: # 5
|Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (TV)
|(+) HILARIOUS, great animation, great music, extremely entertaining and amusing to watch in general, Bonta-kun is adorable
(-) If you want anything down-to-earth, you're not going to find it here...
Enjoyment: [92/100]
Quality: [91/100]
|GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka (TV)
|(+) Hilarious, wonderfully done characters, entertaining plot that never gets dry or dull, exposes some typical education problems very well, very quirky and unpredictable, great soundtrack, wonderful blend of "serious" and "wacky"
(-) Lackluster animation, crappy ending
Enjoyment: [96/100]
Quality: [88/100]
Top 10: # 4
|GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka (live-action TV)
Enjoyment: [93/100]
Quality: [92/100]
|Hikaru no Go (TV)
Enjoyment: [94/100]
Quality: [88/100]
Overall:[92/100] Top 10: # 10
|Hunter X Hunter (TV)
|(+) One of the most innovative plotlines of any shounen series, interesting and lovable characters, themes of friendship are done in a tasteful way, villains are really badass and cool, some of the best filler ever to be shown in a shounen series
(-)Always gives off the illusion of moving very slowly
Enjoyment: [94/100]
Quality: [91/100]
Overall:[93/100] Top 10: # 9
|Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (TV)
|(+) Very entertaining and funny, parody is done in a HILARIOUS fashion, strong characters, plot is actually existent and done pretty well, soundtrack is good, animation is good, Everything is OSAKA
(-) Ending was not very good
Enjoyment: [93/100]
Quality: [88/100]
Top 10: # 10
|My-HiME (TV)
|(+) VERY exciting and fast moving plot in the latter half, extremely large cast of characters whom were all developed fairly well, attractive fights, wonderful music, great voice acting, comedy is done pretty well
(-) Slow start, cheesy ending
Enjoyment: [93/100]
Quality: [90/100]
|RahXephon (TV)
|(+) Good plot, main male lead Ayato isn't whiny like Shinji, great mecha fights, great jazzy soundtrack, ending was good
(-) Isn't entirely original
Enjoyment: [90/100]
Quality: [94/100]
|Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (OAV)
|(+) Amazing soundtrack, amazing animation, wonderful historical setting, fights are done very well, great characters (Kenshin is not "I won't kill I won't kill!" like in the series), wonderful romance story and ultimately, tragedy
(-) Sometimes felt like a "you must cry! You must!"
Enjoyment: [94/100]
Quality: [95/100]
Overall:[95/100] Top 10: # 8
|School Rumble (TV)
|(+) Love triangle comedy at its very best, eccentric and great characters, good soundtrack, random in a good way, some of the best voice acting I've heard in any anime
(-) Relationships go nowhere (actual romance is neglected), character designs are...different and really not that...appealing (although definitely toleratable)
Enjoyment: [93/100]
Quality: [88/100]
|Scrapped Princess (TV)
|(+) Wonderful fant
[92/100]asy setting, great music, great animation and fights, plot picks up very quickly toward the middle and becomes very exciting while turning a whole new direction, great cast of well-developed characters, one of the best endings I have ever seen in any anime
(-) Pacifica can really...get on your nerves.
Enjoyment: [95/100]
Quality: [93/100]
Overall:[95/100] Top 10: # 7
|Shakugan no Shana (TV)
|(+) Shana is moelicious, brilliant premise, fast moving plot with plenty of action, a large cast of characters, attractive animation and character designs, great music, great fights, fanservice is done just right, a very good balance of "serious" and "light-hearted" episodes
(-) Lackluster character development for everyone except Shana, cheesy sometimes (but still watchable)
Enjoyment: [94/100]
Quality: [86/100]
|She, The Ultimate Weapon (TV)
|(+) Realistic depiction of the horrors of war, great character development and love story, leaves the viewer in tears, some scenes are amazingly and subtly tragic in its own regard, brilliant ending
(-) Ugly character designs (red scribbles on everyone's cheeks!?)
Enjoyment: [88/100]
Quality: [94/100]
|Zettai Shonen (TV)
|(+) Refreshing and very relaxing setting which draws you in, great animation that uses darker colors to emphasize the tone and the setting, wonderful and relaxing mystery plot that leaves you interested in what is really going on, the "switch" in setting toward the middle is done really well, soundtrack is good, characters in the latter half of the series get very good character development
(-) Main male lead (former half) is pretty dull and uninspired, won't be appreciated by those who want action and a fast moving plotline
Enjoyment: [89/100]
Quality: [96/100]
|Berserk (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Wonderful fantasy setting, well-developed characters, fights are done pretty well, entertaining plot, Griffith is a very enchanting character
(-) Ending was ambiguous and unsatisfying, Guts' "fight fight fight!" attitude makes him rather hard to sympathize with at times
Enjoyment: [82/100]
Quality: [88/100]
|Boogiepop Phantom (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Unique non-linear plot that jumps around, intriguing and keeps you yearning to piece together the pieces of the puzzle
(-) Animation is...not l, many won't appreciate the non-linear nonesnsical plot that completely mixes up the chronological order
Enjoyment: [66/100]
Quality: [91/100]
|Fate/stay night (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Attractive fights, attractive girls, plot is interesting if you have not played the game, main characters get good character development
(-) Lackluster character development for everyone else, way too much is left out from the original game.
Enjoyment: [84/100]
Quality: [78/100]
|Full Metal Panic! (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Great animation, great soundtrack, good for comedy + laughs (a battle-hardened soldier in a high school...), good for some great mecha action, eccentric and well-voiced main female lead
(-) Not good for comedy + laughs AND mecha action (i.e. cannot decide which it wants to be), serious pacing issues, the "serious" part is not all that interesting
Enjoyment: [86/100]
Quality: [76/100]
|Fullmetal Alchemist (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Solid plotline, good music, good animation, characters were pretty well developed, tear-jerkers and philosophical elements galore, an immersive and believable world
(-) Dragged on longer than it should have, felt too broken and incohesive, tear-jerks and philosophical elements are outdone by MANY other anime out there, not particularly grabbing if you don't take it as seriously as it takes itself
Enjoyment: [77/100]
Quality: [92/100]
|Genshiken (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Very accurate as to the otaku culture, hilarious characters, you could really learn a lesson or two from it, entertaining and fun to watch, animation is pretty good, great voice acting
(-) Music is not that great, hard to comprehend for newcomers
Enjoyment: [89/100]
Quality: [89/100]
|Grave of the Fireflies (movie)
|Very good
|(+) Wonderful depiction of the horror of WWII times, draws you in
(-) Too unbearably sad for some to watch
Enjoyment: [68/100]
Quality: [94/100]
|GTO Drama Special (live-action special)
|Very good
Enjoyment: [83/100]
Quality: [81/100]
|Haibane Renmei (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Relaxing, great animation and character designs, wonderful soundtrack, well-developed characters, can really deliver a powerful message to the viewer
(-) May be described as "boring" by those who prefer a faster paced plotline, nothing much really happens in terms of plot
Enjoyment: [73/100]
Quality: [97/100]
|Kanon (TV 1/2002)
|Very good
|(+) Very lovable characters, snow setting is wonderful, the story of Kanon ranks among some of the best I have ever seen, music is great, voice acting is extremely good, unpredictable, very cute at times and moving at other times
(-) Animation and character designs were godawful, much of the visual novel story was omitted
Enjoyment: [97/100]
Quality: [76/100]
|Looking Up At The Half-Moon (TV)
|Very good
|(+) A great and moving love story, strong character development, music and animation were both done well, got right to the point, ending was done very well
(-) unrealistic sometimes
Enjoyment: [70/100]
Quality: [88/100]
Enjoyment: [85/100]
Quality: [87/100]
|Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Great voice acting, tells a seemingly simple slice-of-life story while carrying a deeper plot underneath, Mahoro's past was slowly revealed in a respectable manner, very entertaining and hilarious whenever the shoutacon teacher shows up (and other times as well), fights were done pretty well
(-) The main character Suguru is somewhat annoying, ending was inconclusive
Enjoyment: [89/100]
Quality: [87/100]
|Midori Days (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Midori is really cute, ending is satisfying, very funny at times, Seiji is a strong male lead, entertaining the whole way through
(-) The older sister is very annoying, there's not really a continuous plotline
Enjoyment: [88/100]
Quality: [88/100]
|Momo: The Girl God of Death (TV)
|Very good
Enjoyment: [71/100]
Quality: [89/100]
|Very good
|(+) Extremely energetic and wonderful female lead with great voice acting to back her up, an interesting and fun plot about the rising of a talented seiyuu, romantic and drama elements don't fail either, really cute
(-) Way too short (equivalent to 4.5 episodes), dull and uninspired main male lead, some parts were a bit cheesy
Enjoyment: [87/100]
Quality: [85/100]
|Shadow Star Narutaru (TV)
|Very good
Enjoyment: [82/100]
Quality: [79/100]
|Shuffle! (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Latter half was "edge-of-your-chair" exciting, very strong character development in the latter half, very immersive drama and romance plotline in the latter half, latter half was just plain good, main male lead Rin is not a wimp
(-)Fomer half was pretty dull for the most part (an uninspired harem, pretty much), voice acting was pretty bad, animation is not very good
Enjoyment: [86/100]
Quality: [84/100]
|Suzuka (TV)
|Very good
|(+) Well-conceived characters, main male lead is not a wimp, Suzuka is HOT, good blend of sports and romance, not much fanservice, is able to tell a serious romance story without being distracted by ecchi, wonderful soundtrack.
(-) Cheap animation, ending felt rushed, that blonde guy is very annoying
Enjoyment: [89/100]
Quality: [84/100]
|Wet Summer Days (OAV)
|Very good
|(+)Beautiful standalone stories dealing with the themes of death (in a gentle and nonviolent manner), great character designs and above average animation, great music
(-) Well, it's hentai...
Enjoyment: [87/100]
Quality: [84/100]
|Air (TV)
|(+) Gorgeous and fluid animation, beautiful soundtrack, Misuzu is super moe ("Nyahaha" is something you'll never forget), moe, immersive and strong plot, OP is amazing both song and animation-wise
(-) Gets bogged down by a severe lack of focus (in other words: is it really about Misuzu when it's focusing on others for more than half the series?), the "tear-jerker" parts were not that particularly grabbing to me (and there were many of them), boring at times IMO
Enjoyment: [70/100]
Quality: [93/100]
Overall: (Not an average)[74/100]
|Aishiteruze Baby (TV)
|(+) It's cute, male lead isn't a wimp and is also a very down-to-earth character, strong character development (even in the minor characters), nostalgic in a way
(-) Lackluster animation, weak voice acting, some parts weren't all that interesting
Enjoyment: [84/100]
Quality: [77/100]
|Azumanga Daioh (TV)
|(+) Cute (Chiyo-chaaan!), funny (especially the rather unique imaginiation of some of the girls), large cast of unique and lovable characters
(-) It's pretty much 26 episodes of short mini-stories and doesn't have a continuative storyline, there's no main male character other than the perverted Kimura-sensei (which means no ecchi or romance whatsoever...none at all...)
Enjoyment: [73/100]
Quality: [83/100]
|BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (TV)
|(+) A unique and interesting plot, main lead who really has the motivation to get somewhere, interesting and...good soundtrack, relaxed voice acting (in a good way), animation is pretty good, tells a good bit of the manga story and cuts off at a good place
(-) ENGRISH! While it may not seem like a big deal, it was highly detrimental to my viewing pleasure.
Enjoyment: [73/100]
Quality: [84/100]
|Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan (TV)
|(+) Beat-to-death ecchi angels like Dokuro-chan are pure hotness, really funny and random at times, parodies other anime, ended before it got too repetitive
(-) very crude humor sometimes (more like a great deal of the time), the plot (if there really is any) is pretty stupid
Enjoyment: [83/100]
Quality: [67/100]
|Chobits (TV)
|(+) Chii is really cute and is voiced by a great seiyuu, viewer is able to sympathize with Motosuwa and his poor college student life, the viewer can really feel a sense of development as Chii gradually goes from a robot that can only say "Chi" to almost human-like, fun and entertaining to watch while getting a few laughs along the way, well-developed characters, plot gets interesting toward the end
(-) The very end was...not so great, not that much happens plotwise (in other words, a lot of filler/stand-alone episodes), excessive ecchi drags the plot down
Enjoyment: [85/100]
Quality: [75/100]
|Chrono Crusade (TV)
Enjoyment: [76/100]
Quality: [81/100]
|Dragon Ball (TV)
|(+) Original for its time, large cast of lovable characters, entertaining, provides some good laughs as well
(-) Fights start dragging out for too long, becomes somewhat repetitive, fillers are pretty terrible
Enjoyment: [81/100]
Quality: [64/100]
|Elfen Lied (TV)
|(+) Character designs were done well, strong character development for Lucy (by means of flashback), ended fairly well, plot was enjoyable for the most part
(-) Nyuu is lame and sometimes quite irritating, Yuka (sp?) is really posessive, animation is mediocre, although it was entertaining the everything felt overly simplistic for a series of its tone and atmosphere
Enjoyment: [85/100]
Quality: [76/100]
|Futakoi (TV)
|(+) It's entertaining, voice acting was really good, one guy and...10 girls!?
(-) Cliche, predictable, cheesy sometimes
Enjoyment: [82/100]
Quality: [63/100]
|Futakoi Alternative (TV)
|(+) Original, pretty darned funny, good action in the beginning, Sara and Sonju are teh awesome, Rentarou is a pretty good male lead, soundtrack was really good, wonderful atmosphere set
(-) Although soundtrack was good, it really did NOT fit the tone of the series, incoherent, all the crazy action in the beginning is traded off for a lackluster Kurogane twins/Rentarou angstfest toward the latter half of the series
Enjoyment: [77/100]
Quality: [78/100]
|Kasimasi - Girl Meets Girl (TV)
Enjoyment: [82/100]
Quality: [76/100]
|Love Hina (TV)
|(+) Everything there is to like in a typical harem series (craziness, attractive females, ecchi, hot springs)
(-) Everything there is to not like in a typical harem series (wimpy male lead, romance that moves at a snail's pace, the reactions to mistaken pervertedness)
Enjoyment: [81/100]
Quality: [72/100]
|Love Hina Again (OAV)
Enjoyment: [84/100]
Quality: [73/100]
|Love Hina Final (special)
Enjoyment: [82/100]
Quality: [72/100]
|Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV)
Enjoyment: [67/100]
Quality: [83/100]
|(The) Place Promised in Our Early Days (movie)
|(+) Beautiful animation, great music, a unique and interesting world-premise and an interesting take on what "could have happened"
(-) Character designs were bland, some pacing problems...moves too fast here, moves too slow there
Enjoyment: [71/100]
Quality: [86/100]
|(The) Prince of Tennis (TV)
|(+) Fun to watch, unrealistic tennis matches are cool and make you wish you could pull off those moves too, good voice acting, good soundtrack
(-) Becomes extremely, and I mean extremely repetitive after a while, very predictable
Enjoyment: [84/100]
Quality: [65/100]
|Samurai Champloo (TV)
|(+) Amazingly choreographed fight sequences, great soundtrack, great animation/(-) Too episodic, main female lead is always the "damsel in distress"
Enjoyment: [84/100]
Quality: [85/100]
|Speed Grapher (TV)
|(+) Promising premise that had potential to go somewhere, characters are pretty good for the most part, great jazzy soundtrack, strong villains
(-) Freak of the week was...weak, animation is...not very good, the plot starts weakening after the first 6 or so episodes.
Enjoyment: [73/100]
Quality: [74/100]
|Spirited Away (movie)
Enjoyment: [67/100]
Quality: [90/100]
|Tenjho Tenge (TV)
|(+) Attractive girls, fights are done pretty well, plot is pretty interesting
(-) Everyone who is not named "Maya", "Shinn", "Bunshichi" or "Mitsuomi" gets very little character development, flashback takes up too much of the series, lead characters were extremely irritating, ending was complete crap
Enjoyment: [84/100]
Quality: [72/100]
|Tokyo Godfathers (movie)
|(+) Realistic view of the lives of the homeless, great animation, story was interesting enough
(-) I, personally, abhored the character designs, random gags in an otherwise realistic setting
|Whisper of the Heart (movie)
Enjoyment: [70/100]
Quality: [81/100]
|Battle Royale (live-action movie)
|(+) Unique premise, a lot of bloody action and violence, exciting and keeps you on the edge of your chair, good acting
(-) Apparently a highly condensed version of the original novel, ending was a cop out
Enjoyment: [80/100]
Quality: [65/100]
|Bible Black (OAV)
Enjoyment: [74/100]
Quality: [57/100]
|Comic Party (TV)
Enjoyment: [64/100]
Quality: [68/100]
|Discipline: The Hentai Academy (OAV)
Enjoyment: [66/100]
Quality: [56/100]
|Dragon Ball Z (TV)
|(+) Entertaining to an extent, cool fights for its time/(-) Drags out WAY longer than it should, extremely repetitive, really corny, extremely predictable
Enjoyment: [75/100]
Quality: [46/100]
|Kiddy Grade (TV)
|(+) Beautiful animation, good soundtrack, promising premise, cute girls, strong plotline in the middle, immersive and beautiful world
(-) Beginning is all dull filler, less than half the series is actual plot, much needed flashbacks weren't there, latter 4 episodes are complete garbage.
Enjoyment: [75/100]
Quality: [75/100]
|Kyo no Gononi (OAV)
Enjoyment: [78/100]
Quality: [50/100]
|Noir (TV)
Enjoyment: [56/100]
Quality: [81/100]
|Trigun (TV)
|(+) Vibrant personalities from the characters, cool gunfights, beginning half was very entertaining albeit episodic, soundtrack was pretty good
(-) Latter half was pretty much garbage with the "villain of the week" setup, ending was awful
|Viper GTS (OAV)
Enjoyment: [74/100]
Quality: [56/100]
|Burst Angel (TV)
|Not really good
|(+) Animation was pretty good, attractive fights, hot girls, shoujo-ai!?, a select few episodes were entertaining
(-) Plot had potential but went to complete and utter hell, almost all filler, main male lead is neglected completely after the first few episodes, forced and fabricated character development, really cheesy and predicatable.
Enjoyment: [70/100]
Quality: [47/100]
|Ichigo 100% (TV)
|Not really good
|(+) Cute girls, entertaining if you ignore all the cliches
(-) Too many cliches to be ignored, main character is whiny and annoying and a wimp
Enjoyment: [82/100]
Quality: [42/100]
|Ichigo 100% (special)
|Not really good
Enjoyment: [79/100]
Quality: [51/100]
|MeiKing (OAV)
|Not really good
Enjoyment: [67/100]
Quality: [51/100]
|Akane Maniax (OAV)
|(+) Akane gets the spotlight
(-) Everything. Seriously, it's awful.
Enjoyment: [50/100]
Quality: [20/100]
|(The) Law of Ueki (TV)
|(+) A good watch for fans of tournament-oriented shounen anime/(-) Too bad it sucks.
[Have seen Ep 1-3]
|Love Hina X'mas Special - Silent Eve
Enjoyment: [68/100]
Quality: [67/100]
|Negima! (TV)
|(+) Cute girls
(-) Very poor manga-to-anime adaptation.
|One Piece: Chinjō Shima no Chopper Ōkoku (movie 3)
Enjoyment: [53/100]
Quality: [46/100]
|Black Lagoon (TV)
|Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage (TV)
|Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! (TV)
|Honey and Clover II (TV)
|Inukami! (TV)
|Kaleido Star (TV)
|Kaleido Star: New Wings Extra Stage (OAV)
|Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (movie)
|Rozen Maiden (TV)
|Rozen Maiden: Träumend (TV)
|Sola (TV)
|Tohai Densetu Akagi -Yamini Maiorita Tensai- (TV)


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Dorset Airlines
For 50 years Bonny toured the UK and various far flung parts of the world with The Yettles Folk Band. He now performs solo, doing concerts of his own songs and rustic rhymes and historical talks, mainly in and around and about his beloved home county of Dorset. This is a collection of his writings plus songs he just loves to sing.
Songs/Writings include:
- Dorset Airlines - The only airline to offer parachutes to every passenger.
- Noisy Neighbours - I'm deeply involved with Halsway Manor near Crowcombe In Somerset, the National Centre for the Folk Arts. There's a rookery in the trees a few yards from the door and I wondered what they thought when we moved in 50 years ago and started disturbing the peace.
- Caesar's Holiday - From 'A History of the Duratrlges Tribe In Dorset' by Ezmeralda Sartin circa 2 BC scroll found in my garden while digging parsnips in 2010 AD.
- My Way - I took my driving test In a 1933 Ford 8 and failed the first time so I know what I'm singing about. Apologles to Frank but he's not likely to complain.
- Gardener's Hint - Six methods of dealing with them slimy slugs.
- Scarborough Fair - This was always one of my favourite traditional songs.
- Honey Pots - Life in the years B.P. was not all honey. B.P. stands for 'Before Plumbing'.
- Yetmlnster F.M. - The F.M. stands for 'Farmyard Music'.
- Adze and Plane and Up and Down in the Plymouth Sound - I wrote these two songs for a talk I do about Edmund Sartin who left Corscombe and took his family off to Plymouth in 1840 and sailed for New Zealand on the 312 barque the William Bryan with 153 other passengers. Thoughts on leaving Corscombe and the horrendous start to their voyage in Plymouth Sound.
- The Museum Piece - Mac, Pete and I were always joking about finishing up in the Dorset County Museum.
- Ralelgh's 1st Expedition - Walter Raleigh lived in Sherbome Castle. The river Yeo rises nearby and flows through the castle grounds. From the ships log which was found propping up the privy of Jeremiah Sartin in 1908.
- My Grandfarther's Ferret - My father kept a ferret for his rabbiting and believe me, whoever wrote this parody, really knew which end of a ferret to avoid.
- Mollymauk (Watson) - The Mollymauk is another name for the Albatross. Great Mystical birds that spend their lives floatlng on or above the Southern Ocean. I love the song but I'm not sure I want to go visiting.
- Robin Hood and Little John - Robin Hood of course, came from Dorset. "Oh! Yes he did!" "Oh! No he didn't!"
- The Highwayman's Heros - From the book "Robbing People up the Wrong Way' by Jebadiah Sartin, 1756
- The Soup Green Pea - Apologies to The Beach Boys but, Let's face It, their words never made a lot of sense.
- Talkalot.con - You what what I'm talking about!
- When the Snows of Winter Fall (Miles) - I was doing a concert in Oxfordhsire and won a CD in the raffle. We listened to it on the way home and I was 'fetched' by this song. I hope you will be to.
- Napoleon at Lulworth Cove - Legend has it that Napoleon came to Lullworth Cove to check it out as a place to land hts troops. Now for the first time, we have the full story.
- The Smuggler's Lament - Smuggling was very big business in Dorset from about 1750 to 1815. Many of the smugglers ships carried cannon but if the navy caught up with you there was a fair chance you'd be out-gunned.
- Perfections Hard to Come By - The Sartin philosophy for life.
- The Dunn Song - Peter Kennedy collected this at Wootton Fitzpaine in the 19SO's. It's Dorset with, I suspect, music hall connections.


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Spring blues: Andy Roddick hobbled his way to an early exit at the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday. He finished the match but seemed bothered all along by an unidentified injury and some chest congestion (whatever it was, he needed three visits from the trainer). Draw: Cuevas will face Gilles Simon in the third round; Simon beat Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 6-3.
Buy: Lacoste Johnny Collar Super Dry Tennis Polo; in White/Blue, White/Black, and Black/White colorways; $85; tennisexpress.com.
(image via Getty Images)
Tags: key biscayne, miami, sony ericsson open


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Welcome to my website. Here you can learn a bit more about me, about my professional career, results and personal likes.
You can also see a selection of photos and videos. For all the latest news and updates about my life
as a professional cyclist you can follow my Facebook page and Twitter account.
Get to know me on my website and follow me on Strava, Facebook and Twitter!
I was born in 1983 in Rostock, Germany. I live in the Netherlands, married and father of a daughter and a son. A lot of professional cyclists live in the Limburg area. A beautiful place to train. Close to the Amstel Gold Race circuit and the Ardennes. Flat roads can be found as well around Tongeren and Hasselt. I am mainly a '1-day cyclist'. The classics 'Amstel Gold Race' and 'Liege-Bastogne-Liege' are highlights, together with the 300km one 'Milan-San-Remo'. I am explosive, have a fast sprint and like the long distances. Those ingredients make me an all-round cyclist, capable of winning races with a tough final.


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Note: passwords are case-sensitive
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Benvenida Abravanel
Benvenida Abravanel was one of the most influential and wealthiest Jewish women of early modern Italy. Her family life, however, was wracked by strife. The sources about her include literary praise of her and her family, references to her in the travel diary of the messianic pretender David Reuveni (d. c. 1538), rabbinic discussions about her husband Samuel's will in which he made her the main heir and executrix, and many archival materials, not all of which have as yet been studied.
The year and place of Benvenida's birth remain uncertain. She was the daughter of Jacob Abravanel (d. 1528), who was one of the two brothers of Isaac Abravanel (1437–1508), the Spanish Jewish exegete, philosopher and statesman. Isaac had three sons, the youngest of whom, Samuel (1473–1547), married Benvenida, though it is not clear where or when. Thus, she married her first cousin and was both the niece and the daughter-in-law of Isaac Abravanel. She brought into her marriage a very large dowry. By 1492, Benvenida and much of the family, perhaps after a stop in Portugal, had settled in Naples, where first her father and then her husband, referred to as the king of the Jews, became the leaders of the Jewish community.
While the number of her children, their dates of birth and their names are not yet known with certainty Benvenida raised not only her own children, who probably numbered three boys and three girls, but also an illegitimate son of Samuel's. In his will Samuel left to his eldest son, fictitiously called Reuven in the rabbinic texts, additional gifts due to his birthright. He then addressed "Benjamin," his illegitimate son, explicitly called "natural" or "bastard," who may have been born to a mistress after Samuel's marriage to Benvenida, rather than to a previous wife, as most histories claim. Thus the illegitimate son was not necessarily the eldest. According to the terms of Samuel's will this son was to live with the family and a contemporary notarial document refers to Benvenida in Latin as his step-mother. Similarly, because some of the rabbinic texts about Samuel's will refer to three sons, legitimate and natural, from his wife and descendants from her sons, it is possible that she had children from a different father. The actual names of the boys were Jacob, Judah (Leone), Isaac (Rafanellum)—usually identified as the illegitimate son—and possibly one more. Of the girls, the names Gioia and Letizia are known. For much of their lives, the brothers Jacob and Judah seem to have worked together as a team. For example, in November 1547, after Samuel had died, Jacob and Judah together repurchased an expensive manuscript copy of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah she-bi-khetav: Lit. "the written Torah." The Bible; the Pentateuch; Tanakh (the Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographia)Torah which had once been in the possession of their grandfather, Isaac Abravanel.
When Reuveni wrote about his trip to Portugal, he mentioned, without indicating who the father was, that Benvenida had a daughter in Lisbon who had a son and a daughter. Benvenida's daughter fasted every day and her children fasted on Mondays and Thursdays. Reuveni found it difficult to put into words how venerable Benvenida's daughter was, mentioning that she was engaged in charitable and righteous deeds. Her fasting and her residence in post-expulsion Portugal make it likely that this unnamed daughter was a crypto-Jew.
Although King Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452–1516), who ruled Naples at this time, was not successful in establishing the Inquisition there in 1504, Jews were required to wear a badge, and in 1510 an edict of expulsion was issued for the Jews of Naples that went into effect in 1511. An exception to the edict of expulsion was made for two hundred families, who included the Abravanels, in exchange for the payment of a large sum. In 1520, Naples was under the rule of Charles V (1500–1558), Holy Roman Emperor, Hapsburg Emperor and King of Spain, who issued privileges for the Jews of Naples but continued to work towards their expulsion.
Don Pedro de Toledo, who would become the Viceroy of the Spanish rulers of Naples in 1532, had his second daughter Eleonora (Leonora) de Toldedo (1522–1562) raised in Benvenida's house. Later in life Eleonora honored Benvenida and called her "mother." Despite all the reports available in primary sources about the relationship between Benvenida and Eleonora, several modern writers allege that it was Samuel the skillful scholar who was Eleonora's teacher.
Benvenida's accomplishments in Naples became known around the world. When Reuveni was in Alexandria and Jerusalem in 1523, he heard that she fasted every day, ransomed captives—at least a thousand—and was known for her charitable generosity towards all who sought her aid.
In 1524–1525, Benvenida became an enthusiastic supporter of Reuveni although it is not clear how they became acquainted or whether they ever met in person. When he was in Rome, she sent him money three times. When Reuveni was delayed traveling to Portugal—where the Jews had been converted by force in 1497—he stayed in Pisa for seven months at the house of Yehiel of Pisa. On the frequent great fast days he was attended by the women of the household, who included Yehiel's wife Diamente, his mother Laura, and his grandmother Sarah, who presented Reuveni with several presents. The women came to his room to comfort him and dance for him, to which he objected. Though she does not appear among this group of learned women supporters of Reuveni, Benvenida sent him an ancient silk banner with the ten commandments written with gold on both sides. She also sent him a Turkish gown of gold which he was to wear for her sake.
In 1533 another expulsion, initiated by the Emperor Charles V, was declared for the Jews of Naples, but it was postponed for ten years due to the intervention of Benvenida and several princesses from Naples who petitioned the emperor. Although Benvenida's young charge Eleonora de Toledo was only eleven at the time, she may have been one of those involved in this appeal. She was related to the emperor and daughter of the viceroy—who for economic reasons argued against the emperor in favor of the continued presence of the Jews in Naples. In 1540, however, the Jews of Naples received an edict requiring them to wear the Jewish badge within six months or to face serious consequences; as a result they left in 1541. The Abravanels, who could have remained, also left at this time. In January they accepted the invitation of Ercole II, Duke of Este-Ferrara (1508–1559), and headed for Ferrara, but seem to have spent about a year and a half in Venice. When Samuel arrived in Ferrara, the ducal secretary referred to him as the king of the Jews from the Kingdom of Naples.
Ferrara was a major refuge for Sephardic Jews at this time. In 1548 the former crypto-Jew, Doña Gracia Nasi, received a safe-conduct to settle there. By that time, Benvenida was the major force in the Jewish community and the interests of the two families did not always coincide. While it is not known whether the two women ever met, there is evidence that after Gracia's niece, Beatrice (later Gracia), married her nephew, Samuel Nasi, in 1557, the couple visited Jacob Abravanel in his house in Ferrara. The rivalry between the two families became especially evident in 1555–1556 during the crisis over Doña Gracia's attempt to have Ottoman Jewish merchants boycott the papal port of Ancona. The interests of the Abravanal family, and especially of Benvenida's son Jacob, were with Ancona.
When Samuel left Naples for exile he had been afraid of bandits and murderers in light of the large influx of wealthy Jews on the roads. He had therefore turned to the city scribe and judge and nine witnesses before the local authorities to leave his last will and testament. The location of his original will is not known, but because it was later contested, several rabbinic Halakhic decisions written by rabbinic authories in response to questions posed to them.responsa dealt with the nature of his deposition and the validity of the charges against it without ever specifically mentioning the names of Samuel, Benvenida, or any of the children involved. Samuel expressed the hope that his will would be valid as an inheritance and if not, as a gift.
Benvenida was made general heir to all Samuel's moveable and immovable property. He gave several reasons for naming his wife his general heir: she had brought with her into the marriage a large dowry which was the source of much of their wealth, provided for the household according to his wishes and showed good judgment and strong character in managing his affairs with wisdom and understanding. He was concerned that one or another of his sons (i.e. his illegitimate or legitimate sons), who behaved haughtily and immorally, would destroy in a moment everything he had acquired.
Benvenida was authorized by him to do what she wished with the property, except for the specific amounts that he had stipulated as gifts for various children when they married and provided they did so according to Benvenida's wishes. She was to base her determination of the ultimate disposition of her property on the behavior of the children and what seemed right in her eyes. In addition to sums of money provided for each child, gifts to the eldest son included a large basin, a silver jar, a gem with a large sapphire and a ruby, a ring with a platform of diamonds, and all the parchment books that had been his father's. He noted that Benvenida would know which books these were.
He also left his illegitimate son a certain sum, made him a private heir, provided him with food, drink, shoes and clothing. When he married—if he did so according to the wishes of Benvenida—he would be given a further amount, double that which he had already received, two full beds, and more jewelry and clothing for his wife—again, according to the wishes of Benvenida. If challenged by any of the children, the will would be cancelled.
In 1547 Samuel died suddenly in Ferrara as a result of a drug that left him paralyzed. Because he left no other will, Benvenida published Samuel's will of 1541 in 1550 after waiting three years from the time of his death. She gave as reasons for her delay her desire to protect the reputation of her husband, to protect the feelings of the sons who were disinherited, and to avoid a controversy since eventually the sons would receive the inheritance. She did not mention the fact that at this time a plague was raging in Ferrara and at least Jacob and Isaac had fled the city, returning in March 1550.
"Benjamin," sometimes called Isaac, sometimes identified as the son of his father's concubine, then demanded that the will be cancelled, citing rabbinic arguments that a woman cannot be an heir. From 1550–1551, Benvenida's right to inherit became a major dispute among the rabbis of Italy and Turkey. Jacob and Judah sought support against Isaac. Benvenida herself—in one of the few acts involving discourse attributed to her— responded that although a man cannot have his wife inherit according to Jewish law, she can acquire his possessions according to the law of gifts, especially when the gift was made by a man who mentioned the possibility of his death. She further defended her role as heir on the grounds that documents produced by Jews with Christian notaries were binding, since "the law of the land" is binding on Jews.
The struggle among the Abravanels continued. Isaac took an oath and seized the account book of his father Samuel in order to use the information in it to force Benvenida and the others to compromise. In June, 1551, Isaac testified before a notary in Ferrara about the differences between his fortunes and those of the other members of the family: while Benvenida and the other sons had honor, wealth and control of the estate; he was spending his portion on legal fees. He referred to himself as poor and willing to compromise.
Nevertheless, Benvenida took over Samuel's business affairs. She had a longstanding connection with Eleonora de Toledo, since 1539 the wife of the Grand Duke Cosimo Medici (1519–1574) and Duchess of Tuscany. In 1544, when Benvenida came to Florence to visit and to discuss religious matters with Eleonora, the Duke had been present for this friendly conversation. Now Benvenida received permission from the authorities in Florence to open five banking establishments in Tuscany with her sons, Jacob and Judah.
To expand her activities, in September 1550 Benvenida authorized her son Jacob to pay a significant sum to the Genoese Teodoro Spinola if he would intercede with Charles V to allow a hundred Jewish households—selected by her—to settle in Naples. In 1551 her son Jacob brought Iberian Jews to Florence, where he opened a bank and acquired a charter to settle there. In 1552, Isaac and Jacob were in Lyons.
Another quarrel broke out between Benvenida and the children in May 1552. She and Jacob had Judah jailed and his possessions distrained because he had married a Portuguese Jewish woman in Pesaro. On February 17, 1553, when she made her own will, Benvenida took the matter one step further by cutting Judah off completely because of this love affair and for his involvement with Isaac's claim to be an Abravanel. On June 21, 1554, representatives of the Jewish communities of northern Italy issued a series of important enactments. At least one manuscript version of the enactments raises the possibility that Isaac was among the fourteen who signed it, an indication of his status among the Jews of Italy despite his relations with Benvenida. If Isaac was not Samuel's illegitimate son, then according to other manuscripts he was a nephew, Isaac the son of Joseph. By the time of the controversy of the boycott of Ancona from 1555–1556, Judah's family sided with the interests of the Jews of Ancona against those of Pesaro where Judah was living.
Showing the continued vulnerability of the family, in 1553 Jacob and his cousin Isaac handed over their copies of the Lit. "teaching," "study," or "learning." A compilation of the commentary and discussions of the amora'im on the Mishnah. When not specified, "Talmud" refers to the Babylonian Talmud.Talmud to the Ferrara Inquisition. In 1563, Judah and his wife Gioia, both of whom had been accused of some sort of unspecified religious relapse, received a letter of protection from Duke Cosimo.
Recent findings indicate that Benvenida Abravanel was still alive during the 1560s.
Benvenida received praise from many prominent Jewish writers, whose works remain major sources of information about her. Given her wealth, however, these encomia could have been the result of financial reward for the author rather than an accurate portrayal of the recipient. These praises are to be found in several sources. One is the Travel Diary of David Reuveni, who profited greatly from her largesse although his text seems to indicate that she may no longer have been alive when the text was written or at least copied. In his work, he wrote: "May she be blessed for the Lord" (Aaron Ze'ev Aescoly, Sippur David Reuveni. Jerusalem: 1940, 57, 82).
In 1552 Eliezer Melli dedicated a book, Le-Khol Hefez, a collection of document formularies for Jewish life published in Venice, to Judah, the son of the late Samuel Abravanel. In it, he noted: "And the name of his wise mother, all of her is complete perfection (kulah kelulah min ha-kol), Señora Ben Venida, yarom hodah" (reprinted in Yalkut Hilkhot Shetarot. Monroe, NY: 1993).
Much of what is known about Benvenida is from the contemporary Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel, written by Samuel Usque (sixteenth century) in Ferrara in 1553. The book was dedicated to Doña Gracia, but included extensive praise of both Benvenida and Samuel Abravanel: "Heaven had granted him a companion who was his peer in all virtues." (Martin A. Cohen, tr. Consolations. Philadelphia: 1964, 209–210).
Writing in the seventeenth century, Immanuel Aboab (c. 1555–1628) in his Nomologia followed Usque: "[Samuel] merited that his wife was also among the honored women of Israel, among the distinguished in their nobility and in their excellence they stood by us in our exile. Like this was the lady Doña Benvenida Abravanel, a model and a symbol of modesty, piety, wisdom and power" (Be-Ma'avak al erkah shel torah. Amsterdam: 1629, 303; tr. M[oshe] oises Orfali. Jerusalem: 1997, 266).
In Magen Nashim, a bi-lingual contribution to the Italian-Jewish querrelle des femmes probably written after Benvenida's death, Judah Sommo (1527–1592) devoted several stanzas to Benvenida and her female line (in Hayyim Shirmann, Zahot bedihuta de-kiddushin. Jerusalem: 1965, 138–141). He writes:
(30) Lift your eyes, O fool, who waste your energies in contempt of them (women), not to see the Pleiades and Orion, but one who goes up even higher, and you will see what honor covers Benvenida the princess, who has for herself a name and a remainder of a noble Jewish woman." (31) … [F]rom there departed the delicate one, honorable daughter of the king, and from there she guided her honor, with her noble company. (32) … whose virtue has no equal. Can any human count those who possess such varied virtues? From her every woman will learn how to bring a gift before the Lord. Shoot from the stock of Jesse, we cannot yet say that she is no longer.
In the margins of one of the responsa dealing with the matter of inheritance, Benvenida, not identified by name, is recognized as "a lady and a crown of women, a mother in Israel."
Benvenida Abravanel used her family's wealth to serve her own interests, those of her family, and those of her people. She gave generously, but also reacted vindictively when she felt that her honor, influence or assets were threatened. Married to one of the most powerful Jews of the period, she provided the source of much of his wealth and endured the humiliation of the antics of his illegitimate son as well as of some of their own sons. She ultimately used her authority to punish severely those sons who did not meet her expectations. This included extreme displeasure over one son's marrying a Portuguese Jewish woman, though she herself had a daughter living in Portugal. Tribute flowed to her, most of it motivated by the desire for financial support from her or from her heirs, including her female heirs, but she herself left very few words in the historical record. In addition to the defense of women receiving gifts which is attributed to her, one folk remedy in her name is found in a British Library manuscript. Future archival findings may enable her to speak again.
Almost every rabbinic and archival source about Benvenida Abravanel, including secondary literature about the Abravanel family, especially her role as Samuel's heir, is mentioned in David Malkiel, "Jews and Wills in Renaissance Italy: A Case Study in the Jewish-Christian Cultural Encounter." Italia 12 (1996): 7-69.
An important English summary of archival findings and their analysis relevant to the Abravanel and the Mendes/De Luna/Benveniste/Nasi families is Renata Segre. "Sephardic Refugees in Ferrara: Two Notable Families." In Crisis and Creativity in the Sephardic World, 1391-1649. Edited by Benjamin R. Gampel, 164-185, 327-336. New York: 1997.
Samples of recent discoveries from the Medici Granducal Archive (Archivio di State di Firenze, Mediceo del Principato, 1171, f. 226r; 219; f. 35r-v) are available with translations and commentaries at http://www.medici.org/jewish-history.
More on Benvenida Abravanel
It has always been our family's tradition that we are related...in this day and age...we are grateful to learn more and understand how the diaspora affected the aAbravanel/ Abarbanel/ Barbanel Family Trees. Thank you again for further illuminating the life and times of Benvenida Abravanel.
Through my mother I have relatives of Abarbanel (Abravanel) stock. It was Mendel Abarbanel, a Jewish poet from Belarus, who used to live within the family of my mother in the 1930s in Kharkov (Ukraine). He is presumably a brother of my great-grand-mother but, regretfully, I do not know the virgin name of hers. Maybe somebody could advise me as to how to find out about the true relations between Mendel Abravanel and my great-grand-mother - I am very intrigued with Abravanels' history.
How to cite this page
Adelman, Howard Tzvi. "Benvenida Abravanel." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 27 February 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on January 20, 2020) <https://qa.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/abravanel-benvenida>.


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How can Rapids fans build a fortress and help grow Colorado soccer culture?
For Rapids game regulars, the image was jarring — row upon row of aluminum bleachers, largely empty except for a few holdouts and hardy souls who took advantage of an online promotion.
The rabble-rousers who normally occupy the Terrace on the north end of Dick's Sporting Goods Park instead were on the opposite side of the stadium for the July 24 Chivas USA game, with their regular arsenal of drum-beating, flag-waving and chants.
The one-game experimental move to Section 117, initiated by supporters group Centennial 38 with the blessing of the Rapids front office, was the latest attempt to build Dick's Sporting Goods Park into a noisy fortress while also advancing the broader goal of nourishing a soccer culture in Colorado that has yet to fully flower.


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Products - for highest demand
The demands at functionality and safety are rising worldwide and also the demands of the quality of technical products. Technical ideas often are feasible by reliable connection of metals and their alloys. Decisive for long lasting safety is the welding seam.
ABICOR BINZEL supplies for all working materials and applications the exact welding or cutting torch necessary. For the manual use or for the semi-or full automatic operation. Gas- or liquid-cooled. Wide range welding accessories as well as robotic peripheral systems.
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Laser from A to Z
ABICOR BINZEL ROBOTIC SYSTEMS and SCANSONIC. A partnership on the road to success.
ABICOR BINZEL on YouTube
The image blockbuster plus valuable welding tips on the new YouTube Channel.
Fitness Manual for Welders
Tips from research and practice. Developed in cooperation with the Dept. of Sports Medicine at the Gießen University.
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Gunnar Smoliansky
Gunnar Smoliansky is a Swedish photographer. He was born in 1933, and has devoted himself to photography in the early 1950s. Smoliansky has been an independent artist since the 1970s, working almost exclusively with the photographic image. He works exclusively in black and white, and primarily in Stockholm.