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Effectively Designing a Scalable and Reliable Database
A Primer to Proper SQL Server Development
New Features in Indexing and Index Maintenance Best Practices, Part 5 of 10
Presented by Kimberly L. Tripp, SQLskills.com
Q: Can I view a recording of this webcast? Part 5 can be replayed by clicking here.
Q: Where can we get the demo scripts AND the sample database: Credit? The demo scripts are in this zip (20050902MSDNDemoScripts.zip (8.52 KB)); here in this blog entry. However, at the series completion, I will also create an entry under Past Event Resources for the entire webcast series. To download the ZIP of the Credit Database Backup click here. Once unzipped, restore this backup to SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005. The backup is a SQL Server 2000 backup and can be restored to either version! If restoring to SQL Server 2005, you might want to change the destination for the data and log file as the path will probably be different.
Q: Where are the links to all prior Webcast Q&As from this series?
Part 1: Creating a Recoverable Database
For the MSDN Download for Part 1, click here.
For the SQLskills Blog Entry for Part 1, click here.Part 2: Creating a Reliable and Automated Backup Strategy
For the MSDN Download for Part 2, click here.
For the SQLskills Blog Entry for Part 2, click here.Part 3: Designing Tables that Scale, Best Practices in Data Types and Initial Table Structures
For the MSDN Download for Part 3, click here.
For the SQLskills Blog Entry for Part 3, click here.Part 4: SQL Server Indexing Best Practices
For the MSDN Download for Part 4, click here.
For the SQLskills Blog Entries for Part 4
Resource links blog entry, click here.
Q&A blog entry, click here.Q: How can I replay previous sessions? I thought we were going to get emails for replaying — but I haven't received any replay emails. You will receive replay emails ONLY when you register for these sessions through MSDN. We've come to find out that there are other ways to register but it's only through MSDN that we know for sure you will receive the replay information. Regardless, you can always find the "on-demand" version of the sessions here.
Related Resources
MSDN Webcast: Indexing for Performance – Proper Index Maintenance MSDN Whitepaper: Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Index Defragmentation Best Practices TechNet It's ShOwtime Webcast: Index Defragmentation with SQL Server 2005
Technical Questions
Q: In your script, what is "HA Requirements"? HA = High Availability. This is the requirement that your table stay online and available. Some companies are trying to achieve 99.999% uptime, this is especially challenging when even maintenance operations take a table offline.
Q: If you create extra indexes is there a easy to configure utility that you can run across an application after it has run for a few months to list keys that were never or infrequently used? Use one of the new DMVs: sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats. To see the complete list of DMV objects, use the following query:SELECT * FROM sys.system_objects WHERE [name] LIKE 'dm[_]%'
Q: What is DMV again? Dynamic Management View. These are new objects which give information about in-memory objects and state information.
Q: What are the parameters and their usage – for sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats? (DatabaseID, ObjectID, IndexID, PartitionNumber, Mode)
DatabaseID = [ NULL | 'DatabaseID' ] NULL: returns information for ALL databases, if NULL is used no other options can be supplied. This returns ALL indexes for all objects in all databases. Easy but possibly slow.
DatabaseID: smallint type. Refers to the ID for a specific database. DB_ID() or DB_ID('DatabaseID') can be used. The latter allows you to run this from ANY database as long as you have access. However, 3-part naming must be used.ObjectID = [ DEFAULT | NULL | 'ObjectID' ]DEFAULT/NULL: return ALL base data: CL, Heap, LOB for the specified database.
ObjectID: int type. Refers to the ID for a specific object. OBJECT_ID('TableName') can be used. When using OBJECT_ID, you can use 1/2/3-part naming. Be sure to use 3-part when executing outside of database.IndexID = [ DEFAULT | NULL | 'IndexID' ]DEFAULT/NULL: All indexes
IndexID: tinyint type. Refers to the ID of a specific index.PartitionNumber = [ DEFAULT | NULL | # ]DEFAULT/NULL/0: return ALL partitions
#: returns only the details about specific partition. When a PartitionNumber is specified then an IndexID must also be specified.Mode = [ DEFAULT | NULL | 'SpecificMode' ]DEFAULT/NULL/LIMITED: return FAST scan and use only an IS (Intent Shared) Table-level lock. This lock blocks ONLY eXclusive TABLE-level locks and schema changes. Excellent, relatively unobtrusive way to get fragmentation details.LIMITED: IS Lock. Same as SQL 2000 WITH FAST, only page counts and EXTERNAL fragmentation displayed. Does not detail INTERNAL fragmentation and page density.SAMPLED: IS Lock. For tables less than 10,000 pages (~80MB), all details are produced. For tables of more than 80MB, two samples are done (1% and 2%) at every nth page. The samples are compared and if close, 2% sampling output returned. If not close, then up to 10% will be sampled.DETAILED: S Lock. Entire table analyzed for both internal and external fragmentation. Returns one row for each level of the index from the leaf level (level 0) all the way up to the root level. This can help you determine fragmentation in the non-leaf levels but at the expense of holding a shared table level lock.
Q: How often should you run DEFRAG on your SQL server box? Should this be a part a regular schedule? Taking down SQL is their any other consideration? First, the only thing that's not available is the table being REBUILT. Defragging an index does not take that table/index offline. So, more than anything, it depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you want achieve better availability on SQL Server 2000 then you might choose to defrag rather than rebuild – to keep your tables available.
Q: How often do you get such perfect tables in practice? A table is always completely clean and contiguous after a rebuild. To periodically fix a table, you should use consistent and automated rebuild strategies.
Q: Do you have suggestions for developers using MSDE when customer's demands can vary? Vary from few transactions to a large customer with many transactions. The general best practices in database and table design scale from the low end all the way up to the high-end and in the end – helps your database scale!
Q: Can you touch on rules of thumb for "pad index"? If fragmentation in the leaf level is minimized through proper index maintenance and fillfactor – then fragmentation in the non-leaf levels should be low as well. You rarely need to specify padindex unless you have widely varying distribution of data and really want to leave larger gaps because of strange densities of data.
Q: Do most of these "Index Rules" apply to Indexed-Views? Yes! All indexes can become fragmented after data modifications… Your scripts should always look for fragmentation across all scripts.
Q: Can you discuss fragmentation WRT horizontal partitioning, especially range partitioning on the primary key? SQL Server 2005 offers more granular rebuild options –but not necessarily online. In many cases, you might want to design a read-only partitioned table and keep the volatile portion of the table (especially if only one partition), in its own separate table – possibly using a partition view (or an inline table valued function) over these two tables.
Q: If I'm selecting from a table with a where FirstName = … and LastName = … and I have 2 indexes, one on LastName and another on FirstName. Are they both used? With an AND – maybe. The optimizer will look at the Index statistics to determine if either of them selective enough to use only one index. If neither is selective alone and a better index does not exist (a better index for AND would be one that includes BOTH of the columns in the SAME index – as a composite index), then SQL Server may choose to join the indexes (index intersection).
Q: URLs on the Resources slide can't be read. Could you type then into the Q&A, please? When the session is available for download (which is what happens when MSDN put this online), then you can access the URLs there as well. Typically, I place all of the links at the beginning of the Q&A – resources section. I'll make sure to do this consistently!
Q: How does an uniqueidentifier used as a clustered primary key effect performance? This is best answered by session 4. In short, a non-sequential GUID can cause a lot of fragmentation.
Q: What is ExtentFragmentation as reported by DBCC SHOWCONTIG and is it less important than Logical Fragmentation? Extent Fragmenation refers to how many extents are next to each other. This is a bit more important than Logical Fragmentation as logical fragmentation shows whether or not the pages are next to each other.
Q: How much danger is there in the defrag processes? What kind of backup procedures do you suggest when you defrag? More frequent transaction log backups. A defrag generates a lot of log information. However, it does so in mini transactions. As a result, transaction log backups can occur concurrently with the defrag process and even though the defrag is not complete, the transaction can still be cleared because the defrag process runs as small transactions instead of one long running transaction. This also improves concurrency because the locks are released throughout the process.
Q: Defraging a large index can cause the log file to grow quite large. Is there a way to minimize this other than frequently log backups? Yes, you're correct – defraging a large index WILL grow the log file quite large! As for minimizing this activity in the log – no way to do that. But – you're correct in increasing the frequency of log backups!
Q: With very large tables, how much available disk space (both transaction logs and data drive) do you need to have to rebuild? Does it take less space to defrag than to rebuild? Well, this is really a multipart question… First, log space for rebuilds is mostly dependent on the recovery model. If you are running the FULL recovery model then creating and/or rebuilding indexes will take enough log space for the entire rebuild to complete. If you are running in the BULK_LOGGED or SIMPLE recovery models then this operation will run as a bulk operation and will be minimally logged. While this will take less time and significantly less log space, you are giving up some features when switching recovery models. I would strongly suggest reviewing the second session to see if this is appropriate.Now, as for data space – a rebuild will always require at least the table size in free space and possibly as much as double (if an online rebuild is being performed). Typically, when space estimates are being done (when capacity planning the database) I always recommend taking the largest table size and multiplying it by 2 or 3 – in order to make sure you have enough space for rebuilds. There is space needed for sorting as well – this can come from the database OR from tempdb (using the SORT_IN_TEMPDB option).Defraging doesn't move an object so it doesn't take additional data space BUT it does require more overall log space because it runs as mini transactions instead of just one.
Q: Should we look at different fragmentation stats if there are multiple files in the same filegroup? No, you still want to review average fragmentation. However, you may have more "fragments" in a table that spans filegroups; this does not necessarily mean that your table is fragmented.
Q: Are there any good third party tools for checking fragmentation and performing maintenance? Unfortunately no revolutionary ones (that I know of and/or can recommend)…but I still have high hopes :)
Q: How do you determine the appropriate fill factor? Unfortunately, there isn't a magic number… but, you can test your guestimate by seeing how fragmented the table becomes between your regularly scheduled defragmentation routines.
Q: Does it matter if I build the clustered index before/after rebuilding the non-clustered indexes? You should always create the clustered index before creating non-clustered index but as for rebuilding – you can rebuild your indexes independently as a rebuild of the clustered does not (generally) cause a rebuild of the non-clustered. There is one exception to this rule in SQL Server 2000 – in 2000 ONLY, SQL Server will automatically rebuild the non-clustered indexes when a non-unique clustered index is rebuild. Why? Because the uniqueifiers are rebuilt.
Q: Will doing a defrag followed later by a rebuild decrease the work of the rebuild? Not really. A defrag doesn't move the object – only a rebuild does. However, you might minimize the cost of the sort…
Q: How does cache map to table pages, i.e., does free space in table pages have a 1:1 correspondence to wasted cache? SQL Server reads the 8K page from disk into memory. The number of bytes that are wasted on disk are also wasted in memory. This is often the motivation for vertical partitioning! You might refer back to session three for more details on row/page structures!
Q: If switching a varchar cluster to a bigint and vice-versa in 2000, what would the best order of drop/create index? Actually, this is the reason that CREATE with DROP_EXISTING was created… so that you could "change" the definition of the clustered
DROP TABLE test
CREATE TABLE test
testid int not null,
col1 varchar(100) not null
CREATE CLUSTERED INDEX testind ON test(col1)
CREATE CLUSTERED INDEX testind ON test(testid) WITH DROP_EXISTING
sp_rename 'test.testind', 'NewIndexName', 'INDEX'
sp_helpindex test
Q: What about instances of one name only? (like Madonna, Cher, etc. ;^) Well, this is a good question and this is something that you might need to plan for in design. In these cases, you might allow NULLs in the lastname column and then make sure to search both when a lookup is performed. To be honest, I probably won't do all that much to find these special first names – unless you wanted to do searches across both columns without knowing whether or not this is a first or last name. You might do something like this in a lookup
SELECT * FROM NamesTable
WHERE LastName = @variable
OR (FirstName = @variable AND LastName IS NULL)
Comment: Just wanted to say I appreciate the blog you have put together.
Thanks for the thanks! It's a lot of work but I think it's great as a reference!! Even for me! To be honest, I can't always remember where to find things either! J
Thanks! So – we're half way there – 5 more to go! And, lots more questions coming I'm sure J For the next session, we're going to cover Isolation and options in Isolation in SQL Server 2005. If you're interested in hearing more isolation, locking/blocking – here's the registration link:MSDN Webcast: A Primer to Proper SQL Server Development (Part 6 of 10): Mixed Workloads, Secondary Databases, Wait States, Locking and Isolation See you on Friday!


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Quebec shooting suspect: His gun jammed, saving lives, say police
| Montreal
The suspect in a deadly shooting at a rally following the election of Quebec's new separatist premier was arraigned Thursday on 16 charges, including murder, attempted murder and possession of explosives.
Richard Henry Bain, 62, of La Conception, Quebec, made his first appearance in court behind protective glass Thursday after being accused of opening fire at a midnight victory rally Tuesday for Quebec's new premier, Pauline Marois of the separatist Parti Quebecois. Prosecutors said that after firing his gun, Bain used a flare to light a fire.
Bain, wearing a white T-shirt, appeared calm and alert during his appearance in the highly-secured courtroom. He was represented by a legal aid lawyer who he spoke with briefly. Bain is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 11.
RECOMMENDED: Quebec's 'lady of concrete' is first female premier
Denis Blanchette , was killed and a 27-year-old was injured just outside the Montreal theater.
Prosecutor Elaine Perreault said outside the courtroom that Bain had two weapons on him and three more in his car nearby. She said he had many more at home including shut guns, most of which were registered. She said he had 22 registered guns in total, but said authorities don't know exactly how many others he had at home. Bain was the owner of hunting and fishing lodge.
When asked if Bain targeted the premier, she said only that there might be additional charges. She said they are continuing to investigate the motive.
Bain was in a "proper state of mind" to appear in court after spending some time in a hospital, she said.
The suspect's gun jammed after the initial shots were fired, a Quebec police official said Thursday, possibly saving lives.
Meanwhile, neighbors and acquaintances of the man said he was a friendly but often frustrated businessman who had overseen several failed ventures, but never had any public outbursts, leaving them to wonder how he could be charged with such crimes.
People who know Bain, the owner of a hunting and fishing resort 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Montreal, recalled his complaints about bureaucracy but could think of no political grievances he held. Quebec provincial police said the masked gunman wearing a bathrobe opened fire just outside the building where Pauline Marois of the separatist Parti Quebecois was giving her victory speech just before midnight Tuesday.
The gunman was shown on television, dressed in a bathrobe and ski mask, shouting: "The English are waking up!" in French as police dragged him away.
The mayor of La Conception, Maurice Plouffe, said he was "very surprised" to hear Bain was tied to the shooting and said the images of the suspect being dragged away by police "were not easy to watch." Plouffe said Bain was sometimes frustrated in his dealings with the city after seeing a number of zoning requests were rebuffed, but added "I have never seen him become aggressive, he was quite normal."
A man full of ideas and proposals, Bain, however, had a number of unsuccessful business ventures.
"He had many projects but not many of them materialized," Plouffe said.
A list of members of the Mont Tremblant Chamber of Commerce describes Richard Bain as the owner of Les Activités Rick, which promotes itself as a major fly-fishing destination.
Marie-France Brisson, director general in the municipality of La Conception, said Bain frequently met with community officials, and dealt with them in French, not English, though it was broken French. He complained about bureaucratic obstacles, but there were no outbursts about language, she added.
Brisson said she had seen Bain in recent weeks and noticed no change in his usual demeanor.
The suspect was a heavy-set man wearing a black ski mask or balaclava, glasses and a blue bathrobe over a black shirt and black shorts. Police didn't identify what weapons he had, but camera footage showed a pistol and a rifle at the scene. Police said there is no reason to believe anyone else was involved.
Marois was whisked off the stage by guards and was not injured. She later called the shooting an isolated event and said it was probably a case of a person who has "serious health issues."
The attack shocked Canadians who are not used to such violence at political events and have long worried that gun violence more often seen in the U.S. could become more common in their country.
The victims worked at production company Productions du Grand Bambou Inc, a person answering the phone at the Montreal company confirmed. Friends of Blanchette, a lighting technician, packed a downtown Montreal street Wednesday night in a candlelight vigil outside the hall where he was killed.
It was still not clear if the gunman was trying to shoot Marois, whose party favors separation from Canada for the French-speaking province.
Marois had just declared her firm conviction that Quebec needs to be a sovereign country when she was pulled off the stage.
"What's going on?" she asked her security detail. The crowd apparently was unaware of what had happened.
Police initially said the gunman made it into the building, but later said they believe he opened fire just outside in the back alley. The gunman then lit a small fire before he was captured, police said.
He didn't put up any resistance, said Lieut. Guy Lapointe of the provincial police.
Police had dealt with the suspect previously for a minor incident, Lapointe said.
Outgoing Liberal Premier Jean Charest, who announced he is stepping down as party leader after ruling Quebec for nearly a decade, said "Quebec has been struck directly in the heart" by the shooting.
The separatist Parti Quebecois party's victory is unlikely to signal a new push for independence. Opinion polls show little appetite for a separatist referendum. Previous referendums on separatism were rejected by voters in 1980 and 1995.
The last outbreak of major political violence in Quebec occurred in the 1970s, when Canadian soldiers were deployed after terrorist acts by a group seeking independence. Members of the militant FLQ kidnapped and killed Quebec's labor minister and later abducted, then freed, a British diplomat. The "October Crisis" was considered one of the darkest periods in modern Canadian history.
RECOMMENDED: Quebec's 'lady of concrete' is first female premier
Gillies reported from Toronto.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

subset: commoncrawl


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Allowing snowboarders to hit the slopes at one U.S. ski resort led to a small rise in the number of overall injuries, a trend in line with findings at ski areas elsewhere, according to a U.S. report.
Injuries rose by 13 percent in the two years after snowboarders were permitted at the Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico, compared to the two years before, according to the report in The American Journal of Sports Medicine.
"We recognize that a small but statistically significant increase in injury rate was observed after the addition of snowboarding to this mountain but that factors other than type of sport may play a role in the differences that were identified," said study leader David Rust from the University of new Mexico in Albuquerque.
Rust and his team looked at records from the Mogul Medical Clinic at Taos Ski Valley and compared the injuries that happened before and after snowboarding was first allowed in March 2008.
Overall, the rate of injuries increased from about 207 per 100,000 visits to the mountain in the 2006 to 2007 winter season, to about 234 injured per100,000 in the 2009 to 2010 season.
"If you did that (study) at 10 different mountains, the trend would be the same," said Robert Johnson, from the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington.
The rise was due mostly to an increase in the kind of upper body injuries that are most common among snowboarders, such as wrist sprains and fractures. Broken wrists jumped from the then most common injury before snowboarders were allowed to the second most common at the end of the study.
On the other hand, lower body injuries that are most typical among skiers, such as anterior cruciate ligament or ACL tears, and knee sprains, remained constant.
During the study period, the number of visitors to the mountain also rose, from an average of 1,610 per day during the 2006 to 2007 season until March 2008, to 1973 visits per day from March 2008 to the end of the 2009 to 2010 season.
The average age of injured people dropped, from 39 years old without snowboarders to 31 with them.
The researchers were unable to say why the number of injuries increased, but previous research suggests snowboarders are more injury-prone than skiers.
Last year, Johnson and his colleagues found that snowboarders accounted for 19 percent of injuries at one ski mountain in Vermont, but only made up 17 percent of athletes on the slopes.
The new report avoids suggesting that snowboarding is the more dangerous sport, or that skiers are taking more risk by sharing the slopes, and suggests that other factors than the type of skiing may play a role.
These may include that snowboarding has brought in a younger group of people, who tend to take more risks, as well as raising the overall number of people on the slopes, the researchers said.


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Cyber bullying statistics refers to Internet bullying. Cyber bullying is a form of teen violence that can do lasting harm to young people. Bullying statistics show that cyber bullying is a serious problem among teens. By being more aware of cyber bullying, teens and adults can help to fight it.
Cyber bullying affects many adolescents and teens on a daily basis. Cyber bullying involves using technology, like cell phones and the Internet, to bully or harass another person. Cyber bullying can take many forms:
- Sending mean messages or threats to a person's email account or cell phone
- Spreading rumors online or through texts
- Posting hurtful or threatening messages on social networking sites or web pages
- Stealing a person's account information to break into their account and send damaging messages
- Pretending to be someone else online to hurt another person
- Taking unflattering pictures of a person and spreading them through cell phones or the Internet
- Sexting, or circulating sexually suggestive pictures or messages about a person
Cyber bullying can be very damaging to adolescents and teens. It can lead to anxiety, depression, and even suicide. Also, once things are circulated on the Internet, they may never disappear, resurfacing at later times to renew the pain of cyber bullying.
Many cyber bullies think that bullying others online is funny. Cyber bullies may not realize the consequences for themselves of cyberbullying. The things teens post online now may reflect badly on them later when they apply for college or a job. Cyber bullies can lose their cell phone or online accounts for cyber bullying. Also, cyber bullies and their parents may face legal charges for cyber bullying, and if the cyber bullying was sexual in nature or involved sexting, the results can include being registered as a sex offender. Teens may think that if they use a fake name they won't get caught, but there are many ways to track some one who is cyber bullying.
Despite the potential damage of cyber bullying, it is alarmingly common among adolescents and teens. According to Cyber bullying statistics from the i-SAFE foundation:
- Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying.
- More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyberthreats online.
- Over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet.
- Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyber bullying occurs.
The Harford County Examiner reported similarly concerning cyber bullying statistics:
- Around half of teens have been the victims of cyber bullying
- Only 1 in 10 teens tells a parent if they have been a cyber bully victim
- Fewer than 1 in 5 cyber bullying incidents are reported to law enforcement
- 1 in 10 adolescents or teens have had embarrassing or damaging pictures taken of themselves without their permission, often using cell phone cameras
- About 1 in 5 teens have posted or sent sexually suggestive or nude pictures of themselves to others
- Girls are somewhat more likely than boys to be involved in cyber bullying
The Cyberbullying Research Center also did a series of surveys that found these cyber bullying statistics:
- Over 80 percent of teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most popular form of technology and a common medium for cyber bullying
- About half of young people have experienced some form of cyber bullying, and 10 to 20 percent experience it regularly
- Mean, hurtful comments and spreading rumors are the most common type of cyber bullying
- Girls are at least as likely as boys to be cyber bullies or their victims
- Boys are more likely to be threatened by cyber bullies than girls
- Cyber bullying affects all races
- Cyber bullying victims are more likely to have low self esteem and to consider suicide
Parents and teens can do some things that help reduce the cyber bullying statistics:
- Talks to teens about cyber bullying, explaining that it is wrong and can have serious consequences. Make a rule that teens may not send mean or damaging messages, even if someone else started it, or suggestive pictures or messages or they will lose their cell phone and computer privileges for a time.
- Encourage teens to tell an adult if cyber bullying is occurring. Tell them if they are the victims they will not be punished, and reassure them that being bullied is not their fault.
- Teens should keep cyber bullying messages as proof that the cyber bullying is occurring. The teens' parents may want to talk to the parents of the cyber bully, to the bully's Internet or cell phone provider, and/or to the police about the messages, especially if they are threatening or sexual in nature.
- Try blocking the person sending the messages. It may be necessary to get a new phone number or email address and to be more cautious about giving out the new number or address.
- Teens should never tell their password to anyone except a parent, and should not write it down in a place where it could be found by others.
- Teens should not share anything through text or instant messaging on their cell phone or the Internet that they would not want to be made public – remind teens that the person they are talking to in messages or online may not be who they think they are, and that things posted electronically may not be secure.
- Encourage teens never to share personal information online or to meet someone they only know online.
- Keep the computer in a shared space like the family room, and do not allow teens to have Internet access in their own rooms.
- Encourage teens to have times when they turn off the technology, such as at family meals or after a certain time at night.
- Parents may want to wait until high school to allow their teens to have their own email and cell phone accounts, and even then parents should still have access to the accounts.
If teens have been the victims or perpetuators of cyber bullying they may need to talk to a counselor or therapist to overcome depression or other harmful effects of cyber bullying.
Richard Webster, Harford County Examiner, "From cyber bullying to sexting: What on your kids' cell?" [online]
i-SAFE Inc., "Cyber Bullying: Statistics and Tips" [online]
Cyberbullying Research Center, "Summary of our cyberbullying research from 2004-2010" [online]
National Crime Prevention Council, "Cyberbullying" [online]


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PMD Belgium
Sorting and purifying PMD waste for recycling
At its Recycling Centre in Willebroek, Indaver sorts selectively-collected household packaging waste, better known as PMD (Plastic packaging, Metal packaging, Drinks cartons). PMD waste includes:
- all forms of plastic packaging, such as bottles, containers, hard plastic packaging, trays, and plastic films
- metal packagings such as tin cans, aluminium trays, drinks cans, and aerosols from foods and cosmetics
- drinks cartons
Once sorted, these materials become new raw materials for the recycling industry.
With its high-tech PMD sorting facility, Indaver creates value from packaging waste.
Partner for Flemish Public Authorities
The facility in Willebroek treats 65,000 tonnes of PMD waste from public authorities who collect the waste through kerbside collection and recycling centres. Indaver is therefore a reliable partner to local authorities, intermunicipal organisations, cities and municipalities, and one that supports them in their transition to a circular economy. In addition we also treat PMD from industrial customers.
Partner for the packaging industry
In Belgium, FOST Plus is responsible for managing packaging waste. This includes promoting, coordinating and financing selective collection, sorting and recycling. FOST Plus works closely with Indaver's sorting centre in Willebroek. This is also the organisation that establishes the specific characteristics for PMD waste and the quality requirements for the outgoing material streams.
Treatment process in ultra-modern sorting infrastructure
Indaver's state-of-the-art facility sorts the waste into no less than 16 end products. A carefully-considered and ingenious arrangement of the machines ensures the materials delivered are of particularly high quality.
- The PMD goes through an automated sack opener and then into the rotating sieves, where it goes through an initial separation according to size.
- First, very small parts such as bottle tops and screw caps are removed from the material stream. Magnets and eddy-current separators also recover the metals further at this point.
- Wind sifters separate the plastic films from the hard packaging waste. Infra-red separators then sort the films further into different types.
- Once the light films have been removed from the material stream, the heavier packaging materials are sorted. These go through a treatment process in two parallel lines and consist of (among other things) bottles & containers, butter tubs, trays, cans, and drinks packaging.
- In both sorting lines, magnets first remove the metals from the stream. Infrared light then detects the drinks cartons and compressed air blows them out of the PMD waste. A non-ferrous separator, selects the non-ferrous metals, such as aluminium cans.
- A ballistic separator separates hard and soft plastics.
- At the heart of the sorting plant, there is an arsenal of optical separators. They separate the plastics using a combined technique of material and colour recognition. So the materials are purified to the high standards the recycling industry demands.
- Finally, the pre-sorted fractions come into the sorting hall. Here, our sorters check several fractions again for impurities.
Traceability for a pure loop
Indaver delivers end products with a very high level of purity. The new raw materials meet all of the criteria set by the recycling industry. So, we are closing the materials loop and maintaining high quality. Furthermore, every bale is given an ID label. This provides all of the details required for this information to remain traceable once the bale has left our sorting centre.


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Pastoral Endorsements
"I know Bro. Steve to be a student of the Word and a man that loves preaching and loves to preach." Dr. Sam Davison – www.heartlandbaptist.edu/
"I would highly recommend Bro. Ostten to any local church. He brings with him many years of experience in the Lord's Work." Pastor Michael C. Poole
"I am pleased to recommend Bro. Steve Ostten as a Bible believing evangelist….for he is an expository preacher." Evangelist, Dr. Ronald L. Ostten Sr.
Dr. Steve Ostten brings the combines experience of pastor, professor, and evangelist to our church every time we have him. I endorse his spirit, his preaching and his overall ministry to local churches. Dr. Douglas Levesque – www.immanuelalive.com


text:
Source: Link
KABURAGI, GORO, Methodist minister and newspaper publisher and editor; b. c. 1854 in Katori county, Chiba prefecture, Japan; m. Kaoru Ishiwara, and they had at least one son; d. 14 May 1926 in Nagoya and was buried in Yamakura village, Chiba prefecture.
Goro Kaburagi's background was quite different from that of most Japanese immigrants to Canada, who were mainly farmers, fishermen, and day labourers. He was likely of the samurai class and had attended the Imperial College of Forestry in Tokyo and Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. His excellent command of English enabled him to be of considerable assistance to Japanese immigrants in North America.
Admitted to the Methodist ministry in 1879, Kaburagi was leading a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio, in 1896 when he was invited by the Japanese Christian Endeavour Society to minister to Japanese immigrants in British Columbia. The previous year the society had opened a mission at the corner of Pender and Abbott streets in Vancouver. It soon realized the necessity of having a Japanese-speaking minister and approached Kaburagi, who probably returned briefly to Japan before proceeding to Canada in August 1896. Soon after he started his work in 1897, he found the management of an independent mission "difficult," so he appealed successfully to the Methodist Church of Canada for support. In 1903 three city lots were purchased at the corner of Jackson and Powell streets in Vancouver and in September 1906 the Japanese Methodist Church (later Powell Street United Church) was dedicated. It had night-school classrooms as well as dormitories for single men on the upper floors.
Kaburagi's activities went beyond preaching. He led his community in its struggle for civil rights. In 1895 the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia had amended the Provincial Voters' Act and denied the franchise to the Japanese, the Chinese, and East Indians. They were also denied the right to vote in municipal and federal elections since voters' lists for these elections were based on the provincial list. In addition, certain sectors of the provincial civil service and numerous professions required that their members be on the voters' lists, so the amendment effectively barred the Japanese and others from many fields of employment. Kaburagi was a leader of the group that sent Tomekichi Homma to the courts in 1900 to challenge the legislation. Although the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the amendment was ultra vires of the provincial legislature, those decisions were overturned by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1902.
With the help of the Japanese consul, in 1902 Kaburagi started an elementary school for children of Japanese ancestry. Taught by two trained teachers from Japan, it became the Vancouver Japanese School in 1906 and followed the same curriculum as the schools in Japan, with the addition of courses on the English language.
In order to spread his religious and social beliefs to a greater number of Japanese immigrants, Kaburagi had started the Bankuba Shuho [Vancouver Weekly] on July 1897. It was renamed the Kanada Shinpo [Canada News] in November 1903. On 1 March 1904 it became the first Japanese daily in Canada and Kaburagi was its full-time editor. The paper preached temperance and opposed gambling and prostitution – vices to which many Japanese immigrants had succumbed. It also encouraged assimilation with the mainstream of society. These goals were to be attained by learning English, moving away from the Powell Street community, eating western food, attending church, and competing as equals with white labourers. In the prevailing "boss" system, early immigrants who had some knowledge of English had become labour contractors, providing Japanese labourers to white businesses at lower wages. These contractors had gradually become the elite of the Japanese community. They had also attached themselves to the Japanese consulate in Vancouver. A pacifist who believed in the equality of all peoples, Kaburagi opposed the new imperialism that had developed in Japan after its victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–5 and thus disagreed with the Japanese consulate which espoused it. In 1907 the consulate backed the publication of another Japanese newspaper, the Tairiku Nippō/Continental News to counter the influence of the Kanada Shinpo. In addition to his disagreements with the consul, by mid 1907 Kaburagi was also having differences with his congregation because of his pacifist stance. Kaburagi lost his ministry and the Reverend Yoshi Ono took his place. A number of Kaburagi's friends, including his wife's younger brother, Dr Meinosuke Ishiwara, a popular physician whom he had encouraged to come to Vancouver, left the church with him.
Undaunted by these setbacks, Kaburagi continued publishing his views in the Kanada Shinpo. He also pursued his dream of creating a Japanese garden on a three-acre plot at 21st Street and St George Avenue in North Vancouver. A young Christian student, Senji Yamamoto, spent a summer in 1907 leading a crew that cleared the virgin land. It appears that the project was never completed.
According to Yamamoto, Kaburagi and his wife lived in a "completely western-style house" at 428 Cordova Street East, one block from the commercial centre of the Japanese community. His home was always open to his fellow Japanese, especially to the young. Yamamoto had initially lived with the Kaburagis when he came to Canada and often mentioned their kindness in his diaries and letters to his parents. Kaburagi influenced and assisted many others. Jinsaburo Oikawa, a pioneer immigrant from the Miyagi prefecture who would bring many of his fellow villagers to Canada and set up communal colonies on two islands in the Fraser River, had met Kaburagi aboard ship on his first trip to Canada. Kaburagi had stressed to Oikawa the need to learn English and had begun lessons on board. He later helped Oikawa with his land transactions.
Little is known of Kaburagi's later activities except that he continued his association with the Kanada Shinpo. In 1915 the Canadian Japanese Volunteer Corps was organized for military service overseas [see Yoichi Kamakura*]. Yasushi Yamazaki, chairman of the Canadian Japanese Association and editor of the Tairiku Nippō had persuaded members of the association to sponsor the corps to "bring glory and honour to the Japanese Canadian community and lead to full citizenship rights." When Kaburagi dared to question the efficacy of the program, the volunteers vandalized his newspaper office in March 1916 and forced him to seek the protection of the police.
Although the exact details are not clear, Kaburagi apparently passed on the newspaper to a colleague and went back to Japan. He may have returned to Vancouver for some time during the early 1920s. He died in Japan in 1926 and left an estate, including land and cash in Canada and Japan, evaluated at over $18,000. Although his strong religious, moral, and social opinions were contrary to those held by many of his fellow countrymen, Goro Kaburagi is still remembered as an influential community leader who contributed substantially to the lives of the early Japanese immigrants to Canada.
BCA, GR-1415, file 11774. Ken Adachi, The enemy that never was: a history of the Japanese Canadians (Toronto, 1976). Peter Duus, "The takeoff point of Japanese imperialism," in Japan examined: perspectives on modern Japanese history, ed. Harry Wray and Hilary Conroy (Honolulu, 1983). Roy Ito, Stories of my people: a Japanese Canadian journal (Hamilton, Ont., 1994). Kanada Nikkeijin Godo Kyokai shi, 1892–1959 [A history of the Japanese congregations of the United Church of Canada, 1892–1959] (Toronto, 1961). Kenneth Matsugu, "A brief history of the Japanese United Church of Canada," in A centennial legacy: history of the Japanese Christian missions in North America, 1877–1977, comp. Sumio Koga (Chicago, 1977). Tadashi Mitsui, "The ministry of the United Church of Canada amongst Japanese Canadians in British Columbia, 1892–1949" (m.s.t. thesis, Union College of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1965). Mark Mullins, Religious minorities in Canada: a sociological study of the Japanese experience (Lewiston, N.Y., and Queenston, Ont., 1989). Nakayama Jinshiro, Kanada doho hatten taikan [Encyclopedia of the Japanese in Canada] (Tokyo, [1929]). Nitta Jiro, Mikkosen Suian Maru [The secret journey of the Suian Maru] (Tokyo, 1979). P. E. Roy, A white man's province: British Columbia politicians and Chinese and Japanese immigrants, 1858–1914 (Vancouver, 1989). Sasaki Toshiji, Yamamoto Senji (2v., Tokyo, 1998), 1. Shinpo Mitsuru, Kanada Nihonjin imin monogatari [Tales of Japanese immigrants in Canada] (Tokyo, 1986). Shinpo Mitsuru et al., Kanada no Nihongo shinbun: minzoku ido no shakaishi [Japanese-language newspapers in Canada] (Tokyo, 1991). Toyo Takata, Nikkei legacy: the story of Japanese Canadians from settlement to today (Toronto, 1983).
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Midge Ayukawa, "KABURAGI, GORO," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed February 25, 2024, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/kaburagi_goro_15E.html.
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Permalink: | http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/kaburagi_goro_15E.html |
Author of Article: | Midge Ayukawa |
Title of Article: | KABURAGI, GORO |
Publication Name: | Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15 |
Publisher: | University of Toronto/Université Laval |
Year of publication: | 2005 |
Year of revision: | 2005 |
Access Date: | February 25, 2024 |


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The Tata Group to Cut UK Jobs
Post Views 1The Tata Group is a name that many of you may not have heard of, unless you spend a lot of time looking at the manufacturing sector in India that is. So before we talk about the job cuts that are coming to the company lets begin by taking a look at how the company has chosen to describe itself, "The Tata Group of Companies has always believed strongly in the concept of collaborative growth, and this vision has seen it emerge as one of India's and the world's most respected and successful business conglomerates. The Tata Group has traced a route of growth that spans through six continents and embraces diverse cultures. The total revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $83.3 billion (around Rs3, 796.75 billion) in 2010-11, with 58 per cent of this coming from business outside India. In the face of trying economic challenges in recent times, the Tata Group has steered India's ascent in the global map through its unwavering focus on sustainable development. Tata companies employ over 425,000 people worldwide. It is the largest employer in India in the Private Sector and continues to lead with the same commitment towards social and community responsibilities that it has shown in the past. The Tata Group of Companies has business operations (114 companies and subsidiaries) in seven defined sectors – Materials, Engineering, Information Technology and Communications, Energy, Services, Consumer Products and Chemicals. Tata Steel with its acquisition of Corus has secured a place among the top ten steel manufacturers in the world and it is the Tata Group's flagship Company. Other Group Companies in the different sectors are – Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Communications, Tata Power, Indian Hotels, Tata Global Beverages and Tata Chemicals.
Sadly the company is getting ready to cut back on a significant number of workers in order to set its balance sheet to right. The company will be shedding about 900 jobs in order to trim the budget. The company is trimming the bulk of the jobs not in India, but instead the cuts will come to workers in the UK.
As you can imagine these kinds of job cuts are worthy of notice, but the company in its most recent release, chose to talk about another important issue, safety, that they have chosen to highlight, "Tata Steel's prominence on safety at all levels of its operations received national ovation with the Company bagging the prestigious National Safety Award today. Tata Steel's Bhelatand A and Sijua Colliery of the 'Jharia division were honoured for holding a record of 'Longest accident free period' (LAFP) in terms of man shifts worked and 'Lowest injury frequency rate' (LIFR) for the Year 2008, 2009 and 2010."
For the time being the company has not put out any information about what kind of a severance package, if any, they plan to offer to the soon to be displaced workers in order to help them to cope while they look for new positions. The company has also not outlined any information about which jobs specifically are being cut.
Get the latest steel manufacturing jobs in UK on Granted.com
The Tata Group to Cut UK Jobs by Harrison Barnes


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Light Blue Helium Latex Balloons (6)
bouquet of 6 light blue helium inflated Latex Balloons Please note: the floating life of these balloons is approximately 24 hours. Prolonged periods in warm environments can shorten this. Where possible, keep in cool location
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Scientists Spot 'Tsunami' on the Sun
Source: space.com
A major flare on the Sun earlier this week generated what scientists are calling a solar tsunami.The tsunami-like shock wave, formally called a Moreton wave, rolled across the hot surface, destroying two visible filaments of cool gas on opposite sides of the visible face of the Sun.
Astronomers using a prototype of a new solar telescope in New Mexico recorded the action.
"These large scale 'blast' waves occur infrequently, however, are very powerful," said K. S. Balasubramaniam of the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Sunspot, NM, "They quickly propagate in a matter of minutes covering the whole Sun, sweeping away filamentary material."
It is unusual to see such an event from a ground-based observatory, Balasubramaniam said. And it was also unusual that it occurred near solar minimum, when the Sun is at its least active during an 11-year cycle.
But solar activity can come at any time. Flares like this one are spawned by sunspots, which are dark, cool regions that cap magnetic activity below. When the caps pop, colossal doses of superheated matter and radiation are unleashed.
Sunspot 929 began kicking up flares Tuesday, when a major X-9 event was detected by a space-based observatory.
When another flare erupted Wednesday, the NSO's Optical Solar Patrol Network (OSPAN) was watching.
A shock wave propagated like the splash from a rock thrown into a pond. This was seen as a brightening from compressed and heated hydrogen gas. Astronomers enhanced the contrast of the images to bring out the detail, and they created an animation of the event.
Later, the shock wave swept across two dark filaments widely seprated on the solar surface, and they disappeared for a few minutes. Scientists are unsure whether the filaments were blown off or were compressed so they were temporarily invisible, according to an NSO statement.
Forecasters say there is a 40 percent chance of more major flares through this weekend. Skywatchers in Alaska, Canada and the very northernmost United States should be on the lookout for colorful Northern Lights generated by the space storminess.
Article from: http://space.com/scienceastronomy/061208_solar_tsunami.html


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Do you think about how your trail running affects the world around you and that of generations to come? You should, right? Sustainable running is the topic of this, the first post in iRunFar's Earth Week series dedicated to discussing trail running and the environment. The post is primarily meant to get all of us thinking about the biggest effects we, as trail runners, have on the environment, as well as share 12 Rules on the Run that can guide us in our daily running.
While pretty much anything a person does has consequences on the environment, below are some of the biggest impacts trail running has on the environment.
- Travel. Whether it's firing up the car to drive three miles to the trail head, taking weekly trips to the mountains, or flying to the races in the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning, our travel comes at a price.
- Food. Those extra calories we burn on the trail have to come from somewhere and all calories don't come with equal environmental costs.
- Gear. We should consider the amount of gear we purchase, how long we use it, as well as the construction and transportation of that gear.
- Footprints. Where we tread and when we do so can greatly effect the vitality of the places where we run.
What do you think are the biggest impacts us trail runners have on the environment? Have you changed any aspect of your own trail running after considering your the effect you had on the environment? Any tips for how we can leave a lighter footprint while out on the trail? Please share!
For guidance in our everyday trail running, the American Trail Running Association (ATRA) has developed its Rules on the Run, which promotes respect for the environment, as well as other trail users. In drafting these rules, the ATRA attempted to embrace Leave No Trace principles while also consulting the International Mountain Bicycling Association's Rules of the Trail. Please read these 12 rules and keep them in mind any time you hit the trail.
- Stay on the trail.
- Run over, not around obstacles.
- Run only on open, officially-designated trails.
- Respect animals – both wild and domestic.
- Keep you dog on a leash.
- Don't startle other trail users.
- Be friendly and courteous.
- Do not litter!
- Run in small groups. (See Anthony Portera's post on this topic.)
- Be thoughtful and proactive regarding your own safety.
- Do not take or disturb natural objects along the trail.
- Give back by maintaining the trails, which can prevent erosion, detrimental trail detours, and other environmental degradation.
You can the full text of Rules on the Run over at Nancy Hobbs's blog, which was previously a weRunFar feature.
Are there any other rules that we should observe when on the trail?


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Arcen Games is pleased to announce that The Zenith Remnant, the first expansion to its popular space RTS AI War, is now available for preorder. This expansion is still in the early stages of development, but we're making the alpha/beta versions available to anyone on a trial basis, and in full for anyone who preorders, so that our community can be involved with feedback and ideas as development progresses. This sort of open development process has been so successful for our 2.0 version that we just couldn't cut our community out of even the earliest stages of our expansion.
Spokes Map |
Tree Map |
What Is Planned For The Final Release?
To some extent, exactly what is planned is a bit uncertain, and for a very good reason -- we plan to rely on community feedback and discussion to help us build the product as we go. That said, there are a lot of very specific ideas that are now on the schedule for implementation: This is the list of planned features, and you're free to comment on any of them at any time.
As you can see, we actually have over 80% of the planned features somewhat finalized, but then again nothing is finalized until we go live. If players hate a feature, or a better one surfaces before we get started on one idea, then we're going to adjust our plans accordingly -- that's the uncertainty mentioned above.
In a broad sense, here's what will definitely be in the expansion:
* 80 to 100 new ships, including:
* At least 12 new ship classes with a variety of abilities.
* At least 6 massive "Golem" ships.
* At least 5 new "capturables" other than Golems.
* Several new ships for allowing players expanded ways to control fleets.
* At least 4 new map styles.
* At least 12 new AI Types.
* A new, neutral minor faction in the galaxy: the Zenith Aliens (NPCs).
* 30-40 minutes of new in-game music tracks.
* At least two universal new AI ship subsystems (like Astro Trains).
Three Upcoming Golems (Shown Actual Size In Window)


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I love breakfast. Some days, it's my sole reason for rolling out of bed. I love meals as quick and simple as cereal or shmiscuits and as time-consuming (compared to cereal, anyway) as omelets or muffins.
Pre-syrup smothering. |
I think my favorite breakfast of all, however, is a big ol' stack of pancakes. I enjoy many kinds of toppings and fillings--bananas, chocolate chips, blueberries, pecans, peanut butter, butter, maple syrup, and this taste of heaven have all received my official seal of approval.
My latest pancake experiment involved trying to find a way to increase what I like to call the fluff factor. See, I like my pancakes fat like an overstuffed pillow--none of those puff-free discs are welcome on my griddle. I played with a variety of things, like the amount and type of leavening agent, sugar, and fat involved.
The best I've been able to do so far makes use of an unexpected ingredient--coconut oil. At room temperature, this is a solid fat, which is a unique quality for an oil. It's also very heat stable and lasts a long time, even out of the fridge. (So ends your food science lesson for the day.) Please note that you could use any type of fat in lieu of coconut oil, but you won't get that tasty tinge of coconut.
Runaway butter! |
The pancakes yielded from this carefully-honed recipe are wonderfully fluffy and flavorful, with the barest, most perfect hint of coconut imaginable. They seem to absorb the ideal amount of syrup, too. I think, for now, my quest for pancake perfection has been satisfied.
Perfectly Poofy Pancakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1-1 1/2 cups milk, depending on the thickness you desire
1 tablespoon vanilla
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted fat, milk, and vanilla until combined. Whisk in your sugar and salt, then whisk in the flour and baking powder. Add more milk if necessary to form a thick yet spreadable batter. Refrigerate for 10 to 20 minutes.
Heat and lightly grease your pan or griddle with butter or oil. Pour the batter onto pan by the 1/4-cupful or, if you're like me, heaping 1/2-cupful. Flip the pancake when the edges start to dry up and bubbles form on the top. Cook for about another minute, or until nicely golden brown.


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American Honda Motor Company's Powersports Division announced to its dealers today an additional release of off-road models and ATVs for the 2011 model year. These Hondas include the CRF450R and CRF250R motocross machines, CRF70F and CRF50F off-road motorcycles, the FourTrax Rancher family of ATVs, and the sporty TRX250X.
"Honda is ramping up its release of 2011 models," said Powersports Press Manager Bill Savino. "We're proud to unveil our newest race bikes, the CRF450R and CRF250R motocrossers, plus a wide assortment of Honda off-road machines that have remained extremely popular with recreational riders over the years. With these models for 2011 and more to follow, this is certainly going to be a great year for riding enthusiasts."
More detailed information and images of Honda's model line can be found on www.powersports.honda.com or see your local Honda powersports dealer.
- The Class of the Open-Class MX Bikes: Honda CRF450R
Long regarded as the bike of choice in the big-bore motocross division, the 2011 CRF450R incorporates a host of improvements that will help this bike retain its standing as the yardstick by which all others in the class are compared. Various tweaks to the engine tuning broaden the already prodigious powerband-more low-end pull and midrange grunt-while also enhancing throttle response via a new throttle body.
In addition, revised suspension linkage and settings yield improved control, increased ride plushness and enhanced rear-wheel traction. A new Honda Progressive Steering Damper (HPSD) with a larger damper piston (24mm versus 20mm) produces even better tracking traits than before. In addition, the CRF450R now features a newly designed muffler that meets the sound levels of 94 decibels required by some racing organizations in 2011, making it competition-legal right off the showroom floor. All this and more make the 2011 CRF450R a shoo-in to maintain its dominant role among open-class MX bikes. MSRP $8,199. Available in Red beginning October 2010.
- The Award-Winning Honda CRF250R Gets Better Yet in 2011
Despite winning numerous comparison tests and awards in 2010, the CRF250R enters the new season sporting a number of improvements that will help it continue its winning ways. A new Honda Progressive Steering Damper (HPSD) with a larger, 24mm damper piston aids tracking precision, and new suspension settings front and rear help give this stellar-handling machine even better chassis balance for 2011. Changes to engine tuning now give the CRF250R a stronger bottom-end and midrange hit, and this 2011 model features a new muffler that meets sound levels of 94 dB required by some racing organizations. MSRP $7,199. Available in Red beginning October 2010.
- Family-Friendly CRF70F and CRF50F Return in 2011
In a completely different segment within the vast Honda spectrum, the family-friendly CRF70F and CRF50F return to the lineup in 2011. Featuring an automatic clutch, low seat height and a three-speed transmission, the CRF70F has long served as a practically perfect choice for beginning riders. Credit too the torquey 72cc air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine that has grown to near-legendary status for reliability over the years. Likewise, for more than 40 years the CRF50F has introduced legions of riders the world over to the sport of motorcycling. It tips the scales at an unintimidating 110 pounds and the little CRF50F boasts a tough 49cc air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine renown for its durability plus an ultra-low seat height, automatic clutch, three-speed transmission and an inverted fork. Both of these machines represent the fun that turns the dreams of beginning riders into trail-time reality. CRF50F MSRP $1,499; CRF70F $1,899. Both models available in Red beginning October 2010.
- Options, Options and More Options: FourTrax Rancher Family
Year after year, more and more ATV riders come to sing the praises of the ready-and-willing FourTrax® Rancher®-and for good cause. This family of full-sized machines, assembled at Honda's plant in Timmonsville, SC, has proven many times over to be the most dependable partner you could ever hope for, whether the day calls for work or fun. At the heart of each Rancher beats a powerful liquid-cooled, fuel-injected 420cc engine with convenient electric starting and plenty of grunt for getting the toughest jobs done. From there, it's a matter of choosing the features that best fit your riding needs, conditions and desires.
Many Rancher fans swear by the base model FourTrax Rancher with its automatic clutch and manual-shift five-speed transmission with reverse because it's such a workhorse. Other owners are equally enamored of the FourTrax Rancher ES with its remarkable Electric Shift Program (ESP®) that shifts with consummate ease with the touch of a handlebar-mounted button. Others will allow that while these two-wheel-drive Ranchers are great, the addition of the four-wheel-drive option found in the manual-shift FourTrax Rancher 4x4 and the ESP-equipped FourTrax Rancher 4x4 ES with their easy-to use TraxLok® 4WD/2WD selector makes a good thing even better. And then there are those who love to opt for the top-tier models, and in this case that would be the automatic-transmission 4x4 FourTrax Rancher AT and FourTrax Rancher AT with Electric Power Steering. Both of these upscale models feature five-speed auto-shifting or push-button ESP shifting, plus four-wheel disc brakes and independent rear suspension.
That's a lot of variations on one great theme, but no matter which model you select you'll see why Honda's FourTrax Rancher has long remained a favorite. MSRP TBD. Two-wheel drive models available in Red and Olive; available early 2011. 4x4 models available in Red, Olive and Camo; available December 2010.
- The TRX250X Offers Full-Sized Fun
In the sport ATV category, the TRX250X delivers full-sized ergonomics and it's also full of great features including electric starting and Honda's innovative SportClutch™ that enables the rider to experience manual clutch actuation with the advantage of no stalling. That makes it easy to enjoy the plentiful power on tap and the five-speed transmission plus reverse for day-long adventuring. It's no wonder that the sporty and fun-to-ride TRX250X continues to stand out as a favorite among beginners as well as longtime riders, year after year. MSRP TBD. Available in Red and Black beginning September 2010.


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SACRAMENTO -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris released the following statement upon the announcement that parts of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights will be heard by a Legislative Conference Committee:
"There are more than 500,000 California homeowners in the foreclosure pipeline, and securing for them the protections of the Homeowner Bill of Rights is my central concern. I am sure these reforms will receive thoughtful attention and discussion in the Legislative Conference Committee which is why I support the Assembly Speaker and Senate President pro Tem's decision to form it. I look forward to working with the Legislative leaders and members of the committee to bring transparency and fairness to our state's mortgage and foreclosure process."


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It always comes up when I least expect it, inevitably catching me off guard. It's an innocent question asked in the course of small talk at a party. It's an observation made by our Irish-Catholic plumber as he is fixing our sink. It's an article on the Huffington Post that I wasn't expecting to see.
It's the question of who is a Jew. And if you aren't a Jew, who can make you one?
My family history is both common and uncommon, especially in the decades since the Holocaust. My father's family is Jewish, but I'll never know for sure about my mother. Her maternal grandfather was almost certainly Jewish, and there may be reason to believe that her maternal grandmother was as well, but persecution and fear in northern Italy during WWII resulted in well-guarded family secrets, most of which died with my grandmother. I'll likely never know.
That's right. I will never know if I was born Jewish, and there are those who would not consider me Jewish now. I was raised in a secular home, and I found Judaism in college. My commitment to Judaism, to living a Jewish life with my Jewish husband in our Jewish home, was well solidified by the time we traveled to Israel and Italy in 2006. We visited my mother's family in Italy, but the Jewish community in Mantova was largely destroyed during World War II; the name of my maternal grandmother's hometown is carved into the stone wall at The Valley of the Communities at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Sadly, I was unable to learn more about my heritage.
It was a painful time for me, as I felt like a Jew, and Judaism had become central to my life. I had had an adult bat mitzvah in 2001, I had been married by two rabbis in 2003, and my husband and I were already thinking about Jewish day school for our unborn children. The thought that I might be nothing more than a Semitophile was intolerable to me, especially as my husband and I started thinking more seriously about having children. I decided it was time to have a conversion ceremony.
I had done my research, and I knew that even the most Orthodox of conversions wouldn't guarantee that Israel would accept me as a Jew. (I'm not sure why I was so concerned about Israel at the time; we had no plans to make aliyah, and even if we did, I would be welcomed as the daughter and wife of Jews, just not as a Jew myself.) Even though I didn't identify as a
halakhic Jew (one who follows all traditional Jewish laws), and didn't want to lead an Orthodox life, I fantasized about finding the three most religious men I could to witness my conversion. I wanted it to be as kosher as possible–not for me, but for the children I would have someday. I didn't ever want anyone to doubt their Jewish status.
The thing is, I just couldn't do it. I wasn't Orthodox, I wasn't going to become Orthodox, and I wasn't willing to misrepresent that fundamental truth. I would have no problem increasing my religious observance, but I will not deny or compromise my values. I believe women, gay men, and lesbians should have all the same opportunities and responsibilities in the Jewish community as straight men. As I thought about it, I imagined describing my conversion to my children, telling them that even though our rabbi is a woman, we go to the men for the important issues. That didn't work for me.
Ultimately, I went to the mikveh (ritual bath) with three female Reconstructionist rabbis, three of the smartest, most thoughtful, and most dedicated Jews and rabbis I know. Throughout the process, I was fully aware that there are those who will not consider me or my daughters Jewish. Even now, six years later, I am still taken by surprise when the plumber casually mentions that Judaism is passed down through the mother. It's as if I'm being outed as an imposter, nothing more than a goy trying to pass with a Jewish last name and a Star of David around her neck. Even so, I don't doubt my decision for a minute, and I would be honored to have those same three rabbis as my witnesses if I were to do it all over again.
In those moments, I take a breath, and remind myself that even though some believe that I may not have passed along halakhic Jewish status to my daughters, I will not relinquish my Jewishness (or theirs) to a small group of individuals who espouse a narrow understanding of what it means to be a Jew. I am raising my daughters in a Jewish home, with a Jewish education, and most importantly, with a strong Jewish neshama (soul). I am raising them with the knowledge that their mother didn't, and wouldn't, compromise her values, especially not on the important issues.
As for the Jewish community, we have a responsibility to address the ongoing challenges of conversion. The undeniable reality is that intermarriage is on the rise, and we must find a way to not only welcome the children of non-Jewish mothers, but to grant them full Jewish status. Ultimately, the different American Jewish denominations need to agree on the requirements of conversion. I don't know what this would look like, but I would hope that people much smarter and more Jewishly educated than me are working on the problem.
The challenges facing the Jewish community are so much greater than that which divides us from within. Ultimately, it will be our willingness to balance our commitment to our history and the wisdom of our ancestors with a pragmatic acknowledgment of the dynamic, complex nature of the Jewish people that will keep our community strong and flourishing.


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This post will stay at the top of my blog until December 6th but I am still posting new things during that time so be sure to scroll down and see what's new!
It's finally here the event you've all been waiting for- the HOLIDAY GIFT GIVEAWAY HOP!
Entries will be accepted through leaving comments on THIS POSTING ONLY
December 1st @ 12:01 EST – December 5th @ 11:59 pm EST
We are trying to keep method of entry for giveaways simple for this event without a huge amount of extra entries so just take a few minutes to enter and have fun!
This giveaway is open to all U.S. residents only.
MANDATORY ENTRY: Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect (GFC) and leave a comment that you're following.
Be sure to leave each entry in a different comment or you won't get credit.
1. "Like" me on Facebook (1 Entry)
2. Follow me on Twitter @bethwillis01 (1 Entry)
3.Subscribe to my blog by email (1 Entry)
4. Follow me on Networked Blogs (1 Entry)
(Comments on this posting will enter you into all the Giveaways Listed Below on this posting)
Clickable Party- $100 Gift Certificate
We are a family owned and operated business in Southern New England striving to offer unique printable party decorations for events, holidays and special occasions. We create matching party invitations, thank you cards, cupcake wrappers, toppers, banners, favor boxes...everything you need to make your next party look extra special. You just print and cut them out! You can't find our designs in your local party store - they stand out from the rest! The designs are made to be personalized, and you control how many you print, how you print them and how you use them. Custom dessert table planning is available in the local area (southern MA, RI).
Contact Amber at email@example.com. Check out our Party {in a box} for pricing on pre-cut packages! Our FREEBIES section has downloadable files, like full parties, decorations and party favors! Subscribe to our BLOG to see how we {and our customers} are using our designs, or go to our Flikr gallery for more pictures. Don't forget to stay connected We're on Twitter, and Facebook! Subscribe to watch for freebies, coupons and giveaways - new ones added weekly!
Calabasas Candy Co. - $25 Gift Certificate
Caramels made from the finest exotic organic cocoa beans from around the world. So buttery and delicious, they melt in your mouth! Try our marshmallows, so light and creamy!
Check out their Website and Etsy Shops!
Raw Element - $25 Gift Certificate
Raw Element strives to bring you the highest quality products using only the very best organic and natural ingredients. You'll find products such as moisturizers, body scrubs, lip balms, soap, lotion, bath salts, and more!
Be sure to stop by their Etsy shop!
Scent-Sations, Inc - Mia Bella's Gourmet Candles - $20 Gift Certificate (for one 16oz Jar Candle)
Creating an ambience of pure pleasure is the result of lighting any Mia Bella candle and wrapping yourself with a beautiful earth friendly fragrance experience. Our fragrances are so rich your senses will think they are experiencing the real thing. Plus, our clean burning natural wax makes it a perfect candle for any environmentally conscious lifestyle.
Be sure to check out all of their great candles HERE.


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Maggie Gyllenhaal
Date Of Birth:
16 November 1977
Place Of Birth:
New York City, New York
Best Known As:
Star of the 2002 movie Secretary
Long, lean Maggie Gyllenhaal earned critical praise and popular recognition for her starring role in the oddball love story Secretary (2002, with James Spader). Twenty years later, Gyllenhaal was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay of the movie she directed, The Lost Daughter (2021). In the early 2000s, she was suddenly everywhere, appearing in Adaptation (with Nicolas Cage), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (directed by George Clooney) and Mona Lisa Smile (2003, with Julia Roberts and Kirsten Dunst). A graduate of Columbia University, Gyllenhaal grew up in Los Angeles, where her father worked as a director of TV and films and her mother worked as a screenwriter. Her early roles were directed by her father, Stephen Gyllenhaal, and included the films Waterland (1992, starring Jeremy Irons) and Homegrown (1998, starring Billy Bob Thornton). She has also appeared onscreen with her brother, movie star Jake Gyllenhaal, most memorably as his sister in Donnie Darko (2001, with Drew Barrymore). An established lead who often plays supporting roles, she appears in independent and foreign films as well as big-budget Hollywood productions, including John Waters's Cecil B. Demented (2000, with Melanie Griffith), Sherrybaby (2006), the animated feature Monster House (2006, with Steve Buscemi), the Oliver Stone movie World Trade Center (2006) and the Will Ferrell comedy Stranger Than Fiction (2006, with Queen Latifah). In 2008 she co-starred in the blockbuster Batman movie The Dark Knight, playing assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes, and in 2009 she was the love interest to an aging country music star (Jeff Bridges) in Crazy Heart.
Extra Credit
Gyllenhaal's mother is Oscar-nominated screenwriter Naomi Foner (writer of 1988's Running On Empty)… Gyllenhaal and actor Peter Sarsgaard began a relationship in 2002 and had a baby daughter, Ramona, on 3 October 2006. They married in Italy on 2 May 2009.
Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved.
See also:


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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Baltimore Orioles bolstered their bullpen with a late-inning arm Tuesday, acquiring reliever Francisco Rodriguez from the last-place Milwaukee Brewers for minor league infielder Nick Delmonico.
"We're not playing for (anything) here. But going there now, every game is going to count. I've got to be on top of my game now and help them out," Rodriguez said.
Baltimore began the day 2½ games behind first-place Boston in the AL East. Looking for their second straight playoff appearance, the third-place Orioles had a 1½-game lead over Texas for the final AL wild-card spot.
"We were trying to upgrade the pitching to give us a chance to make the run for the AL (East) title and the pennant. So we did what we had to do to help the team now, and we have enough players having good years at the plate," Orioles vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said.
"Nick Delmonico shows a lot of promise as a hitter, but the major league club needed a little more depth for our pitching staff to accomplish what we want to accomplish this year."
Baltimore already has a proven closer in Jim Johnson, who was leading the majors with 35 saves. Rodriguez, however, gives manager Buck Showalter another option late in the game.
"I'm still kind of taking it in," Showalter said after his team's 3-2 loss in Kansas City. "He gives us a lot of options."
The Orioles cleared space for Rodriguez on the 40-man roster by transferring outfielder Nolan Reimold to the 60-day disabled list before their game against the Kansas City Royals.
K-Rod was one of the game's best relievers during his time with the Angels, saving a major league-record 62 games in 2008. He later spent three seasons as a closer with the Mets that are remembered mostly for an alleged assault of his girlfriend's father at the ballpark.
Rodriguez, 31, has revitalized his career the past three years in Milwaukee, going 1-1 with 10 saves and a 1.09 ERA in 25 appearances this season.
"I think he's the kind of guy that can be a difference-maker," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. "When you get into postseason or you get into pennant races in August and September, you always need more than one guy that can pitch in the ninth inning. He's capable of doing that."
Delmonico, a sixth-round draft pick in 2011, was hitting .244 in 60 games for Class A Frederick. He hit .249 in 95 games for Class A Delmarva last season.
Melvin said Delmonico, 21, will be assigned to Class A Brevard County. Delmonico's father, Rod, was the baseball coach at Tennessee from 1990 to 2007.
"He's a player that's got good baseball instincts. He's known for being a very good hitter. He comes from a baseball background," Melvin said.


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Local wiki extensions
From Joomla! Documentation
Local wiki templates • Local wiki extensions • Local interwiki links
Extensions are additions to the MediaWiki code that perform special functions.
This Syntax Highlighting should no longer tagged with source has been tagged and requires copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. Please help maintain and improve our documentation by editing it.
Syntax Highlighting[edit]
The GeSHi syntax-highlighter extension[1] has been installed on this wiki. For PHP code use <source lang="php">Your PHP code here</source>.
For HTML code use <source lang="html4strict">Your HTML markup here</source>.
etc. IF you add an invalid lang name, you'll presented with a list of supported "languages".
For example, inserting the following in your wiki page:
<source lang="php"> <?php echo "Hello World\n"; ?> </source>
will result in:
echo "Hello World\n";
HTML example:
<html lang="en">
<title>Joomla! Documentation</title>
<link rel="StyleSheet" href="doccamp.css" type="text/css" media="screen,projection" />
<body class="foo">
Available lang attributes are: abap, actionscript, ada, apache', applescript, asm, asp, autoit, bash, blitzbasic, bnf, c, c_mac, caddcl, cadlisp, cfdg, cfm, cpp, cpp-qt, csharp, css, d, delphi, diff, div, dos, dot, eiffel, fortran, freebasic, genero, gml, groovy, haskell, html4strict, idl, ini, inno, io, java, java5, javascript, latex, lisp, lua, m68k, matlab, mirc, mpasm, mysql, nsis, objc, ocaml, ocaml-brief, oobas, oracle8, pascal, per, perl, php, php-brief, plsql, python, qbasic, rails, reg, robots, ruby, sas, scheme, sdlbasic, smalltalk, smarty, sql, tcl, text, thinbasic, tsql, vb, vbnet, vhdl, visualfoxpro, winbatch, xml, xpp, z80
References and Footnotes[edit]
In your article or tutorial you may want to add external links but they may clutter the text and reduce readability. In order to add a reference[2] enclose the text in a ref element: <ref>your reference entry</ref>. At the end of the page add <references /> to display a list of all ref(erence) entries.
- MediaWiki manual about Footnotes
Link Search[edit]
You found a URL used in an article is broken and want to fix it? No problem, hit edit and make the changes. But what if that URL is also used someplace else or in a whole series or pages? The wiki doesn't provide a global search and replace facility and using the standard search function can be tedious and even unsuccessful. Head over to this Special page, type in the bogus URL and find every article that contains the external link: Special:Linksearch


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If the next time you're at a concert in Boston you find yourself next to a mannequin with an emo haircut, take note: You're witnessing an innovative sound project. Aaron Soloway of Cambridge proudly calls it "the highest fidelity binaural recording mannequin in the world."
Soloway, a freelance audio engineer, is among a small group of enthusiasts trying to push the frontiers of binaural recording—a technique that produces uniquely lifelike sounds by spacing two microphones to capture the way sounds arrive differently in our right and left ears. (The effect is more exact and personal than traditional stereo.)
Since Soloway was first transfixed by a binaural recording of airport sounds in college, he has traveled the world capturing binaural versions of music, places, and natural events, like the sound of ice crackling on a frozen Cape Cod pond. He makes his recordings not only with the mannequin, but also by placing a tiny microphone in each of his own ears.
Binaural technology has existed for more than a century and received a burst of attention when Pearl Jam used the technique in its 2000 album, "Binaural." But it has really caught on over the last five years or so, as recording equipment has become less expensive. In many ways, binaural recording is the perfect sound medium for our age: It needs to be listened to with headphones, and aligns perfectly with our new hyper-individualized style of public display, in which we try to convey—through status updates and the like—precisely how the world appears to us.
To get a feel for how it sounds, Soloway created a mixtape for Brainiac, featuring a number of Boston-area bands and local places, like Harvard Square the night Barack Obama was elected president, and a concert at St. Paul's Church in Cambridge. The track of ice crackling on a pond on Cape Cod gives a particularly immediate impression of how binaural recording is unique. You can listen to it at www.boston.com/brainiac.
Swift evolution
We think of evolution as something that takes place over eons, but it often happens much faster—which may be what's happening with a bird species that lives beneath highway overpasses.
According to a new study in Current Biology, cliff swallows find the vertical surfaces of highway overpasses to be an irresistible place to roost, and they die in huge numbers when they fly out of their nests and into the grills of oncoming vehicles.
For the last 30 years, biologists Charles Brown and Mary Bomberger Brown have counted road-killed cliff swallows in southwestern Nebraska, and they began to notice that the deaths were declining. Had the swallow population thinned? Or had traffic decreased? Were scavengers making quicker work of the carcasses?
They suggest something more dramatic had taken place: Over 30 years, they've found that swallows' average wingspan has shrunk. Shorter wings mean faster takeoffs, which makes it easier for birds to get out of the way of your 65-mile-per-hour family vacation. They also observed that cliff swallows with longer wings tend disproportionately to end up dead on the side of the road. This leads them to conclude that in a relatively short period of time, evolution has likely given us a population of cliff swallows better suited to life in an interstate age.
Pope in a can
Pope Francis made news last week when he became the first pontiff ever to
wash a woman's feet, as part of the Catholic Church's ritual Holy Thursday celebration. Perhaps this gesture will qualify him for (or maybe spare him from) German artist Miriam Jonas's treatment. Jonas has created a series she calls "Polka Popes"—miniature sculptures of fictional pontiffs, crafted out of colorful kid's modeling clay and displayed inside empty fish tins. Jonas's work reads first as a playful critique of the pomp that surrounds the papacy—but at the same time, there is a touch of affectionate reverence in the figures.
Kevin Hartnett is a writer who lives in Ann Arbor, Mich. He can be reached at email@example.com.


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Make Love, Not Warcraft
Make Love, Not Warcraft
Season | s10 |
Episode | e08 |
Written By | Trey Parker |
Production Code | 1008 |
Original Air Date | 2006-10-04 |
Episode Chronology
- Previous
- Next
The boys start playing the online computer game World of Warcraft, but their fun is soon ruined by an ultra-powerful player, NWBZPWNR, who keeps killing them -- or rather their heavily-muscled, exotic-looking on-screen avatars. They complain to the game's creator, Blizzard Entertainment, but the company brass is already well aware of the problem.
It seems the ultra-gamer has spent the last year and a half doing nothing but playing Warcraft, allowing him to reach an almost godlike level -- and to kill other players (even Blizzard's admins) at will. The Blizzard execs fear that if something isn't done soon, users will get frustrated and find something else to do with their lives.
After once again being mercilessly killed by NWBZPWNR, Cartman gathers all the boys for an emergency Warcraft meeting. Here, they plan a massive, coordinated attack on the villain. But even when all the kids attack at once, they're no match for their uber-powerful rival.
After the defeat, the boys decide to ditch the game and play outside. All except for Cartman, who comes up with a daring plan: Re-enter the game, hide in the woods, and boost their power levels by killing millions of boars. 65,340,285 boars, to be exact. Once they all become powerful enough, they can challenge their nemesis again.
Over the next two months they play the game obsessively, growing progressively more powerful onscreen, and progressively fatter, and pimplier, in the real world. Warcraft company execs follow their progress with interest, believing they might have a chance of defeating the renegade. To stack the odds in their favor, they decide to give them the mythical Sword of a Thousand Truths -- a special weapon stored on a 1 GB USB flash drive, originally removed from the game because it was too powerful.
Unfortunately for the boys, they've already initiated their attack on NWBZPWNR from Cartman's basement. They are seventeen hours into the epic duel when the Blizzard execs try to deliver the sword to Stan's house, only to find him gone. His father, himself a novice Warcraft player, volunteers to log on and deliver the sword to his son. He commandeers a computer at a Best Buy and hands over the weapon just before being mortally wounded by the rogue gamer.
Stan immediately uses the sword to drain his nemesis' defensive shields. Kenny then shoots him with an arrow, Kyle blasts him with a fire spell, and Cartman delivers the coup de gras by smashing his head with a war hammer. Other players come out from hiding to celebrate the great victory. Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny, now horrendously out of shape from weeks of subsisting on Hot Pockets and energy drinks, have saved the world . . . of Warcraft.
What I Learned Today
"You can just hang outside in the sun all day tossing a ball around, or you can sit at your computer and do something that matters."
Memorable Quotes
- "How do you kill that which has no life?" (Blizzard Executive)
- "Gentlemen, this could very well lead to the end of the world . . . of Warcraft." (Blizzard Executive)
- "When Hitler rose to power there were a lot of people who just 'stopped playing.' You know who those people were? The French. Are you French, Clyde?" Cartman
- "Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer and join the online sensation before we all murder you." Cartman
- "My mouse-clicking finger hurts." Kyle
- "Mom, more Hot Pockets!" Cartman
- "Looks like you're about to get pwned." Cartman
- "I think Kyle has sweet titties." Kenny
- "I'm not an R-tard " Randy
- "Don't you have better things to do than going online killing people?!" Cartman
Character Debuts
The all-powerful renegade player, NWBZPWNR, makes his debut. In reality, he's just some morbidly obese geek that's spent the past year and a half parked in front of his PC playing World of Warcraft. Although the ultra-player is never actually named in the show, he's referred to as "NWBZPWNR" throughout the script.
Kenny, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman all take on their uber-fat, pimply gamer personas here. The result is classic. Finally, we briefly are introduced to Nelson, Randy's co-worker at the Geology Station.
We also meet the Blizzard Gaming staff
Body Count
Countless newbs in the World of Warcraft get pwn'd by the evil one. And during the final battle, NWBZPWNR gets his head smashed in with a war hammer by Cartman's dwarf character. However, it was established early on that this guy had no life, so it hardly counts as a death.
Behind The Scenes
The staff, never dreaming that Warcraft's maker, Blizzard Entertainment, would help them, experimented with how to produce video game-like images themselves. Finally they just asked the company if they could use their characters, and were pleasantly surprised to find them highly stoked about being on South Park. The action scenes are directly from actual game play. Blizzard staff members camped out in the South Park offices and played the game under Trey's direction.
Where Did The Idea Come From
Both Matt and Trey are video game nuts with a more-than-passing knowledge of World of Warcraft. And since most of the staff are players too, it seemed like a natural fit for the show.
Pop Culture References
Shout Outs
When Cartman rips on Clyde for wanting to quit playing, asking if he's French -- he says "Voulez vous coucher avec moi, Clyde?" This French phrase gained worldwide popularity for its use in the hit disco jam "Lady Marmalade." It means: "Do you want to sleep with me (tonight)?"
"Live to Win" by Paul Stanley (of KISS fame) plays over the boys' boar-killing montage.
Junk food is all over the place in this episode. Among other things, NWBZPWNR munches on some Chips-A-Ho! Cookies (a parody of Chips Ahoy!), and the boys live off Snacky Cakes, Cup Ramen, and Chinese takeout from City Wok. Rockstar energy drinks appear on almost every gamer's desk. There are also a few scattered cans of Red Balls (a parody of Red Bull).
In one of the scenes with the rogue gamer, he has a Big-Gulp-type soda tub with a Pirates of the Caribbean-esque lid. The cup reads Buccaneers of the Bahamas.
The episode's fictional Sword of a Thousand Truths showed up in a later version of World of Warcraft. The Blizzard programmer wearing a T-shirt reading "Dwarf Needs FOOD!" references a video game called Gauntlet. Lastly, the scene where Stan's dad flags down a driver -- only to beat him up and steal his car -- was done a la Grand Theft Auto.
Bonus Factoids
Pointless Observations
When the boys play together in Cartman's basement, the Antonio Banderas blow-up doll first seen in Season Three's "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery" (and many times thereafter) can be seen in the corner. There's also Clyde Frog, Peter Panda, and Rumper Tumpskin. In NWBZPWNR's apartment, there is a mini-model of a Zazul (the demon from "Hell on Earth 2006) on top of his computer, and an Okama Gamesphere (from "Towelie") next to his TV.
Butters admits that he doesn't play World of Warcraft -- instead, he plays Hello Kitty Island Adventure. That's not actually a real game.
We get a good look at a lot of the boys' rooms here -- some for the first time. Tolkien has a bass guitar and some jazz posters; Tweek has coffee and a scary clown; and Clyde has a poster for Monster Machines and more importantly, a Playboy.
In order to gain enough experience points, the boys kill 65,340,285 boars. It takes them seven weeks, five days, thirteen hours, and twenty minutes (with three hours a night to sleep).
In Kenny's house, we briefly see his parents arguing in the background. Kenny's mom actually punches his dad in the face -- a healthy dose of domestic abuse we haven't seen since Season 2's "Chickenlover."
Stan's character name in World of Warcraft is LUVS2SPWGE.
This episode won the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. It was the show's second Emmy, the first being Season Nine's "Best Friends Forever"
Season 10
- e1 The Return of Chef
- e2 Smug Alert
- e3 Cartoon Wars Part I
- e4 Cartoon Wars Part II
- e5 A Million Little Fibers
- e6 ManBearPig
- e7 Tsst!
- e8 Make Love, Not Warcraft
- e9 Mystery of the Urinal Deuce
- e10 Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy
- e11 Hell on Earth 2006
- e12 Go God Go
- e13 Go God Go XII
- e14 Stanley's Cup


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(Source: The Brock News, Monday, January 21, 2013 | by Tiffany Mayer)
A Brock University dramatic arts professor was interviewed on national radio about the current state of affairs of entertainment giant Cirque du Soleil.
Karen Fricker was a guest Monday on CBC Radio's Q, a daily arts and culture magazine. The assistant professor talked about the implications of Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil's recent announcement that it was laying off 400 people.
"This is significant because Cirque du Soleil is a very strong brand and usually the coverage around it is positive," Fricker said.
The segment of the show, hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, looked at whether the company was in crisis and if the layoffs meant the end of a Canadian success story made world famous for its performances that incorporate gravity-defying acrobatics and stunning choreography.
From Fricker's perspective, Cirque du Soleil isn't going anywhere but it has grown at an unsustainable rate.
The company has even admitted to not having appropriate control over its spending.
"That's an important admission," Fricker said. "They're making money but they're spending too much and (cutting jobs) is a line in the sand, a signal their practices need to change ."
Fricker was joined by J. Kelly Nestruck, a theatre critic for the Globe and Mail, on the show.
The segment will air again Monday night on CBC Radio One at 10 p.m. and can be heard online or as a podcast.