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Emelie Forsberg put herself on the trail and ultrarunning map this year by logging top results all over the geographic map. From 3 Peaks and Zegama Marathon (post-race interview) this spring to Cavalls del Vent and Les Templiers this autumn, we've seen her name over and over. That racing has earned her a Skyrunning World Series title and third place in the Skyrunning Ultra Series. In the following interview, find out what races she's enjoyed the most this year, her strategy for the ultras she's run, and what she feels like when being mentioned along with best women in the sport.
We'll be providing live coverage of the TNF 50 on Saturday. [Update: We've posted full 2012 TNF 50 results with links to many other race resources, including to a post-race interview with Forsberg, who finished second.]
[Click here if you can't see the video above.]
Emelie Forsberg Pre-2012 TNF EC 50 Mile Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Emelie Forsberg before The North Face (TNF) 50 Mile this year. How are you doing, Emelie?
Emelie Forsberg: Good, thanks. And you?
iRF: I'm doing excellent. It's the end of the season.
Forsberg: Yes.
iRF: One final race—and you have had a long season. You had a good race at Zegama and it seems you've been racing ever since.
Forsberg: Almost, yes.
iRF: What have been some of your highlights on the race year? What races have you most enjoyed?
Forsberg: I've done a lot of different races and I enjoyed that. I love running short races because you can run so fast. I tried long races, too, and everything has its charm.
iRF: You won the Skyrunning World Championship, correct?
Forsberg: Yes.
iRF: Congratulations. You were also third overall in the ultra series?
Forsberg: Third in the long, yes.
iRF: You hadn't run an ultra until this year.
Forsberg: No, that's funny.
iRF: You've gained a lot of experience… and some confidence?
Forsberg: I'm working with that. I'm not very confident. I'm working with that. I don't know if I need to work with it. I don't know if I need to be so confident with it.
iRF: You're going to have a lot of great competition this weekend.
Forsberg: Yes. It's so cool. It's so cool that people think I'm the same level as them, because when I look at the names—whoaaaaaa!
iRF: You are—as this year has shown.
Forsberg: That's strange. That's very strange.
iRF: Now having run all these different distances—before this year you'd run all the shorter stuff—is there a difference in trying to race the competition in a short race vs. in an ultra? Do you approach it in a different way?
Forsberg: Yes. You just smash the short ones. The long runs—I don't really know how to explain—it's much more… you have to feel much more because if you're tired and run uphill, you need to save it for later; or you can just try to go fast because you know it's so long that you will get recovered to the next uphill. It's a bit more planning I think—not just poof, smash it.
iRF: Have you built out a plan for yourself for the race?
Forsberg: Hmmm… no.
iRF: You've run a couple ultras this year, but compared to some of the people in the field, you've run many fewer. In the races you've run this year, have you tried to stay with the leaders early on and then raced later? Or have you just run your own race from the start?
Forsberg: My first one was Cavalls [del Vent] and I was running my own race. I was thinking I felt good and I wanted just to try. So I was alone for the first 42k and then Nuria [Picas] came and we ran a bit together. Then Anna [Frost] came and we went on and off. Templiers, I decided to stay behind and that was pretty good. But I had a really bad race at Templiers, so I think I could have done better. I'm not going to push this race. I'm not going to go in the front.
iRF: Not with this many?
Forsberg: No.
iRF: You live far up north. You left to come here over the weekend; you wrote you just missed the last bit of sun for the year.
Forsberg: Yes. It's coming back the 12th of January.
iRF: What is that like knowing that unless you travel, you're not going to see the sun for almost two months? How do you keep training? Do you run outside? Do you ski?
Forsberg: I just sit inside and drink hot chocolate and recover. Nooooo… it's okay training. You can use the headlamp. I mostly do cross-country [ski] training in the evenings; it's light in the tracks. You can enjoy the three hours of almost light (twilight). It's good.
iRF: So you take advantage of your midday twilight?
Forsberg: Yes, when I don't have to be in school.
iRF: So you're fortunate; you've been able to make time for school and your racing this year.
Forsberg: Yes.
iRF: Well, best of luck with both and have fun out there this weekend!
Forsberg: Thank you.
iRF: See you on the trails.


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Rachel Ralph spotted Barcelona-based ARYZ working on his mural in the TL a couple weeks back, and we forgot to share the pics. His show at Fifty24SF opened back in April.
Looks amazing, but what's the deal with the mural's metamorphosis? In the beginning phases she's holding a small figure in her hands, and with the mural's completion, she's holding an apple?... The completed mural is a women holding some fruit? Was the subject matter of her holding a man too edgy and had to be tamed? Was the original intent to be an apple all along? Notice her right hand changes angles to adjust for the apple? So many questions and so little interest.
That massive thing is 5 stories tall and located at the corner of Polk Street and Eddy Street. Look up next time in the Tenderloin, but watch out for the human shit at foot level.
An apple is held.
Or is it a figure she's holding?

subset: commoncrawl


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Coming soon to the Sunshine State: the sunshine city.
An NFL lineman turned visionary developer today is unveiling startlingly ambitious plans for a solar-powered city of tomorrow in southwest Florida's outback, featuring the world's largest photovoltaic solar plant, a truly smart power grid, recharging stations for electric vehicles and a variety of other green innovations. The community of Babcock Ranch is designed to break new frontiers in sustainable development, quite a shift for a state that has never been sustainable and lately hasn't had much development. (Read "Is Florida the Sunset State?")
"Some people think I got hit in the head a few too many times," quips developer Syd Kitson, who spent six years in the trenches for the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys before entering the real estate business in the mid-1980s. "But I still believe deeply in Florida. And the time has come for something completely different." (See the top 10 green stories of 2008.)
To anyone familiar with southern Florida's planning-nightmare sprawl of golf courses, strip malls and cookie-cutter subdivisions named after the plants and animals they replaced, Kitson's vision for his solar-powered, smart-growth, live-where-you-work city of 45,000 people east of Fort Myers is breathtakingly different. That's why the press conference held today to reveal his development plans for the historic Babcock Ranch property will feature representatives from the Audubon Society, the World Wildlife Fund and the Sierra Club.
The history of Florida is littered with spectacular landscape-changing proposals that never made it past the drawing board. The watery wisp of Everglades National Park known as Flamingo population zero was once touted as the next Chicago. Kitson's financial partner, Morgan Stanley, has had a rough time lately, and some locals remain skeptical that he can turn his $2 billion green vision into reality. "We've been hearing a lot of very exciting ideas, but we have no idea how this is actually going to happen," says Conservancy of Southwest Florida CEO Andrew McElwaine.
Then again, Kitson has already cleared two of his most difficult hurdles: getting the land and the right to build on it. In 2006 he engineered a deal with then governor Jeb Bush and the previous owners of the 91,000-acre ranch in which the state spent $350 million to purchase 73,000 of the most environmentally sensitive acres it was the largest preservation buy in Florida history. Kitson paid about the same amount for the remaining 18,000 acres, and he says half of that will remain green space within the new community.
Kitson has been promising unprecedented sustainability all along, but today's shocker was the announcement of Florida Power & Light's plan to provide electricity for Babcock Ranch with a 75-megawatt photovoltaic plant nearly twice as big as the current record holder in Germany. Solar power has been slow to catch on in the gas-powered Sunshine State, but FPL hopes to start construction on the 400-acre, $300 million plant by year's end. The utility expects it will provide enough power for Babcock Ranch and beyond. At $4 million per megawatt FPL estimates the cost to its customers at about 31cents per month over the life of the project it should be more than four times as cost-effective as the nuclear reactors FPL is trying to build near the Florida Keys.
Kitson's slick website also promises "groundbreaking" strategies to promote energy efficiency for all Babcock Ranch buildings. And that's not all: "Ultramodern electric vehicles will glide along avenues beneath the glow of solar-powered street lamps, plugging in to recharge at convenient community-wide recharging stations. Revolutionary smart-grid technologies will monitor and manage energy use, while smart-home technology will allow residents to operate their homes at maximum efficiency." Kitson's goal is to reduce carbon emissions, oil dependence and energy bills, while turning Babcock Ranch into a mecca for clean-energy research and development, attracting high-tech companies that will provide high-wage jobs.
The idea is to create a self-contained community where people can live and shop and work and go to school and have fun without long car trips. Kitson's construction plans start with a walkable and bikeable downtown that will include a magnet school, a wellness facility and sustainable retail, as well as 8,000 homes including affordable homes for local workers. "In Florida, everyone has to drive everywhere they want to go," Kitson says. "And everyone thinks the solution to congestion is to build more roads. I think the solution is to design communities so you don't need more cars on the roads."
Of course, talk is cheap. It's no secret that growth has been Florida's primary economic engine for decades. Yet Fortune 500 companies haven't flocked to its sprawling bedroom communities with lousy schools and overpriced houses, and the paving of paradise has left the state with overtapped aquifers, overcrowded hospitals, overstretched services, traffic jams, a dying Everglades and a vanishing sense of place.
Kitson promises to avoid the mistakes of the past. "We're impressed with their commitments," says Wayne Daltry, Lee County's director of smart growth. "Now we have to pound them to keep their commitments. No plan survives contact with reality and in this case, the reality is called the bottom line."
Given the dismal state of the economy in Florida and the dismal environmental track record of developers, it's easy to be skeptical. Kitson already had to lay off some of his southwest Florida staff. But unless the sun stops shining, the current housing collapse won't last forever. Florida is always going to be nicer than Brooklyn or Cleveland in the winter. It's about time someone tried to make growth environmentally and economically sustainable. And it's about time someone tried to use that sunshine for something other than getting a tan.


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Joe's Fencing and Gates Corona
Looking for a local and trusted fencing company? Look no further. As a homeowner, you always keep an eye out for cost-effective ways of making your property safer and more attractive. Rather than purchasing several home upgrades, a quality fencing company in Corona, CA, can solve all your needs for less. Read on to learn why our fencing services are the most trusted.
Get A Free Estimate
Fill in your information below.
The right team of contractors can provide you with a durable, yet lovely, system of posts and pickets for defense. Difficult to climb and nearly impossible to move, a new fence offers tons of lasting value to any lawn, as well as:
- Improved Sense of Privacy
- Increased Curb Appeal
- Safer Properties
- More Responsible Pet Ownership
- Functional & Stylish Upgrades
- Secured Swimming Pools
- And more daily benefits.
Fencing Company in Corona, CA
When you need the best fencing company in Corona CA, choose Joe's Fencing and Gates for results. As your expert fencing company, we always guarantee your highest quality of service at lower costs every day.
Whether you need our help with securing your front lawn or to create outdoor storage areas, we can assist you. See why more area homeowners still prefer our service team whenever they need help with their fences, repairs, and more. We also provide fencing services in surrounding areas.
Corona, CA Fencing Services & More
Fencing can be made from a variety of different materials, although you can't always find contractors who offer them all. When a company only uses one or two types of fencing, they often use cheaper store-bought kits as well.
Instead, we offer quality fencing systems made with superior supplies and experienced service technicians for longer-lasting use and affordable pricing. When you need to know you're getting the best deal possible on a new fence, choose our fencing company in Corona, CA.
Whatever fencing materials, styles, or other design preferences you have, we always have a solution ready for your home's lawns. Contact us now at (951) 339 2480 and learn what you could save on a brand-new fence, and see the difference we make for:
- Vinyl Fencing
- Wood Fences
- Privacy Fence
- Wrought Iron Fencing
- Aluminum Fences
- Metal Fencing
- Chain-link Fences
- Bamboo Fencing
- Free Installation Estimates
- And more fencing services in Corona, CA.
Whatever systems you need or what you expect to see from them, we get the most out of every project. Hire the installation services team more area homeowners turn to for fencing, and see the best results possible for less.
Our Services
Vinyl Fencing
Vinyl fencing remains an affordable and attractive way to enhance your home's privacy and security needs with hassle-free maintenance requirements.
Wood Fences
Wood fences give your yards a classic appearance while providing many years of use. Proper care also keeps them working longer. Hire our fencing company for the right service at the right prices.
Privacy Fence
We can create a variety of different ways to improve your yard's privacy with quality fencing materials and experienced contractors.
Vinyl Gates
Vinyl gates add a layer of privacy and security without dense, bulky materials. Lightweight and capable of taking a beating, these are the ideal choice for many.
Wood Gate
When you need something durable enough to stand up to the elements, lumber remains hearty. Wood gates and fencing are also a surprisingly green material when sourced correctly.
Aluminum Fencing
Due to the metal's low density and ability to resist corrosion, it has become a popular choice as lightweight, durable fence and railing structure. Aluminum fencing is used for both commercial and residential use.
Chain Link Fencing
See how a chain link fence comes together in the factory. If you're in need of a new fence around your home or business, contact a fence builder in Corona to learn more about the benefits of using chain link fencing. Your fencing contractor can also tell you if chain link is appropriate for your fencing needs and recommend alternatives if it is not.
Iron Fencing
The range to install a wrought or "black" iron fence can vary widely based upon the local price of materials, tools, and labor. Installation rates rise for complex configurations such as multiple levels and corners. That's why it is essential for the consumer to obtain thorough bids from several qualified contractors. More expensive wrought iron installations include attributes such as highly intricate barrier insert patterns.
Metal Fencing
For security purposes, metal fencing is superior to any other material, offering a stable and versatile option to keep your commercial or domestic property safe. There are a variety of metal fencing options, each with their own ideal uses. This article looks at the different types of metal fencing available, and what they are best used for.
Corona, CA Area Fence Installation Near Me
One reason why it can feel so challenging to locate a local fencing company is where they maintain service areas. When they stay closer to the Los Angeles community, it means waiting longer for them to battle traffic every day.
Instead, our team offers fast and convenient fencing services throughout the immediate region for quality project results and affordable pricing. No matter where in the area you have a home that needs better protection, you can rely on our installers.
Whatever materials you need us to use or what design specifications you have, we feel confident in protecting your lawns. Contact our service contractors today to save more on expert fencing solutions, and more, offered at lower daily pricing throughout:
- Corona
- Riverside
- Inland Empire
- Lake Elsinore
- Moreno Valley
- Chino
- And the immediate Orange County, CA, areas.
Wherever you are in the immediate area that you have property without fencing, our team will be there for your best solutions. Contact us now at (951) 339 2480 and see why more local homeowners still choose us when they need a better source for fences.
The Best Corona, CA Fencing Contractors Near Me
While you could see what prefabricated options your nearest hardware retailer carries, it won't offer enough protection for your home. Inferior materials will only cause your brand-new selection of fencing to fail soon after having it installed in your yard.
When you need a higher level of quality and longer-lasting fencing systems, you need our team for better results. Hire us at Joe's Fencing and Gates and save.
Did you know that the fence is supposed to be one of your most important investments for a home? That's why Joe's Fencing & Gates Corona had our backs when we were looking for something better. They designed custom metal framed gates and they're so sturdy! We love them because nobody will ever come in again with these gates-unless it's invited, haha! The crew was on time, professional, and installed them right away.
Joe and his crew finished the work on our fence in a timely manner. They kept us informed of their progress, ensuring that we would have to wait for no more than 3 weeks before they could install it! Luckily, despite the 100+ degree weather on installation day, Joe was able to finish up quickly so that we wouldn't need another fenced area until next year's planting season.
I cannot express enough how thrilled I am about our new fence around the pool! Not only is it absolutely beautiful, Joe and his team listened to my concerns of anything going into the pool (metal shards while cutting). They also cleaned up before they left. The nicest guys ever – you won't regret using them for your fencing needs!
Good communication and the fence was put up quickly. They were professional throughout and are well worth the price.


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Purtis Creek State Park
Bass Fishing and More . . .
Our 355-acre lake is a bass fishing destination, but fishing is not all we offer. Come to swim, boat, paddle, camp, explore nature or relax. We're just an hour southeast of Dallas.
Things to Do
You'll find plenty to do at Purtis Creek State Park. You can boat, hike and bike, camp, geocache and picnic. Rent our picnic pavilion for your next gathering.
Our lake features catch-and-release largemouth bass, as well as catfish and crappie that you can take home. We have fishing piers, fish cleaning stations and boat ramps. Overnight fishing costs $2 per person (if you are not camping); the permit expires at 6 a.m. You do not need a fishing license to fish here.
Take your family fishing! We lend rods, reels and tackle boxes for use in the park.
- Fishing and lake information for Purtis Creek State Park Lake
- Fishing Regulations for Purtis Creek State Park Lake
- Fishing Tip Sheet
- Water Safety
Bring your own boat. We allow 50 motorized boats on the lake at a time, with an "idle only" speed limit and a no-wake policy.
Bring your own kayak or canoe, or rent one of our kayaks. Rentals, including paddles and lifejackets, are available at a self-service kiosk on a first-come, first-served basis.
Choose from 59 campsites with water and electricity, five walk-in tent sites, or 13 primitive hike-in sites.
Hike and bike
Tackle the 4.1-mile Wolfpen Hike and Bike Trail. The 1.7-mile Beaver Slide Nature Path takes you along the lakeshore. Or explore the short, easy Solar Trail along the dam.
The park store sells supplies, outdoor equipment, bait, gifts and ice.
Get involved
We need your help! Ask at headquarters or visit our Volunteer page.
Support state parks by donating to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation.
Ranger Programs
We offer guided hikes, paddling basics classes, nature programs and more. Ask about special programs for groups. See our Events page for upcoming programs.
Connect with us on Facebook.
Area Attractions
Athens offers museums, restaurants and more. Stop by the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center, a TPWD site that showcases aquatic life and sport fishing.
The many attractions of Dallas are 60 miles northwest of the park.
Other nearby activities:
- Fish the nearly 33,000-acre Cedar Creek Reservoir.
- Scout for wildlife along the Lake Tyler Loop of the Great Texas Wildlife Trails.
- Shop at First Monday Trade Days in nearby Canton.


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8 Common Workplace Stressors and How to Handle Them
Strategies for tackling your daily stresses.
Most businesses have great security systems in place to protect their "property." Small businesses place cameras on-premise while larger businesses have gates, security guards, and electronic entry cards. Yet, the real thief responsible for more than $200 billion annual loss in US businesses is lurking within.
That bandit is none other than stress in the workplace. Many are unaware of their stress, and others feel they simply can't do anything about it. In reality, the do-nothing attitude is causing loss of productivity, unhealthy workplace relationships, costly employee turnovers, absenteeism and increased healthcare costs. A simple examination of your business can eliminate or highly reduce this silent productivity killer.
It behooves us to look at why people get stressed in general. While blanket statements like "poor working conditions create stress" are agreed upon by all, these statements may mislead us in looking for the right answer, or when trying to ask the right questions, such as: "Google's workplace is quite enviable, but does that mean that Google employees have no stress?"
Let's explore stress factors common amongst most people, whether in the workplace or life.
1. Lack of time or perceived lack of time
When you drive to the airport to have dinner at a nice restaurant close by, you don't have any stress. Drive to the same airport knowing that if you are not there in 50 minutes you will miss your flight, and you will have an amazingly stressful ride and may arrive at the airport with stubs where your nails previously were.
- How do I overcome it? Make sure you are realistic about the deadlines you set for yourself and your employees. It's important to set deadlines because people need that certainty as to when something needs to be done, but an unrealistic deadline will either get you an delayed project, or a half-baked project and a stressed out team. It's understood that everyone has emergencies. But running emergency projects should be the exception, not the norm.
2. Too many open folders
Regardless of whether you are a good multi-tasker or not, working on too many things at the same time is stressful. Since our intuition is to accomplish projects and do them well, a portion of our mind is occupied with that laundry list of things to do which will in turn cause stress. If too many tasks are forced upon us, that stress is mixed with resentment and the results are substantially worse.
- How do I overcome it? Seems simple, but set priorities. In reality, in multi-tasking, when you break down to the sub-second, you (or your computer) are doing only one thing at a time. However, in the larger time spans, since you are swapping between projects it appears that multiple things got done simultaneously. Set priorities and as a very nice side-effect, it will require you to be aware of all points of view, project dependencies, and your talent pool. In addition, you want to break down your projects into the smallest feasible time span. For instance, if projects are broken down to 4-hour or 1-day chunks, as one segment is stalled awaiting a resource, you can use that time slot for another segment.
3. Lack of Clarity / Tentative Status / Indecision
This truth is as old as our instinct: people need to know where they stand. They like to clearly know what is expected of them and what their status is. Indecision, or worse yet - flipped/flopped decisions, lead to uncertainty. Uncertainty is the lifeline of stress.
- How do I overcome it? Steve Jobs used to say: "Clarity is Priceless." I could not agree more. Be clear in your requirements. If requirements are given to you by others, ask for clarity before embarking on the project. Not only be a better communicator, but also request others to communicate more clearly. Keeping every interested party abreast of the progress or bottlenecks is no longer a nicety; it's an absolute requirement for every project. You can choose from a variety of communication tools. Each has its own benefits and not all will fit your team. These can range from email and mailing lists, to twitter, social task apps, and more. All of these solutions work in different ways, but all have one thing in common: you must ensure that the communication happens and that it does so consistently, clearly, and punctually.
4. Lack of Knowledge
People get stressed out when they don't have the right expertise to deal with the situation. I remember the first time I attempted to do my own tax return. While most people told me that it's a walk in the park, I was completely stressed by it. I quickly realized that I didn't have the knowledge for this and I delegated to an expert. The stress disappeared instantly. For the past 30 years, someone else has been preparing my taxes and the money I pay is peanuts compared to the stress I would have gone through.
- How do I overcome it? Create an environment in which people do not fear bringing up their lack of expertise. If they secretly struggle, not only the project will suffer, but also they will be severely stressed. This does not mean that you should not challenge your team to push the envelope and expand their expertise. It simply means that if something is "unsolvable" by them, they should feel free to ask for an expert. On the management side, the cost of expert should not be feared either. Sometimes, paying an expert 5 times as much as your employee seems exorbitant, but when the project is done in one-tenth of the time, it's clear to see that the investment is well worth it.
5. Change
There are a small group of people that get bored easily. That boredom causes stress for them and they crave change. However, for the majority of people, it's the change that causes stress. Changing jobs, cities, houses, significant others, schools.... When you are younger, it's the fear of the unknown that is the culprit, and when you are older, it's the effort it takes to re-familiarize yourself with something new that stresses you out. This is why our grandparents get stressed with computers, and we get stressed playing our kids' video games.
- How do I overcome it? Focus on the benefits of the change. If you can't clearly articulate the benefits vs. the threats of the change, don't embark on it. If the change is good for the company, but employees are hesitant on it, you as the team leader must gain buy-in. You may have the power to force the change on your team, but the stress it will cause will be akin to you shooting yourself in the foot. This seems dangerous as many managers say that they can't run their operation at the whim of their employees. That's precisely where you need to ensure that it's not merely a whim that you are dealing with, that all facts are known, and that your team can see the greater benefit. At any cost, do not force your way, even if it means that you have to rearrange your talent pool for this project or bring consultants on. Think of a scenario where you need to go off-roading. You will not do so with your sports car, or you will have a way suboptimal experience and stress your car beyond repair. Do not put your company in that position. It will create unbearable stress for the entire company, not just the group for this project.
6. Worrying about events that have not happened yet.
The world is filled with worst-case scenario people. This mentality makes you stressed about something that may or may not happen. Why waste brain cells?
- How do I overcome it? Aim for the best-case scenario, and plan to deal with less-ideal outcomes. The net effect is the same, but this option lets you enjoy the journey. Communicate the plan to your team, both in achieving the positive and dealing with disasters. After you do this a couple of times, a trust will be built that will help you with all ongoing and future projects. Trust is a major stress-buster.
7. Lack of Control
Perhaps the most common reason for stress in the workplace is lack of control. People feel that they either don't have control over a situation, or they are not allowed to apply their solution to the problem at hand.
How do I overcome it? I know it sounds a bit like Mr. Spock, but this formula really works:
- If a problem has a solution, there is no reason to stress, just apply the solution.
- If there are no solutions to the problem, then stressing it out won't help, but will slow you down in trying find an alternative.
Applying a solution or creating a workaround translates to you doing something about the problem as opposed to just stressing about it. Your job as a manager is to consult with your team both to gauge their comfort level, and also to openly ask for solutions they may have. It's the people who are closer to the problem that often have the best solution. A CEO of a company may make big decisions, but the janitor is much more capable than that CEO to decide how do deal with the day-to-day emptying of the trash cans.
8. Physical Health / Relationships
When people don't feel good about themselves, they get stressed. When they get stressed, many seek instant gratification. Some go shop, eat high-calorie "upper" foods, drink, smoke, etc. Needless to say, these acts of instant gratification not only don't reduce stress, they compound it. As a manager, you may feel that the personal well-being of your employees is none of your business. However, in fact, most employees spend most of their waking hours at work and their personal status not only affects their work, but also the entire company's performance.
- How do I overcome it? Make sure employees feel open to tell you about their personal situations. Offer to act as a sounding board when they come to you for advice. Make sure your employees know that you will never use what you learn from these personal situations later on in business settings so that they feel comfortable coming to you. Build that trust. If you feel your team can benefit from it, invest in stress-busters such as a company health-club membership, team outings, company picnics, and more. Build that bond. It will make your employees stronger and more loyal, and it will make the company a better place.
Different things stress different people. This is perhaps why many people have given up on stress management and have relegated this monster to a fact of life. However, being aware of the most common stress-causing factors will not only allow you to be proactive in reducing stress in your workplace, it will also help you grow as a leader.
Remember, someone robbing you should not be considered business as usual. Take action today to identify and resolve sources of stress within your company.
Siamak Farah is the CEO of InfoStreet. InfoStreet is a Cloud app provider that offers SkyDesktop, a free patent-pending Cloud Desktop; SkyAppMarket, an app marketplace where a business can choose from the best Cloud apps in the market; and SkySingleSignOn, a federated login solution and network management tool. Together they provide all the files and applications a company needs to run their business in the Cloud.
NEXT STORY: The Obscure Law That Governs Shutdowns


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Illinois Judiciary
From dKosopedia
The Supreme Court, highest tribunal in Illinois, has seven justices, elected from judicial districts for a term of 10 years. Three justices are elected from the First District (Cook County), and one from each of the other four districts. The Supreme Court has general administrative and supervisory authority over all courts in the state. This authority is exercised by the Chief Justice with the assistance of the Administrative Director and staff appointed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court hears appeals from lower courts and may exercise original jurisdiction in cases relating to revenue, mandamus, prohibition or habeas corpus.
The Appellate Court hears appeals from the Circuit Courts. There are five districts of the Appellate Court, and Judges are elected for 10-year terms. Cook County, which comprises the 1st District, has 18 Appellate Judges. The remaining 101 counties are divided into four districts that elect six Judges each. Additional Judges are assigned by the Supreme Court to the Appellate Court, temporarily, on a showing of need. Elgin is the seat of the 2nd District; Ottawa, the 3rd; Springfield, the 4th, and Mount Vernon, the 5th.
The Unified Trial Court in Illinois is the Circuit Court comprised of Circuit and Associate Judges. The state is divided in 22 judicial circuits, each having one Chief Judge elected by the Circuit Judges. The Chief Judge has general administrative authority in his or her circuit, subject to the overall administrative authority of the Supreme Court. Circuit Judges may hear any case assigned to them by the Chief Judge. Associate Judges may not preside over criminal cases in which the defendant is charged with an offense punishable by imprisonment for one year or more (felonies), unless approval is received from the Supreme Court. Circuit Judges are elected for a term of six years; Associate Judges are appointed by the Circuit Judges in accordance with Supreme Court rules for a four-year term.
When a Supreme, Appellate or Circuit Court Judgeship is vacant or newly created, candidates are nominated at Primary Elections and elected at the General Election. However, any Judge previously elected may, at the expiration of his or her term, have his or her name submitted to the voters on a special judicial ballot without party designation and without an opposing candidate, on the sole question of whether he or she shall be retained in office for another term.
The Illinois Courts Commission, composed of one Supreme Court Justice, two Appellate Court Judges, two Circuit Judges and two citizens, has the authority after notice and public hearing (1) to remove from office, suspend without pay, censure or reprimand any member of the judiciary for willful misconduct in office, persistent failure to perform his or her duties or other conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice or that brings the judicial office into disrepute; or (2) to suspend, with or without pay, or retire any member of the judiciary who is physically or mentally unable to perform his or her duties.
A Judicial Inquiry Board created by the 1970 Constitution has the authority to conduct investigations, receive or initiate complaints concerning any member of the judiciary and file complaints with the Courts Commission.
Judges must devote full time to their judicial duties. They may not practice law, hold a position of profit, hold any other office under the United States, this state, unit of local government, or school district, or hold office in any political party. [1]


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Joseph-Jérôme Lefrançais de Lalande
Quick Info
Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain, France
Paris, France
Jérôme Lalande's father was Pierre Le Français. There is the obvious question of why Lalande's father was not called Lalande. Let us clarify this right at the beginning of this article. In fact, for the first twenty years of his life Lalande was known as Jérôme Le Français, but after this he called himself Jérôme Le Français de la Lande. Aristocratic names were certainly to be avoided at the time of the French Revolution, so at this time he made the "le" and "la" part of the following names and wrote Jérôme Lefrançais de Lalande. [Think just how many French mathematicians of this period have names beginning with Le... or La... for just this reason]. For simplicity we shall use the name Lalande throughout this article.Returning to Lalande's parents, his father Pierre, who ran a post office and traded in tobacco in Bourg-en-Bresse, had married Marie-Anne-Gabrielle Monchinet. They only had one child so, very unusually for this period, Jérôme grew up an only child. He studied at the Jesuit College in Lyon and at this stage he nearly decided to join the Jesuit Order. In fact it was his parents who encouraged him to continue his education by going to Paris to study law, which he did. It is somewhat ironical that Lalande, who would later become renowned as an atheist, should have come so close to becoming a Jesuit.
It was his parents wish that he study law that stopped Lalande joining the Jesuits, but more surprisingly it was also this wish which turned him into an astronomer. While studying for his law degree he lodged at the Hotel de Cluny in Paris and it was there that the astronomer Joseph-Nicolas Delisle had his observatory. Lalande was fascinated by astronomy and, although he continued to study law, he also attended Delisle's astronomy lectures at the Collège Royale as well as Pierre Lemonnier's lectures on mathematical physics. He not only studied the theoretical side of the subject in lectures but he also participated as an enthusiastic observer and assistant to Delisle. Despite his interest in astronomy, Lalande completed his law studies and in 1751, still only aged nineteen, he qualified and prepared to return to his home town of Bourg-en-Bresse to practise law. However Lemonnier had other plans for the young man.
A project had been set up to measure the parallax of the moon and Mars and hence determine their distances. Several sites had been chosen from which to make simultaneous observations and Nicolas Lacaille was sent by the Académie des Sciences to make observations from the Cape of Good Hope while Lemonnier, who was responsible for the observations to be made in Berlin, asked Lalande to go in his place. As no suitable instrument was available in Berlin, Lemonnier lent him his own quadrant which was reported to be the best such instrument in France. The visit proved highly successful for Lalande who, despite his youth, was admitted to the Prussian Academy and was able to discuss science with Voltaire, Maupertuis and Euler. Lalande's observations were published in Acta eruditorum, and in publications of the Berlin Academy and the Paris Academy. After his return to France, Lalande was elected to the Académie des Sciences in Paris on 4 February 1753.
This was a great achievement for so young a man and for the vain Lalande it was extremely pleasing. He always sought fame and he had readily achieved it at a young age. Yet he was someone whose whole career was based on seeking more fame and his every action was made in order to gain further plaudits and praise. On the other hand when he did lose a public argument, or suffered attacks, he held no grudges and merely set himself back to working towards further recognition. He said (see for example [1]):-
I am an oilskin for insults and a sponge for praise.In fact he enjoyed being in the limelight even when on the losing end of an argument, but in his first public dispute he ended up on the winning side.
In order to compute the lunar parallax it was necessary to allow for the fact that the Earth is not a perfect sphere but is flattened at the poles. To do this it was, of course, necessary to know the precise amount by which the Earth differed from a perfect sphere and Lalande disagreed with Lemonnier on the issue. The Paris Academy set up a commission to settle the argument and it decided in favour of Lalande. This certainly did not please Lemonnier and relations between him and Lalande soured.
One of the next tasks that Lalande undertook was to assist Clairaut in calculating a more accurate orbit for Halley's comet. The observations of its orbit made by Halley had been used to predict its return based on the assumption that the comet's orbit was not affected by any bodies in the solar system except the sun. On this assumption a date of late 1758 or early 1759 had been predicted for its return. Clairaut, d'Alembert and Euler had all worked on the three-body problem and Clairaut now had the necessary mathematical knowledge to compute the perturbations in the orbit of the comet. The calculations were very demanding and were undertaken by Lalande together with Mme Lepaute. Many accounts of this work ignored the enormous contributions made by Mme Lepaute, who worked night and day on the mathematical calculations, but Lalande was always keen to acknowledge the large scientific contribution being made by women and we mention below other projects on which he collaborated with women mathematicians. In September 1757 the results were released which showed that Halley's comet would return a year earlier than previously expected. By December of 1757 the comet was sighted, a great triumph for the new mathematical techniques available for the three-body problem. Lalande went on to publish a corrected edition of the tables of Halley's Comet based on these computations.
In 1759 Lalande was asked if he would take over the editorship of the astronomical almanac Connaissance des temps Ⓣ. He was editor from 1760 until 1776 but during the French Revolution he was asked to take over the editorial duties again which he did from 1794 until his death in 1807. During his editorship, Lalande added accurate tables of lunar distances from stars which were valuable in navigation. In the year he took over as editor, Lalande was offered another prestigious position namely to follow his teacher Delisle as professor of astronomy at the Collège Royale. He took up the post in 1762 and held it for 46 years.
Two transits of Venus occurred, the first in 1761 and the second eight years later. Again observations taken from different places on the Earth of the precise timing of the passage of the planet in front of the sun would allow parallax measurements to be made and the distance from the Earth to the sun to be calculated. These events were of sufficient importance to have international cooperation organised to have the observations made from different sites, and Lalande played a role in coordinating this project. Between these transits, during 1765-1766, he travelled in Italy. There he met the Pope and petitioned him to remove the writings of Copernicus and Galileo from the Index of prohibited works. He published an account in Voyage d'un français en Italie Ⓣ (1769) which ran to eight volumes [1]:-
Lalande went into great detail about prices, interesting places to visit, and other information of interest to the tourist.He also visited England, in particular the Greenwich Observatory, and found out details of Harrison's clocks which had been successful in determining longitude. He wrote an account of these travels too which is fascinating for historians to read but was never published.
As well as his accurate observations, Lalande was also famous for his books. Some were written at a high-powered research level, while others were at a popular level where he had great success in presenting ideas to non-experts. He wrote on many topics, not just astronomy, but his most famous text was an astronomy one, Traité d'astronomie Ⓣ. He first published it in two volumes in 1764, with a second edition in four volumes appearing between 1771 and 1781. A third edition, containing important contributions by his student Delambre, consisting of three volumes was published in 1792. As well as being an excellent astronomy text, Traité d'astronomie Ⓣ was a practical manual for anyone wishing to observe and reduce their own calculations since it contained much information on instruments, their use, and how to compute.
Before the publication of the third edition, in 1791, Lalande achieved the great honour of being elected Head of the Collège de France. One of his first acts as Head was to admit women to all classes. He made other forward looking moves too, such as stopping Latin citations for prize winners.
By this time Lalande was sixty years old, he had survived the Terror during the French Revolution unscathed, something which he put down to his atheist views. He began to express these views more openly, perhaps the most public arena being on 8 June 1794 at the first Festival of the Supreme Being. What was being celebrated was a religion to substitute for Christianity and Lalande played a leading role. He gave a speech which allowed him a platform to express his atheist views and he also took the opportunity to try to moderate the extreme form of patriotism which was gripping France (quoted in [2]):-
The time has come to declare these important and incontestable truths, known to all people, at all times, and in every corner of the globe: love of country, love of virtue and the reign of reason ... . Love of country is not a patriot's only duty. We cannot all serve our nation in the army, in the state, in the arts and sciences, but we can all come to the aid of our brothers ... . It is this way that charity, added to love of country, will make us truly worthy of our revolution, our victories, and the admiration of the entire Universe.His career went from strength to strength and on 17 May 1795 he was appointed director of the Paris Observatory. He had for some time been creating a major star catalogue and by 1796 it contained 30,000 stars and by this stage had, in fact, achieved his original aim. However he continued with the task and by 1797 his star catalogue listed 41,000 stars. When he published Histoire céleste française Ⓣ in 1801 it including a catalogue of over 47,000 stars. These star catalogues were constructed with the help of his family, and we will make some comments about them later in this article.
We are nearing the end of our description of Lalande's career, but let us pause to look at some aspects of his character. First his appearance is described in [2] as follows:-
He was an extremely ugly man, and proud of it. His aubergine-shaped skull and shock of straggly hair trailing behind him like a comet's tail made him the favourite of portraitists and caricaturists. He claimed to stand five feet tall, but precise as he was at calculating the heights of stars he seems to have exaggerated his own altitude on earth. He loved women, especially brilliant women, and promoted them in word and deed.Many laughed at his atheist views saying that they were his revenge against God who had made him so ugly [2]:-
... his knock knees and rickety legs, his hunched back and little monkey's head, his pale wizened features and narrow creased forehead, and under those red eyebrows, his empty grassy eyes.In fact Lalande character seemed to contain many contradictions. He was in the late 1790s [2]:-
... a free-thinker who preferred monarchy, an atheist who admired the Jesuits, a feminist who propositioned young women, as ugly as ever and still just as vain.Continuing to promote atheist views, in 1799 he began to look for scholars to add to his Dictionary of Atheists. In this work he said (quoted in [2], see also [1]):-
It is up to the scholars to spread the light of science, so that one day they may curb those monstrous rulers who bloody the earth; that is to say, the warmongers. As religion has produced so many of them, we may hope to see an end to that as well.One might imagine that someone with these views would have opposed Napoleon, but he did not do so and on the contrary he welcomed Napoleon's rise to power 1802 -1804. In fact Napoleon had been happy to agree that Lalande add his name to the Dictionary of Atheists in 1799. Later, however, Napoleon decided that the Church would make a better ally than enemy and the Pope came to Paris for his installation as Emperor. Lalande took the opportunity to reissue his Dictionary of Atheists with Napoleon's name included which caused the new Emperor to demand that the Institut de France censure Lalande. Delambre, who was at this time the Permanent Secretary to the Institut, tried hard to make Lalande bend to the Emperor's demands without being seen to undermine the highly prized intellectual freedom that members of the Institut enjoyed. Lalande refused to stop putting forward his atheist views.
We promised earlier to say something of Lalande's family who played a large role in computing and producing tables. He never married but he had an illegitimate daughter Marie-Jeanne-Amélie Harlay whom he trained in mathematics so that she could help him with his work. He also trained his cousin Michel Lefrançais whom he called his nephew. Michel married his illegitimate daughter Amélie whom Lalande then called his niece. Amélie and Michel became important members of the Lalande family team working day and night on many of his projects. For example Lalande's Abrégé de navigation historique, théorétique, et practique, avec des tables horaires Ⓣ (1793) were navigation tables containing a wealth of calculations carried out by his daughter. Michel Lefrançais assisted Delambre in his measurements of the meridian in the 1790s and played an important role in that project. Although, as we remarked above, Lalande never married he lived with Louise-Elizabeth-Félicité du Piery. She was the chief investigator on Lalande's large-scale study of lunar astronomy, which was undertaken at the Paris Observatory, and she became the first woman in Paris to teach astronomy. The importance in which Lalande held women's contributions to astronomy, particularly as mathematicians and calculators, is seen in his Astronomie des dames first published in 1785, with new editions in 1795 and 1806.
In addition to his role in organising science that we have mentioned above, let us also note that he was an active member of the Masonic order and that he founded the Masonic Lodge of the Nine Sisters in Paris which was open to leading writers and scientists. Most of the leading authors, scientists, artists and politicians joined including Voltaire in 1778. See [3] for more details. When the French Revolution led to the closure of the Académie des Sciences, Lalande attempted to set up a new organisation which he called Réunion des Sciences to carry on its functions.
One important task Lalande undertook near the end of his career was to complete the remaining two volumes of Montucla's four volume Histoire des mathématiques Ⓣ. Volume three covered 18th century pure mathematics, optics and mechanics in 832 pages, while the fourth volume covered 18th century astronomy, mathematical geography and navigation in 688 pages. They were published in 1802 when Lalande was 70 years old. We should also mention that he instituted the Lalande Prize, also in the year 1802. It was to be awarded annually for the most important contribution to astronomy made in that year.
Napoleon's insistence that Lalande stop his public support of atheism became unnecessary since Lalande fell ill. Towards the end of 1806 he contracted a chest complaint which almost certainly developed into tuberculosis. A few days before his death he wrote:-
I have sometimes amused myself by saying that I thought I possessed all the human virtues. This phrase of mine has been bitterly cast up against me as if I had claimed "to have all the human virtues". In fact, what I said was that "I thought I had them", which is quite a different matter. Nevertheless, I was perhaps wrong to have said as much; but my conscience required it of me.It is hard to assess Lalande's contributions for his personality certainly affected the way he was viewed in his own lifetime. It is clear, however, that he made enormous contributions to the development of the mathematical sciences although this was not through scientific innovation of which he displayed little. Rather his importance lies as a teacher, particularly in supporting his students like Delambre and Méchain, through his organisation of science, by his superbly accurate observations which helped to provide evidence to support Newton's theory of gravitation and later results on the 3-body problem, and his successful popularising astronomy.
References (show)
- T L Hankins, Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990). See THIS LINK.
- K Alder, The measure of all things (London, 2002).
- L Amiable, Le franc-maçon Jérôme Lalande (Paris, 1889).
- R Hahn, The anatomy of a scientific institution: the Paris Academy of Sciences, 1666-1803 (berkeley, 1971).
- G Pavlova, Lalande, 1732-1807 (Russian) (Leningrad, 1967).
- H Woolf, The transits of Venus. A study of eghteenth century science (Princeton, 1959).
- A I Borodin, Mathematical calendar for the 1982-1983 school year (Russian), Mat. v Shkole (3) (1982), 81.
- C H Cotter, The development of nautical astronomical inspection tables in the period from 1770-1919 : The origins, achievement and influence of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich : 1675-1975, Proc. 4th Joint Sympos. Internat. Astronom. Union and Union Internat. Histoire et Philos. Sci., Greenwich, 1975, Vistas Astronom. 20 (1-2) (1976), 245-247.
- W Gresky, Charakteristik des Astronomen Lalande (1732-1807) - ein Brief C Horners an J Reuss von 1798 (German), in Festschrift zum 200. Geburtstag von Carl Friedrich Gauss, Gauss-Ges. Göttingen Mitt. No. 14 (1977), 116-123.
- H Monod-Cassidy, Un astronome philosophe, Jérôme de Lalande, Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century 56 (1967), 907-930.
- G Pavlova, J J Lalande and the St Petersberg Academy of Sciences, in Proc. Tenth Internat. Cong. Hist. Sci. Ithaca, N.Y. (Paris, 1964), 743-746.
Additional Resources (show)
Other pages about Jérôme Lalande:
Other websites about Jérôme Lalande:
Honours (show)
Honours awarded to Jérôme Lalande
Cross-references (show)
Written by J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
Last Update April 2003
Last Update April 2003


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03.6259.4410 | 03.6731.4440
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The Egg-Bot is pretty awesome, we must say. But if you have one, you end up with lot of delicate, round things rolling around your abode and getting underfoot. Warmer weather is just around the corner, so segue from spring gaiety to hot fun in the summertime with the MarshMallowMatic kit from [Evil Mad Scientist].
The MarshMallowMatic is a CNC oxy-fuel precision marshmallow toaster based on the Ostrich Egg-Bot design. Constructed from flame-retardant plywood, it is sure to add an element of delicious danger to children's birthday parties and weekend wingdings alike. You don't have to get too specific with those BYOM invitations because this bad boy will torch standard and jumbo marshmallows like a boss.
The kit includes a 5000°F oxy-fuel torch and a 20 ft³ oxygen tank, but the tank comes empty and you'll have to supply your own propane, acetylene, or hydrogen. It comes with adapters to fit disposable propane and MAPP cylinders, which are also not included. However, you will receive a fine selection of sample marshmallows to get you started. Watch the MarshMallowMatic fire up some happiness after the break. You could toast a special message and load it into this face-tracking confectionery cannon to show how much you care.
[vimeo 90641299 w=500 h=281]


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Buy an Axon, Axon II, or Axon Mote and build a great robot, while helping to support SoR.
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So my question is, what are some simple methods of gearing this motor down slightly and getting the pseudo-linear motion required to turn the steering bar. Currently I'm considering something along the lines of a lever with a pivot point near the front with a short distance to the bar, and a longer lever arm in the back with a wide travel distance, somehow hooked up by wire or string to the motor.
Any additional ideas or help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
You could use an aluminium Vee pulley, of a small diameter, say around 20/25mm, mounted directly onto the output shaft, wind kite line/wire fishing leader/etc around it five/six times, pull tight and attach to both ends of the steering tie rod!
If you want to make an Ackermann steering, the two rods connecting the wheels to the steering bar should be made to point towards the midpoint of all 4 wheels, for a smooth steering.They seem parallel to me and that won't give the right steering profile.


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We recently were given the opportunity ask a few questions to Dan Amrich, Senior Editor for Official Xbox Magazine (OXM). He was more than apt to the questions we threw his way, whether it was about journalism or gaming. Please welcome Dan Amrich.
Can you fill in our users on exactly what OXM is?
Dan Amrich: Sure. OXM is the Official Xbox Magazine. It's not owned or published by Microsoft, though, and a lot of people think or assume that it is. OXM is actually published by Future US, the same publishing company that puts out PC Gamer, PSM, and GamesRadar.com. We are editorially independent; Microsoft doesn't dictate our content, change our reviews, or anything like that. But if you want that 360 logo on your game box or your magazine, you have to work out a business deal with Microsoft. We pay Microsoft a licensing fee like any software company would. One of the perks of that business deal is that we get to do the OXM game disc, which Microsoft has to approve and certify like any other game. It's gone through some changes with the advent of 360 and Marketplace, but we're trying some new ideas in an attempt to give people more than "just demos."
How did you become involved with OXM?
Dan Amrich: I've been writing about video games since 1993, so I've been on staff or freelanced for a lot of different publications, both print and online. Last year Tom Price, OXM's senior editor, took a job at G4 to work on X-Play, so there was an opening. I'd been freelancing for OXM, writing features and reviews whenever I could, for about two years, and I had just helped launch GamesRadar.com in the US. I really missed working in print mags and I saw some cool challenges ahead — like, how does a print magazine not just survive but thrive in an increasingly online world? — so I applied for the position and crossed my fingers. But I think having a deep resume and a lot of experience helped.
What exactly does your job entail?
Dan Amrich: My main responsibilities are features and departments. The cover feature is usually some sort of exclusive coverage of a piece of software — our editor-in-chief Francesca went to Japan to see Beautiful Katamari for the June issue, for instance, and I went to Raliegh to see Unreal Tournament III on 360 for July — but everything else, well, it has to come from somewhere! I'm always looking for interesting ideas and the writers to make them reality; sometimes those writers are on staff and sometimes they're freelancers who have good connections and good journalistic backgrounds.
Departments is a little more scattershot. I generally comb through the reader mail (with the help of a few other folks here – yes, we really do read all the reader mail) and put together Message Center toward the beginning of a magazine's four-week work cycle. All the stuff in Xbox 365 — news recaps, HDTV reviews, guest columns, technical advice, and oddball stuff like cheap games we recommend picking up — falls on my desk, and it's forced me to be a lot more organized than I used to be!
This doesn't include all the stuff that every editor on staff does — maintaining contacts with representatives at the game companies, going to demos and events to see new stuff, editing each other's articles, and writing previews and reviews of software. There's distressingly little "sitting around playing games" and an awful lot of…well, work.
What's the best part about your job?
Dan Amrich: Sitting around playing games. 🙂 I won't deny that it's fun to dig into software a little earlier than everybody else, and get to meet some of the people who make the stuff that we all spend hundreds of hours playing. The designers and programmers always have interesting ideas on a lot of topics and nobody asks them for those opinions; it's always "how many levels will this game have" and "does it have a rocket launcher?" We have some of the most talented and amazing people on the planet in the industry; we should not take them for granted. So any chance I get to show the world what they're really like as people, I get a great feeling. I love that part of my job.
I also get immense satisfaction out of finding exactly the right words and the right screenshots to convey an opinion. That's all a review is, just one person's opinion, so taking the effort to back up that opinion with the most efficient and accurate examples is the challenge every time I sit down at the keyboard. This might sound corny, but that sense of telling the truth in a way that really helps gamers decide whether or not a game is worth their money…that drives me, and I think that drives a lot of other writers too.
What should a gamer do to get a position such as yours?
Dan Amrich: Part of the trick is knowing what the job really is; being a great gamer won't necessarily help you (but it won't hurt). Being a great communicator is the skill you actually need. Be a writer first and a gamer second; the skills needed to put together a 2500-word feature are more valuable than being able to save the proverbial princess. So before you even ask yourself how to get the job…do you really know what it is, and do you still want it?
That said, the best way to get noticed at a big magazine is to freelance for other outlets first. I don't think OXM has ever printed the work of a first-time writer with the exception of our interns — and those are young writers that we can stand directly over their shoulder and give them on-the-job training. The web has really opened up a lot of avenues that weren't there even ten years ago. My first game reviews were printed online, in an AOL area called Critics' Choice — this was when AOL had 300,000 subscribers and Mosaic had not been released. There was no "World Wide Web." Now you have zillions of independent outlets that give writers a chance to step up and show their stuff.
You also need to get feedback on your work. It's not enough to just dump some copy into a web page; is it any good? What can you do better? What does the reader need, as opposed to what you want to write? Work with an editor to improve your writing, because you will never stop working with editors your entire career. We all read, rework, and suggest changes on each other's articles here. And the sooner you can get used to that natural back-and-forth improvement cycle with an editor, the better equipped you'll be to go pro and write about games full-time.
Has the so called "console war" affected your job at OXM?
Dan Amrich: To an extent, because whenever the hardware shifts and new consoles come out, you have a lot of consumers looking for advice. Suddenly the magazines and websites that can offer real, actionable advice and the kind of data that helps people decide how to spend their money are very valuable. We take this dead serious when we score things, for instance; yeah, it's a good game, but is it $60 of value? We've graded a few games lower than people expected because we felt the asking price didn't match the game's offerings. But that's what you need to do; you need to be a trusted source, even more so when every reader is thinking "Should I buy this game or should I save this money and get a PS3 instead? Or maybe I should just throw everything away but my DS?" Games are fun, but figuring out how to survive a console war is serious business.
What's your favorite aspect to the Xbox 360?
Dan Amrich: I think the online nature and how many things Xbox Live has gotten right is quite impressive. I don't play a lot online, even; when I do, it's generally just with the folks on my friends list. But to watch Live Arcade go from a boot disc on Xbox 1 to integrated with the dashboard, and knowing that I can play with any of my friends whenever I see them online even if I choose not to…I mean, what other console has ever offered what 360 does when it comes to putting gamers in touch with other gamers? They got it right, and they got it right before anybody else did. Before 360 launched, someone at Microsoft told me that they saw Live as the big product; 360 was merely the way to use it. They didn't want people to fetishize the hardware; they wanted to show, hey, look, there are human beings out there and you can connect with them. When I thought about it from that perspective, Xbox suddenly felt very different. In a good way.
Are there any games that you have you eye on?
Dan Amrich: I'm an old-school arcade gamer so I am always interested to see what coin-ops get resurrected on XBLA. I have heard Puzzle Quest is coming to XBLA so I'm stoked to see how that translates, because I love the DS edition. For the heavier hitters, BioShock is really my cup of tea; I loved System Shock 2 and I like everything I've seen on the game so far, from the art direction to the mythology behind the game. And as a musician and a big guitar geek, I'm extremely interested to see how Guitar Hero III vs Rock Band plays out. Both have a lot going for them and really talented teams building them, so in a best case, we'll get two incredibly awesome games. But if we do, I'm afraid music/rhythm games are going to be the new WWII shooter, where everybody else jumps on the bandwagon after one or two people take some really good ideas and make a ton of money. And then the entire genre gets burned out, the way snowboarding and even platform games eventually did. I hope I'm wrong.
What do you expect to be the next big innovation in gaming?
Dan Amrich: I think the Wii has tapped into something really important; they've made gaming accessible by not making a controller with 12 buttons on it. That's imposing to anybody who isn't already a gamer. So I think the Wii remote's success is going to lead a lot of people to go "How can we make gesture-based games for everybody on our hardware?" I'll be very surprised if Microsoft doesn't come up with something; they've already got the Vision camera and you can play Pinball FX by waving your hands to flip the flippers. I don't recommend it, but it's clear that people are starting to think along those lines. In my mind, DDR gets credit for the whole concept; "look, you don't need to have a gamepad to have fun." It just took everybody else a long time to come around to that way of thinking. And now, Guitar Hero, Wii Sports…we're seeing more and more people consider alternate input methods. I think it's just the start, though.
And honestly, we've got HD visuals and surround sound; input devices have not dramatically changed since the arcade days. In fact, I'd argue that there was more innovation in coin-op controls than there has been in home consoles. The joysticks have gone analog and the buttons have multiplied, but we're still using joysticks and buttons, not dramatically different from the ones you'll find on Galaga…and that's 26 years old. I think input has to be the next big innovation; it's time to evolve.
But evolution doesn't mean that you have to throw out the old; I really do think they can coexist, and there are some games when a control pad is going to be the best possible form of input. Case in point: if someone doesn't make a quality arcade-style, old-school joystick for the 360, I'm going to develop one myself. I want that product so bad, and I know I'm not alone. I had a friend hack into a Mad Catz controller pad for me and we wired it into a Nuby Street Fighter joystick, following some instructions from gamersreports.com. So I have one, but why did I have to make it myself? If I can do it…why can't a company?
Well, on behalf of www.myarcadeplanet.com I would like to thank you for taking the time to talk with us. I know I have learned something. And who doesn't miss old arcade style joysticks.


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Completely Inappropriate Wooing Makes 'Saved By The Bell' Even Better [VIDEO]
The classic Saturday morning sitcom 'Saved By The Bell' wasn't afraid to occasionally dip into darker themes.
In the video below, these "very special" plotlines are rendered highly comedic by having the upbeat "wooo" sound that excited studio audiences make inappropriately played after the most intense of these moments.
Laugh at the misfortunes of some of your favorite sitcom characters below.
[via The Daily What]


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Those who have read Kathleen Jamie's first collection of essays, Findings, will remember the close-up quality of her writing: always quietly observant and thoughtful, sometimes domestic, often linked with her experiences as a mother of young children. She watches peregrines nesting from her kitchen window, writes about spiders and fever, and visits Surgeons' Hall in Edinburgh to examine pathology specimens, as well as following trails and visiting islands and clifftops. This is Nature writing as intimate encounter rather than as heroic adventure.
In the London Review of Books she rather caustically, and some would say unfairly, criticised Robert Macfarlane's book The Wild Places as the writing of "a lone enraptured male", too conservative, too romantic, and indeed too self-centred for her taste. Not 'wild-minded' enough. She is interested in the wild not as something we stride over but as a "force that requires constant negotiation". The wild will come to us, she argues, in childbirth, in fever, in the smaller and sometimes darker moments of life.
Jamie's second volume, Sightlines, like Findings, consists of a dozen or so essays describing and reflecting on the world about her. This takes her further afield, to the Norwegian Arctic, a gannetry on Shetland, cleits in St Kilda, and wildlife and ancient remains on Rona – but also to a pathology lab in Dundee and to watch an eclipse of the moon from the window of her house. Whether it is icebergs, whale skeletons, the corpse of a dead petrel, or Helicobacter pylori studied on a microscope slide, the reader is taken to an intimate view. We are brought not just to see through Jamie's eyes but to feel through her perspective as well, which often means connecting the wild that we reach out for with a wild that is always with us.
I am an unashamed Kathleen Jamie fan, and have been returning often to her essays with the question, "What is it that makes this writing so beautiful and so evocative?" Just to open the book and read the first lines – "There's no swell to speak of, just little lapping waves … All along the shoreline lie trinkets of white ice, nudged up by the tide…" – we are led into the gentle adventure. The party from the ship cruising the Norwegian Arctic are taken inland across the "hummocky goose-plain" to a higher spot, where their guide invites them to sit for a while, keep quiet and listen.
Jamie tells us how she found herself listening not just to the silence, but through the silence, which she describes first simply as extraordinary, but then more startlingly as a silence that "radiates from the mountains, and the ice and the sky, a mineral silence which presses powerfully on our bodies … deep and quite frightening". The silence becomes not just what is heard and not heard, but a synaesthesia: the aural is interpenetrated by the visual and the kinaesthetic. We are taken directly into her experience of silence that is so close to, and that illuminates, our own.
So what is it about this writing that is so compelling? It is partly Jamie's presence. In all the stories, she is completely there, with her observations and reflections, yet never obtrusive. She never insists, never forces us to see through her eyes, and yet she leads us to do so. She draws what is familiar towards us, so we see it afresh, and she makes the unfamiliar feel as though it could become known. The writing is close at hand, with detailed reflections that are not unnecessarily decorative or over-elaborated; yet on close study they are full of evocative metaphor: "radiant silence", gannets "interrogating the sea", the Earth's shadow eclipsing the surface of the moon "translucent, like black silk". Hers is a poet's eye, in this prose just as in her poetry: the award-winning collection The Tree House and, just published, The Overhaul.
Reading Kathleen Jamie shows us that we are participants in our world. Her writing teaches us that we make false distinctions when we separate the wild and the not-wild, the extraordinary and the everyday. She brings together the world of rocks and icebergs and aurora with the world of emotions, memory, hopes and fears. She does not preach, for there is here no heavy or explicit environmental message – indeed, she seems rather wary of environmentalism. The wonder, the strangeness and the beauty stand for themselves and remind us how precious they are.


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August 27, 1956, near McCleod, Alberta, Canada. The witnesses were two Royal Canadian Air Force pilots who were flying in a formation of four F86 Sabre jet aircraft. The planes were flying due west over the Canadian Rockies at 36,000 feet about one hour before sunset. One of the pilots saw a "bright light which was sharply defined and disk-shaped," that resembled "a shiny silver dollar sitting horizontal," situated below the planes but above a thick layer of clouds. It appeared to be considerably brighter than sunlight reflecting off the clouds. The duration of the sighting was estimated to be between 45 seconds and 3 minutes. The first pilot to notice the object reported the observation to the flight leader and then took a photograph on a Kodachrome color slide. This case and this photograph were subsequently analyzed by Dr. Bruce Maccabee (Maccabee, 1996). Maccabee has presented an argument against the propositions that the phenomenon is due either to reflection of sunlight by the clouds or to lightning. From the available data, Maccabee estimates the luminosity of the object (the power output within the spectral range of the film) to be many megawatts. ("Physical Evidence Related to UFO Reports" - The Sturrock Panel Report)
Dr. Bruce Maccabee's analysis is available online in PDF format:
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