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Town Square
PAUSD metrics -- focused on just 10-15% of our young kids
Original post made by Parent, Charleston Gardens, on Sep 21, 2013
PAUSD is reviewing progress on some of its strategic goals on Tuesday Sept 24.
Look toward the end of this board packet for the presentation: Web Link
You can search for "strategic plan", or just skip to page 56.
The thing to notice is that each of the three strategic goals being reviewed is focused on the low scorers (10-15% of our young kids), even though it is not presented that way.
Here are the details.
The first strategic goal is clearly focused on low scorers: 95% of students will be proficient or advanced. The only way to move that metric up is to focus on the 10-15% of kids who are scoring below proficient today.
And the third goal is also clearly focused on low scorers: Reduce the percentage of students not yet proficient by 50%. Couldn't get much clearer than that, focusing on the same set of kids. I don't in fact understand why we have both those metrics.
But the interesting thing is that the second goal is also focused on the same set of kids, even though it doesn't seem it on the surface. The goal is: 85% of kids show a year's progress (or more). Naively you would think this would focus on all levels. Advanced kids need to stay advanced.
But it doesn't. The metric you might think we are measuring, that kids stay at level or move up, is already at or above 85%, for each level. Instead, the metric is defined so that kids who are at the three lowest levels (Basic or below) must move *up* a level, not stay where they are. So low scorers *must* increase their score, while it's okay for the higher scorers to stay as-is. With this version of the metric, only 53% of kids at Basic or below are making a year's progress. So that, of course, is where the focus must be to increase this metric. The kids at the other levels are doing fine by this metric.
At this point, you might think, okay, so we're focusing on the low scorers for this first review. Maybe we'll cover the "high" scorers (85-90% of the district's kids) later? Well, if you look at the Strategic Plan, it's not clear we track any meaningful metrics for all the other kids.
Look at the plan: Web Link
Page 17, which is slide 15 has the metrics.
You can see two of the metrics listed above are covered in the general "differentiated learning" section, even though they are low-scorer metrics. So what's left? Survey metrics addressed at older kids?
If I am reading this properly, we do not have a single objective metric for the vast majority (85-90%) of elementary and middle-school kids who are doing reasonably well in school (Proficient or Advanced). With the majority of kids in fact scoring Advanced, how can this be? Do we feel we are so great at educating these kids, we don't even need to measure it? Or maybe we think they don't really need a great education?
I am very concerned that our district is equating low-scoring with under-performing, and high-scoring with over-performing. That is a grievous mistake. We need to focus on all under-performing kids, equally, regardless of their native ability. All kids have a right to be challenged, and pushed to excel.
More fundamentally, we need to care enough about kids at all levels to set decent metrics and measure how they are doing. Right now, it doesn't look like PAUSD knows, or cares.
If you care, show up at the board meeting on 9/24, or send email to firstname.lastname@example.com
Comments (15)
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Sep 21, 2013 at 1:41 am
[Portion removed.]
STAR tests have no impact on future academic success. Two of my kids scored Below Proficient and Proficient for many years and they are at Paly now, earning "A"s and "B"s. The real problem is there are too many parents who expect kids to figure out school on their own. They need to be taught how to get organized, be responsible, and how to study. And there are many parents in Palo Alto who are overseeing their children's homework before they turn it in. There are many students who see professional tutors or are tutored by their parents. Students with disengaged parents are at a disadvantage. Schools can only do a limited amount; there is nothing a school can do if the parents don't emphasize the importance of academics at home.
a resident of Charleston Gardens
on Sep 21, 2013 at 9:17 am
Indeed. If you don't think that the Board has much impact (you suggest that education is primarily in the hands of parents), and you don't think these tests matter, then this post is pretty pointless. We'd put much more of our funding in parent education, and stop the testing! It'd be interesting to think about that.
For the residents who believe that the district's decisions around budgeting and prioritization do matter, that schools do have a significant impact, and that the tests are relevant, they may care to learn that the strategic metrics we are using to direct and evaluate our performance cover just a small section of the student body.
a resident of Gunn High School
on Sep 21, 2013 at 9:38 am
[Post removed.]
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 21, 2013 at 9:48 am
STAR tests mean nothing to students and most know it.
STAR tests mean a lot to many parents and make sure their kids get good scores.
STAR tests are testing the schools and the teachers primarily.
I know one group of STAR testing elementary students who all decided to deliberately answer all the questions wrong to see what happened. Nothing.
a resident of Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Sep 21, 2013 at 10:25 am
@Resident - you bring up a good point. Many kids (mine included) don't take STAR testing seriously. They get bored, they make designs or answer all the same letter, etc. When the kids were younger, the got treats at the end of STAR tests for the day - that was actually an incentive! The HS kids like STAR testing because they don't get homework on those days. But past about 5th grade, my kids knew they were only taking them because the state required it.
a resident of Terman Middle School
on Sep 21, 2013 at 10:31 am
I can't believe a couple of you took the time to pore through the board packet. On the one hand, it's great that you are reviewing it, on the other, though, you are taking it way too seriously. Nothing in the Strategic Plan truly addresses serious issues nor do the principals and teachers take it seriously. It's smoke and mirrors to show that your superintendent and school board are doing their jobs. Think about it: how important is the Strategic Plan if our students continue to attempt suicide and Kevin Skelly and the board ignore it and go off cheerleading the new Gunn gym. How important is it if our public dollars have been made vulnerable to lawsuits because of an incompetent superintendent and an even less-effective compliance officer, yet those two are looking forward to a new Paly gym. Please save your reading time. You're being duped. Go read the gibberish from the new PR administrator whose qualifications included a few years as an assistant principal. Are these folks the best out there? Are you really satisfied with their performance
a resident of Evergreen Park
on Sep 21, 2013 at 2:56 pm
Though I agree with Jester and I also agree with closing the achievement gap as a top priority I am going to also agree with the poster who started the thread. There should be a focused goal to ensure that every child learns to his or her potential. Elementary math in this district is atrocious. Children are bored spitless and the district is investing nothing in trying to solve that problem. Then they get to 8th grade and uh oh -- suddenly it is very hard. There is a serious disconnect between elementary and secondary math curricula in PAUSD.
Why? Because the district relies on parents to provide enrichment for bored students. Sounds reasonable but all that tutoring for enrichment is altering the environment drastically for all.
Therefore I agree that every child should be given appropriate challenge for his or her ability but that ability should be their real ability sans tutoring or prepping.
a resident of Midtown
on Sep 21, 2013 at 9:28 pm
Welcome to PAUSD.
The focus has been on underperforming students for many years.
Until you get to high school lanes, there is nothing, null, zero, zilch, nada, done for GATE kids. It's a shame. Other school districts have real GATE programs. PAUSD does not (other than its in class differentiation program which is a joke as nothing is really done).
a resident of Charleston Gardens
on Sep 21, 2013 at 10:14 pm
@Midtowner: I have no reason to believe that PAUSD is focusing on under-performing students. I would have no problem with that. Unfortunately, what I see is that they are focusing (almost exclusively) on the low-scoring students. Who constitute a small minority of our kids.
And I'm not talking about having no metrics for GATE kids. I'm talking about having no metrics for the 85-90% of kids who are proficient or advanced. The vast majority of kids in our district. No metric?
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Sep 21, 2013 at 10:37 pm
There aren't really many extremely gifted children in PAUSD so there is no reason to have a GATE program. The majority of Palo Alto children are already gifted intellectually compared to other children nationwide. When I grew up in a working class community I was in the gifted program but when I moved to Palo Alto, I was a regular student. There are so many opportunities living in this area that parents of these extremely gifted children can find ways to stimulate their children's intellect and should not expect PAUSD to address the issue since there are so few extremely gifted children.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 22, 2013 at 12:51 pm
The CA GATE program was to allow multiple ways of determining giftedness, but for a bunch of reasons, the majority of kids tested well. True giftedness is much different from the vast majority of GATE students, especially those of us who were labeled GATE back in the day. We often think very highly of ourselves when nostalgia kicks in.
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Sep 22, 2013 at 1:54 pm
What do you mean by the majority of kids? In the state? In Palo Alto? How are you defining "true giftedness"?
My sense is that the district doesn't want to deal with classifying kids as GATE or, shudder, non-GATE. I remember back in elementary school (different district) that the percentage of "gifted" kids grew every year--until most of the class was absent for "special classes" and the gifted kids were no longer "gifted", but "academically talented." Or so they said . . . some years later, the list of kids who were officially gifted ended up on a bunch of scrap paper and turned out to be shorter than everyone had believed.
Now you have families in other areas where the kids are prepped and tutored so that they can get into gifted programs, which kind of undermines the whole idea.
It's a shame as the profoundly gifted kids actually do need attention and benefit from some kinds of teaching strategies. (Some of them are a bit odd and don't know how to handle their mental horsepower.)
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 22, 2013 at 2:27 pm
I am consistently amazed and amused at the perception of Palo Alto parents. Classifying certain kids as GATE is mostly theater to calm parents down. GATE was gutted a long time ago across the state. Other states are actually identifying kids as GATE as young as first grade. It's such a scam. And they are not prepping them for anything, though they may be primping them.
a resident of another community
on Sep 23, 2013 at 12:38 am
To the original poster...
You hit the nail on the head, and I couldn't have said it better myself.
The priorities in PA elementary education (especially math) have gotten so out of whack. Kids who enjoy and are good at math are forced to sit through years of slow paced basic concepts with no time or focus on them from the teacher. As a result, they get to middle school (or in some cases high school) and no longer enjoy math or grown accustomed to thinking that they can skate through. There needs to be some focus on enriching and challenging everyone.
It isn't about GATE. It's about making sure that everyone gets a chance to learn and be challenged at school.
a resident of Charleston Meadows
on Sep 24, 2013 at 12:30 pm
Most kids think of this test as long and tortuous and anticipate it with dread. Some fake being sick to avoid it. Several years ago one opted out of living rather than face it again.
How can this test. E of any value under such circumstances?
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With a stay at Ramada New York/Eastside in New York (Midtown East - Grand Central), you'll be minutes from Madison Square Park and Empire State Building. This hotel is close to Macy's and Chrysler Building.
Make yourself at home in one of the 114 air-conditioned guestrooms. Complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming is available for your entertainment. Conveniences include safes and desks, and you can also request cribs/infant beds.
Enjoy the recreation opportunities such as a fitness center or make use of other amenities including complimentary wireless Internet access.
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Featured amenities include a business center, ATM/banking services, and an elevator (lift).
You must present a photo ID when checking in. Your credit card is charged at the time you book. Bed type and smoking preferences are not guaranteed.Your reservation is prepaid and is guaranteed for late arrival. The total charge includes all room charges and taxes, as well as fees for access and booking. Any incidental charges such as parking, phone calls, and room service will be handled directly between you and the property.


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State pension reforms
An Associated Press article that appeared in the Dispatch
were" before sustainability legislation was enacted in 2010. This claim
is incorrect.
The numbers
used in the article to back up this claim average gain and loss
experiences of the funds over five years. Since only two years have
passed since the 2010 pension reforms, it is highly misleading to cite
these numbers and build a case that the funds are worse off.
fact, on a market — or real — value basis, the Minnesota State
Retirement System (MSRS) General Plan has improved from 65.6 percent
funded in 2009 to 82 percent funded in 2012, thanks in large part to
the 2010 reforms. The Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA)
General Plan went from 53.8 percent funded in 2009 to 73 percent funded
in 2012. And the Teachers Retirement Association (TRA) went from 59.8
percent funded in 2009 to 72.5 percent funded in 2012. In total, the
2010 reforms reduced benefit liabilities for the pension funds by $5.9
The article
unfairly cherry-picked a particularly bad investment return year to
create the wrong impression about the period following the 2010
reforms. The article stated that the State Board of Investment "saw
only a 1.5 percent rate of return" in 2011. True enough. But SBI also
returned 14.4 percent in 2010 and 13.7 percent in 2012, facts that the
article omitted. Since 1980, the SBI has returned an average of 9.9
percent per year, placing it in the top third among institutional
investors nationwide.
boards of directors, executives and stakeholders of the three statewide
retirement systems continually monitor the funds' health and have a
history of recommending proactive reforms that the state legislature
has adopted in a bipartisan manner to ensure financial stability.
Skewed stories such as these do a disservice to our 729,000 active and
retired members as well as taxpayers.
Laurie Fiori Hacking, executive director, TRA
Dave Bergstrom, executive director, MSRS
Mary Most Vanek, executive director, PERA


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Sometimes I think they should all be voted out.
Georgia Rep. Paul Broun said in videotaped remarks that evolution, embryology and the Big Bang theory are "lies straight from the pit of hell" meant to convince people that they do not need a savior. Broun, a medical doctor, is running for re-election in November unopposed by Democrats.
Broun also said that he believes the Earth is about 9,000 years old and that it was made in six days. Those beliefs are held by fundamentalist Christians who believe the creation accounts in the Bible to be literally true.
He sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
Maybe he should sit on a different committee.


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Manufacturer: Dell
MSRP: $779 as configured (Varies by configuration)
The Dell Studio Hybrid has arrived on the scene at a time when energy efficiency has become a topic of national concern. According to Dell, the Studio Hybrid is "Designed to fit into your environment while protecting the environment." The Hybrid is Dell's smallest desktop, and it is available with customizable sleeves including one made out of natural bamboo. Click on through to see our close up take of the Dell Studio Hybrid PC.
Part of Dell's plan for the Studio Hybrid is to demonstrate conservation techniques in the packaging process. The Hybrid arrives in a fairly standard cardboard box, but the system itself is not wrapped in thick Styrofoam. Instead, you'll find the system packaged like a retail boxed hard drive, suspended from the box interior by a recyclable plastic form. The included manuals are also minimized to reduce paper waste.
The first thing that comes to mind when picking up the Hybrid is that it is remarkably small. In fact, I compared it to a take-out lunch box and found the two to be about the same size. It is way smaller than you'd expect from a desktop system, especially from a manufacturer like Dell that has not gone this path before.
The front of this system has a minimalist look. It contains a headphone port, two USB 2.0 ports, a multi-card reader, slot-load DVD+-RW drive, and the main power button. Upon powering up the system a 'hybrid' logo is illuminated as well as the power button & HDD access indicators.
The back panel contains all of the other connections that you'll need to get the Hybrid connected to your peripherals. 3 USB 2.0 ports, microphone in, speakers out, SP/DIF, FireWire, Power, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, and DVI.
When ordering from Dell, you can specify the color that you want for the removable sleeve on the Hybrid. There's no price premium for any color except for the natural bamboo one, which is a whopping $130 upgrade. Yeah, we splurged for it just to see what it's all about, but the hard fact is that it is not worth $130 for a simple shell. If you're really seeking the woody look, grab some wood veneer from the local wallpaper supplier and wrap your plastic sleeve for a similar look.
Under the Hood
Being the engineer that I am, I had to take a look at the guts of the Studio Hybrid. The sleeve comes off with one screw, and the real cover comes off with a single screw as well. The first thing you'll see inside is the storage assembly, which includes the optical drive & 2.5" notebook hard drive (a Western Digital according to the label). The entire storage assembly comes out in one piece after removing a single screw.
Having revealed the motherboard, it is apparent that the Studio Hybrid is based on notebook components. It uses SODIMM memory chips as well as the notebook version of the CPU. On this particular system you can see the unused expansion ports for the WLAN card and BD (blu-ray) decoder card.
The heat sink can be removed fairly easily, revealing the CPU. The thermal connection is made via factory thermal grease, so a quick improvement would be to replace the grease with a high thermal conductivity heat sink compound such as Arctic Silver 5.
Let's get straight to the dirt. The Studio Hybrid is not a powerful machine. It is the Prius of PCs, and you won't be winning any races or surviving any multiplayer gaming matches while behind the wheel of this Hybrid. The notebook components leave the Studio Hybrid feeling sluggish for even basic operations, and the benchmark data only confirms this. The super pi calculation time of 1:40 (1 million digits) is the slowest I've seen from a 'new' computer, and far slower than the 0:18 it takes my XPS m1530.
Power Consumption
If they're going to slap the Hybrid logo on this system, I'm definitely going to take a careful look at the energy demands. At idle, the Hybrid consumes about 26W. This increases to 60W when the system is subject to a 100% CPU load for an extended period. The CPU idles at 41C, maxing out at 78C under the same torture test conditions. These figures are consistent with the fact that the Hybrid is a notebook computer packaged in an alternate shell.
The design of the Dell Studio Hybrid is surprisingly good in terms of usability and upgradeability. The performance, however, is lacking when you consider that similarly priced homebuilt mini-PCs are almost assuredly much faster than the Hybrid. One question that you'll want to ask yourself if you're considering the Hybrid: If you want it to be small and power-efficient, why not just get a laptop?
Image Gallery


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Hippo Pearl
Hippo Pearl
Overboard Pro Sport Waterproof Headphones
100% Waterproof Headphones with comfortable neckband and reactive coiled cable to eliminate tangles during sports. Sound great above and below the waterline and are guaranteed to a depth of 19ft / 6m. You may have seen similar looking (and even more expensive) competitive models, and have probably heard bad reviews about their tinny sounds. Well now watersport enthusiasts don't have to...
Hippo VB
"Audio Quality The bass is pretty awesome. Full rich controlled clear deep bass. Usually bass heavy earphones tends to cover up the mids and highs. This one performed well. Love the tuning bass ports customization which is similar to XePort 5010-8 and MEElectronics SP51. Isolation Surprisingly good overall soundstage coming from such a bass-heavy earphones. Though its..." --unbornchaos
Hippo Shroom
" *This is a review for the EB (Extended Bass) version, not the original* The Shroom EB's use micro drivers that sit inside your ear canal instead of just outside like most IEMs, the drivers are physically smaller and this means that the Shroom has a very small housing. They fit without touching most of your ear and can be worn cable up or down. The barrel is relatively long so it will..." --grahamnp
Hippo 10EB
Hippo 10EB
Hippo Boom
In ear headphones.
Hippo FoamTips
Why use your foam tip for one whole month or even longer?! Change your foam tip weekly with the foam tips from Hippo!


text:
Turn a rice and pasta blend into an easy main dish by stirring in hearty ground beef and colorful vegetables.
If you're not thinking beef tonight, substitute ground turkey instead.
Make this recipe even easier by simply purchasing already-cut veggies in the produce section or at the salad bar in the grocery store.
When the cook is looking for a fuss-free night, serve this family-pleasing skillet meal with your favorite bakery rolls, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, and brownies.
© 2017 ®/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved


text:
Main Content
This item ships within one business day.
$4.99 flat rate shipping and handling. See other shipping options.
This Palms tri-blend tank from Element mixes comfort with style. This lightweight see-through top features a partial-open back with a crossed design and a woven brand tag at the hem.
- See-through knit design
- Woven brand tag
- 50% Rayon/25% Cotton/25% Polyester
- Imported
- Undershirt not included
- Mesh shoulder straps
- Imported
- Brand: Element
Special event items are produced by manufacturers only after the outcome of a game or event. These are advanced sale items and will ship immediately after they are received in our warehouse.
Manufacturer direct items are shipped directly from the manufacturer. These items are not available for international or expedited shipping.
Customized items can be personalized with options such as your name, your favorite number, and/or designs. Some options may be limited by league rules.


text:
During a four-month period in 2010, staff from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (abbreviated DOSH; more commonly known as Cal/OSHA) presented train-the-trainer workshops on respirator use and infection prevention to participants from local health departments (LHD) and other health care agencies throughout the state. The workshops included PowerPoint presentations, discussions, and hands-on exercises including how to conduct respirator fit-testing. Participants then brought training materials and fit-test kits back to their health agencies to train and fit-test their own staff.
CDPH and Cal/OSHA are unable to continue providing these train-the-trainer workshops. As an alternative, the 2011- 12 CDPH Guidance for the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) encouraged funded agencies to provide staff training based on the workshops, using written materials provided by CDPH to help develop their own curricula. Trainers and presenters in LHDs and other HPP entities can adapt the CDPH training materials to meet the needs of a variety of agencies and individuals. CDPH has some fit test kits available for use by LHDs and HPP entities that plan to do fit-testing.
These materials are intended to be used as a training guide. Handouts from the train-the-trainer workshops given by the team of a physician, registered nurse, industrial hygienists, and support person are listed below. The information has been updated to reflect current health law and policies.
Please contact the Communicable Disease Emergency Response Branch (CDER) at (510) 231-6861 or firstname.lastname@example.com if you have any questions about these materials.
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By Brad Locke/NEMS Daily Journal
Recapping No. 5 MSU's 4-1 win over Saint Joseph's at Dudy Noble Field on Saturday.
• The buzz: It took a while, but MSU's bats finally got going late on a bitterly cold day to stay undefeated. The Bulldogs (13-0) scored three runs in the seventh and eighth innings to pull away from the Hawks (2-6), who got a fine pitching performance from starter Jordan Carter.
• Big inning: Mitch Slauter hit a leadoff single in the seventh, and pinch runner Derrick Armstrong scored on Tyler Fullerton's RBI single to make it 2-1 State. Fullerton, who was pinch hitting for Jacob Robson, popped it up into shallow right field, and the second baseman couldn't keep it in his glove. It was ruled a hit.
• Key stats: Saint Joseph's left 11 runners on base to MSU's five. … MSU was 2 of 8 with runners in scoring position, while Saint Joe's was 0 of 9. … Neither team made an error. … MSU hit into two double plays, both by Alex Detz.
• MSU at the plate: C.T. Bradford had three hits and scored a run. … Adam Frazier had two hits and scored the game's first run. … The Bulldogs had eight hits. … In the eighth, MSU scored two runs – on a groundout and a wild pitch.
• Saint Joseph's at the plate: The Hawks had five hits. … Anthony Cirillo had two hits. … Saint Joseph's scored in the first inning when Chris Hueth hit a bases-loaded sac fly.
• MSU on the mound: Starter Evan Mitchell tossed five innings, allowing one run on three hits with a season-high nine strikeouts and five walks on 99 pitches. He had command issues the first three innings but worked out of some jams. … Reliever Ross Mitchell (4-0) got the win with three innings of shutout ball. He allowed one hit, struck out three and walked one. … Closer Jonathan Holder pitched the ninth for his fourth save, but he made it interesting by loading the bases. He induced a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.
• Saint Joseph's on the mound: Carter went six-plus innings, charged with two runs on six hits with three strikeouts and a walk on 87 pitches. He retired 10 consecutive batters during one stretch. … Three relievers saw action, with Shane Carey giving up the two runs in the eighth.
• Bottom line: On a tough day for hitters, MSU's offense showed patience and got timely hits. And the pitching, as usual, was strong, with Evan Mitchell able to escape some self-made trouble. The Bulldogs play two tomorrow, with Kendall Graveman and then Will Cox scheduled to start on the mound.
• Quotable: "I thought the MVP of the ballgame was Ross and what he did. He just came in and settled things down and got some weak contact and allowed us to get through those innings." – MSU coach John Cohen
Click here for video interviews.


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Atrio MG7 Pro RED (010-049) -
Atrio MG7 Pro RED hear what you have been missing! Studio sound quality with un-matched base response; An ergonomic Stay - In: design with background noise isolation; Promotes safer hearing with Bigger Sound at Lower volume; Packaging is fully eco-friendly and RoHS compliant; Proprietary 10 mm MG7 speaker system.
Atrio X MG5 Black
Atrio X bigger sound lowervolume with MG5 proprietary 10mm dynamic drivers delviers a value not found in earbuds twice the cost. Packaging is fully eco-friendly and ROHD compliant. Studio Quality, Ergonomic stay in ear design.
Auvio In Ear Armature Headphones
" I was trying to be generous with this review, I had these for fewer than two hours because of the comfort, They ACTUALLY cut up my ear canals, there is no exaggeration, my ears bled, and I've never been a fan of foam tips. Foam tips get ripped up, and really feel insecure in my ears, plus the plastic tube can become exposed and creates a level of discomfort greater than that of the silicon..." --ffdpmaggot
Auvio Pearl Buds
Headphones deliver a personized sound experience. They deliver high-quality stereo sound with a frequency response of 22Hz-19kHz, and feature an iPhoneTM compatible 24k gold-plated 1/8" connector, so they're perfect for almost any personal media player. The noise-reduction silicone tips reduce surrounding noise for better sound quality, and three sets are included so they can...


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RudiStor IMD-3
" After around 50 hours burn-in: - Muddy, fat yet shallow bass, recessed mids, non-existent highs. if the mids aren't this recessed it is actually quite smooth, and there/s no sibliance problem cos there's no highs. one should not underestimate the power of burn-in but if burn-in can turn this into something half-decent i'd be really pleasantly surprised. i'll do another review after maybe a..." --productred
AIAIAI: Swirl Earphones w/ Mic - Black
The Swirl Earphone w/ mic is designed with an emphasis on sturdiness and lasting durability. A robust, industrial in-ear housing made to withstand heavy everyday use. The Y-shaped cable divider and extra-thick 3 mm cord makes it a tangle-free experience. The high maximum sound pressure level reveals the full sound of today's digital music. Choose between 5 sets of silicone ear buds in...


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Aww--we don't even remember the 2E computer!
Aww--we don't even remember the 2E computer!
We can always rely on Kim for an immediate reaction.
Only the news from Mr. Olberman.
A genuine response. It really warms our hearts.
Alternatively, an honest response.
We're really grateful Dane didn't take advantage of the situation to crack a bad joke, as seemed to be a lot of people's knee-jerk reactions.
It takes a lot for the White House to acknowledge your passing, but Steve certainly deserved it.
Second greatest hashtag: #iBoss.
(He's in The Hunger Games--give it a few months, then he'll be a household name.)
And look, he even got a commemorative avatar for the week.
We'll be curious to see if the mayor of New York City also releases this tweet in Spanish. (He's a fan of bilingual announcements.)
Even Clarissa can't explain why bad things happen to good people.
Best hashtag that's currently trending: #iSad.
Again--kudos for not taking the easy, crude route.
Thank God younger actors know who Steve is--it's a relevant thing to imagine kids on iPads not actually knowing who to thank for them.
Slow clap.


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Nowhere in your incoherent ramblings did you come anywhere close to the answer. Thanks to you, everyone in this room is now stupider having heard you. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. -Billy Madison-
I sometimes watch America's Top Model with my sister. (not sure I should admit this)
The girls are beautiful to look at. Some of the judges are ridiculously over the top. You also find out what a cold cruel world the modeling industry is.
"Ohh, maxi big da fish! Well dat smells stinkowiff"
"No time to discuss this as a supercommittee.... I am not a supercommittee!"
I'm not really ashamed of it, but I've found myself watching episodes of Thundarr the Barbarian on Cartoon Network's sister network, Boomerang. I went ahead and began recording them on the DVR to keep. I watched it as a kid but had largely forgotten it. I've only recently rediscovered the show in the last couple weeks. Set in the year 3994, a trio of heroes roam the ruins of our civilization fighting for justice and aiding the meek. I've always had a weakness for post-apocalyptic stories. It's kinda unique for a cartoon's premise.
Weird War Tales: Featuring the Creature Commandos #105 November 1981 (DC Comics)
Some of the Disney Channel shows like Wizards of Waverly Place, Suite Life, Sonny with a Chance. Some of these shows are funnier than some shows on network TV.
I have noticed one on a cable station, Battlecam or something, which is quite possibly one of the worst shows I've ever seen. A split camera of webcams and you vote on which one you like better. Ugh.
I predict that the upcoming Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi film will include the word "and." Multiple times.
1) Nice work with the shovel there BCJ!
2) Wow some long lost posters are in this thread.
Watched the first ep of the new season (season 7) of the excellent Foyle's War on PBS. Picks up a couple of years later after the original series ended, and Foyle, a retired British country police detective, is recruited by MI-5 to investigate new intrigue in post-World War II England, i.e., the Cold War and the Russians.
I watched that Mermaids: A Body Found special on Animal Planet this evening. I kind of stumbled upon it while channel surfing and I still don't know what to make of it. The entire show feels like an elaborate April Fools joke. All of their "video evidence" just feels staged and the "mermaids" are all clearly computer-generated. The fact that these videos are supposed to be recorded at different times and in different parts of the world; but every single "mermaid" looks identical. So it's clearly one CG model of a "fish man" that they are compositing into these videos.
Plus, the whole "secret military cover-up" plotline is so overused that it just destroys the credibility of the theory right out of the gate for me.
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split. - Robert E. Howard
It was on Animal Planet? They only show documentaries, so it can't be fake.
I am the modern man.


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Busy, busy. Just completed a slew of work on updating my strategy for XML.com. Actually got quite excited by stuff that's going on, but it's clear that the action has shifted away from the more traditional standards track of development we're using to following with XML. XQuery's just about the last core XML spec from the W3C that's likely to have an impact.
Been keeping my Debian maintaining work going on as usual. Trying to write more on my blog, but my scheme of regular writing fell flat when a friend came to stay and I spent my spare time having a real life.
My submission on Dashboard has been accepted for the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies conference next year, and I intend to pick up on some recent patches and work done on Dashboard. I also have a stock of airport codes ready to add into my location-sensitive Dashboard plugin.
Also on the level of things I need to get round to doing, I'll be showing off foafbot at the XML 2003 conference this year, so it needs updating and reviving.


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The G'burg KM had an entire endcap of AOTC today. It is not on the main aisle but along the back wall in the toy dept. They had most of numbers 1 thru 12.
The G'burg KM had an entire endcap of AOTC today. It is not on the main aisle but along the back wall in the toy dept. They had most of numbers 1 thru 12.
Thanks for the tip.... I got 10 figures, Anakin and Obi Wan 12", Slave 1, Dooku's Saber, and Obi & Jango Deluxe at K-Mart in Gaithersberg.
Jedikmg, is it still worth going down to the Gaithersburg Kmart now? Did they have a lot of product still on the shelf? Thanks
YES!!!! I got the last C3-PO, and the the 2nd to last Super Battle Driod, Last Obi Wan, and 2nd to last Outlander Anakin, and last Padme. NO KIT FISTOS!!!!! They had a good amount of everything else.
They had alot of Roleplay stuff, and 2 deluxes left. They had 3 Slave 1s. They had maybe 30-40 figures left lots of Battle Droids, Boba Fetts, and Typhos.
Springfield Mall: Software Etc. had ATOC Collection 2 figs: Senator Jar Jar, Genoshian, 2 Jedis, and some other guy. $8.99 each.
KMart next to Andrews AFB: 1 12" Clonetrooper, ATOC Card Game, and a couple Jedi Starfighters.
Toys R Us next to Andrews had some Legos...Bounty Hunter Chase to be exact.
Yo momma. That's right, I said "yo momma".
I forgot to make a post about this the other day, but i called FAO Shwartz down in Tysons Corner and pre-purchased the Shuttle Tyderium. So i suggest you guys call down and pre-purchase yours also.
Thanks for the info about the shuttle, but I'm not shelling out that much cash for it because I'm not a die hard vehicle collector.
I most likely won't get the snowspeeder or Tie-bomber either. I haven't even seen one yet.
Yo momma. That's right, I said "yo momma".
Anyone find the Tie bomber or Snow speeder. I caught a glimse of one last night at the Frederick Walmart. I ve been to 3 other Walmarts and have struck out in each instance.
Wal-mart mt. airy had about 3 or 4 of each left as of my second trip there at 10 am.
Still haven't seen the Tie Bomber/Snowspeeder.
Target in Landover/Largo didn't have squat.
Walmart in Clinton next to Andrews had lots of figures. They were somewhat picked over. There were 4 of each speeder (Anakin's and Zam Wessel's), a bunch of whatever that beast, and a boatload of Jedi Startfighters.
Does anyone know of any shows or conventions that come thru this area?
Yo momma. That's right, I said "yo momma".


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We believe the strength of our nation lies with our faith and reliance on God our Creator, the individual, and the family, and that each person's dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.
We believe the United States Constitution is the greatest and most inspired document to govern a nation, and the republican form of government it gives us is the best guarantor of freedom in history.
We believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.
We believe . . . [ READ MORE ]
Party Platform
We are Republicans because...
Connect with your party.
Contribute to the Republican Party of Idaho.
Help keep our party running strong! Every contribution matters.


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The dark warm round tone sought after for traditional jazz.
This FiberSkyn 3 EE Heavy Bass Drum Head from Remo was created to duplicate the characteristic look, sound, and feel of drumheads used in the Bebop jazz era. It features the dark, warm, round tone sought after for traditional jazz concert bass drums. This Remo head is made by fusing a single-ply of Mylar film with poly-spun fibers in a proprietary high temperature bonding process. The resulting finish is similar to the texture of animal skin and is great for that vintage jazz sound.
Our product catalog varies by country due to manufacturer restrictions. If you change the Ship-To country, some or all of the items in your cart may not ship to the new destination.


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I am in the process of making a simple 2D game, with SDL. I am trying to hide the SDL subsystems from the program, and only #include them in the .c files. I was able to hide the graphics part of SDL, but now I am not sure how to hide the SDL event system. The SDL event system has hundreds of constants named SDLK_<key>, but I'd like to assign those constants to KEY_<key> instead. Right now i have something like this:
in event.h:
#ifndef EVENT_HHH #define EVENT_HHH extern int const KEY_A; extern int const KEY_B; /*....*/ extern int const KEY_SPACE; #endif
and in event.c:
#include "event.h" #include <SDL/SDL.h> int const KEY_A = SDLK_a; int const KEY_B = SDLK_b; /*.../* int const KEY_SPACE = SDLK_SPACE;
Since there are hundreds of these constants, it feels like it's very easy to make errors if i just assign them one by one.
My question is, is there a shorter and better way to do this?


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So they came up to Baal-perazim; and David smote them there. Then David said, God hath broken in upon mine enemies by mine hand like the breaking forth of waters: therefore they called the name of that place Baal-perazim. —1 Chronicles 14:11
Baal-perazim literally means, "Lord of the breakthrough." Because David sought God's direction first (v. 10), he knew it was God's victory. David acknowledged God as the One who brought about his victory. He said, "I couldn't have done it if God had not gone before me."
There will be many battles to fight this year, but realize that you are not standing alone. The God you serve is the Master of the breach, and the battle is not yours, but His. When you seek God first in the matter, you can be assured of the victory.
The battle belongs to the Lord (1 Samuel 17:47). So, never defend yourself. Let Him be your strong tower, your defense, and your refuge. Why are you trying to fight battles He has already won? Put on His armor and go forth in His Spirit, not your own might and power (Zechariah 4:6).
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). Every time you resist temptation, you will see the devil flee from you this year. So give God the glory.
Lord, grant me the boldness to resist temptation
at every turn. I know You have given me victory
over the devil. So I praise Your name for
defeating the devil on the cross and
giving me the power through Your
blood to breakthrough sin and
live victoriously. Amen.
Draw closer to God. Experience the presence of the Holy Spirit every month as you read Charisma magazine. Sign up now to get Charisma for as low as $1 per issue.
Get to know the Holy Spirit and how to interact with Him on a daily basis. Learn to enter God's presence and hear His voice clearly for yourself! Go deeper in your faith with Life in the Spirit and change your life and destiny. Are you ready to start your journey?


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Reviewed By salvador o (NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV) Reviewed for a 1994 BMW 3-Series —5/22/2014 9:27 PM
I had bad connection a on my factory taillights. These lights from anything auto really are awesome and solved my problem.
Reviewed By Donovan C (GRAND RAPIDS, MI) Reviewed for a 1998 BMW 7-Series —7/14/2012 3:33 PM
The installation was easy as could be. Only thing I would say should have been noted, is if they are European or US compatible. Have a bulb that doesn't lite up. If I had a Euro car, in Europe I mean, there would be a wire for that bulb. Being a US version, there is not.
Reviewed By John L (Utica, NY) Reviewed for a 1990 BMW 7-Series —9/13/2008 10:21 AM
I am extremely pleased with LED Tail Lights! I found the service to be quick, knowledgeable and courteous, a rare combination in today's business world. The product arrived in two days - fast. High quality product, easy to follow instructions, cinch to install, as close to plug and play as you can get. Install took me @30 min. and I took my time. Looks great! Much brighter and more attractive than OEMs, not too flashy! *****


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http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post...ter-off-losingBy James Walker
Matt Kartozian/US PresswireMany NFL fans are rooting for their team to land Stanford's Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick in April.
How bad are things for the winless Miami Dolphins?
The two most talked about players in South Florida this week were Andrew Luck and Tim Tebow.
The latter plays quarterback for the Denver Broncos (1-4), who will visit Miami this weekend. The former might someday play for the struggling Dolphins (0-5) if they continue to lose and secure the No. 1 overall pick.
That brings me to this thought: Miami is much better off losing Sunday's "Andrew Luck Bowl" against Denver than winning it. The loser of this game will win in the long run by having the inside track to one of the best quarterback prospects of the past decade.
For the record, I am not a proponent of "tanking" games. Dolphins players and coaches, for the sake of their own professionalism and job security, should work as hard as they can to try to turn the team around.
But there is nothing wrong with those not associated with the team objectively looking at the big picture -- and that is where Dolphins fans are 100 percent correct. Miami already lost its first five games and will not make the playoffs this season. Therefore, the more the Dolphins lose in 2011, the better off they will be in 2012.


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Catching up on stuff...
PCI Hotplug
The IBM PCI Hotplug driver got submitted and got accepted into the 2.4 and 2.5 trees. Nice to see this code finally escape the lab and make it into the wild. Now if only someone would actually use the thing...
Gave lots of documentation to someone at Compaq about how the pcihpfs interface works, so hopefully they will produce some good docuementation about how to use it.
Linux USB
Am slowly plugging away at cleaning up the Linux USB kernel code in the 2.5 tree. Now urbs have proper reference counting, cleaning up loads of potential race problems. More importantly, it now keeps people from having long involved arguments about when it is ok to free up a urb from within a device driver.
I took advantage of this new interface to redo the visor driver, showing off how you can abuse the new model :) Reduced the size of the driver quite a bit and didn't seem to slow it down any.
My Linux Hotplug article finally got published in the April 2002 issue of Linux Journal. This time I remembered to include my email address, and the responses so far have been very nice.
I need to work on the dietHotplug code some more, and put out a new release of the main Linux Hotplug package, now that the debian developer has fixed a number of small issues in it. I also finally got the cvs archive cleaned up by moving the fxload program into a different directory. It only took about 3 weeks to get the sf.net admins to move the cvs files around (did I mention that I hate cvs?).
Nice to see that Linus and Marcelo are now using BitKeeper to do kernel development. I've been using it for over a year, and it's the only way I am able to say sane, juggling 3 different kernel trees.
I gave a short talk to people at work, and at OSDL about how to do kernel development with BitKeeper. I've put the slides up online if anyone is interested in some BitKeeper basics (the last two slides are kinda interesting to show how different people use it.
Actually, now it takes longer to make up changesets for Linus and Marcelo to pull into their repositories than it did to make up patches for them, but the advantage of being able to send them more than one chunk of patches per -pre kernel, and ability for the people who do the real work to get the proper credit, more than make up for any minor inconvience that I may have (this means no more "USB updates - Greg KH" change log entries when I only sent the patches on from other people.)
Thanks cmiller for the advodiary script. I used it to post this entry, very nicely done.


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An antibody therapy for hemophilia A?
|Example of an antibody. The interesting bits are purple,
as so many interesting things are.
Image credit and license info, via Wikimedia Commons.
|A standard monoclonal antibody has two binding arms, each recognizing the same antigen (protein target).
Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibody
|A bispecific antibody, Trion's Removab.
Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bispecific_monoclonal_antibody
|FVIII activates FX in the presence of FIXa. hBS23 is a bispecific antibody that replaces FVIII.
(c) 2012 Nature Publishing Group [Nature Medicine, doi:10.1038/nm.2942]


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Hinchey to discuss foreign policy
Congressman Maurice Hinchey, D-22nd District, will discuss "Toward a Sustainable US Foreign Policy," at 3 p.m. Monday, March 8, in the Anderson Center Chamber Hall on the Binghamton University campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Hinchey will be joined by University faculty David Cingranelli, professor of political science, and Wulf Kansteiner, professor of history, in a panel discussion on the United States' role in the global community. A question and answer session will follow.
The event is co-sponsored by Binghamton University's Center on Democratic Performance, the College Democrats, Newing College, College-in-the Woods, Mountainview, and the Dickinson Community. For more information, call 607-777-2469.


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medical-staff library
My name is Frank Appell, and I am the Medical Librarian for Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.
The Medical-Staff Library (also known as the Caroline D. Schwartz Medical Library) is a reference and research library funded by the medical staff and hospital administration. Its primary purpose is to provide information and referral services appropriate to the professional, technical, educational, administrative and research needs of the entire medical and hospital staff.
It does this through a variety of services: data base searching, document retrieval (from books and journals), current awareness, Loansome Doc (remote ordering of documents for physicians), in-library Internet accessibility, and patient information for doctors.
Collections and services can be accessed via drop-in (stop-by) visit, phone call, fax or email. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome.
hours of operation
The Medical Library is open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
There are a few ways to contact the Library for your information needs:
- Email: email@example.com
- Telephone: 845.368.5116
- Fax: 845.368.5316
Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center
Medical-Staff Library
255 Lafayette Avenue
Suffern, NY 10901


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Dear Mr. Dad: My spouse and I adopted a 14-month-old baby boy. What can I do as a working father to build and cement a strong bond, since we have missed the early stages?
A: The best thing you can do now is read everything you can about child development. You need to know what's been going on so far, what's reasonable to expect from a 14-month old, and what's not. (My book, Fathering Your Toddler, is a good place to start.) Don't put a lot of pressure on yourself to "make up for lost time." You can't. But you can—and should—focus on the future.
It's also very important that you not set your expectations too high. It's tempting to get the baby's room all set up, and to imagine that you and your spouse will be able to start providing your child with a wonderful life (especially if he came from a less-than-wonderful environment). And, of course, it's natural to imagine that you'll fall immediately in love with the baby and that he'll fall in love with you. It's extremely unlikely that will happen. So give yourselves plenty of time to get used to each other and your new situation.
Don't forget to pay special attention to your relationship with your wife. Having a new baby can take a real toll. You're going to need plenty of time alone–individually and as a couple (away from the baby).
Finally, I'm sure you're already in contact with adoption support groups. If not, though, there are some great resources for adoptive parents at Adoption Connection (adoptionconnection.org) and Adoption.org (adoption.org/)


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Declared Monuments
in Hong Kong - New Territories
Located at the north eastern tip of Tung Lung Chau, Tung Lung Fort was built in the reign of Kangxi (1662-1722) to guard against pirates according to the Xinan Gazetteer. Another historical document describes it as being built by order of Yang Lin, Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi from 1719 to 1724.
Measured 33.5m by 22.5m, the rectangular fort was enclosed by wall of 3m high with its main entrance at north wall. It consisted of fifteen guardhouses and was armed with eight cannons. A small detachment was stationed at the fort until the beginning of the 19th century, when it proved difficult to cope with a marked increase in piracy. Because of the difficulty in keeping this remote fort supplied, it was replaced by Kowloon Fort in 1810.
Repairs and partial restoration were then carried out to the fort between 1979 and 1982. While the restoration work was in progress, a systematic archaeological excavation of the interior of the fort was conducted by the Antiquities and Monuments Office with the assistance of volunteers. A large quantity of artefacts was unearthed.
Tung Lung Fort, Tung Lung Chau, Sai Kung
Tung Lung Chau, Sai Kung (Plan)Virtual Heritage Explorer


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Hmm ... What about extra long testicles??? I'd want to chew on them
Would you rather have seventeen normal sized testicles or just one testicle the size of a grapefruit?
Hmm ... What about extra long testicles??? I'd want to chew on them
IronMag Labs Discount Code for 15% more negs "Captn15"
TheCaptn' is not a registered proctologist. His post are for his amusement only. Please seek proper medical advice if symptoms persist.
i want multi colored ones
having abs because you are skinny is like a women having tits because she's fat
Who wants normal sized or huge testicles? I like my shriveled gear balls! Makes my cawk look bigger
Sent from my SCH-R760X using Tapatalk
I'm going uniball. Gear will shrinker down.
Atrophied nutz is all the rage!!!!!!
Will all 17 be in one sac or will they be individually wrapped? if this is the case then one large one is the way to go. it's easier to tuck it when I get dressed up...
I'll get there or Die trying...
I es eating raisin bran this morning and started thinking about my nuts. Just sayin...
This Message Was Sent By ME!!!!!
?This message was sent using true power!!!
Im guessing more nuts more natural test I'll take both
Aussies and Philadelphians are the only people here


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Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. —2 Corinthians 3:17-18
The promise of being transformed and ignited to holy passion by understanding and beholding God's glorious personality is for everyone. No matter how weak or strong you feel, regardless of your previous failures, irrespective of your natural temperament or personality, you can be ablaze with passion for Jesus.
Father, the hopeful thought that You can transform me to become more like You is almost too much to comprehend. Do a work in me that goes beyond my human understanding, that I may reflect Your personality in my own life.
If the first twenty years of my life taught me
anything, it was that passion for Jesus
does not come from natural
human zeal or enthusiasm.
Draw closer to God. Experience the presence of the Holy Spirit every month as you read Charisma magazine. Sign up now to get Charisma for as low as $1 per issue.
Get to know the Holy Spirit and how to interact with Him on a daily basis. Learn to enter God's presence and hear His voice clearly for yourself! Go deeper in your faith with Life in the Spirit and change your life and destiny. Are you ready to start your journey?


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Roland MC-09 PhraseLab
The MC-09 PhraseLab is a creative tool for producing synth and drum loops - and emulating the TB-303. Combining an analog modeling synth, step sequencer, four-part audio looper, and effects processor, this instrument helps musicians develop loops with multiple variations. The MC-09 is a aimed at musicians, DJs and synth enthusiasts who work with audio phrases and want powerful analog-modeled synthesis at an affordable price.
The Synth component features monophonic bass and lead synth sounds and polyphonic rhythm sounds. There are six control knobs for tweaking the sounds via filters, LFOs, etc. Sounds can be played via the MC-09's pads and 32-step sequencer or MIDI. Drums can be programmed with Roland's popular TR-REC method, first introduced on TR-Series Rhythm Composers.
The audio looper is capable of playing back four monophonic phrases up to six seconds each (phrases can be taken from the internal synth or external sources). In action, users would create synth or drum patterns using the step sequencer and then record them as audio loops. Looping is simple since the PhraseLab uses BPM and measures to automatically stop recording at the perfect point. Loops can be triggered with the step sequencer anywhere desired-even at different pitches. And with the Chop function, the MC-09 can automatically divide a loop into 16 "slices" for constructing new phrases. The step sequencer is also capable of emulating the TB-303's slides and accent effects.
Also on-board are four high-quality effects algorithms: Filter, Isolator, Phaser and Slicer. Effects can be applied to any of the four audio loops or to live inputs, and can be controlled in real time via the knobs for more intuitive tweaking. Once you've created your audio loops and applied effects to them, you can save your work to an optional SmartMedia card. Connections in the back are low-budget RCA style audio inputs and outputs, and MIDI In/Out is also available. A low cost synth which is great for a beginner, or somebody after 303 type sounds on a budget.
Lookup Roland MC-09 PhraseLab Prices
The link above will take you to an eBay search for this synth to see active listings with more images, specs and information. If you don't find it there, try looking in our forum marketplace. Our marketplace gets thousands of visits every week so make sure to check back often if you want to buy or sell a synth.
Related Forum Topics
User Comments & Reviews
Are you looking to buy or sell a Roland MC-09 PhraseLab? Post an ad in Gear For Sale or a request in Gear Wanted. For spare parts and repair services check out Gear Services & Other Goods. Our forums also has a Buyer's Guide section where you can ask for advice on buying synthesizers.
- Demos & Media
Manual - Roland has made manuals for most of their products available as free PDF downloads.
- Specifications
- Polyphony - Lead: 1, Bass: 1, Rhythm: 3
- Oscillators - Preset Tones: 128 Lead, 128 Bass, 10 Rhythm
- Sequencer - 32 Steps, Sixteenth note Resolution
Preset Patterns: 40 Lead, 60 Bass, 100 Rhythm, 30 Effect;
User Patterns: 20
- Memory - SmartMedia Storage
- Effects - 30: Filter, Isolator, Phaser, Slicer, Lead Sound Group: Overdrive, Distortion, Phaser, Slicer + Ring Modulator
- LFO - Triangle, Square, Sawtooth, Sample and Hold
- Filter - Low pass, Band pass, high pass
- Keyboard - None
- Control - MIDI In/Out
- Date Produced - 2002
- Shop for Keyboards, MIDI & Gear
Guitar Center: Synths and MIDI
Sweetwater: Hot items in Keyboars section
The Musician's Friend: Keyboard gear
AMS: Brand synths and accessories
The Woodwind & Brasswind Store
music123.com: Synth Blow Out Deal Section
zZounds: Keyboards and MIDI equipment
- Resources & Credits
Images from Roland-US.
Reviewed August 2008.
Errors or Corrections? Send them here.


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Got it at Costco for $2.93. Aside from ARCO stations, that is by far the cheapest price around here.
Got it at Costco for $2.93. Aside from ARCO stations, that is by far the cheapest price around here.
I predict that the upcoming Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi film will include the word "and." Multiple times.
I filled up for about $2.29 on Thursday but Saturday, gas jumped up to $2.35 - $2.42. It's starting to creep back down.
More and more stations are reaching the $2.99 mark for 87 octane, but I'd say half are still a tad above three bucks.
I predict that the upcoming Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi film will include the word "and." Multiple times.
I'm not reveling about how low or high gas prices are. Or even how bad the economy is. Mr. Chuck Lorre says it best as to why.
I believe that Newton's first law of motion is the reason we will emerge from our current economic woes. That law states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. How does that relate to the financial #$%*storm we're now cowering under? Allow me to explain. There are slightly less than seven billion people on this planet. Assuming that roughly half that number are either too young, too old, too lazy, or too loaded to work, that still leaves almost three and a half billion people getting up in the morning to chase the almighty dollar, the transcendent rupee, the zen yen,the dear ol' euro, the what's goin' on yuan, the... well, you get the idea. Now, call me crazy (and many have called me far worse), but I happen to think that three and a half billion motivated people is one big damn object in motion. And the only thing acting against that object is the friction caused by a small bunch of greedy, dumbass, screw-the-pooch, Ivy League pot stickers (the unbalanced force). I therefore assert that the unbalanced force (you know who you are, shame on you), will eventually be overwhelmed by the object in motion (three and a half billion people with pluck, aka pluckers), thus allowing the object in motion to continue its relentless journey forward, thriving and conniving until it is once again slowed down by other unbalanced forces, or a very large meteorite. Or a plague. Or fundamentalists with nukes. Or atmosphere-eating nanobots. Or a super volcano. Or Skynet. Or Cylons.
No matter how I die, even if there is a suicide note; it was murder. Cheers!
$2.97 this past week end.
I'm on call this week, so I've got the company car to bring home which means they are picking up the fuel tab for commuting!
¡Que la fuerza te acompañe!
I passed a few stations at $2.95, $2.97, $2.93, and an ARCO at $2.89, yet others still at $3.03. I'm due for a fillup soon.
I predict that the upcoming Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi film will include the word "and." Multiple times.
Twenty buck's worth at $2.95 just a while ago. Still holding under three dollars which is good. Back on call beginning today so the company will be paying as I get to bring the car home. Seven days of on-call, three days break, then five days on-call to cover a colleague's vacation. The good thing is that it's been getting cold at night and the knuckleheads have begun to hunker down.
¡Que la fuerza te acompañe!
I haven't bought gas since returning from Omaha a month ago. Advantages to riding the bus to work and having it be the same hospital where you're going to deliver your baby.
Star Wars & GI Joe Customs
HAVES: HK-50 Head, Capt Typho & GI Joe fodder available still
Wants:L8-L9 Head, YVH-1 Complete (as possible),R7-T1 Complete (as possible),R7-Z0 Complete (as possible)
pbarnard: I thought you were a dude. How did you get pregnant?
That's not very common for human males.
Or are you a different species? (This is a SW fan forum afterall - so I'm just asking).
So will it be a live birth or do you produce eggs? You're not Trandoshan like Bossk are you? Watch out! Your offspring will slay and eat you, then display your bones next to your action figures!
Oh wait: you might have meant you were married to a human girl who's carrying your child.
But be careful if she's a Night Lilly like M'yoom Onth. She'll kill you and suck out your brains after you two reproduce.
Then again, I've heard human wives do the same thing.
Congratulations on having a child though. Will this be your first?
BAD Pts Need: R5-C7 lf leg (x2), , R4-P44 right leg BAD Pts Offered For Trade: PM me - I have lots of parts now including BG-J38!. New Kyle Katarn is also available.
Costco had it for $2.83, and I accepted their offer today.
I predict that the upcoming Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi film will include the word "and." Multiple times.


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Please post your VOTE for up to 2 {two} of the questions provided in this thread, letting us know which ones you most want to see asked on September 16th. Keep in mind that your votes in round 93 do not count in this round, so if your question is still on the list you may want to vote for it again.
Also, feel free to suggest new questions, but please keep in mind that due to the now extra-limited nature of the program, we cannot use every suggestion.
Current questions (vote for up to 2):
- - Sgt. Bric's initial cartoon outing turned out to be kind of a bust. The character was an unmemorable jerk and didn't really add anything to his storyline. In fact, if not for the action figure you guys did, he'd be a complete nobody in 2010. And on top of that, the postage on his set when it arrived in Los Angeles was a whopping $5.15, so after the cost of the box and the handling, just getting it out the door probably ate the entire $6.99 right there. Combine that with the fancy packaging and the battle mat, and the fact that he's 100% new tooling with some pricey-looking (for CW) paint, and it seems like Bric's quite an expensive promotional venture for Hasbro to have undertaken... all for a minor jerk of a character. What is it about Bric that made you choose him for a big Clone Wars mail-away promo figure?
- - The new R5-D4 figure does not have the painted red panels on his back. That might sound like a minor issue, but the panels are clearly visible in the film when the droid's motivator blows up, and they help give the little guy a bit more visual pop. Neither the 1996 nor the 2006 versions of R5-D4 had these painted either, so it's disappointing to see that the third time is not the charm (though it remains a detail that the original vintage figure got right). Given the number of running changes we've seen so far in The Vintage Collection, is it at all possible that this oversight might be changed on future shipments?
- - The Force FX lightsabers are targeted at adult collectibles, for a group who generally desire accuracy in their prop collectibles, and yet the latest ROTS Obi-Wan's lightsaber with removable blade suffers a big inaccuracy due to the blade needing to be securely anchored. However, with your removable-blade designs, you've started using dummy parts to fill in the removed blades, and we wonder if you'd consider for future thin-necked lightsabers like Luke ROTJ and Obi-Wan having the removable blade take the entire thick "neck" with it and having a more accurate thin-necked dummy design replace it. That much weight anchoring has been accomplished before in the thick metal coupler for the Maul saber halves that screwed together, on these thin-neck sabers the neck could screw down to the top part of the grip. That would let collectors have their cake and eat it too by giving an accurate hilt prop display with the thin neck, while still having the light-up blade play using the thick neck. So has there been any consideration for that sort of thing, and might it be seen in future Force FX sabers when needed?
- - The 2009 Count Dooku with Speeder Bike figure featured a fabric cloak with a sculpted plastic clasp, meaning he had the free range of motion provided by the cloak with the accuracy of the clasp. This year though, instead of a plastic clasp, your TVC General Lando Calrissian figure has a thick elastic strap that doesn't really look anything like the fabric braid the character wore in the film; it seems like that is a case where a plastic clasp would have been preferable. The plastic clasp holding closed a fabric cloak solution could also be a possibility on future Darth Vader figures, or movie-based Count Dooku figures, or other figures where appropriate and the material allows it. Will the plastic-clasp-and-fabric approach be taken more in the future? Why wasn't it with TVC General Lando?
- - Since the release of the ROTJ wave last Fall, there really hasn't been much product for either line making a big appearance on shelves at any major retailer up until September. Many waves have come and gone in very small, sporadic, scattered numbers. Your recent answers about some figures slowing things up doesn't fully account for what seems to be extremely-low retailer orders or problematic case assortments that continued even a year after figures were showing problems to continue pushing slow-moving product rather than focusing on newer and more popular stuff. We understand that you are trying to do something about it. Beyond the slow-moving figures, what is happening with the spotty distribution and case assortment planning for this year so far? You've always told us that you monitor what's selling and adjust future case assortments to address problems, yet we haven't seen that lately, why not slip in Wedge and the Gamorrean and the like, truly sought-after figures, instead of just another pass at recarded figures?
- - Lucasfilm is all of a sudden talking about the February 2012 cinema release of Episode I in 3D as an experiment, one that, should it not live up to their expectations will end the Saga's re-release train then and there. They've also said that the live-action TV series is on hold a few more years. Should the 3D release not pan out, that would leave only the Blu-Ray release coming up this Fall as major entertainment support for the realistic incarnation of the brand. Granted, Hasbro's Star Wars line has survived plenty of waves without entertainment support, but the state of the toy industry seems more brutal, more dire than before. What is Hasbro looking forward to using as support for the main Star Wars movie line should the 3D movie release not pan out? Hasbro hasn't done any major advertising for the main Star Wars movie line in a while, might there be a renewed push into that realm?
- - Most collectors still haven't really gotten a significant experience with the new Vintage Collection waves that do away with theming. Can you touch a little more on how those new non-themed waves are planned out? Is it harder to find a "voice" for creating a wave that way, or is it freeing not to have to come up with a bunch of figures all centered around a single concept that have to be ready to go at the exact same time?
- - At the SDCC panel, Hasbro talked about the new Battle Droid and even a new ROTJ Speeder Bike in the works. Both these items are ones that previous iterations have suffered significant wilting on, their plastics were too soft to support their long, thin designs for any real amount of time. Dave Vennemeyer during the Convention mentioned the Battle Droid, that he slightly thickened up the legs to accommodate the transformation scheme and to add a little more articulation, but he did not not specifically say it was to counter the wilting. The wilting, we've been told by Hasbro, is softer materials being used by the factories, and that team Hasbro Star Wars has been talking to them for some time about addressing the soft plastics issue. So, with the new Battle Droid and Speeder Bike, is something going to be done to avoid that frustrating wilting?
- - In the foreseeable future, can we expect to see the Neimoidian Separatist Shuttle released, seeing how it's appeared in three films, and in 12 Clone Wars episodes so far? It has a unique shape and certainly seems as useful as a Mandalorian Shuttle, which is getting a release.
- - Concerning the Clone Wars Battle Droid figure, will you ever release a regular infantry version that sports the Firefighter Battle Droid's extra-articulated arms, and the Class 1 Fleet Separatist Speeder Pilot Battle Droid's extra-articulated legs, so that we'll have a more articulated animated Battle Droid?
- - The issue of characters appearing in the Saga Legends line around the same time that they appear in The Vintage Collection is something that in the past Hasbro said they were trying to avoid, but lately has changed gears on. For the Saga Legends figures under the TVC line, out of 32 figures 15 of them were repeats of TVC figures on shelves around the same time, such as Anakin, Obi-Wan, Luke ESB Pilot, the AOTC and ROTS Clones, the Stormtrooper, C-3PO, Vader, Grievous, Jango Fett, Mace Windu, and the Super Battle Droid (who is identical aside from a slight change in deco, and a pistol). The Saga Legends versions are often $2 cheaper than their TVC counterparts, and sometimes are even superior in some ways - look at the helmet situation on the TVC Episode III clones compared to the properly-sized, never-green, correctly-painted Saga Legends clone that's also cheaper and comes with a stand. We understand Saga Legends is being replaced by "Movie Heroes" line, but the question remains for that as well. What is the cause of those counter-planned characters, and are they cannibalizing sales from each other as we suspect? Is there any concern that having the same figure out in 2 movie-based lines accelerating its market ceiling being reached?
Vote now, and suggest new questions too. Thanks for participating.