text:
The beta test for Gears of War 3 has officially curb-stomped its last head. To mark the occasion, Epic Games has crunched the numbers and provided some fun stats regarding the beta participation.
According to a press release distributed by Microsoft, 1.29 million people, spanning 145 different countries, participated in the beta. Those participants played 249 years during the 11 million matches. They racked up 927 million kills, 131 million executions, and 23 million deaths by chainsaw. Almost 23 billion bullets were fired to boot.
But you might want to know just how exclusive your prizes are. 4.9 billion ribbons and 291 million medals were earned through the beta. If you earned the beta-exclusive Thrashball Cole skin, you're in good company with about 435,000 fellow fake sport enthusiasts. If you managed to earn the beta-exclusive Gold Retro Lancer, only about 234,000 people are as awesome as you.
"An overwhelming success - we can't thank the fans enough," said Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski in the announcement. "While the beta was a fun way to give players an early taste of our game, it also provided us with invaluable feedback to help us refine and polish Gears of War 3 to ensure it's truly the culmination of the trilogy we promised to the fans."
Microsoft and Epic Games also announced that the title has surpassed a million worldwide pre-orders, making it the fastest Xbox exclusive to reach the number. Epic also recently unveiled the Limited and Epic editions of the game, going for $80 and $150, respectively.


text:
Recently several unrelated things have caused me to ponder the question: Is the USA an exceptional nation? Two of the things bringing this subject to mind were:
(1) I saw on TV the old movie "Yankee-Doodle-Dandy" about the life of George M Cohan, famous composer of numerous popular songs. In 1917 USA entered WWI; Cohan tried to enlist, but was rejected as overage. So he composed patriotic songs about the war, one of which was "Over there;" several lines went as follows:
"Over there, over there; send the word, send the word over there.
That the Yanks are coming, (repeat and lines omitted)
And we won't come back 'til it's over over there."
We went, and the war ended late the next year. This was the first instance of 20th century exceptionalism insofar as foreign nations were concerned.
(2) Wednesday being the 70th anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor naturally makes one think about the event that drew us into what became WWII. We fought the Axis in both the Pacific and Europe/Africa. The conversion of our heavy manufacturing industries from consumer products to wartime materiel of all sorts was a private sector miracle. Once again, we didn't come back 'til it was over over there. WWII proved our maximal exceptionalism to the world.
American exceptionalism continued after WWII. The Marshall Plan played a huge part in rebuilding a bombed-out Europe. U.S. military personnel have been deployed ever since in Japan, Germany (and Korea since the early 1950s). And don't forget all the foreign aid we've sent many nations for many years.
Post-WWII the federal government crowned our exceptionalism by financing the GI Bill of Rights enabling veterans to get college educations, thus giving USA the educational start toward achieving the highest standard of living in world history. The GI Bill set the stage by doing what government should do to stimulate economic development: Create favorable conditions under which entrepreneurial and industrial dynamism will flourish.
Anyone doubting USA exceptionalism to date is either ignorant of recent U.S. history, or hostile to its founding principles.
Sun City

subset: commoncrawl


text: Back Office Radio had Wolfie on today to discuss his bit about making stuff up in the news and then asking people on the street for their reaction. Then Will passively aggressively asked the rhetorical question, "Isn't that Jimmy Kimmel's bit?" Kaplan snickered, Hehehehehe which translates to bwahahahha. Am I insane or was the intention of this segment to call out Jimmy Kimmel? If you don't watch Kimmel his new premier bit, his 'Jay Walking' if you will, is that exact bit mentioned above but called Lie Witness News. Jason, Will and Wolfie: Please feel free to comment. Bzzzzz


text:
[Fitzgerald,] one of the key backers of Gov. Scott Walker's proposal curbing bargaining rights for public unions... said... he believes his role in passing that law is his largest asset heading into the race. The proposal drew protests as large as 100,000 people and made Wisconsin the center of a national fight on union rights,
"It's the No. 1 thing I've got going for me. It's fresh in people's minds," Fitzgerald said. "We did it right in Wisconsin. ... There are conservatives who think Wisconsin is ground zero for the movement."There is one Democrat in the race so far. It's Tammy Baldwin, who walked arm-in-arm with Jesse Jackson, demonstrating strong support for the protesters.
On the Republican side, Tommy Thompson has declared his candidacy. One difference between Thompson and Fitzgerald is age. Thompson is 69. Fitzgerald turns 45 tomorrow. Thompson is taking the opportunity to run for a seat with no incumbent after he declined to challenge Russ Feingold in the 2010 elections. Back then, when the hard work of unseating Feingold lay ahead, Thompson asserted that it was time for a new generation. That bothers me.


text:
Away from the shopping and cricketing frenzies, Boxing Day throws up its annual cinematic feast, as blockbusters do battle with art-house offerings. Philippa Hawker and Jake Wilson check out what's on.
LES MISERABLES (M) General (158 minutes) ★☆
BRITISH filmmaker Tom Hooper caught a lucky break with The King's Speech, the kind of crowd-pleaser that could have been directed by Harvey Weinstein's pet goldfish and won every award in sight.
His follow-up, Les Miserables, ought to be another sure thing. The musical has been running in the West End for decades, and the premise of Victor Hugo's original novel - reformed thief pursued by Asperger-y cop during the Paris Uprising - has provided a basis for countless screen adaptations.
But unless you're a diehard fan of Claude-Michel Schoenberg's simple tunes and Herbert Kretzmer's doggerel lyrics, there is not much to enjoy in this long, empty film.
Determined to show off his ''cinematic'' abilities, Hooper goes overboard with distorting lenses and oblique camera angles.
The performances are mostly what you would expect. Russell Crowe endows the obsessive Inspector Javert with a stolid manner and pub-rock voice, while Hugh Jackman plays the tormented Jean Valjean with the air of a trouper helping out his less-gifted friends.
Amanda Seyfried as Valjean's adopted daughter is pretty and camp enough for The Importance of Being Earnest. As comic villains, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter score not a single laugh between them, a remarkable testimony to Hooper's anti-talent as a director. And, oh dear, there's Anne Hathaway going the full Joan of Arc as doomed streetwalker Fantine, starved to the bone and warbling I Dreamed a Dream in mega-close-up as if pained by every last, tremulous syllable. Rarely have the movies seen such an embarrassingly naked plea for applause. There's nothing left to do but give her an Oscar and send her off to work with Lars von Trier. JW
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (M) General (169 minutes) ★★★
ONE ring to rule them all, but three movies to tell the story of The Hobbit. You really can have too much of a good thing. It's the same with the special effects, the use of 3D, the decision to divide a relatively short book into three movies. And if you are one of the spectators who sees The Hobbit at a cinema with the ability to show the film at 48 frames a second, rather than the customary 24 - about 50 such cinemas are in Australia - there is every chance you might feel the same. Sometimes, more is really less.
The Hobbit, of course, was there to be filmed, after all Peter Jackson had achieved with The Lord of the Rings. It's the story of events that took place before the trilogy: the tale of how Bilbo Baggins, homebody hobbit, went on the adventure of his life, joining a band of dwarfs in their quest to regain their lost kingdom of Mount Erebor.
Martin Freeman (The Office, Sherlock) makes a thoroughly engaging Bilbo, a figure of diffidence and quiet resolve. Ian McKellen is the charismatic wizard we would all want to be travelling with, and there are cameos from Lord of the Rings favourites: one of the saving moments of the film is Bilbo's meeting with Gollum (once again brought to unsettling life by Andy Serkis). There is a palpable tension here, a welcome feeling of desperation and danger.
But much else in the movie feels stunning in the wrong way. The film is a remarkable technical achievement, yet the look is an odd combination of breathtaking detail and glistening cheesiness, in the service of a narrative that's one roller-coaster ride after another, a succession of orc, goblin and troll smack-downs. ''Oh dear, more orcs,'' I found myself thinking, not out of fear, but of weariness.
It's just as well Jackson didn't decide to go the long route when he made The Lord of the Rings. We might still be waiting for ''The Return of The King Part XII''. PH
WRECK-IT RALPH (PG) General (108 minutes) ★★★★
HALF of Wreck-It Ralph takes place within an ultra-cutesy, pseudo-Japanese arcade game where players race cars across landscapes made of candy. Brilliantly, this game is called Sugar Rush - a phrase that also describes the sensation brought on by this fizzy, colourful movie.
A Disney release, Wreck-It Ralph feels like a logical extension of Pixar's Toy Story series, which is not surprising, since Pixar chief John Lasseter now runs Disney as well. Just as significantly, director Rich Moore worked on many episodes of The Simpsons. Ralph is a loveable oaf in the Homer Simpson tradition. He is voiced by an ideally cast John C. Reilly, who, as usual, sounds like a friendly ogre who's just woken up. A hulking fellow in a red flannel shirt, Ralph is the villain of a vintage video game that resembles Donkey Kong, in which his role is to break things as fast as the perky Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) can fix them. Though he performs an essential service, Ralph is shunned by the other characters until he embarks on a quest to prove that bad guys can be nice guys, too.
The premise supplies a clever alibi for the use of 3D: the ''real'' Ralph literally has more depth than his pixellated game avatar. Wreck-It Ralph does for video games what Who Framed Roger Rabbit? did for the golden age of animation. But it hardly matters if you miss the in-jokes because there's so much else to enjoy. The great Jane Lynch hilariously voices a Lara Croft figure battling alien bugs in a Starship Troopers future, and Sarah Silverman's hoarse, gurgling tones are perfect for the ''glitching'' problem child Vanellope von Schweetz, an endearing force for mess and chaos in the squeaky-clean Sugar Rush world. JW
PARENTAL GUIDANCE (PG)General (105 minutes) ★★☆
AT FIRST, this looks as if it is going to be a culture-clash family comedy - a face-off between helicopter parenting, 21st-century style, and Model T, back-to-basics discipline. You might assume, to begin with, writers Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse and director Andy Fickman (She's the Man, Race to Witch Mountain) have set things up for old-school values to triumph, for cake and competitiveness to trump tofu dogs and peewee baseball games that always end in a draw. But it's a little more ecumenical than it first appears.
Billy Crystal and Bette Midler play a couple who are called upon to care for their three grandchildren for a few days. He's a grouch who has just been made redundant from his job as a baseball caller; she's his perky yet feisty foil. They have grown apart from their daughter, Alice (Marisa Tomei), whose parenting style is a combination of benign reinforcement and constant surveillance, backed up with a sugar-free diet.
Their home is designed by Alice's husband, Phil (Tom Everett Scott), and it's an intelligent dwelling that anticipates their every need. This high-tech haven is not really a plot point, however; in fact, it takes on an odd kind of normality in the context of the movie.
The grandchildren have various anxieties with which their grandparents are at first reluctant to engage, particularly Artie. This is, ultimately, Crystal's movie and the ups and downs of his dealings with his grandsons are its chief focus. Yet, although it's designed for family entertainment, there's not a lot to entertain a young audience, apart from a few bits of strained physical comedy. PH
SAMSARA (PG) Selected (98 minutes) ★★★
SAMSARA is an epic piece of cross-continental collage, made by the filmmakers who gave us a similar work, Baraka, 20 years ago. Director Ron Fricke (who shot Koyaanisqatsi) and his co-writer and producer, Mark Magidson, spent five years filming in 25 countries, and there is something of the magical mystery tour about the footage they have assembled, without word of explanation, into a slow-moving, meditative whole.
The title is taken from the Sanskrit word for the concept of birth, death and impermanence. There are ancient buildings and contemporary cityscapes, the flow of an active volcano and the sight of abandoned buildings half-filled with sand. There is human activity, sometimes quotidian, sometimes creative, and rituals of all kinds: a French performance artist transforms himself with clay; Filipino prisoners in orange jumpsuits engage in an exhilarating mass dance. There are bursts of frantic shopping, and the painstaking construction of a sand mandala that will be deliberately swept into oblivion as soon as it is complete.
Almost everything takes on, for better and for worse, an aura of grandeur. Opposites are cultivated in the way this material has been filmed and juxtaposed. There is beauty in disaster, and a certain ugliness in modernity.
Some of the most unsettling images are about consumption and its price. A recurring motif is the wheel and the circle - sometimes it has a spiritual connotation, but when it comes to the cows being mechanically milked in the stalls of a huge, slowly turning device, it is more like a wheel in Hades.
The movie moves from one image or topic to another quite quickly and, at times, Samsara's juxtapositions can seem too pointed and obvious. At other moments, it is utterly breathtaking. PH
QUARTET (M) Selected (98 minutes) ★★☆
YOU may feel you've seen Quartet before; in a way, you have. This is yet another film in which a group of senior citizens - played by legends of stage and screen - are thrown together under trying circumstances, enabling them to flirt, bicker, swear and carry on as disgracefully as men and women half their age.
Quartet is based on a play by Ronald Harwood, whose many screenwriting credits include Roman Polanski's The Pianist and Oliver Twist. The director is Dustin Hoffman, who, at the age of 75, has never directed a film before and probably never will again. If you don't know what to do with this information, me neither.
The setting is a retirement home for classical musicians - which might more accurately be called a retirement castle, since the entire film was shot on location at Hedsor House, a one-time royal residence dating to 1166. A planned benefit concert provides the excuse for a series of acting turns, some more amusing than others: Maggie Smith as an acid-tongued sourpuss is a guaranteed pleasure, but I can't say the same for Billy Connolly as a loveably lecherous stroke victim.
One difficulty is that Smith, Connolly and their co-stars are obviously not opera singers - and so there's no possibility of actually hearing them sing. To make up for this, Hoffman casts real musicians in most of the minor roles, weaving their supposed rehearsals into the narrative throughout.
Easily the most powerful part of the film is the closing credits sequence, featuring photographs of all the performers in their younger days. This is moving in a simple, undeniable way - not least because famous faces and unknowns are placed on roughly the same level. Old age spares nobody: it might be a truism, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. JW


text:
Find a niche for yourself at your child's school. Unlike in the lower grades, middle school classrooms don't need extra adults on hand. But you can volunteer in other ways. Serve as an adviser for an extracurricular activity such as the school paper, chess club or science fair. If you can't be in school during the day, ask teachers and other school personnel to give you work you can do at home. Collect recyclables for a science or art project. Serve on a parent-school advisory council or join the school's PTO or PTA. Chaperone school dances or volunteer to drive kids to competitions. It will give you a chance to meet other parents, school staff and your child's classmates.
— Amy Novak, school counselor, Harlem Middle School


text:
|2013-05-11, 16:27
|Link #1
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Austria
Arranged Marriages
[mod edit: This topic was split from another thread. The first ~30 posts were moved from the other thread. This is why this topic has a bit of an unconventional opening. Also, despite being split to a new topic, the staff ask that people try to keep this thread polite and on-topic, and avoid flaming other people for their personal beliefs.]
Take, for example, Ai Yori Aoshi: gender, traditon, money... All that works together to create a social background that gives meaning to individual decisions. This show, to me, also shows how the term "progressive" can lead you miss a lot: I was so biased against arranged marriages that it took me a while to "get" the story; watching this one has been a very interesting cultural experience for me.
Last edited by relentlessflame; 2013-05-14 at 00:20.
|2013-05-13, 04:08
|Link #3
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Austria
|2013-05-13, 07:54
|Link #4
Senior Member
Also, I have to frank - I find it silly to expect humans to overcome any bias that we may have. We're human beings, not perfectly objective machines. It's when we think we're holding no bias at all that we are actually at our most biased, in my view - Because it gives us a false sense of "higher ground" compared to others.
The fact is that we all have culturally/socially-ingrained biases, and the most we can realistically hope to do is to recognize them in ourselves and try to temper them/account for them.
|2013-05-13, 13:24
|Link #5
Though when people mean overcome bias it also means to simply accept other possibilities.
As for arranged message itself though, I think it can been sufficiently strong enough to address as what certain people believe it to be something like that. Yes, I understand that a strong belief in individual choice is particularly a facet of the mindset of Western Democracy, but I think it would be so firmly ingrained in our collective morality, that I could most indeed feel that it is wrong if it involves coercion that I would be pretty dishonest if I were try to argue otherwise. It probably isn't the only valid assessment, but then again what ever is? Is this really "bias" or a "cultural difference". Yes, but if you're addressing this particular poster as a person, it would be impossible to separate these beliefs from my own. Obviously this isn't as clear cut as say, the treatment of women in the Middle East.
It is certainly a degree of high horsedness, but then again I think it's somewhat necessary, especially against the more extreme examples of inequality out there.
|2013-05-13, 13:27
|Link #6
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Austria
When I say "cultural experience" above, I mean that by confronting my bias in that one instances I learned to understand things better (or I got the illusion of understanding things better) that express themselves in many anime: like the gap between what you say and what you mean, some things about respect... None of these concepts are culturally specific, but all of them are culturally flavoured - sometimes to the point that they seem alien. Can you imagine a Hollywood remake of Ai Yori Aoshi?
|2013-05-13, 14:02
|Link #7
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: forever lost inside a logic error
A bias by definition is an illogical and unfair prejudice.
If you think "arranged marriages" are wrong you should condemn them after an objective and fair analysis.
There is just no excuse for not trying to get rid of biases, no matter the case.
|2013-05-13, 15:01
|Link #8
Senior Member
A bias is simply "a particular tendency or inclination". It's a personal preference.
People will always have their personal preferences, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Some anime fans are biased in favor of slice of life. Some are biased against slice of life. Some are biased in favor of certain character types. Some are biased against certain character types.
As long as we recognize these biases in ourselves, and account for them when discussing our opinions on things, I think that it's fine. For example, if you have a strong dislike for slice of life - If you simply find it slow and boring by your tastes - Then that is a legitimate taste preference. It's not something you should feel you have to "overcome" (i.e. defeat, conquer). But it is important to recognize this bias in yourself, so you don't go around thinking that slice of life shows are all objectively bad, when really it's just that they don't align well with your tastes.
Trying to force people to like certain genres, plot elements, and character types that they have a personal bias against is generally counterproductive in my view.
These personal preferences are part of who we were. To try to force ourselves to get rid of all of them would simply amount to us denying who we are.
A statistical breakdown of how likely such marriages are to end in divorce compared to non-arranged marriages? Quality of Life indexes comparing countries with arranged marriages against countries without them? Interviewing people in arranged marriages to determine how happy and content they are?
These all can make us more well-informed, of course, but they paint a very vague picture by themselves. Ultimately, personal preferences will have to fill in the gaps. Ultimately, you either believe that personal freedom in making important life choices is a top and unassailable priority, or you don't believe that. You can't fully measure specific ideals like "freedom" and "equality" - You either hold to those ideals, or you don't. You can't reasonably expect everybody everywhere to just naturally share all of your ideals, as those ideals are shaped (at least to some degree) by your own social and cultural context.
|2013-05-13, 16:46
|Link #9
Join Date: Aug 2011
|2013-05-13, 16:50
|Link #10
|2013-05-13, 17:08
|Link #11
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: forever lost inside a logic error
Read the full definition:
a particular tendency or inclination, especially one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question; prejudice.
an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
|2013-05-13, 17:18
|Link #13
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Arcadia Bay.
Age: 25
Living in a country where arranged-marriage is more or less a norm, I would say its got more to do with the social environment one grows up in. I mean people here consider marriage like a check-point that that needs to be arrived at. More correctly a means to further the family name and line. While that may be logically correct, it just seems too cold.
The choices more often than not are made for you - regardless of gender of the parties involved.
Oh, and divorce is really frowned upon here - its especially painful for the women since, the bias against women is already bone deep.
|2013-05-13, 17:19
|Link #14
blinded by blood
The social environment is irrelevant. Slavery is not okay; we don't excuse enslaving people based on culture. Neither do we excuse murder. Arranged marriage is simply another form of slavery, so why do we consider it okay? We shouldn't.
|2013-05-13, 17:32
|Link #15
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Arcadia Bay.
Age: 25
^ Not saying I agree with the notion of arranged-marriage. But, when it becomes a norm its easier to overlook as being an incursion on your free will. And, frankly, people here are eye-balls deep in the belief that their children should obey their every word, forever - and in fact, almost all the time they do.
So, yeah its pretty cultural as far as my specific example is concerned. Social standing is greater than individuality here.
Admittedly, its better now than it was before.
|2013-05-13, 17:34
|Link #16
I experienced once from a friend of mine that though they were fixed by their parents, she came to grew up with the guy (since high school). They spent a lot of time together until they were comfortable.
Their marriage was finalized with their respective approval.
You can't marry someone you just meet.
|2013-05-13, 19:37
|Link #18
I'll be damn happy if my fiance is a beautiful girl.
|2013-05-13, 19:58
|Link #19
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
I used to be completely against arranged marriages until I became friends with someone who was in one. My friend was from India but she was an international student at the same college as me.
Her parents really picked a good guy for her. They have things common and are friends and he treats her right. Was she in love with him? I don't think so but I can see it was a relationship of mutual respect.
I think if she really disliked the guy, she could have said no. But as she had no outright reason to object, besides I don't love him she accepted the marriage.
Anyways I think the arrangement was similar to what Genjichan was saying. You aren't completely forced and you do have a say but its still your parents who will arrange the marriage.
|2013-05-13, 20:00
|Link #20
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: InterWebs
|Thread Tools


text:
When planning out the hardware and network configuration for a database mirroring configuration you need to plan for more than just the normal workload on the system. During the night you'll probably be running index maintenance on the database, and when you do this you'll have a massive amount of data which will need to be transferred from the primary system to the mirror system.
Related: Efficient index maintenance using database mirroring
If you haven't planned for these peaks of data traffic you'll end up seeing some performance problems. When this happens if you are using synchronous mirroring you'll see the index maintenance taking longer than expected. When you are using asynchronous mirroring you'll see the index maintenance taking the normal amount of time, however the database mirroring could fall minutes behind of even hours behind depending on how slow the mirror servers hard drives are or how slow the network is.
If you see these problems when running your index maintenance look at the perfmon counters for the mirror to see if the storage is being overloaded. You'll also want to look at the network latency between the two servers to ensure that the network is up to the workload.
Related: SAN Replication vs. Cloustering vs. Mirroring


text:
It's not often that business students can sit face-to-face with industry executives who share first-hand experience and insight into international business, product and service trends, and brand management – unless the students are at the College of Charleston. In the School of Business, the executives-in-residence and adjunct professors' classes often fill quickly with eager undergraduate and graduate students who want insight and access to industries and companies where the leaders have worked so they can learn "how they built their careers" in good and weak economic times.
The newest adjunct faculty addition is Susan O'Malley, former president and CEO of the Washington Sports and Entertainment including the Washington Wizards NBA franchise, Washington Mystics WNBA franchise, Washington Capitals NHL franchise, and former EVP for the Washington Bullets NBA franchise.
In fall 2013 O'Malley, a sports marketing and promotional master, will teach sports law, the business of sports, and sports marketing.
"Having industry leaders in the classrooms helps to prepare 'ready-to-work' graduates," says Alan T. Shao, dean of the School of Business. "O'Malley brings a wealth of sports team and arena management, franchise brand building, and contract negotiation expertise to teach our students about the world of professional sports. We have a lot of students interested in sports marketing and management. It doesn't get any better for them than to have O'Malley in the classroom."
O'Malley, the first female president of an NBA franchise, began her sports career as director of advertising for the Washington Bullets in 1986. At the age of 29 and just eight years older than our typical graduate, O'Malley was named president of the team, and later went on to become president and CEO of Washington Sports and Entertainment and the Washington Wizards NBA franchise, managing a $650 million business, including Verizon Center, three sports franchises, USAirways Arena and TicketMaster. Today, she shares her professional experience at speaking engagements and continues to work on a consulting basis for Washington Sports and Entertainment.
O'Malley received her B.S. in business and finance from Mount Saint Mary's College, and her Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law School. She joins the College of Charleston School of Business from Saint Joseph's University Haub School of Business. O'Malley has been featured in Sports Illustrated and Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal.
Other adjunct faculty members who contribute to the School of Business' success include:
- Tommy Baker, president and CEO of Baker Motor Company, School of Business Entrepreneur-in-residence, co-teaches a seminar in entrepreneurship.
- Ben Lever, former president of Ford Motor Company (Japan) Ltd., director of Mazda Motor Corporation (Hiroshima) and Kia Motors (Seoul), teaches international management.
- Stephen Todd, CPA and Ernst & Young's former global vice chairman, teaches contemporary accounting issues.
- Garth Cook, senior leader, education relations, Boeing South Carolina, teaches management and organizational behavior.
- Leonard Hutchinson, president of the Charleston area Wells Fargo Bank, teaches intermediate finance.
- David Morgan, president and CEO of Litton Entertainment and 2012 Emmy Award Winner, teaches the business of television.
- Peter Smith, trust administrator for John Hancock Financial Services, teaches risk management and insurance.
- David Holscher, general manager of the North Charleston Coliseum, Performing Arts Center, Charleston Areas Convention Center, teaches events management.
- Richard Bilas, former president of the California Public Utilities Commission, teaches environmental economics.
- Bob Brinson, co-founder of Halcyon, co-instructs managerial leadership with Dr. Howard Rudd.
- Cynthia Grosso, founder of the Charleston School of Protocol and Etiquette, teaches business etiquette.
About the College
The College of Charleston is a public liberal arts and sciences university located in the heart
of historic Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770, the College is among the nation's top
universities for quality education, student life and affordability. With more than 11,000 students,
the College of Charleston offers the distinctive combination of a beautiful and historic campus,
modern facilities and cutting-edge programs.
About the School of Business
College of Charleston's School of Business offers six undergraduate majors and several interdisciplinary concentrations, an honors program, an M.S. in Accountancy and an MBA. Approximately 1500 undergraduate and graduate students attend from as far away as China, Germany and Brazil. The faculty has research expertise in areas such as global logistics, hospitality and tourism, political economics, financial investment, bankruptcy, business intelligence, and sustainable business practices. Visit http://sb.cofc.edu/to learn more about our students' achievements, undergraduate and graduate programs, faculty and Centers of Excellence.


text:
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A'dia Mathies had 16 points, and No. 6 Kentucky routed Delaware State in the teams' season opener Saturday, 90-50.
The Wildcats (1-0) put their signature pressure defense to work early and forced Delaware State into turnovers - all traveling calls - on each of its first three possessions. By the time the Hornets (0-1) took their first shot, they were already down 7-0.
Kentucky then stretched its early lead to 20-4; at that point, seven different Wildcats had scored. The Wildcats' defense kept its press on the whole game, and the Hornets, making their debut under first-year head coach Tamika Louis, could not mount any sort of consistent offense. Delaware State did not score consecutive field goals until less than a minute was left in the first half.
Kentucky finished with 53 points off 31 Delaware State turnovers.
Mathies, the Southeastern Conference's preseason player of the year finished six assists and four steals. Tierra Hawkins had 28 points for the Hornets.


text:
After falling for four consecutive weeks, the U.S. Comex gold futures rebounded 0.17% this week, ending at $1,574.90 on Tuesday. The gold futures climbed a further 0.20% during early Wednesday Asian hours. The CRY Commodities index rose 0.42% this week after a weak performance in the past month. The Dollar Index is a mirror image of gold, rising for the past four weeks and dropping 0.27% this week. The S&P 500 index and the Euro Stoxx 50 index rebounded strongly by 1.42% and 2.53% respectively this week.
Central Banks' Actions Bullish For Gold
The Fed's Vice Chairman Yellen recently said that the Fed should continue with bond purchases and did not see any strong evidences of excessive risk-building. Fed Chairman Bernanke also believed that raising interest rates too soon would affect longer-term economic recovery and lower the real returns to investors. Iwata, the Bank of Japan nominee, intends to push inflation rate as quickly as possible to 2%, buy bonds with maturity longer than three years, and possibly start bond purchases this year. The recent Euro/Dollar weaknesses due to the renewed concerns of the European debt problems will likely lead to more stimulus measures from the ECB. The Chinese government pledged to maintain a GDP growth rate of 7.5% in 2013, which should support gold's demand. While the central bank's policies are supportive for gold, the latest QE program and the rising risk appetite have led to a rise of the S&P 500 index of 8.38% this year compared to a fall in the gold futures of 6.02%.
Short-Term Investment Demand Bearish for Gold
While hedge funds have failed to buy gold recently and have maintained elevated short positions similar to the level in 2005, gold-back ETP holdings also fell to a five-month low of 2,500 tons on March 4 according to Bloomberg. However, the physical demand for gold in China and India has responded to the lower level of gold prices. In the annual budget in India, the government did not raise import duties further, helping gold's future demand from the world's largest gold consumer.


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Wednesday, February 26, 2014
The Charleston Campaign, it's more than the Hunley and Fort Wagner
6 comments:
I completely agree. I've been following Craig's threads on Charleston as well as the diary of Fifth Corps Artillery Chief Charles Wainwright.
Thanks, Drew. As you point out, the Charleston Campaign, which was the war's longest, is often summarized with mention of "Glory!" and the Hunley. Practically every day from April 1863 to the end of the war, Charleston saw some action or activity. As Captain George E. Dixon, of the Hunley, wrote just before his death, "if you wish to see war every day and night, this is the place to see it."ReplyDelete
I have longed for a detailed, well-researched and expertly written history of the entire Charleston campaign. Much like Petersburg, which is finally getting some attention, Charleston was a very complex area of operations. I agree with Drew. Thanks for the attention you are paying to it, Craig.ReplyDeleteReplies
- Chris EvansMarch 03, 2014
I find the Charleston campaign one of the really fascinating campaigns of military history. It is utterly stunning that more hasn't been written on it.ReplyDelete
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Jacques reminisces about his childhood and celebrates the bounty of the season. He cooks up a batch of ratatouille that can be served two ways -- perfectly delicious on its own or with pasta in Ratatouille with Penne. Seafood stars in Shrimp with Cabbage and red Caviar, and delicate peaches end the show in Jacques' classically made Peach Melba.
Visit the Website: www.kqed.org/w/morefastfoodmyway/
Episode #225 / Length: 26 minutes


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Would polarized sunglasses help here? They're generally pretty good at cutting down glare.
But, maybe your doctor or optometrist would be better to ask?
The best way?
By that you mean just as dim and no 3D? That is a very odd definition of best.
The best way?
By that you mean just as dim and no 3D? That is a very odd definition of best.
Actually, that probably *is* the best way to watch most 3D films. Few 3D movies use 3D as more than a gimmick.
So far I have enjoyed Priest, Hobbit and Prometheus. 3D seems about as much a gimmick as color. The big thing I found I had to do was resist the urge to look at what the camera was not focused on. Hopefully one day eye tracking and lytro type cameras make even that possible.
The big thing I found I had to do was resist the urge to look at what the camera was not focused on. Hopefully one day eye tracking and lytro type cameras make even that possible.
I don't think they need lytro type cameras or eye tracking. Directors have been using shallow depths of field to guide the eye and compose the frame for over a hundred years. The problem now is making them choose: selective focus OR 3D. No, not both. No jumping back and forth between selective focus and 3D either. Choose one or the other and get on with the show. To me the big problem is the focus/convergence distance difference. When they can do that (giant heads up display?) it will stop being a gimmick.
At least no headache. If you can't get it in 2D, that may be the best you can hope for.
Stop focusing on stuff that is out of focus.
That is your problem. It was mine as well. You need to keep your focus only the items in focus and not attempt to force the background into focus.
No one is talking about 3D film here, and the OP talks about polarized sunglasses, not 3D glasses.
Poalized dont do anything for glare except on water from direct sunlight.
you need anti glare coatings. And yes It's called going to the eye doctor or turn off the overhead lights.
Poalized dont do anything for glare except on water from direct sunlight.
Polarized glasses eliminate any light not in the proper orientation, regardless of its source. In the example of sunglasses, besides water it also reduces glare from the streets themselves, metal (manhole covers), etc.
The really crazy thing about polarized sunglasses is that you can actually see the difference they make by tilting your head. I often find myself looking down at the street as I'm walking around Boston rolling my head back and forth, amused by how different it looks at different angles, and then belatedly realize I probably look like a loony.
And what do you think the technology behind 3D glasses is? Hint: polarization
Or red/blue color blocking, or LCD shutters. (which I guess technically rely on polarization, but that's not how they get the 3D effect - mechanical shutters would work just as well).
This is like saying all black birds are crows.
1) Some 3D glasses use polarization to achieve this, but lots of sunglasses are polarized and have nothing to do with 3D.
2) In fact polarized sunglasses usually have both lenses oriented in the same direction, instead of being orthoganal, and as such would not work with a 3D display.
3) Even if you were using glasses poloarized for 3D, the discussion at hand still has nothing to do with 3D because the OP seemed to imply he's talking about a regular display. Afte
No. I just tried with a pair on my screen. On this Dell LCD is seems to increase the distance between the text and the glass(plastic)? So whatever polarized coating they use in manufacture, gives all of the head ache and none of the 3D effect.
HOWEVER! Just one lens is fine. So using two rights of lefts will be fine and is the best way to watch a 3D film.
Turn your screen 90 degrees and the polarized glasses should take care of 100% of the glare. On most LCD screens, it will make the image go completely black.
Which is always amusing when places use a monitor turned 90% as an information display - one bright sunny day we walked into a fast food restaurant and my wife asked me what I was going to order, while she pointed to the blank screens. I couldn't figure out how she was reading the menu until I remembered to take off my sunglasses.
What I don't know is whether monitor makers purposely chose a polarization direction that works well with glare reducing polarized sunglasses, or if it's just coincidence that the best polarization direction for a monitor also happens to be compatible with sunglasses.
I tend to have this problem at the local train station I use to exit the city in the evenings, the platform boards at the station entry are portrait orientated LCD screens. I have to remember to remove my sunglasses as I approach so I can read them as I get rushed past them in a hurry by the stream of people.
Polarized sunglasses cut glare because reflected light tends to be polarized in one direction. Therefore you can selectively block it out.
Alas, modern flat panel displays all use polarized filters to work. So they don't work too well with polarized glasses.
Black on white on LED screens gives me major migraines. When will they understand computer screens are not like ink on paper.
Never, I think. I have a Kindle Fire, and was astonished to find that the default colour scheme for reading books was black-text-on-white. It can be changed to white-on-black, but I just can't fathom why anyone would choose the default option if they knew to change it. Surely Amazon employ UI designers?
Surely Amazon employ UI designers?
They do, and don't call Amazon Shirley.
Well, I can't fathom why you think the only color option is binary: #FFFFFF vs #000000 . At least with the tablets chez moi (one iPad, one Onda Android), it's easy to adjust the page background in book-reading apps (Nook, Mantano, etc) to some other color. I find a light parchment, with, yes, black text, to be very comfortable.
Back in the dim dark past when I used to do website UI stuff (TM), I used to set my backgrounds at something approaching 5% grey and the text at something like 95% grey because it was much easier on the eyes to read, but still afforded ample contrast. Don't ask me to remember the RGB settings, it's been too long.
Well, Amazon Kindle has unfortunately pre-made three choices for you:
1. (Default) Black on light gray. Not great but OK.
2. White on black. And that is hard black on true white. High contrast nightmare.
3. Sepia: some sort of grayish on some sort of yellowish. Low contrast nightmare.
White on black and sepia lay essentially on extremes of the contrast range, leaving as useful only the #1. Without a jail-break, there is no way to create the popular for backlit screens "Light gray on black" color scheme. An
If it's an OLED display, black backgrounds save on battery...
Most fonts appear to have smoother edges and more consistent curves when rendered as black-text-on-white background, which is why that is the default
Most fonts appear to have smoother edges and more consistent curves when rendered as black-text-on-white background, which is why that is the default
Er, what?
The web colour scheme was around since well before anti-aliasing was common. And has been annoying all that time. If it was easier to read, why would most sysadmins have green-on-black coloured xterms?
I did once compile xdark [fastmail.fm], and you can invoke "xdark 1 0" to reverse video the entire screen, but I never got into the habit of using it regularly.
Because it looks more like a book this way?
We have some terminal Apps at work. I have mine with a black background... You will be surprised how many complain about that black background color, saying how hard it is to see. I expect most of the bitching and moaning isn't that it is harder to see, but what they are use too.
We have some terminal Apps at work. I have mine with a black background... You will be surprised how many complain about that black background color, saying how hard it is to see. I expect most of the bitching and moaning isn't that it is harder to see, but what they are use too.
There is a legitimacy to that - white-on-black generally causes the black to "creep" into the white font, so a designer who uses the color scheme generally has to increase the font size and/or bold it so it retains the same apparent
I realised a few years ago I didn't like the bright, white glare of a screen in the evening (or at night).
I installed Redshift [jonls.dk] (check the repository before installing it manually), and now my screen fades to a warmer palette gradually, as the day progresses. The colour temperature changes to match the outside light. The first time I enabled it at night and the screen changed I could feel my eyes relaxing.
Another option is to leave everything as black-on-white, then invert the screen. KDE has a graphics ef
I'm used to interpreting "glare sensitivity" to meaning the screen is generally too bright for your eyes, but the subsequent comments about needing to use high contrast color palettes has me thinking maybe you mean something else.
Anyway: I stare at a monitor all day, and for quite a while I had some serious dry eye problems because of it. Then about a year ago I bought some Gunnar glasses ( http://www.gunnars.com/ [gunnars.com] ) and my eyes got happier within 24 hours. Wear them all the time now.
Full disclosure: I'm not even kind of affiliated with Gunnar. I just wear their glasses and I like them.
When I was in college, we had fluorescent lights and super bright LED screens. The intensity was a little much for me, so I wore my sunglasses all the time.
I'd recommend any glasses that are Polarized - that's what's making the Gunnar glasses work in this scenario, although the Gunnar glasses aren't darkened, which could be nice.
Buy cheap glasses from anywhere with a 10% yellow tint and anti glare coatings and get the same thing as "gunnar" glasses for about $29.00 shipped.
That is all they are. Although I prefer the 10% grey as it increases contrast and does not color my world.
I was thinking the same thing - yellow plastic glasses. The website is mostly videos with breathless explainations, disbelieving headshaking at what they've discovered, and questionable claims. The lenses are made from DIAMIX which apparently has no definition outside of their website. Personally I'm disappointed they aren't made of Diamondium.
I was thinking the same thing - yellow plastic glasses.
My first thought was: yellow filter. The effect of the yellow filter is well known from the times of B&W photography: boost contrast, darken the (blue) skies (so that they do not white out completely). In color or with DSLRs, the same effect is achieved by adjusting white balance settings in the direction of amber: it gives the picture warmer colors.
Some people have mentioned above the Redshift. I personally use on my PC the f.lux and it appears that both programs have almost the same effect as the ye
You do realize that all those speciality glasses are doing is what you should be doing anyways, right?
Calibrate your monitor to ~6500K and the need for yellow tint glasses goes away. Modern monitors come from the factory over 10000K which is AWFUL.
Added blue makes whites look 'whiter' and brighter, so they keep turninig up the blue.
I looked at the Gunnar Web site and saw no scientific backing of any of their claims. In my opinion, any improvement you'll get from these is 100% due to a placebo effect.
specifically tuned focusing power - It's your eyes that do the focussing. Air does not distort focussing unless it's extremely hot.
DIAMIX lens material is optically pure. - So is air. Actually, air is probably more optically pure than DIAMIX.
IONIK lens tints improve overall contrast and comfort by filtering out harsh artificial light, eliminating UV rays and reducing high-intensity visible light. - So does your eye. You have an iris, lens and your brain automatically corrects for white balance. If your work place behind a computer screen puts you in dangerous UV light, you really need to look at your TFT, since those don't emit UV at all.
iFi lens coatings include an anti-reflective layers to reduce glare - If there was no lens in the glasses, they wouldn't have to put anti-reflective layers on it. The only reflection those layers partially prevent is the reflection on the glasses themselves.
TL;DR Snake oil glasses, you've been conned.
I think they are just yellow tinted glasses. I needed some glasses for twilight bike riding in the rain (to protect my eyes from rain at speed), and the store I went to had both clear and yellow tinted, so I thought I'd try the yellow tinted. To my surprise, I discovered they helped a little with driving at night: my eyes didn't get as dry, and my endurance and night driving agitation was reduced. Maybe it's placebo, but it was only a mistake that I wore them (I put them on because snow and forgot them on,
I've been using yellow glasses for driving at night and in fog, heavy rain etc. They reduce the glare from headlights, and in rain/fog they seem to increase visibility.
I suspect that this is because (as with sunglasses) they filter out some of the light, reducing the dynamic range your eyes have to deal with, so you end up with less eyestrain.
Maybe. I don't have any data to refute your claims.
That being said, it's been a long time since I tried to hold a company's marketing material up against the piercing scrutiny of science. I also don't expect most companies to describe in reproducible detail the process they go through to produce their products, or the detailed results of any internal comparison studies they performed. Not for consumer products, anyway.
It may be a placebo, but it's the most effective placebo I've ever had.
You have to learn how to read marketoid speak, then it all makes sense.
specifically tuned focusing power
"Low power reading glasses"
DIAMIX lens material is optically pure.
"Transparent lenses"
IONIK lens tints improve overall contrast and comfort by filtering out harsh artificial light, eliminating UV rays and reducing high-intensity visible light.
iFi lens coatings include an anti-reflective layers to reduce glare
"Polarized tinted sunglasses"
I looked at the Gunnar Web site and saw no scientific backing of any of their claims. In my opinion, any improvement you'll get from these is 100% due to a placebo effect.
[... skip
TL;DR Snake oil glasses, you've been conned.
Google for "photography yellow filter". References are scarce, because the filters were used in B&W photography, in pre-Internet times. But there are some.
Alternatively google for "white balance amber" or ask on DSLR forums/check DSLR books about the shit to amber. Or if you have a DSLR, you can even experiment with it yourself: shoot a RAW and in any RAW development tool, play with the blue-yellow gauge in the white balance.
All in all, as few commented above, those are simply well made yellow glass
Another option is to look at the brightness settings on your monitor. Most are adjustable. Firstly consider using a lower (warmer) colour temperature, or alternately just adjusting the brightness down and potentially the contrast slightly. This may alleviate the symptoms without needing to mess around with software configurations.
That said, if you are routinely suffering from glare based headaches, you probably need an eye exam and something like transition lenses.
You didn't say what version of Windows you were running, so it's tough to tell what might be available to you from an accessibility standpoint. On the Mac you can invert colours, use greyscale, and alter the contrast of the screen as well as cursor size (in addition to the typical colour schemes, display brightness, etc). It sounds to me like you may be facing an uphill battle if you are trying to do this outside of what the OS supports directly.
I've got a similar problem. I've taken to filing bugs with every vendor when I encounter a forced color scheme that dishonors system settings. Fat client apps are very likely to get fixed.
Visual Studio fixes itself if you turn on high-contrast and then load your color scheme on top of it. In Windows 7, saving your color scheme with high contrast enabled saved high contrast enabled to the color scheme. In Windows 8, high contrast is always on when the color scheme is not the default.
Unfortunately, websites tend to not fix their bugs. I get too many "it's a browser bug", and one that was equivalent to "use a screen reader" even after I offered to fix their bug for them.
I suppose you could hack up a 1 bit display driver that only sends green to the monitor, or perhaps with a remote desktop client that does (incoming) -> (gresyscale) -> (green) -> (inverted green).
I've taken to filing bugs with every vendor when I encounter a forced color scheme that dishonors system settings.
Mind sharing that template?
In return, I give you this:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/change-colors/jbmkekhehjedonbhoikhhkmlapalklgn?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon [google.com]
Or... cut pin 1 and 3 on your VGA connector: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector [wikipedia.org]
Invert the colors in X11 itself: xcalib -i -a
What would that do to a Wine session, or to a VM running Windows on a Linux host?
If it does what I think (Linux-only here, no VM or Wine), there could be confusing issues in figuring out palettes afterwards in the VM or in a Wine session. The OP mentioned using Office and Visual Studio, so it's likely to be a Windows user.
If black on white text is too bright then you probably need more light in the room. Your eyes adjust to the overall scene brightness, so if you have a bright screen in the middle of a dark field, because the lights are out in the room, then the screen will appear too bright and fatiguing. Try installing some LEDs on the back of your monitor to illuminate the wall behind the screen. That will increase the overall scene brightness and make the screen seem less harsh without creating reflections on the screen.
Try installing some LEDs on the back of your monitor to illuminate the wall behind the screen.
Or, if you prefer more moderate or darker ambient lighting, you can simply turn down the brightness of your monitor. I normally keep mine between 10% and 25% of full brightness, and usually adjust the contrast a bit as well.
For what it's worth, I found this solution by mistake many years ago. I had set my laptop to always use its dimmest setting. It was a power saving feature, meant for use when powered by battery only. Having the screen always dim, I got very used to it that way. I wondered why othe
It's not the brightness, it's the contrast. I can't see shit in low light... I had myopia now after a had crystalline implants I see almost 20/20 at almost any range except in the 0-50cm proximity in low light. I could read at the light of the stars with myopia, now I can't read shit... but I can see the writing. I found that if I have more light (contrast) I can almost read anything a normal person can read.
If it's MacOS X, go into the 'Universal Access' control panel, and there's a 'contrast' slider, and you can force greyscale, black on white, or white on black.
Most X windows managers have ways to do similar things, although in some you have to mess with configuration files.
No idea how to do it in Amiga or Haiku, though.
I have thinking about how to solve the issue programmatically. That is, once and for all. There are a few rules which could be forced upon the window server. Compiz for example has some potential in this direction, so it could be refined.
- When luminance per area exceed a user-set property, invert luminance but keep chroma. Perhaps something ImageMagick or similar could do with ease.
- Be aware of common image formats and be reasonably sure that everything else is typeface. With emerging VR we might have to
Perhaps you need someone trained to alternative explanations?
After all, several of the available color schemes were adapted using people trained in adapting color schemes. Maybe someone trained may help you.
They can be applied to any window w/ a key combo, and are fairly customisable.
Here's a custom one applied to Firefox, is one that preserves colours while inverting lightness.
http://m8y.org/tmp/biased-inverted-lightness.txt [m8y.org]
http://m8y.org/tmp/inverted-lightness.txt [m8y.org]
http://m8y.org/tmp/lightness1.jpeg [m8y.org] http://m8y.org/tmp/lightness2.jpeg [m8y.org] http://m8y.org/tmp/lightness3.jpeg [m8y.org]
Arbitrary tweaks of the values. Apologies for the relative unreadableness of the script (variable reuse, bad names) was just a quick implementati
Ever since my apple ][ days, when I had a color monitor, I knew I liked dark backgrounds and light text. At the time, red on black. Now I am happy with a light gray on black
Setting this on terminals is cake. Even putty can be made reasonable quickly.
However... they are the exception. Nearly everything I use regularly really works. Few support changing color schemes at all, and the ones that do, are so limited as to be useless. Pidgin and eclipse both come to mind as having mechanisms (with pidgin I believe its via plugins) to change color schemes, but only in very limited ways. You can't, change the look of many of the utility window parts, like the resources view....so the darker you make the rest, the more jarring those stand outs become.... often making it less appealing than reverting to defaults.
Of course, I have a north facing window that overlooks an old barn that the neighbors put white siding on, so the glare from that can be prodigeous during the day. Room darkening shades, preferably with wooden slats take care of that nicely.
I also highly recomend a light behind the monitor. I stuck an old lamp back there, but have some LEDs that I used to put an RGB LED version in with.... I just need to mess with the controller a bit more.
So you don't like Black on White but want the background be black?
In KDE I can make all windows or only one selected window inverse the colors.
White will become black and black will become white (and green is red and vice versa)
I tried it for the night when the laptop screen will get too bright.
If this is higher contrast for accessibility issues, while there are OS contrast settings, they will generally not correct for bad accessibility design in web sites themselves. This is a web site design issue.
If a government site, or a site for a government contractor, has accessibility issues, you can force them to fix them via the ADA (American's with Disabilities Act). If it's some other site, and your OS accessibility settings won't handle it, then you need to contact the site maintainers and explain
For me, the best solution has been to just make sure I'm operating in a well-lit room. Doesn't have to be full on halogen lights or anything, but a simple stand lamp somewhere behind you is great. Just turn the brightness down a bit on your monitor, if needed, and that should do it.
What I can't do anymore is use darker color schemes like green text on black, especially in a dark room. It's fine sometimes, but the moment you open google or something, the contrast is too much.
(1) wear a basball cap down over your eyebrows.
(2) stand on the desk and take out all but one fluorescent light tube,.
(3) see the eye doctor, and get tested fully for cataracts. operate if necessary.
I have had to follow those steps in that order. if you can't see the road with oncoming traffic at night, make that eye appointment today.
Illuminated keyboard, darkened room, reduced monitor brightness, helps me and I wear fitovers in density 3 outside.
xcalib -a -i
I spend way more time on the internet than I should, but find the matte WUXGA display on my T61 very comfortable to use.
Dude. They go dark whenever an auditor or third party software salesman walks in.
I had a similar problem. And then I had my cataracts fixed.
Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based on excellence of performance. -- James Bryant Conant


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Every year Mother Nature presents different opportunities for landscape design firms in the Chicago area, said Colin Taheny, vice president of sales for RYCO Landscaping of Lake in the Hills.
"Last year we were dealing with a severe drought. This year there have been a lot of flooding problems. It seems that people are constantly trying to control water and regulate it and we can help them with that," he said.
"This year, for instance, trees that help regulate water on properties and prevent standing water are very popular."
Taheny said homeowners in the suburbs put off landscaping, patio and deck improvements when housing prices were falling during the recession.
"They are starting to feel more confident about the economy, so they are moving forward on the outdoor renovations they have been thinking about for several years. Outdoor living in this area of the country has literally exploded," he said.
RYCO is a 17-year-old architecture design and build firm that installs outdoor improvements for homeowners, while also solving outdoor problems like soggy spots, settling walkways and lack of curb appeal.
"People today are buying value. They know what they want and what they really need -- and we are tweaking the plans we draw to give them as much of what they want without sacrificing quality," Taheny said.
RYCO handles everything from designing paver patios to building pergolas and trellises, outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, decks and water features. It also installs lighting, outdoor kitchens, plantings and water-management systems.
"We examine everything from how the home's front sidewalk plays into the landscaping to how the color of the pavers works with the color and texture of the home's roof. All of the colors and textures used on a home's exterior and lot need to flow together," Taheny said.
"We like to call what we do 'lifescaping' because we are literally creating outdoor living spaces using everything from landscaping to outdoor kitchens and from lighting to fire pits," he said.
"We don't look at our work as selling a project. We look at the whole environment of the home and, for a small fee that can be applied toward the project, we come up with drawings drawn to scale."
The company takes into account the spatial orientation of the yard, such as property lines and when the sun illuminates various portions of the lot, as well as the client's stated budget and desired use of the property, before offering suggestions.
And when they offer those suggestions, they include numerous ways to achieve a similar result at different price points, Taheny said. Homeowners, for instance, may choose to pave with natural stone, poured concrete, pavers that look like natural stone or Holland stone. They can also mix natural stone with pavers in irregular sizes so that the client gets a unique, natural look.
"We also present clients with solutions to their problems like sunken patios and overgrown landscaping, and we offer to phase large projects for them. In a few cases homeowners are even choosing to have us refresh their existing patios. We can reface them if they were laid out properly when they were installed and then we can power wash and seal them to make them look like new," Taheny said.
Composite decks that require less maintenance than wood decks are also available. Homeowners who do not want to go to the expense of building a patio with retaining walls are often choosing to have a deck built instead, he said.
"It is all about embellishing the outdoor space so that the homeowners can happily relax there with smiles on their faces," he said.
Later this summer, RYCO plans to open a display within the Barrett's Technology Solutions showroom at 576 S. Route 59 in Naperville, according to Ben Ubben, senior landscape designer for RYCO.
They will showcase how homeowners may craft a back yard that is filled with high-end lighting and entertainment systems, provided by Barrett's, along with outdoor elements like barbecues, pergolas, plantings, outdoor fireplaces and custom patios, supplied by RYCO.
Similarly, Past Basket of Geneva, a kitchen designer, and Barrett's have teamed up to create a model kitchen with both companies' products on display right next to the patio vignette. A sliding-glass door will separate the two displays, simulating the walk from a home's kitchen to its patio.
"We were definitely thinking outside the box on this by partnering with Barrett's and Past Basket to allow our clientele to walk into a showroom and see how all of the various design elements can fit together. Touching and feeling something is much better than just seeing it in a photo," Taheny said.
The vignettes are expected to be complete at the Naperville location later this summer.
RYCO works throughout the Chicago area and in southern Wisconsin. In addition to landscaping design and installation, the company does both residential and commercial mowing and maintenance; installs and maintains irrigation systems; handles turf and tree care; and installs and maintains outdoor lighting systems.
For more information, call (800) 955-7926 or visit www.RYCOlandscaping.com.


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Champagne Friday: Cellar Candidate - 2004 Bollinger La Grande Annee
By: Gary Westby | K&L Champagne Buyer
Cellar Cantidate: 2004 Bollinger La Grand Annee
This Saturday Cinnamon and I drank a fabulous bottle of 2004 Bollinger "Grande Année" Brut Champagne with an equally great piece of Salmon from local fisherman Pietro Parravano. As I have repeated as often as possible, to anyone who will listen, the 2004s are the vintage to collect right now and put in the cellar. While good and great vintages on either side of 2004 have many attributes to recommend them by, 2004 is alone in its classicism. The Bollinger is one of the strongest examples of this vintage that I have tasted.
This wine is composed of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay, vinified entirely in barrels at Bollinger in Ay. It has been aged for more than six years on the lees in its bottle, and on cork rather than on crown cap. They selected 16 villages for this blend, all from their own estate and the final product is 88% Grand Cru and 12% Premier Cru.
This great Champagne has not yet reached its potential, but like many great young vintages it was all too easy to drink now- especially with a meal. Cinnamon had broiled the salmon fillet with a miso-mayonaise glaze and served it with perfectly fried rounds of rosa bianca eggplant. She cooked the ultra-fresh salmon perfectly and we were able to enjoy it as seared sashimi in the middle and fully cooked on the thinner sides. The salmon played well to the vinous, Pinot power of the Bollinger that on its own was quite light on its feet. It was quite a treat to come home to this after work!
I think that Cinnamon put it better than I could when she said this bottle had "the freshness of 2004 with the blue-blood classic richness of Bollinger." I think this freshness will remain for many years to come and its well structured frame will fill out with both more weight and complexity. I prize the transparency of this vintage and the juxtaposition of the packed house style. I think this is a legend in the making. Now all I have to do is keep my hands off of what I buy!
A toast to you,


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Thursday November 7, 2013
6:45 PM The second film in our Fall Film Festival about pianos is The Piano from 1993. A mute woman along with her young daughter, and her prized piano, are sent to 1850s New Zealand for an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner, and she's soon lusted after by a local worker on the plantation. Starring Holly Hunter, Harvel Keitel, Sam Neil and Anna Paquin.
121 minutes. Rated R.
Refreshments will be served.
This program is supported through funding from the Friends of the Library.


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I had one when I was younger, lost it somehow and REALLY miss it. If anyone has seen anything around, please send me a PM! I'd really love to find another one. There doesn't seem to be much known about them and even less about where they are/were sold.
I got mine from a toy shop that no longer exists
Hunting for a ChibiBotto!
Started by Blue_angel , Oct 06 2011 04:27 PM
Started06 Oct 2011
Last Post08 Feb 2012
Posted 07 February 2012 - 07:49 PM ( #2 )
I have one!!! Blue and yellow one. It's pretty awesome and nice hehe
Posted 08 February 2012 - 07:22 PM ( #3 )
If I remember correctly they were a Target exclusive back when they were new at least in the States. Or at least of the people I talked to online that had them most that had them had found them at Target. They certainly weren't at Wal Mart, K-Mart or KB Toys because I searched all over at those stores multiple times and never found one. There were no Targets in my area at the time.


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SAG-AFTRA, a national union of 160,000 members, sent the following advisory to its members today regarding work covering music videos and its fight for safe, fair working conditions and health care for SAG-AFTRA dancers and performers who appear in music videos.
The notice is an advisory to members of action the SAG-AFTRA National Board may take at its upcoming meeting on May 19/20, which may include a Do Not Work Notice to members.
For many years, dancers who work music videos have been provided a contract to provide them with minimum pay and benefits if they are hired to work in a music video. However, there is no industry-wide standard or agreement from the music labels that these videos are covered work.
The need for industry standards comes in the wake of the proliferation of dance and performance work in music videos, thanks in part to performers such as Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, and the masses of fans that follow videos online through services such as Vevo, a joint venture of Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media.
In August, dancers stepped up their campaign by launching a social media and video campaign called "It's About Time," a joint initiative between AFTRA and the Dancers' Alliance, a grassroots organization dedicated to educating dancers and building solidarity in the dance community.
The online campaign kicked off the weekend of the MTV Video Music Awards with video messages from dancers and performers including dancer Galen Hooks; choreographer/director Brian Friedman; former Pussycat Doll Carmit Bachar; and comedian Affion Crocket.
On May 19-20, the SAG-AFTRA National Board will consider a unanimous recommendation by the Executive Committee to implement a Do Not Work notice against music video productions.
Once implemented, SAG-AFTRA members may not accept employment as performers in any music video not produced under a SAG-AFTRA contract. A Do Not Work order for music videos is a result of the major record labels refusing to agree to a contract that meets the critical needs of music video performers.
This action will affect any SAG-AFTRA member hired to sing, dance, act or otherwise perform as talent on any music video that is not covered by the appropriate SAG-AFTRA contract, except for a royalty artist who is already contractually obligated to deliver certain services under an existing royalty agreement with a record label. Specifically included are SAG-AFTRA members working as dancers, singers, choreographers, cameo performers, models, actors, and most other talent. SAG-AFTRA members who violate a Do Not Work order can be subject to discipline, up to and including expulsion from membership.
This action follows performers' efforts to secure an industry-wide contract for music video work, which most recently involved several rounds of contract discussions with the major record labels throughout 2011. SAG-AFTRA is continuing its efforts to reach agreement with the labels however this action is necessary because the labels have failed to agree to some of the most basic contract terms. Some of the outstanding issues involve guaranteed access to water and toilet facilities, proper safety protections for hard surface dancing, overtime provisions, health and retirement contributions and standardized rates of pay.
Please stand together with your fellow SAG-AFTRA members and fellow performers for safety and dignity on the job. Together we can ensure a safe and fair future for all of us.
If you have questions or wish to volunteer to support your fellow SAG-AFTRA members who are working to ensure basic union standards on music videos, you can help by contacting:
Randall Himes
Assistant National Executive Director, Sound Recordings at email@example.com
Stefanie Taub
National Manager of Sound Recordings, West Coast at email@example.com
Steve Sidawi
National Organizer/Representative at firstname.lastname@example.com


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THJ: "We took Ohio(The Bobcats) lightly last year"
Not working for me.
Edit: There it goes. Now I look stupid.
I was about to say the same thing. When I went to reply I saw your post.
Sorry I'm on my iPad in the plane we just got an earlier wheels up time from PVD so I was kinda rushing sorry its working now.
First: Aarrgh, why you gotta hurt us like that, baby?
Second: It's good that he realizes this and can admit it.
I know he's acts like a buffoon now, but there was a lot to be said for Lou Holtz's typical pre-game act. "Gosh, I don't even think we can beat Idaho Tech. Have you seen their wide receivers?!"
... to be fair to Lou, he was actually saying "Virginia"... the spit just makes it sound like "Idaho".
Maybe they had to learn that lesson last year with a less talented team in order to lead and take this team on a deep run into the tourney? Sometimes you gotta take a step backwards before you can can two forewords.
I didn't mean to knock them. I can look back on a lot of things and see that I didn't take them as seriously at the time as I needed to.
If you take an NCAA tournament game lightly, then you have a general intensity/motivation problem that likely can't be turned on and off.
This certainly does not make me think happy thoughts. Please do not let this be the case on Thursday. Turn your switches in the locker room back on boys and keep them on!
(I do agree with your general statement though and think it has a lot of merit)
I just watched "Survive and Advance" and the '83 NCSU players admitted taking their NCAA opener (Pepperdine) lightly. I think it's just human nature to overlook a competitor you don't think is as good as you.
I suspect a lot of high seeds don't put all their effort into preparing for their underdog opponents. They can get by on their talent alone. (Think the Fab Five were sweating it out over Coastal Carolina?) The specific problem last year was that Ohio was much better than the average #13 seed - the talent gap was very small.
The specific problem last year was that Ohio was much better than the average #13 seed - the talent gap was very small.
This and Michigan's 4 seed last season belied the fact that the team was loaded with overachievers and got by more on grit than talent.
worried that is the case. I have seen a few interviews with players on this team over the last few days and I am waiting to see one where the player looks the least bit interested. When I say the bracket I was not overly concerned, but I am concerned now. I think their may be a fracture somewhere on this team and it has me flat out worried.
On the other hand, it's easy to look ahead when you know you're going to be playing an incredibly important, and theoretically more challenging, game in another 2 days.
If you take any team lightly, the end result will not be good.
that's unfortunate. I wish they had taken them more seriously
That's too bad. They also took a few teams they played this season too lightly. I hope the pattern doesn't continue on Thursday.
My theory is that the team's big prize last year was the conference title. Once they got that, all the air was out of the balloon.
I respect him for saying that. Last year was kind of a perfect storm for a tourney loss. Quality wins all year, a B1G share, being almost basket away from a sweet 16 the year before, and an overrated seed that we didn't deserve. I can't really blame them for taking a MAC team lightly. Tourney experience will help the team this year since Trey and Tim and co. will have the idea of how easy it is to go home fresh in their minds.
I can very much blame them for taking a MAC team lightly.
And I hope they've come to understand that they're not good enough to take anyone lightly, especially when it comes to the tournament.
I've seen a lot of apologies, regrets and guarantees coming from Timmy and the rest of the team lately. Initially my first thought is that it's great they can admit their mistakes and know what they need to improve on. However, to be blunt, I wish they would stop running at the mouth with this retrospective mumbo jumbo and just do the damn thing.
thanks. couldn't have said it better. I think this is what has made watching this team so difficult. You know they are better than this, but so often we were all left trying to find answers after a stupid loss. The answers were comforting for a couple days, but after so many of these you start to think: "Good teams don't make this many excuses." Then, 'Oh no! Maybe they really are not a good team."
I don't know anymore. All I have left is blind homerism filling out my bracket and putting them into the Final Four.
How do we know they are better than this? Kentucky is sitting on a lot more talent and an NIT bid. I could make a pretty good argument that Beilein has coached them up in a huge way and helped make Burke a star but conventional wisdom among many is to criticize Beilein and/or the players after a loss.
But "taking a team lightly" seems like hindsight justification analysis. If it helps them to focus even moreso this time around, great. But it's hardly a revelation.
If he can't take Bobcats seriously, how is he going to get motivated for the Twist contest at Jackrabbit Slims?
I'm Vincent Vega
...he needs some heroin?
A five dollar milkshake?
hopefully they saw that a lot of folks are picking VCU in the region and have said SDSU is a dangerous team...don't take anyone lightly
There are some. Dick Vitale and Gregg Doyel are picking us to make the Final Four.
and then you think you can slack off? You think the other guys think they can slack off? Ugh.
M just needs to bring the DMo to Stu type swag to the Palace
Well, let's hope THJ and everyone else takes this matchup more seriously than last year. Personally, I just think Ohio played a better game. I'm not nearly as worried about SDSU as Ohio.
Many have questioned this teams heart,intensity,motivation,work-ethic etc. THJ statement gives ammo to those folks.I'm begining to agree with them.I can't imagine being in any game that could end my season and 'take my opponent lightly."
Oh please, it's easy to sit on the sideline and criticize when you're not the one grinding through 5 months of basketball. When Michigan goes out tomorrow night and wins by 15+ points we're all going to feel like a bunch of assholes for fretting so much over this game.
If anything ought to have killed the "Ohio" meme once and for all, it is losing to Ohio in an NCAA tournament game.
This is stupid. Ohio University's name is not Ohio in the same way that The Ohio State University's name is not Ohio.
Well in that case our name isn't Michigan
I might feel bad, if I were someone who was trying to promote/extend the "Ohio" meme. But I'm not. I never was. I know of "Ohio U" and "Ohio State." I never thought of anything else. Your point would need to be answered by the folks who refer to "Ohio."
I don't know any team should be taken lightly. The goal is win the game and turning down the intensity should never be an option in sports. UofM lacks that intensity that is why they have been a 6-6 team in the last 12 games. If everyone picks up their intensity, this team would be so much better. There should never be an off switch unless you're up by 50 pts and you bring the bench in.
It's all but impossible to do this. You can only go to the well so many times.
And Penn State, Wisconsin twice ....
You really think we took Wisconsin lightly either time? They're a good team. Not to mention that we would have won the first if not for a prayer being answered at the buzzer.
I would feel so much better about this had the Penn State loss not happened a few weeks ago.
It's really up to the players who were there last year to make sure the team is ready for this game. Coaches can talk all they want about not taking teams lightly, but the players are the ones who have to believe it. SDSU is already saying they'll be more ready this year than last year (the school's first ever NCAA tournament) and that they like the matchup with Michigan--teams that have given them the greatest difficulty pound the ball inside.


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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Head men's basketball coach Bob Williams and head women's volleyball coach Nicole Lantange Welch will be the featured guests on this week's Talk'n Gauchos show which airs live on AM 1290 KZSB every Tuesday night.
The show, which also airs on UCSBgauchos.com, is broadcast from the Beachside Bar Cafe on beautiful Goleta Beach.
Tuesday's show will be an abbreviated version because the Gaucho women's basketball team will be hosting Hampton University at the Thunderdome at 7:00 p.m. and the pre-game show will begin airing at 6:40 p.m.
Williams and his UCSB basketball team will host South Dakota State on Friday night in a 7:00 p.m. game at the Thunderdome. The Gauchos enter the week with a 2-2 record, but their two losses have come at Colorado and to Utah State and they played both without leading scorer and rebounder Alan Williams.
In addition to the games that have already been played, host Gerry Fall, The Voice of the Gauchos, will talk to Coach Williams about next week's road match-up at UCLA and home game against Cal.
Lantange Welch is currently riding the crest of an outstanding run with the UCSB women's volleyball team. In just her first season at the helm of the Gauchos, she has the women's volleyball team on the threshold of its first Big West championship since 2005. Her team is currently 17-9 overall and 12-2 in league. Since losing their conference opener in five games to Long Beach State, the Gauchos have won 12 out of 13, including a victory at Hawaii and two over Cal State Northridge.
UCSB will complete the regular season this weekend when it travels to Long Beach State on Friday Nov. 29 and UC Irvine on Saturday, Nov. 30. A pair of wins would give the Gauchos the Big West's automatic NCAA Tournament berth and even a split could result in an NCAA appearance.


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Los Lobos Tickets
Tex-Mex styled band Los Lobos formed in 1973 in East Los Angeles. At the start they took on British influences like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones but, over the years they have blended their own musical concepts together to become the biggest "Mexican" band in the world. Gaining major recognition for their remake of the song La Bamba, for the Lou Diamond Phillips movie of the same name, Los Lobos took that bit of success and turned into a career of critical acclaim.


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- 1894 - Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh 7-6 in 10 innings when George "Germany" Smith' homered with two outs. Pirate OF Elmer Smith was prevented from retrieving the game-winning hit in the LF bleachers' as permitted per Cincinnati's League Park ground rules' by zealous Reds fans. One of them pulled a revolver on Smith after he fought with several other spectators in an attempt to reach the ball, per Charlton's Baseball Chronology. It was quite a finish to the NL's first extra-inning game of the year.
- 1955 - The Bucs were down 3-0 in the seventh when pinch hitter Preston Ward smacked a three run dinger off the Milwaukee Brave's Ray Crone at Forbes Field. Another PH, Jack Shepard, singled off Dave Jolly with the bases loaded in the ninth to earn the Pirates and Dick Littlefield a 4-3 win.
- 1961 - Joe Gibbon tossed a four hitter with nine whiffs as the Bucs beat the Chicago Cubs 4-0 at Forbes Field. The big blow was Bill Mazeroski's two run single in the fourth. The Bucs had lost three games prior to the win, and would drop six more afterward.
- 1973 - The Bucs tied the first game of a twinbill against San Diego in the eighth and went to win 5-4 in 10 innings at TRS. Rennie Stennett went 4-for-5 with a walk off homer in the extra frame. The Pirates had an easier time with the Padres in the second game, winning 7-0. Stennet had three more hits, including another homer, and Jim Rooker tossed a six hit complete game with eight whiffs.
- 1980 - After scoring four times in the first, the Pirates had to plate a pair in the bottom of the ninth to salvage an 8-7 split against the Dodgers at TRS. Lee Lacy was 5-for-5 and a homer away from the cycle, while Bill Robinson homered and Ed Ott had the walk-off, bases loaded single to earn Grant Jackson the win. Pittsburgh lost the opener 4-2 as LA's Burt Hooton and Steve Howe kept the Bucco bats under control. The double dipper was a big to-do in other ways, too. It was Willie Stargell Day with a ceremony between games, and was also the day that Dave Parker, fresh off the first $1 M/year contract in sports, was pelted with at least one Duracell battery while in the outfield.
- 1996 - In the opening game at the Olympics in Atlanta, the US team topped Nicaragua 4-1 behind future Pirate pitcher Kris Benson's seven hitter. Benson was 2-1 during the games as the US finished by winning the bronze medal.
- 2002 - OF Adam Hyzdu had a day to tell his grandkids about at PNC Park. He drove in seven runs on four hits' including a pair of HR, in a 15-6 pasting of the St. Louis Cards. It was the Pirates eighth win in ten games.
- 2003 - The Pirates traded RHP Mike Williams to the Phillies for minor league P Frank Brooks. Williams saved 140 games in six seasons for Pittsburgh, but his outings were becoming increasingly adventurous. He didn't fare much better in Philadelphia, and 2003 ended up his last season in MLB. The fall was sudden: in 2002, he set the Pirate team record for saves with 46.
- 2009 - The Bucs finally broke a 12-game losing streak to the Brewers with an 8-5 victory at PNC Park. Cutch had three hits and Delwyn Young tacked on three RBI with a homer. Jesse Chavez had the fans on the edge of their seats by giving up three runs in the ninth, but struck out Prince Fielder to ice the win.
- 2010 - Pittsburgh scored nine runs in the first inning during their 11-9 victory over the Brewers at PNC Park. The scoring in the opening frame was highlighted by Pedro Alvarez's first career grand slam, one of two Alvarez long balls smacked during the game. El Toro finished with five RBI and Neil Walker went 5-for-5 with a double against Milwaukee. They needed the quick start as the Brewers cut the lead to 10-9 by the sixth, but were blanked in the final three frames by Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan and Octavio Dotel.
- 2012 - The US Postal Service issued a set of four commemorative stamps depicting Willie Stargell along with Ted Williams, Larry Doby and Joe DiMaggio. The release was held in Cooperstown, NY as part of the Hall's annual induction week-end.
"It's a very simple game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains." (Bull Durham)
Saturday, July 20, 2013
7/20 - Bucs End Brewer Streak
3 comments:
Great read! About that 1980 double header though, the most memorable part of it was that it was "Willie Stargell day" with big ceremonies between games . . . while Dave Parker fresh off the first $1 million/year contract in sports is pelted with at least one Duracell battery while in the outfield.
Great job thou!
- July 20, 2013 at 3:15 PM
- Ron Ieraci said...
Thx, MD - And keep the cites coming or any dates I've missed (there's only about a zillion). I'll work them into the recaps. I'll be sure to credit u when I publish the great Bucco history primer, lol!
- July 20, 2013 at 9:57 PM
Aw thanks for the kind words Ron, but I must say your doing one heck of a job with the blog, very impressive. I'll take you up on that credit if it ever goes to press!
- July 21, 2013 at 12:16 AM


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Roberto Di Matteo has admitted he thought he was being sacked, not promoted, when he was handed the reins at Chelsea last season.
The Blues were beaten at West Brom on March 3, which led to Andre Villas-Boas's demise as manager less than 24 hours later. Villas-Boas's then-assistant was immediately appointed caretaker following a training-ground meeting with owner Roman Abramovich, director Eugene Tenenbaum and chief executive Ron Gourlay.
But that was far from the outcome Di Matteo was bracing himself for and asked if he had been expecting the boot, he said: "I did, yeah, quite frankly. It was a very emotional day, that day, for us."
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"It's such an important idea that it deserves a chance," County Legislator Jay Schneiderman said yesterday, speaking in support of the county's authorization of a ferry license for Hampton Jitney, operating as the Peconic Bay Water Jitney, to run a passenger service between Greenport and Sag Harbor.
Tuesday's hearing at the county offices in Hauppauge was opened and closed, and now the bill is eligible for a vote in the Public Works and Transportation Committee, which Mr. Schneiderman leads. He expects the bill to be discharged from the committee without recommendation on Tuesday, which will make it eligible for a vote by the Legislature a week later. The reason for that expectation is that the committee doesn't want to approve a license for a use not yet permitted by the Village of Sag Harbor. The committee's meeting will take place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, while the Sag Harbor Village Board will not vote on the matter until its monthly board meeting later that evening.
If the village passes the measure, Mr. Schneiderman anticipates that the county will approve the license on June 19. Greenport has already approved the water jitney's use of its village dock.
Fares should be settled then as well, the legislator said: $20 for a round-trip ticket and $11 one-way. He said Jeff Lynch, Hampton Jitney's president, has committed to a half-price fare for children under 15.
Ownership and management of Sag Harbor's Long Wharf, where the water jitney plans to drop off and pick up passengers, was also discussed Tuesday in Hauppauge. As it stands now, the village is a holdover tenant. Its lease with the county expired in June 2011, which makes the county the managing agent for the wharf.
"To clear up the confusion, I filed a bill yesterday that will also be eligible for committee vote on Tuesday, and on the floor on June 19, to extend the lease until the end of December," Mr. Schneiderman said. The extension would allow Sag Harbor to make the decisions on matters concerning the wharf, including where the water jitney would dock.
Mr. Schneiderman said he believes the revenues collected from Long Wharf will continue to go solely to the village, which will have an opportunity to charge the jitney a reasonable fee for the use of the wharf.
"Give it a season, see if it works," the legislator said, "then take it from there and decide if you want to continue it. I think it's a great idea to connect the two villages."
Mr. Schneiderman, who said he is seriously considering running for the office he once held, East Hampton Town supervisor, feels the water jitney would reduce traffic by encouraging visitors to travel to the area by public transportation. And, he said, those who wish to go to Sag Harbor from points east to take the water jitney to the North Fork could use the county's S92 bus route, which is able to adjust schedules to work with those of the water jitney.
"I expect the lease extension to pass, and the license and fares to pass," Mr. Schneiderman said. If the Village of Sag Harbor approves Tuesday, the water jitney will become a reality. "Once its up and running, I think people will find that it did not produce the traffic or parking problems they feared."


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HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) — An anti-crime group says it is releasing a report that shows quality early childhood education programs can reduce crime.
Members of the group Fight Crime: Invest in Kids say the report being released Thursday shows that state and federal early childhood programs could reduce the number of people incarcerated in Minnesota and lead to $48 million in savings in inmate housing costs for the state each year.
Members of the group are also releasing a letter urging Congress to implement a $99 billion early childhood education proposal. They say the Obama administration's proposal will give states resources to strengthen and expand preschool to low- and moderate-income students nationwide.
Dakota County Sheriff Dave Bellows and Attorney Jim Backstrom will announce details of the report Thursday at the Dakota County jail.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)