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Correct. No boom today. Boom tomorrow. Always boom tomorrow.
No boom tomorrow either:
"First beam circulated" != "First collisions"
Also, beam will be circulated at injection energy (450GeV) and not accelerated to the design collision energy. Even if they did circulate beam in both directions *and collide them* (a separate activity) the total energy of collision would still be less that half of what the tevatron at Fermilab, USA, has been doing for many years. If *that* were a problem we'd already be
If *that* were a problem we'd already be
Oh crap, it was a problem!
Can you tell us if there is any DANGER! DANGER WILLROBINSON!
Did you see my robot flailing its arms around? Was it screaming danger! danger!?
No not yet as noted above on the amount of energy used. Ill be sure to let ya know when its necessary.
As reported by CERN [web.cern.ch] announced the success of the second and final test of the Large Hadron Collider's beam synchronization systems which will allow the LHC operations team to inject the first beam into the LHC.
Some very cool pictures there too. Now what they mean, is a bit beyond my skills.
Now if I could just get that LHC song [slashdot.org] out of my head
Check out the youtube comments on the video you linked to. Much more entertaining than the video.
chrisROFL65 (2 minutes ago)
We are fucked. Fuck you scientist and youtube.
No boom tomorrow either:
"First beam circulated" != "First collisions"
I duno, when the beam needs a Dump Block [ieee.org] consisting of an 8M long, 10ton graphite rod encased in 1000 tons of concrete, and even then has to be directed around in a pattern to keep from burning through it because it is "capable of melting a 500-kilogram block of copper," Id say boom possible, but not likely. I just wouldnt want to be in the tunnels with something like that racing around held in place by magnets, if one nearby turns off, BOOM you either turn into the incredible hulk, get zapped off to another world [wikipedia.org] or simply vaporized like that 500kg block of copper.
Nobody is in the tunnel while the beam is on, except cockroaches. Since the particles are moving in a circle they are as if accelerating constantly and consequently they as charged particles constantly give off radiation, in the gamma range somewhere. The whole tunnel is constantly bathed in lethal levels of radiation.
Mod the above as +10 Informative since most news outlets completely missed this point in their coverage.
The *actual* doomsday will occur when the first collisions occur in one to two months. [uslhc.us]
Much cooler than a black hole would be Death By Strangelet [wikipedia.org]
A detailed analysis [18] concluded that the RHIC collisions were comparable to ones which naturally occur as cosmic rays traverse the solar system, so we would already have seen such a disaster if it were possible. RHIC has been operating since 2000 without incident.
Phew! I was worried that I overslept and missed the Strangelet singularity! Talk about stating the obvious.
Wikipedia: -1 Redundant
Imagine a road that goes in a circle.
Now, tomorrow, they're going to put ONE CAR on the road
and drive it moderately fast to make sure the road is intact.
Then they will proceed, in future tests, to drive that ONE CAR
faster and faster around the circular road to make sure the road holds up.
On "collision day", the add a SECOND CAR driving in the
OPPOSITE DIRECTION on that circular road.
Then they drive those two cars REALLY REALLY FAST and crash them head-on
into each other.
The point is to try to understand the cars and how they are put together
by analyzing the parts that go flying off in the collision, and the speed
and direction that those parts went flying.
The guy in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt1Yo610lG0 [youtube.com] explains it all.
Yes, it is a STARGATE TO HELL ! Doom fans, rejoice ! Happy ! Happy !
wikipedia is wrong or was edited for hilarity. in the books, it's actually "big mistake of '38"
wikipedia is wrong or was edited for hilarity. in the books, it's actually "big mistake of '38"
Actually, I performed that edit, but it's the '38 that's wrong. I was just reading The Rise of Endymion last night, and it clearly says "Big Mistake of '08", page 92, near the bottom. And that's coming from the AI on the Consul's ship, so it ought to be reliable
Apparently Simmons is not consistent!
5 occurrences of "Big Mistake of '08" in Rise of Endymion. [google.cl]
2 occurrences of "Big Mistake of '08" in Endymion. [google.cl]
1 occurrence of "Big Mistake of '38" in Fall of Hyperion. [google.cl]
No references to any year in Hyperion. [google.cl]
It looks like '08 is the clear winner.
I like Terry Pratchett's take on this sort of 'low risk' experiment (from 'The Science of Discworld'):
"What would it blow up, pray?"
"Everything there is, you mean?"
"Within a radius of about fifty thousand miles out into space, sir, yes. According to Hex it'd happen instantaneously. We wouldn't even know about it."
"And the odds of this are...?"
"About fifty to one, sir."
The wizards relaxed.
"That's pretty safe. I wouldn't bet on a horse at those odds," said the Senior Wrangler.
I kind of like this LHC doom.
It's not the kind of doom where people tell you the best thing you can do about it is to buy MREs, take a gun out into the mountains, bug out and prepare to defend your MREs from hungry zombies for the next six months.
Personally, I think the best response is probably PANIC SEX!!!
Big ba-da-boom
The LHC won't be doing anything that isn't already happening in the upper atmosphere due to cosmic rays anyway.
This is true, but what if watching what is going on - changes what happens? Isn't this one of the mysteries of quantum physics?
With any luck these tests will finally let Schrodinger's cat rest in peace. Never again having to exist in the zombirific dead and alive state.
With any luck these tests will finally let Schrodinger's cat rest in peace. Never again having to exist in the zombirific dead and alive state.
With the speeds involved I think it's safe to say it will exist as a thin film of... cat. 27km long.
I don't understand the whole "miniature black hole" thing. I think the naysayers have just been reading too much sci-fi. Microscopic black holes would evaporate in a very small amount of time due to Hawking radiation...they would leave a detectable energy signature so that we could tell they were there, but that's about it. The LHC won't be doing anything that isn't already happening in the upper atmosphere due to cosmic rays anyway.
One of the main fearmongers concerning the LHC is Otto Rossler. He's a 68-year-old biochemist whose initial career was respected and conventional, but in recent years has veered into promoting his own "Theory of Everything" that contradicts the Theory of Relativity. According to Rossler, (a) Hawking radiation doesn't exist, and (b) microscopic black holes created by cosmic rays are moving so fast that they pass right through the earth, whereas LHC black holes will be trapped by earth's gravity and destroy the planet.
What's really happening is that Rossler and others like him are using the LHC as a soapbox to promote their particular brands of pseudoscience. From what I've read, any debate with Rossler quickly leads to him promoting his own pet theories, rather than any rational examination of the risks.
Does he explain how a proton is going to acquire enough mass into a small enough radius to turn into a blackhole without using lorenz transformations, E=mC^2 and relativistic weirdness?
From what I've read, any debate with Rossler quickly leads to him promoting his own pet theories, rather than any rational examination of the risks.
No, no, you don't understand. Nutcases like this know that a thorough understanding of their enlightened pseudoscience is fundamental to any rational examination of the risks. They're trying to help you. Really.
Microscopic black holes would evaporate in a very small amount of time due to Hawking radiation..
Are you willing to gamble the existence of the universe on that untested hypothesis? Yes?
By the way, every biology article gets tagged "whatcouldpossiblygowrong?" An article showing that artificial DNA self-associates was tagged that. No chance of killer viruses from that, yet it got the tag. Here we have a scientific study with some people actually claiming it will end the earth. They may be idiots, but people who worry about DNA strands creating vampires like in I am legend are just as idiotic. What gives?
I personally say it's only because no movies have yet taken the idea of LHC and mangled it into nonsense to use as a plot device the way they've used killer artificial viruses. And that's probably only because "complete oblitheration of the world" is a pretty boring plot.
Even if they don't evaporate, black holes don't produce a stronger gravitational field than other objects of the same mass. As long as the law of conservation of matter holds (or even if the amount of matter in the LHC triples) we should be fine.
This is really the big problem here: we like to imagine black holes as object that suck everything in, but that's only true of black holes that have star-level masses. A black hole sounds impressive until you realize it could weigh as much as a proton. At that scale, it's gravitational pull isn't really going to be big enough to be a big deal on the femtoscale. And at that collapsed size, there is no reason that it will go and contact anything it can suck in.
Are you willing to gamble the existence of the universe on that untested hypothesis? Yes?
Sure, you could reply to this post thinking that nothing will go wrong; but are you really willing to gamble the existence of the universe on this untested hypothesis?
See, that's the problem with this whole line of reasoning: the idea that as the conception of danger increases, the less risk we are allowed to afford. And since everything has some risk, there is, afterall, all kinds of things we don't know anything about; and for all you know responding to this very post may bring about the end of the unive
Don't say that. Just keep quiet and when we're all still alive on Thursday, the naysayers will just go away.
Everyone out of the universe... QUICK!
Reader WillRobinson notes.. 450 GeV (0.45 TeV)
Someone should inform him of the DANGER!
Why would you send death threats to someone you think is going to destroy the world? If he was afraid of dying, he wouldn't be destroying the world, right?
No kidding. We should be saving our death threats for where they matter: idle.slashdot.org.
Logical fallacy is fallacious.
A threatens B because A believes B's experiments will destroy the world. B believes this is not the case.
There is no indication that B does not fear death.
B most likely falls in line with the general stance on death - B probably doesn't want to die.
I'll chip in towards that, here's a check.
They will be only sending a beam around the LHC in a single direction at about 7% power. It will be about a month before they send a beam in the other direction and have a collision. I think it is about a year before they will be up to full power.
No possibility of a resonance cascade they said. Put the crystal thing into the spectrometer they said. The whole thing blew up my place of employment and I started Unforeseen Consequences with nothing but a crowbar for a while.
Moral: Keep your crowbars close and your guns closer and don't trust the scientists.
You say that as a joke, but it may be more likely than you think [kuvaton.com].
I like how the guy seems to be regarding the "instructions" taped to the LHC with some amusement.
You know, the ones that were taped over some OTHER scientists note(and with seemingly opposite instructions, note the opposing arrows), and with "danger" tape to make it more "official".
You guys can't blow up the Earth! It's where I keep all my stuff!
There's no point in acting all surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display in your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you've had plenty of time to lodge any formal complains and it's far too late to start making a fuss about it now.
The weirdness has already begun if 9:00 to 18:00 Zurich Time is 2:00 to 10:00 CDT.
I just got a picture of a terrorist entering heaven and 100 male geeks are there waiting for the terrorist.
Terrorist: "These are not the virgins I was thinking of"
Intercom 1: (feedback)"Testing, testing. (coughs) Everything seems to
be in order."
Intercom 2: "All right, Gordon. your suit should keep you comfortable
through all this. The specimen will be delivered to you in a few
moments. If you would be so good as to climb up and start the rotors,
we can bring the anti-mass spectrometer to 80 percent and hold it there
until the carrier arrives.
Intercom 2: "Gordon, are you not hearing me? Climb up and start the
rotors, please.
Intercom 2: "Very good. We'll take it from here."
Intercom 1: "Power to stage 1 emitters in 3,2,1. I'm seeing predictable
phase arrays."
Intercom 1: "Stage 2 emitters activating...now."
Intercom 2: "Gordon, we cannot predict how long the system can operate
at this level, nor how long the readings will take. Please, work as
quickly as you can."
Intercom 1: "Overhead capacitors to one oh five percent. Uh, it's
probably not a problem, probably, but I'm showing a small discrepancy
in... well, no, it's well within acceptable bounds again. Sustaining
Intercom 2: "I've just been informed that the sample is ready, Gordon.
It should be coming up to you any moment now. Look to the delivery
system for your specimen."
I need to hurry up and finish work on my black-hole shelter...
I owe far too much money for that to ever happen.
Dr. Egon Spengler: There's something very important I forgot to tell you.
Dr. Peter Venkman: What?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Don't cross the streams.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Why?
Dr. Egon Spengler: It would be bad.
Dr. Peter Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
Dr Ray Stantz: Total protonic reversal.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Right. That's bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon.
Shouldn't that be 0.439 TeV? (450 GeV / 1024)
Back in the old days of the cold war, in the schools,for preparation of a nuclear bomb falling, we would get under our desks because they are obviously made of some kind of material that can withstand radiation and a giant percussion wave. I'll bet those desks can withstand the LHC black hole too. Only school children and teachers will be left.
I didn't miss the joke -- I LOL'ed, I promise -- but speaking as a CERT instructor [citizencorps.gov]: you were told to get under your desks not to protect against a blast near enough to cause vaporization, but to protect against a possible collapse of a building damaged by an otherwise-non-lethal pressure wave. Yes of course if the bomb detonates right above you, you're toast, and if the bomb detonates far enough away that the pressure wave can't cause building damage then you're cowering under your desk for nothing. For the huge chunk of distance-from-ground-zero in between those two extremes, though, your chance of surviving a building collapse is much greater if you have a personal void to hide inside -- like the area under a desk. That's why your 'nuclear bomb drill' and your 'tornado drill' are so similar: you are increasing your odds of survival, being successfully located and extracted by search and rescue teams, in the event that part of your building collapses.
You'll know it too. You'll wake up one day with a Black President or with an old geezer and a MILF for a VP.
Then, and only then, will I worry!
Doctors Karl Kruszelnicki and Kevin Varvell are giving an LHC lecture [usyd.edu.au] at the University of Sydney tonight. 7pm at the Footbridge Theatre. Varvell is a contributor to the ATLAS detector. Kruszelnicki is always fun. It includes a live cross to CERN. The lecture was to be in the school of Physics but has had to be transferred to a larger venue due to popular demand.
For some reason, the BBC are making a big thing of this, and providing a lot of coverage and related programmes on the Radio 4 station.
The BBC provide a listen again service for those of you who are distant but interested. Check out the programmes here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/bigbang/ [bbc.co.uk]
Assuming that the world isn't swallowed up by a black hole from the experiment, that is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/science/15risk.html [nytimes.com]
The International Space Station [wikipedia.org] gets that (dis)honor, with an estimated cost of $25.6B (US) from 1994 to 2005, not including shuttle costs - and that's just NASA's budget.
So, from that perspective, the LHC is a bargain. And it's probably still cheap compared to what the Superconducting SuperCollider would have ended up costing.
I'm just mad that the Europeans are going to beat us to destroying the Earth.
What every happened to America #1?
It would server them damn Europeans right if the LHC _didn't_ destroy the Earth and we managed to do it with Global Warming (sorry, Global Climate Change) instead. Ah, they'd probably just hide out in their circular tunnel, tweaking their precious proton stream until they got it right...
Thankfully, there is an RSS feed so you know in real-time if the Earth has been destroyed:
http://www.hasthelhcdestroyedtheearth.com/rss.xml [hasthelhcd...eearth.com]
But, what if the end of the world affects my DSL? Is there an option for SMS?
Is this the answer to the Fermi paradox? [wikipedia.org]
If, given the expected number of star systems with planets capable of supporting life (which although may be a low percentage of stars still isn't nil), and given that evolution eventually results in intelligence (or at least there's a decent probability it does), then there should be plenty of other intelligent civilizations (certainly including post-Singularity civilizations). But there (apparently) aren't.
So either we're first, out of all those star systems...
Or just perhaps intelligent civilizations all eventually delve into the field of particle physics and build colliders... then wink out of existence in spontaneous black holes.
LHC has all the latest safety systems... in the event of an actual black hole or strangelet event...
they simply full the lever and hit the button!! [isv.uu.se]
It says.. "Black Hole/Stranglet CRASH button - In case of imminent world destruction, break glass and press CMS ABORT button"
(Yes, that's really in the LHC control room LOL)
Has anyone here read about the "Oh-My-God particle" [fourmilab.ch]? A proton detected in 1991 with an energy of 3.2±0.9×10^20 eV - that's 51 Joules, an energy you'd expect for a macroscopic object and 10 million times more than the maximum the LHC can produce (7 Tev).
The linked page has some of the relativistic properties calculated for that proton including that "After traveling one light year, the particle would be only 0.15 femtoseconds -- 46 nanometres -- behind a photon that left at the same time."
Vitamin C deficiency is apauling.


text:
A former south Georgia television station owner has been sentenced to 1,000 years in prison on child sexual exploitation charges.
Peter Mallory, former owner of WCAG-TV-33 in LaGrange, was charged Tuesday in Troup County Superior Court.
Mallory was charged with 60 counts of sexual exploitation of children, invasion of privacy and tampering with evidence. Troup County Superior Court Judge Dennis Blackmon sentenced Mallory to 20 years on 50 of the counts and ordered him to serve a concurrent sentence of five years for each of the remaining 10 counts.
The man was arrested in 2011 at his television station after police searched his home and office and found child pornography stored on computer hard drives.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
BeanX wrote:
Jophiel wrote:
Heh, I was making the same argument in 2009. Things sure ain't changing quickly, huh?
Funny story was brought to mind while I was reading that thread, the charge as a utility discussion. Me and My wife pay for her moms phone, we have Sprint. Well things happened and my wife wanted to switch to another provider. After checking our data usage, minute usage and otherthings to compare packages from other companies we found out we can't switch.
Me and the Wife live in WI and her mom lives in Seattle, but anyway. Data usage for 10 days into the billing cycle. Me and the Wife about 512MB to about 1 gig maybe. Her mom was at 6.5GB of data already. AT&T, Verison, and Tmobile reps almost LAUGHED at us when we asked about unlimited Data, most of them only had 10gig maxes on their phones and that was a $100 upcharge. We can't figure out what she's doing with her phone, were guessing shes not using a PC/Laptop at all and just doing everything from her phone. But dear lord if we hadn't had unlimited data with our package I fear what our monthly bill would look like.
After our contract is up were thinking of just using prepaid. Right now for 1500 Mins (which we use maybe 250 of) with Free Mobile to Mobile, Nights and weekends, Unlimited Text/Data on 3 phones we pay something around $220 a month, which even with all my complaining they say they can't lower that even when I told them that I could get the prepaid ones with Unlimited everything for 45 bucks a month.
I'm paying $35 for talk, and unlimited text and data from AT&T.


text:
Tetrahydrobiopterin protects pancreatic grafts from ischemia-reperfuson-injury: Does the endothelial nitric oxide synthase play a role?
Search Medline for
|May 20, 2011
Introduction: Ischemia-reperfusion-injury (IRI) following pancreas transplantation (PTX) is a major cause of graft pancreatitis. The essential cofactor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and potent antioxidant tetrahydrobiopterin (H4B) was shown to significantly attenuate IRI-induced graft pancreatitis. Since underlying mechanisms are still unclear, we investigated if the eNOS enzyme is the main target using an eNOS-/-model.
Materials and methods: In a heterotopic PTX model syngeneic C57Bl6 mice (wild type and eNOS-/-) served as donor-recipient pairs. Donors of both genotypes were either untreated or treated with 50 mg/kg b.w. H4B i.m. All grafts were subjected to 16 h cold ischemia time (CIT). Non-transplanted animals of both genotypes served as controls. Following 15 min and 2 h reperfusion, microcirculation was analyzed by confocal intravital fluorescence microscopy, parenchymal damage was assessed by H&E histology and nitrotyrosine immunostaining. Following 15 min reperfusion, microarray analysis (Affymetrix®) was performed and results were confirmed by RTqPCR (Taqman-technology).
Results: Prolonged CIT resulted in a pronounced microcirculatory breakdown, severe graft pancreatitis, as well as intragraft peroxynitrite formation. As early as 15 min following reperfusion no differences between treated and untreated grafts, and between genotypes were observed. After 2 h reperfusion time, H4B-treated grafts displayed a consistent amelioration of graft microcirculation (p=0.09). In addition, IRI-induced parenchymal damage and nitrotyrosine formation were reduced in treated grafts, reaching statistical significance only in wild types (p<0.05). Among the complete mouse genome two differently regulated genes (>5-fold) were detected by microarray analysis in grafts reperfused for 15 min, and confirmed by RTqPCR. Finally, H4B pre-treatment resulted in a significantly prolonged graft as well as recipient survival, indipendently from the donor genotype (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Comparable intraparenchymal damage of transplanted grafts and similar recipient survival in both genotypes if treated with H4B, suggest, that eNOS is not the major target of H4B in this model.


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text:
Shop Borger
We've got GREAT news for local Borger Businesses! The Borger News Herald is going to be running a holiday special in one of our upcoming weekend editions on "Shopping Local." We will be sending our editor, JC Cortez, out to interview some of our local businesses; and get their personal opinions as to why the people of Borger should "Shop Local" and how it can boost our community and keep our tax dollars local. We will be contacting every Borger business to see if you would like to be a part of this Shop Local Special; ads of all sizes will be available to highlight your holiday specials, and to encourage our community to stay local when shopping! Any and all businesses are welcome to advertise during this Shop Local special to remind our readers of all of the wonderful options they have when shopping in Borger. We are trying to get our community more involved and gather more support for our local businesses: so if your business would be interested in placing an ad in our Shop Local special; we've certainly got a spot for you! If you have any questions feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email and we can get something set up for you.


text:
Originally Posted by Dee Dub
@ZachKleinWSB Source: #UGA safety Bacarri Rambo will remain at school. Expected, but just wanted to pass it along.
That was the one I was really hoping for. Guess I'll need to change my mock in my signature.
Maybe Josh Chapman NT Alabama now in the second round? He was heard (KLAC 570 in L.A.), saying he loves watching the Steelers and in particular Casey Hampton. Loves playing in a 3-4 at Alabama.
That's who I have in my mock
Forum Rules


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Peak Performances: 5 Athletes Who Inspired Us this Week
In addition to standouts from IRONMAN 70.3 New Orleans, we're giving a shout-out to an age-group athlete from IRONMAN South Africa whose performance put him in the pro men's mix.
Perseverance 'Til the End: Trevor Wurtele
Although Trevor Wurtele (pictured) came into IRONMAN 70.3 New Orleans as defending champion, Andreas Raelert, Ben Hoffman and many others were all capable of knocking the Canadian off his throne. And while he was ultimately edged out by Raelert, Wurtele's perseverance pushed one of the finest distance athletes in the world to his limits.Wurtele put on a clinic out on the bike course, recording the top cycling split of the day. Still, he left T2 with a 1:09 deficit, put his head down and started to claw his way towards Raelert. At mile eight, Raelert and Wurtele were running shoulder-to-shoulder, but Raelert inched away and pulled out a five-second winning margin.
Wurtele's performance in New Orleans was a preview of his improvement since taking to the professional circuit full-time two years ago. He's proved himself a man to watch closely this season.Boston Strong: Nolan Thompson
IRONMAN 70.3 New Orleans competitor Nolan Thompson ran the Boston Marathon just seven days before. He crossed the finish line just an hour before the first explosion. The fragility of every day filled his heart when he realized his fiancé was waiting to cheer for him near where the first bomb was hidden (and her family was just across the street).
His loved ones fortunately walked away without physical injuries, but the experience shifted his focus from the time on the clock to how he might help the injured in their healing process. As he lined up in New Orleans, Thompson felt less competitive than usual: Speed wasn't important, he was just elated to be on the course.
"On the run, every bridge became Heartbreak Hill, and every group of people became another town in the suburbs of Boston," he says. "My parents handed me my Boston Marathon jacket about a mile from the finish line and I made the sign of the cross turning into the finish, praying for all those who would give anything to be where I was at that moment."
Look for Thompson at Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas next month. His day will be in honor of the victims of the Boston tragedy.
A Rising Star: Haley Chura
American Haley Chura was competing in only her third race as a professional in New Orleans. Not surprisingly, the two-time Honorable Mention All-American at the NCAA swimming championships led the women's field out of the water. But she also put in solid bike and runs in The Big Easy, which kept her at the front of the race for the entire day and secured a wire-to-win.
Chura finished third in her age group at both the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships last year before turning pro in 2013. She also won the women's overall title at the USA Triathlon Olympic Distance Age Group Nationals in Burlington, Vermont. We've got no doubt we'll see her on the podium again soon.
Speed for the Ages: Caroline Smith
Eleven years ago, Caroline Smith was far from being a pro or even standout age group triathlete. A smoker and a drinker, she raced as an Athena in her first triathlon (a division for larger female athletes).
But after turning 30 and finding her talent, Smith had a breakout year in 2007, qualifying for Kona and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. She spent four years as a professional, then was sidelined due to a major hip injury. Now, at 42-years-young, she's back making waves in the amateur ranks. Smith's time of 4:48:46 in New Orleans was fast enough for a division win and placed her just outside of the top ten women overall.
Ranking with the Pros: Kyle Buckingham
Age-grouper Kyle Buckingham from Cape Town South Africa had a stellar race at the ninth edition of the Spec-Savers IRONMAN South Africa earlier this month. The 30 year old, who is coached by eight-time IRONMAN champion Raynard Tissink, recorded a 53:00 swim, 4:39:00 bike and 2:58:40 for a finish time of 8:34:35.
Buckingham was the first South African to come across the line and the first age group finisher of the day. His outstanding performance was remarkable enough for a seventh-place finish overall. Earlier this year at IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa, he was the first age group finisher and finished seventh overall.
Thanks to his stellar performances, Buckingham has qualified for the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships and is aiming to turn professional next year.
Our weekly Peak Performances story is written by Gaylia Osterlund, Shawn Skene and Matt Lieto.


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that's a really tough call btwn a pick and a scratch. but the wipe on the face puts me over. gerg has shiny hair, but poor hygiene.
Unverified Voracity Quantifies Special Teams
Profiling, again. The Daily continues its streak of crushing everyone out there with Michigan football profiles, this time hitting up Deerfield Beach for the Denard Robinson story. Cue adorable child who doesn't like you stealing her soul:
Also let's not forget that making Shoelace, Denard Robinson, for uh, shirt, you know, within the NCAA—that isn't legal.
The story itself is another epic five-pager. Sounds like he was a natural:
"He loved to run that ball," Huggins says, looking over his old stomping grounds at Westside Park. "He'd tell me, 'Coach, call quarterback sneak!' I'd tell him no, to hand it off, and so he'd fake the handoff and keep it and run for a ton of yards."
Zone read from the start. This is a read the whole thing situation.
From "it won't work in the Big Ten" to this. Illinois blog Hail to the Orange (wait… what?) on Saturday:
The difference is, and the major problem on Saturday, was that with Michigan when we bit, we paid dearly, every time. It seemed as though just one missed tackle, one bad angle and the punishment was a touchdown. We were running a contain game most of the day against Denard, and we paid because there was relatively little pressure against him, giving his receivers too much time to get open, and when combined with a play action always were open. The result: 305 PASSING yards from the Nard dog.
There were of course some bright spots. We have continued the trend of taking the ball away from the other team and not giving it back. (Five TO's recovered, to one lost.) Against teams not made out of tiny track stars coated in butter, this will equate to a win.
We will not see another team this offensively talented this season (pending a bowl bid) generally we can improve our decision making in the secondary enough to not give up constant 75 yard bombs, at least I hope not.
Here's the crazy thing: that first bit on "paid dearly, every time" isn't even true. You know that interception Denard zinged over Webb's head? That's either a touchdown or Webb gets run down from behind as Michigan switched up the QB Lead Oh Noes from the slot receiver to the TE. The safety who intercepted the ball was headed for Roundtree and dead meat until the ball went ZING. I've got two separate RPS+3 plays that end in disaster for Michigan already. If anything, Michigan's immolation of the Illinois defense is even more impressive on review because it could have been considerably worse if Denard makes a few better throws. I think we've established that Denard's not going to make great throws all the time, but man… in the UFR Michigan's going to have a huge RPS number.
The whole thing's driven Vic Koennig to despondency:
"They get you in a run, run, run mode then they drop back and hit a pass on you. They had us running around and not doing anything well."
Srs, his postgame presser is like watching a dog get kicked. Meanwhile on the Michigan sideline, Illinois has just scored to go up 45-38 aaaaand…
Fair? No. Accurate? Yes. User Tom Pickle with the win.
Sorry about nearly killing you. That guy who got plowed on the sideline during Tate's double personal foul keeper in overtime was actually Channel 7's Don Shane. The two shared a heartwarming moment afterwards:
He's got the flags to prove it, Don.
More advanced metricing. Michigan's moved up to #3 nationally in FO's S&P ratings… on offense. They're just behind Auburn and Boise State, #1 on "standard downs" and #6 on pass downs. Ohio State(!) is a surprising #5, and then the next Big Ten team is #17 Wisconsin. Michigan is #98 on defense. Woo.
I also asked Brian Fremeau for Michigan's kickoff numbers to see if that aspect of the game is actually hurting them much. I asked him last week and never got around to posting them, so these are a little out of date. In an effort to reduce confusion I'm going to flip signs so negative is always bad and positive is good. The units here are in average points away from expectation.
Kickoffs: –0.054 (79th)
Kick Return: –0.099 (95th)
Punts: +0.101 (13th)
Punt return: –0.023 (77th)
What this means is for every ten Michigan punts Michigan has saved a point in expected field position; for every ten kick returns they've lost a point in expected field position. So.
- Points on kickoffs (58): -3.1
- Points on kick returns (56): -5.5
- Points on punts (30): +3.0
- Points on punt returns(40): –0.9
Grand total: around –6.5 pending how Michigan's performance against Illinois changes the numbers (I'm guessing it doesn't change much since Michigan gave up some good returns but also busted the long one before the half).
Meanwhile, Michigan's no longer national-worst kickers (up to 117!) are –1.0 per FGA. They've attempted 11, so the field goal situation is almost twice as damaging as the rest of it. All told Michigan's losing about two points a game on special teams, which doesn't sound like much until you consider that flipping that stat would take Michigan's scoring margin from +5 to +9.
Belated Free Press denouement. I had football to talk about and didn't get around to this but a few bits and pieces to wrap up the jihad. A national take from Doc Sat:
The tepid infractions that came to light as a result of the Freep's digging are the minimum you'd expect to find at any sprawling program operating under a massive handbook, as the basic cost of employing fallible human beings while continuing to dead-lift with the Joneses. Other programs, however, weren't the target of an investigation by a major metropolitan newspaper that left no stone unturned in its efforts to make a splash against a high-profile coach who almost immediately cleaved the fan base down the middle. Michigan was, which is why it was Michigan that was forced to roll its eyes and slap itself on the wrist in halfhearted contrition as the "probation" label is applied for the first time in school history.
Chait drops Chaitbombs to the point where the fiancée thinks she should use this…
Here's the headline of one report: "RichRod gets win, but still needs more on field" Here's the headline of a second: "UM's violations deemed major, but not serious" And here's a third: "NCAA's verdict: Rodriguez ignored rules; U-M gets more probation"
Those headlines came from ESPN, the Detroit News, and the Detroit Free Press. You can probably guess which was which.
…as part of a media framing discussion in future classes she teaches. MVictors has audio from Brandon's appearance on WTKA wherein he said
"We apologized yesterday because we made mistakes. I'm kinda waiting for somebody from the media to apologize for mistakes they made. And I'm not sure that's ever going to happen, but that would be a nice thing, wouldn't it?"
And of course the guy who asked if Rodriguez would be fired and got a death glare was Drew Sharp. Brandon should have asked "when is the Free Press going to fire you?"
Etc.: Wisconsin's John Clay and starting center Peter Konz are "iffy" for this week's game against Indiana. Sounds like they should be good to go for Michigan but sprains can be weird. This Week In Schadenfreude does not feature Colorado because no Colorado fans care anymore. Anything can happen in dead coach walking situations and fans will just shrug and talk about who the next guy is going to be. Michigan State is 9-1 for the first time in a million years and they still can't sell out their game against Purdue without resorting to two-for-one deals.
He should have used the Thumb and Forefinger Nostril pinch technique.
Bad fundamentals. UNACCEPTABLE!
At least he didn't eat it. Brian, that is so wrong, GERG already has it rough.
There may have been some incidental penetration, but from our angle, we're in no position to make the call.
For a replay review?
GERG went for the classic inverted flick. A non chalant way to remove any edge of nostril boogie crumbs that remained from a previous, unseen full pick.
This must have been taken out of context.
Wow. That is a man who does not feel very good about life.
I guess we've just been desensitized to incomprehensibly porous defensive performances. Our scar tissue is deep. Illinois, it appears, can't look at a 60+ point performance and say, "eh, shit happens."
I'd imagine they look for the best deals throughout the entire semester and find flights that are $100 round trip. Make it for a day and you don't have to pay for a hotel or check any bags other than maybe the camera. I'd imagine they have a pretty decent budget at such a large school.
I was thinking the same thing, and then wondered if the writer isn't from Florida, was home for fall break, and went to do the story. Or they could have been visiting friends down there. If you shop smart, airfare isn't much, so The Daily may have been able to pay for it, or the writer paid for it himself. A big story like that looks great if the author wants to work in journalism.
he is smelling his hair. If mine was as luxurious as Gerg's, I'd do the exact same thing.
Does the cute girl have any game film? Her face is the inverse of Denard's typical expression, so I was thinking she might play defense.
That is her game face. Please don't ask her to show you her war face!
Incorrect: her name is Charlene and that's her war face. You got a war face?
The result: 305 PASSING yards from the Nard dog.
Nard dog? Nard dog.
I heard there is a tractor pull next Saturday near East Lansing that is pulling the fan base away from their game.
I can only imagine what a camera might have caught were it to pan to my face at most any time during that game. I'm certain I wouldn't want a .gif made of it and fused to some internet theme of my competence.
Golden Rule and all that...
Adding: not to be a ninny, of course - if it were Tressel and his hygiene being impugned, I'd be all in. I'm a homer.
If you can't laugh at "yourself," who can you laugh at?
to laugh at other people.
I'm still not a member of that good portion you mention. I'm not in that Aegis-class boat yet, so to speak.
Agree, MGoShoe.
And at least he's not chewing on (artificial) grass.
This foolish meme would be more correctly stated as, "it won't work AGAIN in the Big Ten."
While the forward pass was being refined, quarterbacks would routinely run, kick, punt, etc. Turn back the clock and you'll find several Michigan quarterbacks who had success running the ball. For instance: Benny Friedman. He went on to become "the first great passer in professional football," and in 1928 he led the NFL is passing touchdowns, rushing touchdowns, scoring and extra points (while playing for the Detroit Wolverines). He remains the only player to ever lead the NFL in passing and rushing touchdowns in the same season.
Interestingly enough, Friedman's coach at Michigan was a man from West Virginia who learned football while playing tackle for the Mountaineers. That man's name was Fielding H Yost.
...the rest of the story.
I ventured over and read J Samuelsen's crap today and well whateva. I am not smart enough to post the text only link but everyone should go over and negative comment.
See my above post - down with the Free Press!
I couldn't agree more. Livid to start my day because that garbage was the first thing I saw. I think it would actually kill them to write one good thing about this team. With all the shit that has been thrown not only at the coaches, but also the players, I think DBrandon should do Rrod--and, more importantly, the team-- a favor and throw his public support behind him, express his admiration for maintaining control and for leading a team that represents UM in a way that speaks to the character of the ideal Michigan Man, (tenacious, relentless, resilient, and a team that plays like a team and supports itself from within, which gives it the ability to withstand the constant childish attacks from the media and play a brand of football that makes the Michigan program one I, as a faithful alumnus, am more than proud to support). In short, "fuck all y'all motha fuckas." These clowns from the freep should lose their press passes. Hail.
My Free Press boycott was challenged on Sunday at the Detroit Metro Airport. I stopped at one of the kiosks in the airport before my flight back home to get a newspaper with UM-Illinois highlights. It was there that I learned that the Detroit News and Free Press put out a joint Sunday paper!? WTF? Well, needless to say, I was pissed but kept strong in my boycott. Why the f- is there a combined Sunday paper??
The JOA has been in place for what must be a couple decades by now - "Joint Operating Agreement" was a major labor, business, journalism story for quite a while and a microcosm for the long decline of Detroit's population (aka, readership) and economy.
I'm originally from Michigan and went to undergrad there back in the mid-90s but haven't read either of the papers on anything near to a regular basis. So, yes, I did just make the discovery of what apparently been the situation for a long time. Its still a strange thing, no? Why not just have one big paper rather than two?
going to have to do. If Sharp is retained in the consolidated paper I'll start reading the Oakland Pr-... actually, I don't read any local papers now. So nothing will change.
(read detnews online once or twice a week)
then you have to put up with Pat Caputo. RR must have spit on Caputo's mothers grave or something, because he really hates RR.
Joint operating agreements were authorized under the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 to allow newspapers in the same market to combine operations and therefore cut costs, the rationale being that JOAs would allow multiple newspapers to survive where circulation was declining. This was before the age of 24 hour/day TV news and the Internet, so the Act's supporters argued that the Act would preserve editorial diversity and prevent a single large newspaper from controlling the local market.
Saw this article on Sunday and was mightily impressed. Somewhat off topic, I also saw on the same page that Ann Arbor has banned porch couches, and all I can say is I hope the fines are not retroactive.
While I do appreciate and got a good laugh out of the MSU subway 2-for-1 deal for the Purdue game (which is SENIOR DAY and would see them go to 10-1, in all likelihood), I do wonder why our own student section seemed so empty at the start of the Illinois game. Too early for the kids to get to the stadium? It looked a little sad on TV, quite frankly.
Then again, 2 consecutive losing seasons and Michigan is still selling out their home games. For all their on-field success this season, the MSU fans STILL aren't showing up.
I don't think any school is immune to this. The same was true of the Penn State game at 8 pm. A guy next to me pointed out a section that looked reserved (like the band section). It was just a portion of the student section that had not yet filled. Fortunately our students more than do their job come game time.
Come game time, the section was still more than half empty, and didn't fill up even by the end of the 1st quarter. The ones who show are loud. But the ones who don't, obviously aren't.
and find someone who can hold on to the goddamn ball.
The use of Gallon to return kicks and punts is contrary to what we have traditionally done and what most major college teams do. in the past, we have always used starters to return kicks and punts: AC, Desmond, Manningham, Woodson, Breaston, even the A-Train used to return kicks. I don't like the idea of using a guy who's cold and has had no reps to come in and field kicks. Put Shaw and Vincent or Stonum back on kickoffs and put someone like Grady out their to return punts.
While I am distressed at how poorly Gallon has returned kicks to this point and am eager to start the Dileo era (at least for punts) I wonder if playing Gallon there is an attempt to keep him happy so he doesn't transfer. We are loaded at slot receiver and receiver in general so there is little playing time and even fewer balls to go around. I think Gallon is a tremendous talent and I would hate to see him transfer because he is not being used. Anyway, that is my theory for why he is still returning kicks.
Interesting thought. If true, I really wish they would just stick him in the slot for more offensive plays because watching him try to catch punts is too hard. There has to be a better way.
It's unbelievable that there has no been disciplinary action at the FreeP against Sharp for what he did. Michigan really didn't do anything that any other school hasn't done, but they just had to get rid of Rodriguez. I want to see a smirk on RR's face when he wins a national title and never lets Drew sharp ask a question.
Listen to the audio file attached to the Daily article. Good stuff that didn't make it into the article.
Same with the FAU deal at Ford Field. Beyond pulling out their (boring, lifeless) "STATE" sweatshirts and hats for the first time in 25 years, they don't really care. Not a committed fanbase. But at 9-1, that is downright humiliating.
Re. "Against teams not made out of tiny track stars coated in butter, this will equate to a win." Does he have any comment of the shredding they took at the hands of Tate?
He may not be a track star, but I'm sure Tate loves him some butter.
I honestly would never have expected this, considering the absolute egregious amounts of trash talking Sparty hands to Michigan fans consitantly, how can this fanbase not sell out Spartan Stadium?
Easy. They don't have all those WALMART WOLVERINES!!111!1(TM) buying tickets like we do.
MSU requires verification of alumni status to purchase tickets, clothing or even cheer for the Spartans.
outside Wal*Marts and grocery stores might not be a bad idea. Works for the Girl Scouts.
they didn't have any trouble selling tickets ten years ago when Purdue was the team with Rose Bowl hopes and the Spartans were the ones just playing out the string ...
111,000 or it would really look empty.


text:
Netgear rolled out a new series of NAS appliances to go with a new version of its ReadyNAS operating system.
With the unveiling of its ReadyNAS 6.0, Netgear also finally standardizes on a single operating system rather than the three it had been using, said Matt Pahnke, senior manager of product marketing for the San Jose, Calif.-based company's storage business.
With the ReadyNAS 6.0 operating system, the company also has simplified its product line in a way that finally lets customers decide which to buy based on the speed and capacity they require, Pahnke said.
[Related: Netgear Pushes Higher Into SMBs With Unified Storage Arrays]
"Our hope is to make NAS storage easier for home users who haven't used it before and bring enterprise NAS features to SMBs," he said.
ReadyNAS 6.0 includes several features differentiating it from Netgear's previous operating systems, Pahnke said.
These include the ability to take advantage of faster processors to allow multiple users to simultaneously access storage across PC, Macintosh and Linux environments; unlimited shapshots for disk-based backups; the ability to manage multiple copies of data for improved disaster recovery; thin provisioning; improved iSCSI support; and the company's new ReadyCloud platform for cloud-based discovery and management capabilities.
While Netgear has had cloud storage via its ReadyNAS Vault and online file access via its ReadyNAS Remote offerings, ReadyCloud is the first technology Netgear or any vendor has offered for cloud-based management of SMB storage, Pahnke said.
ReadyCloud is aimed at home users and SMBs with little or no storage deployment experience to get their new Netgear appliances ready to use.
"With ReadyCloud, you open the box, plug the appliance in, and go to a URL," he said. "Click discover, and it finds the device. Enter the user name and password, and you're up and running. You can go to a Web portal from Starbucks with a tablet and set it up remotely."
Small-business users can use ReadyCloud to access multiple boxes at once to do the management, set up file shares, browse to the file level, and access any file from a local device, Pahnke said.
NEXT: Advanced Storage Services For SOHO, SMB Users


text: Before his death at the age of 110 in May 2011, Claude Choules was the last man alive who had served in both world wars. Claude learned life's lessons during a rural childhood in England and later in the Royal Navy as a boy sailor, before graduating to become an explosives expert in the Australian navy. In his 80s, Claude began working on his memoirs with the help of his daughters, and The Last of the Last is a riveting account of his lifetime that vividly mirrors how the last century unfolded. Claude had the insight of an ordinary man thrust to the forefront of international furore. He was opposed to the glorification of war, but his charming anecdotes honour a generation called upon to serve not once but twice. This engaging, wryly humorous autobiography reflects the amiable nature of a truly unique man.


text:
|Send News. Want a reply? Read this. More in the FAQ. News Forum - All Forums - Mobile - PDA - RSS Headlines Twitter
The Ubisoft Forums announce the availability of a playable demo for The Settlers 7, the next installment in the long-running strategy management series (thanks Xirix). The 2.6 GB download is on German website Pfanni, but word is it is a multilanguage demo, and a mirror of the demo is now available on AtomicGamer, FileFront, Fileplay, Gamer's Hell, and WorthPlaying. On a semi-related note, the Mac edition of the gam is now available for preorder from Macgamestore, which will come with a free copy of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence. A set of system requirements accompany the demo, which are clearly for the full game, including mention that Ubi's DRM requiring a persistent online connection is present in both the game and the demo. We've run the specs through Google Translate and posted them below.
System Requirements for "The Settlers 7"
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Chatbear v1.4.0/blue++: Page generated 28 May 2018, 01:24.
Chatbear Announcements.


text:
S3 Group announced today that it has licensed the Comcast Reference Design Kit (RDK) and will now provide its professional services to help integrate the RDK onto various set-top box platforms.
The Comcast RDK was developed internally using open-source components and by working with various vendors. The RDK is a community-based project that allows developers, vendors and cable operators to use a defined stack of software on one layer in order to provision set-top boxes and gateways.
The RDK allows all of the interested parties to develop once and then scale across multiple environments – in the CableCard/QAM/MEPG-2 world of today, as well as in the IP environment of tomorrow. While Comcast doesn't provide a full list of licensees, it has publicly licensed the RDK to itaas, Entropic and Broadcom.
The endgame for the RDK is to cut the development cycle down for new set-top boxes from two years to one year, or even under one year.
S3 Group will pitch in on the RDK by providing its system integration experience for multi-screen digital TV devices, along with its StormTest suite of automated testing solutions, to ensure quality and timely deployment of devices to the end customer.
"The Comcast RDK initiative marks an important moment for our industry. Our licensing deal with Comcast provides crucial added value for those operators looking to implement the RDK, which can now be accomplished utilizing the expertise from S3 Group that they've come to know and trust," said Philip Brennan, vice president of TV technology at S3 Group. "Our support of the Comcast RDK, combined with more than 18 years' experience in digital TV system integration and solution development, is a testament to why S3 Group is the optimal choice for operators that are under increasing pressure to deliver reliable platforms and best QoE to their customers."
Cable operators that have openly embraced the RDK to date include, in addition to Comcast, Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.
"With the RDK, Comcast is seeding the growth of a community-driven software platform that addresses one of the industry's biggest problems – the lengthy process of device development and deployment," said Steve Reynolds, senior vice president of CPE and home networking for Comcast. "With the cooperation of S3 Group and others, the RDK provides operators, developers and device vendors the foundation required to innovate at a fast pace – a requirement in today's rapidly changing multi-screen TV environment."


text:
Ms. Jane Elliot, an internationally known anti-racism activist and educator will share some of the current projects she's working on March 13 at the GSU Naperville Education Center, 2244 95th St., Naperville. Ms. Elliot's presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. in room 308.
Ms. Elliott is a recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education. She has exposed prejudice and bigotry for what it is; an irrational class system based upon purely arbitrary factors.
Best known for her, now famous, exercise where she divides her class based upon the color of their eyes and bestows upon one group privileges and on the other group impediments. Her work endures to this day and is featured on national TV specials.
Posted by Michael Drakulich at 02/24/2014 12:47:32 PM


text:
WALNUT – John Pogliano Sr., 91, of Walnut, died Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, at Perry Memorial Hospital in Princeton.
John was born on Aug. 15, 1921, in Coal City, the son of John and Vena (Stellone) Pogliano. He married Darlene Perry on March 2, 1946, at Immaculate Conception Church in Morris.
John was a lifelong farmer in the Coal City and Walnut areas and was a seed corn salesman since 1973. He was a member of St. John Catholic Church in Walnut.
He is survived by his wife; one son, John (Lana) Pogliano Jr. of Walnut; two daughters, Kathy Togliatti of Coal City and Mary (Steve) Bickett of Chicago; four grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren; two sisters; one brother; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother and two sisters.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Garland Funeral Home in Walnut. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. John Catholic Church, with the Rev. Tom Shaw, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Braceville-Gardner Cemetery in Coal City.
A memorial has been established to Walnut Food Pantry. Visit www.garlandfuneralhome.com to send condolences.


text:
Then there's "hime-den" -- which is this...
... can you even see what that is?
And there's "ea-gei" -- "air performance":
This refers to a recent twist on the Japanese art of monomane (impersonation). Unlike conventional monomane artists who do voice impressions, air performers lip sync their imitations to recordings while incorporating well-timed dance moves, gestures and facial expressions.
"Saiban Inko" -- combining saibanin (juror) and inko (parakeet) -- will help people understand the new citizen jury system:
Lots more -- obviously, there are 60 -- at the link.
(Via Metafilter, where they are especially amused by "morning banana.")


text:
Public input sought on new type reinvestment zone
- Details
- Category: News
- Published on 21 December 2013
- Written by Mount Vernon Optic-Herald
A public hearing has been set on whether to establish one or more County Energy Transportation Reinvestment Zones (CETRZ) and potential boundaries and requirements of such zones.
The hearing will be in conjunction with the Franklin County Commissioners Court's last regular meeting of the year. That meeting will be at 9 a.m. Thursday, December 26 in the courtroom at the West Courthouse Annex on Hwy. 37 just south of the railroad overpass. See the December 19 edition of the Mount Vernon Optic-Herald for more details.


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Can certain drugs taken prevent certain STDS from occuring?
Sep 4, 2006
Dear Dr. Frascino,
I recently went to Asia and slept with a girl and had unprotected oral sex but protected intercouse sex. I am worried that I have contracted anything, from STDs to HIV. I got really scared the next day and went to a doctor in Hong Kong and got tested for HIV I and II and VLDR and still waiting for the results. was it too early for testing and when should i get tested again? The following day, I flew back to the U.S. and soon after went to an STD specialist. Being very worried and scared, i asked him for any medication that would prevent the chances of certain STDs. I was not diagnosed with these diseases, but he injected me with Bicillin LA for syphillis and i am currently on Levaquin (7day pills) which he told me will eliminate any occurances or possiblities for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Is this true and should i get tested at another clinic for any other diseases? I am scheduled to go back 2 months from now for a herpes Test and later on an HIV test. Please let me know what I should do next. I am very worried about my health.
Response from Dr. Frascino
Hello Jason,
You had unprotected oral sex and protected "intercourse" sex and for that your Hong Kong doctor tested you for HIV-1, HIV-2 and syphilis (VDRL) the very next day???? Oh my . . . .
And then you flew to the U.S. and a physician here injected you with Bicillin LA and gave you Levaquin prophylactically, just because you were scared??? WOWZA . . . !!! You've been getting some bad advice (not to mention unnecessary lab tests and medications)?
Let's start with your risk: Protected sex is "protected" if the latex condom is used properly and did not fail. Protected sex poses a virtually nonexistent risk for HIV and many other STDs. Oral sex, particularly insertive oral sex, carries a negligible risk for HIV.
Next, your tests: getting HIV and VDRL tests the day after a potential exposure will tell you nothing about that exposure!
Next, your treatment: prophylactic treatment with injectable Bicillin LA and Levaquin is not a recommended therapy for STD prophylaxis due to an episode of oral sex/protected vaginal sex!
What should you do next?!? First, stop being so unnecessarily and irrationally worried!
Next, stop encouraging doctors to give you unwarranted tests and drugs!
Third, get an STD screen if you develop any symptoms (unlikely considering the excessive therapy you've already received) and a single HIV rapid test at the three-month mark.
Fourth, consider getting counseling for your anxiety and irrational fears.
Fifth, find a more reasonable physician!
Good luck!
Dr. Bob
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text:
PigtailsOfDoom wrote:
I remember Christina Aguilera getting flack for making a Spanish album, because people either didn't know or had forgotten that she's actually half Hispanic. She just really doesn't look it.
I left my notebook about Christina Aguilera in my other pants but I seem to recall a lot of the annoyance came from her previous bending over backwards to avoid saying she was half Hispanic. Probably because that wasn't the image they wanted put out to compete with Ms. Spears.


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That just says that they're going to inject the DNA - it doesn't say that they're going to get viable embryos out of it.
Why do they need to know? 10,000 years is roughly 20 half-life periods, so they should expect roughly 1-millionth of the DNA to remain.
Since the wooly mammoth genome is approximately 4.7 billion in 58 chromosomes, for an average of 81 million base pairs per chromosome, the DNA fragments would be, on average 81 base pairs long, which should be enough to figure out the original sequence after duplicating and matching. So a full reconstructed mammoth genome should be possible.
Heck, 81 base pairs would save you a lot of time chopping strands for PCR, you would already have the pieces.
Seriously though, given those numbers are for a single cell, how many do you have with a mammoth carcass? More than 1, in fact more than 1 million. If you can find a lab blender big enough to stuff a mammoth carcass in to, the rest should be trivial. I would also venture that after a while, the fact that a dinosaur bone didn't degrade to dust means that it is better preserved than your average thing stuffed in to the ground so the half life would, after a point, extend.
Given a few dinosaur samples, you could probably get enough to reassemble most of the genome. With some not all that complex math, you can compare it to a few key reptile sequences and likely get some strong hints or even direct sequences that are missing. Some things change a lot over time, others do not or can not.
And yes, I did do this in college. No, not on dinosaurs though, that would have been a bit more fun to talk about at the bars.
With the numbers of busyqth (mammoths died out 4500 years ago by the way):
If you have 1 DNA in pieces of 1000 base pairs length from one mammoth, it must not be older than 8500 years.
If you have 1 DNA in pieces of 81 base pairs length from one mammoth, it must not be older than 10000 years.
If you have a million DNA pieces of 81 base pairs length from a million mammoths, they must not be older than 30000 years.
The returns are diminishing quickly. 10000 years can not be exceeded significantly.
I think your way of looking at the decay is not the way I would expect decay to occur. At each half-life, there is a 50% chance that base pair bonds are broken, so at one half life, I would expect a poisson distribution of base pair lengths that remain rather than at one half life for the chromosome to be broken in two. This would imply that at one half life most sequences will be single digits in length and that at 20 half lifes, there will be very few sequences longer than 2.
Also, they do show a relativ
the assumptions in the 521 year half life number is that we are above freezing temperatures. so mammoth DNA has a different experience
there are arguments to make that frozen water would lengthen the half life (frozen water is not as chemically active) or shorten it (ice crystals shredding the dna physically rather than chemically)
i'm not knowledgeable enough to guess if the frozen effect would save the DNA better or shred it even worse, but i think it is a valid to say that the half life would be a lot different if you are dealing with a corpse that was frozen at death and stayed that way in permafrost the entire thousands of years time before getting to a modern biotech lab
10,000 years is roughly 20 half-life periods
Hey now there's no need to exaggerate, Gabe said HL3 will be done when it's done.
There is a big difference between finding 10,000 year old mammoth DNA under near perfect conditions (the bodies froze quickly because it was already freezing and stayed frozen until they were found) and hoping to find 65 million year old Tyrannosaurus rex DNA under bad conditions (the processes that preserve fossilized bones are bad for DNA--too much heat and pressure). As cold weather animals, mammoths are ideal candidates for something like this. The dinosaurs required much warmer climates.
Something must be wrong with the 521 years. 65 million years / 521 years = 124.760 half lifes.
That means only 1 / (2^124.760) = 1 / (3,1787695069134767997232294562089e+37556) of the original DNA should be available for analysis today. Those guys would be lucky to find a single base pair that has not decayed. Hardly a sufficient basis to make a quantitative analysis
No problem, we will just swizzle the results until we hatch a qualitaitve T-Rex instead of a gecko.
The abstract seems to suggest that even if a t-rex were found in "mammoth trapped in ice" conditions, which as far as we know is an absurd scenario, it'd still be unusable, right?
The team predicts that even in a bone at an ideal preservation temperature of -5 C, effectively every bond would be destroyed after a maximum of 6.8 million years. The DNA would cease to be readable much earlier â" perhaps after roughly 1.5 million years, when the remaining strands would be too short to give meaningful information.
Tyrannosaurus roamed the earth, what, 65-67 million years ago? That's 9x's older than the maximum listed here. But maybe I've misunderstood...?
Even more importantly, this ignores a previous published article on "DNA Sequence from Cretaceous Period Bone Fragments" -- Science 266 (5188) 1229-1232, here is a PDF [myweb.dal.ca] of the article in Science. Either 80 mya (Cretaceous) is horribly wrong, the 521 year half-live of DNA is horribly wrong, Woodruff, et al were horrible deceived (or frauds) or some combination of these.
You would hope evidence would be the deciding factor, but scientists are human too, and the interpretation of evidence is often more important than the actual evidence -- it is very hard to upset to prevailing opinion (as it should be when the opinion is well founded)
Nobody has scientifically disproved time travel yet... we may yet get to see dinosaurs alive!
All you need is C-span.
Although 'alive' is pushing it a bit.
If time travel was possible, dinosaurs would have come to us in their time travel machines long before now.
But it's easy to disprove time travel:
1. Anyone capable of time travel at any point in the future would immediately take the opportunity to kill Hitler while he was a no-name artist.
2. Nobody killed Hitler before WWII started.
3. Ergo, there exists no future where time travel exists. Q.E.D.
Hitler is a fixed point in time and thus cannot be killed.
Does this have any bearing on cryogenics or would that preserve the DNA?
The calculations in the latest study were quite straightforward, but many questions remain. "I am very interested to see if these findings can be reproduced in very different environments such as permafrost and caves," says Michael Knapp, a palaeogeneticist at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Moreover, the researchers found that age differences accounted for only 38.6% of the variation in DNA degradation between moa-bone samples. "Other factors that impact on DNA preservation are clearly at work," says Bunce. "Storage following excavation, soil chemistry and even the time of year when the animal died are all likely contributing factors that will need looking into."
Clearly the researchers are aware of the effects of different conditions and levels of preservation and are looking into it. Would be a bit worrying if they didn't.
Also worth mentioning, what about the tar pits? If an animal is surrounded by tar and sealed in, what happens to the DNA degradation?
"there were several reports, including the one in 1992, that claimed that DNA fragments had been recovered from insects that had died between 25 and 125 million years ago. These reports caused considerable excitement, but despite intensive efforts no other researchers, including the team at The Natural History Museum, have been able to repeat and verify these results. As a result of these findings, most scientists now agree that DNA doesn't survive in fossilized insects in amber."
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/resources-rx/files/12feat_dna_in_amber-3009.pdf [nhm.ac.uk]
Short answer: It was plausible, but now is considered debunked. Unless a dino got frozen for 150 mega-years, there's no Jurassic to be.
That particular method has been (mostly) debunked. But the article here does make substantial assumptions about the environment the DNA is subjected to, any situation that leaves DNA in a different environment from that envisioned by the authors is also likely to have a different result.
So I'd say that neither this article, nor the lack of ability to reproduce the DNA in insects in amber reports, proves the impossibility of getting a hold of Jurassic DNA in some form.
Not necessarily the end of the Jurassic Park idea.
From the beginning, it was obvious that Jurassic Park is to genetic engineering as Star Trek is to astronautics: good entertainment, a captivating story, an even better sound track, but nothing even remotely related to reality.
If the half-life of DNA is 521 years how are scientists able to sequence 30.000 year old Neanderthal DNA? Presumably this applies to regular DNA, did Svante Pääbo and his team sequence mtDNA?
It has taken folks decades to get the technology to sequence such DNA. It's very degraded. IIRC, they rely on multiple overlaps of small fragments and the technology has been pushing that fragment size down over the years. I'm sure you could look it up. To tired at the moment.
Maybe Neanderthals are not that old.... The better question, is how do we have dinosaurs with red blood cells? If DNA can barely survive for 500+ years, and cannot survive more than 1.5 million, how do red blood cells last 65 million years since the presumed extinction impact event?
Creationists will be VERY interested in this article.
Jack Horner: Building a dinosaur from a chicken | Video on TED.com [ted.com] - Renowned paleontologist Jack Horner has spent his career trying to reconstruct a dinosaur. He's found fossils with extraordinarily well-preserved blood vessels and soft tissues, but never intact DNA. So, in a new approach, he's taking living descendants of the dinosaur (chickens) and genetically engineering them to reactivate ancestral traits — including teeth, tails, and even hands — to make a "Chickenosaurus".
Exactly. Much of the "lost" DNA is still very much available, in the form of the dinosaurs' descendants.
Not only that, but any sample of nontrivial size will contain plenty of redundant DNA strands. This "half-life" business can be dealt with through instrumentation and data analysis, if not through chemistry or biology alone.
I thought Mosanto already invented the chickensaurus. And that's why chicken breasts today are the size of yesteryear's turkey breasts?
An article on this at The Register pointed out that even in amber, the DNA had very little chance of surviving 1.5M years, let alone the 62M years that would have been required for Jurrassic Park to have happened.
What if it is sealed in a way that microbes, oxygen, etc can not interfere with it? Say amber, a tar swamp, a deep freeze?
No I did not read the article nor do I have any knowledge on the subject beyond that leaving a steak on a counter in 100 degree heat has a very different outcome than putting it in a sealed bag in a freezer.
"Wikipedia seems to have a page all about doing what this article says is impossible"
No, it doesn't. Dinosaurs (non-avian ones) are 65 million years old or older. The oldest ancient DNA that isn't regarded as bogus or probably so is less than a million years old. People had hopes that DNA extracted from dinosaur bones was real, but upon more careful testing, it was discovered to all be contamination. Neanderthals are a lot younger than dinosaurs. That time range works.
This is all explained on the wikip
The 521 year half-life is if the DNA is exposed to water in typical situations, ITFA (in the article) they give an estimate for the best case situation...
The team predicts that even in a bone at an ideal preservation temperature of 5 C, effectively every bond would be destroyed after a maximum of 6.8 million years. The DNA would cease to be readable much earlier — perhaps after roughly 1.5 million years, when the remaining strands would be too short to give meaningful information.
"This confirms the widely held suspicion that claims of DNA from dinosaurs and ancient insects trapped in amber are incorrect," says Simon Ho, a computational evolutionary biologist at the University of Sydney in Australia. However, although 6.8 million years is nowhere near the age of a dinosaur bone — which would be at least 65 million years old — "We might be able to break the record for the oldest authentic DNA sequence, which currently stands at about half a million years," says Ho.
As other posters point out, the famous mammoth recreated from DNA was from about 10,000 years ago, much less than the 1.5 million year practical limit estimated by this research team.
If ape and human DNA are 5-10% different, then perhaps dinosaur and some current reptile DNA are very similar as well, since now you have 90% of the DNA already, you have to find much less, and if you have billions of samples of DNA, perhaps they could be reconstructed. I would think that by the time we are able to do such a thing we won't be far from being able to create our own dinosaur from scratch.
Okay, but there were how many billion copies of the sample when the creature died? If there were two, after 521 years I still have (on average) at least one copy of 3/4 of the data, extending the half-life to (check my math here) 737 years. With 15 billion copies or so, the half-life gets up to, hey!, about 65 million years, and there are trillions of cells (and so trillions of copies of DNA) in a human-
OK. I just showed my computer a picture of a Komodo Dragon. It just is sitting there, doing nothing.
Now what am I supposed to do?
Pick up the damned mouse and talk to it. It didn't work for Scotty, but things have gotten more advanced since then. Do it in public for better results.
Is this why we haven't heard much from Mary Schwietzer [discovermagazine.com] lately? Six years ago she isolated soft tissue remnants from inside a T-rex femur.
More recently, Charlotte Oskam (Biologist at Murdoch University in Australia) identified DNA in fossilized egg shells [metro.co.uk].
We've always known that DNA was unlikely to survive the passage of aeons, this just puts a number to it. Specific conditions could still allow better than typical preservation, and so I dislike making an absolute statement that we'll never find it. Hopefully those who are still looking for the elusive ancient DNA will take this study as a way to focus their search rather than have their funding cut.
But we're going to explain to you how half-lives work anyways.
If there's one thing you should have learned from Slashdot it's that simply being a nerd doesn't make one less stupid, less ignorant, or less technically inclined.
At the same time, it also shouldn't make you less capable of googling a term you don't understand.
I wonder if 521 years is how long we'll be waiting for Half Life 3?
Nope, that's the release date for Duke Nukem 4D!
One of the best ways to make it happen is to declare it's "impossible". It gives people something to strive for.
Actually, it was 1993.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Schweitzer [wikipedia.org]
And it's been pretty discredited since then.
If all else fails, Google these things and look for the magic words: Consensus between independent researchers with respectable backgrounds.
Without that, nothing means anything. Just this woman career path and the subjects of her official qualifications are enough to worry me.
Actually, it was 1993.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Schweitzer [wikipedia.org]
And it's been pretty discredited since then.
If all else fails, Google these things and look for the magic words: Consensus between independent researchers with respectable backgrounds.
Without that, nothing means anything. Just this woman career path and the subjects of her official qualifications are enough to worry me.
From the wikipedia article you quoted:
A more recent study (October 2010) published in PLoS ONE contradicts the conclusion of Kaye and supports Schweitzer's original conclusion.[14]
14^ Peterson, JE; Lenczewski, ME; Reed, PS (October 2010). Stepanova, Anna. ed. "Influence of Microbial Biofilms on the Preservation of Primary Soft Tissue in Fossil and Extant Archosaurs". PLoS ONE 5 (10): 13A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013334. [doi.org]
It sounds like her research isn't as discredited as you make it sound.
What part of her official qualifications are in question? Would you rather that her Ph.D. in Biology come from an institution more prestigious than Montana State University? The field she's working in is quite new; there are very few specimens of intact tissue from that long ago, and not many people are working on it. Broad consensus is hard to reach in young fields, if only because of the small nu
My house is built on layers of rock containing some amazingly well preserved ~400M year old fossils, and there appears to be very little water because the iron in the clay is not rusted, making it bright blue instead of brown. It is brown however where the rocks have been cracked and water can get through.
"We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone Company."


text:
House hopefuls to meet in forum
Residents of Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District will have the opportunity to attend a Saturday town hall meeting to meet the two men who are vying this November to represent them in the U.S. House of Representatives
Sponsored by the Starkville TEA Party, the meeting will allow residents to listen to the candidates as they answer questions about the issues facing our state and country.
The meeting will be held from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Starkville Sportsplex.
Democratic candidate Joel Gill and incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Gregg Harpe will both speak and answer questions.
Gill ran on the Democratic ticket for the Third Congressional District House seat in 2008, but was defeated by Harper in the general election. Harper won 63 percent of the vote to defeat Gill in 2008.
Syndicated columnist and radio talk show host Sid Salter will be the moderator for the event, and will ask questions presented by those in attendance and screened by a panel including College Republicans and College Democrats.
Gill obtained a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy at Millsaps College in 1973 and became involved in politics when he ran for City Commissioner of Jackson. He currently serves as Mayor of Pickens.
Gill is the chief financial officer of Mississippi Order Buyers, Inc., a cattle buying corporation. He currently serves as director of the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce and in various other organizations in the cattle industry.
Gill and his wife, Ann, have two children, four grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Harper graduated from Mississippi College in 1978 with a degree in chemistry and from the University of Mississippi Law School in 1981. He served as Rankin County chairman for the Mississippi Republican Party and was a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention.
Harper has served as prosecuting attorney for the cities of Brandon and Richland. He currently serves on several congressional committees and subcommittees. Harper and his wife, Sidney, have two children and live in Pearl.
The Washington Post's political blog has called Sid Salter "one of the nation's best state political reporters." Salter is the Perspective section editor for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson and hosts a talk radio show, "On Deadline with Sid Salter," on the SuperTalk Mississippi network.
For more information about the town hall meeting, contact the Starkville TEA Party by e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com or call 418-8115.


text:
Inter shakes off Cassano distraction for 3-2 win
Credit: The Associated Press
ROME — Inter Milan came back from two goals down to beat Catania 3-2 Sunday, shaking off a horrendous first half and Antonio Cassano's latest outburst of bad behavior.
Also, Francesco Totti tied Swedish great Gunnar Nordahl for second place on Serie A's all-time scoring list with his 225th goal as Roma beat Genoa 3-1 for its third consecutive win.
The pre-match buildup for Inter was centered on a training scuffle between Cassano and manager Andrea Stramaccioni, and Cassano was left off the squad for the match in Sicily.
"We started awfully, which was in part due to the crazy atmosphere and the euphoria at the stadium," Stramaccioni said. "But after the break a different squad came out and left its soul out there. ... Fortunately we comment on the matches after they're finished."
Having already lost another forward, Diego Milito, for the season with a knee injury, Cassano's absence weighed heavily.
Not surprisingly, Inter appeared distracted at the start and Gonzalo Bergessio put Catania ahead seven minutes in at the Massimino stadium after Inter defender Juan Jesus left him the ball deep inside the area.
Catania doubled its lead in the 19th following another defensive lapse with Giovanni Marchese left free to head in.
However, Inter organized itself in the second half, which began with goalkeeper Samir Handanovic thwarting two more Catania chances.
Ricky Alvarez scored for Inter in the 51st, heading in a cross from Rodrigo Palacio, and Palacio equalized in the 70th, heading in a cross from Alvara Perreira.
Palacio then scored the winner in the second minute of added time after getting set up by Esteban Cambiasso inside the area.
Cassano has had run-ins with authority figures throughout his career, from Fabio Capello at Roma and Real Madrid to former Sampdoria president Riccardo Garrone during his time with the Genoa-based club.
"The incident was over-amplified," Stramaccioni said. "For someone as direct as I am, whatever I have to say to Antonio I'll do it face to face. ... It wasn't an exclusion, I just decided not to put him in the squad. It's normal to have an exchange of opinions with a player. We never had our hands on each other."
Stramaccioni said Cassano would be included in the squad for Thursday's Europa League match at Tottenham.
Inter moved into a tie for fourth with Lazio, 12 points behind Serie A leader Juventus.
On Friday, Juventus drew 1-1 at second-place Napoli, and on Saturday AC Milan beat Lazio 3-0 to jump ahead of the Roman club into third place.
Fiorentina is sixth after beating visiting Chievo Verona 2-1 with a 78th-minute strike from newly signed Argentine forward Marcelo Larrondo.
Manuel Pasqual had put Fiorentina ahead in the fourth, Ghana midfielder Isaac Cofie equalized for Chievo in the 38th and Larrondo decided the match with a close-range header, reacting quickly to redirect another header from Luca Toni.
Roma is seventh and improving from week to week under interim manager Aurelio Andreazzoli after Zdenek Zeman was fired a month ago.
Totti put Roma ahead with a penalty in the 16th after Daniele De Rossi was tripped and 18-year-old defender Alessio Romagnoli scored the winner in the 58th with a header after former Roma forward Marco Borriello had equalized for Genoa.
Simone Perrotta added another for Roma in the 88th, redirecting a pass from Totti.
Genoa ended with 10 men after Juraj Kucka picked up his second yellow card in the 78th.
It was the 10th goal this season for the 36-year-old Totti, who is in his 21st season with Roma having made his debut for his hometown club as a 16-year-old.
Silvio Piola — who played for Pro Vercelli, Lazio, Torino, Juventus and Novara from 1929-54 — leads the all-time list with a seemingly insurmountable 274 goals.
Nordahl scored most of his Serie A goals with AC Milan but concluded his career with Roma in 1958.
Still, Roma fans unfurled a banner that read: "225, next stop Piola."
"It was an emotional moment," Totti said. "I'm happy I was able to do it before my fans."
Elsewhere Sunday, Udinese won 1-0 at Pescara with Antonio Di Natale scoring for the 15th time this season; and Sampdoria beat visiting Parma 1-0 with a 58th-minute goal from Mauro Icardi, the 20-year-old Argentine forward who has scored eight goals since January.
Pescara coach Cristiano Bergodi was fired after his club lost.
Also, Bologna beat Cagliari 3-0 with goals from Saphir Taider, Alessandro Diamanti and Cristian Pasquato; and Giacomo Bonaventura scored twice as Atalanta won 2-0 at Siena, which remained tied for last with Pescara and Palermo.
Earlier in the lunchtime fixture, Palermo drew 0-0 at Torino.


text:
"I'd been around, and a lot of other towns had a memorial to the veterans. Prairie City didn't have anything like that, and I knew it'd be a good idea."
Gene Vande Lune is a Prairie City resident, Army veteran from the Korean War, and the man responsible for much of the planning and implementation in securing a veteran's memorial for the community.
Gene had heard about funds coming into several different community organizations as part of a community member's will. Several churches, along with the Lion's Club, were going to receive funding that they could use for various projects.
After the Lion's Club, of which Gene is a member, had allocated funding to several different projects it was working on, there was still some money left over. He came forward and proposed the memorial in the town square.
"For a lot of people, like those in Korea and Vietnam, they didn't get much recognition for what they did," Gene said.
The memorial was a way to remedy that in Prairie City, helping to honor those that served, in any time period or conflict.
A committee was put together to help plan the memorial, and while Gene wasn't on the committee, he was incredibly active in offering his advice and guidance to the project. After a while the reins of the project were handed over and in May of 2011, the Veterans Memorial was purchased from Watts Monument Co. and installed by them.
Gene saw the opportunity to continue raising funds for the project, as well as bestow individual recognition for community veterans, so he went about selling bricks.
He had determined that if 100 people were to buy a single brick at $100 each, that they would have enough funding to continue with the memorial. He put out a call to pledge in the paper and in no time he had 100. Then he had 120. Eventually he had right around 160 pledges, far exceeding his original goal.
"We've got the information and everything for around 150 of them so far," Gene said. "We still have a few pledges that we're waiting on."
The memorial bricks being purchased represent a huge cross section of veterans, from those that are still on active duty in the services to long-dead POW and MIA veterans as well as the famous Herschel Briles from World War II.
"There's applications in the grocery stores, the barber shop and the Roberts brothers," Gene said. "There isn't going to be an end. After they're installed, people can still sign up to get a brick."
Although the application process will be ongoing, Gene hopes that people will try to get them in before the bricks are placed in the spring of 2014. After that they will have to wait until there are 10 applications at a time for the engravers to come out, which could take significantly longer.
Applications for Prairie City area veterans and donations to the project can be sent to PO Box 1, Prairie City, IA. 50228.
Staff writer Matt Nosco may be contacted at (515) 674-3591 or at email@example.com.


text:
Saturday, April 17, 2010
A Bad Start
First and foremost, it was a Todd Wellemeyer loss and a Giants team victory. I know, "moral" victories are like kissing your sister, but you've gotta love the way the boys fought back, with homers from Sandoval and Velez.
I was watching with my mother and my daughter in the second inning. Just before Wellemeyer threw the first pitch to Ethier, with the bases loaded, I said,"I have a bad feeling." I probably say dumb things like that all the time, but this time I meant it, and boy was I right. A grand slam. Doggers ahead 7-0.
Oh well, Today will be an entirely different story. Go Timmy!
6 comments:
- M.C. O'Connor said...
Actually I was falling asleep in the 8th when it was 10-3 so I went to bed and missed our awesome comeback off Russ Ortiz.
- Sat Apr 17, 09:18:00 AM PDT
- M.C. O'Connor said...
Rowand took a nasty shot. He'll spend some time on the DL. Scary, a ball like that could kill you or cripple you if it hit you square on, even with a helmet. I give Rowand a lot of crap but it takes some cojones to hang in against big-time ML heat. I hope he's OK.
- Sat Apr 17, 09:34:00 AM PDT
- JC Parsons said...
That game makes me want to have a GOAT and Wellemeyer looks like a good candidate. Very "hate-able" performance so far. Blowing a HUGE game against the scum is pretty much a major felony in my book. His comments are pretty stupid too - blaming the ump when you give up homer after homer after homer. What a chump. I never understood why the job was his the moment we grabbed him off the scrap heap. Also, didn't he throw at Kemp which is what caused the hothead Padilla to throw at Rowand? ( We have not seen the last of that.) I know hating a Giant is kinda rude and immature...yeah, but it feels so right.
- Sat Apr 17, 12:06:00 PM PDT
We apparently had too many outfielders just a few hours before we suddenly didn't. Irony, thy middle name is Gigantes. Apparently Rowand is not on the 15 day DL (as of noon today) in spite of having a concussion and fractured cheek (ouch!) from the HBP. I liked the spirited comeback, but of course it is damn hard to climb out of a 10-3 hole. Did someone overhear Bochy telling the Giants not to swing at the first pitch? It seemed to me like a number of those I saw on tv were right over the heart of the plate for strike one. One other positive note: all the pitchers who have not been pretty awesome so far were used in one game. We need some quality innings from Tim today while the hitters figure out a knuckleball and an early lead for Zito tomorrow.
- Sat Apr 17, 12:54:00 PM PDT
- jponry said...
Your banner looks all fuzzy and shit.
- Sat Apr 17, 10:47:00 PM PDT
- JC Parsons said...
The banner photo was taken on a ferry going to the ballpark. The "fuzz and shit" is called F-O-G. Go to San Francisco sometime in the summer and you just might see some.
- Sun Apr 18, 07:31:00 AM PDT


text:
If open source is so much better, it ought to win on merits. Of course, in civil service merits usually don't count, which is why they have lots of rules, and ultimately the whole doesn't achieve much of anything. So much so that bureaucracy is a byword for exactly that.
An example of how to do it is the LiMux project. There, the city of Munich stuck out its head, made a plan, adjusted as necessary (because, due to scope turning out much larger than expected, they needed a much longer timetable), and now has
If open source is so much better, it ought to win on merits.
It does. Proprietary software wins on lock-in, licensing and legacy.
... and frequently bribery
And just as importantly, it gives you someone to sue if it breaks down horribly.
No it doesn't, the license agreement on proprietary software provides no warranty whatsoever on the software, you have exactly the same ability to seek redress from the vendor as you do with open source - none.
Proprietary does NOT win on ass-covering.
Nobody ever sued IBM and won - (not even SCO). Nobody ever sued Microsoft and won. "Not being fired for buying IBM" has nothing to do with blaming the vendor - it is merely the legacy argument. So many others uses IBM - at least we will not be worse off than them! Only a covard would actually use the legacy argument though. Using it implies that they are not capable of judging what software will fit their business best. So they loose out on any opportunity for somet
Thus I predict that French governments will not see serious open source adoption for decades to come, if ever.
Your prediction is already false. The Gendarmerie Nationale switched to open source long ago, for example. Here. [slashdot.org].
"If open source is so much better, it ought to win on merits"
You mean barring Microsoft and other Gorillas to pump dozens of millions in lobbying? I'm all for it.
NSA the gift to FOSS that keeps on giving. You will see a lot of priority given to software that countries can more readily audit and control, rather than one particular brand of software that only the NSA gets to dick around with. M$ should seriously consider sending a multi-billion dollar bill to the NSA for the permanent harm done to M$'s cash cows windows and office. The NSA single handily will have done more to kill them than any other 'single' group, company or country - 'OUCH'.
because free software is better? not always. sometimes it's shite.
Free, open source software is much more educational by its very nature than closed source shit. One can't learn from source that one can't read.
Who cares?
Even if it's available to the merely curious, at least it helps demystify some of the most ubiquitous tools of our time. Children should be encouraged to know what's happening behind the scenes as well as how to use their apps.
Kids don't magically morph into CS students overnight.
On the contrary, basic (as in simple, not the language) programming should be taught to all students at a young age... It will help them understand logic and how computers work at a lower level. Computers influence virtually every aspect of our lives today, so it makes sense that everyone should have some level of understanding as to how they work.
I think they mean that Open software guarantees that, no matter what, any student will be able to afford access to required software.
Not just people whop can afford Winows/OSX/Office/etc.
What changed is that the PS (left-wing) won the presidential elections against UMP (right-wing). Democracy works sometimes...
Not so long ago corporate shill Sarkozy was voted out and leftist Hollande was voted in.
In some countries a change of government does mean a change of policy.
*cries into his ballot box*
Not so long ago corporate shill Sarkozy was voted out and leftist Hollande was voted in.
In some countries a change of government does mean a change of policy.
He's probably from the US so he's excused for being unfamiliar with the concept.
They got a socialist president. Not saying the guy alone changes everything, but it's a sign of a shifting mentality: they had it with Murrica trying to boss them around, and just don't give a fuck anymore.
Started in 2004, it still seems to be going well at first glance:
http://www.zdnet.com/no-microsoft-open-source-software-really-is-cheaper-insists-munich-7000010918/ [zdnet.com]
....that won't change the commercial market place (or the number of government systems that run under MS).
Of course, the back-doors are a hot-potato - at least, they are to anyone that hasn't been aware of them since NT4.
It's total bullshit. It's a legislation requiring to "prefer" open source, it's no legal obligation. And with alluring Microsoft offers, these laws are usually blatantly ignored. As there are often discreet corruption cases or conflicts of interest, it's just meaningless not to enforce open source usage.
The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. -- John Kenneth Galbraith