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Videos please.
"Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has called Apple's iPad a "nice reader" but claims netbooks are the way forward. Speaking briefly to BNET's Brent Schlender, the Microsoft Chairman, who had admitted to being in awe of the iPhone on first release, saw nothing in the iPad to really excite him. "You know, I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard - in other words a netbook - will be the mainstream on that," Gates said. "So, it's not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, 'Oh my God, Microsoft didn't aim high enough.' It's a nice reader, but there's nothing on the iPad I look at and say, 'Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.'" The Microsoft founder and his wife Melinda now devote much of their time to good causes. Last month, they announced plans to donate $10bn (£6.2bn) over the next 10 years to develop and deliver new vaccines. The couple believe it should be possible to save the lives of 7.6 million children under five between 2010 and 2019 in poorer countries."
Good on you Borg Bill, saving the life of one child is a life-changing thing, a million I can't even get my head round.
You don't need to. There is zero meaningful information in it that is not included in the summary.
It would have been interesting to here some of Gates' reasons behind his statement.
It would have been interesting to here some of Gates' reasons behind his statement.
The same reasons
It would have been interesting to here some of Gates' reasons behind his statement.
Indeed it would be, from TFA:
"You know, I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard - in other words a netbook - will be the mainstream on that"
So he says that he believes in touch and digital reading, but voice, pen and keyboard will be the mainstream on that!?
WTF, seriously WTF! Either they mangled his statement beyond recognition or he has a very strange perception about what the iPad is, where digital reading is now (and what its problems are) as well as what most people do with their computers and smartphones
The problem with Bill Gates is that he holds his tablet vision to death do us part.
I have a tablet PC and have to say a stylus SUCKS! I use Windows 7 and ever since they improved the UI so that I can tap and twist my way through everywhere the pen has not left its socket.
A long time ago when I was in engineering university and the tablet idea first came (1990) out the administrative assistant to the dean of engineering said, "now that's a dumb idea." I was shocked and asked would you not want to write? She
A DRM riddled, unable to multi-task, underpowered tablet with no ability to expand? Lord, I hope not.
Yes, this is exactly what has kept Tivo and cable company DVR's out of the market now entirely dominated by MythTV... oh, wait, no. It's not that I don't agree with your assessment of the iPad, it's just that I don't think it will in any way stop the iPad's success in the market. Don't worry. I'm sure there will always be alternatives for geeks; just don't expect your idea of the ideal product to be mainstream.
(For the record I use MythTV, an HDHomeRun, and my own homemade antenna to record OTA TV.)
A DRM riddled, unable to multi-task, underpowered tablet with no ability to expand? Lord, I hope not.
The reaction to the iPod was pretty similar way-back-when, to much capacity, too expensive, not enough whiz-bang features.... now everybody has one. I'll wait and see before passing judgement. Personally I'd prefer the iPad to have the full OS X desktop OS rather than the iPhone OS.
... The iPhone delivered more functionality than the other phone manufacturers were willing to dole out to us (secretly because phone companies hate their customers).
Except that the iPhone delivered significantly LESS functionality than other phone manufacturers were giving us, and was significantly behind the times (like 4-5 years) compared to actual features in things like Symbian and Windows Mobile. The thing it did was take what functionality they had, and make it really easily accessible - so much so that people like you, apparently, think that it had more functionality than it's contemporaries. That's what puts the iPad in competition with netbooks - it's a netbook that is easy to use, which is where it will find its market.
In another way of looking at it, the iPhone had greater effective capabilities. You could theoretically do more with other phones, except that you wouldn't. Ok, maybe *you* would do more, but I worked in IT and supported people with various kinds of smart phones, and the only functionality that most people used was email, and those email applications weren't too friendly and often lacked html support.
So which phone is more capable, one with 500 features of which you'll actually only use 1, or a phone with 10 features of which you'll use 9?
Except that the iPhone delivered significantly LESS functionality than other phone manufacturers were giving us, and was significantly behind the times (like 4-5 years) compared to actual features in things like Symbian and Windows Mobile.
Ah, but the market that the iPhone really captured was composed of people who had never owned a smartphone before. For them, the iPhone gave more features and did "smart" things better than any other phone they'd ever used.
And a lot of techies liked it for no reason other than because the browser was great. It rendered the majority of websites correctly and similarly to your desktop.
I used Windows Mobile for a long time. When you look at the way those phones worked, it's kinda pitiful. When the iPhone c
You clearly want a computer. Buy a computer. A tablet is not a computer.
A tablet was a computer until about three weeks ago, when Steve Jobs corrected us all.
Of course, we don't know what the market wants, and won't find out until people can buy iPads. I personally can't think of a use case for the iPad as it stands, that warrants paying $500 (beyond "I really like gadgets and I'm rich enough to drop $500 without a thought).
I'm pretty sure the iPad will be a success in the long term, probably when a lot of the criticisms people have, get addressed. I think we'll see the ability
>You clearly want a computer. Buy a computer. A tablet is not a computer.
An iPad is not a tablet. It's a consumption-oriented appliance.
And some people might want that. Wait and see, I guess.
What is the bl**dy obsession with whether it multitasks or not?
For this kind of device, in my opinion, multi-tasking is almost meaningless. The iphone's notification system could use some improvement, but real multitasking? Come on folks, it's not meant to replace your desktop or be your little Mersenne prime hunt in a pocket.
It was the same when the Zaurus was released - great it has Linux on it, yea! But apart from that, it sucked, compared to a lowly palm-pilot, which was just made to get the stuff done it was built for.
If I look at what I want from a device in that form factor, book reader, organizer, the fact that it DOES ITS JOB, and that it is well integrated with my stuff comes up WAAAYYY higher than multitasking.
Priorities, people - priorities!
If it had multitasking, 100 different chat clients for all chat systems ever written, could run gimp and do some powerful image processing, run all my databases (including SQL stored proc support), do some folding@home (or is that folding-on-the-road?) in the backgroup and everything else you might want to think up, it would neither be this small and light, nor likely very responsive, nor run as long as it does...
What is the bl**dy obsession with whether it multitasks or not?
Forgive me if I've misunderstanding what "not multitasking" means in the context of the iPad. I'm assuming it means that switching from one app to another means completely closing app 1, then opening app2.
So, let's say I'm reading a book. Maybe Paul Auster's City of Glass, in which part of the story focuses on the shapes a man traces out walking the streets of New York City. I'm curious about the exact streets, so I want to flick to the mapping app (or a browser), to see what part of Manhattan he's talking
What is the bl**dy obsession with whether it multitasks or not?
I have an iPod Touch. I like to use it to listen to Pandora, but because it's restricted to single tasking, that's all I can do at once. Get an IM notification and want to reply to it? Tap the button to leave Pandora and go into the IM app and the music stops. Send the message. Hit the "home" button and find the Pandora icon again, wait for it to launch and re-buffer, then start listening again. About 10 seconds later, get a reply IM and repeat the process.
I can listen to my iPod playlists regardless of which app I'm in, but not so with Pandora or Last.fm. That is why I see the lack of multitasking as a complete PITA.
Oh, and while it wouldn't address the root problem, I wish there was a global stroke or gesture that would bounce you back to the previous app you were in. I had a hack on my old Palm that did exactly that so you could flip between two apps quickly without having to mess around with the launcher. That would at least ease a little of the pain.
A note on expandability: Over time, we have gone from highly super modular devices, to cheaper, more specific, less expandable devices. The cheaper is a key part of that. In the 80s, you bought a motherboard with lots of expansion slots. Then you could add sound, better video, a newer drive controller, etc. Buying something with those on board was considered cheap and bad. Then in the 90s, every board had built-in audio, video, and IO. It was just so cheap and so ubiquitous that there was hardly a reason not to have it built-in. After 2000, it got to the point where hardly anyone even buys a sound card, and only specialized IO cards exist. Most laptops come with built-in webcams that are good enough for 99% of usages and are too cheap to not include, just for the 1% who want something better.
For many electronic devices, it is easier/cheaper to buy a newer one than to upgrade. That saddens me, but it is has become a fact of economics. So the "no ability to expand" might not be as bad a thing as you think. If it comes with a camera, a GPS, accelerometers, bluetooth, wi-fi, and sufficient storage... by the time the next generation of wi-fi comes out, it might be cheaper/easier just to buy a new iPad than to upgrade the current one.
You can have that. Mobile safari supports the local storage extensions to HTML being developed by WhatWG, which is designed for exactly the purpose you described.
Download some forms when you have a connection, go offline and fill them in, and then synchronise when you get back. You can see it working with Google Mail and Reader, as well as quite a few other pieces of software, already.
Wrong. It's an "instant gratification" platform. A PC Companion. The bridge device you use to control your home theater, chat on social sites, make a phone call, respond to messages, and more (most importantly including EDIT THE QUICK DOCUMENT), WITHOUT having to turn on a PC. In addition to that, it's a a full color e-reader, surfing platform, comic book platform, media player, and car video screen (hang it from the back of your seat and let the kids watch, instead of adding a SEPARATE car movie screen
Isn't the iPad essentially a netbook of the future?
How so? Even if it weren't restricted to approved applications, it would only be as good as other tablets of the present, which haven't gone anywhere. It's just an overgrown PDA.
It's just an overgrown PDA.
In other words, as asserted earlier, a netbook of the future. Netbooks were conceived and marketed for purposes befitting an overgrown PDA. Not devices to do your programming on, or write your term papers, or edit videos, do your Photoshop work on, etc. But a portable device to carry around and share your photos, movies, music, or check your email, browse the Web, without the bulk/weight penalty of a full-sized laptop. That's why they're called netbooks, not "mini laptops".
Netbooks aren't merely cheaper, smaller, lower-performing laptops, the idea was "why carry all this around when in reality you want a device for only a small subset of the capabilities of a full laptop?" Not "people need smaller laptops with full computing capabilities."
I see the iPad as the best expression of that type of device thus far.
"It's just an overgrown PDA."
To some of us, this is perfect.
I have a superpowerful desktop that I can use if I need to...honestly, except when I'm needing to process 100 tracks of audio at once or need a compiling station for the few times a decade I actually get back to programming, I rarely turn it on (and even with my music, my laptop or macmini that is ultraquiet and fits in my rack case in a smaller slot than any of my outboard gear is powerful enough).
I have an iPhone for 99% of the rest of what I do these days...I felt constricted to my office otherwise until I picked this up. I've been a gadget junkie for most of my 4 decades on this earth and the last device that was as compact as my iPhone that was useful to me? My Newton...had to invest in cargo pants to have this with me (had palm and a sony branded palm before those...or was it after...I forget).
I can get to my servers anywhere with my phone...can do just about anything. And yeah, I can do that on my friends Droids or Win phones, but never quite as easily or quickly...the OS just gets the hell out of the way with this device which should be the goal of ANY device so that you can focus on the task at hand.
My only complaint with the iPhone is that the screen is too small. I still find myself using it more often even at home or the office than I do my computers sitting around (and in some ways, I use to do that with my other gadgets...its faster to pull up email on a device where it is always running...I thought of buying one of those Peek emailer devices for the same reason (and they are pretty cool, but when I tried one, was slow for what I needed...didn't speed up my life and one more gadget).
So yes, an overgrown PDA might be EXACTLY what is needed. I played with the Dell Tablet, but it felt like using a PC with a stylus. I generally like Dell products if I go the PC route (at least the business class ones...other than the one I'm installing today has no fricken XP drivers and I'm having to scour the net to get the appropriate install!!!) and I thought it would be great. Honestly, it felt more cumbersome using than simply having laptop with a wacom on it. Why aren't tablet PCs going anywhere? Because they think they are PCs (I saw one recently that once you unplugged the keys and otherwise, it pulled up a custom tablet environment that was simplified to this world...might have to see if I can get a loaner sometime to check it out!).
So current tablets don't work because they try to be too much. PDAs are perfect because they don't. Geeks don't get that...limiting what you can do will help you focus on your job, not focus on technology. If your job IS technology...well, then this is the wrong device for you. If you job is making certain you get your life together? A more limited device with the appropriate apps might just be the thing...My only concern right now is I don't want to carry two deviced (i.e., if the pad could be a phone too, it would be an instant choice...except for the times my headphones run out of juice, but then again, I also find it just as akward to hold the iphone as well and just throw it on speaker 90% of the time!)
Isn't the iPad essentially a netbook of the future?
Take away the restrictions of installing software, and add multitasking, and then, maybe.
...I have to agree with Gates. The iPad is a cute novelty, but nothing about it convinces me open my wallet. Maybe successive generations of it will be more compelling, but at this point, it's feature set and interoperability with other devices is a bit too limited to suit me.
While I agree with Gates, I find it ironic that he is the one making the statement, considering real netbooks (at least those fulfilling the original definition of the term, low price and tech) can't be found anymore, as they weren't really capable of running Microsoft's OS's
Is that the whole, entire definition of what a netbook is? Or just yours?
"At their inception in late 2007 — as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost[3] — netbooks omitted key features (e.g., the optical drive), featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced specification and computing power."
In the short period since their appearance, netbooks have grown in size and features, now converging with new smaller, lighter notebooks. By mid 2009, when comparing a Dell netbook to a Dell notebook, CNET noted "the specs are so similar that the average shopper would likely be confused as to why one is better than the other," noting "the only conclusion is that there really is no distinction between the devices."
My original netbook (a 8.9'', 512MB Acer Aspire One) ran Linux Mint happily, and I even compiled Ogre3d in a reasonable time on it, watching movies never was a problem (I'm not talking HD of course;).
I never tried it, but I was told XP ran like a dog on it, to the point of being unusable. The ~smallests~ you can find nowaday are the 10'',1GB versions, ~blessed~ with XP or Windows7.
Definitely not, netbooks cannot be the way forward.
That being said, neither is closed-DRMd-not-really-yours iPad like appliances.
The way forward is tablets using electro-wetting like technology with touch based input capabilities.
Of course the keyboard will always be necessary, but a on-screen touchable keyboard is an option for the stuff that people would need to write while using these devices (say, small emails, forum posts, login info, etc.... something like Opera's Wii text-input)
Touch screens will never replace keyboards.
Not everywhere. But there are certainly applications where keyboards aren't required, or where onscreen keyboards are good enough.
People are happy with their touchscreen phones. The self-service checkout at my local supermarket uses only a touchscreen (and a barcode scanner!).
The question is more, for the kinds of thing you want to do on an iPad, is the smaller form factor worth the sacrifice of a keyboard?
Even doing standard Web stuff - filling in forms for web shops, emailing, posting on forums, I do a lo
I'm glad you've defined for me what I should be doing with my netbook. I will cease taking notes, writing papers and design documents on it immediately when I travel so that it can be replaced by a tablet PC in future.
Seriously though, people use Netbooks for all sorts of things, an onscreen keyboard will almost certainly never cut it for my usage patterns. If netbooks dissapeared tommorrow, I'd just have to go back to carrying a full blown laptop around, a tablet still wouldn't cut it. I do have a 15 inch
My girlfriend also really likes netbooks [...] Sometimes normal laptops are just too much of a ballache to lug around with you
Not for your girflriend, I hope
"It's the greatest thing since sliced bread! I have told Ballmer to just give up and shutter the doors at Microsoft." - Not Bill Gates
Actually for BG that just might qualify as a CE Oh No He Didn't!
Yea, I remember Balmer dissing the iPhone. "So what so they sell a million phones. WE have the OS in millions of phones"
So we fast forward a few years and there are what, 30 million or so iPhones out there at $600 a crack to Apple and if I remember correctly iPhone installed base just surpassed phones with Windows Mobile in them. Yea.... right. Well they are not perfect but for me I think I would like Apple's revenue per phone much more than Windows Mobile but what the hell, gives Steve another reason to kick some more chairs.
But if there's one thing Bill Gates knows about, it's how to build an effective, consistent, and beautiful UI that people will love.
Is this like a cottage industry for you Apple haters? You post every possible negative comment about the new product you can find, drum it up into some kind of grand pronouncement on the future of the device, then complain that there's too much media coverage and everyone should just shut up now!
You post every possible negative comment about the new product you can find, drum it up into some kind of grand pronouncement on the future of the device
I really didn't read negativity in his statement. I just read one man's opinion, which was pretty neutral.
On the other hand, why would you be getting that bent out of shape over someone's opinion?
I got an iPod touch for Christmas. I really wanted a netbook. So, I bought a netbook and ended up with both. I can honestly say that I use my iPod touch far more than the netbook. The reasons are:
1) pocket portability
2) instant on
3) very nice UI
4) lots of free or inexpensive apps
5) variety of entertainment
I don't much care for the typewriter interface to the iPod touch. I haven't checked out voice recognition yet and maybe that is the way to go.
I would be very interested in trying the iPad to see how i
I'd swap out very nice UI (as it brings the GUI to mind) with multi-touch. After playing with other devices and netbooks, I'd say that this is the one feature that I wish everyone else would copy instead of attempt to re-imagine. It seems like every smart phone out there tries to do something with a zoom bar, when it is almost ingrained in me to simply put my fingers on it and try to "stretch out" the page. The GUI, on the other hand, feels more and more lacking as I tinker with it. It has all of the appeal
These days more than ever the hardware only makes one difference - what inputs are available. There are a few other minor considerations like which APIs are enabled for developers, but really the only significant factor is how you can get information into the machine. Everything else like CPU speed, RAM, storage, etc are problems that, for the ordinary user at least, are solved.
The iPad is designed to make it easy to enter spacial information (where you're pressing on the screen) compared to a mouse or a keyboard. That's why it'll make a great reader, web browsing tool, and gaming device, but a relatively poor word processor or data entry device. A netbook on the other hand isn't really optimised for information entry at all. The keyboard isn't as good as a laptop, it's harder to operate a touchscreen on one than a tablet, and there's usually a pretty rubbish trackpad. Netbooks are a great compromise but they're not going to win in the long term when we can make laptops fold up smaller (somehow!).
In the future there will be a place for tablet PCs while there won't be for netbooks. I'm sure Bill is right that for now MSFT's interest lies in the netbook, but looking to the longer term he's dead wrong.
If the iPad is a game changer, it won't be one overnight. I see the iPhone as being an instant success not because of what it was, but because of what all other phones weren't. The rest of the smartphone landscape at the time was dismal, both in terms of hardware and plans (yes, this is a USA centric view). So the instant success of the iPhone was an anomaly, not the "apple norm".
Think back to the iPod, it languished and didn't really gain a whole lot of traction until the third version. That's a lot of time to wait and watch. If the iPad does turn into a "gamechanger", it will also be over time.
The apple store will be the big game changer. I would drop my cable in a heartbeat if I could get shows (all the shows) when I want them. I pay like $100 a month to comcast for a DVR and their crappy compressed digital cable. I'd be willing to pay at least that for a vast and deep menu of shows I could watch when I want. The same holds true for books, newspapers, and magazines. The content will be the killer app, and the ease of getting that content will differentiate the iPad from all others.
If what I've outlined above happens where I can get my TV shows and movies from an apple store, it will also revive the appleTV which is like an airport express just waiting for content.
I have an old Pocket PC that cost about $300 back in 2005 , and I really can think of much the IPad does that it won't.
Really, the article says the guy is about to save 7.6 million children's lives and the head title is about the iPad? I can imagine the day someone cures cancer; the head news title will be "Dr. X uses an iMac to do his things"
It just makes you wonder how they have that all wired up. It would be tempting to plug in a USB host and see what shows up on the network...
That being said, the first company that can come out with a netbook that can run off of USB power will have a winner.
Given that the USB spec only allows for a maximum draw of 2.5W, I doubt we'll see one soon. At best you could charge it slowly if the netbook was not actually running. Though the OLPC could pull it off.
Perhaps in the future when they have USB3.0 ports (maximum draw of 9W) it may be possible.
What they should have done is built it on a high-end Atom CPU, and then created a hybrid interface that lets users choose between an iPhone-like interface for convenience and a real OS X desktop.
If Apple can create a fat binaries for PPC and x86, why couldn't they have updated the toolchain for the iPhone to let developers do a one click rebuild to support x86 as well?
Netbooks can be made cheaply from parts that fall off
The fact they're dictating the exact hardware and layout makes me wonder whether (even though the software looks decent) this could crash and burn. Why should hardware manufacturers give up [what is effectively their creative control] for this OS, when they can make whatever they want and shove Android on it with no restrictions?
Aww shitstack, I commented on here rather than the blasted MS phone one. I'll have to improvise and make this relevant....
I agree with Gates that this could have done with a stylus. Put that in, and you have millions of University students (such as myself) who could use it to take handwritten notes. But no. As it is, it serves no purpose for me.
In the future there will be two types of devices:
Those which are locked down, limited and controlled by the vendors. In return customers will receive a superior user experience, will not need to perform maintenance tasks, make complicated decisions and just be able to get on and use the product without instruction.
On the other side, we'll have products which allow the user a greater freedom to install, modify and remove what they want. However, in return they'll have to put up with the maintenance tasks, so
So what else is new? Did anyone expect different?
This is the default position of Microsofts old guard to any competitor product.
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/08/11/06/microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer-pokers-fun-at-google-android [neowin.net]
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/14/steve_ballmer_laughs_off_googles_chrome_os_threat.html [appleinsider.com]
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/microsoft-ceo-claims-new-zune-market-share-laughs-at-iphone/ [ilounge.com]
Gates playing down iPhone:
http://www.iphoneworld.ca/news/2007/02/03/bill-gates-wont-buy-an-apple-iphone/ [iphoneworld.ca]
Hang around with a non-geek for a while. A typical intelligent person who doesn't difference between Star Wars and Star Trek and doesn't even care. Look how they use their PC.
That PC might even be a "Mac" which they're told was "easier to use". They don't know about "right clicking". They don't know how to use the file browser (Finder or Windows Explorer). They simply want to get their work done. What do they do? Mainly browse the web, email, Facebook, Twitter. They sometimes even use Microsoft Word and maybe rarely use Excel if they want to make a table of some sort (and they have no idea how to do things like sum up a column).
For these people, an iPad is a godsend. It does exactly what they want. They know how to use it. They don't care about DRM. They don't care about Open Source. They don't even care about free beer. (Actually, they might take a pro-free beer position on that last statement).
Am I tossing out my laptops and desktop systems and getting myself an iPad? No way. I am a developer and need the full power of my computer. I need to run multiple things at once. I need my command line. I need to be able to configure my development environments and to test out my stuff on our QA environments. I can't do that on an iPad, and won't get one for myself.
However, my wife mainly looks at her mail and browses the web. She has no idea how to use the Finder to browse her files. She has no idea how to use Spotlight as a search tool. The other day, she lost the icon on the Dock for Quicken, and asked me to put it back. This is a Mac, and she even finds it overly complex to use.
How does she respond with Windows? We have a Windows Media Center as our TV, and she always asked me or our children to help her set it up, so she can watch her program.
She also has an iPod Touch she uses as an organizer and she loves it. She has no problems using the contacts, email, using the web browser, or checking the weather. She has even taken to installing her own applications and rearranging the icons on the screen. She loves the touch screen and the ease of maneuvering.
My wife's current desktop computer is over six years old and is showing signs of its age. I need to get a replacement. I could try to use a cheap windows system, but she hates Windows. She knows Macs, and an Mac Mini might be a nice replacement.
Then again, why not an iPad? It does everything she wants, and uses an interface she knows and loves. I'll get a BlueTooth keyboard and it's her desktop system. If she wants to lie down on the couch and browse the web, she can do that too. For my wife, the iPad is perfect.
The iPad is an appliance much like a toaster. A chef might find a toaster limiting, but if all you want to do is warm up your Pop Tart, you can't go wrong with a toaster.
I see a lot of people simply reading a laundry list of what a laptop(and netbook) does vs iPad does and proclaiming laptop the winner.
But the two devices are not mutually exclusive and in fact are complementary.
You don't do your work on an iPad. You do your work on your Desktop/Laptop and when you want to kickback and read e-comics on the couch, you grab your iPad.
Want to check the news at breakfast, grab your instant-on iPad that you can control with a finger while eating at the breakfast table.
Cooking up something new for dinner, iPad in the kitchen with your recipe (no worry about food in the keyboard).
Finish reading a book in your bedroom at night.
This is internet/reader device for every room of the house, highly portable with a slick interface.
I am as big a tech geek as anyone here, but I have other devices to hack. I have no problem getting a really nifty reader/net tablet with a different form factor, high quality user interface and yet unimagined possibilities.
Even with the limited uses I am considering now it is enough for me to head to the store once they are released.
Machines that have broken down will work perfectly when the repairman arrives.


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Valentine's vs. NBA All-Stars
Updated 5:18 pm, Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The NBA All-Star Weekend is much more than a single game. It's a celebrity-studded circus with a comet's tail of parties, concerts and gawk-worthy public appearances.
The three-day event -- Feb. 15-17 – is expected to draw 200,000 fans to Houston with an economic impact of more than $80 million.
The NBA festivities also dribble into town at precisely the same time that thousands of Houstonians will being planning special date nights. Valentine's Day is the second-most-popular holiday for dining out, and with Feb. 14 landing on a weeknight this year, many couples may opt to celebrate on Friday or Saturday night.
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The influx of the NBA, its sponsors and countless entourages will create increased competition for prime-time tables at fine restaurants inside the Loop and around the Galleria.
The weekend is going to be a test for some restaurants, particularly those that are popular with celebrities.
Arthur Mooradian, regional manager for the Del Frisco Group, fielded several requests to shut down Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House and Sullivan's for private parties.
"We have had a lot of people approach us," Mooradian said, "but we weren't interested."
Instead, Mooradian said, "we're focused on Valentine's" and taking care of regular customers. And though he expects some bold-faced names to drop by, "it's business as usual" for the posh Del Frisco's and high-energy Sullivan's.
Over at West Ave, the sexy Katsuya also has a reputation for drawing the beautiful people, what you would expect from a Los Angeles-born sushi concept.
Already on the books for the All-Star weekend: a party of 20 former NBA players. But Katsuya, too, is focused on giving its regular guests a memorable Valentine's experience, said John Kolaski, a vice president for Katsuya owner sbe.
"That's the beauty of the restaurant: You can come in and be comfortable in a private booth, or you can be at a spot in the bar and be right in the mix."
See the action
The Feb. 17 game and some All-Star Weekend events are already sold out, but tickets may be available on the secondary market. Unless otherwise noted, buy tickets at nba.com/allstar2013.
NBA All-Star Jam Session, Feb. 14-17 at the George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas. The Jam Session offers basketball fans the opportunity to compete in skills challenges and meet current and past NBA stars, as well as team mascots and dance teams. Young fans can perfect their slam dunks, three-pointers and jump shots in the Kids Zone. Hours are 4-10 p.m. Feb. 14-15, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Feb. 16 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 17. Tickets range from $12 to $30.
The Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, Feb. 15 at the George R. Brown. NBA legends team with celebrities for some unpredictable hoops action. Tip-off is 6 p.m. Sold out.
All-Star East & West Practice, Feb. 16 at the George R. Brown. Watch as the 2013 NBA All-Stars and their coaches run through their game plans at 10:45 a.m. Sold out.
BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, Feb. 15 at Toyota Center, 1510 Polk. Future stars of the NBA are showcased in this game. Tip-off is 8 p.m. Tickets start at $50.
NBA All-Star FIT Race, Walk & Dribble, Feb. 16 at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney. NBA and WNBA legends and mascots encourage youngsters to get active. Live music, games, 5K and 1K walks are a part of the festivities starting at 8 a.m. Entry fees $20-$40; register at www.nbarunwalkdribble.com.
Legends of Basketball All-Star Weekend Red Carpet Soiree "A Night of A Thousand Stars," Feb. 16 at Mercedes-Benz of Houston, 3900 Southwest Freeway. Hall of Famers Elvin Hayes, Calvin Murphy and Moses Malone host a party that promises appearances by plenty of basketball royalty. This annual event presented by the National Basketball Retired Players Association is black-tie optional with an open bar, live music and "lavish" hors d'oeuvres. Tickets start at $100. Find tickets at http://nbrpahouston.org/legends-of-basketball-all-star-weekend.html.
State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, Feb. 16 at the Toyota Center. This evening features some of the weekend's most popular skills challenges, including the high-flying slam-dunk contest. Tickets are part of premium weekend packages that start at $1,399, but you can enter to win four tickets at texas.statefarm.com.
Nightclub parties
Tickets to nightclub parties featuring celebrities - from Diddy to Carmelo Anthony to Nelly - can be purchased online at allstarparties2013.com. Doors open at 9 p.m. at these events:
Jas Prince and Andre Johnson with Trinidad James, Feb. 14 at the Drake, 1902 Washington. Tickets start at $30.
Nelly, Lebron and Jeezy All-Star Celebration, Feb. 15 at the Compound at Hess Club, 5430 Westheimer. Tickets start at $50.
Diddy All-Star Kick Off, Feb. 15 at the Drake. Tickets start at $75.
2Chainz, Kevin Durant and Jas Prince, Feb. 15 at Ayva Center, 9371 Richmond. Tickets start at $50.
Kings of New York with Diddy and Carmelo Anthony, Feb. 16 at Ayva Center. Tickets start at $75.
MMG Takeover with Rick Ross and Friends, Feb. 16 at the Compound at Hess Club. Tickets start at $75.
Jeezy's The Throne, Feb. 16 at The Drake. Tickets start at $75.
Chris Brown and Carmelo Anthony, Feb. 17 at the Drake. Tickets start at $75.
Young, Rich & Famous with Diddy and Scott Disick, Feb. 17 at the Compound at Hess Club. Tickets start at $75.
T.I., Jeezy and Trinidad James, Feb. 17 at Ayva Center. Tickets start at $75.
2Chainz and Trinidad James, Feb. 16 at Drink, 7620 Katy Freeway. Tickets start at $50 at allstarpartyhouston.com.
Shaquille O'Neal's All Star Comedy Jam, Feb. 15 at Arena Theater, 7326 Southwest Freeway. The former NBA star emcees these stand-up shows at 7 and 10:30 p.m. Tickets start at $65 at www.arenahouston.com.


text:
Budget Commission report: Debt paid off by 2017, future savings in the millions
Budget Commission report: Debt paid off by 2017, future savings in the millions
WOONSOCKET - The adjustments to union contracts negotiated and enacted by the Woonsocket Budget Commission have changed the city's long term financial outlook, decreasing the cost of post employment benefits by roughly $107 million over the next 30 years.
That is, if all costs remain constant over the next 30 years, and the changes to the healthcare policies of both active and retired city employees hold up in court.
An updated version of the city's five-year plan, released by the Budget Commission this week, demonstrates how those changes will affect the city's bottom line.
As of last June, Woonsocket was scheduled to come up more than $9 million short on its annual required contribution for OPEB, or "other post employment benefits," a term for retiree costs including healthcare, life and dental benefits. With the new contracts in place, that figure is decreased to $3.6 million in 2014.
"Our annual OPEB has dropped down for the city, and for the schools it has dropped down significantly," said Finance Director Thomas Bruce.
"Through collective bargaining that we obtained with most of the unions except for public safety, we were able to save dollars against what we projected against the baseline back in February," explained Stephen Coleman, fiscal adviser to the commission. "The most important part about this is by FY17 the city is able to eliminate the cumulative deficit between city and school."
According to a chart released by the commission, projected deficits will remain around $3.6 million until 2016. That is the final year Woonsocket has to pay back the deficit funding bond - an $11-million, five-year loan taken out in 2011. The city currently pays $3 million annually on the debt and according to Bruce, after 2016 those funds will be dedicated to OPEB.
"What this means for retirees is positive news," said Bruce. "The commission intends to set up a private trust that can't be used by the city for any other reason."
But first, the city must face several legal challenges to the plan, some of which will begin this month.
Bruce said a suit by a group of police retirees over the changes to their health care policies has yet to be scheduled, but will likely start in November. Both Bruce and state Finance Director Rosemary Booth Gallogly are expected to testify.
Members of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 404 never agreed to changes to their healthcare policies, but they took effect nonetheless after the police union's last contract expired in June. That matter is currently subject to a grievance and arbitration hearing and may head to Superior Court.
"The position that the city has been advised legally is that because the contract has already expired prior to the date of the enactments the possibility of the city prevailing in that particular suit is more likely," said Bruce.
Another enactment, affecting the contract for the city's firefighters, is slated to take effect in July of 2014 when that group's current contract expires.
Bruce said the new five-year projection released Tuesday night will be used during all of those court challenges.
The meeting, the commission's first since a municipal election changed two of its future members, was held at Woonsocket Middle School. Mayor-elect Lisa Baldelli-Hunt will be taking current Mayor Leo Fontaine's seat on the board and the spot currently held by City Councilor John Ward will be filled by whomever is elected the new council president.
Ward and Fontaine will continue to serve on the board until the inauguration scheduled for Dec. 3. Four of the new council members - Robert Moreau, Mellissa Murray, Garrett Mancieri and Albert Brien attended the session along with Baldelli-Hunt.
The meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., did not begin until 5:45, when the board came out of executive session, and then lasted only 25 minutes.
The state-mandated commission is not subject to the same state Open Meeting Act as other government bodies under state law.
Brien said Tuesday that if he becomes council president, he's considering submitting legislation to the General Assembly requiring more transparency from the board.
Five year plan
All the uber-high taxes compounded every July stay in effect. In a city with zero jobs it doesn't matter how much they're going to save. I'll never be convinced...unless they start cutting taxes.
And that, very obviously, and STUPIDLY, was the message sent to Mayor Fontaine and City Council President, John Ward, for the EXCELLENT, but tough job they had to undertake in order to turn the situation around.
Without a real clue as to the situation, and what it was going to take....but sold a bill of goods by a known name, associated with Star Status, that did more harm then good while she served in the RI Legislature, the voters of Woonsocket (Mostly Democrats??) unceremoniously sent both these highly dedicated Public Officials packing, only to, then, elect the same kind of "Same Old - Same Old'" that caused Woonsocket's financial predicament in the first place!
That along with. Financially Incompetent and Arrogant School Administration!
Get over it ! It's time to move on !
Woonsocket, it is time to move on ! The State of RI is watching you. Playing the blame game is not going to help.
Was the Budget Commission aware of issues with Burlington coat
I wonder if anyone is even watching this, debit fix by 2017, at this point I cannot see how we are going to survive 2013 or 14, Our sewer went from 191, to 231, to 258, this year, our water has gone up again, and now we find out the more issues from the diamond hill area threatens to kill whatever budget our officials and the Budget Commission can put into place.
interesting article in the Woonsocket call about diamond Hill. any deal will hurt the residents (right). The residents will have to carry the missing tax load if the store(s) leaves, (right!), and on the flip side, the residents will have to carry the tax load if the store(s) do get a incentive to stay tax break and they stay even with the so call MED break. so let me understand this, no matter what, we will have a heavier tax load to carry, something is really wrong here, !!!
I don't think that 5 year plan is going to make it, by 2017, there won't be a "Woonsocket" left standing... what are they going to do, throw another emergency supplement tax on us next year.
They have to know Eventually, the tax payers are going to run out of resources, then what, sell every ones home out from underneath them via tax sales? shut of the water services to every home that can no longer absorb the rising cost?? we cannot support our city officials and they would be plans any longer. I would love to say it is time to "Cut Bait and run Home" but they way it is looking, I have no bait, and soon no home..


text:
As long as we're turning humans into batteries, we need to start pharmaceutical research on developing blue and red pills.
As long as we're turning humans into batteries, we need to start pharmaceutical research on developing blue and red pills.
I get e-mails from people offering me blue pills all the time.
Also, resistance if futile.
The basic premises of the Matrix is fundamentally flawed.
Why the ^%$^ would you grow humans when you can grow, you know, YEAST, for much more benefit at a fraction of a hassle?
Can I crusher his neck now, master? Just a little? It's been a long time fantasy of mine...
If you will excuse me, master. I wish meditate on the face of my former meatbag master as he was electrocuted. I find it most soothing.
The basic premises of the Matrix is fundamentally flawed. Why the ^%$^ would you grow humans when you can grow, you know, YEAST, for much more benefit at a fraction of a hassle?
I recall the director being interviewed and mentioning that the original promise was that humans were being harvested not for energy, but for brainpower, to act as biological computers. However, this idea was scrapped as too technical for the general audience to understand.
The basic premises of the Matrix is fundamentally flawed.
Why the ^%$^ would you grow humans when you can grow, you know, YEAST, for much more benefit at a fraction of a hassle?
+1. I much better excuse for that plot would be if they wanted our brains as compute-engines for their beowulf cluster.
The basic premises of the Matrix is fundamentally flawed.
Why the ^%$^ would you grow humans when you can grow, you know, YEAST, for much more benefit at a fraction of a hassle?
Just guessing here, but maybe because yeast can't get dressed up in sexy leather outfits and kick ass in slow-mo? And it would be even harder to postulate that sufficiently photogenic humans would get worked up enough over yeast-abuse to do so for their benefit?
It's just a movie. Engaging and entertaining, but still, it's just a movie.
To sum up, they can kill individual humans, but cannot exterminate humanity. That's how I interpreted it.
I can't recall when, but I seemed to remember reading about an idea of converting glucose into electricity. Perhaps a next generation of pace makers will use that for a source of power.
That makes a hell of a lot more sense to me than what's discussed in TFA.
Any mechanical solution (using bloodflow to generate current) is going to impede the flow of blood through whatever vessel it's installed in, which is bound to cause complications of one sort or another. Not to mention the problem of tiny moving parts in a turbine operating in a tight, viscous environment. Why not run something like a fuel cell on glucose and oxygen instead? It's not like we don't have plenty of both to spare. Granted
Such fuel cells exist.
The pacemaker just gives zaps to the heart which will beat on time. Its not supplying the energy to beat (which comes from glucose) but rather the command to do so.
Pacemakers don't exactly help pumping the blood. They only give the signal to the heart. If the heart isn't able to pump blood any more, a pacemaker will not help. It only helps to overcome broken signal flow in controlling the pumping.
You aren't, you are using blood pumped by the heart to power the signalling of the heart.
It's the same as spark plugs triggering ignitition in an internal combustion engine being powered by electricity being generated by that engine.
It's not perpetual motion because the actual energy for the work is coming from food or gasoline depending on which one we are talking about. Some of it is merely being siphoned off to use in keeping the device running.
Once machinery driving the hydraulic pump that powers the pacemaker breaks down, no more 'perpetual' motion.
If I remember correctly, that uses a specialized bacterial colony, and is not very efficient, compared to its size. Probably even less than this turbine...
If I remember correctly, that uses a specialized bacterial colony...
First microscope turbines, and now entire germ colonies? This is scaring the bejibbers out of me.
Invention like this are the perfect tools to combat the growing obesity problem: "Stop eating fatty foods or your doctor will implant this germ colony into your heart that sucks sugar out of your bloodstream every passing second."
If I remember correctly, that uses a specialized bacterial colony
And so do we. [wikipedia.org]
and is not very efficient, compared to its size. Probably even less than this turbine
Yeah, we do have a cell-level integration advantage. That's a common problem with add-on infrastructure.
You know, I didn't actually believe it at first you but you're absolutely right...lol.
This 2,4-Dinitrophenl stuff was actually used for weight-loss in the 1930's:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,4-Dinitrophenol [wikipedia.org]
So basically, it's a cellular metabolic poison that screws over your metabolism and makes it incredibly inefficient, causing it to just dump heat. Hmm.
People seem to be still selling the pills on the internet as well as "dieting aids". Surely that's dangerous?
Hemoglobin is not magnetic, I'm afraid.
You could have a small coil implanted around an even smaller tube that contains a magnet which can move up and down through the coil. (I should get a patent for that.)
Now all you have to do is to shake the patient to recharge
Well, until the machinery that drives the hydraulic pump that creates the power for the pacemaker breaks down.
That's the problem with perpetual motion machines: once you remove it from it's closed system parameters, it falls apart.
No, what you're creating is a device that you think must be working, until it's too late.
Maybe you should take a look into the differences between pacemakers [wikipedia.org] and artificial hearts [wikipedia.org]
A pacemaker doesn't pump blood. We're talking about powering the control circuit, not the pump.
Except in the case where the heart isn't moving and the pacemaker is still trying to make it move. Then the pacemaker will quickly run out of charge and that will the that.
But without the pacemaker, that would have been that long before, so it's a tradeoff of risks.
I guess what we really need is a source of power that is more powerful the less the heart is beating. So instead of a generator, implant a Life Alert dialer, and tie the pacemaker to the bumper of the local paramedic wagon, with the power broad
If the heart isn't moving, there is only a short period of time when pacemaker trying to restart it does anything good. The generator is needed -- it should let you survive until the medics arrive, but the UPS attached to that generator doesn't need to be big.
You're assuming the device has zero electric storage. It has to have some storage or none of this will work once a heart starts fibrillating
This is what I meant: you need only a small amount of storage. Not the 10 years it carries today, a few hours at most.
No, because you're not powering the pacemaker directly, you're recharging a battery. Heart falters, pacemaker continues on its battery. Battery charge dips a little, is recharged when the heart recovers. No problems.
Well that just sucks!
In this house we obay the laws of thermal dynamics.
The energy used to power the pacemaker will either cause the heart to pump harder or reduce the flow of blod.
The amount of energy needed to mimic the vagus nerve acting electrically on the heart is nearly infinitesimal compared with the amount the heart puts into an average beat, most of which it wastes in its own movement against the tissues within and around itself. If this worked, the heart would never notice.
They're missing a trick.
The heart itself is making big movements constantly.
Instead of using blood flow to move a generator to create electricity, use the motion of the heart itself to move the generator to create electricity.
Something like an automatic-watch winding mechanism glued inside the pericardium ought to do it. A few healthy beats and you have enough charge on a capacitor to discharge into the heart as a pacemaker signal. A few thousand and you might have enough for an automatic defibrillator (t
Not strictly on-topic, but as lots of people posted about the whole converting blood-borne glucose into electricity thing...
Woudn't having some device consume some of the glucose in your blood for its power then make _you_ feel rundown/lower in energy generally?
In the same way that exercise would. It's temporary, then you get used to it and hardly notice. One more gummy worm a day and you're good.
It might, but the hundreds of calories that our bodies consume every day are relatively huge when you are talking about a device that needs a few milliwatts.
(1 kilocalorie / day is equal to about 48 milliwatts of power)
Short answer: Not really. Long answer: If it was trying to pull large amounts of energy, yes, but we're talking microwatts here. You'll never miss it.
I always looked at it the other way. If you could install a device that "burned" say an extra 100 calories a day for you, well that's another half a snickers bar. In an obese society, even a device that did nothing useful (say a OLED monitor on your back instead of a tattoo) would probably become chic very quick.
Since the heart is beating and therefore expanding and contracting, wouldn't piezoelectricity work?
tesla turbines do not cause turbulence.
In a pig's ass they don't.
Everything causes turbulence at a significant Reynolds' number.
At the varying and fairly high speeds of blood flow in a major artery you could mix a frozen margarita with one of those things.
In a pig's ass they don't.
Point taken, but how about inside, say, a human artery?
Why not put some kind of device on the larger muscles and generate the power with mechanical motion when people walk. you would need some kind of battery to store power when they were not moving for longer periods, but i wouldn't think that would be a huge problem.
You'd also need to have a number of extra wires running around the body... The nervous system is pretty nicely designed and compact, but I doubt you can fit the wires in the spine as well, I don't think having wires running around is much of a good idea.
Because a lot of people with pacemakers aren't using their larger muscles, usually for good reason. The only muscle in operation continuously while they're still alive is their heart. Unless they're on some sort of replacement, and then the issue of a pacemaker is moot.
What would you say if I told you I've invented a low cost, low maintenance household device that could easily last for a decade or more?
Say hello to Frank's heart!
I've harnessed Frank's heart. I was cleaning the snakes out of the pantry yesterday when suddenly it hit me... Nothing works harder than the human heart, especially when it's clogged with cholesterol. Now, Frank's heart was a mess, and it's getting worse all the time.
The rest was easy. Frank eats, I surgically attach a generator to his heart, a
The turbines draw power? You probably mean produce power. There's quite a difference between the two... *sigh*
Why not try generating energy from the body heat? I'm not a medical researcher but wouldn't this be reasonable? If they can get electricity from light why can't they do the same with heat?
Blood magic is always evil!
I'm a biomedical engineering student in my last year of school. This idea is a non-starter. Regardless if the turbine could be redesigned to be more efficient, even the POSSIBILITY of a clot forming and causing the patient to develop a PE means it's never going to happen.
And there are more subtle effects than mere clots that happen when you put a medical device in contact with blood. Current technology does not have any solution for these problems, and has failed to find a fully blood compatible material for 40 years.
A much easier idea would be to make pacemakers rechargeable via electromagnetic induction. I asked one of the St. Jude reps why we don't do it this way, and the reason has to do with legal reasons : the non rechargeable pacemakers are less likely to fail and kill a patient.
Wish I had modpoints.
the reason has to do with legal reasons : the non rechargeable pacemakers are less likely to fail and kill a patient.
I would call that common sense rather than a "legal reason".
Well, the surgery to replace a pacemaker can ALSO kill a patient. So it's not quite that simple..."common sense" that tells us to avoid one risk in favor of another worse risk leads us astray.
For example, right after 9/11, "common sense" told the general public that it would be a better idea to drive than to risk flying on a jetline that might be hijacked by Arab zealots. Several thousand people died as a result of following their gut common sense instinct.
In medical devices, there is the same problem. T
Machines that have broken down will work perfectly when the repairman arrives.


text:
RELATED LINKs
Student News
Honor's and Asian Religions and Cultures major Sara Moody received a Foundation for Global Scholars Award in 2011. That award funded her research trip to India where she completed an internship for a social work organization in Madras that plans advocacy and group therapy sessions for a Human Trafficking program. While there, she also took a course at the Foundation for Ecological Research Advocacy and Learning in India.
Asian Religions and Cultures major Kevin Worthy is the first WKU student received a Boren Scholarship for International Study. This highly competitive fellowship provides up to $20,000.00 to undergraduate students to study in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The Boren Scholarship will fund Kevin's Captsone year in Nanjing.
Daniel Shouse, a senior Asian Religions and Cultures major, received a FUSE grant from Western Kentucky University to conduct research on the Tamil Diaspora communities in Singapore. He will be presenting his findings at the annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, the premier academic venue for Asia Studies, in March 2013.
Asian Religions and Cultures student Rebecca Center received highly competitive Critical Language Scholarships to further her already high language competency in Chinese by studying in China. The Scholarships offers intensive summer language institutes in thirteen critical foreign languages and are administered by American Councils for International Education with awards approved by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
J.P. Stovall, a senior Asian Religions and Cultures major, received a second Critical Language Scholarships to further his study of Chinese in Chia. Along with receiving these two fellowships, J.P. received both a Boren Scholarship and a highly competitive Fulbright Fellowship to study and conduct research in Asia and Latin America.
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Subject: "High plasma levels of MCP-1 and eotaxin provide evidence for an immunological basis of fibromyalgia"* – the first publication of a three-year investigation involving patients of Fibromyalgia specialist R. Paul St. Amand, MD,** and City of Hope (an "Immunological and Genetic Analysis of Autoinflammatory Genes in Fibromyalgia.")
June 5, 2008 – A report of the research study from the City of Hope (Duarte, California) described new findings in some of our patients with fibromyalgia.
This very technical paper can be read on line (http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/0712-RM-328v1), but I will try to simplify it. My summary will omit some fascinating and pertinent material in its simplification.
The function of our genes is to dictate the formation of proteins throughout the body. You know these proteins as enzymes, hormones, antibodies, components of cell structures and so on. Our study examined twenty-five circulating proteins known as cytokines or chemokines. We found that several were abnormally elevated in the blood of FM patients as well as in some of their family members (with and without fibromyalgia) when compared with normal controls.
Two proteins were most prominently elevated. They are known as
- Eotaxin
- And MCP-1 (monocyte chemotactic protein-1).
When tested in tandem, the elevations correctly identified fibromyalgia in up to 50% of the patients.
But when two other less-prominently abnormal cytokines (four total) were factored into the testing, the diagnostic probability rose to somewhere between 70% – 80%.
These two additional cytokines are TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma (tumor necrosis factor alpha and Interferon-gamma).
Interestingly, eotaxin was even higher in patients treated with guaifenesin. MCP-1, on the other hand, showed the same elevated levels in treated or untreated fibromyalgics. The other two cytokines actually dropped down to normal in patients treated with guaifenesin.
Obviously, this raises the question of whether more eotaxin is needed by fibromyalgics to protect them from something else – such as inflammatory effects of other cytokines. It certainly reflects that guaifenesin has distinct effects on cytokines that have been previously unknown.
This is a very technical research paper that addressed only laboratory findings. It does not describe the feasibility of testing cytokines by an average clinical laboratory. However, the study is ongoing and will certainly produce more data and hone in on what could become mainstream testing for fibromyalgia. Such facts will surely become more relevant as results from the current genetic arm of the study are published. Genetic findings point the way for future biochemical analyses, and this paper did reinforce our stance that the disease is inherited in the vast majority of patients.
Obviously, we are closer to a solution for the complicated aberrant biochemistry and physiology that so thoroughly disrupts the life of fibromyalgics and their families. As Churchill would say, "This is not the end, but it is the beginning of the beginning." It gives credence to our protocol even though its benefits to patients were not part of this project.
* "High plasma levels of MCP-1 and eotaxin provide evidence for an immunological basis of fibromyalgia," Experimental Biology and Medicine (Maywood). Jun 5, 2008. PMID: 18535166, by Zhang Z, Cherryholmes G, Mao A, Marek C, Longmate J, Kalos M, St Amand RP, Shively JE. City of Hope. ** Dr. St. Amand directs the Fibromyalgia Treatment Center in Marina Del Rey, CA, where he and his Medical Assistant/co-author Claudia Marek – themselves both fibromyalgics – see patients from all over the world. Dr. St. Amand is Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine-Endocrinology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and is known as developer of the "Guaifenesin Protocol." To read much more about Dr. St. Amand's FM treatment philosophy, protocol, and publications, see "Q&A Session with R. Paul St. Amand, MD."
Note: This information has not been evaluated by the FDA. It is generic and is not meant to prevent, diagnose, mitigate, treat, or cure any illness, condition, or disease. It is very important that you make no change in your healthcare plan or health support regimen without researching and discussing it in collaboration with your professional healthcare team.


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The Current State of Crowdfunding
Silicon Valley Startup: Idea to IPO
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM (PDT)
Event Details
This event is free to attend.
The event location is the West Side Dining Hall. Follow the signs on campus.
The Securities Exchange Commission has finally gotten around to finalizing regulations implementing certain provisions of the JOBS Act designed to make the process of raising money less painful, but has proposed new regulations that may end up taking more than they give.
Nevertheless, recent SEC guidance may have opened the floodgates for the sale of securities through on-line portals.
Roger Royse of Royse Law Firm will summarize the state of the law and the current market for private securities placements.
There will also be a guest appearance by Manny Fernandez of SF Angels. He will provide an investor's perspective on the current state of crowdfunding.
During the networking portions of the event, there will be demo tables featuring startups and service providers for startups. If you would like to have table space, please send an email message to:
While there will be some food and refreshments available courtesy of our sponsors, attendees are encouraged to bring food and drinks to share -- in the spirit of community, collaboration, and crowd sourcing. : - )
(pizza, soda, juice, bottled water, fruit)
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm Networking, Food, Demo Showcase Tables
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm Presentation, Q & A
8:30 pm to 9:30 pm Announcements, Networking
About the Speakers
Roger Royse, Attorney, Royse Law Firm
Roger Royse has practiced tax and corporate law since 1984. He provides services to a wide spectrum of clients, from newly formed startups to publicly traded multinationals, in a broad range of industries. He also practices in the area of angel and venture fund formation.
Roger is widely published on technical tax topics, is a regular speaker for the California CPA Education Foundation and has been an adjunct Professor of Taxation (Property Transactions and International Taxation) for Golden Gate University. Prior to founding the Royse Law Firm, he practiced with the Silicon Valley law firms of GCA Law Partners LLP (formerly General Counsel Associates LLP) and Berliner Cohen, and the New York City office of Milbank Tweed, Hadley and McCloy. Roger is an active member of the American Bar Association Tax Section and Business Law Section.
• J.D., B.S. (Accounting), University of North Dakota
• LL.M. (Taxation) New York University School of Law
Admitted To Practice:
• Nevada, California, New York, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota
• U.S. Tax Court
• United States District Court, Northern District of California
• American Bar Association
• Santa Clara County Bar Association
• State Bar of California
• Palo Alto Area Bar Association
• North Dakota Society of Certified Public Accountants
Manny Fernandez
Manny is an active angel investor, serial entrepreneur and a partner at SF Angel, Inc. SF Angel is an early-stage seed fund that invests in early stage startups.
Manny has been successful in investing in his own ideas, then taking companies from startup status to exit. His success as an entrepreneur, his investing experience and his leadership skills inform his decisions as an angel investor/ early-stage VC and serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. Manny attended Stanford University.
SF Angel's latest investment was in www.realtyshares.com
Enter the campus from El Camino Real. Park in either lot to the immediate right or left after entering. Follow the signs to the West Side of the Dining Hall.
After SFAngel pre-screens and makes an investment in an early-stage startup, the startup is placed on the www.SFAngel.co investment platform to open it up to over 1,000 accredited investors. These angel members can then make a co-investment of as little as $5,000 into the startup.
-SEC legally-complaint platform
-A member of the Angel Capital Association (ACA)
When & Where
Menlo College
1000 El Camino Real
Menlo Park,
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 from 6:00 PM to 9:30 PM (PDT)
Add to my calendar
Silicon Valley Startup: Idea to IPO
Entrepreneurship permeates the culture of Silicon Valley -- the innovation capital of the world. Taking a startup from idea to IPO has taken on mythical proportions in Silicon Valley. Many dream the dream, with hopes of launching the "next big thing".
We are a community of entrepreneurs, technologists, academics, financial professionals, business writers, venture capitalists, investors, attorneys, consultants, and corporate executives.
We meet regularly to share resources, exchange ideas, and network. We participate in both on-line and off-line events.
Our events feature expert speakers, networking opportunities, collaboration, community, and fellowship.
For more info on Idea to IPO events, visit:


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Boston police commissioner resigns
Longtime Boston police Commissioner Edward F. Davis announced he will step down soon on Monday
By Dave Wedge, Laurel J. Sweet and Erin Smith
Boston Herald
BOSTON — Mayor Thomas M. Men-ino has cleared the way for his successor to pick a new police commissioner, pledging cooperation with the next mayor in the wake of his top cop's resignation.
Longtime Boston police Commissioner Edward F. Davis — whose steady leadership during the Boston Marathon bombings has made him a hot prospect in Washington — is stepping down today, opening up another key position for the next mayor to fill.
"Mayor Menino thanks Commissioner Davis for his tremendous work over the past seven years and will work with him to make sure there is a smooth transition as a new mayor comes into office to find their own full-time replacement for police commissioner," Menino spokeswoman Dot Joyce said.
Davis, who is planning a 10 a.m. press conference today, told the Herald last night: "It's true, I am leaving. ... I wanted to stay through the summer and I did that, but now it's time to go, time, I feel, to move on. I don't want to talk about any details. I will say more about that at a press conference."
The departure gives the as-yet unelected next mayor of Boston two critical, high-level posts — School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson already has resigned, and Menino has left the post vacant.
A former Lowell beat cop hired by Menino in 2006, Davis will leave the department within 30 to 60 days, officials said. He will take a teaching post at Harvard College, but is still in the mix for the top homeland security post under President Obama and is exploring other potential opportunities, sources said.
His popularity soared after the deadly April 15 bombings, during which he won national praise for steering the city through one of its darkest hours. He also was hailed for his congressional testimony, during which he criticized the feds for failing to share information.
A recent Suffolk University/Boston Herald poll showed his popularity at 73 percent saying the next mayor should keep him.
But former state Rep. Charlotte Golar Richie, who is running for mayor, said she would seek to hire a commissioner focused on increasing the number of cops walking the beat as well as one dedicated to increasing diversity in the Boston Police Department.
Davis has long been criticized for failing to increase the number of minority brass in the BPD.
"I would look forward to bringing in a commissioner who shares my vision of community policing," Golar Richie said. "And we need a department that reflects the diversity of the city."
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, who is also running for mayor and has worked closely with Davis, said he'd hire someone who would build on Davis' strengths.
"Ed has been an outstanding police commissioner. He's a man of integrity," Conley said.
"The bar is very high. There's going to be a big void when Ed leaves," Conley said.
John R. Connolly, front-runner in the race for mayor, said only, "I thank Ed Davis for his service ... and I wish him the very best for the future."
Mayoral contender Bill Walczak, who has criticized Menino for making momentous decisions on his way out the door, pressed the mayor not to do that in this case. "I urge Mayor Menino to appoint an interim police commissioner so that his successor can fill the position permanently."
Though Davis has clashed with the feds, he drew high praise from them yesterday.
"Clone him," Boston FBI special agent-in-charge Vincent Lisi said.
"All great leaders set the tone for their organization and that's what he has done."
Copyright 2013 the Boston Herald


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So Bette Midler wasn't recognized in the Tony awards for her first Broadway role in more than three decades as Hollywood superagent Sue Mengers in I'll Eat You Last.
So weren't a lot of other Hollywood celebrities who returned to Broadway, such as Sigourney Weaver (who's generating lots of laughs in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike).
But some were – such as Tom Hanks.
So what's the big deal?
When Tony Award nominations were announced Tuesday for Broadway's 2012-2013 season, Midler's exclusion from the highly competitive Tony category for best actress in a play was widely noted as a major snub. Yet, an even bigger snub – in the best-play category – was largely ignored.
Bette Midler wasn�t recognized in the Tony awards for her first Broadway role in more than three decades as Hollywood superagent Sue Mengers in I�ll Eat You Last.
So weren�t a lot of other Hollywood celebrities who returned to Broadway, such as Sigourney Weaver (who�s generating lots of laughs in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike).
But some were – such as Tom Hanks.
So what�s the big deal?
When Tony Award nominations were announced Tuesday for Broadway�s 2012-2013 season, Midler�s exclusion from the highly competitive Tony category for best actress in a play was widely noted as a major snub. Yet, an even bigger snub – in the best-play category – was largely ignored.
Bette Midler Photo by Kerry Hayes. Copyright 2012 Twentieth Century Fox.
Overall, the Tony nominations largely and quite rightly mirrored the biggest artistic and/or commercial successes of a Broadway season that ended up being surprisingly fruitful. It began slowly with a lot of flops (does anyone remember the scandalously short run of Kathie Lee Gifford�s musical Scandalous?) but ended up delivering such entertaining new musicals as the crowd-pleasing Cyndi-Lauper-tuneful Kinky Boots (with 13 Tony nominations) and the Royal Shakespeare Company�s acclaimed London import of Matilda (with 12 Tony nominations).
Meanwhile, the brilliant circus-acrobatic revisal of Pippin (with 10 Tony nominations) and Beane�s lovely revisal of Rodgers and Hammerstein�s Cinderella (with nine nominations) are the worthy frontrunners for best musical revival.
But there�s a shocking omission – and in my view, a mystifying ringer – among the four nominees for best play:
The Assembled Parties - Richard Greenberg�s ultimately poignant family drama set in 1980 and 2000 about the lies we tell each other and the secrets that can sap or sustain a family over the decades.
Lucky Guy - Aparting valentine to New York by the late Nora Ephron about a fabled Manhattan news columnist that has given Hanks a suitable starring role to show off his talents for his Broadway debut;
The Testament of Mary -Colm Toibin�s one-woman stage monologue starring Fiona Lewis (who surprisingly wasn�t nominated) and adapted from Toibin�s book imagining the point of view of Jesus� mother.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike -Christopher Durang�s funniest and best play in years about (who would have guessed) yet another dysfunctional modern family. (Check out my Broadway review, posted last week from New York, in which I describe why this heartfelt comedy-drama merits the attention and strong box-office it�s received.)
Greenberg and Durang�s plays, which I�ve seen, deserve their best-play nods.
From all reports and reviews, so does The Testament of Mary.
But Lucky Guy?
Most critics felt it was a good vehicle for Tom Hanks. They also praised the director George C. Wolfe and supporting actor Courtney B. Vance – all of whom understandably received Tony nominations.
But not one of the reviews I read described the play itself as topnotch.
All, in fact, criticized the work as rather weak, while understandably being muted in their criticisms since this play was the last major work that Ephron – one of our greatest screenwriters and comic authors – worked on before her recent death.
Themain reason I can imagine why Lucky Guy received a best-play nomination from the two-dozen-or-so New York-based Tony nominators, besides a tearful parting salute to Ephron,is because its portrait of the Pulitzer-winning reporter-columnist Mike McAlary, who died in his 40s after a stellar New York career, is such a valentine to New York.
New York-based awards, from the Tonys to the Pulitzers, have exhibited that parochial bias before.
Among the most notable examples is when, for the only time in the history of the Pulitzer Prize for drama, two musicals tied in 1961 : How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which deserved such recognition, and Fiorello!, a hagiography about New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia.z
Guess which of those musicals has become a classic, frequently revived on Broadway and around the world? And guess which has rarely been revived and today is virtually unknown?
If my guess is correct (and I might be wrong, not having seen the play), then Lucky Guy is unlikely to be produced around the country much after its star-studded Broadway run.
THE NANCE: One of the best plays of 2012-13
Based on the shows I saw in New York on my recent Dispatch trip – and I haven�t had a chance yet to write about all of them, so stay tuned to Theater Talk – I would have included The Nance on the Tony list for best play. Although not a perfect play (and by the way, there isn�t one to be found anywhere on the list of this year�s tony nominees), The Nance deserves recognition as the latest, most ambitious and most serious work by the prolific playwright Douglas Carter Beane (As Bees in Honey Drown, The Little Dog laughed and the books for the musicals Xanadu, Sister Act, Lysistrata Jones and Cinderella).
Lewis J. Stadlen, left to right, Cady Huffman, Nathan Lane and Johnny Orsini in the Broadway production of The Nance. Credit: Joan Marcus
Like The Assembled Parties, which I hope to write about more later, The Nance is an intelligent and probing portrait of how secrets and lies can devastate lives. But Beane�s play builds much more quickly to its at once comic and dramatic pay-offs.
Like David Henry Hwang�s M. Butterfly, the 1988 Tony winner for best play, The Nance is rooted in fascinating but little-known history and generates a glittering multi-leveled theatricality that employs both artifice and heartfelt emotion to explore the shifting contours of male sexuality, gender, politics and power.
Broadway veteran Nathan Lane (who was deservedly nominated for best actor, placing him in a tight two-man race against Hanks) plays Chauncey Miles, a burlesque star of 1930s New York.
Onstage, Chauncey brilliantly incarnates the stock burlesque character of "the nance" – a flamboyant homosexual – alongside the "top banana" role amusingly incarnated by Lewis J. Stadlen, who should have been nominated).
Offstage, and contrary to the common practice of the "nance" being played by heterosexual actors, Chauncey with similar bravura acting navigates the challenges of being gay in an inhospitable era, when remaining closeted was required and when Mayor LaGuardia (in what seems to be a far more accurate portrait than in Fiorello!) is cracking down on burlesque and mincing stereotypes onstage to clean up the Big Apple in time for the World�s Fair.
When Chauncey meets a na�ve, young and handsome Manhattan newcomer (Jonny Orsini, touching and convincing in a somewhat idealized role) who falls in love with him and wants a real commitment and a real life together, the burlesque star�s delicate balance of secrecy and flaunted "openness" is upset – but to say more here might give away some fascinating plot twists that add rich layers to the two-act tragicomedy.
Brillantly directed by Jack O�Brien with a superb ensemble (including Cady Huffman of The Producers fame) and a revolving-turntable design by John Lee Beatty at once specific to the era and hauntingly hallucinatory, The Nance becomes a mesmerizing kaleidoscope as it alternates (like the musical Cabaret) between real life and increasingly stylized scenes onstage of burlesque, sketch comedies and songs that artfully but obliquely comment on the characters� off-stage life.
Although The Nance falls shorts of its ambitions while juggling perhaps too many themes, this is exactly the type of play that Broadway ought to be producing more – and that the Tony awards ought to recognize more.
Performers may feel a perceived snub more personally when they�re overlooked for a nomination during the annual awards season, but far more important, to me at least, is when a promising play or musical is overlooked for a top Tony nomination.
When a non-musical, in particular, fails to get a Tony nomination for best play, it makes a big difference to its prospects for wide subsequent productions. Regional-theater producers, in cities around the country including Columbus, naturally feel they�re placing a somewhat safer bet on garnering larger audiences (and good reviews) if they�re the first in the area to stage a major Broadway play. And Tony nominations, especially for best play, help reinforce the buzz that can transform an also-ran of the season into a major hit with prospects for wider national success.
As it is, The Nance didn�t do too badly in this week�s nominations, receiving five Tony nods (excluding best play), only one short of the six for Lucky Guy.
Meanwhile, Bette Midler should be happy enough about her well-received return to Broadway, since she garnered appreciative reviews in I�ll Eat You Last and is generating strong box office in a role rather similar to her own outsized persona – better reviews than those garnered by the play itself, by all reports a dishy trifle.
Now in the third act of her impressive multifaceted career, the Divine Miss M likely is pleased that she�s getting the extra attention in all the gossip about her so-called "snub."
The Nance continues through at least mid-August (but hopefully longer) at New York�s Lyceum Theatre, 149 W. 45 th St.
I�ll Eat You Last continues in a limited run through mid-summer at New York�s Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45 th St.
For tickets, call Telecharge (212-239-6200) or visit www.telecharge.com


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so you're being the good samaritan by saving them from a slow, tortuous death by starvation....that's a good one...Originally Posted by silentstriker
so you're being the good samaritan by saving them from a slow, tortuous death by starvation....that's a good one...Originally Posted by silentstriker
dont u think we can shoot SS and be good samaritians ourselves, Anil?Originally Posted by Anil
joking. chill.
We miss you, Fardin. :(. RIP.
A cricket supporter forever
Member of CW Red and AAAS - Appreciating only the best.
Check out this awesome e-fed:
PWE Efed
Anti-catism is worse than anti-semitism in my bookOriginally Posted by silentstriker
I obviously didn't report the post btw, but your hatred towards cats disgusts me. Fair enough not liking them, but wanting to hunt them? Disturbing, you're like those people here in Aus who were burning them alive and whipping them into brick walls holding their tails.
Should be shot IMO.
"I am very happy and it will allow me to have lot more rice."
Eoin Morgan on being given a rice cooker for being Man of the Match in a Dhaka Premier Division game.
Hey, no one said anything about torturing them! That arrow would be quick. It travels like 300 ft/sec. The cat wouldn't know what hit it.Originally Posted by Jono
-My beliefs summarized in words much more eloquent than I could come up with
How the Universe came from nothing
Must say I have lost respect for Sachin given his comments. He always seemed intelligent and well spoken, yet with this he's basically said "I didn't see it but I'll abuse Australia anyway". Stupid thing to say Sachin.
Ashes to Ashes
Dust to Dust
If Pidge doesn't get you
Warney must
Did you lose any respect for Ponting and Martyn??Originally Posted by Scmods
What Ponting did was stupid and unnessecary, he should've apologised and did so.Originally Posted by Dravid
Marto did nothing wrong. The Indian bloke was standing right in the middle of the photos and didn't look like moving. If you believe the Indian media you'd think Marto pushed him over, jumped on him and beat him over the head with a bat singing "We Are the Champions". But all he did was put his hand on his back and direct him to the way off the stage. No malice intended, no harm done.
I never said I believed the Indian media. Do you think that was rude or no? I mean Pawar is years older than you. You could have asked him instead you know. What Martyn did wasnt any better than Sachin, then why just lose respect for Sachin and not Martyn?Originally Posted by Scmods
What Ponting did was rude, yes.Originally Posted by Dravid
It was a loud stadium, Pawar may not have heard Martyn. All it was was a hand on his back guiding him, no push, no shove.
I lost respect for Sachin because he commented on an issue he himself admitted he hadn't seen. He shouldn't be commenting on things and saying he's "upset" with us over something he hadn't seen.
Finally, someone other than Fuller and Gelman speaking some ****ing sense.
He went from what he heard, and it's not like he is the only person in the world who goes on what they heard. And I'm sure he saw it after he made his comments, but he still did not change his comments. So that means he was truely upset by what happen, otherwise he would have changed it after he saw itOriginally Posted by Scmods
And as far as the stadium being too loud, I saw the event take place atleast 30 times now, and not once did I see an attempt from Martyn to move his lips and and ask Pawar.
I'm not disagreeing with you that it's not a big matter, but I'm just interested in how you only lost respect for Sachin and not Martyn.
They'd just won the championship, Pawar was right in the middle of the photographs and did not look like moving at all. Asking him would've taken more time, when we just wanted to get the photos taken and end the farce of a ceremony. It was a hand on his back guiding him, absolutely nothing wrong with that.Originally Posted by Dravid
That was not the point of this whole thing, the point was that he is older than you and you shouldn't even put your hand on his back and show him the way as it disrespectful in India. Thats why this whole thing started.Originally Posted by Scmods
What was Martyn supposed to do? Bow down and beg him to move? We wanted it over quickly and that was a quick, harmless way of telling him that he was in the way.Originally Posted by Dravid
Ask him. He was standing hardly 5 feet away from him.Originally Posted by Scmods
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