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The lights are on
[The Gender Gap originally debuted in Issue 204 of Game Informer. Here we provide the original article with expanded developer commentary.] Ask gamers who their favorite video game heroine is, and a few names will likely garner the majority of the vote. Samus Aran, Lara Croft, and Joanna Dark are three early icons whose rareness catapulted them to stardom and helped keep their respective franchises afloat for more than a decade. Who could forget the surprise when Metroid's protagonist removed her helmet to reveal long locks? Players never looked at masked heroes the same again. The exploits of cyber "it-girl" of the late '90s, Lady Lara Croft, became a multi-million dollar brand that spawned film adaptations, a comic run, and endorsements deals for everything from energy drinks to luxury cars. With such prominent female leads appearing in the early stages of the interactive entertainment phenomenon, the video games industry seemed well on its way to creating abundant gender diversity. But since Croft's glory days, progress has seemingly halted. Sure, recent years have given us the occasional female leads in blockbusters like Uncharted 2 and critical darlings like Beyond Good and Evil, Mirror's Edge and Bayonetta, but in general the fairer sex has been all but M.I.A. in action titles. Some games even neglect to include a female character when allowing players to choose among multiple protagonists. While some genres like role-playing and fighting games generally offer a level playing field, others seem to be treading water.We chatted about the gender selection process with members of several prominent development studios and learned that the decision between XX and XY isn't a frivolous one. Demographics, cultural norms, technical constraints, and more must be considered. So when narrative, setting, or historical context doesn't dictate the gender of a character, why are females noticeably absent from the action? Read on to find out.
The Numbers GameFirst and foremost, numbers matter. Perhaps the most influential factor in regards to core design decisions is player demographic. An NPD survey detailed a five percent increase in female console gamers (23 percent to 28 percent) between June 2008 and 2009. A similar Nielsen Company study showed that females 25 and older now make up the largest segment of PC gamers – holding strong at 46.2 percent. The number of female gamers is obviously growing, especially in relation to specific platforms and genres. This being said, female gamers are still the minority, even if not to the grossly overestimated degree perceived. If there is any truth to the notion that individuals identify closer to characters of their own gender, then it's somewhat expected that we see a disproportionate ratio of males to females."The game industry is constantly collecting information about who is buying games, and what types of games they're buying the most of," explains Jennifer Wildes, art director at Gearbox Software. "If these statistics suggest that your game will sell more copies within your demographic if the majority of the player characters are big hulking males, then it's obviously a bit risky to decide they should all be female instead."Wildes also points out that while modern games may not have a new female protagonist on the level of Samus or Lara Croft, progress is being made. "It's important to note that only a few years ago, the male to female [character] ratio in these types of games was four to zero. We may be moving slowly, but we are getting there."


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Vice president of PR and marketing Pete Hines isn't fazed. He and the design brass at Bethesda have paid close attention to all of the feedback (some of it scathing) those diehard fans have submitted so far. Taking fan suggestions into account is one thing, but "we still have to make the best Fallout 3 we can make," Hines says. In other words, the design team has had its own vision for Fallout 3 since day one, and with the move to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, that vision has to consider a much larger audience, one composed of people for whom this Fallout will be their first.
I'm one of those people, and as a big fan of Oblivion, it looks like Fallout 3 has enough of the same hooks--the open world, the freedom of choice, the action-based role-playing--to really pique my interest. Except this time around, you get the added benefits of handheld nuclear bomb launchers and grisly exploding mutant heads.
Fallout 3 sticks close to the franchise's basic mythos: a nuclear holocaust sent survivors underground, froze the era's 1950s-style pop culture right in the middle of its wide-eyed optimism, and populated the landscape with bloodthirsty mutants. Generations later, you're one of the lucky few born among all the rubble and ash.
But while the general background is the same, none of the characters or locales from the original two games will make an appearance. Those games' storylines were set on the West Coast, while Fallout 3 has famously been moved to Washington, DC. Not only does that give the writers a chance to start over with a fresh storyline grounded in Fallout's familiar milieu, but it also lets them address questions that never came up in the original games. For instance, what's been going on in the nation's seat of power since the first bombs dropped? What happened to the governmental infrastructure? Is there even anyone left to govern? Hines says you'll explore the answers over the course of the game.
Flash forward to one year old, when the game will acquaint you with the walking controls by letting you toddle around your playpen. Here, you'll also notice your father's facial appearance has been derived from the same choices you made in the last scene. Approaching a whimsically illustrated baby book entitled "You're Special!," you'll flip from page to page, each showing one letter of Fallout's SPECIAL system (that is, strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck). This is how you assign your character's attributes. The last phase of this intro scene I got to see depicted your character's ninth birthday party, where you'll receive your very own wrist-mounted PIPBoy computer, which will act as your inventory screen and other menu functions once you get out into the wide, irradiated world. You'll also get to interact here with some of the good and bad kids who will presumably become your adult counterparts later on.
In adulthood, your father's unexplained disappearance is what will finally lead you outside the relative safety of your fortified vault. But where the story goes from there, Bethesda isn't saying yet. It may not be a lonely world out there--what with super mutants, the mercenaries of the Talon Company, and the cult-like Brotherhood of Steel all marauding across the landscape--and it sure isn't a friendly one, either. Luckily, at least one friend will accompany you on your travels. Man's best friend, in fact. Early in the game, you'll find a courageous dog named Dogmeat and his master under attack, and when the master meets his inevitable end, Dogmeat will quickly become your loyal companion. When and where this happens will be randomized, so it should fit seamlessly into the flow of the game.
Turn the page for more on tactical battles and the overall scope of Fallout 3. _PAGE_BREAK_ Speaking of battles, Hines opted to show a number of general enemy encounters in lieu of any specific quests or NPC interactions. One of these followed the initial meeting with Dogmeat, which in my demo happened in a junkyard. Afterward there was a quick, destructive demonstration of the Fat Man, a portable nuclear bomb launcher that looked about as fun to use as it sounds. Point it slightly skyward, pull the trigger, and watch the satisfying mushroom cloud spring up. You'll irradiate any patch of ground you hit with this thing, though, so watch where you walk after an intense battle.
The real combat started when Hines loaded up the last save game of my demo, set on the Washington Mall between the Capitol and a very dilapidated Washington Monument. The area had been fortified with trenches and barriers by the Brotherhood of Steel, and there was a pitched battle going on between some of the Talon Co.'s mercs and a group of super mutants, the beefy yellow-skinned guys you've seen in numerous screenshots. These aren't mindless run-at-you-screaming mutants like the ghouls; they're pissed off, coordinated, and they know how to use guns. Hines took this chance to point out that Fallout 3's different enemy factions hate each other as much as they hate you, and it's often effective to hang back and let the riffraff take care of each other before you move in to mop up.
Before jumping into combat himself, Hines went to third-person and showed me the character he'd built for this save game--at which point I realized the gear lust that drove character development in Oblivion (and countless RPGs before it) will be alive and well in Fallout 3. The dude was decked out head to toe in Brotherhood of Steel gear, from beefy armor and boots to a sinister-looking gas mask and a gigantic honkin' Gatling gun. You'll have to take the bulk of your new equipment into account, though. Not only is your inventory limited in size, but the bigger items like that gun will actually slow down your movement speed, putting you at a slight disadvantage in combat.
As it turns out, you don't gain a bonus to damage or anything else (except maybe thinking you're cool) by shooting from the hip with steady aim and fast reflexes. In fact, your damage and chance to hit are governed by your character's and gear's stats even when you're shooting in real time, so when you're fighting multiple enemies at once, you really ought to be pausing with the V.A.T.S. and setting up your shots. If anything, the real-time combat sounds like a good way to keep from needlessly interrupting your movement when you only have one or two weak enemies to deal with at a time.
Hines showed how the V.A.T.S. can be used to get tactical with everything from a simple rifle to the Fat Man, when he paused to target one of a trio of super mutants attacking from behind a concrete blockade. Even with the Fat Man's lobbing action, it wasn't possible to arc a projectile over the wall for a direct hit on the enemy's body. But when you're dealing with personal nuclear explosives, close enough is usually good enough. Cue one big mushroom cloud and three flying super mutants.
Since the demo I saw focused almost entirely on generic combat, I didn't get a good feel for what Fallout 3's character interactions will be like (though you can predict they'll be menu-based). However, one of Oblivion's few major warts stuck in my mind: the incessant recycling of NPCs' voices. If you didn't play it, a very small number of actors (and in some cases, identical lines of dialogue) were spread across hundreds of characters, some on opposite ends of the entire game world. It got more than a little repetitive. With regard to Fallout 3, Hines answered voiceover criticism by talking numbers. While the new game will purportedly feature an "order of magnitude" more voice actors than Oblivion, the game itself will have relatively fewer NPCs, with only around 200 characters.
number of variations on the game's ending (which Hines half-jokingly now puts at around 500).
One thing Bethesda is sure about is that Fallout 3 will be out on all three platforms in 2008. Hines cites the rocky nature of making games early on the 360 and PS3--consoles which at the time were themselves still in development--as the primary culprit for Oblivion's lengthy production cycle. Now the team at Bethesda has plenty of experience on all the available hardware, so you can rest assured you'll be traversing the radioactive wastes by the end of this year.

subset: commoncrawl


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Projectors Guide
NEC V300XG Projector
This article first appeared in HWM Sep 2011.
A Text & Multimedia All-in-One.
Like people everywhere, projectors are being asked to do more for less. In this case it's a good thing (for the user at least), as the NEC V300XG turns out to be a capable workhorse for both office and multimedia tasks. The projector is relatively light at 2.5kg, and it can be easily carried around and also installed in most locations with ease.
The V300XG follows in NEC's traditional projector aesthetic, a clean white box with minimal buttons. The onboard controls respond well, except for the Source button which feels slow and can be frustrating for people used to instant responses in the Twitter age.
The projector's 3000 ANSI lumens throw a brilliantly bright image, which shows up strongly even in a lit room. The image is sharp and defined, serving even the smallest text well; text set in Arial at 6.8 points still looked clear and defined.
Movies are rendered beautifully, with detail in the dark blacks still showing. The rainbow effect, a side-effect of single-chip DLP technology, can be seen while playing movies, which blemishes the overall quality somewhat, but isn't seriously heavy. You might not even see it though; the brief flashes of red, blue and green patches that seem to move across the screen, especially in high contrast scenes – some people see them, some don't. The onboard speakers are strong and loud, and will definitely fill an entire boardroom.
For eco-friendly users, the V300XG has a carbon meter for visualizing how well you're saving the earth today. The meter shows you the reduced amount of carbon dioxide emissions if you use Eco Mode to run the projector, as compared to using it with Eco Mode off.
At S$1,199, the NEC V300XG is an inexpensive, portable projector, which does as well with text as it does with moving pictures and sound.


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Suppose, however, that God decided that the universe should finish up in a state of high order but that it didn't matter what state it started in. At early times the universe would probably be in a disordered state. This would mean that disorder would decrease with time. You would see broken cups gathering themselves together and jumping back onto the table. However, any human beings who were observing the cups would be living in a universe in which disorder decreased with time. I shall argue that such beings would have a psychological arrow of time that was backward. That is, they would remember events in the future, and not remember events in their past. When the cup was broken, they would remember it being on the table, but when it was on the table, they would not remember it being on the floor.
It is rather difficult to talk about human memory because we don't know how the brain works in detail. We do, however, know all about how computer memories work. I shall therefore discuss the psychological arrow of time for computers. I think it is reasonable to assume that the arrow for computers is the same as that for humans. If it were not, one could make a killing on the stock exchange by having a computer that would remember tomorrow's prices! A computer memory is basically a device containing elements that can exist in either of two states. A simple example is an abacus. In its simplest form, this consists of a number of wires; on each wire there are a number of beads that can be put in one of two positions. Before an item is recorded in a computer's memory, the memory is in a disordered state, with equal probabilities for the two possible states. (The abacus beads are scattered randomly on the wires of the abacus.) After the memory interacts with the system to be remembered, it will definitely be in one state or the other, according to the state of the system. (Each abacus bead will be at either the left or the right of the abacus wire.) So the memory has passed from a disordered state to an ordered one. However, in order to make sure that the memory is in the right state, it is necessary to use a certain amount of energy (to move the bead or to power the computer, for example). This energy is dissipated as heat, and increases the amount of disorder in the universe. One can show that this increase in disorder is always greater than the increase in the order of the memory itself. Thus the heat expelled by the computer's cooling fan means that when a computer records an item in memory, the total amount of disorder in the universe still goes up. The direction of time in which a computer remembers the past is the same as that in which disorder increases.
But what would happen if and when the universe stopped expanding and began to contract? Would the thermodynamic arrow reverse and disorder begin to decrease with time? This would lead to all sorts of science-fiction-like possibilities for people who survived from the expanding to the contracting phase. Would they see broken cups gathering themselves together off the floor and jumping back onto the table? Would they be able to remember tomorrow's prices and make a fortune on the stock market? It might seem a bit academic to worry about what will happen when the universe collapses again, as it will not start to contract for at least another ten thousand million years. But there is a quicker way to find out what will happen: jump into a black hole. The collapse of a star to form a black hole is rather like the later stages of the collapse of the whole universe. So if disorder were to decrease in the contracting phase of the universe, one might also expect it to decrease inside a black hole. So perhaps an astronaut who fell into a black hole would be able to make money at roulette by remembering where the ball went before he placed his bet. (Unfortunately, however, he would not have long to play before he was turned to spaghetti. Nor would he be able to let us know about the reversal of the thermodynamic arrow, or even bank his winnings, because he would be trapped behind the event horizon of the black hole.)
At first, I believed that disorder would decrease when the universe recollapsed. This was because I thought that the universe had to return to a smooth and ordered state when it became small again. This would mean that
the contracting phase would be like the time reverse of the expanding phase. People in the contracting phase would live their lives backward: they would die before they were born and get younger as the universe contracted.


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This is a new type of surgery that uses smaller incisions to do the bypass. As a result, there is sometimes less pain and a faster recovery compared to more traditional open chest heart surgery. This procedure may be done without stopping the heart. It can be done to bypass one or more coronary blood vessels.
Some patients can leave the hospital within 48 hours. This operation is only used for patients whose blockages can be bypassed through the smaller incision and whose risk of complications is low. You should find out from your surgeon if this is an option for you.
Another approach used to minimize the impact of surgery during a coronary bypass operation is what is called beating heart surgery. This can be used both with minimally invasive surgery or traditional open chest surgery. During this type of surgery, the heart is beating and the heart-lung machine is not used.
Many factors determine whether traditional, beating heart or minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery is best. Discuss these options with your surgeon.


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7 Nov 2012 07:36:38 AM
UFC Vet Drew McFedries Stabbed While Bouncing at an Iowa Strip Club
Former UFC middleweight slugger Drew McFedries — who competed in the Octagon from 2006-2009 without ever meeting the judges — is recovering after being stabbed in the back during a nightclub altercation last Saturday.
According to reports, the incident occurred at The Chorus Line, a BYOB strip club (with a somewhat checkered past) in Davenport, Iowa, where McFedries has been working security for the last six months. The alleged assailant was a 42-year-old man named Calvin Hammock, who stabbed McFedries on the left side of his back, with the blade hitting his scapula. McFedries and his fellow bouncers were able to subdue the man until police arrived. Hammock was taken to the Scott County Jail in Davenport, but was released less than an hour later after posting a $10,000 bond.
FightersOnly passes along more details, which suggest that Calvin Hammock maybe wasn't the sanest dude to begin with…Read More DIGG THIS


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VIDEO: Guerrilla grafters: splicing fruit onto a city's trees
The Guerrilla Grafters are a group of San Franciscans who believe urban trees are a precious thing to waste on simple flowers. Their goal is to graft- albeit illegally- fruit bearing branches onto non-fruit bearing fruit trees, in hopes that over time the cities ornamental trees can provide food for residents free of charge.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)


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will there be video replay then?
More like, snatch utter, unmitigated defeat from the jaws of defeat.
"amazing considering that there was no trainer in the system;"
Not really, it's merely selecting patterns it is not aware of if it's patterns are "successful" or not. If you run a pattern generator long enough you can get all possible patterns within a finite possibility space.
The fun thing is that these robots truly have a one-track mind. They do not learn -at all- within one generation, even if they have a brain that is relatively similar to ours. The brain is configured -entirely- at "birth" by the natural selection algorithm.
And yet they display a few remarkably human traits, that seem to -but don't- indicate learning. Memory. Strategy. Having a strategy responding to the "enemy". Yet by most standards -they don't think during the game. This makes one wonder
Makes one wonder just how one-track the human mind is. Everyone likes to always accuse everyone else of "not seeing the truth" about very nontrivial problems. Are people really "seeing the truth" or just repeating what they were programmed ?
History of science definitely seems to agree with the "programmed" argument. Other histories
Speaking of twins, there are actually a lot of discoveries where twins get separated, lived and grew in a completely different environment but end up having the same traits such as habits, ways of thinking, etc.
One of the most shocking findings is by Bouchard, Oskar and Jack ( http://www.psywww.com/intropsych/ch11_personality/bouchards_twin_research.html [psywww.com] ):
1. Was raised in extremely different cultures; Oskar raised as Catholic; Jack as a Jew.
2. Both were wearing wire-rimmed glasses and mustaches.
3. Both spo
History of science definitely seems to agree with the "programmed" argument. Other histories
Er...how, exactly?
Makes one wonder just how one-track the human mind is.
I know how one track MY mind is... think I'll browse some pr0n now.
The speed is just boosted by selectively choosing the ones that match whatever it is you want to get at the end.
There's a huge difference in purpose.
You can move around at random, like a particle floating in the sea. If you follow that particle long enough you'll visit every port of the ocean.
Now assume you want to go somewhere. Your movement will be constantly changed by random factors so you will need to make corrections but in the end you'll get to the place you wanted.
No two ships follow exactly the sam
I don't get why this has been modded "funny". It's true. Just like monkeys tapping away at keyboards in order to generate the works of Shakespeare, a computer can generate player algorithm patterns that work well in this particular setting. The speed is just boosted by selectively choosing the ones that match whatever it is you want to get at the end.
And this teeny little boost is the difference between getting what you want before or after the monkeys and the computer disappear from proton decay [wikipedia.org].
I don't get why this has been modded "funny".
Let's check out the parent post:
Not really, it's merely selecting patterns it is not aware of if it's patterns are "successful" or not.
Author ascribes awareness to the selection process. Grammatical ambiguity related to uses of "it's" some people may also consider to be funny--change the first "it's" to "its" for comical effects.
If you run a pattern generator long enough you can get all possible patterns within a finite possibility space.
Now that's just plain LOL. Even if we assume that the pattern space is finite, which is not clear at all, given that we're dealing here with velocities, possibly even classical chaos, the dimension of the space must be humongous, thus evolutive algoritms.
The problem space is so vast when you get into the necessary details humans take for granted:
Its so vast that it makes secure passwords look simplistic - this is far beyond brute forcing AES encryption. Even a simplified problem space is usually quite large in terms of possible combinations the only advantage AI work has is that there are no singular solutions but a large fuzzy set of solutions that are reasonably acceptable.
Say a monkey typed 99% of Shakespeare but it was wrong only for 1% of it: next attempt being random, the monkey would likely have 0% Shakespeare! There would be no convergence towards the answer. Even bruteforcing encryption rules out past attempts to avoid repeating itself but a random search does not. Furthermore, say the problem space is random - so then a 99% Shakespeare is light years away from the 100% Shakespeare, then no matter what the process for convergence (ie evolution) it is not going to converge which effectively puts you into the same situation as a random search.
The monkey typing thing is a silly way to state the obvious and sound good while doing so. "Its POSSIBLE but impractically time consuming" doesn't sound as good. These AI problems are nothing like monkey's typing - they learn and progress towards competency which is totally different! Again, they do this quite quickly since anything near the monkey approach wouldn't get there in our lifetimes (winning the lotto is more likely.)
Just because it is mindbogglingly complex does not mean it is intelligent...or that it has something we'd normally think of as a "memory" either. Its possible our brains are just pattern matching machines - and since we can only understand the most simple of such things we'll never figure it out (but could build a brain which could figure it out eventually and perhaps our brains are just an extremely fuzzy non-linear pattern match for #42.)
In evolution what is important is selection, as long as there is selection (based on fitness) and variability the system will adapt to the environment (the things that shape fitness). So there is a trainer, it is called selection.
"In evolution what is important is selection, as long as there is selection (based on fitness) and variability the system will adapt to the environment (the things that shape fitness). So there is a trainer, it is called selection."
Not exactly. Unless variability is driven, selection and variability *may* press the system to fit the environment. But there's no security: the system may be destroyed as well.
You do have to be a bit careful, though--- sometimes there is a hidden trainer in the system. In evolutionary algorithms, there are often a lot of parameters and data structures to tweak at the beginning, e.g., what kinds of crossover and mutation operators do you have, and what's your bit-string encoding? There are a whole lot of ways to slip in human domain knowledge of which things are important into the up-front engineering.
Not really. While the literature makes a lot of fine distinctions between the various cross-over methods/rates etc., in reality it's pretty academic.
Getting the genetic process going on a population is a really small amount of code, and there's a huge payoff to seeing it work for yourself (rather than using someone else's Black Box code).
The real key is that 'mashing' two individuals together to create a 'child' (evolution) is a whole lot better than creating a child as a random variation of one of those i
Statistical ML is one of my areas of research, so I'm fairly familiar with the basics.
Generally mashing two individuals together is only better than hill-climbing if you have a useful bit-string encoding and crossover operator that results in the mashing operating on nice units. The vast majority of published successful GA results I've seen have quite heroically engineered encodings that include a lot of human domain knowledge. If you just take some random data structure and serialize it to bits directl
Saying there wasn't a trainer in the system is a bit of a misunderstanding really.
Evolutionary algorithms always makes use of a fitness function to define which generations are to survive and evolve and which are to die off, this is the case in the presented setup as well. Without knowing the project i'd guess they let the "teams" play against each other and let the winners survive.
If there wasn't a fitness function it wouldn't really be an evolutionary algorithm, evolution sorta implies "survival of the fittest" and all that you know
Other implementations of evolutionary algorithms may be fun (http://rogeralsing.com/2008/12/07/genetic-programming-evolution-of-mona-lisa/) but are not showing emergent behavior because you are asking for a specific output through the fitness algorithm. That is the main difference.
Well.. if you read their pdf (linked at the bottom of the blog post), you see that they literally turn the Fitness Function into a trainer that leads teams to the most proper ways to play (see pg5 Section "4.5 Fitness evaluation").
The first step in the learning process is that the teams should spread out on the field and be relatively evenly distributed.
Second was, move players closer to the ball.
Third, kicking the ball was given value.
Fourth, getting the ball closer to the opponents goal.
Then finally, the
Not really, it's merely selecting patterns it is not aware of if it's patterns are "successful" or not. If you run a pattern generator long enough you can get all possible patterns within a finite possibility space.
It's selecting working patterns faster than random selection would.
If you run a pattern generator long enough you can get all possible patterns within a finite possibility space.
While true, this is also completely meaningless. For even trivial pattern spaces of, say, 512 bits, "long enough" would be far longer than the current age of the Universe.
While true, this is also completely meaningless. For even trivial pattern spaces of, say, 512 bits, "long enough" would be far longer than the current age of the Universe.
Exactly, see here for an illustration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_program [wikipedia.org]
I was wondering where the offshore guys got the algorithm for the sort routine they used in our last outsourced project.
You've missed the point of course, not all information (or patterns) need to be generated, only a finite subset will ever needs to be found to be useful, to put it another way you can make a million variations of a fork, but it's still useful as a fork.
I bet it plays a mean game of chess.
Well, it's even a little less amazing than you suggest.
If you read the pdf that the blog post links to ("Evolving neural network controllers for a team of self-organizing robots"), on Page 5 in section "4.5 Fitness Function"... they discuss how they decompose fitness down from simply "Score the most goals" to little component tasks that "ensure a smooth learning process assuming some preliminary knowledge or ideas about the solution."
They practically lead the algorithms to better solutions along certain pat
>"amazing considering that there was no trainer in the system;"
Execution of the less-skilled makes up for a lot of training . . .
The study also found that the artificial fans of the losing team started to riot on their own.
When you program some evolutionary theory in your digital world and your digital world is developing some evolutionary lifeform that is news?
You don't have to go into philosophy to get these. Theoretical mathematics will help you out here.
Suppose you had a "perfect" learner. One that tries every theoretically possible analytical technique. And then it manages to surprise you : it discovers existing mathematics, and perhaps a bit more, but nothing truly remarkable. That would simply be the result of a mathematical property of the "mathematical space" (the set of all possible mathematical knowledge, of, say all Godel-sentences) : that would simply
The subset of correct mathematical theory cannot be the empty set, because if it were empty, set theory (which clearly is part of mathematics) would be flawed, and therefore there wouldn't be a well defined notion of empty set, making the statement "the subset of correct mathematical theory is the empty set" meaningless. On the other hand, logic also is part of mathematics, and therefore my argument may not hold in that case.
Life in general is not much different. The environment/nature/the universe sets rules that encourage the creation of lifeforms, encourages them to replicate and improve their chance of survival. It's no surprise that life evolves and creatures develop memories, intelligence etc. The whole system is setup in a way that it is bound to happen.
Whether evolution in nature or evolution on a computer, the underlying principles at work are similar.
The main difference between nature and your goldbach conjecture exam
This program was not designed to discover passing, defending and scoring. It was designed to win at soccer. The program on its own realized that passing, defending and scoring are good strategies for winning at soccer. The rules of the simulation do encourage this behavior, but they were not designed to - the fact that the rules of the simulation create this result is a perfectly valid discovery, even though it's a discovery that humans made thousand of years ago.
A bit more than 15 years ago I saw a documentary on Discovery Channel featuring identical work being made by a brittish scientist / computer programmer. His software spawned simple "lifeforms" made up by basic 2D and 3D geometrical objects - cubes, cylinders, flat triangles etc., - that were then trying to evolve methods of how to most efficiently move and travel in the simulated environment they were put in - sometimes an airy environment with ground underneath them, and gravity, and sometimes an "ocean" in which the "lifeforms" swam. Minute after minute the "lifeforms" jiggered and bounced around like broken machinery, but slowly developing a method for moving and navigating that was the most efficient for their particular shape. He spawned caterpillar-like animals made up from chains of cubes, that slowly learned how to wriggle and crawl just like catterpillars and snakes do. He spawned randomized "freaks" that learned that sometimes managed to learn how to walk with their disfiguring, and sometimes learning that the only way was to throw some bodypart around to pull themselves forward. He spawned biped animals that slowly learned how to jump to move forward, an triped animals that learned how to skip from one leg to the other, to the third. He spawned lifeforms in a watery environment that learned how to rhythmically oscillate their bodyparts to create propulsion in order to swim forward and turn around. To me, this was just as impressive, if not more, than the featured story. As a curious detail to it all, the programmer developed his software in BlitzBasic, running on a heavily accelerated Amiga 1200.
Memory for Genetic Programming was an interesting topic back in 1995 too... And the first Koza book was an inspiration.
One way to test out 'memory' in an experimental was is to give the individuals some 'memory cells' (or internal preserved state) to work with, and then A/B test some of the good individuals vs. the same individuals with noise added to the memory cells. In that way, one can get a handle on whether/how they're really making use of the memory. Just like adding junk code into a buggy progra
If you've seen any of the truly massive demos done in Conway's game of life you will rapidly see that actually modeling a physical mechanism for memory based on simple principles is going to take a metric assload of computing time. Actually, I think the actual value is somewhere between an assload and a fuckton. At this point it seems more like a useful separate experiment.
In the late 1980s, ecologist Thomas Ray, who is now at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, got wind of Core Wars and saw its potential for studying evolution. He built Tierra, a computerised world populated by self-replicating programs that could make errors as they reproduced.
When the cloned programs filled the memory space available to them, they began overwriting existing copies. Then things changed. The original program was 80 lines long, but after some time Ray saw a 79-line program appear, then a 78-line one. Gradually, to fit more copies in, the programs trimmed their own code, one line at a time. Then one emerged that was 45 lines long. It had eliminated its copy instruction, and replaced it with a shorter piece of code that allowed it to hijack the copying code of a longer program. Digital evolvers had arrived, and a virus was born.
Avida is Tierra's rightful successor. Its environment can be made far more complex, it allows for more flexibility and more analysis, and - crucially - its organisms can't use each other's code. That makes them more life-like than the inhabitants of Tierra.
Actually, organisms using each others code sounds way more like our world than ones that can't leech off each other. They already pointed out viruses, and plenty of species exist today that need other species to continue to survive.. in fact pretty much all animals need to eat other lifeforms because we can't draw energy from the sun directly.
In the late 1980s, ecologist Thomas Ray, who is now at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, got wind of Core Wars and saw its potential for studying evolution. He built Tierra, a computerised world populated by self-replicating programs that could make errors as they reproduced.
I was so amazed by the results claimed for Tierra that I went and reimplemented it myself [homeunix.net]. And damned if I didn't get similar results [homeunix.net]. At the time, it blew me away that such a system could come up with novel solutions I hadn't expected or 'programmed in'. Indeed, a couple times it took me a while to even figure out how the things worked.
I'm not sure where the claim about "can't use each other's code" comes from. Perhaps a subtle misunderstanding. While Avida does keep each virtual machine fully isolated from the others, Avida _does_ have explicit support for parasitic behaviors, in the form of code injection into neighboring organisms.
The robots need to become spoiled, overpaid millionaires, who refuse to train (France). Brag a lot (England) that their opponent is a bunch of "boys" (Germany), who are afraid of them. Then take a 4-1 shellacking from the "boys." And despite being the defending champions, and having a world class league in their country, bow out early. Because all of the players in their first class league are from South America (Italy), and the they have no good domestic players.
Robots with vuvuzelas? No, thanks. My next nightmare.
Eh, they can play soccer, not too impressive. Check back when they evolve their own religion, that would be impressive.
Where were you during the World Cup?
Soccer is a religion!
.... uh, hmmm..... what was I on about?
This process can check if this value is zero, and if it is, it does something child-like. -- Forbes Burkowski, CS 454, University of Washington


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In a follow on from the KDE or Gnome question, and also featuring in the magazine, do you find the command line or graphical interface best/most productive?
As I write the First Steps feature every month, I tend to assume that new users will favour the graphical approach over the textual, though I do understand that on occasion it is much more sensible and efficient to open a console.
Are there some things impossible to do with either of the options?


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- ITV Report
Newcastle prevented from picking Cisse
Papiss Cisse is considering his position as Senegal captain after being prevented from playing in Newcastle's clash with Swansea this afternoon.
The 27-year-old was unavailable to manager Alan Pardew after the Senegal Football Federation, with the support of FIFA, invoked the governing body's five-day rule following his failure to report for international duty in midweek because of a back injury.
Newcastle released a statement which said they were "dismayed and angry" at the situation and voiced the opinion that they may be being punished for refusing to allow Cisse to represent his country at the Olympic Games earlier this year.
The player also expressed his disappointment and revealed the decision could have wider implications.
Cisse said: "I am deeply disappointed by the actions of my Federation which have punished me and my club.
"I love playing for my country and would only withdraw from a squad - for either a friendly or competitive game - for a genuine reason.
"I am fully supportive of the position my club has adopted in this matter and am sorry that the Federation seem to doubt my honesty and integrity.
"I will now consider if I wish to continue to captain my country."
Cisse was withdraw from the Senegal squad for their friendly against Niger after limping out of last Sunday's 1-0 Barclays Premier League defeat by West ham with a back problem.
Newcastle claim they sent details of the injury to the federation's medical department, but heard nothing back until it emerged that they were seeking to stop him playing today, and are now seeking legal advice on the matter.
The statement said: "Newcastle United is dismayed and angry at the position adopted by the Senegalese Federation, and supported by FIFA, which means that Papiss Cisse is unable to play any part in today's Premier League fixture against Swansea City.
"Immediately following the Premier League fixture against West Ham United on Sunday, the club went through the normal communication channels to advise the Senegalese Federation that both Papiss and Demba Ba would not be available for the international friendly match between Niger and Senegal scheduled for Wednesday, 14 November 2012 due to injury.
"No reply was received and as such further communications were sent to the federation on Monday 12th November.
"The club was not prepared to allow Papiss to travel to Niger as this would have been detrimental to his clinical condition. In accordance with FIFA regulations, the club was more than happy for the player to be examined in England by a doctor of the Federation's choice in order to validate the player's medical condition.
"The federation did not take this option and instead contacted FIFA to ask them to apply the regulation that effectively prevents Papiss from playing this weekend.
"It is the opinion of the club that it is wrong and wholly unjust for a national association to behave in this manner and for FIFA to endorse their stance and automatically apply the sanction without taking into account the specific facts of the case.
"The club is disappointed, although not in any way surprised, that FIFA has disregarded its submissions and valid points in relation to this matter and instead have supported a national association which ignored repeated attempts by the club to engage with them and, furthermore, insisted on a course of action which would have had a detrimental impact on the player's physical condition.
"The club understands that in addition to Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba, a number of other players were withdrawn from the Senegal squad.
"To the best of our knowledge, Papiss Cisse and Newcastle United are the only parties that the national association has sought sanctions against.
"It is the club's genuinely-held view that the Senegalese Federation have an agenda against Papiss and/or Newcastle United, possibly as a reaction to the club's decision earlier this year not to allow Papiss to participate in the London Olympics 2012.
"The club intends to take this matter up with the Football Association and any other relevant body within the game to try to stop national associations/federations and FIFA from preventing an employee (a player) from fulfilling their contractual obligations to their employer (a club).
"The club acknowledges the importance of international football and the great honour players undoubtedly get from representing their country.
"That said, national associations and FIFA should have a duty of care to clubs with regards to their players and it cannot be allowed to continue that national associations can, as in this case, seek to act in a way which is not in the best interests of a player and compromises their well-being and, furthermore, is then able to apply to FIFA who impose a sanction which damages that individual and his employer without a fair and equitable process being applied.
"The club will be speaking to its legal advisors to see if it has recourse against the Senegalese Federation and/or FIFA."


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Winx Club: Magical Fairy Party enlightens young fashionistas (review)
Throwing parties, sprucing up magical spells and throwing more outrageous parties, Winx Club: Magical Fairy Party was full of adventure, mini games and embellished cakes.
This is one of the few Nintendo DS games that is played vertically on the DS using only your stylus. A simple plot helps the gamer build extravagant parties, outfits, cakes and posters to set up different themed parties at the Alfea School for Faeries.


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How does stock drive shafts hold up to 4s? off of the differntial? I'm getting center cvds so center isnt a problem
EMBE build in progress!
4s they hold up but over time with hard accels they will wear out but over time. if you dont have any i would recommend just getting the summit long axles on all 4 to prevent from break any axles at all or even wearing them out sooner than the stock would.
Living life.
I have run stock wheel drive shafts on 6s since getting my truck with stock gearing 17/68 and I have had no issues with them (except when I run into stuff ). I even had a set of Big Joe 40's on for awhile and even with them on my stock drive shafts held up fine.
Always get a 2nd Opinion!
It should hold nice, if you have a heavy finger try loosing the slipper a little.
I have trencher x's. Mike, I got a pretty good deal on used emaxx shafts and a set of 17mm hubs for $35 shipped.
EMBE build in progress!
not too bad then. its coming along there. soon it will be running.
Living life.
yeah those would be the most costly other than the power system you choose. they range from 140-300 mine was 166 now 162 i think this year only though but limits you to only 4s max which is enough for the maxx. the 6s capable is non waterproof for 190+
Living life.
My parents are buying it. Therefore I will get what I want without issue lol
EMBE build in progress!
that is totally cool, wish my parents would do that same but since i'm older think they wouldnt spend anything on what they call a TOY lol. toys are cheap $20 things i say something that costs 300+ is not a toy its a hobby. changed my plans to run my emaxx to this friday hopefully.
Emaxx diffs i have read hold up good on only 4s and the axles as well so with a good set new or even used in good like new condition will last a while. i'll have to find time to see how mine are doing.
Living life.
nope where are they? havent seen them yet think i'll try to find them but post up where you found them at.
Living life.
Ebay man.... they were out of them at rc planet.... ill post a link in a sec
here is the link http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Traxxas-...#ht_1534wt_952
Last edited by cooleocool; 09-13-2012 at 05:47 PM. Reason: post merge
EMBE build in progress!
those are nice, with the 2 bodies i have those would work good to match better but the blue are working fine for now till they get bad which i dont think they do.
Wonder if there are bigger wheels for the emaxx other than the 6.3" from traxxas or PL. thinking something like 7" maybe but just as wide as stock or PL trencher x.
Living life.
How do the cvds hold up on 4s?
EMBE build in progress!
My stocks wore out really fast, the stock tire blew first day then a week later the center shaft wore out around the the grub screw, I maganged to rig up a fix and a short time later the rear wheel shafts started to break, so I got all the TRX steel cvd's and they held up all year from pavement to sand
Thanks that was I was wondering. I'm guessing with the extended cups of course
Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk
EMBE build in progress!
I use summit shafts all round with traxxas centre steel CVD's and run 6s with no issues what so ever.... No signs of wear on the centre CVD's as yet.
Rock n Rolla !


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First GNUstep Renaissance Public Release. 13
Christopher "CJayC" Jenkins writes "Nicola Pero recently announced on the discuss-gnustep mailing list the public release of his GNUstep Renaissance software, which allows for user interfaces utilizing the GNUstep and Apple Cocoa APIs to be specified in XML. While still alpha-quality code, it can be used at the present to replace .nib (and .gorm and .gmodel) files with .gsmarkup files, which can be easily edited by hand. "
The source code can be checked out of the GNUstep CVS repo:
cvs -d:pserver:firstname.lastname@example.com:/cvsroot/gn ustep login
cvs -z3 -d:pserver:firstname.lastname@example.com:/cvsroot/gn ustep co dev-libs/Renaissance


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The Institute communicates its scientific and educational information in a number of ways. One major outlet is peer-reviewed publications and reports. Cary Institute staff regularly publish in the best-rated journals in their respective fields.
Export 1 results:Sort by: Author Title [ Type] Year
Filters: Author is Pullin, M.J. [Clear All Filters]
Book Chapter
Elemental complexation by dissolved organic matter in lakes: Implications for Fe speciation and the bioavailability of Fe and P", in S. E. G. Findlay and R. L. Sinsabaugh (eds.). Aquatic Ecosystems: Interactivity of Dissolved Organic Matter, 2003, p. 185-214., "


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Ruining everybody's fun for five hundred years.
Ruining everybody's fun for five hundred years.
Filed under History and Memory
Tagged as planking, slave ships, slave trade, slavery
Every single person involved at that story is stupid on some level. It's a stupid game, its stupid to associate it with the slave trade, its stupid not to respond "that's too stupid to respond to."
I'm stupid for posting about Stupid, stupid, stupid!


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Feb. 27, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The Schedule
Game No. 27
Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos vs. the University of the Pacific Tigers
at UCSB's Thunderdome
Game No. 28
Saturday, March 3, 2007 at 4:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos vs. Cal State Northridge Matadors
at UCSB's Thunderdome
Television: FSN West (Channel 37 in Santa Barbara)
The Gaucho Record
UC Santa Barbara enters its final regular season weekend of the year with an overall record of 16-10 and a Big West record of 7-5. On Saturday, Feb. 24, the Gauchos ended a season-long four-game losing streak with a narrow 68-67 win at UC Riverside. The victory not only gave UCSB a school record 10 road wins on the season, it pulled them closer to a top-four finish in the league, securing a first round Big West Tournament bye. The Gauchos lead Pacific by a game and a half was the Tigers enter their Monday night home game against Long Beach State and the teams will meet on Thursday night at the Thunderdome.
March 3 Home Finale Moved To 4:00 PM For FSN West
UCSB's regular season finale against Cal State Northridge, scheduled for Saturday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m. in the Thunderdome, has been moved to 4:00 p.m. to accommodate Fox Sports Network West, which will televise the game live. As part of the league's best game available provision in its television contracts, the Big West decides on late-season games based on record and impact on the conference standings.
Brown's Late Jumper Lifts Gauchos Past Highlanders, 68-67
Senior guard Cecil Brown made a turnaround 10-foot fallaway shot with 7.4 seconds left on Saturday to lift UC Santa Barbara to a 68-67 win at UC Riverside, ending the Gauchos four-game losing streak and putting them one step closer to a first round bye in next month's Big West Tournament. Brown, who finished with 16 points, made the shot out of a timeout to rescue UCSB. The Gauchos, who led for the first 39 minutes and 32 seconds, fell behind for the first time when Highlander guard Justin Bell made a three-pointer from deep in the left corner with 28 seconds remaining. Bell's shot came after a tough sequence of events for Santa Barbara. With 39 seconds to play, the Gauchos turned the ball over on a baseline inbounds play. After a timeout, UCR got the ball into its leading scorer, Larry Cunningham. Cunningham, guarded by Alex Harris, lost the handle on the ball just above the top of the key. Both player scrambled after the loose ball, but with Harris sprawled on the floor, Cunningham wrested the ball free. He drove the lane to draw the defenders and found Bell wide open in the corner for the three-point shot. The Gauchos then brought the ball in against token Riverside pressure and called a timeout upon entering the frontcourt. UCSB got the ball into Justin Joyner who dribbled across the court. He got the ball to Ivan Elliott who then hit Brown near the free throw line for the game-winner. The Gauchos, who led by as many as nine points in the second half, were led by Harris who finished with a game-high 25 points. He made 5-of-8 three-pointers to help carry his team for much for much of the first 30 minutes of the game. With his 25 points, Harris becomes the 21st UCSB player to hit the 1,000 point mark. He has exactly 1,000. Chris Devine finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, two steals, one blocked shot and a season-high five assists. Elliott was the fourth Gaucho in double-figures finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds. UCSB shot 57.8% overall. Riverside was paced by freshman forward Henrik Thomsen who had 15 points but fouled out with two minutes to play. Cunningham had 14 and Chris Johnson added 13 for the Highlanders, who were limited to 42.1% shooting from the field, but had just seven turnovers.
Probable Starters - Notes
G - Cecil Brown - Made 7-of-10 shots, including game-winner, at UC Riverside.
G - Alex Harris - 25 points at UC Riverside give him exactly 1,000 in his career.
G - Justin Joyner - His 74 assists rank sixth all-time among Gaucho freshmen.
F - Chris Devine - Has scored 10 or more points in 24 of 26 games this season.
F - Glenn Turner - Averaged 5.0 rebounds in the last nine games.
Probable Reserves - Notes
G - James Powell - His 31 three-point baskets ties him for second all-time among freshmen.
G - Paul Roemer - Had a basket at Cal State Fullerton, his first since Jan. 20.
G - Trevor Bing - Has not played in the last three games.
F - Ivan Elliott - Has had five or more rebounds in 10 of the last 12 games.
F - Tom Garlepp - Has logged just 37 minutes in 12 Big West games.
F - Emmanuel Bidias a Mouté - Had five points and four boards in 11 minutes at Fullerton.
F - Beau Gibb - Has played in just one of the last 14 games.
F - David Massey - Played in only game and had only points on Nov. 13 at Montana State.
F - Sam Phippen - Freshman forward is redshirting the 2006-07 season.
The Bob Williams File
Bob Williams is in his ninth season as the head coach at UC Santa Barbara. Last year his team overcame a slow start to finish over the .500 mark for the fourth time in five seasons. UCSB was 15-14 overall and 6-8 in the Big West. Prior to the 2004-05 season, when an injury-ravaged Gaucho team finished below .500, Williams had guided the program to three straight winning seasons for the first time since the late 1980s. In 2002-03, Williams' Gauchos went 18-14 overall and 14-4 in league. The 2002-03 Big West mark earned Santa Barbara its first-ever Big West regular season championship along with a trip to the postseason National Invitation Tournament. Additionally, the success earned Williams his second Big West Coach of the Year award, his first coming after an impressive 1999 campaign. In 2001-02, Williams guided UCSB to its first Big West Conference Tournament Championship ever and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 years. Including this season, Williams' UCSB teams have posted a 138-121 (.533) overall record and an 84-59 (.587) record in Big West games. Prior to his arrival at UCSB, he spent eight years at UC Davis and in those eight years, his teams recorded 20 or more wins five times and a 158-76 record. In Williams' final season, the Aggies went 31-2, won the NCAA Division II National Championship and he was named NABC Division II Coach of the Year. Including two seasons at Menlo College, Williams has a record of 326-221 (.596) at four-year schools.
The Opponents
UCSB and Pacific have played 94 times in a series that dates back to 1947. The Tigers hold the all-time edge with a record of 49-45. On Jan. 27, the Gauchos posted a 70-62 win at the Spanos Center in Stockton. The victory by UCSB ended the Tigers' six-game winning streak in the series. The Gauchos and Cal State Northridge have played 33 times in a series that began in 1960. The teams split a pair of games last season with each winning on the other's home court. UCSB continued that trend in the first meeting this season. On Jan. 25, the Gauchos recorded a 67-57 win in Northride. The victory gives Santa Barbara an all-time series record of 25-8.
On The Road Again
UCSB is 10-4 in road games this season. In their last road game, the final one of the season, the Gauchos defeated UC Riverside, 68-67. The victory over the Highlanders gave Santa Barbara a new school record for true road wins in a single season. The 10 wins are one more than the previous record of nine set during the 1963-64 season when the school still competed at the NCAA College Division level. In addition to Saturday's win at Riverside, the Gauchos have logged road wins at Montana State, UNLV, Pepperdine, Portland, San Francisco, UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge and Pacific this season. They began the year with five straight true road wins for the first time since the 1987-88 campaign. The five straight road wins to open the year extended the Gauchos' road streak over two seasons to six in a row, tying a school record also set during the 1987-88 season. On Dec. 22, UCSB had its school record-tying six game road winning streak ended at the University of San Diego, 81-63 and then on Jan. 4, Long Beach State handed the Gauchos their second consecutive road loss, 101-65. UCSB bounced-back and won four consecutive road games before a Valentine's Day loss at Cal Poly. Finally, dating back to the 2005-06 season when they won four of their last five true road games, the Gauchos have gone 14-5 on the road in their last 19 games.
The Gauchos At Home
The Thunderdome has not been as kind to UCSB this season. The Gauchos are 6-6 at home in 2006-07. Since winning four straight home games, including its first two Big West games on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30 against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton respectively, Santa Barbara has lost four of its last five home appearances, including two in a row. The last two losses, to Long Beach State and Eastern Washing, came by a combined two points and overall the Gauchos have lost their six home games by a total of 23 points, 3.8 points per defeat. On Jan. 20, Cal Poly beat Santa Barbara by 10, but the other five losses came by a combined 13 points, 2.6 points per defeat. UCSB went 9-4 in home games during the 2005-06 season. Since Bob Williams became head coach prior to the 1998-99 season, the Gauchos have gone 79-34 in home contests. The six losses this season are the most home defeats by a Williams-led Santa Barbara team.
Gauchos Surpass 2005-06 Win Totals
With its victory at UC Riverside on Feb. 24, UCSB now has 16 win overall and it has surpassed its win total of the 2005-06 season. The Gauchos went 15-14 last season. In addition, the win over the Highlanders was the team's seventh Big West win, one more than it recorded in 2005-06. The seven league wins also guarantees UCSB at least a .500 mark in conference games this season.
A Return To Normalcy
Normalcy is not a word, but if it was good enough for a 1920's presidential candidate to use, it's good enough for me. Anyway, after a pair of sub-par shooting performances, UCSB was back on the beam in its win at UC Riverside. The Gauchos made 26-of-45 shots, 57.8%. It was their highest shooting percentage since Dec. 19 when they made 62.5% of their shots in a win over Vanguard. It was also the third highest percentage of the season. UCSB has now made 50.0% or better 11 times this season, three more times than it did all of last year. The Gauchos have also lifted their percentage on the season to a Big West-leading 47.5%.
Three-Point Imbalance
In its recently concluded road trip to Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside, UCSB attempted a total of 27 three-pointers. In the game at Fullerton, the Titans attempted 27. In the two games, the opposition combined for 53 attempts. That was nothing new. For the year, the Gauchos have taken 437 three-point shots, making 37.1%, while their opponents have attempted 616, making 32.8%. UCSB opponents are attempting 7.1 more three-pointers per game. In 26 games, the Gauchos have attempted more threes than their opponents just four times, including just once in the last seven games.
Protecting The Ball
In recent games, Santa Barbara has done a better job of protecting the basketball. On Saturday, the Gauchos had 12 turnovers against UC Riverside and in the last three games, they have averaged 11.3 per game, a drop from their season average of 14.1 per contest. Also, in each of the last four games, UCSB has had a positive ratio of assists to turnovers. Overall, in the last four, the Gauchos have had 59 assists and only 46 turnovers.
That 70's Show
Make no mistake, UCSB wants low-scoring games. When the Gauchos have been able to limit their opponents to fewer than 70 points, they have gone 13-2. When the opponents score more than 70 points they have gone 3-8. The only two opponents who were held to fewer than 70 points and still won were Long Beach State (68-67) and Loyola Marymount (58-55).
Junior Partners
Juniors Alex Harris and Chris Devine have proven to be one of the best one-two scoring punches in UCSB history. Currently, the duo ranks fifth all-time on the Gauchos' one-two punch list. Harris and Devine combined for 926 points in the first 26 games, an average of 35.6 per game, slightly higher than the 34.9 per game that Lucius Davis and Idris Jones combined for in 1991-92. In UCSB's November 21 double-overtime victory over Pepperdine, Harris and Devine each eclipsed the 25-point mark, the first Santa Barbara pair to do so since Mike Doyle tallied 31 and Brian Shaw added 26 in a Feb. 25, 1988 game at Long Beach State. Three times this season the duo has scored 20 or more in the same game. The last time that happened was in 1990-91 when Davis and Gary Gray also did it three times.
Top One-Two Punches
# Players Season Points 1. L. Davis/I. Jones 1991-92 1,014 2. C. DeHart/M. Doyle 1988-89 957 3. C. DeHart/E. McArthur 1989-90 929 4. L. Davis/G. Gray 1990-91 928 5. A. Harris/C. Devine 2006-07 926 6. M. Hull/B. Fullove 2001-02 893 7. R. Tutt/J. Merrill 1996-97 882 8. C. Henry/S. Fisher 1985-86 878 9. B. Fullove/M. Hull 2002-03 869 10. B.J. Bunton/J. Merrill 1998-99 867 11. Y. Gross/M. Russell 1982-83 860 Note: The leading scorer is listed first.Active Scoring Leaders
Player Points Games Avg. Alex Harris 1,000 84 11.9 Cecil Brown 939 108 8.7 Chris Devine 739 55 13.4Double Dipping Led by Alex Harris and Chris Devine, seven different UCSB players have scored in double-figures this season. Harris has scored 10 or more points in 25 of 26 games and Devine has done so 24 times. James Powell, has done so in 11, including the last four of the last five, after doing so just once in the previous 13 games. Here is a list of all Gaucho players and the number of times they have hit double-digits this season.
Player GP 10+ Alex Harris 26 25 Chris Devine 26 24 James Powell 26 11 Cecil Brown 21 11 Ivan Elliott 26 7 Justin Joyner 25 5 Tom Garlepp 19 1Double-Double Dipping
The Gauchos have produced six statistical double-doubles this season. Chris Devine has five of them and Ivan Elliott has the the other. Devine now has nine in his career, seven of which have come on the road.
Player Opponent Stats Chris Devine at Pepperdine 28p, 13r Chris Devine at USF 12p, 10r Chris Devine Vanguard 22p, 11r Chris Devine at UC Irvine 15p, 11r Chris Devine at UC Davis 19p, 10r Ivan Elliott UC Riverside 12p, 10rThe Harris Poll
Junior guard Alex Harris continues to lead the Big West Conference in scoring at 20.8 points per game. After he reclaimed the scoring lead with a 27-point performance on Feb. 17 against Eastern Washington, he solidified his hold in games at Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside. On Thursday night at Cal State Fullerton he scored a career-high 35 points. Harris made 12-of-28 shots overall and 5-of-7 from three-point range in the game against the Titans. In Saturday's win at Riverside, he scored 25 more on 9-of-13 shooting overall and 5-of-8 from three-point range. In the last three games, Harris has averaged 27.0 points per game while making 29-of-56 shots overall, 51.8%, and 15-of-25 from three-point range, 60.0%. In fact, while Harris has equaled his career-high with five three-pointers in each of the last three games, in the last two he has made 10-of-15, 66.7%. This also marks the first time this season that Harris has scored 25 or more in three straight games. He opened the year by scoring 20 or more in seven straight, but at no point did he score 25 or more in three straight. With his 25 points on Sturday, the junior from Alameda, Calif., has now scored exactly 1,000 career points. He became the 21st UCSB player to break the 1,000 point barrier. Harris has scored in double-figures 25 times in 26 games and he has been at or over the 20 point mark 15 times, the most by a Gaucho player since the 1997-98 season. He scored 20 or more points in each of the first seven games this season, the longest streak of 20 or more points by a UCSB player since 1996 and the longest ever to open a season. Harris' career-high 35 points at Cal State Fullerton were the most scored by a Gaucho since Raymond Tutt tallied 37 on Feb. 21, 1997. If you cast your gaze upward a bit, you will notice that he is also scaling a variety of UCSB's single-season statistical lists. He enters the final regular season weekend with 542 points, fourth all-time. Harris needs 23 points to move past York Gross and into third on the list. Moving any higher than third is going to be a tough task. Lucius Davis is second with 644 points. Harris' run of three straight games with five three-point baskets has also moved him to sixth on that list with 63. He also has 112 career three-point baskets, ninth all-time. Not only has he made five three-point baskets in three straight and four times this year, he has made four three times and three five times. He has made at least one three-pointer in 24 of 26 games and two or more 16 times. Ironically, while his three-point shooting was outstanding over the weekend, his free throw shooting suffered. In the two games, he made just 8-of-17 charity attempts, 47.1%. Harris is also third on the team in rebounding at 4.8 per game. He had just two in the win at Riverside, ending a streak of four games in a row with at least five. Finally, Harris has been Santa Barbara's workhorse this season. He is averaging 35.2 minutes per game and has played 30 or more in 24 of 26, including the last 15. He logged a career-high 48 minutes (out of 50) in a double-overtime win over Pepperdine on Nov. 21.
Harris' Single-Season Ranks Category Stat Rank Points 542 4th Scoring Average 20.8 4th Free Throws 135 5th Free Throw Atts. 177 t-5th 3-Pt. FGs 63 6th 3-Pt. FGAs 139 10th
The Devine File
Junior forward Chris Devine is second on the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game and he leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 per game. In Saturday's win at UC Riverside, he narrowly missed his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and nine rebounds. Additionally, however, Devine tied his season-high with five assists in the victory. He has scored in double-figures in 24 of the Gauchos' 26 games, including the last 14 in a row, the longest such streak of his career. He leads the team with five double-doubles and now has nine for his career. Of his double-doubles, four have come on the road this season and seven of nine in his two-year career have come away from the Thunderdome. This season, when Devine has produced a double-double, UCSB has gone 5-0. He had 28 points and 13 rebounds on Nov. 21 at Pepperdine, helping the Gauchos to a double-overtime win. The 28 points were a career-high. He has scored 20 or more five times this season, but he has not done so since he went for 25 in a Dec. 30 home win over Cal State Fullerton. While Devine is averaging 6.7 rebounds per game, he has had five or more 19 times, including each of the last four. In the last four, he has averaged 7.2 caroms per game. In addition to points, he has had career-highs this season in steals (five vs. San Jose State on Nov. 13) and assists (five at San Francisco on Dec. 17 and at UC Riverside on Feb. 24). While he is still shooting 53.9% from the field, Devine has struggled with his shot lately. In the last three games, he has made 15-of-37, 40.5%. On the other hand, he is shooting 72.6% from the free throw line overall, but he has drained 15-of-18, 83.3%, in the last four game. Finally, Devine is one of two Gauchos to have started all 26 games this season and he is the only player to start all 55 over the past two seasons.
Help Cecil! Help!
Senior guard Cecil Brown has struggled bounced back from two subpar offensive games with an outstanding, and clutch, game at UC Riverside. Brown finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting overall, including 1-for-2 from three-point range, and it was his fall-away shot with fewer than nine seconds left that gave the Gauchos the 68-67 win. Brown's outstanding effort against the Highlanders came on the heels of consecutive poor offensive games. In two games prior to Riverside, he scored just six total points and made just 2-of-16 shots from the field, both three-pointers. Still, despite those two games, Brown has been in double-figures in four of the last six games and he has averaged 12.7 per game over that span. On the year, he has been in double-figures 11 times in 21 games and since scoring a total of 10 points in his first three appearances, Brown has averaged 10.1 points per game. In fact, in his 12 league games, he has averaged 11.5 points per game. He scored a season-high 23 in a Feb. 8 home win over UC Irvine. Brown has also become one of the Gauchos' most important playmakers. He is averaging 3.0 assists per game overall, but he has had two or more in 12 straight games, the longest current streak of any UCSB player. He has averaged 4.0 assists in his last 12 games. Finally, while he needs 61 points to hit the 1,000 point mark, Brown has scaled the career list for three-pointers. With 113 in his career, he ranks eighth on the all-time list.
Justin Joins In
Freshman guard Justin Joyner returned to the Gaucho lineup last week after missing one game with a pulled hamstring. In his return, Joyner had mixed results. He scored seven points and had one assist in the game at Cal State Fullerton and on Saturday at UC Riverside, he was scoreless, but he did have three assists and now has 74 on the year, the most on the team and a figure that ranks sixth on UCSB's all-time freshman list. If Joyner could pass off for 10 more assists this season, he would move into second on the all-time list. On Dec. 30, in a win over Cal State Fullerton, he had a career-high 10 assists, the most by a Gaucho since the 1998-99 season. He has had four or more assists nine times. Joyner is averaging 5.2 points per game and has scored 10 or more four times, including three straight late in January and early in February. He tallied a career-high 15 points in a Jan. 25 win at Cal State Northridge and in his last eight games, Joyner has averaged 7.2 points per game. He has recently become a legitimate three-point threat as well. On the year, he has made 17 three-point baskets, 11 of which have come in his last 10 appearances. His 17 threes are the 11th most by a freshman in school history. While Joyner is shooting 37.7% overall and 27.9% from three-point territory, he has shot 35.4% from beyond the arc since missing his first 13. Finally, he has become a defensive stalwart for the Gauchos. There is more to it than steals, but he has a team-leading 31 steals in his 25 games, 1.2 per game. He has had a career-high three steals five times this season and he has had two or more 11 times, including six of the last 10 games. In his last 10, Joyner has produced 18 steals, including three in four games. His 31 steals rank second on the all-time freshman list.
Ivan The Good
Junior forward Ivan Elliott had one of his best games of the season in UCSB's win at UC Riverside. Elliott made 4-of-5 shots and both of his free throw attempts to finish with 10 points. He also had eight rebound. On the year, he is now averaging 6.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. With 10 points against the Highlanders, he has now scored 10 or more seven times this season. Elliott also improved his field goal percentage to a team-leading 55.6%. He scored his career-high of 14 points on Nov. 13 at Montana State. With eight rebounds against UC Riverside, Elliott has had at least seven in each of the last three games and at least five in five straight. In fact, since collecting a total of eight rebounds in the first three games of the year, he has averaged 6.3 per game and in the last 10 games he has averaged 7.0 per game. Elliott has had 10 or more rebounds four times this season, second only to Chris Devine who has had 10 or more five times. Elliott had a career-high 12 rebounds on Feb. 1 at UC Davis. On Dec. 28 against UC Riverside, he registered the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He is the only Gaucho, besides Devine, to have a double-double this season. Elliott came off the bench for the first seven games this season but the started 17 in a row before returning to a reserve role in the last two games. After playing more than 20 minutes twice in the first seven games, he has played 20 or more in 17 of the last 19.
Old Buddy, Old Powell
Although he had just two points in Saturday's game at UC Riverside, freshman guard James Powell has started to reassert himself for the Gauchos. He had three assists against the Highlanders and it was the third straight game in which he has had at least three assists. While Powell is averaging 2.3 assists per game on the season, he has averaged 3.7 per game in the last three. Also, despite scoring just five total points in the games at Fullerton and Riverside, he has averaged 8.7 in the last seven games, scoring in double-figures four times over that span. Powell, who went through a prolonged shooting slump at mid-season, has started shooting the ball better in recent weeks. Overall, he is shooting 40.1% from the field and 32.6% from three-point range, but in the last eight games he has made 24-of-51 shots overall, 47.1%, and 10-of-25 from beyond the three-point arc, 40.0%. Powell has tallied 10 or more in four of the last six games and 11 times this season. He scored a season-high 18 points on Nov. 21 at Pepperdine. He also had a pair of 17-point games, one coming in a Nov. 17 win at UNLV, and the other in Dec. 2 win at Portland. In addition to ranking third on the team in scoring and assists, Powell is second, to fellow freshman Justin Joyner, in steals with 25. He also leads the team in free throw percentage at 83.1%, and since he was shooting 75.6% in early-January, he has made 18 in a row to improve to his current 83.1% mark. Powell has also moved-up on several UCSB freshman statistical lists. He is currently in the top-10 in 11 categories, including points with 226, scoring average at 8.7, three-pointers with 31, assists with 60 and steals with 25.
As The World Turners
Senior forward Glenn Turner has been in the starting lineup in each of the last two games. He had two points and three rebounds in the win at UC Riverside, equaling his season-high with 26 minutes played. Turner made his only field goal attempt at Riverside and is now shooting 64.7% from the field. Also, while he had just three boards against the Highlanders, he has had three or more in six straight games and eight times in the past 10 games. Turner is averaging 3.8 rebounds per game, but in the last 10 he is averaging 4.4 per game. On Feb. 17, against Eastern Washington, he scored seven points, had eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots in a season-high 26 minutes. He has averaged 20.0 minutes per game in the last six games, a significant increase over his season average of 14.0 per game. Finally, despite missing nine games, he has taken over the team-lead with 20 blocked shots. Turner now has 101 blocked shots in his career. He is the fourth UCSB player to hit the 100 blocked shot mark.


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Schools are gradually crossing the digital divide, relying more and more on mobile devices such as iPads and less on three-ring binders and printed books.
PALM COAST — Walk into Brock O'Shell's classroom, and you'll notice a large paper cutout of a broken circle with a line through it and the words "power on."
You'll see pre-teens huddled over devices the size of their laps, using pen-like tools to write notes. On the desks are traditional textbooks open to a story about forest fires.
"We don't have to sharpen our pencils now," 11-year-old Dona Hoffman said.
Schools are gradually crossing the digital divide, relying more and more on mobile devices like iPads and less on three-ring binders and printed books. O'Shell's sixth-graders are a little ahead of their Flagler County peers, though: They're each assigned an iPad that they can carry with them 24 hours a day, seven days per week.
O'Shell's and Joseph Jakubowski's classes at Belle Terre Elementary are pioneering this arrangement in Flagler. But within two to three years, every Flagler student could have his or her own mobile device, like an iPad. By the end of the year, about half of the district's teachers will have iPads and more students will likely have them early next year, said Ryan Deising, the district's technology director.
Outfitting every student with an iPad isn't cheap. The devices will cost about $370 apiece with a school discount, so that's about $4.4 million for the nearly 12,000 students enrolled in Flagler's traditional public schools. Money from the half-cent sales tax, which voters renewed in August, will help. The tax is expected to generate about $40 million over the next 10 years for capital expenses such as technology and facilities construction.
But teachers say iPads are helping them save money in other ways. O'Shell said his class used nearly a whole box of paper during the first month of school before they distributed the iPads to students.
"I think initial cost is what people look at but I don't think they look at the cost of paper and notebooks," he said. Additionally, giving more students access to technology will help prepare them for the "21st century workplace," Deising said.
"We're trying to get our kids ready to participate and compete in the world economy," he said.
State policymakers are also pushing school districts in this direction. All Florida students can now take some, or all, of their classes online. By 2015, all instructional materials must be delivered to students electronically. This year's high school sophomores and younger students are required to take at least one online class to earn diplomas. The state is gradually phasing in online standardized testing, too.
These changes come at a cost, and districts will have to fork over about $1 billion that isn't provided by the state, according to the Florida School Boards Association. Aside from the state mandates, local teachers say iPads provide a multitude of advantages for their young techies: They can easily organize their work in folders and send assignments and quizzes to their teachers' devices. In seconds, teachers can project their own iPad or any student's device on a screen at the front of the room to give instructions or display top-notch work.
"We can just see an overall change in the way kids are doing their homework," O'Shell said. "They're taking their time. They go back to make things look a little nicer."
Dona and Gabriella Dennany, also 11, recently worked on a reading assignment together. The girls were born the same year the first Apple retail stores opened, and though they'd only had iPads for two weeks, they easily showed a reporter how they write notes, erase mistakes and send homework to their teacher using the devices.
Gabriella said their teacher encourages them to be "creative but professional." That means it's OK to use any color when they take notes, but they must use black for homework and tests. That's just one of the iPad rules, the girls say. They have to come to class with the iPads fully charged, they can't allow other people to touch them and they have to do their homework.
"Math is my hardest subject," Dona said. "When I got the iPad, I knew I had to do my homework."
Likewise, Julie Menendez , whose 11-year-old son Alex is in Jakubowski's class, said the iPad is helping Alex become "eager about getting work done" while teaching him to be responsible.
"I'm an old-school kind of person, so technology is not my thing, but Alex is extremely excited about it," said Menendez, the dean at Belle Terre.


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RENO, Nev. - It's been a busy start to 2013 for members of Washoe County Search and Rescue. Cold temperatures have been a factor all winter.
"Since the beginning of this year we've been out in the cold on three different rescues where the emergency was brought on by the cold weather," Sgt. Ralph Caldwell of the WCSO Search and Rescue Unit. "The people were experiencing what they thought would be a quick journey and ended up getting lost or stuck. With temperatures in the single digits it's very important we get people out of that environment, especially if they're not prepared for it."
Those going out to enjoy the great outdoors should wear proper clothing made of material that wicks away moisture. It's also important to stay hydrated and make a plan before heading out.
"Tell people where you're going to go and when you're expected back," Caldwell said. "Try and stick to that plan so in case something does go wrong we know where to start looking."
While the Sierra is popular for all kinds of outdoor recreation, it's also vast terrain that can be difficult to navigate.
"You have snowmobilers, snowshoers, cross-country skiers, maybe it's their first time up for the season so they're not sure of what their physical abilities are or what equipment they might need," Caldwell said. "They also might be unfamiliar with the terrain features and locations. It's easy to get turned around especially if there's a storm in the area, it reduces visibility and eliminates a lot of key landmarks. It's very easy to head down the wrong side of a mountain and end up in an unfamiliar valley miles away from your car or any type of road."
Search and Rescue team members invest a lot of time in training. Saturday morning a group gathered at the WSCO training facility to learn about wilderness first aid and CPR.
"It's so important because these are going to be the first responders," said Julie Munger, a trainer with Sierra Rescue. "They are very likely going to be the people that actually find somebody that's lost so it's important they know how to react in the first few minutes and then how to do the extended care while they're waiting for more help to arrive. These are all volunteers and they spend their time and money training here so it's really fortunate to have them in the community."


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- 1 beds
- 1 baths
- $269,900 price
- 476612 mls id
- Square Feet: 768 sqft
- Year Built: 2016
- Status: Active
Welcome to "The Asbury" in beautiful Ocean City, NJ! This new 22 unit condominium building is located in the heart of America's favorite vacation destination. Built with the needs of an upscale buyer in mind, no detail was overlooked during the construction and design process. Every unit was designed to give you breathtaking views of either the boardwalk or the bay! With prices from only $299,900, this is a must see for anyone considering a vacation home or carefree year round living at the shore. Other features include:
-A short walk to beaches, boardwalk, dining, and shopping
-Large windows and high ceilings for loads of natural light
-Huge lobby, elevator, and community room for resident use
-High quality construction and custom finishes in each unit
-Deeded parking and storage units for every condo
Call for a private tour!
Listing Agent: Monica DiFranco
Courtesy of: Coldwell Banker Argus Real Estate
Office Phone: 6098223700
Updated: 21st May, 2018 8:23 PM.
810 Asbury Avenue Ocean City, NJ


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The Behavioral Diabetes Institute is an organization dedicated to helping people with diabetes live long, healthy, and happy lives. This website provides an array of evidence-based clinical programs, all designed to help people overcome the emotional and behavioral obstacles to living well with diabetes.
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Microsoft Keeps Your Repaired XBox For 4 Months, Calls You A Thief For Wanting It Back Image courtesy of I have found the thief and its name is kitty
Microsoft hasn't returned Tiffany's XBox 360 for four months because they think she is a thief, even though she has her original receipt and a credit card statement proving that she is the console's rightful owner. Microsoft repaired the XBox back in January and tried to return it via FedEx, but a shipping snafu landed the box back at Microsoft's service center. Tiffany has called repeatedly. She even sent a letter to Microsoft's legal department, after sending her receipt and statement, asking how else she could prove ownership. That was 22 days ago. She has yet to receive a response.
Tiffany writes:
I'm writing to you in hopes (just like Dustin at the military base, but possibly a little more desperate) that some day in the near future I can get my Xbox360 back.
I sent it to Microsoft to fix on January 5, 2008 and shipped it back to me on February 2, 2008; however, FedEx shipped it to my home address and I unfortunately couldn't sign for it because I was stuck at work. I requested that FedEx change the delivery address to my work address, but they said they couldn't without Microsoft's permission. I asked FedEx to hold it at the shipping center but it accidentally got returned to Microsoft's service center.
At that point, Microsoft had done no wrong, but this is where it starts to get frustratingly nightmarish. I contacted Microsoft who assured me that they would send the package back, this time to my work address where the package could be signed for during normal work hours; however, somewhere along the line, Microsoft decided I had stolen the Xbox from the original owner since it was suspicious that I was "opening two repair orders" in such a short time. Countless (I lost track after 10ish) phone calls were made to Microsoft customer support about my case in a fruitless battle to get them to send me my console back, but they kept dancing around the reason(s) they were refusing to send it back to me. Eventually, a customer service representative admitted that all along they were unauthorized and had no means to actually help me, so all the times they claimed a supervisor assigned to my case would contact me about my case were lies. They eventually coughed up an address to the Microsoft Legal Department and said if I sent a letter their way, they would help me out. She hinted that the reason corporate had put a hold on my console may be because they didn't believe I was the original owner, despite the fact that I sent them a copy of my receipt and credit card statement as bona fide proof of purchase.
My coworker had suffered similar bad luck with his console repair and also had to write the legal department several letters before finally receiving his console back, so I felt like I finally had a chance to get my missing console returned to me. I sent a letter to the Microsoft Legal Department and CC'd a copy to the Vice President of Consumer Affairs at Microsoft 22 days ago begging for at least a response to my letter. Thus far, my e-mail inbox has remained vacant and my phone has not rung with news from Microsoft.
At this point, I'm quite at the end of my line and know that contacting customer support would just wring what little humanity I have left out of my soul. I noticed last week you posted about Dustin's grief with Microsoft not sending him a box to ship his Xbox in for repairs and also provided some links to file a small claim and contact my attorney general. I'm wondering if you can assist me further in any way, or know of someone who can since you've mentioned that multitudes of people of submitted similar complaints. Being completely left in the dark as to why they won't send my Xbox back to me after four months is making me more than a little crazy.
Looks like Alberto Gonzalez got a job with Microsoft. Your XBox may be transfered to Gitmo until it provides irrefutable proof of its owner's true identity. Efforts to identify you will result in an extended and unchallengable sentence.
You can try going even higher, straight to the top, and emailing big email@example.com, but reason apparently has no home at Microsoft.
Our advice to reader Dustin, who, after three months, still hadn't received a shipping box, was to speak with his credit card company, consider small claims court, and to launch the mighty Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Tiffany wants even more, a customer service weapon so powerful, so effective, that it hides beyond our conception. For that, we're going to turn this one over to you, our beloved and infallible Consumerists. Tiffany has reasoned, waited, begged, all without results. What should she do next?
PREVIOUSLY: It's Been 3 Months And 12 Days Since My XBOX Broke And Microsoft Still Won't Send Me A Box
(Photo: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com)
Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.


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