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Skip to comments.The Psychomyopic Democrats
Posted on 04/23/2006 10:31:41 AM PDT by Dark Skies
For several months, I have felt like the little boy in The Emperors New Clothes. Standing in the middle of a crowd of my elders and betters, watching the current political spectacle, I have been waiting for someone to say the obvious, waiting in vain until I feel compelled to blurt it out myself.
Here goes: Many Democrats want the US to fail in Iraq! I dont mean that they think well failthey want us to. They want a big embarrassing collapse of US military and political policy in Iraq and will do whatever they can to make it happen. There, Ive said it and I feel much better.
That doesnt mean that they are traitors, taking bribes from al Qaeda, or prepared to jeopardize their countrys welfare to advance their careers. Not all of them, at least. There are some prominent Democrats who are morally so far gone that they may just possibly think that way. (After all, a person who can think up Travelgate is capable of any infamy.)
But the vast majority of Democrats think of themselves as loyal Americans and a polygraph would show that they honestly believe it.
The neural pathways inside their heads run something like this:
The best thing for the United States would be for the Democratic party to come back into power.
A really embarrassing failure in Iraq would tip next years election toward the Democrats.
Therefore, a failure in Iraq would be good for the USA.
Take another issue, illegal immigrants. I contend that, if for no other reason than homeland security, it is essential that we seal our borders against illegal immigrants and expel the ones we have now. The reason behind the Democratic partys insistent call for amnesty for all illegal immigrants has nothing to do with compassion; the syllogism is rather:
The best thing for the United States would be for the Democratic party to come back into power.
Illegal Hispanic immigrants, if naturalized, would vote overwhelmingly Democratic.
Therefore, the naturalization of illegal immigrants would be good for the USA.
To explain this peculiar logic, we must look to the emerging field of mental ophthalmology, which describes the aberrations of what Hamlet called the minds eye.
Blurring the Minds Eye
One such aberration is psychomyopia, or mental nearsightedness. Like most politicians in most parties in most countries of the world, these Democrats cannot see beyond the next election. Issues such as the fate of our nation, the fate of the Iraqi people, and the success or failure of Islamic terrorism are vague blurry background features that they cannot discern.. The only thing their brains can focus on is the nearby goal of getting into power and staying there.
The Democrats are not alone in this aberration, of course. Psychomyopia is a widespread affliction. Republicans are sometimes just as bad when they are out of office or with regard to certain topics that will not be discussed here. It flourishes in all kinds of settings.
Bureaucrats and (if youll pardon the double misnomer) civil servants are often so preoccupied with career survival that they cannot see even the most urgent assigned tasks in any other light. Journalists can be so obsessed with publishing a scoop that they are oblivious to the harm they may cause by doing so. And lets face it, dear reader, havent you and I occasionally been guilty of similar myopias?
But psychomyopia can be a relatively mild aberration, due to stupidity and shortsightedness. It is often not culpable because they know not what they do.
It is even occasionally curable, not by glasses but by patient explanation. A notable literary example of a cure is described by Robert Louis Stevenson in Father Damien:
he had originally intended to lay out [the money] entirely for the benefit of Catholics, and even so not wisely; but after a long, plain talk, he admitted his error fully and revised the list I was struck by the fact that he had the honesty of mind to be convinced. I may here tell you that it was a long business; that one of his colleagues sat with him late into the night, multiplying arguments and accusations; that the father listened as usual with perfect good-nature and perfect obstinacy; but at the last, when he was persuaded Yes, said he, I am very much obliged to you; you have done me a service; it would have been a theft.
It is rare, but it does happen. And it attests to the shortsighted honesty of at least some psychomyopics.
The symptoms of psychomyopia are easily confused with those of psychoglaucoma, or tunnel visiona preoccupation with one aspect of a situation, coupled with a willful refusal to consider certain other aspects. As in physical ophthalmology, the latter is much more serious and (along with psychoastereopsis failure to perceive depth) one of the few aberrations of the minds eye that can twist a soul into something evil.
Psychoglaucoma is culpable because it perverts the essence of free will. As Aquinas and others have pointed out, we are not free to refrain from choosing an obvious good or rejecting an obvious evil. Our freedom consists in deciding to ignore certain aspects of the choiceto avert our eyes from factors we dont wish to see and confine our attention to the rest.
An intelligent and just man forces himself to see all aspects of a problem and therefore chooses the good. A psychomyopic cannot see some aspects but chooses as best he can. But a victim of psychoglaucoma chooses evil by seeing only what he wants to see and avoiding what he doesnt want to see
The Bible provides us an example of psychoglaucoma, the elders in the story of Susannah, who
suppressed their consciences; they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven, and did not keep in mind just judgments. [emphasis mine].
I remember a confrontation between pro-abortion and anti-abortion demonstrators, on a street in East Los Angeles some thirty years ago. One of the pro-life demonstrators held up poster showing a large picture of a baby-like fetus. He was surrounded by pro-choice demonstrators who were trying to cover up his poster with theirsthey didnt want to look at it! Later, at a rally, pro-life advocate Susan McMilllan was asked about initiating a dialogue with pro-choice leaders.
It doesnt do any good, she replied, they know what they are doing and refuse to discuss it.
Like the corresponding optical aberration, psychoglaucoma is a slow progressive disease. You develop it by first ignoring a few tiny unpleasant details and then, over the course of several years, you pile one self-deception on top of another until, without conscious dishonesty, you can be utterly oblivious to whatever you dont want to see.
You must be farsighted.
lol...comes in handy for peeping toms.
" The best thing for the United States would be for the Democratic party to come back into power.
A really embarrassing failure in Iraq would tip next years election toward the Democrats.
Therefore, a failure in Iraq would be good for the USA."
I disagree with the initial premise. The initial premise should be something like:
We need to be in power, and the democrat party is the most easily manipulated vehicle to achieve that purpose.
Well, this guy is obviously not a Freeper.
To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, it isn't that Democrats are ignorant, it's just that they know so many things that aren't true.
Most Democrats are just ignorant of basic facts about history and economics. And they have very poor critical thinking skills. But the DemoRat "leadership" is anti-American. They resemble Mao Tse-tung, in that they will say or do anything to obtain political power, even if it undermines our troops, our economy, the U.S. Constitution, and our freedom. They are immoral socialists.
Many Democrats want the US to fail in Iraq!
Oh for pete's sake, EVERYBODY knows this. It really isn't a revelation. VIETNAM! WATERGATE! VIETNAM! WUAGMIRE! These are the things the democrats live for. They'd probably be happy to have the race riots of the 60s all over again too. They have NO PLAN and need a crisis to regain power.
Liberals are "plagued" by childhood-acquired narcissism. They are obsessed with getting even with those who they believe "oppress" them. They do not think about country. In fact, they find it hard to think beyond their next "trip", or their next form of instant gratification.
Since they really do not think about others, is it not surprising that they cannot fathom what relates to the future security of the nation, of our children and grandchildren-- our neighbors? People who actually DO care about others, instinctively think in terms of protecting them. And that includes fighting for them, if necessary.
This is nature.
Liberals are an aberration of nature.
think about this.....
governments have been utilizing "emminent domain" to procure land for developers...purportedly for the "common good".
The idea of increasing the tax base and stimulating local economies might even win support from a majority of people.
Then consider domestic oil reserves offshore and in Alaska that have been placed off limits by government....the same government that whines about lessening dependence on foreign sources of oil.
In this case a small group of fanatical envirowhackos continue to stand against the common good.
Government is psychotic!!
The biggest argument against drilling locally is a threat of spillage and pollution.
However, dozens of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico were damaged or destroyed by a category 5 hurricane last summer with little or no spillage or pollution.
Where are the sane polititians who are willing to stand up against their psychotic colleagues and the crazy tree-huggers...... for the common good?!
I'm amazed that it took this guy so long to arrive at this obvious conclusion.
It's not really the Democrat voters whose opinions are being reflected here. It is the Democrat position writers. The Democrat position writers are completely under the control of a particular strain of academic and journalistic thinking that abhors naked power.
The New York Times editorial page is the home base of this strain of thinking.
When the United States uses, or even hints at the use, of naked power, the "naked power phobics" go ballistic. The defeat of the Republicans and the defeat of the U.S. Military both look like necessary steps in the progress of man to them. In their view, mankind can not move forward into a new and better age until we all learn that power can not make the world a better place.
This is a pretty attractive position to many. Indeed it can seem to be the core principle of the New Testament and many Christians take this position.
For the rest of us, who appreciate the police who help us keep criminals at bay and who wish to defend our nation and our lifestyle, this position seems extreme. Power often defends the good and stands in the way of evil.
God help us in this debate. This isn't the end of the discussion, though.
Many of us cannot be comfortable in a country run by the New York Times rather than by the voters, however well informed the New York Times may be. The Democrats are run by the New York Times. Can we be comfortable with a Democrat government?
Not me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


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On Wednesday 10th October last week, celebrities attended the exclusive cocktail party hosted by Elin Kling to celebrate the launch of the limited edition Elin Kling For Marciano capsule collection at Home Studio Inc. in New York City.
For the brand's first ever collaboration, Elin (the Swedish born street style icon and fashion entrepreneur) created a limited edition women's capsule collection that will be sold at the Marciano retail stores worldwide and also select GUESS stores around the world, as well as leading department stores. The new capsule collection will also be sold online at EKforMarciano.com beginning October 22nd.
I have included all of the denim pieces which Elin designed, along with a preview of some of the other items in the collection. I love the chambray shirt and I think those jeans above are really interesting. The chunky burgundy and mustard knits are also a favourite of mine! What do you think of the capsule collection?

subset: commoncrawl


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If that case of diarrhea just doesn't get better, your heartburn drug could be the reason.
The Food and Drug Administration just warned doctors and consumers that popular medicines called proton pump inhibitors may raise the risk for chronic diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that you'd rather not have colonizing your intestines.
The drugs include Nexium and Protonix and over-the-counter remedies Prilosec and Prevacid. If you're taking these drugs (or others in tables 1 and 2 here) and have diarrhea that won't let up, the FDA says you should see your doctor right away.
These drugs suppress stomach acid, which may help protect against infection with the germ. Your doctor can test to see if you've got an infection with C. difficile, the agency says, and treat it.
Why did the FDA issue this advice now?
After looking at a database of problem reports for the drugs and various published studies, the agency concluded that "the weight of evidence suggests a positive association between the use of PPIs and C. difficile infection and disease...."
Now, that's not ironclad proof, but the agency says it's strong enough to tell the world about. The agency says the studies show that using PPIs may raise the risk for infection by 1.4 to 2.75 times.
FDA said it wants makers of the drugs to add information about the risk to the instructions for the drugs.
Hints about problems with PPIs have been mounting for a while. Some studies published two years ago in the Archives of Internal Medicine highlighted the possible heightened risk for infection with C. difficile for people taking the drugs.
"The increases in the risk of Clostridium difficile infection with PPIs are not at all modest," an accompanying editorial said at the time. And the editorial advised doctors to think it over before prescribing PPIs.


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Gallery: Who Loves Dr. Martens?
I got my first pair of Dr. Martens in sixth grade when I went as grunge-era Courtney Love for Halloween and, once the trick-or-treating was over, I never really took them off. They've served me well at rock shows and on rainy days, they add urban warrior cool to stovepipes and look amazing with pretty, feminine dresses.
Docs are the best. And they're turning 50 this year. So, Happy Birthday from from me and half the bands I've ever liked. To observe the birthday celebration, I've created this gallery of stylish people who love their Docs as much as I love mine.
So: who Loves Dr. Martens?


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THERE was a time when the words "caravan park" and "spa bath" would never have appeared in the same sentence, let alone the same location. But times have changed. Once the cornerstone of a working-class holiday, caravan parks now have upmarket amenities. Batemans Bay Beach Resort sits on superb real estate, a 50-metre walk from Corrigans beach and a few kilometres south of Batemans Bay shopping centre. The resort has tennis courts, a jumping pillow, swimming pool, minigolf and an amphitheatre.
There are 34 cabins, ranging from a three-bedroom version named Casuarina to two-bedroom cabins with beach and aquatic names such as Grey Nurse. Our accommodation is called Pipi.
The cottages are modern, spacious and comfortable. At $175 a night and sleeping two adults and three children, they are a modestly priced holiday option.
Our front deck overlooks a lawn (used as a camping site if the resort is full) and low-lying dunes, which lead to Corrigans beach. A leisurely walk along the long beach is a sublime way to start the day.
On the deck are four chairs, a small table, an electric barbecue and a stainless-steel basin that, during our stay, will be used to prepare a kilogram of local prawns bought from the Good Food Guide-listed Bay Marlin Seafoods.
The front wall is floor-to-ceiling windows, and there is a table that seats four, a kitchen with a good-size fridge, microwave oven, cooktop, coffee maker and freshly ground coffee (Mexican Lite) from Uro Coffee in Batemans Bay.
This is relaxing family holiday accommodation at its best, where the emphasis is on leisure.
Visitors' book
Batemans Bay Beach Resort
Address 51 Beach Road, Batehaven.
The verdict A five-star caravan park with spacious cabins and beach frontage.
Price Cabins vary according to the season. A deluxe cabin, sleeping two, costs from $145 a night, low season. A three-bedroom deluxe cabin costs $440 a night in the premium summer season.
Bookings Phone 1800 217 533, see beachresort.com.au.
This is an edited extract from The Sydney Morning Herald's 2012 52 Weekends Away.


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Submission + - Firefox ESR 17.01 is out. EOL for Firefox 10.x soon (mozilla.org)
Billly Gates writes: Firefox 17 ESR is now available for corporate IT departments, government institutions, as well as those who like a longer term more predictable version that still receives security updates and bug fixes. You can download it here. Firefox 10.x releases are on the top and the new 17.x release is on the bottom. Firefox 10.x is only supported for 6 more weeks and Mozilla will pull the plug on Feb. 12th. Now is a great time for I.T. administrators to download it and test their addons, extensions, and intranet apps to schedule deployment. Sadly, active directory support and group policies are still lacking compared to IE and even Chrome. But third party
.MSIs are available as well as powershell scripts from the internet to deploy it to end users at your organizations. Firefox 17 is a significant upgrade compared to 10 as Mozilla has created a separate project to squash memory leaks with great results. Firefox 17 also offers improved GPU acceleration and smooth scroll support as well. Users with many tabs open with decent graphics card should notice the upgrade.


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I guess the star is pretty clear actually. You don't really need the arrow when you have the star, but it would be useful for people who are easily confused. It's not a major deal, so don't worry about it if it's too hard to implement.
I have an idea on how to simplify the combo list. I noticed that when you got to Party and select a character, it gives you a list of the moves the character has, and if you press "J", it'll give you info. You could just add the key combination to the info. For example:
Gather energy and blast it into the foe.
<Give key combo here>
I've also found a couple more bugs. Mostly having to do with the time of day mechanics. One time, while I was playing in the evening, and I was at Port Ice, most of the screen was dark like it was night, but when I moved, the edge of the screen was orange like it was sunset. Also, it seems like Port Ice turns to night sooner than the levels do. Like it was nighttime at Port Ice, but it was sunset at Banpie Forest.
Also, one time when a boss killed me, the screen moved down, so I could see the space below the tiles, and a second Ize appeared.
And one time, when I chose to "Go Outside" at the base, for some reason rather than going to Port Ice, I ended up at Banpie Forest, and there weren't any enemies.
And one major bug: sometimes If I happen to press the spacebar, the game crashes!
Well I hope this info is helpful. If I find any more grammar errors, I'll tell you about them. Again, keep up the good work.


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Agreed. MPEG-LA is a glorified protection racket - any corp. brave enough to take a stand against it (and the myriad of other companies it 'shields') is worth standing behind
That said:
"According to the MPEG-LA, Nero's case is nothing special. "I think we're looking it as a typical response by a company that has not abided by the terms of the license they've taken,"
Have Nero not abided by their licence deals? Or are MPEG-LA going to paint it this way to try and throw the case out as a tit-for-tat?
It seems to me this should extend to any collective pool of IP - including patents.
Possibly, it depends on how broad the SCOTUS ruling was. The laws for trademarks and the laws for patents are very different, and each are different from the laws for copyrights.
We'll have to wait and see, but it definitely sounds like this case could be used for a strong argument in Nero's case.
Here's the Supreme Court's decision:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-661.pdf [supremecourt.gov]
The problem is the exclusive nature of the agreements signed by the various parties, where those joining the pool are barred by contract from joining another licensing pool. That is significant and may apply to the NFL as well if there were to be a team that would want to independently license its logos and mascots or team uniforms under a separate licensing agreement.
It is this exclusive arrangement that is at the heart of the MPEG-LA lawsuit by Nero. The major media companies and consumer media equipment manufacturers certainly have been engaging in acts for some time that locks potential competitors out of the market for some time.
It is good that this regime is being called on the carpet and being called exactly what it should be: A trust in the classic sense like the rail barons of a previous century were doing that caused the anti-trust legislation to be enacted in the first place. It is about bloody time!
That doesn't really answer the question - what has Nero done in terms of breaking agreements? If MPEG-LA are confident to write this off as just a typical "licence non-abider" then what grounds do they have? I know Nero are accusing them of agreement screwiness, but if MPEG-LA are saying this is just Nero's kneejerk for doing something wrong and trying to get out of it, have they got grounds for that? Has Nero broken some agreement themselves?
I would think that if MPEG-LA has 'retroactively changing previously-agreed-on license terms' that in doing so they may have turned Nero from an abiding Licensee to a 'non-abider' rather quickly, and that perhaps this was what Nero was upset about.
I should RTFA, and all that though...
FTFA, Nero got a license from MPEG-LA saying that they didn't have to pay license fees for trial software. Now, MPEG-LA has changed their minds and has demanded payment retroactively for all the free trials Nero has provided before the change.
Unless that was in their original contract--that MPEG-LA could change the terms of the agreement at any time and demand retroactive payments as a result--I don't see how it could possibly be legal.
And if MPEG-LA licenses contain clauses that leave the door open for sudden, retroactive royalty assessment, then H.264 cannot die a quick enough death, and take MPEG-LA with it.
Even with that in the contract, I fail to see how a "we may change these terms at any time and make them retroactive" isn't the very definition of "unconscionable", and thus unenforceable.
Yeah, I would think so, too. But contracts between corporations never have to be the least bit sane, apparently.
Not to mention thanks to software patents being broad to the point of insanity it is pretty much impossible for anyone doing video compression of ANY software to not trip over an MPEG-LA patent mine. If the MPEG-LA patent pool is upheld it will hold the entire Internet hostage, as to do pretty much anything with AV one with have to pay the MPEG-LA "toll". Hell they even claim patents on part of the firewire [wikipedia.org] spec, it is just nuts!
So here's to Nero, may they kick some serious MPEG-LA ass. and for the "corporation Yay!" trolls that usually scream when anyone dares to risk corporation profits and scream "nobody will innovate!" there is a BIG difference between real hardware patents and the mess that is software patents. And with the major corps forming a cartel via MPEG-LA they have made a barrier to entry in AV that only corps with seriously deep pockets can afford to traverse, which is the exact opposite of the original purpose of patents, which were to keep the little guy from being crushed like a bug by big corps that could steal their ideas and beat them on price.
As we have seen with some of the crazy things being patented by big corps like Amazon, IBM, and MSFT, such as the wave of "...on the Internet!" patents we had a few years back, software patents have become WMDs in the software world, with cartels like MPEG-LA and patent warchests making anything truly innovative in the field simply too expensive for anyone but the fortune 500.
...there is a BIG difference between real hardware patents and the mess that is software patents.
People keep saying this, but it is a semantic argument more than anything else.
The reality is that the patent system is so systemically broken due to its lack of scalability, that the effects are most heavily felt by the fastest growing/moving industries.
Patents have always been there to describe both processes and physical manifestations, so there's nothing new there. However, the term lengths and acceptance of obvious ideas are too far removed from what could be considered sane in the current technological climate.
Concepts such as:
1. 'future' patents, or patenting the 'goal' instead of the steps to get there.
2. being allowed to patent something that has already been published (for up to 12 months)
3. obvious 'innovations' (eg. $prior_art$ on the internet)
4. non-immediate disclosure of the patent at the time of submission (eg. submarine patents - disclosure that occurs after numerous other parties have 'innovated' along the same line.)
5. an incredibly low bar for novelty (eg. 'inventive' steps that are a natural evolution of the state of the art and will be discovered in short order (if they haven't been already) by multiple independent parallel 'inventors')
6. etc, etc.
The above are unsustainable in an industry where the half life of a product is under 3 years and the shear volume of 'inventors and implementors' number in the millions. As the number of players grows, the bar for acceptability must be raised proportionally. There is still room for patents on ideas that are truly clever and novel and would have little chance of being 'rediscovered' by multiple other parties without significant effort, investment and/or serendipity. But, the more players there are, the more likelihood that what is being claimed is far from being unique. (To quantise this, term lengths could be made relative to how inventive the patent actually is. More inventiveness, longer protection. Very little inventiveness, very short term length. However, measuring 'inventiveness' is probably just as difficult a question.)
In addition to fixing the above, it should also be recognised that anything that ends up being deemed an industry standard should be considered a special case and handled by the public trust.
'Fixing' the patent system by trying to create a disconnection between software/hardware/manufacturing processes/business processes/etc is not the right way to go about it. Even if a distinction can be made, it is so arbitrary as to end up flip/flopping every time a clever legal argument is made or sneaky 'word-around' starts getting written into new patents. (eg. "A device that
So, the answer is not to "deny all 'software' patents". The answer is FIX the system. Now.
> The answer is FIX the system. Now.
The answer is to delete the system. Completely. End the patent system.
http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/againstfinal.htm [ucla.edu]
They seemed so busy turning their superior burning tool into another bloated intrusive dog.
They seemed so busy turning their superior burning tool into another bloated intrusive dog.
There are other completely free products that have matched Nero's (former) minimalist approach. CDBurnerXP is great on Windows. Brasero works great on Linux. On OS X, Burn is not quite as much my style, but it's simple and get it's job done.
Essentially, Nero got priced out of the "dirt simple I just wanna burn a damned CD" market. Bloatware is all that's left.
There are other completely free products that have matched Nero's (former) minimalist approach.
I don't disagree and would add in CDex as another example, but Nero is one of the few for profit companies that seem to have made an effort to put out a good product at a fair price. There's always been a few companies whose PC products are reasonably priced and worth the cost. Norton Utilities was perhaps the most shining example. I almost always get a free light version of Nero software when I buy a high end optical drive or a TV card/ripper. I'll pick up their latest full suite when it pops up on my radar screen at half price because the lite version still measures up well against the free stuff. One of the biggest problems vendors like Nero face is that MS knows it has to keep adding brain candy apps for the point and click crowd and MS will drive niche vendors out of business to keep their OS/Office products afloat. It's just a temporary bother because an OS in 10 years time will come with a full suite of audio video scrapbook apps for mom and pop and the kids to play with.
just my loose change
BurnAware. Its how Nero used to be many years ago. I stopped using Nero when the "suite" stopped fitting onto a 650Mb CDR.
>There are other completely free products that have matched Nero's (former) minimalist approach. [...]
(You neglected to mention the excellent k3b for Linux, but whatever).
The issue with Nero is that they are obviously doing more than just burning discs, they must be including the ability to either create video or transcode video (I don't know, I don't use MS-Windows, thus I don't use Nero). Other "burning" programs, even commercial ones, should not need any type of license from MPEG-LA just to burn disc
As with everything, YMMV though. Personally I can't stand Brasero's UI, and feel K3B is too bloated for my poor, old laptop so yeah, I use Nero Linux on it. Runs smoothly, works great and it even works as a CD ripper in a pinch.
Perhaps the Windows version is still the bloated hog that I remember from so many years ago, but the Linux version at least is incredible and well worth its money.
My favorite is DeepBurn for Windows. There is a paid pro version, but I haven't even bothered to look up its features because the free version does everything I've ever needed it to do.
Essentially, Nero got priced out of the "dirt simple I just wanna burn a damned CD" market
yes, when Microsoft added the capability to burn DVDs to XP, what was Nero supposed to do (apart from roll over and die?).
They seemed so busy turning their superior burning tool into another bloated intrusive dog.
I'm genuinely curious here...
I've been using an older version of Nero for years now. I recently had to install Nero on a Windows 7 machine, which my old version wouldn't support, and acquired a copy of Nero Burning ROM 10.
There were other things I could have installed... I didn't really pay much attention to the options... I just installed Burning ROM 10... And it looks pretty much like my old version. I'm not seeing a whole lot of bloat there.
What's so bad about Nero these days?
Uuuuhhhh...You DO know that if all you want is the burner Nero will let you have it for free [nero.com], yes? Or that if you want an even more simple interface there are great free choices such as IMGBurn [imgburn.com] which you can even install with a one click unattended installation thanks to Ninite [ninite.com] that will install nearly all the major apps folks need/want, like FF,.NET/Flash/Silerlight/Java, even IM, AV, and Media Players, all in an interface so simple even your grandma can use it?
So while the full Nero may not be YOUR cup of tea, there are enough folks buying it that Nero thinks it is the correct way to go for their customers, but they are still nice enough to offer the basic version for $0. And just because you think it is "bloated" doesn't mean the masses do. Just look at home pages, which working PC repair I can tell you the average Joe by a good 99 out of 100 have set to this [yahoo.com] instead of this [yahoo.com] because they actually LIKE it that way!
Although I disagree with most of what that company does, their MPEG licensing fee is on the order of $2 per manufactured device to use their technology. This isn't really extortion. HDMI is 4 cents per device, but you're required to maintain a $10,000 license fee on top of that. I think gross abuse would be more on the order of $50/device.
Either way, I support the free and open standard provided by displayport, which dispatches with the fees.
MPEG_LA's official stance is that nobody can create a codec for compressed video of any sort without violating at least one of their patents.
Well, you probably would have trouble getting a modern compression system that doesn't infringe on one or more of their patents, but you can use an older video format.
Consider that DVD was developed in 1995, so the base MPEG-2 patents expire within 5 years, if not earlier.
The draft MPEG-1 standard was out in 1990, so a codec based on MPEG-1 technology should be free of patent issues.
H.264 dates from 2003, so we probably have another 13 years there.
Ultimately, it may take a legal battle with Google to invalidate or narrow some of the H.264 patents such that VP8 or something similar can compete patent-free.
Consider that DVD was developed in 1995, so the base MPEG-2 patents expire within 5 years, if not earlier.
Patents last 28 years (in the US at least), that puppy has another 13 years or so on it.
Consider that DVD was developed in 1995, so the base MPEG-2 patents expire within 5 years, if not earlier.
Patents last 28 years (in the US at least), that puppy has another 13 years or so on it.
Huh? US Patents don't last 28 years. New patents have a term of 20 years from the earliest filing date. Patents filed before June 8, 1995 have a term that is the longer of (i) 20 years from the earliest filing date; or (ii) 17 years from the date of issue.
No, I'm not being facetious. This is not a passive-aggressive way of saying you're wrong, I simply do not know.
I've seen a lot of people talking about MPEG LA, including veiled threats against people who use Theora and WEBM, but I haven't heard much from MPEG LA itself. Where exactly is this "official stance" you speak of? I'd like to read it for myself.
It's my understanding that what MPEG LA does is gather patents that apply to encoding, license them out, and pay the owners of said patents. They also i
Actually, they don't indemnify at all. I've seen stories that apparently they are forming a patent pool for Theora and WebM/VP8, but the only place I can't find any confirmation of that is from MPEG LA themselves. The "official stance" referred to by the AC was mentioned in the story about them forming a VP8 pool, but said statement (and VP8 plan) doesn't exist on their site.
And they sue. A lot [mpegla.com].
They are founding a patent pool for human gene patents though. That can't be evil at all.
Any non-zero fee is bad for free (as in beer, and as in speech) software. When you have no price you're charging, then you can't really add in any fee on top of your price.
It basically means that if you want to distribute software, you have to implement a means to SELL it. If you goal is to distribute software free of charge, then even a $0.01 licensing fee totally cripples that.
A better solution for "free as in beer" software would be to make the fee a percentage of the sale price, though that still is somewhat problematic from the "free as in speech" angle.
If you goal is to distribute software free of charge, then even a $0.01 licensing fee totally cripples that.
The cost of duplicating and distributing your free-as-in-beer software bundle are surely going to be much more than a penny a a disk.
That's like saying Satan is not evil because there's also Cthulhu.
That's like saying Satan is not evil because there's also Cthulhu.
Cthulhu is not evil... He's just misunderstood...
Here! Have a Taco, they are deliriously delicious, although a tad non-euclidean.
I hope that taco doesn't go commander!
Nope it is pure evil. Okay not pure evil but just your normal unrestricted greed.
Software patents are just evil.
The problem is principle, even if I use totally clean-room reverse-engineering without even taking one look at their patents, I still am guilty of patent violations, how?
Among copyright, patent, and trademark, only copyright cares about the pedigree of any copy. Patents and trademarks can be infringed whether you have had any contact with covered goods or not.
If you don't do things exactly like the patent papers say and make non-trivial modifications, you should be able to use it. That is the only way in this day and age that patents can "promote the sciences and the useful arts"
There's no such thing as "exactly" with software patents. Most of them are so broad and hopeless, they claim ideas, not specific implementations. Most software patents do not state and present any actual software that is being patented - i.e. no code, and no algorithm. In fact, it wouldn't make sense for them to list any actual code to patent because copyright already gives them a far greater protection than patents would.
Software patents don't make sense.
Which is an abuse of law.
Uh... I'm not sure you've got the idea of patents down yet.
The entire point of patents are to instruct how something works and how to make it.
And how do they do that? With a limited monopoly on the idea, not the implementation. It's the exact opposite coverage of copyright, which grants a limited monopoly on the expression but not the idea. Trademarks is a monopoly over a name under certain conditions.
However, these patents are too broad and cover far too much.
The patents themselves aren't, it's the pools that are far too broad and cover far too much. On that I agree. However there is a sharp distinction between what the MPEG-LA is doing and
And how do they do that? With a limited monopoly on the idea, not the implementation. It's the exact opposite coverage of copyright, which grants a limited monopoly on the expression but not the idea. Trademarks is a monopoly over a name under certain conditions.
And what are the points of those?
In the US constitution, patents are secured to "promote the sciences and useful arts", trademarks are used to protect consumers. The point of patents was to prevent guilds and companies from monopolizing knowledge by providing an incentive for them to release it to the public. Trademarks are useful because they let people understand what they are getting: if I want a Nintendo Wii and the package says Nintendo Wii, I should be getting a Nintendo Wii, not http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgetmobile.com/media/2007/12/vii-2-white.jpg [blogcdn.com] , trademarks are useful.
What patents are today, are not what patents were when they were first designed. They were to add to the public knowledge and let people do great things with it as building blocks. Today though? We have the internet, we have communication, etc. We need to seriously consider if patents are even worth it today because they fulfill none of the constitutional requirements and don't benefit the original idea of patents.
The problem is principle, even if I use totally clean-room reverse-engineering without even taking one look at their patents, I still am guilty of patent violations, how?
That's how patents are supposed to work. They'd be kind of pointless if they didn't work that way.
...if I want to make a CRT, I still have to pay them money because it is "technology to display an image" despite me not even using their technology at all...
Say what? Even if the patent clerk was so facepalmingly stupid as to approve such an application, noone would ever be able to find a lawyer just as stupid as to argue a precedent that goes back before the written word; when Man first put dust to cave wall.
Although I disagree with most of what that company does, their MPEG licensing fee is on the order of $2 per manufactured device to use their technology. This isn't really extortion.
There are numerous other terms attached to MPEG licening, including requirements that you not facilitate the infringement of copyrights, your device respects HDCP, etc, etc. You either do as they say and pay their fee or they sue you. Sounds like extortion to me.
well no, not yet anyways. But if you make a shortfilm with your camera and decide to sell it, then you have to pay up big time.
For example in the processing industry it makes perfect sense to clone your competitor's production method and only "use" a patented invention. For the same reason it does make sense to grant conditional or limited licenses so say Microsoft can't pretend it'll be used in a tiny niche application and instead make it a Windows core technology at almost no cost. None of this should ideally screw the end users though, but finding the right legalese to avoid that will be difficult while retaining anything like a
Although I disagree with most of what that company does, their MPEG licensing fee is on the order of $2 per manufactured device to use their technology. This isn't really extortion. HDMI is 4 cents per device, but you're required to maintain a $10,000 license fee on top of that. I think gross abuse would be more on the order of $50/device.
If Vinny and Guido show up at your business with a baseball bat and remark that you have really unbroken knees, and it would be a shame if anything happened to them, it doesn't really matter if they demand $2 or $50. Once they show up at your business, willing to make threats about how they need a cut of the sales of a business that they may not have contributed anything to, they have gone too far. MPEG-LA are, at this point, basically operating under exactly the same business model as Mafia running a protection racket. They just invested enough in politics to make their game somehow legal.
their MPEG licensing fee is on the order of $2 per manufactured device
MPEG-2 PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSE SUMMARY [mpegla.com]
You're missing the point entirely!
The point is that any commercial movie you make might infringe the patent because you exceeded the MPEG LA license. That really sucks.
You might think differently if you got the manual your $8000 Pro HD camera out and read the manual
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=584693&l=d37e6ecc2a&id=1429834573 [facebook.com]
and then once you got that sorted out you read the manual to your $999 copy of Final Cut Pro
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=584692&l=a8a46fa560&id=1429834573 [facebook.com]
MPEG-LA is a virus
You might think differently if you got the manual your $8000 Pro HD camera out and read the manual
Your camera shipped with the generic end-user consumer license.
Your costs for MPEG 4 distribution look like this:
Shorts 12 minutes and under -
Retail sales by title -
The lower of 2% of the price paid to the Licensee (on first arms length sale of the video) or $0.02 per title.
If you aren't grossing $150K+ in sales they have no interest in you whatever.
Subscription sales [The Geek's Strip Club Channel or DVD of the Month] -
100,000 subscribers or less - $0/yr.
100,000-250,000 - $25,000/yr
250,000-500,000 - $50,000/yr
500,000=1 million -$100,000 - $50,000.
Over 1 Million - $100,000/yr
Free TV Broadcast -
1-Time $2,500 fee for each AVC encoder
Annual Fee For Markets Of 100,000 and Over - Starting at $2,500/yr
Internet -
End user does not pay by title or subscription - $0/yr [May in the future rise to the equivalent of Free TV Broadcast]
Enterprise Cap [Commonly owned legal entities] -
$5 million/yr
That is the real cost of H.264 licensing to a service provider the size of Disney or Google. Which means that production, storage and distribution of VP8 video is going to have to be mighty damn cheap to be competitive. SUMMARY OF AVC/H.264 LICENSE TERMS [mpegla.com]
Also, I believe that the fee doesn't kick in unless you've manufactured 10,000 units so the little guy who's developing an app for fun or limited distribution doesn't have to pay anything at all.
It seems Nero listened to my e-mail. I told them they should be doing something about this because it would drastically affect their market otherwise. I sent that e-mail right after the original MPEG-LA brouhaha broke a couple weeks ago.
Antitrust suits aren't started with mere weeks of research. They've probably been preparing for months.
I guess you and some windows Users have something in common.
Now all you need is a camera and some commercial time. Maybe a slogan like "nero 7,it was my idea".
All joking aside, they probably did listen to your email. There was probably a ton of others they listened to also. but rest assured, there is something in it for them outside of making you a happy customer. Companies tend to operate towards what is beneficial to them. IT may be that your email and they line up perfectly, but lets not get to carried a
Correlation does not imply causality
"My name is Khyber, and Nero's anti-trust complaint was my idea."
This couldn't have come at a worse time for MPEG-LA. They're just now preparing for an epic struggle with Google over VP8 and Nero comes from behind and sticks a dagger in their spine.
In other news, it couldn't have come at a better time for the American citizen and consumer.
Sigmund Freud is alleged to have said that in the last analysis the entire field of psychology may reduce to biological electrochemistry.


text:
Carol A. Colliflower, 59, Polo, died on Sunday, March 17, 2013 at KSB Hospital, Dixon.
She worked for T Time Bar and Grill in Mt. Morris for seven years.
Carol was a devoted aunt to her many nieces and nephews, and she loved making special jewelry for family and friends.
She was born Oct. 26, 1953 in Dixon, the daughter of Neil E. Colliflower and Patricia (Davison) Rosenbaum.
Survivors include her mother Patricia; brothers, Michael Colliflowe, Badger, Minn., Mark (Jean) Colliflower, Warroad, Minn., Justin (Dee Jay) Colliflower, Davenport, Fla.; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father, Neil, and uncle, Steve Davison.
Cremation rites will be accorded.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Monday, March 25 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Polo Family Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established in her name.
Visit www.polofamilyfuneralhome.com to send condolences.


text:
Said Tony Blair, as if a religious person can think about what what he believes is right without religion being part of the idea of what is right. That Blair blur happened in a debate with Christopher Hitchens, who asked:
"Is it good for the world to worship a deity that takes sides in wars and human affairs, to appeal to our fear and to our guilt — is it good for the world?...In the end, the audience got to vote on who won the debate, and Hitchens got 68% — 68% of those who would go to a debate — in Toronto — about whether or not religion is a force for the good.
"To terrify children with the image of hell ... to consider women an inferior creation. Is that good for the world?...
(Via Crack Emcee — "Kick Ass: You Believers Are Little Kim Jong-Ils.")


text:
Despite a drop in year-over-year sales activity, month-to-month home prices reported through the Regina and area MLS® System in July are holding steady, said the Association of Regina REALTORS® Inc.
During the month there were 313 residential sales reported in all geographic areas, down 10% from 349 reported in 2015. This was also well below the five-year average of 371, and the 10-year average of 364. Sales inside the city were down significantly with 246 occurring compared to 290 in 2015 – a 15% decline.
Listing levels are continuing a downward trend, both in total inventory and new listings added to the MLS® System. Inside the city of Regina at the end of July, there were 1,263 properties for sale, almost 13% less than July of 2015's 1,449. There were 440 new listings placed on the MLS® System in the city during the month, down 20% from 549 in 2015.
In July, the MLS® Home Price Index (HPI), reported a composite residential price of $294,100 and index of 274.6 in the city. These are up 2.7% from last years levels of $286,300 and 267.3. The HPI indicates prices are essentially flat over the last three months, up nearly 5% over the past six months and 2.7% over the past year. Prices have also regained much of the losses incurred dating back to 2013.
The HPI is a much more accurate measure of housing price trends than average or median price and is not subject to large fluctuations based on a rare or unique high or low property sales. The average sales price in the city was $328,742, up 2.8% from last year's $319,652. There is a variance of almost $35,000 between the average price in the city and the HPI composite price. The HPI measures residential price trends based on four benchmark home types, with the index set at a base of 100 for January 2005.
A total dollar volume of sales of $98.2M was reported in all geographic areas, down 9% from 2015's $108.7M. Dollar volume in the city is down year-over-year from July 2015 to 2016 by 12.8%.
Homes that sold during July in the city, were on the market for an average of 40 days before selling at an average of 97% of the current asking price.
The ratio of firm sales to new listings for the month in the city was 56% and 53% in all geographic areas. Balanced market conditions are generally in the 40-60% range – below 40% is considered to be a buyer's market – above 60% is considered to be a market favouring sellers.
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text:
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University HS
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text:
Topics: "Stauber vs. Boyle for St. Louis County Board" & "Duluth Armory Project Gets Grant"
Description: A special election in St. Louis County's 2nd Commission district will pit two well-known local politicians with decidedly different political viewpoints.
And the group working to restore the Duluth Armory has received a quarter-million dollar grant from the Minnesota Historical Society for exterior preservation of the building.
Guests: Jim Stauber, Candidate for St. Louis County Board; Patrick Boyle, Candidate for St. Louis County Board; Mark Poirier, Duluth Armory Project Development Consultant


text:
Joe Flacco strolled into the cramped media room at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills looking like he had just signed a scorecard after a round of 18 holes, not the richest contract in league history.
In the moment, he forgot to thank his agent, who was standing at his side, for negotiating his six-year extension and thank the Ravens for agreeing to give him $120.6 million. In between the several quality jokes he cracked, Flacco quipped that this was never about the money.
It seemed like he meant it. But money equals respect in the NFL, so in a way, it was always about the money.
"That's not a priority of mine, to be the highest-paid guy," Flacco said during a Monday news conference. "The priority of mine was to get that respect that I feel now from this organization."
Flacco turned down a lesser but still lucrative offer last offseason because "I thought I was worth more." He gambled on himself by playing out the final year of his rookie contract instead of cashing the signing bonus the Ravens dangled in front of him. And while it was a turbulent regular season for a 28-year-old quarterback who has yet to play in a Pro Bowl, Flacco hit on a blackjack by leading the Ravens to their second Super Bowl title last month.
During an incredible postseason run in which Flacco threw 11 touchdown passes and zero interceptions, Flacco silenced his critics and won over many of his doubters. After he was named the Super Bowl MVP for stacking clutch performance upon clutch performance, suddenly he was the next Eli Manning, an awkward winner who morphs from Steve Urkel to Stefan when the games mattered. Flacco was no longer a national punch line.
The contract he signed with the Ravens, who walked a hard line in contract talks the past couple of years because that is what you have to do in these kinds of negotiations, was more validation that Flacco has become an elite quarterback.
Flacco acknowledged that someone else will probably become the NFL's highest-paid player a couple of months from now. But the fact that the Ravens, who spent 12 years searching for him, felt they absolutely needed to keep him around with that caliber of a contract might have meant just as much as the money itself.
Sure, all that cold, hard cash means a lot to the Jersey boy with a wife, a young son and another baby on board. Flacco promised he wouldn't do anything crazy with the money. "I'm just going to look at it and be able to smile a little bit," Flacco said. And he seemed pretty pleased with himself knowing that he would not have to film any more commercials or endorse any more products again unless he really wanted to do so. "So if people are going to get me off my couch… It already takes a lot," Flacco said, grinning.
Good for Flacco. He and his family should be set for life, and he has earned every dollar. And perhaps just as important to him, the Ravens have provided him with 120.6 million signs of respect.
"It means a lot," Flacco said before leaving the facility to drive back home -- maybe in a Brinks truck -- so he could celebrate the deal over dinner with some close confidants. "It was never necessarily about the money and all that, but it was definitely about earning that respect and feeling like I was respected around here. The fact that we got it done and they have made me that definitely makes me feel good about how I played and how they feel about me."


text:
Championship Begins May 25 In West Windsor, N.J.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's crew will see quite a few familiar faces at the 2012 NCAA Championship in two weeks. As expected, the Bulldogs received an at-large berth when the 16-team field was announced late Tuesday afternoon. Yale, which earned a team berth for the 11th straight year and has had at least one crew compete in each of the last 13 years, has already raced seven of the teams in the field this spring.
The three-day championship begins on May 25 in West Windsor, N.J. All of the teams in the field will field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers.
"We are excited to extend our season and eager to see how we stack up against the best teams in the country," said Yale head coach Will Porter. "It is never easy to make it to the NCAAs so we are honored to be selected."
Four other Ivy League schools – Harvard, Princeton, Cornell and Brown – were selected. Yale also faced Big Ten champion Michigan, Ohio State and Southern California this spring. The rest of the field is California, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Stanford, UCLA, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
The Bulldogs, ranked 10th in the latest CRCA-US Rowing national poll, finished third in the inaugural Ivy League Championship on Sunday. Yale's varsity eight placed fourth, while the second varsity eight and varsity four crews each won bronze medals.
Yale, which watched the on-line selection show at Gilder Boathouse after practice, is making its 12th overall appearance in the team championships. The Bulldogs' best finish came in 2004 when they were second. Yale has had one crew win a grand final four times. The varsity eight finished first in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and the second varsity won in 2009.
Brown is the defending champion. The Bulldogs placed 11th last year.
Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity


text:
Reds say $10M is their top offer
City leaders want team to pay more for a new spring training stadium
By MIKE SAEWITZ
SARASOTA -- The Cincinnati Reds want to stay in Sarasota, but team executives say $10 million is as much as they will pay for a new spring training stadium here.
The news comes a week after city commissioners demanded that the Reds increase their contribution, saying that the deal for the $54 million stadium could be dead if the team doesn't come up with more cash.
In a letter received by city leaders Monday, Reds Chief Operating Officer John L. Allen emphasized the team's desire to make a "long-term commitment" to Sarasota, and remained hopeful that the city would find a way to dedicate enough money to make the stadium work.
"At this point, I think the question that the city has to ask itself, 'Does Sarasota want to have Major League Spring Training in our community?'" Allen wrote.
It's a question that the city commissioners will have to answer next week. While city leaders were dismayed at the letter, staffers are looking at ways to either reduce the estimated $26 million cost to the city, cut down on the size of the stadium project or reach out to a private donor.
"I don't want to give up," said City Commissioner Lou Ann Palmer. "We're not 6 feet under yet. Maybe 3 feet under."
The letter was the latest piece of a difficult negotiation process on funding the state-of-the-art stadium.
"This is not good news," said Palmer, whose birthday was Monday. "It's a sad birthday for me."
City and team officials have spent three years lobbying state legislators for money toward the effort. They were finally successful this year, when Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill that could provide $7 million for the stadium.
Coming up with the rest of the money -- and drawing up a detailed financial plan in just three months -- has been more difficult than anyone imagined.
The proposed facility is set to be near Ed Smith Stadium, on 12th Street.
The Reds began by offering $3 million toward a new stadium, then went up to $5.9 million, and finally to $10 million last week.
"We have met the city's wishes to increase our participation ... and have doubled our commitment from approximately 10 percent to 20 percent of the estimated construction costs," Allen wrote. "While $10 million may not seem to be a huge commitment to some, it needs to be measured in the context of the Major League Baseball industry."
Allen went on to say that only two teams have come up with comparable contributions for spring training stadiums: the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. And both teams were from "large market teams unlike the Reds," he wrote.
He said that the Reds had "carefully analyzed" the contribution, and ruled that $10 million was going to be the limit.
That would leave the city's share to be about $26 million. City staffers suggested increasing property taxes to come up with that kind of money. A half-cent tourist tax would provide an additional $15 million.
Commissioners did not want to hear it. Raising taxes for a new sports stadium would be unacceptable, they said, sending staffers back to negotiate with the Reds.
"I just don't think the city is going to be able to come up with $26 million," Palmer said. "There's just no way that's going to happen."
The commissioners will discuss the deal when they meet on Monday. Pat Calhoon, the city's sports facilities manager, said staffers may have "overstated" the cost to the city. The figure of $26 million was a "worst-case scenario," and he and the finance director are looking at ways to reduce that number.
He said he's trying to see whether there are any private citizens who want to be a "major part" of the new stadium. He'll also be talking to Reds officials to see if they would accept a scaled-down project.
"We'll work feverishly at this, leading right up to Monday's meeting," he said.


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Authorities on Monday recovered the bodies of two young cousins buried when a wall of dirt fell on them while they were playing in a hole at a home construction site in North Carolina.
The bodies of the 6-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy were pulled from a 24-foot-deep pit in the town of Stanley, outside of Charlotte, said Lincoln County Emergency Services spokesman Dion Burleson.
"We've been working a horrific scene here," Burleson told reporters gathered near the rural site on a two-lane road.
Crews had been searching for the children since Sunday afternoon, when the boy's father called 911 to report the collapse. Officials were on the scene within minutes but couldn't get to the children.
The father had been digging with a backhoe on the site earlier in the day, said County Sheriff David Carpenter. He would not say what was being built or if the man was doing it alone or had professional help.
Burleson described the pit as 20 feet by 20 feet with a sloped entrance leading down to the 24-foot bottom. The children were at the bottom of the pit retrieving a child-sized pickaxe when the walls fell in on them, Carpenter said.
He said his deputies would continue to investigate what happened. Authorities have not released the names of the father or the children.
EARLIER: Authorities continued searching early Monday for the bodies of two children who were trapped when dirt fell on them while playing in a hole at a home construction site near Charlotte.
A father of one of the children called 911 Sunday afternoon, according to Lincoln County Emergency Management officials. The Charlotte Observer reported that Jordan Caldwell told operators he saw the dirt collapse on the 6-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy.
Officials say crews were on the scene within minutes but couldn't get to the children, who were trapped about 20 feet below a new home that was under construction. Neighbors told the newspaper a man building the home had been digging with a backhoe earlier in the day.
Neighbors also told WBTV-TV the children were cousins.
Authorities said late Sunday they didn't expect to find the children alive, but crews used shovels and climbing gear throughout the night trying to get to the children at the Denver neighborhood.
This is "devastating for both the family members and responders who are on the scene," Emergency Services public information officer Dion Burleson said. "This is a tragic night in Denver."


text: Another 10 hours of Might & Magic Heroes VI fun are coming for $10 with the Pirate of the Savage Sea 'adventure pack,' which sees the return of series veteran Crag Hack. It'll launch on July 12, alongside a new patch with goodies including shiny new animated town screens. Mr. Hack the barbarian will star in a new ten-hour campaign, investigating why ships have been going missing in the Savage Sea. Monsters, probably. Or pirates. Pirate monsters? He'll get to collect a new Dynasty weapon along the way, along with another Artifact Set. Booty, that. Check the announcement for more. The town screen for a pretty flash Necro stronghold


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I have viewed some pretty wild patent apps before, and some of them were flippin ingenious, so I was taken aback at how simple and straightforward RIM's new patent apps are. The patent applications are called "Adaptive roadside billboard system and related methods" and "Adaptive pedestrian billboard system and related methods". Advertisers using billboards have always tried to find the perfect balance between how long their intended audience has to read the billboards, and how much info they can cram onto it.
Changing the information density based on how much time the target audience has to read the ad, is one of the best ways to capture attention. If your bookin at 70 mph, you don't care if the Micky D's at the next exit has a newspaper museum in the back room. You want two things, left or right at the exit, and how far. But slow your ride down to 15 mph (Hey, I think every kid in that school bus just flipped me off!), and you may be interested in a bit more info. The kids are stressed out. Does it have a playground? My wallet could use a break. Any specials going on?
Now, its hard to determine if RIM has a keen interest in this, they aren't an advertising company after all, or if they are just covering an idea with a patent. Either way, these are a couple of brilliant ideas.


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PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP (AP) — A judge has ruled that a New Jersey historical group must move a dozen locomotives and rail cars from outside a shuttered train station.
The ruling is perhaps the most decisive to date in Pemberton Township Mayor David Patriarca's nearly 2-year effort to get the Pemberton Historic Trust to find a new home for the rolling artifacts.
Judge Karen Suter says the group has 60 days to move the fleet.
Trust President Adrienne Leonard tells the Burlington County Times she plans to appeal, saying it's one of the best train collections in the state.
The mayor has said he'd be OK with keeping a couple cars there, but not all of them, which he considers hazards.


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AT THE PLATE: Adrian Gonzalez homered for the third consecutive game, sending a second-inning offering from rookie Jacob deGrom into the second deck behind the right-field wall. The Dodgers increased their lead to 3-0 in the sixth inning, when Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez added solo home runs. Puig's home run was his sixth in his last 11 games and Ramirez's his second in the last three. The Dodgers added an insurance run in the eighth inning when hesitation on the part of reliever Jeurys Familia cost the Mets an inning-ending double play.
ON THE MOUND: Pitching for the first time in 23 days, Hyun-Jin Ryu limited the Mets to two runs over six innings. Both runs came on a sixth-inning home run by Eric Campbell. Ryu departed with a 3-2 lead and won for the fourth time this season. Kenley Jansen gave up a run in the ninth inning but earned his 13th save.
ROSTER MOVES: Ryu was activated, third baseman Juan Uribe was placed on the disabled list, infielder Erisbel Arruebarrena was called up from double-A Chattanooga (Tenn.) and right-hander Chris Withrow was optioned to triple-A Albuquerque.
UP NEXT: Zack Greinke (7-1, 2.03 ERA) will face the Mets and Jonathan Niese (2-3, 2.54) at Citi Field at 4 p.m. PDT. On the air: TV: SportsNet LA. Radio: 570 AM, 1020 AM.


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it is great cigar for a short smoke around 45 minutes. overall this cigar has mild taste, a bit of cinnamon. at the end of smoke it taste even better. would definitely try another in the future
Great smoke. Nice woody and nutty flavors very mild. Excellent burn and draw, construction is top of the line a great looking and smoking cigar. Burn time was over 1 hour easy. Well worth the money.
Want a perfect mild cigar with some taste? This is the one. Excellent burn and nice smoke production. I wish it were longer. It's long enough I guess. Lasted nearly 45 minutes.
First NUB cigar I have smoked and all I can say is smooth, smooth, smooth! This one burned for 45 minutes to an 1 hour (lost track of time I was enjoying it so much) was very consistent, even burn and great with an ice cold drink.
I tried my first Nub Connecticut fairly recently and have smoked several since. When I first bought this cigar, I did so mainly because I thought they were funny... I was not expecting much. The Nub Connecticut 354 blew me away, it has plenty of complex and toasty flavors which are quite enjoyable. I also got a kind of almond flavor from the cigar. The construction was okay, though the outer wrapper may flake off in places as smoked. The burn is okay as well, if you light it poorly, it tends to straighten itself out decently well. The smoke output is good too, though because the cigar has a decently wide ring gauge, the smoke has a tendency to blow back in your face towards the end of the smoking session, which can become unbearable. I personally love these medium strength cigars. I plan on buying more in the near future! I highly recommend these cigars.. I should add that they would be great to hand out to friends or company too due to the fact that they are enjoyable both from a smoking and aesthetics perspective!
it is great cigar for a short smoke around 45 minutes. overall this cigar has mild taste, a bit of cinnamon. at the end of smoke it taste even better. would definitely try another in the future
I was disappointed in the wrapper as a bit of it fell apart as I prepared the cigar for smoking. Towards the end the outer cigar wrapper had completely came off, could have just been this cigar. Besides that the taste was a great medium with light spice with 2/3 smoked it became a bit stronger but just the right amount. The burn was a min of 90 points as it was consistent and with a great draw. I would buy this cigar again,hopefully the wrapper incident was a one time issue.
I liked it very much
This was my first Nub cigar and I have to say I wasn't impressed. It canoed the entire time and I had to keep touching it up. Not sure if it was my fault or not but I toasted it pretty well and evenly but I had to touch it up 4 times. The taste was a bit lacking and the cap had a few minor inconsistencies. I would give it another try but from the one attempt, I wasn't impressed. The draw was very smooth though so I have to give it that.


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September 3, 2007
Schadenfreude 23 (A Continuing Series)
Masochist Joe Torre says he wants to manage the Chokers in 2008.
Also: Pedro faces the Reds at 1:15!
by allan at 10:26 AM
Labels: schadenfreude
3 comments:
- s1c said...
Asked about Seattle's losing streak, Derek Jeter (0-for-5, three strikeouts) shot back, "So they're due to win, right? You can throw numbers out the window. We need to play well. They have a good team.
Ah, the wisdom of CI.
- September 3, 2007 at 10:57 AM
- chris said...
espn and espn2 come through again by playing their stupid shows and drag racing instead of the comeback of the greatest pitcher to ever live.
please tell me i missed something :(
- September 3, 2007 at 11:05 AM
- redsock said...
Ah, the wisdom of CI.
There is perhaps no one in MLB who is better at being interviewed and saying absolutely nothing.
- September 3, 2007 at 11:52 AM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Your name is Gibril Wilson. You've just had a difficult season in 2009 with the Miami Dolphins.
You missed tackles to the point your pee-wee league coach called you to ask you what's wrong (true story). You didn't have an interception even though no less than four passes hit you in the hands throughout the season.
You temporarily lost your starting job midway through the season (for one game) only to regain the job but then lose it again the final game of the regular season. You had trouble in coverage. You had trouble communicating with the media to the point you seemingly gave up on the idea.
It was by any account a bad season because you know your new team -- the third you've played for in three seasons -- is considering dropping you like a bad habit to absolve itself of your toxic contract.
But, hey, it's Super Bowl Sunday. You're not playing but neither is there any pressure on you. It's a time to forget the worries of a terrible season. So you sit down like 100 million other people to watch the game. Maybe you're hanging with friends.Maybe you're hanging with family. It is a good time for everyone.
And then the game goes to a commercial and the one below comes on the tube. And, hey, midway through the commercial you recognize yourself. And you're not the hero in this commercial, in fact you're the goat. And you suddenly realize that 40 percent of the televisions turned on around the country just showed what your 2009 season was mostly about.
Question: How do you feel?
Is it fair or unfair?
And are you more mad at yourself for putting yourself in the situation you did? Or are you upset that the NFL basically called you out as a goat on the play?
Follow me on twitter.


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Facebook 'friends' mock 'suicide' of woman who posted goodbye message
A middle-aged woman who told her 1,048 Facebook "friends" that she had taken an overdose was found dead the next day after none came to her aid.
By Peter Hutchison 8:00AM GMT 06 Jan 2011
Simone Back, 42, posted a last message on the social networking site at 10.53pm on Christmas Day saying: "Took all my pills be dead soon bye bye everyone." Some users of the site even taunted the 42-year-old over her final status update instead of trying to save her, calling her a liar and saying the fatal overdose was her choice.
Yesterday her mother, Jennifer Langridge, said she was shocked and upset that nobody did anything for her daughter despite being aware of her threats. Mental health charities said the case was a sad reflection on todays society where friends made online are not necessarily friends in real life.
Miss Back, from Brighton, posted a last message on the social networking site at 10.53pm on Christmas Day saying: Took all my pills be dead soon bye bye everyone.
While some Facebook friends from out of town begged online for her address and telephone number so they could get help, none of those who lived closer did anything to help. Several friends taunted the charity shop worker as she lay dying on the floor of her flat. Just minutes after the post a friend replied She ODs all the time and she lies.
The same friend again dismissed the cry for help later that night, saying: Shes not a kid anymore. A comment from another user read: She has a choice and taking pills over a relationship is not a good enough reason. A total of 148 messages were exchanged between users in which they discussed the alleged breakdown of a relationship Miss Back had.
Friends of Miss Back, who lived further away, responded angrily to the comments. One wrote: Did you catch the part about Simone taking pills? the 'bye bye part? Did anyone go by personally and check on Simone. or call 999? whats wrong with you people? is the gossip really more important than her?
Another said: If any of you actually call yourself friends one of you should call round and see if shes OK.
However, none of Miss Backs friends did check on her. Mrs Langridge called 999 after someone finally texted her about her daughters online suicide note 17 hours after she posted it. Police were called to her flat in Montague Street, Brighton, at 4pm on Boxing Day where they found her body and she was declared dead an hour later.


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Bobby Valentine was asked a simple question before Tuesday night's game against the Yankees: Why does he think he should return as manager of the Red Sox next season?
"I'm the best man for the job," he said. "Was that a tough question, by the way?"
Valentine said the constant speculation about his job status has not bothered him.
"I haven't lost any sleep, only because when I get to bed, I'm worn out," he said. "These games have worn me out, to tell you the truth, very often."
Valentine said he thinks he will be back next season because he hasn't been told otherwise by ownership.
"This is a continuous question," he said. "It's like one of those things. Is something going to happen? Well, until it doesn't . . ."
Would Valentine like to know his fate sooner or later?
"Much later," he said. "Four or five years from now, I would say. At least."
If the man is going out, he's going out with his sense of humor intact.
Matsuzaka stays in
On Sunday, Valentine said the Red Sox were seriously considering taking Daisuke Matsuzaka out of the rotation. But after watching the righthander throw in the bullpen Tuesday, the decision was made to start him against Toronto Friday.
Matsuzaka could not get out of the second inning against Toronto last Saturday, giving up five runs in a game the Sox lost, 9-2.
"He looked real good," said Valentine. "Talked to him today. I think we might have found something that feels good about him."
That "something" was a mechanical flaw in his delivery from the stretch that was corrected.
Matsuzaka has been unable to get through four innings in three of his last four starts.
Salty sits again
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was out of the lineup for the third consecutive game as he gets over back spasms . . . . He played catch with head athletic trainer Rick Jameyson on the field before batting practice. "Like to give him another day," said Valentine . "He threw, he hit, he felt OK. The medical staff felt [if] after hitting and throwing tomorrow, maybe he could play." . . . Felix Doubront threw well in the bullpen Monday and will start against the Yankees Wednesday as scheduled. The lefthander is 0-4 with an 8.27 ERA in his last seven starts . . . Franklin Morales had an MRI on his sore left shoulder Monday. He said he is feeling better, but it It doesn't sound as though he will take the mound again this season. "I think considering the whole situation, I don't think he needs to pitch anymore," Valentine said . . .
Victims honored
The flag at Fenway Park was at half-staff in memory of the Sept. 11 attacks, and the Red Sox held a pregame ceremony that included the families of seven of the victims: Phil Guza, Will Hunt, Joseph Mathai, Craig Miller, David Retik, Amy Sweeney, and Patrick Quigley.
Valentine, who was managing the Mets at the time of the attacks, was heavily involved in relief efforts and befriended many families who lost loved ones.
"For people who are still healing who were personally grieved by this tragic event, every day is an anniversary, every day is another day that they're reminded that their lives have changed," Valentine said."I'm grateful that I worked side by side with a lot of people who gave a damn."
"All I say is that I thank all the people who, without a doubt, gave more than others. People stepped up and did a yeoman's job of filling voids in people's lives, filling voids in that community of New York and D.C. and Pennsylvania and filling the voids in the country.
More for Pesky
The Red Sox are working on plans to pay further tribute to the late Johnny Pesky after the game against Baltimore Sept. 23 . . . Dustin Pedroia has hit safely in 34 of his last 37 games at .375. His home run in the sixth inning was his third in four games at Fenway . . . The Sox are 11 of 11 in stolen base attempts since Aug. 29 . . . The victory was only the second for the Sox in seven games against the Yankees at Fenway this season . . . The Yankees are 27-29 since the All-Star break . . . Cody Ross started in left field for the first time since May 9. . . . When Derek Jeter scored in the first inning, it gave him 1,859 career runs. That tied Mel Ott for 12th place all-time . . . Thanks to roster expansion, the teams had 65 players in uniform for the game .
. . . Yankees lefthander Andy Pettitte will throw a simulated game at Fenway Wednesday afternoon. If that goes well, he could off the disabled list to make a start next week. Pettitte has been out since June 28 with a fractured left ankle.Peter Abraham can be reached at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.


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As guitarists, we certainly love to play things with strings! As someone who wanted to play several guitar-related instruments that I was falling in love with, I rapidly went towards the idea of becoming a "semi" multi-instrumentalist! The reason I say "semi" is because I feel that as long as I have something with strings on it, I see it as "guitar-related!" This includes Dobro, slide guitar (which to me, is a different instrument!), pedal steel guitar, lap steel guitar, Ukulele and mandolin. Now, I feel pretty proficient at all of them, but some more than others, of course. The main thing for you to think of when playing multiple instruments is the adjustment to how they are tuned differently. Many of the multi-instrument players of the old days, like Tommy Tedesco, for example, would play banjos, mandolins etc., but they'd always make them into something tuned like a guitar, so they'd be able to relate to the tuning, but while getting the authentic sound the producer wanted!
So, in this form of adjustment for example, a mandolin may be tuned E, B, G and D, as opposed to its traditional E, A, D and G. Same sound, different voicings. Most folks who are listening don't really know the difference, and it's usually on the player who knows the true story. I prefer to really know the new instrument, but it's always in relation to what I know already on the guitar, and how this new tuning and instrument relates to what I know on the guitar. This is especially true with the other 6-string instruments such as Dobro and also the slide guitar tunings, as we now must adjust our playing to accommodate the new voicings and structures that are imposed on us by the new tunings! It's actually a very fun process, and in a kind of "reverse" manner, we end up learning more about the guitar to begin with!
Getting used to the different physical properties of the new axes of choice is really one of the biggest hurdles, as for example, with the mandolin, you have 8 strings that are doubled up, and you certainly now cannot barely bend a string at all…..that's a HUGE difference for me!! Also, when dealing with open tunings, it's important to learn to play your chords in all their new positions and voicings. It's a little daunting, but certainly something worth learning! So good luck in becoming a multi-instrumentalist, and believe me, if it has strings, a guitarist should be able to do it!!!


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Personal Paragraph (ABV Program Testimonial): I love Lusaka. The people there are friendly, and want to meet you. I think everyone should go. Not just because the people and children there need it, because you need it too. It will change your life.
Scooped by
onto "#Volunteer Abroad Information: Volunteering, Airlines, Countries, Pictures, Cultures"


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Valley of the Stygimolochs - Buddy wonders if he'll grow horns when he gets older, so Mrs. Pteranodon takes him to visit some dinosaurs called Stygimoloch, who have really impressive horns. Tiny Loves Fish - After Mr. Pteranodon teaches the kids his fishing method, Buddy and Tiny work together as a team to catch fish in the Big Pond.
Visit the Website: http://pbskids.org/dinosaurtrain/
Episode #101 / Length: 28 minutes


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Central College is seeking funding for a new scholarship.
Iowa Private College Week during the past few days. The yearly event is intended as an opportunity for high school students and their parents to get onto college campuses and learn more about their options for higher education. Terri Crumley, Director of Admissions at Central says the week has given private colleges a chance to showcase all they have to offer.
"It's been a great way for people in the state of Iowa to understand that private colleges have a lot to offer. Out state universities are wonderful, but private colleges actually have a wonderful experience for so many young people," says Crumley.
"Every college has something to offer different people, and so the best way to find out if it's a good situation for you is to go visit. That's really the only way you're going to be able to find out if it's for you; and that's what this week is all about."
Like many of the other colleges participating, Central College has spent the week hosting campus tours and informative sessions on everything from financial aid to what the day-to-day life of a college student is like.
Central has held one of the best-attended Iowa Private College Week events during the past five years, and had a record 440 students registered to participate this week. Registration is not required to attend, but can be done by contacting the Central College admission office or visiting www.Central.edu. Iowa Private College Week runs through Friday.


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MOFGA volunteers are featured in every issue of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener.
From The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener
June - August 2006
by Marada Cook
Lizz Atwood speaks in a low, wry tone. "I started volunteering the second time I went to the Fair – in third grade." She has picked trash, shaped clay in the Children's Area, cleaned the mess up afterwards, made change for Give Peas a Chance (the food booth of Peace Action Maine) and hung out in Peace Action Maine's booth in the Social and Political Action Area with her mother, Debbie Atwood. This year Lizz turned thirteen.
"Last year I saw someone go by and they had on one of those bright yellow shirts that said on the back, 'Volunteer Staff'," Lizz laughed. "I said, Oh my gosh, Mom, I want one of those shirts."
Debbie Atwood is the associate director of Peace Action Maine. She has home-schooled her two daughters for the past year and a half. She has participated in the Fair since it was in Windsor, volunteering for the Maine Time Dollar Network, Maine Interfaith Power & Light, the Children's Area, the Fair Planning Team and for Peace Action Maine before becoming a staff person there. She organizes 30 to 40 volunteers for the food booth, and knows motivation when she sees it. She encourages it in her daughters.
"My mom introduced me to [fair director] Barbara Luce and said, This is Lizz, and she wants to coordinate something at the Fair next year." Luce took note of Lizz's interest in animals and paired her up with Cathy Reynolds, Livestock Area Coordinator.
"Cathy came right over and said, 'I hear you have a 16-year-old who wants to help,'" Debbie said. "Well, Lizz was eleven." Officially both Atwoods were signed up, but "Lizz was really off doing her own thing," Debbie said, "which is wonderful."
"Lizz jumped right in and was real clear about what she would and would not be able to do," Reynolds said. She gave her the task of coordinating the speakers for the Livestock Speakers Tent. "It is a small thing that takes a lot of persistence and follow-up."
Lizz called Karl Rau and Don Hoenig. She called Judith Hermon and Rick Kersbergen. She arranged speakers on topics as diverse as "The Colors and Genetics of Pigeons" to "Revitalizing Old Pastures."
"She really thought about how things come together," Reynolds said, "She made sure the talks dovetailed with the other livestock events, that everything fit."
During the Fair Margaret Hathaway-Schatz helped Lizz set up chairs, greet speakers and facilitate lectures. "There were a few people I hadn't told that I was twelve," Lizz said. "It was funny, and good that Margaret was there." Lizz attended many of the lectures. "I really enjoyed hearing Pam Paige talk about healthy eating tips for household pets," Atwood said.
Last year, Lizz wanted to be a veterinarian, and picked the Livestock Area for that reason. This year she's not so sure. She'd like to get food ready in the Common Kitchen or set up the stage for the musicians. "I definitely don't want to be a coordinator for a living," she says with a grin. "I think my brain would explode."


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Solange R. McAllister
June 25, 1923-February 19, 2012Hardwick– Solange "Sally" Rolande McAllister, 88, of Hardwick died Sunday February 19, 2012 at the Greensboro Nursing Home. She was born June 25, 1923 in Westfield, the daughter of the late Oliver and Olivina (Neunier) Pion. She attended Westfield public schools. In 1941 she married Stanley William McAllister in Troy. She was employed at the Hardwick Knitwear for 12 years, and for more than 26 years she worked as a cook and nanny for Ogden Reid in Purchase, New York. She retired in the late 1990's. She returned to Hardwick where she has since made her home.Solange was a member of St. Norbert's Catholic Church and Court St. Veronica Catholic Daughters, both in Hardwick. She enjoyed sewing, knitting and cooking.Survivors include her daughter Gloria McAllister and her husband Richard Leidenfrost of Crescent City, FL; her five sons: Leon McAllister and his wife Pat; Raoul McAllister; Wilfred "Willie" McAllister and his wife Claudette; and Russell McAllister and his wife Cheryl, all of Hardwick; and Conrad McAllister and his wife Juanell of Orlando, FL; two brothers: Raymond Pion of Lowell and Roger Pion of Barton, 18 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandson, several nieces, nephews and cousins.She was predeceased by two sisters: Jeanette Benoit and Marie B. Boudreau; and three brothers: Roland, Rene and Sam Pion.Visiting hours will be held Thursday evening 6-8 p.m. at the Northern Vermont Funeral Home, 60 Elm Street, Hardwick, with a prayer service at 7:45 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, February 24, 2012 at 11 a.m. at St. Norbert's Church in Hardwick with Father Absalon Florenosos celebrant. In lieu of flowers contributions in her memory may be made to Mary Queen of all Saints Parish, P.O. Box 496, Hardwick, VT 05843.Arrangements are under the direction of Dian R. Holcomb of Northern Vermont Funeral Service, 60 Elm Street, Hardwick.


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The new Chairperson is Honorable Commissioner KAYITESI, Zainabo Sylvie; and the new Vice-Chairperson is Honorable Commissioner Mohamed Béchir Khalfallah.
Honorable Commissioner KAYITESI Zainabo Sylvie had been the Vice Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights for the past 2 years. She was a former Minister in the Republic of Rwanda, she chaired the National Human Rights Institution in her native country of Rwanda for 8 years; and she is currently the Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Rwanda.
The Vice-Chairperson, honorable Commissioner Mohamed Béchir Khalfallah, had been a Senator in the Republic of Tunisia, representing Tunisian Diaspora from Europe, until recently. He had also been the Chairperson of League Africaine des droits de l'homme for a very long time.


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Janet E. Carey
Janet E. Carey
leaves three children
Janet E. (Taylor) Carey, 72, of Augusta Blvd., Naples, Fla., died January 11, 2012 at her home. She was the wife of William R. Carey.
Born in Providence, a daughter of Julie (Dube) Taylor of Warwick and the late John Taylor, she was a former Warwick resident before moving to Naples.
Besides her husband she leaves two daughters, Debra A. Boyajian and her husband, Joseph, of Warwick and Karen M. Rodrigues and her husband, Mark, of Warwick; a son, William R. Carey Jr. and his wife, Linda, of Daly City, Calif.; a sister, Dorothy Taylor of West Warwick; and our grandchildren, Joseph Boyajian, Kameron Boyajian, Brianna Rodrigues and Nicholas Rodrigues.
Her funeral was private. Burial was in Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery, Exeter. For condolences visit www.trainorfh.com.