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European Commission
Brussels, 6 June 2012
Moving forward to an industrial renaissance to overcome economic crisis
One lesson has been learned in the crisis: Europe needs a strong industrial sector in order to resist downturns. This is the clear message of the conference "An industrial renaissance" taking place in Brussels today. Hosted by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Vice President Antonio Tajani, the conference will look at how national and European efforts can maximize the effectiveness of EU interventions. It also takes stock of the progress on the industrial policy flagship initiative. The focus will be on the need to reverse the current decreasing trend of the evolution of industry in the EU, pointing out the role of manufacturing industry as an engine of growth. For example, can Europe do more to coordinate industrial policies in a partnership approach involving EU and national players as well as industry and enterprises?
The short-term economic outlook for Europe remains weak despite some signs of economic recovery. The importance of the manufacturing industry for growth, jobs, productivity, research and exports is now widely recognised. Therefore it is now the time to step up actions that increase industry's share in economy. This is the only way to address the lasting legacy of the crisis – the serious loss of industrial base in many EU Member States.
The conference will discuss about the Industrial Compact for Europe to pave the way for the February 2014 European Council, which will be specifically devoted to industrial competitiveness and policy.
Raising industry's contribution to EU GDP from 15.2% to 20%
Following the European Commission blueprint for raising industry's contribution to EU GDP from 15.2% to 20% by 2020 (IP/12/1085), the conference will focus on progress made so far and what urgent further action can bring immediate benefits to help restore industrial growth.
The on-going crisis gives an even stronger incentive to continue policies of reversing the current trend. Europe must build upon its strengths:
European industry continues to be part of the solution. In particular, the conference is looking at how national and European efforts can maximise the effectiveness of EU interventions and at how Europe can do more to coordinate industrial policies in a partnership approach. Also, the key role and level of commitment by industry will be discussed. A specific panel will be dedicated to the crucial issue of access to finance.
What is the situation of European industry today?
The crisis since 2008 has deeply affected EU industry with major loss of employment (about 3.8 million industrial jobs lost) and production levels remaining more than 12% below the pre-crisis levels. The situation is differentiated between sectors, with high technology ones like pharmaceuticals coping better than mid and low technology ones, and between Member States, with some performing remarkably (like Poland and Slovakia) and others more in difficulty, like Greece and Spain.
There has been a relative decline in the role of industry in the EU economy over the last couple of decades and that, if Europe does not take the lead in the "new industrial revolution" (MEMO/12/761) now taking place globally, there might be a long-lasting damaging impact on growth and jobs prospects. Indeed, manufacturing remains the main driver for productivity, R&D expenditure, and exports.
What are the priorities of the EU Industrial Policy?
The Industrial Policy Communication Update of October 2012 outlines a strategy to reverse the declining role of industry in Europe from 15,6% of GDP (in 2011) to as much as 20% by 2020. The Communication announces actions in four main areas: 1. Investments in new technologies and innovation; 2. Access to markets; 3. Access to finance and capital markets; 4. Human capital and skills. In all four areas the Commission is currently implementing concrete measures (More information).
Boosting industrial investments, especially those in technologies and innovation that will give Europe the lead in the New Industrial Revolution currently taking place worldwide, requires a coherent and consistent set of policy initiatives in areas such as innovation, access to finance, the internal market and international trade, energy and environment, skills and employment.
For example, Europe will not be an attractive location for new industrial investments if the gap in energy prices with other regions of the world continues to grow. Following a request from the European Council of 22 May, the Commission will return to this issue by the end of the year.
Attract investment from third countries is crucial to help Europe exit recession.
How significant is sustainable (green) growth in these priorities? Opportunities for sustainable (green) growth exist in all industry sectors. Benefits can be obtained from export and in the Internal Market, including in Member States which are more in difficulty. The four main areas emphasise activities to better exploit the potential in, e.g., sustainable production, cleaner cars or smart grids (see below). A public consultation on a green entrepreneurship action plan will be launched soon. The plan should contribute to reinforcing the EU's efforts for sustainable growth.
What has been achieved so far?
1. Investments in innovation with enormous potential for growth and jobs
Investment in innovation in new sectors of high growth and in more traditional sectors is important to improve the competitiveness of EU firms. Six Commission task forces taking actions to foster innovation in the following fields:
Dedicated Commission task forces have been set up and defined roadmaps for each action line. The Commission will report on progress achieved by the task forces in September.
The first results of the mapping show the need:
In this respect, the Commission is finalising the strategic annual Union Work Programme for European standardisation (to be adopted before summer break) and preparing implementation of then research framework programme Horizon 2020.
Moreover, the Commission signed an agreement with EIB for breakthrough of Key Enabling Technologies to ensure improved access to finance for investments in key enabling technologies (MEMO/13/150).
With regard to the clean vehicles priority line, the Commission adopted strategy for alternative fuels which includes the legislative proposal on the roll-out of infrastructure for alternative power-trains.
Concerning biotechnology the Commission launched the bio-economy observatory with the aim of making the data it will collect publicly available through a dedicated web portal in 2014 (IP/13/113).
Steel has a future in Europe: In the next days the Commission will put forward its steel action plan, which proposes joint and coordinated action of the Commission, Member States and industry to boost demand for steel. Further actions will be proposed to improving access to foreign markets, ensuring affordable energy costs, establishing international fair play for climate policies, boosting innovation and assisting restructuring.
Reducing administrative burden
Regulatory fitness checks: At the end of 2012, the Commission launched a new Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT) to screen the entire body of EU law and identify burdens, gaps and inconsistencies in order to correct them. Wherever this is appropriate, the Commission will suggest corrections and improvements. The screening results of the REFIT programme will be published in Summer 2013. The REFIT programme will also provide the follow-up to the concerns raised by businesses in context of the Top10 consultation (see below). MEMO/13/168
Competitiveness proofing, i.e. analysis of the impact on competitiveness of all policy proposals: Cutting red tape and listening to the voice of businesses have been firmly embedded in the Commission's work for several years. As much as possible, the Commission takes the impacts into account when designing legislation and simplifies the existing regulatory environment. For this purpose, the Commission is implementing policy instruments and initiatives:
Top ten: Less legislative burden for SMEs: Support for SMEs to find capital wwwwwith a view to simplify life for SMEs by easing burdensome EU laws, the Commission carried out a broad consultation in which roughly 1 000 SMEs and business organisations identified the top 10 most burdensome EU laws. (see MEMO/13/168).
2. Better access to Internal Market and international markets
Globalisation and the good achievements of EU industry in this respect, calls for better market conditions – improvements in the functioning of the Internal Market and opening up international markets:
The Product Safety and Market Surveillance package was proposed in February 2013 to improve product safety and help national market surveillance authorities to cooperate better and ensure a level playing field for companies and safer products for consumers. Better coordination of product safety checks, especially at the EU external borders, will eliminate unfair competition from dishonest or criminal rogue operators (IP/13/111).
In the internal market blockages in the trade of industrial products still exist. Taking the results of a public consultation concluded in April (IP/13/77) into account, the Commission will present this year a strategic initiative to enhance the quality and efficiency of the internal market legislation for industrial products, eliminate remaining trade barriers, in particular for products with high-growth potential, ensure more consistency in the application of the legislation, and simplify its management and implementation.
The need to make entrepreneurship an attractive and accessible prospect for European citizen, the Commission launched in January 2013 the Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan to unleash Europe's entrepreneurial potential and remove obstacles.
Several studies have shown that the level of productivity in business services is substantially below that of the U.S., explaining a large part of the productivity gap between the EU and the U.S. at the macroeconomic level. Since March 2013 a High-Level Group on Business Services examinees the obstacles to a well-functioning single market in this field. In particular the HLG should make policy recommendations and help policy-makers to identify ways to improve the level of productivity and innovation of business services.
The Commission is implementing an ambitious trade and investments agenda, including the launch of negotiations with Japan and with U.S. for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
Missions for Growth led by Vice-President Tajani have taken place since last October in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Peru and Chile. Upcoming ones are foreseen this year in Russia (17-18 June), China (18-19 July) and Myanmar (13-15 November). Accompanied by up to 50 representatives of European companies and industry associations, the visits are designed to help companies and SMEs internationalise their activities, and to reinforce cooperation in areas such as industrial innovation, key enabling technologies, tourism, space and access to raw materials.
A new SME IPR Helpdesk for the ASEAN region has been established, following a successful experience in China. A third help desk should be launched by the end of the year for the Mercosur region. These Helpdesks, co-funded by the Commission, provide free information and services for European businesses to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights.
3. Access to finance and capitals
Access to finance of industry business, in particular of SMEs, remains difficult and is one of the main reasons for the current economic downturn. Therefore to improve lending to the real economy by better mobilising and targeting public resources, including those of the EIB, the Commission intends to enlarge our loan guarantees covering lending to SMEs under the new COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes as of 2014.
The proposal for a 'European Venture Capital Funds' should be formally adopted before the summer. It will facilitate cross-border fundraising and create a genuine internal market for venture capital funds. With the help of a European passport fund managers can market their funds across the EU (IP/11/1513).
Two recent proposals to attract investors through more visible SME markets and more visible listed SMEs:
The Commission and the EIB are working on new formulas to reach farther with new formulas that can be suitable to finance industrial investments, especially for innovation, energy saving and sustainable growth.
The difficult access to finance for SMEs is more significant in some Member States and compared to large companies
In spite of the expansion of money supply by the ECB, the surplus of liquidity has difficulties in finding its way into the real economy, especially to SMEs. As a matter of fact, bank loans to SMEs as a percentage of GDP have been cut down dramatically since the beginning of the crisis.
According to the ECB surveys on the Access to Finance of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, the differences across Euro Area Member States are stark: while German SMEs have been experiencing a relative softening in bank lending conditions, in other countries like Spain the percentage of SMEs facing financing obstacles reached 51% and in Greece stayed at 64% in the period between October 2012 and March 2013.
Also, the lack of alternative ways to channel liquidity into SMEs has resulted in very different levels of liquidity in SMEs compared to larger companies. Some calculations, in DG Enterprise's April 2013 Monthly Note, suggest that "excess liquidity" in the industrial sector increased at the onset of the crisis reaching a peak level of 7.4% of GDP in 2010 and remaining high at 6.7% in 2011, compared to 5% of GDP in average over the 2005-2011 period. This suggests that, for some larger companies, liquidity might not be the main obstacle to a recovery in investments.
4. Human capital and skills
Jobs for highly-qualified people are expected to rise by 16 million between now and 2020. This means equipping labour force for industrial transformations, notably by better anticipating skills needs and mismatches. In this area, the Commission will in particular further promote cooperation of employers, workers and relevant authorities.
For instance, a Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs has been launched (IP/13/182), to address up to 900 000 job vacancies expected to exist in Europe in Information and Communication technologies by 2015, and the Commission has put forward a strategy to "Rethink education" including targeted recommendations to Member States for modernising education and training systems and ensuring in particular a much stronger focus on developing transversal skills and basic skills at all levels, especially entrepreneurial and IT skills.
The EU Skills Panorama website, online since December, provides information and intelligence that can help improve the capacity for skills assessment and anticipation, improve responsiveness of education and training systems and enhance the matching of supply and demand for labour across Europe.
Besides horizontal initiatives, the Commission continues to develop and implement tailor-made sectoral actions, for instance including automotive, construction, steel, shipbuilding and refining.
Member States' and industry's active role is crucial in success industrial relaunch
Member States' and industry's active role and engagement is crucial. The Council has welcomed the Commission's Industrial Policy Communication Update. It is now key to further explore and develop synergies between EU and national-level initiatives. In order to face competition from large economies such as the United States or China, the EU must further reinforce consistency in its overall industrial policy. National circumstances and specificities need to be taken into account and therefore the Commission addresses country-specific recommendations in the framework of the European Semester. Developments in the area of economic governance could pave the way for better coordination of micro-economic and competitiveness policies.
Industry must seize the opportunity to play its part in carrying out the necessary investments to give a competitive lead to Europe. Industry has welcomed the new orientation in EU policies but it is necessary to know what steps are being taken by the private sector and about their expectations on European and national policies.
There is an urgent need to relaunch investments in technologies and innovation. The Commission's actions are devised to improve the investment climate and restore confidence by private actors.
More information on today's conference
Mission Growth: Europe at the Lead of the New Industrial Revolution
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ATI Linux fglrx driver version 8.41.7
Release Date: Released on the 12th of September
The 8.41 driver has an entirely new codebase, and supports the new Radeon HD 2000 (R600) cards. More information at the Phoronix article below, and more to come.
Warning: This driver version is only designed for the R600, though, it's "working" on all other supported cards (except the FireGL Boards). But expect lots of bugs (that'll be fixed in 8.42)!

subset: commoncrawl


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Pretty nifty giveaway prize this week: Tarte's Bronze Smoky Eye "Beauty in a Box" kit.
The set includes: full sizes of Tarte's Lock & Roll 12-hour eyeshadow in Burnt Bronze, EmphasEYES Waterproof shadow/liner in Plum, Rise & Shine Lipgloss and Stain in Nude, Clean Slate natural face primer, as well as a fabulous deluxe-sized mini Mineral Powder Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess, and a mini Lights, Camera, Splashes! natural waterproof mascara.
This set is sold only through Sephora (and retails for $45), and every item is waterproof or water-resistant (nice!).
Rules and how to enter:
- This giveaway starts today and ends Sunday, August 22, at midnight.
- This giveaway is open to readers anywhere in the world.
- A winner will be selected at random from the valid entries.
- To enter, leave a comment on this post. What's the most extreme thing you've done to track down a makeup purchase? Driven across state lines for a limited edition lipstick? Found a pen pal, then asked them to buy you Lancome's Erika F? You can enter by this method once per day.
- You can earn as many extra entries as you want. To earn an extra entry, write a review of a Tarte product for KarlaSugar-Interact. Leave a comment with a link to your review.
- Only new reviews (written this week) are valid; previously written Tarte reviews are not eligible for extra entries.
- Winners will be contacted by email, so please use an email address you check (addresses will be hidden, and will not be used for any purpose other than contacting the winner).
Good luck!


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Camp Bayou is neither a campground nor a summer camp. Camp Bayou was an RV park in another life but is now a nature preserve open to the general public Thursday- Saturday, 9am-2pm, with trails, nature center, fossil museum, native people camp, picnic tables and more in its 160 acres.


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Emphasizing the synergies between science and engineering, these video clips highlight the research of professional ocean scientists and engineers in various disciplines. The clips are accompanied by additional relevant content including images,... (View More) data visualizations, graphs, animations, and other information. Content has been organized into more than a dozen thematic areas such as Solving Old Problems with New Technology and Small Scale Observations and Large Scale Ideas. All content has been aligned with science and engineering practices from the Next Generation Science Standards, including "asking questions and solving problems" and "planning and carrying out investigations," providing applicable resources for teachers who want to provide role models of effective practice for their students. (View Less)
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News: GTAIV: San Andreas Beta 3 is out now
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28 Jul 2015 - Original San Andreas audio making a come back?
Written by AJ Collins July 28, 2015, 06:39:00 PM 12915 Views Rating: 0 (0 Rates)
Everyone Loves a good comeback story, right? Sea Biscuit, The Mighty Ducks, Robert Downy Jr., Rocky....Kim Kardashian. Toward the end of last year, Rockstar published an update for Grand Theft Auto San Andreas on PC. The update added wonky Xinput support, borked saved games for some countries and made some odd changes to default controls. The biggest controversy the patch caused was removing songs for which Rockstar had lost rights to.
Rockstar was no stranger to having to remove songs. A few years before, Rockstar had to remove a number of iconic songs from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Instead of removing the songs from everyone, however, Rockstar created a separate "depot" on Steam that was granted to those who owned the game before the removal. If you had this depot on your account, Steam would download the original audio files instead of the updated ones. For some unknown reason, Rockstar didn't do this for San Andreas, so everyone received the cut audio files - despite warnings on this very site that this would happen two months before the patch went live. While it would have been perfectly acceptable to remove these songs from newly purchased copies, removing the songs from already purchased copies is a huge red flag for anyone considering to go digital with game purchases.
8 months and 21 days have gone by so far without a peep on this issue. Surprisingly, 8 days ago SteamDB detected that two new depot packages have been added to the private beta version of San Andreas: GTA San Andreas: Original Radio Update and GTA San Andreas: Original Radio Update DE (German). Could the original audio be making a comeback for owners who purchased the game before the rights ended? Hopefully it won't take another two months to see the end results of these two packages - and hopefully Rockstar doesn't update anything else. :P
In the mean time, you can use the Steam to V1.0 downgraders that were created in the wake of the updates last year that not only restore the original files, but allow for easier modding and SA-MP/MTA support.
PS: You may have noticed things have been a bit quiet around here. While this is partly due to the lack of any real news coming out of Rockstar worth reporting on; I've been swamped in real life with moving into a new apartment, my full-time IT job and college. I also just found out a few weeks ago that I'm becoming a father in March. Now that I'm finally getting some time to breathe, I fully plan on starting work on some much updates to RockstarNexus and our sister sites GTAStunting and Bully-Board.
09 Dec 2014 - San Andreas updated on Steam (12/9)
Written by AJ Collins December 09, 2014, 07:15:00 PM 14535 Views Rating: 0 (0 Rates)
Last month Rockstar released on update on Steam for Grand Theft Auto San Andreas that added XInput controller support while removing several songs and breaking saved games for German players. It also continued the trend excluding version 1.01 fixes such as 1080p support. A week later we reported that another update for the game was being staged. Four weeks later, the update has finally gone live. In line with the last update, there is no official version number so to avoid confusion the community is calling it "NewSteam r2". Unlike the last update, however, Rockstar has released an official changelog for this update:
Sadly, there's no sign of Rockstar restoring songs previous owners should rightfully have access to. Just like with the last update, an unofficial community downgrader has been created to rectify this issue. This new downgrader will take your legally purchased NewSteam r2 (12/9) to before the 11/7 patch. It relies on binary differences so no game files are being distributed. As such, this will only work correctly with the 12/9/14 update. Once downgraded, we recommend making a copy of your San Andreas folder and storing it somewhere outside of your Steam folder. You should also then be able to use this downgrader to version 1.0 to gain maximum modding compatibility. There is also a downgrader to take you directly from NewSteam r2 to 1.0 that should be released later today. We'll update this article when that happens.
NewSteam r2 -> pre-11/7 Downgrader: Mirror 1 | Mirror 2 | Mirror 3
EDIT: A downgrader for NewSteam r2 to the original 1.0 version of San Andreas has been released.
NewSteam r2 -> Version 1.0 Downgrader: Mirror 1 | Mirror 2 | Mirror 3 | Mirror 4
11 Nov 2014 - Another San Andreas Steam update incoming
Written by AJ Collins November 11, 2014, 03:33:00 PM 11457 Views Rating: 0 (0 Rates)
A few days ago an update for Grand Theft Auto San Andreas went live on Steam that that caused game issues for some and highlighted issues with digital distribution in general. While there hasn't been any word from Rockstar on the issue, it looks like another update is being tested according to SteamDB.
EDIT: An unofficial downgrader for the 11/7 Steam update has been released. More details here.
07 Nov 2014 - San Andreas updated on Steam [UPDATE]
Written by AJ Collins November 07, 2014, 03:19:00 PM 166298 Views Rating: 0 (0 Rates)
Don't say we didn't warn you. Rockstar finally went live with the update for Grand Theft Auto San Andreas that was leaked a few months ago. Here's what we've noticed about the update so far:
Other issues that have been noted by players but don't seem to be a direct result of this update:
Other issues you might be experiencing might be due to installed modifications that were partially overwritten by Steam. Try deleting the game and redownload a fresh copy. If all else fails, try using SilentPatch.
Hopefully most of you had a backup of your digital copy you can restore to or at least an original physical copy. No word yet from Rockstar.
EDIT: The cookie monster known as Silent has updated his excellent SilentPatch to work with the new update. It fixes a number of issues that have been discovered thus far, such as:
EDIT 2: Despite what Polygon is reporting, this isn't the mobile/360 version of the game. That version is only available on PC via the Windows 8 Store.
EDIT 3: We've updated the article to clear up a few issues users in the community were having that are valid issues with the digital versions of San Andreas, but might not be a direct result of this particular update. Unfortunately, due to the wide range of releases, updates and changes San Andreas has had in its 10 years, there is bound to be confusion on all sides. Indeed, accidentally building off an older version of San Andreas would explain the missing resolution options. We encourage players and the press to give Rockstar some time to address these issues before rushing to declare malice.
EDIT 4: Silent has sent along the following information that explains why we're seeing such mixed reports:
Thanks Silent!
EDIT 5: Looks like another update to San Andreas is being tested.
EDIT 6: An unofficial fan-made downgrader has been released. This will downgrade your legally purchased 11/7/14 Steam copy to just before the update. It relies on binary differences so no game files are being distributed. As such, this will only work correctly with the 11/7/14 update. Once downgraded, we recommend making a copy of your San Andreas folder and storing it somewhere outside of your Steam folder. You should also then be able to use this downgrade to version 1.0 to gain maximum modding compatibility.
26 Oct 2014 - GTA San Andreas out now on Xbox 360
Written by AJ Collins October 26, 2014, 03:15:00 PM 6329 Views Rating: 0 (0 Rates)
The native port of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the Xbox 360 is out now. The port seems to be based on the mobile port developed by War Drum Studios last year. It includes improved visuals, achievements and runs at 1280x720. Below is a short video by Vadim M showing off the opening intro and the menus.
The port is currently selling for $3.74 on the Xbox Marketplace. We're assuming this price is a limited time discount and will eventually go up.
For those of you in the PC Master Race, San Andreas is currently unavailable for purchase on Steam. As we've reported before, Rockstar has been prepping a patch that cuts a few songs that licenses have expired for and adds X-Input controller support. The release of this patch shouldn't be too far off now.
24 Oct 2014 - GTA San Andreas on Xbox 360 coming October 26th
Written by AJ Collins October 24, 2014, 04:03:00 PM 6269 Views Rating: 0 (0 Rates)
A few days ago we reported that achievements had popped up for an Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Today, Rockstar has silently spilled the beans in a Rockstar Support article. The article confirms that this is indeed a native port to the 360 - bringing achievements, 720p resolution and enhanced draw disance. While it doesn't give a reason as to why the Xbox Originals version was pulled, we suspect expired music licenses had something to do with it.
Those that already own the Xbox Originals version will get to keep it - though if you want to experience the updated native version you'll have to purchase it. Save files will not transfer between the two versions. The native version is set to release this October 26th.
22 Oct 2014 - GTA San Andreas coming to Xbox 360 - natively
Written by AJ Collins October 22, 2014, 05:41:00 PM 5838 Views Rating: 0 (0 Rates)
Xbox Achievements is reporting that achievements for an Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas briefly popped up on the Xbox website. In the past, the website has had numerous credible leaks of achievements for upcoming Xbox 360 games. The list of achievements themselves look exactly like the achievements you'd expect from Rockstar. Click the image above to view the full list of achievements.
What makes this interesting is that this seems to be an actual port of San Andreas to the Xbox 360. San Andreas was previously available on the 360 as an Xbox Classic - which was recently removed from the store without notice. We'd assume that it was removed due to music licensing issues just like the PS2 classics version. Xbox Classic games are not capable of having achievements as they are the original Xbox game being played in an emulation layer - making achievements impossible. The only way achievements could be possible is if Rockstar is working on an actual native port of San Andreas.
Last month, Rockstar mistakenly made public a beta pach for the PC version of San Andreas on Steam. It was removed shortly after but those who managed to grab it found that X-Input had been added along with removing several songs Rockstar has lost licenses for. With the 10 year anniversary of San Andreas approaching this October 26th, it looks like Rockstar has some interesting stuff in-store to celebrate. We'll keep you posted when we hear more.
03 Sep 2014 - Update incoming for San Andreas on Steam
Written by AJ Collins September 03, 2014, 12:19:00 AM 14415 Views Rating: 0 (0 Rates)
If you currently own the Steam version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, we've got some good news and some potentially bad news. The SteamDB website, which constantly tracks updates and changes to Steam titles, is reporting that Rockstar is currently testing a new build privately on Steam. When this update originally hit, Rockstar forgot to password protect the new build and was available for anyone to self-enroll in the beta. Rockstar corrected the oversight hours later but not before a number of users enrolled themselves in the beta and reported changes they could find.
According to Steam forums user Nabs, the beta had native support for Xinput with "better" default control mappings and sensitive trigger support. This is great news for anyone who has had the displeasure of attempting to get San Andreas to work with newer controllers. Currently, players have to use 3rd party utilities and patches to emulate Xinput to use controllers such the Xbox 360 controller. With native Xinput support, the 360 controller will work without any extra work.
On the bad side of things, Rockstar is removing several songs. Neogaf user madjoki noticed that the audio files were smaller than before. Comparing the new files to the old files, he discovered that the same exact tracks that were missing from San Andreas mobile are missing from this beta version. This happened a few years back to Vice City when Rockstar updated the Steam version to remove tracks that were cut from the mobile version. However, for Vice City Rockstar created separate depots - meaning that if you had owned Vice City before the update, you retained all tracks while those who purchased after the update received the cut audio. For San Andreas, it doesn't currently appear that Rockstar is separating depots and is outright cutting the songs for all users. So as a precaution, we are warning all readers to backup your Steam copy of the game before the update is released. You can typically find the files in C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\grand theft auto san andreas\.
We'll keep you posted as we get more information.
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Saturday, June 20
Flea Market Saturday #1
Saturday traditionally being the day for garage/yard/tag/boot/jumble sales, I'm launching Flea Market Saturday. Anything that catches my eye while wandering around the cyber flea market known as the Internet will appear here.
To kick off the first Flea Market Saturday, I'm temporarily changing the background to "Flea Market Flowers" from Shabby Blogs. If you're looking for an unusual background for your own blog, be sure to look there.
I found Shabby Blogs after admiring the background at Elizabeth D's French Village Life. Elizabeth is a Brit who retired from teaching in the UK to move to Brittany with her husband. Interesting insights into life in a different culture.
Floss at Troc, Broc and Recup' is celebrating her 40th birthday this weekend, and has invited everyone to a (cyber) Garden Party.
Floss is a Brit now living in France who likes to poke around in charity (thrift) shops. After you've wished her a Happy 40th, stick around and read her review of charity shops in Edinburgh, and then back home in France. She's snagged some interesting (and in some cases, valuable) items.
But it was Sue at Vintage to Victorian who really gave me the idea for Flea Market Saturday by reminding us of this weekend's Giant Flea at Shepton Mallet (Bath & West Showground). Sue lives in Somerset but runs a shop in Dorset called the Dairy House, partly stocked from weekend trips to flea markets. Oh, and I love her banner!
In case you're thinking I'm ignoring American blogs, do have a look at Laura's 52 FLEA. She believes in displaying all of her flea market finds!
Hope you're having a great weekend, and Happy Midsummer!
6 comments:
- pinkpackrat said...
love flea markets-- real and cyber and definitely love the idea of Flea Market Saturday at Saturdays Child. I'll be checking back :-)
- June 20, 2009 9:32 AM
- JamaGenie said...
Great! Glad you like it!
- June 20, 2009 10:52 AM
- Vintage to Victorian said...
How lovely to have such a super mention. Thank you so much. Glad you like the blog banner (made FOR me not By me I have to say!), but it is now my trade mark! I'll endeavour to post some photos although I rarely have time to think about taking pics at the Flea. Will see what I can do this time.
Thanks for stopping by to post comments, and I'll pop back later to read some more of your posts. I love what you're doing with the tombstone research. I have done a lot of family research over the years but as you can probably imagine, I don't have much time to carry on that hobby at the moment.
Best wishes
Sue x
- June 20, 2009 1:10 PM
- Postcardy said...
Here is something interesting I found today:
- June 20, 2009 2:32 PM
- Maria Berg said...
I love going to flea markets you never know what you will find, MB
- June 20, 2009 4:25 PM
- JamaGenie said...
Thanks, Postcardy, for the link to the Graphics Fairy. I found lots of interesting things there!
Sue, I'm looking forward to hearing about the Flea at Shepton Mallet.
Maria, I love flea markets and the internet for that very reason. Never know what you'll find.
- June 20, 2009 11:28 PM


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Icon: Joe Paterno
"Why it happens, how it happens—honest to god, I don't know. I just know that it's something that's very, very difficult to explain. I run out of that tunnel, the crowd's there and the whole—just a little something about it you can't quite... I don't know. If somebody asked me to take two weeks to describe it, I'd still have a tough time. It would sound corny."
He winces, like you just ordered pepperoni on your pizza and he's out of pepperoni and now what the hell is he gonna do? He talks like that, not like an old-man football coach with a big old-man nose and half a century worth of plays rattling around in his old-man brain, but like a guy working a pizza joint at the Jersey Shore.
"I don't know," he says. "How come so many people get so wrapped up in college sports? Why? You're asking me, but how do I know?"
Okay, first of all, I didn't ask him. He came up with the question on his own, and now he can't let it go. My original question was about branding, about the role of football—a game—in growing a university. I figured it was something he would be proud to expound upon. It was his story: a reluctant pilgrim who landed in a cow town fifty-seven years ago, at a tiny college no one had ever heard of, and then went on to turn it into the behemoth known as Penn State. It was Paterno who built the brand, turned a school with no endowment into one with more than $1 billion. JoePa. Football. Beaver Stadium. One hundred eight thousand fans screaming for the little geeky guy with the doofus glasses and the flood pants, white socks, black shoes, sunken chest, paunch.
When I say BLUE, you say—
When I say JOEPA, you say—
Beaver Stadium is, of course, just one among hundreds to erupt like this, defining the American Saturday in autumn. Paterno put this place on the map and is poised at the eye of the even larger cultural storm he helped create. The more he argues against answering the question I never asked, the more it becomes my question. How come so many people get so wrapped up in college sports?
"I don't know," he says. "Aw, jeez. How do I know?"
He looks at me, winces as if suffering minor mental agony. His hair is crazy thick, refusing to go gray. "I just think that we all loved college, all right?" he offers. "And it's hard to find a way to come back for a real experience. Like, you wouldn't go back to your college because they were gonna have a couple of writers coming—"
I shrug.
"Yeah, you might. And for a reunion or something, you might." He's rubbing his face. His glasses are bouncing stupidly. "Oh, I don't know what the devil it is. Everybody's excited. Look at Rutgers. One football team last year. Look what that's done for the whole university, the whole state. I don't know why. But it is. It's a fact, okay? It's a fact."
He is dwarfed in this office, here in the Lasch Football Building. His office is on the second floor, all shiny and airy and vast. It could be an Acura showroom. The office girls, Sandi and Mary and Cynthia, keep it nice, keep it decorated, and he flirts with them; they swooned over the powder blue jacket he chose to wear today—he dressed up for our interview—and he went aw-shucks on them, said yeah, he hadn't worn the thing in fifty years, but here it is. Here he is. He showed up when he was told to. All right? All right? He does not enjoy interviews. He is famously grouchy with the press, gets sick of everything getting so blown up all the time, sick of every sentence he utters getting parsed and reparsed, like he's the damn Fed chairman or something. "It's only football!" his scowl to reporters seems to say. He is not Hercules capturing the Erymanthian Boar. He is not Moses parting the Red Sea. He does not seem to quite get all this—all those cars with all those JOEPA bumper stickers, the JoePa bobbleheads, the life-size JoePa cutouts you can put in your house, the adulation and the analysis and the scrutiny and the constant nagging for more.
Work, real work, happens at home, the only place where he can get anything done. Private, a place where a man can think. Walk and think. Paterno gets up most days at five, walks and thinks. He writes stuff down on the little yellow papers he stuffs in his shirt pocket, walks and thinks. His house is three blocks off campus, a rancher he and his wife, Sue, bought in 1969. They never moved.
I want to ask him about that. How does a multimillionaire stay in the same house he bought when he was barely making thirty grand? I want to see this house. I want to invite myself over for lunch, maybe next week, even though all his handlers have said: "Forget it." They keep him in a bubble. Or he keeps himself in a bubble. There's a definite inner-sanctum situation going on here at Happy Valley. I can't decide if it's creepy. A cult? I felt the same way about Mister Rogers when I first interviewed him. Then I got to know Rogers and found out he was holy. Paterno's wife grew up in the same town as Rogers, just a few valleys over from State College. Is there something about the Pennsylvania mountains that nurtures heroes intent on looking dorky?
I want to tell Paterno my theory that he's the Mister Rogers of sports. Stubborn and courageous, anachronistic on purpose, living on a frequency the rest of us have trouble hearing. I have so much to say. But he's stuck on point number one: How come so many people get so wrapped up in college sports?
Joe Paterno's happiness was about a calling. It sounds corny, but that's what it was. Back in the old days, the world worked this way. People used to have callings that had nothing to do with greed.
"Aw, you're going to have to talk to the sociologists or the psychologists," he says. He sits on his hands, on a large couch in the center of the room. "But I do think there's a certain amount of pride that can be generated in your student body if things are handled right." He rubs his chin, thinks, sighs as if revving up. "All right? Just like our Virginia Tech tribute. You know, we had 70,000 people last year at our spring game after the shootings, and 45,000 of them were wearing orange shirts for Virginia Tech. It was really moving. The band played 'Amazing Grace.' And you couldn't see a dry eye in the whole place. It was a football game that gave them the chance to show they were with the Virginia Tech people. Why it happens, how it happens—honest to God I don't know. I just know that it's something that's very, very difficult to explain. I run out of that tunnel, the crowd's there, and the whole—just a little something about it you can't quite... I don't know. If somebody asked me to take two weeks to describe it, I'd still have a tough time. It would sound so corny. Because it's just tough. It's tough."
"Just a feeling, I guess," I say.
He nods. He looks down at his tassel loafers, lips pursed.
We might be done. Are we done?
"It's a feeling," he says. "A phenomenon. Let's just say it's a great phenomenon. Use the word phenomenon. Okay?"
We are not done.
I am starting to catch on: This is a man who is all think. This is a man who gets his teeth into a thought and won't let go until he's wrestled it to the ground. He is every English major you ever got stoned with in college, the sort of talker who could turn the act of thinking into an epic battle.
He is not like most adults you meet. What man of any age—let alone one who has been at the top of his profession for forty years—refers constantly to his college major? Who does that? Who even remembers? An English major. If Paterno has told me once, he has told me fifteen times that he was an English major in college. He has done...a lot with his life, and yet this is the definition he chooses.
"Oh, you'll love Sue," he says later, when he agrees it would be fine if I dropped by the house for lunch. "She's an English major, too."
The Penn State gig was really just a sidetrack, a temporary thing to help him deal with college debt. He came here as assistant coach in 1950, when he was 23. He knew he would never last. He was Brown, class of 1950, headed in his dreams to Harvard Law. Yeah, he knew football, played quarterback in college, led Brown to an 8-1 record his senior year, a vaguely clumsy kid who one sportswriter said "can't run, can't pass—just thinks and wins." But football was hardly a career choice. He was a Brooklyn kid who yearned for an Ivy League life. And he hated cow country. But something about this place snagged him. In 1966, he was promoted to head coach. In time he would meet Sue, twelve years his junior, in the library. They courted over Camus. He was a late bloomer, lovewise. She did not know they were dating until he proposed one summer on the beach. ("Oh, my gosh, all this time he was recruiting me?" she says.) He and Sue would go on to have five kids and fifteen grandkids.
He has done...a lot with his life. Forget football, the thirty-three bowl appearances, two national championships, five undefeated seasons, twenty top-ten finishes, five National Coach of the Year awards, thirty-one NFL first-round draft choices, the Wheaties box. Forget all that. You don't have to be a football person to understand that in 1972—when he was 46 years old, earning $35,000 a year at Penn State—he got an offer to coach the New England Patriots for $1.4 million, plus 5 percent of the team. He said yes. He was to board a plane the next morning to make it official. He went to bed a signature away from becoming a millionaire. He woke up in the wee hours of the morning, heard Sue crying. He said, "Why are you crying?" She said, "I'm so happy for you." He said, "You big phony." He knew. She knew. At four thirty in the morning, he called the guys in Boston. He told them to turn the plane around. He said, I'm not taking the job. He said, I don't want to take the job for the wrong reasons. He said he never got into this thing to make money. He said he didn't want to jeopardize his happiness for money.
His happiness was about a calling. It sounds corny, but that's what it was. Back in the old days, the world worked this way. People used to have callings that had nothing to do with greed.
Look, it was obvious. Make a college football team that was as much about college as it was about football. Was that really so crazy? Put the student back in student athlete and you might just be molding responsible members of society. This would be his mission. People began calling it the Grand Experiment—a title he once offhandedly offered up, even though he didn't think of it as an experiment in the sense that it might not work, nor did he think of it as grand in the sense that it was the stuff of philosophical or tactical complexity.
"Wake up!" he was known to yell into dorm windows on his daily walk to work. "Get to class!" He chose unforgiving punishments for players who failed academically. He never backed down. He'd cut you from the travel roster just before the Orange Bowl if he had to. Hey, if you broke your leg, the team would go on without you—the team could go on without you. If you struggled in class, he would offer help. He would offer: Sue. She still tutors players. Study. Wear socks to class. Cut your hair, shave your face, stop complaining about the uniform. There would be no names on jerseys; the individual was committed to the team, not to himself. Forget about symbols on your helmet, badges of individual accomplishment. Forget about it. Not even an American flag. Nothing. Plain white helmets, plain white pants, plain white or blue jerseys, black high-top shoes. If the Amish came up with a football uniform, this is what it might be.
Education, leadership, character. He was building not just a team but a bunch of individuals who would one day leave it. He was making the world better.
Paterno has an uncomplicated relationship: Yes, he will take your money for the betterment of the university and society. No, in exchange, he will not heed your boneheaded football advice.
This was not, he reasoned, something you would get a chance to do in the NFL.
Over the years, the Steelers, the Raiders, the Giants, and others would come calling, and he would say no. The money would come anyway, plenty of it, because of what happened to college sports, a multibillion-dollar entertainment Goliath, a phenomenon that—look, he can't explain.
He has, anyway, given a lot of the money back. He has donated more than $4 million to Penn State, including a $3.5 million gift in 1998 that has been used for faculty positions and scholarships, libraries, buildings. He backed the struggling Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies Department, endowed scholarships, helped quadruple the faculty there, said: This matters! He backed the creation of the campus all-faith spiritual center, a place where anyone could come, no matter which god he or she believed in, and pray. He said: This matters!
He gets trotted out from time to time to mobilize alumni, with whom he has an uncomplicated relationship: Yes, he will take your money for the betterment of the university and society. No, in exchange, he will not heed your boneheaded football advice.
He does the big-money things he is asked to do, but his priority is football, his team, and all the crap they throw at him. So much crap lately. Right now he's got a young team. Freshmen and sophomores making so many dim-witted decisions. He is as much about their lives off the field as on. It's why he keeps his home phone number listed. What if something happened and a player or his family needed to get ahold of him in the middle of the night?
Like last spring: His guys got themselves into a brawl. Some jagoffs on the street walked up to a player and his girlfriend and threw an insult at them. There was pushing and shoving, and the player later called some teammates—as many as fifteen were summoned. The fight was big and messy. The police came, and eventually six players were arrested. (Four of the cases have since been dismissed, and two are scheduled to go to trial this month.)
Another coach might have handled this differently. A couple of suspensions, perhaps. Or have the kid who threw the first punch appear at a press conference and grovel for mercy. Or just shut up, sit tight, and wait till the episode blows over.
But Paterno knew what he had to do: teach. A big lesson with broad, bold strokes. He told his team to stop whining about who was right, who was wrong, who was involved, who wasn't. He didn't care about any of the particulars. Didn't want to hear about it. The problem, he said, was clear: a lack of leadership. And that was the whole team's fault.
So, his whole team would need to regroup, learn, grow as one.
Two of Paterno's plans for redemption weren't so bad: The whole team would have to volunteer for the Special Olympics, which Sue helps run, and build a house for Habitat for Humanity.
The third plan is what stung: "Clean Beaver Stadium," he said. Not once—but after every game—for the entire 2007 season. Pick up the soggy nachos, sweep the peanut shells and popcorn and everybody's leftover crap.
People said, "Uh, Coach..." This would not be good for recruiting. Who's going to want to come join the Nittany Lions and pick up trash?
"You deal with what you have first," he said.
"Maybe I've gone on," he says, returning not so much to his question about why people get so wrapped up in college sports as to the fact of our asking the question. "Aw jeez, I got a little philosophical."
"That's okay," I say.
"I could show you pictures from '94," he says. "We had an undefeated team. I could show you pictures of my whole football team standing on the sideline holding hands. I got other pictures, everybody on my football team kneeling, holding hands. I can show you another eight or nine guys hanging around when a guy was hurt, hugging him. There are things you just can't..."
"Explain," I say.
"You can't," he says. "But let's look back at all the great societies. The Greeks. All right? Look at the Romans. All right? You go through medieval England. The jousting. All right? There's always been sports. When the Spartans held off the Persians to give the Athenians a chance to regroup, in 400-and-something b.c. You think of the Spartan tradition and the whole bit, all right? The glory. The physical competition. Not the killing but the physical competition. I think it's just a part of us."
He seems satisfied for the first time. He has arrived at a kernel. A little chunk of the human condition. And he is glad. He looks at me. His face has softened considerably. Then he winces. "Of course, some of us can't compete. Many of us can't compete."
"But we can be spectators," I say.
"Exactly! They built the Colosseum in Rome, right? Right?" His face opens into a smile. "Oh, when you look at some of those friezes. So much of it is sports. I mean, you read Virgil's Aeneid, yeah, there's something in us. We need to let the devil out of the house. We need to get caught up in something that's exciting. Aw, how did I get carried away with this? Awwww."
He stands up, heads over to his desk. He grabs a book, brings it to me. "This is the greatest translation. This is Bob Fagle's translation. I have this at home. I try to read ten, twelve pages before I go to bed, but it's tough. It's tough. When I was in high school, I translated this from Latin. I had had twelve years of Catholic education, and my dad was really upset that I was going to Brown. He wanted me to go to a Catholic college. I said, 'Dad, look.' I said, 'Let me stretch.' So Father Bermingham got ahold of me. He said we're gonna translate Virgil's Aeneid, because the Jesuits always felt that Virgil was a forerunner for Christ because so many things predicted that Christ was going to come. So we would translate the thing—he would translate ten pages, I would translate one, you know, like that.
"It's probably had as much influence on me as anything in my life. I could relate to Aeneas so much in the sense that you were fated to do something. You know, Why football, and why here? You know?"
He pauses, looks down at the book, up at me. "Why football? Why here?"
I am wearing a blank look on my face, I can just tell.
"Read that," he says, handing me the book.
"It won't be by Tuesday," I say, referring to our next meeting.
"I think when you read about when Aeneas starts carrying his father and the kid out of Troy and the whole bit, it's, well, it's the hero vision. When you're young, you're impressionable. It creates dreams. It really does.
"That's all we're really talking about."
When his contract runs out in 2009, he'll be 83. He may or may not retire.
The new millennium has not exactly been kind to JoePa. Since 2000, after having just one losing season in his first thirty-four years, all of a sudden he was racking them up like a sinner. Things got really bad in 2003 and 2004, when he was a combined 7-16. The fans turned on him; the old man was a dinosaur and simply couldn't do it anymore. And maybe he was too innocent, too old-school, to survive in a new Firethecoach.com world.
You could log on to any number of sites and join in the fun.
And then came a knock on the door. It was November 21, 2004, a Sunday, at the conclusion of a lackluster 4-7 season. Four Penn State officials, including president Graham Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley, reportedly walked into Paterno's house and said the gig was up. They told him they wanted him to stop coaching, urged him to quit. Face it: He was driving his beloved team to its grave.
"Relax," he said to them. "Get off my backside." He knew so much more about his team than they could ever know. He knew he was rebuilding a team, and that it was about to break out. He believed, or he forced himself to.
He hardly slept at all then. Sue recalls it as his darkest days.
Fans were relentless. "Joe must go!" They would come up to her in the parking lot, scream at her. One day she answered the phone and it was a guy telling her to get a pencil. "Write this down," he said. Stupidly, she started writing. "He started giving me all these plays, and I finally put the pencil down. He was saying, 'Did you get all that down?' And I said, 'No!' He said, 'I told you to write it down!' I said, 'Well what if some stranger called up your wife and told her how you should run your business—would she write it down?' And I thought, 'Take that!' And I said, 'I hope you have a good day. Good-bye.' "
Education, leadership, character. Over the course of Paterno's career, his players have graduated at a rate of around 85 percent; the current rate for Division 1-A public institutions is closer to 50 percent.
When the 2005 season started, it seemed like a bomb was about to go off in Happy Valley. The Paterno legacy was about to disintegrate into ruins or maybe explode into something big. Either way, it was about to blow. That season would be the test of Paterno's belief in himself and in all that he had created.
He finished 10-1, a miracle drive by Michigan away from his sixth perfect season in his forty years as head coach.
Paterno's house is vintage Brady Bunch, a modest ranch of pink coral brick with a big brown garage door, a concrete driveway, and a fine lawn. There are boxwoods and pink roses, and a stained-glass Nittany Lion on the front door, a lion door knocker, and a decorative hummingbird hanging off a suction cup on the glass beside.
He works in the way-back, back in the den Sue won't let me enter because it's a mess. He, himself, would not care. Sue hangs out in the kitchen. She keeps a neat kitchen. Right now she is fixing chicken salad for lunch. He will almost certainly not eat it. He eats the same thing every day for lunch: cottage cheese with salsa on it. "I'm sorry," she says to me, "but that's baby vomit."
She's dressed in pink, has on a gold chain gathered into a knot, tidy red hair. She walks with trouble on account of all the metal in her back, two rods and a bunch of screws. She has been in constant pain since 1975, when a guy accidentally clipped her in the stands at Ohio State and she went sailing and a lot of stuff in her back shattered. She almost never speaks of the pain or of the surgeries. She gets up every day at four forty-five, goes over to the football gym where they have all the equipment she could ever need, including an underwater treadmill. She laughs when people tell her she's disciplined. This is the only control at all she has over the pain.
He comes out of his den from time to time. "You all right, kid?" he asks me. "She treating you okay?" He has on khaki pants and a blue oord shirt and loafers. He seems awkward, like he wants to hang out but he doesn't want to hang out. He walks toward the refrigerator.
"Can you get her some ice for her Diet Pepsi?" she asks him.
"How do you know she wants ice?" he says. "She might not want ice."
"She likes ice!" she says.
"Well, I didn't hear you ask her if she wants ice," he says.
"I'll get my own ice," I say.
He tells me not to miss her chocolate-crunch cookies. "Everybody who comes here wants the cookies."
"In the summer, they're not as good, because the humidity makes them spread more," she says. "But if it's a cool day. Like today would be a good day to make them. "
"They're chocolate crunch, not chocolate chip," he says. "Because they're chocolate."
"That's right," she says. "I use the Cuisinart."
"Right," he says.
He is holding a cordless phone. "I'm sorry, I hate to be rude," he says. "But I gotta get back to work. I got so much I gotta deal with."
Maybe he does. Probably he does. But the effect is more like a groundhog who can only stay so long out of his hole.
She tells me this is pretty much it, this is how they spend their summer days. Him in the den working, and her in the kitchen on the phone with their kids.
We get on the subject of other college-coach wives, some of whom she knows. One asked her a while back about how she and Paterno went about making their choices to donate money back to the university. Sue assumed the woman was asking for advice about her own giving.
"I said, 'Well, what's your passion?' " she recalls. "Like, my dad was an architect. So we always did stuff in arts and architecture. Joe's dad was a lawyer, so we did stuff in political science. His favorite teacher in high school was Father Bermingham, and he was a pacifist. We would pick things that meant something to us to honor those people, you know? So I said, 'What's your passion?' But she was kind of blank on that. I told her sometimes you had to lower your passion on a particular thing. Like, for us, the classics really needed a lot of help. The library needed a lot of help. I said, 'Find out where the need is, and see where your passion is.' I was going on and on."
"And so, what did she say?" I ask.
"She said, 'Listen, our school owes us. That place would be nothing without us.' I told her, I said, 'You're making so much money, do something good with it, you know what I mean?' She said, 'Our school owes us.' I said, 'I'm gonna go take a shower.' And I left."
I ask her what she and Paterno do for entertainment. She thinks for a moment. Is this a trick question? She can't think of anything off the top of her head. "Well, you know, about three months ago we discovered MAS*H," she says. "They were doing reruns. We'd never seen MAS*H. We're not TV people. It came on at nine, so he would do something and I would iron, whatever. And we'd watch it. Alan Alda is just hysterical! Now we can't find it—it's off. Just as we got hooked, it's gone."
I ask her about movies. Do they go to movies?
"We saw... Oh, you know what we saw? We saw E.T. We enjoyed that. What else have we seen? I think before that we saw Rocky, because the players wanted to go. I was never so mad I went to a movie in my life. He never got smarter. He was so dumb. Did you ever see it? Just punching and punching. I thought, Oh, what a stupid man."
I ask if, perhaps, they occasionally go out to restaurants.
"A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Olive Garden. We enjoyed that."
In a few days, they'll go to the family shore house in New Jersey. That's a highlight. Except he gets bothered on the beach. Everyone coming up to him wanting autographs, offering football advice. But that happens here at home, too. People stop by with helmets to sign, jerseys. They just ring the doorbell and ask. "That bothers us," she says. "That does bother us."
I ask her why she never moved to a mansion on a hill behind a big gate.
"We have always liked our house," she says. "I would like a better closet in our bedroom. But that's about it."
I ask her why she was crying that night in 1972 when Paterno was about to sign up to coach the Patriots.
"I didn't want to leave," she says.
"But you would have been an instant millionaire," I say.
She recalls meeting with the guy from the Patriots who had wooed Paterno. She had a lot of questions for him. "Do they have big roads in Boston?" she asked.
"And he said, 'What do you mean, big roads?' " she recalls. "I said, 'Well, you know, big.' He was honest. He said the roads were big. I like little roads. Also, I liked our doctor. Our family doctor was super. You know, I didn't want to leave."
And her husband didn't want to leave, either; she knew that. "He was more about influencing someone's future," she says. "And you don't get to do that in the pros, generally."
Sitting at Paterno's kitchen table, I get lulled into an era that's passing, or one I thought was already gone. Here are some vestiges. Back before greed took over, before everything sped up.
"That's kind of archaic thinking," I say.
Paterno comes out again. "You two all right?" he says. "She treating you all right?" He babbles. He seems to feel obligated to entertain me. He talks about alpacas. He talks about how hard it is to get into Penn State now. He talks about where he keeps the flashlights in the house in case of power outages. He talks about being a soldier in Korea. "You know, there was a certain presence about those people. They were almost laughing at us. I sensed that. They were very proud. I was 18 years old.
"Anyway, I gotta get back," he says. "Aww, I don't want to be rude."
The next time he emerges, it's to ask her a question about an ATT commercial he's supposed to do. He barely knows how to use a cell phone, and now he's supposed to endorse one.
"I don't want to do it," he says.
"You didn't have a choice," she says.
"Sure, I had a choice," he says. "They committed me to do it because we got a lot of cell phones free. The whole athletic department. They wanted BlackBerrys."
"BlackJacks," she says.
"BlackBerrys," he says.
"No, BlackJacks," she says.
"I don't know what they got," he says. "They got all kindsa things. But I said go ahead and they can use my name and they get the thing free. Now they send me the script for the commercial. You can take a look at it. Because I think it's a little bit too strong an endorsement. It's nice to say we enjoy our phones, but they make a comparison. How do I know their prices are better?"
"Sit down and eat something," she says.
He chooses yogurt instead of his usual cottage cheese, because two days ago she bought yogurt, so he figures he should eat it.
"Do you—?" she says, folding her hands for a blessing.
"Sure," I say. She closes her eyes and says grace.
We sit at the table with the big round lazy Susan and eat. He tells me all about the first time he ate cottage cheese. "Well, it wasn't spaghetti," he says.
"Do you have gypsy moths?" she asks me. "Do you see all those leaves out there? Okay, do you see all these little black pellets? That's their poop. Yes. I have to blow the driveway at least once a day. They cover it in no time."
We spend the rest of our meal railing about gypsy moths.
I get lulled into an era that's passing, or one I thought was already gone. Here are some vestiges. Back before greed took over. Back before everything went designer, before everything sped up.
"After this I'm going for a haircut," he says.
"All right."
About thirty-five years ago, Paterno was invited to give a talk at a luncheon at Penn State. The audience was a bunch of English professors, and most of them assumed he was going to talk football. It would be amusing, undoubtedly, to see a coach try to spin football as a metaphor that had anything at all to do with the academy of letters.
Paterno didn't talk football. He talked Virgil, offering Aeneid as a model for a whole new kind of hero, one that, around 20 b.c., the Western civilized world had not yet met.
In the poem, Virgil proclaims pietas to be man's highest virtue. The word is usually translated as "duty" or "devotion," but it's more than that. It's the individual understanding himself to exist at the center of overlapping obligations. Through most of the poem, Aeneas isn't getting it. He wants to be a good old-fashioned hero. Someone more like the stars the Greeks offered up: all this bad stuff coming at you and you fight it off and everyone cheers. A hero!
Fate steps in. Aeneas is called. Unlike the Greek hero who was fated to succeed, Aeneas has to choose. He can act, or not act, on the demands of the divine calling. It isn't a onetime choice. He doubts himself continually, and decides, moment by moment, to endure.
His fuel is his recognition that his first commitment is to others and not to himself. He carries his father, holds his son's hand, and goes on to found Rome, which is impressive. But what makes him a worthy man is his willingness to subordinate himself to his obligations.
"Heroism in the Modern World," Paterno titled his speech.
A whole new kind of hero.
_Jeanne Marie Laskas is a _GQ correspondent.


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Energizing the future
JMU's Alternative Fuel Program takes a creative approach to sustainability
By Martha Bell Graham
JMU's Alternative Fuel Program, one of many dynamic programs on campus working toward environmental sustainability, provides a framework of research in the area of transportation, says director and ISAT professor Chris Bachman. The program merges applied research with education and outreach, attacking the problem three ways: fuels, technology and the elusive human factor — perhaps the greatest challenge.Think of all 250 million cars on American highways right now. Next, think how to get every driver to stop, park and mount a bike, get into a small electric car or take a bus. You now have an idea of the task undertaken by professors and students in the College of Integrated Science and Technology's Alternative Fuel Program. It's a critical problem with complex solutions — and tough hurdles to overcome.
The JMU approach — cross-curricular and cooperative
The program's exploration of alternative fuels springs from many academic disciplines: biology, chemistry, geology, physics, engineering and technology. The cross-curricular and cooperative nature of the program makes it dynamic and fluid. Using surveys, simulation modeling, statistical analysis, along with hands-on research that emphasizes student participation, the program twines varied disciplines with many campus, community and government agencies — and students in all levels of education.
Investigating a variety of potential alternatives
Since 1997, JMU students and professors have worked together to explore the potential of harvested macrocystic pyrifera (giant sea kelp) and trichoderma reesei (a fungus) to produce biofuels. They have evaluated the efficacy of converting cooking oils leftover from the dining hall into biofuels and converted campus vehicles to run on it. They have investigated compressed natural gas as an alternative fuel. JMU now has two CNG refueling stations on campus and a fleet of vehicles using alternative fuels.
They also have explored electric and wind energy. Students are converting a truck donated by Shenandoah National Park, along with a $20,000 grant, to an electric vehicle the park service will use. It is one of several electric vehicles successfully developed in the university's Alternative Vehicle Lab where they take their ideas and build them. It is rare on college campuses for so many students to have access to a complete and professional machine shop, Bachman says.
The challenge to change human behavior
Innovative thinking, Bachman says, is why JMU's creative approach to the entire alternative fuels paradigm is so important. Anyone can build electric cars. The technology is there. But how do you get a majority of drivers to buy and drive them?
The best science — like a brilliant mind — is useless without the discipline of individuals to embrace it. Changing human behavior is the missing piece and is perhaps the biggest challenge AFP faces is changing the culture outside the university.
This point of interface is where AFP hopes to have an impact. Bachman puts it this way: "We're doing a different kind of research. ... How society interacts with technology. What are the hurdles to overcome to get them (environmentally smart vehicles) into the mainstream."
No matter how successful a program is, Bachman says, "none can meet current consumption, We have to use less energy. We have to shift our thinking." And that is perhaps the most challenging aspect of alternative fuel research — and the one where JMU is clearly taking a leading role.
"We're not like R1 schools," Bachman says. Plenty of schools and companies can create the technology, but JMU is working hard to change the perception and the acceptability of environmentally responsible vehicles. "It doesn't matter if you can create the most efficient vehicle on the road if people won't drive it." That's JMU's challenge and where AFP is making its mark.
At JMU the dynamic exchange and generation of innovative ideas is an unfettered and unmatched collaboration of professors, students, staff members, alumni and community members — all working toward a sustainable world.
Condensed from Summer 2009 Madison.
Published: Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Last Updated: Monday, February 26, 2018


text: I start with the base price of $175 and factor in how far away, how big, location in building and difficulty of removal meaning time it takes. This is a side line hobby and folks like JP who do it for a living will charge top dollar as would I if that was my business. Some areas you go into folks may not be able to drop a 300 bill for a removal so for me it is what I feel is fair for all parties in the negotiation. If they have been sprayed already say can not do!Blanc


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Apple has reportedly started testing iOS 6.0.1 with carrier partners and the update could launch as early as next week as part of the iPad mini release. iOS 6.0.1 is said to contain bug fixes for various issues found in the original iOS 6 release, such as keyboard rendering glitches, the camera flash failing to go off, and a number other issues, from smaller annoyances to security problems. Jonathan S. Geller of the newly redesigned BGR reports:
In addition, the new software will improve Wi-Fi support, fix cellular data not working in some cases, add a consolidated cellular data switch for iTunes Match, fix a bug that allowed access to Passbook pass details from the lock screen, and also finally fix the bug that caused Exchange meetings to be unexpectedly cancelled for the entire calendar invite group.
Geller also says that Apple has only begun testing iOS 6.1 internally. It is not yet known when that update will be available, but it could be months before its public release. In previous years, the first minor update to the new iOS release came less than a month after launch. The first major post-release update, x.1, usually releases between two and three months after the initial release, though last year, iOS 5.1 did not appear until almost five months after iOS 5 was released.
If Geller is correct, and his carrier sources have provided accurate iOS update information in the past, it seems that iOS users will get at least a few fixes sooner rather than later.
Source: BGR


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School & Youth Group Dining Options
There's nothing like a candlelit dinner in an 18th-century tavern to take you away from 21st-century concerns. Enjoy a true "taste of history" during your visit by having a meal at one of our historic dining taverns, where the favorite foods of the colonists are still on the menu along with some modern interpretations. A meal at one of Colonial Williamsburg's historic dining taverns will be the delicious centerpiece of your group's visit, as it was for many a pre-Revolutionary traveler. Costumed wait staff will bid you welcome, and wandering balladeers may serenade you. You may even enjoy a tableside visit by one of our tavern proprietors. Dining at a Colonial Williamsburg historic tavern captures all your senses—especially your sense of fun.
You can also enjoy a light fare at the Museum or Visitor Center Cafe, relish a tasty pizza at Huzzah!, or have a delicious refreshment at the Raleigh Tavern Bakery. There's something for every taste in Colonial Williamsburg's restaurants.
Download Lunch and Dinner Menus
Our dining facilities fill up quickly, so make your reservations early by calling 1-800-228-8878.


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My DH asked me if I wanted a new sewing table that was larger than the one I have. I said sure (of course).
When he asked me to help him take it out of the truck I was a little nervous - He's been know to get some rather peculiar items at rummage sales. It turns out he found a 4 x 8 solid pine table at Barnes and Noble that they were going to toss out and they said he could have it - free! It is very large, very heavy, and very solid. I'm lucky my quilting room is in the basement or I wouldn't have been able to fit it anywhere else. He sure earned some points that day!


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After thinking on this for a little while, I guess it might be that most of the media coverage about the iPhone 4 is coming from the USA - where is was launched. It's only natural. The problem with the US telecoms market is that it is not representative of the rest of the world - who has had video calling for ages and don't really use it. Perhaps it was the overflowing Apple coolaid fountain in the iPhone 4 launch that got the audience clapping when Jobs placed a video call, or perhaps it was just that they had never seen a video call before - I wasn't there so I cant be sure. Right now, the Facetime capability on the iPhone 4 is only for WiFi connections - which makes it pretty limiting. Apparently, there is no setup required, no buddylist, you just use the phone number to make a video call - which is the way video calling already works (see the screen dump of my phone to the right and the short video below), but the WiFi limitation on the iPhone 4 will mean that you have to guess when the recipient is WiFi connected. At least with the standard 3GPP video call, the networks are ubiquitous enough to pretty much guarantee that if the recipient is connected to a network, they can receive a video or at least a phone call. Job's didn't explain what would happen if the recipient was not WiFi connected - does it just make a voice call instead? I hope so.
I recall in 2003, Hutchison 3 launched their 3G network in Australia with much fan-fair. Video calls was a key part of the 3G launch in Australia for all of the telcos. This article from the 14Apr03 Sydney Morning Herald (on day before the first official 3G network in Australia) illustrates what I am talking about. The authors say that the network's "...main feature is that it makes video calling possible via mobile phone." Think about it for a second. That's from more than seven years ago and Australia was far from the first country to get a 3G network. A lifetime in today's technology evolution. Still the crowds clapped and cheered as Jobs made a Video call. If I had have been in the audience, I think I would have yawned at that point.
The other interesting thing that I noticed in job's speech as his swipe at the Telcos. He implied that they needed to get their networks in order to support video calls. Evidence from the rest of the world would suggest that is not the case - perhaps it is in the USA, or perhaps he is trying to deflect blame for not allowing Facetime over 3G connections away from Apple and back to the likes of AT&T who have copped a lot of flack over their alleged influence on Apple's Application store policies involving applications that could be seen to be competitive with services from AT&T. I am not sure how much stick AT&T deserve on that front, but it's pretty obvious from job's comment that he is not in love with carriers - and certainly from what I've seen, carriers are not in love with Apple. It might be interesting to see how long the relationship lasts. My guess is that as long as Apple devices continue to be popular, both parties will be forced to share the same bed.
On another related point, I have been searching the Internet to find what standards body Apple submitted Facetime to for certification - Jobs says in the launch that it will be done "tomorrow" - this could be marketing speak for 'in the future' or it could literally mean the day after he launched the iPhone 4. If anyone knows please let me know - I want to have a look into the way Facetime works.
Thanks very much to my colleague Geoff Nicholls for taking the Video Call in the video above.


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The Shield's mission is to provide emergency funds and resources to the families of officers in southwest Ohio who are critically injured or killed in the line of duty.
An officer had been killed in the line of duty, and his family had no means of producing the funds needed to cover their expenses – travel, lodging, and the added expense of missing work. Sensing a duty to care for their own, the chiefs of police began a "100 club," pooling their own money together to support the family.
Since then, the "100 Club" has grown into what is now The Shield, its base of support expanding from the chiefs through the police force and out into the local community. Our goal is to always be able to provide as much money for the families as they need as soon as they need it. To do that, we hope to build up a reserve of funds that will both guarantee enough resources for every situation and help us expand to reach even more officers and their families in need.
Click here to learn more about The Shield.
Mailing Address:
The Shield
7149 Ridge Road
Cincinnati, OH 45237


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Friday, December 9, 2011
But instead I'm back in bed. This stupid illness that I have seems to sneak up on me when I do too much. My legs are barely working, I have a cold sore and my face is breaking out, I've got a cold and my eyes have puffed up to the point that I can see my own eyelids when I look straight ahead.
Attractive huh?!
The disease I have is called MS (multiple sclerosis). I will do a post about it at some point, but right now I don't feel like I even know enough about it myself.
I first started getting symptoms a little over two years ago when I was pregnant with Max, and its taken from then until a couple of months ago to get a diagnosis. So its still all very new to me.
Most days my life is perfectly normal. But on the days where it's not (like today) it starts to really get me down. I'm not going to go into too much detail today because I would rather write a post about it on one of those days where I'm not feeling sorry for myself. Which is definitely not today!
So I'm back off to bed to rest up and get better.
I promise I'll be back soon with some festive cheer :)
16 comments
- AnonymousDecember 9, 2011 at 11:01 AM
thinking of you tamsyn. i can't imagine how that must be for you with a little one. take care and rest. xo.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 9, 2011 at 11:02 AM
ps: i have been meaning to say you have the cutest looking dog. he is very handsome :)ReplyDelete
I hope you're feeling better, soon. I know little about MS but a former employer had it and she, too, had good and bad days. I hope your good days far outnumber the bad ones. But it's good you're getting some rest. If you're tired, then you're body is telling you something.ReplyDelete
I am sending you "good vibes," all the way from Canada!!
I love you and I hope your Drs visit goes well!ReplyDelete
I hope these bad days pass quickly. Looking forward to hearing your news at some point!ReplyDelete
Oh no =(ReplyDelete
I hope the bad days are few and far between. Take care.
Not good news Tamsyn. The daughter of my parent's neighbour is living with MS. I don't know too much about it. But hope that your bad days are few and far between. I take L-Lysine for coldsores - doesn't help once you have one but helps in preventing their frequency.ReplyDelete
So sorry to hear you are feeling down Tamsyn! I will be sure to keep you in my prayers in hopes you will feel better soon!ReplyDelete
Veronica - Thank you. And thanks for the comments on Cooper! We think he's pretty cute too :)ReplyDelete
Tanya - The good days are definitely winning at the moment, hopefully it will stay that way! Thank you xx
Jen - Love you xx
Jenn - Thanks Jenn, I promise I will share soon :)
Melody - Thanks lovely x
Brooke - Thank you for the tip on the L-lysine. A great reminder. I used to take it religiously with my vitamins each day to prevent cold sores. I seem to have forgotten about it over the last couple of years.
Melanie - Thank you, that means a lot to me xx
Gosh Tam - I had no idea it was so bad - I feel like a terrible friend, hope things improve soon. I dont know much at all about MSReplyDelete
It's ok Cat, I haven't been great about sharing whats going on. Somehow it's easier to write about it than it is to speak about it...ReplyDelete
Hi Tamsyn; I've been missing from blog land for awhile so am doing some catchup and just read your post. I'm so sorry to hear this news of your illness. Please rest and take care of yourself. And please know that I'm thinking of you and sending you loads of good thoughts!ReplyDelete
Much Love Leese xx
I love following you on instagram, it's easier for me these days than blogging, so I still feel like I'm in the loop with my friends in the blog world. Your trip away looked amazing! xx
PPS..I think your pup Cooper and my Ziggy must definitly be long lost cousins...they look so alike!!!ReplyDelete
Hey Leese, I love catching up on instagram too :) I don't feel like you've been missing at all! As for Cooper and Ziggy... they could be twins!! They even have the same little bone shaped id tag I think :)ReplyDelete
I hope your are learning more about what it means to live with MS. I know for me it is all about planning and energy management. It took me years to figure the balance out though, so I hope your journey is faster!ReplyDelete


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I did not go to Frankenstein Castle today :-( But I did go to every record store in Frankfurt. Found the CD edition of Zappa's 200 Motels. It came out in '97, but for reasons that escape me I never bought it. Now it's out of print. So it was a lucky find.
The Zen significance of this is that my first Zen teacher, Tim McCarthy, used to quote from this all the time. "Manuel, the gardener, slid his mutated member into her quivering quim!" Yes, folks, I come from a long and glorious Buddhist tradition!
Tomorrow is the start of yet another darned sesshin. 34 people signed up for the thing! Can you believe that? Who in their right mind would put themselves through such torture? Three days of wall gazing and sleeping on thin futons in a group on the floor in the Buddha hall then waking up at nothing o'clock in the morning. But it looks like the food will be good.
Uhhhhhh... I wish I had some great philosophical gem to leave you with. But they're watching Pimp My Ride or some such thing in here where the Internet access is and it's scrambling my synapses too much.
Next report, from Finland! See you there!
(PHOTO CAPTION: Great Sky 2009. This was the first time I've ever been served macaroni & cheese oryoki style at a Zen Sesshin! But it was held in Minnesota...)


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Anyway - Artyarns SILK RHAPSODY has arrived!
To get back to my title. Guess what I'm doing right now?! With my right hand I'm pointing and clicking and with my left hand I'm petting the yarn!!! It doesn't look like it but it's sooooooooo soft!
The colores are pretty accurate. There's no white in it (which I would have liked), but I can live with that. It kind of reminds me of moss (or whatever that is), which grows on trees all over when they are old and maybe on the wheather side. It's silvery grey with green like this yarn. I've always liked the woods, they are cool (phantasizing about cool woodsy spots, since it's way to hot here for me.) That's why ...
I think this Silk Rhapsody could have come from one of my fir trees. I wish it would grow on the trees instead of those millions of pollinating fir cones.
I'm not quite sure what I'm going to knit with this yarn. It has to be something special since this yarn is very special to me.


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Welcome to the CRG Discussion Forum!Forum registration problems: Make sure you enter your email correctly and you check your spam box first. *Then* email KurtS2@gmail for help.Classified ads are not allowed on the forum.
I live in AZ ,were a few years behind here. This state is not very car friendly , there are alot of nice cars here that don't hardly see the light of day because there are not very many car things to do. Cruising has been outlawed at all the old cruise spots. There are some cruis-ins but only a few and even they disapear from time to time.ThanksJay


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When you place your order before noon Eastern Time, we'll ship it the same business day. Orders placed after 12pm ET will be shipped the following business day. Some exceptions include customized products, special order items, and backorders.
Orders totaling $100+ before taxes and fees receive Free Ground Shipping. Sorry, international orders, clearance products, team orders and oversized products do not qualify.


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Handed: Right
Grip: Shakehands
Style of Play: Two Wing Attacker
Rubber: Both sides inverted
Sponsors: Killerspin, New York Athletic Club,
Club Affiliation: LYTTC, iTableTennis, WCTTA , JWTTC
School: Princeton University
How long have you been playing? 12 Years
How did you get involved in the sport? My mom couldn't find a baby sitter for me when I was seven and took me along to the Palo Alto Table Tennis club.
Your best victory or tournament? Highest Rating to date? My best "victory" was losing to the eventual champion Li Xiaoxia at the 2012 Olympics. Highest world ranking: 73 Highest USATT rating: 2548
What are your Goals in the sport? There are only three sports that the U.S. has never medalled at the Olympics: badminton, handball, and table tennis. My goal is to win a medal for my country. If I can't do it, I want to help others to do it.
Who is your Favorite Player? Why? Ding Ning from China is my favorite player. She always seems happy and enjoys playing the matches.
Describe your game or playing philosophy. I am a two-wing attacker. My philosophy is to always train hard and try your best. I want to enjoy the game and care less about the results.
Competition Record:
- 2014 TMS College Table Tennis National Women's Singles and Women's Team
- 2013 US National Championships Women's Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles Champion
- 2013 North American Championship – Women's Singles Champion, Junior Girls' Singles Champion and Junior Girls' Team Champion
- 2013 US Open – Women's Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Women's U21-2nd place
- 2012 Female High School Athlete of the Year - by San Jose Sports Authority
- 2012 U.S. National Championship – Women's U22 Champion and Mixed Doubles Champion
- 2012 ITTF Intercontinental Cup - Women's Champion
- 2012 North America Olympic Trial - First Women Qualified
- 2012 North America Cup - Women's Champion
- 2012 ITTF Brazil Open - Women's U21 Champion
- 2012 ITTF USA Junior & Cadet Open - Junior Girls Singles, Doubles and Team Champion
- 2011 U.S. National Championship – Women's Open Singles Champion, Women's U22 Champion and Mixed Doubles Champion
- 2011 North America Cup - Women's Champion
- 2011 Women's World Cup - North America representative
- 2011 ITTF Junior Circuit Finals - Girls Singles 3rd place
- 2011 Pan American Games - Women Singles and Team Bronze medalist
- 2011 JUIC International Jr. & Cadet - Open Champion
- 2011 Canadian Junior Open - Team and doubles Champion
- 2011 Pan Am and US National Team Trial - First Place
- 2010 U.S. National Championship – Women's Open Singles Champion and Women's U22 Champion
- 2010 Nate Wasserman Memorial Scholarship Awards –Junior Girls and Cadet Girls Champion
- 2010 ITTF Global Cadet Challenge - Girls Singles Bronze and Girls Doubles Silver
- 2010 Ecuador Junior and Cadet Open - Cadet Girls Single Gold, Junior Girls Singles Silver and Junior Girls Team Gold
- 2010 Pan Am Trials for Global Cadet Challenge - Girls Champion
- 2010 Inaugural Youth Olympic Games - USA representative
- 2010 US Open - U21 women 2nd place.
- 2010 North America Championship – Cadet Girls Singles and Junior Girls Team Champion
- 2010 China vs. World Team Challenge - Represented Junior Girls World team finished 2nd place.
- 2010 Italian Junior & Cadet Open - Cadet Girls Singles Champion, Cadet Girls Doubles Champion and Cadet Girls Team Finalist
- 2010 US National Team Trials – Women First Place
- 2010 Safir International – Girls Under 16 Champion
- 2010 Pan Am Youth Olympics Trials in El Salvador – Girls Singles First Place
Letter to Top Spin Movie
Gordon Kaye Nov. 15, 2014
Thank you for the time, energy and enthusiasm you have dedicated to this exciting project and for portraying such a positive image of our sport and the great athletes that play.
Top Spin Movie
Oct. 29, 2014
The World Premiere was sold out!
Striving for Rio
Oct. 16, 2014
The ICC Table Tennis Center shares their view on how to create our next generation of Olympians and Medalists.
36-Day Countdown to Change in the ITTF's Presidency
Sheri Cioroslan July 27, 2014
"I did sacrifice many things for table tennis, but if I had to do it all over again, I would. A million times."
Ariel Hsing joins JinHua Bank team for the 2014 China Super League
May 26, 2014
Ariel will play fourteen team matches in this year's China Table Tennis Super League.
Gallery Athletes Journey From Youth Olympic Games To Olympic Games
May 08, 2014
Having first competed at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Hsing advanced past the first stage, but really turned heads two years later in London!
Gallery: Athletes Journey From Youth Olympic Games To Olympic Games
May 08, 2014
The Youth Olympic Games prepare Team USA athletes for Olympic competition
Gallery: Athletes Journey From Youth Olympic Games To Olympic Games
May 08, 2014
The Youth Olympic Games prepare Team USA athletes for Olympic competition
Ariel Hsing at the Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting
Sean O'Neill May 04, 2014
Keeping the game fun in Omaha with two of Ariel's biggest supporters!
2014 Highlights "Special Moments and Great Plays"
Jimmy Butler April 16, 2014
Action from all around the US in 2014!