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Peter Shotwell, author of Go! More Than a Game, stopped by the U.S. Go Congress Friday evening to talk about some of the updates coming in a new revision of the book due in the next few months. In the seven years since the publication of the first edition in 2003, Shotwell has done additional research in several areas that will appear in the new edition, including a re-examination of the attitude of Confucians toward go, advances in computer go, the combinatorics of go, and the possible spiritualization of Tibetan go. It was long presumed that the Confucians did not think very much of the game of go, said Shotwell, identifying it with gambling and laziness, but a better dating of some of the source documents has led him to see an evolution in their thinking — including seeing some value in the game by the time of the last mention. The Confucian writings were from the third century B.C. but the game was not explained at all, which implies that it was very well known and thus quite old at that time. The earliest go board that has been found was from 141 B.C.E. in the guardhouse of a Han emperor's tomb and go was alternately praised and damned in the writings of the Han period. By the Three Kingdoms period in the third century, go was played by many and by 600 it was getting high praise in poetry. An archeological find along with a game that Shotwell played in Tibet got him thinking about the connection between spirituality and go in Tibet. He played with a government official while visiting Tibet and found out that there were some very different rules including only being allowed to move up to one space or a knight's move from an existing stone, being awarded five points for taking the center, and losing twenty points if you lose all of the corners. The starting position placed five stones of each color in a pattern on the fourth line around the whole board, which made for a kind of "race to the center." Shotwell thinks that these rules may have added a spiritual air to the game, which may have been done to "convince the early Buddhists that this new game from China was OK." Two stone boards from the seventh century have been found in Tibet since the first edition and interestingly, one of the boards had two depressions on each side, which may indicate that Japanese scoring with prisoners may have been used.
There have been huge advances in computer go since 2003 as well. At that time "any kid could beat the computer programs." But, since the advent of Monte Carlo simulations and advances in the tree pruning algorithms in 2006 and 2007, "the top programs are at an amateur 1D level." Once in a while, those programs can beat professionals when getting seven stones on the 19×19 board. On the 9×9 board, some programs are at a mid-level professional strength. Those programs use a lot of computer power, though, with up to 112 cores allowing them to do 100,000 simulations per second. Shotwell also pointed out some advances in go combinatorics, which is a branch of probability that studies the number of possible go games or positions. Two of the more interesting results from studies by Dr. John Tromp compared possible chess positions with that of go: for go it is a 171-digit number whereas for chess it is only 46 digits. Even more astonishing, perhaps, is that just the number of digits in the total number of possible go games is larger than the total number of possible chess games. Much of that information will be reflected in the new edition of his book, but Shotwell has also contributed numerous essays to AGA's Bob High Memorial Library.
– Report/photo by Jake Edge


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Giving Back To Those Who Have Served Our Country
LIU Post has a proud and distinguished history of serving its nation's military veterans and active duty service members. Our supportive community of staff and faculty is dedicated to seeing you succeed in your education, your career and your life. To accomplish this mission, LIU Post provides the resources you need to pursue your education while balancing the demands of life both inside and outside the classroom.
Our team of professionals is ready to help you learn more about admissions requirements, veterans' benefits and financial aid, academic and career advising, health and wellness counseling, disability support services, tutoring, and student activities. We are here to help you access these services and assist you every step of the way.
LIU Post Rated among "Best for Vets" Among Nation's Business Schools
LIU Post Named to Military-Friendly Schools List
Financial aid & campus services place campus among top 15% of universities nationwide for veterans
Citing its help with tuition costs, college credit for military training and on-campus services for veterans, LIU Post has been listed as a "Military Friendly School" in G.I. Jobs, a veteran-owned publication that serves former service members.
The Military Friendly Schools list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools, which are doing the most to embrace America's veterans as students. Long Island University's campuses in Brooklyn and Rockland were also named to the list.

subset: commoncrawl


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At work right now, we are trying to decide how much and of what type/configurations of memory to buy for upgrading of some "nicer" older systems that just have 256MB of system RAM installed for XP Professional to use. Sure, it works, but is a bit sluggish even for 2.8 GHz processors.
Being the clever guys and gals we are, we figured we would get several sample combos of memory and then benchmark them on the systems to see which performed best balancing both price and performance (we are diligent and fiscal-mindful State employees, after all).
That led us to uncover the following benchmarking software listed below.
Now, let me say up-front, these are not by any-means a complete list. There are A LOT of quality freeware benchmarking products and many focus on gaming and video performance. Because we don't run games and graphic extravaganzas on our workplace systems, I am skipping over those for now...maybe I'll touch on these later.
Additionally, they all (with one exception) are free. Though look carefully to see if they can be used as such in a non-personal (i.e. at work) environment.
Here are what we are playing with, in order of excitement and usefulness:
The Benchmark List
PassMark Performance Test - (free 30-day trial/$) - This software is really great. The reports are very detailed and well explained. The tests are quite fast. It contains twenty-five standard tests and five advanced tests. They cover performance of CPU, graphics, disks, memory, and CD/DVD drives. Systems with hyperthreading and multiple CPU's are also supported. We are so enamored with this product I think we will be making some licence purchases in the coming month! It's a really useful product.
Fresh Diagnose - (freeware after required registration) - Analyzes and benchmarks your system. Nice interface and detailed reporting of components. It is hard to find something to be unhappy with this product.
MemTach 0.93 Alpha - (freeware) - I can't seem to find a live website for this product any longer, so I am linking to the MajorGeeks download site. If you want to know more, use the WayBack Machine to search the cached pages for the developer's site. It takes some work but there is info to be found. This tool does a great job of providing a large number of system memory performance tests. The info is fast and fairly easy to interpret.
CrystalMark 2004R2 - (freeware) - Another nice tool to benchmark the following areas:
- Memory
- Graphics (GDI/DirecDraw/OpenGL)
- BIOS/Mother Board Information
- CPU (Clock, Cache, Multiplier, System Clock ...)
- Chipset (North/South)
- Video (Driver Information/ Video RAM)
- Network Information
- PCI Device
- IDE HDD Information
- DLL Information (Windows / VisualC++ / VisualBasic / Archiver )
- Wallpaper
CPUID's PC WIZARD 2008 - (freeware) - Another really nice and well-packed benchmarking tool which appears to have been around the block for a good-long time. The developer says it "...is also an utility designed to analyze and benchmark your computer system. It can analyze and benchmark many kinds of hardware, such as CPU performance, Cache performance, RAM performance, Hard Disk performance, CD/DVD-ROM performance, Removable/FLASH Media performance, Video performance, MP3 compression performance."
7Byte : MetaBench - This one looks really, really good, but I never could get it to actually run on any of our XP Pro systems at work for some reason. If anyone has any tips or is able to get it working, please let me know! It does seem to work fine on my XP Home system. I don't know if there are some required DLL files or something missing. Need to spend more time working on this one as I REALLY wanted to use this one at work on our Windows XP Pro systems.
Want More?
Download site MajorGeeks has a very nice list of software in the Benchmarking category worth looking around in for additional benchmark and system information collection utilities that I haven't mentioned:
Exo Performance Solutions - Very Interesting
Finally, in my failed attempts to track down some benchmark software I had oft seen used on pc testing sites (OfficeBench - anyone have any leads?) I eventually stumbled upon the Exo Performance Network site.
Registration is free, and gets you access to two applications: a real-time system performance monitoring and benchmarking program that uploads results to a server-account for tracking, and a client and server workload simulator to test personal productivity applications and client/server database and workflow messaging connections.
I signed up and expect to be playing with some of these as well down the road.
My Benchmarking Results?
Well, testing is still ongoing. Unfortunately, working with all this memory and seeing the performance gains when going from 256MB to 1GB of system RAM got me hungry.
Thursday night as I was doing an all-night blogging session on our Vista laptop, the 1GB system memory and 2GB ReadyBoost USB drive I was using just seemed a bit, well, sluggish. This was especially painful after seeing how Dad's Vista system was loving the 4GB system RAM we configured it with.
So I popped over to Crucial.com and downloaded/ran their memory advisor utility.
I was amazed to find that two 1GB sticks of RAM for the laptop (I needed to buy 2) to upgrade it to its paltry 2GB RAM system max was just $55. I pulled out the credit card and placed my order in minutes. The price had dropped considerably since the last time I checked. So this week it should arrive and hopefully the Vista laptop will be a bit quicker.


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Over 5 million bird specimens are housed in North American collections, documenting the composition, distribution, ecology, and systematics of the world's estimated 10,000-16,000 bird species. Millions of additional observational records are held in diverse data sets. ORNIS addresses the urgent call for increased access to these data in an open and collaborative manner, and involves development of a suite of online software tools for data analysis and error-checking. This project, funded by the National Science Foundation, expands on existing infrastructure developed for distributed mammal (MaNIS), amphibian and reptile (HerpNet), and fish (FishNet) databases. Improved access to avian data sets will allow predictive uses to reveal patterns and processes of evolutionary and ecological phenomena that have not been apparent heretofore. Along with similar infrastructures for other vertebrate groups, it also will enable detailed and synthetic knowledge of the earth's biodiversity for tracking climate change, emerging diseases (e.g., West Nile Virus), and other conservation challenges for species in the 21st century.
REMINDER: VertNet is now transitioning data sets from DiGIR to IPT.
If you share biodiversity data with MaNIS, FishNet, HerpNET, or ORNIS, please visit VertNet's IPT FAQ to select your hosting preference and to learn more about IPT or you can always contact us directly at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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"One of the most delightful, clever, and helpful books about marriage I've ever seen."—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
"Practical, compelling, and hilarious . . . The minute I finished this book, I started to experiment on my husband."—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project
"This clever and hilarious book is really a user's manual for improving relationships in marriage, family, business, and society in general."—The Miami Herald
"The book is grounded in solid research, makes economics entertaining, and might just save a marriage or two."—James Pressley, Bloomberg
"A convincing and creative case for how the dismal science can help reconcile marital disputes."—The Washington Post


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This page is specifically for Local Authority users and contains background material and guidance for the Local Authority view developed for IG Toolkit V12.
A new organisation view called Local Authority (LA) has been created on the IG Toolkit to replace the previous
Social Care Delivery/Local Authority (SCD/LA) view. All SCD/LA assessments will be locked and available to authorised
users as "read only". User account details from the previous SCD/LA accounts have been copied into the corresponding
new Local Authority accounts (see below "Local Authority User Guide: Change to Local Authority Organisation Codes - And How to Still Log Into Your Account.")
Your IG Toolkit session will automatically timeout in 5 minutes
Please press Ok within 5 minutes of this message appearing to stop your session
timing out


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Jul 4th: Independence Day. Center CLOSED
Jul 12th: Hendry County Fire Department visit
Jul 13th-27th: Water Day
Jul 28th: Last day of Focus on Four Summer Program.
The center will be CLOSED Tuesday, July 4 for observance of The Independence Day Holiday. Have a great day with your family and friends celebrating at the beach, on a picnic, or watching fireworks! Remember to be safe!
Happy 4th Of July!
July 13th and July 27th we are having our Water Day Activity. Please make sure to send a full change of clothes and a towel for your child and apply sunscreen before dropping your child off for school.
Staying cool during summer is not easy. A yummy way to fight against the summer heat is making cool and refreshing treats. On July 11, we will be making popsicles, and on July 25th we will be making snow cones. We are pretty sure that your children will learn how to make these delicious treats, so don't hesitate to ask them to do them at home too!
Wednesday, July 12th The Hendry County Fire Department will give us a visit. Children really enjoy having the firemen coming to the center and teaching them about fire safety. Parents are always welcome to come and participate in this activity. Who knows, you can learn helpful tips too!
The patriotic palette of this sweet and crunchy mix makes it a perfect choice for your Independence Day celebration.
In a large bowl, combine the snack mix, blueberries, cranberries, and sunflower seeds.
Place the white chocolate chips into a medium, microwave-safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on High for 60-90 seconds then stir. Melt for an additional 30-60 seconds, if needed.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the snack mix, and stir until well coated. Turn the mix out onto a large piece of wax paper, sprinkle with blue and red candies, then allow the white chocolate to stand at room temperature for about 1 hour to harden. To serve, break the mix up into large chunks.
This year, from May 22 to August 9, the Lee County Library System hopes to inspire our community to "Build a Better World." Find activities and events for you and your children.
Some activity challenges include:
"Everything we do improves the lives of children."
Child Care of Southwest Florida 6831 Palisades Park Ct. Suite 6 Fort Myers, Florida 33912 You received this email because your child is enrolled at one of the Child Care Centers of Southwest Florida. Our 6 locations: The Children's Learning Center at FSW | Joseph H. Messina Child Care Center | P.A. Geraci Development Center | The Community Children's Center | Children's Garden of LaBelle | Harlem Academy Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails


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Public Health and Toxicology Information
Government Links – Environmental Effects
Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry (ATSDR)
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ ATSDR provides health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances. ToxFAQs are summaries about hazardous substances, which include information about exposure to hazardous substances found in hazardous waste sites (and elsewhere) and related health effects. It also provides toxicological profiles on these substances.
Agency of Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR), Toxic Substances Portal Toxicological Profiles
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/index.asp From CERCLA, ATSDR worked with USEPA to develop a list of hazardous substances most commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL) and prepare toxicological profiles for each substance included on the priority list of hazardous substances. The toxicological profiles include an examination, summary, and interpretation of available toxicological information and epidemiologic evaluations of a hazardous substance. During the development of toxicological profiles, MRLs are derived when ATSDR determines that reliable and sufficient data exist to identify the target organ(s) of effect or the most sensitive health effect(s) for a specific duration for a given route of exposure to the substance.
California Air Resources Board (CARB), Toxic Air Contaminant (TAC) Identification List
https://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/id/taclist.htm The TAC Identification List is composed of substances that have been identified by the State Board as toxic air contaminants. If there are known threshold exposure levels for any of these contaminants, these have been listed along with any reports from exposure assessments, health effect studies, and public comments.
California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Information Databases
https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/dprdatabase.htm The DPR has a number of collections of data and other information related to pesticide registration, licensing, pesticide use, environmental effects, enforcement, and other elements of the program. Major online databases and datasets are listed, some of which can be queried and searched directly. Others can be downloaded and the data manipulated with database or spreadsheet software.
California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), Pesticide Data Index Database
https://apps.cdpr.ca.gov/ereglib/ DPR's library of pesticide data includes more than 76,000 volumes of data containing more than 210,000 studies. Pesticide studies submitted to DPR have been indexed into a database using several different criteria. It provides information about all products containing the pesticide, including a subsection for just the active products.
California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Product/Label Database
https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/label/labelque.htm DPR's Product/Label Database contains information concerning all pesticide products registered in California. It includes registrant name and address, chemical ingredients, product names, site/pest category uses, pesticidal type, formulation code, registration status, dates, and other types of information.
California Department of Pesticide Regulation, New California Product Registrations
https://apps.cdpr.ca.gov/label/prodlist.cfm The New California Product Registrations is a search engine that lists pesticide products registered in California the past 12 months.
California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC),
Human and Ecological Risk Office (HERO)
The DTSC Human and Ecological Risk Office (HERO) provides DTSC program staff with technical assistance and training on the toxicity of chemicals and the health risks of chemicals to human and ecological receptors.
Evaluation of Contaminant Health Risks at School, Residential, Industrial, Military Base and Recreational/Open Space Sites in California. HERO provides expertise for site characterization, fate and transport modeling, as well as, site-specific exposure and health risk assessments for school, residential, commercial/industrial, recreational, military base and open space sites in California. HERO's objective is to ensure that contaminants are accurately characterized, health risks are accurately estimated, and any residual contamination does not pose a risk to human and ecological health. Additional information is available on the HERO website, including HERO Guidance and Notes on Human Health Risk Assessment and on Ecological Risk Assessment.
The DTSC Safer Consumer Products Program works to identify chemicals in consumer products with the potential to produce adverse health effects and evaluate product-chemical combinations for which safer alternatives must be evaluated. HERO toxicologists are involved in the evaluation of the toxicity of chemicals and alternatives in consumer products.
California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), Chemical Information Tool (CIT)
https://cit.dtsc.ca.gov/cit.web/ This link provides access to DTSC's Chemical Information Tool. Users can search for chemicals and associated hazard traits and end points. The chemical search searches by chemical name or CASRN number. The advanced search is intended for searching by hazard trait or end point although it will search the authoritative sources by any key words.
California Proposition 65 Chemical List
https://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/Newlist.html California's OEHHA publishes and updates the Prop 65 list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or developmental/reproductive toxicity. It adopts safe harbor levels for the chemicals and provides guidance for calculating a level in the absence of this safe harbor level. Businesses that cause exposures greater than the safe harbor level must notify customers and/or consumers with Prop 65 warnings.
California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), Toxicity Criteria Database
https://oehha.ca.gov/tcdb/index.asp The OEHHA Toxicity Criteria Database contains a variety of chemicals and includes information on the uses, reference exposure levels, CA public health goals, Prop 65 levels, and cancer potency.
Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB)
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cpdb/ https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?CPDB.htm The CPDB is an international resource that includes results of 6540 chronic, long-term animal cancer tests for 1547 chemicals. The CPDB provides access to bioassay literature, with qualitative and quantitative analyses of both positive and negative experiments that have been published over the past 50 years in the general literature through 2001 and by the National Cancer Institute/National Toxicology Program through 2004. Results are reported in the CPDB for tests in rats, mice, hamsters, dogs, and nonhuman primates.
Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System (CCRIS)
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?CCRIS CCRIS is a toxicology data file that contains carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, tumor promotion, and tumor inhibition test results for over 9,000 chemicals. It is a scientifically evaluated and fully referenced data bank, developed and maintained by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Data are derived from studies cited in primary journals, current awareness tools, NCI reports, and other special sources.
Chemical Identifier Resolver (beta)
https://cactvs.cit.nih.gov/chemical/structure The Chemical Identifier Resolver works as a resolver for different chemical structure identifiers and allows one to convert a given structure identifier into another representation or structure identifier. It can help you identify and find the chemical structure if you have an identifier such as an InChIKey. It's still in beta testing.
Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD)
https://ctdbase.org/ CTD promotes understanding about the effects of environmental chemicals on human health by integrating data from curated scientific literature to describe chemical interactions with genes and proteins, and associations between diseases and chemicals, and diseases and genes/proteins. CTD is working to enhance the capacity to identify environment–disease connections by developing an Exposure Ontology (ExO) that will be used to curate and present exposure data.
Chemical Risk Information Platform (CHRIP)
https://www.safe.nite.go.jp/english/db.html CHRIP is a database provided free of charge and managed by the Japanese National Institute and Technology and Evaluation. It provides comprehensive information on risk assessments (including toxicity, hazards, chemical/physical properties, exposures, etc.) and Japanese and international laws and regulations of chemical substances. It also includes information on biodegradation and bioconcentration of existing chemical substances. These substances can be searched by entering the number or name, by category lists, or by structure.
Data Bank of Environmental Properties of Chemicals (EnviChem)
https://www.echemportal.org/echemportal/participant/participantinfo.action?participantID=5&pageID=2 The EnviChem database consists of toxicity information on substances in relation to different species, especially aquatic organisms, together with information on the persistence and accumulation of these substances in the environment. The information is mainly compiled from scientific literature, handbooks and databases in the field of ecotoxicology. The database also contains practical data on chemical substances for that purpose.
Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology/Environmental Teratology Information Center (DART/ETIC)
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?DARTETIC DART/ETIC is a bibliographic database that covers. It covers teratology and other aspects of developmental and reproductive toxicology. It contains over 200,000 references to literature published since 1965.
European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), Chemical Entities of Biological Interest (ChEBI)
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chebi/ ChEBI is a database of molecular entities focused on small chemical compounds. These molecular entities can be either products of nature or synthetic products used to intervene in the processes of living organisms. It also includes classification, nomenclature, and ontology. A number of other sources, such as ChEMBL, PDBeChem, and KEGG COMPOUND are accessible through ChEBI.
European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), ChEMBL
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembldb/ ChEMBL is a database of bioactive drug-like small molecules focusing on chemical properties. It contains 2-D structures, calculated properties (e.g. logP, Molecular Weight, Lipinski Parameters, etc.), and abstracted bioactivities (e.g. binding constants, pharmacology and ADMET data).
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Information on Chemicals
https://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals The ECHA Information on Chemicals section serves as a gateway to ECHA's public databases on chemical substances, which contain a large range of information including chemical/physical properties, environmental impact, uses, toxicological data, etc. It also includes information on registration dossiers for substances where a testing proposal has been made, together with information related to the transitional arrangements from the previous chemicals legislation.
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern
https://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table The ECHA Candidate List of Substance of Very High Concern contains information on each of the substances that are considered very harmful to human health and/or the environment by ECHA. For each substance, it includes chemical properties and data from hazard assessments, justifying its inclusion on the list.
European Chemicals Agency's Dissemination Portal
https://echa.europa.eu/web/guest/information-on-chemicals/registered-substances This list serves as the European Chemicals Agency's Dissemination portal with information on chemical substances registered under REACH. It contains all of the information constantly being submitted to and processed by ECHA due to the deadlines of the REACH regulations.
European Chemical Substances Information System (ESIS)
https://esis.jrc.ec.europa.eu ESIS is a complex, heterogeneous information system which provides information on chemicals.
European Commission Endocrine Disruptor Program
https://ec.europa.eu/health/endocrine_disruptors/overview_en The EC Endocrine Disruptor Program provides information about the endocrine disruption and the strategies to approaching these chemicals. A priority list of endocrine disruptors with a database of reports and studies regarding these chemicals are also available.
European Respiratory Review (ERR)
https://err.ersjournals.com/ The ERR is an open access journal published quarterly by the European Respiratory Society (ERS), providing an update on medicine, science and surgery for respiratory professionals. The ERR contains review articles, editorials and correspondence, in addition to summaries of the most important recent research findings and published studies in topics such as COPD, asthma, pulmonary hypertension, lung cancer and tuberculosis.
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH)
https://www.ttl.fi/en/ FIOH is a research and specialist organization in the field of occupational health and safety. It examines various health and safety hazards and produce tools to improve occupational health and reduce risks.
Globally Harmonized System (GHS)
https://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/ghs/ghs_welcome_e.html The GHS is a classification scheme for chemicals to consistently communicate hazard information about chemicals world-wide. The GHS includes harmonized criteria for classifying substances and mixtures according to their health, environmental and physical hazards, as well as harmonized requirements for labeling and safety data communication.
Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB)
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?HSDB HSBD focuses on the toxicology of potentially hazardous chemicals and is enhanced with individual chemical information on human exposure, industrial hygiene, emergency handling procedures, environmental fate, regulatory requirements, nanomaterials, and related areas. It includes about 5,000 chemicals. All data are peer-reviewed and referenced from a core set of books, government documents, technical reports and selected primary journal literature.
Household Products Database (HPD)
https://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/ The HPD links over 12,000 consumer brands to health effects from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) provided by manufacturers and allows scientists and consumers to research products based on chemical ingredients. The database is designed to help answer questions such as what chemicals are in certain products, at what concentration are they present, and what are the potential health effects.
Information on Hazardous Chemicals and Occupational Diseases (Haz-Map)
https://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/index.php Haz-Map is an occupational health database designed for health and safety professionals and for consumers seeking information about the health effects of exposure to chemicals and biologicals at work. Haz-Map links jobs and hazardous tasks with occupational diseases and their symptoms. The main links in Haz-Map are between chemicals and occupational diseases, in which causality has been established based on current scientific evidence.
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
https://www.iarc.fr/ IARC promotes international collaboration in cancer research and developed criteria to evaluate carcinogenic risks to humans and publishes monographs describing these evaluations. It also maintains a summary list of agents classified by IARC monographs, but recommends consulting the monograph itself for full interpretation of the classification.
International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), Chemical Safety Information from Intergovernmental Organizations (INCHEM)
https://inchem.org/ IPCS INCHEM is an invaluable tool that focuses on safety and the sound management for a wide range of commercial chemicals. It consolidates current, internationally peer-reviewed chemical safety-related publications and database records from international bodies, for public access.
International Toxicity Estimates for Risk (ITER)
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?iter ITER is a toxicology data file containing data in support of human health risk assessments. It is compiled by Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) and contains over 650 chemical records with key data various agencies and peer-reviewed world-wide. ITER provides a comparison of international risk assessment information in a side-by-side format and explains differences in risk values derived by different organizations. ITER data focuses on hazard identification and dose-response assessment.
Japan Existing Chemical Data Base (JECDB)
https://dra4.nihs.go.jp/mhlw_data/jsp/SearchPageENG.jsp The JECDB contains a number of toxicity test reports from Japan's existing chemicals safety program. The summary of these reports are in English while the actual toxicity studies are in Japanese.
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/ MeSH is the NLM's controlled vocabulary thesaurus for indexing articles from 5,400 of the world's leading biomedical journals for the MEDLINE/PubMED database. It is also used for the NLM-produced database that includes cataloging of books, documents, and audiovisuals acquired by the Library. Each bibliographic reference is associated with a set of MeSH terms that describe the content of the item. Similarly, search queries use MeSH vocabulary to find items on a desired topic.
National Toxicology Program Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT)
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/dntp/ohat/index.cfm The NTP OHAT conducts technical assessments focused on understanding the potential for adverse effects on human health by agents, substances, mixtures, or exposure circumstances. These evaluations can lead to NTP opinions on whether these substances may be of concern given what is known about current human exposure levels. OHAT produces NTP Monographs, state-of-the-science workshop reports, or peer-reviewed journal publications based on their evaluations.
National Toxicology Program Report on Carcinogens (RoC)
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/dntp/roc/index.cfm The RoC is a congressionally mandated, science-based, public health report that identifies agents, substances, mixtures, or exposures in our environment that may potentially put people in the United States at increased risk for cancer. For every substance listed, the RoC contains a profile including cancer studies (mechanism, human, animal), potential sources of exposure, and current federal regulations to limit exposures.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ NIOSH focuses on conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. Especially helpful are the hazards & exposures and chemical-related resources, including NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards and Prevention through Design (PTD) materials. It also provides information on various other occupational health issues and topics.
New Jersey Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets
https://web.doh.state.nj.us/rtkhsfs/indexfs.aspx The Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets are prepared on pure substances and contain information on health hazards, exposure limits, personal protective equipment, proper handling, first aid, and emergency procedures for fires and spills. These are formatted similar to Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) and include a glossary. More than half of the sheets have also been translated to Spanish.
New Zealand Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO), Chemical Classification Information Database (CCID)
htthttps://www.epa.govt.nz/database-search/chemical-classification-and-information-database-ccid The CCID details the chemicals classified in accordance with the HSNO regulations and is an implementation of the GHS. The CCID is used by industry to classify formulated products and can be used to formulate less hazardous products by providing the classification information on potential alternative components. The CCID provides chemical identification information, hazard classifications and classification data.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Control Banding
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ctrlbanding/ NIOSH Control Banding is a technique used to assess and manage workplace risks, basing workplace control measures, such as ventilation or engineering controls, on a range or "band" of hazards and exposures. This process capitalizes on the experience of controlling occupational chemical exposures and expanding those solutions to other similar exposure concerns. Control banding is most effective when used with health and safety practices such as chemical substitution.
NIOSH Pocket Guide (NPG) to Chemical Hazards (US NLM)
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/default.html The NIOSH Pocket Guide is a source of general industrial hygiene information on several hundred chemicals and classes found in the work environment. Key data provided for each chemical/substance includes name (including synonyms/trade names), structure/formula, CAS/RTECS Numbers, DOT ID, conversion factors, exposure limits, IDLH, chemical and physical properties, measurement methods, personal protection, respirator recommendations, symptoms, and first aid.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Occupational Chemical Database
https://www.osha.gov/chemicaldata/ This chemical database is maintained by OSHA as a convenient reference for the occupational safety and health community. It compiles information from several government agencies and organizations and includes data on physical properties, occupational safety classifications, exposure guidelines, NIOSH Pocket Guide, and emergency response information, including the DOT Emergency Response Guide. The chemicals are indexed by name and CASRN.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), eChemPortal
https://www.echemportal.org eChemPortal provides public access to information on properties of chemicals such as physical/chemical properties, ecotoxicity, environmental fate and behavior, and toxicity. It allows simultaneous searching of reports and datasets by chemical name and number and by chemical property. eChemPortal also provides exposures and use information on chemicals. It aggregates several toxicity and ecotoxicity databases worldwide.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Existing Chemicals Database
https://www.oecd.org/env/hazard/data CDC/NIOSH Occupational Carcinogen List is a list of substances that NIOSH considers to be potential carcinogens that can be found in the workplace. This list may be reevaluated as new data becomes available to change the status of the carcinogen or to adjust the recommended exposure limit (REL).
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Existing Chemicals, Screening Information Data Sets (SIDS)
****** https://www.chem.unep.ch/irptc/sids/OECDSIDS/sidspub.html https://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemtest/pubs/oecdsids.html The SIDS program is focused on developing base level test information on approximately 600 poorly characterized international HPV chemicals. The SIDS data are used to screen the chemicals and set priorities for further testing or risk assessment/management activities. The OECD/SIDS test data set includes physico-chemical properties, results of environmental fate testing, results of environmental effects testing, and results of health effects testing.
https://www.opentox.org The goal of OpenTox is to develop an open-source interoperable predictive toxicology framework which may be used as an enabling platform for the creation of predictive toxicology applications. The OpenTox Framework provides tools for the integration of data from various sources (public and confidential), for the generation and validation of computer models for toxic effects, libraries for the development and seamless integration of new algorithms, and scientifically sound validation routines.
Swedish Chemicals Agency (KEMI) Restricted Substances Database of Sweden
https://webapps.kemi.se/begransningsdatabasen/Sok.aspx The Restricted Substances Database is an aid to rapidly search rules on prohibitions and other restrictions on use in Sweden that apply to individual chemical substances or groups of substances in the Swedish Chemicals Agency's area of activity. The information contained in the database is limited to the specific provisions that apply to individual chemical substances or groups of substances.
Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET)
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ TOXNET performs searches through a number of toxicological databases, including those run by the National Library of Medicine. These databases cover a wide array of topics, including toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental health, and toxic releases.
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?TOXLINE TOXLINE is a database run through ProQuest and is produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It contains bibliographic citations and abstracts for literature on all areas of toxicology, including chemicals and pharmaceuticals, pesticides, environmental pollutants, and mutagens and teratogens. This database is available through subscription but can be searched through TOXNET.
https://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/main/index.jsp TOXMAP is a Geographic Information System (GIS) that uses United States maps to help users visually explore data from the USEPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Superfund Program. TOXMAP's chemical and environmental health information is taken from TOXNET and PubMed, and from other authoritative sources.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
https://www.unep.org/ UNEP provides a vast array of materials including a Resource Kit on Sustainable Consumption & Production, a Life Cycle Initiative, and reports on various environmental topics. The Resource Efficiency Program also recently launched the Global Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Clearinghouse, which consists of a large collection of materials revolving around SCP.
U.S. EPA, ACToR (DSSTox, ExpoCast, ToxCast and ToxRefDB)*
https://actor.epa.gov/actor/home.xhtml ACToR (Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource) is EPA's online warehouse of all publicly available chemical toxicity data and can be used to find all publicly available data about potential chemical risks to human health and the environment. ACToR aggregates data from over 1000 public sources on over 500,000 environmental chemicals searchable by chemical name, other identifiers and by chemical structure.
- Includes chemical structure, physico-chemical values, in vitro assay data and in vivo toxicology data.
- Includes, but not limited to, high and medium production volume industrial chemicals, pesticides (active and inert ingredients), and potential ground and drinking water contaminants.
U.S. EPA, Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO)
https://hero.epa.gov/index.cfm The Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database provides an easy way to access and influence the scientific literature behind EPA science assessments. The database includes more than 600,000 scientific references and data from the peer-reviewed literature used by EPA to develop its regulations for the following: Integrated Science Assessments (ISA) that feed into the NAAQS review, Provisional Peer Reviewed Toxicity Values (PPRTV) that represent human health toxicity values for the Superfund, and the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), a database that supports critical agency policymaking for chemical regulation. These assessments supported by HERO characterize the nature and magnitude of health risks to humans and the ecosystem from pollutants and chemicals in the environment.
U.S. EPA, Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)
https://www.epa.gov/iris/ IRIS is a human health assessment program that evaluates quantitative and qualitative information about effects from exposure to environmental contaminants. US EPA's IRIS database is a compilation of electronic reports on specific substances found in the environment and their potential to cause human health effects.
U.S. EPA, Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) Chemical Data Access Tool (CDAT)
https://java.epa.gov/oppt_chemical_search/ Compilation of chemical-specific information submitted to EPA under the TSCA. The tool enables search in the following databases:
- CDR: This database includes non-confidential information on the manufacture (including import), process and use of chemicals reported under the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule.
- eDoc: The eDoc database includes a broad range of health and safety information reported by industry under TSCA Sections 4,5, 8(d), and 8(e).
- TSCATS: The TSCA Test Submissions (TSCATS) database is an online index to unpublished, nonconfidential studies covering chemical testing results and adverse effects of chemicals on health and ecological systems.
- HPVIS; The High Production Volume Information System (HPVIS) is a database that provides access to health and environmental effects information obtained through the High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge.
- Declassified CBI; This database includes health and safety studies and other information submitted to EPA in which chemical identities have been declassified. The declassified documents can be found by searching (CDAT).
U.S. CDC/NIOSH, Occupational Carcinogen List
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/cancer/npotocca.html CDC/NIOSH Occupational Carcinogen List is a list of substances that NIOSH considers to be potential carcinogens that can be found in the workplace. This list may be reevaluated as new data becomes available to change the status of the carcinogen or to adjust the recommended exposure limit (REL).
U.S. NIH/National Cancer Institute
https://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/pcp.htm The President's Cancer Panel are appointed by the President to monitor the development and execution of activities of the National Cancer Institute. They publish annual reports on cancer research, which include the 2008-2009 report titled Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What we can do now.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
https://www.usgs.gov/ The USGS is a federal science organization that provides impartial information on the health of ecosystems and environment, the natural hazards, the natural resources, and the impacts of climate and land-use change. It also examines the resulting factors that affect ecological and human exposure to disease agents. USGS provides scientific information and tools (including maps, imagery, and publications) as a basis for management and policy decision making.
U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, PubChem
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ PubChem is a compilation of three linked databases: PubChem Substance, PubChem Compound, and PubChem BioAssay. It provides information on the biological activities of small molecules and contains a fast chemical structure similarity search tool. It also includes records for individual chemicals with details such as use and manufacturing, pharmacology, environmental and health impacts and toxicity, bioassays, and exposure standards and regulations. It also provides links to PubMed and TOXNET.
U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, PubChem Identifier Exchange Service
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov//idexchange/idexchange.cgi Within the PubChem Identifier Exchange Service, input identifiers (IDs) are converted into compound IDs, which are called input CIDs. The CIDs that satisfy the condition specified by the selected operation type are retrieved. We called these CIDs, output CIDs. The output CIDs are then converted into the ID type specified by the user and written into a file or Entrez history.
U.S. National Library of Medicine, ChemIDplus
https://chem.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/ https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?CHEM ChemIDplus is a dictionary compiled from over 70 sources containing over 370,000 chemicals including their names, synonyms, and structures. It focuses on chemical properties. It also allows searching by any combination of name, registry number, molecular formula, classification code, locator code, toxicity, physical property, structure, or molecular weight. Toxicity and physical property data are displayed in tables under Basic Information.
World Health Organization (WHO) International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) Concise International Chemical Assessment Documents (CICADs) and Environmental Health Criteria (EHC) Documents
https://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/cicad/en/index.html CICADs are similar to EHC documents in providing internationally accepted reviews on the effects on human health and the environment of chemicals or combinations of chemicals. They aim to characterize the hazard and dose-response of exposure to chemicals and to provide examples of exposure estimation and risk characterizations for application at the national or local level.
Washington State, Children's Safe Products Act (CSPA) Reports
https://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/cspa/index.html CSPA Search Database: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/cspareporting/ CSPA requires a list of chemicals on which manufacturers must report, called the Reporting List of Chemicals of High Concern to Children. Chemicals on the list are toxic and have either been found in children's products or have documented presence in human tissue (blood, breast milk, etc.); however, their presence is not necessarily indicative of risk of harm. The manufacturers' reports are searchable by chemical, product code, or company with information about chemical concentrations.
World Health Organization, Health Topics
https://www.who.int/topics/en/ WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. The WHO Health Topics contain links to WHO projects, initiatives, activities, information products, and contacts, organized by health and development topics.
Private Sector Links – Environmental Effects
Elara Bioscience
https://elarabio.com/ To address the changes in California based on the new Safer Consumer Product Regulations by CA DTSC, Elara Bioscience created ToxPlatform, a comprehensive, cloud-based toxicology data and analytical service designed to integrate the full spectrum of chemical toxicity resources applicable to human health from chemical exposures. It also provides a list of Candidate Chemicals. The resources are based on a subscription.
Non Governmental Organization Links – Environmental Effects
The International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec) Substitute It Now (SIN) List
https://w3.chemsec.org The SIN list (Substitute It Now) is an NGO driven project identifying Substances of Very High Concern based on the criteria established by REACH. For each of these substances, the database provides information about the uses, hazard traits, biomonitoring data, and its inclusion in certain types of products. The aim of the SIN List is to provide a tool, which companies and other actors can use to substitute hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives ahead of legislation.
https://www.toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Welcome+to+Toxipedia Toxipedia is a free toxicology encyclopedia offeringarticles and resources about toxic chemicals (such as pesticides and endocrine disruptors), health conditions, ethical considerations, the history of toxicology, laws and regulation, and more.
Academic Links – Environmental Effects
No links at this time.


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Findapart.co.uk are one of the UK's longest established online Honda used part search services.
Use Findapart.co.uk's online used Car Sill (passenger Side) search and search our network of Car Sill (passenger Side) suppliers for used Car Sill (passenger Side) and spares delivered direct to your door. Our national network of specialist Car breakers and used parts suppliers supply all Sill (passenger Side) from recently broken stock vehicles.
Findapart.co.uk is the longest running online used Car Sill (passenger Side) database and offers some of the lowest priced Sill (passenger Side) available in the UK.
Established Since 1999 we have become the industry leader in sourcing used parts for all Honda models.
Our Honda used parts system instantly alerts all Honda breakers of your parts request, enabling them to offer a quick and efficient response for your Honda parts, usually within minutes.
Established since 1999, we have become the industry leader in sourcing used Sills for Honda Cars.
Our Honda specialist breakers & dismantlers can have your Honda used parts delivered to your door the following day, ready to fit to your vehicle. Whether you need any part from a complete Honda engine or even a cheap Honda gearbox, all Honda parts are available through our Honda dismantlers at the lowest prices in the UK. Simply submit one form and wait for each of our supplying Honda parts specialists to call with the UK's cheapest online Honda used spares quotes.
Honda Motor Company Well I think we all know Honda as one of the worlds' greatest motorcycle manufacturers But founder Soichiro Honda loved cars too. One of his first jobs was a mechanic in a tune-up shop. He famously sold pistons to Toyota by pawning his wife's jewelry to get the R&D correct and strapped a small 2 cycle engine to his bicycle because his car was too expensive to run due to petrol rationings during World War II. One by one folks saw this bike and wanted one. He wrote to 18,000 bicycle shop owners to gain capital for his motorcycle. The Honda Cub was created from this early idea and the Honda Motor Company was born. The T360. a 356cc petrol engine pick up truck rolled off the production line and went on sale in August 1963 –the first automobile product with a chain driven S500 sports car following in October. Minato, Tokyo, Japan is Honda HQ and they dominate the small to mid size fuel-efficient marketplace. Success comes with factory flexibility e.g. retooling and speed of production as each factory can produce demand led products. Names like Prelude, Civic, Accord, CR-V and Insight - the hybrid electric vehicle have all left their mark or are competing for market share to prove the Honda Power of Dreams.
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UK Sustainability Criteria Provide Policy Certainty
The recently released U.K. Department of Energy & Climate Change criteria for the sourcing of sustainable biomass recognize the robust sustainability practices of U.S. industrial wood pellet manufacturers and provide much needed policy certainty that will help grow U.S. manufacturing. U.S. producers will be able to use a number of long-standing forestry certifications, as well as techniques such as regional risk assessments to prove sustainability.
Implementation of the new DECC criteria begins with reporting in April 2014, becoming mandatory a year later for electrical generators with capacities of 1 MW and above. Generators must demonstrate they are meeting the criteria for the U.K. Renewables Obligation and independent audits of the sustainability report are required.
To ensure that biomass power delivers genuine greenhouse gas (GHG) savings and to promote good practice and innovation across the supply chain, the U.K. will bring in tightening GHG life-cycle trajectories. In a series of steps over time, it will require industry to achieve larger savings than the current 60 percent emission reduction compared to the EU fossil electricity average.
Before April 2020, existing biomass power, cofiring and conversions, with and without combined heat and power will remain on the current target of 285 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per megawatt hour (kg CO2eq per MWh) to reflect long-term contracts already in place. New dedicated biomass facilities, however, will be subject to a 240 kg CO2eq per MWh target (a 66 percent saving) to reflect the higher cost of carbon savings.
After April 2020, all biomass power generators will be placed on the same GHG trajectory with a 73 percent savings target of 200 kg CO2eq per MWh in 2020 and a 75 percent savings target of 180 kg CO2eq per MWh in 2025. The tougher GHG targets will be applied as an annual average (subject to a ceiling) to allow generators to better manage procurement risks.
Currently, RO land criteria are designed with sustainable agriculture in mind, rather than forests. The new sustainable forest management criteria are based on the U.K. timber procurement policy (UK-TPP) which draws on established sustainable forest certification schemes that cover a range of social, environmental and economic issues relating to forests.
To enable investment in new biomass power generation and biomass feedstock supply-chains, the U.K. will not change the sustainability criteria before 2027. It reserves the right to make changes in response to European Commission recommendations on bioenergy, or to EU and international law.
The final DECC sustainability criteria for solid biomass reaffirm that industrial wood pellets sourced from the U.S. will play a key role in providing the U.K. (and the EU) with an abundant, sustainable and carbon beneficial energy source that provides consistent base-load renewable power.
The criteria recognize that forest cover and carbon sequestration are steadily increasing in the United States. The U.S. has more than 750 million acres of forest and the net volume of trees per acre has increased in all regions for more than 50 years. Moreover, the total acreage of forestland in the U.S. is within 1 percent of what it was 100 years ago. In the Southeast, where the largest supply of wood pellets shipped to Europe is produced, the net volume of trees per acre has increased 94 percent since 1953, meaning net growth has exceeded removals on a consistent and long-term basis. Forest carbon sequestration in the U.S. has increased 31 percent in two decades, from 701 million metric tons in 1990 to 922 million metric tons in 2010. U.S. forests capture more carbon than the annual emissions produced by the United Kingdom and Spain combined.
These impressive statistics are made possible because forests remain working in the U.S. Robust markets incentivize landowners in the U.S. to not convert forests into real estate developments, golf courses and the like. The industrial wood pellet industry provides landowners with a much-needed market for low-grade fiber and contributes to continuing to keep U.S. forests working, which in turn guarantees greater carbon sequestration. That is inarguably a net positive in the global battle against climate change. With policy certainty now in place in the U.K., the U.S. industrial wood pellet market is poised for growth.
Author: Seth Ginther
Executive Director
U.S. Industrial Pellet Association


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Kristin Cavallari's Baby Secret Revealed — Did This Happen To You?
May 2012
Oops! Looks like Kristin Cavallari's fiancé Jay Cutler might want to tell his Chicago Bears teammates to keep their mouths shut. According to PEOPLE, the couple didn't want to share their baby-to-be's gender. But Jay's Bears teammate, Earl Bennett spilled the beans on the Boers & Bernstein sports radio show in Chicago. He told the radio hosts, "He's having a boy. I am excited for Jay. It's a great time." Doesn't seem like a big deal to some, but most of us have specific ideas of how and when we want to share baby news.
It's probably really common for this to happen now — especially with Facebook and Twitter. We've heard of friends of expecting mamas congratulating them on Facebook before they wanted all their online friends to know they were pregnant. Or what about future grandmas calling everyone in their address books, while the news was still supposed to be a secret? The list goes on and on.
Did someone else spill the beans on your pregnancy or on your baby's gender? What did you do?


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Samples from a FreakenFurby, a circuit-bent Furby toy by Dave Barnes. These are glitched speech synthesized vocalizations recorded at 32 bits by direct connection into Sonar. They were downsampled to 16-bit, broken into individual cues, edited and processed and filtered to remove offset correction issues and other unpleasant artifacts.
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- "You stop having me killed, and I'll stop complaining about it."
- — Phil
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins (born 30 January 1951 in Chiswick, London, England) is a British singer-songwriter, voice actor, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, drummer, actor, writer and solo artist. Collins' appearance in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories makes him the first real-life celebrity to physically appear as himself in a Grand Theft Auto game.
Collins can be seen in the third official trailer for GTA Vice City Stories performing "In The Air Tonight", which coincidentally was featured in the pilot of "Miami Vice". Collins himself appeared in one episode of Miami Vice.
Early life and careerCollins was given a toy drum kit for Christmas when he was five. Later, his uncle Mark Wade made him a makeshift one that he used regularly. As Collins grew older these were followed by more complete sets bought by his parents. He practiced by playing alongside the television and radio, and never learned to read and write conventional musical notation; instead, he uses a system he devised himself.
His professional training began at fourteen when he entered Barbara Speake Stage School. He began a career as a child actor and model, and won his first major role as The Artful Dodger in the London production of Oliver!. He was an extra in The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night - one of hundreds of screaming teenagers during the TV concert sequence and seen fleetingly in a close-up. He was also in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He also auditioned for the role of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (1968). In 1970, the 19-year old Collins played percussion on the George Harrison song "The Art of Dying". Harrison credited him in the liner notes to the remastered CD version of the album released in 2000. Collins was among the last three finalists for the role of "I.Q." on the children's American television show The Bugaloos (he lost out to English actor/musician John McIndoe.
Despite the beginnings of an acting career, Collins continued to gravitate towards music. While attending Chiswick Community School he formed a band called The Real Thing and later joined The Freehold. With the latter group, he wrote his first song titled "Lying Crying Dying".
Collins' first record deal came as drummer for Flaming Youth who released a single album, Ark 2 (1969). Melody Maker featured the album as "Pop Album of the Month", describing it as "adult music beautifully played with nice tight harmonies". However, the album's main single, "From Now On", was a commercial failure. After a year of touring, band tensions and the lack of commercial success dissolved the group.
Role in GTA Vice City StoriesIn 1984, Phil is in Vice City for an upcoming concert. Phil's manager, Barry Mickelthwaite owes $3,000,000 to Giorgio Forelli, a Forelli Family capo, and he is worried that Forelli is going to try and assassinate Phil if he does not get his money back. Victor Vance, who is working for Barry's friend Reni Wassulmaier, agrees to go with Barry to meet Phil, who is arriving in the city by helicopter. Vic and Barry meet Phil, who is also greeted by some Forelli Family gunmen. The gunmen destroy Phil's helicopter a few moments after he alights. Vic kills the gunmen and drives Phil and Barry to Phil's hotel.
A few days later, Vic meets Barry, Phil and Reni at the film studio. Phil is due to perform a soundcheck for his concert at the Hyman Memorial Stadium later that day, and Barry wants Vic to ensure that the stadium is safe. Vic arrives at the stadium to find it filled with armed Forelli gang members. He kills many of them, eventually finding a basement keycard. He heads down to the basement to find some hitmen planting a bomb. Vic kills them and defuses the bomb before Phil and Barry arrive.
A few weeks pass and the day of Phil's concert arrives. After dropping Reni (who has just had his/her fourth sex change) off at the airport, Vic heads to the concert. When he arrives, Phil is already on stage and Barry is worried that Giorgio's men are going to try and do something during the concert. Barry's fears are confirmed when Vic spots a man trying to sabotage the lighting rig, with Phil directly underneath. Vic successfully fends off Forelli's men, and Phil completes his concert intact. After the concert, Vic congratulates Phil, and Barry decides to pay Giorgio his money back to avoid any more threats to Phil's life. Phil sarcastically suggests Vic becomes his new manager, before announcing to Barry that he plans to spend a few days in Vice City on holiday, and suggests Barry takes Reni's advice and gets breast implants to accompany "the real [tit he] use[s] for a head".
Upon completing "In the Air Tonight", the player can purchase a ticket to see the "Phil Collins: Live in Vice City" concert at the Hyman Memorial Stadium. The ticket costs $6,000 and allows the player to see an uninterrupted rendition of Collins singing In the Air Tonight.
In addition to his physical appearance in the game, Collins appears as one of the imaging voices on Emotion 98.3 and Flash FM.
Mission Appearances
In-game songs
- Phillip Bailey & Phil Collins - Easy Lover (Flash FM, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories) Incorrectly credited to Phillip Bailey
- Genesis - Turn It on Again (Flash FM, GTA Vice City Stories)
- Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight (Emotion 98.3 and via concert, GTA Vice City Stories)
- Genesis - Mama (Liberty Rock Radio, Grand Theft Auto IV)
- Phil Collins - I Don't Care Anymore (Los Santos Rock Radio, Grand Theft Auto V)
External links
- Phil Collins Concert in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
- Phil Collins' official website
- Phil Collins' IMDB Entry


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Mitt Romney is betting on having already survived the worst personal scrutiny the Obama campaign has had to offer, leaving him with enough leftover political clout to wage an offensive this fall that would manage to unseat the president.
After offending Britons with comments about the Olympics, Mitt Romney continues to face criticism over remarks he made about Israelis and Palestinians. Meanwhile, he wraps up his trip abroad with a visit to Poland. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
With 98 days until the election, the Romney campaign believes the dog days of summer are essentially behind them. The campaign views controversies involving his tax returns and work at Bain Capital as having a short shelf life, and the presumptive Republican nominee's work to capitalize on the president's "you didn't build that" gaffe have effectively changed the subject. Romney's foreign trip had also been built up as an opportunity to pivot away from July's struggles, though momentum from the trip was more mixed due to stumbles on each of its three legs.
"Our whole goal was to just hold our own over the summer," said Bay Buchanan, an outside adviser to the Romney campaign. "We've done the warm-up, and we're coming into the convention with a much better position than anticipated."
But Democrats assert that the Republican shouldn't be so quick to assume that the attacks based on Romney's career and personal wealth will disappear.
Recommended: First Thoughts: Judging Romney's overseas trip
The first few weeks of July saw an unrelenting and coordinated offensive against Romney, led by the Obama campaign and a variety of Democratic groups. The former Massachusetts governor weathered weeks of ads accusing his private equity firm of having moved jobs overseas during Romney's time in charge. To make matters worse, Romney had been somewhat opaque about the exact time of his departure from Bain Capital, and had also refused to release additional years of tax returns – leaving him vulnerable to speculation about what those hidden records contained.
The Romney campaign's steadfastness in the face of scrutiny prompted semi-public handwringing among GOP poobahs, who wondered whether the GOP candidate was essentially allowing the president to define him.
Obama's comments at a campaign stop in Roanoke, in which he seemed to suggest that business owners don't deserve all the credit for their successes, handed the Romney campaign a chance to reverse momentum. Republicans have been hitting it hard since then, and the president even released an ad personally responding to the attack.
"You don't always want your candidate out there responding to everything they're saying," said Buchanan. "We want him, Barack Obama, responding to us."
Combined with anemic jobs numbers at the beginning of the month and a somewhat lackluster GDP report last week, Republicans believe their narrative on the economy is hardening and Romney remains strong enough to subsume Obama this fall.
NBC's Brian Williams interviews Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on a wide range of topics including the Olympics, gun control, education, taxes and religion.
This all sets the stage for a pivotal month of August, in which Romney must introduce himself to voters and begin turning the tide against Obama.
It just might be the case that July's squabbles, though, will set the parameters for the fall debate.
"It's wishful thinking on the part of the Romney to think it's behind them. They might survive it, but it's not behind them," said former Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, a Democrat known for his strategic acumen.
Frost said that if he were Romney, he wouldn't release additional tax returns beyond what's already been pledged – for fear that there were years in which the former Bain leader paid little to no taxes.
"The Romney people are whistling in the dark if they think the Bain thing will go away," Frost added.
Related: Romney says he wasn't talking about Palestinian culture
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean was starker.
"This is going to be the issue that brings him down," he said, arguing that the attacks on Bain and Romney's taxes cut to the core of questions about Romney's character and trustworthiness.
Dean argued that even Romney's best message on the economy won't sink in with voters unless they're willing to put faith in the former Massachusetts governor as Obama's alternative.
"He could have turned this into something really good. But as long as he's got his tax returns hidden, it's going to be fatal," Dean said, referencing in particular the Republican assault on Obama's "You didn't build that" comments. "What Romney is doing is negating his advantage on the economy by not seeming trustworthy."
But Romney's team is almost zenlike in its singular focus on the economy. Though much of the past week was dominated by the Republican's foreign policy tour – for both its embarrassing moments and triumphs – attention will soon turn back to the economy. This Friday's report on job creation during July could give Romney a cudgel to use against Obama, and the impending selection of a Republican vice presidential candidate and next month's Republican convention would allow the GOP to drive the campaign narrative into September.
"Once we turn that corner where we can get past the explanations about Bain – and I think we have – then it's a winning campaign," said Buchanan, who said that the drumbeat for Romney to offer more specific policy alternatives to Obama were "secondary" to convincing voters that his vision on the economy is superior to Obama's.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had another diplomatic misstep – this time in Israel. The Romney campaign pushed back, disputing the reporting of Romney's comments. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
"We're going to hit the economy, stay on message the full extent we can. But we're not running in a vacuum. The other guy's going to be going after us personally," she said. "You get your surrogates to respond to the personal stuff. They've hit us pretty hard, I don't know where else they're going to come."
That might be music to the ears of the president's team and most Democrats if their strategy on making the election into a choice – and disqualifying Romney in the process – is to be believed.
"I'll say one thing about Obama, whatever my differences with him. He's run the best campaign I've ever seen a Democrat run in my lifetime," Dean said.
"Romney's tried to keep this thing on the economy since March and he hasn't succeeded. What makes you think he's going to succeed the next three months?" he added.


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Once upon a time, when I went to the battery icon on my netbook, I could get it to show me interesting graphs of the battery state, and how it had changed over time.
Nowadays, in this time of decay, all it will give me is a tooltip telling me how long I've got left, or how long to recharge.
Does anyone else remember the golden age of which I speak, or have any advice on how it might be regained?


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The deadly shooting rampage during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises that left 12 dead and dozens wounded revived our fitful national debate about the impact films that feature human brutality have on the consciences of their audiences.
Prior to the spree, the suspected shooter, James Holmes, had dyed his hair red and called himself the Joker, in reference to the amoral, nihilistic criminal from The Dark Knight, the previous installment in the Batman saga.
In the pages of The Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan argued that the routine depictions of celluloid mayhem could foster violent thoughts and actions in the minds of disturbed individuals. And she charged that while many parents today are exhausted by the need to protect their children from toxic cultural products, Hollywood producers possess the financial resources to better insulate their own offspring.
The truth is that no policy will fully protect our world from the evil that leads a serial killer to extinguish innocent human life.
Some freely choose to commit such acts — and possibly rejoice in the fleeting celebrity they enjoy, while mental illness drives others to homicide.
And while parents are wise to vet such films for their suitability for their children's viewing, news reports suggest that four young men in the Aurora theater died protecting the lives of their girlfriends, while a young woman braved further danger to aid a critically injured companion.
In such extreme circumstances — 9/11 comes to mind — the radical nature of human freedom, hinging on both our capacity for transcendence and our attraction to sin, is on display.
This is the story within a story that once preoccupied Shakespeare and now draws the genius of Chris Nolan, the ambitious director of The Dark Knight Rises.
Nolan serves up a wealth of moral insights and paradoxes that rarely surface in action thrillers.
In this film, the protagonist doesn't deny Gotham City's stubborn depravity, from the insular materialism of the wealthy to the self-centered careerism of its public servants. But while the archvillain — Bane — uses these flaws as the justification for his reign of terror-filled anarchy, Batman acts as if he believes Gotham is worth protecting, warts and all.
The film makes several references to A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens' story of courage and conversion amid the French Revolution.
Ultimately, Dickens' anti-hero chooses death so that a better man — a beloved husband and father — might live.
Batman may face a similar choice, and thus parents of teenagers might be relieved to know that this film raises up selfless heroism, not the opposite.
We could do worse, but could we also do better?
For all the surprisingly rich moral insight of Dark Knight Rises, it is worth pausing to consider if such epiphanies might be obtained in a way that did not require the graphic mayhem.
Put another way, is it time for America's most gifted filmmakers and other artists to offer a more diverse context for exploring the struggle between good and evil and our unpredictable capacity to make choices that defy our base instincts?
There's no formula for drawing inspiration from stories and characters that compel an audience's engagement without desensitizing their conscience.
But in his 1999 "Letter to Artists," Pope John Paul II offered guidelines and encouragement for such artistic endeavors.
Reflecting on the vocation of the artist, he observed that Christian teaching on the Incarnation served as the wellspring for Western high culture during the Middle Ages and Renaissance and that the Church would always have a stake in the culture-defining work of artists.
Of the Incarnation, he wrote, "This prime epiphany of 'God who is Mystery' is both an encouragement and a challenge to Christians, also at the level of artistic creativity.
From it has come a flowering of beauty which has drawn its sap precisely from the mystery of the Incarnation. In becoming man, the Son of God has introduced into human history all the evangelical wealth of the true and the good, and with this he has also unveiled a new dimension of beauty, of which the Gospel message is filled to the brim."
In contrast, the modern era has witnessed the emergence of a "kind of humanism marked by the absence of God and often by opposition to God. … Such an atmosphere has sometimes led to a separation of the world of art and the world of faith, at least in the sense that many artists have a diminished interest in religious themes."
John Paul II does not suggest that such artistic works are invalid, and he celebrates whatever is worthy.
But he concludes his stirring meditation with the reminder that the Church needs great art, in part because our faith is nurtured by contemplation of the good, the true and the beautiful. But he also suggests that artists need the deeper truths regarding the mystery and origin of the human person.
The Church continues to defend and transmit these often inconvenient truths that offer the artist glimpses of the vast possibilities of his vocation.
In a world that often rewards shallow creative expression and cheap thrills, John Paul II points the artist to a story with limitless possibilities:
"'From chaos, there rises the world of the Spirit.' These words of Adam Mickiewicz, written at a time of great hardship for his Polish homeland, prompt my hope for you: May your art help to affirm that true beauty which, as a glimmer of the Spirit of God, will transfigure matter, opening the human soul to the sense of the eternal."


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I'm working on a customization of the "Samples" block on Products. Basically what I need to know is how to get the file name from a sample.
So, I can use the following code in my view to get an array of samples:
<?php $_samples = $this->getSamples() ?>
... and I can iterate over those samples well enough. What I'm trying to figure out, is, how can I get the name of the file associated with that sample? I basically want to do a customization to the view where, if the sample file is an MP3, I display an embedded player. For all other file types, the default behavior (a link is shown, which when clicked, opens a new window and displays the sample) is perfectly fine.


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Book your Train ticket to Nottingham
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Nottingham, home of Robin Hood
Nottingham, home of Robin Hood
Nottingham is a British city mostly associated with the legend of Robin Hood. It is located in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands. The city of Nottingham is also well known for being home to the oldest professional football club in the world.
When you are in town, take a Robin Hood tour and learn all about one the greatest ever stories told in the world. Discover the history and heritage of Nottingham by visiting the Newstead Abbey, The Wollaton hall & Park, the Newark Castle and the All Saints Church.
Getting to and from Nottingham
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From our travel community
Paris to nottingham trains I WANT TO TRAVEL FROM FRANCE TO NOTTINGHAM 30TH JUNE AND RETURN 1ST JULY 2015. PLEASE ARE THERE TRAIN SCHEDULE? OLUSEGUN O. | 2015/06/22 answered | 1 Comments
From london heathrow airport to nottingham and more Hi, I would like to take a train from HEATHROW AIRPORT on november 13 around 4pm to Lenton, NOTTINGHAM. On November 17 I would like to take a train from Lenton, NOTTINGHAM to London at morning time. On November 19 I would like to take a train (...) Avi M. | 2014/11/04 answered | 0 Comments
Europe travel from uk, france and italy Hello! A group of us are planning to go to Europe for our trip, from 17th June to 8th July. Since we're travelling to many countries, we plan to get the Britrail England Pass and the Euro Global pass. I'm aware that we will need to reserve (...) Felicia B. | 2014/02/24 answered | 2 Comments
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This old and huge handcolored drawing representing the battle of Aspern-Essling is displayed inside the Essling granary museum.
At this moment Wolfgang Meyer/Geschichte in Miniaturen is working on a huge Danube 1809 diorama. At the same time Mr. Dodson and Marc the Plasticfan are planning to build their own 1809 campaign, while this week the Aderklaa 1809 diorama by Stephane got some interesting feedback by Krugi3 concerning uniforms and rural architecture.
About battle action and uniforms I have not much to offer you. There is plenty of books and website information available to all of us. My research focussed on those items that make diorama and scenery building so interesting: architecture of houses, impressions of fieldcrops and vegetation in early summer, the look of the marchy Lobau island, local costumes of the Austrian people, their tools and civilian wagons, Austrian army camp, French camping huts and last but not least:
Napoleons 3 pontoonbridges crossing the Danube which all seem to be made of Austrian military pontoons and civilian river boats. but of course Wolfgang, Patrick and his Austrian researchers know much more about this than I do.
So those are the subjects I have to offer you in pictures I took a while ago and I will try to display them here as organized and structured as possible.
Research trips:
I made two trips to Austria: one to Vienna in the winter of 2005 where I visited the Heeres Geschichtliches Museum Wien, the Museum der Stadt Wien and (because of the Turkish siege of 1683) I payed a visit to the Weinberg. around Döbling north-west of Vienna. The other visit was in 2009, a biketrip around the Marsfeld north east of Vienna, across the Danube, where the battles of Aspern-Essling and Wagram took place, including the Lobau island, many villages and some nearby medieval walled towns like Gross Enzersdorff and Hainsburg to the east.
I visited five small museums in Aspern, in Essling, in Deutsch Wagram, in Gross Enzersdorff and in Hainsburg. After that I went to nearby Hungary where I photographed additional information in the Szabadteri Neprajzi Muzeum (open air museum Skanden). Finally in 2010 I visited the Hadtorteneti Muzeum (army museum) in Budapest.
krugi3 wrote:Aderklaa was (and is still today) a small hamlet, the houses from the pic of the book are probably too big (a second floor is maybe exaggerated, even today not common)
I think Krugi3 must be correct. I photographed old houses in many different villages and towns and most of them had no second floor at all.
The typical house of the Marsfield area villages like Aspern and Essling must have looked like this:
(I took this picture in the Hungarian open air museum so in fact this must be a Hungarian house)
Such houses are situated parallel to the street.
It has only a ground floor.
A roof made of wooden shingles.
A yellow-cream painted plastered wall.
My image may show a Hungarian house but todays appearance of the Marsfeld houses show many similarities:
All these buildings have the wooden shingles removed by terracotta rooftiles. Rooftiles will have been in use already in 1809 though thatch roof seems to be a third possibility to cover a house:
The open air museum gives us a clear impression what wooden shingle roofs have looked like:
Some houses are build around a corner:
A painting from the medieval town of Hainsburg from early 20th century makes clear even many city houses had only a groundfloor. Many houses must have been build at least partly from wood and it shows a barn entirely made out of wood:
All of this makes the way other gamers and modelers represent the village houses even more unlikely:
Here is a great Aspern-Essling game table of the Wargames Holiday Center by Andy Thomlinson and Doug Birnie:
Most houses look very British:
They must have just used what was available in their club.
This next one is inside the Essling Granary museum diorama , so build by local people who should know what their own traditional houses must have look like
They cropped the ground plan of the houses but not the height to fit all of the battlefield inside one glass covered table.
Aspern as represented by Monsieur le Rosbif & Johnny Frog (is that OUR Rosbif?)
The Maidstone Wargames Society created a fantastic 6mm Aspern-Essling wargame table:
but sadly, their Aspern village looks like they used typical British and German style houses produced by Hardcover Design:
It looks like almost nobody payed some specific interest in Austrian rural architecture and that may also be because sources that we use to consider as being reliable, just like Krugi3 mentioned, exaggerate the appearance of the houses in German style with the gables situated towards the road, like this one:
The best and greatest representation of Essling by someone who calls himself Jaeger2009 shows, apart from some specific multi floor stone buildings like the granary and the townhall/monastery, those typical one floor village farmhouses, situated parallel to the street, in combination with separate wooden barns:
My deepest respect for 'Jaeger2009 of whom I know nothing at all except that I can enter his Photobucket territory where all of us can see his brilliant work.
To be continued soon with more rural village architecture.
All feedback is welcome of course


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Satellite hassle: Look up, down... all around
Twice during the last couple of weeks, ads for Directv have popped up while I've been online– and when I walked into Circuit City one evening before Christmas, I practically tripped over signs touting free stuff. The timing seemed auspicious, as I'd been thinking quite a bit about Directv since December 2.
That's when Elizabeth Sutton emailed me about her experience with Directv – or, more precisely, with Prime TV, which is the company that supplies the satellite dish and receiver for the service.
The Suttons live too far out for cable, and so, "After resisting for years, last April we finally decided to get rid of the antenna in the tree in our back yard and sign up, lured by tempting TV ads promising that Prime TV would give free equipment if you signed up for a year's worth of service with Directv for a bargain rate of around $39 [a month]."
Carl Rasmussen, who had a contract with Prime TV for this region, installed the equipment in April. Sutton gave him a check for $140, and he gave her a rebate form and instructions for filling it out. She sent all the paperwork to Prime TV in Southern Pines, North Carolina, sometime in May. On May 22 she called the company and claims she was told the rebate had been "approved for payment," which would supposedly arrive in "four to six weeks."
Six weeks came and went with no check. She called again on August 26 and 30, and yet again on September 11. According to Sutton, during the last call a customer service representative named Felicia promised to investigate but never called back.
"I have spent about 12 hours on hold, calling, writing, etc.," she wrote, "only to [get] endless answering trees that have no people behind them. And needless to say, no check has come. This is maddening."
On the same day she emailed me, she filled a complaint with the state's Office of Consumer Affairs at its website (vdacs.state.va.us). The Office sent a copy of Sutton's complaint to Prime TV, along with a letter asking that they work directly with Sutton and attempt to settle the dispute "voluntarily." Prime TV responded quickly and wrote the OCA to say that a check would be issued. Finally, on December 23, it was.
I spoke with Rasmussen, who said that he will no longer install Prime TV's equipment, because of the number of customers who have had trouble getting their rebates. I experienced some frustration myself. The first time I called, December 5, the company's computers had been hit by the ice storm that had crippled North Carolina, but an employee named Stacy promised to research Sutton's situation and call me when the computers were back up. She never did.
Things were no better when I tried again on January 2. Even though Sutton had her check, I wanted to ask a few questions about the company's track record with rebates. This time I spoke with a customer service supervisor, Rebecca, who insisted that since her manager was on vacation, there was no one at Prime TV who could talk to me. When I pressed her on that point, she said, "Have a nice day"– and hung up on me.
So much for customer service.
Do you have a consumer problem or question? Email the Fearless Consumer, write her at 100 Second St. NW, 22902, or call 295-8700 ext. 406.


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AF Association News & Events
Heart Rhythm Congress
Providing education and training to promote diversity and improved technology for all involved in the treatment of arrhythmia patients.
The largest heart rhythm event in the UK, Heart Rhythm Congress (HRC) provides unrivalled opportunity for health care professionals interested in the management of arrhythmias to share effective practice, showcase innovation, learn about latest developments and network with UK & international delegates.
Heart Rhythm Congress is the first heart rhythm event to include extensive arrhythmia patient day meetings, nurse education, primary care shared learning and specialist further accreditation. With a trade exhibition running throughout, Heart Rhythm Congress focuses on improving patients outcomes by uniting all healthcare professionals.
For more information visit www.heartrhythmcongress.org
HRC 2018 Summary
Heart rhythm experts from across the world met at the 13th Heart Rhythm Congress (HRC) – the UK's biggest arrhythmia specialist event which was held from 7 - 10 October at the International Convention Centre (ICC). The congress attracted healthcare professionals from across the world with an interest in heart rhythm disturbances and was a huge success.The feedback as always has been excellent;
"A good mix of presentations, excellent speakers"
"Great speakers, very in-depth high level content"
" Really well organised and excellent balance of basic science and clinical cases described".
We would like to thank everyone who attended HRC2018 - we hope you enjoyed the Congress and we look forward to welcoming delegates to the next HRC at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham UK on 6 - 9 October 2019.
To learn more, contact us at:
Arrhythmia Alliance
Unit 6B, Essex House, Cromwell Business Park, Chipping Norton, OX7 5SR
Tel: +44 1789 867524
Fax: +44 1789 450682
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Endorsed by


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Rihanna without makeup
You could never guess this is Rihanna without makeup...I couldn't!!!
Hayden Panettiere looking great in Men's Vogue
Here are some excerpts from the interview she gave....
On when she intends on becoming the latest screwed-up girl in Hollywood:
"Never, never. Cross our fingers. You can't schedule rehab for me. And I don't think you can schedule any DUIs. I think I'm going to be one of those boring girls."
On Britney Spears:
"That girl was the epitome of beauty when I was younger. And we built her up and just ripped her down, put every aspect of her life under a microscope. Probably made 90 percent of the stuff up along the way. I can't even imagine if I had it like she does. She's someone that I'm rooting for, and I hope she can make that comeback."
On rumors she is dating her Heroes castmate, Milo Ventimiglia:
"No, I'm not. I love my castmates, and I adore Milo. He's awesome, but we're easy targets. We're both young, and he's one of the only people on the show not married with children."
On the craziest rumor she has ever heard about herself:
"Well, now that I'm single, it's like I'm dating every male I'm standing next to-and possibly every female."
Photo and Source, Photos2
Rocco DiSpirito can make my turkey!!
My Thanksgiving here in Canada was last month but I know you Americans have it in a couple of days. So Rocco DiSpirito...you can come cook a turkey here at my house. He is one of the hottest chefs I know...(In the pic with him is his mom....Nicolina.)
Christina Aguilera looking GLAM!!
That is the way to rock the makeup Christina Aguilera!!! I love how she can wear a huge sweater and still look amazing!!
Audrina Partridge sex tape???
There are rumors of Audrina Partridge joining the short list of Hollywood elite by starring in her very own sex tape. The 22 year old aspiring celebrity hooked up with local rocker Matt Koruba, singer for Program The Dead, earlier this year. It has been said that the resulting video began making it's way through the Hollywood underground over the weekend, but has yet to surface online.
Britney Spears playing with the kids....
It looks like Britney Spears not being able to drive with the kids has become a good thing. It's nice to see her with the kids and playing. The kids look happy too!!! Way to go Britney!
Nicole Richie donating her baby shower gifts to charity!!
After having an amazing Oz themed baby shower this weekend Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are inspiring others...by donating their baby gifts to 100 families that need them. I think that is such an amazing and humbling thing to do.
While many guests brought gifts to donate...everyone brought something for Nicole and Joel to keep for the baby. A children's book each to help start the baby's reading library.
Photo and Source
Luke Perry is getting old!
Back in my highschool days I watched Beverly Hills 90210....and it is so weird to see everybody all growed up now. Luke Perry is looking old now...he is 42!! He was in this lottery show a couple of seasons ago...or this summer even...and I loved him in it. I was sad that it was only on for a season.
Hayden Panettiere in New York at the Comic Convention
I had to show you this picture of Hayden leaving the convention...this is the ring that Milo Ventimiglia gave her....it's on her wedding ring finger....does that mean that she is taken by him???
Milo Ventimiglia gets to fly!!!
Milo Ventimiglia posted a clip on his blog on myspace yesterday....Click here to see it. He finally got a chance to fly in an F16...lucky guy!!! I have always wanted to do that too....and no I am not just saying that either!!


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I am new to Java and have to do this for a class:
Write a program that displays diamonds as text using a character provided by the user. For example, a diamond of height 6 constructed from asterisks will display as follows:
Besides specifying a character, the user will specify one of three possible heights for each diamond – 6, 12, or 22 – by providing one of the strings "short", "average", or "tall".
Write the following methods in the program:
• Public static int checkSize(String size) – This method will return 6 if size equals "short", 12 if size equals "average", 22 if size equals "tall", or -1 otherwise. Be sure that the comparison is not case sensitive.
• Public static void displayPattern (int size, char ch) – This method will display a diamond of height size constructed from pattern character ch.
Use a do-while loop in the main method to verify that the diamond size that user enters must be "short", "average", or "tall". If invalid string is input, the program should ask for new input until the valid input is given.
All of the help I found online was to make diamond shapes off of predetermined values for the shape. so im having some difficulty doing it how the assignment asks for it.
my code thus far:
im getting a bunch of errors stating that java compiler can "not find symbols" for n and pimport java.util.Scanner; public class Diamonds { public static void main(String[] args) { Scanner kb = new Scanner(System.in); do { System.out.println("enter diamond size (short, average, or tall):"); String size = kb.nextString(); equalIgnoreCase(size); }while (size != "short" || "average" || "tall"); int s = checkSize(size); System.out.println("enter pattern character:"); Char p = kb.nextChar(); displayPattern(s,p); } public static int checkSize(String size) { if (size = "short") { return 6; } else if (size = "average") { return 12; } else if (size = "tall") { return 22; } else { return -1; } } public static void displayPattern (int size, char ch) { for (int s = 6; s <= n; s++) { for (int j = 0; j < (n - s); j++) System.out.print(" "); for (int j = 1; j <= s; j++) System.out.print(p); for (int k = 1; k < s; k++) System.out.print(p); System.out.println(); } for (int s = n - 1; s >= 1; s--) { for (int j = 0; j < (n - s); j++) System.out.print(" "); } }
any help would be great.