text:
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Friday On SPEED Explodes Your DVR
Wall-to-wall NASCAR comes your way all day on SPEED this Friday, and we do mean "all day."
SPEED starts with a two hour block of All-Star Race highlight shows at 7AM Eastern Time. Titles like The Pass In The Grass and The Tide Slide tip-off veteran fans that these four shows are going to be worth recording or watching as they air.
At 9AM, the Craftsman Trucks take to the track for practice. It will be Rick Allen and Phil Parsons calling the action. Down in the garage area will be Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander. There is an unconfirmed report that Michael Waltrip may be stopping by the announce booth.
Down on the NASCAR Live set will be Steve Byrnes and John Roberts. Bob Dillner will be the reporter from the garage. This show will fill the gaps during the transitions as the Trucks end practice and the Cup cars take to the track.
The Sprint Showdown practice is first, and it will be the NASCAR on Fox crew of Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds in the announce booth. Down in the garage area will be Dick Berggren and Matt Yocum. At 1:30PM, the Sprint All-Star cars take to the track for practice, and the announce crew remains the same with one addition. Jeff Hammond joins the team in the Hollywood Hotel.
At 3PM, there will be another version of NASCAR Live. This show will serve to update the events of the day and the remaining programs. John Roberts will host this program with Hermie Sadler and Bob Dillner patrolling the garages.
At 3:30PM, the Craftsman Truck Series crew returns to host qualifying. Rick Allen, Phil Parsons, Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander will call the action. Once again, a Michael Waltrip sighting is rumored.
The "big boys" come out at 5PM when the Sprint Cup cars take to the track. The first order of business will be qualifying for the Sprint Showdown cars. That will be the standard two laps for all of the cars in this event. Immediately following that action will be the very unique qualifying for the All-Star Race itself. This will be three laps long with a mandatory four tire change on pit road.
The NASCAR on Fox gang will again handle the Sprint Cup action with Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds on-the-air. Matt Yocum and Dick Berggren will handle the reporting duties.
John Roberts, Randy Pemberton and Bob Dillner will provide a flexible NASCAR Live show that will take the network to 7:30PM. As race fans know, trying to keep an on-track schedule on the Friday before the All-Star race has never worked out very well.
Krista Voda makes her return to the Craftsman Truck Series pre-race show on Friday night. She anchors The Set-Up at 7:30, which is one of the most focused and fan-friendly pre-race shows on-the-air. Voda's simple and straightforward style make this show always informative.
The Truck Series action gets underway at 8PM. Rick Allen and Phil Parsons return, this time with Michael Waltrip actually alongside in the booth. Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander will appear in The Set-Up and then handle the reporting duties from pit road.
Immediately after the NCTS race, it will be a full hour of Trackside. This show is hosted by Steve Byrnes with Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip on the big panel. Guests on the set this week include Casey Mears, David Ragan and the one and only Humpy Wheeler, the King of Lowe's Motor Speedway.
For those of you who may have missed the Wednesday night premier of Wendy Venturini's Hometown Heroes special, the program re-airs at 11:30PM to close-out a full day of NASCAR on SPEED.
This is one of those days when fans with DVR's or TiVo's have lots of fun. There is something for everyone in SPEED's airing of over seventeen hours of NASCAR TV on Friday. There will be a new post up for the live on-track action Friday morning for your comments all day long.
The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thank you for taking the time to stop by.
19 comments:
- Anonymous said...
is this NASCAR TV???? say it ain't so!!!! please say its true....when is that channel going to be coming JD?
- May 15, 2008 at 8:54 PM
- Kyle said...
Grrr I'm out of town right now and cant set up my DVR. Knew I should have looked to see what was on before leaving yesterday. The 4 half hour show (pass in the grass and so on) are on at 4:30am here. a BIT too early for us on the west coast :) Hope they replay them on Saturday or Sunday.
- May 16, 2008 at 12:23 AM
- Karen said...
The four half hour shows will be repeated Saturday a.m. starting at 5:30 and includes a fifth show with Junior's win in 2000.
- May 16, 2008 at 2:42 AM
- Karen said...
Kyle, that would be 5:30 ET for repeats.
- May 16, 2008 at 3:58 AM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
Anon 8:54PM,
Keep a good thought!
- May 16, 2008 at 5:01 AM
- Unknown said...
Now if only I had Speed HD on Comcast.
- May 16, 2008 at 7:03 AM
- Anonymous said...
you know, this may sound shocking, but 80% of homes in the US do not even have DVRs. And most who do are more affluent (not a surprise.) So the rest of us just getting by will muddle along with our VCRs and DVD recorders.
But it should be a fun weekend. Pit crew challenge was interesting (well, they sure tried hard to make it so...) I caught half of Wendy's show so I'm looking forward to catching the rest of it.
- May 16, 2008 at 8:29 AM
- Anonymous said...
SPEED must have elarned agood lesson about QC last night when they aired the All-Star show with that massive, nasty editing glitch.
If you're going to stop as you record the show, you must remember to edit out those stops!
- May 16, 2008 at 9:02 AM
- Anonymous said...
I don't have a DVR but I do have a dvd recorder with a tuner,I am taping the 2 hour various years of "The Winston",which I still call it.
I was at the '89 Winston,I went with my dad,dad was sure mad at Rusty,lol!!!
- May 16, 2008 at 9:13 AM
- Anonymous said...
Sigh. I wish I didn't have this pesky thing called a job that I have to be at all day and could stay at home to watch all the fun. I don't have a DVR either.
- May 16, 2008 at 9:15 AM
- Lou said...
LOL, annon 915am.
sometimes it is good to work the night shift. So far JD, enjoying the coverage.
- May 16, 2008 at 10:12 AM
- Anonymous said...
My poor DVR is going to be screaming for mercy by Sunday! LOL! I guess I am really lucky! My Cable co offers the DVR thur them. I just had to go down to the cable office and pick up the cable box with the DVR in it. It does cost 9.95 a month, but worth every cent, cause of everything it can do.
- May 16, 2008 at 2:36 PM
- GinaV24 said...
Well, darn, I've quit checking on Speed Channels schedule because most of the time, they don't have programming I bother to watch. Well, at least after reading this column, I know when to setup the DVR for the repeats of the highlight shows. Speed used to be one of the channels that I always checked to see what was on, but because of their lack of NASCAR programming over the past couple of years (except for Friday's and RaceDay) that I've just quit making it "must see TV". Well, it's great to know that this is on, but like others, I'm working through much of it, I'll have to catch what I can when I get home.
- May 16, 2008 at 2:54 PM
- GinaV24 said...
On another note, whoever made the stupid "type what you see" deal go away before your comment would save -- thank you, thank you.
- May 16, 2008 at 2:55 PM
- Anonymous said...
I'm home today watching SPEED. One perk of being unemployed. But if I was at work, the DVR would be busy.
Eighty percent do not have DVRs? Trust me, I am not affluent. I also got mine through my cable co. Since TV is our major form of entertainment, it is worth the few dollars more a month. DVR's rule. Makes VCRs seem prehistoric.
- May 16, 2008 at 3:26 PM
- Newracefan said...
I have the DVR and VCR running but my biggest concern is when am I going to be able to watch it all.
- May 16, 2008 at 3:54 PM
- PammH said...
I am w/newracecarfan. Until this yr, I taped all the stuff that aired while I was at work, but never really had time to watch, even tho I ff'd thru them. So I stopped it & don't miss it at all.
- May 16, 2008 at 4:31 PM
- Anonymous said...
Loved the title to this blog! Made me laugh, and, yes, I've enjoyed lots of the coverage today, too.
I'll catch the second half of Wendy's show as well. We had storms from he** here in Austin Wednesday night and lost power for 6.5 hours. Of course, the storms couldn't wait until after Wendy's show was over!
- May 16, 2008 at 8:21 PM
- Anonymous said...
Don't have a DVR but was lucky enough to be able to stay home and watch NASCAR programming today. I really enjoyed the All-Star Spotlight shows. Wish SPEED would air more shows like these. They could do one for each track they visit. Dave Despain does well with these specials. Wendy Venturini's Hometown Heroes show was also interesting.
- May 16, 2008 at 10:17 PM


text:
Ever since his profligate spending habits and disinterest in paying taxes caught up with him last year, Nicholas Cage has been saying yes to seemingly every script that hits his airspace.
"Medallion" is just the latest film to catch Cage's eye, reports Heat Vision. Cage will play a former master thief with only a couple of hours to find his daughter, who's been kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a cab.
The film was written by former Us Weekly writer David Guggenheim, who was able to leave his old job after selling his script "Safe House," which is soon to be Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds thriller about a young CIA agent who must protect a prisoner from some baddies.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Directing will be Simon West, with whom Cage worked on the regrettable "Con Air." Here's hoping the reunion goes better than their first collaboration.
Cage can next be seen Jan. 7, 2011, in "Season of the Witch," about a deserter from the Knights Templar who agrees to transport a witch to her trial in return for a full pardon, and then again Feb. 25, in "Drive Angry 3D," about a guy who seeks revenge on his daughter's killer.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
While Guillen mentioned Sunday how Thome was the only left-handed hitter he really wanted, he admitted Monday night that this bat in the middle of the order could be explored again in the future. That future date could come as soon as March, if the White Sox realize something is missing during Spring Training.
"It's weird because for as long as I've been here, we always played in the past with the big boys in the middle," Guillen said. "We changed our philosophy and what we want to do is have more speed and other stuff.
"Maybe it will take us a little while to see what we have, but I'm very optimistic. I'm very excited. I don't want to say I'll put my job on the line, but I love what I have. Everything should be set right now, but believe me, I talk to [GM Kenny Williams] every day about the ballclub."
Although Guillen did say that if Thome were to be out there still come spring training and the current plan of DH-by-committee wasn't working, well, bringing him back would be revisited.
"We might see in spring training that we're missing a piece and go get him," Guillen said. "But hopefully Jim is not waiting that long. Hopefully Jim has found a job."
Ken Williams, on making another move before spring training: "Unless it translates into a championship, it's a wasted effort. I'm a bottom-line guy and for me the bottom line is winning championships."


text:
KITTERY, MAINE (CBS) — Maine's Bath Iron Works says three of its employees assigned to the Washington Navy Yard where a shooting took place are accounted for and safe.
At least six people were killed in the shooting on Monday.
The three employees are permanently assigned to the home of the Naval Sea Systems Command. But spokesman Jim DeMartini says the workers' offices are actually outside the Navy Yard. DeMartini says the Bath shipyard's security staff was advised to be "extra attentive" in light of the shootings.
The Naval Sea Systems Command oversees contracts for Navy warships built at Bath, as well as submarine overhauls at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
A spokeswoman for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, said none of its personnel were affected. She declined to discuss security.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Indo-Thai mango and coconut bhel
Two fabulous things happened at the tail end of last week; my husband returned home for a couple of days, after eleven days of business related work in Australia and I found a Riverford fruit and veg box wrapped up and tucked behind my garden gate.
Years ago, when my husband made the switch from his role in the pharmaceutical industry to make a living in the field he is so passionate about (magic) I would cry upon his departure for these clustered long-haul trips. After years of listening to him talk about making dreams manifest and how life is so short and it is not worth spending limited moments of breath and potential smiles doing something one is less than passionate about, there was a juxtaposition of, 'I want you to LIVE' and 'I don't want to be alone'.
I didn't like the quiet of the evenings or cooking for one. I didn't like the 'filling in' activities. I didn't like waking alone or going to sleep with just the telly for company. But look, years on. Who would have thought that I could become accustomed to waving goodbye with a young child on my hip and that the quiet of the evenings would become precious time to prepare for lectures or cookery classes and those textbooks have become me, once again? Years ago I would find solace in those messages, 'how are you coping on your own' and now I see ambition and vision through how much courage I have mustered up in recent years. I have even considered spending a few years abroad.
So the contents of the Riverford fruit and veg box this week made me chuckle because they matched my thoughts of more exotic climes and the will to LIVE. Now, I am sure I have gone on, and on enough about how much of an alphonso fan I am but alas we can't have these in the UK this year but I was tickled by the delivery of a large and firm mango. I spotted red chillies and red onions, salsa? I could have done yes, but I fancied something sensational and explosive. It is how I want to feel you see.
I am taking a deep breath before I tell you this. Macaroons and chaat. OK. Let me explain. These are the two foods that make my limbs turn to jelly with anticipation and heart skipping joy. Heart-leap-frogging. I am a girl that does not need to be gifted shoes, give me macaroons and chaat. And if I haven't told you before, chaat is Indian street food (vegetarian snack) of inordinate amounts of sensual pleasure. The trickles of tamarind chutney and chilli green lip-smacking chutney heighten a fine balance of sweet, sour, crisp, cool, soft and spicy textures. It pops every sense and leaves anyone and everyone hankering for more, more, more.
But, you know me. I can't just leave it there. I saw this mango and thought Indo-Thai would be absolutely perfumery delight. The mango gives sweet-sharp balance to the aniseed Thai basil. I have used coconut and peanuts for the salty and nutty elements too. This is not an understated dish (I have stressed that enough haven't I?) it is a full show. New potatoes ensure that you get a soft bite without soggy mess that an ordinary potato can bring and you can get the puffed rice from most supermarkets or Indian grocers. I have used chopped mint and coriander too for a real herby feel. I would definitely recommend getting hold of the chaat masala that is made of peppery black salt, it lifts the dish to a whole new level. Just try it.
for the full recipe head over to great british chefs


text:
The shift from managing boxes to managing services means learning a whole new set of skills. Bridge the differences and explore the opportunities with our cloud track.
For exhibition and sponsorship opportunities, contact Sharon Cordesse at firstname.lastname@example.com
For information on trade opportunities with O'Reilly conferences contact firstname.lastname@example.com
For media-related inquiries, contact Maureen Jennings at firstname.lastname@example.com
View a complete list of OSCON contacts


text:
Manhole covers explode all the time. But I can't remember any that sent up a 15-foot tower of cackling flames and gas in the middle of the West Village. Somewhere in the sewer is a dragon with a Jiffy Pop.
Redditor dbs176 spotted the conflagration on New Year's day at the corner of Bleeker and Leroy, which is a well-traveled corner! It doesn't appear that anybody was hurt, aside from whatever mythological creatures were romping below. Thank goodness there were no urban historians in the area. [Reddit via The Daily What]


text:
- This event has passed.
Federal Way – LifePlanning Seminar
June 13, 2019 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Join us for an Aging Options LifePlanning Seminar that demonstrates how you can protect your assets and preserve your quality of life!
What does LifePlanning include?
• Safe Harbor Trust
• Power of Attorneys – MHAD provisions
• Protect your assets from uncovered medical and long term care costs
• Long Term Care Insurance
• VA and Medicaid benefits
• Resources for an age-friendly house
• Avoiding family feuds
• Resources for families
• Care Management
• Geriatric care resources
• All this and much, much more…


text:
Here at Ustream, we live and breathe live video every day. In fact, we've powered more than two billion streams over the last seven years, and we're here to help you harness the power of our technology. Businesses large and small can weave live video into their marketing playbooks, as it's a cost-effective way to reach large, engaged audiences and ultimately cut through all the clutter out there.
Check out our new video below, and see how Andy's Bags has transformed into a booming business with Ustream:
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
Ready to learn more?
Learn more about Ustream's live video solutions HERE
Download our white paper, Integrate Live Video Into Your Communication Strategy


text:
Obituary – David Anthony Routh
27 September 2012
It is with great sadness that we report the death of David Routh earlier this week.
27th February 1940 - 24th September 2012
It is with great sadness that we report the death of David Routh earlier this week.
David Routh, Senior Lecturer in Experimental Psychology, was a member of the School of Experimental Psychology (formerly, the Department of Psychology) from 1st October 1971 until his retirement at the end of July 2005. Since then, he had honorary status and was a frequent visitor to the School, continuing to pursue his research interests, and attending seminars and similar events.
David graduated from Newcastle University and began his research looking at the causes of forgetting in short-term memory, but as his career progressed he extended his interests to study the general principles that underpin human memory and reasoning. Most recently, his work focused on aspects of economic behaviour including the psychology of gift-giving. Throughout his career, his work was characterised by a desire to understand data in all of its richness. So, while others would typically limit their analysis of memory to individuals' ability to recall information correctly, David would extend his approach to examine the errors that people made, knowing that these are at least as informative. He used a wide variety of experimental methods to maximise the information he obtained from his participants, and sophisticated statistical techniques to determine the underlying structure in any dataset. If there was one thing that he taught his fellow psychologists here in Bristol, it was the lesson of looking at data 'in the round' in order to understand properly the numbers that we collect in our experiments.
David coupled these strengths with a passion for psychology that went well beyond his own particular areas of interest, and which was fuelled by an encyclopaedic knowledge of the discipline. Speakers would often quake when David raised his hand to ask a question at the end of their research presentation, but they knew that his comments would be constructive and insightful, and would invariably point them in the direction of previously unknown but highly relevant literature. In the same way, David was always ready to mentor other colleagues, and was unfailingly generous with his time and expertise.
In sum, David was a friend to many and a valued colleague to all. He will be greatly missed.
Written by Jan Noyes and Chris Jarrold


text:
Fred Durst to direct horror film from the writer of "Se7en" and "The Wolfman". Yup, THAT Fred Durst. Guess he's taking a break from shitty music for a bit to make some shitty movies. Can't sneeze at that writer's cred though I guess. Then again... FRED DURST.
Bigfoot contracts rabies in "The Bloody Rage of Bigfoot". Isn't it amazing how sometimes the best ideas are the simplest?
Prepare for your mind to be blown. Universal has nabbed the rights to the comic book "The Strange Adventures of HP Lovecraft", and Ron Howard's producing. With Lovecraft's popularity surging in recent years thanks to the internet, I figured it was only a matter of time until he found his way into a mainstream movie, but Ron Howard? No director has been announced yet, but the speculation is that Howard will take it himself. Whoa.
Cameras roll next week on a remake of 1975's "The Land That Time Forgot", directed by C. Thomas Howell. I know it seems like I'm just pulling these names out of my ass today, but I swear I'm telling the truth!


text:
Are you an AT&T customer with a grandfathered unlimited data plan? If so, you may want to check your bill to make sure that's still the plan you're paying for.
In 2009, AT&T adopted new, tiered data plans for smartphone users, dropping its traditional unlimited data plans for new customers. Those who already had the plans could keep them, AT&T said, even if they got a new device or signed a new contract.
But the FCC said Tuesday that some existing AT&T unlimited users were switched to monthly plans without their knowledge or consent. As part of a settlement with the commission, AT&T will pay the government $700,000 and offer refunds to those who were switched without notice, according to CNet.
The forced change from unlimited to tiered plans only happened to customers in certain circumstances, the FCC said:
Previously, AT&T had allowed its smartphone customers who had pay-as-you-go data plans or customers who had disabled their network data to keep their old pay-as-you-go data plans when the company made monthly plans mandatory in 2009. But the FCC said that its investigation showed that some consumers who replaced these phones under warranty or insurance, or who moved to a new residence were switched to the monthly plans, even though AT&T had said they could keep their old plans.
The FCC started investigating AT&T over these practices last year as a result of consumer complaints. And the agency reached an agreement with AT&T that it announced Tuesday in a consent decree.
AT&T will make a "voluntary payment" of $700,000 under the decree and issue refunds in those instances where they have not already been made. And, the company will institute an education plan for its employees so more surprise switches don't occur.
For its part, AT&T says it had already discovered and rectified the situation, which affected a very small number of its customers:
Marty Richter, a spokesman for AT&T, downplayed the significance of this agreement. He said that the consent decree involved less than 0.03 percent of its wireless customers, who inadvertently had a monthly data plan added to their account after getting a new smartphone through a warranty or insurance exchange or after relocating. He added that AT&T had already discovered and corrected the issue by Nov. 2010, and had given refunds to customers who contacted AT&T.
To be fair, AT&T has been kinder lately to its unlimited customers than competitor Verizon. AT&T still allows those who buy new smartphones that use its faster LTE data network to keep their grandfathered plans. At Verizon, those who upgrade to an LTE phone must drop a grandfathered unlimited plan to get a subsidized price. They can still keep their plan if they pay full-price for the phone, which is usually hundreds of dollars more than the contract price.
Still, if you're an AT&T unlimited customer who replaced a smartphone under warranty or insurance, or who moved and changed your address with AT&T, you may want to give your bill a once-over, just to make sure Ma Bell 2.0 hasn't put one over on you.


text:
Guidelines for Appropriate Use of College Owned Laptops
Please complete the top of the form online then print the form to obtain the necessary signatures.
Use of the laptop should be in compliance with the college's Responsible Use of Information Technology policy.
The laptop computer is provided for your use, but it remains the property of CCRI. Laptops must be returned to the Information Technology Help Desk if your employment at the college ends.
Theft or loss that occurs on campus should be reported to the CCRI Campus Police. For theft or loss off campus, you should report the disappearance to the local police and notify the Campus Police upon returning to campus.
The laptop is configured to be used on and off campus and includes our standard supported software programs. You may install other work related software as long as you are in compliance with copyright laws and college policies for appropriate use of software.
You are responsible for maintaining an appropriate backup of your work-related documents and data files. You are also responsible for the security and confidentiality of any administrative data that you might save on your laptop in accordance with the college's Data Security Policy.
IT support of college owned laptops will be equivalent to that provided for college owned desktop computers. First level troubleshooting will be provided via phone or email by the IT Help Desk. However, subsequent levels of support will require the laptop to be worked on either in a campus office or via a delivery to the IT Help Desk.
Your signature below indicates that you have read this appropriate use statement and have had your questions about appropriate laptop use answered. This agreement must be signed before a laptop can be issued through this program.
Signature: ______________________________________ Date:_________________


text:
This is the Fuhrmann family stone in St. John the Baptist Cemetery, Johnsburg, Fond du Lac Co., WI. Buried here are my 2nd great grandparents, Anton and Maria Katherine (Michels) Fuhrmann and two of their sons, Peter and John. Anton emigrated from Germany in 1845.
We've always appreciated the uniqueness of the stone – a broken piller, symbolizing the deaths of the pillars of the family, forms the top of the stone, with the initials "AF" carved on the pillar's top.


text:
My Job on Maulgar – supplementing Ego
Ego just wrote a good Healer Strategy for Maulgar and friends. Go there first, because I'm going to supplement, not reinvent the wheel.
Why are you still here? Go read, then come back.
That's better. OK, so I'm one of those healers. Which doesn't matter (yet).
What matters to me is what I'm getting ready to do. I want to know three things.
1) I want to know where MY healtarget is planning to fight. I want to be in position to start casting a heal – especially if I'm planning to interrupt-cast greater heals – before my target attacks.
2) I want to know where my NEXT healtarget is planning to fight. In this fight it is pretty much a guarantee that some if not all my next targets are out of range at the instant I start fighting. Yes, they may not be where they intended to be when it's actually time to switch, but usually they are.
3) I really want to know where I want to avoid going. In this fight, where is Krosh's mage-tank planning to hold him? Again, sure, he's got a good chance of moving somewhere from there. But the starting point is pretty important too.
Seriously on that third, think about it. I am not planning to start on top of my tank. I am going to stand somewhere. I'd really rather not move more than I have to, so not standing where the mage is planning to tank Krosh is a good idea.
Obviously I have to keep an eye and ear toward what's going on. Maulgar's healer is OOM and I'm called to pick up the slack? I'm on Blind Eye, but one of the mobs dragged his team of killers toward the gate instead of staying in a clump? Yeah, these happen.
But it lessens the stress if you take a few moments to think through "what's next" a little more fully.


text:
For the Good of Others
Item #: CB64684
All Products
(3 Total)
View by Size:
Getting , please wait.
|Diego is a doctor so used to working in extreme situations that he has immunized himself to others' pain...
|Directed by:
|Oskar Santos
|Eduardo Noriega, Bel?n Rueda, Angie Cepeda, Cristina Plazas, Clara Lago, Marcel Borr?s, Carlos Leal, Luis Callejo, Jos? ?ngel Egido, Chema Ruiz, Dritan Biba, Ra?l Fern?ndez, Concha Hidalgo, Carmen Losa, Mar?a Miguel


text:
Hey everyone!
Before I show you todays delicious stamping eye candy I just wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes for a happier 2012 for the Brown family on my last post. I wish you all a fabulous and prosperous 2012 as well. I plan on making this year less stressful. I am going to cut back on some things and do more of others. I just have to figure out exactly what those things are! LOL!
I know one of them would be to join another DT because I am already missing Inkspirations. I love challenges. So I am going to keep my eye out for that one.
Speaking of challenges the card I am showing you today was the last card I made for Inkspirations but we finished with challenge #100 this one was #101 and it was a colour challenge. Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Marina Most and Whisper White
I love this combo! I am also very happy with how this one turned out. Hopefully my dad will like it too.
Another challenge I have set my self is to get back into my scrapping a bit more. I miss my scrapping nights and hope to restart them. There is nothing like getting together with other scrappers and spend a night a week scrapping into the wee hours of the morn. A lot of chocolate was consumed on those nights. LOL! Maybe that's what I am missing?! hahaha!


text:
Page 1
|Save page Remove page
|1 of 117
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large (1000x1000 max)
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
This page
Hybrid Mesh/Image-based Rendering Techniques for Computer Graphics Applications by Jessy Lee A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (COMPUTER SCIENCE) May 2010 Copyright 2010 Jessy Lee
Object Description
|Hybrid mesh/image-based rendering techniques for computer graphics applications
|Lee, Jessy
|Author email
|email@example.com; email@example.com
|Doctor of Philosophy
|Document type
|Degree program
|Computer Science
|Viterbi School of Engineering
|Date defended/completed
|Date submitted
|Restricted until
|Date published
|Advisor (committee chair)
|Kuo, C.-C. Jay
|Advisor (committee member)
Neumann, Ulrich
Chang, Tu-Nan
|Although visibility (or occlusion) culling techniques have been extensively studied and adopted for fast rendering of occluded objects in a scene, rendering of botanical models poses a major challenge that is not well addressed before. That is, objects in natural scenes tend to be large in the number of counts (e.g. trees), yet they are usually made out of small primitives (e.g. leaves) which make traditional occlusion culling a non-trivial task. In this research, we present two techniques to simplify tree leaf objects for their fast rendering while retaining their visual resemblance to the original model.; The first technique, called the camera-imaging-based approach, is to prioritize leaf objects based on their geometrical relationship to multiple camera viewing angles. First, we consider a single camera viewpoint. Under a budget constraint of how many leaves shall be rendered, we select leaves with higher priorities for rendering. We partition camera's projected screen space into several small regions to ensure that each region is guaranteed to be filled with a certain number of leaves. Each region selects higher priority leaves by utilizing leaf objects' spatial relationship to the camera. Then, an iterative algorithm is proposed to allocate leaf objects at different viewing angles. The algorithm chooses different viewing positions for leaf allocation at each iteration with the goal of maximizing the resemblance to the original tree model at all possible angles. Three criteria taken in consideration for viewing angle selection are: the distance, leaf normal, and unfilled pixel.; In the second technique which is called the human-vision-based approach, we develop a human-centric tree simplification technique by exploiting visual saliency of the human visual system (HVS). Saliency maps such as the intensity, orientation, and color of an image are critical to human perception and can be used to serve as the design guideline of the simplification algorithm. Built upon the first technique, a subset of polygons is chosen for rendering to speed up the rendering process. Rather than mapping each polygon with the same leaf texture, we scale these polygons and map a different number of leaf images to them based on polygon's density and position on the tree.; Four objective performance metrics are considered for performance evaluation; namely, pixelwise comparison, block-level density comparison, the Gabor-filtering-based metric and the saliency-map based metric. In the pixelwise comparison, the pixel-wise difference between rendered images of the original and simplified tree models is computed. In the block-level density comparison, the different between pixel densities at a block of a certain size is calculated to ensure that errors reflect distortions at a local image level. The third one is to use the Gabor filter to analyze the orientation and intra pixel relationship. Finally, to characterize human visual characteristics, saliency maps of rendered images of simplified and original models are generated and a mean-squared-error (MSE) is calculated to quantify the resemblance between them. Thus, it is called the saliency-based metric. We also conducted subjective evaluation tests by asking human subjects to rate the resemblance of simplified tree models to the original ones. It is shown that subjective evaluation and the saliency-based objective performance metric reach consistent results. Experimental data are also provided to demonstrate time efficiency of the proposed techniques at the cost of little visual degradation.; After considering different techniques in simplifying a tree model, we take a step further to enhance the rendering performance. That is, we examine a hybrid mesh/billboard approach which renders an object either as 2D image or its original 3D format. First, we investigate the tradeoff in rendering objects with either the mesh or the billboard representation. While billboards provide faster rendering performance in a scene with multiple objects, it incurs some processing overhead that makes such a representation not the best choice in some cases. A design guideline on the optimal balance of using meshes and billboards is studied. Three major parameters used in the tradeoff analysis are: the distance between the camera and the object, the billboard update time, and the scene complexity. We examine the relationship among the three parameters and determine the best tradeoff based on system requirements. Finally, other parameters that may contribute to changes in the rendering resource requirement are also briefly described.
|tree model simplification; computer graphics; mesh; image-based rendering
|Part of collection
|University of Southern California dissertations and theses
|Publisher (of the original version)
|University of Southern California
|Place of publication (of the original version)
|Los Angeles, California
|Publisher (of the digital version)
|University of Southern California. Libraries
|Electronically uploaded by the author
|Legacy record ID
|Contributing entity
|University of Southern California
|Lee, Jessy
|Repository name
|Libraries, University of Southern California
|Repository address
|Los Angeles, California
|Repository email
|Archival file
|Page 1
|Contributing entity
|University of Southern California
|Repository email
|Full text
|Hybrid Mesh/Image-based Rendering Techniques for Computer Graphics Applications by Jessy Lee A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (COMPUTER SCIENCE) May 2010 Copyright 2010 Jessy Lee


text:
... Lack of strict typing, scripting performance, and other reasons were given for why Java would persevere as the language of choice. This was the typical reaction dynamic languages would get from the Java community. There were many believable reasons for why these languages, especially the ones gaining fame on top of the LAMP stack, would not last. However, one thing which the Java community ignored for many years was the radical shift to the Web, not only for media and e-commerce Web sites but for a large majority of business applications including CRM, ERP, reporting, document management, etc… As a result Java EE (then called J2EE) was not built with the Web in mind but rather focused on enterprise integration, transaction management and other back-end processing. While Java EE has long supported Web development with servlets and JSP the companies driving the standards ignored the RESTful nature of the Web and rather continued to drive a general purpose platform. In parallel, the LAMP-like architecture built on top of the C language's eco-system of libraries and tools started becoming the most popular platform for developing Web applications.The response to this by the Java community was to standardize:
When it became apparent to the large Java vendors that the Web paradigm was being built and innovated without Java they started backing a variety of both standards and non-standards driven Java Web application frameworks which promised to adapt Java to the Web. Such frameworks included Java Server Faces, Struts, Spring MVC and others. Some of these frameworks have been more successful than others but in general none of them managed to resolve one of Java's main pain points on the Web. The strict typing and overly complex architecture of Java applications meant longer development times and a need for more skilled engineers in order to push Java applications into the market, i.e. Java's TCO on the Web was unsatisfactory.Andi makes a few references to Java "holding the stick at both ends" - wanting to be part of a paradigm shift and wanting to protect their business, not supporting dynamic languages until Microsoft emerged with the CLR. One can assume the languages supported on the JVM before the CLR existed were mere figments of the imagination, I suppose... but there's also little argument that they weren't largely suitable for "real deployments" at the time. Wanting to hold his stick at both ends himself, Andi continues:
the LAMP deployment paradigm has significant advantages. By featuring a multi-process architecture, faults in the Web Server and dynamic language software will typically not lead to sites going down. While one process may crash all other processes serving Web requests will continue running. This is in contrast to multi-threaded environments like the JVM (Java Virtual Machine, Java's execution environment) where software faults including crashes and deadlocks will typically lead to system down situations. In addition, the ability to recycle processes after a set time will prevent memory leaks and memory fragmentation, two common software memory problems, from degrading the system efficiency over time. Another key advantage LAMP developers enjoy is the easy deployment paradigm. Software updates can easily and incrementally be pushed out to LAMP servers without requiring prolonged build and packaging processes. While this may lead to unorthodox and sometimes too lax of a process, when done correctly it makes the lives of the developers and the operations personnel much easier.It's a little disingenuous to say that the light nature of the LAMP processing stack is a benefit because crappy code is easier to endure... and then say that the lack of formality is a strength if you don't rely on it. The intent seems to be to say "sure, we enable crappy programmers, but they don't have to be crappy, so we can say we have good programmers too." Andi says that the question is whether the non-Microsoft development environments will "buy into" the JVM implementations of dynamic languages or whether they will "move to the LAMP stack which hosts the de-facto standards for the popular languages." He says that the majority will go with LAMP, pointing out that:
- "The JVM ports of these languages will always lag behind the community-driven standards implementations." This is entirely safe, and not quite valid: Jruby and Jython are not fully compatible, but they're also very active in the Ruby and Python communities, and they're targeting being full-fledged members of the community. Much like Java, Python and Ruby are standards, not implementations, whether the LAMP advocates like it or not – and as pointed out elsewhere on TSS, in many ways the JVM is a much stronger platform for these languages than their C environments.
- "The JVM was not originally designed to host dynamic languages." Hard to argue that one, because it wasn't; that said, the JVM has been known to adapt every now and then. The JRuby guys being hired by Sun was a great move; they've been helping drive changes in the JVM to give it better support for elements that dynamic languages need.
- "The scalability requirements of the modern Web will require an increasing amount of processing density on the Web tier." C-based languages have the highest density of processing power, he says, and while that's difficult to argue, he's still holding that stick of his on both ends. The JVM is C-based, after all; his point is meant to be that PHP is directly C-based and thus has all the benefits of C, while the JVM is... not C-based and thus doesn't? Perhaps his judgement is impaired by thinking that PHP is closer to C than Java is. Or perhaps he's just confusing the heck out of me. In any event, if I need more processing power from a Java application, I'll use a compute grid like Terracotta, GigaSpaces, or Hadoop, or any other of a number of offerings, and not have to change languages unless I want to.
- "Multi-core systems work very well with the LAMP stack's multi-process paradigm. With the chip industry now focusing primarily on multi-core as opposed to hyper-threading technology, the benefits of multi-threaded environments such as the JVM are not substantially realized on today's hardware. Instead the multi-process paradigm delivers more stability and reliability." Yes, it's very sad that the JVM is unable to take advantage of multicore machines.
- "Due to its simplicity, the LAMP stack delivers a very low barrier to entry for developers while still delivering the scalability of large scale production systems such as Yahoo! and Facebook." This is probably the most valid point he makes.
I believe that while the JVM approach to dynamic languages may appeal to some Java customers it will never be able to catch up with the broader open-source movement around native dynamic languages implementations. The JVM dynamic languages implementations will not be enough for the Java vendors to catch up and they will need to embrace the native de-facto standard community driven dynamic languages.Interesting stuff, and the mailing list to which the URL was originally posted has some very interesting content itself; that'll probably find its way to TSS in a subsequent post. What do you think?


text:
The Pearl Foundation Scholarship was established in memory of Pearl Fink by her children Janis Ian and Eric Fink. Pearl enrolled in Goddard's Adult Degree Program at the age of 49, after having been in the workforce for several decades. Getting a BA was a lifetime goal for her. Pearl found her passion in playwriting, going on to earn her MA from Goddard at the age of 52, and writing a full-length play. Her daughter, the musician Janis Ian said, "Goddard was the most important thing in the world to her next to her children."
June 10
Given to a student who demonstrates financial need who aspires to earn a first-time undergraduate (BA, BFA) or graduate (MA, MFA) degree and has either:
- been out of school for 5+ years, or
- has been in the workforce for 5+ years.
Both new and returning students may apply for the Pearl Foundation Scholarship.
Essay Requirement
Please write an essay (500 words or less) that includes:
- a brief introduction about yourself
- how a college degree fits into your own lifelong learning process and how it will help advance your career or educational goals at this stage in your life
- anything else you would like the scholarship committee to know about you.
- Your contact information (email, phone).
QUESTIONS? To learn more about this scholarship, email email@example.com.


text:
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's sports minister has predicted the country will have more than enough hotel rooms for the 2014 World Cup and will avoid a repeat of the price gouging that occurred ahead of last year's U.N. conference in Rio de Janeiro.
Soccer's governing body FIFA has raised concerns that Brazil lacks the quantity and quality of hotel rooms it expects for host countries, but sports minister Aldo Rebelo said private investors were improving lodgings in the 12 venue cities.
"The concern of the private sector is different from that of some observers," Rebelo told reporters on Wednesday. "They think there will be a surplus and that will result in a decline in prices.
"We are confident there will be a balance and will be watching so that tourists and journalists are not threatened with extortion," he added.
The concerns follow a rush for rooms in Rio last June when hotels in the city, known for its sparse stock of outdated and overpriced lodgings, hiked prices by as much as five times the regular rate ahead of a U.N. development conference.
At the time, city officials and the Brazilian government had to intervene to coordinate a rate cut by hoteliers. The gouging alarmed many in Brazil as the country gears up to host the World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
Rebelo, however, forecast a surge in lodging investments as hotel companies prepare for the World Cup, claiming one French chain alone was planning to invest $2.5 billion in Brazil over the coming years. He did not specify the company.
France's Accor, a market leader among hotel companies in the region, has said it expected to invest around $900 million in all of Latin America by 2015.
The concerns over hotel rooms is particularly acute in far-flung venues like Manaus and Cuiaba, cities located in the Amazon and Brazil's remote farm belt.
Last year, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke warned that the dearth of accommodation was so severe, some fans might have to fly in and out of cities before and after matches.
Brazil's major tourist destination Rio is better served than most but the city has a history of late scrambles for decent accommodation during big events. The city has more than 20,000 hotel rooms but very few of them are ranked four or five star.
Authorities have discussed plans to host visitors on cruise ships in the city's bay during the Olympics. Some investors are even refurbishing sex motels that normally sell rooms by the hour.
Rebelo called the exorbitant price hikes ahead of the U.N. summit "criminal" and said authorities would act swiftly if abuses were detected again.
"The government will call on federal police to act against any hoteliers who try to gouge clients," he said.
In addition to hotels, Brazil is investing heavily to ensure that airports, public transport and stadiums are all ready in time for the upcoming events.
Editing By Paulo Prada and John O'Brien


text:
Meeting the Challenges of Cancer Survivorship
A diagnosis of cancer means a very different thing than it did a decade (and longer) ago. While it's true the very words, "You have cancer" can trigger feelings of anxiety, sadness and vulnerability, the reality is that many people with cancer endure treatment and move on to the rest of their lives, cancer-free. The development of new surgical techniques, drug therapies and state-of-the-art technologies have meant increased survival and a focus on living with cancer as a chronic illness rather than a death sentence. More than 12 million Americans, who have had cancer, are alive today. It must however be said that the journey from diagnosis through treatment to survivorship is not an easy one.
Researchers, oncologists and other cancer care providers have done excellent work improving cancer treatments, managing side effects and extending survival and reaching cures. This has been the main focus for many years. It is also important to consider the other aspects of the cancer experience. These psychosocial concerns can include – emotional difficulties like depression and anxiety, disruptions in the family, at work and school, insufficient financial supports and health coverage.
Recently, there's been a major recognition of the myriad of psychosocial stressors people with cancer face and the potential impact on a person's ability to cope with the diagnosis and treatment. In 2007, the Institute for Medicine (IOM) published a report, "Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs." This paper articulated the importance of meeting the practical, psychological, spiritual, emotional and social needs of people with cancer to achieve the best outcomes possible. The article by the IOM stated that the only responsible way to provide cancer treatment is by building support (in every area) for patients, directly into the cancer treatment plan.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is a group of cancer experts in various fields from across the United States. This panel of cancer experts get together to develop a consensus for practice standards and guidelines for cancer care that are evidence-based and generally accepted / followed by most cancer care providers. In recent years, an NCCN subcommittee gave a name to the various concerns of people with cancer. Distress is a "multi-factorial unpleasant emotional experience of a psychological, social and/or spiritual nature that may interfere with the ability to cope effectively with cancer, its physical symptoms and its treatment." The Distress Management Panel (subcommittee) has adopted a method of screening people for distress as well as devised practice guidelines to be followed to better meet the needs of the whole patient. The ultimate goal of this NCCN panel and the definitions and standards of care they proposed for managing distress in people with cancer is to ensure that no patient's distress go unrecognized and untreated under any circumstance.
Definition of Distress
Distress is common. Feelings of sadness, hopelessness, powerlessness, anxiety, guilt, agitation, anger and uncertainty are present in everyone with cancer at some point in their experience. We all cope in different ways – some ways are more productive and "healthy" than others. There are times when a person's distress can be so high that they will choose not to undergo treatment for their cancer. They may figure that there is no help for the difficulties they're experiencing and so they think that they do not have the capacity to go through cancer treatment. An example could be health insurance related or perhaps concern over losing a job. Sometimes, a health care team will consider a patient who makes a decision to not treat their cancer "non-compliant" or a difficult personality. The team may not even realize what is troubling the person with cancer, beyond the cancer itself, and do nothing further. We know once distress is identified and managed that a person's perspective often changes and enables them to become more willing to engage in treatment decisions and move forward with their cancer treatment.
The Nature of Distress: What does it look and feel like?
The causes of distress vary. Medical conditions, including some cancers, can cause changes in mood and can foster feelings of depression and anxiety. There are also treatments that can simulate feelings of distress. To add to this, our emotions or reactions to this biologically-induced distress can serve to create a "viscous cycle" that can be difficult to break. Distress can also come from our previous experiences with cancer. And so a lack of communication or accurate information can cause distress. We may have misconceptions about cancer and/or we may not feel comfortable talking about it. It's likely that we have other stressors in life that existed prior to the cancer diagnosis. Any and all of these factors can create distress and put us at a higher risk for distress-related problems.
If you consider distress to have a range – one end would be the amount of distress commonly expected or accepted and the opposite would be an amount that was too high to tolerate and severely problematic. Most people move along the range or continuum at various times of their cancer experience and this is normal.
We all can tolerate a certain amount of distress and still function fully. For instance, a person may feel intense distress at the time of a cancer diagnosis when all of the information they receive is new and frightening. This distress may decrease once they begin to process things and adjust to the (often temporary) changes that the diagnosis has created in their life. Often people report feeling less distress once their first treatment is over.
Other times distress can be all-consuming and affect feelings, relationships, thoughts and actions. Distress can create a distraction and prevent a person from hearing vital information about treatment side effects or it can cause someone to become isolated at a time when relationships are important to healing and coping. There is no question that distress can create problems when not recognized and managed.
How You Recognize Distress
Sometimes people with cancer are able to see that distress is affecting their life other times a family member or a health care provider may point this out. Some signs that distress is too high and may interfere with coping and/or treatment include; panic, overwhelming dread, hopelessness, extreme irritability, difficulty eating or sleeping, impaired concentration, obsessive or constant thoughts about the cancer, intense anger, feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope. Of course, feeling suicidal is a form of extreme distress and should be addressed immediately.
The American Cancer Society has included a list of statements in their booklet "Distress in People with Cancer" that can help someone with cancer determine whether they might need professional assistance managing their distress. By rating their experience in each area, the level of distress they are experiencing can be ascertained. An example is "I have been irritable or unusually angry and I have not controlled it well." The person answering would rate their experience on a scale from one to five and would be able to see if they have several fours and fives (higher scores = higher distress) which would strongly indicate a need for professional assistance.
Health care providers have a variety of tools available to screen for distress and determine the source and type of this distress. One such tool is the "Distress Thermometer and Problems List." This simple tool combines rating distress on a scale of one to ten and checking off areas of concern in a variety of areas. When used, this tool can encourage open communication about distress and pinpoint the source and potential remedies and resources available. Referrals can be made to the social worker, dietitian, physical therapist and/or chaplain to better address a patient's distress.
Once distress is identified and referrals are made, a plan to address the practical, social, emotional and psychological concerns should be then incorporated in the overall treatment plan. Fortunately, there are many resources available for help.
Now that cancer related distress has been defined and the necessity for screening and evaluation has been demonstrated, it is important to examine the various areas where problems and distress can arise and consider what might be done to decrease or alleviate distress. In this article we hope to describe some of the types of distress that people with cancer face as well as strategies for coping.
Using the NCCN's Distress Thermometer can provide patients and professionals with an excellent tool to identify areas that may impact or influence distress at any point during the cancer continuum. These areas are broken down into five categories; practical problems, family problems, emotional problems, physical problems and spiritual/religious concerns. These areas tend to ebb and flow and certainly problems in one area can impact problems in another. Let's look a bit more in-depth at each of these categories and how they may impact you and your caregivers.
Practical Problems
Practical problems encompass a wide variety of everyday challenges that persons coping with cancer may face. The practical problems include child care, housing, insurance/financial, transportation and work/school. These problems often create major challenges for patients and families coping with cancer-from who will take care of the children while mom has chemo, to not being able to keep up with rent/mortgage payments because the patient/caregiver cannot work while going through treatment, to having co-pays for treatment, to deciding when to apply for disability or FMLA or to just getting to treatment or a doctors appointment-practical problems have a huge impact on access to care, timeliness of care and ability to cope with the diagnosis and treatment plan. Often patients are embarrassed by practical problems and do not volunteer this information to their healthcare team members. It is important for patients and caregivers to recognize practical problems and share them with their healthcare team, as many resources are available to assist the patient to better manage these problems.
Family Problems
While a cancer diagnosis happens to the patient, it impacts the entire family and care-giving community around that patient. Patients and support persons have to adjust to changes in the roles they have played in the family as well as potential changes to the relationship. Perhaps dad is diagnosed and no longer able to manage the family finances, or mom is not longer able to take the kids to soccer practice. Maybe the wife no longer can cook meals for her husband after doing so for 30 years. Or maybe the husband is concerned about his change in sexual desires as a result of his cancer treatment. All of these changes to relationship and roles require an adjustment by the patient, family members and caregivers. Often patients and caregivers have to learn entirely new roles (like how to balance a check book, or defrost a pound of ground beef, how to deal with bills, childcare etc.). Often, the most difficult part is communicating the challenges these changes present and working together as a family and caregiving team to address the problem and come up with a strategy to manage it. If patients and families are not talking to each other, then it's very likely that they are not able to communicate effectively with their health care providers. This has a huge impact on care, management of symptoms and suffering and treatment planning. A cancer diagnosis is not the time to circle the wagons and hope for the best. Recognition of cancer as a family process is the first step to addressing problems within the family. Asking for help in this process is often the next step and covered later in this article.
Physical Problems
A cancer diagnosis and its treatment can bring about many physical changes to the body. These are often the most difficult things to cope with, because they are constant, visible reminders of the diagnosis and treatment. The Distress Thermometer assessment tool includes problems such as changes in appearance (hair loss), nausea, pain, fatigue, skin changes, sexual problems and tingling in hands in feet as well as many other physical problems or symptoms. These physical problems can also include the patient's ability to complete or participate in activities of daily living (ADL's) such as bathing, dressing, meal preparation/eating, managing finances, using the telephone and managing medications. Again, it is important to normalize the symptoms that can occur as a result of the cancer diagnosis and treatment plan as well as communicate about how these symptoms are impacting the patient's quality of life. Again, there are MANY options for intervention in the management of symptoms and physical changes as well as assistance programs to help with the day to day activities of living life.
Emotional Problems
It's difficult to imagine a more emotionally charged time than a cancer diagnosis: it is often described as "riding an emotional roller coaster." There are ups and downs throughout the cancer journey from diagnosis, to treatment, to survivorship. Perhaps two of the biggest challenges are learning how to cope with these shifts as well as how to anticipate good and bad days. Patients also must give up a good deal of control over their lives and bodies and trust this to the medical team providing care and treatment. Loss of control is a huge challenge for many cancer patients. Other emotional symptoms that can be concerning are increased depression or anxiety, loss of interest in activities, nervousness, fears, worry, irritability, hope, sadness, anger and substance abuse. These are all common issues that are addressed when assessing the emotional burden of the cancer diagnosis and treatment on the patient and care-giving team. It's not uncommon for patients to seek counseling and alleviation of symptoms through anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medications. Many patients and family members also seek out support and guidance through connections at support groups and other educational opportunities where they can connect with others who have like experiences.
Spiritual/Religious Concerns
Existential questions are pervasive when coping with a cancer diagnosis. These questions include (but are not limited to), "Why me?"" Is GOD/higher power punishing me?" "Will I go to heaven? "What happens when I die?" "If I had been a better person would this have happened?" These questions are difficult to answer and often require close work with spiritual counselors, chaplains or ministers/priests/rabbis to help work through. They should NEVER be ignored as part of the psychosocial treatment plan, simply because of a lack of understanding or a difference in religious/spiritual background. It is important to communicate these concerns and questions to your team so that appropriate religious/spiritual support can be accessed and coordinated as part of your treatment process.
Factors that can put you at a "higher risk" for increased distress
Certainly a cancer diagnosis can trigger anxiety, distress, existential crisis in ANY patient, but some patients have pre-existing issues that may place them at risk for a heightened sense of distress and difficulty coping with that distress associated with their cancer diagnosis and treatment. Some of these risk factors include (but are not limited to): previous diagnosis and treatment for mental health issues (depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder etc), previous substance abuse, a personal history with cancer (i.e. another close family member or friend who has been diagnosed, treated or perhaps died as a result of cancer or perhaps a previous cancer diagnosis of the identified patient), uninsured/underinsured, those with young children, those who are acting as caregivers to another family member (spouse, parent, child with special needs), those with a history of pre existing medical conditions that may impact their cancer treatment options, and finally those with housing or financial issues. Many patients are not willing or even able to discuss these matters with a brand new team of oncology practitioners, however it is extremely important that you establish rapport and trust with your cancer treatment team and talk to them about what you are bringing to the table BEFORE treatment planning is discussed. Oncology social workers are skilled at helping identify and work through issues as well as identify resources that can provide assistance and relieve distress.
Identifying strengths to fortify resilience
Resiliency is defined as "(noun) (1) the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity (2)ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy (dictionary.com)." By identifying the strengths of an individual, social workers and health care practitioners work to bolster the resilience of their patient's and their patient's own abilities to overcome adversity, cope with set backs and bad news and receive and thrive after getting good news. Just as having a personal history with cancer may be a high risk for distress, it may also be an enormous strength to the patient in that, they have some idea of what to expect and where to turn for help. Those with a previous diagnosis of a mental health issue are often well connected with support communities who will ALSO support them through their cancer diagnosis. This is an enormous strength.
MOST people are naturally resilient. We have an ability to bounce back and cope with tragedy, problems, let downs and adversity. This does not mean we have to be Polly or Peter Positive just to get through our cancer treatment. This DOES mean that we should address all of the good and bad, positives and negatives, and the ups and downs throughout treatment. This is a hallmark of adjusting to your new life as a cancer survivor. Individual and family strengths lead to increased resilience which in terms leads to adjustment. Focusing energy on resilience and strengths shifts the emphasis from the negative, pathologic and the counter-productive. Highlighting strengths is a patient centered model of care that relies heavily on the your motivation to identify, capitalize on and foster resilience as a powerful tool in coping with your cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. To begin taking stock of your strengths as well as gauging your capacity for resilience it is important to assess, "just what do I have going for me?" The global assessment includes:
- Your family/care-giving systems- Who is available for physical & emotional support?
- Your concrete resources-Transportation, housing, food, clothing, medical insurance
- Your ability to complete activities of daily living (ADL's)-Can I bathe, dress, groom, toilet, shop, cook, manage medications, do laundry, drive or manage my finances? A great checklist for ADL's is available at www.pbs.org/caringforyourparents
- Your coping history-How have you managed previous challenges in your life?
- Your risk factors for challenges to coping and resilience- Substance use/abuse, mental health issues, prior experiences with cancer/life threatening illness
- Your spiritual support network
- Your financial resources-Can you apply for disability, continuing working, maintain your health insurance
This looks a lot like the distress thermometer—which I why it is such a great tool for helping to create a jumping off point, identifying not only areas that may cause distress, but areas that DO NOT cause distress. These are the areas that you can capitalize as strengths and build on your resilience. The key is to identify your strengths and communicate areas where you may need help.
Asking for help
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is ask for help. We typically like to do things for ourselves and not be dependent on others for our well being and functioning. Cancer can put a wrench in this hardwired independence and force you into a position where you need help. It may be asking a friend to drive you to treatment, contacting an attorney to assist with disability applications, talking to your social worker about getting a wig, or asking your minister for spiritual guidance. All of these requests for assistance are normal and most include help that is readily available to you and your family. Don't be afraid to ask for help, and don't let asking for help contribute to your distress.
Where to find help-resources and reliable information
It is important to access information about where to get help from reliable resources. Here are some basic guidelines:
- Get suggestions and referrals from your social worker or navigator
- Use the internet WISELY; watch what sites you are getting information from; .org and .edu sites tend to be from non profit or educational institutions and typically have unbiased, reliable information
- Talk to other cancer patients. They are often a wealth of information and will share experiences and resources. You can do this through a support group, the Cancer Support Community, via Peer to Peer programs such as the Cancer Hope Network or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's First Connection Program, or at an educational session. Maybe you will encounter someone at church or at work who has also been through this and can provide great tips and tricks.
Moving Forward and Beyond
Once treatment is completed, many people experience a period of "mixed-emotions." While it's true there is great cause for celebration and relief, it's not always as straight-forward as that. Many survivors express needing time to feel "normal" again. Others say that there's a "new normal" and that they look at life differently once they've been through a cancer diagnosis and treatment. There are a few common experiences felt by most survivors at one time or another. It's important to realize that you are not alone in feeling ambivalent or even sad or worried. There are ways to get help and gain perspective after treatment ends as well.
There is a recent recognition of cancer "survivorship" issues that are being examined in the field of oncology. There are physical, emotional, psychological and practical concerns that arise and may need attention once cancer treatment stops and someone is expected to return to their pre-cancer lives.
Late effects of cancer treatment often occur and require follow up and surveillance for at least a period of time if not forever. It is important to understand the impact your cancer treatment may have on your long-term health. This may not have been a concern before, when surviving the cancer was your main objective. A growing practice in oncology has been survivorship education and follow up care. The utilization of End of Treatment Summaries and Care Plans have been a revolutionary way to capture vital information and communicate key issues to patients and their health care providers. Often an oncologist or nurse will work with a patient to collect information on the cancer treatment they received so that potential side effects and ways to monitor for these can be determined. These care plans can be distributed to all of the physicians who care for that patient – family doctor, cardiologist, gastroenterologist etc. This document includes what tests are required to monitor for potential side effects and screen for other future cancers. There are tools available to oncologists such as the OncoLife Survivorship Care Plan, which is an OncoLink project allowing patients and healthcare providers to generate individualized survivorship care plans. This type of tool can help you make the most of your cancer survivorship and quality of life. You may have many questions about your follow up care and current and future condition. These care plans can increase communication between you and your doctor and get your questions answered.
Some cancer survivors are left with lingering medical concerns that may need to be addressed. Fatigue, pain, swelling, insomnia and other symptoms can all be a result of past treatment for which there may be assistance. Survivors need to know that these and other symptoms are important and their doctor should be informed when they occur.
You also may want to consider a plan to achieve and maintain wellness. For instance, if you smoke and you wish to reduce your risk for future cancers, you will want to quit and may need assistance and a plan to do this. You will also likely want to consider incorporating a healthy diet and exercise program into your life. Your health care team can help you with this. Most survivors feel less anxiety about future health when they do what they can to improve it.
Some survivors may want to become educated on what potential risks exist for their family. While it is true that only a small percentage of cancers are thought to be inherited, there are some cancers and family patterns that warrant a closer look. Many cancer programs now include cancer risk education and testing when appropriate. You can inquire with your oncology care team about this aspect of survivorship.
In addition to the medical side effects from past treatments, you may experience some emotional or social adjustment concerns. In some cases, survivors re-enter the work force and this can be a challenge – dealing with interviews, questions related to past medical history, new health insurance providers. Others will want to re-establish connections to friends and family that perhaps have not been as present over the time of treatment for various reasons. These can be challenging areas and there is support available for those survivors who encounter this type of thing. The National Coalition for Cancer Survivors (NCCS) is a non-profit patient advocacy organization with lots of support and educational materials available to those who wish to receive it. Their web site provides much of this information at www.NCCS.org.
Most survivors worry about recurrence. This is understandable-this uncertainty can be disconcerting to say the least. Typically this anxiety becomes less consuming over time. Sometimes cancer survivors need to seek counseling to be able to talk about this worry and gain perspective on moving on with their lives. Others experience depression and anxiety that require medical and counseling intervention. This is often a temporary state but one that is real and can limit a survivor's ability to cope. Similarly, some survivors are faced with complex emotions such as guilt and depression, grief... These are not uncommon especially when you consider the fear and worry that are experienced during the treatment phase of cancer. Counseling and support is available through your cancer center's social work department and community and national resources.
There are also very positive experiences had by cancer survivors – many describe having a renewed appreciation for life and those around them. Some decide to make changes in their lives to be happier – perhaps a change in career or a decision to move closer to family…Some people who have been through an experience with cancer adopt a new lifestyle focused on health and well-being. While others are thrilled to re-join the activities they enjoyed prior to their cancer diagnosis – but perhaps now with a new vitality and appreciation for health.


text:
Seth MacFarlane's 'Psycho' Oscars Video: How Will He Mock Pop Culture at the Show?
Seth MacFarlane has made a career out of watching movies and telling jokes about them — the post-Fitzgerald American Dream. Through innumerable film and television references on Family Guy and the barrage of Flash Gordon gags in his feature debut Ted, MacFarlane has exhibited such an ingrained fixation on pop culture that his new position of Academy Awards host seems meant to be. The only questions involve what form his references will take, and which titles will play the targets.
In Oscars tradition, a host will generally keep his or her jabs directed primarily at the honored projects and individuals of the year, straying less frequently to the well of Hollywood classics or cult classics (as is MacFarlane's bread and butter). But the new promo for the 85th Annual Academy Awards ceremony showcase's the multi-hyphenate thrusting himself full force into the embrace of age-old cinema, parodying Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
So does this mean that MacFarlane is staying true to his roots, and having a field day with properties throughout the industry's history? While the host should be encouraged to grab at his passions, it might actually be wise to contain the comedy's subject matter to a bit narrower of a spectrum: jokes about Psycho, Flash Gordon, Perfect Strangers, Kramer Vs. Kramer, The Rockford Files, and whatever else he has perpetually floating around in the ol' gag factory upstairs might work when applied to promos, movies, and cartoons, but could a hosting performance laden with century-spanning references just come across as all over the place?
But as far as the delivery of these jokes goes, we should be in for a treat. MacFarlane's go-to formula isn't one liners (though he's got plenty of those as well), it's bits and sketches. An Oscar night stuffed with creative skits pointed at whatever films or creative forces the host does decide to target should be a winner… especially if one or two of 'em are musical. And MacFarlane has no aversion to that sort of thing.
[Photo Credit: ABC]
Seth MacFarlane's 3 Ds of Oscars: 'Drinks,' 'Daniel Day-Lewis,' and 'Douche' — VIDEOS
Seth MacFarlane's Oscars Preview: How Will He Do on Show Night? — POLL
Oscar Race: Does Harvey Weinstein Rule The Oscars? — INFOGRAPHIC
J. J. Abrams and 'Star Wars': Has the Lightsaber Been Passed to the Right Director?


text:
- home
- uncategorized
- Raybestos Rookie of the Year Points Matt Kenseth Leader & Other News - NASCAR 2000 Weeks 9 Through 11
Raybestos Rookie of the Year Points Matt Kenseth Leader & Other News - NASCAR 2000 Weeks 9 Through 11
By The Numbers1The margin by which Matt Kenseth leads Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year points race through 11 contests thus far.
2Dale Earnhardt Jr. 's second victory (at Richmond) in 16 career starts ties him with the late Davey Allison as the quickest two-race rookie winner in Winston Cup history.
16The number of cars involved in the annual "huge crash at Talladega."
50Jeff Gordon reached a milestone at Talladega, winning his 50th career Winston Cup series race.
151The number of driver points taken from Mobil 1 Ford Taurus driver Jeremy Mayfield after NASCAR officials found his car to be in violation of a height-requirement rule following the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway.
1975The winning pole speed at Talladega in April (186.969 mph) was the first to drop below 190 mph at Talladega since 1975.
Potent Quotable"Very, very upset and that's understandable, too. I mean, who likes that? I've been in racing 40 years and I've never, ever been involved in a thing like this, and one day maybe we can talk about what really happened, and you guys will hopefully understand a little better. It's a bad thing. "-Roger Kranefuss on Roger Penske's reaction to the illegal fuel additive found in Jeremy Mayfield's vehicle after the Talladega race.
... And Then, One Week Later ...
"Evidently, we had a problem in the oil line. I gotta thank Mobil 1, man. This thing got up to 340 degrees all day long in the oil. It hung in there, man. That won the race right there. There ain't another motor oil out there. "-Jeremy Mayfield, following his victory at California Speedway.
In The SpotlightThe Ice Man's Just Warming UpShowing signs of life, '96 Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte registered his best finish so far this year (second) in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond. Last year, Labonte had his worst season since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 1994, when he notched only one top-five showing and finished 12th in points. He has two top fives so far and is currently running 10th in the points race.
A Peaking WardWard Burton has an average finish of eighth through 11 contests so far in 2000-including one win and two thirds-which is good enough to place him second in the Winston Cup point standings, just three ticks behind series leader Bobby Labonte. In six full seasons prior to this year, Burton's best finish in the final standings was ninth. And that was last year. It looks like the older Burton brother may be peaking in 2000.
Rookie RatingsRaybestos Rookie of the Year Points following Race No. 11
|matt kenseth
|dale earnhardt jr.
|stacy compton
|dave blaney
|scott pruett
News MakersPenalty PhaseThe crew chief for the #12 Mobil 1 Ford Taurus, Peter Sospenzo, was already under suspension from NASCAR competition when he was hit with an additional $25,000 fine last May by NASCAR officials for rules violations found in postrace inspection following the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway .
Sospenzo was penalized under Section 12-4-T in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series rule book: "... any car found to be under the specified height requirement after the completion of time trials or the race ..."
After Mobil 1 Ford Taurus driver Jeremy Mayfield won the NAPA Auto Parts 500, the roof height of his car was discovered to be under the 51-inch minimum in the postrace inspection. The car was impounded and returned to North Carolina for further inspection.
The sanction was the second delivered to the team for a violation in two races.
During the postrace inspection following the DieHard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway the previous week, a fuel sample taken from Mayfield's car was found to contain an additive. After a thorough investigation, NASCAR announced its penalties.
Team owner Michael Kranefuss was fined $50,000 and 151 NASCAR Winston Cup car owner points, Sospenzo was suspended from NASCAR competition through June 6, and Mayfield was fined 151 NASCAR Winston Cup driver points.
The sanctions dropped Mayfield from seventh to 14th in driver points and Kranefuss from seventh to 14th in the owner standings. Ouch.
Point StandingsFollowing Richmond, Race No. 11
|1. bobby labonte
|2. ward burton
|3. mark martin
|4. jeff burton
|5. dale earnhardt
|6. dale jarrett
|7. rusty wallace
|8. ricky rudd
|9. jeff gordon
|10. terry labonte
Here's a stat for you: four hours, 42 minutes, and 20 seconds Michael Waltrip's finishing time in the Boston Marathon held this past April. That's a 26-mile, 385-yard foot race, folks.


text:
Thursday Links
- DON'T FORGET: Our fiscal policy conference, "The Economic Impact of Government Spending," featuring Senators Bob Corker (R‐Tenn.) and Mike Lee (R‐Utah), former Senator Phil Gramm (R‐Tex.), Representative Kevin Brady (R‐Tex.), and other distinguished guests, begins at 2:00 p.m. Eastern today. Please join us on the web–you can watch the conference LIVE here.
- Atlas Shrugged Motors presents the Chevy Volt.
- The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us about the moral value of voluntary charity toward the needy–it says nothing about using coercive government programs of the modern welfare state.
- It is not the role of the Court to rewrite laws for Congress.
- The failed "war on drugs" has reshaped our budgets, politics, laws, and society–and for what?


text:
During an extended return visit to Hangzhou, China where my husband was collaborating with colleagues at Zhejiang University, my husband and I were escorted on a visit to Shaoxing, an ancient and cultural city 51.73 km or 32.14 miles south east of Hangzhou. Joey Zhou was our translator and guide and Youliang Zhu drove us there and back with remarkable skill.
Arriving in Shaoxing, our first stop was Orchid Pavilion, the home of the famous calligrapher, Wang Xizhi (303–361), called "calligraphy saint", the great calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He became famous because of his wide incorporation of the essence and strong points of preceding and contemporary calligraphers. He broke away from the script styles of the Han and Wei Dynasties to establish a school of his own.
Growing up Wang Xizhi practiced with perseverance and diligence and moved the writing of Chinese characters from its practical usage into a realm of art and interest. His calligraphy features fine brush strokes with variable character structures, and perfectly beautiful handwriting.
According to Cultural China, "Versed in regular script, running script, and cursive script, he had left behind calligraphy works, such as Leyi Dissertation and Huangting Classics in regular script, Seventeen Copies of Model Handwriting in cursive style, and Aunt's Copies of Model Handwriting, Kuaixue Shiqing Tie (Clear up after Snow) and Sangluan Tie in running script. The most representative is his Preface to the Orchid Pavilion in running style. On the third day of the third lunar month in 353, Wang Xizhi invited over thirty friends and his sons to a party at the Orchid Pavilion beneath the Kuaiji Hill, where they drank and improvised poems. Amid the gather-together, 26 men made poems on the spot. With the slight effect of liquor, Wang Xizhi flourished his brush and completed at a breath a preface to their poems. In terms of the content, it is a mixture of scenery description and emotional expression, conveying the writer's inner conflicts and feelings. Viewed in the perspective of calligraphy, the characters resemble flying dragons and dancing phoenixes, emitting a vigorous and unrestrained spirit. In the work, the art of calligraphy had reached the peak of development at its time. 324 characters of the preface are all legible. The 20 Chinese characters "(zhi)" are different from each other in style. Preface to the Orchid Pavilion has been revered by generations of calligraphers as "No. 1 Running Script in the World"."
It is said that a Taoist in Shanyin County wanted Wang Xizhi to write some calligraphy for him, but had not met him. When he learned that Wang Xizhi had a special preference for geese, he raised a flock of geese especially for him beside the Taoist temple. One day Wang Xizhi saw the geese when he passed by the temple and wanted to buy them and bring them home. The Taoist told him, "I would like to present you with these geese if you copy me a Taoist scripture". Delighted with this, Wang Xizhi spent the whole day copying the scripture for the Taoist. Later he took the geese home in great pleasure.
Walking through the grounds of the Orchid Pavilion we saw geese, live and in statuary. Being there was peaceful and uplifting. Observing the items that facilitate calligraphy skill development was fascinating.
We left Orchid Pavilion at lunchtime and went to the Xian Heng Restaurant where we had an opportunity to enjoy local cuisine and the rice wine for which Shaoxing is famous. The restaurant is known for maintaining the classic shaoxing wine tradition that has been around since the dynastic times.
Writer Lu Xun mentioned this restaurant in his work (孔乙己) as it was situated in his hometown.[1](Writer Lu Xun's family compound was to be our next stop.) The restaurant was created in 1884 during the reign of Qing dynasty Guangxu Emperor (光緒), and after being closed for a few years, it reopened to the public on September 18, 1981 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Lu Xun's birthday.
We enjoyed the restaurant's ambiance and the food. The duck was prepared according to regional tradition and was delicious. The shrimp soup and fish were also unusual and all the food was wonderful. Then we had the chance to taste the famous rice wine. It was
served in a bowl, the traditional way. Dark and a bit thick and sweet, like liqueur, it was very different from what we envisioned
I was curious about the wine and located an online article on cooking which explained the wine. "Amber colored, aromatic, and pleasantly nutty tasting, Shaoxing rice wine is the standard spirit in Chinese cooking. Made of brown glutinous (sweet/sticky) rice, it is one of the earliest types of liquors that the Chinese made. Shaoxing rice wine adds an unmistakable flavor and fragrance to dishes, whether it is mixed into Asian dumpling fillings, added to marinades for roasted meats such as char siu pork, combined with seasonings for stir-fries, or simmered with soy sauce and sugar for red-cooked dishes. If you've ever used sake in Japanese cooking, Shaoxing rice wine is employed quite similarly in Chinese cuisine. Sip on some of the rice wine and you'll warm up quickly as it contains about 17 to 18% alcohol." Shaoxing wine is one of the most famous varieties of huangjiu, or traditional Chinese wines, fermented from rice.
We stepped out of the restaurant on to Lu Xun Road and walked past shops until we reached the entrance of the compound. Though admission is free, tickets are required.
The compound was clearly that of a wealthy family. Both Lu Xun and his brother were writers. We were surprised at the size and beauty of the compound.
Wikipedia says: "Lu Xun (simplified Chinese: 鲁迅; traditional Chinese: 魯迅; pinyin: Lǔ Xùn) or Lu Hsün (Wade-Giles), was the pen name of Zhou Shuren (simplified Chinese: 周树人; traditional Chinese: 周樹人; pinyin: Zhōu Shùrén; Wade–Giles: Chou Shu-jen) (September 25, 1881 – October 19, 1936), one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century. Considered by many to be the leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in baihua (白話) (the vernacular) as well as classical Chinese. Lu Xun was a short story writer, editor, translator, critic, essayist and poet. In the 1930s he became the titular head of the Chinese League of the Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai.
Lu Xun's works exerted a very substantial influence after the May Fourth Movement to such a point that he was highly acclaimed by the Communist regime after 1949. Mao Zedong himself was a lifelong admirer of Lu Xun's works. Though sympathetic to the ideals of the Left, Lu Xun never actually joined the Chinese Communist Party. Like many leaders of the May Fourth Movement, he was primarily a liberal.
Lu Xun's works became known to English readers through numerous translations, beginning in 1960 with Selected Stories of Lu Hsun translated by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang. More recently, in 2009, Penguin Classics published a complete anthology of his fiction titled The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun which the scholar JeffreyWasserstrom[2] said "could be considered the most significant Penguin Classic ever published."[3]
Lu Xun's importance to modern Chinese literature lies in the fact that he contributed significantly to every modern literary medium except the novel during his lifetime. He wrote in a clear lucid style, which was to influence many generations, in stories, prose poems and essays. Lu Xun's two short story collections, Nahan (A Call to Arms or Outcry) and Panghuang (Wandering), are often taken to mark the beginning of modern Chinese literature, and are established classics. Lu Xun's translations were important in a time when Western literature was seldom read, and his literary criticisms remain acute and persuasively argued."
A major literature prize in China, the Lu Xun Literary Prize is named after him. Asteroid (233547) 2007 JR27 was named after him. A crater on Mercury is named after him.
After a hot day that involved a lot of walking, a boat ride in the canal was pleasant change. It was interesting to note that Shaoxing, while not one of the six famous water towns, it is among the top ten. Shaoxing, known as: the 'City of Waters,' 'City of Bridges,' 'City of Calligraphy,' 'City of Tea,' and 'City of Scholars.' offers tourists much more to see and do but we needed to return to Hangzhou.
Shaoxing is accessible by air, train and bus. Many tours go there and the roads are good if one is driving.
Photos: Leon Keer


text:
fact 1. AMD is not resposible of radeon driver lol, first time here in this forum? radeon is providing developers and IP cleared documentation of the gfx. aka most dev in the radeon driver are from other companies or communities
fact 2. if you, same as gordboy have in reality any sort of knowledge of about what really happened between the 1 or 2 years ago graphic linux stack and today's linux graphic stack. you wont be posting here these nonsense
fact 3. did you know the ddx is only a pretty damn small part of the code needed to get a fully functional driver? really for once tried to read the code and understand what your talking about first
fact 4. most ppl here arent fanboy's we just have at least the minimal knowledge of development and the massive work needed to get this far, beside the overwhelming complexity of get those tasks done, unlike you.
fact 5. you knew that most of the ideas from the current linux stack came from intel first not AMD? aka KMS, TTM, GEM, DRI2, EXA/UXA(intel was first in implementation), Gallium (at least at the beggining) or AIGLX is from RedHat mostly?
fact 6. you even knew that KMS is needed heavily for the DDX, and this one was in staging in the linux kernel until not long ago (not AMD fault, linus tend to not like to include code that he is not sure that at least work up to some point and he is happy with it, in the main kernel). you really understand that without KMS outside staging, distros wont include it by default, and there you will miss the entire feature set of having that new DDX installed?
fact 7. you knew that AIGLX and EXA requires code from the DRM/DRI/Mesa or gallium infrastructure for several accelerated operations?
fact 8. you understand up to some point that you couldnt release a functional driver with at least the basic functions without get KMS stable enough and outside staging, get DRM well integrated with the lower kernel code, that the Xorg team needed to get some pretty necesaries feature inside EXA xorg code first, get DRI2 and swap events there, get MESA and Mesa shaders compilers in good shape before try any sort of acceleration or gallium.
fact 9. you may ask why intel release quarterly? cuz they begun way earlier than AMD and they got those changes in place including KMS outside staging way before AMD, so they have 2,5 years later of intel 2.4 ddx an stable enough code enviroment in the new stack to now begin to focus in optimize the driver and finally have some sort of doable release schedule. you would knew that is you try at least to understand what are you talking about
fact 10. you have to understand we dont defend AMD per se, we show them support for stepping forward and provide the documentation and some human resources to code a driver fully opensourced, when like nvidia they could just say they dont care.
fact 11. rigth now there are around 7 communities in parallell improving the graphic stack from the DDX of several driver to Opencl, so until all these main project end the big changes in their respective stack, use git snapshots or use the current stack on your distro. and that wont change no matter what you or your other ignorant fud spreader friend do or post (since nobody here care about you or your friend at least not until you post anything smart at least). now if you patience to wait those changes, linux will get one hell of an impresive graphic stack in a not so long future
fact 12. im a commertial developer specialized in C/C++ from some years now, i dont work in any way for AMD, in fact i have my onw comapny in south america totally unrelated to AMD, so far even if im a developer im just helping reporting bug and stuff, at least until i get the knowledge enough to begin to help more actively. i really need to understand better the internal of a modern GPU and refresh my knowledge of higly optimized assembly to be at any help in that aspect, cuz the low level code of the driver is impresivelly complex. in fact i have 10 devs working with me and 2 of them are guys in their 50ish that well have worked in basically every OS and language around, even 1 of them worked t ibm in the era of the first power cpu, lol even that guy is amazed how complex is a modern gpu to code. so i show the developers my respects cuz get this far with a so complex piece of hardware is at minimal impressive


text:
IntPiPoMo - Number 43 - Isle of Blizzard Employees
Ang of Revive and Rejuvenate is doing screenshot posts again, and has invited us to join her for International Picture Posting Month (IntPiPoMo), to post 50 screenies for November.
This island in the middle of Lake Dumont in Feralas is populated by a number of NPCs named after Blizzard Employees who were all members of single team in Blizzard. So far here is the list of all those on the island and who they are:
Brandan Vanderpool - Game Tester, Production assistant WotLK
Brian Horn
Casey Fulton - Game Tester
Jake Patton
Judah Mehler - Tester for Starcraft
Jonny Throop - listed in WotLK credits but as ?Representatives
Larissa Bussell - Production assistant for WotLK
Lucas Merino
Mary Ann Skweres
Matias Volkert
Ryan Sly
Som Vanderpool - related to Brandon?
Ok I sat reading the credits of Cataclysm and WoTLK, I don't think I can be bothered looking anymore :)