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November 19th, 2015
25 Megapixels at 73 fps with the Quad CoaXPress interface in a low power, compact design
EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, November 19, 2015 -- Adimec (www.adimec.com), a world leader in application-specific, leading-edge industrial camera solutions, will showcase its portfolio of machine vision products and technology at the International Technical Exhibition (ITE) in Yokohama, Japan from the 2nd to the 4th of December. The company will demonstrate additions to its latest CMOS-based camera series including the new Adimec SAPPHIRE S-25A70, the fastest 25 Megapixel camera running up to 73 fps over CoaXPress.
The S-25A70 has been designed into several instruments and is now commercially available to allow metrology equipment manufacturers to take the next required performance leap in accuracy and throughput.
The S-25A70/CXP camera offers:
Adimec will also demonstrate the Q-12A180 and the Q-2A750 prototypes.
The Q-12A180/CXP is the first CoaXPress 1.1 camera available and utilizes the CMOSIS CMV12000 global shutter image sensor. This camera outputs 12 Megapixel images at 187 fps. CoaXPress CXP-6 Quad (4 x CXP-6) offers a peak transfer rate of 2 Gigapixels/s with data transmission between the camera and frame grabber at up to 25 Gbits/s (4 x 6.25 Gbits/s). The maximum of 9W of power to the camera is also enabled over the one CoaXPress interface cable. This is all with a cable length of up to 68 meters.
The QUARTZ Q-2A750/CXP is a new 2 Megapixel camera operating at up to 720 fps over CoaXPress.
Adimec's CMOS cameras offer the highest speed, high resolution with reliable and highest image quality to measure ever smaller critical structures or defects with the increased accuracy and throughput required by in-line optical metrology systems.
Adimec will be in Booth 114 on the exhibition floor with demonstrations of these innovations and more.
About Adimec
Adimec specializes in the development and manufacturing of high-performance cameras that meet the application-specific requirements of key market segments, including machine vision, healthcare, and global security. Founded in 1992, the company partners with major OEMs around the world to facilitate the creation of industry-leading cameras. Its products meet a wide range of performance, size, cost, interface and application requirements and its Adimec True Accurate Imaging® technology provides new levels of precision and accuracy to vision systems. Adimec has offices around the world focused on creating customer value and satisfaction through local, personalized support. For more information, go to www.adimec.com. For more information on imaging and vision topics, check our blog.
Contact Information
Adimec Advanced Image Systems bv
Tel: +31-40-2353900
Fax: +31-40-2353905
Press Contact: E. Nugteren ()

subset: commoncrawl


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679 North Peoria Street 1s, Chicago
Looking for a condo in River West Chicago Chicago? Search Marquette Row condos for sale, check out listing photos and details, and learn more about what the building has to offer. For more information about 679 N. Peoria or condos for sale in River West, contact Chicago's Property Shop at your earliest convenience.
The data relating to real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Broker Reciprocity program of Midwest Real Estate Data LLC. Real Estate listings held by brokerage firms other than [INSERT BROKER NAME] are marked with the Broker Reciprocity logo or the Broker Reciprocity thumbnail logo (a little black house) and detailed information about them includes the names of the listing brokers. Some properties which appear for sale on this website may subsequently have sold and may no longer be available. The information being provided is for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Many homes contain recording devices, and buyers should be aware they may be recorded during a showing.
Listing information last updated on August 4th, 2020 at 3:30am CDT.


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So You Think YOU Can Dance? 3 Year Old Chinese Boy Does Impressive Choregraphed Hip-Hop Moves! (Lil Man Can Get Down)
Yes hes only 3. He was born to do this
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Milk produced for Aldi released to Hunger Task Force
Donated milk big help for Repairers of the Breach
WISN 12 News has learned that the Hunger Task Force was able to get some of the milk produced for Aldi by Golden Guernsey.
On Friday morning, Golden Guernsey plant manager Brad Parks told WISN 12 News that the milk will not be released because it was too close to the expiration dates.
But Aldi spokeswoman Julie Ketay told WISN 12 News reporter Nick Bohr that Aldi had contacted the trustee for Golden Guernsey "to let them know that the product can be donated."
Ketay told WISN 12 News on Friday morning that the company was willing to donate the milk that was produced for them and told that to Golden Guernsey on Thursday.
Ketay said Aldi wasn't contacted about the milk until Thursday.
Parks said Friday was the last day Hunger Task Force will be allowed inside the dairy.
He said believed that would be enough time to remove any product that could still be useful.
It was unknown early Friday evening how much milk the Hunger Task Force was able to get out of the plant.
Since Monday's decision by the bankruptcy trustee for Golden Guernsey Dairy to donate the bottled milk inside the plant that suddenly closed Jan. 5, volunteers have been racing to get it to people in need.
"We were out at the dairy today and just going through a lot of product, cottage cheese, butter, milk, whatever they had there. (We were) packaging it, putting it on pallets and getting ready to ship it out to whoever gets it," Hunger Task Force volunteer Judy Smiley said.
It has been a godsend for MacCanon Brown with Repairers of the Breach on Vliet Street.
"Because of our location, we're able to move this milk, this amazing gift of free milk, quickly," Brown said.
More than 1,500 gallons were distributed Wednesday and Thursday at Repairers of the Breach, and another 1,000 gallons is expected to be given away Friday.


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Stories That Happened In Operators
March 17, 2018 | Comments
LoveWLS.com We need your help to keep the show going! Check out LoveWLS.com to find out how you can help! This episode of We Like Shooting - Double Tap is brought to you by Black Rhino Concealment, Custom, Rand CLP and Rubber Dummies. Check out our Shootout challenge! Targets, rules and swag available here! Welcome to We Like Shooting's Double Tap, Episode 55, Where we answer your questions, talk about... Read More »


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All workshops, sessions, and keynotes at Where 2012 were recorded. A video compilation is available for purchase.
Location is big business. Location technologies are everywhere—in smartphones and tablets, supermarkets and ATMs, cars and urban transportation systems, brick-and-mortar stores and the Web. And location data is even bigger business: from product development to distribution, marketing, and sales, location technologies help companies identify, understand, and reach their markets with increased granularity, in real time. Getting a handle on all of this isn't easy, and it's constantly evolving.
How and where should you incorporate location technology into your products and services? What location technologies are most appropriate for your needs, and what's the right make-or-buy decision? And how will you manage, analyze, and act on all of that data? Come to Where Conference to get your questions answered.
For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at the conference, contact Gloria Lombardo at email@example.com
For media partnerships, contact mediapartners@ oreilly.com
For media-related inquiries, contact Maureen Jennings at email@example.com
View a complete list of Where Conference contacts


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Lots of Apple watchers listened to Tim Cook's NBC interview last night and concluded that the company has big plans for the fabled Apple TV.
After all, Cook said TV was an area of "intense interest."
But that would be bigger news if Cook hadn't said the same thing back in May, speaking to Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at our D10 conference.
See for yourself, courtesy of Rich Greenfield and Walt Piecyk, the smart guys at BTIG who mashed up the two interviews:
So what does last night's interview really mean? Well, it means that Tim Cook is very good at staying on message. But we already knew that. What's more relevant is what Tim Cook is actually doing.
We know Apple has tried out various permutations of an "Apple TV" product with the Television Industrial Complex in the past — sometimes it's a programming offering, sometimes it's a cable box alternative.
But so far, there haven't been any signs that the company has made any real headway on the content/services side. Until we hear otherwise, hard to get too excited about a couple words.


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Lake Chevy helped make these videos
We are still working to obtain content for your car, however the video above is believed to have similar characteristics as your car.
A check engine light can indicate a broad spectrum of problems with your 2004 Scion xA. In some cases you need to pull over immediately to prevent damage while in others you merely need to tighten you gas cap next time you stop in order to reset the service engine soon light. The video above shows how to locate the on board diagnostics (OBD) plug on your 2004 xA, how to read the trouble codes and how to reset or clear the check engine light using a scanner on your xA.
Intermittent Check Engine Light: If the check engine light on your 2004 xA is intermittent, try to take note of the conditions when this happens. For example, does it happen when you accelerating, driving on the highway or does it appear at low speeds? This will help your mechanic evaluate the issue. Steady Check Engine Light: If your check engine light is on every time you operate your xA, you need to have it checked as soon as possible, especially if you notice performance problems or unusual noises. Flashing Check Engine Light: If your check engine light is flashing, stop driving your xA and have it towed to your nearest mechanic - you probably have a very serious problem with your car and you risk ruining your engine by driving it. If you are unsure about what your diagnostic trouble codes mean; have your xA diagnosed by a professional automotive technician.
A/C blowing hot air?2006 Scion xB 1.5L 4 Cyl.
If your battery has green or white cruddy deposits, it is probably not getting enough juice from and will likely wear out sooner2004 Scion xA 1.5L 4 Cyl.
If your brake fluid is a little low, learn how to add some here. Ignoring a low level leads to big problems2004 Scion xA 1.5L 4 Cyl.
Cars burn, leak and otherwise dispense of their oil. Check your level frequently and top up when necessary2004 Scion xA 1.5L 4 Cyl.
The best way to fix leaking hoses is to replace them, but if you don't have time, a stop leak product might work for you2004 Scion xA 1.5L 4 Cyl.


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TAVARES, Fla. – A Lake County School Board member wants to arm teachers with guns -- and have the school district pay for it.
Bill Mathias says he emailed the school superintendent about the idea and wants to talk about the plan at a workshop next week.
Under the plan, teachers would be trained by the Lake County Sheriff's Office and would become auxiliary deputies.
Mathias says teachers could carry guns around or keep them in storage safes at their respective schools.
News about the plan came on the same day thousands of students returned to armed deputies in schools across Central Florida.
The increased security comes in the wake of last month's school shooting in Newtown, Conn., where 20 elementary students and six administrators were shot and killed.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.


text: Bluegrass Materials Co. LLC has agreed to acquire one concrete block plant, along with seven quarries and three aggregate distribution properties, in a $90 million deal with Cemex, which reported the facilities as non-core assets for its Sun Belt-centered U.S portfolio. The buyer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Panadero Aggregate Holdings LLC, recently launched by former Florida Rock Industries executives John D. Baker II and Edward L. Baker II. Cemex inherited the Kentucky properties with its mid-2007 takeover of Rinker Materials Corp.


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Jackky steps out of comfort zone with 'Rangrezz'Feb 20, 2013 IANS
Mumbai, Feb 20 (IANS) Actor Jackky Bhagnani says he has stepped out of his comfort zone with new film "Rangrezz", the Hindi remake of Tamil hit film "Naadodigal".
Though the film has hints of comedy, Jackky admits "it was not easy".
"As an actor, you have to prepare a lot (for roles)... I think people who are expecting me to do something different and out of my comfort zone, I have done that in this film. I hope people like it," the 28-year-old said here Tuesday while promoting the film at Lalbaugh.
"There was always a complaint that I am doing films closer to me (who I am in real life), and not venturing out. I hope that won't be the case anymore," he added.
Jackky, son of film producer Vashu Bhagnani, made his acting debut with "Kal Kissne Dekha", a romantic comedy. Later, he featured in movies like "F.A.L.T.U" and "Ajab Gazabb Love".
Jackky says "Rangrezz" has drama and comedy, but it is essentially about friendship.
"In this film, there is comedy and drama, but more importance has been given to friendship. Wherever you are, whether in Mumbai, Lalbaugh, Meerut or Bihar, you will find that when a person is in problem, he goes first to his friend.
"In this film also, something of that sort happens with my friend. With his problem, he comes to me and the story is about how I help him," he added. Click the Movie button below for more info:
Jackky Bhagnani Pictures
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By Tessa Raebeck; photography by Michael Heller
It appears Independence and Democratic Party candidate Anna Throne-Holst has secured a third term as Southampton Town Supervisor, beating Republican challenger Linda Kabot.
Alex Gregor also had a strong showing Tuesday night in the race to keep his position as Superintendent of Highways, coming out ahead of challenger David Betts.
Several races remain undecided, with 879 absentee ballots yet to be counted, town council candidate Brad Bender said Wednesday.
According to the Suffolk County Board of Elections unofficial results, with 42 of 42 districts reported, Throne-Holst secured 7,081 votes, or 58.63 percent of ballots cast. Kabot earned 4,985 votes, or 41.27 percent.
"This was a hard fought campaign and I think what I would like to say is we are now the poster child for running a clean, above board, above the issues [campaign], talking about what really matters to people and not going down in the mud," Throne-Holst said in her acceptance speech late Tuesday night at the Democratic Party gathering at 230 Elm in Southampton. "I think people recognize that we genuinely have been there to help, we genuinely have been there to make a difference."
Kabot conceded the race late Tuesday and said Wednesday that she was unsure whether she would seek public office again.
"I'm very proud of my grassroots campaign, we focused on the truth," said Kabot. "We're dealing with a well-funded incumbent who has manipulated the facts to her advantage and ultimately, the voters have made their choice, so we move forward."
Newly reelected County Legislator Jay Schneiderman called the night "a historic moment in the Town of Southampton," reminding the crowd that no non-Republican supervisor has had a majority on the town board since Thiele was supervisor in the early 1990s. If either Brad Bender or Frank Zappone is elected, Throne-Holst will have a Democratic majority on the board.
In the highway superintendent contest, according to the unofficial results, as of Wednesday morning Gregor had secured 7,259 votes, or 61.87 percent of the vote, earning him another term while 4,470 votes were cast for David Betts, giving him 38.1 percent of the vote
In uncontested races, Sandy Schermeyer was elected town clerk and Deborah Kooperstein and Barbara Wilson were appointed to the two open town justice positions.
With the remaining districts and absentee ballots yet to be counted, the races for two seats on the town board and five trustee positions are too close to call.
As of Wednesday morning, the unofficial results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections places Republican Stan Glinka in the lead in the town council race with 5,857 votes, or 25.85 percent of votes cast. Bender, an Independence party member cross-endorsed by the Democratic party, is in second place with 5,746 votes, or 25.36 percent. Trailing Bender by just 143 votes, Republican Jeff Mansfield has so far earned 5,603 votes, or 24.73 percent of ballots cast. With 5,445 votes and 24.03 percent, Democrat Frank Zappone trails Mansfield by 158 votes.
"I think the indications are things are in a state of flux," Zappone said Wednesday morning. "It appears as if there's a significant number of uncounted votes — that could shift the standing significantly or not at all. It's very difficult to tell at this point, so one has to be patient, sit back and see what evolves."
Early Wednesday, Mansfield said he was busy driving around town picking up lawn signs and taking down billboards.
"It could be a lengthy process," he said, "So we will respect the process and see what happens, but I think at this time it's premature to say one way or another."
Bender was likewise committed to removing campaign signs Wednesday morning.
"We're going to let those people have their voice and let those ballots be looked at," he said of the absentee ballots. "We'll let the board of elections sort it out and we'll celebrate when we have an actual result."
Stan Glinka could not be reached for comment.
The race for Southampton Town Trustee, in which eight candidates vied for five available seats, also cannot be determined at this time. The candidates leading thus far are the three incumbents running; Bill Pell leads the pack with 8,933 votes, or 17.64 percent of votes cast. Eric Shultz has earned 8,746 votes, or 17.27 percent and Ed Warner, Jr. is in third place with 7,161 votes, or 14.14 percent.
Trailing the incumbents are: Scott Horowitz with 6,399 votes, or 12.63 percent; Raymond Overton with 5,436 votes or 10.73 percent; Howard Pickerell, Jr. with 5,163 votes or 10.19 percent; John Bouvier with 4,953 votes or 9.78 percent; and Bill Brauninger with 3,812 votes, or 7.52 percent.
All elected officials will take office on January 1, 2014.


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Sachem East's Steven Casali, Uniondale's William Stanback make big leap to Div. I college football
Before the summer of 2013 is officially over, Steven Casali of Sachem East and William Stanback of Uniondale will learn exactly what it is they signed up for Wednesday when they made their college choices official.
Casali, the Hansen Award winner and first-team All-Long Island linebacker/running back who signed his national letter intent to attend the University of Massachusetts, opens his college career with a game at Big 10 powerhouse Wisconsin on Aug. 31. Stanback, a second-team All-Long Island running back/linebacker who signed his NLI to the University of Central Florida, will play at Penn State on Sept. 14.
"It's not high school anymore," Casali said with a laugh. "Wisconsin? That's a big jump. The speed of the game is so much different, but it'll be a great challenge."
Casali, who was part of a special signing day celebration at the high school, said he's been told by the Minutemen coaching staff that he will move from inside to outside linebacker and will be given an opportunity to start right away. He made a verbal commitment last July to a school that moved up to Division I (Bowl Championship Subdivision) in 2012 and suffered growing pains with a 1-11 record, looking at it like Sachem East. We were 1-7 and 0-8 in my freshman and sophomore years," Casali said. "Then we made the playoffs the last two years and turned around the program. We've got a really good recruiting class and I have no doubt that we'll be up there winning games before I'm done."
He will have company on that journey. Casali's parents, Steven and Susan, were at Sachem East Wednesday and said they will be attending every one of their son's games, home and away, which will include trips to Notre Dame and Florida State before his college career ends.
Flaming Arrows coach Mark Wojciechowski called Casali "the whole package. I'll be sorry to see him go. Not just as a player but for what he did off the field. He's a role model -- a great kid, a great teammate, a great friend. He's the same way even when no one is watching. There's no fake in him."
Stanback, who will play for former Central Islip player and coach George O'Leary at UCF, is another character guy. "He's humble and he's hungry," retiring Uniondale coach Greg Didio said of the player who requested that Didio switch him from running back to quarterback midway through the 2012 season and led the Knights on a four-game winning streak and into the playoffs for a second straight year. "He's going to be a special player in college."
Stanback's teammate, defensive end/linebacker Tyler Desiré, who will attend Princeton, joined him at the Uniondale announcement.
Stanback drew interest from schools like Syracuse and Connecticut before choosing UCF, also a Division I (BCS) school, at the last minute. His college position is currently listed on the school's website as "athlete," but Stanback expects to play tailback. "That's been my position since I was a kid. I grew up watching all those running backs on ESPN and my goal is to play in the NFL," Stanback said. "In college, I'll do whatever they ask -- running back, receiver, kick returner, punt returner. All I ask is for a chance."
His parents, Billy and Patricia Stanback, attended the ceremony at Uniondale Wednesday, beaming with pride as their son signed his document. "I felt really good inside to have them there," Stanback said. "It made me warm in my heart to know that they are seeing their oldest child moving on in life and taking the right path."
Added Stanback, with a chuckle that undoubtedly resonated across the country on National Signing Day, "And it's great that they don't have to spend money to send me to college."


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Montana lawmaker wants to be paid in gold
Texas Rep. Ron Paul would be so proud.
Jerry O'Neil, a Republican state legislator in Montana, is so worried about the nation's fiscal health that he wants to be paid in gold and silver coins.
O'Neil told The Daily Inter Lakenewspaper that he wants people to consider the impact of the nation's $16 trillion debt. Plus, he says, there's the matter of Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution which states "no state shall ... make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts."
"It is very likely the bottom will fall out from under the U.S. dollar," O'Neil told the newspaper, which covers northwest Montana. "Only so many dollars can be printed before they have no value."
You'll recall that Paul, the congressman and GOP presidential candidate, is a big believer in returning the United States to the gold standard. That would mean the value of the dollar would be tied to the price of gold.
O'Neil is a longtime supporter of Paul's presidential bids.
The Montana newspaper story goes on to say that O'Neil wants to paid at the market value of gold and silver coins. Montana lawmakers are paid about $83 every day the Legislature is in session, plus a per diem.


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Political Scandals within the US Government from pardongate to enron and gitmogate?
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Looking for Shops to Let in Scotland? SHOWCASE can help make your property search easy. Search the commercial property industry's largest database of available, continuously verified shops to rent providing detailed information and photographs on all retail property. You can also search for a wide selection of other available properties including office units, industrial buildings and land available to let and for sale.
View some of the Scotland Shops to Let below or Search for more Shops to Let using the Showcase search.


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NEA statement on the Government Pension Offset
September 24, 2003
Madam Chairperson and Members of the Committee:
On behalf of the National Education Association's 2.7 million members, we would like to thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), and on the issue of mandatory Social Security coverage. We commend the Committee for holding this important hearing on a matter of great concern to educators and other public employees.
NEA strongly supports complete repeal of the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision, which unfairly reduce the Social Security and Social Security survivor benefits certain public employees may receive.
The Government Pension Offset: A devastating loss of benefits for widows and widowers
The Government Pension Offset reduces Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by two-thirds of the individual's public pension. Thus, a teacher who receives a public pension for a job not covered by Social Security will lose much or all of any spousal survivor benefits she would expect to collect based on her husband's private-sector earnings.
Congress and the President agreed in 1983 to reduce the spousal benefits reduction from a dollar-for-dollar reduction to a reduction based on two-thirds of a public employee's retirement system benefits. This remedial step, however, falls well short of addressing the continuing devastating impact of the GPO.
The GPO penalizes individuals who have dedicated their lives to public service. Nationwide, more than one-third of teachers and education employees, and more than one-fifth of other public employees, are not covered by Social Security and are, therefore, subject to the Government Pension Offset.
Estimates indicate that nine out of 10 public employees affected by the GPO lose their entire spousal benefit, even though their deceased spouse paid Social Security taxes for many years. Moreover, these estimates do not include those public employees or retirees who never applied for spousal benefits because they were informed they were ineligible. The offset has the harshest impact on those who can least afford the loss: lower-income women. Ironically, those impacted have less money to spend in their local economy, and sometimes have to turn to expensive government programs like food stamps to make ends meet.
NEA receives hundreds of phone calls and letters each month from educators impacted by the GPO. Many are struggling to survive on incomes close to poverty, fearing they will be unable to cover their housing, medical and food expenses on their meager incomes. For example, consider the following stories:
From NEA member Dorothea in Ohio:
"When my husband and I were planning our retirement, we knew that I would not be able to receive full retirement credit from the years I was able to teach. However, with my share of his Social Security, and a small annuity, we felt that we were adequately covered. [A]fter I started teaching, the Offset Penalty was voted into effect and the Social Security he contributed to for over 35 years is not available to me. Currently I receive $203 a month as my share of his Social Security. It just is not fair —if he could rise from to grave in protest, I'm sure he would. One goes to college, marries, raises a family and, in this country, expects to be able to retire in a comfortable situation. I'm only asking for benefits which my husband and I have earned — it's time to correct this injustice."
From NEA member Patricia in Texas:
"I am a retired teacher…who chose to say at home and be with my four children during those most important early development years. I did not begin teaching until I was 40 years old and left at 55 because my husband had retired…. My retired pay is $517 per month. Next year when I am 65 and the GPO is used to calculate my Social Security benefits, I will be lucky if I can get enough to pay for my Medicare costs."
The Windfall Elimination Provision: A shocking loss of earned benefits
The Windfall Elimination Provision reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. Congress enacted the WEP ostensibly to remove an advantage for short-term, higher-paid workers under the original Social Security formula. Yet, instead of protecting low-earning retirees, the WEP has unfairly impacted lower-paid retirees such as educators.
The WEP penalizes individuals who move into teaching from private-sector employment, or who seek to supplement their often insufficient public wages by working part-time or in the summer months in jobs covered by Social Security. Educators enter the profession often at considerable financial sacrifice because of their commitment to our nation's children and their belief in the importance of ensuring every child the opportunity to excel. Yet, many of these dedicated individuals are unaware that their choice to educate America's children comes at a price — the loss of benefits they earned in other jobs.
While the amount of reduction depends on when the person retires and how many years of earnings he or she has accumulated, many public employees can lose a significant portion of the Social Security benefits they earned in other jobs. Like the GPO, the WEP can have a devastating impact on educators' retirement security. For example:
NEA member Lytell from California reports:
"This offset makes my life a financially insecure one. Down the road, I will be desperate. I had always wanted to be a teacher. … I worked as a medical secretary for 10 years. As I matured, I decided to go back and fulfill my earlier dream. It took four years of financial hardship and other lifestyle sacrifices but I persevered. …. Finally, I was able to get a job in a remote Idaho town, leaving my family, friends and worn-out car behind. And so began a wonderful and rewarding career. …As the second half of my working life [in California] came to a halt, I learned that I would be financially penalized for teaching here in California…. I have to work to supplement my retirement, having experienced a 50 percent penalty in my Social Security benefits…. When I can no longer work, I am afraid that I will lose my home…. It's a very frightening thought."
From NEA member Marilyn in Ohio:
"In June of 1956 I graduated from high school and began working as secretary to the president of Dime Bank in Akron, Ohio. ... I worked there for a little over seven years, leaving to raise three children. I worked [in retail] during the hours the children were in school (still paying into SS). In February of 1985 I took a part-time position at the University of Akron, which later turned to full-time. In March of 2000, I reported to my Social Security Office in Akron, Ohio to make plans for my retirement. …. I was retiring with 15 years of service. For several years prior, I had been receiving information by mail from the Social Security Office that I would be receiving $1,022 a month in Social Security benefits upon retirement. [However, I was told] 'since you retired from the University of Akron, you will only receive $220 per month.' I was angry, astonished, upset and I cried. I … was absolutely amazed that I had been put into such a position. Consequently, I am still working through a temporary job placement company, pouring my money into Social Security coffers, for which I will only receive $220 a month until the day I die. Is this fair?"
From NEA member Theresa in Illinois:
"Currently, I am a guidance counselor at Lockport Township High School. I also have experience teaching special education in low-income and inner-city high schools. Prior to entering the education field, I was working in the business world and paying into Social Security. I am a single person with no other income. I decided to leave the business world and teach. I never realized this move would jeopardize my social security money when I retired. … [B]ecause I did work in the business world for years I do not have an opportunity to put in the full amount of years to receive a full teacher's pension. I will not receive a full teacher's pension either. Since I have never married, I will not receive any spouse benefits. … I find it appalling that teachers are bearing this burden. Teachers who changed careers should not be penalized from receiving full social security benefits."
The "double whammy": Educators impacted by both the GPO and WEP
Many NEA members report that they are subject to double penalties — losing both their own benefits and spousal benefits due to the combined impact of the GPO and WEP.
For example NEA member Mary from Ohio reports:
"I became a teacher at the age of 41 after working at various jobs under Social Security for 20+ years. I'm 64 years old and retired now. Little did I know the financial impact my decision to become a teacher at midlife would have on my retirement. I can only collect 40 percent of the Social Security I worked for and paid into for many years — a whopping $189 a month. Worse yet, if my husband dies before me, I will collect NONE of the Social Security benefits he paid into for 30 years. I didn't teach long enough to receive a full teacher's pension — silly me, I always thought Social Security would help fill the gap. After all, I worked for it, didn't I? Wrong! … I feel betrayed. What a terrible way to treat someone who dedicated half her work life to the education of children. I know the $250 (approximately) a month I'm missing due to the WEP is small change to [Congress], but it would help me tremendously to get through the month, especially with the cost of health care for my husband and me through the State Teachers' Retirement System. I don't know how much I will lose in Social Security benefits if my husband dies first, but I'm sure however much it is, I will miss it dreadfully."
The national impact of the GPO and WEP: Undermining teacher recruitment efforts
The GPO and WEP have an impact far beyond those states in which public employees like educators are not covered by Social Security. Because people move from state to state, there are affected individuals everywhere. The number of people impacted across the country is growing every day as more and more people reach retirement age.
Perhaps most alarming, the GPO and WEP are impacting the recruitment of quality teachers to meet urgent national shortages. Record enrollments in public schools and the projected retirements of thousands of veteran teachers are driving an urgent need for teacher recruitment. Estimates for the number of new teachers needed range from 2.2 to 2.7 million by 2009.
At the same time that policymakers are encouraging experienced people to change careers and enter the teaching profession, individuals who have worked in other careers are less likely to want to become teachers if doing so will mean a loss of Social Security benefits they have earned. Some states seeking to entice retired teachers to return to the classroom have found them reluctant to return to teaching because of the impact of the GPO and WEP. In addition, current teachers are increasingly likely to leave the profession to reduce the penalty they will incur upon retirement, and students are likely to choose other courses of study and avoid the teaching profession.
The GPO and WEP also impact other critical public services fields, including police and firefighters. Our nation can ill-afford to allow the very real fear of poverty in retirement to force talented, dedicated individuals out of these professions.
The GPO/WEP solution: Total repeal
NEA commends the Chair for sponsoring the Social Security Fairness Act of 2003 (S. 349), along with Senator Feinstein. This bipartisan legislation would eliminate the GPO and WEP, thereby allowing public employees, like all other employees, to collect the benefits they earned and need.
While other proposals would address the GPO and WEP by making changes to the formulas or setting minimum benefit levels, NEA strongly believes that total repeal is the best solution. The change in the GPO formula enacted in 1983 has still left thousands of retired educators in desperate financial circumstances. Only a complete repeal will ensure the financial security our nation's public servants deserve.


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Film listings are edited by Cheryl Eddy. Reviewers are Kimberly Chun, Dennis Harvey, Lynn Rapoport, and Sara Maria Vizcarrondo. For rep house showtimes, see Rep Clock. Due to the Memorial Day holiday, theater information was incomplete at presstime.
Cold in July See "Where Evil Grows." (1:49) Embarcadero.
The Dance of Reality His unique vision recently re-introduced to audiences by unmaking-of documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, cinematic fabulist Alejandro Jodorowsky is back with his first film in a quarter-century. This autobiographical fantasia shows all initial signs of being a welcome yet somewhat redundant retread of his cult-famed early work (1970's El Topo, 1973's The Holy Mountain), as Santa Sangre was in 1989. It starts with the filmmaker himself fulminating wisdoms about the spiritual emptiness of a money-centric world, then appearing as guardian angel to his child self (Jeremias Herskovits). Little Alejandro is raised by a bullying, hyper macho father (Brontis Jodorowsky) and warm, indulgent mother (soprano Pamela Flores, singing every line of dialogue) who naturally clash at every turn. Jodorowsky's stunning eye for bizarre imagery (abetted by DP Jean-Marie Dreujou's handsome compositions) hasn't faded, so there are delights to be had even in what fans might consider an over-familiar parade of dwarfs, amputees, anti clerical burlesques (like a dress-up dog beauty contest at church), Chaplinesque circus sentimentality, and other simple if surreal illustrations of society's eternal victims and overlords. At a certain point, however, the misdeeds of father Jaime force his self-exile. The film's consequent picaresque allegory of epic suffering toward redemption becomes cheerfully goofy, its symbol-strewn path increasingly funny and sweet rather than burdened by import. A large part of that appeal is due to junior Jodorowsky Brontis, who demonstrates considerable farcical esprit while flashing more full-frontal nudity than Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor combined ever dreamed of obliging. Shot in the family's native Chile on a purported crowd funded budget of $3 million — could Hollywood provide so much original spectacle for 30 times that amount?—The Dance of Reality finds its 84-year-old maker as frisky as a pony, one that provides an endearingly unpredictable ride. (2:10) Opera Plaza, Shattuck. (Harvey)
The Grand Seduction Canadian actor-director Don McKellar (1998's Last Night) remakes 2003 Quebecois comedy Seducing Doctor Lewis, about a depressed community searching for the town doctor they'll need before a factory will agree to set up shop and bring much-needed jobs to the area. Canada is still the setting here, with the harbor's name — Tickle Head — telegraphing with zero subtlety that whimsy lies ahead. A series of events involving a Tickle Head-based TSA agent, a bag of cocaine, and a harried young doctor (Taylor Kitsch) trying to avoid jail time signals hope for the hamlet, and de facto town leader Murray (Brendan Gleeson) snaps into action. The seduction of "Dr. Paul," who agrees to one month of service not knowing the town is desperate to keep him, is part Northern Exposure culture clash, part Jenga-like stack of lies, as the townspeople pretend to love cricket (Paul's a fanatic) and act like his favorite lamb dish is the specialty at the local café. The wonderfully wry Gleeson is the best thing about this deeply predictable tale, which errs too often on the side of cute (little old ladies at the switchboard listening in on Paul's phone-sex with his girlfriend!) rather than clever, as when an unsightly structure in the center of town is explained away with a fake "World Heritage House" plaque. Still, the scenery is lovely, and "cute" doesn't necessarily mean "not entertaining." (1:52) Embarcadero. (Eddy)
Maleficent Angelina Jolie plays the iconic villain, with Elle Fanning as Sleeping Beauty, in this live-action Disney fantasy. (1:37) Shattuck.
A Million Ways to Die in the West Director and co-writer Seth MacFarlane also stars in this comedic Western, with Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson. (1:56)
Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case Less of an introduction to the dissident Chinese artist than Alison Klayman's 2012 Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, this doc from Andreas Johnsen is more of a fly-on-the-wall affair, following Ai in the months following his arrest and detention for "tax evasion." The double-entendre title refers to Ai's company (Fake Design) as well as the trumped-up case against him, clearly intended to punish him for challenging authority. Though he's on house arrest, he's allowed to visit art studios and take walks (under constant surveillance); though he's technically not allowed to talk to foreign journalists, they are certainly eager to chat with him, and we see him cautiously working around that rule. At one point, a reporter asks him why he doesn't simply move out of China and live somewhere with more freedom. His fiery reply — that he'd be "dead already" if he didn't express himself — speaks volumes, and suggests that despite his weary appearance here, he's more determined than ever before. Of related interest: his just-announced exhibit of works on imprisonment, @Large, scheduled to open Sept. 27 on Alcatraz. (1:29) (Eddy)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 The best thing about The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — the sequel to the 2012 reboot that nobody really wanted in the first place — is the achingly cute chemistry between real-life couple Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) and Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy, whose fate is no spoiler to anyone who is familiar with the Spider-Man canon). Can't deny it; those two are adorbs. But since Spider-Man is supposed to be an action movie, not a romantic comedy, it spends most of its time setting up foes for the webslinger (Jamie Foxx as a nerd zapped into the power-mad Electro; Dane DeHaan as bratty rich kid Harry Osborn), as well as rehashing the mysterious deaths of Peter's parents, and underlining for approximately the zillionth time the disconnect between the media's perception of Spider-Man (he's a menace! He interferes with police work!) and the ecstatic love the people of New York have for the guy — understandable, since he's in the business of saving their butts on a regular basis. This isn't a crappy movie by any means; it's entertaining enough, and the 3D swooping-between-skyscrapers FX have gotten quite dazzling. But there's still a heavy air of "This again?" that hangs over the whole thing. Doesn't Marvel have enough dough from the Avengers movies to let Spidey take an extended vacation? (2:20) (Eddy)
Belle The child of a British naval officer and a Caribbean slave, Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is deposited on the doorstep — well, the estate grounds — of her father's relatives in 1769 England after her mother dies. Soon she's entirely orphaned, which makes her a wealthy heiress and aristocratic title holder at the same time that she is something less than human in the eyes of her adopted society. For Belle is black (or more properly, mixed-race), and thus a useless curiosity at best as a well-bred noblewoman of the "wrong" racial makeup. Based on a murky actual historical chapter, Amma Asante's film is that rare sumptuous costume drama which actually has something on its mind beyond romance and royalty. Not least among its pleasures are a fine supporting cast including Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton, and Emily Watson. (1:45) (Harvey)
Blended (1:57)
Breastmilk Our bodies, ourselves — and our babies and breastmilk — and the thick, rich membrane of biological and cultural complications latched to breastfeeding today all play into director-producer Dana Ben-Ari's fascinating doc Breastmilk. Though the act of breastfeeding may sound like the most natural thing in the world, many parents encounter a thicket of challenges when choosing to do it, whether it's due to low milk production or tongue-tied babies, not to mention the judgments and stresses that occur along the way. Showing everything from the intimate first moments of a newborn learning how to latch on to beautifully close-up images of breasts being pumped, Ben-Ari follows diverse crew of moms — privileged, blue-collar, same-sex, and bohemian — many before birth and post-breastfeeding, as well as academics and experts, while unpacking an enthralling set of issues like the guilt around using formula rather than breastmilk; the embarrassment of breastfeeding in public sans "hooter hider" for the male viewer; the insecurities women feel about milk production; the boundaries between maternity and sexuality; and the politics of women of color offering their breastmilk to privileged white adopters. Kudos, too, to Ben-Ari for gratifyingly going, even briefly, toward the idea of the "monstrous," "leaky" female body; lactation porn; and the "phallic potential" of the breast. (1:31) Roxie. (Chun)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel's most wholesome hero returns in this latest film in the Avengers series, and while it doesn't deviate from the expected formula (it's not a spoiler to say that yes, the world is saved yet again), it manages to incorporate a surprisingly timely plot about the dangers of government surveillance. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), hunkiest 95-year-old ever, is still figuring out his place in the 21st century after his post-World War II deep freeze. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has him running random rescue missions with the help of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), but SHIELD is working on a top-secret project that will allow it to predict crimes before they occur. It isn't long before Cap's distrust of the weapon — he may be old-fashioned, but he ain't stupid — uncovers a sinister plot led by a familiar enemy, with Steve's former BFF Bucky doing its bidding as the science-experiment-turned-assassin Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Anthony Mackie, Robert Redford, and series regular Cobie Smulders are fine in supporting roles, and Johansson finally gets more to do than punch and pose, but the likable Evans ably carries the movie — he may not have the charisma of Robert Downey Jr., but he brings wit and depth to a role that would otherwise be defined mainly by biceps and CG-heavy fights. Oh, and you know the drill by now: superfans will want to stick around for two additional scenes tucked into the end credits. (2:16) (Eddy)
Chef Not to take anything away from the superhero crew, but Chef feels like the closest thing to a labor of love from writer, director, and star Jon Favreau in many a day. As a director, he may have been making doughnuts — fun-filled and teeming with CGI eye candy, but doughnuts nevertheless — when it came to effects-driven blockbusters like 2008's Iron Man, but this well-meaning play for the heart, by way of the stomach, shows you where Favreau's head is really at. Chef revolves around Carl Casper (Favreau), a onetime food star, now reduced to serving up predictable crowd-pleasers at the behest of his restaurant's overbearing owner (Dustin Huffman). It takes the barbs of an influential critic (Oliver Platt) — and an ensuing Twitter war — to set Carl off and send him away on his own, at the coaxing of his glam ex Inez (Sofia Vergara). Hooked up with a dilapidated food truck and former kitchen staffer Martin (John Leguizamo), and aided by ably Tweeting son Percy (Emjay Anthony), Carl ties his dreams — and lost passion — to the classic Cuban sandwich. The ensuing road trip from Miami to LA, and Carl's journey toward self and a renewed relationship with his son, is a fun (if, in the end, a bit too speedily sketched) vault through the joys of eating your way through America's new culinary heartland. Amid the volley of sign-of-the-times social-media swinging and cameos by the uncostumed Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, and the like, Favreau's main dish is that a family that eats, cooks, and runs a business together, stays together — child labor laws or no. (1:55) (Chun)
Chinese Puzzle Chinese Puzzle is the airy kind of nothing American studios don't seem capable of making any more: a relatively harmless, ingratiating hang with a rather varied cast of characters running afoul of one another in bottom-line benign ways (save a beating early on). The film concludes Cédric Klapisch's trilogy, started in 2002's study-abroad romp L'auberge Espagnole and continued in 2005's early adulthood crisis Russian Dolls. The final film is just as weightless, and enjoyable to watch, as the preceding pair, and they form a kind of lazy man's analog to Richard Linklater's sublime Before films. This is a world of coincidence framed as realism — but if you go to the movies for a laugh, for a diversion, and for a quick getaway to a carefree daydream of what life might be for the shiftless and curiously monied (what's work?), this might be the kind of date movie you want, maybe even need. (1:57) (Ryland Walker Knight)
Documented Jose Antonio Vargas' grandparents — who raised him in Mountain View after he was smuggled into America at age 12 from the Philippines — expected him to grow up, blend in, and live a perfectly ordinary life in his new country. But Vargas was a smart kid who grew into an exceptionally intelligent young adult. He pursued a journalism career that earned him coveted reporting gigs for the Washington Post and CNN, among other outlets, as well as a Pulitzer Prize. He's also gay, a fact that complicated his family's hopes for a traditional wedding (and subsequent green card). In 2011, weary of guarding a secret he'd shared with only a few close friends, Vargas penned a powerful essay for the New York Times Magazine, revealing "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant." Documented, his film with co-director Ann Lupo, chronicles the months before and after Vargas "outed" himself. It's a highly personal story, especially when the film crew travels to Manila to interview Vargas' mother. Their geographical separation has become an emotional estrangement so complex she weeps when he refuses to add her on Facebook. But Documented also taps Vargas' Define American media campaign to broaden its message, interviewing undocumented youths affected by the DREAM Act and sharing in their joy when the bill — providing permanent residency to young, educated immigrants of "good moral character" — finally goes into effect. Unfortunately for Vargas, he's too old to benefit from the legislation, and though he feels relief at having come clean, he's still unable to make any traction in his quest for citizenship. (At one point, he actually calls INS to see if anyone's planning to clamp down, as if finally getting "caught" would be preferable to living in extended limbo.) The only closure of sorts comes when Vargas reconnects with his mother via Skype, but there's an undercurrent of helplessness to their computer-screen reunion that makes Documented's themes feel especially raw and urgent. (1:29) Roxie. (Eddy)
The Double Simon (Jesse Eisenberg) is a lowly clerk who gets nothing but indifference and scorn both at work and in his pitiful private life. Things slip even more insidiously beyond his control with the arrival of James (Eisenberg again), his exact doppelgänger — though no one else seems to notice that — and a climber as ruthlessly efficient as Simon is hapless. Not only does he steal his look-alike's ideas in a rapid rise to the top, he seems to take great pleasure in kicking Simon further downward. Applying a Kafkaesque gloss to Dostoyevsky's novella, with stylistic hat-tips to the Coens and Terry Gilliam, Richard Ayoade's second feature is very different from his prior Submarine (2010) in all ways but one: It, too, is both overwhelmed and rendered fascinating by an excess of high directorial "style" whose self-consciousness infuses every frame and puts quote marks around every emotion. As a result, The Double is a striking objet d'art you'll either love or hate — or enjoy aesthetically while being annoyed by its sacrifice of depth for a showoff surface. (1:33) (Harvey)
Fading Gigolo Ah, the charm of a well-aged, seasoned perv &ldots; nope, we don't dare touch the Woody Allen/Dylan Farrow abuse allegations — though those recent headlines flit around the edges of this generally benevolent, almost strangely innocuous charmer, written by and directed John Turturro, who also stars as the curiously blank-faced tabula rasa of a title character. The delights of Mrs. Robinsons have been rhapsodized on film, through the lens of worshipful younger men — less so, their male counterparts, as viewed by other hetero men. The danger of bromance surging into the homoerotic is likely too dire for most, yet somehow bookstore boss Murray (Allen) sees the mysterious, submerged sex appeal in his loyal employee Fioravante (Turturro) and taps him to get involved in a ménage à trois with a society dermatologist (Sharon Stone). The soft-spoken Fioravante turns out to be a smash in the sack with the doc, transforming the opportunistic Murray into a wildly successful pimp as his employee takes on the audacious Selima (Sofia Vergara) and the prim Jewish Orthodox widow Avigal (Vanessa Paradis). The latter character seems to have come straight from another place and time — much like this film, which turns Brooklyn into a something resembling a leaf-strewn European village and recalls odes to revolutionary sexuality in the '60s. The movie's lightly absurd comedy is embedded in the fact that Turturro writes himself into the role of the seducer, the pleaser, while wrapped in the skin of pleasant if everyday-looking Joe, although Paradis, a revelation as a deeply repressed devout mother slowly awakening to her body, points to more serious pleasures, lingering below the surface of all of us. (1:30) (Chun)
Fed Up Katie Couric narrates, produces, and brings celebrity heft to Stephanie Soechtig's well-crafted expose on the alarmingly powerful food industry — specifically, revealing how "nutritional standards" put forth by the government over the past 30 years have actually caused the nation's current obesity epidemic. Fed Up's straightforward combination of simple facts (80 percent of food items have added sugar); talking-head experts (Bill Clinton, UCSF's Dr. Robert Lustig); historical fact-finding (including a segment that convincingly compares today's food industry to the tobacco industry of yore); and profiles of dangerously overweight teens (all of whom are trying, and failing, to lose weight) adds up to a film that is poised to have An Inconvenient Truth-style impact on viewers — and will hopefully
open enough eyes to make waves beyond movie theaters. (1:32) (Eddy)
Finding Vivian Maier Much like In the Realms of the Unreal, the 2004 doc about Henry Darger, Finding Vivian Maier explores the lonely life of a gifted artist whose talents were discovered posthumously. In this case, however, the filmmaker — John Maloof, who co-directs with Charlie Siskel — is responsible for Maier's rise to fame. A practiced flea-market hunter, he picked up a carton of negatives at a 2007 auction; they turned out to be striking examples of early street photography. He was so taken with the work (snapped by a woman so obscure she was un-Google-able) that he began posting images online. Unexpectedly, they became a viral sensation, and Maloof became determined to learn more about the camerawoman. Turns out Vivian Maier was a career nanny in the Chicago area, with plenty of former employers to share their memories. She was an intensely private person who some remembered as delightfully adventurous and others remembered as eccentric, mentally unstable, or even cruel; she was a hoarder who was distrustful of men, and she spoke with a maybe-fake French accent. And she was obsessed with taking photographs that she never showed to anyone; the hundreds of thousands now in Maloof's collection (along with 8mm and 16mm films) offer the only insight into her creative mind. "She had a great eye, a sense of humor, and a sense of tragedy," remarks acclaimed photographer Mary Ellen Mark. "But there's a piece of the puzzle missing." The film's central question — why was Maier so secretive about her hobby? — may never be answered. But as the film also suggests, that mystery adds another layer of fascination to her keenly observed photos. (1:23) (Eddy)
The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden Extensive archival footage and home movies (plus one short, narrative film) enhance this absorbing doc from San Francisco-based Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller (2005's Ballets Russes). It tells the tale of a double murder that occurred in the early 1930s on Floreana — the most remote of the already scarcely-populated Galapagos Islands. A top-notch cast (Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, Connie Nielsen, Josh Radnour) gives voice to the letters and diary entries of the players in this stranger-than-fiction story, which involved an array of Europeans who'd moved away from civilization in search of utopian simplicity — most intriguingly, a maybe-fake Baroness and her two young lovers — and realized too late that paradise isn't all it's cracked up to be. Goldfine and Geller add further detail to the historic drama by visiting the present-day Galapagos, speaking with residents about the lingering mystery and offering a glimpse of what life on the isolated islands is like today. (2:00) (Eddy)
God's Pocket The dreary directorial debut of Mad Men star (and occasional episode director) John Slattery begins with a funeral, and it's not long before we realize the deceased, Leon (Caleb Landry Jones), will be grieved only by his mother (Christina Hendricks). Most of this bleak tale takes place in flashback — racist, jacked-up Leon's workplace accident (actually a well-deserved blow to the head, wielded by a fellow laborer he'd been threatening) occurs while his boozy-schlub stepfather Mickey (Philip Seymour Hoffman, in one of his final roles) is boosting a refrigerated truck for use in his meat business. When his wife demands an investigation into Leon's death, Mickey dutifully, if reluctantly, asks some of his ne'er-do-well associates to poke around; one thing leads to another, more blood is shed, and the stolen truck is repurposed for toting around a certain albatross of a human corpse. Set in 1978 and named for the fictional working-class Philly neighborhood that provides its backdrop, God's Pocket (based on the novel by Pete Dexter, whose other adapted works include The Paperboy and Paris Trout) falls quite short of delivering narrative satisfaction; even its stellar cast (which also includes John Turturro, Eddie Marsan, and Richard Jenkins — the latter as a washed-up journalist who improbably seduces Hendricks' character) can't elevate characters that are thinly drawn and murkily motivated. (1:28) (Eddy)
Godzilla Bearing the weight of a 1998 American debut so stinky that devotees of the Japanese original dubbed it "GINO" (for "Godzilla in Name Only"), the King of the Monsters returns for a do-over that smells more like generic summer entertainment than anything else. We begin in 1999, when a pair of scientists (Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins) discover a giant skeleton of sorts in the Philippines — just as a deadly accident (or was it?) devastates a Japanese nuclear power plant. Fifteen years later, the scientists are still on the trail of Whatever That Was, while guilty power-plant survivor Bryan Cranston has become a greasy-haired conspiracy theorist, much to the annoyance of his San Francisco-based Navy officer son (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). The humans in Gareth Edwards' film don't actually matter much; aside from Cranston and to a much lesser extent Watanabe, none of the characters are interesting or memorable, and the plot — which has Big G lumbering after a pair of "Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms" who decide to incubate their eggs in downtown SF — is also a low-stakes affair. (If you believe for a second that Taylor-Johnson's doe-eyed wife and son won't survive the monster attack, I have a busted-up Golden Gate Bridge to sell you.) But the monster design is plenty satisfying, and really, it's just fine that Godzilla — who wrinkles his snout in annoyance at those pesky MUTOs — is this film's one and only charismatic presence; dude's going on a 70-year career at this point. (2:03) (Eddy)
The Grand Budapest Hotel Is this the first Wes Anderson movie to feature a shootout? It's definitely the first Anderson flick to include a severed head. That's not to say The Grand Budapest Hotel, "inspired by" the works of Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig, represents too much of a shift for the director — his intricate approach to art direction is still very much in place, as are the deadpan line deliveries and a cast stuffed with Anderson regulars. But there's a slightly more serious vibe here, a welcome change from 2012's tooth-achingly twee Moonrise Kingdom. Thank Ralph Fiennes' performance as liberally perfumed concierge extraordinaire M. Gustave, which mixes a shot of melancholy into the whimsy, and newcomer Tony Revolori as Zero, his loyal lobby boy, who provides gravitas despite only being a teenager. (Being played by F. Murray Abraham as an older adult probably helps in that department.) Hotel's early 20th century Europe setting proves an ideal canvas for Anderson's love of detail — the titular creation rivals Stanley Kubrick's rendering of the Overlook Hotel — and his supporting cast, as always, looks to be enjoying the hell out of being a part of Anderson's universe, with Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, and Adrien Brody having particularly oversized fun. Is this the best Wes Anderson movie since 2001's The Royal Tenenbaums? Yes. (1:40) (Eddy)
Ida The bomb drops within the first ten minutes: after being gently forced to reconnect with her only living relative before taking her vows, novice nun Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) learns that her name is actually Ida, and that she's Jewish. Her mother's sister, Wanda (Agneta Kulesza) — a Communist Party judge haunted by a turbulent past she copes with via heavy drinking, among other vices — also crisply relays that Ida's parents were killed during the Nazi occupation, and after some hesitation agrees to accompany the sheltered young woman to find out how they died, and where their bodies were buried. Drawing great depth from understated storytelling and gorgeous, black-and-white cinematography, Pawel Pawilowski's well-crafted drama offers a bleak if realistic (and never melodramatic) look at 1960s Poland, with two polar-opposite characters coming to form a bond as their layers of painful loss rise to the surface. (1:20) Smith Rafael. (Eddy)
Ilo Ilo Set in 1997 Singapore at the onset of the country's recession, Ilo Ilo focuses on one family, who could be any family: father Teck (Chen Tianwen), who's been let go from his sales position and is working various hourly jobs, hoping his wife doesn't find out; pregnant Hwee Leng (a dynamic Yeo Yann Yann), a secretary who's been the "bad cop" in the relationship so long she's kind of grown into the role; and bratty Jiale (Koh Jia Ler), a 10-year-old terror who disobeys at home and gets into fights at school. Into this swirl of domestic tension comes Teresa (Angeli Bayani), a housekeeper-nanny who's left her own family behind in the Philippines in search of a better way of life. It's hell at first — "Auntie Terry" is no Mary Poppins, but she has the patience of a saint, putting up with Jiale's antics and Hwee Leng's ice-queen routine. Slowly, however, she builds a rapport with her young charge, but since Ilo Ilo is firmly interested in realism, there's no quick fix to the problems that lie beneath the family strife, despite the kid's obsession with lottery numbers. A remarkably assured debut film from 29-year-old director Anthony Chen, Ilo Ilo picked up the Camera D'Or at Cannes, in addition to multiple other fest prizes. The accolades are well-earned — rarely has a film so effectively and subtly captured the day-to-day frustrations of middle-class financial uncertainty. (1:40) (Eddy)
The Immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotilliard) is an orphaned Polish émigré who's separated from her sickly sister at Ellis Island in 1921, and scheduled for deportation as an alleged "woman of low morals." She's rescued from that by Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix), though he's not quite the agent of charity he seems — in fact, Ewa doesn't realize she's actually been recruited for a prostitution racket he thinly veils as a theatrical troupe. Still, she stays, believing she has no other viable path to freeing her sister from quarantine, she allows her own degradation for money's sake. This latest collaboration between Phoenix and director-coscenarist James Gray is a handsome period piece that's done skillfully and tastefully enough to downplay — but not quite hide — the fact that its moral melodrama might as well have been written (as well as set) nearly a century ago. Cotilliard is fine in her best English-language role to date, and Phoenix is compelling as usual; Jeremy Renner is somewhat miscast as a distant-third lead. But whether you find The Immigrant poignant or forced will depend on your tolerance for a script whose every turn is all too predictable. (2:00) (Harvey)
Locke This virtual solo show stars Tom Hardy as Ivan Locke, a 40-ish construction manager driving to London on the eve of "the biggest cement pour" ever attempted in Europe. But he's driving away from that, to the shrill indignation of superiors who expect his reliable on-site supervision, and the increasingly drunken panic of the flunky (voice of Andrew Scott) he's deputized to take his place. The reason for this unprecedented dereliction of responsibility is that Ivan is committed to another responsibility, to "take care of my fuckup." As we gradually realize during his 85-minute drive, that means showing up for the premature birth of the baby he's sired by a fragile, rather hysterical-sounding woman (Olivia Colman) in the brief sole detour from marital infidelity he's ever taken. Doing so may well end his career, as well as his long-standing marriage to the mother of his sons. But our protagonist is determined at any cost not to become his own late father (with whom he has imaginary conversations), a wastrel who never made good on his obligations to family or anyone else. Shot repeatedly in real time with multiple cameras over 12 nights, then assembled from 16 full-length takes, Steven Knight's Locke is a striking experiment that never quite escapes an air of theatrical stunt. In retrospect you realize most of its tension derives not from the core emotional crises, but from narrative red herrings — primarily our terror that anyone multitasking this recklessly behind the wheel is an accident waiting to happen. But the chameleonic Hardy, playing a rather square, middle-class, essentially humorless type unlike any he's done before, makes this effortfully "decent" man so compelling you can't look away. If there's anything this actor can't do, he hasn't tried it yet. (1:35) (Harvey)
The Lunchbox Ila (Nimrat Kaur) is a self-possessed housewife and a great cook, whose husband confuses her for another piece of furniture. She tries to arouse his affections with elaborate lunches she makes and sends through the city's lunchbox delivery service. Like marriage in India, lunchbox delivery has a failure rate of zero, which is what makes aberrations seem like magical occurrences. So when widow Saajan (Irrfan Khan) receives her adoring food, he humbly receives the magical lunches like a revival of the senses. Once Ila realizes her lunchbox is feeding the wrong man she writes a note and Saajan replies — tersely, like a man who hasn't held a conversation in a decade — and the impossible circumstances lend their exchanges a romance that challenges her emotional fidelity and his retreat from society. She confides her husband is cheating. He confides his sympathy for men of lower castes. It's a May/December affair if it's an affair at all — but the chemistry we expect the actors to have in the same room is what fuels our urge to see it; that's a rare and haunting dynamic. Newcomer Kaur is perfect as Ila, a beauty unmarked by her rigorous distaff; her soft features and exhausted expression lend a richness to the troubles she can't share with her similarly stoic mother (Lillete Dubey). Everyone is sacrificing something and poverty seeps into every crack, every life, without exception — their inner lives are their richness. (1:44) (Vizcarrondo)
Million Dollar Arm Jon Hamm has it bad — that dark-around-the-edges Mad Men afterglow can't help but follow him everywhere, even into the arms of Disney in this solid Cinderella-story baseball tale (possibly the best headlining gig he's had outside SCDP). Hamm's J.B. Bernstein would certainly have something to hash over with Don Draper: both are down-on-their-luck charmers with the cracks in their facades clearly showing, yet nonetheless intent on doing it their way. J.B. is striking out when it comes to recruiting talent for his new, rapidly sinking sports agency, when he comes up with a genius idea while he and fellow agent Aash (Aasif Mandvi) are watching random sports at the latter's home: Why not tap into one of the world's greatest unexploited baseball markets by staging a talent search for an Indian cricket player with Major League pitching potential? Canvassing the country with the help of sleepy scout Ray (Alan Arkin) and baseball-enthusiast translator Amit (Pitobash), J.B. finds his arms ultimately attached to village truck driver Dinesh (Madhur Mittal) and contorting track-and-field thrower Rinku (Suraj Sharma of 2012's Life of Pi). But how to turn raw talent into professional careers in just months? And moreover, how can the would-be golden boys overcome cultural barriers that a fly ball couldn't surmount? It's a tryout for all concerned — including an MLB that's still striving to expand its reach in Asia, and Hamm, who can be so good as Draper that he's in increasing danger of being typecast. In the Disney mold, at least, his character achieves fairly happy results. (2:00) (Chun)
Neighbors It's a mystery why Neighbor's marketing teams are intent on creating some kind of social media battle between this comedy's family and frat: The college boys are clearly outclassed when it comes to uninhibited physical comedy daring, thanks to Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne. They play young parents Kelly and Mac, who are still basking in their new craftsman home and settled state, trying to figure out sex in front — or is it behind? — baby, and how to get to the rave before bedtime, when a frat, led by oft-shirtless hottie Teddy (Zac Efron) and pal Pete (Dave Franco), moves into the house next door. How do you ask them to "keep it down" yet still be cool? The pretzels Mac and Kelly wrap themselves into, in order to still hang with the kids, are about as hilarious as the inevitable battles that break out over the hearts and minds of college administrators (Lisa Kudrow), pals (the hilarious Ike Barinholtz), and wannabe brothers like the loyal Assjuice (Craig Roberts). Still, despite some memorable gags, Neighbors feels like a bit of a squandered opportunity as one fidgets through many of the frat house scenes. Part of the problem is, why would Kelly, Mac, or anyone want to be in good with such an uninteresting group of Greeks? (1:37) (Chun)
Only Lovers Left Alive Jim Jarmusch has subverted genre films before — you don't have to dig deep to find fierce defenders of 1995 Western Dead Man — but his latest, Only Lovers Left Alive, is poised to be his biggest commercial hit to date. That's not merely because it's a vampire film, though this concession to trendiness will certainly work in its favor, as will the casting of high-profile Avengers (2012) star Tom Hiddleston. But this is still a Jarmusch vampire movie, and though it may be more accessible than some of the director's more existential entries, it's still wonderfully weird, witty, and — natch — drenched in cool. The opening credits deploy a gothic, blood red font across a night sky — a winking nod to the aesthetics of Hammer classics like Horror of Dracula (1958). Then, the camera begins to rotate, filming a record as it plays, and symbolizing the eternal life of the two figures who've entered the frame: gloomy Adam (Hiddleston, rocking a bedhead version of Loki's dark 'do), who lurks in a crumbling Detroit mansion, and exuberant Eve (Tilda Swinton, so pale she seems to glow), who dwells amid piles of books in Tangier. These two live apart, partially due to the hassle of traveling when one can't be in the sun (red-eye flights are a must). Yet they remain entangled in spirit, a phenomenon referenced amid much talk of what Einstein called "spooky action at a distance," and when at last they reunite, it's glorious. Unlike those old Hammer films, there's no stake-wielding Van Helsing type pursuing these creatures of the night; if there's a villain, it's actual and emotional vampire Ava (Mia Wasikowska), Eve's bad-penny sibling, who swoops in for a most unwelcome visit. But Only Lovers Left Alive's biggest antagonist is simply the outside world, with its epidemics of dull minds and blood-borne diseases. The delight Jarmusch takes in tweaking the vampire mythos is just as enjoyable as his interest in exploring the agony, ecstasy, and uneventful lulls of immortality. (2:03) (Eddy)
The Other Woman Cameron Diaz gets top billing — and the title role — in The Other Woman, but Leslie Mann is the real stealth weapon here: the other comedian who bravely dares to go into unseemly crazy-bitch, scatological-Bridesmaids territory, with shrill histrionics, whining, and shrieks hitting registers that threaten to make most men's heads explode. Coming on like Lucille Ball on crystal, Mann teeters out in the limb in kitten heels — and your enjoyment of The Other Woman depends on whether you love that balancing act or loathe it. Diaz and Mann's reluctant-then-mutual girl crush is at the heart of this proudly chick flick directed by Nick Cassavetes, who tends to beat his own indie path apart from his involvement in one of the biggest lady draws of all time, The Notebook (2004). The chick magnet and cause for so much chaos is Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a sketchy entrepreneur who skims wife Kate's (Mann) business ideas and toys with power-bitch lawyer Carly (Diaz), as well as his other other woman, perfect-10 Amber (Kate Upton). Coster-Waldau throws himself into the hysteria, as if it were the sole lifeline out of dour King's Landing, but this is the Mann and Diaz Show, with a smarter-than-average screenplay by Melissa Stack and revenge served up like a self-righteous side dish at a Real Housewives buffet line. And just to show you how far we haven't come, like those benighted housewives, those assembled aren't so feminist that they won't stoop to deliver a bitchy joke at the expense of Upton's character. (1:49) (Chun)
Palo Alto Adapted from the 2010 short story collection by James Franco, first-time director Gia Coppola's depressive, aimless tale of disaffected youth tracks the ennuis and misadventures of a handful of Palo Alto teenagers: shy, inexperienced April (Emma Roberts), teetering on the edge of an affair with her soccer coach (Franco); naively promiscuous Emily (Zoe Levin); budding head case Fred (Nat Wolff); and his friend Teddy (Jack Kilmer, son of Val, who plays April's out-to-lunch stepfather), who ambivalently participates in Fred's mayhem while pining after April. Adult supervision is nearly Peanuts-level sparse — in other Peninsula households, helicopter parents may be fine-tuning the lives of their children down to the last extracurricular; here, the stoned, distracted elders who occasionally wander in front of the camera are more like flaky, absentee roommates. Meanwhile, their young charges fill the empty hours with copious amounts of alcohol consumption, random property destruction, and a round or two of social crucifixion. The protagonists and their cohorts form a fairly distasteful tableau of privileged, floundering adolescence, eliciting an emotional response in which uneasy concern occasionally overcomes bemused disgust. But the individual stories are virtually weightless, and the characters' lack of investment in anything, even their own problems, makes it difficult to care too much about their fates. (1:38) (Rapoport)
Under the Skin At the moment, Scarlett Johansson is playing a superhero in the world's top blockbuster. Her concurrent role in Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin — the tale of an alien who comes to earth to capture men, but goes rogue once her curiosity about the human world gets the better of her — could not be more different in story or scope. Her character's camouflage (dark wig, thickly-applied lipstick) was carefully calibrated to make her unrecognizable, since Glazer (2000's Sexy Beast) filmed the alien's "pick-up" scenes — in which Johansson's unnamed character cruises around Glasgow in a nondescript van, prowling for prey — using hidden cameras and real people who had no idea they were interacting with a movie star. The film takes liberties with its source material (Michel Farber's novel), with "feeding" scenes that are far more abstract than as written in the book, allowing for one of the film's most striking visual motifs. After the alien seduces a victim, he's lured into what looks like a run-down house. The setting changes into a dark room that seems to represent an otherworldly void, with composer Mica Levi's spine-tingling score exponentially enhancing the dread. What happens next? It's never fully explained, but it doesn't need to be. When the alien begins to mistakenly believe that her fleshy, temporary form is her own, she abandons her predatory quest — but her ill-advised exploration of humanity leads her into another dark place. A chilling, visceral climax caps one of the most innovative sci-fi movies in recent memory. (1:47) (Eddy)
Words and Pictures Words and Pictures is about as bifurcated as its title, while spinning off a central beef that Hepburn and Tracey might have wrapped their madcap bickering ways around at one time. Which is more powerful: language or images, poetry or painting? The age-old debate starts to feel a little creaky by Words' close, but you can see and hear why the conceit drew such acting thoroughbreds as Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen, playing two passionate, paint-hurling, bottle-foisting artistic types on either side of a divide overseen by Australian director Fred Schepisi (1987's Roxanne). Owen's Jack Marcus is an alcoholic, onetime lit-star of an English teacher whose creatively constipated bad boy routine is starting to wear thin when Binoche's painter Dina Delsanto arrives at his prep school on the pretext of teaching an honors art class. In actuality, she's taking time away from the NY art scene to figure out a new way to paint while grappling with rheumatoid arthritis. Sparks fly between the two hard-headed combatants, along with punches delivered by some smartly scripted sparring, as they get the students hot and bothered by their debate concerning words vs. pictures. The master-class lessons learned by watching Binoche work, jaw firmly set and intelligent eyes darting as she maps out her next composition, while Owen falls apart, Hemingway-style, are offset by a facile, cozy ending that feels test-audience driven. (1:51) (Chun)
X-Men: Days of Future Past Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men films (2000's decent X-Men; 2002's meh X2) returns to helm this latest franchise entry — the fourth sequel in a series that also includes two movies focusing on Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. That fan-favorite character is front and center in both of Days of Future Past's time frames: the present, a bleak dystopia in which robot assassins have wiped out nearly every mutant (save Wolverine, Patrick Stewart's Professor X, Ian McKellan's Magneto, and a few others), and most humans along with them; and the past, a key moment in the polyester-laden 1970s in which mutant avenger Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) inadvertently sets the disastrous future events in motion by killing robot designer Trask (Peter Dinklage). Wolverine time-travels to convince younger versions of the Professor (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to put aside their Himalayan-sized differences to stop her. (Speaking of avengers, there's a capital-A one here: Quicksilver, a character from both comic-book worlds; he's portrayed here with giddy mischief by American Horror Story's Evan Peters, and is the film's high point.) Yes, that's a heady plot, and there are a zillion other characters, but Future Past manages, for the most part, to avoid feeling like an overloaded mess. It's most entertaining in scenes that show off its characters' superpowers — clearly, the CG artists had a blast working on this one — which are plentiful enough to make slogging through the ennui-laden moments of downtime worth it.(2:10) (Eddy) *


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CAIRO - Egypt's most popular television satirist, who every week skewers the Islamist president and hard-line clerics on his Jon Stewart-style show, was released on bail Sunday but could face charges of insulting the country's leader and Islam.
Bassem Youssef is the most prominent critic of President Mohammed Morsi to be called in for questioning in recent weeks, in what the opposition says is a campaign to intimidate critics amid wave after wave of political unrest in deeply polarized Egypt.
Arrest warrants have been issued for five prominent anti-government activists accused of instigating violence.
Deputy chief prosecutor Hassan Yassin denied the nearly five-hour interrogation was part of an intimidation campaign and said his department was enforcing the law and seeking to establish some guidelines on freedom of expression.
"The prosecution is the protector of social rights and we work on implementing the law. ... There must be guidelines for those working in the media to observe so as not violate the law," Yassin told The Associated Press.
Morsi last week accused private media of fanning violence and argued that it was being used for political aims.
But Yassin denied that the prosecutor's office was operating at the behest of the presidency to go after Morsi's critics, saying it has also interrogated and sentenced Islamists. Morsi appointed the chief prosecutor late last year despite an outcry from many in the judiciary who accused him of trampling on their right to choose the top prosecutor.
A court ruling last week declared Morsi's appointment void, a verdict he will likely appeal.
"There is no contact between us and the presidency. ... Just like we moved against someone who insults Christianity, we moved against someone who is accused of insulting Islam," he said.
Youssef is the host of the weekly political satire show known for his skits lampooning Morsi and Egypt's newly empowered Islamist political class. But he also mocks the opposition and the media.
The fast-paced show has attracted a wide viewership, while at the same time earning its fair share of detractors. Youssef has been a frequent target of lawsuits, most of them brought by Islamist lawyers who accused him of "corrupting morals" or violating "religious principles."
Youssef frequently imitates Morsi's speeches and gestures. He has fact-checked the president, and in one particularly popular episode earlier this year, he played video clips showing remarks by Morsi, made in 2010 before he became president, calling Zionists "pigs."
The remarks caused a brief diplomatic tiff with the U.S. administration, and Morsi had to issue a statement to defuse the flap.
In his last episode this week, Youssef thanked Morsi for providing him with so much material.
Youssef has also made regular jokes about comments by Islamic clerics and presenters on Islamic TV stations, exposing contradictions between their comments and public speeches and what he considers the spirit of Islam.
Prosecutor Mohammed el-Sayed Khalifa was quoted on the website of the state-owned Al-Ahram daily that he has 28 plaintiffs in the case against Youssef accusing him of insulting Islam, mocking prayers, and "belittling" Morsi in the eyes of the world and his own people.
The plaintiffs are mostly regular citizens, according to Shaimaa Abul-Kheir, a representative of the New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists who was allowed to attend the interrogation.
In remarks to a TV presenter on CBC, the private station that airs his program, Youssef said on Saturday that his program does not insult Islam but aims to expose those who "distort" it.
"We don't insult religion. What we do is expose those so-called religious and Islamic stations which have offended Islam more than anyone else," he said. "If anyone is to be investigated for insulting religions, it should be all those who use Islam as a weapon and a political tool to swallow the others using religion."
When asked if programs in Egypt should be less scathing than those of the West, Youssef said: "We will give (the West) an example of how freedoms are respected after the revolution," he said of the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.
After turning himself in for questioning, Youssef first tweeted a series of quips from the prosecutor's office.
"They asked me the color of my eyes. Really," one said.
A news broadcaster at a TV station affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, Misr 25, accused Youssef of "mocking" the investigation. His tweets later were erased and he wrote that some reports from inside the interrogation room were "incorrect."
Amr Moussa, a former presidential candidate, called the warrant for Youssef's arrest a "provocation to Egyptians who are known for their love of what is funny."
"There is nothing odious about criticizing the president," he said in an emailed statement. "This humanizes the president."
Gamal Eid, a rights lawyer, said accusing Youssef of insulting religion - as opposed to just the president - is a tactic aimed at increasing public sympathy for the investigation.
"The accusation of insulting religion would mobilize more people against him," Eid said.
Gamal Heshmat, a lawmaker from the Muslim Brotherhood's political party, dismissed the opposition's claims of an intimidation campaign as an "exaggeration," adding that many critics of Morsi and his group are responsible for instigating violence and "offending" many in the public.
"What is the problem with abiding by the law? No one was detained and there were no extra-legal measures," he told the AP, describing the media as "chaotic," with numerous attacks against Morsi but few prosecutions.
"It is offensive ... Let the judiciary decide," he said.
A prosecution official said Youssef was to pay a bail of 15,000 LE ($2,200), pending the completion of an investigation. Youssef tweeted that the bail is for three separate cases.
Eid, the rights lawyer, said the release on bail means all options are open.
"The prosecution could continue investigation, put the case aside or send it to trial."
Meanwhile, in Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, 11 people detained on Saturday including five lawyers accused of attacking a police station were released without charges.


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Clean code allows software to be continually adapted to new requirements. Although most developers know what clean code should look like, how to specifically recognise bad code and, step-by-step, convert it into good code is often less clear.
The course takes the form of a workshop with numerous practical exercises and involves working together in two-man teams. To facilitate transferral of what they have learnt to their everyday work, participants work through tasks in their own IDEs.
The focus is less about conveying knowledge and more about working through the topic together in order to create a culture in which code quality and collective code improvement are natural, everyday issues.
The following subjects will be discussed:
Participants will develop a shared understanding of how to recognise bad code and how it can be restructured into better code. They will learn to see their own code through the eyes of another developer and thus how to make it more readable and comprehensible.
The course is aimed at Java developers who already have some practical development experience.
The course assumes that participants are thoroughly versed in the language, the IDE and standard unit testing frameworks.


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Dear Community,
It was already announced and released in the german VCDS community but I'd like to share it also with the RoW/NAR community.
The VCDScripter to automate coding tasks
The idea is to have an easy scripting language to write automation scripts that direct VCDS to do what you want.
There exist the following commands:
- StartVCDS
- CreateAutoscan
- CreateAdpMap
- CheckForUnits
- TestPartNo
- TestComponent
- TestAdpChannel
- LoginToUnit
- ClearDTCs
- ClearAllDTCs
- OpenUnit
- CloseUnit
- ChangeCoding
- ChangeCodingInSub
- ChangeAdpChannel
The logical structure is to open a control unit, do something with the control unit, close the control unit, and maybe doing it again with other units, except for commands where the scope is not on a special control unit like ClearAllDTCs.
An error handling logic is implemented to skip or exit the script if some requirements like part no or component string does not match your requirements for example.
Everything is localized in english when you open the Scripter from a non-german Windows OS.
VCDS has to be installed to C:\Ross-Tech\VCDS
Here you have a link to the english documentation:
Another feature is to compile a script to an stand-alone EXE one-click application in order to execute the script on PCs where VCDScripter is not present. (Compile script)
Screenshot of security question before execution of EXE one-click:
Scripts can be saved natively in .vsf file format.
The capabilities are quite huge to establish general scripts for different model years for several purposes.
There is a little tool in the ZIP that is named AdpmapToVCDScript.exe
When you drop a CSV adaptation map of a control unit on the EXE file, it will create a script to batch-change adaptation channels. Assure that inplausible channels are removed. Retrofitters could love this when swapping MQB BCMs or MIB units.
Screenshot of german version:
VCDS has to be closed and your interface has to be connected to the car prior to run any script.
Download-Link to the software and an extended description of everything is available in german on my blog:
(scroll down to "Download Zip")
Everything is tested by me on Version 18.9.0 of VCDS.
Virus-scanners could bother you that the software is malware. Unfortunately this is normal! Please ignore it and/or define an exception!
VCDScripter has a few limitations and restrictions:
- Only vehicles are supported that support automatic detection of installed units ("Installed" tab on the control module overview)
- Short / decimal type of coding is not supported
- Adaptations based on channel numbers is not supported
- Only the new interface generation is supported (HEX-V2 or HEX-NET)
Have fun and tell me your thoughts (or problems)
(If you are interested in mending all the issues I got with my girlfriend during development phase, there is a little donation link beneath the download link................)


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Many people have told me how much Made New touched their life profoundly. Unfortunately, I've also been told that the subject of incest is a word that's not nice to think about, let alone talk about it.
I'll be the first to admit that the word is ugly. It doesn't leave you with the same feeling more comfortable words do, like abuse, trauma, or personal assault. Whether you agree with this statement or not, in my opinion they're all the same. Especially for a victim who has survived this kind of abuse.
I would like to spend a little time to help you in making the decision to read Made New and tell you a little bit about my story.
First, I would like to make it clear that this story wasn't written for the purpose of dragging my family's name through the mud. It's written in a loving, graceful, matter-of-fact style and it helps you get some idea of how this type of abuse has the potential to devastate somebody's life.
Made New – A Hippie Chick's Journey is a personal walk through my life and what some might say was a normal military home during the 1970's. Personal responsibility was ingrained into my thinking for as long as I can remember. But, by the time I reached thirteen years old my father crossed a moral boundary that should have never been permitted. His forceful personality engrained so much fear in me that I feared, and felt as my life was different from my siblings, schoolmates, friends, and anyone I perceived as normal.
Soon, the sexual violation that was forced upon me impacted every decision I had to make for the rest of my life. My poor choices affected my behavior, my first marriage, how I viewed my own sexuality, marital submissiveness, parenting skills, and ultimately the ability to trust in God. This list is small compared to the reality of enduring such a degrading experience. The list actually goes on and on.
Although I mentioned how much Made New has touched the lives of many, those who know me personally actually have difficulty reading it, because of the reality of what I had to endure. My advice for them is to keep reading, because this story gets so much better than I could have ever imagined.
Today, I believe that God allowed this to happen in my life for the sole purpose of helping other victims of domestic violence to find the courage and take a stand against this scourge that has devoured our country.
According to statistics, in 2013, one in 10 children will be sexually abused and ninety percent will be abused by somebody they know. Thankfully, awareness is finally beginning to make an impact.
• "About 1 in 10 children will be sexually abused before they turn 18"
• "About 1 in 7 girls and 1 in 25 boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18"
• "It is estimated that 7-12% of children are sexually abused"
• "As many as 400,000 babies born in the U.S. this year will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday unless we do something to stop it.
Next week I will address what we can do to help victims and survivors of sexual abuse.


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Henry Graff
How does the out of town coverage compare to that of the local broadcast folk? I have not seen any out of area broadcast coverage of The Commonwealth of Virginia vs. George Wesley Huguely V.
Commentator Bill Emory puts up a new photo nearly every day at billemory.com/blog.Read more on: henry graffnbc29
11 comments
This kid looks like the Doogie Howser, M.D., of news broadcast.
It ain't a ("trial of the century"-Hook) case till Nancy Grace is here instead of Graff.
Bill, THis is very cool. All luck, or intentional?
It's News Baby!!!
Henry is sharp & dedicated - and young. This is a good market for starting out, but he also has local roots in the community. IMHO he is an asset.
get your head outta your.... anyway 2 people shot in Petersburg at Wal-Mart distro center
He has been here close to 8-10 years; not as young as you think. He might be pulling a Sprouse and staying here 'cos he has roots close by. Or he might have Peter-Principled out. In any event, anyone know why WVIR has such an affinity for on-air types with speech impediments?
Bill Emory should realize (and I think he does) that this story is a piece-of-cake to cover for any reporter two years out of J school. It is much harder for assignment editors and news directors who have to decide how much to cover and how to allocate resources.
Sadly, crime reporting on the electronic side is paradoxical to the old crime reporting on the print side: In the old days, some of the best writers (and future novelists) came out of the print media crime beat (and sports columnists were some of the best writers too). With electronic media being more about entertainment today, some of the biggest buffoons sit on screen and rehash stories about crimes.
The reason for the old standards was simple: the key question in the inverted pyramid structure was always "why." The other stuff was easy to write; "why" demanded analysis and investigation. Today, why is seldom covered in-depth. So, fine journalists, when you try to pontificate to us how your so-critical job is to tell the story of the people, realize that you do us little good spending 80% of the story on who, what, when, where and how and only 20% on why. But then again, "why" demands some critical thinking...and they do not teach that in schools anymore.
R.I.P.: George Carlin
He's a good guy.......and has learned his trade well
I think he does a great job, speaks and reports very well.
@ dan1101
Nothing personal against Mr. Graff, he seems like a nice enough guy anytime I've ever crossed paths with him, but I disagree that he speaks well on camera. I've wondered multiple times in fact how he managed to land a newscaster gig, considering. He doesn't look, nor sound, the part. It's weird.
I won't watch when he broadcasts-I can't stand the speech impediment!


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