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I've been anxiously awaiting the judgement in the Apple antitrust case because I knew the tech giant was going to lose (they deserve it) and I knew that, when that happened, there'd be some woe-is-publishing stuff popping up on the web that I could have a little fun eviscerating. Well, imagine my glee as I read this piece by Michael (no relation to Jason, I hope) Bourne on The Millions website. At first, I thought it would be a run of mill twitter link with a handful of argumentative tweets in analysis, but low and behold, this thing got so confoundingly ridiculous that I had little choice but to go all-in blog post on it.
In fact, I started writing this a few hours ago and that morphed into a totally separate blog post bemoaning the stunning lack of logic in believing Amazon's potential monopoly is so scary we all should run straight back into the arms of the publishers' old cartel. This one's juicy enough I got two blog posts out if it. Here we go:
"…it is altogether possible that the government is right that Apple and publishers conspired to set prices higher than Amazon would charge, which would have forced consumers to pay more for e-books in the short term. But to see this case in this narrowly legalistic light is to completely misunderstand how the book business actually works."
This is a pretty common theme in publisher-defending circles, either outright admit or strongly imply that the charges are accurate and they broke the goddamn law but then claim it's not important. The simple fact is there's no legal exception for breaking antitrust law, even if done in response to illegal activity. Amazon's shipping boxes coulda been made out of corrugated baby skin and it still wouldn't have given Apple and the publishers license to collude against them. They broke the law and have to be held accountable, regardless of their reasons. To do otherwise sets a dangerous prcedent that would definitely find its way into other industries and that would be extraordinarily bad for consumers of all kinds of stuff, not just books. I don't know how many times or how many judges have to say there is no such thing as a special snowflake and you don't get to pick and choose what laws you care to follow that best suit your business purposes. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
"…books are not bars of soap. When you go online to buy a book, you are not merely paying for a file full of random ones and zeros. You're buying the original ideas and stories contained
within that book, and frankly nobody has any idea how much those ideas are worth until people start reading them."
That doesn't even make sense. I'm pretty sure somebody's gotta buy the book before they start reading it. And I have a pretty good notion of what that book's worth without ever seeing it: $27.99 hardcover, $17.99 trade paperback, $12.99 ebook and maybe an $8.99 mass market paperback, give ot take a couple dollars on any of the above. These big publishers collectively crank out tens of thousands of titles each year and they virtually all fall within the neighborhood of these prices. Books have never been priced by the material inside but by the cost structure of the format.
They most certainly are commodities in the purest sense. The newly merged Random Penguin is set to put out 15,000 books alone next year. To them, any one book is meaningless, even the high advance books. The totality of their 15,000 title catalog is their business model. Big name authors get considerably better terms than average writers, meaning the publisher's margins are slimmer per book. They also get the benefit of marketing and ad dollars, slicing that margin a little more. Yet we're also told that these big name books are what bank rolls the lesser selling titles, further gobbling up the publisher's margins, in theory. More likely, the big name books aren't really the lone profit centers but simply the lure that gets people into the stores where, hopefully, they'll also pick up a few other books in their catalog on which the publisher is making very sweet margins. It's a volume game at this level. The cost or success of one lone book isn't the point, but the collective success of the full catalog taken as one, nearly all resting within a few dollar range of identical pricing regardless of the author. 15,000 similarly priced, interchangeable pieces…sounds a lot like commodities to me.
The part about not knowing what a book is worth until people start reading could be a reference to advances paid by publishers, but let's glance at how that system works. There are certainly a handful of high advance books, but for each one of those, there are thousands more which get advances that are more like rounding errors on executives' expense reports than sizable investments. The threshhold to profit for these books is very low and, once met, publishers bank considerably more money per sale than for superstar books that earn out. This advance system isn't nearly as risky or speculative as it appears. Even if we take the commonly held belief that 80% of books fail to earn out as fact, Random Penguin, for instance, would be left with about 3,000 books next year alone that do, the vast majority of which on publisher-friendly contracts that earn them more per sale.
Books have been commoditized by publishers because they can't consistently tell which specific books are going to hit ahead of time. So they built up a bulk catalog made up of mostly low risk, low out-of-pocket books as a hedge against those larger risks. They may not be able to tell which books will be the winners but they certainly have confidence that enough of the totality of their catalog will hit to provide profitability. Saying publishers can't tell what a book is worth until it's on the market is both true and misleading. It doesn't matter how any individual book does, only that enough of them do well in totality.
"…like pharmaceutical companies, publishing houses have to charge above-market rates for their successful products to amortize all those failures. If you limit their ability to do this, books will indeed be cheaper, but they also will be lower in quality and variety because publishers will have less ability to finance experimentation."
You really wanna compare publishers to pharmaceutical companies? What, you couldn't think of a metaphor for publishers with war-profiteering arms dealers? Or the Indonesian child sex slave industry? I could buy the above-market price argument if not for the fact that essentially all these books are selling for the same damn prices, successes and failures alike. A book's price doesn't increase as it sells more copies. I'm also pretty sure books are indeed cheaper and exist in a greater variety than ever before right now. And publishers certainly aren't the place to look for experimentation. The bulk of the really unique and creative stuff is being done on the independent writer side these days. Publishers may take risks but they're generally minimal ones within a narrowly established range. They may occasionally venture out of the plastic wrap but rarely do they get all the way outside of the box it's in.
"…what Amazon really wants to sell is not so much e-books as the delivery system of those e-books, called a Kindle."
And what Apple really wants to sell is not so much ebooks as the delivery system of those ebooks called an iPad. You got a point here?
"Apple was offering to once again give the publishing industry the freedom to overcharge for all those e-versions of E.L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey flying out the virtual doors to make up for the risks it is taking on thousands of other titles…"
Yup, because customers enjoy nothing more than happily giving billion dollar corporations the right to over-charge them. That always works out well.
"…at heart, the case asks a fundamental societal question: what, legally speaking, is art?"
No, the fundamental question in the case is did five of the six largest publishers and the largest tech company in the world hatch an illegally collusive conspiracy to fix prices at considerably higher levels and squash competition? The legal definition of art has no bearing here, only the legal definition of collusion.
"…in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, the framers noted how important it is "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" and thus created copyright protection for authors and inventors."
That copyright protection is the reason there's any market for artistic works at all. It was granted to give creators limited exclusivity to access to the market. Copyright wasn't put in place to spare books from market forces, but so the specific creators could take advantage of those market forces. It's since been perverted, largely by media lobbyists, into an effectively unlimited time frame of control. They didn't push for life + 70 years to avoid market forces. Just the opposite, in fact, so they could reap the rewards of a century or more worth of access to those market forces. Copyright offers no guarantee that the creators profit from the work, only that they have the access to potentially profit. Publishers themselves have stood for years as a roadblock to that access, demanding those copyrights be turned over as a toll to the marketplace. By usurping the market access for creators provided in copyright law, publishers have undermined the very point of its existence.
"Books and other works of art aren't widgets, and art does not now nor has it ever flourished in a truly efficient market."
Bullshit. The publishing industry, at its base, is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise whose main product is creative output, just like any number of other industries. Questions of art are far too subjective to have any meaning in the actual business realities here. If it hasn't flourished in a truly efficient market in the past, that's because it hadn't really had one in a long time, if ever. Publishers gradually monopolized both the supply of books and the distribution. Any inefficiencies in the market exist because publishers' iron grip lasted basically uncontested for too long and they got complacent. Those inefficiencies shouldn't be celebrated or vindicated in any way. They are precisely how Amazon managed to earn its position, by appealing to and improving the conditions of the people most squeezed by those inefficiencies, readers and writers. Oh, the irony of a company doing great things for readers and writers yet being pilloried for it by the existing industry who, all the while, claim to be supporters and nurturers of both those groups. And if you don't like irony, hypocrisy is another term that will work.
If that's not enough of a sign for you that the industry has lost its way, I'm not sure what would convince you. The interests of the industry and big publishers diverged over time from the interests of the two most important players in it. That foundation has grown so solid that many just presume what's good for them is good for everybody. But that's an extreme oversimplification that ignores the reality that publishers are but middlemen of the longstanding type that eventually shift from providing efficiency by connecting suppliers and buyers to squeezing both sides to the advantage of their own bottom line. That is not an atmosphere that screams for propping up the middlemen when the two parties it supposedly connects find ways to be more efficient without them.
This entire article was an odd combination of musings about the supposedly unique nature of publishing, how the standard rules of business–even the law–shouldn't apply and some indefinable role of art within it juxtaposed by support for legacy businesses who have shown a history of anticompetitive behavior, cartel-like dominance and a decided lack of concern for the interests of readers and writers. Even the widget point he made multiple times is disingenuous. It's easy to say books aren't widgets but you lose a little credibility when you then defend publishers who produce large numbers of similarly priced titles in high volume as part of a business model that treats books suspiciously like widgets.
Publishing is not a special snowflake. It's a business like any other. Publishers aren't defenders of art but defenders of profit margins, usually at the expense of readers and writers. The law isn't something you can willfully ignore just because you don't care for your competition. It's also not something that can arbitrarily be waived for the sake of art. The industry is bigger than publishers. It may be hard to see it that way since they've been in a position to make it look like they are for longer than most of us have been alive.
Arguing in favor of giant profit-driven conglomerates as the path to art for art's sake just doesn't make a lick of coherent sense. Modern publishers were a market response to conditions at the time. Even the most virulent Amazon hater has to admit that the conditions under which publishers thrived have changed. Change is hard, especially when your role is the one being mitigated, but it's the way life, and the publishing industry at large, works. Putting a veneer of art and culture in defense of price fixing and collusive behavior is naive at best, willfully deceptive at worst.
Whether publishers live or die is immaterial to the matter of whether, and how, the industry on the whole reloads. It will carry on regardless, headlined by readers and writers which to my thinking is a far better development than one dominated by middlemen demanding onerous concessions in rights, control and money if you ever want your work to see the marketplace.
So enough with the high-minded talk about art, literature and culture. Those are great and valuable things, but the old system did little more than pay lip service to those elements while behaving as corporate profit-driven enterprises often do, the bottom line rules all. Amazon may one day become that, as well, but you'll have to excuse me if I don't buy in to the argument that we need to prop up the old publisher cartel in the hopes of preventing Amazon from becoming just like them.


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Who is rapidly turning into a ridiculously cute dog from a ridiculously cute puppy?
Munckin went with me today (and his owner) for a tradeshow our dogs were demo dogs for. It was a ton of fun.
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Phils: Winning Stats, Losing Series
So, you're the Phillies and three games into the World Series, you have already beaten CC Sabathia, and two of your stars have each produced a two-homer game. You've limited Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark Teixeira to one hit apiece. You caused Joe Girardi to bench Nick Swisher, you've faced Phil Hughes for four batters and gotten three of them on base, and you've not only scored first in every game, the latest you've scored your first run is the third inning.
6 Comments
I remember years ago someone said that there was a substantive difference between big baseball and little baseball – and it's true for basketball as well.
Slam dunks and home runs make for great photo ops, and pretty scoring (and the fans love them) but they don't win games. Good play and strong teamwork count for a lot more. Small "b" baseball wins out most of the time. Right now, the Yankees are playing better than the Phillies in those small but very important areas.
bqGv8S Glad I've finally found something I agree with!
P.S. – Have a great night, Keith! Thanks for the notes on the game.
For me tonight's game really highlights that the Yankees can capitalize on mistakes and that they can hurt you from all nine positions.
I was thrilled when Andy got the hit and when he came in to score! The "game audio" of Jeter saying how he was bragging was cool too!
I am happy we ruined THEIR game one at home and that the Rollins 5 game prediction is toast and that they can't win at home!
LOL at "Jayson 'Stop Calling Me Dennis, Olbermann' Werth"! 😀
It was especially sweet, beating the Phils in their own house. May the trend continue!!


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Friday, May 27, 2011
im in ur base...
7 comments:
- Andrew Lyall said...
Re ypur post:
"I am constantly trying to convince administrators I should be allowed to do something New! and Exciting! in legal history"
If you need the permission of administrators to take up a particular topic in academic research, then there is a more serious problem to address. Extraordinary!
- May 28, 2011 at 8:22:00 AM EDT
A course, seminar or survey, that's cross-listed in both the law school and history department of a particular campus. It could even be team-taught by a law professor and a history professor. The syllabus, moreover, would integrate both cases and historical monographs as well as extensive discussions regarding the respective methods of legal scholars and historians.
I make this suggestion because as a teacher, I've found that a single course on legal history (that articulates both the law school and history approaches to legal history) plays a profound role in shaping the outlook of my undergraduates with respect to the law (its meaning, its institutions, and its social and cultural implications) as well as change over time (the core issue confronting historians).
Within the confines of this course, I also give my students the tools to conduct historical research in ways that would withstand the scrutiny of both legal and historical scholars. For instance, I devote two class sessions to legal research: one in the classroom in front of the computer (using LexisNexis, Thomas, etc.); and the second in the government documents section of the library where we complete a short legislative history. This second exercise is eye-opening for undergraduates. One student saw the _Congressional Record_ and immediately exclaimed, "Wow, so this is like the paper version of C-Span!". More seriously, the law (understood as legislation and judge-made law) becomes much more concrete to the students. As I walked them through the library, I sensed that they were beginning to understand what really goes on behind the walls of Congress and the courts.
Even more important, these library tours as well as the class as a whole led many of my students to write legislative histories for their next paper assignment. And the following semester, several went on to write impressive senior theses on various topics in American legal history.
Taught at the graduate level, I am fairly certain that a legal history course (emphasizing the multidisciplinary nature of the field) would go a very long way toward developing a new generation of scholars and producing the kind of "New! and Exciting!" scholarship Dale seeks.
- May 28, 2011 at 1:43:00 PM EDT
- Elizabeth Dale said...
Hi folks, I appear to have not bbeen clear, so let me offer a couple quick clarifications:
First, Andrew it's not that anyone is controlling my research. On the contrary, that's never been an issue, not even when I casually announced that I thought I'd do Chinese legal history now. The New! and Exciting! stuff has been in the realm of teaching and programs.
Second, and that brings us to Debbie's points, all of which are good. While I've had some success with some team taught ideas, I have not been as lucky pushing ideas of sustained interdisciplinary programs and offerings.
But that doesn't mean any of us can't teach that sort of thing ourselves, and I think many of us probably do. I do. And I play my JD and PhD (and experience practicing law) to the hilt to get Debbie's point about different perspectives across.
But my interest isn't so much in "us," I think we know the importance of interdisciplinary approaches that respect both disciplines. My question, in aptly framed as it was, is how to persuade our colleagues in both disciplines to take the concerns and interests of the other discipline more seriously? Given the extent that "normal" professors of history teach law stuff, and "normal" professors of law teach history stuff,I think we need to evangelize to our colleagues as much as our students.
- May 29, 2011 at 8:06:00 AM EDT
- Elizabeth Dale said...
Sigh, inapt and inept, all at once! I apologize for the typos and odd punctuation in my last comment. It's true what they say--multitasking is bad.
- May 29, 2011 at 8:19:00 AM EDT
A few ideas on how to bridge the intellectual and even social divides between law school professors who teach history and historians of law:
1) a speaker series on legal history with plenty of time for Q & A so that participants can engage in methodological debates
2) an informal faculty reading group involving members of the law school and history department (we have on here on my campus)
3) an NEH-sponsored or other grant-funded symposium on legal history held at your campus
No matter what forum you choose, I personally think it's critical to allow a lot of time for discussion and debate, especially about methodological issues.
Good luck and I would be interested to hear what you decide to do you on your campus.
I think that this is an important issue, especially when, from my perspective, legal history is, on some campuses, a dying field because it may not enroll the same numbers of students as say a cultural history or social history class.
These structural factors, I think, make it important for us to think about how we can sustain the teaching of legal history in humanities departments -- but without having to make sacrifices with respect to intellectual and methodological rigor.
- May 29, 2011 at 4:05:00 PM EDT
- Bruce Boyden said...
"when one of my colleagues in history turned and asked me what I thought about the fact that I taught in a dying field."
I'm curious about what might be driving that impression. Did he elaborate, or do you have any theories?
- May 29, 2011 at 6:34:00 PM EDT
- Mary L. Dudziak said...
Regarding Bruce's question, the idea that legal history is a 'dying field' strikes me as incredibly out of date. Historians outside the field used to say things like that, maybe two decades ago. That was often because they thought that legal history was only the history of legal doctrine. But now so many historians are turning to law, in part due to a new interest in the state. I often advise both junior and senior historians about how to get up to speed on the law they need to know. And while there is still a fair amount of ignorance about what legal historians actually do - it seems to be much better now than 15-20 years ago. So Elizabeth's colleague strikes me as out of date on the issue of what historians in general think of legal history.
- May 30, 2011 at 10:39:00 AM EDT


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While working with the beta version of LibreOffice 4.1 it strikes me that since 3.6 so much has been improved in the interface. It's a good time to mention some of those.
Some time ago already the fat, overdone old borders from the past had been gone and now I see more and more dialogs that become more elegant, prettier to work with. Some screen shots, old and new.
So offering the same, uncluttered features, but better to work with.
A nice improvement too is that the list Apply Styles give a good preview of the font of the styles.
Completely new in 4.1 is a button that easily toggles comments in the margin on and off.
Mostly the already mentioned work on the dialogs is important for the future steps of LibreOffice in a newer interface and onto new devises.
As a colorful finisher, I love to mention the new default colors that are shipped.
(And I guess I should write some more about the new that 4.1. will offer soon...)
donderdag 30 mei 2013
LibreOffice becoming prettier all the time - a look at the beta of version 4.1
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Nice to read how things have evolved !BeantwoordenVerwijderen
Abonneren op: Reacties posten (Atom)


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Game 95: Cleveland at Toronto pregame
What does it mean if the Blue Jays do decide to trade ace Roy Halladay? Asked that question recently, catcher Rod Barajas smirked, knowing that he and the reporters surrounding him all knew exactly what such a move would mean in terms of the direction the organization was heading.
It would mean the focus has shifted toward being competitive in 2010, or perhaps even further down the road.
"We don't want it to happen," Barajas answered. "We'd like to keep fighting and giving ourselves an opportunity to do something. If Doc's gone, then that pretty much means…"
Barajas paused, realizing where he was going with his thought.
"… it means that we're not looking to win this year," he continued. "Not so much win, but compete for a playoff spot. We hope it doesn't happen, but if it does, it's almost like you're looking to next year."
The reality is that the club was looking ahead to 2010 before this season began. That changed some when the Jays got off to their hot start. Given the recent slide, though, it makes complete sense to question if contending next season is realistic with the current nucleus of players.
Even with all that being very much the case, the players inside Toronto's clubhouse don't want to believe that there isn't enough time to still make a run at the playoffs this season. Obviously, having Halladay leading the young rotation would be necessary for that type of miracle turnaround to happen.
Rookie Ricky Romero doesn't like that people are dismissing the Jays already.
"What would be better than making a run with our young pitching staff when people are counting us out?" Romero said. "People are saying we're no good, this and that. To me it just lights a fire under my skin and I want to go out there and just do the best I can."
Chatted with Vernon Wells today about his thoughts on the whole Halladay saga. More on that later on bluejays.com.
Today's lineups:
Fifth place AL Central, 13.5 GB
1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
3. Victor Martinez, C
4. Travis Hafner, DH
5. Jhonny Peralta, 3B
6. Ryan Garko, 1B
7. Ben Francisco, LF
8. Luis Valbuena, 2B
9. Chris Gimenez, RF
Starter: RHP Carl Pavano (8-7, 5.13)
Fourth place AL East, 10.5 GB
1. Marco Scutaro, SS
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Scott Rolen, 3B
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Vernon Wells, CF
7. Alex Rios, RF
8. David Dellucci, LF
9. Raul Chavez, C
Starter: LHP Ricky Romero (7-4, 3.25)
Don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter: @MLBastian
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19 Comments
Maybe Vernon should chip in $7-$8 million per year to keep Halladay. Rios can add $2-$3, Halladay gets a nice raise and fans won't feel Vernon and Rios are so over paid. Then possibly the Jays can find some budget to sign a real power hitter and we can leave Vernon and RIos in the 6th and 7th hole to continue to produce as they currently are. lol
Vernon can always opt out after 2011. [hoping]
"hoping", naw dreaming . lol
Hey, Vernon hits one when it matters. How about that.
Has anyone else seen that video of Matt Bush being arrested from last week? The only thing worse is this Tony Bernazard guy from the Mets.
Actually Bernazard reminded me of Gibbons, who also fought with his players.
A bit of a sloppy start from Romero with 5 walks, but Cleveland was generous and gave us 7 walks in return and for the first time in a long time, our guys made them pay. Romero goes 8-4 in his first 15 starts.
Like that Jay homeritis disease, hope it stays around for a while.
Just in case anybody missed it last night, JP said that Halladay will be seeking free agency after 2010. If they let him walk, anybody that can afford him will be drafting near the bottom of the round, but since he should be one of the first free agents signed, at least they won't get pushed back like the Burnett picks. If they can't do a deal before the deadline, we will probably see him gone over the Winter.
My feeling on Halladay right now is if he wants to test free agency, then we should let him go. I have no doubt that he will be seeking a 6 year deal that will take him into his forties, and there are clubs out there that will go for it. The Jays can't afford to tie up huge amounts of salary in a 34 year old pitcher who is probably at the peak of his ability right now. Thee is too much risk of a sudden decline, or a career ending injury, AKA BJ Ryan. At that point, all you could do is have him bronzed and use him for a boat anchor.
When you guys were talking about minor leaguers the other day, did anybody mention Moises Sierra? The 6'0″, 225 lb Dominican Right Fielder went 3 for 3 last night, with 2 doubles, 4 rbi, and 2 walks. In 79 games this year he is hitting .321 with an OBP of .398. A former FSL player of the week, he is liable to repeat if he keeps it up!
JG was a memeber of the Mets? Coincidence?
Speaking of the minor leagues, next year is a big year. A lot of the top prospects will be making that big jump from A+ to AA.
(Assuming everyone does get promoted.) We'll get to see what guy like Sierra, Thames (if he can stay healthy), Ahrens, Jackson, Tolisano, Collins, Liebel, and Magnuson really have and how close they really are to being ready.
It's also interesting because some of the guys in NH are going to have to move up to AAA to make room. Specifically, talking about Emaus who started hot but faded fast this year.
There are a lot of plugs in AAA though so they won't have to make room there but the catching situation is muddled especially will Barajas a FA and Arencibia sturggling a bit this year and Jeroloman waiting in AA.
I think it is also a big year for the 'athletic' guys like Wilson, Crouse, Brisker, Eiland. They have to prove they can do something more than run.
Halladay just turned 32 mid-may , don't make him older than what he is because then it makes me older…..lol…he is a couple years older than I am, almost to the day . I don't blame Doc for wanting to test free agency . I think Halladay will look for 5 years which will make him 38 at the end of that contract ( he will be 33 at the end of next season ) . If he leaves the Jays and gets his chance to play October ball then maybe at the end of that contract he comes back to TO to finish out his career. I would be happy he got the chance to pitch in a WS and hopefully win . Though I hate to see him leave I certainly understand
My understanding of free agency is the Jays get 2 draft picks but if the team that signs Halladay signs another FA who is ranked numerically higher then the Jays' draft picks will get kicked further down which is what happened with Burnett picks. Tex was ranked numerically higher so even though Burnett was signed before him, Jays' picks dropped down . I think it stinks but thats how MLB does things . Yanks should have lost their first round picks for the next 3 years for signing 3 type A free agents , CC, Tex and Burnett .
I heard that interview from JP as well and the last thing I want us to do is depend on draft picks. What we would get is a first rounder and a sandwich pick, BUT depending on who signs him and how many free agents they sign before they sign Halladay, that could be a first rounder and a sandwich pick or a 3rd or 4th rounder if they signed other free agents and a sandwich pick at the end of the sandwich round. I suspect Halladay would not be the first free agent signed either since he will be the best one available.
That is exactly how we got screwed on Burnett, our first rounder for Burnett was in the 3rd round because NY had already signed CC and Tiexera. Two draft picks are a lot riskier than 2 to 3 A grade prospects who're already playing pro ball. We should trade him now, while his value is the highest and that is right now.
I wonder if Halladay expressed that before or after JP talked to the press.My take is Halladay expressed this to Beeston, in their meeting this week.
I doubt there are many players ranked higher than Halladay in the Elias Rankings though (let alone someone who is a FA who signs with the same team) so it most likely would be a 1st rounder. Last years situation was pretty freak.
That's what I thought about Burnett as well, I'd still rather have prospects, and Halladay's value is better now than it will ever be from our point of view.
Trade him now.
No way Ahrens or Jackson get promoted and Magnuson is probably unlikely. I do think Sierra, Thames, Tolisano and Collins deserve the promotion with Liebel on the line along with Magnsuson.
Ahrens is a huge disappointment so far and Jackson is not far behind. Neither have shown they can field or hit for either average or power in the 2+ years they've been pros. They're both hitting .215 or under and have 2 hr's and 30 errors between the two of them. I'm starting to wonder whether they'll ever make it.
Of the entire group in Dunedin, I like Sierra the best, although Tolisano is finally starting to move up the scale.
I was less using those players as specific examples and more eluding to the fact that the 'top' position prospects haven't progress through the system fast enough to clear room. So now players like Emaus are blocking players like Tolisano and players like Jackson are blocking players like Pastornicky from next year promotions to use a few examples. So some players are being blocked and others are being pushed quickly to free up playing time for other following behind them.
Right and at this level we have Millar blocking Dopirak, Delucci blocking Snider and Chavez blocking Arrencibia.
We're not in nor will we be in contention this year and probably not next. We should dump the dead wood up here promote these 3 kids and let them get acclimatized, but more importantly work with the coaches here instead of AAA which would help them immensely.


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Welcome to the official website of the fine artist, Frank To
There is drama in a Frank To painting. A brooding mental energy that sucks you in and leaves you wondering what, why, where? There is always something or someone or even part of someone emerging from the depths of one of his paintings. This is probably because this engaging, highly focused artist stirs himself into the work online in a way that many of his peers- of all ages- do not.
Please feel free to contact Frank. It is possible to arrange a visit to his studio in Glasgow to see his recent paintings and works in progress. If you are interested in any of the paintings (or for prices and additional information) please get in touch or visit the galleries/ agents who are exhibiting them. Frank can undertake commissions guided by size and style of his work in which you are most interested.


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Sold For $241,000 on Nov 14, 2019
Hilo town, the hub of the South and North Hilo districts, was once a thriving port for the sugar cane industry. Today it is the Hawaii County Seat and home of the island's major state and federal offices, a modern international airport, Hilo Medical Center, the University of Hawaii-Hilo, and state-of-the-art Imiloa Astronomy Center.
Although Hilo is not an incorporated city, it is the second-largest population center in the state with over 40,000 residents according to the 2000 census. Hilo also has an array of commerce and entertainment offerings--boutiques and galleries, big box stores, restaurants, museums, and several hotels.
The historic Bayfront area, though impacted by major tsunamis in 1946 and 1960, is still a center of economic and cultural activity, including a weekly farmers market, Palace Theatre events and the annual Black & White Night, Merrie Monarch, and Ho'olaule'a festivals.
Embracing the town's reputation as "the rainiest city in America", Hilo residents have a certain pride about East Hawaii's weather and enjoy a different flavor of Hawaii life than their neighbors on the dry west side. The Big Island's famed greenery, tropical fruits and flowers, trees, ferns, forests, and farms all require reliable rainfall to thrive. Water is so important to life in Hawaii that waiwai (the word for "water", doubled) translates as "assets, valuable, wealth, rich, worth and benefit."
As is true for much of the Big Island, Hilo real estate is a mixed market, with upscale custom homes and fixer-upper "opportunity" properties, condos, vacation residences, private estates and oceanfront property. A knowledgeable Clark Realty agent can guide you to the best Hilo property for your needs.
Please Note: This calculator is designed for research and comparison purposes only. For pre-qualification and a rate quote from a qualified local lender, please contact us and we will connect you with a lender.
Interest rate, taxes, insurance, PMI payments, etc., displayed above are estimates only and are subject to change based on market conditions and individual financial circumstances. Clark Realty is not a lender and does not guarantee that the rate and terms displayed above can be obtained.
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The baking crew and I were at it again. This time, the challenge was pies.
Yay! I heart making pies!
Cory made a beautiful apple, walnut, goat cheese pie (gorgeous … but a little dry: even he agreed). Tom & Aimée made a really delicious pecan pie (nothing to fault with this one at all), and Meredith made a super flavourful apple & cranberry pie (she had some pastry issues … but the filling was spot on).
We went pie crazy! I went pie crazy!
Not only did I make my chocolate – cranberry tart … but I also thought it'd be fun to arrive with some mini chocolate-pecan-cherry tarts topped with pumpkin ganache (talk about a real mouthful!).
Mother of Jerome!? (It can't always be Pearl right?) What was I thinking?
I was thinking … "I am not 100% sure that the chocolate – cranberry tart will turn out exactly as I want it too… so why not add a new component to an already loved classic and giver!" Welcome to how my mind works … these are the types of internal dialogues I have … all.the.time.
Since we were baking these in honour of American Thanksgiving … I thought … pumpkin, pecans, chocolate, cherries and pie … individually they all remind me of Thanksgiving … combined … they SCREAM Thanksgiving (and deliciousness in a bite).
How could I *not* make these??! Exactly. I had no choice. chocolate-pecan-cherry tarts with pumpkin ganache were a must.
This recipe is a combination of my own chocolate-pecan pie and momofuku milkbar's pumpkin ganache. I had been flipping through my momofuku milkbar cookbook, spotted the ganache recipe and thought it would be the perfect complement to my tart filling. Although you need to plan ahead (the ganache recipe calls for a minimum of 4 hours in the fridge), the entire recipe is dead easy. And ridiculously delicious.
*bakers note: according to the recipe book, you MUST use an immersion blender to make this ganache.
My chocolate-pecan-cherry filling actually originated from a pecan pie recipe: it's what I consider to be my *go to* pie. The one I make when I don't have much time, when I don't want to blind bake my pastry dough, and when I want to impress people. The original recipe brings a smile to everyones face … I decided it was time to switch it up a bit.
If you're new to pies and tarts and want to try something easy and delicious: this is the recipe for you. Plus you'll impress everyone when they see how pretty the tarts look with a little piped pumpkin ganache.
chocolate-pecan-cherry tarts with pumpkin ganache
basic pastry dough (I omit the sugar and water from the recipe)
momofuku milkbar's pumpkin ganache
150 g white chocolate
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp corn syrup
1/4 c. cold heavy cream
1/3 c. pumpkin purée
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Combine the white chocolate and butter in a medium bowl over gently simmering water (you don't want the water to touch the bottom of your bowl), and melt. You want the chocolate to be barely warm to the touch. You can also do this in a microwave in 15 second bursts (stirring between each blast).
Transfer your chocolate mixture to a tall and narrow container – something that will accommodate an immersion blender (mine came with a 1 litre container-like bowl). Add the corn syrup to the chocolate mixture and buzz with your hand blender. After a minute, stream in the COLD heavy cream. You'll see that the ganache will come together in a smooth and shiny texture.
Blend in the pumpkin purée, salt and cinnamon.
Put the ganache in your fridge to firm before using; a minimum of 4 hours, or overnight. If not used immediately, this can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
tart filling
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. all-purpose b. flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. dried cherries, chopped
1 c. corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. butter, melted
Heat your oven to 350 F. Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface. I was able to roll it out, cut out 12 pieces and line the 12 muffin cups in my pan. I like to have my dough as cold as possible … so once I've lined the muffin cups, I return the pan to the freezer while I make the filling.
In a large bowl, mix the sugar and flour together. Add the eggs, pecans, chocolates, corn syrup, butter and vanilla. Stir well. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crusts.
Bake for 20 minutes on the lower rack of your oven. You'll know that they are ready when the centre doesn't jiggle. Careful! These babies are hot! Corn syrup, pecans and brown sugar … all things that heat up quickly! Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
I decided to re-whip the pumpkin ganache before putting it in the piping bag. I just wanted to get it a little fluffy. After quickly whipping the ganache, I filled a piping bag and piped each mini tart (using a star tip).
Don't they look pretty? They tasted pretty awesome too!
ps … my chocolate-cranberry tart won best in show!


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(The Root) — American corporations have long crushed on black consumers, who spend multibillions annually on goods and services. The results of a new poll may entice companies to take their corporate lust deeper.
The study, conducted by New York marketing-analytics firm NewMediaMetrics, shows that African Americans are more brand-loyal than whites and are eager to share their satisfaction with family and friends, as well as to urge others to buy or use their selections. Today's black consumers dote upon UPS, Tide detergent, Oreo cookies, Ragu sauce, Bounty towels, Betty Crocker food products, Wal-Mart and the Gap, to name a few brands. The survey also revealed that African Americans have stronger emotional ties than whites to specific Japanese and German luxury cars, Google, the iPhone, Nike sports apparel and Microsoft.
Plus, when it comes to advertising awareness and use of new social media, blacks are also leaders and respond more actively to broadcast and cable networks. In addition, NewMediaMetrics found that blacks are more socially networked and are greater users of mobile videos and texting on small and large mobile devices. Black consumers also use services such as Netflix, Hulu, Twitter and YouTube more than whites do.
The money that African Americans spend on goods and services is vital to keeping mainstream producers and providers profitable — and that makes blacks, to coin a phrase, swing buyers. They are coveted individuals whose brand loyalty has been earned by companies who have treated them respectfully. Their allegiances could shift, however, if other companies proffer the same quality of products and services.
There are hundreds of billions of dollars up for grabs. According to "The 2012 Multicultural Economy," a report published by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, black spending this year will be slightly more than $1 trillion. Hence, there is a huge incentive for corporations as well as mainstream and black advertisers to enhance their understanding of and tap into African-American purchasing power.
That's where NewMediaMetrics, which is not black owned or operated, and its first African-American 360 Brand and Cross-Platform Analysis project comes in. The six-year-old firm has sold corporations general-market data and findings derived from its quantitative approach, which assesses buyers' "emotional attachment" to goods and services. Marketers use this knowledge to predict consumer purchasing and media-viewing behavior. NMM customers include major packaged-good manufacturers and Internet and wireless companies.
The company conducted its first study of black consumer decision making this past April, says Gary Reisman, NMM's co-founder and principal. The patent-pending methodology that NMM used was direct: The company recruited 3,500 black men and women nationwide between the ages of 13 and 54 to offer their opinions about more than 350 brands in 40-plus categories of goods and services, as well as about more than 300 media properties. Participants graded their emotional attachment to the brands and properties on a scale from 0 to 10.
Reisman says that in order for companies to increase revenues, it is critical for marketers to understand why — and to aggregate data on how — blacks buy certain goods and services. "The greater attachment that someone has to a brand or media property, the more willing they are to listen to your message," he told The Root. "[The data] tells marketers that African Americans are more attached to certain brands and less price-sensitive to similar products when shopping [for] or utilizing products and services."
Detavio Samuels, executive vice president of client services at Global Hue, the nation's largest black-owned ad agency, appreciates that approach. He says that those in the multicultural ad space have always known that blacks are brand-loyal.
The problem from the black-agency perspective was and is that too often, brand companies hire general-market advertisers and marketers instead of those that focus on the black consumer. By providing empirical evidence of the scope of black brand loyalty, what NMM has done is strip away the idea that black marketers bid for business based solely upon personal or cultural familiarity with what blacks eat, drink, watch, wear or drive.
The truth is, both black and mainstream marketers base their strategies for reaching consumers on research results. The NMM figures quantify the connection between the goods and services that black consumers want, are loyal to and will buy, Samuels adds.
He hopes that the new data will also fortify black consumers' importance to corporations' bottom lines. Such knowledge, he says, may even inspire those companies to partner with black ad companies, newspapers, radio and television stations and cable networks. Although he isn't holding his breath awaiting that prospect, the potential collaboration could be a boon for everyone involved.
Frank McCoy is a frequent contributor to The Root.


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A VILLAGE primary school has been told it 'requires improvement' after an Ofsted inspection.
St Stephen's Primary, in Tockholes, which has 43 pupils on its roll, was given the ranking after a visit earlier this month.
All four inspection criteria – achivement of pupils, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils, and leadership and management – were given a 'requires improvement', the third of four possible scores.
Lead inspector Robert Pye reported that children were not achieving well enough and that more gifted pupils were not challenged.
He said: "Standards at the end of Years Two and Six are broadly average but too few pupils reach the higher levels of attainment in writing.
"The quality of teaching is too variable to ensure that pupils achieve consistently well.
"The most able pupils do not achieve as well as they can because work is sometimes too easy for them.
"Pupils do not always concentrate as well as they should because not all lessons captivate their interest."
Mr Pye said the school did have strengths, including good attendance, 'because pupils enjoy learning and being a part of St Stephen's'.
He added: "Pupils' spiritual, moral and cultural development is a strength of the school.
"Over the past year, governors have been more closely involved in the life of the school and in checking its performance."
In a letter to parents, headteacher Dominic James said: "The inspection was triggered due to the school having a new headteacher who had been in situ for 18 months.
"It was a full-on day for the school and I would like to take this opportunity to thank my staff for their wonderful support for myself and the children.
"We have had a lot of good strengths identified by the inspectors but there are also a number of areas which require improvement.
"The school and the governors are already preparing an action plan to deal with the areas requiring improvement to move the school forward.
"I would like to thank parents and carers for their continued support of the school as we move forward and build on the good strong areas already identified."


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Last one of these I'll do for some while.
I also have presences on Tumblr, Facebook (a Page) and G+, but those are just coverage and for occasional play. The Snapchat account is also just me farting around: I've been writing about apps and code in that general space lately, which is why I have it. Also also, I have WhatsApp, for friends only.
And that's that. After Friday, there won't be daily posts here for some time, so I thought I'd get this in now, just for old time's sake.
(And to forestall the usual questions: the photo was glitched with the Decim8 app, and the text was added with the Over app, both iOS in this instance.)


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Dressing or stuffing
Posted by Al on November 27, 2003
In Reply to: Modest furniture posted by ESC on November 27, 2003
: : : The question was asked, in another forum: what do you call the seasoned bread crumb mixture served with (and sometimes baked in) the Thanksgiving turkey?
: : : Doing a little research I looked for "dressing" in the definitive, every-slang-word-in-the-U.S. "Dictionary of American Regional English," (Volume II) by Frederic G. Cassidy , chief editor, (1991, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England). Guess what? It didn't have "dressing" as in stuffing. It had dressing as a sweet sauce, frosting, sugar and cream in one's coffee, gravy, manure used as fertilizer, and, in hoodoo, something applied to an object to give it magical power. I couldn't look up "stuffing" because the St- volume is a work in progress.
: : : However, in another reference it says: "Although American cookbooks gave recipes for 'forcemeat' (a 17th century word, from French 'farcir,' to stuff) most Americans called it 'stuffing' until the 1880s; then 'dressing' somehow seemed more refined and slowly became our most common word for it." From "Listening to America" by Stuart Berg Flexner (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982).
: : :
: : I well remember in the 70s we had reports (spoof ones I suspect) in the British Media that polite society in the US were covering up the legs of chairs and tables so as not to offend their sensibilities. Here in the UK we prefer naked legs and stuffing.
: I am afraid, at least according to the history books and Mr. Flexner, we did cover up table and chair legs.
Rural middle US at midcentury; "dressing" and "stuffing" were largely interchangeable words when referencing the foodstuff.
- Dressing or stuffing masakim 27/November/03


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To cloth diaper full-time, you will need 18-24 one-size diapers.
Imagine Baby Leggings are available to protect your baby's legs while jazzing up Imagine Diapers! There are designs to coordinate with the prints and solid colors! Check them out HERE!


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Things are starting to get real for Jamie Chung.
Chung has been playing anyone but herself in the six years since she first hit the public radar with a stint on the raucous San Diego season of MTV's reality trailblazer "The Real World," and she's poised to break big in 2011 with roles in two major movies: director Zack Snyder's "Sucker Punch" and the highly anticipated "The Hangover 2."
First up for Chung is Snyder's visually arresting pet project – a mashup of action, musical numbers and psychodrama which the director's called "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns" – as part of a quartet of young women's fantasy-fueled escape from the dark realities of a 1950s mental institution.
U.S. & World
The film tested the limits of Chung's craft, she admits. "There's just so many different elements and layers to this movie," she tells PopcornBiz. "Even in the script it's quite complicated, but you really have to use every skill, and then some. Hence the physical training that was required: The gun training, the pilot training, the singing lessons, the dancing lessons. I mean, it was nonstop. It was the best time of my life!"
"I think all the girls had the best time with the firearms," laughs Chung. "Like little Vanessa Hudgens with the automatic saw – I mean, it's pretty badass! It was very empowering."
After all the discipline of "Sucker Punch," the 27-year-old actress got a lot looser for her "Hangover 2" role and test her comedy chops on the fly. "I got to improv a bit," she says. "If it didn't work, it didn't work. But the environment was very safe to try those kind of things. That's what Todd Phillips encourages us to do. It's imrpov, it's talking to each other. The flow is fantastic. I've never been on set like that before."


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There are only 2 countries in the Middle East where polygamy is illegal: Israel and Turkey.
There are only 2 countries in the Middle East that are true democracies: Israel and Turkey. Lebanon is controlled by Hezbollah. Egypt and the rest is recent.
Has it always been like this?
Notice that Indonesia allow polygamy for Muslims, even though it's a democracy. However, thugs often enforce power and it's still very politically incorrect. Also Arab males that engage in contract marriage sometimes get kicked out if found out (even though it's legal). So it's so politically incorrect you still can't practice it openly unless you're a person with some form of influence or control.
The idea is that certain resources, such as women, land, organ, and even "excessive happiness" are too precious that people are willing to kill to get it. Hence, most societies do not easily commercialize them. Those resources are divided proportional to political power. In democratic countries, one man one vote soon lead to one man one wife.
Some article supporting it: http://www.salon.com/2011/07/23/monogamy_4/
That's not a link I'd want to make too strongly, but it has been argued by historians that monogamy precedes, and then seems to go along with, the emergence of democratic ideals. In the Western tradition, the earliest we can trace laws about monogamy is actually to Athens when the first notions of democracy began to be instituted. The argument is that it's meant to create equality among citizens so that, essentially, there'll be wives available to all Athenian men, rather than having all the rich men take many wives. Although, men were still allowed to have slave concubines just so as long as they were non-Athenian women.
You can think of it as a first kind of effort to level the playing field. By saying that both the king and the peasant can only have one wife each, it's the first step toward saying that all men were created equal.


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Ah yes that clarifies things a bit. At a certain point I can't keep coming up with new "headers". I'm kinda at the mindset now of whatever the person wants to use, but then clarify with "Positive" "Blue", building blocks used etc..
I have thought before why didn't Russell use "+2" and "+6", but then it gets a little weird labeling with "+3" and "+1". So instead maybe it was a better idea to just be consistent with the header and get the orientation to be the main thing.
The CDR is exactly that then, the distance as far as how many connections through 5ths (x3), as long as the correct Lydian Tonics are used. It's not implying "Dark".
And the Chord Categories are not implying dark by having a "b5" for instance. To the Lydian Tonic that could be completely positive. This really seems to be communicating what notes are being played in a language that most players know.
Streamlined in a way that can be applied efficiently.


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Baghdad's bloodbath
Issued on: Modified:
A wave of seemingly coordinated attacks swept through Baghdad's neighbourhoods on Thursday, leaving dozens dead and many more injured. This, in the wake of heightened sectarian tensions between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite communities, as the country's fraglile coalition government led by Nouri al-Maliki, threatens to implode. It's perhaps not the picture of stability the United States would like to portray just days after it withdrew its remaining troops.


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Mr. Casual: Smiling through the big tent flap
Audiences will soon be able to laugh at the elements as they enjoy evening concerts under man-made shade at the new Charlottesville Pavilion.
Likewise, it's impossible to rain on Kirby Hutto's parade. In spite of the short time frame for completion of the 3,500-seat Pavilion, the breakneck speed with which it was constructed, and even the gaping hole in the roof caused by a thunderstorm two weeks before opening night, mention the Pavilion to Hutto, and he lights up with enthusiasm.
"It's going to be so awesome. It's a dream that's been out there 20 years, having a covered facility to bring national acts to Charlottesville," he says. Then he grins and giddily repeats himself: "It's going to be such a great thing."
That's not to say Hutto hasn't experienced his share of desperate moments since being named general manager of the Pavilion last fall. One of the lowest lows came when that July 13 tempest ripped into the material reaching up to the amphitheater's massive arch. The timing was particularly cruel for Hutto.
"I'd just been down earlier to take pictures of the site, feeling satisfied that it was all finally coming together. It was a wild swing from elation to devastation," he recalls.
As quickly as his good spirits were dashed, everyone involved in the project got back on their horses with a speed that left Hutto deeply impressed. "Almost immediately it was 'Okay, how do we keep this moving?'" he says. "I have to give a lot of credit to Martin Horn [Construction]. It was really just a speed bump."
So how close will the Pavilion be to its final form when the curtain goes up on Loretta Lynn's July 30 concert?
"With the exception of one piece on the roof, it'll be 95 percent finished," he says.
The structure is the culmination of Hutto's long life in Charlottesville's music scene. Born in Manassas, he came to Charlottesville in 1976 to begin his studies at UVA. It wasn't long before he became acquainted with the man behind the Pavilion, future Dave Matthews Band manager Coran Capshaw. In fact, in the early '80s it was Hutto who went into business with Capshaw on one of his very first Charlottesville-area enterprises– a ski rental shop near Wintergreen Resort. Later, Hutto ran the Cotton Exchange, one of the first upscale restaurants on West Main.
In 1992, while Capshaw was guiding DMB to become one of the world's most sought-after concert tickets in the world, Hutto took stewardship of Fridays After 5 as part of the Charlottesvile Downtown Foundation.
Now, after an eight-year stint pursuing non-musical interests, he's returned to manage the weekly summer concert series and the Pavilion. Asked why he came back to the music business, he says simply, "I need live music in my life. You don't get a lot of that in the corporate world."
Considering Hutto's experience in a business that can be infamously superficial and cutthroat, it's heartening to hear the man in charge of Charlottesville's biggest music venue is still a fan.
Age: 47
Why here? Came to UVA and never left
What's worst about living here? 29 North
Favorite hangout? Dürty Nelly's
Most overrated virtue? Patience
People would be surprised to know: I think that Smokey and the Bandit belongs in the pantheon of great American films
What would you change about yourself? I'd be less quick to judge.
Proudest accomplishment? Finally restoring YoYoYo, my 1970 Chevy Impala convertible
People find most annoying about you: My bluntness
Whom do you admire? Jimmy Carter
Favorite book? Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
Subject that causes you to rant? Religious ideologues of any stripe
Biggest 21st-century thrill? E-mail
Biggest 21st-century creep-out? Uncontrolled growth and its accompanying environmental destruction
What do you drive? '98 Subaru Forester most days, my convertible on great days
In your car CD player right now: Dave Alvin, Corey Harris, Eric Lindell, Mary Gauthier, Neko Case
Next journey? I wish I had one planned, but it will probably be New Orleans in the fall.
Most trouble you've ever gotten in? Let's just say there was a time when the state of North Carolina asked me not to attend any Grateful Dead concerts there for a while.
Regret: Not buying land in southern Albemarle 25 years ago
Favorite comfort food: Ben and Jerry's
Always in your refrigerator: Virginia beer
Must-see TV: Deadwood and The Wire
Favorite cartoon: Calvin and Hobbes in print, The Simpsons in animation
Describe a perfect day. Get up and take the dogs for a long walk in the woods. Canoe the Rockfish or the Moorman's. Drive my convertible through the back roads of Nelson County. Dinner on the Downtown Mall.
Walter Mitty fantasy: Saving southern Albemarle from the degradation that northern Albemarle has suffered
Who'd play you in the movie? Peter Fonda
Most embarrassing moment? I think I must have blocked that out.
Best advice you ever got? "You are not the corporate type."
Favorite bumper sticker? Be Casual
Kirby Hutto


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4 Ch, 1 GS/s,FlexRes USB Oscilloscope
- Flexible Hardware Resolution, from 8 to 16 bits
- 200 MHz analog bandwidth
- 1 GS/s sampling at 8 bit resolution
- 500 MS/s sampling at 12 bit resolution
- 62.5 MS/s sampling at 16 bit resolution
- 512 MS buffer memory
- 100,000 waveforms per second
- Built in AWG and FG
- Serial decoding and mask testing as standard
- Windows, Linux and Mac software
FlexRes® flexible resolution
Most digital oscilloscopes gain their high sampling rates by interleaving multiple 8-bit ADCs. Despite careful design, the interleaving process introduces errors that always make the dynamic performance worse than the performance of the individual ADC cores.
The PicoScope 5000 Series scopes have a significantly different architecture in which multiple high-resolution ADCs can be applied to the input channels in different time-interleaved and parallel combinations to boost either the sampling rate to 1 GS/s at 8 bits or the resolution to 16 bits at 62.5 MS/s.
In time-interleaved mode, the ADCs are interleaved to provide 1 GS/s at 8 bits (see diagram). Interleaving reduces the performance of the ADCs, but the result (60 dB SFDR) is still much better than oscilloscopes that interleave 8-bit ADCs. This mode can also provide 500 MS/s at 12 bits resolution.
In parallel mode, multiple ADCs are sampled in phase on each channel to increase the resolution, revealing every detail of the signal in a crystal-clear display. Sampling in parallel with multiple ADCs and combining the output reduces noise and also both the integral and differential nonlinearity, providing outstanding single shot dynamic performance without loss of bandwidth or need of a repetitive signal
Using parallel mode, resolution is increased to 14 bits at 125 MS/s per channel (> 70 dB SFDR – see diagram). If only two channels are required then resolution can be increased to 15 bits, and in single-channel mode all the ADCs are combined to give a 16-bit mode at 62.5 MS/s.
The software gives the choice of selecting the resolution or leaving the scope in "auto resolution" mode where the optimal resolution is used for the chosen settings.
FFT spectrum analyzer
The spectrum view plots amplitude against frequency and is ideal for finding noise, crosstalk or distortion in signals. The spectrum analyzer in PicoScope is of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) type which, unlike a traditional swept spectrum analyzer, can display the spectrum of a single, non-repeating waveform.
A full range of settings gives you control over the number of spectrum bands (FFT bins), window types, scaling (including log/log) and display modes (instantaneous, average, or peak-hold).
You can display multiple spectrum views alongside oscilloscope views of the same data. A comprehensive set of automatic frequency-domain measurements can be added to the display, including THD, THD+N, SNR, SINAD and IMD. A mask limit test can be applied to a spectrum and you can even use the AWG and spectrum mode together to perform swept scalar network analysis.
Software Development Kit - write your own apps
The software development kit (SDK) allows you to write your own software and includes drivers for Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac (OS X) and Linux (including Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone).
Example code shows how to interface to third-party software packages such as Microsoft Excel, National Instruments LabVIEW and MathWorks MATLAB.
There is also an active community of PicoScope users who share code and applications on the Pico forum and PicoApps section of the picotech.com web site. The Frequency Response Analyzer shown opposite is one of the most popular 3rd party applications.
|Number of input Channels
|A/D Resolution
|Selectable: 8, 12, 14, 15, 16 bits
|Max Sampling
|1 GS/s
|Band Width
|200 MHz
|Memory Depth
|Mixed Signal Oscilloscope
|Host Interface
|USB3 and USB2
|External Trigger
|Waveform Generation
|AWG and Function Generation
|Pico Technology


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Marie Dechon passed away Feb. 22, 2013, at VNA Hospice House of Monroe County, East Stroudsburg.
A daughter of Patrick and Eileen Murphy, she was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Dec. 6, 1930.
She was predeceased by her best friend and husband of 60 years, Charles J. Dechon Jr.; her daughter, Susanne Marie Dechon; her son, Michael Lawrence Dechon; and her sisters, Kathleen Murphy and Margaret Garrigan.
Life was an adventure, and she enjoyed each moment to its fullest, whether it was canoeing down the Amazon River, exploring the pyramids on camel back or walking the streets of Paris. Her heart and her home were always open and she could be picked out of any crowd just by listening for the sound of her laughter.
There were few things in life that did not bring her joy, but nothing more so than her family and friends.
Marie is survived by her sister, Eileen Meehan of Milwaukee, Wis.; her children: Patricia Dechon of Lodi, N.J.; Charles J. Dechon and his wife, Noreen, of Ellenville, N.Y.; James Dechon and his wife, Rosa, of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.; Daniel Dechon and his wife, Monica, of Pearl River, NY; and Eileen Dechon of Bushkill; her grandchildren: Colleen Dechon of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Patrick Dechon and his wife, Adrienne, of Ellenville, N.Y.; Michael Dechon of Ellenville, N.Y.; Kellyann Dechon of Long Beach, N.Y.; Christopher Dechon, of New York, N.Y.; Kimberly Dechon of Pearl River, N.Y; Stephen Dechon of Ellenville, N.Y., Kayla Dechon of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.; Sarina Muso of Bronx, N.Y.; and Michael Muso of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.
She is also survived by her great-grandchildren: Riley, Emma and Sullivan Dechon of Ellenville, N.Y.; and a large extended family of nieces, nephews and friends.
A celebration of Marie Dechon's life will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, at William H. Clark Funeral Home, 1003 Main St., Stroudsburg. A Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, March 1, at St. John's Roman Catholic Church, Route 209, Marshalls Creek.
William H. Clark Funeral Home
1003 Main St., Stroudsburg
Marie Dechon
Marie Dechon passed away Feb. 22, 2013, at VNA Hospice House of Monroe County, East Stroudsburg.


text: All About 'Glee 8.5x40' The most unique and style forward visual presentation for glazed porcelain wide/long body plank to date. A look best described as a contemporary rustic with three modern colorways etched into a fusion of textures ranging from wood grain to natural stone to unfinished sheetrock that can be accentuated by a 3D Chevron with matching listello. Made in the USA. Shaw Floors recommends this product in the following areas: Walls Floors Exteriors Product Specifications Flooring Type Tile & Stone Style CS62V GLEE 8.5X40 Color 00700 NOCE Collection GLEE Product Type Glazed Porcelain Glaze Hardness Product Specifications Glaze Hardness Glaze Hardness The relative hardness of glazed tile is an important issue that should be addressed when selecting a tile. The test is performed by scratching the surface of the tile with different minerals and subjectively assigning a Method of Hardness "MOH's" number to the glaze. The softest mineral used is talc (a #1 rating if no scratch), the hardest is a diamond (a #10 rating if no scratch). Other minerals of varying hardness that provide MOH's values of five or greater are suitable for most residential floor applications while a value of seven or greater is normally recommended for commercial applications. Both abrasion resistance and glaze hardness should be addressed when considering using glazed tiles as floor products. Back to Specs 4.000 Shade & Texture Variation Product Specifications Shade & Texture Variation Shade & Texture Variation Variations in size, color, texture, and pattern are to expected in ceramic flooring. In fact, they should be enjoyed. These variations are part of what makes ceramic tile such a unique and beautiful choice for your home. Each Shaw Ceramic flooring product is labeled for shade and color variation with one of the following ratings: Low – Consistent shade and textureModerate – Moderate shade and texture variationHigh – High shade and texture variationRandom – Very high shade and texture variation For a neat, contemporary-looking tile floor, choose a tile with a low shade and texture rating. A tile with a high or random shade and texture rating will achieve a more casual, rustic effect. Back to Specs HIGH sq.ft.per 13.90 Surface Texture WOOD-CONCRETE MIX Surface Finish TEXTURED Water Absorption 0.50 Break Strength 250 Wet CoF 0.42 Slip Resistant NO Frost Resistant YES Made in the USA YES Country Of Origin USA Downloads Glee Porcelain Selling Sheet Download PDF Care and Maintenance Download PDF


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Very cute. It looks like the twins are trying to push it down!
Too cute!
bringing 'em up with the right values, I see! :)
Come on now, nothing wrong with being a tree hugger.
What's the worst that could happen?
I knew a guy with dreads once.
Love it! I always say that I would have been the ultimate tree-hugging granola out there if I had been raised that way!
Look at that smile!! He going to grow up to be a forest ranger...
the comment by stephanie is too funny! they DO look like they are trying to push the tree down! what a great smile...
They are a bunch of cuties!
Cute pic!
Personally I think the world could use a few more tree huggers. Darling photie.
Great picture. Looks like you guys had a really great time. I have very fond memories of camping as a child, but I have yet to try it out with kids. My husband is begging me to give a go...maybe we will have to try it out.
awesome shot... my boy is a total nature nut... I adore shots like these! love the B/W ;)
Future Berkeley college student maybe?? Or UC Davis?? Either way you'd be closer to me and we could visit in person:)
Oh so cute!!!!
Awesome photo! I could just reach thru the screen and hug those tree-huggers! BTW, don't forget the Great Pop'rs Giveaway! The more you comment, the better chance you have of winning--Check it out!
I think they're enjoying camping.
Looks like he is really enjoying the outdoors. He is so cute Angie!
You have such a fun and sweet family. you guys are always doing fun activities. color me jealous! when you have a moment's rest, swing by my blog. I'm having a giveaway right now! Fun! Love to see you there!
Too cute, Angie!
How adorable! Where was this taken?


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Order processing:
All orders are processed within 24 business hours and also shipped within this time frame.
When will I receive tracking information?
As soon as your order is shipped you will receive a shipping confirmation email. This email will also include your tracking number. Therefore you can see the exact date your order will arrive.
Please follow the link below to track your order!


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Welcome to the Dolcé Vita!
Named Best Pizza in Iowa in the USA Today Paper.
A unique and enjoyable dining experience awaits you in one of Decorah, Iowa's magnificent scenic wooded settings...serving from an unparalleled menu which includes exceptional wood-fired pizzas and a varied selection of international cuisines, and offering an extensive beer and wine list.


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Plaster Sculpture in Paris
Are you looking for plaster sculpture in Paris?
Sébastien's versatile practical skills allow him to adapt in a creative and original way to commit to projects involving everything from sculpture creation to restoration. He often relies upon piece moulds or "moules à bon creux" made entirely from plaster, which make it possible to create copies from clay and thereby work with ceramic and porcelain. He also employs lost-wax casting (also known as "precision casting"), which allows a one-off imprint to be made. This method is usually employed by sculptors and model-makers to quickly replicate large-scale works. It gives scope for great intricacy, since moulds are created by taking a precise negative of an original piece. In addition, his expertise encompasses more recent high-definition flexible moulds using elastomer, ideal for replicating plaster or resin sculptures, or for reproducing wax outlines for use in metal casting. He specialises in food-grade silicone.


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Office of Morning Prayer
Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Daily Morning Prayer, held Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, is led by a member of the Parish clergy or staff.
On Mondays, Morning Prayer will follow the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
On most Thursdays, we incorporate contemporary canticles.


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Product Description
2012 Car & Driver's 10 Best Technology winner!
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"The new update just released has made the experience with Escort Live even greater."
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ESCORT Live Radar delivers the world's most advanced real time radar and laser ticket protection giving drivers an unprecedented, advanced information picture of their driving environment. The result is an ESCORT Live Radar nation of drivers connected in the social network for the road. ESCORT Live Radar is available in two versions:
ESCORT Live Radar Free Download:
•'Police Spotted' speed trap alerts
•Mobile and fixed-position traffic enforcement camera alerts
•Ability to share your threat reports in the ESCORT Live™ network
•ESCORT's patented Mark Location™ feature which allows drivers to receive automatic reminders for previously marked threats
•Multiple map and dashboard views on your smartphone based on user preference
ESCORT Live Premium:
•Real-time radar and laser alerts received by other detector users in the area
•Detailed threat information including time sensitive, 'heat-mapped' color coded warning icons for fast, safe and more accurate responses
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•Ability to easily connect to ESCORT's class leading windshield mount radar detectors using ESCORT's new Bluetooth enabled SmartCord Live™ power cord (select models only – visit ESCORTradar.com for details)
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Now you do, and ESCORT Live is here to help you Drive Smarter! Whether you're using one of our industry-leading detectors or simply using Escort Live on your smartphone, we're here to keep you safe on the road and ticket free. Take us for a drive TODAY! – ESCORTradar.com/escort-live
Note: ESCORT Live can be run in the background to preserve battery life of your smartphone. Continued use of GPS running in the background can decrease battery life.


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12 Days of Christmas-Michael Symon's Pork and Apple Scallopini
for Favorite Celebrity Chef #SundaySupper
Here is my second installment of the 12 Days of Christmas-Michael Symon's Pork and Apple Scallopini in conjunction with #SundaySupper. I loooooove celebrity chefs and Michael Symon tops my list. Normally I watch him everyday on The Chew, never miss an episode. I love his wit and humor never mind his wonderful style of cooking. Fast and simple are a lot of his meals as in his 5 minute Meals.
I wanted to add this to my 12 Days of Christmas as we are all running in one direction or the other and Michael's quick meals are a big help. The one I made for you today is easy and so fabulous that company would love it. You can be out and about doing what needs to be done and then home with company and serving this delicious holiday meal.
It took me all of 20 minutes to pull together from refrigerator to plate. I am not as fast as Michael is and he always has a little helper on the side in Carla, Clinton or Daphne. I changed a few things from his original recipe due to availability of items. There wasn't fresh sage leaves at the grocery store so I used ground, there wasn't apple cider so I used apple juice. You get the picture right?
You want to be enjoying your company over the holidays not slaving in the kitchen and this recipe can help you achieve that. Serve this with a simple salad and you have dinner on the table in no time.
Perfectly Easy!
- 1.5 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into ¾ inch rounds and pounded thinly
- 2 granny smith apples
- 1 gala apple
- ¼ lb. ham steak
- ¼ tsp. ground sage
- 200 ml. apple juice
- 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 5 Tbsp. olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Flour for dredging
- Season the thinly pounded out pork with salt and pepper and then dredge in flour, shaking off the excess. Heat a large pan over medium high heat with 3 Tbsp. of the olive oil. Carefully lay pork in and cook two minutes a side. You may have to do this in two batches, don't over crowd.
- Meanwhile, dice the ham and apples. Heat the 2 Tbsp. of olive oil in a second large fry pan on medium high heat and add the ham cooking for 1 minute, browning slightly. Add the apples and cook for 2 min. Add the apple juice and and sage and turn up to high for 2 minutes to reduce. Add in the butter and toss to emulsify. Finish with the apple cider vinegar. Adjust seasoning.
- Plate the apple ham hash over the pork and enjoy!!
Adapted from Michael Symon recipes on The Chew.
Now let's see what everyone else has brought with them from their favorite chef.
Who's your favorite Celebrity Chef? Can you pick just one? What's your favorite Celebrity Chef recipe? Is it Polenta, Bread Pudding, or a Shrimp Scampi? We want to know! Join #SundaySupperthis week at 7 pm Eastern Time on Twitter and tell us all about your favorite Celebrity Chef inspired recipe!
Starters or Snacks :
Martin at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog – Oyster and Brie Soup and Wine Pairings for Celebrity Chef #SundaySupper
Erin from Dinners, Dishes and Desserts – Rachael Ray's Cinnamon Popcorn
Jeff at The Catholic Foodie – Drop Biscuits – Breakfast with Chef John Besh
Renee over at Kudos Kitchen By Renee – Giada De Laurentiis' Garlic Toasts With Red Pepper Aioli
The Main Dish:
Sheila at Cooking Underwriter – Paula Deen's Chicken in a Crock-Pot w/ Sauerkraut and Apples
Susan at The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen – Ina Garten's Baked Shrimp Scampi
Lane over at Supper for a Steal – Bobby Flay's Rosemary Bricked Chicken
Tara from Noshing with the Nolands – Michael Symon's Pork and Apple Scallopini
Shannon at Country Girl in the Village – Simple Red Sauce over Rigatoni. Inspired by, Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos
Nicole from The Daily Dish Recipes – Paula Deen's Slow Cooker Pulled Pickled Pork Sandwiches
Becca from It's Yummilicious – Ina Garten's Grown-Up Bacon Mac & Cheese
Alice at Hip Foodie Mom – Sunday Pot Roast with Risotto Cakes from Kelsey Nixon
Jen over at Juanita's Cocina – The Neely's White Turkey Chili
Brianne from Cupcakes & Kale Chips – Crockpot Beef Pot Roast with Mushrooms inspired by Giada DeLaurentiis
Wendy from The Weekend Gourmet – Shrimp Penne in Pesto Cream Sauce, From Emeril Lagasse
Bobbi over at Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen – Cheesy Poblano Chicken
Patti at Comfy Cuisine – Tyler Florence's Chicken Francese
Tora over at Tora's Real Food – Pork and beans with Alton Brown's pickled pork
Elisabeth over at The Hand That Rocks The Ladle – Emeril's New Orleans Style Red Beans & Rice
Amazing Sides:
Megan from I Run For Wine – Curtis Stone's Acorn Squash Roasted with Thyme
Sandi over at Midlife Road Trip – Gabriele Corcos's Gnocchi di Patate
Shelby at Diabetic Foodie – Orange Pecan Black Rice, adapted from Ina Garten
Sweet Endings:
Renee over at Magnolia Days – Brownie Tart
Paula over at Vintage Kitchen Notes – Bill Granger´s Cherry Tart
Katy over at Happy Baking Days – Mary Berry's Treacle Tart
Jaime over at Mom's Test Kitchen – Southern Tea Cakes
Amy over at Kimchi MOM – Crack Pie, I Can't Quit You
Lyn from The Lovely Pantry – Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Squares
Melanie at From Fast Food to Fresh Food – Sand Tarts
Wine Pairings:
Martin at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog
Please join on us on Twitter throughout the day #SundaySupper. In the evening we will meet at 7pm EST for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat, you have to join us!
All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag or you can follow us through TweetChat.


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Shark Tank Popularizing Entrepreneurship (Infographic)
Grow Your Business, Not Your Inbox
The popular reality television show Shark Tank showcases entrepreneurs seeking to persuade the investor "sharks" to give them money in exchange for a piece of their business.
The contestants, which airs Friday nights on ABC, come from a range of diverse industries and backgrounds. When choosing contestants, the show looks for everything from stay-at-home mom entrepreneurs to seasoned business owners generating millions of dollars, according to Clay Newbill, a show producer.
"My goal is to find the best people with the best ideas," said Newbill in an email. "Whether it be for a business or a product, I look first for something that makes me and my team say, 'Wow!' We actually call them 'wow' ideas."
Consider these facts and figures about the show.
Click to Enlarge+


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Commonwealth offers exciting, unusual dining
A fundamental shift is occurring in the restaurant business, with chefs producing serious food in casual surroundings. And Commonwealth is the pacesetter.
The restaurant has a relaxed feel, with exposed beams, hickory floors, industrial fixtures and smooth wood tables. It's a modest neighborhood destination in an area of the Mission where it's hard to keep graffiti off the building.
Yet what lands at the table could have come from the playbook of the four-star Manresa or Coi. Chef Jason Fox clearly has his own vision, aided by Ian Muntzert. They're part of a new generation of chefs brightening the dining scene by creating innovative food that a decade ago would only be served in plush, white-tablecloth surroundings, with prices to match.
The 45-seat restaurant, also owned by Anthony Myint of Mission Street Food, has housed a taqueria and doughnut shop. The storefront windows are partly covered with an opaque film that shields the dining room from the street. Spinning in the middle of the ceiling is a disco ball the owners found while cleaning out the attic. It all adds up to a quirky, personal look.
Whatever the surroundings, Fox isn't afraid to follow his passion. The menu includes unexpected combinations such as a slow-cooked farm egg ($13) with matsutake mushrooms, Jerusalem artichokes and barley to soak up the yolk and yuzu dressing.
Squid and pork belly rest on egg salad with tiny, crisp potato croutons and an herb vinaigrette ($13). Pork ($15) is moistened with juniper jus and served with mustard greens, turnips, onion soubise and mustard "caviar" made from plumping seeds in a Champagne vinegar and sugar mixture.
Diners are responding enthusiastically, particularly younger patrons, some of whom look as if they would be more at home at an all-night rave than sipping red wine and forking into three plump chicken livers ($6). The chunks of caramelized meat are arranged on a bed of diced pickled onions with shards of brown rice and black pepper crackers, delicate herb sprigs and drizzles of sweet saba.
The a la carte menu generally has a dozen or so items; the most expensive is $16, about half of what you'd pay for similar quality at a "fine dining" restaurant. Portions are only slightly smaller than a traditional main course.
The staff is led by co-owner Xelina Leyba, who worked with Fox at Bar Tartine. She knows the business and trains the staff, who for the most part are very good.
Fox also offers a six-course tasting menu for $60, $10 of which goes to a charity - currently Meals on Wheels.
As with the interior, the chefs audaciously blend upscale and downscale elements, including, to start, a complimentary earthenware bowl of house-made potato chips and a side of frothy malt vinegar mousse.
Salads look like miniature Japanese bonsai gardens. Tomatoes ($13) sliced with lacy pieces of smoked toast, purslane and balls of Idiazabal cheese that are encased in a thin coating that makes them look like albino egg yolks.
They're made by grating and cooking the cheese with cream and olive oil, shaping them into spheres and plunging them into a sodium alginate bath to form the gossamer film.
The dish is beautiful to behold and the flavors are vibrant and complex, thanks in part to the crumbles of dried black nicoise olives, fresh basil and a sprightly dressing.
In another presentation, the chefs shave radishes and carrots ($12) and intersperse them with walnuts, spicy greens, quinoa and rounds of ash-coated goat cheese. Sweet almond powder around the edges and bright puddles of carrot puree give the dish a dramatic flourish.
Thailand meets California with a dramatic dish of coconut milk-poached halibut ($15) with leaves of Little Gem lettuce, slices of grapes, tiny yellow, blue and orange flowers, frilly fronds of dill, fennel pollen and salty sea beans, all accented with dots of ruby red verjus. The plate looked like an avant-garde painting.
These dramatic presentations are matched by refined techniques and interesting juxtapositions of ingredients. Fox creates a smooth corn custard ($15) stuffed with chorizo and coated with lobster emulsion and a cap of sea urchin. It seems like an unworkable combination, but it does overtime in the flavor department.
His surf and turf ($16) consists of two whole prawns served with a roulade of hen, with spinach, artichokes and a subtle chocolate almond emulsion. In less talented hands this dish could have been a disaster.
Grilled lamb cheeks ($14) look as if they came out of "Alice in Wonderland," with paper-thin slices of dehydrated purple cauliflower standing up like a cockscomb, delicate florets of pickled cauliflower, chanterelles, ground hazelnuts and flecks of Douglas fir.
The menu changes regularly, so some dishes I loved on my first visit weren't available at later dinners. Some replacements piqued my excitement, but a few disappointed, particularly soggy chicken quenelles ($11) in a vanilla kohlrabi sauce sweet enough to have been a creme anglaise. Yet, I'll gladly take the few misses as the price for the experimentation that leads to dishes like the lamb.
The fixed-price menu is also exceptional. On my visit, it started with beets arranged over fresh goat cheese, black olive crumble, hazelnuts and chickweed, all on a black slate tile. That was followed by salt-cured foie gras with seaweed brioche. The highlight was tender slices of abalone cooked on a plancha and tossed with wheat berries, sea beans and walnuts.
The final savory course was squab with meat-filled ravioli, salsify and chicories. Dessert consisted of cardamom marshmallow, cinnamon mille-feuille and burnt honey ice cream.
This is high-style food. It's been embraced by the neighborhood and deserves the attention of the entire Bay Area. Commonwealth is the type of unpretentious restaurant that resonates with diners as we move into the second decade of the new millennium.
It's a new age, a new approach and an exciting time to dine.
2224 Mission St. (near 18th Street), San Francisco
(415) 355-1500 or commonwealthsf.com
Dinner 5:30-10 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday-Thursday, until 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Beer and wine. Reservations and credit cards accepted. Adjacent parking lot $5.
Overall: Rating: THREE STARS
Food: Rating: THREE STARS
Service: Rating: TWO AND A HALF STARS
Atmosphere: Rating: TWO STARS
Prices: $$ (Moderate most entrees $11-$17)
Noise rating: Noise Rating: BOMB Too noisy for normal conversation (80+ decibels)
Pluses: Excellent and innovative food at reasonable prices.
Minuses: The restaurant can be loud and the quality of food far outstrips the decor.
Rating: FOUR STARS Extraordinary Rating: THREE STARS Excellent Rating: TWO STARS Good Rating: ONE STAR Fair Noise Rating: BOMB Poor
The wine list
Jason Fox's menu at Commonwealth is much more complex than the wine list, which has about 35 wines. Yet this collection of focused, often esoteric, wines dovetails with the food.
The truncated wine list also promotes the idea that the dining experience will be unpretentious. Sommelier Sarah Elliot has avoided Champagne altogether, a rare position given the pedigree of the food. The two sparkling wines are a German Gilabert Cava and Domaine Berthet-Bondet Cremant du Jura.
She also avoids most of the known suspects on the international list. In whites, for example, she includes the 2009 Scholium Project Verdelho ($38) and the 2008 Kofererhof Kerner from Alto Adige ($63). In red, she offers two Gamays, including the 2008 Domaine Chanrion Cote de Brouilly ($35).
Her wine matches for the five-course tasting menu is nicely priced at $30. The best match on my visit was the 2007 Sky Vineyards Zinfandel with the squab, chicories and a hint of licorice that brought out a rich fruitiness in the wine. The baby beet salad went surprisingly well with the 2009 Vinya Sanfeliu Trepat Rose.
If you bring your own wine, corkage is $15.
FOUR STARS = Extraordinary; THREE STARS = Excellent; TWO STARS = Good; ONE STAR = Fair; NO STARS = Poor
$ = Inexpensive: entrees $10 and under; $$ = Moderate: $11-$17; $$$ = Expensive: $18-$24; $$$$ = Very Expensive: more than $25
ONE BELL = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); TWO BELLS = Can talk easily (65-70); THREE BELLS = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); FOUR BELLS = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)
Prices are based on main courses. When entrees fall between these categories, the prices of appetizers help determine the dollar ratings. Chronicle critics make every attempt to remain anonymous. All meals are paid for by The Chronicle. Star ratings are based on a minimum of three visits. Ratings are updated continually based on at least one revisit.
Reviewers: Michael Bauer (M.B.), Nicholas Boer (N.B.), Tara Duggan (T.D.), Mandy Erickson (M.E.), Amanda Gold (A.G.), Allen Matthews (A.M.), Miriam Morgan (M.M.), Carol Ness (C.N.) and Carey Sweet (C.S.)


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neuroendocrine tumor
Pronunciation: (NOOR-oh-EN-doh-krin TOO-mer)
A tumor that forms from cells that release hormones into the blood in response to a signal from the nervous system. Neuroendocrine tumors may make higher-than-normal amounts of hormones, which can cause many different symptoms. These tumors may be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer). Some examples of neuroendocrine tumors are carcinoid tumors, islet cell tumors, medullary thyroid cancer, pheochromocytomas, neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin (Merkel cell cancer), small cell lung cancer, and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (a rare type of lung cancer).
Source: NCI Dictionary of Cancer TermsDate last modified: 2013-04-25