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One of the clichés or stereotypes that has been commonly pinned on gamers is that, if you're a gamer, you must be a complete social reject or a nerd. This has always bugged me, mostly because that hasn't ever truly been the case. Over the years, the public's perception has changed drastically because of the attention that celebrities (read "influential people") and the media have given gaming. Additionally, the industry as a whole has grown up quite a bit since the "King's Quest" days. Not only has this changed the stereotype, but it's brought social groups together that in the past, wouldn't have been likely to associate with one another. 'Online Gaming' is something I'm passionate about because of what it does for diversity. Race, Religion, Occupation, Political View. None of that holds any relevance in a game. Instead of Black and White, you have Horde and Alliance. I think you get the point that I'm trying to make here.
Mia Rose is one of those closet gamers who at first glance, you'd never in a millions years assume has an 80 Warlock, and in a guild that has Malygos in farm status. However, that's the reality. She's an easy on the eyes gamer who speaks the language and would rather be at home raiding, then out at a party.
We had the opportunity to meet up with her at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) earlier in the month to get an idea as to just how big a gamer she really is. What we uncovered in the interview, might surprise you, excite you, and possibly even make you fall in love. If you thought Mia Rose was hot before, wait until you see her talk about World of Warcraft.
Make sure to watch our video interview with Mia Rose, after the jump.


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LOS ANGELES -- Ben Affleck has won the top film honour from the Directors Guild of America for his CIA thriller "Argo," further sealing its status as best-picture front-runner at the Academy Awards.
Saturday's prize also normally would make Affleck a near shoo-in to win best-director at the Feb. 24 Oscars, since the Directors Guild recipient nearly always goes on to claim the same prize at Hollywood's biggest night.
But Affleck surprisingly missed out on an Oscar directing nomination, along with several other key favourites, including fellow Directors Guild contenders Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty" and Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables."
Affleck's Oscar snub has not hurt "Argo" and may even have earned it some favour among awards voters as an underdog favourite. "Argo" has dominated other awards since the Oscar nominations.
"I don't think that this makes me a real director, but I think it means I'm on my way," said Affleck, who won for just his third film behind the camera.
The Directors Guild honours continued Hollywood's strange awards season, which could culminate with a big Oscar win for Affleck's "Argo." The guild's prize for best director typically is a final blessing for the film that goes on to win best-picture and director at the Oscars.
Affleck can go only one-for-two at the Oscars, though. While "Argo" is up for best picture, the director's branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences overlooked him for a directing slot.
Backstage at the Directors Guild honours, Affleck said he had nothing but respect for the academy and that "you're not entitled to anything."
"I'm thrilled and honoured that the academy nominated me as a producer of the movie," Affleck said. "I know our movie, we're a little bit underdog and a little bit the little engine that could, and you take me out of it maybe helps ... it's just about that picture. I feel like it's OK, I'm really lucky, I'm in a good place."
With 12 Oscar nominations, Steven Spielberg's Civil War saga "Lincoln" initially looked like the Oscar favourite over such other potential favourites as "Argo," "Les Miserables" and "Zero Dark Thirty," since films generally have little chance of winning best picture if they are not nominated for best director. Only three films have done it in 84 years, most recently 1989's best-picture champ "Driving Miss Daisy," which failed to earn a directing nomination for Bruce Beresford.
But Affleck's "Argo," in which he also stars as a CIA operative who hatches a bold plan to rescue six Americans during the hostage crisis in Iran, has swept up all the major awards since the Oscar nominations. "Argo" won best drama and director at the Golden Globes and top film honours from the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild of America.
Many of the same film professionals who vote in guild awards also cast ballots for the Oscars, so all the wins for "Argo" are a strong sign that the film has the inside track for best picture.
Milos Forman, a two-time Directors Guild and Oscar winner for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus," received the group's lifetime-achievement award. Guild President Taylor Hackford let the crowd in a toast to Forman, who was ill and unable to attend.
Malik Bendjelloul won the guild's documentary award for "Searching for Sugar Man," his study of the fate of critically acclaimed but obscure 1970s singer-songwriter Rodriquez. The film also is nominated for best documentary at the Oscars.
Jay Roach won the guild trophy for TV movies and miniseries for "Game Change," his drama starring Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in her 2008 vice-presidential run.
Roach said that he watched John McCain rush to choose Palin as his running-mate, potentially putting her second in line for the presidency.
"I said, 'We gotta talk about this,"' Roach joked.
"Girls" star Lena Dunham earned the guild honour for TV comedy, while Rian Johnson won for drama series for "Breaking Bad."
Dunham won for directing the pilot of "Girls," which focuses on the lives of a group of women in their 20s.
"It is such an unbelievable honour to be in the company of the people in this room, who have made me want to do this with my life," Dunham said.
Filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel," "Amores Perros") won for best commercial for a Procter and Gamble spot he directed.
Among other TV winners:
-- Reality program: Brian Smith, "Master Chef."
-- Musical variety: Glenn Weiss, "The 66th Annual Tony Awards."
-- Daytime serial: Jill Mitwell, "One Life to Live."
-- Children's program: Paul Hoen, "Let It Shine."
Affleck's win Saturday nicks the Directors Guild record as a strong forecast for the eventual directing recipient at the Oscars. Only six times in the 64-year history of the guild awards has the winner there failed to follow up with an Oscar. This will be the seventh, since Affleck is not up for the best-director Oscar.
Peer loyalty might play in Affleck's favour at the Oscars. The acting branch in particular, the largest block of the academy's 5,900 members, might really throw its weight behind "Argo" because of Affleck's directing snub. Actors love it when one of their own moves into a successful directing career, and Affleck -- who's rarely earned raves for his dramatic chops -- also delivers one of his best performances in "Argo."
Affleck has had no traction in acting honours this season, and he's joked that no one considered it a snub when he wasn't nominated for best actor. So a best-picture vote for "Argo" might be viewed as making right his omission from the directing lineup and acknowledging what a double-threat talent he's become in front of and behind the camera.
A best-picture prize also would send Affleck home with an Oscar. The award would go to the producers of "Argo": George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Affleck.
But it's not as though Affleck has never gotten his due at Hollywood awards before. He and Matt Damon jump-started their careers with 1997's "Good Will Hunting," for which they shared a screenplay Oscar.

subset: commoncrawl


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We believe that life is a continuous learning process, and entering the job market is just the beginning. Whether you want to improve your soft or hard skills, you can count on our support to develop your skills.
Why work with us
At Sysmatch, we invest in people as a way to achieve our clients' goals, which also become our goals when they trust their technological future to our teams. Our investment in technological specialisation has over 20 years of existence on the national and international scene, with information technology solutions developed for each client, for each industry. We live in different times and it is unquestionable how indispensable technology has become in our daily lives. We are looking for experts to join our teams in each of the technology fields, who want to make a difference and build a solid career in IT.
Our Values
Our teams are made up of engineers, managers, and recruiters who are specialists in each operational area, thus meeting the different challenges proposed to us. It is precisely this multidisciplinarity that leads us to know and identify the trends and demands of this digital area, in favour of an increasingly innovative service, capable of optimising the business of all those who come to us.
Why choose Sysmatch for your career in IT?
We value your goals and want to know what motivates you. To this end, we have defined a career plan with goals, where you will know exactly where you stand and what progress you have made.
We all start from the beginning, and sometimes stepping out of our comfort zone can be a real challenge. At Sysmatch, you can count on a mentor, someone who has already experienced what you are about to do, and who will support you in this new technological journey.
At the end of the day, we know that one of the most important things is the health and safety of everyone involved. That is why you can benefit from health insurance and countless advantages from a wide network of health care partners.
Sysmatchers have at their disposal a wide variety of companies that offer discounts and rewards in the most diverse areas. From gyms to banks, culture and entertainment, health and wellness, you can take advantage of all the benefits.
Because we know there is much more to life than lines of code, we prepare unique events for you throughout the year. You will have different and pleasant surprises, all with the same goal: to interact and share amazing moments among all the elements of this technological team.
We want to live up to your dreams. With us, you will have space to develop all your skills and reach further in your digital journey.
At Sysmatch, there are no geographical barriers. We have national and international projects that will challenge all your limits. So there will always be opportunities for new projects, new people, and new technological goals.
Find your JOB opportunity
How does the whole recruitment process work?
Submission of application
At this stage, find out all the IT jobs we have available. You can apply for the ones that best match your profile. If you prefer, send us your spontaneous application..
Let's meet! This will be the moment when you tell us about your work and experience. Our recruitment team will introduce you to the project and, in return, we want to know what really motivates you and what your goals are for the future.
Technical interview / customer interview
We will put your hard skills to the test. You will meet the technical manager and talk a little about the projects that we have at the moment and that you may join.
Finally, the long-awaited moment has arrived. Whatever the final opinion, we guarantee you a reply within 3 working days. If it is positive, you will receive our proposal, which you can analyse.
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
How does the whole recruitment process work?
At Sysmatch, we recognise the value each candidate places on us when they choose to join our team. You can find out more details. here.
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We work with the most current technologies, both back-end and front-end. Find out more in our list of programming languages and frameworks.
Is there a career plan?
As soon as you join our technology team, you will know what development you can accomplish and what you will conquer with us in the future.
May I attend training when necessary?
You can and you should. Changes and updates come at a tremendous speed, greatly impacting innovation in this area. Whether you want to learn new skills or simply refresh your existing ones, you all have our support to start your training journey.
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Because we have clients in various business fields and with different structures, you will be able to try out new projects whenever the need arises and thus gain know-how in different industries.
What work models can I expect?
Depending on the project, all scenarios are possible. There may be hybrid and flexible systems, combining face-to-face and remote, others 100% remote and others fully face-to-face.
Is there a referral programme?
If you are already a sysmatcher and have a friend looking for a job in IT, refer him/her and receive unique advantages. Find out more here.


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The Alexandria Aces just havent been able to catch a break this summer. Monday night at Frank E. Mann Field, their 14th loss by three runs or less was no different.
Little separated the Aces and the Baltimore Redbirds until a fielding error on a possible double-play ball in the top of the seventh kept two runners alive for the visitors. Two batters later, the visitors cashed in with what proved to be the game-clinching hit in the Redbirds 3-0 road win.
To the Redbirds credit, they didnt flinch, limiting the hosts to just four hits.
But the Aces, who sank to seventh place with the loss five-and-a-half games out of the final playoff spot with six games to play were also missing two of their three best hitters because of unforeseen, non-baseball matters. The day before, they played a double header with the league-leading Orioles (3-2 and 4-1 losses). Monday was their sixth game in five days.
It seems like were always catching a couple of bad breaks at exactly the wrong time, said Aces manager Eric Williams, whose squad moved to 13-24 with the loss.
For six innings, the host Aces traded zeros on the scoreboard with the third-place Redbirds (23-14).
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Baltimore starting pitcher Tyler Austin walked one Alexandria batter and hit another to spot the hosts two base runners for clean-up hitter Will Davis, but struck out the slugger with a crafty slider to end the inning.
Five batters later the Redbirds made the most of the scoreless deadlock with Frank Florio plating runners from second and third that, without the one-out error earlier in the inning, couldve just as easily been out.
Aces reliever Karl Lamont collected a grounder off the bat of Josh Conway at his feet and fired toward second base for the first force out, but the throw was well behind shortstop Chris Murphy who dropped the ball and was unable to make a play.
In combination with the way the sixth inning ended, it was a one-inning span that served as a brief snapshot of much of the Aces season.
We have had plenty of opportunities, but, again, it boils down to guys not producing, not executing what they need to get done, Williams said.
The Redbirds dugout was relieved to get any runners in front of Florio, who is definitely swinging the hottest bat for us right now and we were fortunate that he finally got up in a situation when we had some guys on, said Redbirds assistant coach Mike Carter, filling in for manager Mark Palmerino.
A week ago, with 12 games left to play, the Alexandria Aces were still in a position to make some noise in the Cal Ripken League playoff race. However the six-game blitz (through Monday) sent the Aces in a tailspin away from the final playoff spot.
At the other end of the standings the Redbirds have been able to pull things together in a way the Aces have not. They won the season series 5-1.
Weve been fortunate enough to play the Aces well, but theyve all been close games, Carter said. Games normally going 0-0 into the late innings, but weve been fortunate to get guys on base with timely hitting late.
Davis, who spends most of his time behind the plate for the Aces, was stationed at second base on Monday night. The University of Pennsylvania senior said that part of the issue for Alexandria is likely because its a team full of young guys in a trying situation.
Summer ball is a grind so youve got to come out every day and expect to grind through it for three or four hours, Davis said.
The second-year Ace also remained hopeful for the final week of the season.
Our pitching and our defense has definitely improved, but were not getting the timely hitting we need, Davis said. Its a little late to get that last piece, but if it clicks we could get on a little roll.


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News you can use
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House will miss the midnight Monday deadline lawmakers set for voting to avoid the "fiscal cliff."
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. arrives on Capitol Hill, Monday, as fiscal cliff negotiations continued.
House Republicans notified lawmakers that the chamber will vote Monday evening on other bills. They say that will be their only votes of the day.
President Barack Obama and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Monday they are near a deal to avoid wide-ranging tax increases and spending cuts — the fiscal cliff — that take effect with the new year.
Both men said they were still bargaining over whether — and how — to avoid $109 billion in cuts to defense and domestic programs that take effect on Wednesday.
It remained unclear whether the Senate would vote Monday.
Congress could pass later legislation retroactively blocking the tax hikes and spending cuts.


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The business school at UCLA wants to go into business for itself. The Anderson School of Management is part of a public university. Of course, it's in California and the school's leaders find that being part of public education in California right now is a little maddening. Budget battles and state budget cuts have become normal.
Will Stone reports on what the school wants to do instead.
WILL STONE, BYLINE: Like many students at the end of summer, Michael Malenitza is thinking about his own budget for the upcoming year - and, most of all, tuition. He's also thinking about his school's budget and how the MBAs might be better off without state funding.
MICHAEL MALENITZA: What I think everyone is in agreement on - faculty, students, administration here - is that the benefit that we receive from the small amount of state funding that we get is not as great as the cost.
STONE: Malenitza, the president of the student association at Anderson, says he and others take for granted the rising price of tuition. But it's the lack of predictability of state funding that hurts students and the school.
MALENITZA: Whenever you rely on state funding you're kind of at the mercy of the state to decide how much they're going to allocate towards you, which makes it very, very difficult for the school to anticipate and prepare for what tuition is going to need to be, and it just makes it very difficult to plan ahead.
STONE: This is one of the main reasons that Malenitza supports the school's efforts to be self-supporting, as the administration calls it. UC funding is erratic and leads to a kind of guessing game for students, who generally don't know the price of tuition until only weeks before the beginning of classes.
Right now, Anderson receives about 6 percent of its $107 million budget from the state. The school recently submitted a proposal to the UC President's Office. In it, they opt to forego that money and set their own tuition, keeping all the revenue generated from it.
AVANIDHAR SUBRAHMANYAM: This seems to be inconsistent with the culture of the public mission.
STONE: Avanidhar Subrahmanyam has been teaching at Anderson for over 20 years. He says the proposal doesn't ensure Anderson will retain the characteristics of a public school.
SUBRAHMANYAM: You'd be the renegade school saying that we're going to be private, you guys just do the public mission, we're not interested. That seems to be the message being sent.
JOE SCHWIETERMAN: Anderson's tuition for the upcoming year is about $48,000 for California residents. The proposed change sees that going up to $52,000 the first year the school moves away from state money. That's still less than what many private universities charge for an MBA. But privatize is a loaded word in this debate, and one the administration is quick to distance itself from.
SCOTT WAUGH: It's not privatization. It's not changing the public nature of the school.
STONE: That's Scott Waugh, the executive vice chancellor and provost at UCLA. Waugh says that if the proposal goes through, Anderson will still be subject to the UC System rules. However, some critics worry this move to financial independence lets the state off the hook. To that concern Waugh says...
WAUGH: Quite frankly, they'd probably applaud us for trying to do everything we can with the meager state funding we have and stretching that funding to go as far as it can.
STONE: The University of Virginia's business school underwent a similar conversion in the early 2000s. UCLA is looking at the financial success of that self-supporting program when thinking about its own.
To make up for the lost state money, the school says private donors have pledged about $19 million under the condition that Anderson adopts this new model.
Scott Jaschik is editor for InsideHigherEd.com. He says greater reliance on private funding does introduce a key issue for public universities.
SCOTT JASCHIK: When you are raising private dollars you're focused on what's of interest to the donors. And that may be different, in some cases, from the broader interests of the state, which are theoretically represented by the legislature.
STONE: Some see Anderson as a bellwether for how other publicly funded graduate programs, like law and medical schools, might cope with future cuts.
The University of California's president is now working with the Board of Regents to decide whether to approve the proposal.
For NPR News, I'm Will Stone. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Construction & Real Estate
Effective planning is an essential part of the ongoing project management process. The environmental impact of a job, its scheduling, budgeting, site safety, availability and delivery of quality materials, personnel, logistics, as well as inconvenience to the general public, compliance with local and national standards – these things and countless more all have to be considered.
Listening and creating solutions based on proven services
Understanding your business and project needs are paramount to FIRST, for us to be able to determine how best to add value to your construction projects. Thanks to our long experience and wide-ranging knowledge of construction and associated engineering, we have a comprehensive range of services to provide complete solutions to your projects on time, on budget, safely and to meet your requirements. You can use our specialist services standalone or to augment your existing procedures. However, as you will know, it can often be more cost effective to subcontract certain services completely.
Early project life cycle involvement
Right from the beginning of your project, we can help. FIRST can conduct construction feasibility and risk assessment and management studies. Use our geotechnical services and environment services before construction starts.
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We also have a range of services dedicated just to materials: chemical and physical testing of the durability of materials and materials certification. For example, if a product is labeled as meeting a certain standard, how can you be sure that it truly does? We can tell you.
Do you know where your assets are?
It does not stop there. Another suite of construction services relates to the equipment, tools and machinery you use on site. We use the AHEAD asset management system to help you keep track of machines and other assets. Plus if you are buying or selling machinery, we can certify new and used products – from jackhammers to dumpers.
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FIRST can even handle all your facilities management, waste management and inspection requirements – right up to certifiable energy audits – once your building or infrastructure is complete.
Contact us now to find out more about our construction services.


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Devin Hester is the new Dante Hall: The Bears rookie return guy set a new NFL single-season record with his 6th return for a TD this season. And, more astonishing, it was his second of the night, a 42-27 Bears rout over the Rams.
Hester is the most potent offensive weapon the Bears have, which is saying something, considering he's a special teams player (but, then again, not saying much, given Rex Grossman and the otherwise iffy offense).
The real question is whether he'll be the only rookie to make the Pro Bowl -- for which he has now to be a lock. Is he a more deserving Rookie of the Year than Vince Young or Marques Colston? As the most effective player on the best team in the NFC, it's an argument.
NBA to go back to the old ball: This is the biggest news of the season (similar to the way the switch to the new ball was previously the biggest news of the season). It's a rare defeat for David Stern, but the bottom line is that he earns more goodwill – with players and fans -- by switching back than he does by trying to continue to prove he's smarter than everyone else with this ball idea. I think we'll look back on this three months of the "new" ball as the NBA's "XFL Moment." (I fully expect YaySports to print up "Free Orange Roundie!" T-shirts.)
Jerry Sloan won his 1,000th career game in style: With his Jazz extending their NBA-best record to 16-5 with a rout over the defending conference champ Mavs (including 31 and 11 from Boozer; seriously, WTF is he on this season?)
More signs Amare is back: Season-high 30 points last night in the Suns' win over the Magic, PHX's 11th straight win.
AI Trade Watch: After last night's 2-point loss to Portland (without AI, obvs – a difference that probably cost them the game), why wouldn't the Sixers throw in the towel, tank the rest of the season and promise fans that their intent is to re-build a new core around Top 2 draft prizes Greg Oden or Kevin Durant?
Freddy Adu traded from DC United to
So if you thought Jimmie Johnson's golf-cart injury sounded sort of sketchy (how do you get hurt while riding in a golf cart?), it is: Reportedly, he was sprawled across the TOP of the golf cart, which – indeed – is a good way of getting your ass flung off a golf cart.
College Hoops Top 25: I wonder if Air Force – one of two new teams to debut in this season's Top 25 (along with Notre Dame) – is for real. They've played a brutal schedule (mostly on the road) and have been successful doing it. Conference play in 2007 won't reveal as much as their non-conference schedule this fall. Tracking...
MLB Hot Stove: I predict that, despite reports of intractable problems, the Red Sox and Matsuzaka hammer out a deal by Thursday's deadline.
Fantasy Venting: You all know that I'm a fan of fantasy, but I am guided by the principle that everyone can/should play fantasy, but no one wants to hear about your team, specifically. We can talk about larger fantasy implications of a player's performance, but not the larger fantasy implications on your team. With that said, I have to vent: I scored the third-most points in my 14-team league, yet I finished tied for second-to-last. It's one of those seasons where you say: Why bother? Perhaps some of you can relate (or know someone in your league who can): Every league must have a "Hard-Luck Champion," who finishes with playoff-quality point totals but out of the actual playoffs bracket. The only solace? "Regression to the mean": If you can replicate Top 4 point-totals every season, you're bound to get the right week-to-week matchups to vault you into the playoffs. You hope.


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Google has recently demoed an interesting WebGL application called Body Browser, which lets you explore the human body just like you can explore the world in Google Earth. Now you can try Google Body Browser before it's added to Google Labs, assuming that you have a WebGL-enabled browser:
* WebGL is available, but not enabled by default in Chrome 8 (the latest stable version). Type about:flags in the address bar, click "Enable" next to "WebGL" and then click on "Restart now". Please note that this is an experimental feature in Chrome 8.
* WebGL is enabled by default in Chrome 9 Dev Channel, Chrome Canary Build and Firefox 4 beta.
Damon Hernandez was surprised to notice that the application doesn't require a plugin. "Unlike other web based medical applications I have seen, no Flash, Java, or other plugins are needed. This application will run on any WebGL supported browser. (…) Last year I got the opportunity to work on an open standards based web3D medical app for learning the bones of the body. After witnessing how that app really helped students learn the bones, I am sold on using web3D for medical education."


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After injury, Muhtadi waived by Cardinals
On whats been a winding road to the NFL, former T.C. Williams and University of Maryland star Dean Muhtadi hit a pothole at the worst possible time.
On the very first day of training camp with the Arizona Cardinals, a little more than a week ago, the 24-year-old defensive lineman injured his right calf muscle on basically the first step of the conditioning test, according to a team training camp blog. Media reports said the team expected Muhtadi to miss significant time.
Muhtadi signed with the Cardinals earlier this year after a preseason stint with Green Bay in 2009. Despite the best intentions and all indications from coaches that things were looking up, the team waived the 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive lineman.
In a video interview posted on the teams website last week, Muhtadi was optimistic that, after clearing waivers and recuperating his leg, he could get another shot with the Cardinals sometime after week six of the regular season.
The coaches had to make the decision to waive me injured, Muhtadi said. It was a smart decision you need every roster spot in camp.
Two Aces tour Puerto Rico with Ripken League team
Barnstorming around Puerto Rico earlier this month, a team of all-stars from the Cal Ripken League including catcher Will Davis and pitcher Max Knowles of the Alexandria Aces picked up two wins and a draw against top local competition.
In the Ripken teams second game, Knowles took the mound in the fourth inning and pitched four innings, allowing just one hit and striking out six in his squads 3-2 comeback win.
Appearing in game three, Davis notched a crucial single that helped drive in a run in the Americans 4-4 10-inning draw against the Juncos, a team of Puerto Rican college, junior college and Double-A ballplayers, before the hosts ran out of pitchers.
Aces manager Eric Williams also joined his two veteran players as one of the league coaching representatives on the trip. Through three games, the Ripken League pitchers struck out some 49 batters.


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Access your local Jacksonville Public Library anytime, anywhere via their JaxLibrary mobile app.
JaxLibrary, the mobile app for Jacksonville Public Library, lets you locate and search your library catalog wherever you are. If you are a library card holder in and of the Jacksonville Public Library below, you can locate books, movies, music and more with easy search features designed for mobile devices.
Are you on a mobile device? Download the FREE Jacksonville Public Library App!
Searching the catalog from the Jacksonville Public Library Mobile App is easy! Just type in the first few letters of the words in your search to find what is in the catalog or download a FREE eBook or eAudioBook. For example, to search for "Mark Twain", just type "ma twa" and our Smart Prefix™ search will instantly deliver relevant results from your library, even if you are on the road and unable to make it in to your local branch.


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French photographer, Gilles de Beauchêne, creates interplay between the world of fine art photography and advertising in an attempt to make those worlds co-exist.
The image has triumphed; and by becoming the most important signifier of our times, it has transformed our perceptions and experiences of the world beyond recognition. Enter Gilles de Beauchêne, a highly sought after advertising and editorial photographer (for brands such as Zenith and Louis Vuitton), who takes his craft and experiences with him into the fine art world. In recent years, since digital has prevailed, there have been a multitude of symposiums and raucous debates; what does it mean to make an image? The boundaries of image-making have continued to change as technology offers more opportunities for creative exploration. De Beauchêne makes art; combining digital and traditional photography techniques, he inverts meaning through his surreal creations. Playing with perspective from the infinitely large to the minuscule, he manipulates images to perfection. De Beauchêne's personal work asserts his imagination, he creates a photographic discourse that surveys the subconscious fantasy worlds that we inhabit, but at the same time he creates new spaces and alternative realities.
When did you first become interested in photography? What were the steps involved in moving from an assistant to a professional photographer?
I was born in 1964 and I discovered photography when I was 14-years-old. Then I started developing, in house, my black and white photography. I studied photography at the EFET School in Paris, in the evenings and weekends. I was learning all about using film, balancing temperatures of colours, and different techniques in photography, because, as you know, digital photography didn't exist back then. I had a day job as a programmer at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, which paid for my studies. After graduating, I worked for six months as a photographer's assistant. From that moment, it became clear that I should open my own studio, which I did in 1989. Since then, I have been working and practising photography for over 20 years for leading luxury brands, including Van Cleef & Arpels, Veuve Clicquot, and Guerlain.
There's a vast difference between advertising and fine art photography, working in both worlds, how do you balance the two?
In a world where advertising is restricted by the "politically correct" with certain rules, regulations of what you present and how you present it; I needed to find another territory of expression and a place where I could purely breathe. So, between commissions, I always bring my ideas for personal projects to life through my fine art photography. It is important for me to have a balance between personal work and commercial work; personal work can influence commercial work and vice versa. Unfortunately, I have the feeling that in France people don't think that you can work in both worlds; that is to be an artist and also work in advertising.
Photography is the mode of mass communication, what language do your pictures speak?
The camera has been democratised. Today, everyone has one and feels like a photographer and artist. I still have an advantage; I can tell a story in one picture. I have learnt from my experience in advertising that an idea, concept and product need to be understood and loved at first sight. One of my images, Haute Couture is a strong statement about the way I see the fashion industry and its lack of respect for women. When female models try on clothes or walk down the catwalk, they are no more than just dummies or dolls. Female models must be slim; they must show no expression, or display a cold attitude and be disdainful of the public that has come to see them. Suddenly, they have turned into untouchable icons. Haute Couture is a comment on this phenomenon.
Artists have the power to change our perceptions of the world, how does your photography agree or disagree with this statement?
Real artists have the power to change our perceptions of the world. My work is much more about entertaining viewers. I hope my images are a source of inspiration, so they can create stories of their own, and yes, why not change perceptions too.
Your images invite viewers into a constructed reality, where anything is possible, what do these fantasies say about the world today?
Today, I feel the world is without fantasy; this is why I create these images. We all need more dreams in our lives and to take things less seriously. Often, I have interns in my studio who want to become professional photographers. I always tell them that it's not going to be easy, because they are not the only ones, and this is how the world works today. Like my images, they need to create their own reality, believe in it and follow their ambitions.
Your images are crafted objects, what's the process involved in creating these works with regards to directing scenes, controlling the lighting, enhancing colour, manipulation and staging the details?
From concept development to treatment and production, when I am not working on a commission, it can take me a few days to three weeks. When I have an idea, I always draw it first and prepare a storyboard. I look for a model; meet with him or her to discuss in detail the image I want to create. Then, I brief the team: model, make-up artist, hairdresser, stylist and when needed, a model-maker. Most of the time, the components and elements that comprise the image are shot separately and merged together in Photoshop. I will then spend two or three days retouching, changing colours and looking for a unique picture. It takes time for me to make the image as real as I imagine it in my "wonderful worlds."
By playing with perspective you are converging conceptual art and photography, meaning that the boundaries of photography are endless, how does this flexibility of the genre inspire you?
Yes, the boundaries of photography are endless. Today, I feel more like a painter or an image-maker than purely a photographer. I love Doisneau, Ronis and Brassaï because they photographed the society in which they lived, and were witnesses of daily life. I don't feel the same, because I like to construct my own worlds and creatures. I am a dreamer and boundaries do not exist anymore.
You work has a cinematic feel, who has influenced you?
It varies and they don't all necessarily come from photography, although I constantly review the work of other photographers. My inspiration comes from artists such as Norman Rockwell, David Roberts and Juan Manuel Ugarte. I think there is incredible strength in their work. They combine a design composition with a strong message. Ironically my heroes are Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, all of whom acted in black and white films. I like old cinema, and generally the photography is very good. In another style, I like Tim Burton and his multiple universes, his sense of humour and storytelling techniques. Larry and Andy Wachowski's Matrix (1999) had a significant influence on me, and it radically changed my thought processes. The special effects and art direction opened my eyes to new ways of expressing ideas and that anything is possible. Everyday you can push the limits further.
What are your future plans? Do you plan to create more fine art photography, and are there any plans for any exhibitions?
I plan on finishing the series Play the Game!! and Propaganda. In 2010, I have an exhibition in Miami at Zadok Art Gallery, and I will be publishing a book. However, before that I hope to find a gallery to represent my work in the UK.
For further information visit www.gillesdebeauchene.com. He is represented by Young Gallery Brussels www.younggalleryphoto.com and Zadok Art Gallery Miami www.zagallery.com.
Shirley Stevenson


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PHOTOS: WEBSITE and iPAD | WIRELESS
Two funeral homes filled with mourners for Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, the first of the 20 children killed in last week's massacre to receive funerals. The gunman also killed six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary, and his mother in her home, before committing suicide.
A rabbi presided at Noah's service, and in keeping with Jewish tradition, the boy was laid to rest in a simple brown wooden casket with a Star of David on it.
"If Noah had not been taken from us, he would have become a great man. He would been a wonderful husband and a loving father," Noah's uncle, Alexis Haller, told mourners, according to remarks he provided to The Associated Press. Both services were closed to the news media.
Noah's twin, Arielle, who was assigned to a different classroom, survived the killing frenzy by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, an attack so horrifying that authorities could not say three days later whether the school would ever reopen.
Newtown, a community of 27,000 people 60 miles northeast of New York City, will face many more funerals over the next few days, just as other towns are getting ready for the holidays.
"I feel like we have to get back to normal, but I don't know if there is normal anymore," said Kim Camputo, mother of two children, 5 and 10, who attend a different school. "I'll definitely be dropping them off and picking them up myself for a while."
Beyond Newtown, parents nervously sent their children back to class in a country deeply shaken by the attack, and in a measure of how the tragedy has put people on edge, schools were locked down in at least four places.
As investigators worked to figure out what drove Lanza to lash out with such fury - and why he singled out the school - federal agents said he had fired guns at shooting ranges over the past several years but there was no evidence he did so recently as practice for the rampage.
At Jack's Christian service, hymns rang out from inside the funeral home, where the boy lay in an open casket in the Giants' star wide receiver Victor Cruz's No. 80 jersey. Jack was among the youngest members of a youth wrestling association in Newtown, and dozens of little boys turned up at the service in gray Newtown Wrestling T-shirts.
Ten-year-old Luke Wellman remembered a boy who loved football and wrestling and worshipped Cruz, who played in Sunday's game with "Jack Pinto 'My Hero'" written on one of his cleats.
Luke said: "I'm here to support my teammate and friend."
A mourner, Gwendolyn Glover, said the service carried a message of comfort and protection, particularly for other children. "The message was: You're secure now. The worst is over," she said.
At Noah's funeral, the boy was described a smart, funny and mischievous child who loved animals, Mario Brothers video games and tacos.
"I will miss your forceful and purposeful little steps stomping through our house. I will miss your perpetual smile, the twinkle in your dark blue eyes, framed by eyelashes that would be the envy of any lady in this room," his mother, Veronique Pozner, told mourners, according to Haller.
"Most of all, I will miss your visions of your future. You wanted to be a doctor, a soldier, a taco factory manager. It was your favorite food, and no doubt you wanted to ensure that the world kept producing tacos," she said, evoking laughter from the crowd.
She closed by saying: "Momma loves you, little man."
At both funeral homes, as around the country, people wrestled with what steps could and should be taken to prevent something like the massacre from happening again.
"If people want to go hunting, a single-shot rifle does the job, and that does the job to protect your home, too. If you need more than that, I don't know what to say," Ray DiStephan said outside Noah's funeral.
He added: "I don't want to see my kids go to schools that become maximum-security fortresses. That's not the world I want to live in, and that's not the world I want to raise them in."
Around the country, school systems asked police departments to increase patrols Monday and sent messages to parents outlining safety procedures. Teachers steeled themselves for their students' questions and fears.
Richard Cantlupe, an American history teacher at Westglades Middle School in Parkland, Fla., described the Connecticut rampage as "our 9/11 for schoolteachers."
Anxiety ran high enough in Ridgefield, about 20 miles from Newtown, that officials ordered a lockdown at schools after a person deemed suspicious was seen at a train station. Two schools were locked down in South Burlington, Vt., because of an unspecified threat.
Three schools in the Tampa, Fla., area did the same after a bullet was found on the floor of a school bus, and a New Hampshire high school went into emergency mode after an administrator heard a loud bang. A police search found nothing suspicious.
Meanwhile, the outlines of a national debate on gun control began to take shape. At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said curbing gun violence is a complex problem that will require a "comprehensive solution."
Carney did not offer specific proposals or a timeline. He said President Barack Obama will meet with law enforcement officials and mental health professionals in coming weeks.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, flanked by shooting survivors and relatives of victims of gunfire around the country, pressed Obama and Congress to toughen gun laws and tighten enforcement after the Newtown massacre.
"If this doesn't do it," he asked, "what is going to?"
Lanza is believed to have used a Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle, a civilian version of the military's M-16. It is similar to the weapon used in a recent shopping mall shooting in Oregon and other deadly attacks around the U.S. Versions of the AR-15 were outlawed in this country under the 1994 assault weapons ban, but the law expired in 2004.
At least one senator, Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, said Monday that the attack in Newtown has led him to rethink his opposition to the ban on assault weapons.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat who is an avid hunter and lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, said it's time to move beyond the political rhetoric and begin an honest discussion about reasonable restrictions on guns.
"This is bigger than just about guns," he added. "It's about how we treat people with mental illness, how we intervene, how we get them the care they need, how we protect our schools. It's just so sad."
Authorities say Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their home and then took her car and some of her guns to the school, where he broke in and opened fire. A Connecticut official said the mother, a gun enthusiast who practiced at shooting ranges, was found dead in her pajamas in bed, shot four times in the head with a .22-caliber rifle.
Lanza was wearing all black, with an olive-drag utility vest with lots of pockets, during the attack.
Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the rampage.
Debora Seifert, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said both Lanza and his mother fired at shooting ranges, and also visited ranges together.
"We do not have any indication at this time that the shooter engaged in shooting activities in the past six months," Seifert told the AP.
In Newtown, classes were canceled Monday, and the town's other schools were to reopen Tuesday. The district made plans to send surviving Sandy Hook students to a former middle school in the neighboring town of Monroe.
Sandy Hook desks are being taken to the Chalk Hill school in Monroe, empty since town schools consolidated last year, and tradesmen are donating their services to get the school ready within a matter of days.
"These are innocent children that need to be put on the right path again," Monroe police Lt. Brian McCauley said.
With Sandy Hook Elementary still designated a crime scene, state police Lt. Paul Vance said it could be months before police turn the school back over to the district. The people of Newtown were not ready to address its future.
"We're just now getting ready to talk to our son about who was killed," said Robert Licata, the father of a student who escaped harm during the shooting. "He's not even there yet."
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers John Christoffersen, Ben Feller, Adam Geller, Jim Kuhnhenn and Michael Melia in Newtown; David Collins in Hartford, Conn.; Brian Skoloff in Phoenix; and Anne Flaherty in Washington.


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Sometimes the wildest ideas work best. NASA's latest Mars lander transformed an engineering team's high-risk brainstorming into reality on Sunday, safely lowering the 1 ton, $2.5 billion Curiosity rover into Mars' Gale Crater while reminding us to think twice before laughing off the quirky spaceships in old science-fiction movies.
"This rocked!" a grinning Richard Cook, the mission's deputy project manager, told an auditorium filled with exuberant colleagues at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in La Cañada Flintridge, Calif. "Seriously, wasn't that cool?"
It was, in fact, cool, because Curiosity — a car-size mobile laboratory that's bigger and more advanced than any of its predecessors — finished its 104 million-mile journey with a landing as dramatic as it was improbable. The touchdown required an extraordinary sequence of events designed to slow the incoming spacecraft from a blistering 13,000 m.p.h. to 2 m.p.h. in just seven minutes. Among the new tools in play: a 51-ft.-diameter parachute with eight suspension lines — the biggest ever used in an extraterrestrial landing — and retrorockets designed to slow the craft almost to a hover. Then there was the little matter of the spacecraft's transforming itself into a sky crane just prior to landing, using nylon cords to lower Curiosity the final 25 ft. to the ground.
(PHOTOS: An Inside Look at the Mars Curiosity Rover)
As it turned out, the much-hyped "seven minutes of terror" that began when the spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere instead became seven minutes of breathless cheers. Scientists and engineers repeatedly erupted in applause as each dreaded obstacle — guided entry, parachute deployment, heat-shield separation — passed by uneventfully. Then came the words that seemed to make JPL's estimated 3,000 visitors catch their breath.
"Standing by for sky crane," announced flight-dynamics engineer Al Chen, who provided commentary from the mission control room. The awaited terror finally hit; the lab fell silent. Then, after a slight pause, Chen's smooth voice returned. "Touchdown confirmed!" he shouted at 10:32 p.m. Pacific time.
The scientists and engineers, many of whom spent 10 years working on the mission, burst into cheers and even tears as the tense seven minutes gave way to 15 jubilant minutes. "What a great experience," said Cook, a veteran of all the Mars rover missions. "No matter how much planning you do, it's a fork in the road that you can't get past emotionally until it happens."
With the theatrics done, Curiosity is now set to begin a 98-week mission — one Martian year — hunting for signs that Mars offers, or once offered, a home for microbial life. Engineers intentionally risked landing the rover inside a crater rather than in a safer, wide-open flood plain for good reason: a plain is, well, plain. Instead, NASA has for the first time placed a rover inside a geological treasure trove.
Gale Crater is a hole next to a mountain, and as we've all known since the first time we stepped into a puddle, water and water-driven sediment tend to gather in holes. There will surely be no water around today, but the chemical evidence of it — and perhaps even of the biology it may once have supported — should remain. The proximity of Mount Sharp, just 6 miles away, provides an entirely different kind of scientific target: a heap of layered sediment some two-thirds the height of Mount Everest. That could prove to be an open geological book, with millions of years' worth of Martian strata on display. NASA plans to send the probe as far as 12 miles from the landing site, grinding up soil samples and analyzing atmospheric conditions as it makes its way up the mountain.
(MORE: NASA Rover Curiosity Lands on Mars After Plummet)
"We're hoping to find materials that interacted with water," says John Grotzinger, the mission's project scientist and a geologist at the California Institute of Technology. "Pathfinder and MER [the Mars Exploration rovers] did some soil composition, but this time we'll find out the actual chemicals."
Also of interest within Curiosity's 12-mile-wide landing ellipse is a region with warmer soil temperatures that appears strikingly red in images. Different minerals retain different levels of heat, and the temperature of the soil is actually more intriguing to scientists than the color. "We don't really know what that material is," says Grotzinger. "It's kind of like when you walk next to a building and notice that it stays warmer at night. The hypothesis is that water flowed through there and precipitated minerals."
Of course, if someone dropped you onto another planet, you'd have your smart phone snapping photos the second you arrived. That's exactly what Curiosity did, in the form of the black-and-white thumbnail images it sent to Earth just minutes after landing. But those pictures aren't souvenirs. They're hazcam (hazard-avoidance camera) images that scientists will study to spot any potential obstructions that could hamper movement. "We're going to make sure we're firing on all cylinders before we blaze out across the plains," says Grotzinger.
They also want to take time to ensure that no technical problems will prevent Curiosity from extending a vertical "lookout mast" that is loaded with additional cameras and will reach a height of about 7 ft. above the surface. "This first week, we're just going to be checking out the different instruments to see whether they are operational," says Joy Crisp, a deputy project scientist. "We'll have the big milestones sometime after that."
For Mars aficionados, the first of those milestones are the color pictures, which should arrive on Earth a day after landing. Shot from the rover's Descent Imager, the photos were taken as the rover approached the surface of Gale Crater and will show the first-ever view aboard a spacecraft landing on Mars. They will also help scientists pinpoint the lander's location.
(VIDEO: Mars Curiosity Rover: How We'll Know It's Safe)
Curiosity's main eyeballs will open up once the mast is extended, which could happen as early as three days after landing. That's when four navigation cameras (navcams) will begin taking 1-megapixel stereo pictures in a 360-degree circle around the rover. The navcams are designed to look in all directions — including up and down — and have a enough resolution to spot the equivalent of a golf ball 27 yards away. Navcam images will not only give a 3-D view but also help scientists and engineers decide where they want to drive the rover and what surface features to study.
Thankfully, Curiosity is much more than a mechanical paparazzo. The instrument suite is 10 times as massive as any previous rover's, led by a robotic arm that is part spectrometer, part rock imager, part chemistry lab. Curiosity's deck harbors an interplanetary CSI lab capable of separating gases or heating powdered samples to identify organic compounds. And atop the mast, in addition to the bristle of cameras, is an instrument that can fire a million-watt laser beam at rocks up to 23 ft. away, vaporizing them enough for an onboard spectrometer to analyze light from the pinhead-size sparks the rocks will give off, revealing their chemical composition. Shooting X-rays at nearby rock samples, another task on the agenda, will excite electrons into fingerprint-like signals that identify minerals. "With X-ray diffraction, we can really nail down what kind of clay mineral is there and how those rocks have formed," says Crisp. Finally — and most tantalizingly — Curiosity will sniff the Martian sky for atmospheric methane, a telltale hint of current organic life.
Engineers say the rover should have an easier time maintaining power than its predecessors, which suffered from dust accumulating atop their solar panels. Curiosity relies on a shoebox-size nuclear generator that turns heat generated by decaying plutonium into electrical power for the onboard batteries.
For NASA, which has a history of turning to the Mars program and its captivating rovers to reinvigorate public enthusiasm, the timing of Curiosity's successful landing couldn't be better. Though NASA's overall budget for the coming year is about the same as that of fiscal 2012, cost overruns on the James Webb Space Telescope prompted the Obama Administration to slash the Mars program's funding by more than $200 million — about 40%. NASA has already withdrawn from two planned Mars sample-return missions with the European Space Agency due to budget concerns. With NASA's manned space program transitioning to private enterprise, Curiosity is perhaps the space agency's only compelling venture.
Whether Curiosity achieves the lengthy success of NASA's earlier rovers or not, its unlikely landing means the rover has already scored a significant accomplishment even before its aluminum wheels roll so much as an inch across the soil. "We all feel a sense of pressure to do something profound," says Grotzinger. "But even if we don't find carbon — even in the case that life was never present on Mars — it's still an opportunity to view what might have happened in Earth's past." Viewing it after so sweet a landing makes it all the more enjoyable.
MORE: Neil deGrasse Tyson on the Future of U.S. Space Exploration After Curiosity


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Staff Training
Success Stories
- Memphis Public Library & Information Center - Word: When a Customer Asks. . .
- Memphis Public Library & Information Center - ILS Upgrade
- Cedar Rapids Public Library - Staff training on public databases*
- The Scoop E-Newsletter for Youth Services, a staff development tool
- Blog, Wiki, Aggregator Training for the Memphis Area Library Council (link to blog post article).
Tips for Training Library Staff
Tips for Floating Librarians
Many library systems employ floaters- people who do not work at a specific location, but "float" around from library to library and fill in for a short-handed staff. This is especially true as more and more workers take advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 [1]. Listed below are a few tips for current floaters or would-be floaters interested in some of the challenges of the position:
- Make sure your transportation is safe and reliable. It may be possible that some floaters must supply their own transportation from location to location. Inquire with your employer if it is possible to take a company vehicle when on location if the need to travel arrives, and mark your mileage for possible compensation.
- If floating a position that has contacts with patrons, never assume a patron knows what they want to find, or that you know what they want! [2] Ask them questions to dig out the answer.
- Become very familiar with the procedures of your institution, as these will act as a guide for you to follow at the various locations you may be visiting [2]. Also, make personal notes of any idiosyncrasies from location to location, and try to respect them. After all, you're a guest worker!
- Don't get involved with work politics. You will have to work with a wide range of people, and it's best not to burn bridges.
- Being a floater is a continual learning experience [3]. Keep your mind open and be prepared to learn throughout your time as a floater.
- Become familiar with the physical locations of where you work (the stacks, bathrooms, and important building nearby, such as post offices).
- Have fun!
[1] "The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993" U.S. Department of Labor. 19 October 2007 http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/statutes/whd/fmla.htm>
[2] Norman, Amy. Reference Librarian, Tulsa Community College. Personal interview. 19 October 2007.
[3] Smith, Jason. MLIS student and reference worker. Tulsa Community College. Personal interview. 19 October 2007.
Blogs/Websites to Watch
- Memphis Public Library & Information Center - Staff Development Lists the trainings we offer for our staff. Some training titles are links to the actual training documents.
- Memphis Public Library & Information Center - MPLIC Tech Train (Technical Trainer Blog)
- Memphis Public Library & Information Center - MPLIC Tech Train Wikified (Technical Trainer Wiki)
- Antioch New England Graduate School Library Training Wiki for Front Desk Staff.
- Pierce County Library's Social Web Literacy class blog blog for popular social networking class offered to all staff
Specific Blog Posts/Articles to Check Out
- Lister, Pauline & Hill, Dorothy "What's Next?:job enhancement through a shadowing up program" (2005)
- MLA (UK) ICT Training Report: "Competencies & capabilities: new paradigms for workforce development in the 21st Century Library" (2004)
- MLA (UK) Workforce Development Strategy: "Learning for change: workforce development strategy (Summary)" (2004)
- Building a Social Library
- Cultivating Tech-Savvy Library Staff An Internet Librarian 2006 PPT by Sarah Houghton-Jan (Librarian in Black)
- Library Technical Competencies: What Do We Have? What Do We Teach? What Do I Hire? A small library perspective
- 10 Ways to make your library great in 2008 using Web 2.0 A post-Webinar Blog on Webjunction.


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Disclosure: The following links will take you to various online merchants outside of allbutforgottenoldies.net that sell recordings with the song featured on this page. Please note that these are referral or affiliate links from which allbutforgottenoldies.net may receive, at no additional cost to you, a commission if you should make any purchases through them.
The Amazon.com MP3 Store has an audio clip of "Pick Up The Pieces" by AWB on the album listed below. Click on the album name and you will be taken to a list of mp3 album tracks with audio samples that include the above song.
Rhino Hi-Five: Average White Band - Average White BandCDUniverse also has a clip of the above song on the album listed below. Click on the album name and you will be taken to a list of albums, including the one below, that include the above song. (Note: Those albums with music note icons all have song clips. To see the entire list of CDs, you may need to scroll down all the way to the bottom as many songs have lyrics and other information displayed at the top.)
AWB - Average White Band


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This week on the podcast Whitson discovers he was using Evernote wrong, Thorin realizes he stopped pirating media by accident, and Dachis learns fancy toothpaste is a waste of money. Also, we discuss alternatives to the moribund Google Reader and, as always, answer your questions.
Sorry about our live feed this week—it died! Google had some sort of issue and just stopped recording, so unfortunately we're audio-only again this week (unless you want to just watch the first six minutes). We're looking at other solutions since we've heard a few complaints about choppy live streams with Google Hangouts, so hopefully we'll have a better option in the near future. Thanks for bearing with us!
How to Listen to This Week's Episode
Here's how you can listen to our episode:
Download the MP3 directly.
Just listen to it in the Souncloud player below.
News and Top Stories
Google Reader Is Shutting Down; Here Are the Best Alternatives: Google announced that it'll be closing Google Reader's doors on July 1st of this year, meaning you'll need to find a new way to get your news fix. This post will show you how to export your feeds and switch to another option, but you might want to wait awhile before you do.
Google Has Started Removing Ad Blockers from the Play Store: Google has always had a pretty lax set of rules when it comes to the apps on Google Play, but they've started removing a number of popular ad blockers from the store.
Dropbox's Latest Desktop Client Provides a Notification Panel for Fast Access to Recently Synced Files: Windows and OS X: Dropbox updated its desktop clients today to provide a more useful and attractive interface. Now you can not only see and quickly access recently synced files directly from the system tray (Windows) or menu bar (OS X), but you can also accept shared folder invitations without the web interface.
Why I Stopped Pirating and Started Paying for Media: Thorin accidentally stopped pirating media. Here's why, and why you may want to stop as well.
I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing: Whitson learned how to use Evernote properly and has become a die-hard fan. Learn what he did to get into the exceptionally popular note-taking tool.
Does It Matter What Kind of Toothpaste I Buy? Yep. Don't waste your money on the fancy stuff unless your dentists suggests it.
Questions and Answers
Each week we answer five questions from readers and listeners. Here's what we tackled this week.
Any suggestions for encrypting a Windows 8 machine? I don't have Windows 8 Pro, so BitLocker is not included and I have a GPT partition so TrueCrypt won't work. You're not the only one with this problem. We couldn't find a solution, but if anyone knows of an encryption program that will work with GPT, let us know.
How do I stop my custom notification sounds from resetting on my Android ICS phone every time I sync? We don't know what you're syncing with, but chances are the MP3 custom tones are being re-written each time you sync. Stop syncing those tones and hopefully it'll resolve the issue. If not, call/write back with more information and we'll come up with another idea for you.
I'm getting unwanted texts from various numbers that seem to be from the same person. Should I just change my phone number, or is there a way to smoke out the identity of this person or block them? You probably will want to change your number. If you don't have some sort of emotional attachment to your number, that's the easiest method. If you do, try these methods.
Are you excited for the Samsung Galaxy IV Announcement? It'll probably be a great phone, but no, not really. Nexus or bust.
What's the big deal about RSS? It makes it easy to aggregate all the stuff you want to read and save the important stuff for later in services like Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability. It makes our jobs easier because we can scan through a lot of stuff really quickly. It also causes a need for information enemas, which are possibly more pleasant than regular ones?
Tips of the Week
Thorin's Pick: You Need to Hit 10,000 Steps Per Day, Even if You Exercise (because sitting is killing you)
Whitson's Pick: Sign Documents With Your Tablet
Dachis' Pick: Antioxidants Will Not Cure All (or Anything) That Ails You
Downloads of the Week
Thorin's Pick: MyVibe (iOS, Jailbroken)
Whitson's Pick: ModernMix (Windows)
Dachis' Pick: Add to Wunderlist (Chrome, Firefox, and Safari)
How Do I Submit a Question?
There are two ways to send in your question:
Call (347) 687-8109 and record a question. Calls are awesome! We like them!
Email your question to [email protected].
Please keep your questions as brief as possible. This means about 3-5 sentences for emails and 30-60 seconds for calls and videos. Your questions can be specific, but broader questions are generally better because they'll apply to more people. For example, "how can I breathe new life into my old PDA?" is much better than "what can I do with an old HP iPAQ 210?" Either way, we look forward to hearing from you!
Newspaper, Computer, Clock (by Brandon Hopkins), and Alert (by Dima Yagnyuk) provided by the Noun Project.


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It's not summer yet, but the new season of Royal Pains is already heating up. American Horror Story vet Frances Conroy is checking in to the USA medical series for...
It's not summer yet, but the new season of Royal Pains is already heating up.
American Horror Storyvet Frances Conroy is checking in to the USA medical series for a multi-episode arc, TVGuide.com has learned.
Spring TV 2013: Must-see new shows
The Golden Globe winner will play Blythe Ballard, a member of the Hamptons "royalty" who lives in the estate next to Boris' (Campbell Scott) residence, Shadow Pond. After Hank (Mark Feuerstein) treats Blythe for an arm injury, Evan (Paulo Costanzo) becomes determined to land her as a HankMed client. However, Blythe is not easily convinced and has a few surprises up her sleeve.
Best known for playing the Fisher family matriarch on Six Feet Under, Conroy recurred on both seasons of American Horror Story and is set to return for the third cycle, subtitled Coven.
Royal Pains' Evan and other TV characters more adorable than New Girl's Jess
Smallville's Callum Blue will also recur this season as Boris' cousin, Milos Kuester Ratenicz. Although Milos is everything Boris is not — warm and outgoing — the two share the same rare genetic disease. After Boris was killed in an explosion at Shadow Pond at the end of Season 4, Hank ventures to Prague to seek answers about his mysterious passing from Milos. This season, Royal Pains will shoot on location in Europe and Georgia.
Additional guest stars include Moneyball's Stephen Bishop, House of Cards' Kevin Kilner and Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23's Liza LaPira as new HankMed clients.
Royal Pains began shooting last week and will return this summer on USA. Are you excited to see Conroy soak up the sun?


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Hello World.
This is ABC South-West speaking. We would like to introduce ourselves as the newly-founded Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) group for Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany and its surrounding areas. ABC's goals are to show solidarity with prisoners and people suffering from repression, to connect those affected as well as solidary people and to offer support. This includes following and accompanying legal processes, so that cases of repression and violence are made public and nobody has to fight alone. In this context we will regularly post reports of ongoing court cases. We plan to create a list of prisoners in the region and – with your help – write letters to them, turning solidarity into action.
Part of our aim is also to go beyond mere descriptive work and to criticize and attack the roots of imprisonment and repression, namely state, borders, police brutality and the justice system.
The ABC seeks to offer information, discourse and networking for self-defense and self-empowerment. The website should act as an information platform where you can contribute texts and reports for publication, where a collection of helpful links and other material such as zines can be found, and where the framework for exchanging experiences is given. In time this will create an archive made up out of the collected contents, which can aid in observing and understanding developments in repressive structures as well as the corresponding possibilities to counteract them. In order to develop an overview of ongoing legal cases we are working on creating a chronicle of repression and solidarity. In order to do this we need your help ! Send us (encrypted) information on legal processes, police actions, prisoners, acts of solidarity and so on.
A further important issue is the documentation and criticism of the continuing militarization of police, state, and companies, as well as public surveillance and militant law-making, justified by the pretext of fighting terror and the creation of imaginary enemies.
It is not our goal to be an anti-repression-service-center, but rather to unite to fight repression with you. The ABC South-West considers itself a horizontal anti-authoritarian group. In the moment we are still under construction and so are not able to take on new members for the time being. We are working towards local and international networking and would welcome the broadcast of the ABC homepage, as well as any helpful tips and information from your part. Check out the website's download area where you can find posters to print and distribute yourselves.
Spread the word !
Burn all prisons !
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(MENAFN- Nxtgen Reports) As the world continues to deal with COVID-19, economies are moving into recession, under multiple adverse factors, the GDP of European and American countries in the second quarter suffered a historical contraction. At an annualized rate, the US GDP fell by 32.9% month on month, while the overall GDP of the euro zone fell by 12.1%. Moreover, the economic prospects of Europe and the United States in the third quarter under the epidemic situation are hardly optimistic. The resumption of work and production not only brought economic data back, but also triggered a rebound in the epidemic situation. At present, the United States is still the 'epicenter' of the global epidemic. The total number of confirmed cases has exceeded 4.8 million, and the epidemic situation in some European countries has also rebounded. Affected by this, more than 20 states in the United States have announced the suspension or withdrawal of part of the economic restart plan. Britain and Italy have also decided to extend the state of emergency. The rebound of the epidemic situation has posed considerable risks to the economic prospects of Europe and the United States. In the second quarter of this year, US GDP shrank by 9.5% on a month on month basis, or 32.9% at an annual rate, the largest decline since the 1940s. Data show that the sharp decline in personal consumption is the main drag on the U.S. GDP growth in the second quarter. Compared with the United States, Europe's economic contraction in the second quarter was smaller, but it was also the lowest on record, with Germany and France contracting more than 10%. According to the data released by the Federal Bureau of statistics, Germany's GDP fell by 10.1% in the second quarter after adjusting for prices, seasons and working days, the largest decline since the quarterly economic data were available in 1970. Thanks to the effective control and policy support of the new epidemic, China's economy rebounded sharply in the second quarter. The growth rate of manufacturing industry, which accounted for about 28% of GDP, rebounded sharply to 4.4% from the negative value in the first quarter. Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers are ramping up production. And there are increased investments in digital footprints in manufacturing. OEMs in other parts of the world are offering incentives to drive sales. XYZResearch published a report for global Baby Monitor market in this environment. In terms of revenue, this research report indicated that the global Baby Monitor market was valued at XXX million in 2019, and it is expected to reach a value of XXX million by 2026, at a CAGR of XX % over the forecast period 2021-2026. Correspondingly, the forecast analysis of Baby Monitor industry comprises of China, USA, Japan, India, Korea and South America, with the production and revenue data in each of the sub-segments. The ??Safety 1st(Dorel)? aims at producing XX Baby Monitor in 2020, with XX % production to take place in global market, ????Motorola? accounts for a volume share of XX %. Regional Segmentation (Value; Revenue, Million, 2015 - 2026) of Baby Monitor Market by XYZResearch Include China EU USA Japan India Southeast Asia South America Competitive Analysis; Who are the Major Players in Baby Monitor Market? Safety 1st(Dorel) Motorola Philips Samsung NUK(Newell Brands) D-Link Angelcare Summer Infant Snuza Vtech Hisense ... Major Type of Baby Monitor Covered in XYZResearch report: Audio Baby Monitor Video Baby Monitor Internet Baby Monitor Application Segments Covered in XYZResearch Market Home family Commercial (Hospital&Early Learning Centre) Application 3 For any other requirements, please feel free to contact us and we will provide you customized report.
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"Americans now walk the least of any industrialized nation in the world," says writer Tom Vanderbilt. To find out why that is, Vanderbilt has been exploring how towns are built, how Americans view walking — and what might be done to get them moving around on their own two feet.
Talking with Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep about what is wrong with Americans' relationship with walking, Vanderbilt says, "The main thing is, we're just not doing enough of it."
"We've engineered walking out of our existence and everyday life," Vanderbilt says. "I even tried to examine the word 'pedestrian,' and it's always had sort of this negative connotation — that it was always better to be on a horse or something, if you could manage it."
In a series of stories for Slate about "The Crisis in American Walking," Vanderbilt writes about pedestrian life in America, from "sidewalk science" to possible ways to make the U.S. less car-centric. And he finds that what started as a push for convenience has become a difficult problem, as many parts of the country are now designed specifically for cars, not pedestrians.
And while Americans have cut down on walking, they've been putting on some pounds. A recent study found that about 35 percent of adult Americans are obese, as NPR's Shots blog reported in January. That equals "more than 78 million adults and more than 12 million children."
As one example of how people can take a technological advance and turn it into a reason to stop exercising, Vanderbilt points to the moving sidewalk.
"Go to an airport, and look at people on the moving walkway," he says. "I mean, the engineers who built that walkway — it's meant to speed you up, by walking on it. You're not meant to just hop on it and go on a slow, sort of moving ride."
Americans' reluctance to be pedestrians has not gone unnoticed — and there are efforts under way to get us walking more. The group America Walks, for instance, promotes walking in our daily lives with its "safe routes" program and other initiatives. And the Walk Score website rates neighborhoods based on how easy it is to walk around in them.
Those ideas also contribute to the rising trend of "mixed-use" real estate developments, many of which approximate the feel of an old village square by building cobblestones, sidewalks and lampposts into outdoor malls or apartment buildings.
Vanderbilt says of the movement, "I think the impulse is correct, and it does speak to this hunger that I think people do have, to walk."
But, he adds, while such developments offer a way to treat the symptoms of inactivity, they don't address the core problem — of too many people living too far away from the things they need.
"It's been argued by certain planners that people will drive to where they want to walk," he says. "But, can we walk to where we want to go? Does it always have to be a matter of jumping in a car?"
"Walking is really as natural as breathing," Vanderbilt says. "We're all born pedestrians."
Talking with Steve, Vanderbilt cites a thought on walking from philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who said, "I've walked myself into my best thoughts."
"I think we've all had that experience, of just taking a walk to clear your head. And it lowers your stress," Vanderbilt says — then adds, "hopefully, it lowers your stress. Some places we have to walk in the U.S., it doesn't lower your stress."
As he writes in the final installment of his series, "There is not a single dollar in the U.S. federal transportation budget dedicated strictly to walking."
Later in the same paragraph, Vanderbilt writes: "As a Federal Highway Administration study noted, 'In 2009, about 2.0 percent of federal-aid surface transportation funds were used for pedestrian and bicycle programs and projects. However, those two modes are estimated to account for almost 12 percent of all trips and represent more than 13 percent of all traffic fatalities.'"


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HBO CEO Richard Plepler is saying something a lot of the television network's fans have been waiting to hear — that its content could be offered to customers directly through their Internet service providers instead of a cable company.
Right now, HBO must be purchased through a cable provider. Plepler tells Reuters that HBO Go, an online streaming service launched by the network in 2010 (but still only available as an extra to your cable TV) might also be sold through ISPs.
As Business Insider puts it, "HBO, unlike , relies on cable companies for distribution. It doesn't want to upset its partners by going direct to the consumer."
Customers could pay $50 a month for their broadband Internet and an extra $10 or $15 for HBO to be packaged in with that service, Plepler told the news agency.
"Maybe HBO GO, with our broadband partners, could evolve," Plepler says. "We would have to make the math work."
HBO Go has about 6.5 million registered users, compared with about 29 million for HBO's main service, Reuters says.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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If you love to watch the Olympics, this is your year: NBC is pumping out more than 5,500 hours of video for your TV and digital devices. We've covered that before — but how do you go about watching?
Here's a guide to how you can keep up with the Summer Games:
Sign-Ups Required. Like most things that are "free," you need to sign up before you can watch live video online. To do that, you should have an account with a TV provider that includes MSNBC and CNBC — and know your user ID and password for it. Visit the NBC Live Extra page to sign up.
NBC says the service should remember you, so you only have to do it once. We here at The Torch say you might want to register early, in case the system bogs down. But we're skeptics like that.
Apps For Mobile Access. For the mobile audience, NBC has two levels of tablet and mobile apps. There's the basic NBC Olympics app for the iPhone and for Android phones.
And then there's the Olympics Live Extra app, which, as the name implies, has live video and "full replays for all 302 events." It's free to anyone with the TV account mentioned above, and works with Android and Apple devices.
Other app options (apptions?) come from the official London 2012 group, which will provide live results to iPhone and iPad users. Their app is also available for Android and Windows phones.
Or, if you're over the whole app thing, there's always the .
What's On? For a summary of the day's events and viewing options, you can visit NBC. We'll also give you a preview of events every day at The Torch. And we have a full schedule to help you find your favorite sports.
As noted above, you might want to register at NBC now, if you plan to. Because while the Opening Ceremonies are Friday, the first games start Wednesday, with women's soccer.
What You'll See And Hear. NBC's streaming video runs the gamut from unvarnished (and unhosted) feeds of competitions to fully produced coverage. So don't freak out if there's no sound. In fact, it might be a delightful break from chatty commentators.
Whoa. An estimated 4.8 billion people worldwide will watch this summer's Olympic Games. So don't be surprised if your feed gets disrupted. If all goes smoothly, it'll be a massive achievement.
The full-access approach is a new one for NBC. The network riled many in 2008, when it opted to save "premium" events for TV and relegate "second-tier" events to the web.
With a five- to eight-hour time difference between Britain and most of the United States, the London Games seem like an ideal case for live streaming video. If it's a hit, you can count on seeing many "lost worker productivity" stories coming out, about folks gawking at Olympic contests when they should be filing TPS reports.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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For Anime Expo/Comic-Con/Gen Con this year, my buddy Jason and I made a bunch of these framed wall hangings.
Our convention season is over for the year, but we have some stock left!
They're 12 x 12″ (the size of a record album), and each piece comes framed & ready to hang.
Because of the way we make them, there are a bunch of different color patterns. (Basically, we cut the same design out of various colors of material, and then mix & match all the pieces.)
The two basic designs we've made so far are all the different D20s you see in the picture, and some floppy disks (of which there are a couple more variants than are pictured). UPDATE: The floppies all sold out for the time being! We'll make more soon enough! We've named each different colorway after a D&D character or a classic file extension.
We have a large variety but not a large inventory — there's no more than 4 of any given color pattern, and for several, only 1.
This is a bit of a test! We will likely make more of these if they prove popular (in a less expansive set of different colorways), but for now, we wanted to make our convention inventory available for folks who couldn't make it to a show.
They are available in my store right now, or, just scroll down! (Patreon pals got the link yesterday, and a few are already gone!)
ALSO NOTE: The shipping cost is what it is, but I will ship any additional pieces after the first for no extra cost!
In other words, the shipping fee is flat no matter how many pieces you get. (Within the U.S. only, unfortunately.)


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WASHINGTON — Glenn Beck says he has come under fierce attack from some of his fellow conservatives for a grave transgression.
His crime? He announced plans to bring food, water, teddy bears and soccer balls to at least some of the tens of thousands of Central American children who have crossed the border into the United States.
"Through no fault of their own, they are caught in political crossfire," Beck said. "Anyone, left or right, seeking political gain at the expense of these desperate, vulnerable, poor and suffering people are reprehensible."
Beck, not averse to a certain grandiosity, let us know that "I've never taken a position more deadly to my career than this." But assume he's right — and he may well be. It's one more sign of how the crisis at our border has brought out the very worst in our political system and a degree of plain nastiness that we should not be proud of as a nation.
Let's stipulate: This is a difficult problem. Unless the United States is willing to open its borders to all comers — a goal of only the purest libertarians and a very few liberals — we will face agonizing choices about whom to let in and whom to turn away.
Moreover, it's clearly true, as The Washington Post editorialized, that "there is nothing humanitarian in tacitly encouraging tens of thousands of children to risk their lives, often at the hands of cutthroat smugglers, to enter this country illegally."
But instead of dealing with this problem in a thoughtful way reflecting shared responsibility across party lines, President Obama's critics quickly turned to the business of — if I may quote Beck — seeking political gain. Last week, the only issue that seemed to matter was whether Obama visited the border.
It's not just partisan politics, either. It should bother religious people that politicians pay a lot of attention when conservative church leaders speak out against contraception and gay rights but hardly any when religious voices suggest that these children deserve empathy and care.
There are those in our clergy who could usefully consider whether they speak a lot louder when they're talking about sexuality than when they're preaching about love. Nonetheless, many religious leaders are condemning callousness toward these kids.
"The church cannot be silent," the Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, wrote in Time magazine, "as angry groups of people stoking the flames of fear yell at buses filled with helpless immigrant children and women."
And Sister Mary Ann Walsh, the media director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called for "a moral conscience moment" akin to the response during the civil rights era "in the welcoming of children and others escaping the violence in such countries as Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras."
It is said, and it's true, that the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act that swept through Congress and was signed by President George W. Bush in December 2008 has had the unintended consequence of encouraging the Central American children to head north. To protect victims of sex trafficking, the law guaranteed an immigration hearing to unaccompanied minors, except for those from Canada and Mexico.
As the bill was making its way through Congress, members of both parties could not stop congratulating themselves for their compassion. The bill, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) said, arose from "exemplary bipartisan cooperation" and showed how big-hearted we are.
"Together, let us end the nightmare of human trafficking," he declared, "and lead the world to see, in the poignant words of Alexis de Tocqueville, that America is great because America is good."
Suddenly, although kids are still involved, we are far less interested in being "good" than in protecting our borders.
All the pressure now is to change the Wilberforce Act so it would no longer apply to Central American children. There's a strong logic to this. The law does create a powerful incentive for unaccompanied minors from Central America (which is not that much farther away than Mexico) to seek entry, en masse, to our country.
But there is another logic: that the anti-trafficking law really did embody a "good" instinct by holding that we should, as much as we can, treat immigrant children with special concern. Do we rush to repeal that commitment the moment it becomes inconvenient? Or should we first seek other ways to solve the problem? Yes, policymakers should be mindful of unintended consequences. But all of us should ponder the cost of politically convenient indifference.
E.J. Dionne's email address is firstname.lastname@example.com. Twitter: @EJDionne.
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