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Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Creating Dynamic Characters
It's pretty easy to do. When I'm creating characters, either protags, antags, or supports, I do a mental checklist of the following criteria:
UNIQUE- What makes this person different from anyone else? Why is this hero the ONLY ONE who could be in your story? Include profession, race, gender, age, and brief description.
GOALS- What are your protagonist's goals? Dreams? Fears? Things they desperately want?
FLAWS- What personal, internal problem will get in the way of the hero reaching his/her goals? Addiction? Illness? Disability? Neuroses?
QUIRKS- What are the strange, bizarre, personal, or human traits this hero possesses? Habits and rituals?
PERSPECTIVE- First person or third person, and why?
SUPPORT- Who are the supporting, returning characters that assist your hero? Friends? Co-workers?
ENEMY- Your villain should have all of these traits as well. Who will make a worthy opponent for your hero?
EXAMPLE- Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, Chicago Violent Crimes featured in the novels WHISKEY SOUR & BLOODY MARY, and the EQMMM short stories ON THE ROCKS & WITH A TWIST
UNIQUE- Jack is 46, divorced, unlucky in love but a good cop–she had to be to become a Lieutenant in the male-dominated fraternity of the CPD. Jack has dedicated her life to the Job, but is now at an age where she's regretting never starting a family.
GOALS- Jack needs to do well in her career; that's the only time she feels good about herself. But she also realizes, for the first time, that there's more to life than work, and she wants to broaden her personal life.
FLAWS- Jack has insomnia, due to her fixation with her job. She constantly questions her own actions, wondering if she could have done better. She doesn't think she's worthy of love.
QUIRKS- Her insomnia causes her to max out her credit cards watching the late night Home Shopping Network. She worries too much about fashion, and is envious of those who dress better than she does.
PERSPECTIVE- First person for Jack, third person for the villain.
SUPPORT- Overweight partner Det. Herb Benedict, accountant boyfriend Latham Conger, mother Mary Streng, ex-husband Alan Daniels, criminal friend Phineas Troutt, ex-partner PI Harry McGlade, hellspawn cat Mr. Friskers.
ENEMY- In WHISKEY SOUR, a serial killer called The Gingerbread Man is making snuff movies in his basement and wants to make one with Jack. In BLOODY MARY, a maniac is dismembering people and leaving accessories of Jack's at the crime scenes.
As you can see, Jack isn't perfect. Her problems add a dimension to the stories beyond the conflict which fuels the plot.
How about your characters? I have a worksheet download here if you'd like to try it for yourself.
12 comments:
- Jude Hardin said...
I like that, Mark. There are innumerable ways to make a character come to life.
I like Joe's worksheet, but I might add: Background.
What kind of household were they brought up in? Religious or not? Were they picked on as a kid? Did they have lots of friends in high school, or just a few? When was the first time they got stinking puking drunk? What kind of flower did they buy their date for the prom? What was it they most wanted for Christmas when they were eight? When was the first time they had sex? What pushes their buttons? What are they so passionate about that they could kill another human being? And so forth.
Much of the background will never make it onto the finished page, of course, but I think it's important for an author to know these things in order to understand motivation.
Also, Joe: Why first person for Jack, third person for the villain?
It seems like a wonderful way of cheating, and I've adopted that format for my current project. But what motivated you to go that way in the first place?
Just curious. - 10:15 PM
- Author-Gerald said...
I like the simple worksheet, Joe. I've seen a number of these before, and they can run to 3 or 4 sheets, sometimes more. But I do agree with the good Captain there - homelife and younger days have such a bearing on a real-life personality, and I think some indication of the type of childhood might enlighten the reader as to the personality of the character.
- JA Konrath said...
Good points, folks.
I'd put the 'what would they rather be doing' question under GOALS.
Backstory can be hugely important, just make sure it stays backstory. Anything more than a paragraph, or a quick reference here or there, and it becomes exposition, which brings the story to a grinding halt.
Jack lost her father at an early age, andher mother raised her by herself. Very important, but I spent a total of six sentences on it in three books.
Let the reader fill in the blanks and make the associations. If you spend more than a page on backstory it ain't backstory, dammit! Write that story instead. - 8:10 AM
- Rob Gregory Browne said...
"Let the readers fill in the blanks and make the associations."
This, IMO, is all important. Avoid "on the nose" writing. Make the reader work a little, make the connections herself, and your story will benefit. - 8:42 AM
- JA Konrath said...
As for the 1st/3rd POV switch---oddly enough, when I wrote Whiskey Sour, there wasn't a lot of that being done. In fact, I didn't know of anyone that did it, and I remember it being risky to try (along with writing in present tense, which also wasn't done much.)
Now, I see it all over the place. Which probably means that it works.
POV is dictated by the story, not the writer. In 3rd person, the character with the most to lose or gain is the one who should be describing the scene.
In 1st person, you're stuck in one character's head, which means you can miss a lot of stuff happening away from the character.
Since people other than Jack are threatened and killed in my books, I needed to get out of Jack's head and follow the action. Sometimes that's with the killer. Sometimes that's with another character.
In Rusty Nail, besides Jack and the killer, I also switch to Herb's POV, Phin's POV, and another character's POV, maing 5 POVs in what is essentially a 1st person narrative.
The trick is to know when to switch (when there is no other choice) and to make it seemeless (which is why I now use prologues and begin with a 3rd person killer POV--to make the later switches easier on the reader)
In an upcoming book, I'm playing with POV again, by using two alternating 1st person POVs (one for hero, one for villain) along with the 3rd person cut-aways.
Let the story tell you what it needs. - 9:00 AM
- Jude Hardin said...
Very nice, Joe. Thanks!
- Jude Hardin said...
James Patterson uses first/third in his Alex Cross novels, starting with ALONG CAME A SPIDER (1992).
I read once who is credited with doing this first, but can't remember the author's name.
Any help? - 10:55 AM
- JA Konrath said...
I grew up reading Spenser and Travis McGee, and wanted to write in 1st because of them.
Besides being more intimate and immediate, first person allows the reader to become the hero. There's a connection there that 3rd person doesn't have.
Plus, in the mystery thriller genre, it's the accepted classic form of the narrative. - 10:55 AM
- JA Konrath said...
Patterson may have been first--at least in the mystery genre.
- Rob Gregory Browne said...
"In 3rd person, the character with the most to lose or gain is the one who should be describing the scene."
Not sure I agree with this. At least not in a strict sense. Using a minor character's POV can sometimes be more illuminating, and more interesting.
Whatever works for the story. - 11:38 AM
I'd love to check out your character worksheet you mention in this post, but the link is broken. Have you posted it somewhere else?13021
So, is creating a character around a central idea that fuels actions, personality, and problems a bad idea?


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We all got tricked into mundane lives. Sold a story and told to chase the 'dream.' The problem? There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow if you follow the main conventional narrative.
So why don't people change? Obligations and reputations.
Buy NowWhy Play
The game of life is no longer a level playing field. The old world system that promised fairness and guarantees has shifted, and we find ourselves in an era of uncertainty and rapid change.
Digital Soul
In the era where your digital presence echoes across virtual realms, "Digital Soul" invites you on a journey to reclaim the essence of your true self.

subset: commoncrawl


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Encountered "(. Incorrect Select Statement, Expecting a 'FROM', But Encountered '(' Instead, A Select Statement Should Have a 'FROM' Construct.
I was testing some ColdFusion Query of Queries functionality when I got this error:
Query Of Queries syntax error.
Encountered "(. Incorrect Select Statement, Expecting a 'FROM', But Encountered '(' Instead, A Select Statement Should Have a 'FROM' Construct.
I know what was causing the error because I was testing to see if something worked, but it's not the most obvious error. I guess it's a syntax error (from a technical standpoint), but in my case, where I was testing to see if ISNULL() worked, I'm really using a function that is not available.
That being said, if you get the error above, it means you are using something in the SELECT statement that is not allowed. If you are coming over from SQL, make sure you are not trying to use any SQL functions that are not available in the ColdFusion Query of Queries. As a foot note, here are some common SQL functions that I use that are not available in the ColdFusion Query of Queries:
Short link: https://bennadel.com/111
Reader Comments
In my case, I have an XML file which I'm converting into a query object. The resulting query has a column named date. I can select * just fine, but when I specify the date column it blows up. Leave that column out and it works just fine. I've tried bracketing the column name, quoting it bracketing AND quoting to no avail.
Anyone have any ideas?
In this case, the solution was ot both bracket AND alias the questionable column. So this works:
SELECT [date] AS thedate
FROM QofQ
Exactly... in fact, the same thing would apply to a regular non-query-of-queries SQL statement.
I've run into this error as well using the COUNT function. It only works when i have just the function in the SELECT list and use no alias which is worthless for my purposes.
I got this exception now.
In case you're using var-es local struct, CF gives you couple of "new" exceptions:
Encountered "local.
Encountered "id. Incorrect Select List, Incorrect select column
This is the way out:
<cfset var local = structNew() >
<cfset local.query = something... >
<cfquery name="local.queryOfQueries" dbtype="query" >
SELECT [id],
FROM [local].query
WHERE [columnId] IN ( ...cfqueryparam list output...)
ORDER BY [id] ASC
Those who work with MS SQL Server should recognize this syntax.
Yeah, the [local] notation still trips me up from time to time.
You consistently give excellent explanations to most of the problems I have. Thank you for your service to the CF community!
Thanks Kate! Hey, you going to CFUnited this year?
Wouldn't miss it. See you there!
I'm sure this is already a known fact but figured I'd mention it anyways just in case some unsuspecting soul tries it:
What works in QoQ:
select myQuery1.name, myQuery2.city
from myQuery1, myQuery2
where myQuery1.id = myQuery2.id
What won't work:
select qry1.name, qry2.city
from myQuery qry1, myQuery qry2
where qry1.id = qry2.id
Aliasing won't work, or I'm doing something wrong.
I found this same issue when trying to use MID() in a cfquery of a query (PDF Solr Collection). I've been going nuts trying to find away around this problem all day. I need part of the date string in the URL to order my results.
<cfquery dbtype="query" datasource="search" >
SELECT KEYWORDS, RANK, RECORDSSEARCHED, SCORE, SUBJECT, SUMMARY, TITLE, TYPE, URL, MID(URL,21,4) AS ShortBy
FROM search
ORDER BY Shortby desc
<cfoutput name="TestOutput" query="search">


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Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Inviting the museum visitor down hallways and through rooms of rendered memories and memorials, the Gary Baseman show at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles uses a design based on the artist's Jewish childhood home to offer up a retrospective of his extended family of characters, related artworks, and family memorabilia.
The show's title, "The Door is Always Open," is taken from a remark Baseman's Yiddish speaking father made while explaining his attitude about hospitality: "Gary, the door is always open."
Just how open? The night of the show's opening, Baseman dedicated and helped hang a mezuzah based on the one that hung at his parent's home—it has the head of one of his characters—as he welcomed a crowded museum full of fans and family to the show.
The retrospective, which runs through Aug. 18, is the first major solo show for the Los Angeles artist at an American Jewish museum. Baseman, who is the creator of the Emmy-winning Disney cartoon series, "Teacher's Pet," about a dog who dresses up as a boy, and the artistic designer of "Cranium," a popular board game, has also given lectures and workshops at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Israel.
Baseman used his parents' real dining room set—they have both passed away—for the show.
"I wanted people to feel comfortable and develop a rapport with the art work and a feel for the alien or distant," Baseman, who even designed slipcovers and wallpapers for the show, said in an interview from his studio. "I wanted people to feel enchanted with my world."
Unlike the usual museum environment, Baseman pointed out that people do come in and sit on the furniture.
The artist, whose work skirts a line between fine art and art toys, has also created covers for the New Yorker and illustrations for Time, as well as ad campaigns for Nike and Mercedes-Benz.
His smiling but oddly menacing characters, who you also might suspect commit acts of mayhem and worse while you're not looking, are available online and in gallery shops in hipster neighborhoods around the country—even Beverly Hills, as Lladro recently released a porcelain version of a design he created for them there.
Baseman is also on a mission "to make being Jewish cool," and one of his creations, "Gefilte," a multi-headed green and finny character, is pictured on the aprons that docents wear as they give museum visitors the tour. On the other hand, another of his characters, "Pupik," is not in the show.
"He's got an outtie," Baseman said of Pupik, who is festooned with erect orange appendages. Museum officials passed on including that character in the family-friendly show.
With photos and family videos intermixed with his art, the show invites the visitor to enter and respond to the inner world of a Jewish family.
Seated in the show's "dining room" at his mother's table, including china and silverware set for a Jewish holiday meal, is the fez-wearing life-size Toby, Baseman's all-seeing character, who has a huge eye painted on his middle. In another show of the artist's work, Toby is described as "Your shadow. Your mirror. Your best friend in the whole wide world."
Toby is "the keeper of your secrets," said Baseman.
Posing amidst a setting evocative of the Jewish Fairfax district where Baseman had his bar mitzvah and his mother worked in the famous Canter's deli, the grinning Toby prepares the visitor for a house tour of glimpsed Baseman memories.
There is a living room, where Baseman remembers drawing as a child—he has added cushions with his characters on them to the chairs. A study is filled with elements of pop culture that inspired him, and a den where his TV show is playing on a vintage set. On display in the backyard is Baseman's childhood take on a Superman costume, with the Hebrew letter "Shin" replacing the "S."
On display in the bedroom are darker works, where Baseman's fantasies merge with older established Jewish folklore. A tale with which Baseman recently became familiar, the golem—the story of a man made of clay who protects the Jews of Prague—bridges the gap between the two mythologies.
The golem, who came alive when the word "Emet" (truth) was written on his forehead, and died when the letter aleph was erased, leaving "Met," (death), is referenced in Baseman's work, "Beverly (In memoriam)."
According to Aaron Rosen, the author of the show's catalogue, the work that shows a little girl wearing a homemade ghost costume with the word "Met" appearing on her forehead memorializes "the children who perished during the Holocaust." The other figure in the piece, Beverly, Baseman's favorite cousin who met an untimely death, has the word "Emet" on the front of her cap.
"Truth is big theme for me," said Baseman, who wants visitors, especially the younger adults who make up the base of fans to relate to his parents' experience in the Holocaust. During World War II, his father, who escaped from a camp into the woods, became a partisan and fought against the Nazis.
"My parents protected me from that burden," said Baseman, who has traveled to Poland and the Ukraine on a Fulbright Fellowship to recapture his parents' history.
But once his parents were gone, how did the door stay open?
"Once their physical home was no more, the creative door is always open," Baseman said.


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Bites or stings from venomous animals or insects can be dangerous; they lead to numerous fatalities globally each year despite the development of antivenoms that can neutralise many of their worst effects.
But research into their molecular components shows venoms aren't all bad. Many contain bioactive components (mini-proteins or peptides) that are so stable to the body's enzymes and selective of their biological target that they're increasingly being used as new research tools.
They're even being used as lead molecules in drug development efforts around the world.
Because of their often unique mode of action and exquisite selectivity, many of these peptides have the potential to identify new targets and approaches to treating diseases, especially where traditional approaches have failed.
Indeed, the fact that many venomous animals have evolved not just hundreds but often thousands of unique peptides makes venoms a largely untapped chemical treasure chest.
Blood clotting and pain killing
Two clinical areas where animal venom peptides have been particularly successful are in blood clotting and pain.
Snakes, in particular, have evolved a range of toxins that either enhance or inhibit the rate at which blood clots. Given most snake venom has evolved to prey on small mammals, it's not surprising they also work on human blood.
When purified, these components can be developed into therapeutics to be used at the right dose and clinical setting, such as stopping bleeding during surgery.
Perhaps more surprising are the analgesic or pain-killing effects of venom peptides. Here, the most promising leads for developing drugs come from venomous invertebrates such as cone snails, spiders and scorpions that don't prey on mammals.
Cone snail secrets
It seems some groups of animals have evolved venom components specifically for defence against vertebrate threats and not for predation. This was initially discovered in cone snails, which are marine molluscs that live mostly in warmer waters.
These snails have evolved different venoms in different sections of their venom duct. Amazingly, these venoms can be separately deployed, depending on whether the cone snail has identified a threat or prey. Analgesic peptides are concentrated in the venom they use to defend against larger invertebrate threats, such as octopus, and even fish.
Cone snail venoms contain relatively small and highly structured peptides, and the first marine drug found to be a painkiller – ω-conotoxin MVIIA or Prialt – comes from this venom. Another class of cone snail venom peptide called χ-conotoxins – originally discovered in Australia – also holds promise as a new class of analgesic.
There's much untapped potential to find and validate new therapeutic targets and even to find leads to important new classes of drugs from venoms. This promise, coupled with our ability to apply technology that can help deliver peptides into the central nervous system, is expected to drive the expansion of venom peptide discovery efforts into the clinic.
This article is part of our series Deadly Australia. Stay tuned for more pieces on the topic in the coming days.


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Welcome Watch The Hype! London-based electronic music curators share their first mixtape on Pacemaker. We've also selected two mixtapes from the community that take you on a special trip around the world.
We teamed up once again with online underground electronic music magazine Watch The Hype – this time we are proud to share their very first Pacemaker mixtape with you. The London-based curators are dedicated to focusing on forward-thinking artists, constantly supporting the latest and best in electronic music. If you want to find out more about them, check out our interview. This exquisite selection features some of the finest dub techno and dub reggae tracks by Moritz von Oswald, Rhythm & Sound, Pablo Bolivar, Claro Intelecto etc. You're in for a special treat! 🍬
Whenever @tefoden posts a new mixtape, an unknown world opens up full of mysteries. This time he tells us a weird and beautiful folk story with a distinctive musical tapestry inspired by the afro-electro soundscape. Exploring a culture by its sounds gives a unique space and experience to the listener – a clash of African and electronic elements, highly eclectic, very percussive and extremely recommended.
If the previous mixtape was eclectic, @dreadslevin's debut selection sets the bar even higher when it comes to blending sounds, genres, cultures and moods. Oriental bass, jazz-hop, deep house, electro pop, hip-hop… did we miss anything? You have two hours to immerse yourself in a parallel universe that sounds familiar but fascinating and strange at the same time.


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1/11/2017 - 8 Years Ago
eNOAD submitters should immediately discontinue the use of rich-text (RTF) and HTML (HTM) formats for eNOAD submissions via email. Continued use of these email formats may cause serious delays. It is imperative that all eNOAD submissions sent to the NVMC parser (firstname.lastname@example.com) arrive in plain-text email format. Submissions sent attached to rich-text emails (RTF) and HTML emails (HTM) may be blocked or stripped of attachments before reaching the NVMC. If an attachment has been blocked, typically neither the sender nor the NVMC will receive any notification that a submission was attempted. The use of compression files (.zip) can also cause a submission to be delayed or blocked. The use of compression files (.7z, and .rar) will cause a submission to be blocked. Please do not send eNOAD files via email compressed in any manner. If you do not receive an email rejection or confirmation within two hours of an emailed eNOAD submission, or have further questions about the above, please contact NVMC at 1-800-708-9823 or 1-304-264-2502 for assistance.


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The following is a post by Paco Vega. Paco is a single dad who writes about parenting issues and raising a family in the digital world. Interested in blogging for us? Email here.
Maybe you've just become a single dad, or perhaps you've been going it alone for some time. Either way, if it's time to go apartment hunting, you need to think about some things you'd never consider if you were looking for an apartment for yourself. Here are some tips to get you started:
Establish a Budget
To be affordable, your rent shouldn't eat up more than 30 percent of your monthly income, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Obviously, places in San Francisco or New York City will cost considerably more than apartments for rent in Atlanta, GA, or Billings, MT, and salaries don't always keep up with the increased costs of living. Local rents will also vary depending on the neighborhood.
Contact a local rental property expert to discuss neighborhoods within your budget. Certain factors such as who pays the utilities will cause variation in the rent amount. Find out what utilities you have to pay and how much they typically run.
Check out the Neighborhood
Look for a neighborhood that's accessible to your work place. If you take public transportation, make sure a stop is nearby, and take commute times into consideration and how it will affect your ability to get the kids to school on time.
Does the neighborhood look family-oriented, so your children can make friends with other kids? Are there parks, playgrounds and safe areas for them to play in? Larger apartment complexes may be more likely to have designated play areas, and this will help your child meet other kids right in the apartment community.
Don't forget to call the local police department to find out about the neighborhood crime rate.
Check out Apartment Ratings
Read the reviews on apartment rating websites to learn what past and current tenants think of the complex's management and maintenance department.
What to Ask on the Tour
- Who pays for utilities, and if tenants pay a portion, how much is that?
- What type of heating and cooling systems are used?
- Are pets allowed? Find out if there is a security deposit for a pet, if they charge extra for multiple pets and if you have to pay an extra monthly fee to have pets.
- How much is the security deposit and what is the refund policy on the deposit?
- What lease lengths are offered?
- How far in advance do you have to give notice if you want to move out?
- Is there on-site maintenance? Is the maintenance team available 24/7 for emergencies?
- Are there communal laundry facilities, in-unit washers and dryers or hookups? If facilities are shared, find out how much it costs to do laundry and what the laundry center hours are.
- Can you paint your children's bedrooms? What's the policy regarding painting when you move out?
- Can you put up shelves to add storage to childrens' bedrooms?
Make a List of Your Must-Have Features
Talk to your kids about what they want in an apartment and the apartment community. If you can financially swing it, make their requests high on the priority list, since those features may ease their transition.
Consider the features you think are most important. Storage for the kids' toys and such should be high on that priority list.
Finally, don't over-analyze things. It's the love inside the apartment that will make it your home.
What is one thing you consider when searching for a place to raise your child?
Connect with The Father Factor by RSS, Facebook and on Twitter @TheFatherFactor.


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New game show in India to reward 'green' projects
New Delhi, India (CNN) -- A new game show in India will award prizes to villages that are going green.The program, modeled after the rags-to-riches game show in the blockbuster film "Slumdog Millionaire," will focus on mainly rural institutions leading sustainable development, officials said.
India's state-owned Doordarshan television network will air the new version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" -- which will be called "Green Kerala Express," after the coastal state of Kerala in which it will be filmed.
The show has received about 250 entries ahead of its March 1 broadcast, Kerala Doordarshan assistant director Sajan Gopalan told CNN.
Among the contestants is a village that has rejected use of fertilizers and pesticides and adopted organic farming, he explained. Another competitor is a group of households converting degradable waste into biofuel, he added.
An initiative to replace incandescent bulbs with modern, energy-saving fluorescent lights in a whole neighborhood is another entry, Gopalan said.
The program's anchors will travel to selected villages in Kerala on bicycles for the shooting of the 105-episode program -- which will only be broadcast in that coastal state.
"The basic format will be that of a travelogue and thus it differs from conventional reality shows," Gopalan explained.
A technical jury will select village councils and other institutions on the basis of filmed documentation of their projects, according to the show organizers.
In studios, selected participants will then face questions from judges and the audience as videos of the projects are played for viewers, who can then rate their performance through mobile text messages to add to the score.
The winning project will receive a cash prize worth about $213,000, which Gopalan said would be funded by the state government.
"Green Kerala Express" is being launched a year after the smash hit "Slumdog Millionaire" swept the Oscar awards. The film, directed by Danny Boyle, told the tale of an improbable game show contestant, Jamal Malik, who wins the jackpot in "Kaun Banega Crorepati," India's earlier Hindi adaptation of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"
"But 'Green Kerala Express' is unique. It focuses on the collective efforts of the peoples to improve lives and work for sustainable development at the grassroots level," Gopalan said.
According to India's 2001 census, Kerala leads the country of a billion-plus residents in literacy. About 91 percent of Kerala citizens are literate -- compared to the national figure of 64.8 percent, data shows.
At the rural level, the state has about 1,000 village councils, according to official figures.
"The show gives opportunity to all of them to map their resources, visualize their success stories for others to emulate," Gopalan remarked.
India has vowed to reduce its carbon emissions by up to 25 percent between 2005 and 2020 voluntarily but refuses to accept legally-binding cuts that it fears may hamper its growth as a rising economy.


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Last Updated on April 2, 2013 7:15 pm
High Country Crime Stoppers and Boone Police seek the public's assistance in solving the following crime:
On March 28th, 2013, a Grey 2000 GMC Sierra single cab pickup truck, with North Carolina registration tag AMR-5347, was stolen out of the Chili's parking lot in Boone. The owner of the vehicle was attempting to sell the vehicle and allowed a couple to take the vehicle for a test drive, but they never returned. The suspects are described as a white male in his thirties, very thin, with a light, scruffy beard, wearing a black beanie cap and a sweatshirt. The second suspect is described as a white female, also in her thirties, with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a brown jacket.
Anyone with information on this crime or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 828-268-6959 / 828-737-0125 or the Boone Police Department at 828-268-6900. All information will be kept confidential.
High Country Crime Stoppers pays rewards for information, which leads to arrests; recovery of stolen property; seizure of drugs and the location of wanted persons.


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By Timothy Prickett Morgan • Get more from this author
GPU chipmaker Nvidia knows that it has to do more to grow its Tesla biz than slap some passive heat sinks on a fanless GPU card and talk up its CUDA parallel-programming tools. It has to keep delivering price/performance improvements, as well.
And that's exactly what it's doing with the new Tesla M2090 GPU coprocessor.
Back when the "Fermi" GPU chips were previewed at the SC2009 supercomputing event a year and a half ago, Nvidia showed off a chip with 512 cores, plus L1 and L2 cache memories for those cores (this was new) and ECC memory scrubbing (also new). The design bundled up 16 sets of 32 cores each into a streaming multiprocessor with 64KB of L1 cache, and a higher level L2 cache weighing in at 768KB that the cores can share.
That Fermi chip sported GDDR5 memory controllers, and the cards using the Fermi chips (either as discrete graphics cards or GPU coprocessors for accelerating floating point calculations) could have 3GB or 6GB of main memory. The memory controllers on the Fermi GPUs can address up to 1TB of memory, in theory.
But in the chip racket, theory does not always happen on the first iteration of a product, and so it was with the Fermi GPUs.
When the Fermi chips started shipping in the Tesla line of GPU coprocessors in May 2010, the initial Teslas had only 448 cores activated. Nvidia never explained this, but most people surmised that this had to do with yield issues (gunk on some cores in the chip) and the chips generating too much heat at a particular clock speed.
With those 448 cores running at 1.15GHz and GDDR5 memory chips running at 1.56GHz, the Tesla M2050 GPU coprocessor was rated at the 515 gigaflops of double-precision and 1.03 teraflops single-precision when performing floating-point operations.
The Tesla M2050 is a single-wide PCI-Express 2.0 device that has 3GB of GDDR5 memory, while the M2070 is a two-slot device that packs 6GB of memory and has the same floppish performance.
Both are rated at a top-end 225 watts of peak power draw, but Nvidia says the actual heat thrown off by the device is often a lot less and depends on the workload. That is a little bit less than 238 watts that the Tesla C2050 and C2070 coprocessors, which have fans built into them and which are aimed at goosing the number-crunching power of workstations to create a "personal supercomputer" – although these devices, too, are rated at the same 515 gigaflops of double-precision and 1.03 teraflops single-precision.
Sumit Gupta, senior product manager of the Tesla line at Nvidia, says that the Fermi GPUs used in the new M2090 coprocessors are not just a bin sort, looking for Fermis with more working cores or clocks that can run faster reliably. Nvidia has actually done a new tape-out of the Fermi design using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp's 40-nanometer processes, which Gupta says have some improvements that make chips run better.
When you add up some nips and tucks here and there on the Fermi chip plus the process improvements from TSMC, Nvidia can crank up the Fermi core clock speed by 13 per cent to 1.3GHz, and the GDDR5 memory speed by 18.6 per cent, to 1.85GHz, on the Tesla M2090.
Those increases help performance considerably. And so does the fact that with the TSMC process improvement, Nvidia can now have all 512 cores in the Fermi design activated, which yields a theoretical 14.3 per percent improvement over those initial Fermi chips with only 448 active cores.
Do the math
When you add it up, the faster clocks and memory and the higher core count add up to somewhere between a 20 and 30 per cent improvement in performance, thus:
By the raw numbers, the M2090 is rated at 665 gigaflops at double-precision and 1.33 teraflops at single-precision, or 29.1 per cent more than the M2070 it replaces. The M2090 delivers 178GB/sec of memory bandwidth, up from 148GB/sec with the M2070.
And here's the kicker: the M2090s go faster but are still within the same 225 watt peak power draw of the earlier and slower M2050 and M2070 devices. Of course, your actual power draw will depend on the workload and how it stresses the GPU coprocessor.
But its not just speed and power requirements that are pushing the coprocessor envelope: the big innovation that is helping with the adoption of GPU accelerators for supercomputing and other analytics jobs is not the GPU, but the server that wraps around them.
"We're beginning to see server makers respond to what customers want," Gupta tells El Reg. "Once customers start using GPUs, they want more GPUs in a box and fewer CPUs."
Gupta calls out HP's new ProLiant SL390s G7, which can cram eight GPUs into a two-socket tray server in a half-width 4U tray, which was soft-launched back in April. The Tesla M2050 and M2070 GPU coprocessors were already certified in this machine, as is the new M2090. That full configuration gives customers a ratio of four GPUs per socket – but, oddly enough, this is not actually good enough. For most HPC applications, one GPU per CPU core is what the applications really need, says Gupta.
On a two-socket server, if you backstep from a six-core Xeon 5600 to a four-core model (such as the Xeon X5667 launched in February), you can get things into balance. At least until there is an eight-core Xeon chip.
Perhaps the better answer, you're thinking, might be to do what Nvidia has already done for workstation graphics back at the end of March, and double-up the GPUs on a double-wide card.
The GTX 590 graphics card has two 512-core Fermi chips running at 1.22GHz with 1.5GB of GDDR5 memory per chip running at 1.77GHz. Nvidia does not provide floating-point performance ratings on the GTX 590, but it should be somewhere around 1.24 teraflops double-precision. With six of these GTX 590 cards in a 3U chassis, an HP ProLiant SL390s would be able to use six-core Xeon 5600 chips and have one GPU per CPU core.
The only trouble is, however, that the GTX 590s are aimed at workstations, not servers, and have fans on them that might mess up the airflow in the server chassis. Moreover, the GTX 590 cards pull down 365 watts of power, and are therefore a bit more power dense than the M2090, which has half as many GPUs but four times as much GDDR5 memory per Fermi chip. If your HPC app needs more GPU and less GPU memory, this is worth thinking about, if your server can handle the cooling job on multiple GTX 590s – and you can actually get your hands on them.
The GTX 590 will win, hands down, on price, at $699. The M2090 is probably going to costsomewhere around $4,100 to $4,700, if it is priced like the M2070 it replaces. Nvidia does not provide official pricing on the fanless M20 series of GPU coprocessors, which is silly.
Last week, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang lamented that the Professional Solutions business, where workstation graphics and Tesla co-processors live inside Nvidia, was not doing as well as expected, and part of the problem would seem to be that Nvidia is trying to charge too much money for the fanless GPUs. The price disparity between the GTX 590 and the M2090 is too large, plain and simple. ®
This article originally appeared in The Register.


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I have listed a new property at 201 260 STURGEON RD in St. Albert.
RIVER VALLEY CONDO features 1430 square feet of sun drenched living. Banks of Windows illuminate this gorgeous 2 bedroom great room second floor condominium. Upon entering you are greeted by gleaming hardwood floors that run throughout this unit. The large kitchen is loaded with cabinets and boasts tons of counter space and a breakfast bar. The great room, complete with feature wall gas fireplace and spacious dining area, has direct access to your private covered balcony that is perfect for year round barbecues. Two large bedrooms, including the master with 4 piece ensuite and office nook, are sure to please. Additional features include in-suite laundry, convenient storage room with built-in shelving, 2 large titled underground heated parking stalls close to the elevators, and brick exterior. Surrounded by trees and immediate access to the river valley trail system, this condo has it all. Get the space you deserve and a location second to none. Just move in and enjoy.


text:
Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Associated Press
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - A 14-year study of a nearly 1,000 elephants in Kenya shows an alarming death rate among older males _ those with large, valuable tusks _ and an acceleration in poaching deaths, the group Save The Elephants said Thursday.
The study said that in 2000 the region of Samburu had 38 known elephant males over 30 years of age. But 2011 only five of those original 38 were still alive. Almost half of the known females over 30 years also died during this period, at least half from illegal killings, the study found.
Targeted poaching deaths of Africa's elephants have accelerated in the last several years. The killings are driven by the rising price of ivory as demand increases across Asia _ and especially in China _ for the rare natural resource.
Animal experts worry that unless China's increasingly wealthy middle class can be educated about how elephants must be killed in order to provide the ivory used to make small, coveted trinkets, the world's elephant population will be in danger of being hunted to extinction.
"Ivory demand and prices have reached a point at which poachers are willing to target well-protected, closely monitored populations," said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save The Elephants, in a statement to release the report. "This is now being replicated in other protected areas across Africa."
The new study, published Wednesday in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed online scientific journal, found that the elephants of Samburu appeared to recognize the threat they faced and increased their reproductive rate.
Africa's elephants last faced a threat to their survival in the 1970s and 1980s. But the banning of ivory helped stem the threat until recent years, when the price again began climbing, increasing the incentive for poachers, corrupt government agents and even militant groups to kill elephants for their ivory.
Every week brings new reports of shipping containers full of tons of ivory discovered at ports in Africa or on the receiving end in Asia. Earlier this month a family of 12 elephants was killed in Kenya's largest wildlife park; all their tusks were removed.
Douglas-Hamilton believes the battle has not yet been lost, though.
"We faced this threat 30 years ago and we know that this situation can be controlled and reversed if the appetite for ivory is reduced. There needs to be united action from concerned individuals, NGOs and governments to reduce the demand for ivory," he said.
The study found that 56 percent of elephants in the Samburu region were being killed by poachers during the last three years of the study. In 1998 42 percent of the population was male but that by 2011 the bulls _ who carry the most ivory _ made up only 32 percent of the population.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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text: At 13:31 17.04.05, David Kastrup wrote: >Donald Arseneau <[log in to unmask]> writes: > > > Uwe Lück <[log in to unmask]> writes: > > > >> After a \newtoks\output, > > > > And, for the output routine, I think that itself is the mistake! I > > opine that for \output one should "bite the bullet" and do > > \output=\expandafter{\expandafter\mymacro\the\output} > > > >The problem is that you sometimes need to call the old behavior, and >sometimes not. In particular, if you have inserted a special penalty >yourself, then you will deal with it yourself, not passing anything on >and not actually calling the original output routine. Another point: For calling the old output routine only if it is appropriate, something like \edef\previous@output{\the\output} \output{...\previous@output...} could be a compromise. Yet as I understand Stephan Boettcher's (the former maintainer's) lineno.sty documentation, the purpose seemed to have been to "come earlier" than the output routine that multicol.sty (and longtable.sty etc.?) defines through \output{...} -- even when it is loaded after lineno.sty. Indeed, multicol.sty would give an error message when it would see a special penalty from lineno. The same applies to revtex.cls + longtable.sty. And longtable would give an error message with two of lineno's special penalties (these admittedly were my choices, perhaps I could have avoided the conflict). -- This could be repaired by a few additional code lines in multicol and longtable, so the \output trick is mainly a tribute to the littleness of hope that Standard LaTeX Packages would care about "contrib" packages. And as soon multicol or longtable would use the \output trick themselves, lineno could only work together with them if loaded earlier (another bit of evidence that the \output trick mainly is to ensure compatibility with some Standard LaTeX packages). -- Uwe Lueck.


text:
South opens 2nt
North alerts 2nt and when asked sys "5-5 in the minors"
North bids 3♦
South bids 3nt
When I ask what is going on North says, I got the explanation wrong. South says, I'm just bidding my hand.
Before we go on, I am asking the question to get this right in my mind, have no interest in getting an adjustment. This is a game where there is no qualified Director.
South is a boorish bully with no regard for the laws. North is one of the players who volunteer to "Direct".
Is this the correct procedure;
Playing transfers over 2nt, South must ignore the MI, announce a transfer and bid 3♥.
North can now "wake up", by the 3♥ bid, not the announcement of a transfer.
North can now bid 3nt.
Before the opening lead South advises his opps that there was MI given.
The tricky part here I think, is, when is North allowed to wake up and act on the mistake?
Is the announcement of a transfer UI but the 3♥ bid is AI which should alert North than something has gone awry?


text:
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In need of a water solution outside of the bottle? Try our under the sink reverse osmosis drinking water system. Looking for an endless supply of water? Our Bottle-Free Water Cooler allows you an endless supply of filtered drinking water without having to change or lift heavy bottles.


text:
Do I need to reserve a seat for my infant?
Children up to 2 years old (24 months) are not required to have their own seat. You must, however, inform United Airlines that you will be traveling with an infant on your lap.
Only one lap child is allowed per adult. If one adult is traveling with more than one infant under 2 years of age, a seat will have to be purchased for each additional infant.
You can also choose to purchase a seat for your infant as long as you have the proper child restraint device.
A passenger must be at least 18 years old in order to travel with an infant on his or her lap.
Will I pay for my infant to travel domestically?
A child under 2 years old (24 months) can travel for free as long as the infant will be on the lap of another passenger for the flight.
Will I pay for my infant to travel internationally?
Yes, a child under 2 years old (24 months) is usually charged 10% of an adult fare plus taxes, even if the infant will be on the lap of another passenger for the flight. Infants traveling between the U.S. and Canada only pay taxes for their travels.
What if my child turns 2 on the trip; will I have to buy a ticket for the return flight?
Yes, a ticket will have to be purchased for any flight on which the infant will be over 2 years old.
What types of child restraint devices are allowed?
You may use an approved infant car seat on board the aircraft when you purchase a seat for your child. The seat must be an FAA-approved child safety seat device. Please note the following infant car seat placement restrictions: on one-aisle aircraft, car seats must be placed in window seats, on two-aisle aircraft, car seats must be placed in window seats or the middle seat of a center section. Car seats are not permitted in rear-facing seats on any aircraft.
If manufactured after February 1985, the car seat should also be certified for use in aircraft. You should seat your child in the child safety seat for takeoff, landing and during turbulence.
The FAA has approved the use of a child safety restraint system for travel. The system, CARES (child aviation restraint system), uses an additional belt and shoulder harness that goes around the back of the seat and attaches to the lap belt. Children weighing between 22 and 44 pounds may use this device. Visit www.kidsflysafe.com for more information.
What infant amenities are available on the aircraft I'll be flying (i.e. bassinets)?
Infant amenities vary by aircraft. When you're on the airplane page, look for the Infant Amenity Icon. If it is present, clicking on it will tell you what infant services are available on that airplane. If you do not see it, infant amenities are not offered on that aircraft.
A limited number of bassinets can be reserved for use, free of charge, on international aircraft (Boeing 747, 757-200, 767 and 777). These bassinets are large enough to hold a child up to approximately six months old. They may not be used for takeoff, landing, or when the seat belt sign is illuminated. To request a bassinet for your flight, please contact United Reservations at 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) within the United States, or call the appropriate worldwide contact. Bassinet reservations are subject to availability. It is recommended that you make your request early, as bassinets may no longer be available for your flight once you arrive at the airport.
What is United Airlines policy with respect to strollers?
Strollers may be checked to your final destination without a fee, in addition to your normal baggage allowance.
Children can be transported in their strollers throughout the airport. However, strollers must be checked at the gate. No strollers of any size are permitted as carry-on baggage. Your child's stroller will be delivered to you at the aircraft door upon request at your connecting city or destination. Large-sized, non-collapsible strollers cannot be checked at the gate. Please see a United representative at the airport check-in counter to check your large-sized, non-collapsible stroller.
United is not responsible for damage that occurs to strollers that are not packaged in a box and checked at the check-in counter.
Which aircraft have baby changers in the lavatories?
Changing tables are available on certain types of aircraft.
Can I sit in the exit row with my infant?
If you are traveling with an infant or any child under 15 years old, you cannot sit in a designated exit row, in keeping with U.S. Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Only one infant per each grouping of seats on the aircraft is acceptable due to the availability of oxygen masks.


text:
About Rich Russo
A true music aficionado and collector, Rich Russo boasts a collection of vinyl and CDs estimated to have reached an astonishing 100,000 pieces.
Rich says, "Springsteen's line from No Surrender says it best, 'We learned more from a 3 minute record than we ever did in school.'"
"Music is the most personal and yet one of the most shared experiences you can have. My listeners share my passion for music and although we may not always have the same musical tastes they trust me to introduce them to artists who are relevant and to music that deserves to be heard."
A lifelong Jersey resident, Russo grew up listening to NY and NJ radio and remembers how the DJs were almost as big as the music they played. Rich believes that DJs today need an identity and must go beyond the pressures of playing only what research dictates or what the record labels are pitching.
Rich is a hard-core fan of live music and is committed to staying on the cutting edge of the music scene. He spends a few nights each week attending live concerts by emerging and established artists. He has seen his friends in the E Street Band play close to 400 times and has occupied a seat at a Pearl Jam concert more than 50 times.
"Part of, if not all of, the woes of radio, and especially rock radio, is the formula it's become. Focus groups and call out hooks – it's ridiculous – a great song is a great song regardless of it's source. Despite the digital outlets now and "genome selection crap" the audience is hungry and wants the DJ to help them discover their music choices. That's what DJ's do. I want to turn you on to cool things regardless of genre. Just the other day, I was going through a box of records I had bought years ago and there were a bunch of radio station copies and the coolest thing was that most of them had a sticker or something on it, next to each song title with the air staff's opinion of each song, not just the hit, but every song. I highly doubt that happens now."
'Anything Anything' goes deep and finds great new music for its listeners. Rich has the kind of creative freedom that is unrivaled in major market radio today. Working without the constraints of a playlist, Rich has 100% control of the music he plays and has successfully developed a free form show that is gutsy and raw. Russo is admired for being highly opinionated and not afraid to share his thoughts. As you listen to his show every week, you'll know what his feelings are towards musical trends, events and life in general. It all ties in to Rich Russo's philosophy about music being a very shared experience.
About Rich
Most Recent Playlist
PLAYLIST for 7/14/2024 and OnDemand Player
Anything, Anything dramarama dj rich russo Terrible Tim The Last DJ Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Rex Bob Lowenstein Mark Germino And The Sluggers She's A Mystery Mark Germino And The Sluggers Bill's Laundromat Bar and Grill Confederate...


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Read Davis, Renee Keen named to leadership positions with McGriff
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Truist Insurance Holdings today announced the following two appointments to senior leadership roles at McGriff, its retail insurance business, effective immediately.
Read Davis, currently president of McGriff's Georgia region, will become CEO, McGriff Specialty and Middle Market, while Renee Keen, the business' National Personal Lines & Small Business practice leader, will assume the position of CEO, McGriff Small Business and Personal.
The appointments follow the company's decision to divide the business' leadership responsibilities between two operational groups to reflect the distinct client segments and unique growth opportunities that exist in the business.
Both positions will report to John Howard, who was recently named chief insurance officer of Truist Financial Corporation and retains the position of chairman and CEO of Truist Insurance Holdings.
"Read and Renee are proven leaders, and these appointments recognize the outstanding contributions they have made to our organization during their careers," said Howard. "I am sure they will have an even greater impact on the continued success of McGriff in their new roles."
Davis, who joined McGriff in 1996, will be responsible for commercial property and casualty solutions for the business' larger clients, as well as employee benefits, captives and alternative risk transfer programs, and industry specialty groups. He began his insurance career in 1987, and has held risk management, producer and leadership roles at Rock-Tenn Company, Johnson & Higgins, and Alexander & Alexander.
Keen will lead McGriff's National Personal Lines & Small Business Practices, as well the business' Sales Center, agency distribution of personal lines, and the Family Risk Management Practice. She joined McGriff in 1999 as part of the company's acquisition of Beam, Cooper, Gainey & Associates, where she began her career in 1986.
"I am excited about what we can achieve at McGriff with these appointments," noted Howard. "I know the experience, expertise and, most important, the energy Read and Renee bring to their positions will expand the limits of what we can achieve and take our business to new heights."
About McGriff
A subsidiary of Truist Insurance Holdings, McGriff is a full-service insurance broker providing risk management and insurance solutions to clients across the United States. The firm's coverages include commercial property and casualty, corporate bonding and surety services, cyber, management liability, captives and alternative risk transfer programs, small business, employee benefits, title insurance, personal lines, and life and health.
About Truist Insurance Holdings
Truist Insurance Holdings, Inc., the sixth largest insurance broker in the U.S. and seventh largest in the world, is a subsidiary of Truist Financial Corporation. Truist Insurance Holdings operates more than 240 offices through its subsidiaries: McGriff Insurance Services, Inc.; CRC Insurance Services, Inc.; Crump Life Insurance Services, Inc.; AmRisc, LLC; and its Premium Finance companies (AFCO Credit Corporation, Prime Rate Premium Finance Corporation, Inc., and CAFO Inc.).
SOURCE Truist Insurance Holdings


text:
National Graduate Training Center (Windham House). Records
- Fonds
- 1926-1973
Part of Episcopal Agencies and Organizations of the General Convention or DFMS
The records comprehensively cover Windham House's entire history and include minutes, director's reports, and correspondence. Administrative files document Windham House's inception through its final director Johanna Mott. There is a solid set of financial records (1931-1973) with building plans, and records relating to the disposal of property. Alumni lists and correspondence exist as does a set of student records (1928-1967). A series of publications and typescripts about Windham House includes yearly catalogs and bulletins on the schools curriculum and academic life. The records also include a set of photographs.
National Graduate Training Center (Windham House)


text:
You won't find [Antoine] stumbling around in the dark. He just finished working on this LED flashlight which draws power from a super-capacitor (translated). He realized that lighting a high-efficiency LED takes so little power that there are many benefits in play when deciding to move away from batteries. When compared to a super capacitor, batteries have a shorter life span, are heavier, and take up more space.
The biggest drawback of a super capacitor in this situation is the low voltage operation. The output will start at 2.7V and drop as the current is discharged. [Antoine] used one of our favorite simple circuits to overcome this issue, the Joule Thief. That circuit is commonly seen paired with an LED in order to boost input voltage to a usable level. That's precisely what's going on here.
The final hack in his circuit is the addition of that red LED which you can see in the middle of the board. This takes the place of a Zener diode and drops the charging voltage to a safe level. That indicator light will not come on until the cap is fully topped off. This way it tells you when the device is done charging.


text:
Football points can be scored in many different ways, including catching a pass over the goal line, carrying the ball over the goal line, tackling a football player in his own end zone, or a kicker kicking the football through the goal posts on the opposing side. The football team with the highest score when the game is over is the team that wins the game. American football is also played in other countries outside the United States. Their are National football leagues that are in Sweden, Isreal, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom as well as Mexico, and a few that are in Pacific Island nations. The NFL had a developmental league in Europe from 91-92 and 95-06.
American football history can be found in the early versions of soccer and rugby. Both types of games have origins in different types of football that was played in the UK from the mid 19th century, in which the ball was run over a line or the ball was kicked at the goal. American football as well as soccer is played with 22 players on the field that they play on. Some terms from player positions from soccer are used today in American football such as fullback and halfback.
Rugby and American football do have a few major differences, some of the rule changes were started by Walter Camp who people would call the Father of American Football. Some of the Major changes that Walter Camp made were down and distance and line of scrimmage as well as the rule of down and distance. College coaches like Glen Pop Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Knute Rockne in the late 19th and 20th centuries changed the gameplay by intoducing the forward pass. College football grew in popularity and was the dominant version of football for the first part of the 20th century. College football had a huge national audiences with the football Bowl games. College football had big rivalries as it does today in the United States.
From the year 1892 the origin of professional football can be traced back to, with a $500 contract to play football William "Pudge Heffelfinger played football for the Allegheny Athletic Association playing against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. The american Professional Football started in 1920. The first football game was played in 1920 in Dayton, Ohio on the 3rd of October with the Triangles winning the game by a score of 14-10 against the Columbus Panhandles. Two years later the football league changed the name to National Football League which is known as the NFL and would become the major league of American football. Professional football eventually became a national phenomenon after starting out the sport in the US industrial towns and Midwestern towns. Football after it's NFL Championship Game in 1958 grew in popularity, the game that was known as the "Greatest Game Ever Played. The American Football League also known as the AFL started in 1960 a rival football league to the National Football League, with the pressure it put between the two football leagues before the merger of the two leagues is how the start of the Super Bowl game began. The Super Bowl turned out to be the most watched television event each and every year in the United States.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1471709


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Somewhere off the northern coast of Mindanao a strong current begins to travel northward. It runs to the island of Siquijor and then, turning slightly to the east, goes racing between the islands of Cebu and Negros. At the narrow entrance between San Sebastian and Ayucatan it breaks up into hundreds of small whirlpools that make the water hiss and bubble for a distance of nearly three miles.
For steamers and large boats there is not the slightest danger, but to the native in his little sacayan with its bamboo outriggers these whirlpools are objects of dread and fear. He will go miles out of his way to escape them. If you inquire as to the reason, he will explain that the Liloan, or whirlpool, is a thing always to be avoided, and then he will tell you the story of Sinogo.
Years and years ago, when Maguayan ruled the sea and the terrible Captan launched his thunderbolts from above, the water and air were filled with swimming and flying monsters. Those that lived in the air were armed with great teeth and sharp claws; but, though they were fierce and savage, they lived together in peace, for they feared the anger of their master Captan.
In the sea, however, all was not so peaceful, for some of the monsters were so huge and savage and so confident in their strength that Maguayan could do nothing with them. He lived in constant fear of attack from these fierce subjects and finally, in despair, called on Captan to help him in his trouble.
Accordingly Captan sent his swift messengers to every part of the earth, air, and sea, and ordered that a council of all the creatures in the world should be held. He named the little island of Caueli in the center of the Sulu Sea as the meeting place, and commanded all to hasten there without delay.
Soon the members of the council began to arrive, and the sky was darkened by flying monsters, and the water boiled as the terrible reptiles of the sea rushed to the place appointed.
In a short time the little island was crowded with these dreadful creatures. There were huge Buayas from Mindanao, fierce Tic-bolans from Luzon, savage Sigbins from Negros and Bohol, hundreds of Unglocs from Panay and Leyte, and great Uak Uaks and other frightful monsters from Samar and Cebu. They grouped themselves in a large circle around a golden throne on which sat Captan and Maguayan, and while waiting the commands of their master filled the air with shrieks and howls.
At length Captan raised his hand and the noise instantly stopped. Then he announced his decree. He said that Maguayan was his brother god and should be treated with the same respect. He commanded all his subjects to obey the god of the sea and told them that he would kill with a thunderbolt any that disobeyed this order. Then he desired all to return to their own regions, and again the air was filled with a noise of thunder and the sea roared and foamed as the monsters went back to their homes.
Soon there remained on the island only Captan, Maguayan, and three messengers of Captan, who were called Sinogo, Dalagan, and Guidala. These were giants in size and had large wings which enabled them to fly with great swiftness. They had long spears and sharp swords and were very brave and powerful. Of the three, Dalagan was the swiftest, Guidala the bravest, and Sinogo the handsomest and best loved by Captan.
When all the creatures were gone Maguayan thanked Captan, but the great god said that he had only done his duty in helping his brother. Then he gave Maguayan a little golden shell and explained to him its wonderful power. Maguayan had but to put it in his mouth and he could change his form to that of any creature he pleased. In case a monster, defying Captan"s orders, should attack him, he had simply to change himself into a stronger monster of twice the size of his enemy, and then fight and kill him easily.
Again Maguayan thanked his brother god and, taking the shell, placed it on the throne beside him. Then Captan ordered his messengers to bring food and drink, and soon the two gods were feasting merrily.
Now it happened that Sinogo had been standing behind the throne and had heard all that had been said. He was filled with a desire to own the wonderful shell, and in spite of the many favors he had received from Captan he resolved to steal it. The more he thought of its great power, the more he longed for it. With it he could rule the earth and sea as a god, and, by hiding, he might avoid the anger of Captan. So he watched for an opportunity to make away with it. Finally his chance came. While handing Maguayan some food, he slyly caught up the shell, and soon afterwards quietly slipped away.
For some time his absence was not discovered, but all at once Captan called for his favorite messenger and, receiving no reply, ordered Dalagan to search for him. Soon Dalagan returned and reported that Sinogo could not be found on the island. At the same time Maguayan noticed that the golden shell was gone.
Then Captan knew that his messenger had stolen the shell and escaped. He flew into a great rage and swore he would kill Sinogo. He ordered Dalagan and Guidala to hasten to the north in search of the faithless messenger and to bring him back a prisoner.
Swiftly northward over the blue sea flew the messengers, and near the island of Guimaras caught sight of Sinogo. He saw his pursuers and flew all the swifter, but he was no match for them in speed. Nearer and nearer they came and then, drawing their swords, rushed forward to seize him.
But Sinogo was not to be easily caught. Quick as a flash, he placed the shell in his mouth and dived down into the water, at the same time changing himself into a huge crocodile-shaped Buaya with scales like armor of steel.
In vain Dalagan and Guidala rained blows on the monster. The swords could not pierce the heavy scales.
Up through Guimaras Strait the chase went on, and Sinogo tore up the water in his flight. So great was the disturbance of the ocean that, as they rounded the northern coast of Negros, the waves dashed completely over the little island of Bacabac, sweeping away the hills and bringing the land to the level of the sea.
Still the rapid flight went on. Straight for Bantayan headed Sinogo, but suddenly changing his course he dashed into the narrow channel between Negros and Cebu. Then Dalagan, leaving Guidala to continue the chase alone, flew swiftly back to Caueli and told Captan that Sinogo was in the little strait. Up sprang the god and, flying directly east, he posted himself at the southern entrance of the channel. In his hand he held an enormous thunderbolt, and thus armed he waited for the appearance of Sinogo.
Down into the narrow entrance sped the faithless messenger, tearing up the water in his mad flight, while the brave Guidala struck in vain at his huge body. Suddenly a roar of thunder sounded and the thunderbolt fell on the back of the monster, bearing him down beneath the waves and then, stiffening like a bar of iron, pinning him to the bottom far below. In vain he struggled to free himself; the bar held him fast and sure. In his struggles the shell fell from his mouth, but a little Tamban caught it and brought it safely to Captan.
Thousands of years have passed, but far under the water, like a fly on a pin, Sinogo struggles in the form of a huge Buaya. The water bubbles around him and for three miles little whirlpools go racing up the channel. And the native in his little sacayan avoids the narrow entrance where the water boils and foams, for Sinogo still twists and squirms, and the Liloan is a thing to be feared and dreaded.


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- Stability—keep the website the same; don't keep changing it.
- Return search results in the same century specified.
- Bring back Old Search on the Ancestry.com Library Edition.
- NEVER get rid of old search.
- I'd like to be able to download search results.
- Fix others' bad trees.
- Fix automatic-logout.
- The ability to split a tree on Ancestry
- Exact search: It would be nice if it was.
- Put a big red X on bad trees
- Computer won't upload a tree until you've documented it.
- On Ancestry.com it would be nice to be able to go back to where you were after you've followed a set of links.
- For Old Search: visual indications that you've already looked at certain lists or parts of it
- Ancestry—record only once
- Shakey leaves: documentation problems, temporary tree
- FamilySearch: get to the catalog with one-click
We also did more long-term wish list. Here are just a few of those:
- Map pop-up with surrounding counties
- Ancestry.com do a Family Tree—Wikipedia model
- Tag cloud of FamilySearch Pod
- Map s as existed at time of event
- Citations written out the way they should be—in the various programs
- Film numbers and lists of all family history centers and libraries where they are at
There was lots more. It was impossible to capture it all.
What about you? Do you have a fix you'd like to see in the next year or a feature you'd like to see in the next five? Leave a comment at http://AncestryInsider.blogspot.com.


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In addition to the recovery time shown in your exercise log, Suunto Ambit3 Vertical monitors you overall activity, both exercise and daily activity. Activity monitoring gives you a complete picture of your activity, the calories you are burning, and your recovery time.
Activity monitoring is available as a default display in Time. You can view the display by pressing (last display).
You can show/hide the activity monitoring display from the start menu under Displays » Activity. Toggle with .
The activity monitoring display has three views which you can change by pressing


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iPad/Android: Want to eke out a little more value out of that tablet? Turn it into a second monitor for your PC or Mac and extend your screen real estate. This is especially handy for laptop users.
Several apps are available to extend your desktop onto your tablet. How-To Geek offers a tutorial on setting up Air Display, which is $9.99 for the iPad app in the App Store, but most of the apps seem to work similarly: Install the server software on your Windows or Mac computer, then run the app on your tablet.
How-To Geek notes some added functionality in Air Display, including the ability to mirror your desktop rather than extend it—useful for when you want to show someone what you're doing on your computer for teaching purposes, for example. Two other neat tips are using the iPad as a form filler (drag the form to the iPad, hand it to a client and have them fill it out with the onscreen keyboard) and using the iPad's touch capabilities:
You could, for example, drag a Photoshop window onto the extended iPad desktop and then use a stylus to draw on it or place the calculator app on the iPad screen and use your finger instead of the mouse to punch the keys.
A similar, less expensive app for both iPad and Android is iDisplay. It's $4.99 at the App Store as well as on Android Market. iDisplay works with both Mac and Windows and got fair reviews for the iOS version.
Because of some reviewers citing lag issues with iDisplay on Android (iOS users seem to like it well enough), Android users might want to look at newer and much less expensive ($0.99 for a limited time; normally $1.99) ScreenSlider. The downside is it only works with Windows PCs.
Whichever app you try, using your iPad or Android tablet to extend your screen might boost your productivity. Or, of course, you could use the tablet on its own as a productivity-boosting tool.
How To Use Your iPad as a Second Monitor for Your PC or Mac | How-To Geek


text: The spirit of Battleheart returns, re-imagined! In Battleheart Legacy, you will explore a rich and detailed fantasy world, customize your unique hero with dozens of powerful skills and items, do battle with hordes of enemies, encounter quirky characters and discover the stories of a troubled realm. Will you become a powerful wizard, or a notorious rogue? A noble knight, or a savage barbarian? How will you forge your legacy? ••• Features ••• • A refined real-time combat system, based on the award-winning "Battleheart". Move your character or attack your foes through simple taps, and unleash powerful special moves at the right moment to turn the tide of battle! • Unparalleled animation and VFX make every battle a visual feast! • An astounding 150+ unique skills across 12 classes to customize your character with. Poison your foes, crush them with giant two-handed weapons, put them to sleep with a song, or simply blow them up with a meteor strike. And with our unique multi-classing system, it's possible to combine classes into a nearly limitless number of combinations. • Over 200 unique pieces of equipment to further tailor your character's play style. • Incredible boss battles that will put your hero to the test! • Use iCloud to transfer saved files from one device to another. • Universal App. • Game Center Achievements. • Recommended Hardware - iPhone 4S, iPod touch 5th gen, iPad 2/mini or better