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Right now Paddy Chayefsky is:
a. Rolling over in his grave
b. High-fiving Peter Finch in heaven
c. High-fiving Peter Finch in hell (where it's Happy Hour 24/7)
d. All of the above
There are any number of examples that could be (and probably have been) offered up to illustrate how prescient Chayefsky's screenplay for Network really was. Think of phony purveyors of moral outrage ranging from Morton Downey Jr. to Jerry Springer, and the whole concept of infotainment to the hastening-of-the-apocalypse proliferation of Reality TV. Stage it and they will come is now the (un)official mantra of media's M.O. And, in the end, it's all pretty much a tempest in a teapot. Or, a tempest in a tea party. Which brings us to the unbelievable Glenn Beck. Of course, fabricated indignation has been good business in America since Jonathan Edwards first perfected the formula with Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God back in 1741, shortly before the advent of cable television.
Capitalizing on the nervous consciences of the faithful created steady work well into the 20th Century, and Sinclair Lewis codified the archetypal character in Elmer Gantry (1926). That pernicious tradition was carried on faithfully by Confidence Men like Pat Roberston, Jerry Falwell, Benny Hinn and Rick Warren. But of course this act has always been too tempting for politicians not to embrace with every inauthentic bone in their bodies. The only hucksters that can outhustle the pols are the preening simpletons who rile up the credulous citizens who dial in each day for another dose of bad medicine. At the appointed hour, the idiot box transfigures into a burning bush and these rapt minions who otherwise behold Christ in their breakfast food (or, proving how crafy and omnipotent the Lord can be, at lunchtime too), get their Godhead on in the form of a third-rate carnival barker.
Of course, the current poseur-du-jour is Fox News fixture Glenn Beck. How can a cretin this transparently full of shit possibly capture a prime time audience? Simple: have the worst presidency in U.S. history leave an unprecedented number of people jobless, scared shitless about losing their jobs, bemoaning their 401-k that flew away, and understandably appalled at Wall Street slumlords who used our credit rating like a plastic fuck doll still wallowing in money the way a dog rolls on a dead rodent. Enter the savior, the man who cries on cue like an actress at the Oscars, and about as convincingly. He cares, you see, he really cares. And he loves this country too much to just watch…a charismatic leader try to come in and clean up the mess the man he worshipped so carelessly created.
As incendiary, and insufferable, as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly are, you tend to appreciate how they sometimes can't keep a straight face as they shovel the horseshit, whipping simpletons into a righteous lather for a steady paycheck. Yes, they are contemptible and yes, they wield their petty power over the powerless in incredibly irresponsible fashion. But with them you know to expect less than little in terms of originality, integrity or intellectual rigor. Thus, you have to remain content, in a free country, to let them hold sway over a semi-retarded audience who would crawl over molten coals for them. And to be certain, Glenn Beck's senseless sensibility makes those two blowhards look like oracular paragons. He is an empty suit with an empty mind, offering regurgitated jeremiads and faux populism to a genuinely distressed viewership looking for answers but disinclined to trust the dirty Socialists currently in power. His histrionics, about as genuine as A-Rod's apologies, are comprised of two primary objectives: to position himself as a voice of reason in these troubling times, and to use a time of crisis as the impetus for his own existence. If Beck was capable of experiencing even an infinitesimal measure of shame, he would combust quicker than a drummer from Spinal Tap.
Thank God for Stephen Colbert. He did, as has been noted elsewhere, what famously "liberal" mainstream outlets like the New York Times couldn't (wouldn't) do and took Beck to task, on his own terms, with his own words, and exposed him as the opportunistic nitwit he so obviously is.
Stephen Colbert ripped apart Fox News host (and New York Times cover boy) Glenn Beck Tuesday night, mocking his 9-12 project, meant to conjure the spirit of compassion and camaraderie Americans felt on September 12, 2001. "We weren't told how to behave that day after 9/11, we just knew," Beck says to describe the project. "It was right, it was the opposite of what we feel today. Are you ready to be the person you were that day after 9/11, on 9/12?"
"Ready!" Colbert shouted, decked out in a gas mask, holding a gun, and wearing adult diapers. Colbert then…exposed the hypocrisy of Beck's 9-12 project by highlighting comments he made on September 9, 2005…"The 9-12 project is not for families directly affected by 9/11, just people building their careers on it," Colbert said.
There is not too much that needs to be said after this well-warranted incineration (the must-see video is here). But we can, and should, bat Beck's bones around a little bit. At this moment, with all that is confronting our country, it is very necessary to take all available opportunities to mock and expose this charlatan. Here is a man who would suck the blood out of a rotting corpse if it would get his contract renewed; the least we can do is rub his nose in it when he soils himself, nightly on national TV.


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Vatican spokesman: do not 'forget or abandon' Syria
June 18, 2012
The director of the Holy See Press Office has devoted his weekly editorial to the conflict in Syria.
"A country that had been characterised by peaceful coexistence between various components of the Muslim world, and where even ecumenical relations between Christians of different confessions and rites, and interfaith relations between Christians and Muslims, have traditionally been peaceful – witness Pope John Paul II's unforgettable visit in 2001 – has now descended into violence and chaos. Syria risks disintegration, and there appears to be no way out," writes Father Federico Lombardi. "The apostolic delegate to Syria, Archbishop Mario Zenari, has described it as a 'slow descent to hell.'"
"For believers it is a time for compassion and prayer. A time to help, as much as possible, those who are suffering. A time to call for and support initiatives of dialogue. It is a time for glimmers of hope. We must neither forget nor abandon Syria."
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Top court rejects 'too intoxicated' murder defense
Published 7:46 am, Friday, November 22, 2013
ALBANY (AP) — New York's highest court upheld the murder convictions Thursday of three drivers who caused deadly crashes, rejecting arguments they were too intoxicated to know the threat they posed.
Convictions of Martin Heidgen, Taliyah Taylor and Franklin McPherson hinged on prosecutors' contention they acted with "depraved indifference to human life" in crashes that shared common threads: driving too fast in the wrong lane while under the influence.
Heidgen drove his pickup truck for miles the wrong way on Long Island's Meadowbrook State Parkway in 2005 and hit a limousine, killing the driver, Stanley Rabinowitz, and 7-year-old passenger Katie Flynn and injuring five others.
McPherson hit a vehicle on another Long Island parkway in 2007, killing driver Leslie Burgess. Taylor sped naked down Staten Island's Forest Avenue in 2006 and killed pedestrian Larry Simon.
"Although intoxicated driving cases that present circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life are likely to be few and far between, we find that the evidence in each of these unusually egregious cases was legally sufficient to support the convictions," Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman wrote.
In Heidgen's case, it was reasonable for the jury to conclude that despite being drunk he perceived the grave risk from driving on the wrong side of the highway and didn't care, Lippman concluded. Judges Victoria Graffeo, Eugene Pigott Jr., Jenny Rivera and Sheila Abdus-Salaam agreed.
"One who engages in what amounts to a high-speed game of chicken, with complete disregard for the value of the lives that are thereby endangered, is undoubtedly an individual whose culpability is the equivalent of an intentional murderer," he wrote.
In a dissent, Judge Robert Smith said juries in drunken driving cases with inflammatory facts are among those likely to generate convictions for depraved indifference murder, even with insufficient evidence. In these three, the drivers were "unforgivably reckless," unquestionably guilty of manslaughter and under a recent state statute also guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide, he wrote.
However, Smith said it's clear that unless the defendants knew they were driving the wrong way they were not guilty of murder, and he could not see how a rational jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that they did. The blood tests proved Heidgen and McPherson were "very drunk," and that Taylor's behavior showed that after taking Ecstasy, smoking marijuana and drinking a beer she was "obviously mentally impaired."
Judge Susan Reid, in a separate dissent, said the evidence was insufficient for murder convictions in all three cases. That would require showing "a culpable mental state," she wrote, citing the court's 2005 ruling that recklessness, no matter how extreme, is not enough.


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PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — He was sheriff of Portsmouth for 24 years before being caught intoxicated behind the wheel and moving to Florida. So why is Gary Waters back in Hampton Roads?
In an exclusive interview with WAVY.com, the former sheriff said he's a Portsmouth resident again.
"I love Portsmouth," Waters said while his dog Diamond barked behind his front door. But that doesn't mean it's always been a place of perfect memories. "I've had a tough go," he said.
In December 2003, Waters was pulled over by Portsmouth Police for going 57 mph in a 35 mph zone. He smelled of alcohol, admitted to drinking, but was never given any sobriety checks. He made a call to the Assistant Chief of Police and eventually was allowed to be given a ride home by one of his deputies.
"It was a low. I had a drinking problem, and I don't have it anymore," he said. "That's almost 10 years ago, and I want to move forward in my life, and I have a lot of talent to offer."
Waters eventually pleaded guilty to DUI, lost the democratic nomination to run again, and lost as a write-in candidate. Then he moved to Florida and got another DUI. Waters said he hit rock bottom and had to go through extensive alcohol rehab. Now he's come home to Portsmouth to be closer to his daughter and two grandsons.
"I want to bond with them a bit, and be a good Grandpa," Waters said.
But that's not all — Waters said he's running for City Council in the November elections.
"I've talked to a lot of people, a lot of them support my efforts," he said. "I feel like I have a lot of talent to offer a city. I probably know more about budgets than anyone in the city."
Waters knows he has heavy baggage, but also believes in second chances: "There are three seats coming up in November, and I am just asking the citizens to support me for one of the seats."
It will be a crowded field with three candidates, including two incumbents already in the race.
"Maybe one or two negatives from people I've met, but other than that, everyone is positive," he said. "'Hey,' every place I go people say 'Hey, Sheriff! Good to have you back in the city of Portsmouth.'"
Gary Waters campaign for City Council is a long shot. He knows that, but he also knows running for this council seat can't be anymore difficult than what he's already been through.
Election day is November 4, and candidates in Portsmouth have until June 10 to file qualified signatures. Waters needs 125 signatures to qualify to be a candidate.


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Four matchups to watch: Seahawks at Falcons
Latest Video
NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah breaks down his top 5 wide receiver prospects in the 2018 NFL Draft. Watch
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin has been an activate and vocal member of the Player's Coalition over the past year. Baldwin sat down with three women from his local community who are at the forefront of change in Washington state to listen and learn from their experience. Watch
Latest Photos
A look at the Seahawks' Week 10 game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome on Sunday, including four matchups that could impact the outcome:
When: Sunday, 10 a.m. PT, Georgia Dome, Atlanta
Records: Seahawks 8-1 and first in the NFC West after Sunday's 27-24 overtime victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at CenturyLink Field; Falcons 2-6 and last in the NFC South after Sunday's 31-17 loss to the Panthers in Carolina.
TV: FOX (Q/13 in Seattle), with Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch and Erin Andrews
Radio: 710 ESPN and 97.3 KIRO FM, with Steve Raible, Warren Moon and Jen Mueller
Rest of the West: Rams (3-6) at Colts; Panthers at 49ers (6-2); Texans at Cardinals (4-4) Read
Matchup microscope
Seahawks defense vs. Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez: "Nobody can cover him. He's just killed everybody for a whole career." Seahawks coach Pete Carroll offered that assessment of the most productive tight end in NFL history before Gonzalez did just that in the Falcons' 30-28 victory in January's divisional playoff game in Atlanta. Gonzalez caught six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown, but the damage was far greater than those stats would indicate. He had a 9-yard reception against strong safety Kam Chancellor on the game-opening drive to a field goal. His TD came on a 1-yard catch against Chancellor later in the first quarter. He had a 6-yarder on third-and-5 against middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and an 11-yarder on third-and-9 against third safety Winston Guy during a touchdown drive on the Falcons' first possession in the second half. He had a 19-yarder against zone coverage on the Falcons' drive to their game-winning field goal in overtime. The Seahawks' Legion of Boom secondary cannot allow Gonzalez to have a repeat performance on Sunday. He's 37 and halfway through his 17th NFL season, but he still leads the Falcons in receptions (44) and TD catches (four). Read
One to watch
Fun to watch
Seahawks WR Jermaine Kearse vs. Falcons CB Desmond Trufant: The opportunities to see these friendly rivals when they were teammates at the University of Washington, respectful high school foes at Wilson in Tacoma (Trufant) and Lakes in Lakewood (Kearse) and even youth football opponents will be limited. But when Trufant does draw Kearse – as the corner on the right side or the nickel back who covers a slot receiver – it will be worth watching. Trufant, the Falcons' first-round draft choice and youngest brother of former Seahawks corner Marcus Trufant, got his first NFL interception last week and leads the Falcons with eight passes defensed. Kearse has just 10 receptions, but he's averaging a team-best 17.1 yards and also has three touchdown catches to share the club lead. Read
One tough task
Worth noting
The Seahawks lead the series 8-5, but the Falcons have won the past three meetings in the regular season as well as January's playoff game. … A Seahawks' victory would tie the franchise record for road victories of five that was set by the 1984 team and tied by the 2005 team. … The Seahawks' Marshawn Lynch ranks third in the league with 726 rushing yards and is coming off a season-best 125-yard game against the Bucs. … QB Russell Wilson passed for a career-high 385 yards and two TDs against the Falcons in January's playoff game. … A victory would be Wilson's 20th, tying him with Ryan and the Ravens' Joe Flacco for third place among QBs for the most wins in their first two seasons behind the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger (22) and former Dolphins' QB Dan Marino (21). … Seahawks TE Zach Miller caught eight passes for 142 yards and a TD in the divisional playoff game. … Jackson, who played his first nine seasons with the Rams, has run for 1,137 and eight touchdowns in 17 games against the Seahawks. … The Falcons are 35-9 at the Georgia Dome since 2008, the third-best home record in the league during that span. … Thomas leads the Seahawks with 69 tackles. … S William Moore leads the Falcons with 75 tackles. Read
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I am one of many people who have pointed out that when a dog bites the media often will only put the breed of the dog in the headline if the dog is a pit bull (actually if it's any other breed there probably won't be a story at all). I've seen that issue improve recently, at least in our area. Headlines more frequently just refer to dogs and not their breed.
So here I go putting a breed in the headline, but this time it's about a pit bull having a good time. This video has been making it's way around the internet so maybe you've already seen it, but it shows a happy (if slightly mischievous) dog having a good time and it appears the players had a good laugh about the whole thing. It may go without saying that no matter how friendly your dog is, you should keep him/her on a leash or otherwise under control in public places, no matter how much you might get a laugh out of this….


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TMZ.com is reporting that Lanny Poffo, brother of Macho Man Randy Savage, real name Randy Poffo, will have his remains cremated, and there will not be a public memorial service. Lanny noted that Savage's ashes will be spread around his favorite tree, the same place Randy's dog Hercules had his ashes spread.
Have a news tip? Attended an event and want to send a live report?


text: Our apartments are ideal for all plans in the city. For groups, families and all people who are looking for a choice of accommodation with all the privacy and comfort no matter the length of the stay. We offer independent rooms with an efficient areal distribution and a strategic location near to all important commercial centers and points of interests in the north of the city. The apartments dispose a complete interior with furniture and kitchen, a welcoming and cozy place that makes you feel at home in Bogot. We would like to invite you to visit our Gym, the Spa, the Beauty Salon and the heated Jacuzzi. Afterwards you may enjoy the delicious cuisine of our restaurant Los Arcos. To share a pleasant time we offer you our Bar Caf Glasgow and Colombia, where you can taste various hot and cold drinks.ESTELAR Apartments in Bogot-La Fontana commands with all services and ambits of ESTELAR La Fontana Hotel, like 18 multifunctional rooms, which you may use in your business trips and great celebrations. There youll receive everything you need for your presentations, meetings and events. In your journey to Colombia, whether for business or pleasure, you should take some time to relax and enjoy the high quality service of ESTELAR Hotels. RNT # 8745


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Summer doldrums? Not on Wall Street.
The stock market notched another first on Monday as the Standard & Poor's 500 index nudged briefly past the 2,000-point mark and closed with its second record high in a week.
The move was the latest milestone in a five-year rally for U.S. stocks, which are enjoying a late-summer revival after dipping earlier this month on concerns about tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Investors have put aside those concerns for now, focusing instead on the improving outlook for the U.S. economy, rising earnings and corporate deals.
News on Monday that Burger King was in talks to acquire doughnut chain Tim Hortons and create a new holding company headquartered in Canada had stocks pointing higher in premarket trading. That built on word over the weekend that California biotech company InterMune agreed to sell itself to Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche for $8.3 billion.
The deals overshadowed disappointing news in the housing market.
Shortly after the market opened, the Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes slid 2.4 percent last month. Homebuilder stocks declined, but the losses didn't spread to the broader market. In fact, stocks did the opposite.
The S&P 500, a widely followed barometer of the stock market, crossed above 2,000 in the first hour of trading.
The index fluctuated above and below the milestone and ended just below that mark.
"The index number itself is somewhat symbolic," said David Kelley, JPMorgan Funds' chief global strategist. "It's a continuation of what we've seen all year."
All told, the S&P added 9.52 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,997.92. It closed at a record last Thursday of 1,992.37. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75.65 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,076.87. The Nasdaq composite gained 18.80 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,557.35.


text: MainStoriesSpecial Olympics Texas Athletes Compete in 2013 Summer Game Listen Special Olympics Texas Athletes Compete in 2013 Summer Game Opening Ceremonies is a favorite of athletes, officers and fans alike. Tela Mange | May 22, 2013 | North America: Texas More than 3,000 Special Olympics Texas athletes from across the state will take over Arlington for the 2013 Summer Games, May 23-26. The Summer Games will be held at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and surrounding community venues. Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) officers from across the state will officially kick off the Games by completing the Final Leg of the Torch Run on Friday, May 24. More than 350 law enforcement officials will deliver the Flame of Hope into Maverick Stadium at 10:00 a.m. and to the Summer Games Press Conference scheduled for 10:15 a.m. in the northwest field at the stadium. Special Olympics Texas athletes will show off their skills as they compete in athletics (track and field), basketball, cycling, gymnastics, soccer and tennis. In addition to the athletes, thousands of volunteers will assist with the competitions and family members will be there to watch the athletes compete. All events are free and open to the public. About Me:Tela Mange is a proud Special Olympics Texas staff member.Related:Here is a preview of the state games in Texas Read More Stories Special Olympics Changed My Daughter's LifeKarina PinedoAfrica's Athlete Officiate Breaks Floor Hockey Record!Romi ReineckeFree Cataract Surgery from Lions Club for Kenya's Goal Keeper at World Winter Games 2017Romi ReineckeTeam Spirit Leads Sweden to Gold in FloorballSarah O'TooleYoungest Member of Bangladesh Team Takes SilverGenevieve JiangGrit WinsNance LarsenGirl PowerGenevieve JiangTaking Life In StrideNance LarsenCross-country Gold Medalist Turned Floorball PlayerHenry RullHermann Kröll: The Father of Special Olympics Austria Christian A. Hoch They Teach Me - Interview with Olympic Gold Medal Winner Apolo OhnoChristian A. Hoch Do You Have A Story to Share?Share Your Story More Stories


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We truly enjoyed our stay at Hotel 71. The personnel at the hotel and at the il Matto restaurant is courteous and attentive. The rooms are very nice, big, clean with a modern décor. We just loved the large bathroom with the large glass shower. We really appreciated the Nespresso coffeemaker that was at our disposal in our room. The Hotel 71 is perfectly located, right in the Old Quebec at only 5 minutes by foot of Place Royale. Thanks to Travelzoo, we had a great deal on the room rate.
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- Inaugurated in 2005 within the 19th-century building of the First National Bank Head Office in Canada, Hotel 71 was voted one of the trendiest Canadian hotels in 2012 as per TripAdvisor. Hotel 71 is an urban property offering a prime location in Quebec City's Old Port district. It is situated within walking distance from the best restaurants and attractions the city has to offer. With a total of 60 rooms and suites, Hotel 71 is a contemporary property within a historic building and neighborhood. Each of its 60 rooms and suites includes hardwood flooring, high ceiling, flat screen television, Nespresso coffee machine, high thread-count bedding and duvet, complimentary high speed wireless Internet access, cordless phone, DVD player & home theater system, ultramodern bathroom with rain shower as well as some amazing views. Also, 4 meetings rooms for gatherings of 2 to 110 persons as well as a brand new Penthouse Suite which will soon have its own exclusive rooftop terrace are available. Its popular in-house Italian restaurant Il Matto 71 is also not to be missed. Hotel 71, a definite address of good-taste in Québec City! ... more less
- Reservation Options:
- TripAdvisor is proud to partner with Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Ebookers, Evoline ltd, HotelQuickly, Cancelon, getaroom.com and 5viajes2012 S.L. so you can book your Hotel 71 reservations with confidence. We help millions of travellers each month to find the perfect hotel for both holiday and business trips, always with the best discounts and special offers.
- Also Known As:
- Le 71 Quebec City
- Hotel 71 Quebec/Quebec City


text: At Parkhotel Schoenegg, you'll be near winter activities like downhill skiing, snowboarding, and cross-country skiing. After a day on the slopes, you can splash around at the indoor pool, grab a bite to eat at the restaurant, or unwind with a drink at the bar/lounge. A spa tub and a sauna are other highlights, and rooms offer up nice touches like bathrobes and slippers. Skiers will appreciate access to ski passes and storage.


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Alex Strick appears in the following:
Hamid Karzai Wants to Negotiate with Taliban
Monday, January 30, 2012
Earlier this month we reported the U.S. was taking steps to talk to the Taliban in Qatar. Plans have been agreed to set up some kind of public affairs office but that move did not play well with the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai. And so he's jump-started the talks by attempting to create his own dialogue with the Taliban.


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All Entries in the "PREVIOUS POSTS" Category
Clip by Clip, You've Been Watching The End of Automotive Media
von/par/by Gunnar Heinrich
Understanding that the automobile is a purpose-built time-travel device (in the technical and not Arthur C. Clarke sense) is something the average consumer can grasp. And yet, born from this simple function and of this industrial age product, is an amazing and dynamic cosmos of car-people.
For these enthralled folks, comprised as they are of advocates, enthusiasts, aficionados, collectors, commuters, drivers, riders, racers, and aspirants, the car has come to represent an extension of man's own ethos.
That guy in the 1985 Porsche 911 Turbo? He's a type. His car, as it's often told, says something about him. The girl in that 2014 Cayenne Diesel? Still another subset; a planet within a solar system within a galaxy. Cars do this in a user-oriented way that other identifying products like designer labels, yachts, or watches, really can't match.
It boggles the imagination if you stop to consider the inordinate complexity of the automotive fora and its participants.
Which brings us to the demand for content.
Now driven largely by social media and the Internet, we have a constant drive for all that is automotive.
But do the Instagram shots do our passion justice? Do the snarky blog posts still give voice to our inner cynics? What more can we achieve by writing reviews, posting pictures, sharing insights in recreating the experience of it all? Does this constant maw really sate us – or – does it just tease our addictions?
Nearly ten years ago, my tight team of media chefs whipped up a simple video that featured a 1988 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur (above still frame detail, 280p -sorry). It was shot in Sony HDV, with Sennheiser Mics picking up the ambient sound of the-now-classic Royce at work. I made sure that we included the mechanical whirs and electronic beeps because that's part of what makes operating a car such a sensory experience.
For some, the video brings home the sensation of driving the Spur. For others, it's a five minute snooze fest.
Since then, some 28K views later, there is now in addition to the Silver Spur video and its kind, a YouTube profile that goes by SaabKyle04 who posts parking lot walk-arounds that he calls "reviews". Helpfully, he provides his own twangy commentary on how this or that works – from pushing the start button, to adjusting the seat, to opening the glovebox.
With handheld camera, he shows us how it works.
SaabKyle04's videos get hundreds of thousands if not millions of views. Consider his 2012 Lamborghini Aventador expose as a near-six-million watched case-in-point. That is not to suggest that his videos, nor our own poetic reflection piece on the Silver Spur, are in any way original. Mauro Motors of North Haven, Connecticut has been showcasing the interiors and exteriors of its used inventory on cable TV since at least the 90s. Other car dealers around the US have done the same before even then.
But back to the question at hand, are these commentary-light, put-you-in-the-driver's-seat shorts the real future of automotive media? Perhaps.
The trends suggest that rather than read an Octane review or watch a Petrolicious video of an owner with his car, we're much more likely to observe our 10 minute coffee breaks by donning our virtual apparel (VR) and taking that 1969 Maserati Ghibli for a spin ourselves. That sounds like much more fun than reading what I'd have to write about it after having driven it (ostensibly for your benefit, of course ;)) or even watching Alain Delon drive it in a filmed play (La Piscine).
No, friends, I'm not saying that inside the next five years we'll see the end of automotive media as we now conceive it. The automotive universe with its legions surely won't implode for lack of content. I mean, we still have the horse and buggy after all. Only, how many of us still get around via horse and buggy, day-to-day?
Diesel Suicide? No It's Just Audi's A8 TDI
"The Station" featuring the Audi A8 TDI
Japan's Greatest Sportscar of the Last Century?
Acura NSX. Comments from Senna @ 3:44.
Driving Footage of The Marvelous "Spanish-Swiss" K6


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By Team Titleist On July 22, 2010
At this week's Nationwide Children`s Hospital Invitational on the Nationwide Tour, 88 players (61 percent) in the field of 144 are trusting Titleist golf balls, more than five times the nearest competitor with 17. Titleist is also the favorite in iron sets (36), wedges (110) and putters (56).
Last year, Titleist Brand Ambassador Rickie Fowler finished runner-up in the event at The Ohio State University Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio, which every year extends invitations to many top college and amateur players.
Team Titleist members J. Colston, J. Teeters and G. Goodpasture won tickets to this event through Team Titleist and will be attending the event courtesy of the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational.
TV coverage of the tournament on Golf Channel is as follows (all times ET):
• July 22 – 12:30-2:30 p.m.
• July 23 – 12:30-2:30 p.m.
• July 24 – 6:30-9:30 p.m.• July 25 – 7:00-9:30 p.m.
For more information about the tournament or to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.nchigolf.com/
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July 24, 2010 at 4:28pm
I shot this tournament (photographer) in 2008. It's a lot of fun. Met Rickie Fowler before anybody knew who he was. Food was good and the crowd was receptive to the golfers.


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Yes We Are In Search Of Somethinghey my name is amanda my hasband name is alejandro we have always talked of another women to be in our marriage not just to have sex with but to love as one of us we feel like were missing somethig in ours marriage we have looked a long time now and we almost ready to give up and got devoiced bc we dont feel like we are whole we talk of having more kids but not ready we still looking for the other women so we can move on with our marriage soo if you might be intereasted send us a message we dont just want one night stands we want someone who is for real about being in our family
amandae7879 31-35, F 1 Response 0 Aug 3, 2011
hi.. good day, how are you? don't mind if i comment and suggest???

mmmm..... it's weird, :-)

i just found out you need someone or a share with your husband in the same house?

is it okay for you that situation?

i guess ... i can only say, why not try find a baby or adopt a child?

just suggesting.... it would be better than to half a share with your husband it might be a conflict soon... if ever, what if the person you were looking for would want to have own family and ask for more (someday) i guess it can't be, but there is possibility... i have witness a situation like that in muslims... one husbands a lot of wives...

i understand you :-)


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Gladys Bettis's Sweet Potato Pie
Gladys Bettis, proud mom of Jerome Bettis, an NBC sports commentator and celebrated former running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, appeases her son's sweet tooth with a serving of her homemade sweet potato pie.
Recipe courtesy of Gladys Bettis
Serves: 8
3 medium-size sweet potatoes
3 eggs
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
3/4 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 pie shell
1. Boil sweet potatoes (either whole or sliced) until tender.
2. Once cooled, peel potatoes and mash through ricer.
3. Place mashed sweet potatoes in a bowl with remaining ingredients.
4. Mix (on medium speed using an electric mixer) until well combined.
5. Pour mixture into an unbaked 9-inch pie shell. Bake 40-45 minutes at 400 degrees F or until golden brown.
More From Meals & Cooking


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Been easing back on the mileage over the last couple of weeks due to a niggling ankle / achilles - 34.5 miles for this week, making 1454.25 for the year, about 65.75 ahead of target.
Starting to gear up for the next race on the list, the Coventry half marathon in 3 weeks time, so I'm not too stressed about the slightly lower mileage for now. Plus with the Hampshire Road Race league started I'd like to get a few of them ran and get back into the swing of racing.
I just wish the weather would cool off - nothing worse than this humid weather to run in. Looking to do a longish run tomorrow morning but it's going to be 18 degrees at 5am!
Hope everyone else's running / racing / injury recovery is going well.
Morning All
I know what you mean about the humidity Simon just got back from a run, I started out at about 6.50am and it was pretty close then!
A 41.97 mile week has got my deficit to a manageable 1.11 miles, it was getting up to about 20 miles a few weeks ago which was annoying. So my total for year is now 1392.82 miles. The miles left on my training log are not looking as scary now at 618 miles.
I'm going to watch the rugby now.
Have a great weekend
Watching the rugby too - typically frustrating stuff from England!
I think I sweated off a stone or two this morning on my 14 miler - horrible weather!
Also watched the rugby!! First run of double figures since January tomorrow morning, Got my camelbak out to give it an airing and its covered in green mould. New one ordered from wiggle!
Think i'll skyplus Ireland and get out early.
I know how you feel about the Achilles Simon, I've had my problem now for around 6 months along with a tight hamstring and recently the knees have started to manefest themselves which usually flare up during XC season.
I'm now at that wonderful point where tomorrow I start the 3 week taper towards the Mablethorpe Marathon, after what seems months of piling the miles on, although this week I cut the scheduled 56 miles down to 46 as it called for a 10k tune up race which I completed today. This marathon training does affect the middle distance stuff as I am down a couple of minutes on my 10k race times and having to settle for around 44 minutes.
So all in all I have 1548 miles to date with around 145 in credit, of which some of that will be taken straight after the Marathon for a weeks holiday to recover before hurling myself into a 10k 2 weeks after that and the Birmingham Half Marathon all in October.
Morning all, only managed a long run of 8.5 miles in the end, got up watched Ireland match instead of running and then the Wales match instead of running!! So in the end ran 8.5 miles at 9.30 pace. It's amazing that a year ago I considered this a short run!!
Good luck WR


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On Saturday the Captain and Presidents teams battled it out in the annual competition for golf domination and, for the second year running, the Captains team was victorious, with a 16-point win 898 to 882.
After the team's event was decided, the top 15 scorers that were available for the day took back to the course for a nine-hole shoot out, with players being eliminated each hole until a winner was decided. Daniel Poidevin beat Billy Scheffler on the last hole.
The Turners Nursery Mixed Foursomes was held on Sunday, with a good field of 20 pairs. Our sponsor, Paul Turner, won with his partner Jan Minahan (60 nett), comfortably from nearest rivals Phil White and Michele Winter, who finished with a 63 nett. The gross prize went to Tim Smith and Maureen Bray who scored 79 off the stick.
Tonight is the presentation night and Christmas party. If you haven't booked ring the club as there may still be some seats available.
Saturday November 17: individual stableford
Winners: A-grade: Bill Mackay (12) 42 points ocb. B-grade: Gary Butcher (15) 43 points. C-grade: Kim Stephan (23) 44 points. Ball winners: K Stephan 44, G Butcher 43, W Mackay 42, P White 42, T Bayley 42, M Curtis 41, D Oldfield 40, P Bray 40, R Johnson 39, M Auld 39, S Leahy 39, G Schmidt 39, P Matthews 38 and S Curtis 38 points ocb. Nearest the pins; Royal Hotel eighth and Aussie Hotel 16th: both went to Tim Smith.
Sunday November 18: Turners Nursery Mixed Foursomes
Championship winners: Jan Minahan and Paul Turner, 60 nett. Runners-up: Michele Winter and Phillip White, 63 nett. Gross winners: Maureen Bray and Tim Smith 79. Ball Winners: J Minahan and P Turner 60, M Winter and P White 63, M Bray and T Smith 64.5, I Burden and W Wilson 64, K Walker and M Walker 65 nett. Nearest the pin on the 16th: Penny Connell.
Mid-week competition to November 18
Winners: A-grade: Ash Goode (13) 22. B-grade: Neil Henderson (30) 24 points. Balls: K Reidy 22, K Mann 21, J Bewick 21, A Goode 21, W Whyte 21, W Scheffler 21, J Ryan 20, P Boutcher 20, W Wilson 20, B Oldfield 19, M Coggan 19, B Puckett 19 and N Henderson 19 points ocb.
Business house competition ending November 16
Winners: A-grade: Greg Perceval (7) 29. B-grade: Phil Power (11) 29 ocb. C-grade: Jayden Perceval (27.5) 24.5. Balls went from 27.5 to 32. The complete list of results and the ladder is posted on the board near the pro shop.
Dad's Army November 15
Fourteen of the Dad's Army troops faced the starter on what turned out to be a very fine morning for golf. Conditions were very good with quite a bit of run on the fairways which must have suited Rod 'Plucker' Perceval who turned in a card with 20 points to take out the money from Graham Howlett, Ken Reidy and Jack Wales, with 19 points each and Doug Oldfield with 18 points collected the balls on offer. Quite a range in the scoring this week from 20 down to nine points. Dad's Army picked up three points in the Business House competition last week to give them a total of 16, while this week they put together 124.5.
Coming events
Friday November 23: Yass Golf Club presentation night and Christmas party.
Saturday November 24: individual stableford.
Sunday November 25: individual stableford.
Until next week, golf well.


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Warning: time sink! Or: the latest Google AI challenge
It's that time of the year again... the word spreads, I download it, and my nights fly by. It's time for the new Google AI Challenge: http://aichallenge.org/ ! This time we will be writing multi-agent systems, as we program cyber-ant-colonies fighting against each other for bread crumbs.
Games with extensible AI
Some computer games offer the possibility to extend their Artificial Intelligence with external scripts, or are explicitly designed to be played by bots. Such games are a great resource to develop, test, and teach AI algorithms.
I have been looking for a list of this kind of games, but could find very little information, often outdated. This is my own, annotated list; let me know if I missed something, and I'll make amend. I included only decently active projects:
Games for bots:
- Robocode (Java, .NET): AI bots control tanks equipped with cannon and radar on an square arena. A game with a long tradition, descending from the classic AI games RobotWar (1981) and crobots (1985). This is a very active project, with tournaments organized regularly all over the world. The strategical possibilities are quite limited, though.
- Tron challenge (any language): This is the first AI competition organized by the University of Waterloo Computer Science Club and sponsored by Google. The AIs control the "snakes" in a variant of the popular game Snake (or Nibbles, of QBasic fame) on a number of boards with symmetric walls. Although the competition is closed, the code is open source and perfectly usable. A nice game, but there seems to be one dominating strategy: using minimax. Entries in the competition differ in their cleverness in coming up with various approximations to prune down the huge tree of possible moves, and in handling the endgame.
- Planet Wars challenge (any language): Second AI competition, again organized by the University of Waterloo CS Club. The inspiration is the galactic conquer game Galcon. Bots controls fleets of spaceships to control planets for resources. Unlike the first competition, the optimal strategy is far from obvious, and the game offers a lot of space for experimenting with different approaches. Not as visually fun as other games, though.
- PacMan capture the flag (Python): The CS department at Berkeley offers a very popular Artificial Intelligence course that requires students to code up classical AI algorithms to control agents in a PacMan-like environment. The course concludes with a tournament in which PacMan agents compete to eat each other's dots. The game is extremely fun as I wrote about in previous posts. The code is available online (although somewhat messy). Unfortunately (but understandably, since the game is used in a course), the authors don't want the code of developed agents to leak online.
- Grid-Soccer (Mono, .NET): This is a multi-agent soccer-like game played on a grid board. I haven't tried this one yet... According to the authors, it was originally conceived as a testbed for multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithms.
Scriptable games (games that expose an interface for external clients):
- Starcraft Brood War (any language): This is your one chance at writing AI bots for a commercial game! 😉 Starcraft has been hacked to allow to control any aspect of the game through a user-written client (building construction, units movement, the full monty). Since 2010 there have been a few AI competitions open to the public (two of them still accepting entries!). Here's a video from last year's AIIDE tournament:
- XBlast (potentially any): A free version of Bomberman. The game has not been used to develop AI agents... yet. It is built with a server-client architecture and it's begging to get bots running on it.
Fight the machine at NYT
Perhaps inspired by the victory of the artificial brain Watson against humanity, the New York Times is offering today an interactive feature that allows to play a series of Rock-Paper-Scissors games against the computer.
The prediction algorithm seems to be a simple Bayesian estimator like the one I implemented for the Karate A.I. game. The interesting twist is that in "Veteran mode" the AI will make use its interaction with previous users to define a prior over possible move sequences. It surely works against me...
Tracking down the enemy (2)
I never got the chance to show a working agent based on the Bayesian estimator for the enemy position in the PacMan capture-the-flag game. In the previous PacMan post, I wrote about merging a model of agent movements with the noisy measurements returned by the game to track the enemy agents across the maze. Clearly, this information can give you an edge when planning an attack (to avoid ghosts) or when defending (to intercept the PacMen).
For the traditional faculty-vs-students tournament at the G-Node scientific programming summer school this year, I wrote a PacMan team made by a simple attacker, and a more sophisticated defender that tries to intercept and devour enemy agents.
Both agents plan their movements using a shortest-path algorithm on a weighted graph: before the start of the game, the maze is transformed in a graph, where nodes are the maze tiles, and edges connect adjacent tiles. Weights along the edges are adjusted according to the estimated position of the agents:
- Weights on edges close to an enemy ghost are increased (starting value is proportional to the probability of the enemy being there, and falls off exponentially with distance)
- Weights on edges close to an enemy PacMan are decreased
- Weights on edges close to a friendly agent are increased
An agent navigating on such a maze will tend to avoid ghosts, chase PacMen, and cover parts of the maze far from other friendly agents. My attacker does little else than updating the weights of the graph at every turn, and move toward the closest food dot.
On the other hand, defending is quite difficult in this game, so I needed a more sophisticated strategy. While the enemy is still a ghost in its own part of the maze, the defender moves toward the closest enemy agent (its estimated position, that is). When the enemy is a PacMan in the friendly half, the chase is on! Since ghosts and PacMen move at the same speed, it would be pointless to just follow it around, one needs to catch them from the front... Once more, the solution was to modify the weights of the maze graph, making weights behind the enemy (i.e., opposite to its direction of motion) very high, and lowering the edges in front of it.
The combination of estimator and the weighted graph strategy can be quite entertaining:
Sometimes the defender only needs to guard the border to scare the opponent shitless:
Another useful thing to keep in mind for the future: it is better to base strategies on soft constraints (weighted graphs, probabilities). Setting hard, deterministic rules tends to get you stuck in loops. Soft constraints and some randomness give you more flexibility when you need it but are otherwise just as good.
Planet Wars – Google AI Challenge
The Computer Science of the University of Waterloo is organizing its second Google AI Challenge. The challenge is a competition between computer programs that control the artificial intelligence of the players in a video game.
This time, the game is set in space, and features a symmetric configuration of planets, each containing a fleet of defending spaceships. Each turn, new ships are created, with larger planets creating more ships. At the beginning of the game, each player controls one of the planets and a hundred ships; the AIs issue orders to the ships to send them to conquer planets by outnumbering the local defense. The goal of the game is, of course, to eliminate all of the enemy forces.
This video shows an example game between my first AI (green) playing against DualBot (red), one of the bots included in the starter package; the number floating around represent the fleets commanded by the AIs:
The competition is open to everybody, and it is possible to write the AI in basically any programming language. If you plan to use Python, I recommend not using the official starter package, which is un-pythonic and not very sophisticate, but rather this un-official client. The alternative client offers in particular the possibility to log debug information to a local file.
Also, it can be quite frustrating to wait for the official server to match you with some other program, which can take up to an hour. There is an alternative server that lets you play with another opponent straight away.
The submission period ends November 27, good luck!
Tracking down the enemy
As another scientific Python course is approaching, I've been brushing up my PacMan skills. I decided to give a try to a strategy I had been thinking on, which relies upon having a good estimate of the enemy's position. I should remind the reader that in the PacMan capture-the-flag game, one team does not know the exact position of the other agents unless they are within 5 squares of one's own agents. The game does, however, return a rough estimate of the opponent's distance. Our agents-tracker will thus have to blindly make its best guess, and keep a probability distribution over possible positions.
To estimate the position of the opponent agents we need to apply some probability theory:
P(x(t)) = sum_{x(t-1)} P( x(t-1) ) P( x(t) | x(t-1) )
or, in other words, the probability that the agent is at position x(t) at time t is equal to the sum of the probability of it being at x(t-1) at time t-1, times the probability of transitioning from x(t-1) to x(t). The first term is given simply by the previous estimate, while the second term is our model of the behavior of our opponent (*).
For example, a very conservative model could assume that the opponent could take any legal move at random:
P( x(t) | x(t-1) ) = 1/N
if x(t-1)->x(t) is a legal move, where N is the total number of legal moves from x(t-1), and
P( x(t) | x(t-1) ) = 0
otherwise. This video shows how such a model performs when the opponent behaves exactly as assumed; the red agent, in the bottom left corner, is estimating the position of the blue agent in the opposite corner; the area of the red squares is proportional to the probability P(x(t)):
The tracker is doing a good job in this case, but fails miserably for a more realistic opponent:
We clearly need to improve the opponent's model... luckily another simple model results in a large improvement: we can safely assume that the opponent tends to explore new parts of the maze in search of food. We can formalize this as
P( x(t) | x(t-1) ) = 1/Z exp(-beta * v(x(t))
if x(t-1)->x(t) is a legal move, and 0 otherwise. v(x) is the number of times the agent visited x in the past, and beta is a constant that controls the how exploratory the opponent is. When beta=0, the model is equivalent to the previous random model. Z is a normalizing constant such that P( x(t) | x(t-1) ) sums to 1.
Let's see how this model does in practice (in the video, beta = 10):
Much better, isn't it? We can do even better by using two other sources of information: first, the game gives us a noisy estimation of the distance of the opponent (actual distance +/- 6); second, we know that if the opponent is not visible, it must be at least 5 squares away. We can take this information into account by setting P(x(t)) to 0 for squares that lie outside the noisy distance range, and for those inside the visibility range.
The last video shows the complete tracker at work. The blue lines show the area in which the agent might be according to the noisy distance, and the green line shows the visibility range:
The biggest area for improvement here is the agent's model P(x(t)|x(t-1)). One possibility could be to simulate several common strategies, and to use the transition statistics for the simulated agents to estimate that probability...
Now, can we use the estimated position to program better AI agents? I'll give it a try, and report back soon!
(*) Strictly speaking, we are doing "filtering" here, i.e., we're estimating the current position assuming the past inferences are fixed. The alternative is to do "smoothing", where the full joint probability P(x(t), ..., x(1)) is estimated at each step. The information coming from the new observation is propagated back and forth at each to improve the past inferences. For example, knowing that the agent is at a given position at time t might exclude another position at time t-2 because of too large a distance, which in turn could improve the estimate at time t.
PacMan capture-the-flag: a fun game for artificial intelligence development and education
At the beginning of September I've been invited to teach at a summer school about scientific programming. The whole experience has been really rewarding, but it was the student's project that got me going: we had the students write artificial intelligence algorithms for the agents of a PacMan-like game, and organized a tournament for them to compete against each other.
The PacMan capture-the-flag game has been written originally by John DeNero, and has been used to teach an artificial intelligence course by him at Berkley and by Hal Daume III at University of Utah. Very often, this kind of games have a single strategy that dominates all others, and once you find it the interest fizzles out. In this case, I was impressed by how rich this game is. The game offers a lot of opportunities to develop and test complex learning and planning algorithms, including cooperation strategies for games with multiple agents.
The rules of the game are quite simple: the board is a PacMan maze, divided in a red and a blue half. The two halves belong to two teams of agents, who are controlled by computer programs to eat the opponent's food and protect their own. When in the opponent's half, the agents are PacMan (PacMen?), while in their own half, the agents are ghosts and can kill the opponent's PacMan agents, in which case these are returned to their initial position. The players get one point for each food dot they eat; no points are assigned for eating the other team's agents. The game ends when one of the two teams eats all of the opponent's food, or after 3000 moves; the team with the highest score wins.
To make the game more interesting, one can only observe the position of the other team's agents when they are very close to one'w own agents (5 squares away); otherwise, one can only obtain a noisy estimate of their distance.
The game is written in Python, my programming language of choice, which allows to write rapidly even sophisticated algorithms. I recommend the game to anyone wanting to organize an artificial intelligence course, or simply have fun writing AI agents. I plan to dedicate a couple of posts to the basic strategies to write successful agents in this game.
Here's a video of the best students' agents (red team) playing against the best tutors' agents (blue team). The tutors won, saving our reputation!
Update: The authors of the PacMan capture-the-flag game decided to keep the game close-source, and in particular would prefer not to publish the code of agents playing their game, fearing that it might interfere with their course. It's a shame because I was planning to write some Genetic Programming agents for the game, but of course I respect their decision. I guess there will be no series of posts re:PacMan...
My AI reads your mind — Extensions (part 3)
In the previous two posts I showed how to make use of decision theory to write a game AI that forms a model of its opponent and adapts its strategy accordingly.
The AI could be improved in several ways:
- The most obvious improvement would be to build a better model of the opponent. In the Karate game I used a 2nd order Markov model, i.e., I assumed that the next move of the player only depends on his previous two moves. It is of course possible to use an higher-order model, that would keep track of three or more past moves. However, a long history means a much larger number of parameters to estimate, so that it will take much longer for the AI to have a reasonable estimate of the player's behavior. An easy workaround would be to collect higher-order statistics, but only use them when enough data is available; this however would still fail if the player decides to adopt a new strategy. One could also use another class of models, like, for example a recurrent neural network. I prefer not to use neural networks, first of all to avoid the usual voodoo of choosing parameters like learning rate, network architecture, etc., and second because they work in a black-box fashion, which makes it difficult to extend them in principled ways, as for example suggested below.
- When the game is started, the player statistics are blank, in the sense that all the player's moves are considered equally likely. This is our initial prior probability for the opponent's moves. However, it is probable that humans have common biases in the kind of action sequences they choose. One could adapt the game to allow it to learn this biases over many games with different players, and use them as the initial prior, thereby improving the initial phase of the game.
- A related point is that at the moment I do not take into account the uncertainty about the player's move estimation. At the start of the game the AI has only a few examples on which to base its prediction of the next move, and it should take this into account when making decisions. The formal way to capture this uncertainty is to define an hyperprior on the transition probabilities, and then integrate over it when predicting the next move: so far, the transition probability is given by a matrix, p(n(t+1) | n(t)) = N_{n(t),n(t+1)}, where N is a matrix and for simplicity I'm only considering a first order Markov model. N is considered to be a constant at every time point; in reality, N is also a random variable that is being estimated from the player's move. It is thus only natural to put a prior on N itself, P(N) (e.g., a Dirichlet distribution for every row of the matrix). The improved prediction, which takes into account our uncertainty about N is given by p(n(t+1) | n(t)) = integral over N of p(n(t+1) | n(t), N) p(N) .
- In the karate game, the AI tries to maximize its score by picking the action with the highest expected score. Another strategy would be to choose every action with a probability related to the score, for example using p(choosing action a) to be proportional to exp(beta * score of a), where beta is a constant that controls the "softness" of the decision: for beta=0, all actions are chosen with the same probability; for large betas, only the action with largest score is chosen. This seems to be closer to the way human takes decision, the so called probability matching rule. This strategy is suboptimal if the second order Markov model is the real model of the opponent, but since it is not, it appears to perform better in practice as the AI becomes less predictable (I updated the Karate game in the previous post to do probability matching).
- A major improvement to the AI would be to take into account the so-called theory of mind, i.e., the fact that while the AI is building a model of the player, the player is doing the same for the AI, and trying to maximize his own score. Taking this aspect into account is quite complex, as one falls rapidly into a deep I-know-that-you-know-that-I-know kind of reasoning. Managing to do so, however, is likely to be highly rewarding for the player's experience of the game: several studies have shown how humans activate areas of the brain that are associated with theory-of-mind when playing against a human opponent, but fail to do so against a computer (see Gallagher and Frith, Functional imaging of 'theory of mind', Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(2), 2003, for a review). It is thus possible that by writing computer programs that make use of theory of mind themselves, those centers would become engaged, giving the player the impression of playing against a human opponent.
My AI reads your mind and kicks your ass (part 2)
In the last post I discussed how it is possible to program a game Artificial Intelligence to exploit a player's unconscious biases using a simple mathematical model. In the karate game above, the AI uses that model in order to do the largest amount of damage. Give it a try! You get 10 points if you hit your opponent with a punch or a kick, 0 points if you miss, and 5 points if you block your opponent's move. As you play, the AI learns your strategy and adapts to knock you down as often as possible.
How does it work? According to decision theory, we need to maximize the expected score. To compute the expected score for an action 'x' (e.g., 'punch'), one needs to consider all possible player's moves, 'y', and weight the possible outcome with the probability of the player doing that move, i.e.
E[score for x] = sum_y P(y) * Score(y,x)
where P(y) is the probability of the player choosing action 'y' (obtained using last post's model), and Score(y,x) gives the score of responding 'x' to 'y'.
For example, in the karate game using a low kick has a priori the highest chance of success: you score in 3 out of 4 cases, and only lose 5 points if the opponent decides to block your kick. This is why, at the beginning, the AI tends to choose that move. However, if you know that the AI uses that move often, you will choose the kick-blocking move more often, increasing P(kick-block). This change will make the punch more likely to score points. As you play, the optimal strategy changes and the AI continues to adapt to your style.
With a bit of practice, you'll notice that you can compete with the AI and sometimes even gain the upper hand over it. This shows that you are in turn forming an internal model of the computer's strategy. I think that the game dynamics that results from this interaction makes the game quite interesting, even though it is extremely simple. Unfortunately, it's very rare to see learning AIs in real-life video games...
As always, you can download the code here.
Update: Instead of always making the best move, the AI now selects the move with a probability related to its score, which makes it less predictable. More details in the next post...
My AI reads your mind (part 1)
I regularly read about people complaining that AI in games should be improved. I definitely agree with them, but here's a argument why pushing it to the limits might not be such a good idea: computers can easily discover and exploit our unconscious biases.
Magic? ESP? More like a simple application of decision theory. In order to make an unbeatable AI one needs two steps: 1) build a model of a player's response in order to predict his next move, and 2) choose actions that maximize the expected score given the prediction of the model.
The basic idea behind 1) is that even if we try to be unpredictable, our actions contain hidden patterns that can be revealed using a pinch of statistics. Formally, the model takes the form of a probability distribution: P(next move | past observations).
Try it out: In the Flash example below, you can type in a sequence numbers 1-4, and the AI will try to predict your next choice. If your choices were completely random, the AI would only be able to guess correctly 25% of the time. In practice, it often guesses correctly 35-40% of the numbers! (It might take a few numbers before the AI starts doing a decent job.)
In this example I used a 2nd order Markov model, i.e., I assumed that the next number, n(t+1), only depends on the past 2 choices: P(n(t+1) | past observations) = P(n(t+1) | n(t), n(t-1)). The rest is just book-keeping: I used two arrays, one to remember the past 3 numbers, and one to keep track of how many times the player chose number 'k', given that his past two moves were 'i' and 'j':
// last 3 moves
public var history:Array = [1, 3, 2];
// transition table: transitions[i,j,k] stores the number
// of time the player pressed 'i' followed by 'j' followed by 'k'
public var transitions:Array;
When the player makes a new choice, I update the history, and increment the corresponding entry in the transition table:
* Update history and transition tables with player's move.
public function update(move:int):void {
history = [history[1], history[2], move];
transitions[history[0]][history[1]][history[2]] += 1;
The probability that the next choice will be n(t+1), is given by the number of times the player pressed n(t+1) after n(t) and n(t-1) before, normalized by the number of time the sequence n(t-1), n(t) occurred in the past:
* Return probability distribution for next move.
public function predict():Array {
// probability distribution over next move
var prob:Array = new Array(4);
// look up previous transitions from moves at time t-2, t-1
var tr:Array = transitions[history[1]][history[2]];
// normalizing constant
var sum:Number = 0;
for (var k:int = 0; k < 4; k++) {
sum += tr[k];
for (k = 0; k < 4; k++) {
prob[k] = tr[k] / sum;
return prob;
The best prediction is given by the choice with maximum probability. You're welcome to have a look at the code!
In the next post, I'll show how the AI can choose the best actions in order to maximize its expected score in a Virtual Karate game.


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Heart - Stranded
Stranded(Difficulty: hard)
CHORDS A Am7 B C C# C(add C/D D D) F# G G#m7 G/B
Standing here helpless where do I go, if you leave me alone.Where do I turn now, if it don't work out. As far as I can seeThis isn't the way that you said it would be.CHORUS: Don't leave me like this, don't leave me stranded. If you walk a (guitaretab.com)


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LC already posted the Blu XXL bars for their Top Of The Class feature. And I agree that he is speeding his way up to my top five MC list. But Cory Gunz is just something out of this world. He puts words together so effortlessly and quick listening is the equivalent of trying to catch 40 quarters thrown in the air at the same time. Only thing you can do is rewind and try to get it all again.
Is there a better album-less MC on the planet?
If so, I'd like to see him do what Cory just did in this video. Don't worry, I'll wait cuz this is going to take a few repeats for you to grasp it all. I'm on my 5th try.
Previously Posted — Blu Freestyle For XXL | Cory Gunz – Lay Me Down | Cory Gunz – Best Kept Secret Mixtape


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A dual function stitch regulator and constant stitch speed control. Utilizes your machine's full range of speeds including low, medium and high to create the desired stitch length. It has a digital control box featuring: Digital stitch speed display, Ability to adjust the stitch speed, Dual color LED display, Pulse button, On/Off button.
Note: Plugs into foot control port of specified electronic sewing machines with frames, so you don't have to use a separate foot control. Requires quilting frame carriage platform to install x & y motion electronic encoders, which feedback the speed of platform movement, so the motor can speed up or down and maintain stitch length.
Note*: GRSS2 is Brother's part number for SureStitch Regulator For Use With: Innov-ís 1500D, Innov-ís 2500D Innov-ís 2800D – New!, Innov-ís 4000D, Duetta® 4500D, New!, QC-1000. Not the NV6000D Quattro!
Note*: GRSS1 is Brother's part number for SureStitch Regulator For Use With PQ-1500S!
The Grace Company is excited to launch a new stitch regulator - Sure Stitch. . . .that will put more control at your fingertips! for Bernina, Brother, Babylock, Juki, Janome, Elna, Pfaff, & Viking Husqvarna Computer Sewing and Quilting Machines.
Dual function stitch regulator and constant stitch speed control. Utilizes your machine's full range of speeds including low, medium and high to create the desired stitch length. It has a digital control box featuring: Digital stitch speed display, Ability to adjust the stitch speed, Dual color LED display, Pulse button, On/Off button.
The Grace SureStitch is a dual function-stitch regulator and constant stitch speed control, with constant contact to provide seamless stitch regulation. The SureStitch takes advantage of your machine's full range of speeds. It also utilizes low, medium and high settings to create your desired stitch length. It can be used as a speed control using the pulse button and holding it down or turning it to 9 and that takes it off stitch regulation.
- On handle control box at your finger tips
- Digital stitch speed display
- Tie-off button
- On/Off switch
- Stitch speed button +/-
- Takes advantage of machine's full range of speed
- Superior stitch accuracy
- Constant-contact sensor design
- Easy installation
- Cross-compatible with multiple machines
- One Year Warranty (Parts and Labor)
- Grace Sure Stitch 1 Prong is for machines with separate foot control and power ports on the machine. The Grace Sure Stitch 3 prong is only for Janome 1600P series, with single plug in on machines for both foot control and power source.
- The Adapter is for older frames to have it work with older carriages.
- US Warranty 5 years parts, 90 days labor on defects in materials and workmanship.
- Extended US Warranty: Extended Warranty Available
- Non-US Warranty: 30 days parts and labor
Quilting Frame Compatibility
Grace Pro
Gracie II
Grace Pinnacle
Grace Next Generation
Grace GMQ (optional adapter kit required)
Grace Little Gracie (optional adapter kit required)
Grace SureStitch Stitch Regulator overview. An overview of the SureStitch Stitch Regulator, which controls stitch length while machine quilting with a quilting frame.
How to use the Grace SureStitch Stitch Regulator. Learn how to use the Grace SureStitch Stitch Regulator for perfect stitches when machine quilting. Learn what all the buttons do, and some handy tips for using the SureStitch
Grace Sure Stitch Regulator. Simple guide on how-to install Sure Stitch Regulator
How To Install SureStitch Encoder On A Grace Start Right Frame. The Start Right Frame has flat wheels and the Grace SureStitch - stitch length regulator has inverted V shaped wheels. This video shows how to install the SureStitch encoders so they work on the Start Right Frame.
No, there is a timing issue with the Juki E and we can't seem to make it work right. The speed control works with it though. But it is not the speed control for the Juki Q or QE it is the on regular speed control. Grace
I purchased this through the Lafayette Store. The staff their was awesome!
Pamela W, Gastonia NC
Pleasantly surprised to have both shipments arrive earlier than expected. Had one issue that required Customer Service report (manufacturer sent incorrect component), but Kim with Customer Service took care of the issue immediately. I would highly recommend Allbrands.com to family and friends.
Charlene, Ohio
Always a pleasure to do business with you. Thank you.
Shirley, Ohio
Thank you for helping me. ThMy order arrived yesterday. I have not installed it yet. I am looking forward to many happy hours of quilting. I have purchased both of my juki machines from your store . They are great machines. I really appreciate Allbrands.
Karen, California
I love this website! I have shopped here many times and have alwys been very happy wuth everything from the products to the prices, the free shipping, the fast processing and shipping, and the customer service.
Karen, California
Yes, I will do the survey but I wanted to tell you personally, I LOVE you website, I have purchased from your website many times and have ALWAYS been extremely happy with everything. The prices are great, the orders are processed and shipped very quickly and the times I have called with questions the staff has been very helpful, polite and friendly. I will continue buying from your website for as long as we are each around!
Luciana, Brazil
I am very pleased becouse the Grace Company email me asking if my sewing machine was correct for the Sure Stitch model.
Deborah, Illinois
I did a lot of research to find the lowest price on the product I did purchase from your Web site and I find that looking through other products on your site, that you are lower in price and have a lot to choose from. I will use the site more often.
Jean, Michigan
I looked around to find a lower price and didn't find one. Your price was the lowest by far and you sent me something for free. Thanks
Ellen, Michigan
I was very satisfied with the selection, price and speed of shipment. Thanks a million.
Quilters Cruise Control, Home Office
When we get an order for overseas shipment (Europe or Australia), we have to make a few adjustments in the box contents for the different power requirements. We also ensure that anything shipped to Europe is RoHS compliant (has to do with lead-free requirements) and CE certification (has to do with electric power transmission over a circuit board and through wires). Quilters Cruise Control
Bundle & Save
Get additional savings when you purchase any of these items along with this product.


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Charts courtesy of stockcharts.com
Thursday, November 5, 2009
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There were hoards of breakouts today as many stocks took then opportunity of recent market weakness to build baes. FSYS broke out big on earnings after a short consolidation. Price relative stayed pretty high, but CMF has been inexplicably declining.


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Naturally Educational » Entries tagged with "United States"
#SmartSummer Challenge Week 2 – Government
Pin It The second Smart Summer Challenge theme is "Government"! What is the Smart Summer Challenge? Amy of teachmama.com, MaryLea of Pink and Green Mama, and I are challenging our community to beat the "summer slide" (the learning loss that can happen over the summer). We'll be posting our activities daily, loosely following this calendar of educational summer ideas, and hosting a weekly linky (with PRIZES) for others to share their ideas and activities. The Week 2 linky … Read entire article »
Filed under: 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), History and Culture, Smart Summer Challenge


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- Related Products
- Specifications
Point - P906
Material: Stainless Steel
Weight: 271 Grains
Inside Diameter: 5/16 Inches
Number of Barbs: 3
Barb Length: 1 Inch
Engaged Holding Area: 2 1/2 Inches in Diameter
Penetration to Engage: 2 1/8 Inches
Entry Hole: 3/4 Inch in Diameter
Adhesive: 2-Part Epoxy
- Reviews
Customer Reviews 2 item(s)
- Amazing holding power
- Amazing holding power and a small entry hole, punches right through those big fish and ANKORS them! Big fish getters right here! Cant go wrong with the ANKOR!!!
- definitely 5 stars
- I Love these points I prefer it over the 3 grapple innerloc.


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AutoPay automatically pays your utility bill every month with money from the checking or savings account that you specify. It doesn't cost anything to participate, plus you save on postage and checks.
Renters may sign up for autopay, please contact the Utility Billing for more information by clicking on the link to the right.
It's easy. Simply complete the authorization form and include a voided check or withdrawal slip. You will continue to receive a billing statement as usual. Each statement will indicate the amount and will show the message "Auto Pay." Funds will be transferred one day prior to the due date on the billing.
It takes up to a month to set up your direct automatic payment. Until you see the wording "Auto Pay" on your utility statement payment stub, please continue to pay your bill as usual, by check, cash, or credit card.
The working day prior to the due date on the billing, funds will automatically be transferred from your account (eg: If the due date is on a Monday, funds are pulled from your account on the previous Friday).
Each direct payment will be clearly itemized on your monthly statement from your financial institution.
Simply call the City using the phone number on the billing.
Inspire. Educate. Involve. Communicate.
Ask the City | Contact Directory | News | Calendar | Jobs


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Looking for a new home or just curious to see what's on the market right now? We're excited to announce our new real estate search site, which will help you discover the latest listings, open houses and luxury properties in the Bay Area and beyond.
The new search tool [realestate.sfgate.com] is easy to use, delivers results fast and offers Free Text Search so you can type in exactly what you're looking for and see listings immediately.
Keep it simple with the search box or narrow your results the old-fashioned way by using the "Refine" drop down.
Easy buttons let users find properties by category including Open Houses, Recently Listed and Luxury.
You'll also find the search tool easy to use on your mobile devices. To get started, navigate to m.sfgate.com/realestate on your mobile phone or iPad and click "Search for local listings" at the top of the page.
Visit realestate.sfgate.com to start searching right now. Questions or comments? Send an email to email@example.com.


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Plainridge horsemen 'dumbfounded' by money room revelations
"We are all dumbfounded, you know?" said Jim Hardy, leading driver at the five-eighths-of-a-mile harness track. "A lot of people are just starting to find out about it."
"It" is the revelation by state investigators that Gary Piontkowski, the longtime charismatic leader of the struggling racetrack, had been regularly making cash withdrawals from the Plainridge money room. The takings raised such a red flag with investigators vetting the Plainridge application for the slots license, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission convened a special hearing in Boston to sort the matter out.
Piontkowski resigned suddenly in April, citing unspecified health concerns, but Plainridge owners and officials revealed he instead had been forced out over the almost daily withdrawals.
"Right now we are just trying to take it all in," Hardy said. "I don't know the facts whether he [Piontkowski] was authorized doing it or not. I just read what was in the paper this morning."
An additional wrinkle came Thursday morning when it was revealed Timothy Petersen, the chief financial officer at Plainridge who first questioned Piontkowski's actions, had resigned and would not appear before the Gaming Commission.
"We don't know what to think," trainer Barry Farrar said. "All we know is what we read in the paper and this is stuff they wouldn't have shared with us anyway."
Farrar, who keeps the Gaming Commission's website bookmarked on his home computer, said the horsemen had a representative attending the hearing while most of them focused on getting their horses ready for Thursday evening's races.
Bill Abdelnour, a retired school teacher turned harness driver, spent the morning jogging horses around the banked oval track in Plainville and talking with fellow horsemen who, like him, see slot machines as the only way to keep their horses racing in Plainville.
"I think there's some general concern about what's going on," Abdelnour said from home in Worcester, where he was following the daylong hearing online. "I think the majority of us feel if there were mistakes made in the past, they have been corrected and they are moving forward."
Abdelnour also praised Piontkowski as the savior of harness racing in Massachusetts. Piontkowski had led the team that built Plainridge just up Route 1 from the former Foxboro Raceway, which closed to harness racing in 1997. Plainridge opened with Piontkowski as the helm in 1999 and continued to race despite losing money.
"We just feel privileged to be here and there is not a person down here who does not believe Gary Piontkowski got us here," said Abdelnour, president of the New England Amateur Harness Drivers Club. "What went wrong, I don't know. I hope the commission understands that the people who are up there now are righting the ship. We are a country of second chances."
Hardy, a member of the board for the Harness Horseman's Association of New England, said the horse owners, trainers and drivers likely would be meeting soon to discuss the recent turn of events.
Plainville voters are scheduled to weigh in on the town's host community agreement with Plainridge on Sept. 10. Without the voters' approval, the application cannot go forward, and without the license, Plainridge would not be able to expand to install 1,250 slot machines. Instead, the track would close.
Hardy tried to put a positive face on the uncertain future.
"We have had a great season so far. We are all excited we are so close to getting the license," Hardy said. "It's been a long painful wait."
Jose Martinez can be reached at email@example.com.


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Our Practice Leader Rev. Myo Lahey will give a talk this Saturday: "Older…" Feb 9, 2013 @ 10:15 am after the morning Zazen periods. Please join us!
After our usual Saturday program will be a Lunar new year event & treats, Joss burning to our loved ones and friends who have passed beyond and to set into motion our next Daruma Goals and say goodbye to our old fulfilled goals!
We hope to see you!