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Top 5 - 10
Brian Droitcour is a writer, curator, and Russian-to-English translator. From 2002 to 2007 he lived in Moscow, where he covered art for The Moscow Times and Artchronika, a Russian monthly magazine. In 2008 he moved to New York, where he started working for Rhizome, first as curatorial fellow, then as staff writer. As a translator he's worked on several exhibition catalogues and art anthologies.
Jon Rafman's Google Street Views and the accompanying essay he wrote for Art Fag City's IMG MGMT series are sure to get several well-deserved mentions in end-of-the-year lists. Tom Moody on Google Street Views: "Jon Rafman's gathering of images from Google Street Views isn't really collecting at all but solid, groundbreaking journalism. Obviously untold hours were spent perusing this recent-but-everyday tool for images in very specific, focused categories. Photos that look like art photos, photos of mishaps, photos showing the success and failure of Google's face-blurring software, photos that show class issues in a supposedly 'universal' product (the down and out are more likely to be photographed unsympathetically than the up and in). As much as one hates to see more attention paid to the monopoly that aspires to put the happy face on Big Brother, this is worthwhile, thoughtful research." Kool-Aid Man in Second Life is a distorted twin to Google Street Views, another set of screen captures singling out accidental beauty and quirks of surveillance, only this time in a fantasy world that lets Rafman personify his searching gaze in a pitcher of fruit drink.
кремль.рф (kremlin.rf) won't go live until early next year, but the Russian presidential administration's new Cyrillic URL already made waves last month, when Russia became the first country to register top-level ...
Report From Cyberfest 2009
The stage at St. Petersburg's Sergey Kuryokhin Modern Art Center was set for a blast of live electronic music, with seating for ten performers, each station equipped with samplers, laptops, and electric guitars. As the audience arrived the musicians tinkered with the controls; one stood near a huge glass jug, adjusting wires submerged in its murky liquid. But when the appointed time for the concert's start arrived, the performers retreated to the wings, and recorded music came up and continued for the next twenty minutes. It seemed almost like a wry comment on the detachment of the physical presence of the performer from the source of sound in electronic music. But in fact it was an unannounced presentation of past issues of Tellus, the 1980s journal of experimental sound produced by Harvestworks, selected by director Carol Parkinson. As it faded, the musicians took their places, at last, to perform Third Eye Orchestra, a piece written and conducted by Hans Tammen. It was a controlled improvisation, where Tammen lifted numbered cards indicating which of the score's instructions should be read at that moment. The musicians, all local recruits, visibly relished both the spontaneity and the monstrously loud sound that only an ensemble of many amplified electronic instruments can produce.
The Harvestworks evening was part of the program of the third edition of Cyberfest, an annual festival conceived and organized by Anna Frants, a New York-based artist and gallerist, Marina Koldobskaya, director of the St. Petersburg branch of Russia's National Center for Contemporary Art.
Illuminated Manuscripts
The metaphor of the brain as a database (or, if you prefer, the database as a brain) flatters and anthropomorphizes the machine more than it explains the mind. Gray matter doesn't seem to be organized in a way that makes the storage and retrieval of information easy; rather, the classification and categorization that characterize the database are pre-digital technologies invented to manage the ever-increasing amounts of information that civilization requires citizens to master. Cicero used a "memory palace" when delivering orations. As he spoke, he would imagine moving through a house where each room and object represented points he needed to make in his speech and the supporting evidence he needed to make them. The antithesis of such memory systems might be the dream, the mind's nightly refresher that reconfigures the day's events and data in disjointed, symbolic narratives. Both the memory palace and the dream are based on irrational elements: subjective experience, arbitrary connections, and word play. That the memory palace is created under the thinker's deliberate control only highlights the conscious mind's eagerness to do what the unconscious mind does automatically. Even as Cicero publicly performed the constructs of reason, his brain was circumventing them.
Last July, in a New York University faculty residence on West Houston Street where Picasso's sculpture and I.M. Pei's architecture face off in a courtyard invisible to Google Earth, Alexandre Singh delivered an installment of his Assembly Instructions Lectures, a series of talks illustrated by a pair of overhead projectors. After introducing his audience to Matteo Ricci, a sixteenth-century Jesuit missionary who taught the memory palace technique to Chinese officials to convince them of the superiority of Western (and by extension, Christian) thought, Singh launched into a detailed recounting of a dream he supposedly had, in which Ingvar Kamprad, founder and principle shareholder of Ikea, announced that the master floor plan implemented in every Ikea store around the world encodes a classification of all human knowledge. For instance, the arrangement of shoes, hangers, and sweaters in a display closet, as Singh demonstrated, represented the kingdoms and phyla of life on Earth. What's more, the Ikea system of Singh's dream world does not merely encode--it controls. If something changes in a store--say, a new couch model is introduced for the new season, or a passing child moves a prop coffee-table book around a fake living room--the fabric of reality is altered.
Corporate Culture
"Contact," the most recent exhibition by the group Art Business Consulting, featured a rocket ship built from computer hardware, with a trio of yuppies floating weightlessly on a video screen inside. The trappings and denizens of the office have figured in ABC's work since Mikhail Kosoplapov, Maxim Ilyukhin, and Natalia Struchkova formed the group in 2001, and as in "Contact," they have always been subject to some sort of disfigurement. Early on, ABC established a pseudo-corporate identity by showing up at art openings in expensive cars and nice suits, performing the role of Russia's nascent upper-middle class while their colleagues in the Moscow boheme were riding public transport in sweaters and jeans. To solidify that image, ABC made good on their name's promise of "business"--in 2004, they became dealers, selling the work of artists they liked at ABC Gallery. Change happens quickly in Moscow; now that the market has dwarfed institutional influence in Russia's art world, linking the words "art" and "business" doesn't feel as novel as it did in 2001, and Western-style corporate culture has lost the cachet of an exotic interloper. ABC's symbolic launch of the office into space in "Contact" came on the heels of the loss of their own office space; at the end of May, the arts complex where ABC Gallery was located shut down to make room for a new development. While Ilyukhin, Kosolapov, and Struchkova continue to work as artists, businesspeople, and consultants, the events of last summer seem to mark a turning point, a time for reflecting on the future of a project initiated to document social change now that those changes are entrenched.
Interview with Mark Leckey
For anyone who has found pleasure in the dancing, drinking, and melancholy of Mark Leckey's collage films—or the witty lyrics of his bands, JackTooJack and the defunct donAteller—it was a surprise when the British press labeled his work esoteric and over-intellectualized following his receipt of the Turner Prize last year. Perhaps the work featured in the exhibition of nominees, Cinema in the Round, lost something in the translation from a performance to a gallery installation. Leckey's staged lecture wove Felix the Cat, Philip Guston, and The Titanic into an idiosyncratic history of art and film. Mark Leckey in the Long Tail, a new talk that premiered at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London earlier this year, takes the same approach and extends his argument into the twenty-first century, using examples and props to visualize how an internet-based economy has changed distribution, demand, and creativity. Its U.S. premiere, organized by the Museum of Modern Art, will take place at the Abron Arts Center on Oct. 1, 2, and 3. - Brian Droitcour


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Lesson Plan
Campaigning for Fair Use: Public Service Announcements on Copyright Awareness
|6 – 8
|Lesson Plan Type
|Estimated Time
|Ten 50-minute sessions
|Lesson Author
Blacksburg, Virginia
Who owns what you compose? Who controls what happens with the words, images, music, sounds, videos that you create? What rights do you have to use other people's compositions? This unit plan focuses on helping students find answers to these questions. Students explore a range of resources on fair use and copyright then design their own audio public service announcements (PSAs), to be broadcast over the school's public address system. Students begin by completing a survey about fair use. Students discuss their responses to the survey and then research facts about fair use and copyright. Next, students become familiar with PSAs before writing and producing their own announcements, which are shared with other students. Work can also be published as podcasts on the Internet.
Persuasion Map: Use this online tool to map out and print your persuasive argument. Included are spaces to map out your thesis, three reasons, and supporting details.
In her description of a student-centered program to address issues of copyright in her school, Barbara Giorgio explains, "The key factor in the success of Marple Newtown's Committee for Academic Integrity is ownership of the process by students. They are committed, not preachy or self-righteous, simply committed to helping others make the right decisions. It has worked in Marple Newtown, and it can work wherever there are such dedicated students" (17). This lesson plan provides a similar opportunity for students to take the lead in educating one another about the issues of copyright and intellectual property rights while simultaneously asking them to practice fair use of the resources that they use in their finished work.
Further Reading
Giorgio, Barbara. "Plagiarism: A Student-Led, Proactive Approach." English Leadership Quarterly 28.1 (August 2005): 16-17.

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The Human Rights Council will hold its nineteenth regular session from 27 February to 23 March 2012 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. A highlight of the session will be the opening four-day High-level Segment during which some 80 ministers and other senior dignitaries will address the 47-member Council on human rights matters of national interest and concern.
Council will start with High-level segment and will hold panels on Human Rights and Sport, Freedom of Expression on the Internet, Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation.
Complete background press release.
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
The Council is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which are elected by the UN General Assembly. The Human Rights Council replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
More information:
An introduction to the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council
Also available:
The Brussels based United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe - UNRIC provides information on UN activities to the countries of the region. It also provides liaison with institutions of the European Union in the field of information. Its outreach activities extend to all segments of society and joint campaigns, projects and events are organized with partners including the EU, governments, the media, NGOs, schools and local authorities.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC Brussels)
Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Block C2,7th and 8th floor, Brussels 1040, Belgium
Tel.: +32 2 788 8484 / Fax: 32 2 788 8485


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Edinburgh Bag - Metallic Navy
A Covet Edinburgh Bag is a true multi-tasker taking you effortlessly from day to night. Made from luxurious Italian leather it will look great with any outfit.
For during the day the detachable strap can be adjusted to any length allowing you to wear it cross body or as a shoulder bag, either folded or open as a messenger.
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- zip closure
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The Yampa Valley's top 10 games of the year
1. Steamboat boys lacrosse 10, Cheyenne Mountain 9
May 10
Playing in the state quarterfinals, the two teams went back and forth with Steamboat narrowly holding on. The win put Steamboat in the Final Four for the first time in school history. Steamboat, which had beaten Cheyenne Mountain earlier in the year, proved it belonged among Class 4A's elite.
2. Steamboat football 21, Lutheran 20
Oct. 26
Trailing by a point with less than two minutes left and with an extra point opportunity, Steamboat Springs football coach Lonn Clementson decided to go for two. Steamboat lined up in an extra-point formation, snapped the ball, and holder Christian Ramirez pitched it over his left shoulder to Skyler Kauf, who had come around from the left side of the line. Kauf rolled around to the right on a run-pass option and found Mitch McCannon for a two-point conversion and a 21-20 win.
3. Soroco boys basketball, 71, Paonia, 70
Jan. 18
Matt Regan drilled a 3-point shot with four seconds remaining to hand the Rams a huge win against Paonia. The win was Soroco's fifth in a row and perhaps the most exciting game in Oak Creek this season. The Rams trailed by five with 17 seconds remaining but came back for the victory.
4. Moffat County boys basketball 54, Roaring Fork 59
March 2
Playing for the third time, this time for the district championship, this game had it all. Three technical fouls in the first half, back-and-forth, fast-paced play and a game-tying 3 from Moffat County's Tyler Davis with 11 seconds left waved off because the official said it hit the basket brace on a high bounce off the rim. The Rams had Moffat County's number this season, winning all three meetings by a total of 11 points, but both teams would bow out of the state tournament in the round of 16 a week later.
5. Steamboat girls basketball 32, Green Mountain 30
Feb. 26
The win marked Steamboat's first state playoff victory in more than a decade. Steamboat made 1 of 2 free throws in the final minute, while Green Mountain couldn't convert two 1-and-1 chances. The 11th-seeded Sailors walked away with an upset of the sixth-seeded Rams.
6. Hayden boys basketball 54, Meeker 51
March 2
The win gave the Tigers a District tournament championship. Hayden led most of the game and used four Mark Doolin free throws down the stretch to seal the win. It also set the team up for a run at the regional tournament.
7. Moffat County girls basketball 39, Roaring Fork 38
March 1
Roaring Fork was responsible for the Bulldogs' only conference loss last season, but Moffat County avenged that with a 56-34 win at home in the rematch. When the two met in the district semifinals, the Rams came out with a tough defensive game plan. They packed the middle and kept Moffat County from getting baskets inside and led by four late in the game. But the Bulldogs withstood the late-game pressure, and Kori Finneman's consecutive baskets in the final minute gave Moffat the lead for good.
8. Akron 44, Hayden football 28
Nov. 3
In a back-and-forth game, Hayden, the No. 14 seed in the 8-man playoffs, couldn't quite keep up with third-seeded Akron. The two teams seemingly traded drive after drive, Hayden once trailing just 16-14, before Akron opened things up in the second half.
9. Soroco girls basketball 55, West Grand 47
Feb. 9
It wasn't the Mustangs' strongest season, but Routt County squads never get tired of winning in Kremmling, where rivalry always manages to keep things interesting. Briana Peterson led Soroco with 14 points. Soroco went on to its best regular season in 15 years.
10. Moffat County girls soccer 1, Aspen 1
April 30
Needing a tie or win in order to stay ahead of Aspen in the Western Slope League playoff standings, the Bulldogs fell behind early in their home game against the Skiers but battled back. Jazmine Swindler's goal midway through the second half tied the game and set the stage for a tense final 20 minutes. Allie Ehlers ripped a shot off the crossbar, and two minutes later the Skiers almost squeezed a shot past goalie Skylar Tripp. The teams played two scoreless overtimes, as well, and the Bulldogs got the result they needed.
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Strong performances by The Hobbit, Skyfall and domestic productions generated more than 14 million admissions in Denmark in 2012.
The year ended with a boost from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which was released on Dec 12 and sold 423,000 tickets in 16 days.
It helped Danish cinemas total 14.2 million admissions for the year – the country's highest figures since 1982.
James Bond's latest mission, Skyfall, also contributed to the record figure.
Sune Lind Thomsen, head of distribution at SF Film (which also released The Hobbit), said: "We wanted to beat the legendary record for a James Bond movie set by Octopussy, which reached an audience of 707,000 in 1983, and become the best 2012 performer in the Danish theatres. Exceeding 900,000 admissions, we succeeded in both."
Michael Fleischer, chairman of the Danish Distributors' Association (FAFID), highlighted two local crowd-pleasers: Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis's This Life, from Regner Grasten Film, and Susanne Bier's Love Is All You Need, from Zentropa Entertainments.
In total, the 21 Danish productions released in 2012 drew 3.9 million cinema-goers and approximately 27% of the market (as in 2011).
It was also "another good year for Danish films on the international scene," according to the Danish Film Institute, which listed a harvest of 82 prizes from 272 festival participations.
These include three in Cannes (for Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt/Jagten), two in Berlin (Nikolaj Arcel's A Royal Affair) and two in Sundance (Mads Matthiesen's Teddy Bear/10 timer til Paradis, Lise Birk Pedersen's Putin's Kiss/Putins kys).
Top Five (Denmark, 2012)
- This Life (Hvidsten Gruppen: Nogen må dø for at andre kan leve)
Dir: Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis – 764,516 admissions
- Love Is All You Need (Den skaldede frisør)
Dir: Susanne Bier – 644,255 adms
- A Royal Affair (En kongelig affære)
Dir: Nikolaj Arcel – 528,425 adms
- Father of Four – At Sea (Far til Fire – til søs)
Dir: Claus Bjerre – 409,945 adms
- My Sisters Kids Home Alone (Min søsters børn alene hjemme)
Dir: Martin Miehe-Renard – 310,556 admissions


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Jones & Bartlett Learning recently published Cultural Competency for the Health Professional by Patti R. Rose, MPH, EdD. Included in the text is an interview with Dr. Donna Shalala, current President of the University of Miami and former Clinton U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Cultural Competency for the Health Professional reviews the importance of the implementation of cultural competency by allied health professionals, and the process of assessment, training, and evaluation. It includes a clear and concise overview of the necessary tools to apply cultural competency processes as well as systematic and disciplined approaches to the process of achieving it. Also addressed are the reservations that may exist in various health professions with interests in moving in the direction of cultural competency, such as associated costs and limited time. Cultural Competency for the Health Professional provides health professions students with key cultural competency information and practical insight into how to apply this knowledge in their day-to-day work environments as they deal with patients on a clinical basis.
Chapter 10 includes an interview between the author and Dr. Shalala. Read an excerpt,
Dr. Rose: In general, what is your perspective regarding healthcare reform given the rapidly changing demographics in the U.S.?
Dr. Shalala: I don't think there is a lot of reform in health care reform. What I do think is that it is a substantial increase in coverage. We're going to get close to most Americans having health insurance. So this bill is very much about coverage. So the people who don't currently have coverage are working class. That involves large numbers of minorities, African Americans and Hispanics in particular, who tend to work hourly and often more than one part time job but they are working. So 80% of the people who don't have health insurance at this moment in time are working or they are families of the workers.
Dr. Rose: So essentially what you are saying is the fact that our demographics are changing. This new concept has emerged-- emerging majorities rather than minorities--in fact the term minorities might become obsolete.
Dr. Shalala: That's absolutely true. So that means that health care has to change along with it. Both who provides the healthcare and how they provide it.
Interested in learning more? Visit our website today.


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You probably haven't heard of Dayton Audio, but the company is a leading supplier of "raw" loudspeaker drivers and speaker-building accessories for hobbyists. Dayton also sells a line of stereo and home theater speakers, like the B652 bookshelf speakers reviewed here, which are popular with budget-minded audiophiles. The sound is crisp, and bass quality and quantity are truly exceptional for a beer-budget speaker. Construction quality isn't lavish, but there's nothing about the B652s' appearance that screams shoddy (it has a $51.99 per pair MSRP, online pricing is closer to $45). If this speaker retailed for two or three times as much it would still qualify as a budget champ, and the B652 would still be a remarkable value.
Design and features
To be clear, the Dayton B652s are passive speakers (not self-powered models). That means you'll need to provide an amplifier, such as an AV receiver, to get sound. But bargain hunters can rest easy: pair them with the $25
This medium-size bookshelf speaker can be placed on a speaker stand, within a cabinet, or even in an actual bookcase. The second and third options are possible because the B652 doesn't have a rear (or front) bass port, so the speaker can be placed up against a wall, but as with most speakers, it will sound best placed a foot or two away from a wall. The matte-black vinyl cabinet's front baffle is covered by a removable black cloth grille, which is neatly mounted on a fiberboard frame. The B652 measures a trim 11.75 inches tall by 7.2 inches wide by 6.5 inches deep; the pair of speakers weighs 14 pounds in their shipping box.
For an inexpensive speaker, the B652 boasts an unusually large 6.5-inch polypropylene cone woofer. That's augmented by a ferrofluid-cooled 5/8-inch polycarbonate dome tweeter. The speaker's impedance is rated at 8 ohms. There's a metal keyhole slot to facilitate easy wall-mounting, and you get a set of plastic spring-clip wire connectors. Unfortunately, the connectors don't provide a secure grip on the wires, so an inadvertent tug might yank the wire out of place.
Our only qualm about the design of the Dayton B652s is an aesthetic one. It's not that they're ugly, it's just that the competing bargain speakers, the $69
In our tests, the B652s' sound was balanced and clear. For speakers of their size, bass is full and definition is decent; there's no overt thickening or bloat. I doubt most buyers will feel the need to add a subwoofer to their Dayton music systems.


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CHESTER, Pa. (Friday, Aug. 24, 2012) – Real Salt Lake (13-10-4, 43 points, West #2) picked up a valuable road point on Friday night, playing the Philadelphia Union to a 0-0 draw at PPL Park to end the team's three-game MLS losing streak.
RSL GK Nick Rimando and the 11-man commitment to defense produced the Claret-and-Cobalt's second clean sheet in as many games this week, with tonight's 0-0 scoreline coming on the heels of Tuesday's 2-0 home win over Tauro FC in CONCACAF Champions League play. Tonight's clean sheet was Rimando's 60th since he joined RSL in 2007 and the 96th of his illustrious MLS career, second only to FC Dallas GK Kevin Hartman in the league record books.
RSL started the game in a much different shape than usual, eschewing the preferred 4-4-2 diamond formation for a 4-1-4-1, with FW Álvaro Saborío playing as a lone striker and MF's Javier Morales and Luis Gil playing in front of fellow MF's Will Johnson and Ned Grabavoy. Captain Kyle Beckerman inhabited his usual defensive midfielder role, with DF's Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Kwame Watson-Siriboe and Tony Beltran slotting in ahead of Rimando.
Real Salt Lake got off to a bright start in its new setup, registering a pair of shots – including one on goal – in the opening three minutes. Unfortunately for RSL, that was it for the first half. The Utah side – perhaps a bit fatigued while playing its third game in the last six days – was slow and sloppy in the opening frame, struggling to complete passes throughout the first 45.
Philadelphia wasn't much better, though they did register the best chance of the half in the 42nd minute. Union MF Michael Farfan picked up a loose ball in the middle of RSL's third, playing a square ball to MF Danny Cruz at the penalty spot only for Cruz to sky his first-time shot over the bar.
Cruz had another chance 10 minutes into the second half. The newest member of the Union, Cruz curled a corner kick from the right side toward goal, forcing RSL's Grabavoy into an unusual headed goal-line clearance at the near post.
The game opened up a little bit in the final 15 minutes. RSL had a half chance in the 79th minute, when Morales ran onto a flicked header in the middle of Philadelphia's final third before hitting a slow left-footer at Union GK Zac MacMath from 20 yards.
Real Salt Lake had another chance in the 85th. Beckerman picked out substitute MF Jonny Steele with a great long ball down the middle, allowing Steele to collect in the left side of the box. The Northern Irishman beat MacMath to the ball, but couldn't quite get it under his foot, failing to shoot or pick out the onrushing Saborío with a back pass.
Philadelphia had one final chance in the 91st minute. A Union player got on the end of a free kick at the right post, hitting a right-footed volley from close-range that Watson-Siriboe did well to clear off the line.
Real Salt Lake returns to action next Saturday, when they'll take on D.C. United at Rio Tinto Stadium, the first of five MLS & CCL games in September, and one of only two at home (Sat., Sept. 22 v Portland Timbers FC on NBC Sports Network).
Click here to access video highlights and the MLSsoccer.com MATCHCENTER for RSL v PHI
Real Salt Lake Match Notes – RSL 0-PHI 0
- RSL's MLS road record currently sits at 4-6-3 (15 points), just four shy of the club-record away points haul of 19, set in 2010 and equaled in 2011 … RSL's last win on the road came at Chivas USA 3-0 at the Home Depot Center on June 16 – a span of five games … RSL opened the 2008 season with five consecutive road losses, the longest road losing drought in the Jason Kreis era.
- FW Fabian Espindola was not included in Friday's gameday 18-man roster due to fatigue and slight adductor tightness … Meanwhile, DF Chris Schuler appeared in Friday's 18 – his first time on the gameday roster since 70 minutes off the bench at left back in RSL's 1-0 win at Seattle on May 12 … Schuler, who returned to practice last week, had been out with a bone stress response in his left foot.
- DF Jamison Olave is close to returning from a hamstring injury suffered on July 31 at Herediano. When Olave doesn't start; RSL has gone 1-8-3 in the last 12 MLS games Olave has missed, according to Peter Hirdt at the Elias Sports Bureau (1-5-3 this year) … The last time RSL won on the road without the Colombian 2010/11 MLS All-Star Olave was April 9, 2011 in a 2-0 win at NE (a repeat of the prior trip's 1-0 win at SJ to open the 2011 season).
- RSL's next game is on Saturday, Sept. 1, when the Claret-and-Cobalt host D.C. United at Rio Tinto Stadium in the team's penultimate match against the Eastern Conference of 2012. Thus far, RSL has a 4-2-2 mark against teams from the East, with a trip to Houston during the September FIFA window on Thursday, Sept. 6 to face the Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium for the first time.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 0 0
Philadelphia Union 0 0 0
Scoring Summary: No goals scored
Misconduct Summary: RSL – Chris Wingert (Foul) – 58'
PHI – Michael Farfan (Violent Conduct) – 59'
Real Salt Lake (4-1-4-1) – Nick Rimando; Chris Wingert, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Nat Borchers, Tony Beltran; Kyle Beckerman (C); Ned Grabavoy (Yordany Alvarez, 74'), Will Johnson, Luis Gil (Jonny Steele, 62'), Javier Morales (Paulo Jr., 86'); Alvaro Saborio
Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Reynish (GK), Sebastian Velasquez, Chris Schuler, Justin Braun
Philadelphia Union (4-2-3-1) – Zac MacMath; Gabriel Farfan, Carlos Valdes (C), Amobi Okugo, Raymon Gaddis; Gabriel Gomez (Freddy Adu, 82'), Brian Carroll; Michael Lahoud, Michael Farfan, Danny Cruz (Antoine Hoppenot, 71'); Jack McInerney
Substitutes Not Used: Chase Harrison (GK), Josue Martinez, Chris Albright, Keon Daniel, Porfirio Lopez
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Referee's Assistants: George Gansner, Scott Kachmarek
4th Official: Hilario Grajeda
Attendance: 18,441
Time of Game: 1:53
Weather: 86 degrees & humid
www.RealSaltLake.com / www.RioTintoStadium.com / www.ESPN700Sports.com


text:
ey owning real estate and those who earned it in high technology would seem to have little in common. Real estate is, literally, a bricks-and-mortar business, while tech ventures are pretty much the opposite.
But the ways they both become wealthy -- and lose everything -- are not that far apart. Both fields are cyclical in nature and share volatile assets.
Here are some lessons from executives in both worlds.
It always looks good on paper
Mike PeQueen, a managing director at HighTower Las Vegas, a wealth management firm, preferred stocks -- even when his city underwent a building boom a decade ago.
"For 25 years, Las Vegas real estate went up, and then it went down," PeQueen said. "They thought it would be a one-year down market. It's been five or six years, which is normal."
PeQueen said his friends used properties to buy more properties, and rarely thought of buying elsewhere.
"Five real estate investments in Vegas is not diversification," he said.
Yet this strategy did not affect all investors he knows equally. Owners who did not take on a lot of debt have been able to hang on.
Still, leverage often proves profitable in places like New York, where even the wealthiest families own only a handful of buildings.
"They have concentrated risk, but they derive comfort in that they know it so well," said Maureen K. Clancy, a managing director at Barclays Wealth.
Clancy advises real estate owners to put some money in non-real estate investments.
Learn from the past
Many of those in social media who have gotten wealthy in recent years seem to have acquired their money with sometimes very little time spent at their companies.
But the ones who got truly wealthy spent years wondering if their ideas were going to pan out.
Now that they have the money, they are acting more cautiously and diversifying in a way that tech developers did not in the 1990s.
"In the 1990s, the theme was companies didn't want their employees to sell a single share of stock," said Mark T. Curtis, a managing director at Morgan Stanley in Palo Alto, Calif.
"Now, I'd say among our corporate relationships, they want us to help their employees with financial education," he said.
Joe Goldberg, a principal at Buckingham Asset Management in St. Louis, said his firm's clients included about 50 Facebook employees with wealth ranging from $500,000 to $30 million.
Some of those, particularly engineers, wanted to test new ideas for companies, confident they would be able to find another job if their venture did not work out. He says he consults with many about risk versus reward. Even so, many of the new millionaires are aware that they may never score so big again.
"We get brought into companies with a couple of young guys with $5 million or $10 million, and the attitude is, 'I may or may not ever do this again. Let's make sure I don't blow it with this money,' " Curtis said.
Being conservative pays
Though it is hard to pull back when everyone else is pushing forward, those who do not tie their investments to one company have the best chance of attaining wealth.
Joel Gemmell, who was employee No. 125 at Oracle Corp., said he stayed at the company for 25 years because other options were not as lucrative and seemed riskier.
He began selling some Oracle stock each year, and did not stop -- even when its value went up 100 percent.
Three years ago, he became a wealth manager focused on high-technology sales executives. He spends much of his time providing reality checks to executives who propose leaving established firms for start-ups.
" I have to tell them to compare realities," Gemmel said.
And sometimes, being conservative means losing a little rather than a lot. PeQueen said he talked one of his clients into forfeiting a six-figure deposit on 100 home lots in Phoenix, in 2010. If the client had closed, he would have had to put up a couple million dollars more.
"Those lots went down considerably more" than $250,000, PeQueen said. "It could have destroyed him completely."
Lessons learned by people who got rich through bricks and mortar, and those who made money in technology


text:
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Monday, April 21, 2008
Manic Monday?
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Morning, all!
Manic Monday isn't up yet, so I'll check back later to see if it's been updated. If so, I'll play then.
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text:
(Dreamhouse Kings #3)
Tuesday, 6:58 P.M.
Pinedale, California
Xander's words struck David's heart like a musket ball.
He reeled back, then grabbed the collar of his brother's grimy Confederate coat. His eyes stung, whether from the tears squeezing around them or the sand whipping through the room, he didn't know. He pulled his face to within inches of Xander's.
"You . . . you found her?" he said. "Xander, you found Mom?"
He looked over Xander's shoulder to the portal door, which had slammed shut as soon as Xander stumbled through. The two boys knelt in the center of the antechamber. Wind billowed their hair. It whooshed in under the door, pulling back what belonged to the Civil War world from which Xander had just stepped. The smell of smoke and gunpowder was so strong, David could taste it.
He shook Xander. "Where is she? Why didn't you bring her?"
His heart was going crazy, like a ferret racing around inside his chest, more frantic than ever. Twelve-year-olds didn't have heart attacks, did they?
Xander leaned back and sat on his heels. His bottom lip trembled, and his chest rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath. The wind plucked a leaf from his hair, whirled it through the air, then sucked it under the door.
"Xander!" David said. "Where's Mom?"
Xander lowered his head. "I couldn't . . ." he said. "I couldn't get her. You gotta go over, Dae. You gotta bring her back!"
"Me?" A heavy weight pushed on David's chest, smashing the ferret between sternum and spine. He rose, leaped for the door, and tugged on the locked handle.
He wore a gray hat ("It's a kepi," Dad would tell him) and jacket, like Xander's blue ones. They had discovered that it took wearing or holding three items from the antechamber to unlock the portal door. He needed one more.
"Xander, you said found her! "
Xander shook his head. "I think I saw her going into a tent, but it was at the other end of the camp. I couldn't get to her."
David's mouth dropped open. "That's not finding her! I thought I saw her, too, the other day in the World War II world. . ."
"Dae, listen." Xander pushed himself up and gripped David's shoulders. "She saw the message we left. She saw Bob."
Bob was the cartoon face and family mascot since Dad was a kid, drawn on notes and birthday cards. When David and Xander had been in Ulysses S. Grant's Union camp the night before, Xander had drawn it on a tent. It was their way of letting Mom know they were looking for her.
"She wrote back!" Xander said. "David, she's there!"
"But . . ." David didn't know if he wanted to scream or cry or punch his brother. "Why didn't you go get her?"
"Something was happening on the battlefield. They were rounding up all the soldiers and herding us toward the front line. I tried to get to her, but they kept grabbing me, pushing me out of camp. When I broke away—" Xander's face became hard. "They called me a deserter. That quick, I was a deserter. One of them shot at me! I barely got back to the portal." He shook his head. "You gotta go! Now! Before she's gone, or the portal changes, or . . . I don't know."
Yes . . . no! David's stomach hurt. His brain was throbbing against his skull. His broken arm started to ache again, and he rubbed the cast. "Xander, I can't. They almost killed me yesterday."
"That's because you were a gray-coat." Xander began taking off his blue jacket. "Wear this one."
"Why can't you? Just tell them—"
"I'll never make it," Xander said. "They'll throw me in the stockade for deserting—if they don't shoot me first."
"They'll do the same to me." David hated how whiney it came out.
"You're just a kid. They'll see that."
"I'm twelve, Xander. Only three years younger than you."
"That's the difference between fighting and not, Dae." He held the jacket open. "I know it was really scary before, but this time you'll be on the right side."
David looked around the small room. He said, "Where's the rifle you took when you went over? The Harper's Ferry musket?"
His brother gazed at his empty hand. He scanned the floor. "I must have dropped it one of the times I fell. I was just trying to stay alive. I didn't notice." He shook the jacket. "Come on."
David shrugged out of the gray jacket he was wearing. He tossed it onto the bench and reluctantly slipped into the one Xander held. He pulled the left side over his cast.
Xander buttoned it for him. He said, "The tent I saw her go into was near the back of the camp, on the other side from where I drew Bob." He lifted the empty sleeve and let it flop down. He smiled. "Looks like you lost your arm in battle."
"See? They'll think I can fight, that I have fought."
"I was just kidding." He took the gray kepi off David's head and replaced it with the blue one. Then he turned to the bench and hooks, looking for another item.
"Xander, listen," David said. "You don't know what's been happening here. There are two cops downstairs."
Xander froze in his reach for a canteen. "What?" His head pivoted toward the door opposite the portal, as though he could see through it into the hallway beyond, down the stairs, around the corner, and into the foyer. Or like he expected the cops to burst through. "What are they doing here?"
"They're trying to get us out of the house. Taksidian's with them." Just thinking of the creepy guy who was responsible for his broken arm frightened David—but not as much as the thought of getting hauled away when they were so close to rescuing Mom. "Gimme that," he said, waggling his fingers at the canteen.
Xander snatched it off the hook and looped the strap over David's head. "Where's Dad?"
"They put him in handcuffs. He told me to come get you. That's why I was here when you came through."
"And one more thing," David said. He closed his eyes, feeling like the jacket had just gained twenty pounds. "Clayton, that kid who wanted to pound me at school? He came through the portal in the linen closet." He opened one eye to see his brother's shocked expression.
"How long was I gone?" Xander said. "Where is he now?"
"I pushed him back in. He returned to the school, but he might . . . come back."
"Great." Xander glanced over his shoulder at the hallway door again, then back at David. "Anything else I should know?"
David shook his head. "I guess if I die, I won't have to go to school tomorrow." He smiled weakly.
The school year—seventh grade for David, tenth for Xander—had started just yesterday: two days of classes. Mom had been kidnapped the day before that. David couldn't believe they'd even gone to school under the circumstances, but Dad, who was the new principal, had insisted they keep up normal appearances so they wouldn't attract suspicion.
Lot of good it did, David thought, thinking of the cops downstairs.
"I don't know," Xander said. "Dad would probably figure out a way to get your body there."
David's expression remained grim.
"You'll be fine."
"Don't get taken away," David told his brother. "Don't leave with me over there. Don't leave me alone in this house when I come back. Don't—"
Xander touched his fingers to David's lips. "I won't leave," he said. "I'll go see what's happening downstairs, but I won't leave. No way, no how. Okay? Besides—" He smiled, but David saw how hard it was for him to do it. "You'll have Mom with you when you come back. Right?"
It was David's turn to smile, and he found it wasn't so hard to do. "Yeah." He turned, took a deep breath, and opened the portal door.


text:
Bow Hold
Hans Roelofsen
demonstrates the "French" bow hold.
demonstrates the "French" bow hold.
- The overhand, or "French", grip
- The underhand, or "German", grip
netti were the most prominent representatives
of the two approaches, although these grips had become established long before their lifetimes.
The overhand technique was already becoming accepted as early as the 17th century, spreading out from France. Double bass players adopted the methods of dance fiddlers and held the bow like them, laying their thumbs firmly on the hair and four, or sometimes three, fingers on the stick of the bow. With the introduction of the bow screw, this grip became refined, principally by Bottesini, who popularised it in his tutor. Today it is used almost all over the world. The main exceptions are Germany and Austria, where the French grip did not become established and is consequently not practised. There are no sensible reasons for this, so there is hope that it will change and that highly talented players will not have to go out into the world with the "wrong" bow hold.
My variant of the "German" bow hold


text:
Imagine building bug-free ASP.NET applications in a quarter of the time, without sacrificing flexibility or quality.
It enables you to build robust .NET business applications and complex websites 4X faster than before.
M# is compiled to standard ASP.NET MVC and C# code. So it's safe to adopt for mission critical projects.
Hear the story from the developers and project managers who have been actively using M# to deliver their mission critical projects.
"We have been using M# for the past six months, and can honestly say the impact it has made to our development team has been outstanding. We have a small development team, which is why it is even more important that productivity is improved in any possible areas. M# has achieved this with projects that we would expect to take around six months, are being completed in under two.
The framework is feature rich, with many modules or functions already in place. I am yet to require something that has not already been thought of. What we also like about the UI is that it helps you become a better developer, and code to standards by pointing things out that could be done better.
Peter Ranson, Managing Director, 4X Solutions Ltd
When I first heard about M# I was concerned that it might be just another code generation tool that failed to differentiate between data structures and use cases.Once I saw it in action and learnt the concept in detail I could see the difference and the value it would add to the development process.If you have a web based project which does not need minute tailoring throughout, works with data and needs tailored business-logic then M# could give you a much more efficient development experience than if you hand-crafted those products entirely.
If you're looking for a RAD framework to help produce data-driven ASP.NET WebForms applications without spending a lot of time hand-crafting HTML or building data access and business logic code, M# offers an abstraction over the repetitive boilerplate of WebForms development along with tooling to quickly implement your applications.The code generation is based around a plain-text DSL which plays nicely with source control, ensuring that you still have control of your code-base as and when you need to modify your code.
M# has that WOW factor not just because it can make you a lot faster but because it doesn't sacrifice quality and flexibility in doing so.It fits in very well with the modern methodologies and processes like BDD, TDD, Agile etc. Architects can use M# to define the code architecture while developers then use it to quickly develop and add the functionality and test engineers can use M# to quickly write and run the automated tests.No longer do you have to choose between "Rapid" and "Proper" development as with M# you get both.
Real-world software projects demand mastery of object-oriented design patterns, automated-testing and complexity control in source code. Those are typically beyond the university curriculum.When using M#, students will effectively learn software development best practices.Its immediate visualisation of the compiled C# code from the high-level M# abstractions brings about the much needed mapping between object-oriented semantic definitions and framework-specific implementations.


text:
Quick hits from Thursday morning's practice:
— He may not have had his best fastball, but JaMarcus Russell was felt good enough to rejoin practice and make due with off-speed stuff, choosing to simply flick his wrist rather than unleash the full power of his $60 million right arm.
In his first team session, Russell completed two of five passes, one a short pass to Johnnie Lee Higgins and a dump-off to fullback Oren O'Neal. Michael Huff broke up a sideline pass intended for tight end Darrell Strong, a screen to Louis Rankin fell incomplete and Derrick Burgess pressured him into an incomplete pass.
In Russell's second team session, there were two more short completions.
During seven-on-seven drills, Russell was the victim of a perfectly-played pick by Nnamdi Asomugha, who stole a pass intended for Arman Shields in stride and ran the other for what would have been a touchdown.
"You can see a little bit of a velocity issue with him right now, different from normal," Kiffin said. "I think that will go away here pretty soon."
Kiffin said the staff watched Russell closely and that trainer Rod Martin gave the go-ahead to continue.
Russell acknowledged he wasn't 100 percent but wasn't comfortable watching from the sidelines.
"I just wanted to get out here today just so I could get back in practice," Russell said. "I don't really like sitting out and watching guys bust their behinds when I can be out there doing something. Just anything out there I can help."
— Right guard Cooper Carlisle and right tackle Cornell Green were given the morning session off, with the Raiders reshuffling their line to accomodate the absence of two starters. Seth Wand got some work at right tackle, Chris Morris at right guard, and Mario Henderson has been working on both sides.
— Speaking of Henderson, it sounds as if Kiffin's patience has about run out on the first of three third-round picks in the 2007 draft. During the offseason, Kiffin said the Raiders were working on Henderson's lack of aggression and his passion for football.
It sounds like Kiffin and line coach Tom Cable haven't made much headway. Rather than shift into coach-speak when asked if Henderson was challenging Green at right tackle, Kiffin was blunt and to the point.
"No, he's not pushing him. We'll continue to move Mario around to both sides," Kiffin said. "Mario is not improving the way we'd like him to so we'll just continue to push him. But it's not close right now."
When asked if Henderson needed to shore up a particular area, Kiffin said, "No, it's everything right now. Unfortunately."
— Sounds like Javon Walker, the free agent aquisition whose salary suggests he is the No. 1 receiver but whose practice play has been so-so, will begin getting some extra work starting Monday.
Kiffin said Walker and Fred Wakefield, rehabbing from a knee injury, would begin working twice per day Sunday when the 49ers visit Napa.
When asked if Walker was making progress, Kiffin said, "There's progress being made. I wouldn't say as much as I'd like at this point so we're going to continue to push them. I think pushing him back into two-a-days will help him."
— Defensive tackle Gerard Warren missed with a thigh injury sustained Wednesday night. Kiffin said he didn't think the injury was as serious as one that hampered Warren last year and said he was day-to-day. Tommy Kelly sat out as scheduled and should practice tonight. Cornerback John Bowie (knee) did not practice.
Safety Greg Wesley (back spasms) was back at practice but did little of note.
— Defensive tackle Terdell Sands, who has avoided speaking with reporters for the first week of camp for reasons that ranged from a team meal to a team meeting to a doctor's visit, stopped and chatted for a few minutes.
He conceded to being in better condition this year and was affected last season by the death of his mother.
"I lost my mother last year, so that was very big," Sands said. "You lose anything like that, some things take tolls on you. You lose things that are aspects of life right there. That's behind me. I've got to push on this year."
Sands said he takes responsibility for the Raiders' run defense in 2008.
"I take it all, because they look for me to be a big part of it," Sands said. "And like I say, I wasn't mentally in it, so I did some gap responsibility and all my true effort wasn't out there. I thought I was. But when I watch film, it really wasn't like I was the year before. So I take responsibility and put it on myself."
Sands declined to specify how much he weighed last year and how much he weighs now.
— Kiffin has taken to visiting with members of the Raiders' personnel department occasionally during practice sessions. Wednesday it was Bruce Kebric, Thursday it was Kent McCloughan.
— Defensive tackle William Joseph was worked over by Chris Morris and Jesse Boone on consecutive plays during a blocking drill. Kwame Harris buried Kalimba Edwards on another.
— McFadden was fielding kickoffs along with Hiram Eugene, Rankin, Adimchinobe Echemandu and Tyvon Branch, prompting Kiffin to be asked whether the Raiders' biggest off-season investment might be utilized on that role.
"He's such an explosive player that it's something we have to look at," Kiffin said. "Part of that will be determined by how the other returners do. Let's say Branch in preseason is returning great. Then it's not worth it. If you have a great return situation to put Darren out there that may not be worth it. If we're struggling, then it becomes more valuable to us."
Said McFadden, who has been in camp eight days and has had a sunny and agreeable disposition for every one of them: "I don't know if they're going to use me back there or not but I'm always prepared for it."
— Practice joggers for pre-snap violations included Harris, Robert Gallery, tight end Chris Wagner and defensive end Greyson Gunheim.
Gunheim, an undrafted free agent from Washington, actually protested his lap, telling Kiffin that Henderson had first moved his leg, drawing him offsides. Gunheim was right, by the way.


text:
You don't need a phone to enjoy Android apps
Recently I downloaded an android app "cardio trainer" on my Samsung Wi-Fi-only 10-inch tablet. It works very well. The problem is that my tablet is a little large to take along when running. I do not have, or want,a cellphone. However, there are some features of my tablet like GPS navigation, running apps, camera, that I would like to have in a small cellphone-sized package. Can I buy a second-hand cellphone and use it as described above? If so, what technical specification should I look for? - Alexa Wilson, Salt Lake City.
First of all, Alexa, let me congratulate you for wanting to be disconnected from the world by not having a cellphone. I would KILL to be able to do that.
Since you've put yourself in that position, however, it's created this small inconvenience. However, you should be able to use CardioTrainer on a smaller device.
Samsung makes a series of Android-based music players that run Android apps but don't have a built-in phone. They're like Android versions of the iPod touch, which is like the iPhone without the phone.
Samsung makes three different sizes: the Samsung Galaxy Player 3.6 ($149.99), the Galaxy Player 5.0 ($229.99), the Galaxy Player 4.2 ($199.99) and the Galaxy Player 5.0 ($219.99). Each are Android devices that run Android apps and have screen sizes equal to the number in their title.
All three devices have all of the features that are probably required of the CardioTrainer app, namely a GPS receiver and an accelerometer that can measure how many steps you take.
What I'm not sure about is whether they can run the CardioTrainer app based on what version of the Android operating system these devices use. According to Samsung's website, these players run a version of Android called "Gingerbread," version 2.3.5. Alexa, you should contact the makers of CardioTrainer to see if their app can run on that version of the operating system and on those devices.
There also are a few other portable devices that are not phones that can run Android apps including the Sony Walkman Z ($249), the Archos 43 Android tablet or the Google Nexus 7 tablet.
The Google Nexus 7 tablet might be a little too big with its 7-inch screen, but at $229, it's a great value, and you could fit it in a pair of pants or shorts with large pockets.
Aereo is that controversial Internet TV service in Utah I've written about in the past where you can watch live streams of local TV stations on your desktop computer or mobile devices.
It uses tens of thousands of tiny antennas the size of a dime that take the over-the-air TV signals and transfers them to the Internet where Aereo subscribers can watch them. It costs either $8 or $12 per month for the service, and it's been the subject of a number of lawsuits by TV broadcasters who claim it violates copyright law.
The service has always been available for iOS devices by logging into Aereo's website at www.aereo.com on the mobile Safari browser. This last week, Aereo has released an Android app, and it works beautifully.
I wanted to mention this because for some reason, Aereo has the best video quality of any mobile video service I've ever seen. On Android, Aereo's video feed looks beautiful. The stream is clear and detailed, and the video compression that the company uses is incredible. The same can be said for the iOS version of Aereo, too. The company must use some secret sauce in its compression scheme to make video look that good. I just wish Netflix's video looked that clear on a mobile device.
I reviewed the service before and mentioned that I can't imagine who would want to subscribe to Aereo since it's limited to just local over-the-air stations - which is more than 25 in Utah - and it doesn't include cable stations. It seems counterproductive to pay money for TV stations you normally can get for free.
But the service does include the ability to record programs on Aereo's servers, a virtual DVR if you will, and I just can't believe how good the picture looks. You can try out Aereo free for a month. It's worth checking out.


text:
Product usage
Step 1: Cleanse and tone your face using the Nu Skin® cleanser and toner of your choice. The mask must be applied on dry skin.
Step 2: Tear open pouch and remove moistened mask. Place on face and align holes in mask with eyes. Tips: The mask is one-size-fits-all. To cover all corners of the face, we suggest you start at the forehead, and line up with the eyes so you don't get an air pocket. Pat the mask onto the cheeks, moving down toward the chin. Gently press on the mask for it to adhere properly.
Step 3: Leave on face for 5 to 15 minutes. Close your eyes and relax.
Step 4: Remove mask and massage remaining liquid on face into skin using the sheet. No need to rinse. Dispose of in trash (do not reuse).
Step 5: Follow with a Nu Skin® targeted solution if needed and a Nu Skin® day or night moisturiser of your choice.
Aqua, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone PEG-8 Meadowfoamate, Panthenol, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Allantoin, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Pantolactone, Tetrahydrodiferuloylmethane, HDI/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Silica, Xanthan Gum, Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate, Disodium EDTA, Chlorphenesin, Methylparaben.


text:
My new book, Caddo, Oklahoma- Persevering on the Prairie is now available from the Bryan County Genealogy Library and Archives. This book is a compilation of research, stories, newspaper articles, and obituaries that will help you understand Caddo's fascinating past and give you names and dates to help with your family genealogy. The book is fully indexed.
To order your copies send a check or money order for $35 plus $3.50 postage and handling to Bryan County Genealogy Library and Archives, P.O. Box 153, Calera, Oklahoma 74730-0153. (If you order multiple copies just add $1postage for each additional book.) Please indicate if you would like your book signed. I will be happy to write a message of gratitude for you.
Persevere: to persist in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement.
The early settlers of Caddo faced violence, fierce weather, isolation, and poverty yet managed to create a community that has lasted one hundred and thirty-eight years. Twice Caddo was nearly devastated by fire, but the community rebuilt. And it thrived! Caddo was once home to more than 2,000 people and had visitors from all over the world. You can read about the Corn Carnival, the Moon Mausoleum, the Jefferson Highway, and many more of Caddo's famous attractions. Order your copy of Persevering on the Prairie today!
Thanks for your support and your interest in my hometown. Mary E. Maurer


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Under The Bridge: New Trolls Emerge from Dark Horse
Those Dam Things…
On July 25, 2012, Dark Horse Comics under license agreement with Dam Things will begin offering a new line of designer vinyl Good Luck Trolls. All collectibles fans have no doubt encountered the lovable smiles of the classic Good Luck Trolls in some shape or form over the last half century. Their original countenance was created by Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam in 1959. Dam chose to eschew the evil Troll demeanor of the Three Billy Goats Gruff fairy tale characters for an affable grin and "hug me" pose and they quickly became a pop culture phenomenon.
Copyright legalities during the 1960's saw the product go into the public domain in the United States with a number of companies issuing their own versions. I still have a couple of vintage Uneeda Doll Company "Wish-Niks" in my collection. Russ company outfitted them to represent different holidays and vocations, miniature bristle haired versions came out of gumball machines, they were ubiquitous. Reinstatement of the copyright came after Dam's passing in 1989 and worldwide licensing is now administered by the Denmark based Dam Things.
The first wave of 2.5" figures will feature an assortment of 15 body and hair color variations, including metallic, glitter, and flocked versions. Glow In The Dark and Black Light bodies are also in the mix. The "mystery box," with characters both cardboard boxed and foil wrap sealed, offers a random purchase experience and an opportunity to trade with like minded collectors. There are "chase" characters with lower find probabilities and those ratios are printed on each vending display.
ComicCon Exclusive…
Lucky 2012 San Diego Comic Con attendees (July 12-15) will have a crack at purchasing a black light sensitive green Troll with white hair which is limited to 1,500 and exclusive to the Convention.
With Dreamworks Animation announcing the Good Luck Trolls as their next feature subject (Chloe Moretz and Jason Schwartzman are on tap for voice work) the franchise should see a renaissance and a new fan base for the 21st Century.
Important Photo Note…
I captured these images at the February 2012 Toy Fair in NYC when this product was in pre-license approval prototype. Please check vending display boxes for actual color and surface combinations available in Series 1. Happy Collecting.
Click Any Image To Launch the Gallery


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Damien wrote:I don't think the set -suffers- because of the armour. But rather to anyone (or perhaps almost anyone) with an interest in actual history, the plate armour showing up in a set with the title 'Vikings' on it can seem jarring. Personally, I'd prefer a lack of armour, just to be more Viking-ish. Ya know? I certainly wouldn't refuse to buy the set because there's an extra set of armour in it. Haha.
It's the bad helmet along with the bad sword along with the inappropriate (though useful) armor that gets to me. Layer upon layer upon layer of getting things wrong. I toss the helmets for the most part - my vikings generally get nasaled helms or spectacle helms. I toss the new swords - on top of being an awful design their material is rotten for modding. The original lego swords would have worked much better for the Vikings (but I got a number of Little Armory viking swords). The axe is a little too large for my taste, but still useful. The shields I love (and this set lacks that). The armor is fine from a part standpoint, but the euro-armor is dirt common now.
It's nice that LEGO made a small cheap set. Lots of people will no doubt love the set for what it is. It just doesn't do it for me.


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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
SYDNEY (Reuters) – A landmark study suggesting a link between cannabis use and a drop in teenage IQ may not have gone far enough in its research, with any falls in IQ more likely due to lower socioeconomic status than marijuana, according to a Norwegian study.
The latest work, which appears in the journal PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, also suggests that different policy steps might be needed in that case.
"My study essentially shows that the methods used and analyses presented in the original research are insufficient to rule out other explanations (for lower IQ)," said Ole Rogeberg, an economist at the Frisch Centre for Economics Research in Oslo, to Reuters.
The Dunedin Multi-disciplinary Health and Development Study is an ongoing report produced by New Zealand's University of Otago, monitoring 1,037 New Zealand children born between April 1972 and March 1973. The study followed them for 40 years.
The participants were periodically tested for IQ and other indices including drug taking, and in 2012 clinical psychologist Madeline Meier produced a study saying there was a link between teenage cannabis use and a lower IQ.
Researchers in the Meier study compared the IQ trends of people who never smoked cannabis with four groups of those who did: people who smoked, people who scored as dependent in a follow-up survey, those who scored as dependent twice and those who scored as dependent three times.
The study found IQ declines increasing "linearly" with cannabis use, Rogeberg wrote in PNAS.
The crucial assumption in the Meier study is that cannabis use is the only relevant difference between the groups tested, he said. His use of a simulation model showed that it may be premature to draw a causal inference between marijuana use and falling IQ scores.
For one thing, other writing about the Dunedin group on which Meier's study is based suggest that early cannabis use is more common for people with poor self-control, previous conduct problems, and high scores on risk factors linked to low family socioeconomic status, he wrote.
Given these factors, young people from lower status families tended to end up in less intellectually demanding environments, whether by choice or by circumstance, which would increase the difference in IQ levels as they aged.
"We know that the researchers have measured the IQ of the participants at various ages in childhood – but we don't know if the IQ changes were similar for the different cannabis-using groups before their cannabis use," he told Reuters.
"We don't know how much of the change in IQ we can explain by differences in education, jail time, occupational status, etc and whether this affects the estimates in the paper."
(Reporting by Pauline Askin, editing by Elaine Lies)
Reuters Health


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Information for Dutch nationals on travelling, living, working and doing business in Niue.
This country or region does not have a Dutch embassy. Instead, you may contact:
Netherlands embassy in Wellington
- Co-operative Bank Building - 10th Floor
- Corner Featherston & Ballance Streets
- Wellington 6011
- PO Box 840
- Wellington 6140


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Grand Theft Auto 4 PC Patch Improves Shadows, Removes Social Club App
The patch brings better-looking shadows as well as performance optimisations and bug fixes, and finally removes the need to run that irksome Rockstar Games Social Club application before you can play the game. The full changelog follows below.
GTA IV Title Update 188.8.131.52 \ 188.8.131.52 \ 18.104.22.168 (Patch 6)
- Rockstar Games Social Club
- Remove Rockstar Games Social Club application
- Separate RGSC application no longer required to launch game
- Social Club login now occurs during the launch process
- Shadows
- A new, less memory-intensive, and better-looking scalable shadow solution has been implemented
- Enhanced Night Shadows added with user-selectable level of detail (replaces Shadow Density)
- Performance
- Rendering optimizations have been made to improve performance, particularly when enabling shadows
- User-configurable graphics settings have been added for shadow control
- Improved memory management
- Multiplayer
- Enhanced security to isolate users from cheaters and hackers
- Episodic Content
- Provide in-game support to purchase "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" (Not available in Russian/Japanese Versions)
- Bug Fixes
- Vehicle shadows re-enabled between 8pm and 6am
- Fix floating street textures
- Pedestrians in vehicles appear further out from the player to allow for long range sniping
- The Moon has been implemented with simulated lunar phases
- Fixed garbled text in Japanese Multiplayer menus
- "RESC 10" error fix for specific hardware configurations
Thanks to 'Pulverdings' for the tip.
From The Chatty


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Welcome to kPOSI!
24/7 Radio Free Positron!
Welcome to kPOSI!
24/7 Radio Free Positron!
Amish Rake Fight: Fellow Prisoners
Fellow Prisoners is an otherworldly concoction of driving beats and ambient soundscapes from Machines of Loving Grace keyboardist, Mike Fisher.
More from Amish Rake Fight
The Atomica Project: Gravity (single)
Gravity is the first single from The Atomica Project's sophomore release, Grayscale.
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The Atomica Project: Metropolitan
Metropolitan maneuvers effortlessly through genres, incorporating elements of trip hop, orchestral, downtempo, and lo-fi, all the while illustrating a compelling story of loss, affliction, collapse and recovery.
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Beautiful Assassins: Preamp
The debut release from Beautiful Assassins is an incredible blend of industrial, ambient and electronic mayhem.
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Bizarbies: Half-Hits
Documents the rise and fall of a boy who moves to the big city and finds himself in big trouble!
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Bounte: Maximal
Bounte returns with more intricate, groove-infused electronica in Maximal. With this 4-track set, Bounte shifts focus to danceable instrumentals dominated by glitchy, thundering beats. From the hard and grinding low-end of "D575" to the energized snarework of "Sextuple X," Maximal is fuel for the dance floor.
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Bounte: One
One is the debut album from Chicago native Bounte. Combining a breakbeat and IDM backbone with strong melodic textures and melodies, One is an unique take on the current electronic music scene.
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Christ Analogue: The Bitcrusher Remixes
The companion release to 2003's critically acclaimed Everyday is Distortion puts a dance floor edge on the ground breaking intensity you've come to expect from Christ Analogue.
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Christ Analogue: Everyday Is Distortion
A flawless union of intricate drum and synth programming, strong ambient structure, and vocals ranging from intimate to enraged bear the listener through this sixteen-song epic.
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Chris Randall: The Devil His Due
The long-awaited solo album from Chris Randall, former frontman for Sister Machine Gun, pays homage to more traditional American music, while still maintaining the chaotic edginess that Randall is known for.
More from Chris Randall
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Posi Perfect Album Side 11.17.2005
Chris Randall brings us "Transform," a 'live in the studio' Micronaut performance of a single 22-minute song, consisting of five different movements. Each part of the track is a piece unto itself, but they all mesh together to create the whole.Posi Perfect Album Side 10.11.2005
Mark Beeson plays some of his Positron! favorites. Featuring tracks from Sister Machine Gun, Eco-Hed, Beautiful Assassins, Scanalyzer, and Bizarbies, as well as live tracks from Amish Rake Fight and Micronaut.Posi Perfect Album Side 09.14.2005
Wade Alin of Atomica plays unreleased Atomica, new tracks from Milkfish and Scanalyzer, and some of his Positron! favorites.Posi Perfect Album Side 09.02.2005
Host Chris Randall plays some unreleased material from Sister Machine Gun, Micronaut, and Scanalyzer, and previews two tracks from his upcoming solo collection.Posi Perfect Album Side 08.24.2005
The Posi Perfect Album Side features 10 of our host's favorite Positron! tracks. Host: Lisa Randall.


text: Seller: ozon-sun (1,349) 98.7%, Location: Europe, Ships to: Worldwide, Item: 274021997641 Ancient CROSS WITH ENAMELS Kievan Rus. IX to XIII. Bronze.VERY RARE. Original.. DESCRIPTION Ancient CROSS WITH ENAMELS Kievan Rus. IX to XIII. Bronze.VERY RARE. Original. Kievan Rus - a mighty medieval state that existed from IX to XIII century AD. PAYMENT We accept payments through PayPal. Payment must take a place in 7 working days after your order. The goods which are not paid in 7 working days will be re-offer for sale and availability of the goods are not guarantee. If you have any questions – please do not hesitate to contact us – please send us e-mails and our specialists will contact you ASAP. If you did not get the answer in 24 hours please check anti-spam filter in your e-mail box and please pay attention to difference in our local time. Any way you can send your request again. We really appreciate you for positive feedback. Please do not leave you negative or neutral feedback "in warm blood". Please contact us and we apply maximum efforts to solve the problem. Our feedback we will leave automatically as the answer to your feedback. Thank you for visiting our shop. Best regards and hope for future cooperation! SHIPPING The ability of the combined delivery of the order. We deliver the goods all over the world. Sometime we can send the goods without original packing (to reduce the weight and to guarantee best way of saving goods condition while delivering). The goods which you buy will be sent you in 1-2 days after 100% prepayment by DHL in Germany or by AIR mail in case of sending the goods abroad. All orders have insurance and tracking number. Please leave your notes concerning your personal order (for example colour or size) when you make the payment. We work 5 days a week (except weekends and holydays). Standard delivery time is: European countries – 3-20 days, rest world – 5-25 days. Please do not forget that the goods which you buy are located in other end of the Earth and it will take more time to deliver you the goods. Please place your order in case you are satisfied with delivery dates and with all the conditions below. In case of international delivery of some groups of the goods have binding Customs Taxes and the recipient must know about them and pay them. This way it is completely client's responsibility. As usual delaysof delivery and impossibility to deliver the goods are concerned with customs policy. For example it is not possible to deliver laser pointer to some countries. That is why please learn carefully your local customs rules before your payment. We are not responsible for any mistakes which are concerned with this matter. If the goods have defects or you are not satisfied of quality – please send it back in 14 days for replacement or refund. But the goods must be resent in the same condition as you got them. Please contact us and check carefully returning address before you send it. We will send you replacement just after we got unconditioned goods. Material: Bronze, California Prop 65 Warning: Ancient CROSS WITH ENAMELS Kievan Rus


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The "Live with Kelly and Michael" host shared a pic of her six-pack on Twitter this week... to the envy of just about everyone.
An inspirational Henry Ford quote in the background says, "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right."
Ripa included a shout out to her trainer Anna Kaiser, tweeting, "Thank you @AKTINMOTION and @TheKaiserTweet for letting me lean on you."
According to Kaiser's AKT Inmotion website, the trainer's technique includes "cardio, strength training, toning and stretching in one super-high energy session. Hot, sexy, fun with serious results."


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According to economist Juliet Schor, author of The Overworked American, having the chance to spend time not doing anything in particular is less common than it used to be. In her book, Schor documents the increase of time spent working—both paid employment and work around the house—over a twenty-year period.
She estimates that between 1969 and 1987, the amount of time-per-year an average employed person spent on the job went up by 163 hours, or the equivalent of one month of work. The total amount of time spent on housework remained constant. So if we feel that our time is more squeezed, that we are spending more and more time working on our lists and less and less time on leisure activities, there is good reason for it.
It is ironic that this decline in leisure time came on the heels of revolutions in technology that were expected to provide us with more free time than any society had ever known. In the late 1950s, experts predicted that the four-day week was soon to come, and that by the early 1990s we would have "either a twenty-two hour week, a six-month work year, or a standard retirement age of thirty-eight." That hasn't happened. Rather than using the time we save through technology for leisure activities, we use it to get more work done. Schor claims, "In the past 40 years we could have cut our work time in half, without any decline in productivity. But instead of increasing our free time, we've actually reduced it."
So what is this national disease that causes us to work harder and harder the more time we "save"? Clearly, the issues of work and overwork, vacation and leisure time have many dimensions—economic, political, social. The fact that some people work 60 hours a week means that others do not work at all—overwork and unemployment are closely linked. Some of us work extra jobs because that's what it takes to make ends meet. Or we work overtime because that's what it takes to keep the job. Others who ostensibly have more freedom to set their own schedules just don't manage to take the vacation they have coming to them. While the overwork disease displays itself in individual cases, it is, at root, a cultural phenomenon. As the Utne Reader put it, "Our growing time crunch is too often portrayed as a personal dilemma rather than [the] social problem [it is]."
Schor and others have suggested several public policy remedies for this time crunch—shorter work weeks, more vacation time, longer maternity leaves and time off to care for sick family members. These remedies sound good, but I don't think they reflect our deep-seated attitudes toward work and rest. Until we can make sense of and begin to address these underlying attitudes, public policy changes just won't stick.
One of the primary reasons for overwork is the "work ethic" that operates in this country. This work ethic perverts the simple idea that work is good and healthy for human beings to the notion that our worth as human beings is directly linked to the quality and quantity of what we accomplish, that we are what we do. Most of us could probably articulate reasons we don't agree with that notion. But I think that it will take more attention on our part to exorcise it completely, because the idea has deep roots in our spiritual and psychological past.
Juliet Schor says that the work ethic is "mostly a Northeastern, Christian, bourgeois, middle and upper-class ethic, and also tends to be slightly more a male ideology." In our American culture, this work ethic is concentrated where most of the power in society resides. Hence, it's no coincidence that the work ethic of people in positions of power, both in business and in government, has become the work ethic (or at least the behavior) adopted by everyone else in order to keep up and fit in.
Many Unitarian Universalists (UUs) are a part of this dominant social/power group, and their ways of thinking have had a disproportionate influence in shaping the values of society. In a way, we have held our culture hostage to exacting standards of how much we should work. The decisions that we make about work and rest are deeply personal, even spiritual, decisions. They are also the foundation of the decisions that get made in the public realm.
I want to say more about the spiritual roots of the work-ethic legacy and the implications that it has for UU theology and our sense of who we are in the world. Many UUs, as well as the Unitarian Universalist religious movement, came from a Protestant background. Our earliest religious forbears in this country were followers of the Reformation theologian, John Calvin. Calvin's theology included a doctrine known as double predestination, the notion that the ultimate fate of all souls—whether they would go to heaven or to hell had been determined by God at the beginning of time. Nothing that anyone did in his or her lifetime could alter that fate. This was not a very comforting theological position. In fact, it was so uncomfortable that it began to be perverted with the idea that God would favor the elect—those going to heaven—by giving them worldly success in this lifetime.
Naturally, everyone wanted to believe that he or she was among the elect, and so the Calvinists worked very hard in order to prove, by their successes, that they were indeed destined for heavenly glory. Calvin's original, fatalistic doctrine was turned on its head as his spiritual descendants wrestled with how to live under its judgment. There was a subtle shift from the idea that human effort had no effect on God's plan to the idea that human effort, if it produced good results, could be taken as a sign of God's plans.
Hence the connection was made, deep in our spiritual history, between a person's essential worthiness and his or her productivity. In Calvin's theology, every person's ultimate fate was open to question. Everyone was confronted with the existential dilemma: "How can I prove that I deserve to live?" When the alternatives are eternal blessedness or eternal damnation, it makes sense to spend as much time as possible accumulating proof on the side of blessedness—which, in the case of the Calvinists, meant working and succeeding.
This strict Calvinist theology has long since been discarded in UUism, first by the Universalists, and then by the Unitarians. In fact, one of the criticisms leveled against the early Universalists, who argued that a loving God would ultimately save all people, was that without the need to earn one's way into heaven, there would be no incentive for good deeds or hard work. We now affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Inherent worth means that our ultimate value comes with the simple fact of our being—it is tied to who we are, and not what we do.
Even though we have dropped the old theology , I think the insidious connection between self-worth and productivity has remained, instilled somewhere subconsciously. In the theology we UUs articulate, we affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person. But in our subconscious theology (where Calvinism lingers), we have our doubts. "What's inherently worthy about me?" we wonder. And sometimes, "What's inherently worthy about her?" Then we're tempted to show, through tasks we accomplish, that we are indeed worthwhile human beings.
The problem is that this path doesn't do justice to either our work or to ourselves. My husband likes to say: "Your life is more than your work, and your work is more than your life." The poet Marge Piercy describes work where people "submerge in the task...work in a row and pass the bags along... move in a common rhythm... [doing] the thing worth doing, well done." We are a part of something much larger than ourselves that transcends our individual personal need for reassurance that we are worthwhile people. Work is worthy and good in and of itself—it's not a means to justify our existence. This is not to say we shouldn't be recognized, appreciated, and compensated for the work that we do. But the value of the work itself is not honored when we use it to convince ourselves and others that we are OK.
On the other hand, no matter how satisfying and consuming our work is, we have a being apart from that work, and we need to take the time to keep in touch with that being. There is a story about an explorer in South America who was traveling madly from one edge of the continent to the other, getting up before dawn every day and pushing his crew until sundown or later. One morning, his porters failed to appear. The explorer found them all seated under a tree, not doing anything in particular, but looking as if they were settled in for the better part of the day. When he asked for an explanation, one of the porters replied, "We have traveled far and we have traveled fast. Now we must allow time for our souls to catch up with our bodies."
Our souls are the cores of ourselves that exist and have worth regardless of anything that we do. They do need time to reconnect with our hard-working bodies. It is when we lose track of our souls that we forget about inherent worth and begin to think that our work, our doing, can help us regain that basic sense of who we are. We need to schedule periodic times of rest and renewal, times when we can experience what it is just to be—by ourselves, with friends and family, in community. It's not easy to set aside this kind of time on a regular basis. Ritual and repetition help. Even if the deep soul connection doesn't happen on every occasion, the regular practice of spending time "just being" can remind us that we value ourselves.
UU minister Elizabeth Tarbox describes the experience of going to the ocean just to be:
I am with the broken stubble of the marsh grass that holds on through the wrecking wind and the burning flood. I am with the grains that mold themselves around everything, accepting even so unworthy a foot as mine, holding and shaping it until it feels that what I don't know ceases to embarrass me. What I do or don't do is of no moment now. Now I am here and grateful to be touched, calmed, and healed by the immense pattern of the universe. Reassured, I am called back to my life, to another day.
For me, it's usually easier to take the time for being and not doing if I'm with someone else. The person's presence reminds me that it is worthwhile to spend this time with no end product in mind. On my own, the wealth of things that I feel I need to do come spilling in, and I find it difficult to fend them off. Another challenge I face is to keep my "reconnection-with-soul" time from becoming another form of work. The temptation is great to look for results, to wonder if I'm doing it correctly, to judge my ability to sit quietly, to want to improve my skills, to worry about spending too much or too little time.
In fact, the entire Old Testament creation story provides a wonderful model for valuing both the work that we do and the rest that reminds us who we fundamentally are. On each of the first six days God works, creating amazing substances, bodies, and beings. At the end of each day, God surveys the accomplishments and pronounces them "Good." At the end of six days, God reviews all of creation and pronounces it "Very good." Then, on the seventh day, God rests, and blesses that day and pronounces it "Holy" because of the period of rest that it provided.
I leave you with this parting message about the value of both work and rest in our lives. All of creation, including humanity, is good. Work itself is good, very good. And rest…rest is holy.


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I'm an archive junkie — I consider it a side-effect of my profession, since we spend half our lives in temperature-controlled buildings with lots of old stuff. So I watch the growth of the video game archives across the globe with no small measure of excitement — not only does my little historian heart go pitter-patter at the fact that people are being so proactive in figuring out how to preserve our beloved medium for future generations, but it means a couple more places to poke my head in when I have a good excuse. The recent announcement of the UK National Video Game Archive has led to some fruitful discussion on how to preserve games — not just in terms of the hardware, but also as a culture. Which, of course, is a hell of a lot harder than making sure books don't rot:
Newman also cited the vast variety of game formats as a major challenge to archiving and to displaying games in an attractive way. "There have been attempts to curate exhibitions of video games in the past, and they have been hit and miss affairs," he notes. "Where you're dealing with coin-op games, you're usually fairly safe because they are designed to be approachable 'pick up and play' experiences," he continues, "but many pride themselves on the tens — even hundreds — of hours of gameplay they offer and on the complexity of their branching narratives and structures." "How do you take a 150-plus-hour game that may take all sorts of different storylines depending on choices you make or your proficiency as a player, and show it to somebody who's never seen it before and may not have much experience of games?" The Archive hasn't quite reached the point of answering that question. "This is not a brick-and-mortar building — not yet, anyway," Newman points out. Right now, the group is focusing on research and collection of games and gaming hardware, across several decades and myriad platforms.
Well, even if they can't answer the question yet, at least they're trying. Other archivists are struggling with many of the same questions, like 'How do we preserve MMOs?', but it's really cool to see how a variety of institutions are attempting to deal with this. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how all these archives continue to develop and grow. UK National Video Game Archive's Newman On Preserving The Past [GameSetWatch]


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communism, fundamentally, a system of social organization in which property (especially real property and the means of production) is held in common. Thus, the ejido system of the indigenous people of Mexico and the property-and-work system of the Inca were both communist, although the former was a matter of more or less independent communities cultivating their own lands in common and the latter a type of community organization within a highly organized empire.
In modern usage, the term Communism (written with a capital C ) is applied to the movement that aims to overthrow the capitalist order by revolutionary means and to establish a classless society in which all goods will be socially owned. The theories of the movement come from Karl Marx , as modified by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin , leader of the successful Communist revolution in Russia. Communism, in this sense, is to be distinguished from socialism , which (as the term is commonly understood) seeks similar ends but by evolution rather than revolution.
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- Origins of Communism
- The Growth of Modern Communism
- The Collapse of Communism
- Bibliography
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Political Science: Terms and Concepts