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Editorial: March 2004By Ellen Pearlman
Sandwiched between 30 wallet-size pictures of ordinary Americans, the headline on the cover of the April issue of Fast Company magazine neatly sums up the growing hysteria surrounding the specter of offshore outsourcing: "Look into their eyes: These people lost high-tech jobs to low-wage countries. Try telling them that offshoring is a good thing in the long run." The Senate recently passed a measure restricting offshore outsourcing on the part of government contractors, while Senate Democrats are supporting a bill requiring companies to give employees 90 days' notice of plans to outsource jobs overseas. And the issue promises to remain at the center of this year's presidential campaign.
Unfortunately, companies of all stripes face increasingly fierce pressures to meet shareholder and Wall Street demands for earnings growth, as well as competition from rival firms that are cutting costs through outsourcing. What's a company to do? Believe it or not, there are alternatives.
Two and a half years ago, Merrill Lynch & Co. was reeling from the dual blows of the attack on the World Trade Center and the bursting of the Internet bubble. When the order went out to slash budgets companywide, the venerable brokerage firm's human resources executives turned first to the usual outsourcing suspects for advice. After all, many of their large-company cohorts had taken the outside route, and the savings of 20 percent or so everybody seemed to be getting from such deals looked pretty attractive. But Merrill took the road less traveled, deciding to go it alone. The result: savings of 50 percent of HR costs by cutting 500 jobs out of 1,100, reassigning a portion of the remaining staff to a newly built HR call center, and stitching together the nearly 150 separate human resources applications that used to hold the company's HR records. In this month's case study, Contributing Editor Jeffrey Rothfeder examines why Merrill made the decision to keep HR in-house, and how the company carried it out.
The results of our third annual "Role of the CIO" survey are in, and the march toward business-savvy CIOs continues. To further help our readers handle their business challenges, I've recently promoted Edward H. Baker to editor of the magazine and hired another executive editor, Brad Wieners. With their solid business backgrounds and knowledge of how technology generates financial payoffs, our coverage will continue to be laser-sharp, digging deeply into analyzing the decisions every CIO faceswhether you are bucking the trend or riding it to business success.


text: Android Home Live Search: Tip: Search by category using: beer, wine, hard, malt, liqueur, or energy drink. Get Drunk Not Fat Beer, Wine and Alcohol Calorie and Carb Database The GDNF database contains the calorie and carb content for all the major brands and types of beer, wine and alcoholic beverages. To find the lowest calorie drinks sort by the calorie header. The default view sorts the beverages by the percentage of calories derived from alcohol, as opposed to sugary fillers and other high calorie and carb additives. Maximize your buzz – while minimizing your caloric intake – by choosing beverages with the highest ratio of alcohol to calories. You can also search and sort the chart by beverage type –e.g. beer, wine, etc. or by you favorite brand. To find out which beer has the lowest calories type beer. For the lowest calorie wine type wine. For the lowest calorie hard alcohol type hard. If you are interested in the lowest carb wine, search for wine and sort by the carb column. Pure alcohol is very high in calories. For instance Everclear has 226 calories per 1.5 oz and is 190 proof (95%) alcohol, the rest basically is water. Calories vary from drink to drink but they key to getting the most bang for your buck is picking drinks with the best Calorie from Alcohol ratio. Here are some examples. Natural Ice has 5.9% alcohol and 130 calories per 12 ounce. Using the formula on our FAQ page we determine that 86% of Natty Ice's calories are from the actual alcohol and the remaining 14% are from carbs and protein. This is a very good ratio, the best of any beer out there. Now on the other end of the spectrum is something like Sam Adams Chocolate Bock which has 5.5% alcohol and 230 calories per 12 ounce! In this case only 45% of the calories are from the alcohol and 55% are from sugars, carbs, and protein. Definitely not the best way to get a buzz if you are watching your waist! If you are looking strictly for the most efficient way to get drunk you should stick with shots or hard alcohol mixed with a diet drink. Jack and Diet Coke for instance is only 195 calories per 12 ounce but 10% alcohol (3oz Jack to 9oz Diet Coke) and you get a whopping 98% of the calories from the pure alcohol. Of the big three Light Beers (Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Lite) Miller Lite scores the best with 83.38% of calories from alcohol. I personally prefer Budweiser Select if forced to pick from tasteless light beers and it scores a very close 82.77% Learn More

subset: commoncrawl


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So farewell then, Bobcat, AMD's answer to Intel's 'Silverthorne' Atom processor family? AMD's denying it, but at least one analyst is tolling the low-power chip's death knell.
Avi Cohen, managing partner at US investment house Avian Securities, this week told clients: "There are reports that AMD has decided to cancel its Bobcat project."
Cohen regards this as a good thing. Trying to compete with Atom would be very hard, he reckons, severely limiting what AMD will get out of its investment in development and production resources for the processor.
To be fair, Cohen admits that he doesn't know for sure that the Bobcat project is over - his analysis is clearly conducted on the assumption that the rumours are true, but he provides no evidence that they might be.
For its part, AMD roundly rejected the speculation. ''Bobcat remains under development as an important future core for AMD," a spokesman told EETimes.
Talk of Bobcat's demise may arise from AMD's limited discussion of the part. While Bobcat's been known to be in development for some time, AMD has said little about it. However, in July, CEO Dirk Meyer said that AMD's response to Atom would be detailed in Q4.
It was assumed - by us, as well as other observers - that he meant Bobcat. In fact, he appears to have been referring to AMD's Ultra-Value Client (UVC) platform, which is based on a couple of Athlon processors, one single-core the other a dualie. AMD roadmaps show UVC being launched right at the time Meyer mentioned.
That, in turn, may well have persuaded some folk that AMD's dropping Bobcat for Athlon. But it's worth remembering that Intel has two strands of Atom: 'Diamondville' for mini laptops and 'Silverthorne' for handheld mobile internet devices (MIDs). UVC will go up against Diamondville, while Bobcat will target Silverthorne.
Right now, UVC is more important to AMD than Bobcat - the market for MIDs is simply too small, hence Cohen's comments. But, as ABI Research this week forecast, MIDs could account for 36m mobile device shipments in 2013 - 136m out of 400m - and that includes not only netbooks but regular laptops too.
Now's not the time for Bobcat - AMD has a few more years to perfect the product then release it just before world+dog goes MID mad. If, of course, it does...
Low-power CPU reviews
Intel Atom 230
VIA Nano


text: A versatile, portable multi-tool from Grainger can provide a whole set of hand tools, combined into a single multi-purpose implement. Made of high-quality steel, multi-tools come in a variety of models and can contain many useful tools, including scissors, screwdrivers, saws, knives, and more. A multi-tool plier also includes a pair of powerful needle nose pliers to help you cut and bend wire. Check the selection at Grainger for multi-tool models to fit your fix-it needs.


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AngelWinks Heavenly
Post Card Shoppe
~ Eeyore ~
Please Select The Picture You Would Like On Your Postcard
Click on the small picture if you wish to view it full size
Please double check your Email addresses! Post cards sent
to an invalid address will be lost in Cyber Space...Thanks!!
will take you back to
AngelWinks Heavenly Post Card Shoppe.
I'd be honored if you'd sign my AngelWinks GuestBook ((Thanks!))
Thank you all for your lovely
encouraging letters. I really do appreciate
them. God Bless You! Bye bye for now... Please
come back soon. I will be adding lots more pictures.
((Angel Hugs))
Please fly by and visit my AngelWinks Home Page.
All these pages, are based on the characters created by A. A. Milne, and first illustrated by E. H. Shepard, and the characters created by the Disney Co. These pages were created for entertainment only and to increase the affection of people towards these characters. © Disney All rights reserved. They are used without permission for no commercial purposes. The maintainer of this page is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by them. It is not the intention of the maintainer to extract profit from these pages or to infringe upon its copyright. This is a non-commercial site.
I want to thank My Postcards Network for giving
me the opportunity to have this post card shop! .... Angel


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Mia Stainsby
Vancouver Sun
Here's to the Valentine's love-in. In this case, it's a daughter's love for her mom.
Ana Dander, co-owner and chef at The Mexican restaurant has been cooking since she was a toddler. She was but a year old in Mexico when her mother had a stroke and lost the use of one arm. How does a passionate cook slice and dice with one arm? Very carefully, she taught her daughter how to wield a kitchen knife.
"I've been cooking since maybe I was old enough to stand up," says Dander, 27. "My mother had one hand to work with. I've been chopping ever since I can remember. She taught me all about Mexican food. She liked to cook and she always asked me to help. I learned from my grandmother, too. They were all the time in the kitchen."
It was the origin of Dander's love of cooking and of The Mexican, where the menu is a repository of what her mother taught her.
"My mom never stopped cooking. She was always making sure I seasoned properly and tasted things so it wasn't too much or not enough of this or that. She was always making me think of the details and balancing. She always took me to the market and taught me how to shop for good ingredients."
Under those circumstances, a girl either learns to love or hate cooking, and Dander chose to love it. She came to Vancouver to study at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts eight years ago, then returned to Mexico City to study pastry making.
When Dander returned to Vancouver again she worked at Brix, Capone's and Salsa Agave, then grabbed the opportunity to open her own place when Cafe Barcelona was closing; she partnered with one of its owners, Roger Creixams and her friend Claudia Romo to open The Mexican.
Her partners take very good care of the front of house while she's in charge of the light and flavourful Mexican fare — not the case at so many Mexican restaurants. And dishes are priced to please. Antojitos (appetizers) range from $3 to $13, and mains are $8 to $18.
Quesadillas come with thicker than usual tortillas and lots of fresh greens for sparkle. At $4, what a steal.
There's a specials board not to be missed. One evening, it featured a delicious pozole soup (pork stock, hominy corn, shredded pork, chiles), ladled to the brim.
Tempura prawn tacos with chipotle mayo was a generous offering which I was grateful for because I loved the freshness with tomato salsa, avocado segments, and a fistful of cilantro, chiffonaded.
Dander's ceviche is an ample dish, too, with smoked prawns, and citrus-marinated scallops.
Barrigon (grilled pork, beef and chorizo with melted cheese) was served with a "secret" salsa verde and came in the shape of a shoe it was named after — another good dish. My partner liked the chile relleno with salsa roja sauce but I felt it could do with less sauce. It swallowed up the rice, refried beans and chile relleno.
Flavours are balanced and in most cases, the food is thoughtfully presented (not plonked onto the plate as I've so often seen).
On weekends, the specials board might feature tripe soup, a hangover cure in Mexico and, it would seem, for the club-going patrons on Granville. There are a few beer "cocktails", including one for hangovers with Worcestershire sauce, Maggi seasoning, Tabasco, lime and salt. My husband ordered it, in honour of hangovers past. "I wouldn't make a habit of drinking it," was all he said.
Dander's desserts seem really promising, which is all I can say since there was only one on offer when I've visited: the tall, moist, three-milk cake. So delicious. You might sometimes find deep-fried tempura ice cream, a trick Dander learned working at a Japanese restaurant in Mexico.
Initially, her customers were mostly from Mexico — the locals wanted burritos, which she wouldn't put on the menu. "It's not real Mexican food," she said pushing back. "It was tough to make them come in without the burritos but after a while people realized the food is good and we get a lot of locals as well."
And her mom? "She's very happy. Very happy," says Dander, "We're having trouble getting her visa for her to come and visit. Every time she thinks of a dish, it's 'Have you made this?' "
Blog: vancouversun.com/miastainsbyTwitter: Twitter.com/miastainsby
The Mexican
1049 Granville St.,| 604-569-0955.
Info: www.themexican.ca
Restaurants visits are conducted anonymously and interviews done by phone. VANCOUVER SUN RESTAURANT GUIDE: vancouversun.com/restaurantguide


text:
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The arts and humanities matter – not just to our students, but to our entire community. That's why the School of Arts and Humanities at California State University, Bakersfield is dedicated to connecting the arts and humanities to everyday life.
Our programs provide students with the cultural knowledge to appreciate the contributions to human development that have gone before, and the skills to put that knowledge to use in creating better communities for themselves and their families in the 21st century.
Some of the unique advantages of studying Arts and Humanities at CSUB include:
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At CSUB, Arts & Humanities courses are taught by professors and experienced instructors, not teaching assistants. Classes are small compared to other major universities. As a result, students benefit from a close-knit community, personal attention from professors, and special opportunities simply not found at other comprehensive universities.
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HAYWARD, Calif., Sept. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANTH), a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs to treat serious diseases associated with inflammation and autoimmune disorders, today provided an update on regulatory discussions for the global development of blisibimod. End of Phase 2 discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been completed and will allow for the submission of Phase 3 protocols and the initiation of registration studies. Earlier in 2012, Anthera received a written response from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) providing similar development feedback for the blisibimod program.
"We appreciate the FDA's rapid response to our development proposal for blisibimod. We will incorporate their comments and begin the initiation of our Phase 3 lupus program," said Paul F. Truex, Anthera's President and CEO. "The PEARL-SC clinical study provided meaningful insight into the importance of selecting an appropriate patient population while also defining a meaningful endpoint. We are grateful the FDA found this approach to be acceptable for further study and look forward to bringing blisibimod one step closer to patients in need."
The Phase 3 studies (CHABLIS-SC1 and CHABLIS-SC2) will be multicenter, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind studies designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of blisibimod in patients with clinically active SLE (SELENA-SLEDAI > 10) who have not achieved optimal resolution of their disease with corticosteroid use. Patients will be treated in the controlled part of each study for 52 weeks after which they will have the option to receive additional treatment as part of an open-label, long-term, follow-up safety study. The primary endpoint of the CHABLIS studies will be a Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Response Index (SRI*) including the requirement of an eight-point or greater improvement from baseline in the SELENA/SLEDAI disease measurement (SRI-8).
"The use of an SRI-8 endpoint, in a population with higher baseline disease activity requires patients to demonstrate improvement in the clinical presentations of SLE, such as skin, mucosal, joint disease and kidney disease," said Colin Hislop, Anthera's Chief Medical Officer. "For example, the blisibimod 200 mg weekly dose reduced proteinuria by nearly 1 gram per 24 hours at Week 24 compared with minimal change in the placebo group. This corresponds to an approximate 50% decrease from baseline. These types of improvements were responsible for the majority of clinical benefits seen in the PEARL-SC study and highlights blisibimod's potential to help patients with more active disease."
As previously reported, results from the PEARL-SC study indicate that in the predefined population of patients with clinically active disease (SELENA-SLEDAI > 10) who were also taking corticosteroids, the SRI-8 treatment benefit in the 200 mg weekly blisibimod cohort was statistically significant at week eight (22.6% blisibimod response versus 6.4% placebo response, p=0.023) and at week 16 (35.4% blisibimod response versus 17.0% placebo response, p=0.04) through the 24 week endpoint (41.7% blisibimod response versus 10.4% placebo response, p<0.001). Results from the PEARL-SC clinical study have been submitted to the American College of Rheumatology for presentation at the ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting 2012 in Washington, D.C.
*SRI is defined as patients who respond to treatment and achieve a reduction in SELENA-SLEDAI equal to or greater than the number indicated, no new BILAG A or two B organ domain scores, and no increase in Physician's Global Assessment (PGA) of greater than 0.3 on a three point scale.
About Anthera Pharmaceuticals
Anthera Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat serious diseases associated with inflammation and autoimmune diseases.
Safe Harbor Statement
Any statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical matters, including statements that are preceded by, followed by, or that include such words as "estimate," "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "goal," "expect," "project," or similar statements, are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on Anthera's expectations as of the date of this press release and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially as set forth in Anthera's public filings with the SEC, including Anthera's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2012. Anthera disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
CONTACT: Bianca Nery of Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., firstname.lastname@example.com or 510.856.5586.
|SOURCE Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Copyright©2012 PR Newswire.
All rights reserved


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When Penny announced the date of the International Incident Noodle Party, little did I know that I would be bringing a guest. Conor from Hold the Beef was going to be in town the weekend prior and we were going to be able to make noodles together!!! Well, that's what we thought, until there really was an "international incident"!
Oh yes, we had grand plans to actually make our own noodles, you know from scratch and everything. Conor even had plans to make some dessert noodles. She tends to dessertify everything in case you didn't know, like last month's dumpling event.
Enter United Airlines whose messing with Conor's travel plans (and THEN taking her suitcase and not returning it for a day whilst they were clearly looking for the elusive "hammer pants" that Conor so foolishly joked about on Twitter – in joke, sorry!) meant that she was pretty much exhausted when she arrived after about 16 hours of travel which should have been at least half that. Making noodles from scratch was obviously the furthest thing from her mind when she arrived, just like making bread from scratch for Daring Cooks this month was the furthest thing from mine.
Indeed, when I woke her from a sound sleep the next morning with the "very good news ma'am that your suitcase is arriving in Toronto as we speak" (in fact the suitcase apparently underwent another series of inspections – those hammer pants were in demand – before it eventually arrived at our house about 8 hours after it landed) and told her that Penny had tweeted a sneak peek of her noodles from scratch, Conor's reaction was "Of course she has!' with an ever so slight roll of the eyes 😉 (just kidding Penny – we love you!)
Later that day, after brunch, a little cheese tasting, a little walk, some World Cup time and a nap, Conor emerged to supervise the kitchen goings on, namely the noodle preparation. I had picked two simple noodle recipes that I had had my eye on for a while – Ellie of Almost Bourdain's take on Momofuku's Ginger Scallion Noodles:
and Kate at Savour Fare's take on Steamy Kitchen's Garlic Butter Noodles with Shrimp:
There's not really much to say about the prep of these dishes – both were done within about an hour with minimal prep and fuss. Both will definitely be making an appearance on our dinner tables throughout the summer. The Garlic Butter Noodles with Shrimp, in particular, were superb due to the use of pasta infused with lemon oil. The citrusy notes paired well with the slight sweetness of the shrimp.
So there you have it, a bit of a lame contribution to this month's Party but at least we made it! And our contribution could have been a lot worse. You know, like this:
(image courtesy of British Sweets website)
Check out the rest of the party goers' offerings here:
- Penny – Jeroxie (Addictive & Consuming) – Homemade ban mian with minced pork and mushrooms
- Christine – Christine's Recipes – Spicy Pork Mince and Noodles in Crisp Lettuce Cups
- Mardi – Eat, Live, Travel, Write – Ginger scallion & Butter noodles
- Trix – Tasty Trix – Summer 'Noodles' with yellow and green zuchinni with cool basil oil tomato sauce
- Shirley – Enriching your kid – Vermicilli Biryani with Tahini
- Natasha – 5 Star Foodie – Homemade Soba Noodles
- Anges – Off the spork – Handpulled noodles at home
- Joanne – Second Helping
- Cherry – Sweet Cherry Pie – Coconut noodles with honey glazed pork belly
- Tracey – Tangled Noodle
- Evelyne – Cheap Ethnic Eatz – Incidental Noodles
- Ms Baklover – Footscray Food Blog – Zha Jiang Mian
- Casey – Eating, Gardening & Living in Bulgari
- Tamar – Koreanfornian Cooking – Tteokbokki
- Billy – Half-Eaten – Pumpkin Miso Noodles in Shitake Dashi Broth
- Nina – Consumed Food Love – Vietnamese Noodle Salad
- Suresh – 3 hungry tummies – Twice cooked pork with rice noodles
- Anh – A food Lover's Journey – Taco Soba Noodle


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Just before last year's trade deadline, the Lions shipped a 2014 fifth-round draft pick for receiver Mike Thomas — who may be long gone before the 2014 draft.
In fact, Thomas may be gone before this year's final roster cuts: According to MLive.com, Thomas might not be long for the roster after he has struggled mightily while working with the third-string offense.
On Friday, Thomas was shut down so badly by backup defensive back Domonique Johnson that he simply stopped running his route and they quit on the drill. That's not good.
Thomas once looked like a promising young player, having caught 66 passes for 820 yards in his second season in Jacksonville. In 2011 the Jaguars were so high on Thomas that they gave him a five-year, $19 million contract with $9 million guaranteed. But now Thomas looks like he may be out of the NFL by the time the regular season starts.


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Re: Title TK Podcast
I finally got to a break in Audio books to listen to your ROTS commentary. What is with your group of young republicans shouting down the slightest hint of politics?
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I finally got to a break in Audio books to listen to your ROTS commentary. What is with your group of young republicans shouting down the slightest hint of politics?
I finally got to a break in Audio books to listen to your ROTS commentary. What is with your group of young republicans shouting down the slightest hint of politics?
Weirdly enough, Pigeon is actually a liberal, he just wants to avoid controversy--I explained to him after that episode that no one really cares. Jb is...interesting. We basically have him on because he's very knowledgeable about Star Wars and comics, but he's also a young earth creationist, strong conservative, etc. We don't plan on having him on for most political movies, we just had to make an exception for Star Wars.
This week: our first "Intermission"-style episode! What We Watched in 2015: Part I spends most of its time covering this year's releases, from the good (Mad Max, Inside Out, Ex Machina, Hannibal, Daredevil) to the bad (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Terminator: Genisys) to the contested (Inherent Vice). We also briefly delve into past releases that we saw for the first time this year (The Babadook, Blue Is the Warmest Colour, etc.). It's certainly the most fun we've had with an episode so far.
Next week will see the release of the second episode we recorded yesterday: the first of three planned episodes devoted to the leadup to The Force Awakens. We cover Comic-Con, speculate a bit, and in general just nerd all over the place.
Last edited by Abbie (2015-07-18 17:22:17)
The first of a three-part series, Countdown to The Force Awakens Part I: A New Hype. We discuss Comic-Con footage, Rogue One, the Han Solo spinoff, and throw some speculations out there. Mostly spoiler-free, though we discuss known EU material and speculate based on some rumors.
This one got a little messy. We Need to Talk About Marvel sees the super-gloves come off as the five of us sit down for a debate we've been wanting to have for years. The questions at hand: is Marvel good or bad in terms of overall cinematic quality? More important, is it detrimental to the film industry? Nate and Graham are on the attack, Jb and Pigeon are on the defense, and Jimmy is the in-between influence trying to keep us all sane.
We're going to be gone for a bit over three weeks due to college recommencing for all of our main contributors. When we return, it'll most likely be with an episode discussing—finally—the full theatrical trailer for The Force Awakens. See you on the other side!
Last edited by Abbie (2015-08-11 18:27:33)
We've returned!
We were meant to resume regular commentaries with Pulp Fiction, but the recording of that one had numerous technical difficulties that we couldn't justify releasing in a proper episode. I'll be compiling the best bits and pieces of it that were salvageable into a mini-episode, but in its place we have the Jb-curated John Wick!
It was an interesting movie to commentate on, as it's hard to put a finger on its quality; to quote the episode description, it's a mix of awesome and half-baked. We try to keep a balance between applauding the great and calling out the questionable, and a fun time is had by all.
Next we'll be coming at you with Scary Movie Month; current plan is to do The Thing and The Babadook.
This one starts off a little slow—always a problem when the movie that's being commentated on is particularly good—but picks up just before the fake viscera starts flying. In between bouts of waxing eloquent on the philosophy of horror, it turns into an attempt at an impossible task: deciphering who's assimilated when.
Scary Movie Month continues next time with The Babadook.
Man, it was a blast to talk about a good Star Wars movie.
The Star Wars saga continues in glorious 4:3 (thanks, George) with The Empire Strikes Back. Many thanks to guest stars Brenna and Christian for showing up last-minute to replace Nate and Jb and doing a stellar job.
Revenge of the Jedi (we did a thing!), in which we go out with a bang and Nate has a stroke. (If you never listen to anything else we've done on the show please skip to the Home One battle plan scene on this episode—I've never laughed so hard in my life).
So with everyone's schedules getting increasingly frantic (seniors in college), we've decided to call a halt to regular operations. This was always meant to be a fun thing, and we didn't want it to become a burden, so we're ceasing biweekly episodes for now. We'll still put out content—Jb needs to hate on Spider-Man 3, Nate needs to get drunk while watching The Room, and we most definitely need to talk The Force Awakens and all the other movies that came out in the latter half of 2015—but it'll be whenever we have the time to do it at leisure rather than on a biweekly basis.
Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to listen! Your support meant everything, and knowing we had an audience to do this for was wonderful. And, of course, thanks so much to the DiF crew for inspiring us to do this in the first place. We had some laughs, had some fights, and put out several episodes we're rather pleased with. Until next episode, may the Force be with you all!
Last edited by Abbie (2015-12-05 21:12:35)
Oh, look! A new episode!
Curious as to why you chose revenge of the Jedi? It was, to my knowledge, never released using that title. I get that it's retro and "cool", but it's never, apart from one trailer and some posters, been call that?
We can stop worrying about Colin's involvement: http://www.starwars.com/news/j-j-abrams … 1069686719
Oh wow, I totally missed that people had been posting in this thread. Hi!
Re: Revenge, it was basically just a dumb joke. We were doing the theatrical editons of each OT film, and we insisted that that damn Lucas can't revise history by changing the title to "Return."
Re: Colin, yes, and while that dates the mini-reunion horribly I'm so glad I can be excited for IX again. (Thanks for sharing the episode link, Marty! It totally escaped my mind.)
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31 March
- China opened their 2012 commercial launch manifest with the lofting of the Apstar-7 into orbit. The launch took place at 10:27 UTC from the LC2 launch platform at the from the Xichang satellite Launch Center, using a Long March 3B/ (Chang Zheng-3B/E) launch vehicle.
- Technicians will load more than 1,000 pounds of food and clothing into SpaceX's Dragon capsule next month for delivery to the International Space Station on the commercial craft's first flight to the outpost. The cargo is comprised of mostly low-value items such as food, water, and clothing to supplement supplies delivered this week aboard Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle.
30 March
- After 45 years in service Russia's Proton-K rocket has made its 311th and final launch Friday morning, on a mission to deploy an OKO early warning satellite for the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces with the aid of a Blok DM-2 upper stage. Launch was on schedule at 05:49 UTC (11:49 local time), from Area 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
- The launch of a classified satellite on a Delta 4 has been postponed to at least Monday to complete analysis of an upper-stage engine issue. The Delta 4 Medium-Plus (5,2) was originally scheduled to launch Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on mission NROL-25.
- Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the builder of the Falcon family of rockets and Dragon spacecraft, has announced the creation of a safety advisory panel for commercial, crewed space flight. SpaceX is one of the private companies that are working to return U.S. astronauts to orbit. SpaceX is developing its Dragon spacecraft to be used to ferry crews to the International Space Station (ISS).
29 March
- The European cargo spacecraft Edoardo Amaldi successfully docked with the International Space Station late Wednesday. The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) 3 docked with the aft port of the Zvezda service module on schedule at 6:31 pm EDT (2231 GMT) Wednesday.
- The founder of Amazon.com announced Wednesday that an expedition he funded has found the first stage engines of the Saturn 5 rocket that launched Apollo 11 in 1969. Jeff Bezos said that a team of "undersea pros", using a deep sea sonar, has found the F-1 engines at a depth of 14,000 feet (4,200 meters) in the Atlantic Ocean.
28 March
- A Russian satellite operator has ordered two communications satellites from Astrium, including one that will replace a satellite deorbited over the weekend. Astrium will build the Express-AM4R and Express-AM7 satellites for Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC), with the satellites planned for launch in 2014.
27 March
- After a busy 2011, the nation's spy satellite agency will begin another spurt of launches that kicks off Thursday with a Delta 4 rocket carrying top-secret cargo from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Liftoff is planned for 3:30 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-6 on South Base.
26 March
- On Sunday, controllers deorbited a Russian communications satellite that was launched into the wrong orbit last year despite a last-minute bid to salvage the spacecraft. Polar Broadband Systems, sought to keep the satellite in orbit, moving it into an elliptical, inclined orbit to provide broadband communications services for Antarctica. However, Russian officials elected to proceed with the spacecraft's deorbiting, and the spacecraft reentered over the North Pacific on Sunday.
- A chemical analysis of lunar rocks may force scientists to revise the leading theory for the Moon's formation: that the satellite was born when a Mars-sized body smacked into the infant Earth some 4.5 billion years ago.
25 March
- Universe Today has a long report about experiments with Canada's Dextre robot (highlight) and NASA's Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) aboard the ISS in March 2012. Four more upcoming RRM experiments tentatively set for this year will demonstrate the ability of a remote-controlled robot to remove barriers and refuel empty satellite gas tanks in space thereby saving expensive hardware from prematurely joining the orbital junkyard.
- International Launch Services (ILS) have launched their second Proton-M rocket of the year on Sunday. Lift off was on schedule at 12:10 GMT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with the Proton's Briz-M Upper Stage tasked with deploying the Intelsat 22 telecommunications satellite into a 65,000 km super-synchronous transfer orbit for the first time under ILS.
24 March
- NASASpaceFlight reviews a possible mission to Near Earth Object 1999AO10, requiring a launch date of January 2, 2026. The NEO 1999AO10 deep space mission would last 155 days, around half of the mission length for the other candidate mentioned – 304 days – for NEO 2001 GP2.
- The crew of the International Space Station sheltered in their Soyuz capsules for a short time early Saturday as a precaution when a piece of orbital debris from a satellite collision passed close to the station. Station controllers awakened the six ISS crewmembers at about 11:30 pm EDT Friday (0330 UTC Saturday) after data indicated a piece of debris would pass close to the ISS.
23 March
- The Edoardo Amaldi, the third ATV from the European Space Agency, successfully lifted off from Kourou , and is on its way to the ISS.
- Aviation Week talks about European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and his meeting with his Chinese counterpart March 22-23 to discuss future cooperation in manned spaceflight, including the potential for a Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS).
22 March
- ESA's third Automated Transfer Vehicle, Edoardo Amaldi, is ready for launch to the International Space Station. Liftoff is 0434 UTC.
- MESSENGER completed its one-year primary mission on March 17. Since moving into orbit about Mercury a little over one year ago, the spacecraft has captured nearly 100,000 images and returned data that have revealed new information about the planet, including its topography, the structure of its core, and areas of permanent shadow at the poles that host the mysterious polar deposits.
21 March
- Space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced this week it has signed up a famous actor as its 500th customer for its suborbital spaceflights. Virgin said Monday that Ashton Kutcher is the customer number 500 for its upcoming SpaceShipTwo flights to space.
- The Ariane 5 launch of Europe's no. 3 Automated Transfer Vehicle was given the green light today for a March 23 liftoff from the Spaceport in French Guiana on a servicing mission to the International Space Station.
- Bad weather has prompted NASA to reschedule the launch of five rockets from its Wallops Facility in Virginia. The rockets are part of a study of the upper-level jet stream. The launch had been set for Wednesday morning but has now been pushed back to early Thursday.
20 March
- Following the safe arrival of the MetOp-B weather satellite in Kazakhstan, the sophisticated craft is now being carefully assembled and tested before launch on 23 May. MetOp-B will provide essential data for weather forecasting and climate monitoring.
- The latest documentation relating to the efforts to create an Exploration Roadmap for NASA's future has provided the strongest indication to date that the Agency wants to return US astronauts to the surface of the Moon. Listed as a Lunar Surface Sortie (LSS) mission, the Exploration Systems Development Division (ESD) revealed their plans via their latest Concept Of Operations (Con Ops) document.
19 March
- With Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery buttoned up in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) ahead of her flight to her retirement home, and with Enterprise ready to make way for Discovery and head to her new display site, the Shuttle team at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is focused on finishing Transition and Retirement (T&R) work for Atlantis and Endeavour.
18 March
- European Space Agency (ESA) officials decided this week to continue their plans for a pair of ambitious Mars missions later this decade even after the US decided it would no longer cooperate on the missions. ESA members decided Thursday to pursue the ExoMars program, which calls for the 2016 launch of an orbiter and the 2018 launch of a lander and rover.
- As astronomy satellite that had been slated for launch this month will remain on the ground for up to two more months to correct a software problem, the space agency announced Friday. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) spacecraft was slated to launch later this month on a air-launched Pegasus XL rocket from the Reagan Test Site (RTS) at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
17 March
- Aviation Week notes that "An Astrium-built Russian satellite stranded in a useless orbit by a Proton launch mishap last summer may be salvaged to provide broadband satellite links to scientists working in Antarctica."
16 March
- The ruling council of the European Space Agency (ESA) on March 15 agreed to continue funding a Mars telecommunications orbiter and atmospheric gas analyzer mission for launch in 2016, which along with an entry, descent and landing module will be launched on a Russian Proton rocket donated by the Russian space agency, an ESA official said March 15.
- United Technologies Corp. (UTC) of Hartford, Conn., said March 15 it intends to sell its rocket-propulsion business, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. UTC said selling Rocketdyne will help finance its acquisition of aerospace systems and services vendor Goodrich Corp., Charlotte, N.C. Goodrich shareholders approved the takeover March 13.
- Elon Musk: "I would definitely like to go to Mars. I think it would be cool to be born on Earth and die on Mars," he said as the night wrapped. "Hopefully, not at the point of impact."
15 March
- Some astronauts who have spent extended time in space have suffered optical abnormalities that could affect their eyesight, scientists reported this week. In a paper published in the journal Radiology, researchers said a third of astronauts who spent time on long-duration missions to the ISS experienced symptoms such as flattening of the eyeball and bulging of the optic nerve that can affect eyesight. The cause of these symptoms isn't clear but is thought to be linked to exposure to weightlessness.
- There have been heated arguments at Satellite 2012 conference concerning the decision to buy United Launch Alliance (ULA) rockets through 2020 in a block buy. ULA likes it, and SpaceX does not.
14 March
- FAA Issues Draft Environmental Assessment for SpaceShipTwo Powered Flights in Mojave
- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne tested its launch abort engine it is developing for a spacecraft to take humans to the International Space Station. The engine is designed to push the seven-person Crew Space Transportation-100 to safety in the event that an abort is necessary. The CST-100 is being built by Boeing for NASA's Commercial Crew Development program.
- SpaceX hopes to be ready to launch an unmanned Dragon capsule from Cape Canaveral on April 30, putting it on course to berth at the International Space Station three days later, according to tweets from the Satellite 2012 conference in DC. A NASA spokesman said an official target launch date would not be set until the conclusion of a flight-readiness review now planned for April 12.
13 March
- The Orion Program is continuing to push forward at a lively pace, as the first MPCV (Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle) set to launch into space heads into the final pathfinder welds, ahead of closeout work. While work continues on the Exploration Flight Test -1 (EFT-1) Orion, the critical parachute system is set for another drop test in April, following its recent success at the end of February.
- Commercial launch providers Arianespace and Sea Launch announced a total of three new launch contracts on Monday. Arianespace announced it won a contract from Eutelsat and Es'hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, to launch the Eutelsat 25B/Es'hail 1 satellite on an Ariane 5. The satellite, weighing over six tons, is being built by Space Systems/Loral and is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2013. Sea Launch announced it had secured a contract for another Eutelsat satellite, Eutelsat 70B.
12 March
- Canada's Dextre robotic space helper, working with NASA's Robotic Refuelling Mission (RRM) experiment, have together completed a record breaking week of robotics operations on the International Space Station (ISS), a week which saw the first ever attempt at satellite servicing tasks successfully performed in space.
- "Given current funding levels," Mr. Bolden said in written testimony, "we anticipate the need to purchase [Russian] crew transportation and rescue capabilities into 2017." The commercial U.S. space taxis were originally envisioned to be in service by early 2016.
- SpaceX and NASA are in advanced discussions for the private space firm to use Kennedy Space Center's pad 39A, one of the spaceport's Apollo and space shuttle launch sites, as the Florida base for its Falcon Heavy rocket, officials said.
11 March
- In a week that has seen the strong class X solar flares, the sunspot region AR1429 unleashed two class M flares yesterday at 0527 UTC and 1744 UTC, according to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
- NASA has not yet asked the Russian Federal Space Agency to sign a contract to use Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) from 2016 to 2017, Roscosmos manned flight programs director Alexei Krasnov told Interfax-AVN on Sunday. "The contract signed by us is valid through 2015. But this contract has not been prolonged for 2016-2017, and negotiations on prolonging it are not being held at the moment. Should NASA need to use our Soyuz [spacecraft] to deliver its astronauts over this period of time, I think they will notify us of it, will come up with such an initiative," Krasnov said.
10 March
- Iron-rich fragments from an ancient impact could explain puzzling magnetic fields measured in various places on the moon. The magnetic anomalies are perplexing because unlike metallic minerals deposited by an asteroid, normal lunar rocks cannot record a magnetic field.
- Need a Job? They're Hiring in Mojave(Doug Messier). There are several hundred open positions in Mojave as companies such as the Spaceship Company, XCOR and Scaled Composites begin to ramp up operations. "It's ironic that we're having a recruitment problem in Mojave," said Stu Witt, CEO and general manager of the Mojave Air and Space Port. He added that this is a good problem to have.
9 March
- ESA's third Automated Transfer Vehicle, scheduled for launch on an Ariane 5 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on 23 March at 04:31 UTC, is planned to dock with the International Space Station five days later. The precise time of docking automatically dock with the Station's Russian Zvezda module will be known after launch.
- The head of NASA visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday, making separate appearances in House and Senate hearings to support the agency's 2013 budget request. Charles Bolden appeared before hearings of the Senate Commerce Committee and House Science Committee, fielding questions about the $17.7-billion budget proposed for the space agency in the next fiscal year. Much of the debate at the hearings was about the request for nearly $830 million for NASA's commercial crew program, a sharp increase from the $406 million the program received in 2012 but similar to the original budget request that year. Bolden said the funding was needed to keep the effort on track to start providing service no later than 2017.
- China's Shenzhou 9 mission to dock with the Tiangong space station has been surrounded by controversy and confusion, including uncertainty over unmanned or manned, and continuing slippage of the launch date for this complex mission.
8 March
- NASA models using data from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) have now provided more information about the two Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) associated with the two March 6 flares. The first is traveling faster than 1300 miles per second; the second more than 1100 miles per second. NASA's models predict that the CMEs will impact both Earth and Mars, as well as pass by several NASA spacecraft – Messenger, Spitzer, and STEREO-B. The models also predict that the leading edge of the first CME will reach Earth at about 1:25 AM EST on the morning of March 8 (plus or minus 7 hours).
7 March
- Neil deGrasse Tyson gets raked over the coals at the Atlantic for his take on NASA, its budget and its mission. Yikes.
- A dust devil on Mars was captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
6 March
- The U.S. Air Force's second X-37B space plane marked one year in orbit Monday, continuing its clandestine mission more than 200 miles above Earth.
5 March
- Metop-B, the European operational polar orbiting weather satellite designed and manufactured by Astrium, recently left the clean room at the European space industry leader's site in Toulouse. Metop-B was prepared for shipping to the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where a Soyuz launcher will place it in orbit with Starsem. The target launch date is 23 May 2012.
- NASA has successfully conducted another drop test of the Orion crew vehicle's entry, descent and landing parachutes high above the Arizona desert in preparation for the vehicle's orbital flight test in 2014.
- Dish Network Corp.'s hopes to start building a new wireless network have been dealt a setback by the Federal Communications Commission, which denied the satellite-TV provider's request for a needed waiver and opted instead for a formal deliberation that will take until the end of the year.
- A Department of Defense official urged his colleagues in 2010 to "synch up" with the GPS industry in order to defeat LightSquared's plans to build the nation's first wholesale broadband network.
4 March
- A massive fireball traversed the skies over the UK Saturday night.
3 March
- The European Space Agency announced Friday that it has delayed the upcoming launch of an ISS cargo spacecraft in order to perform additional checks on the vehicle's contents. The ATV-3 spacecraft, also called Edoardo Amaldi, was scheduled to launch March 9 on an Ariane 5 from Kourou, French Guiana. The delay is expected to be about two weeks.
- An upgraded Long March-2F carrier rocket has completed assembling and is ready for China's first manned space docking due between June and August this year
2 March
- A SpaceX rocket scheduled to launch a cargo demonstration mission to the ISS this spring successfully completed a dress rehearsal of its launch on Thursday. SpaceX performed the "wet dress rehearsal" of its upcoming Falcon 9 launch on Thursday, rolling the rocket and its Dragon spacecraft to the pad at Cape Canaveral, fueling it, and performing a countdown all the way to the T-5 mark. SpaceX officials said the practice countdown went well.
- Technicians at Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California are placing the two halves of the rocket nose cone, or fairing, around NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), in preparation for its launch. The launch is scheduled for no earlier than March 21.
- NASA's Cassini spacecraft has "sniffed" molecular oxygen ions around Saturn's icy moon Dione for the first time, confirming the presence of a very tenuous atmosphere. The oxygen ions are quite sparse – one for every 0.67 cubic inches of space (one for every 11 cubic centimeters of space) or about 2,550 per cubic foot (90,000 per cubic meter) – show that Dione has an extremely thin neutral atmosphere.
1 March
- Astronomers have spotted young stars in the Orion nebula changing right before their eyes, thanks to the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The colorful specks — developing stars strung across the image — are rapidly heating up and cooling down, speaking to the turbulent, rough-and-tumble process of reaching full stellar adulthood.
- Researchers at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) at Stanford University estimate that "nomad" planets, ejected from their home stellar system and now free-floating through the Milky Way, could outnumber stars by as many as 100,000 to 1.
- The planned March 6 launch of the SiriusXM FM-6 digital radio satellite aboard an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton rocket has been scrapped following concerns of a solar-array defect aboard the Space Systems/Loral-built satellite.


text: OK, we need to stop the personal stuff, the finger-pointing, and the format wars. This topic is for Dirk's announcement of the new Vidna Obmana retrospective box set, and discussion of that release. Feel free to debate the relative merits of vinyl in a new thread elsewhere. In fact, if you want to show your support for the CD format, we have a bunch of VO compact discs for sale -- feel free to order several of each.