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You imply that less intelligent people are more able to delegate make use of advice for others. Is there any evidence for this? For example, Truman -- who you identify as an above average president of below average intelligence -- famously ignored the advice of the Los Alamos scientists on how long it would take Russia to build an atomic bomb. The scientists said "soon", Truman decided that would not happen for a long time and wasn't worth preparing for. He was obviously very wrong.
I am afraid that the part about relying on one's unconscious was quite a stretch. If some expert witness were to come to Mister Posner's court and give a convincing exposé of his guts feeling, I do hope Mister Posner would advise the jury to discard the information.
Moreover, Henry Kissinger, whom has been silently omitted, was both able and brilliant, and I am quite certain he never presented a suggestion to either Nixon or Ford backing it by saying that it came from "below the conscious level." Given, he was an academic, but I would have him as secretary way before anyone with terrain experience and some guts feelings.
I am afraid that the part about relying on one's unconscious was quite a stretch. If some expert witness were to come to Mister Posner's court and give a convincing exposé of his guts feeling, I do hope Mister Posner would advise the jury to discard the information.
Moreover, Henry Kissinger, whom has been silently omitted, was both able and brilliant, and I am quite certain he never presented a suggestion to either Nixon or Ford backing it by saying that it came from "below the conscious level." Granted, he was an academic, but I would have him as secretary way before anyone with terrain experience and some guts feelings.
Some of these comments remind me of a line from somewhere, "How little you see and understand Grasshopper". Or as Shakespeare was won't to put it, "There is more in earth and air, sea and sky, than is ever dreamt in your philosophy Horatio!" To turn ones back on intuition and the sub-concious is to turn ones back on probably more than fifty percent of our true intellectual capacity. There is something to be said for the old lizard portion of our brains.
If one were to study all of the "Great Leaders" of the world, the one commonality shared by all would be, a "VISION" that transcends time and space, logic and reason. A very, very rare commodity indeed. So, we're all going to have to learn to live with mediocrity and failure masquerading as brilliance. Ahh..., Reality!
I agree that Clinton wasn't a successful president, but I would go further - why does Posner imply that Bush's national security team has failed? You might get that impression from the mainstream media, but Posner is a blogger and should know better. As a legal scholar and judge, he should be ashamed if he doesn't read Instapundit. As an American, he should be ashamed for not supporting the troops.
It may be true, as a general matter, that managerial excellence has less to do with cognitive brilliance in the leader and more to do with his skill at marshalling the expertise of subordinates. But I find it hard to see our failures in Vietnam and Iraq rooted in such weakness--or in a set of circumstances so "profoundly uncertain" that they defy analytical intelligence.
On the contrary, failure in these examples seem more directly related to a stubborn inability (either at the personal or institutional level) to recognize a copious flow of information indicating that the underlying assumptions of the policy were (and are) simply wrong. Doesn't intellectual flexibility play some role in the quality of leadership?
James, Identifying a foreign policy gaffe, has nothing to do with loyality or "the support of the troops" clich'e. BTW, I've already got one nephew in Central Baghdad and another completeing Boot Camp at Parris Island who will probably be posted to Anbar Province. So don't even bother with the "support the troops" clich'e. One question, "How come you're not there or training to go?" Just one thought to leave you with, recognizing a "bushwhack" (no pun intended) before it happens, is more often than not an act of intuition than a reasoned analysis.
To say that Bush and Cheney have failed, you would have to know what their actual goals were. It would be more accurate to say that Bush and Cheney have not not accomplished the goals of the American people - but that may simply be because the goals of Bush and Cheney are different than the goals of the American people.
Funny that Posner neglects to directly mention perhaps the most interesting and obvious modern case regarding the interplay of intelligence with leadership: George W. Bush. Posner only mentions the Iraq security team.
I know of no intellectual field in which Bush has succeeded, and he is generally regarded as a failure as a leader/President. As governor of Texas, however, Bush was a success. Why the discrepancy? Please, no flippant remarks about Bush's higher relative IQ vis-a-vis Texans as compared to the nation as a whole.
It is much too early to say that George W. Bush and his team have generally failed, either in Iraq or as President.
President Lincoln was reviled and hated by most in the south and by many in the north while in office (and was, of course hated so badly that he was assassinated); President Truman's approval ratings were very low during his presidency, and only the last several years have he and President Eisenhower come to be recognized as successful, if not great, presidents.
First of all, despite what a few fringe commenters might think, George W. Bush and the Iraq War have been monumental failures.
But more importantly, addressing Becker and Posner's posts, the real failure of Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld and all the Neo-Conservatives in Bush's Administration was that they were so unbelievably BIASED. They had decided to invade Iraq as early as 1998, with their Project for A New American Century letter to President Clinton, and it is well-documented that they had affirmatively decided on invading Iraq immediately after 9/11. So is it any wonder that they cooked the intelligence so it fit their pro-war narrative? This is the same problem the Kennedy-Johnson team had under McNamarra. They were so convinced that war and continued war were the right solutions that they ignored all evidence or analysis to the contrary.
Wes, The goals were simple and clear. We're going to go in there, overthrow Saddam and his terrorist buddies and take the weapons of mass destruction away, create an Iraqi Democracy that will allow democratic principles to flow throughout the Middle East and transform it. As for strategy/tactics, not needed, we're going to play it ear. Any questions?
The reason for the failure of the Bush national security team in spite of the intelligence and experience of the members is because they fell into groupthink. There was a party line that had to be followed, and even moderately dissenting opinions, e.g., Powell, were not valued. In that sort of a scenario, intelligence doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, to put it another way, intelligence doesn't suppress arrogance and intransigence, both of which can nullify whatever advantage intelligence can confer.
N.E. Hatfield writes:Wes, The goals were simple and clear.I can't tell if this post is sarcasm but I feel like discussing it anyway.I would agree that the goals stated by Bush and Cheney were presented in a simple-minded way. Taken together, though, the goals were confusing and contradictory.We're going to go in there, overthrow Saddam...That goal was achieved and was probably a goal that Bush and Cheney actually had....and his terrorist buddies...Well, Bin Laden and company were thought to be on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border and the country with the most ties to the 9/11 hijackers was Saudi Arabia. It would be very hard to argue that Bush and Cheney were motivated to invade Iraq in order to capture terrorists linked to 9/11 - or linked to any other attacks on the USA, for that matter....and take the weapons of mass destruction away,...If Bush and Cheney had actually thought that Saddam had an arsenal of nuclear weapons then they would have been extraordinarily foolish to invade. Invasion would have created a situation where the remnants of Saddam's government had nothing to lose, a powerful desire for retaliation and, by hypothesis, an arsenal of nuclear weapons in their posession. What Bush and Cheney probably thought was that Saddam possessed enough unconvention weapons to provide a justification for the invasion under international law but not enough unconventional weapons to actually be dangerous to the USA....create an Iraqi Democracy...Well, Bush and Cheney probably wanted something that looked superficially like an Iraqi democracy but, if you look at their other goals, it becomes clear that they absolutely did not (and do not) want Iraq to be governed by a genuine democracy. In particular, they want an Iraqi government that allows them to have permanent military bases and launch attacks on neighboring countries, they want full support for Israel and they want US corporations to control Iraq's oil. These are not goals that are compatible with a genuine Iraqi democracy....that will allow democratic principles to flow throughout the Middle East and transform it.If democracy by osmosis works so well then why isn't Cuba democratic? More to the point, if Bush and Cheney actually believed the whole "oppressive dictatorships promote Islamic radicalism that leads to terrorist attacks on the USA" thing, then they would have invaded Saudi Arabia. It is highly unlikely that Bush and Cheney intended the invasion of Iraq to lead to an infusion of "western" ideals into the region.As for strategy/tactics, not needed, we're going to play it ear.As many have pointed out, if the current strategy was not working to achieve Bush and Cheney's actual goals then Bush and Cheney would have changed their strategy.As far as I can tell, the current strategy achieves most of Bush and Cheney's goals. US oil companies, with close ties to Bush and Cheney, have access to Iraqi oil. Military contractors, with close ties to Bush and Cheney (e.g. Haliburton), are getting huge amounts of business. The situation in Iraq makes it difficult to argue against maintaining permanent military bases. Bush and Cheney have huge levels of influence in the Iraqi government (it's even situated on a US military base - imagine if the US government was situated on a Chinese military base). Bush and Cheney can probably even get away with launching the occasional attack on countries neighboring Iraq - for "interfering" in Iraq.On the whole, I'd say Bush and Cheney are actually achieving most of their goals. The only problem would be if the American people were to realize that Bush and Cheney don't have the same goals that the American people have.
Thank you for eight thoughtful, information packed, interesting paragraphs on leadership and a Harvard president who apparently is no longer there....how difficult it would be to switch from Treasury in Washington, DC to Harvard! What a leap in cultures ...perhaps the man never got a chance....once again Posner's eight paragraphs have given us more to ponder than Becker's five -- both are marvelous...thanks again---Posner is accurate in his summation of how the top dog would have difficulty relating to junior 'know the lay of the bone' dog -- love his writing....weekly Vegas fan PS check out Anthony Hopkins' first screenplay ...SLIPSTREAM and LA VIEN ROSE (story about French singer Edith Piaf)(when will we have a movie about POSNER????)
I'd like some information about the metric used to distinguish "successful" from "unsuccessful" presidents. After all, the entire argument about the absence of any necessary relation between intellectual ability and success as president assumes that the categorizations of presidents is correct. It's not obvious to me, for example, that Washington was a more successful president than Jefferson.
Clearly, Washington had certain advantages as president, including what was surely the most able cabinet ever assembled, including Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and Hamilton. Washington also benefitted immensely from the lack of any organized political opposition. It's also worth noting that the presidency changed significantly, as an institution, between Washington's administration and Jefferson's. See Ackerman, The Failure of the Founding Fathers.
Yes i agree but the landscape has changed since!
I think it also goes into the personal. Brilliant minds are not superior at dealing with their personal lives either. How many intelligent lawyers/doctors/scientist/adademics have stupidly argued their less intelligent (or less trained) spouses into a corner instead of paying attention to the real issue at hand.
Just as clever lawyers can make intelligent arguments to promote faulty legal claims -- and the smartest judges see through it -- so do some hyper-intelligent government officials use their smarts to argue down their intuitive colleagues and critics. Clearly we do need the super-smart: for our society and our great lives, we owe the brilliant in the sciences, medicine, finance,the arts, law and other fields. And our leaders do need enough smarts to manage those under them, to understand and evaluate the information.
Posner's post makes sense to me. In cognitive science, there is a distinction made between "declarative knowledge"--which is factual knowledge that you can put into words and analyze--and "procedural knowledge", which is knowledge of how to do things. Since these two different kinds of knowledge are, generally speaking, handled by different parts of the brain, it is quite possible to have declarative knowledge of something but little or no procedural knowledge, and vice versa.
Sometimes this can be counterintuitive. For example, most people have a very good procedural knowledge of how to tie a shoe, but a hazy declarative knowledge of it. It is not uncommon for a person to actually have to tie a shoe and watch what his own hands do in order to "learn" the declarative steps from his hands. And yet, this knowledge of tying a shoe started out as declarative knowledge before it was mastered as procedural knowledge (and forgotten declaratively). This can be seen just by watching any small child murmur about rabbits going through holes as he awkwardly goes through the steps of tying his shoe.
There are a whole bunch of similar examples--baseball players making split-second decisions when fielding a ball, drivers on the road weaving in and out of traffic, etc. When you do something over and over--even something very involved and complex--for a very long time, it gets subsumed into your procedural knowledge, and you just have a "knack" for it that can't necessarily be put into words for a manager or superior officer to analyze.
The same is true for leaders of nations, and I think our traditional term for a leader's "knack" for making good decisions is "wisdom". If wisdom is indeed something like an ability or skill or uncanny knack, then it would make sense that it would not necessarily correlate with having lots of declarative knowledge or being able to produce new declarative knowledge out of existing declarative knowledge (e.g., analysis).
Given how serious things are these days, though, it might be good to start trying to figure out what widsom does correlate with..
So many things jump out here. First of all no mention of the value of honesty. Remember Washington's cherry tree. The current administration obviously is sadly lacking on this score. Another is the failure to realize that mental capacity wanes. Cheney's multiple heart attacks and Bush's earlier substance abuse have dulled their senses. There has been also been an emotional disconnect - the compassionate conservatives have been shown to be reckless masochists. Bush's delays after the tsunami and hurricane Katrina stand next to Abugraib, Guantanamo and the renditions. Finally, the disdain, belittlement and censcoring of scientific research may
set back humanity for centuries. WAKE UP
Dan, In terms of your need for a "metric" in order to comprehend, please try the following continuum:
Franklin Roosevelt-successful
Abe Lincoln-somewhat successful
"Junior"-fill in the blank
David Morris hits the nail on the head.
I think the real difference Posner is speaking of is the difference between wisdom and intelligence. Part of being wise is understanding the limits of your own knowledge and capabilities of comperhension. Unfortunately, many very intelligent people do not confront these limits and never truly grapple with just how ignorant they are.
Second, like Dan Cole, I don't think it's so easy to determine who was and was not a great president. We tend to revere those presidents who get us into wars that we eventually win, but discount the achievements of presidents who take steps to preserve the peace. I think most of what determines being a successful president is sheer luck. For example, James K. Polk fabricated a reason to go to war with Mexico knowing that the American army was quite small and weak. Because we were lucky enough to win that war, he is now considered on of our best presidents. Had he lost the war, we would be hearing constant comparisons of him to Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush.
I'd be willing to bet that neither wisdom or intelligence correlates with any measure of success as strongly as simple chance.
What's the easiest thing to do? To create conundrums by not defining the terms of a problem. As soon as Posner completed the enormously laborious task of defining intelligence and leadership, he would have no problem to solve.
See Howard Gardner (Harvard U), very popular in public education communities, who has written extensively about multiple intelligences, e.g., auditory, nature, music, visual, tactile, physical.....
What about good judgement? Not quite the same thing as wisdom. Especially the ability to choose the right people. What strikes me about the difference between Reagan and the current president is that the former seemed to choose well. The latter...not.
I worked in a government ministry in a capital city, and chief executives do not 'make decisions' so much as choose which advisor's advice to follow.
The comments to this entry are closed.


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Version 6.5
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Ability to download files in standard zip format
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(May 6th 2014)
Ability to e-mail web links to upload files now
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Web link management incorporated.
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User interface improvement.
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Account type enhancement.
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File upload enhancements.
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Page layout enhancements.
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Communication enhancements.
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Security enhancements.
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Support for multiple languages incorporated.
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subset: commoncrawl


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though Sharatang and Baby Razz with complete armor and weapon set are gonna be out on 29.
also...I forgot to correct some stuff..gustein wrote: Advanced Comands:
Laser-rifle-thing... Charged Shot - Hold Weapon Slot Button
Quick-Switch Weapon(Consumes SP) - Press R in the middle of a weapon combo, and use the desired weapon
Evade(Consumes SP) - Press Square + X and a direction
Skill(Consumes SP) - Circle + Triangle, WHILE holding the Direction of the Move Route Skill or Weapon Skill
Counter - While down, press a weapon button when the enemy aproaches
a whole bunch of weapons can be charged, as stated above the launcher types, but you can also charge up other weapons, namely the heavy weapons like the 2h sword, the hammers and such.
Evading DOES NOT consume SP at all.
Counter sounds misleading, it's performing a spin kick while getting up, knocking down opponents within the radius of the kick. though if you press X+direction while down you roll into that direction.
The Quick weapon switching thing...you need to press and hold R then press a weapon button, oh and you can't use the same attack as the one you were just using.
other controls in the tutorial should also teach you X+R button+Up/Down(if in air) which make you dash upwards or downwards, but if I'm correct you need certain equipment to do this...
Air dashing is unavailable when you don't have certain back equipment on.
Double jump, you need certain equips too.
Blocking at the right time allows your shield to turn white, which is is when it's toughest, and will not change color while being continuously hit.
Dodging attacks adds to the Ride Gauge.
also..3rd one in tutorial should be the one teaching you to press X and hold X to reduce your falling speed.
This is all I remember for now...


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People I met who love Singapore and visit there frequently love the reliably warm climate, the safety and the beauty of Singapore. Add fantastic food and many unique attractions and it clearly a wonderful place to frequent. My visit to Singapore was courtesy of a professor from Nanyang Technical University who is collaborating with my husband. The chance to talk with our host has also provided insight as to what it is like to live in Singapore, a place that mixes many cultures and races into a cooperative and peaceful mix.
Following are some of the memorable places that my husband and I enjoyed visiting.
We started at Nanyang Technical University with its huge stretches of green, interesting architecture, and an outstanding academic reputation.
Elliott's Antiques LLP located in the Raffles Hotel Arcade (328North Bridge Road #01-19, Singapore 188719) Elliot's website, was a place that drew us in, like a magnet. Stepping inside was like being in a museum but the items could be seen up close and they were beautifully displayed. Should we ever be in the market to purchase items of this kind, we would not hesitate to purchase here. For items as expensive as these, the authentication this shop provides would be very important. We also enjoyed talking with Taye.
Knowing that tea at Raffles Hotel Singapore is a long-standing tradition in Singapore, we decided to experience afternoon tea in the Tiffin Room at this famous and historic hotel. This was the first hotel in Singapore. It was owned by the Sarkies Brothers and named after Sir Stamford Raffles, Singapore's founder and opened on December 1, 1887. The Tiffin room dates to May of 1892. The tea was amazing including, in addition to the three tiers of sweets on our table, a buffet, fruits, dim sum, sweets and more, with a musical background of beautiful harp music. Reservations need to be made as far in advance as possible.
The history of Raffles is long and involved with the city, itself. The Singapore government designated Raffles Hotel a National Monument in 1987. In addition to hosting famous individuals beginning in 1921 with Somerset Maugham,Charlie Chaplin, Maurice Chevalier, Frank Buck and Jean Harlow, Noel Coward and many heads of state, Raffles Hotel hosted Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during their state visit to Singapore from 16 to 18 March 2006.
In 2010 Raffles Hotel was pleased to launch the book Memoirs of a Raffles Original, featuring the story of its Resident Historian, and his unique relationship with the Grand Dame. Mr Leslie Basil Danker is the only person in Singapore to have personally experienced the many incarnations of Raffles Hotel, in his 37 years of service. In this wistful and humorous autobiographical account, he retraces his nearly four decades of service; from his humble start in the maintenance department tending to clogged toilets to becoming its very first Resident Historian, sharing the hotel's storied past with celebrities, dignitaries and VIPs.
A visit to Raffles Hotel Singapore is fascinating. There are 15 restaurants where you can eat, shops of all kinds and beautiful rooms with ceilings so high that my friend who stayed there remembered them for years. Raffles Hotel Singapore Website
Equinox Restaurant atop the Swisshotel the Stamford Singapore with an amazing view of Singapore and fantastic food.Equinox Restaurant Restaurant
Gardens by the Bay, a unique garden and educational experience, which opened on June 29, 2012, is vast and dramatic. Plan several hours. Gardens by the Bay Website
Asian Civilisations Museum, an Asian perspective with beautiful collections – "a place where Asian cultures come alive". Asian Civilisations Museum Website
National Museum of Singapore, immersion in Singaporean History, local artists on display and more. The unique Ipad guide offers stories about the people who developed Singapore told in their voices. This is a chance to gain insight about Singapore's past.National Museum of Singapore Website
Chinatown, looking the way Singapore looked when it was young, boasts a Hindu Temple, A Buddist Temple, lots of outdoor shopping, many souveniers and great restaurants. We found a vegetarian Restaurant, simple and declicious. It was Eight Treasures Vegetarian, 282A South Bridge Road, Singapore 058831) Phone: 6565347727 Eight Treasures Vegetarian website
Tanglin Shopping Centre at 19 Tanglin Road, Singapore, 247909, is an alternative to the huge shopping malls that stretch in every direction. It is older and smaller. We found it a fascinating place to visit with art galleries ranging from antiques to modern artists. There were several restaurants and a ballet school and more in addition to other shops.
A visit to Singapore is likely to please visitors from neighboring countries and those from the other side of the world.
Photos: Barbara or Leon Keer unless otherwise specified


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Vazquez is particularly interested in young stars -- stars that have lived a very short time relative to the Sun, which has been burning hydrogen in its core for the last 4.5 billion years. Astronomers look for what Vazquez calls the signatures of youth in stars. For example, the presence of dust around a star is one possible indication of cosmic youth.
Stars form when a cloud of interstellar gas and dust, mainly composed of molecular hydrogen, begins to collapse. Over million of years, gravity compresses the cloud. As it gains gravitational energy, it will heat up and radiate it away, becoming a "protostar". Eventually, the core of the protostar begins to fuse hydrogen. Such a newborn star is often obscured to optical light because of the dense dust cloud still surrounding it, so newborn stars are difficult to detect with optical telescopes. Eventually winds from the star blow the surrounding cloud away, like the ocean wind blowing fog off a beach. The young star, if close enough to our solar system, then may become visible through a backyard telescope.
If Vazquez has data suggesting that he is looking at such a young star – for example, because the star is known to be "dusty", or is known to emit strongly in X-rays -- he then uses the spectrograph to help seek the presence of lithium in the star's chemical makeup. Lithium is an element that is quickly destroyed when a star's core heats up, and thus it is used as a tracer element for a recently born star. If Vazquez discovers lithium in the spectral information in conjunction with X-ray and infrared excess then he has strong evidence that the star is young, perhaps 'only' ten to a hundred million years old.
Vazquez uses his telescope to assist the Center for Imaging Science faculty member Dr. Joel Kastner in his research on young stars. "My telescope does not reach too far into the Universe but I can still observe lots of stars, even with its 12-inch aperture." This aperture is much less than the diameter of professional telescopes, which can go much farther into the universe and measure the light from galaxies and stars that are much dimmer and harder to find. But, Vazquez says, "from suburban Rochester I can help Dr. Kastner –along with his collaborators around the world--find what they need to see. We can be of some use with this little backyard telescope; it saves time and money and there is no competition for telescope time!"
How far does Billy Vazquez plan to travel from suburban Rochester and the VAO?
"I have family here. I am in my mid-forties and have three kids and my wife works for Xerox, so I don't have plans to go anywhere. My goal is to teach at the college level if possible and continue my outreach work with the community here."
You can see images and read more about the VAO at Vasquez's blog:


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Contemporary Resort
4600 N. World Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 824-1000
Disney's Contemporary Resort is one of the originals. Though it has been around for decades, it still maintains a strikingly modern feel. Its A-framed structure has made it an iconic figure on the Disney World complex. To get around, there are four transportation options available, including the monorail (that stops inside the hotel), bus and water taxi. For some recreational fun on the property, guests can partake in a game of tennis, fishing or have some fun with exciting water sports like parasailing. Also available onsite is an arcade, a movie center and a jogging trail.
As a Disney World Resort Hotel guest, you have access to the standard amenities, most notably the complimentary parking at the hotel and all the Disney World theme parks. Guests have access to complimentary Wi-Fi internet service and online check-in for your convenience. Other services available include laundry and dry cleaning, on onsite concierge and in-room babysitting. Rates start from $371.25 per night.
Animal Kingdom Lodge
2901 Osceola Parkway
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 938-3000
Imagine standing in the living area of your hotel room, opening the curtains and taking in the sight of a giraffe strolling through a savanna full of lush vegetation. This is the scene to expect at this Animal Kingdom property. Four African-inspired savannas were constructed in the middle of the property and are home to more than 200 animals and birds. The lodge is a kids-friendly property, highlighted by the Children's Activity center, a supervised area for kids ages three to 12 where they can build crafts, play games and enjoy Disney movies.
The standard Disney World Resort amenities are available at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, including in-room dining and bus transportation. In addition to the large pool with a waterslide, there's a wading pool for kid-friendly fun and whirlpool spas. Families can enjoy onsite campfires, a playground, a gaming arcade and a kids/toddlers' play area as part of this resort's unique property features. Rates start at $313.88 per night.
Grand Floridian
4401 Floridian Way
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 824-3000
Travelers looking for an upscale vacation experience will find everything they're looking for and more that this five-star resort property. The Grand Floridian Resort and Spa offers old world elegance paired with modern luxury. The sophisticated ambiance is punctuated with touches like the live orchestra that plays in the resort lobby and the high-end suites that rival any world class hotel in the world. Guest can enjoy gourmet cuisine its five-star restaurants and upscale physical care at the health club and spa on the property.
Even with the opulent touches, the Grand Floridian maintains a family-friendly atmosphere. Recreational activities for children and adults include sparkling pools and luxurious cabanas, sailboat rentals, a Pirate Adventure cruise for kids ages four to 12 and fishing. Many of the standard Disney World amenities are available here, including complimentary Wi-Fi service and online check-in. Rates begin at $540 per night.
Art of Animation Resort
1850 Animation Way
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 938-7000
If you're a fan of movies like "Finding Nemo," "The Lion King" and "Cars," you and your family will thoroughly enjoy the Art of Animation Resort. It's a standing tribute to the phenomenal Disney and Disney Pixar movies; the color and images of animation genius is splashed across the property and can be found at every turn. Its bright and vibrant feel extends into the family suites, boasting the highest accommodation capacity in the complex. Families of up to six can be accommodated in the spacious suites that come with free Wi-Fi service and in-room pizza delivery.
On the property, guests can find a Disney Pixar-themed game arcade and a mini food court offering fresh food that's made to order. Offering the largest pool in the chain of Walt Disney World Resorts, guests can splash and play to their hearts' content. As a resort guest, you receive complimentary parking at the resort and the theme parks, as well as bus transportation. Starting rates are from $118.13 per night.
All-Star Sports Resort
1701 W. Buena Vista Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 939-5000
Disney's All-Start Sports Resort offers a fun and lively atmosphere with sports as its central theme. From the surfing-inspired resort pool to the End Zone Food Court, the sports theme is incorporated into every element of the hotel, making it a winner for sports fanatics. Onsite, you can enjoy recreational activities like swimming or playing with your kids at the playground. For a unique outdoor experience, you can take part in Movies Under the Stars, an evening event where guests can watch movies outside after sunset.
The value doesn't end there. Bus transportation, quick-service dining, merchandise delivery and pick-up and free Wi-Fi service are also some of the services you'll receive as part of the Disney World Resort Standard amenities package. Starting rates for this property are from $118.13 per night.
For nearly 20 years, Shawanda James has been actively involved in creative writing in Miami, Florida. In addition to her work as a freelance writer, she is actively seeking publication for her debut novel and collection of poetry. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.


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What mobile phones are available on Three?
Dozens of mobile phones are available to buy, from affordable entry level handsets to the latest flagships, including a wide selection of Android phones and the latest iPhones.
Three offers great deals on all the latest 4G and 5G mobile phones. Prices are updated on a constant basis to deliver the cheapest deals on all the latest smartphones including top handsets like Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices, all of which come unlocked.
Please note that Three no longer offer 3G devices, but the 3G network is still available.
What type of mobile phone plans do Three offer?
Both Contract phones and Pay As You Go phones are available. Three's Pay Monthly plans all carry a minimum term of 24 months and come with both a phone and monthly allowances of minutes, texts and data, from tariffs fit for light use right up to unlimited everything.
Pay As You Go is just that, paying for the minutes, texts and data that you need and topping up when you run low on credit. Unlike Pay Monthly plans there isn't a set contract duration or monthly bill you just pay for what you need when you need it.
Can I get a contract deal for my old phone?
Absolutely, just opt for a SIM Only plan and stick the new SIM card in your old phone. Your phone will have to be unlocked or on Three though.
Can I get a phone with unlimited data?
Yes, Three offer a range of plans with truly unlimited data on a range of Pay Monthly phones.


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"Game of Thrones" directors Daniel Minahan and David Nutter aim to make the show's bloody fight scenes more authentic.
In a recent casting notice, HBO is seeking extras who are "leg only, male amputees" for a pivotal battle scene scheduled for filming this weekend.
According to fan site Westeros.org, Ireland-based extras casting company Extras NI put out the call, and asked that the inquiring extras provide "a clear description regarding where your limb is missing eg. at knee, at ankle, etc."
U.S. & World
The notice also requires the extras to be "OK and comfortable with filming a scene within the context of a battle where your leg has been injured. Prosthetic makeup will be applied as though your leg has newly been severed. We understand that this is not for everyone, so please only apply if you are happy to participate."
The Red Wedding massacre is a turning point in George R. R. Martin's popular series of fantasy novels, according to the Westeros.org fan site. If staged according to its description in the third novel "A Storm of Swords," the Red Wedding scene will require hundreds of extras.
The casting notice also called for scores of musicians. "Ideally men with medieval or period faces (i.e long hair & beard) but not essential," it read.
Filming for the hit HBO show began Thursday in Ireland, according to Today's The Clicker blog. The third season of "Game of Thrones" is set to premiere in March, and was mainly shot in Belfast.


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SEMI to organize the 2nd European 3D TSV Summit
GRENOBLE, France — September 4, 2013 — The latest TSV product developments and achievements will be discussed at the 2nd edition of the SEMI European 3D TSV Summit on January 20-22, 2014 in Grenoble, France. Building on the success of the 1st edition that attracted almost 320 people from 20 countries, the theme of this year's event is "Application Ready ," addressing 3D TSV from both a business and technology perspective. The latest TSV product developments and achievements — including cost, business models, supply chain, manufacturability and technology aspects — will be addressed by executives and experts from global leading companies.
Executives from design houses, fabless, IDMs, OSATs as well as Equipment and Materials suppliers will present during this unique two-day event. More than 25 speakers will share their views during the plenary presentations as well as "round table" discussions. An exhibition zone will be located at the heart of the venue, enabling companies to showcase their products and services to decision makers. The 3D TSV Summit ( www.semi.org/european3DTSVSummit) also includes a unique opportunity to visit the CEA-LETI 300mm TSV clean room. Prior the event, attendees will be able to prepare their Summit schedule on-site meetings by using a specially developed software tool.
New this year, as an introduction to the event, a Pre-Summit Symposium discussing MEMS and TSV will be held on January 20 in the late afternoon with an invited speaker, roundtable and welcome cocktail.
The event continues addresses the hot and controversial topics related to 3D TSV manufacturing and offers unique networking and promotion opportunities. The European 3D TSV Summit Steering Committee includes executives from: ams AG, BESI, CEA-LETI, EV Group, Fraunhofer-IZM, imec, Multitest, Oerlikon Systems, SPTS, STMicroelectronics, and SUSS Microtec.
Please visit www.semi.org/european3DTSVSummit. Registration and booking for exhibition space is now open. Sponsorship packages are also available now. For additional information, contact Yann Guillou from SEMI Europe Grenoble Office ( Email Contact).
About SEMI
SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and micro-electronic manufacturing supply chains. Our 1,900 member companies are the engine of the future, enabling smarter, faster and more economical products that improve our lives. Since 1970, SEMI has been committed to helping members grow more profitably, create new markets and meet common industry challenges. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit
Deborah Geiger
SEMI Headquarters
Phone: 1.408.943.7988
Email: Email Contact
Yann Guillou
SEMI Europe Grenoble Office
Phone: +33 (0)438783971
Email: Email Contact


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A Network Connecting School Leaders From Around The Globe
THE Journal
Ed Tech Trends | Q&A
Setting the Pace for Digital Initiatives
Last year, Piedmont City School District, a small, three-school Eastern Alabama district at the foot of the Appalachians between Birmingham and Atlanta, began a number of forward-thinking digital initiatives, including a 1-to-1 MacBook program, a remote-learning partnership with Stanford University, and a wide-scale project funded by E-Rate that will eventually bring high-speed internet access to every student's home.
In the first part of our two-part interview, Piedmont Superintendent Matt Akin discussed setting up and implementing his district's 1-to-1 initiative. Here, he speaks about his approach to professional development, the E-Rate program, and creating a class of responsible digital citizens.
Stephen Noonoo: Let's talk about some of the issues a lot of districts are currently struggling with. Where does your district stand in regard to social networking in and out of the classroom?
Matt Akin: With social networking, we decided last year that we were going to open our filter after school, so that Facebook and those things open up. Twitter's open all day now. We're in the process of devising some procedures that our teachers will follow, and we're going to open up Facebook all day.
What we learned is that, if you block it, the only people who aren't going to be able to get into it is your teachers because kids are going to figure out how to get around the filter. The key with social networking is training and informing parents and teachers.
Noonoo: Is it being used in classrooms at all? What are teachers feeling?
Akin: We use an LMS--we use Angel--and that's how we're delivering our content, but I have teachers that use Facebook to send out messages reminding kids about homework, tests, or projects. We have a small percentage of teachers where that's how they're communicating with kids. I think the potential is there, but we need to make sure that everyone is informed of how we're going to handle misuse.
Noonoo: So the issue really hasn't come up yet?
Akin: Not so far. We really haven't had anything. The way we respond is if we have a kid that says or does something on Facebook, we treat it as we would anything they had put it in writing. We handle it not as a Facebook issue but just as a student issue.
Noonoo: What are you using for e-mail addresses for students?
Akin: Our kids use Gmail accounts. We don't set them up, but that's what everybody has. We've run our own e-mails for teachers, and as a matter of fact I think we're going to do some type of corporate Gmail thing.
Noonoo: How about cell phones and mobile devices in the classrooms?
Akin: We allow that class-by-class. When all students have a laptop in front of them, it really isn't an issue. If they're not texting on the phone, they'll figure out how to send a text through their laptop. They don't have to get their cell phone out because anything they can access on their phone they can certainly access on their computer.
Noonoo: What are you doing about letting students access the Internet during class?
Akin: That was an issue in the beginning, especially with iChat on the MacBook or Skype. It's more of a classroom management issue. If you take off iChat, then they're going to Skype, or they're going to use something through Google. We try not to fight the battle that way: We try to fight it more as a classroom management issue. If teachers are moving around the room, then that isn't really an issue. It was an issue when the computers were first deployed, but now it's not a big issue anymore.
A Wireless Free-for-All
In addition to its comprehensive 1-to-1 MacBook initiative for grades 4 through 12 and learning partnerships with local and national universities, the Piedmont City School District in northeast Alabama has undertaken another ambitious digital project--one that will blanket its entire community with 24/7 wireless internet access for students and staff.
The district has just received notice from the E-Rate program that it has been chosen as one of the first 20 sites in the country for the new Learning on the Go pilot, which funds programs to expand wireless networks off campus. (A description of the program can be downloaded as a PDF from the FCC's site.) In Piedmont's case, the program will provide free internet access to every student's home by next summer.
The problem, which spurred the district to apply for the program, was that, despite the significant investment in the 1-to-1 laptop initiative, "kids were going home without internet access," according to district Superintendent Matt Akin.
"Some were going home to rural areas that didn't have it, and a lot were going home and they live in the city and they can't afford it," Akin said. The pilot program will allow the district to build an entire wireless network across the 5,000-person community, so that "when our kids leave school, whether they're at the coffee shop or down the street, or at home, they finally have wireless internet access."
To achieve complete coverage, the Piedmont district is opting for a two-pronged approach. The first will require the district to partner with vendors to create the inclusive citywide network, which Akin said he doesn't see being completed before spring 2012. For the second part, the school will distribute Verizon access cards in early 2012 to students who live in remote rural areas, estimated to be 10 percent to 15 percent of the student population.
"The possibilities are so much greater when you know that every kid is going home to the internet," Akin said. "We have math teachers that have office hours from 8 to 9 every night to answer any homework questions. And the kid that doesn't have internet access is at a disadvantage."
Noonoo: How are your students using Wikipedia, and what are you teaching them about it?
Akin: They use it, but part of 21st century skills is teaching students how to go through and determine whether the sources they're using are valid. They can't just source a research paper on Wikipedia, but we think it's a valid area. It's more important to train students how to go and look and see if the information is valid and how to validate it. It gives us another opportunity to--hopefully--teach skills to students that will prepare them for whatever they're doing in the future.
Noonoo: Have you been mentoring other schools making the 1-to-1 transition?
Akin: We've had maybe 150 school systems visit us over the last six months. We'll have site visit days where we'll have a bunch of people come in and visit us. We've had two or three of those this year. The ones we've seen that are doing a 1-to-1 where it's not working, the issue is mainly that an LMS is not in place, which I think is infrastructure, or the wireless network can't handle it. It just seems like the main things are the infrastructure needs--you can't do this without a great wireless system. And the LMS for us is the glue that holds it all together.
Noonoo: How does the district approach security, and what's being done to protect students?
Akin: We do random checks. We don't go in every day and look at every kid's history, but our rule is you can't delete your history. If you do and you get caught, it's a violation and a disciplinary issue. We try to have some accountability that way. When kids are at school, we use something called Apple Remote Desktop, so a principal can pull up any kid's computer at any time. You can't do that at home, but filtering at home stops most of that. Knock on wood, we haven't had any issues at home, but that's how we try to prevent them.
Noonoo: So you're really focused on teaching kids how to be responsible?
Akin: Yes, how to be online savvy, to look at what to do and what not to do. Kind of like what we do with Wikipedia. You try to teach kids the skills.
Noonoo: What's your hope for your current fourth-grade class when they enter 12th grade? How do you hope they'll be different from your current class of 12th-graders?
Akin: For our fourth-graders this year, every class they take--at least every academic class they take--is going to be taught through a blended learning model. I believe by the time they come to high school they're going to have some options before they leave us. They may double up on classes or take some true online courses from local universities in addition to our classes. I think they're going to be so much better prepared. We're a small school system, and those opportunities wouldn't be there for them without laptops in front of them.
And the other thing--and I can't undersell this--is that my kids know that I expect them to go to college. That's just understood. If you live in my house, you're going to go to college. We have so many students whose parents, when they graduated from high school--or they may not have--they went to work. What I want is for when our kids leave us, the expectation is that they're going to go to college, and that it's their own internal expectation. It's because of the skills they've gained from fourth to 12th grade. Whether its collaborating with kids in different parts of the world or solving some problem with a group of their own peers or taking online classes or taking Chinese in fifth grade, all of a sudden their internal outlook is so much different than it was before.
Noonoo: How has the technology impacted student achievement?
Akin: I'm not a researcher, but looking at our numbers, they've been up. In Alabama, we take our AYP Assistance, called Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test, called ARMT+, which includes science too. Those scores were up across the board. Our Alabama graduation scores were up, and discipline referrals were down.
Our scores had been pretty good, so when you see improvement you can't put it all on technology, and I think a lot of it may not be just the technology but a different view by kids. They have a different expectation of themselves, and I think that impacts test scores, discipline referrals, and absentee rates. At our high school especially, our graduation exam scores for 13 years, which is our accountability grade, is just way up, as well as our ACT scores.
This year, for every core subject, at the end of nine weeks students take a short benchmark test. In the past, we've always basically known how kids are doing in, say, a fifth-grade reading class, or a ninth-grade regular English class, because you can tell how they'll do on a graduation exam, but there really hasn't been a way to tell if the kids in an honors Algebra II and III class are mastering those standards or not.
Now we've developed these internal assessments, so the teacher can look and see that 80 percent really mastered this objective, but only 65 percent mastered this one, and we can go back and re-teach it. Or maybe give the three or four kids who didn't master it an online computerized instruction to work on. To just have something like that to pinpoint where kids aren't mastering standards, I think, is really going to be a difference maker and you'll see ACT scores going up.
Instead of just focusing on the middle of the road, you can focus on low, medium, and high. I guess that would have been possible before laptops, but we would have to have made tests, printed them out, bubbled them in, and scanned them in. It would have been almost impossible from a time-management point of view. Now every kid walks in the class, opens their computer, takes the assessment instantly, and by the end of the day we have elementary teachers talking about what they're going to do on Monday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. At that point you can see where it's not just a laptop initiative, it's a learning initiative.
Noonoo: Who handled the implementation of the MacBook program?
Akin: It was really a collaborative effort. We're small--three schools in the school system. We have a team that I'm on, that the tech coordinator is on, plus all of our principals, a group of teachers, and a board member. We really tried to go through that leadership team when doing those plans.
Noonoo: How is professional development handled? What are your thoughts?
Akin: We try not to do a whole lot of after-school stuff. We're fortunate that we have something called Regional Inservice areas in Alabama where state money goes to local universities and they provide teacher training. We have a local person--the program is called Technology in Motion--and he's probably here five days scattered throughout the month. Sometimes he's here three days in a row, then we won't see him for a couple of weeks, then he'll be here three more days in a row. So we try to schedule things during the school day. A lot of times a teacher will have planning fifth period, and we'll have a sub to cover her class fourth period, so she'll have two hours maybe three days in a row to work on some new thing that we're doing or new software we're using.
During the summer, we take almost 75 percent of teachers in fourth through 12th for a conference in North Carolina about Mooresville schools and 1-to-1 initiatives. When you have that many willing to go, not only are they learning, but it creates a lot of team building. It gives teachers a time to talk and relax and they don't have to worry about what the kids are doing with the sub.
Noonoo: Tell us about your innovative student teacher program.
Akin: Jacksonville State University has the largest college of education in the state of Alabama. It trains more teachers than the other schools. We've partnered with them, and as part of that partnership they send student teachers. The typical student teacher comes and stays with you for a semester, then they move on. We started a new initiative this year where they come and stay with us for a year instead of a semester, and the university sends them with MacBooks, and then we provide the training in the first semester: the training on our LMS and challenge-based learning, professional development, and different things so that can really co-teach with our teachers during the second semester.
We have a very low turnover of teachers, so more than likely they're not going to be hired in Piedmont, but it's a win for us because we have a really highly qualified, technically trained teacher, and when they leave here the thought is they're going to go to another school and they have expectations in regards to instructional technology and be able to really change the school they're going to.
Noonoo: What would you say technology in the classroom looked like five years ago?
Akin: I remember six or seven years ago that we had the lowest student-to-computer ratio in the state of Alabama. We had a bunch of Dells, and they were dang good computers, but they were really good at only two things--taking AR (accelerated reader) tests and doing grades on the computer. Although AR was probably impacting reading scores, other than that the computers were not impacting student learning. It was a management tool.
Now, management is part of it, but we're changing the whole approach to teaching and learning. Kids in Piedmont are engaged all the time because of that laptop that's in front of them and because of how teachers have changed their approach to learning.
About the Author
Stephen Noonoo is associate editor of T.H.E. Journal.
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Folks…if this ain't proof of dark times ahead, I don't know what is!
(and even more frightening…McCain cut the best promo of the bunch LOL)
Folks…if this ain't proof of dark times ahead, I don't know what is!
(and even more frightening…McCain cut the best promo of the bunch LOL)
That was amusing yet also kind of disturbing.
yikes… that was not at all heartening. These are the options?
I have to admit, it appeals directly to a certain PA voter demographic that wouldn't give two shits otherwise about voting. I don't know if this is good or not to get them to go out and vote. There's being informed, and then there's this. Thanks B, you made my head explode.
WHEN JOHN McCAIN
AND ALL HIS McCAINIACS
American politics is depressing.
fuck. are we all up shit creak or what?????
What do you mean neelo? We have been for awhile first we lose the compass and now we just lost the paddles. American politics are not just depressing but disillusional.
Hey guys, enough with the iminent world wide social, economic, and spiritual catastrophe(or has that already begun guppy?), was in Tescos the other day(I'm not proud, I was hungry), saw lines and lines of "I am Legend". How I remember that fateful day when on the russian sci fi epic "Nightwatch", I thought what's this "broken saints" thing in the special features? So many unsuspecting people will get their heads detonated!!!!!!
No update from Simon, Brooke?
I rented I am legend soley for the webcasts because I don't have sound when I saw them online. Chilling and meamerizing as always.
hey gups glad you liked them.
and… err… [i]watch this space…
Sweetness. I shall be.
Um… I think I broke the forums.
This morning, on a whim, I decided to tear off the "Do Not Remove" label from my mattress. And now I can't post on the forums.
It's the only explanation.
I'm so sorry.
*cries self to sleep*
Its all good I do not think those events are related SDG don't be so hard on yourself.
Contemplating on the new thing coming out…
Btw b
I wonder if the update has to do with the videogame… Whatever happened with it?
Alright, because I can't post on the forums for reasons that remain unknown (unless sum_dum_guy actually managed to tear off a mattress label that caused a rip IN TIME), I'll mention it here. I've finally managed to go and watch the "I Am Legend" videos that I hadn't watched before.
Why did it take me so long? You may recall it's called a Ph.D.
But regardless, I have watched them. They were just as chilling as the first two I had seen. The expression of tragedy is incredible.
Of course, unfortunately, any feelings of "tragedy" are marred by an extra layer of "tragedy," being the subservience of this brilliance to some other . . . ahem . . . art. So I have nothing but compliments for the creators, as usual, but I must note that I likewise look forward to the next creative endeavor. I actually rather hope it has something to do with the "Seventh Shore" idea, being another original piece by the folk(s) we know.
And that is, mostly, that.
hey I hear you Rex, and I appreciate what you're saying but for me there were two very good reasons to do the Legend pieces: first, the basic reality of me needing to pay the bills and keep my little munchkin in diapers and wipes; second, the opportunity to do some creative work with people I love to work with. So it wasn't a terribly difficult choice. I didn't actually ever get around to watching the film itself, so for me the pieces kind of stand on their own, and I'm fairly happy with them.
As to subservience… there was of course a review process and there were executive higher-ups who exercised a degree of oversight, but it wasn't too bad and all in all I think mostly the essence of what we were aiming for came through. In fact I am not particularly opposed to working within that kind of structure, sometimes it can actually help focus ideas that might otherwise get left half-baked. Obviously when you have a really clear idea and you know where it needs to go, you have to be strong about it to get it through the process, but the reality of creative work is that that is not always the case – sometimes you don't have anything better than half-baked, and then the review process can provide the structure to help trim away the noise and clarify the germ of the idea so you can develop it in a better way.
In fact, that's often been the nature of Brooke's involvement with my musical contributions, and while there are uncomfortable moments from time to time, at the end of the day I think it's been a valuable process to go through.
It is worth mentioning that, though I breezed through my earlier description with a bunch of generalities, every specific thing in the pieces deserved the "brilliance" label and the "compliments for the creators." As per usual, the music was basically untouchable (if I wanted to complain about anything), again being able to carry each video by itself (which it literally did here and there). And if I could ever get my head around the complete mixture of people who gave creative input, I'm sure I could direct compliments correctly for the other aspects.
I also appreciate the creative process, and what you wrote there gave me reason to think some more. But still, in the grand scheme of things, this remains a "side project" in my view relative to the more "central"/personal/enriching nature of something like Broken Saints, a CD, a webcomic, and suchlike. A necessity, not a release. Perhaps, though, it is also a compliment that "mainstream" employers would WANT people who can be so personal to go and work on their stuff.
Hey R, thanks for clarifying, and of course I didn't think you were criticizing the music or any of the other contributors' efforts (who were Brooke, Ian, Caleb, Adam, Andrew on the New Delhi piece, and various others). Of course these pieces are less of a 'total' experience than BS, and are by their nature not likely to affect anyone in as deep or powerful (dare I say spiritual?) a manner. On the other hand, due to improvements in technology, increased skills and creative maturity, and access to production resources, one could argue that on some levels they go further – inasmuch as we were less limited by those constraining factors.
Anyway, the proof is in the pudding, and they are what they are. I'm just glad that some of the core BS fans have been able to see them 'properly' now, particularly the Indian one which was so brutally compressed in its public release.
I wanted to say hey to everyone again, but the forums are taking a nap. So… Hey everyone! 😛
Absolutely nobody, anywhere in the world, should rip a label of a matress ever again or black will be proven to be white……in which case we'll get killed crossing the road!!!
No, no, no. We'll get killed at a zebra crossing. Get it right.
Also, I see a certain "DJ." And I . . . have little to say at this time, as I am sleep-deprived. But apparently the forums are now awake, thus granting new and exciting opportunities for saying hey!
sorry, should never get a hitchhikers reference wrong.
Yeah man, that's almost as bad as, well, not knowing where your towel is! ALWAYS know where your towel is.
that's OK though, we still think you're a pretty hoopy frood regardless.
keep on pan galactic gargle blasting!!
well that's quite possibly the scariest thing i've seen all century…


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Fans will get a glimpse of one of the greatest music video artists of our time during the biggest night in music videos – Michael Jackson's "This Is It" trailer will debut during the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards.
MTV is partnering with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment to exclusively premiere the official trailer from the highly anticipated "This Is It" during the VMAs on Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 9 PM EDT, MTV announced on Thursday.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: In Memoriam: The Deaths Of Summer 2009
The poster for the film, which was released on Wednesday, features the King of Pop's iconic silhouette, filled in with images from the film.
"This Is It" is compiled from hours of footage of the late star's rehearsals for a tour of the same name that was never realized due to his untimely June 25 death. The star had been rehearsing at Staples Center for the 50-date tour, which had been slated to take over London's 02 Arena beginning last July.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Michael Jackson's Funeral
The trailer debut will provide audiences their first look at the extraordinary new film that opens worldwide in theaters for a two-week limited engagement beginning October 28, 2009.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Michael Jackson: The King Of Pop
PLAY IT NOW: Oprah Winfrey: 'We Were All Stunned' Over Michael Jackson's Death (September 9, 2009)
PLAY IT NOW: Janet Jackson Shares Her Final Moments With Michael
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Michael Jackson - Music - TV - MTV - Music Video


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2 ½ cups long-grain white rice
3 1/3 cups water
¼ cup peanut or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons finely grated (with a rasp) peeled fresh ginger
5 scallions (white and pale green parts separated from greens) finelly chopped
1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup diced (¼ inch) cored peeled fresh pineapple (labeled"extra sweet")
1 teaspoon asian sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce drizzle with chilli oil
Rinse rice in several changes of cold water in a large bowl until water runs clear. Drain in a colander.
Transfer rice to a 4-quart heavy saucepan, then add water (3 ½ cups) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered until steam holes appear on surface and water is absorbed, about 13 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, tightly covered and undisturbed, 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and spread in a large shallow baking pan to cool quickly, about 45 minutes. Chill, covered with plastic wrap at least 4 hours
Heat a work or 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until a drop of water vaporizes instantly. Pour oil around side of wok, then tilt wok to swirl oil, coating side. When oil just begins to smoke, stir-fry ginger, white and pale green parts of scallions, and salt until fragnant, about 1 minute. Crumbs rice into wok and stir-fry until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat, then add scallion greens pineapple, and sesame oilm tossing to combine. Season with salt.
Cook's notes :
– Plain rice can be chilled up to 1 day
– Fried rice can be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, covered. Reheat rice in a microwave.
Make 10 side dish servings


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Lexington County's Coroner and Medical Examiner Service
Since the early 1970s, death investigations in Lexington County
have had the combined advantages of a coroner system and a
medical examiner service.
Dr. Guy Calvert, the founding director of Lexington Medical Center's laboratories,
offered his forensic pathology expertise to Coroner Harry Harman in 1974,
during Coroner Harman's first term in office. Dr. Calvert and Coroner Harman
worked closely in a wide variety of death investigations, establishing the
pattern of law enforcement advantages of a coroner system with the forensic
medicine expertise of a medical examiner system. As the Lexington community and
the LMC pathology group have grown, the advantages of this combined service
have become an important part of the hospital's quality assurance program.
Pathology Associates of Lexington, P.A., the 10-member pathology group
at LMC, has played a critical role in the full spectrum of death investigations
and has served as expert witnesses in numerous homicide and accidental death
cases. Through these investigations, the group has played an increasing role in
LMC's medical staff quality assurance program. LMC's pathologists investigate
all manners of death to the full extent of inpatient medical autopsy studies
and submit complete reports to LMC physicians involved in the care of patients
within the coroner's investigation.
Possibly uniquely in the United States, annual QA reports to the medical staff
indentify opportunities to improve care. Thorough investigations of infant
deaths have led to a significant decrease in the number of accidental infant
deaths (SIDS) in Lexington County, and a significant decrease in the number
of sudden, unexpected cardiac deaths. Observations of sudden cardiac death in
the coroner system led directly to LMC offering 24/7 STAT AMI profiling in
1994, which has significantly decreased the number of cardiac deaths after
discharge from a community medical center or ER visit. LMC was the first
hospital in the Midlands to offer this service. Similar results of death
investigations have prompted the urgency of physician office referrals of patients
presenting with acute coronary symptoms directly to a CMC or LMC's ER.
By using coroner autopsy findings as a medical staff quality assurance process,
we have identified the absence of a personal physician as the single greatest
risk factor; refusal to seek medical care is the second most important risk factor.
Other survival benefits resulting from the coroner/medical examiner interface
include improvements in EMS intubation of critically ill infants, the evaluation
of prosthetic cardiac valve dysfunction and treatment of excess anticoagulant


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Kelly Clarkson proved herself a Taylor Swift fan when she defended the country cutie earlier this week, but Taylor's not the only teen star she's a fan of.
In a video posted on YouTube on Friday, Kelly covered Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" with two of her backing singers.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Kelly Clarkson & More At 'VH1 Divas' 2009
The song came one day after both Kelly and Miley took the stage on Thursday at the "VH1: Divas" concert.
"I don't even know my own lyrics so don't be offended," Kelly joked, singing the song while reading the lyrics on her smartphone.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: She's Just Bein' Miley!
The three singers harmonized together in the intimate performance while one strummed an acoustic guitar.
CLICK HERE to see the performance!
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Since She's Been Gone: Catching Up With Kelly Clarkson
PLAY IT NOW: Former 'Idols' Shine At 2009 'VH1 Divas' Concert
PLAY IT NOW: Kelly Clarkson's Free Hollywood Concert
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Kelly Clarkson - Miley Cyrus - Taylor Swift - Divas - Young Hollywood


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Press Release - January 10, 2014
Two Famous Rare Coins Bring A Combined $7.87+ Million At Record-Breaker By Heritage Auctions In Orlando1787 Brasher Gold Doubloon brings $4.58 million; 1913 Liberty Nickel, "The Hawaii Five-O Specimen" brings $3.29 million, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014; auction on track to be highest grossing of all time
The first gold coin made for the United States, a Brasher Doubloon hand-struck in 1787 by George Washington's New York City neighbor, brought $4,582,500, while a nickel made under mysterious circumstances at the Philadelphia Mint in 1913, and which was famously featured in an episode of the 1970s television show "Hawaii Five-O," realized $3,290,000.
"The legendary Brasher Doubloon is one of the most important coins in American history because it's the first gold coin struck for the young United States and it's one of only a handful that exist," said Todd Imhof, Executive Vice President of Heritage Auctions, "This is a record auction price for one of these historic, early American coins."
This particular Brasher Doubloon has been off the market since it was purchased by a Chicago resident in 1979 for a then-record price of $430,000. It was the subject of a Raymond Chandler book, a Hollywood movie and it was displayed by a previous owner at the 1964 World's Fair in New York City.
"The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of only five known," said Imhof, "and were struck under mysterious circumstances at the Philadelphia Mint. Their existence wasn't publicly revealed until 1920, when five of these coins were offered for sale by a man who used to work at the Mint."
One of the previous owners of the "Hawaii-Five-O" nickel was Jerry Buss, the late owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team who purchased this particular coin in 1985 and sold it in 1993. One of the other five known 1913 Liberty Head nickels is in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
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I was incredibly happy with the items I bought at the auction, but those few minutes I had with Sly mean more than any collectible item to me. Thank you and congratulations on a great auction, it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I look forward to taking part in future heritage auctions.View More Testimonials
HA.com receives more traffic than any other auction house website. (Source: Similarweb.com)


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Soon the real fun begins; fighting the crowds to take back the gifts you don't want or can't use. What can you expect at the return counter? It all depends on the store.
To deal with the down economy, many retailers are loosening their holiday return policies. They've extended the holiday return period, reduced restocking fees or are being more flexible with people who don't have receipts.
The National Retail Federation says stores are doing this to provide better customer service. According to an NRF survey, the number of stores that will soften their holiday return rules will triple, from 3.4 percent in 2007 to 11 percent this year.
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The day's top national and international news.
How can stores relax their return policies in this down economy? The industry says it's gotten better at catching return fraud.
"Retailers seem to be finding a balance between providing good customer service to shoppers while preventing criminals from taking advantage of lenient policies," says John LaRocca, NRF's vice president of loss prevention.
Who's naughty, who's nice?
Every December, Edgar Dworsky surveys return polices for ConsumerWorld.org. He is pleased and surprised by what he found this year.
"A number of stores are really making their return policies more lenient," he says. These include Sears, Macy's and Circuit City.
Macy's reduced its restocking fee on furniture from 25 percent to 10 percent.
Sears significantly enhanced its return policy this year. "Whenever you can make things as customer-friendly as possible, people appreciate it," says spokesperson Kim Freely.
Sears normally offers a 90-day return policy on most items. But this year you have 120 days for purchases made between November 16 and December 23. The 30-day return period for electronics, software and mattresses is now 90 days.
Circuit City greatly expanded its 2008 holiday return policy. Last year, computers, cameras and certain other items had to be returned by January 8. For everything else the deadline was January 25. This year, the holiday return period for all purchases is January 31. "We just think that's good business," says company spokesman Jim Babb.
Some stores tighten up
A few stores are bucking the trend. Dworsky says Best Buy is "clamping down a bit." The giant electronics chain shortened its holiday return period for most items to January 24, a week sooner than last year. And it greatly reduced the holiday return window for computers.
Last year it was January 30. Now it's 14 days from the date of purchase. For customers who bought a computer on Black Friday, to give as a Christmas or Hanukkah present, the return period has already expired. (Customers who are silver members of Best Buy's Rewards Zone loyalty program get 45 days after Christmas to return computers.)
Spokesman Brian Lucas tells me last year's extended return period for computers was just a test. "We decided it was best to go back to the way it was," he says.
"May I see some ID, please?"
Don't be surprised if you're asked to hand over your driver's license in order to make a return – even if you have a sales receipt. For years now, retailers have tracked returns by asking for an address or phone number. They do this to catch fraud and stop people trying to abuse the return privilege.
Now, many retailers use an outside firm to do this. That company keeps a record of what you return tied to your driver's license number or other government-issued ID. It looks at your return history to decide if your return should be accepted, based on the parameters set by that particular store.
That's why the clerk at the return counter swipes the magnetic stripe or scans the optical bar code on your license – to link you to your file in the database.
Consumer advocate Paul Stephens with the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse says many shoppers find this troubling. He says most people can understand the need to present ID if they want to bring something back without proof of purchase. But he argues, "the consumer has the right to be frustrated" when they have a receipt, the item is in perfect condition and they are told their license must be swiped to make the return.
Like it or not, expect to see more of this. It's the way retailers crack down on counterfeit receipts and the return of stolen merchandise. It also helps reduce the return of non-defective merchandise after it's been used. Normally this involves expensive clothing ("wardrobing") or big ticket electronics ("renting"). Think prom dress returned after the big dance or a big screen TV purchased in January and returned right after the Super Bowl.
What's in your file? The largest company doing this – The Retail Equation – will let you see your report. Send an email here. Include your name phone number. When a representative calls you will need to provide your driver's license number to have the database search done.
Tips for happier returns
- Think before you open the box. If there's a chance you may return it, don't open the box. In most cases, you trigger the restocking fee – usually 10 percent to 15 percent of the purchase price – by breaking the factory seal. For a $300 camera, you could get hit for as much as $45.
- Know the rules. Look at the back of the receipt or check the store's web site. Remember; the return period may vary for different types of merchandise, such as GPS units, digital cameras and computers.
- Have a sales slip or gift receipt. This really does improve your chances of getting a full refund. Some stores won't help you if you don't have a receipt. Other will only give you a merchandise credit for the lowest price the item sold for in recent weeks. That could be significantly less than what the gift-giver paid.
- Don't give up. If your request falls within store policy and you're denied, be insistent. Ask to speak to the store manager. If you want something that is not covered by the rules or is explicitly prohibited, you need to turn on the charm. Being nice may ultimately get your further than being demanding. Consider this tip from Consumer Reports. If you're having a hard time, try a different branch of the same store – you may find a more sympathetic manager.
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Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning asked us to count the ways I love thee. But if modern-day wedding ring designer Jennifer Flume gets her way, then you'll be counting the ways in gigabytes and diamond carats.
The concept USB wedding ring has in-built storage space
Flume has designed two concept diamond wedding rings, which each hide a USB Flash drive underneath the removable diamond dazzler.
The ring designs aren't suitable for most men, but Flume's concept allows two USB wedding ring drives to be interlocked for data transfers. For example, if you want to send your missus an Excel spreadsheet detailing her monthly shoe allowance, and she likewise with your gadget budget, then each partner can just whip off their respective diamonds and interlock USB drives.
Share your prenuptial agreement with ease
Flume's design's not perfect and there would be various technical issues to overcome, such as the male to female connectors needed to interlock two USB Flash drives. However, it's not a bad notion and, provided you always wear your wedding ring, you'll always have storage capacity at your finger tips – literally.
There's no mention of how much storage space comes with each ring, but it would be natural for the biggest bling is to boast the most.
Each ring also comes with a necklace that acts as a hub for multiple USB wedding rings, which is useful if you have multiple wives…


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Four members of the Central Connecticut women's soccer team have been tabbed with NEWISA 2013 All-New England honors. Three Blue Devil seniors, Nikola Deiter, Jewel Robinson and Allison Kelley were each named to the second team while junior Tori Sousa was named to the third team.
All four All-New England honorees were also named All-NEC for their efforts this season. Kelley, Robinson and Sousa were tabbed All-NEC First Team and Deiter was named to the second-team.
In addition to their impressive accolades, Robinson, Kelley and Deiter were each also selected to participate in the NEWISA Senior Bowl in December where Kelley earned the Player of the Match honor.
All four Blue Devils significantly contributed to CCSU's 5-3 conference record this season and helped the squad clinch an NEC tournament berth. Central ultimately finished fourth at the championships.
DEITER: In her final season as a Blue Devil, Deiter saw just over 1,652 minutes in goal. She started in all 19 games and posted 96 saves, a goals against average of 1.74 and one shutout.
ROBINSON: Robinson wrapped up her senior campaign registering two goals and two assists for six points. The defender started 17 games and ranked fourth on the team in points.
KELLEY: Kelley started all 19 games for CCSU, scoring one goal and adding an assist for a three-point season total. Kelley's goal was a game-winner that came in overtime against NEC foe Bryant on Nov. 1 to keep the Blue Devils in the hunt for an NEC Tournament appearance.
SOUSA: In her first season as a Blue Devil, Sousa was one of only three members of the team to start all 19 contests in 2013. She proved to be aggressive on offense, leading the squad with 60 shots, 26 on goal. Sousa also posted a .433 shot on goal percentage. She finished the season tied for third on the team in points with six after posting two goals, including one game-winner.
Deiter, Robinson, Kelley and Sousa are four out of five student-athletes to represent the Northeast Conference on the All-New England teams. They were joined by Bryant's Allison Debenedictis, who was named to the third team.
NEWISA 2013 All New England for Division I
|First Team
All four All-New England Nominees are pictured below at the 2013 NEC banquet, along with fellow teammate Morgan Santoro (right), who earned a spot on the NEC All-Rookie Team.


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Governor, are you really serious about pension and budget reform?
Arnold Schwarzenegger is on the side of fiscal sanity by demanding that the legislature repeal too-generous pension benefits it enacted in 1999 as part of a package of pension. He's also right to demand that the state adopt a larger rainy day fund. He's taken a hard line on both, refusing to agree to a budget until he gets these reforms.
That's why it's utterly maddening -- and counter-productive -- for him to seek to borrow $2 billion from CalPERS, the big state pension fund, as part of his budget solution.
Yes, technically, these are two unrelated policies. But pursued together, they send a mixed message. If Schwarzenegger is so serious about putting pensions on a sustainable base and about making the budget process more rational that he's willing to hold up the budget for the rest of the year, then why use an expensive borrowing manuever that involves the pension fund?
It's enough to make a reasonable person wonder about the governor's credibility. The only way to resolve those questions is for the governor to do a mea culpa on the pension borrowing, and stick to his guns on pensions and budget.


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Addressing the growing popularity of ecologically friendly products in the marketplace, Green for Good, LLC has launched a new website, www.greenforgood.com.
EDMONDS, Washington — Addressing the growing popularity of ecologically friendly products in the marketplace, Green for Good, LLC has launched a new website, www.greenforgood.com. The site features everything a consumer needs to live a "green" lifestyle on a daily basis, including organic food, clothing, cosmetics and beauty products as well as organic cotton beds, pet products, house wares and more.
According to the consumer research firm Mintel, consumers in 2005 are spending twice as much on organic food as they did in the 1990s and 44 percent of all organic foods now are being purchased at mainstream retail outlets. ACNielsen, a leading global provider of consumer and marketplace information recently announced that the overall organic product sector has sustained strong product growth "" up 14.4% in 2005 from the same period a year ago.
"There is no doubt that a green wave is rolling across the consumer marketplace," said David R. Kaufer, President and CEO of Green for Good. "Whether it's the skyrocketing sales of the Toyota Prius, national shortage of organic milk in grocery stores or increasing number organic menu options in restaurants, consumers are demonstrating an increasing commitment to a green lifestyle. Green for Good is addressing this demand by providing an incredibly broad range of green, organic and eco-friendly products online that promises to grow substantially on an ongoing basis."
Green for Good plans to offer the broadest range of green, organic and eco-friendly products available online and will add dozens of new products and categories monthly. In addition, Green for Good is committed to being an active supporter of groups and organizations who focus on preserving and improving the environment, individual health and local communities, by donating a minimum of ten percent of its profits to these organizations.
Greenforgood.com features a wide variety of organic and eco-friendly products, including baby gifts, clothing, yard and garden products, pet products and even organic wine. "This is an ideal site for people to purchase practical items and do a lot of green window shopping and see unique products," Kaufer said. "We've thoroughly enjoyed selecting these products because it helped us realize how diverse the marketplace has become and how many choices customers now have." The site currently offers nearly 1400 products within 201 categories and displays products that are "most popular," "newest," "highest rated" (based on customer votes) and "random" (a range of products customers might not realize can be or are organic and eco-friendly).
By offering these products through an online storefront, Green for Good allows customers to shop for their favorite eco-friendly products in a "green" manner. Natural resources are kept to a minimum, with no land required for a physical retail location and gas consumption kept to a minimum.
About Green for Good Green for Good is a West Coast company with offices in Edmonds, Washington and Pleasanton, California. It was started with the vision of building a successful business that sells great products and services that support health and well-being and contribute to a healthy lifestyle and environment "" while "doing good" with the profits. That's why the company is dedicated to donating at least ten percent of after tax profits to community-based non-profit organizations that are dedicated to improving the environment and the world we live in.
Green for Good is a member of Co-op America, the leading business network for green businesses and the Organic Trade Association. Businesses displaying the Co-op America Business Seal have passed Co-op America's screening process for socially and environmentally responsible "" or green - businesses and have been admitted to membership in Co-op America's Business Network. The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is the membership-based business association for the organic industry in North America. OTA's mission is to encourage global sustainability through promoting and protecting the growth of diverse organic trade.
Source: CSRwire, Green for Good, LLC