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Course announcements
- You should take BIT400 if your system still a dual-stack or dual usage of SAP Process Integration. If your system is a JAVA only based system meaning SAP Process Integration JAVA or SAP Process Orchestration you should attend to BIT500 instead.
- The participants will learn to configure scenarios
- Understand and configure the different options with which a back-end system can be connected to the SAP Process Integration (formerly known as SAP Exchange Infrastructure).
- Business Process Architect
- Developer
- Developer Consultant
- System Administrator
- System Architect
- Technology Consultant
- SAPTEC Fundamentals of SAP Web AS
- Basic knowledge of Integration Technologies
- Basic Understanding of XML
Course based on software release
- SAP Process Integration 7.40
- SAP Process Integration Architecture
- Describing SAP Process Integration Architecture
- Explaining the Functionality and Utilization of SAP Process Integration
- The System Landscape Directory (SLD) Maintaining Products and Software Components in the System
- Landscape Directory (SLD)
- Implementing Technical Systems in the System Landscape Directory
- Maintaining Business Systems for Use in the Integration Directory
- Interface Objects in the Enterprise Service Repository (ESR)
- Listing Options for Navigating the Enterprise Services Repository (ESR) Analyzing Interface Objects in the Enterprise Services Repository
- Maintaining Interface Objects
- Defining Message Processing Types and Quality of Services
- Object Mapping in the Enterprise Service Repository (ESR)
- Creating Message Mapping Objects
- Mapping Between Service Interfaces
- Analyzing Asynchronous Integration Scenarios
- Configuration of Integration Directory Communication Objects
- Using Configuration Views
- Creating Communication Channels in the Integration Directory (ID)
- Configuration of Integration Directory Objects for ABAP Processing
- Analyzing Objects Used in the Configuration of Integration
- Engine (IE) Communication
- Analyzing Routing Objects Used in Integration Engine (IE) Communication
- Analyzing Multiple Receiver Objects Used in Integration Engine
- (IE) Communication
- Configuration of Integration Directory Objects for Java Processing
- Maintaining Objects for Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE)-Only
- Processing
- Maintaining Objects for Advanced Adapter Engine Extended (AEX)
- Message Processing
- Creating and Deploying Integration Flows to the Advanced Adapter
- Engine Extended (AEX)
- Operations of SAP Process Integration
- Using the Runtime Workbench
- Using the Process Integration Monitoring (PIMon) Home
- Using the SAP NetWeaver Administrator
- Connectivity Options for SAP Process Integration
- Analyzing Connectivity Options between Back-End Systems with
- SAP Process Integration
- HTTP Connectivity Options
- Configuring the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) Adapter
- Using Proxy Technology
- Checking the HTTP ABAP Adapter
- Using the HTTP_AAE (Java) Adapter
- File Adapter Configuration
- Configuring the Receiver File Adapter
- Configuring a Sender File Adapter
- Intermediate Document (IDoc) Connectivity Options
- Using the Intermediate Document (IDoc) Adapter with the Receiver
- Intermediate Document Adapter for the ABAP Stack
- Using the Sender Intermediate Document (IDoc) Adapter
- Using the Intermediate Document (IDoc) Adapter in the Advanced
- Adapter Engine (AAE)
- Configuring a Complete Intermediate Document (IDoc) Scenario
- Configuration of SAP Business Application Programming Interfaces (BAPIs) Connectivity
- Configuring the Receiver Remote Function Call (RFC) Adapter
- Configuring the Sender Remote Function Call (RFC) Scenario
- Enterprise Services and B2B Connectivity
- Analyzing Enterprise Services
- Configuring Business-to-Business (B2B) Connectivity
- Cross-Component Business Process Management (ccBPM) Integration Processes
- Analyzing the Runtime of the Cross-Component Business Process
- Management (ccBPM)
- Identifying the Steps to Create and Use an Integration Process
- This course is not an introductory course. It requires knowledge, delivered in the BIT100 course


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Kyle Davis and Chelsea Davenport, introduced to readers in Flinn's novel The One, marry in the first chapter of Three Gifts. Their future together looks bright. Kyle and Chelsea have weathered the problems of their high school years, they are doing work they enjoy, they are near Chelsea's loving parents, and they truly love each other. But happily-ever-after is illusive for most couples, and Kyle and Chelsea are no exceptions to this hard truth.
Soon after Kyle and Chelsea return from their honeymoon, Kyle's architectural firm is contacted by two women from Florida who want to build a condo development just up the road from Kyle and Chelsea's cabin. A boozy dinner with these potential clients unnerves Kyle and arouses Chelsea's jealousy. Kyle fears that one of the women was more than just a client to his late father, a disgraced builder. Neither Kyle nor his mother have come to terms with Kyle's father's death, and Kyle fears what he could learn from this woman. Chelsea senses Kyle's uneasiness, but she misidentifies its source. A car accident, estrangement from a close friend, illnesses, and the death of a pet are additional challenges that the young couple faces, but as in Flinn's other books, the main characters, aided by family and friends, find their path to a happy future. Flinn does a good job mixing ordinary newlywed challenges with extraordinary circumstances, and her gift for dialogue and the likableness of her characters makes this an enjoyable read.
Check this title's availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

subset: commoncrawl


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In our opinion, the biggest failing of the interwebs is that you can neither taste nor smell digitally. That's a shame. Because what we'd really like is to simply hand you a plate of our gluten free goodies and let you take it from there. Besides, we really enjoy listening to all the yummy noises. (It really is one of the most rewarding parts of this job.)
Short of that, we'll just be showing you pretty pictures and waxing poetic about how much we love our own cooking. We're convinced that you'll love it too. It may sound like bragging, but seriously, we have a knack for working wonders with the whole spectrum of gluten free foods.
Glutino's gluten free grocery can be a little overwhelming, so we'll break it down for you. Just click on the category that strikes your fancy.


text:
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The fabulous range of Outdoor B-bag colours for any occasion, wherever you're going, the Outdoor B-bag is making a colour splash.
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text: Here in this article we will learn about Top Ten Most Dangerous Viruses which are most harmful for your health. Viruses can be defined as a small infectious agent that can reproduce only inside the living cells of any organism. They are so small that they can be observed only through the lens of a microscope. The fact that they …Read More »


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No. Of People
Minutes walk to the marina
Star Rating
Cowes week rental Accommodation, Cowes Isle of Wight
If you are looking for a holiday or short break in Cowes then we have a huge range of holiday accommodation to choose from. We have apartments, cottages, town houses and country houses.
Property Ref: 89
A welcoming cottage in Cowes close to the Medina river and with views of the river from the back bedroom. Three bedrooms, one with a king sized double, one with a standard double and a bunk room with grown up bunks. Seating in the lounge for six as well as dining for six. On street parking and garden with BBQ and seating for six. This house is available for Cowes Week, Round the Island race, Cowes Classics, LBCC and holidays.+ More details
Property Ref: 73
A pretty, light airy two bedroom holiday home (one double one twin) with downstairs bathroom.
Laminate flooring downstairs with Homely lounge and open plan kitchen/diner.
Well cared for garden with BBQ and seating.
A perfect holiday or regatta rental.+ More details
Property Ref: 75
A fabulously positioned apartment on the High St, but away from the noise. A stone's throw away from all the yacht clubs. With sea views this newly decorated apartment is perfect for those wishing to be near the action.+ More details
Property Ref: 117
In the heart of the action..contemporary seaside house sleeping up to 7 guests, 5 plus 2 on large sofabed.
Suits families, crew lets,couples.
Outside courtyard garden with BBQ.
Free WIFI, TV DVD.
Fully equipped kitchen with washing machine.
Property Ref: 125
A bright and airy home with a pretty garden with pond and BBQ area. A welcoming conservatory leads to a newly fitted kitchen. There are computer and internet facilities in the basement as well as a seperate W/C and drying facilities for wet weather gear.+ More details
Property Ref: 128
Seconds walk from the High Street this 2 bedroomed cottage sleeps 4. It has a courtyard garden with an outside drying room.
Perfect holiday and sailing rental.+ More details
Property Ref: 130
A fabulously well positioned Penthouse apartment in the heart of Cowes. 2 bedrooms sleeping 4 people. Perfect for a corporate or family let.+ More details
Property Ref: 80
A Fabulous grade two listed cottage in the heart of 'Old Town' Cowes. Elegant and comfortable accommodation which has been recently totally refurbished. One double, three twins. Fabulous conservatory and open fire, great for holidays, short breaks and sailing events.+ More details
Property Ref: 131
A fabulously presented characterful cottage within a stones throw of the marina. The Cottage has 2 double ensuite letting rooms (Both can also be twins) and two twin rooms that share a very modern shower wet room. All rooms have televisions. WI FI and a fabulous spacious garden with covered decked area and seperate lawned area.+ More details


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Padres-Reds game postponed because of rain
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Padres got another day to let their recovered players rest and enjoy their best stretch of the season. With outfielder Carlos Quentin and third baseman Chase Headley back, they're thinking it could keep going.
Just not on Wednesday.
Their game against the Cincinnati Reds was postponed because of rain and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Thursday. They will play a regularly scheduled game at 12:35 p.m. EDT followed by a makeup game at 6:10 p.m.
Ian Kennedy (2-4) will face Johnny Cueto (3-2) in the first game. Tyson Ross (4-3) will start the second game for San Diego. The Reds hadn't decided on their starter.
It was the ninth postponement in Great American Ball Park's history since 2003 and the second this season. The Reds have had eight rain delays, two postponements and one suspended game this season in Cincinnati.
The Padres are enjoying the best stretch of the season. They have won a season-high four straight and have scored 26 runs in the four games.
Quentin wasn't going to be in the Padres' lineup on Wednesday as manager Bud Black eases him back in. Quentin was activated before the series opener on Tuesday after missing the first 39 games with a bruised left knee, injured while diving for a ball during spring training.
Quentin went 3 for 18 during a minor league rehab stint and was 0 for 3 with a walk in his return. Black planned to play him in one of the games on Thursday.
"We're going to build him up, but we like when he's in the lineup," Black said. "He's got to get into baseball shape."
Injuries limited Quentin to 82 games last season, when he batted .275 with 13 homers and 44 RBIs. He was an All-Star with the White Sox in 2008 and 2011.
"Arguably when he's healthy and playing his game, you can make a case that he's our best offensive player," Black said. "He's a guy that has a proven record of offensive performance. So when he's in there, we score more runs."
The Padres think he will make a difference in a struggling offense.
"He's a huge piece for us," Headley said. "If we can get him in there and keep him healthy, it makes everybody's job easier. It's great to have him back."
San Diego's offense ranked last in the league with a .222 average and 118 runs. The Padres are hopeful that with Quentin back and Headley finally healthy, their offense can pick up. Headley returned from the disabled list last Saturday after recovering from a strained right calf and has homered twice.
Headley's solo shot in the ninth inning off a 99 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman gave the Padres a 2-1 win in the series opener.
Reliever Dale Thayer rejoined the Padres on Wednesday after missing one game on paternity leave. Thayer is 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA in 20 games.
The Padres optioned right-hander Kevin Quackenbush back to Triple-A El Paso to create a spot for Thayer. Quackenbush was called up for one game to fill in while Thayer was gone. Quackenbush didn't pitch in a 2-1 win over the Reds on Tuesday night, leaving him 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in three stints with San Diego this season.
NOTES: The Padres haven't won a series on the road this season. ... Major League Baseball has made a scoring change from San Diego's 4-0 loss to Washington on April 26, taking a hit away from Jayson Werth and giving Jedd Gyorko an error. That takes two earned runs away from Padres starter Andrew Cashner, lowering his ERA to 2.35. ... Manager Bryan Price said C Devin Mesoraco, on a rehab assignment recovering from a strained hamstring, will play a couple more games before the Reds will consider activating him. He began the assignment Tuesday night with Triple-A Louisville.


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An Overview of New Scripts in Unicode 3.0
Kamal Mansour - Agfa Monotype Corporation
With the advent of Unicode 3.0, several new scripts are added to the existing repertoire. After introducing 10 of the new scripts by showing each of them in a typical graphic setting, we will explore a select few of the following facets:
|When the world wants to talk, it speaks Unicode
International Unicode Conferences are organized by Global Meeting Services, Inc., (GMS).
GMS is pleased to be able to offer the International Unicode Conferences under an exclusive
license granted by the Unicode Consortium. All responsibility for conference finances and
operations is borne by GMS. The independent conference board serves solely at the pleasure
of GMS and is composed of volunteers active in Unicode and in international software
development. All inquiries regarding International Unicode Conferences should be addressed
to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Unicode and the Unicode logo are registered trademarks of Unicode, Inc. Used with permission.
22 Jun 2001, Webmaster


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Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.
Thomas Jefferson
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/freedom.html#xZoKSuuR41b2GWu6.99
October 2011: Pismo Beach, California.
Inviting aromas of Splash Café's world famous clam chowder, served in a toasted San Luis Sourdough bowl and Mo's Memphis style hickory smoke barbecue drifted up Pomeroy Avenue, towards the rocky cliffs separating the Central coast from the rest of the state.
My husband and I were on another vacation to an area of California that's all too familiar for both of us, since that was the area where we met and fell in love. We leisurely made our way past rows of storefronts on our way to the pier and miles of sandy beaches stretched along the pacific coast.
Warm afternoon breezes and valley tourists packing up, preparing for the two and a half-hour drive back to the San Joaquin Valley.
Strolling hand in hand, reminiscing over previous years, once again taking in the thunder of the waves, and the cool, hard sand beneath our bare feet. Another pursuit, searching for a unique, yet somehow abandoned, discarded, home of a sea creature.
We sat down together on the soft warm sand, watching surfers riding an occasional wave and skim boarders sliding over a sheet of sand that looked like a giant mirror reflecting a biplane in the clear sky above.
I stopped a young man and asked, "I've never seen this before. The sand looks like it's an enormous sheet of smooth glass. What does it feel like when you skim over it?"
"It feels like you're floating on it."
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"Yeah. When it's not this smooth, and we try to skim over it, we fall off our board a lot easier. We love it when it's like this."
"That is so incredible! You guys have fun!"
Two others, around fourteen, tucked their boards under their arm and waved goodbye.
Watching from a distance, I commented "If they're fortunate enough to have a father who cares about their day, I bet when they walk into their house, Dad says, "Hey son, what did you spend this nice day doing?"
To which his reply may be, "Oh, John and I spent the day at the beach, skimming waves. The conditions were perfect."
I don't have a penchant to go into a political discussion, but I wonder if we really realize how good our lives are in this country.
Pete and I sat snuggled together and began an in depth contemplating conversation about how privileged we are and how much we take our freedom for granted. The reality of a difficult economy has kept many families from being able to afford to go on long vacations, but consider how freeing it is to be able to pack your family in the car and say, let's go to the Coast for the weekend.
It's so commonplace for us to just jump in our own car and drive anywhere we want to go, whether it's to the grocery store, an afternoon matinee, or to a nice restaurant with a list of entrees a mile long.
If we think about it, one hundred years ago, only the wealthy would have had the type of luxury we enjoy today.
How about those living in impoverished nations? I have never been to a nation as poor as many third world countries, but by what I've read and seen in documentaries it makes me extremely thankful to be an American. I've never experienced the horrors of starvation and unhealthy living conditions friends have told me that they've experienced on a vacation or perhaps while sharing God's love on a mission trip.
May 1998, after landing at Charles d'Gaule Airport and standing in the security line for what seemed like hours, Pete and I hopped onto a shuttle headed into the city of Paris. Naturally, everything was printed in French and the buildings had roofs that reminded me of old Disney movies like Peter Pan and the 101 Dalmatians. I felt as if I had landed on another planet. This was my first visit to a foreign country and it felt exactly like that, for me, foreign.
While in France we toured ancient castle ruins and saw how severely Christians were tortured for their faith as we made our way south towards vacationing for a few days along the Mediterranean coast. I was so thankful when we landed on US soil that I felt that I would kiss the ground.
Living in this Great Country, we have our own citizens living in unhealthy conditions and families that have a hard time making ends meet until the next payday, or those who are homeless, living on the streets, searching through a restaurant's garbage to find something worth eating.
Why can't we see how our nation is so fully loved by God? How is it that we're so privileged and we're able to live in a country so richly blessed, when there are so many souls in our world suffering? The amount of various responses to that question, is way more than I could possibly answer.
Sometimes, I think we lose sight of the freedom God has given us. We tend to take each other for granted.
Don't forget that we live in the United States of America, where freedom reigns.
Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.
Thomas Jefferson


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There's a difference to being bisexual and taking what you can get.
I still think the 3rd one is pretty decent.
I also just realised how many sequels there are out there that take a serious character and turn them into a joke. Freddy is one example but there's also Rambo, seriously watch the first films ending and see how messed up he is in the head, then watch the sequels where he's pretty much a killing machine. Lethal Weapon 1 has Mel Gibsons character trying to kill himself, then there's little or no mention of this in the sequels as they become more buddy cop films.
I just watched the new Hobbit movie and I really liked it.
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.
I am pretty miserable at going down on a lady
I can't really work out in my head why it's not cool to bone your sister as long as you don't make babies
The more recent Tarantin0s?Though Deathproof nearly bored me to tears.
Quote from: VonKleist on 23 Dec 2012, 04:26The more recent Tarantin0s?Though Deathproof nearly bored me to tears.Deathproof was so bad compared to Planet Terror, I was happy when they decided to split them up for DVD release.
Are you guys kidding? Planet Terror was a piece of shit, it tried so hard to emulate old horror movies and got pretty much everything wrong. Death Proof on the other hand has the most entertaining car chases I've ever seen, and they take up a good third of the movie.
Life of Pi. Well worth seeing, though I have to say I didn't get the ending at all.
When people try to speak a gut reaction, they end up talking out their ass.
Quote from: idontunderstand on 28 Dec 2012, 14:43Life of Pi. Well worth seeing, though I have to say I didn't get the ending at all. (click to show/hide)Anti-nihilism or anti-atheism
Saw the Hobbit last night, and quite frankly, it's a piece of crap. Peter Jackson has really gone over the deep end with this one. It's far too long and stuffs in far too much crap that doesn't serve the story, just so Jackson can link it to the LOTR trilogy, instead of letting it stand on its own. This always should've been one family friendly movie and not so closely linked to the trilogy. Bilbo gets very little in the way of character development until his forced actions during the climax. The worst offenders are the cartoonish goblins and orcs that are renders in horrible CG instead of makeup, the goblin king comes off as horribly unbeleivable, while most of the action set pieces are set against fake backdrops. Hell, even the fire in the fireplace in Bilbos house was CG, it's just a horrid misuse of the technology that takes away from the grounded realism that the LOTR trilogy had with it's miniatures and make-up. Overall, it's a mess of a movie that doesn't have me excited at all for the next two films.
Why should the goblin king come off as a high society twit with a cruel streak?
Quote from: Carl-E on 30 Dec 2012, 07:52Why should the goblin king come off as a high society twit with a cruel streak? Because he's the Goblin King, not the Goblin Earl of Sandwich.I dunno, I haven't even seen it yet.
What kind of project is it?


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The film is a cute love story (as the title, translated as 'Tale of Love', suggests) of college students Raj and Nikita. In many ways, the formulaic approach to cinema in the early 1990s guides it. Yet, some good acting and excellent chemistry between Aamir Khan and Neelam make it a good film. Here are some highlights/notes:
1. The pehli mulaaqaat: The first time Raj and Nikita meet is well portrayed. The classroom scene, with Raj getting to class late, intent on being noticed by the 'fantabulous' (as described in the film) Nikita is nicely done. Ditto to a discussion on Physics and the speed of light leading to the noor (i.e. light) reflecting off Nikita's face!
2. The scene in which Saeed Jaffrey (Neelam's mama-ji) calls Raj a word smith. I particularly liked Raj's bold response to mama-ji's question on the lines of 'what do you see on this blank piece of paper?', to which Raj responded: 'the state of the heart that has no love in it'. Waah! All right, so I admit that my waah-waahs are easy to earn, but the delivery of the dialog must count for something, and that is top-notch in this sequence.
3. Aamir Khan and Neelam are fantastic. The movie offers a decent reflection of college life back in the early 1990s, and the two play the role of romantic partners rather well. This ends up being the most important factor in the film's favor. (I was missing Neelam after I watched the film, so I posted this entry.) Here, Neelam gives him a piece of her mind.
4. The film is accompanied by a good soundtrack. Tip Tip Baarish is the most popular of the lot (watch it below). The song appears after a nice scene in which there is a little party and a game of lighting candles with one match stick. Dil Mera Deewana Pyar Ka (watch it here)and Yaad Teri Aati Hai (part of this post) were popular love songs of their time, and are placed well. The film starts off with Aashiq Deewana hoon), in which Raj is seen singing the words 'Mein Aawara' to the tune of La Bamba. Just another instance of adaptation without due credit to the original (which in this case was also an adaptation). Of course, we still find, as we always have, a certain element of joy and value in singing around trees!
5. The formulaic approach is the biggest downside to the film. Then again, which film was immune to this back then? Afsana Pyar Ka could have done without one sentence in particular: Mein tumhare bina jee nahin sakta/sakti (I cannot live without you). The sentence is used often and loses its effectiveness. That and the fighting at the end. Anyone miss those mandatory fight sequences? Still, definitely more believable than the car chase in Race (2008).
6. The boxing match was good, except that it came about a year after the boxing match in Dil (1990), also starring Aamir!
7. Finally, a note on the good-turned-evil mama-ji. Saeed Jaffrey played that role quite well. Yet, because of his dislike for his niece's lover's 'blood' belonging to a certain family, he turns antagonistic, albeit for a third of the film.
I am boldly going with three and a half stars for Afsana Pyar Ka. 'Boldly' because it has been dismissed as 'horrible' by too many people over the years. Yet, by the only barometer that matters -- how one finds a film after watching it, as opposed to after hearing or reading about it -- I found the results to be quite the opposite. It is a love story at its core, and as that, it works.
The film is admittedly in the lower tier of Aamir Khan works, but good and entertaining nevertheless. Watch it for the laughs and the love story, for Aamir and Neelam, and chances are you will like it. Then again, maybe my being a die-hard Aamir Khan fan, and a mighty fan of the stunning Neelam, clouds my judgment. If you think that is the case, please feel free to disagree.
Movie rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
Soundtrack rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
My classification: U/G


text:
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822 / Horsham / England)
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Fragment Of A Sonnet : To Harriet
Ever as now with Love and Virtue's glow
May thy unwithering soul not cease to burn,
Still may thine heart with those pure thoughts o'erflow
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Dear Mom and Dad,
I'm not Catholic anymore. I feel like I owe you an explanation, and I hope that if you're somehow able to hear and react to me anymore, that you'll understand.
Catholicism was a huge part of who you were. You worked so hard and sacrificed so much to send me to Catholic schools. You were so proud of me when I made my First Communion, and my Confirmation. Dad, I remember you leading us in the Rosary when we went on long trips. I remember going to Church every Sunday morning, and singing the hymns. Dad, I remember your deep voice booming a vibration I could actually feel, standing next to you.
Church was at the center of everything. Dad, I remember you being part of the men's club of Ascension Parish – the Ascenders. And Mom, I remember you being president of the Mother's club of our school.
All our friends were Catholic. All of them.
I wanted to be like you. I still want to be like you.
Until recently, I belonged to a great Catholic Church in Kansas City. The people there are great – wonderful, generous, admirable people. I even like the Priest – a sincere, thoughtful young man whom you both would love. I used to love going to the Masses there – I would kneel and I would sing the hymns and recite the same prayers that I used to recite while kneeling next to you. It felt so deep and so connected. I knew it echoed back to you kneeling next to your parents, and their parents, on back. it reached back into history, and I could participate in the beautiful church at Meyer and Holmes and it might as well be a church in Krakow or Tipperary generations ago.
But, mom and dad, I just don't believe in the Church anymore. It doesn't make any sense to me, and I don't feel right anymore acting like it does. I can go through the motions and try to focus on just the stuff I like, but I feel like a hypocrite.
It's so comfortable to act like it does still make sense. I miss my friends on Sunday mornings. I want to participate in parish festivals and fish fries. I like the camaraderie and the community. Like I said, it's a great, great group of people.
But it's a community that is based on a belief, a creed, that I cannot say in good faith.
I got pretty darned close to the Church. I've known Bishops, and I've participated in many meetings with them. I have heard them talk about the importance of the priesthood, and I've heard them talk about the importance of protecting children.
And I've seen them assert their superiority. I heard my Bishop claim that those of us who supported President Obama's election should fear for our immortal souls. At the same time, he was willing to, at best, avoid investigating a pervert priest and allow him to have access to children. But he presumed to judge me.
Mom and Dad, the Church brought you so much richness and friendship. But, did you know that at the same time you were going to Mass every Sunday and tithing your salaries, the Church was actually castrating young men in the Netherlands who had homosexual leanings?
That's what was really going on. At the same time, the Church was covering up rape of children in our parishes? Remember Fr. Christian, who hosted movies in the darkened cafeteria of Ascension School? He was raping children. He used those same hands to give us communion, and the Church helped hide his crimes. He never touched me, but a friend of mine was raped by a priest a few parishes over. All that was going on, while we were kneeling in the pews.
That's all pretty obviously wrong, but the Church hurts others, in other ways. Someone we know and love was told that she could not get married in the Church because she was born with a birth defect that made her infertile. One of the most devout people I know was unable to get married in the Church because the man she married had been divorced, but they had not managed to get the prior marriage annulled in the Church. We didn't go to her wedding, and you carried the cruelty a bit further by not even telling me it had happened. To you, the marriage hadn't happened, because it wasn't held in the Church. That is messed up, but you were doing what the Church expected of you.
I'm sick of it, and I can't go along with it anymore. Fortunately, I was too weak of a Catholic to raise my children in the faith – I couldn't make them profess a faith I was struggling with.
The Church does not represent good to me anymore.
It stands against gay marriage – not just in the passive way that it stands against divorced marriage or infertile marriage, but it is actually trying to stand in the way of allowing gay men and women from having marriages in their own churches, according to their own consciences. The thing is, Jesus didn't preach against gays – in fact, he hung around 12 men and never saw fit to mention the topic. Hmmm. I honestly believe in my heart of hearts that the Church is clinging to a societal taboo that, someday, I hope, it will evolve to be deeply ashamed of, like the many other evils it has embraced.
Just like it is ashamed of its child rape now, but it just can't quite get around to taking really seriously.
Dad, I remember how, when you were dying, you were planning to have a painful, long-shot surgery to extend your life for a few months at best, because you felt that failing to do so would amount to suicide, and bar you from heaven. I'm thankful that you died suddenly before that happened, and before you endured one last dose of massive pain for your understanding of what the Church expected.
And, Mom, much more positively, I remember how much comfort your faith brought you in your final months. You were ready to go see Dad and begin your afterlife, and you had no doubt that was the way it would be. That's amazing faith, and I'm so glad you had it.
But I never really have. In my heart, I don't think that all that stuff about heaven really goes on that way. I don't necessarily believe that nothing happens; I just don't know. But after 50 years of being pushed to believe that I will be with the Father God Almighty, etc., etc., it just hasn't really grabbed me. And I wouldn't bet my spiritual wealth on dubious propositions like the bread and wine really being flesh and blood, or that God, if there is one, is damning all those other religions to Hell, or that Mary really was a virgin, or that God will cure someone or change the result of a football game if enough of us pray a certain way. After 50 years of trying to believe all that stuff, I just don't really believe it, and maybe it's time to stop trying.
As far as theology goes, maybe (maybe not) there is some kind of energy afoot in the world that is beyond human understanding, but I don't think that energy requires me to believe what a bunch of hypocritical, greedy old men want me to believe.
I know that I'm allowing my anger at the sons of bitches who control our Church to filter into my understanding of the whole shooting match. But, really, I look at how corrupt and just plain mean the Church itself is, despite the wonderful, kind, loving people who make up its congregations, convents and lower levels, and I don't think that Jesus meant all that when he allegedly told Peter that he was a rock to build a Church on. If Jesus really wanted Peter to construct a power-hungry, wildly wealthy, secretive, strictly male and absolutely hierarchical international organization, he could have said that, but he didn't.
Did you know that the Church is attacking nuns now, for spending too much time on social justice, and not enough time attacking people for abortion and homosexuality?
Mom, Dad – could you really support this? Too much time on social justice? Not enough focus on abortion and homosexuality? Would you really be a part of a group that thinks that way? It's like they truly have never read the Bible. I have, and I know that Jesus would be listed as an enemy of this Church, after he ignored those issues to focus on social justice.
It's crazy – absolutely insane, and I cannot take it anymore. I hope, if you were alive, you would join me in stepping aside from the writhing mess of hatred and hypocrisy that the Church has become. If you wouldn't, I would understand, I suppose, because Catholicism was bred into your bones as you bred it into mine. It's hard to step away from something that your parents, and their parents, and their parents believed so fervently, and that so many of your good friends continue to believe.
But I'm finished. I can't take it anymore. I am not a Catholic. I'm truly sorry.


text:
Global B2B Online Directory – Search for company information
The Kompass business directory gives you access to accurate and locally sourced information with a
The Kompass business directory gives you access to accurate and locally sourced information with a regularly updated customer database that contains 33 million companies.
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As strength training grows in popularity, the risk of injury increases. Here's how to make your members strong while keeping them safe.
The word is out: Weight training can increase metabolism, boost self-confidence, and help reverse the loss of muscle and bone density as we age. That's why more and more Americans have been heading for the weight room. In fact, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association reported an 89 percent increase in the number of people lifting free weights and a 50 percent increase in those using weight machines from 1987 to 1999.
Unfortunately, this increasing popularity in weight lifting also means an increase in the risk of injury. For example, weight-related injuries in men over 50 soared 331 percent from 1978 to 1998, while injuries among females over 50 jumped 212 percent, according to a study from the University of Arkansas. And that's counting only those problems that sent the exerciser to the emergency room; less serious sprains and strains would bump those numbers up even higher.
(Strength) Training
One thing that this study demonstrates is that strength training can be harmful - if done improperly. Your members require a thorough understanding of strength training before they even pick up a dumbbell.
When a member signs up at your facility, her orientation should be more than a stroll through the weight room on the way to the lockers. "I think orientations are the biggest smoke screen I've ever seen," says Rocco Castellano, owner of Rocco's Complete Fitness Systems in Covington, Ky. "The first time someone goes to a club, they're anxious. They're coming for help, but they're so nervous that they don't remember things. Psychologists say that you have to do something 25 times before you remember it - so [one orientation] isn't enough."
Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., research director of the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Mass., agrees that a single orientation is insufficient. At the South Shore YMCA, new members must sign up for a half-hour slide-show orientation, which is offered twice a day. In addition, the members must continue to schedule appointments with a trainer until both the members and the instructor feel that they're ready to use the equipment on their own.
One-on-one meetings aren't the only way to teach members about safe strength training. Printed materials can supplement a strength-training orientation - and keep members from relying on the muscle mags lying around in the weight room for proper lifting technique.
For example, the South Shore YMCA offers an orientation booklet plus a booklet on the club's training philosophy. Rocco's Complete Fitness Systems gives new members a 25-page manual that includes club policy and procedures, a map of the facility, an anatomy lesson on the different muscles and what they do, and common exercises to strengthen them.
Personal Attention
In addition to one-on-one meetings and booklets, a comprehensive orientation will include a session that addresses a club member's individual requirements. After all, an orientation that works for one member may not cover all the necessary ground for another member. Therefore, orientations personalized to the individual can go a long way toward reducing weight-training injuries.
"I've found that I can guesstimate how much strength a member is going to bring to the table," says Julia Wheatley, owner of the Women's Fitness Center in Harrisonburg, Va. Her instructors start out with a trial-and-error approach in the orientation, trying different ways of doing things until they hit on one that's right for the individual.
Speaking of training, members aren't the only ones who need education to avoid weight-lifting injuries. All of your trainers must receive consistent instruction so that when a member asks, say, how to train after a shoulder injury, she gets the same information from all of your staff.
"If a club has five or 10 employees saying five or 10 different things, people pick up on that," says Sal Arria, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of the International Sports Sciences Association. "You should teach employees together and give them access to scientific, credible information."
Too Much of a Good Thing
According to Dr. Arria, most weight-training injuries result from members doing "too much, too soon, too fast, and with poor technique." (Indeed, many of the injuries reported in the University of Arkansas study were attributed to weekend warriors who pushed themselves too hard.) Too much strength training too soon can lead to painful mistakes, while poor lifting technique, such as using momentum to move the weights, can put stress on the musculoskeletal system.
Unfortunately, it's tough for members to recognize when they're falling into the trap of training beyond their ability. Many of us were indoctrinated into the "no pain, no gain" camp when that mantra was popular, so we ignore pain when perhaps we shouldn't. That's why members must be able to answer the following: How much pain is acceptable? What kind of pain is acceptable? And how long is the pain acceptable? After all, there's a big difference between a brief soreness and a sharp joint pain during lifting.
"Ask the member where they feel the pain," suggests Dr. Westcott. "Quads is good; the knee is bad."
"We tell members how they should feel," adds Wheatley. "There should be tightness, but not too much. We also tell them that they need to stretch to reduce the amount of soreness they'll feel."
With more people weight training, why aren't more trainers on the floor giving advice to exercisers? After all, advice can mean the difference between proper training and injury.
"I've been to a lot of meetings at larger clubs," says Wheatley. "The biggest source of stress for me is seeing people doing things wrong and no one coming to correct them."
Talk Isn't Cheap
According to Dr. Arria, there are two reasons why trainers don't always correct improper form. First, like lawyers, trainers are paid for their advice. Going around giving out advice gratis could mean a loss of income for them (see sidebar, Free Advice vs. Personal Training). Second, there's the issue of liability.
"If you give free information without a good case history on a client, there can be problems," Dr. Arria says. "You may not know about underlying medical conditions."
According to Dr. Westcott, there's also an intimidation factor. "Most instructors are good at instruction, but are not confrontational," he says. "They're afraid that the person won't take [advice] constructively."
If trainers are reluctant to make suggestions to members, then clubs should encourage members to go to staff with questions. "We can't answer questions unless they ask," Castellano says.
On the other hand, members won't always ask, either. "I can observe someone and give advice," Castellano continues, "but consumers don't want to ask questions because they don't want to look stupid."
Comfortable Questions
Since members may be hesitant to ask questions, Dr. Arria suggests that clubs offer one free training session or offer discounts on multiple sessions for new members. This puts members in a position where they can make inquiries without being self-conscious.
Another idea is to give members tips that they can bring home with them, such as handouts describing a strength-training exercise of the week. This would decrease the number of weight-related injuries in the facility, and, as a bonus, result in referrals from satisfied members.
While new exercisers will generally welcome strength-training advice from your instructors, the power lifters grunting away in the weight room probably won't want unsolicited suggestions. However, just because they are experienced doesn't mean that they know what they are doing. Not only could their extreme training be putting themselves at risk, they could put others at risk if they decide to share their ill-conceived workout philosophies with your club's less experienced members.
Fortunately, serious lifters tend to take care of themselves and each other. It's rare that you'll see one without a spotter. But then there are the lifters who are all show. They're easy to pick out. They yell as they lift ("to look cool," according to Castellano), and they show up at the club decked out in "gym commando" gear (see sidebar, Spotting a Gym Commando). These lifters are poor role models for your members.
Member orientations and training can go a long way toward taking the power to influence away from these power lifters. Once new members understand the right way to do things, they'll know when they are getting wrong advice. Meanwhile, keeping an eye on the weight room can minimize the bad moves among power poseurs.
"If it's someone who is working really hard - if he's got a spotter and seems to have the right form and the proper speed - that's fine," says Castellano. "If they're throwing weights or bouncing stuff, they're not doing it right. People who are throwing weights around should be thrown out of the gym."
However, before you toss anyone, try a little education. Teach your members with strength-training sessions, handouts, posters, and even computer kiosks - and they'll get the gain without the pain.
That's Gotta Hurt
We asked club owners and trainers to share some low points that they witnessed in strength training. Some of the stories are humorous. Others, which involved serious injury, aren't. However, funny or not, these anecdotes all share something in common: They show the importance of teaching members how to strength train safely.
- All clubs ask that members put their weights away when finished. Unfortunately, some members ignore the policy. This isn't just inconsiderate to the next member; it's dangerous. Sal Arria, Ph.D., of the International Sports Sciences Association, can attest to that.
"I watched a gal unloading a machine some guy had left loaded," he says. "She dropped a 45-pound weight on her toe and powdered it."
- Poor form may not always hurt you, but it will always make you look stupid. "We used to have a couple of guys who would curl really fast with light weights," shares Rocco Castellano of Rocco's Complete Fitness Systems. "Then they'd go and flex in front of the mirror for 10 minutes."
When Castellano asked the light lifters what they were doing, they each replied, "I got to see how pumped I got."
"I tried to explain that you don't get big when you're pumping - you get big when you're resting," Castellano says.
- Creativity is nice, but not when members are using strength machines in ways in which they weren't intended. Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., of the South Shore YMCA, has seen his share of members abusing machines in the hopes of working different muscle groups.
"People use the foot lever on the pullover machine as a triceps exerciser," he explains. "And they sit sideways on the...abdominal machine to hit the obliques."
Dr. Westcott has even seen members turn around and squirm behind the pads of a pec dec, then push with the back of the elbows in an attempt to train the deltoids.
Here's a safer tip: Try some dumbbells, dumbbell.
- For some reason, the bench press seems to be a magnet for poor form. Dr. Arria has witnessed plenty of lifters bounce the bar on their chest during the press, drop plates on their toes, and miss the pins after a bench press. And don't forget about all the guys who insist on arching their backs, turning their spines into chiropractic gold.
One of the most foolish things Castellano ever saw was "a kid who weighed 150 pounds soaking wet bench-pressing 225 pounds." The kid did eight repetitions that consisted mainly of a friend lifting the weight off the rack and letting it fall onto his chest.
When asked what he was doing, the member said, "You've got to concentrate on the negative."
Not surprisingly, all of that concentration on the negatives had a negative effect. "The next day, the member came to the gym with bruises all over his chest," Castellano recalls.
Spotting a Gym Commando
Afraid that your club has been invaded by a gym commando, the kind of weight lifter who exercises dangerously and spreads poor techniques to other members? Club Industry is here to help. Use this handy checklist (created with the assistance of Rocco Castellano of Rocco's Complete Fitness Systems) to determine if there is a commando in your midst.
First, print out this section and carry it around the workout floor. When a statement applies to the member, check the box. Then tally your results.
- The member is wearing a bandana on his head with the word "Huge" written on it.
- The member is sporting the thickest weight belt possible - and the belt also has the word "Huge" written on it.
- The member managed to squeeze himself into a pair of skintight bike shorts, so nothing is left to the imagination (and we mean nothing).
- The member looks like he got into a fight with a box of chalk - and lost. (Says Castellano: "The `gym commandos' put [chalk] on their shoulders for squats, their thighs for deadlifts, and I think their face to dry up some pimples. I may be wrong in stating the latter.")
If you checked one box, then chances are the member isn't a gym commando. But he does have poor taste.
Two checks indicate a potential commando. Keep an eye on him. If he begins yelling while lifting, it's time to remind him of proper club etiquette.
Three checks: You have a commando wanna-be on your hands. However, it's not too late. Encourage him to work with a personal trainer, and make sure he isn't corrupting other members with his "expert" advice.
If you checked all four boxes, then, sadly, your facility has been invaded. You should probably encourage the member to join a competing club.
Free Advice vs. Personal Training
It's a paradox all clubs face: You want to give members advice so that they train safely, but you don't want to give away personal training for free. So how much help should you provide before you start charging?
Rocco Castellano of Rocco's Complete Fitness Systems usually lets members ask one or two questions before he suggests that they set up an appointment for personal training.
"If you're any kind of professional, you will encourage people to always ask questions," he says. "The more you educate someone, the more likely they will come to you when they need to be personally trained.
"If a question takes between five and 10 minutes to answer, and you have the time, answer it," he adds. "If it is more complicated or takes longer then 10 minutes and involves actual demonstration, you should advise the member that he/she should set up an appointment for a consultation to discuss their question further."
Sal Arria, Ph.D., of the International Sports Sciences Association notes that it's a "fine line between giving away info and providing a great service to all members."
"An easy way of stopping the `free advice' conversation is for the trainer to say, `There are many variables involved in answering that. Why don't you schedule a consultation with me tomorrow and let's make sure your program is up to date?'" Dr. Arria explains. "Or, `That will take some time to answer correctly, so set up an appointment tomorrow and I'll book an hour with you personally, and between now and then, make a list of the questions you'd like me to go over with you.'
"That type of service is what people expect," Dr. Arria continues, "and in most instances, they'll respect the fact that a complete, qualified answer will take time and will be more than happy to pay for professional advice."


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SynthProbe in Review – gravitational music creation
Following the creative success of GravSynth, Kayac have levelled up their iDevice skills with SynthProbe. Like its precursor, SynthProbe still amalgamates music and gravity, but SynthProbe adds many finger-friendly options that weren't previously available for synthesiser fans. The effect? A more complete, if meticulous experience.
SynthProbe and GravSynth offer similarly addictive software interaction. But SynthProbe's smaller touch pad allows the app more real-time tweaking space. In fact, users can simultaneously get on with tone maps, loops, gravitronic grooving, and gnarly presets.
Next to the touch pad is what I will dub, the 'loop box', a basic equalisation routine space which adheres to user-specified settings. This area is the meat and potatoes of SynthProbe. Here you create and master loop presets which depend on the following meticulously governed settings: tempo, oscillator, oso2fine, glide, filter, modulation, delay, volume env[elope], and filter env[elope].
Each preset is governed by up to 8 tones which are affected by effects in the settings menu. A little bit of tweaking can change sound quite a bit – a lot can do real damage!
SynthProbe is so completely 'you' that it treads perhaps too closely on established musical grounds. You can spend minutes or hours tweaking loops and tempos to create that synth which just 'does the job'; or, you can do the same thing and come out with spooky, scary, or freakin' awesome tunes. SynthProbe rewards experimentation so well that the iDevice might as well be knighted Sir Unexpected Musical Instrument.
But, setting parameters are only one portion of this app. Playback is SynthProbe's true joy. The touch, which you will nudge or hold, controls pitch and volume. Here, tunes are bent, volume pitched and yawed; here the whole show gets underway. It's pretty technical. To make the most of SynthProbe, you will need to be comfortable with a lot of disassociated touching: one finger will caress the touch pad, while another flicks through preset loops and the other tone maps on the bottom of the screen. To top it all off, gyrating your body (or arms) will also have quite an effect on your music.
Now to the growing pains: SynthProbe is a 1.99$ app which I think is worth far more than its asking price. Problem one: users may see a 1.99$ app and think they will just 'have at it', but SynthProbe takes time – a lot of time to master – which may be wasted on users who are looking for a quick whistle. While this isn't a fair strike against SynthProbe, the App Store is a brutal place where people complain because their screen is cracked; SynthProbe could catch a bad edge because of the shallowness of some of its user base.
The second problem is one of content. There is so much stuffed under the bonnet and so many opportunities to make amazing music, but no way to save it for later. Honestly, re-adjusting every time isn't a realistic option because it would take too much time and if you have gyrated for that extra effect of gravity, you'll have to video tape your movements in order to reproduce the effect. You cannot save or export which is a shame as this app deserves those two options which would put it over the top.
SynthProbe is one of those rare apps which stabs waaay higher than its asking price. It is deep, inventive, and 100% best on the multitouch iDevice. In fact, I will dub it an important reinvention of the iDevice as a musical 'instrument'. But without save or export, your tunes are either left to memory, ad-hoc videography, mind-enhancing… substances, that amazing piece you created earlier will be left waiting for your return, perhaps forever.
|App Summary
|KAYAC Inc.
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There are loads of good music apps out there. Below are a few:
- TapTunes in Review – Coverflow perfected
- DopplerPad in Review – iDevice music creation squared
- Rock Band in Review – Superb Rhythm
- Markus Schulz – American Trance lives on the iPhone
- Xewton Labs Music Studio in Review – GarageBand on your iDevice
- Come Ride on a boat with "I am T-Pain†App
- I am T-Pain in Review – Jumping on the Boat
- Welcome to the Social – Spotify Pre-empts iTunes


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Get 3.29% for 72 months on all Toyota Certified Used Models.
Manufacturer Offers
Applies to multiple models. See Trims
The standard features of the Toyota Yaris L include 1.5L I-4 106hp engine, 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive, 4-wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS), side seat mounted airbags, curtain 1st and 2nd row overhead airbags, driver knee airbag, airbag occupancy sensor, air conditioning, 15" steel wheels, ABS and driveline traction control, electronic stability, power windows.
Applies to multiple models. See Trims


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"Her" and "Captain Phillips" walked away with the top honors at the Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, Feb. 1.
Spike Jonze accepted the award for Best Original Screenplay for "Her" and beat out "American Hustle," "Blue Jasmine," "Dallas Buyers Club" and "Nebraska."
Billy Ray took home the top prize for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Captain Phillips." "August: Osage County," "Before Midnight," "Lone Survivor" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" were also nominated.
U.S. & World
The WGA's are a strong indicator of what might play out in the screenplay categories at the Oscars next month.
NEWS: Directors Guild Awards: Ben Affleck presents "Gravity's" Alfonso Cuaron with top honor
In the television categories, "Breaking Bad" won Best Drama Series, while "Veep" was named Best Comedy Series.
Check out the full list of all the winners!
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: "Her," Written by Spike Jonze; Warner Bros.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: "Captain Phillips," Screenplay by Billy Ray; Based on the book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea" by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty; Columbia Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY: "Stories We Tell," Written by Sarah Polley; Roadside Attractions
DRAMA SERIES: "Breaking Bad," Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett; AMC
COMEDY SERIES: "Veep," Written by Simon Blackwell, Roger Drew, Sean Gray, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Georgia Pritchett, David Quantick, Tony Roche, Will Smith; HBO
NEW SERIES: "House of Cards," Written by Kate Barnow, Rick Cleveland, Sam Forman, Gina Gionfriddo, Keith Huff, Sarah Treem, Beau Willimon; Netflix
EPISODIC DRAMA: "Confessions" ("Breaking Bad"), Written by Gennifer Hutchison; AMC
EPISODIC COMEDY: "Hogcock!" ("30 Rock"), Written by Jack Burditt & Robert Carlock; NBC
LONG FORM - ADAPTED: "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight," Written by Shawn Slovo, Based on the book by Howard Bingham and Max Wallace; HBO
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA - ORIGINAL: "Episode 4: The Collected Sylvia" ("Sylvia Plath: Girl Detective"), Written by Mike Simses; sylviaplathgirldetective.com
ANIMATION: "A Test Before Trying" ("The Simpsons"), Written by Joel H. Cohen; Fox
COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) - SERIES: "The Colbert Report," Writers: Stephen Colbert, Tom Purcell, Michael Brumm, Nate Charny, Rich Dahm, Paul Dinello, Eric Drysdale, Rob Dubbin, Glenn Eichler, Gabe Gronli, Dan Guterman, Barry Julien, Jay Katsir, Frank Lesser, Opus Moreschi, Bobby Mort, Meredith Scardino, Max Werner; Comedy Central
COMEDY / VARIETY - MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES - SPECIALS: "Blake Shelton's Not So Family Christmas," Head Writers: Jay Martel, Ian Roberts; Writers: Alex Rubens, Charlie Sanders; NBC
PHOTOS: Critics' Choice Awards winners
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: "Jeopardy!," Written by John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve D. Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC
DAYTIME DRAMA: "Days of Our Lives," Written by Lorraine Broderick, David Cherrill, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Christopher Dunn, Janet Iacobuzio, David A. Levinson, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Melissa Salmons, Christopher J. Whitesell; NBC
CHILDREN'S - EPISODIC &SPECIALS: "influANTces" ("A.N.T. Farm"), Written by Vincent Brown; Disney Channel
DOCUMENTARY - CURRENT EVENTS: "Egypt in Crisis" ("Frontline"), Written by Marcela Gaviria & Martin Smith; PBS
DOCUMENTARY - OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS: "The Choice 2012" ("Frontline"), Written by Michael Kirk; PBS and "Silicon Valley" (American Experience), Telescript by Randall MacLowry and Michelle Ferrari; Story by Randall MacLowry; PBS
NEWS - REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT: "Tragedy at Newtown" Special Edition ("ABC World News with Diane Sawyer"), Written by Lisa Ferri and Matt Negrin; ABC
NEWS - ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY: "Lethal Medicine" ("60 Minutes"), Written by Michael Rey, Oriana Zill de Granados, Michael Radutzky; CBS
DOCUMENTARY: "2012 Year in Review," Written by Gail Lee; CBS Radio News
NEWS - REGULARLY SCHEDULED OR BREAKING REPORT: "Afternoon Drive," Written by Bill Spadaro; CBS Radio/1010 WINS
NEWS - ANALYSIS, FEATURE OR COMMENTARY: "Remembering C. Everett Koop," Written by Scott Saloway; CBS Radio News
ON-AIR PROMOTION (TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA OR RADIO): "'The Crazy Ones' - Building a Better Comedy," Written by Erial Tompkins; CBS
TELEVISION GRAPHIC ART AND ANIMATION: CBS News Animations: "Brain Injury," "Pills," "Bionic Leg," "Midland Parade," "Concordia Salvage;" Animation by David Rosen; CBS News
(*Editor Note: There were no nominees in Long Form - Original, Short Form New Media - Adapted, or Children's - Long Form or Special awards categories this year.) ;
VIDEOGAME NOMINEES: "The Last of Us," Written by Neil Druckmann; Sony Computer Entertainment


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OCEAN CITY — After years of season closures and shrinking keeper size limits and creel limits, Maryland's summer flounder season opened last Thursday with some of the loosest regulations in recent memory.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reported the flounder season opened in state waters just after midnight on Thursday, March 28 and will remain open until just before midnight on Dec. 31.
For several years, the flounder season in and around the resort area was often closed at different points in the season in the interest of conservation based on what many call a flawed catch data collection system.
Perhaps more importantly, the minimum keeper size and creel limits for flounder are relaxed this season to levels not seen in recent years. After climbing to as high as 18 inches just two years ago, which made keepers few and far between, the minimum size limit for this year is set at 16 inches. Similarly, recreational anglers will be to keep up to four flounder this season, up from the three-fish maximum in recent years. With flounder such an important staple of the recreational fishery in Ocean City, local captains were generally pleased with the loosened regulations announced this week.
"It is nice to get a lower size limit and no closure for a change," said Chris Mizurak, captain of the popular Angler headboat this week. "We should have more keepers and that usually translates into happy customers."
However, Mizurak, like most area captains is a little wary of the rug being pulled out from under the recreational flounder fishery by the very catch estimates that allowed the loosened regulations.
"My only worry is the data that is being used," he said. "The numbers are so far off that it could easily go the other way, and we would be looking at a higher size limit or closure in the future."
Like Mizurak, Captain Monty Hawkins of the Morning Star welcomed the relaxed regulations for flounder, but warned about the wide disparity in the catch estimates in one of the mid-Atlantic's toughest states for fishing regulations.
"In my estimation, Maryland has been the second most restrictive state when it comes to flounder regulations," he said. "There's really no biological reason to have different size limits from lower New Jersey to Cape Hatteras because the marine and estuarine systems are fairly homogenous. We should all have same seasons and limits. However, because of the vagaries in recreational catch estimates have widely divergent regulations."
Hawkins pointed out the disparity in the catch reports. For example, last year the official estimate for Maryland private and rental boats was zero in May and June when the season was open and the weather was fine. On the opposite end of the spectrum, in one memorable example dating back to September and October of 2007, the shore-only estimate for flounder in Maryland came in at over 39,000, which is far more flounder than all private and charter boats could catch in 15 years. State and federal fisheries management officials often rely on called-in catch reports and anecdotal evidence collected from the docks and extrapolate the small data sample over the entire area. The wildly varying catch estimates could put the season dates and the minimum size and creel limits in jeopardy in the future.
"Because of this May-June estimate, the DNR was able to loosen flounder regulations and bring our season and size limits more in line with Virginia," he said. "Unfortunately, whether this works in Ocean City's favor long-term will not become apparent until new catch estimates occur throughout the season. It's terrible to say, but I really don't think what we actually catch has much influence on the data. Any emergency closure or further loosening in the future is a result of random estimates."


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South Korea opened a new era today of trade with the United States – and protest by liberals and leftists – with approval of a controversial Korea-US Free Trade Agreement by a bitterly divided National Assembly.
The deep disagreements between ruling conservatives and firebrand foes of the government were evident in the contrasting responses of South Korea' s President Lee Myung-bak and the leader of the main opposition party after the conservatives suddenly forced approval of the deal in Tuesday's surprise vote.
President Lee hailed the agreement as a chance for "moving one step ahead" of competitors. "If we seize this opportunity and unite our strength," he said, South Korea can "make a leap" over other countries despite the global economic crisis.
Opposition political leaders, looking ahead to National Assembly elections in April and the election of a new president in December 2012, vowed to fight to kill the agreement, which takes effect on Jan. 1. The conservative Grand National Party, which has 169 of the assembly's 299 seats, called a snap vote on the FTA after its foes had blocked the vote and rejected President Lee's personal appeal in a meeting at the assembly.
The showdown in the assembly dramatized deep fissures in South Korean society in an atmosphere in which the wealthy chaebol, or conglomerates, that control the economy have been steadily growing, while millions of people complain of worsening economic realities, including rising unemployment among young people.
The vote also had implications for the US-Korean military alliance since Lee and President Obama had appeared to get along extremely well in Lee's carefully orchestrated visit to the US last month. Just before he got to Washington the agreement won easy approval in Congress, overcoming earlier misgivings about the potential impact of widening US markets to more South Korean motor vehicles and other products.
Rising threat from US farm imports?
Foes of the agreement in South Korea focused their campaign against it on a provision for sending investor-state disputes to an international arbitration body that they claim favors the United States. South Korean farmers also are incensed by what they see as a rising threat from US farm imports even though the deal does not cover the import of rice, the central staple of the South Korean diet, sold at artificially high prices.
There appeared to be little doubt the newly-approved Korean-US FTA would remain at the core of opposition protests against the government, along with complaints about the US-Korea alliance under which 28,500 US troops remain in the country.
"Until the real – and the perceived – disadvantaged workers and small business owners are convinced that free trade will serve them best in the long term," says economic consultant Tom Coyner in Seoul, "we may anticipate populist opposition."
Tear gas and scuffles in parliament
The bitterness surfaced in a ruckus broadcast by South Korean TV networks. As the assembly was convening without prior notice, one opposition member set off a tear-gas grenade and staff members battled security guards to get into the assembly and physically prevent the vote.
Sohn Hak-kyu, leader of the Democratic Party which has 87 assembly seats, denounced the vote as "a coup by the government." He apologized for failing to block the vote and declared the opening of a campaign to invalidate it. At the same time, his party and minor leftist parties vowed to boycott all assembly sessions.
The agreement appears certain, however, to bring about a huge increase in bilateral trade, which came to $88 billion last year with a balance of $10 billion in Korea's favor.
"Ultimate implementation of the KORUS FTA is certain to be an overall economic and social good for both the US and South Korea," says Mr. Coyner, reflecting the widely held view of the American Chamber of Commerce and South Korean business groups. "Opening up protected markets is an ultimate necessity."
The agreement was approved the day before the first anniversary of the North Korean attack on Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea that killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.
Lee on Wednesday reiterated calls for North Korea to apologize for the attack, which the North said was precipitated by South Korean marines on the island firing cannon. South Korean forces staged an exercise in the area, firing weapons as helicopters flew over waters around the island, just a few miles from North Korea's southwestern coast.


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Unless you have a booking agent, it is very difficult to book venues for a tour. If you are a new band it can be intimidating to play your first show. So the house party was formed. House parties are not just jam sessions, although jam sessions could occur because of a house party. House parties are low key shows that one or more bands can play at. Usually the owner of the house hosting the party invites their friends and people who may know the people in the band.
For a new band this allows you to play your first show for a very supportive crowd. If the show goes terribly you are in front of your friends who will forgive you and not judge, at least I would hope not. It is a less stressful environment to test the waters and to learn from mistakes such as the video below from a 2011 house party.
For touring bands, without a booking agent, sometimes it is just near impossible to get decent venues to book an out of town band. If you are lucky you will break even and be able to cover gas money from one city to the next. These house parties usually offer support for those touring bands and if you are lucky people might like your music and buy some 'merch' or even better donate money to your cause.
For the guests attending these can be really fun parties. You get to socialize with friends and usually drinking is involved. If you are lucky you'll get to enjoy some great entertainment as well, so next time you are invited to a house party I highly encourage you to go. Go in without any preconceived notions, and you may just have a blast.
Photos and Video: courtesy of Anna Blanton


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Come Friday, your morning commute could get a little longer.
About 85,000 yellow-sticker-wearing hybrid vehicles will be forced out of the carpool lanes and into regular traffic as the state's yellow-sticker program comes to an end July 1.
The program, which was initially launched to encourage Californians to purchase hybrid vehicles, allowed hybrid-owners to drive in carpool lanes even if they were the only ones in the car.
The program has already been extended twice and State Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Los Angeles, who authored the initial bill, told the San Francisco Examiner that it's about time for it to expire.
When the program was launched, hybrids were still a foreign concept in the state. Now California is trying to push drivers into electric and CNG vehicles.
To encourage that, the state runs a white-sticker incentive program that allows CNG and electric car drivers to operate in carpool lanes even with only one driver.
Yellow-Sticker Hybrid Program Ends Friday
Come Friday, your morning commute could get a little longer.


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BTEC BTV503 Wall Bracket with Arm
Prices incl. VAT - We are UK based but DON'T normally deliver beyond 40 miles from STOKE-ON-TRENT, if you aren't local to us please click here for details of our service area
THIS ITEM IS IN STOCK @ HYLANDS check where if you wanted to view one. However if you are already happy with your choice you can order now for collection or fast free delivery with an AM/PM time slot Subject to availability within our service area for orders over £199 Once you have placed your order we will call you to arrange a mutually convenient time or advise where our stock is held if you wanted to collect Please see our page footer for more details of our delivery area & installation options if you haven't dealt with us before
- upto 200x200 vesa
- 33" to 40"
- Swing and 15 degrees +/- tilt
- Order number: BTEC-BTV503


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[San Pablo, California; November 5. Image via Getty]
SAN PABLO, CA - NOVEMBER 05: Three year-old Hannah Rood receives an H1N1 vaccination during a drive thru H1N1 vaccination clinic at Doctor's Medical Center November 5, 2009 in San Pablo, California. Hundreds of people lined up for hours to receive a free H1N1 vaccine as California public health officials say that shortages of the H1N1 vaccinations may make it imopssible to vaccinate all of the people at risk of contracting the H1N1 flu. County health agencies across California have received less than 45% of the vaccines ordered. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)


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I've been working with the Morse simulator for the last few weeks. It has been really impressive so far but is missing a few key features I need. Wheel slip is a major source of navigation error in GPS denied environments. This is particularly true for tracked vehicles like the Matilda that I am using for my current research. Wheel slip is difficult to simulate as it depends on complex models needing parameters such as vehicle weight, tire friction characteristics, ground characteristics, etc… My original reasoning for using Morse over my current Matlab simulations was to be able to generate test data with more accurate wheel slip and side slip.
Vehicle Modeling Methods
From the research I've done the last few days it seems that there are three main methods for simulating a vehicle in Blender.
- Treat the vehicle as a box and move it by controlling its angular and linear velocities in Blender.
- Use the 'Raycast Vehicle Constraint' methods built into the Bullet physics engine.
- Model the chassis, wheels, and suspension components separately and connect them using physic constraints.
Only the third method seems to allow wheel slip to be simulated so I started with it. Since I don't have a good 3D model of the Matilda (anyone other there want to send me one?), I started testing by adding a model for a Segway RMP400, which we also have in the lab. The mesh used is courtesy of Evan Jensen at Texas State University and is a lower polygon count version than the model available directly from Segway.
Physics Based Vehicle Modelling
Following the examples found at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/bueraki/ and http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?93004-4×4-vehicle-game-in-progress., the wheels are modeled as separate rigid bodies and are connected to the chassis using a 6DOF rigid body constraint. The examples given also model suspension components, but currently I am just attaching the wheels rigidly to the body since there is no suspension on the Segway. The Segway model with both the local wheel (left) and chassis (right) coordinate frames is shown in the image below:
Note that contrary to SAE standards, the y-axis points out the front of the vehicle. The reason for this will be explained more below. The python code for the physics constraints is given below:
joint = PhysicsConstraints.createConstraint( chassis.getPhysicsId(), wheel.getPhysicsId(), # get physics ID of the wheel object 12, # 6dof constraint wheelPos[0], wheelPos[1], wheelPos[2], # pivot position 0,0,0, # pivot axis 128) # flag, 128=disable collision between wheel and parent # no parameters are set on x axis to allow full rotation about it joint.setParam(4,0.0,0.0) # no rotation about Y axis - min=0, max=0 joint.setParam(5,0.0,0.0) # no rotation about Z axis - min=0, max=0
The first line of code joins the given wheel object to the chassis object at the location given by wheelPos. It is still free to rotate about every axis, however. The following two lines constrain the rotation about the y and z axes to be between 0 radians and 0 radians, essentially locking rotation about that axis. No limits are set on the x-axis as this is the axis the wheel will rotate about. The syntax is explained further here: http://www.tutorialsforblender3d.com/GameModule/ClassKX_PyConstraintBinding_1f.html
Another setParam call can be made on the joint to rotate the wheel about the x-axis as shown below:
The first parameter specifies the axis (x=9,y=10,z=11). The second parameter is the desired angular velocity in rad/s and the third is the maximum force that can be applied to reach that angular velocity.
Current Results
A video of the finished model integrated into Morse is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGx5SzQ3YWQ
The vehicle seems to work fairly well, but definitely still have a few problems. One is that the rigid body constraints don't seem to always hold. The wheels tilt slightly left and right when turning. This can be seen most clearly when zig-zagging beginning at around 30 seconds in. A similar behavior was reported in a post at: http://bulletphysics.org/Bullet/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7074 The wheels also seem to twitch randomly causing the vehicle to have a "bumpy" ride and causing odd values in the wheel rotation data.
The model does seem to give fairly realistic wheel slip values, although the slip appears to be larger than I would expect. Changing the wheel and floor material friction values also has very little effect on the amount of slip. An example plot is shown below. The blue line is the percent wheel slip of the front right wheel with the floor friction set to 1.0 and the wheel friction set to 0.2. The red plot has the wheel friction increased to 200. The shapes of the plots are different since they were taken on two different runs, but the magnitudes are similar.
Coordinate System Issues
As mentioned earlier, the local y-axis currently points out the front of the vehicle. It would be preferable for the x-axis to point out the front as per SAE standards. Rotating the chassis frame seems to cause problems with the 6DOF constraint, however. Setting the chassis local x-axis to point out the front of the vehicle with the y-axis out the driver's side and continuing to rotate the wheels about the x-axis results in the behavior seen in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T18RcxFqDRM
The obvious way to fix this would seem to be to change the constraints to rotate about the y-axis since it is now the vehicle axis that points toward the wheels, but for some reason this does not work and produces the erratic behavior seen in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hunO-SiRoP8&feature=related
Things to Try
I'm currently working on trying to get rid of the wheel twitching seen in the first video and generate more realistic slip values. Things I'm considering trying include:
- Changing the wheel models to something more complicated than a cylinder (i.e. give some bevel to the sides of the wheels to allows them to move laterally better)
- Adding anisotropic firction
- Moving to the bge namespace constraints used in Blender 2.5 rather than the ones from the PhysicsConstraints namespace that were shown in the Blender 2.4 tutorial.


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Heartbleed: Making The Case For SDN
Vulnerabilities of Heartbleed's magnitude are rare. The security bug has its own website and logo. It's being discussed not only in security circles but across IT and beyond. Businesses are concerned. End users are concerned. Everyone is potentially impacted by this one, making it the most significant vulnerability in years.
Eventually the chaos will subside and folks will start looking at how such vulnerabilities can be better mitigated in the future. At this point patches are rapidly becoming available and organizations will certainly apply those fixes as quickly as possible. But in the meantime, they -- and anyone interacting with them -- remain open to exploitation.
This leads to a serious question: how can organizations stop a heartbleed so they can get to the operating room to fix it permanently?


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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nearly two weeks after Channel 4's Jim Piggott documented a damaged bridge in Dinsmore and asked the city about what it was doing about it, nothing had been done.
But after Piggott's report Tuesday, the city said it would take action.
Two weeks ago, the city said it was very concerned and would put up barricades by the end of the month to mark the dangers. As of Tuesday, no barricades were there.
"They don't do anything out in this area. They don't do anything," resident Kenneth Roth said of the city.
Roth has been complaining about the bridge for two years. He sent pictures to the mayor showing how it was falling apart. He's looking for help, and he and his wife want the city to do what's right.
"I was hoping they would, but so far nobody has been out to do anything," Roth said. "I have only seen one gentleman. He was standing there talking to somebody. That's it."
A city spokeswoman who said two weeks ago that Public Works was aware of the bridge rail condition and that workers would get right on it was surprised to hear nothing has happened. It's no surprise to the Roths, who say it's dangerous.
"I have a grandson that every afternoon has to walk over that bridge to get home," Lois Roth said.
The Roths just want something done and promises kept.
"I want to see that bridge repaired, replaced like it is suppose to be," Kenneth Roth said.
The city said late Tuesday afternoon that the barricades would be placed either Tuesday night or first thing Wednesday morning. Officials said the plan to repair the rail is moving forward.


text: Windows 8 productivity: Who moved my cheese? Oh, there it is. August 25, '12 Comments [169] Posted in Win8 Sponsored By Disclaimer: I don't work for the Windows Team. I installed Windows 8 on my home desktop (this giant multi-monitor epic beast) with my personal MSDN account and wrote this on my own time. This blog is mine and the opinions inside are also mine. I also installed it on my MacBook Pro. I finally pulled the trigger and upgraded a few machines to Windows 8. I have three main machines, my formerly "Ultimate Developer PC 2.0" whose video card gets slower by the year, my almost-retina-but-just-two-months-late Mac Book Pro, and my Lenovo W520. I am a web guy SO much more than a desktop guy so if you look in my Taskbar on any of my machines you'll see mostly web browsers, text editors and shells. I live off my taskbar and I'm ALL about HotKeys. If I can avoid touching my mouse at all I will. I spoke to Brad Wilson on this week's podcast about his experience with Windows 8 as well. Who moved my cheese? People don't like it when you move their cheese. They are just trying to get through the maze, they have it all under control and then, poof, someone moved their cheese. Now it's a huge hassle to find it again. Change a hotkey or the case of the menus and all heck breaks loose. The installation process was straightforward and everything still worked when it was done, so that was a relief. I upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 8 Pro. There's fewer SKUs in Windows 8 now, basically just Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro (for super users) and Windows RT (for Tablets). However, once it's installed, it's initially confusing but I have been using it every day all day since it was released and have got myself productive again. Here's what I ran into and how I realized that there's less reason to freak out than I originally thought. The Windows 8 Login/Lock Screen There's a bunch of folks who have said that you have to "swipe up" or "slide away" from the Login or Lock screen to log in. Some websites have even suggested you disable the lock screen. That is stupid and wrong *cough* NBCNews *cough* and you shouldn't turn off the lock screen. Just press any key. Or just start typing. Or click the mouse. Or ANYTHING. You don't have to "swipe up" to log in just click or press anything. Shut down or Sleep a Windows 8 Machine It's initially confusing as to how you shut down your machine. For laptops - at least my Lenovo and MacBook - you really never need to shut it down. I just close the lid. If I really want to force a shut down, log out, or force sleep I just press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and press the Power button in the lower right corner. To lock the machine, just Windows Key+L. You can also hit Win+I and press power. There's actually several ways to shut it down. You can even ALT-F4 from the Desktop if you like. Here's another crazy idea for shutting down your PC or Laptop - Press the Power Button. Run Power User or Administrative Tools - WinKey+X is EVERYTHING For the first week the most frustrating thing about Windows 8 was getting to anything that was power-user-like. I was literally pissed at my computer because I was so used to clicking the Start Menu, then right clicking on My Computer in order to do things like Device Manager, etc. For things like the Event Viewer or Admin Command Prompts I was pressing Start, then typing "Event" and hitting enter. It was fine but it wasn't as fast as it should be. Then I discovered the Number 1 most powerful Windows 8 shortcut for the Power User. It's Windows Key+X. This hotkey used to be the "Mobility Center" and was really only ever used when I wanted to put my machine into Presentation Mode. Now it's a Power User's dream. Note that everything is pre-underlined. Want an Admin Command prompt? Win+X, A. Event Viewer? Win+X, V. You get the idea. You can also get to the Win+X menu by moving the mouse to the lower left-corner and right-clicking! Windows Key Hotkeys are your life All the usual stuff works and you should know this already. If you don't, picking up a few of these will save you seconds many times a day and that adds up. Force yourself not to use the mouse. Win+E - Explorer Win+R - Run Win+Break - System Info Win+D - Desktop (I use this constantly if I get trapped outside the Desktop world) Win+Plus or Win+Minus (no shift) - Magnifier/Zoom In and Out Win+F - Find Files Win+Print Screen – Put a PNG in the Pictures folder Alt-Tab - Switch between Apps Win-Tab - Switch between Full Screen Apps Explorer Win-Keys for pinned apps I'm consistently shocked at how many Windows "experts" don't use the Windows Key + "a number" hotkeys. Just press Windows+1 to launch the first thing in your taskbar, all the way up to Windows+0 for the 10th item. There are a few new ones as well worth learning... New Windows 8 "Win-Key" Hotkeys to move faster You've likely already figured out that to launch something from the keyboard you press Windows, type part of the name of the app, then press Enter. If you press Ctrl-Shift-Enter it will run that same app as Admin. Turns out that the keyboard works for most everything, even menus you wouldn't suspect it does. When you get a menu up you can always use the keyboard or hotkeys to move around it. If you learn just three hotkeys, learn: Win+W - Search Control Panel and Settings stuff Win+F - Search Files Esc - Yes, escape. No joke. If you hit the Windows Key, you can hit Escape to go back. Once you have those, add these: Win+C - Charms (right side menu) then arrows to move and enter to launch. Win+K - Devices Win+I - Settings in any app plus brightness, network and other useful system features Win+Arrows - Snap desktop apps to the sides Win+(period) - Alternate sides to "snap" Metro Apps. Add shift to reverse it. Win-X - Admin Stuff. I'm mentioning it twice because it's THAT useful. Win+PageUp or Win+PageDn - Move full screen apps to other monitors. Super useful for News apps and Readers. The Start Screen can be moved as well. Better File Operation (File Copy/Move) Dialogs The file copy dialogs are reason enough to upgrade. No joke, especially when you expand them for details. You get sparklines, throughput, time remaining that makes sense, as well as stop and pause. Awesome Task Manager The Task Manager is epic. I keep it open a LOT. Back in the day I used to have a monitor dedicated to it. The whole point of the Task Manager is to answer those "what the hell is going on" questions. In Windows 7 and before all you could basically do was sort by CPU descending and complain. Now I can see the difference between Apps, Background Stuff, Services, etc. Right now, for example, the disk is doing something. Here's the Task Man... I'll sort by Disk, and I see it's Indexing a bunch of new files I copied. I can see what apps are slowing down my startup, and disable them: I can finally see services and stop them: Install Hyper-V For the developer or power user this one feature is reason enough to upgrade to Windows 8. For the longest time I had a laptop that ran only Windows Server 2008 because I wanted to have a really good Virtual Machine solution with a HyperVisor. On my desktop I used Virtual Box. Now Windows 8 Pro (a client OS!) has Hyper-V which is huge. Press WinKey+W, type "Add Feature" and select Hyper-V. If you want, you can check your Windows 7 machine now and see if your system is 64-bit and supports SLAT and the newer CPU features you'll need. Download CoreInfo and from an Admin Command Prompt run "coreinfo -v." You want to see a star where it says "Supports SLAT." Either way, you'll know as Hyper-V won't let you install if you don't meet the requirements. C:\WINDOWS\system32>coreinfo -vCoreinfo v3.05 - Dump information on system CPU and memory topologyCopyright (C) 2008-2012 Mark RussinovichSysinternals - www.sysinternals.comIntel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU X 980 @ 3.33GHzIntel64 Family 6 Model 44 Stepping 2, GenuineIntelHYPERVISOR - Hypervisor is presentVMX * Supports Intel hardware-assisted virtualizationEPT * Supports Intel extended page tables (SLAT) Having a great Virtual Machine solution on the client has been great for me as I do a lot of screencasts and install a lot of beta stuff. I've got Ubuntu (which installs and works immediately because of the Hyper-V drivers are in Linux out of the box) running along side a few Windows 7 VMs, a Windows Server 2008 and a Windows XP VM. Other nice features have been the ability to mount a VHD or ISO out of the box. Show More Tiles I have a 30" monitor in the middle of two 24" monitors. When I first looked at the Windows 8 Start Screen I thought "this is not using all my pixels." Then I found out that you can tell the Start Screen to use show more Tiles on high resolution (large) monitors. Press Win+I (or go to Settings) and click Tiles: Now I got those pixels working for me and the Start Menu felt nicer on a giant monitor. Also, take a moment and "Ctrl+Scroll" (zoom out) from the Start Screen. From here you can right click on groups of icons and name them. I've cropped and zoomed in here...I can basically have sections, zoom out to see headings then click to zoom in. I can also drag these groups around which makes large moves easier. Multi-Monitor Taskbars I've been a multi-monitor guy for years and blogged about taskbar utilities that deal with Windows 7's lack of a good multiple monitor solution. Sadly for Ultramon, I haven't needed his excellent utility as it's handled the way I like it in Windows 8. See there where it says "Close all windows on this display?" Windows 8 it full of little improvements like that to irritations from previous OS versions. The Explorer Ribbon On my large monitor, I like the Ribbon. Best part is - again, I'm a keyboard person - if I hit Alt, it lights up with the letters I need for hotkeys. Here's before... And after... Don't like it? Hide it and move on. Look mom, no gnashing of teeth. Conclusion Maybe I'm too relaxed but after a few days and some hotkeys I've found Windows 8 to be Windows 7+1. Works fine, no crashes, lots of improvements. I spend most of my desktop time in Windows apps, all of which work. I keep News apps or Video apps in full screen on other monitors and I do move the Start Screen around but generally the whole thing has been a non-issue. Sponsored Ad: DevExpress Webinar: ROI for 3rd party tools. Is it more cost effective to build or purchase developer tools? In this webinar Jeffrey Hammond, Forrester Research, will walk you through an ROI calculation model and help you consider how you might evaluate your future tools investments. Register Today! About Scott Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author. About Newsletter Sponsored By Hosting By Comments [169] Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or use the Permalink


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2012 Camaro ZL1
The Internet was teeming with Camaro rumors for months leading up to the Detroit Auto show this January, speculating on what Chevrolet would load up in the next salvo of the current Pony car war. Something special was coming, that much was sure, and Z/28 was the most frequent and persistent rumor, but, like with the Corvette Z06, Chevrolet went way back into the archives and dusted off an appropriate model designation. While the Z/28 was a high-revving, small-displacement road racer, the ZL1 was a big-block beast of a drag racer. With an all-aluminum 427, the '69 ZL1 was rare, expensive, and brutal. The 2011 model will definitely be more common, and its supercharged 6.2L should prove to be big-block-quick at the strip, but we can't tell you specifics just yet. Chevrolet hasn't released the price or the official dyno numbers, but with the same LSA as the 556hp CTS-V, it's not going to be a slouch.
GM Performance Department has this preproduction ZL1 on display near the Power Tour main stage and it's drawing quite a crowd. If you plan on joining us on this year's Power Tour you can see it at all of the stops along with a whole batch of GM's hottest cars.