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What is the best smartphone-tablet combo?
As we have mentioned in our past article, smartphones are getting bigger and tablets are getting smaller. While these gadgets try to meet half-way to become the ideal device, there's still a good gap between them that convinces us to purchase them both. If that's the case, what do you think is the best smartphone-tablet combo?
Another thing I would also like to consider is what OS is ideal for a smartphone-tablet combination. Is it Android for a smartphone and iOS for a tablet, or is it the other way around? To help start the discussion, I asked my fellow writers about what they think is the best combination based on their own experience.
Let's start with Ron:
If I were to choose a smartphone and tablet combo, I'd go for the Nokia 808 and ASUS TF300T/TF700T. I still don't have either of the tablet (I'm still saving up for that), but I already have the Nokia PureView 808. The reason why I picked this combo is because I have the best camera on my phone and I have a good mileage with my tablet (10hrs tablet + 16hrs with keyboard dock)
I think this setup will fit my needs especially when I'm out in the field because I can do my articles easier since the ASUS TF300T comes with a keyboard dock and my Nokia 808 can take very detailed pictures/video. But if you have extra money to spend, I suggest to go for the TF700T which has a better display and slightly faster processor.
To be honest, the question was pretty tough to answer because my needs may most likely be different from yours. In my opinion, knowing what you need out of your smartphone/tablet would help you determine the best possible
slate and handset combination.
For Bob:
If only I had so much cash to pick out two devices for a combo, I'd pick a Google Nexus 10 and a Nokia Lumia 920. I am making this decision based on what online reviewers said for the meantime as I haven't got my hands on any of them yet. My reason is almost the same with Ron as I'd like my phone to carry a very capable camera.
The Nexus 10 would be my choice because I use my tablet all for my multimedia needs. A 2560 x 1600 display is more than enough along with a powerful processor. Whatever my phone cannot do with its ecosystem, the tablet can make up for. While its true that Windows Phone 8 won't go well with an Android tablet, the cloud exists.
Another option I am currently thinking about is a Nexus 4 and a capable Windows 8 tablet. It depends actually. I didn't invest much in iOS' ecosystem as I'd prefer a more open OS, and I have yet to try new versions of Windows and Android. Mostly, it's all about your needs and your personality.
As for my own experience, I currently use an iPhone 4S and a Kindle Fire running a custom Jellybean ROM. Aside from texting and calling, I use the iPhone primarily for taking photos, surfing the web, music and gaming, but due to its poor battery life, I've decided to delegate some of the tasks to the Kindle Fire such as Gmail, web browsing, eBook reading and some gaming – tasks that are better done on a tablet. To transfer photos and files across devices I just use apps like DropBox or Box. Aside from that, the iPhone's iOS gives me access to tons of apps in the App Store while the Android tablet provides me with an optimized Google experience and the versatility of an open OS. Ideally, I'd go for an iPhone 5 and a WiFi-only Nexus 7 but if I'm going to reverse platforms I'd go for a HTC One X+ and an iPad Mini.
So how about you? What do you think is the best smartphone-tablet combo? Should it be of the same platform or different? Discuss it with us by hitting the comments below.


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At Gemvara, we believe that the ring you wear should be as unique as you. That's why we make all our Men's Yellow Gold Ruby Rings to order, one at a time, in your choice of gems and precious metals. Make a bold statement or say something subtle. You can also add your own personal meaning to any of our Men's Yellow Gold Ruby Rings, creating a beautiful memory and brilliant reminder. We use only the highest quality materials to craft our Men's Yellow Gold Ruby Rings with meticulous attention to detail. Our precious metals are recycled or responsibly mined. We hand-select each conflict-free gem in to perfectly complement your selection from our Men's Yellow Gold Ruby Rings. Ruby is said to ignite desire. It's bold red hue is the essence of passion.Yellow gold glows with a rich buttery golden color. Gemvara offers a choice of 14k yellow gold, the most popular gold alloy, or 18k yellow gold, a premium gold with a deeper color and higher gold content.The profile, textures, and details of our Men's Yellow Gold Ruby Rings add individuality and style to everything you wear. When our work is done and you open that box, you'll see your design from our Men's Yellow Gold Ruby Rings is even more striking when brought to life in the finest precious materials.
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1. Lumpen 1995 Sex Issue Release Party at Co-Prosperity Sphere
An evening of sexy-ness inspired by the 1995 Sex Issue! Music by Ornery Little Darlings, HotChaCha, The Loneliest Monk, Grace Kulp, and DJ BSide.
Co-Prosperity Sphere is located at 3219 S. Morgan St. Party is Friday from 7pm-midnight.
2. The Warmth I Feel Is So Cold at Murdertown
Work by Lindsey Hook, Jessica Minckley and Amber Renaye. Opening lecture with Jessica Minckley.
Murdertown is located at 2351 N Milwaukee Ave, #2. Reception is Friday from 6-9pm.
3. Every Thing That Rises Must Converge at Rainbo Club
Images from New Orleans by Marzena Abrahamik, Andrea Bauer, Maral Hashemi, and Evan Jenkins.
Rainbo Club is located at 1150 N. Damen Ave. Reception is Friday from 6-10pm.
4. Breaking Up With Chicago at Swimming Pool Project Space
A curated selection of "Liz by Lina" for sale at the last hurrah for The Pool.
Swimming Pool Project Space is located at 2858 W. Montrose. Show and sale on Saturday from 2-8pm.
5. A Coupling at HungryMan Gallery
Work by couples: Frank Piatek and Judith Geichman, Dana Degiulio and Molly Zuckerman-Hartung, Samantha Bittman and Mike Nudelman, and Amber Thomas and Josh Reames.
HungryMan Gallery is located at 2135 N Rockwell St. Reception is Saturday from 6-11pm.
Latest posts by stephanieburke (see all)
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- Top 5 Weekend Picks! (8/21-8/23) - August 20, 2015


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It's a lazy long weekend here. I hope you are enjoying your Monday.
Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Susan Chase who has submitted excerpts from her theatre movement piece called Susan's Undoing.
In her own words:
Susan Chase is a unique artist; a ballerina-turned-actress who has used her performance skills to inspire others to tell their own stories. After 10 years as a drama therapist in a juvenile psychiatric hospital, Chase was challenged to put her theories to the test when she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her response to the ordeal was to create a movement theater piece, Susan's Undoing, which she has performed for general audiences, cancer support organizations, and hospitals. Susan's Undoing has received wide acclaim from theater critics, cancer patients and medical professionals.
A nationally recognized actress, playwright and arts therapist, Chase has written numerous plays and articles, dealing with arts therapy approaches for diverse populations, including individuals with a variety of physical and cognitive challenges, as well as at-risk and incarcerated youth.
For more information about Susan Chase and her work in arts therapy and health/wellness, and to book or see a live performance of Susan's Undoing, visit
or visit Susan's Undoing on Facebook.


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The night of April 14th and the early morning of April 15th sees a total lunar eclipse
visible across North America. This also happens to be the first of 4 lunar eclipses over the next couple of years. A tetrad as it is called.
This lunar eclipse, or blood moon, happens to fall on the eve of Passover as well as Emma Watson and Seth Rogen's birthdays (both born April 15th).
Passover is a festival celebrating God's liberation of the Jewish people over 3000 years ago.
Emma Watson and Seth Rogen both star in the film THIS IS THE END.
Watson also stars in the recent release of NOAH where she plays Noah's daughter and first mother of a post-flood world.
At one point in the movie she asks her father Noah "is THIS THE END of everything?"
His response, "No, it's the beginning."
Emma Watson is most famous for her role in the now completed Harry Potter film series. The tagline for the last film of the series, THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, is "The End Begins."
Emma Watson syncs with "the end." Which is perfectly in sync this year with Passover and "the end" of slavery for the Jewish people, as well in sync with the beginning of the Blood Moon tetrad seen by many as a heavenly sign of the "beginning of the end of days."
April 15th seems to be a sync node heralding "the end".
3 days later on April 18th, 2014 is Good Friday or the day that Jesus Christ's death and sacrifice is remembered.
This Good Friday we see the theatrical release of Johnny Depp's new film TRANSCENDENCE where he plays someone who has his consciousness uploaded digitally into a computer prior to his death.
Johnny Depp is a heavy resonator of the Deadman as I noted before in the sync video The King of Love is a Deadman.
How perfect that he plays a role of someone transcending human life on the same day that we honour Jesus for doing the same thing.
"Yesterday Jesus was only human."
The word transcENDence also encodes the END. How sweet it is released days after the END sync nexus of April 15th.
The other movie to be released on Good Friday, April 18th, is BEARS with narration voiced by the actor John C Reilly.
For those that are familiar with our sync work here you would know JC Reilly has been the subject of much sync work linking him with Jesus and Jupiter via the sync video HEYZEUS.
Perfect that JC Reilly, already a Jesus resonator syncs with bears and Good Friday. In many ways Jesus is the one that must bear the most as he dies and bears the sins of the world on his journey to become a resurrected God.
Finally, 2 days later is Easter that falls on 4/20 this year. The day of Jesus' transcendence.
I have made two 4/20 sync videos in past years. 4/20 has always been a very important sync target for me.
420 Bullseye and 420 Kong. (Both worth watching at this time)
420 KONG from Syncwinnipeg on Vimeo.
When I rewatched 420 Bullseye I notice Crispin Glover (born 4/20) playing a funeral director alongside Johnny Depp and JC Reilly in WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE.
Its as if this scene is in perfect sync celebration of this coming Easter weekend.
The sync is strong and sweet as we approach the great sync of 2014.
Much love & Peace on Earth
A side note from Stef
Foreshadowing the Blood Moon in the pop culture sphere on April 14 was ep 2 of the 4th season of Game of Thrones. Which was adapted to TV[T/20+V/22=42] by the DB's (D/4+B/2=42) David Benioff and D. B. Weiss....
In this episode the collective jumped for joy when King Joffrey became a deadman.
Joffrey's actual cause of death is still being determined by the coroners, however he did appear to be displaying some symptoms of cyanosis...
Cyanosis occurs when tissues near the skin/sink surface have low oxygen saturation. This could have happened from pretzel inhalation, nepoticidal poisoning or both. The result would have been the same, and yes I know that he was just a boy, but what we have is a blue man. One bleeding, seeing red stereoscopically.
The Sync Whole may be wistfully trawled for blue, however after quick skimming I came across "Go POP! Asspiring unto the crown" within the posts title we have aspiration - breathing - and the CROWn. Both resonating with Joffrey's death. We also discover that the post was written and posted June 15th 2011, the night of a total lunar eclipse and a year after the Blue Man group performed in Winnipeg.
Going back to 2009 we have "The Blue & Gold REvolution... Rise of the Hoodlums" which features the blue hued Tron quite heavily. It actually has more blue palm action in it than any other archetypes and that works well to bring us full circle here as Psalm Sunday was April 13 the same day that Joffrey went blue and we all felt the love and the death at the same time, an existential eclipse of sorts.
This post's the TranscEND which can be likened to disillusionment. The term disillusioned is often used to convey disappointment though one may break up dis-illusion-ment and read it as "mind, free from illusions", the end of the trance. My minds eye don't mind either way, there are no incorrect perceptions.
|Rick (Left) and Abradolf Linkler


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CORONAVIRUS: Latest updates here. Our 100% buyer guarantee applies to future purchases too!
CORONAVIRUS: Latest updates here. Our 100% buyer guarantee applies to future purchases too!
Unfortunately, we don't have any information about upcoming performances of this show. Maybe we can interest you with something similar from the options below...
Closed May 12, 2019
I laughed. I cried. I rocked.
Jack Black
After blowing out the speakers on Broadway, School of Rock hits the road. Based on the classic movie starring Jack Black, this blockbuster musical follows hilarious slacker Dewey Finn as he leads a classroom of nerdy misfits to rock stardom.
School of Rock was Andrew Lloyd Webber's first show to launch on Broadway since 1971, and it proved to be a monster hit for the legendary composer. Featuring a cast of uber-talented kids (who all play their instruments live), it includes songs from the movie, as well as a load of brand new compositions. Tony nominee Glenn Slater wrote the lyrics, while the book comes courtesy of Downtown Abbey scribe and Oscar winner Julian Fellowes. Bursting with energy and heart, School of Rock is a celebration of following your dreams and, of course, sticking it to the man!
Rock star wannabe Dewey Finn is down on his luck. He's just been kicked out of own band No Vacancy for his over enthusiastic on-stage antics, and his landlord is threatening conviction unless he coughs up his overdue rent. Desperate for money, he disguises himself as a substitute music teacher to land a position at a well-to-do prep school.
When he meets his new class, a bunch of smart-talking kids who happen to be more than a little handy with their musical instruments, an idea begins to form. A local Battle of the Bands competition is looming, featuring none other than No Vacancy, and Dewey sees a chance for both revenge and a proper shot at rock stardom!
Opening night: 8 May 2019
May be inappropriate for ages 7 and under.
Two hours and 15 minutes, with a 15 minute intermission
Images are taken form the Broadway production.
The Adults
Merritt David Janes as Dewy
Gary Trainor as Dewey Alternate
Lexie Dorsett Sharp as Rosalie
Layne Roate as Ned
Madison Micucci as Patty
Deidre Lang as Ms. Sheinkopf
JP Qualters as Theo
John Campione, Patrick Clanton, Christopher De Angelis, Kristian Espiritu, Melanie Evans, Liam Fennecken, Bella Fraker, Elysia Jordan, Sinclair Mitchell, Tim Shea, Arianna Pereira, Leanne Parks, Jacob Moran, Julian Brescia, Mystic Inscho, Sammy Dell, Sami Bray, Blake Ryan
Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Book by Julian Fellowes
Lyrics by Glenn Slater
Directed by Laurence Connor,
Choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter
Scenic and Costume Design by Anna Louizos
Lighting Design by Natasha Katz
Sound Design by Mick Potter
Music Supervision by Ethan Popp
28 reviews, average rating: (3.8 Stars)
Amazing show with such talent. It was incredible. more
I was at the matinee the first openingshow because my kids and I have... more
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So, a friend collects a healthy number of DVDs during his travels, and suddenly can't seem to spin up a few from Taiwan or Japan, because of the region settings on his laptop. They're all legitimate copies, all professionally made and sold through legal distributors. Nothing illicit or illegal about any of it — in fact, some were gifts for his wife, who likes a particular TV show, or to himself, as a movie he wants to keep.
But thanks again to region settings, he can't play some of them, and they're suddenly useless. All that money spent on first-run, professionally made DVDs of big-name high-budget movie releases, and they're no better than a cardboard coaster.
So I saved the day by having one machine — the Inspiron, actually — that can read them, and Acidrip, which can convert them into avi files with mp3 audio. Is it illegal? I don't know. And I really don't care. These DVDs aren't anything I want to watch. In fact, I only play them for the first 20 seconds and the last few seconds, just to make sure the entire episode or the entire movie was encoded. And then I pass them back to him and his wife.
I don't believe that makes me a pirate, since all I'm doing is volunteering the hardware that can make a backup copy for him, and returning his own, licensed movies to him. I don't distribute or upload or otherwise share the files, so it would be no different than if I borrowed him this laptop and let him do it himself.
To me it reveals another layer in the rank stupidity of region codes and vendor lock-in and proprietary licensing on media and entertainment. I asked it once, not long ago, and now I get to speak from experience in this scenario: If a valid licensee or owner of a movie finds that, through circumstances beyond his control, the product he purchased refuses (not fails, refuses) to work, should he be prosecuted for making a working copy for his own enjoyment, on a machine that somehow cooperates with the vendor's requirements?
No? So should he be prosecuted for downloading a copy of the same material, through a sharing network? And for that matter, can you really expect him to buy more DVDs, if there's a chance they'll refuse to work at some point in the future? Not a chance.
It's irrelevant to me really, since the DVDs aren't mine and I don't have the least interest in them beyond finishing the conversion and giving them back to the owner.
I can tell you this though: The lady of the house wanted to watch Sex and the City, and so in this situation, Acidrip might have saved their marriage. 😀


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Texas on the Potomac is pleased to launch a new feature, Driving the Debate.
Each Sunday, we will look at a widely used #hashtag and examine which people, media outlets or pundits are driving the social media debate on the issue.
We started last week with #immigration. You might be surprised to discover who is driving the debate on that hot-button topic.
Today, we offer you a special Friday preview. Check back every Sunday for our regular weekly "Driving the Debate" post.
Please email us with ideas for future columns.
Photo: Texans for Abbott / @AbbottCampaign


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Simple seafood chowder
A chunky, creamy soup with salmon and smoked haddock, mixed shellfish and potatoes - a hearty meal
Nutrition and extra info
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal422
- fat19g
- saturates6g
- carbs21g
- sugars9g
- fibre4g
- protein41g
- salt2.3g
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…
- 100g streaky bacon, chopped
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 600ml fish stock, made from 1 fish stock cube
- 225g new potato, halved
New potatoesn-ew po-tate-oes
New potatoes have thin, wispy skins and a crisp, waxy texture. They are young potatoes and…
- pinch mace
- pinch cayenne pepper
- 300ml milk
One of the most widely used ingredients, milk is often referred to as a 'complete' food…
- 320g pack fish pie mix (salmon, haddock and smoked haddock)
- 4 tbsp single cream
- 250g pack cooked mixed shellfish
- small bunch parsley, chopped
One of the most ubiquitous herbs in British cookery, parsley is also popular in European and…
- crusty bread, to serve
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat, then add the onion and bacon. Cook for 8-10 mins until the onion is soft and the bacon is cooked. Stir in the flour, then cook for a further 2 mins.
Pour in the fish stock and bring it up to a gentle simmer. Add the potatoes, cover, then simmer for 10-12 mins until the potatoes are cooked through.
Add the mace, cayenne pepper and some seasoning, then stir in the milk.
Tip the fish pie mix into the pan, gently simmer for 4 mins. Add the cream and shellfish, then simmer for 1 min more. Check the seasoning. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with some crusty bread.


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Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.
What is spirituality, true spirituality? What is it that makes a person genuinely "spiritual"? How do you recognize such a person? How can you tell if you are spiritual?
Ours is a time very much preoccupied with questions like these. Oprah Winfrey's great popularity is apparently explained in large part because she has convinced many that she has found true spirituality—by freeing herself, she believes, from her repressive Christian upbringing—and she is ready to share with you how you can find it for yourself.
The interest of screen star Richard Gere and others in the Dalai Lama runs much deeper than a concern for the freedom and political rights of the Tibetan people. Many are drawn to him as a religious leader because they believe he embodies and knows the way to authentic spirituality.
When we inquire into the specifics of contemporary claims like these, the answers forthcoming tend to be fairly vague, but a couple of things come through quite clearly: spirituality is personal and it's plural. I must find it within me and I must find it for myself.
For Christians, who trust in Christ as their Savior and Lord, and who believe the Bible is God's Word, it shouldn't be hard to point out what is flawed and fundamentally wrong with so much current spirituality. It reflects the religious relativism and pluralism of our day, with its adamant aversion to the Bible's teaching on spirituality.
The Bible is unmistakably clear about two fundamental spiritual realities. First, all human beings are sinners, in fact so hopelessly sinful, so inexcusably guilty and helplessly corrupt, as to be spiritually dead. Second, Jesus Christ, because of what he has done in his life, death, and resurrection, is the only Savior of sinners able to deliver us from our sin and its consequences. He and he alone is able to make us spiritually alive.
Still, a nearly unending flood of literature continues to exhibit a confusing welter of claims and counterclaims. The result is this disconcerting state of affairs: the one Holy Spirit of God, given to unify the church, has become an occasion for tension and division within the church.
What is the solution to this distressing situation? Is there one? There is. Notice what I did not say just above. I didn't say the Spirit is the source or cause of division among Christians about his work and gifts. The source of that discord lies elsewhere. It comes from not listening to the Spirit.
But where can I hear what the Spirit has to say, and how can I know for sure it's the Spirit I'm hearing? The answer to that crucial question does not come from any person or church claiming to speak with final authority for or about the Spirit. Nor is it found in my or anyone else's experience of the Spirit.
Rather, the answer—the only answer—is, in that memorable phrase, "the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures" (WCF 1.10). The Bible alone is God-breathing today, from beginning to end, because of its unique, "God-breathed" origin in the past (2 Tim. 3:16). It is the only certain and infallibly reliable voice of the Spirit for the church today on all matters that pertain to Christian faith and life, including those that concern the Spirit and his work. We learn of the Spirit and his work only as we listen, first and last, to the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10–14). We discover what are to be our expectations of his work in our lives only as, in possession of the Bible, we are armed with "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17) and are exposed to that penetrating Spirit-sword as it, "living and active," addresses us at the core of our being and in our deepest concerns (Heb. 4:12).
But what about Christian experience of the Spirit? Doesn't that count for something? Of course it does. But neither my experience nor yours nor any other Christian's is the definitive source for settling our understanding and determining our expectations of the Spirit's work in our lives. That source is Scripture and Scripture alone, rightly understood. Our experience is essential, but only as it corroborates that teaching by conforming to it.
No doubt there is more than one way to go about briefly examining the Bible's teaching on the work of the Holy Spirit. One, however, we should not adopt, though it is widely followed today, particularly in Pentecostal and other charismatic circles. That approach focuses on the book of Acts, in particular on accounts there of baptism with the Holy Spirit and instances of tongues-speaking, prophesying, and miracle working. These accounts are then read as providing models to be replicated in the experience of Christians today.
That approach misses the primary purpose of Acts, which is indicated in 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." The "you" in verse 8 refers to the apostles, that is, those who were set apart to be Christ's authoritative witnesses, primarily to his resurrection (verses 20–26). Accordingly, the promise of verse 8 expresses a program of apostolic activity that includes others in the church associated with them. The rest of Acts describes the ongoing realization and completion of this apostolic program.
An overall purpose of Acts, in other words, is to document an apostolic agenda that has been completed: the apostolic spread of the gospel, the extension of the church, from "Jerusalem … to the ends of earth" (Rome). Acts describes the expanding scope, through the apostles, of this church-building gospel from Jew (Jerusalem-Judea) to half-Jew (Samaria) to non-Jew (the Gentile ends of the earth). Their activity signals the universality of God's saving purpose, as the proclamation of the promised salvation fulfilled in Christ spreads from one nation, Israel, to all nations.
This aspect of the apostles' activity is captured graphically in Ephesians 2:19–22, where Paul pictures the church as a building under construction. In a context (verses 11–18) where the universality of salvation and the unity of Jews and Gentiles in Christ effected by the gospel is again prominent, the apostles (and prophets), with Christ as the cornerstone, constitute the foundation of the one church-house that God is constructing in the period between Christ's ascension and his return.
This house, in other words, is a historical model. The laying of the apostolic-prophetic foundation of the church-house is complete. It is not an ongoing activity that continues to the present. Nor does it have to be relaid periodically (assuming, as we must, that God, its master architect-builder, knows what he's doing!). As the work of Christ, the foundation-cornerstone (see 1 Cor. 3:11), is completed, unrepeatable, and noncontinuing, so also is the foundational role of the apostles. Answering to the once-for-all, finished work of Christ is the once-for-all, finished witness of the apostles to that saving work and its implications. The church today is in its postapostolic period when, in terms of Paul's model, its superstructure is being erected, an ongoing activity until Christ returns that rests firmly on the building's finished, well-laid, Christ-centered, and apostolic foundation.
Acts, then, is not an open-ended chronicling of loosely chosen episodes from the earliest days of the church's history for our emulation today. Acts is not amenable to an added chapter 29 to complete the narrative it presumably leaves unfinished. Rather, it ends where Luke intended, with the completion of the worldwide apostolic task he set out to document. Notice in this regard that Paul is aware that through his ministry as "an apostle to the Gentiles" (Rom. 11:13), the gospel is being spread "in the whole world," "in all creation" (Col. 1: 5–6, 23).
What about Pentecost then? If the experience of the apostles and the others present with them described in Acts 2 doesn't provide a model or pattern to be sought and replicated in the lives of Christians subsequently until Christ returns, what is the significance of what happened on that day?
Though occurring near the beginning of Acts, Pentecost is clearly the high point of the book as a whole, of the entire history that Luke narrates. Why? Pentecost has this climactic prominence because the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5)—also described as the "pouring out" or "sending" of the Spirit (2:33; Luke 24:49)—completes the once-for-all work of Christ. The importance of Pentecost is nothing less than this.
We miss the point of Pentecost if we focus on the experience of those who were present and its assumed potential as a model for our own, no matter how striking and memorable that experience undoubtedly was. Pentecost is much more important than their experience. Without what took place then, the work of Christ on earth would have been unfinished.
This importance may be seen from a couple of related angles in Luke-Acts. In Acts 1:5, Jesus looks both forward and backward by connecting his promise that soon the apostles will be baptized with the Spirit, a promise that we know was fulfilled on Pentecost, with the ministry of John the Baptist marked by his water baptism.
The opening verses of Luke 3 summarize John's ministry by capturing what was central in it and defining it as a whole. Verses 15–17 recount a comparison John made in response to the crowd's question whether he was the Messiah. In that comparison, baptism is the common denominator that highlights the difference between the ministries of John and the coming Messiah. But why does baptism serve as the basis of comparison? Because a baptizing activity is a basic index of each ministry. "I am not the Messiah," John says in effect. "I am but the forerunner, the one who prepares for the Messiah's imminent coming. Accordingly, my baptism is with water; it is only a sign, a pointer. In contrast, the Messiah's baptism, a basic index of his ministry, will be with the Holy Spirit and fire. That baptism is the reality to which my ministry, marked by water baptism, points."
In this passage, then, John surveys the ministry of Christ as a whole, and at its heart, as central as anything else, is baptism with the Holy Spirit. From this perspective, Christ's work on earth, culminating in the cross as the atonement for the sins of those he came to save, is properly seen as one large effort to secure for them, and give to them, the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is what Christ did for his people on the day of Pentecost. There is nothing subsidiary or secondary about what happened at Pentecost; it was no mere "second blessing." The baptism with the Spirit that took place then is a matter of first order, primary blessing, blessing integral to the salvation Christ came to accomplish. Without that baptism, that gift, Christ's work for our salvation would not be complete.
These reflections on John the Baptist's revelation concerning Jesus are reinforced by Peter in his sermon on the day of Pentecost. As that preaching draws to its close, he affirms climactically, "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing" (Acts 2:32–33). Four events are linked here: Jesus' resurrection (revealing the saving efficacy of his messianic ministry culminating in the cross, verses 22–31), his ascension, his reception of the Spirit from the Father, and his outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost.
Clearly these events are inseparable; any one only occurred with the others either having already taken place or in view. Together, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, reception of the Spirit in the ascension, and Pentecost constitute a single complex of events. Pentecost is no more capable of being repeated in individual Christian experience than Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension are capable of such repetition.
Despite a widespread misconception, Pentecost does not bring a fundamentally new or different experience of the Spirit. The differences in experiencing the Spirit between Old Testament believers and New Testament Christians are real and important, but no more than comparative: richer or greater or fuller for the latter. Rather, the newness of the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost resides primarily in two related considerations. First, the Spirit is finally present because Christ's work of accomplishing salvation has been completed. The Spirit that came at Pentecost, fulfilling the promise of the Father, is the Spirit of the now-glorified Christ ("the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified," John 7:39 NASB); he is the eschatological Spirit. Second, the Spirit that came at Pentecost is the Spirit poured out on all flesh. The people of God are now the fellowship of the Spirit, consisting of Gentiles as well as Jews, from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue; he is the universal Spirit.
If Pentecost means anything, it is that the Spirit is here with the church to stay—permanently, irrevocably. Because of Pentecost, believers can be confident that the Spirit will not abandon them. But to say that is also to say that Pentecost means that Christ is here to stay and will not abandon believers. In John 14, Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to the Father (verse 12) and promises them that when he does he will ask the Father to send them the Spirit as Helper or Advocate (verses 16–17). And then he immediately adds, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (verse 18; see also verse 23). This statement hardly refers either to his temporary resurrection appearances or to his return at the end of history, but to what will be true in the sending of the Spirit.
For the Spirit to come is for Jesus to come. So inseparable are the two in their activity that the presence of the Spirit is the presence of Christ. Paul expresses this reality—in what is in effect a one-sentence commentary on Pentecost—by saying that in his resurrection the glorified Christ, as the last Adam, has become the "life-giving Spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45). Hence, he subsequently writes, "the Lord [Christ] is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:17).
To summarize our reflections on the gift of the Spirit, when Peter, in preaching the gospel on the day of Pentecost, declared that those who repent "will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38), he was not promising, at least not in the first place, the gift of speaking in tongues they had just been witnessing or, for that matter, any other particular gift the Spirit gives. Rather he has in view much more than that: the Spirit himself as "the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4; Luke 24:49). The gift is nothing less than the Giver himself. In fact, the great gift, in which every believer shares, is God himself—God our Father, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. We are bound to maintain nothing less than this full, Trinitarian perspective on all matters that concern true spirituality.
The author, an OP minister, recently retired from teaching at Westminster Theological Seminary. This article consists of slightly edited extracts from The Work of the Holy Spirit, available from the Committee on Christian Education on OPC.ORG under "Publications." Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations come from the ESV. New Horizons, January 2012.
|© 2020 The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Chaplains and Military Personnel


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The brewing controversy over the designer drug known as "bath salts" -- which I covered in my previous post -- is only the tip of the iceberg, say addiction specialists, who are seeing a sudden spike in overdoses and admissions for the designer drug known as Spice or K2 as well.
Just like "bath salts," Spice/K2 contains recently synthesized chemicals. In this case they're designed to mimic the active ingredient in marijuana, known as THC. And like "bath salts," they're widely sold in head shops and convenience stores, as well as online.
While Spice has been around a bit longer than bath salts -- experts say it first appeared in the U.S. in 2004 -- the word didn't go out on the dangers of the drug until a couple of years ago. The problem being that most people assumed that, as a copy of marijuana, spice couldn't be that worrisome.
But they were wrong.
Just what we need: A teen-friendly drug
Like bath salts, those whose lives are falling apart due to Spice are most likely to be teens and young adults. The problem, experts say, starts with pot, which has become so common among teens that marijuana abuse is now more common than cigarette smoking among high school seniors. More than 21 percent of high school students interviewed for a survey by the Centers for Disease Control reported abusing marijuana in the month prior, while only 19 percent reported smoking cigarettes in the same period of time.
Teens and twenty-somethings already fond of pot turn to Spice because it's easy to get, they perceive it as legal, and because schools and sports teams don't test for it. I mean if you can buy it at the local tobacconist, it must be cool, right? And it's easy to use; you just smoke it in a pipe or joint, and some people even brew it up in a tea.
What, exactly, is "Spice"?
Known by a variety of names including Zohai, Genie, K3, Bliss, Nice, Black Mamba, Incense, and even fake weed, Spice is a mixture of plant leaves and stems that have been laced with synthetic chemicals. It's sold in colorful three-ounce plastic pouches decorated with psychedelic designs. But the drug is not as fun and lighthearted as it appears. Experts point out that due to the variation in chemical additives used in Spice, K2, and other synthetics, users don't know exactly what they're getting in each packet and the effects can therefore be unpredictable.
When tested, Spice has been found to contain a number of artificial chemical compounds, primarily those known as JWH-018, JWH-073 and HU-210. None of these chemicals are guaranteed safe for human consumption, hence the warnings (meant to be ignored) on the packages. Techinically a chemical fertilizer, JWH-18 can cause the negative effects of marijuana at much lower dosages, and JWH-073 is listed by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a chemical concern. Perhaps most worrisome: HU-210 has been found to be between 100 to 800 times more potent than THC, the main active chemical in marijuana."
But the list of synthetic psuedo-cannabinoids keeps growing, as underground chemists create new variations to keep ahead of the law. At last count, there were at least 1o others, including M-694, CP-47,497, and numerous other variations of JWH.
It's not legal; as of last year, the Drug Enforcement Agency made 5 of the most common chemicals used to make Spice illegal and numerous states have passed laws making it a controlled substance and subject to fines and/or jail time for possession or distribution. But that's relatively recently, and meanwhile it remains absurdly easy to get your hands on. And while a new urine test for synthetic cannabinoids from Redwood Toxicology, a division of Alere, has recently entered the market (as well as forensic tests by NMS Labs and others), many hospitals, emergency rooms, treatment centers and police departments don't yet have testing available to them.
What does a Spice high feel like?
Not good, according to what users tell therapists and reports turning up on addiction blogs. Unlike weed, which in general causes relaxation and positive feelings, Spice causes:
- acute anxiety or paranoia
- panic attacks
- a feeling of alienation/disassociation from the world
- hallucinations
- constant coughing
- feelings of nausea or actual vomiting
- inability to hold a thought for longer than a few seconds
- irregular heart beat/palpitations
- loss of concentration
- psychotic episodes
- tremors or seizures.
And Spice is now being blamed for numerous violent incidents and deaths, which so far have been reported primarily in local media. Here are a few of those sad stories:
In Indiana, two men beat one man's father to death with a baseball bat when he interfered as they were robbing him to get money for Spice.
Also in Indiana, a 17-year-old was shot by his grandmother when he became violent due to Spice.
In Sioux City, Iowa, Spice triggered a panic attack in a teenager who then shot and killed himself.
A well-known Anderson University basketball player collapsed and died during a pre-season warmup after ingesting K2.
But the reporting of Spice-related deaths and violence has been hampered by lack of knowledge and the inability to test for the chemicals.
Is Spice addictive?
The answer to this is controversial, but addiction experts say yes. The problem is that typically we don't consider marijuana addictive, other than as a so-called gateway drug. (Though many addiction centers would disagree.) It's a different story with Spice, experts say.
"When I talked to my patients about Spice, every one of them would say the effects were extremely unpleasant and they wanted to stop," says Brendan Bickley, Executive Director of Treatment Solutions Network in Costa Mesa, California. "But then they'd take it again. That was when I realized the addictiveness of the drug."
According to addiction treatment centers across the country, counselors are seeing what some call an "epidemic" of Spice addiction, primarily among teens and young adults or long-term pot smokers. Spice causes intense cravings, and users must take more and more of it to get high, causing chemical dependency, say experts at Sovereign Health, one of the most prominent addiction programs treating Spice addiction. And, they say, people who've taken Spice exhibit often extreme agitation and paranoia.
Emergency rooms are seeing a spike in Spice overdoses, reports Del Rey Treatment Center in South Florida. And according to Inspirations for Youth and Families, a teen addiction program also in Florida, the active ingredients in K2 remain stored in the body for long periods of time.
With all the mystery and misinformation swirling around Spice or K2, I'd love to hear from those on the front lines of this issue. Feel free to comment.
Follow me on Twitter, @MelanieHaiken or find me on Facebook


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In the midst of some of the most difficult market conditions in years, more than 50 pork producers will meet in Des Moines, IA, on Sept. 5-6 to draft a 2013 budget for the National Pork Board that focuses on continuing to build demand for pork while addressing several challenging production issues.
Producers from across the country who make up the Plan of Work Task Force will continue a planning and budgeting process that began earlier this summer when producer-led committees identified specific action steps designed to meet the goals in the board's strategic plan. Those goals include:
- Refresh and reposition pork's image to increase domestic and international consumer demand.
- Protect the rights and ability of U.S. farmers to produce pork in a socially-responsible and cost-competitive manner.
- Pursue strategies to enable U.S. pork producers to remain highly competitive, long term, on a global basis.
Based on revenue projections from the Pork Checkoff in 2013, the board has established a budget target of $67 million, which is approximately 5% below the 2012 budget. Revenue forecasts are lower for 2013 because of projections that hog prices will be slightly lower in 2013 than they were this year. National Pork Board revenues come from the Pork Checkoff, which collects 0.4% of sales when a hog is marketed.
"The impact of the widespread drought this summer on the 2013 hog market will be on the minds of the producers working on this year's budget," says Conley Nelson, an Algona, IA, farmer and pork production executive who serves as president of the National Pork Board. "We expect to see relatively good market prices for our pigs, but the drought has significantly depleted the corn and soybean crops that are the foundation of hog diets. As a result, we're going to have feed and other costs that will make it difficult for most producers to be profitable in 2013.
"The challenge as we put together our next budget," Nelson says, "is to continue to support our successful new Pork Be Inspired marketing campaign and our growing export markets, while at the same time doing all we can to help pork producers prosper under difficult conditions. There also are proposals in the budget for important research projects, and the board believes we must continue to support the industry's We Care initiative and other efforts to build consumer trust.
"We have to do all that with a slightly smaller budget than our current one. So the producers coming to Des Moines to draft a budget for the board's consideration in November have a tough task. There is going to be some interesting debate among producers."
The producer committees that oversee foreign and domestic marketing, science and technology and producer education and services each make budget requests for specific tactics. The Plan of Work Task Force will be asked to align the committees' spending requests with the board's budget target.
The producers on the task force are selected to represent the diversity of U.S. pork production. The group includes all 15 board members as well as representatives of the board's nine producer-led committees and pork producers who represent differing geographic regions and production styles. The group also includes a representative of pork importers, who contribute to the Pork Checkoff.
The final step in the 2013 budgeting process is scheduled for November, when the National Pork Board meets to review the task force recommendations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has final budget approval.
The National Pork Board will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, ahead of the Plan of Work meeting, to prepare for the meeting and to handle a number of business items. The board also will focus on the drought and its impact on markets and on-farm production. The board's staff already has been working with producers to deliver information about feed and water management. Board members will discuss what else it can do to help producers.
The board is also expected to review its efforts to build stronger relationships with its food channel partners; review its policy on maintaining reserve funds in the budget and discuss the possibility of revising its Environmental Stewards Awards program.
Meetings of the National Pork Board are open to the public. Those wishing to attend are asked to contact Lorraine Garner, email@example.com, (515) 223-2600.
The National Pork Board has responsibility for Checkoff-funded research, promotion and consumer information projects and for communicating with pork producers and the public. Through a legislative national Pork Checkoff, pork producers invest $0.40 for each $100 value of hogs sold. Importers of pork products contribute a like amount, based on a formula. The Pork Checkoff funds national and state programs in advertising, consumer information, retail and foodservice marketing, export market promotion, production improvement, technology, swine health, pork safety and environmental management.
For information on Checkoff-funded programs, pork producers can call the Pork Checkoff Service Center at (800) 456-7675 or check the Internet at www.pork.org.


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Oy vey.
Ex-reality TV dad Jon Gosselin, who has been rumored to be considering converting to Judaism, sought the advice of an esteemed rabbi over the weekend on how to raise his kids, according to Usmagazine.com.
"My question is, obviously I'm going through a divorce, and it's pretty public," Gosselin said, addressing panelists at Manhattan's Central Synagogue Sunday night. "What are two or three values can I use to raise good kids?"
U.S. & World
Jon, whose 22-year-old girlfriend Hailey Glassman is Jewish, has sought the spiritual leadership of Judaism before. Among those on the panel over the weekend was rabbi Shmuley Boteach, with whom Jon spoke about possibly converting to the religion.
Panelist Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, told Gosselin "not to be a hypocrite. Children see hypocrisy and they don't respect it."
Dr. Mehmet Oz, also on the panel, said that "kids don't always do what their parents tell them to ... [don't get] caught up in te Hollywood hype. This is your family, and you must care for them."
Gosselin said earlier this month he practically considers himself Jewish because those around him in his life are primarily Jews.
"This is the first year I will celebrate Chanukah," Jon told parentdish.com. "Hailey is Jewish. Everyone in my life is Jewish now, my attorney. I love it. I'm now half Jewish and half Korean.
"The family values are great."


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| 17.9°C Dublin
IT is perhaps the single easiest rule of thumb in investment: favour the simple over the complex.
Complexity, whether it is in a strategy or in a financial product, makes investors vulnerable: to being overcharged, to misunderstanding risks and to being unable to exit the position easily and economically.
To understand why this is true, on so many levels, look no further than JP Morgan's chief investment office disaster. It involves a trading position which, despite being put on and overseen by people who ought to be the best in the world, landed the bank with a loss that is almost literally unquantifiable.
The advice that Morgan shareholders wish the bank had followed holds true for individuals as well: don't invest in anything you can't understand.
In fact, take it a step further -- if you have to even consider whether you understand an investment, just walk away.
On its face, the appalling track record of complexity in the investment industry is a puzzle. After all, jet engines are more complex than what the Wright brothers used and a Prius is more reliable than a Stanley Steamer.
The answer, of course, is that complexity favours those who structure and sell investments over those who merely commit capital to them, increasing the already dangerous lack of alignment between investors and their financial providers.
The rewards to the industry for pointless (for the investor) complexity far outstrip the rewards of actual outperformance.
"In finance we love to complicate. We love to over-complicate. We rely on complexity to baffle, bamboozle and generally thwart human understanding," James Montier, of fund manager GMO, told a conference hosted by the CFA Institute earlier this month. "Complexity impresses, it allows people to charge high fees, it keeps outsiders out," Mr Montier said. Complexity, when accompanied by its inevitable handmaiden, the "expert," is even more dangerous, he says.
Subjects in a behavioural investing experiment were hooked up to a brain scan and asked to choose between a safe asset and a more complex one that was essentially a lottery.
Half the subjects had the "benefit" of having the choices explained by an expert. Inevitably, it was found that while the experts spoke, the parts of the subjects' brains that handle calculation and probability turned out like a light.
Prime among the reasons for avoiding complex investments is that they make it much harder to understand the underlying risk. While Jamie Dimon believed, and still believes, that he can control complexity risk through sheer excellence, he was proven wrong. You, dear reader, are almost certainly both less well-resourced and less excellent than Mr Dimon.
Secondly, of course, is the fact that complexity makes it easier for the experts to benefit themselves without cutting the owner of the capital sufficiently in on the benefits. Just as banks are forever getting burned by traders seeking big bonus payments, so fund holders are vulnerable to paying too much in fees when they choose complex products. It is far easier hiding an extra layer of fees in a complex options-based mutual fund than in a tracker.
Complexity breeds activity like a swamp breeds mosquitoes. Complex products, by their very nature, tend toward being active products, executing more trades more often. This may or may not benefit the investor, but does create a stream of income for brokers.
There are very few things in investing that you actually control. What you pay for investment management products is one, and as such should probably be top of your list on what to concentrate on to improve your outcome. This is especially true in times of low returns, as an extra 1pc or 2pc in annual charges in an era of low inflation and low returns is all the more damaging.
Keeping it simple is one of the easiest ways to control costs.
And, as there is absolutely no sustained record of evidence to support the idea that complexity produces better outcomes, sticking with a prejudice for the simple over the complex is one of the easiest ways to improve long-term outcomes.
Of course, the truth is, in Warren Buffett's famous dictum, "Investing is simple, not easy."
Just like losing weight, the issue is not the strategy but the execution. Keep costs down, favour companies that return capital and be disciplined about buying and selling based on valuation. All so simple, but so difficult.
James Saft is a Reuters columnist
Indo Business


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This is asbtract squares background business cards.
Easily changing colors for the squares, as each squares color group are in one layer.
Easily changing the text colors.
Comes with the bleeds, so it is print ready.
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Font used free from: http://www.dafont.com/comfortaa.font
If you buy and like the file, don't forget to rate it


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Urals or Ural Mountains, E European Russia and NW Kazakhstan, forming, together with the Ural River, the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia and separating the Russian plain from the W Siberian lowlands. The Urals extend c.1,500 mi (2,400 km) north and south from the Arctic tundra to the deserts N of the Caspian Sea. The polar section (north of lat. 64°N) is covered by tundra. The northern section (between lat. 64°N and lat. 61°N), a rocky treeless range, has the highest peaks, Naroda and Telpos-Iz. The central Urals (between lat. 61°N and lat. 55°N) are also known as the Ore Urals and have many low passes. The southern section (between lat. 55°N and lat. 51°N), known as the Mugodzhar Hills, consists of several high, parallel ridges that rise to 5,377 ft (1,639 m) in the Yaman-Tau. The S Urals are drained by the Ural River into the Caspian Sea. The waterways in the west are the Kama and Belaya rivers, tributaries of the Volga, and, in the east, the Ob-Irtysh drainage system. The Trans-Siberian RR crosses the central Urals, and the Samara-Tashkent RR crosses the S Urals. To the west, the Ural foothills slope gradually to the Volga. The eastern slope drops abruptly to the W Siberian lowlands. The population consists primarily of Russians, with some Bashkirs, Tatars, Udmurts, and Komi-Permyaks.
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- Resources and Industry
- History
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: CIS and Baltic Physical Geography


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DOVER �— The Merrimack County Superior Court declined to issue declaratory judgment in favor of the Great Bay Municipal Coalition to determine if the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services was required to follow the New Hampshire Administrative Rulemaking procedures in developing and imposing nutrient criteria for the Great Bay Estuary.
"As DES correctly argues, the EPA has ultimate authority to determine whether to list the Great Bay Estuary as an impaired waterway," the court's decision states, saying the Court does not have control over the actions of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the EPA is the only entity that will make a decision that could harm the Great Bay Municipal Coalition.
DES also argues even if the Court were to say the 2009 Criteria was "improperly promulgated," and the DES has to remove it for the Estuary, the EPA is still able to rely on the document in issuing NPDES permits, according to federal law.
This case began when the Great Bay Municipal Coalition, comprised of Dover, Portsmouth, Rochester, Exeter and Newmarket said DES failed to put a document into effect the DES issued in June 2009 known as "2009 Criteria." The document, officially entitled, "Numeric Nutrient Criteria for the Great Bay Estuary," sets out water quality criteria for the nitrogen in the water.
Once this document was created, DES declared that the Great Bay Estuary had too much nitrogen and, as a result, cities and towns would need to spend close to $100 million to update their water treatment facilities.
The Coalition claims the United States Environmental Protection Agency used the impairment caused by the excess nitrogen to modify National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits issued to the Coalition for the Estuary previously. They said, according to the court's decision, "that DES' impairment finding directly influenced EPA's permit modifications because water quality criteria determine the effluent limitations for specific pollutants in permits which are imposed by NHDES and USEPA."
DES disagreed, stating the Clean Water Act, a water quality criteria used to identify waters that need to reduce their amount of pollutants, requires each state to adopt its own standards for water quality. The court's decision states that even though the state has authority to craft discharge permits, DES does not issue them. EPA issues all permits and DES adopts them as written.
The court decision states, again, this is a federal issue with the EPA being the entity that would make the decision to harm the coalition and require them to update the water treatment facilities.
"EPA not only has ultimate authority to craft the NPDES permits issued to Petitioners, it is not bound by a ruling from this Court regarding the validity of the 2009 Criteria as a basis for permitting," the court's decision states.
"The Great Bay Municipal Coalition believe they are entitled to a ruling by the court on whether the DES' numeric criteria for nitrogen in the Great Bay is in fact a rule under state law and are considering making a request that the court reconsider its decision," City Manager Michael Joyal wrote.
If the coalition does go forward with the request, it has 30 days to ask the judge in a written petition to reconsider his decision, according to Joyal.
The judge may or may not grant the request. That is ultimately his decision.
Court: We have no control over EPA's actions
DOVER �— The Merrimack County Superior Court declined to issue declaratory judgment in favor of the Great Bay Municipal Coalition to determine if the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services was required to follow the New Hampshire Administrative Rulemaking procedures in developing and imposing nutrient criteria for the Great Bay Estuary.


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Facebook officials acknowledged on Wednesday that the social network had been hit by a spam attack that posted graphic pornographic and violent images across user newsfeeds for 24 hours -- and that it was all caused by browser vulnerabilities.
Facebook said the attack is now under control, but that users brought in the malicious code. From InformationWeek:
U.S. & World
Facebook didn't name the browser in question, but a user would still have to cut and paste script. But why? "Usually it is related to a giveaway, contest, or sweepstakes for some fantastic prize, and to qualify you need to paste this magic code into your browser," Chester Wisniewski, a senior security advisor at Sophos Canada, wrote on the Sophos Naked Security blog.
But, as InformationWeek points out, Facebook's security team is already supposed to have mechanisms in place to shut down malicious pages resulting from the self-XSS exploit. So what happened exactly? Facebook's spokesman said that Facebook's security team "drastically limited the damage" and is investigating who's responsible.
The truth is that Facebook is a security menace. With 750 million users, some are bound to be gullible, leave their accounts open at their computer or click on stupid links. Facebook has to be more vigilant with security or risk losing users.


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"It is our hope that Hachette, in light of the loyalty its authors have shown throughout this debacle, takes this opportunity to revisit its standard e-book royalty rate of 25 percent of the publisher's net profits." Roxana Robinson, president of the Authors Guild
So here we are. Hachette has a deal. Simon & Schuster has a deal. They have the pricing responsibility they wanted. Amazon has its "specific financial incentives" to compel them to use that power to price lower. Now we'll get to see just how badly publishers want to institute a price-based windowing system for new releases (I'm setting the over/under on new release ebook prices at $16.99. And I'm taking the over.) But what did writers get out of this? I'm glad you (rhetorically) asked, because nobody else seems to be.
I've read all the coverage I can find and, as far as I can tell, the sum total of what writers got from this is that Hachette writers will have preorders reinstated and be back on two-day shipping. That's about it. Oh yeah, there's all the sales they lost during the past seven months. They've got that, too. There's no Macmillan-like pool of recompense for those folks; no extra royalty payout for the damage done to their business. And they've got the hit yet to come from all those lost sales when their next contract rolls around. But at least, like the Robinson quote above, they've got hope that possibly Hachette (and others) maybe might take some time to reconsider their ebook royalty rates, if it's not too much trouble. Because loyalty. My dog is loyal, but if I screw with his food, he bares his teeth and growls. I don't screw with his food. Loyalty unrespected is subservience.
The blatantly obvious here is that anyone who thought writers would get anything but screwed on this was deluded. Especially after their authors interjected themselves into it in, bluntly, the stupidest possible way. They threw all their weight behind one side, not coincidentally, the side that needed them and they had leverage with, and asked nothing in return. Now we're told they did it out of loyalty as if that's some kind of honorable thing and not horribly misplaced naivete. Now we're told authors are going to try to get better terms. My thoughts on that strategy were summed up nicely:
"What opportunity would that be? The one where they've settled up with Amazon, already have you all under contract at that standard, and don't need to name-drop you morons in an obviously coordinated PR assault on a rival anymore? The opportunity to do a hell of a lot more than "hope they revisit the standard" was the past seven months when Amazon had Hachette over a barrel and the other publishers were all worried they were next."
But don't take my word for it. Let's see what some publishing executives have to say:
"Speaking at a Society of Authors (SoA) panel on hybrid authors, Little, Brown CEO Ursula Mackenzie defended publishers from criticism by audience members that they now only take on books that will make money.
"Every book can't make money," she said. "There are careers we support for years…there are many books we publish lovingly where we don't make money."
Mackenzie said that publishers "are not taking a disproportionate part of the profit", and that "no one benefits if publishers go out of business." Little, Brown has a "fair rate for our e-books," Mackenzie said."
Good luck parsing the logic out of that one. "We publish lots of stuff that doesn't make money, so we can't pay you fairly for the things that do or we'd go out of business."
That's a helluva sales pitch. So even if I'm succesful, I'll still be underpaid? Where do I sign up?!? This is the ultimate conclusion of the cultural enrichment argument. They're not regular businesses, they're a public good. So you can't expect to be paid like a regular business. The company has to reap most of the proceeds so they can continue to underpay you to pay for all the stuff they produce that nobody wants. It's all bullshit, of course, and pretty blatantly so. These are all huge, multi-billion-dollar publicly traded corporations. Do you think they're shareholders are down with pissing money away in business-threatening chunks for culture's sake? Or are they simply feeding you a line they know plays to your sensibilities to justify squeezing suppliers (you) to maximize profits?
Think about that last part for a minute. Just the idea of paying a better royalty rate caused her to pull the going out of business card. If you can't even consider paying me a fair (or even just slightly higher) ebook royalty without it triggering fears of going under, does that make you more or less attractive to me as an author? You're leveraged so thinly that fair recompense to writers can threaten the very existence of your company? What's the upside for me to sign with you? A "quality" product no one buys or a product they do buy but I don't reap fair reward for?
Now, of course, she claims to think their ebook royalty is fair, which is the problem. I don't really believe she thinks that but enough of you do that they can continue to get away with pushing this nonsense. Here's another:
"Questioned on author earnings, CEO Tom Weldon said that Penguin/Random House was always looking at how much authors were being compensated, but for the moment the 25% digital royalty rate would not be changed.
"Authors are, alongside readers, the foundation of our business," he said. "We are always, always looking at our commercial arrangements with authors to make sure they're fair and equitable. With e-book royalties, firstly and most importantly, the business model is as clear as mud. Rather than arguing about what slice of the cake we should distribute, we need to work out how big the cake should be."
There you go, fair and equitable and the rate would not be changed. Get a load of that last sentence. We need to work out how big the cake should be? What the hell does that even mean? Is he talking about pricing? Is it a more ominous suggestion of further attempts at limiting the ebook market itself to a certain market share? Or even more ominously, is he talking not about how big the whole cake is but deciding how big the portion of the cake is that your portion comes from? The cake is a pretty big one, dude, I think portions are an appropriate topic of discussion at the moment. Look at how he phrased that, too: "Rather than arguing about what slice of the cake we should distribute…" They're planning on keeping the whole damn cake and then deciding what tiny sliver they can afford to slice off for you. Do you need any more evidence that they see the proceeds from your book as "their cake"? Funny how they're not waiting to work out how big the cake should be before touting the increased profits they're reaping from this particular literary confection. But let's not argue about it. Then they might actually have to address the issue rather than keep enjoying all that delicious extra cake they've got. Did you catch him wiping the crumbs from the corner of his mouth as he said "fair and equitable"?
Even the Author Guild itself admits the publishers have no will to even consider making a change in ebook royalty rate:
"Jean Craighead George's original decision to publish an e-book edition (of Julie of the Wolves) with Open Road (which pays a 50% e-book royalty)—rather than with HarperCollins, her longtime publisher—was a principled rebuke of the major publisher's measly 25% net e-book royalty. HarperCollins's aggressive strategy (the publisher spent over $1.5 million to litigate a case that ended up being worth only $30,000) illustrates the importance to publishers of keeping e-book royalty rates at 25%."
So if you already know this, please explain why you failed to do even the slightest bit of advocacy during the past year when the Big 5 in general, and Hachette specifically, were more vulnerable than they've been maybe in all of our lifetimes? You think it was a good idea to show unbridled loyalty to companies who, by your own admission, are being miserly with ebook royalties and intentionally underpaying your membership? Something you've been complaining about since, at least, 2009? That's five years of talk with zero tangible results. Loyalty is a positive thing in some cases, but in this one, it's high past time to bare your teeth. The question increasingly being asked, and rightly so, is does the Authors Guild have any teeth to bare? Instead of falling lockstep in line with the publishers, why didn't you take advantage of this opportunity to make some progress? That's what real advocacy is. What you're doing is no different than what I do, talking. Only I'm not collecting dues or pretending I'm representing anyone's interests.
Speaking of the blind leading the blind, here's the Authors Guild meeting with members of Congress ahead of an upcoming review of copyright law:
"Executive Director of the Authors Guild, Mary Rasenberger's speech was part of a panel co-hosted by the Authors Guild and aimed at giving the Congressional group a behind-the-scenes look at "a book's passage from manuscript to marketplace." The panel consisted of authors, editors, and publishers.
In her speech, Rasenberger focused on the "urgent state" of authorship today. "Even authors who made a living writing books for decades now need to find alternative sources of income," she told the assembly. "This means they write less—and, in some cases, not at all. Fewer professional authors means fewer types of books that might take years of research and writing. These are precisely the kinds of books that further the knowledge and learning that copyright is meant to foster."
Do you think her presentation of "manuscript to marketplace" included even a word about indies who skip the publisher involvement altogether? I don't either. I'm certain it was a glowing testament to how essential publishers are, with writers and editors simply add-ons to the process, shepherded by their greatness. Maybe the urgent state of authorship wouldn't be so urgent if authors had effective advocates. Maybe there wouldn't be so many authors needing outside income streams if you did something about low royalties other than hope and talk. Don't miss the loaded use of the term "professional" in there either. Who does this woman represent? They've done nothing about the royalty rate, they are dismissive of indies in presentation and implication if not in direct language. And they just came to heel when the publishers blew their dog whistles over the past few months, a time when they actually had some leverage to get something done. Amazon was practically begging them to do something. Is it any wonder publishers think they have you all locked down?
The question I'm asking is can authors get some real representation at these things? The only seat at the table we get is through groups like the Authors Guild, and sometimes that's even less useful than having no seat at all. So what were they talking about at this congressional get together other than how crucial publishers are? Here's the release from the committee:
"Great books, both fiction and non, have an incredible ability to capture our hearts and minds, taking us to another place or time with words on a page. Yet many of us do not think about the hard work and collaboration that goes on between authors, publishers, and many others to help take a book from manuscript to marketplace," said Reps. Judy Chu and Howard Coble, co-chairs of the Creative Rights Council. "Together, this collaboration is at the heart of a $27.2 billion industry, but challenges like digital first sale, unreasonable expansion of fair use, and online piracy are threatening the livelihoods of the hard working men and women who bring these works to life. We are proud to have hosted this important panel in order to influence the conversation on copyright law as we continue moving forward."
Notice authors is mentioned only once, in the context of the collaboration. Is it authors' livelihoods they feel are threatened, because, as everyone should have already been expressly aware, the vast majority of traditional authors don't have livelihoods from their work to be threatened. And that is in no way a recent development, rather a consequence of the industry's very structure. So get ready for copyright law as publisher bailout (none of the benefits of which will even trickle down to the writers), coming soon to a congressional hearing near you.
It's telling that both first sale and fair use were specifically cited as "threats". Is this how the Authors Guild presented them? What exactly does Rasenberger mean by what "copyright is meant to foster"? First sale and fair use are both consumer rights granted by copyright (yes, consumers have rights under copyright law, too. Although maybe not for much longer if these folks are any indication.) How about we discuss life+70 that flies directly in the face of what copyright intended as a limited time of exclusivity for creators. It exists not for the benefit of creators, but of transferees (not mentioned there, by the way) so they can continue to profit from creators' works for generations after their death. Or how about the fact that this standard has basically caused the public domain of recent material to wither and die (another element copyright law intended to be vibrant and available for both creators and the public).
But, alas, no. The "threats" here are like they are every time copyright comes up; the rights of consumers are given short shrift, if acknowledged at all, and the rights of creators are subverted, in direct opposition of what was intended, to protect corporate licensees' profits. If you want to have a frank and open discussion of copyright law, let's do it. But can we get someone other than the Authors Guild at the table please? I have no faith they're even on the right side of these issues for authors and won't simply fall lockstep in with publishers when push comes to shove (again). I'm sure they'll talk a good game but when it comes time to pick a side to support, they'll be right there with the publishers, no matter how much more ground creators and the public have to give up so Disney can continue milking Mickey Mouse in perpetuity.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe the Authors Guild, once it sinks in that their loyalty has gotten them squat, will finally break out the snarl and get down to the real business of business and stop validating the publishers' "enriching themselves while underpaying writers is essential to culture" argument. And maybe pigs will fly.
Dan Meadows is a writer living on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay. Follow him on Twitter @watershedchron


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PORTLAND, Ore. – Midfielder Andrew Gregor recorded one goal and set up another in the first half as the Portland Timbers shut out the Rochester Raging Rhinos 2-0 at PGE Park Sunday Night in front of 3,041. Timbers' goalkeeper Josh Wicks recorded the team's first league shutout of the season.
The Timbers' 2-0 win is their first victory and shutout over Rochester since Portland joined the United Soccer Leagues in 2001. The Timbers (2-1-1, 7pts) had been winless against Rochester (2-2-2, 8pts) in their last six matches.
Wicks recorded his second shutout in three games against Rochester; his first league shutout. His previous shutout came against Club Necaxa on May 9 in an international exhibition match at PGE Park.
With Rochester playing its second match in as many days, the Timbers applied heavy pressure on the Raging Rhinos and nearly found a goal in the 5th minute of play. Forward Bryan Jordan found Gregor at the top of the box but Gregor's shot was knocked wide by Rochester goalkeeper Chase Harrison.
Gregor's fourth goal of the season came in the 24th minute to give the Timbers an early 1-0 lead. The play developed off of a throw in to forward Chris Bagley, who controlled the ball and delivered a quick pass to Gregor in the box. From 15 yards out on the left post, Gregor rifled a shot into the far upper "v".
The Timbers took a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute on a 32-yard bomb by defender Leonard Griffin past Harrison along the left post. Gregor, out on the right wing, found Griffin running to space towards the top left side of the penalty area. With a right foot, Griffin netted his first goal as a Timber.
Wicks narrowly escaped an early Rochester goal in the 19th minute as forward Hamed Diallo attempted to scissor kick a cross from Stephen Shirley-Black. Diallo couldn't connect on the shot and the ball sailed out of play.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Rochester nearly trimmed the Timbers lead on a corner kick. Glued to the right post, midfielder Tom Poltl knocked away a shot by Rochester's Kenny Bertz for the save.
The Timbers maintained their pressure in the offensive third throughout the second half. In the 85th minute, Midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer nearly got a head on the Timbers third goal of the night. Jordan weaved his way through the box and sent a cross from the left edge of the six-yard box as Kreamalmeyer came flying through.
Notes: Defender Lee Morrison had his 39 consecutive match streak broken tonight. His streak dated back to August 18, 2005 … Poltl earned his first start of the season … Gregor has scored four goals in four games …
POR – GK Wicks, D S. Thompson, D J. Thompson, D Knowles, D Griffin, M Hague (Lara, 45), M Poltl, M Gregor, M Kreamalmeyer (Higgins, 88), F Jordan, F Bagley (Ambriz, 89)
POR – GK Wicks, D S. Thompson, D J. Thompson, D Knowles, D Griffin, M Hague (Lara, 45), M Poltl, M Gregor, M Kreamalmeyer (Higgins, 88), F Jordan, F Bagley (Ambriz, 89)
ROC – GK Harrison, D Aloisi (Novak, 54), D Bertz, D Perry (Ambersley, 40), D Palguta, M Shirley-Black, M Menyonger (Craft, 71), M Ball (Kramer, 71), M Bonseu, F Diallo (Martinez, 34), F Delicate


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Breathe Culturewhere beautiful mistakes thrive
Archive for strong
365 days & Sarah Bloom
I just need to brag a little off the top, I did my second university level midterm today and got 84%. Pretty good, and definitely a pass! My topic for today is partially the 365 self portrait project but more so one of the projects members. "sadandbeautiful" (Sarah Bloom) as we know her on Flickr has been in this project for so long that she's already onto her SECOND year of self portraits!I find this amazing because I made it only to about day 66 before running out of creative power. If you don't know anything about the 365 project, you should check it out, it's a great tool for self awareness and is interesting to see what photos people post to represent themselves. ©anniewisc For Instance :)Back to Sarah though, not only has she been part of 365 for a LONG time, she has also contributed some simply SPECTACULAR photos. Softly Glow Day 100, Baby!! FUTAB on acid ( She has her photos copy written so I couldn't post any for examples, but just click the links to see what I'm talking about, you wont be disappointed. ) She also keeps a blog, where she talks about her sobriety, love, and her daughter just to name a few topics.From that website you can check out the multitude of other things she is involved in, publishing her own books, selling her photos, and even supporting Unicef! Wow. What does this lady not do? She's a powerful role model for women everywhere who need to learn how to accept their bodies and learn to love. A perfect fit for the "Breathe Culture" featured photographer!


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Public Comment
New: Freedom of Information and its Loopholes
Freedom of information is supposed to represent transparency in the political process. But it brings with it an opaqueness. Development and urban improvement are supposed to represent "progress," but when they represent a top-down process that minimizes people's participation, that progress brings with it a regress.
The context for this rumination is a small set of short streets at the corner of Shattuck and Rose. Some local residents have approached the city manager and a couple of councilmembers with requests of information about plans and policies for this quaint little area. Some requests were met, others not. But it seems there were some secret, or at least unpublicized meetings last September between the city manager and the North Shattuck BID, to start changing the Shattuck-Rose neighborhood a bit.
Two questions lurk over the process of information requests from government, like buzzards on a bare tree limb, looking down at what will possibly be their next meal. The first is, did the government officials send all that they had that would fulfill the request, or was something withheld, for whatever reason, like evidence withheld by the police from the defense in a trial? Second, why do we have to go through this request process at all? Why isn't the information on all policy matters overtly present already, in the name of transparency?
Indeed, isn't the Brown Act supposed to open all such things to public scrutiny, without having to rely on an official's non-withholding? The Brown Act has a loophole. Are you surprised? We'll get to it in a minute.
First, a little history. Over the years, there have been, off and on, a number of attempts to develop a plaza in the Shattuck and Rose area, where the farmers market is on Thursdays. This goes back to 2001. The plaza idea proposes to close some streets, change the parking arrangement, pave, pave some more, change the zoning, pave a few other things, get rid of a few trees, plant some large flowerpots, and tell everyone how much more congenial the ability to hang out in this area would become. With a few intervening years of surcease here and there, this has been a perennial visitation to the neighborhood.
Needless to say, there is a growing coterie of activists, immersed in a neighborhood association called LOCCNA (Live Oak Codornices Creek NA) that consistently takes umbrage at this prospect. (Don't worry, the plaza idea also has a few acolytes.) And so, like a scene out of "High Noon," as developers, or the BID, or the city make there appearance at one end of town, these activists step to the middle of the street, and make a showdown, ready to defend a style of life, the character of its streetscorners, and of its places to hang out.
After all, the issue isn't just paving and flower pots. It's a defense of time itself. The character of a neighborhood is something that evolves. It cannot be built. Only buildings can be built. But people live in a style and character of residency that they themselves participate in bringing about. The stores, restaurants, cafes, grassy places, are given meaning, stability, and enhancement because residents use them, made them memorable, held meetings there, and so on. One thing that disrupts this neighborhood character is money that does what will be profitable for it, rather than what will harmonize with the social environment. There is still a roaring animus at what sealed the fate of Black Oak Books, a very important dimension of the character of the neighborhood, which got driven to close by rent gouging, and which facility still remains empty after four years.
Development always tends to warp the character of a neighborhood because it must destroy in order to build. It can decriminalize that destruction by calling it progress, but when it does this without consultation (not just hearings, but dialogue) with the people affected by this (de/con)struction, we must ask, progress for whom? Generally, it is progress for someone's investment portfolio, but not for the places and emporia that shut down and are left empty by the loss of business and availability incurred during the destructive phase. Jackhammers are famous for closing a block, a testiment to the marginal existence of what is not "big corporate." The process of making an area more congenial to hanging out tends to destroy the social environment that makes hanging out there congenial in the first place.
For many residents, it is not just the rezoning and flowerpots, but the arrogance and impunity of top-down institutions, against which they want democracy and transparency. Without participation in planning, however, all that is left is an FOIA request, to get ready for the next High Noon.
The last one happened just this past September. A BID proposal (by North Shattuck Association Business Improvement District) for parklets (extending the sidewalk out into parking spaces in front of various emporia to facilitate sidewalk tables and hanging out) was sent to Council, and a councilmember put it on the Consent Calendar, to sidestep even a public hearing. Can you imagine? Its like a backroom deal, hidden in plain sight. (Popular outrage convinced him to take it off.)
Well, the showdown occurred Sept. 12, at a meeting called by LOCCNA. And the BID representative suggested, probably as an attempt to mollify, that the BID had changed its strategy from proposing a big project like the plaza to working with small incremental steps. Huh? Incremental toward what?
The purpose of small incremental steps is to make a move that doesn't bring about a showdown. What the FOIA response revealed was that small policy decisions can be made without coming under the Brown Act. If they are small enough, the backroom becomes sufficient venue. There was a meeting between the BID and the City Manager to restripe the parking spaces (diagonal rather than parallel) up in the Shattuck-Rose target zone, without having to go to city council, or hold hearings. That restriping is part of the parklet idea, which is part of …
The Brown Act says that "meetings" of legislative bodies and government agencies must be open to the public. And it defines "meeting" as a gathering of a majority of members of an entity to discuss matters within that entity's jurisdiction. [Govt. Code section 54952.2(a)] "Meetings" by individual government officials, if they are not a majority of the entity of which they are members, are thus not covered. Under the Brown Act, a few directors of the BID, if less than a majority, can meet with the city manager, and discuss actions that do not have to be public under the Brown Act. It will not be considered a "meeting," though it makes policy. That is a big issue. Because the real issue is the top-down ethic, the ethic of money's impunity, finding and using loopholes.
Ultimately, the plaza itself is a small issue. It is minor next to the tremendous strife seen over Pacific Steel, its pollution of West Berkeley, its footsy with ICE that threw 200 workers into the street, and its backroom deals with City Council enabling it to avoid anti-pollution requirements in the name of "economic stability." The plaza is a small issue next to the possibility of establishing a bio-synthetic lab at Aquatic Park, or even in Richmond, a lab that will creating life forms, using genomic technology, that have no relation to planetary ecology, and thus have no natural predators, with no foreknowledge on the part of experimenters concerning how to control them (think of the sci-fi nightmare if one got away), in the name of "scientific progress." The plaza is small potatoes next to the impunity of the University in destroying crops planted in its Gill Tract at Marin and San Pablo by "Occupy the Farm," land that was given to the university with the proviso that it be used only for agricultural purposes, and which promise the university was going to violate by opening it to commercial enterprise without the say-so of the neighborhood or the city, or the entire "food sovereignty" movement, under the rubric of "better use of the land."
The issue of the plaza is not just about shutting down some parking spaces, or paving a median. It is the issue of democracy, and the ability of those affected by a policy to participate in defining the issue about which policy is to be made, articulating it, and then deciding on it. And those two buzzards just sit there waiting for the cultural death dealt by the steamroller of money's impunity to feed them.


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As the IIES Seminar Series has been cancelled due to the new Coronvirus, we are now proud to introduce VMACS: a Virtual Macro Seminar Series initiated by IIES Associate Professor Kurt Mitman, Professor Morten O. Ravn (UCL) and Assistant Professor Ralph Lütticke (UCL).
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Hi all,
I probably found a bug when calculating eigenvectors of a symmetric matrix with DSYEV + ESSL on a Power6 IBM cluster.
The bug appears only when the matrix is diagonalized by using the upper half, and when the leading dimension n>200 approx.
I put in attachment the test case where I obtained this bug.
If you have any hints, that would be welcome!
Thanks in advance,


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