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Taught by Eric Haugen in Six String Problem Solver seriesLength: 6:13Difficulty: 1.0 of 5
Eric, I really enjoy your lessons and your down to earth manner. One thing that I missed in this lesson was that you didn't discuss the dead beats which didn't seem to be straight trips.
This course is for beginner to intermediate guitarists who may have encountered potholes in their roads of study. The aim is to discuss and devise exercises to help fix problems with basic theory, ear training, physical mechanics, and musical philosophy.
Lesson 1
Eric Haugen discusses the goals of his "Six String Problem Solver" lesson series and what kind of material it covers.Length: 5:45 Difficulty: 0.0 FREE
Lesson 2
Learn to check your guitar's physical condition and solve simple problems.Length: 13:26 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Lesson 3
Learn 11 chords that will be useful for playing most folk, rock, or pop songs.Length: 14:02 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Lesson 4
Learn how to develop exercises that will make your practice musical and relaxing.Length: 8:44 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Lesson 5
Work on playing along with a track at your own pace and skill level.Length: 6:50 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 6
Learn how to work with a guitar's electronics and an overdrive pedal to get the sound you want.Length: 12:01 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Lesson 7
Learn how moving your foot and body can help you to feel the rhythm when you play.Length: 6:53 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 8
Learn how to use down and up beats with your strumming motion to help you play rhythm more smoothly.Length: 6:06 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 9
Learn and practice a common strumming pattern that you can use in a broad range of styles.Length: 7:02 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 10
Learn how to interpret a basic chart like one you would download from the internet using your ear and some basic music theory.Length: 9:33 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 11
Do Not Fear Improvisation: There is No Treasure to be Found! In this lesson Eric shows how he generates improv ideas and gives some tips on habits to avoid as well.Length: 8:12 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Lesson 12
If you don't have a metronome, you can train yourself not to rush your exercises by slowing them down each time you play.Length: 6:13 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 13
Eric shows some examples of keeping your practice musical so that it is more engaging and relevant to playing songs.Length: 9:25 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Lesson 14
Eric walks you through a simple process for developing a strumming pattern around a song you are learning.Length: 7:08 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Lesson 15
Sometimes it helps to have something you are working toward in your playing to provide incentive. In this lesson, Eric discusses some activities you might be interested in to take your playing further.Length: 4:44 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Lesson 16
It's okay to use stock blues licks! In this lesson Eric shows how some simple blues licks can be used as a starting point to generate lots of improvisation ideas.Length: 10:59 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Lesson 17
Eric shows you how to loosen up and flex your wrist when you play, and gives you an exercise to help you practice this form.Length: 7:04 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Lesson 18
Eric shows you good picking depth technique, talks about why it matters, and gives you an exercise to practice picking at a good depth.Length: 6:10 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Lesson 19
Eric gives you a musical exercise to practice your alternate picking technique.Length: 8:19 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Lesson 20
Eric shows you good thumb placement for your fretting hand and then gives you an exercise to practice supporting with your thumb.Length: 9:08 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Lesson 21
Eric shows you an exercise that is great for working with the often-ignored pinky finger.Length: 7:49 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 22
Eric talks about beginning finger picking techniques and gives you an exersize to help you practice some Travis style finger picking.Length: 10:15 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Lesson 23
Eric discusses how good dynamic control comes from proper picking hand technique and shows you an exercise to practice your playing dynamics.Length: 8:19 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Lesson 24
Eric shows you some chords where the low E can be problematic, and gives you an exercise to help work on avoiding the E when you need to.Length: 6:44 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Lesson 25
Eric goes over the four basic barre chords and shows you an exercise to practice them.Length: 8:19 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Lesson 26
Eric discusses what it means when you see a "slash chord" in a chart or chord sheet and how to find and play these special, transitional styles of chords.Length: 10:15 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Lesson 27
Eric talks about what the 12 bar blues is and why it is so fundamental to modern music and important in a jam setting.Length: 9:19 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Lesson 28
Lesson 29
Walks you through listening to a song and finding the key, or tonal center, of the song with your ears and your low E string.Length: 4:53 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Lesson 30
Eric talks about some of the most common chord changes and cadences and shows you an example of finding those changes in a song so you can play along.Length: 10:29 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 31
Eric talks about how major, minor, and 7th Chords relate to each other and how to listen for them in a song.Length: 6:36 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 32
Eric talks about how the three parent scales are related, why they are important, and how to recognize when each should be used.Length: 11:32 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Lesson 33
Eric discusses some common time signatures, what they mean with regards to music theory, and what they feel like to hear and play.Length: 9:54 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
About Eric Haugen
View Full Biography
Eric Haugen is an accomplished guitarist and experienced teacher who emphasizes composition, subtlety, and tone, and his detailed transcriptions showcase not only classic guitar heroes but also those often overlooked. Currently Eric sits in with Blue Cactus and Birds and Arrows. He writes songs and plays regularly with guitar-pop buddies The Outboards as well as acoustic folk collaborative Nantahala. He also hosts a YouTube channel with over 51,000 followers. Eric knows that the mastery of the guitar is a life-long journey. He continually seeks out new techniques, theories, and songs to keep his playing and ultimately his students' playing interesting.
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
In this lesson Randall introduces the partial capo (using a short-cut capo by Kyser) and talks about how it can make the...Free LessonSeries Details
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Greg kicks off his series telling a little about himself and introduces the C9 tuning.Free LessonSeries Details
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Mike H."I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar!"
I am 66 years young and I still got it! I would have never known this if it had not been for Jamplay! I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar! Ha! I cannot express enough how great you're website is! It is for beginners and advanced pickers! I am an advanced picker and thought I had lost it but thanks to you all, I found it again! Even though I only play by ear, I have been a member a whopping whole two weeks now and have already got Brent's country shuffle and country blues down and of course with embellishments. Thank you all for your wonderful program!
Greg J."With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace"
I'm a fifty eight year old newbie who owns a guitar which has been sitting untouched in a corner for about seven years now. Last weekend I got inspired to pick it up and finally learn how to play after watching an amazing Spanish guitarist on TV. So, here I am. I'm starting at the beginning with Steve Eulberg and I couldn't be happier (except for the sore fingers :) Some day I'm going to play like Steve! I'm self employed with a hectic schedule. With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace, rewinding and replaying the videos until I get it. This is a very enjoyable diversion from my work yet I still feel like I'm accomplishing something worthwhile. Thanks a lot, Greg
Bill"I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students."
I am commenting here to tell you and everyone at JamPlay that I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students. I truly enjoy learning to play the guitar on JamPlay.com. Yes, I said the words, ""enjoy learning."" It is by far the best deal for the money.


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Having spent all weekend writing about our USPs, marketing strategies, and sorting out cash flow forecasts I am a bit out of steam for updates. Not that there's that much to report. I should mention that much to my chagrin our commercial mortgage broker did not jump up and down with joy when I sent him the business plan, nor did he claim that it was the best piece of writing ever seen, hence I'm currently feeling rather under-appreciated.
It did occur to me however, that this process would be so much easier if I had a time machine and could fix the following elements that I have absolutely no control over at this stage in the game.
My current mortgage
I would have been very grateful if a little mortgage fairy had visited me in 2008 and mentioned that interest rates, which were standing at 5%, were going to go down and there was no need for me to get a fixed rate mortgage for 5 years at an interest rate of 5.69% – which seemed like a phenomenal deal at the time.
Saving: £5,800 in early repayment charges + £thousands in reduced monthly mortgage payments had I had the courage to invest in a tracker.
Porthminster View accounts
Without divulging too much information, if I had a time machine I would pop back to 2006 and tell the current proprietors of Porthminster View how to set up their accounts to ensure that they would have no trouble selling it as a profitable business should the situation ever arise.
Saving: Hmmmm, this is a difficult one. Probably would have saved us lots of time and made the process of borrowing money a lot easier, however, it may have meant that we wouldn't have been able to buy the property at such an affordable price; so maybe not such a bad thing after all.
Plan A
With the knowledge I have now, I would never have invested so much of our time and energy in Plan A which was a bit of a non-starter. Plan B all the way.
Saving: £1,500 in survey and broker fees + a healthier mental state which wasn't driving me to think homicidal thoughts about all surveyors in the South West of England.
My car (RIP)
With advance knowledge I would not have turned right out of a side road, on 28th December 2009, straight into the path of an oncoming car, irrespective of whether he was indicating to turn left or not. Without making that slightly disastrous decision I wouldn't have written off my car in a matter of seconds, therefore resulting in having to buy a new one with our ever depleting funds.
Saving: £2,000 + insurance, etc. to buy a new car, plus I would not be rendered uninsurable through losing my no-claims discount which was tenuous to say the least.
The Big Chill
I might have hidden Danny's Big Chill ticket so he would have had to stay at home with me all weekend and help me write the 20 page business plan.
Saving: Not sure if this would have saved me anything; it may have made me feel better briefly, yet I suspect my relationship would have been in a worse state than it is now had Danny and I been stuck in my flat all weekend drafting marketing plans together (plus this way I get my own way).
Like I said, I am feeling unappreciated and therefore indulging in a little self-pity.
All in all, there are a few things I would like to wind the clock back on under the supposition that it would make life easier at this stage in the proceedings. However if, like Doc says in Back to the Future (and I'm paraphrasing here), "each action has a direct and opposite reaction" then any of these things actually changing may have resulted in us losing this opportunity; so I guess it's a good thing I can't go round fiddling with time… God only knows what kind of chaos I could cause.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Avoiding Eye Injuries in Children Children should wear protective eyewear during sports and recreational activities. In the classroom, they should wear eye protection when doing lab experiments. Corneal Abrasions A corneal abrasion is a scratch or injury to the cornea, the clear, dome-shaped surface that covers the front of the eye. This is a very common occurrence in children. Chemical Burns of the Eye A chemical burn occurs when a child gets any type of chemical in his or her eye. This is a medical emergency, and the child should receive immediate medical care. Bruising or Black Eye (Ecchymosis) A black eye should be seen by a doctor to make sure no injury has occurred to the eye itself. Most black eyes heal completely and do not cause any damage. Fractures of the Orbit The orbit is the bony structure around the eye. A blow to the face can break one or more of these bones and can result in severe eye injury and damage. Eyelid Lacerations Eyelid lacerations are cuts to the eyelid caused by trauma. Your child's doctor will examine the eye closely to make sure no damage has occurred to the eye itself. Foreign Bodies in the Eye The foreign object may be in the conjunctiva—the thin membrane that covers the actual eye—or in the cornea, the clear, dome-shaped surface that covers the front of the eye. Blood in the Eye (Hyphema) Symptoms of hyphema include blood visible in the eye, usually following some type of trauma. Immediate medical care is necessary. First-Aid for the Eyes A child with a foreign object in the eye should not rub the eye. An eye wash may be able to flush the object out of the eye. If that doesn't work, seek medical attention immediately. Anatomy of the Eye The structures of the eye include the cornea, iris, pupil, macula, retina, and the optic nerve. Cosmetic Safety for Adolescent Contact Lens Wearers Cosmetics are among some of the most common sources of problems for contact lens wearers. Misusing cosmetics can lead to severe adverse reactions.


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Hello I'm new to the forum and to java. I'm working on having my hello world app run in windows but I'm getting errors in the cmd and I'm not sure what it means.
I type javac helloworldapp.java and i recieve the following that i will post as an attachment. Any help will mean a lot thank you!
And here is the code just in case


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You can request a sample here, or contact us
This information is provided to the best of our knowledge but without obligation. Reaxis is not liable for any incorrect or missing information. This data sheet becomes invalid upon publication of a new version. Please contact us for the latest version.
Reaxis Inc. is proud to announce that both the McDonald and UPARC sites have achieved certification in both ISO 14001 and ISO 9001.
We are very proud of the work our employees at Reaxis Inc. have put in to achieve these certifications. The McDonald site has been ISO 9001 certified since 1997, while UPARC has just achieved their first certification in 2018.
We believe that Environment, Health, Safety, Security, Responsible Care and sound Business Management are mutually achievable objectives.


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There's a whole subgenre of pop sociology and social psychology dedicated to enumerating all of the causes and consequences of the modern American's crushing loneliness. The latest entry is Steve Marche's Atlantic article blaming Facebook and other social networking sites for isolating us all from one other, replacing meaningful interaction with pokes and Farmville.*
Sociologist Claude S. Fischer begs to differ. He writes:
Social scientists have more precisely tracked Americans' isolation and reports of loneliness over the last several decades. The real news, they have discovered, is that there is no such epidemic; there isn't even a meaningful trend.
If we turned to historians to measure Americans' degree of isolation over the centuries, they would probably find periods of growing and lessening social connection. The rough evidence indicates a general decline in isolation.
Fischer, being a sociologist with a plethora of empirical research to back him up, seems to have the upper hand here. But if he's right, then what explains the peculiarly modern anxiety about loneliness? What are we actually anxious about? Will Wilkinson has a theory:
The point is, some of our brightest social theorists seem to over-ready to identify troubling trends or newly urgent problems when there is actually very little evidence of any trend, or that this or that problem has actually deepened. A simple explanation of this sort of error is that we intuitively take our own increasing awareness of a problem as evidence that the problem has become objectively more salient. We should watch out for this.
"Increasing awareness of a problem" is one way of looking at it. A related (and not entirely mutually exclusive) possibility is that we're seeing something that's always been true, and, for the first time, turning it into a problem to be solved. Facebook may not make us lonelier, but it certainly promises to salve the loneliness we already carry around with us. Same with other social networking platforms. If we have the theoretical ability to remain in perpetual play and discourse with our friends and loved ones, then what right do we have to be lonely?
Maybe we're looking at the whole problem backwards. Maybe loneliness isn't inherently a defect to be fixed by more social interaction. In fact, social interaction can sometimes exacerbate it — even face-to-face meatspace social interaction. In those cases, introspection and solitude can be a balm. A controlled exploration of loneliness may be more healthy, long-term, than resorting to social distraction. You might not be able to construct a permanent bulwark against loneliness, but when it rushes past your defenses you can at least acknowledge it as an old and familiar acquaintance.
This doesn't sound crazy or counter-intuitive to me. In fact, it sounds pretty obvious. But this whole discussion seems to be predicated on the popular assumption that loneliness is always an enemy from whom you should flee. That assumption, I would argue, is the true epidemic.
*My words, not his. But as far as I can tell, poking and Farmville are both over now.


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Per conoscere le migliori ricette e scambiarsi pareri tra gourmet!
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10 Must Have Foods for this Winter; Healthy and Nutritious Winter Foods for all
Winters are standing on the edge and will soon overcome. Every season brings with it, its specialty; similarly winters along with it brings special food that we can enjoy in the cold and enjoy the vacations and stay healthy. Winter is my favorite season because it gives me my personal favorite food (sweet potatoes) to eat; moreover I could sleep for long hours in cozy quilts. Woooww..!! I am really waiting desperately for winters. But,…Read More


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The United States military has a full schedule in East Asia this week, as they seek to both dissuade North Korea and show their hand against growing Chinese military aspirations in the region. On Thursday and Friday (June 21 and 22), the U.S. naval aircraft carrier George Washington (CVN 73) and her strike group conducted trilateral naval exercises with elements of both the Republic of Korea Navy and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (Please note, the release below came out during the exercise, hence the present tense):
The exercise is taking place beyond the territorial seas of any coastal nation and is intended to reinforce regional security and stability and increase interoperability, operational proficiency and readiness. The exercise will include integrated helicopters operations, visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) exchanges and demonstrations, communication links interoperability, dynamic ship maneuvers and liaison officer exchanges.
U.S. Navy ships scheduled to participate include the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), with embarked Carrier Air Wing 5 and Destroyer Squadron 15; the guided-missile cruisers USS Cowpens (CG 63) and USS Shiloh (CG 67); the guided-missile destroyers USS Lassen (DDG 82) and McCampbell (DDG 85). (Source: America's Navy)
As these exercises have finished, the USS George Washington and her strike group are now positioned off of the west coast of the Korean peninsula for this weekend's scheduled exercises with the Republic of Korea. The supercarrier will lead bilateral drills with the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN), training up on their ability to respond to North Korean threats, as well as increasing the interoperability of the two nations' military forces:
SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) — A nuclear-powered American aircraft carrier is in position off the west coast of South Korea to lead large-scale military exercises aimed at honing the two countries' joint capability to cope with North Korean aggression, Seoul officials said Friday, amid the North's saber-rattling.
About 10 warships and submarines, including the George Washington Carrier Striker Group; 8,000 personnel; and hundreds of combat aircraft from the allies will take part in the three-day exercises from Saturday, said officials at Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). (Source: Yonhap News)
These weekend naval operations come after the U.S. and ROK staged the largest-ever live-fire drill on South Korean soil on Friday (June 22). The excerpt from the article below states that it was the largest drill since the Korean war, though this author is under the impression that the Korean War was not a drill:
On Friday, about 15 miles from the Demilitarized Zone, the militaries of South Korea and the U.S. staged what they called their largest joint, one-day, live-fire exercise since the war…
…More than 2,000 U.S. and South Korean servicemembers, along with an array of fighter jets, attack helicopters and tanks, were put through their paces as dozens of media representatives and more than 4,000 spectators looked on from a nearby hillside. (Source: Stars and Stripes)
It's a busy week for ever emerging East Asian Alliances….
Related posts:
Craig was born & raised in the United States, having recently returned there after over five years in Asia. He is currently pursuing further education in the realms of East Asian Studies and Politics. Craig is an avid fan of the political, economic, and military machinations occurring throughout the Asian continent and how those turning gears affect the rest of the world. He's currently covering both North and South Korea for Asia Security Watch, enjoying shedding light on to this far-too-often ignored slice of Asia.
Craig Scanlan has 82 post(s) on Asia Security Watch


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PHILADELPHIA (AP) LeSean McCoy could watch from the sideline, continue his recovery from a concussion and return next year when the games matter to the Philadelphia Eagles.
He's not wired that way.
``I don't live like that, just taking off,'' McCoy said Wednesday. ``I'm a competitor, and I'm going to finish the season out.''
McCoy will start at running back against Washington (8-6) on Sunday in his first game back after missing four because of a severe concussion. The Eagles (4-10) are playing out the string in another disappointing season, so it would've been understandable if McCoy just sat out the last two games after a serious head injury.
But McCoy wants to play, no matter the score, situation or circumstance. He was injured in the final minutes of a blowout loss to the Redskins on Nov. 18. Still, he defended coach Andy Reid's decision to keep him in the game that late with the outcome already decided.
``Even when I got hurt, people blamed Coach for a bit,'' McCoy said, ``but I want to be in there.''
Rookie Bryce Brown filled in nicely for McCoy, running for 347 yards and four touchdowns in his first two career starts. But Brown had just 40 yards in the next two games and fumbled four times in four games.
Even still, Reid plans to rotate the two backs.
``I'm going to keep a close eye on him,'' Reid said of McCoy. ``It won't be a normal workload like you'd see during the season when he's fresh. He's coming off an injury. I understand that, so I'll keep a close eye on him. He'll work in as a starter and then Bryce has some valuable experience that he's gained over the last few weeks so we'll get him in there.''
Before he got hurt, McCoy was far short of matching his 2011 numbers. He has 750 yards rushing and two touchdowns along with 40 catches for 235 yards and three scores.
Last year, McCoy set franchise records with 17 touchdowns rushing, and 20 total scores, while earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. He also led the NFL with 102 first downs and 48 runs of 10-plus yards, while finishing as the league's fourth-leading rusher with 1,309 yards.
``He's such a dynamic player, so it's exciting to have him back because he's done so many great things here and just to have him healthy,'' rookie quarterback Nick Foles said. ``I know he's excited to be back out there. He just adds another dimension.''
Quarterback Michael Vick also will be available this week, but he'll be the No. 3 quarterback behind Foles and Trent Edwards because of his extended layoff. Vick missed five games with a concussion.
``We'll just see how things go,'' Reid said. ``But right now, I just want to get him back in the swing and going here and make sure he's good.
``Right now, he feels great, so we just want to make sure we keep it that way.''
NOTES: Safety Nate Allen, a second-round pick in 2010, was benched. Kurt Coleman and Colt Anderson will be the safeties against the Redskins. Anderson filled in for Coleman, who missed the last two games with a chest injury. ``Colt came in and we asked him to fill in at the line of scrimmage and be a physical player in there and he did a nice job with that,'' Reid said. ``We needed that at that time and we're going to need it this week. The (Redskins) run the football and do a good job. So, we'll leave him in that position.'' ... TE Brent Celek is expected to play after missing a game with a concussion. Backup TE Clay Harbor was placed on injured reserve with a back injury.
Online:http://pro32.ap.org/poll andhttp://twitter.com/AP-NFL


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Principal Lecturer
Dr. Matt McGarrity is a Principal Lecturer in the Communication Department at the University of Washington. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in public speaking, argumentation, classical rhetoric, rhetorical criticism, and communication pedagogy. He founded and continues to direct the University of Washington Speaking Center, which offers speech coaching to students. He has published academic articles and teaching materials on communication education and public speaking and has won multiple top paper awards for public speaking research at academic conferences. He has won a number of teaching awards, including UW's Distinguished Teaching Award, Toastmaster's Communications & Leadership Award, and the National Speakers' Association's Outstanding Professor Award.


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Tyler Labine doesn't have any movies playing in theaters.
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Kelly Regular Trousers
Additional Information
Kelly Regular Trousers
- Regular silhouette with elasticated waist
- Front pockets
- 74% viscose, 23% polyamide, 3% elastane
- Mid rise, length: regular (80 cm)
- Oeko-Tex certified - free of harmful substances
Fantastic trousers with high stretch and an elasticated waistband which ensure a comfortable fit that shapes the body without feeling tight. These trousers have a classic, feminine design with convenient pockets at the front. As the cut is so simple, they are easy to dress up or down, so they are suitable for daytime and evening wear, and go with long and short tops. The fabric is a twill weave, which ensures that the trousers retain their shape and colour extra well. Your clothing from LauRie is Oeko-Tex certified, meaning that it is free of carcinogenic and allergenic chemicals. With this certification, you have a guarantee that your LauRie clothing is free of harmful substances. Regular silhouette.


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Mouseketeer-turned-musician-turned-movie star Justin Timberlake recently sat down for an interview with Playboy, during which the openly candid star of 'Friends With Benefits' and 'Bad Teacher' talked about smoking pot and whether or not he plans to release new music.
In the interview, published Monday, Timberlake says he "absolutely" still smokes pot, adding, "The only thing pot does for me is it gets me to stop thinking. Sometimes I have a brain that needs to be turned off. Some people are just better high."
Meanwhile, Timberlake says he has no plans to release a follow-up album to his Grammy-winning 'FutureSex/LoveSounds,' which hit stores almost five years ago.
"No. I don't have a single song ready to go," he said. "People keep asking me when a new song or album is coming out, and I don't know what to say. Music is not my focus right now. It may be someday. It could happen next month or next year, but right now it's not where it's at for me."
Timberlake's next movie, 'Bad Teacher,' opens Jun. 24. Watch the trailer below.


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When it comes to our comfort zone, bedside tables are a must. Books, glasses, eye-drops, various types of body cream, objects we forget we ever had- it always surprises us how many things can fit into the drawers of a nightstand or on a small bedside table. Since Freshome is all about creative ideas, we decided to dedicate a post to bedside tables with an unusual appearance, miniature storage units which can enhance the overall look of your bedroom. If you did not know how to reuse those wooden tables scattered in the garage or those old suitcases, there are some ideas below that could help. If you like ladders, but thought it would be crazy to place them near the bed, here is your chance. And if you thought you cat's crib was too unaesthetic for your bedroom, simply reorganize it like in the picture below. We believe you will find these unusual bedside table ideas useful and we are looking forward to your help in finding more.
Peliculas Online


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Almond joy! – Victory for bees –
With little fanfare, pesticide manufacturer Bayer has asked California regulators to limit the use of one of their most profitable products, imidacloprid...
Imidacloprid belongs to a class of systemic, neurotoxic pesticides known to be particularly toxic to honey bees: neonicotinoids. As systemics, they permeate the plant from the roots up and are expressed in pollen, nectar and guttation droplets (like pesticide dew).
Bad for bees, bad for almonds
New research suggests that even in very small doses, neonicotinoids create big problems for bees. Imidacloprid likely weakens their immune systems and, in combination with other threats like parasites, contributes to the alarming decline in bee populations termed "Colony Collapse Disorder."
…through a recent public records request, PAN obtained evidence of Bayer's request to remove the product in 2010. The EPA has little experience with voluntary withdrawl of a pesticide, so the agency has been slow to fulfill Bayer's request. But it's likely that a victory for bees — along with almond growers and beekeepers — is imminent.


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Revealing mistake: In the scene where Calvin is driving with Ricky after bailing him out of jail and Ricky tells Calvin to pull over so he can toss the gun, you can clearly see that Calvin isn't actually turning the steering wheel. You can notice this more after Ricky gets back in the car and Calvin drives away and does a hand-over-hand turn.
Continuity mistake: When Eddie is eating the fried chicken and giving a speech about having seniority, look at the picture on the mirror behind him, it's on the bottom right corner. When the shot widens the picture moves up towards the middle of the mirror.ACertainShadeofGreen
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the movie, Calvin is sitting on a couch and his pregnant wife comes in with a mug of something and sits next to Calvin. They start to talk and she takes her left hand off of the mug and lays it on the side of her stomach. The camera angle cuts to the back of the couch and both of her hands are on the mug. The camera angle cuts back to the front and her had is on her belly again.Bonita Kilpatrick
Revealing mistake: In the scene where everyone is dancing, there is a shot that shows the window. Right before Calvin walks in front of it, a small shadow crosses it. Since the lights in the barbershop weren't previously casting shadows, this suggests a bright light off camera. (01:10:51)
Revealing mistake: Several times, Cedric-the-Entertainer's scalp moves freely underneath his wig, making it painfully obvious. This is best seen when he lectures Calvin about selling out.
Continuity mistake: After Calvin tells the barbers not to buy any more things from the guy who always comes into the shop to solicit, we see Ricky trying to drop/hide a phone which he has apparently just purchased. Problem is he had given the phone back to the sales guy earlier.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Calvin and Janelle are opening their shops and having a quick conversation, it shows Calvin in one shot taking off his padlock, then in another it shows him shaking the lock off of his key and letting it fall, then another shot, you can see him taking the lock off with his hand. (00:06:02)
Continuity mistake: When Calvin's wife comes in to ask him about why the guy that he is selling the shop to was there, before she leaves her jacket is sitting her chair as she gets up and when she walks out the door, it suddenly appears on her.
Plot hole: When Eve is in the back room at the barber shop and she is talking to the big guy she has a picture of her boyfriend in her hand. As she leaves the room the picture does not go out with her and we never saw her throw it away. So where did it go?
Continuity mistake: In the scene where a guy is getting shaved by Ricky, Cedric the entertainer comes over to show them how things should be done and gives them a little speech. When Cedric tells the white guy to get him a hot towel, Cedric puts it over the face of the guy who's getting shaved, you see the towel around his face and then the next shot it disappears.


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Twitter supports a number of advanced search operators and filters that allow you to customize your search query and find exactly the tweets you're looking for. Here are a few of our favorite Twitter search operators and how to use them (with tons of examples).
Find one keyword OR another
First, Twitter does not require an AND or + operator to search for multiple keywords. So don't include them. Just type together multiple keywords into your query and Twitter will return tweets that include of those terms. For example:
However, sometimes you might want to find tweets that include one keyword or another keyword. Use the OR operator to separate those terms and your report will include tweets that mention one or the other.
You can also chain together multiple keywords to create a more complex query. The OR operator will attach to the word that immediately precedes it, very much like order of operations in algebra. For example, the following query will find tweets that mention social media metrics or social media analytics, because the OR links to the metrics and analytics terms.
social media metrics OR analytics
@Username queries
There are several ways to learn more about the reach of tweets from a particular Twitter account, depending on the type of information you're looking for.
- Tweets to, from and about an account - tweetreachapp
Run a report for a username but do not include the @symbol. This will return all mentions of that Twitter account (including retweets and replies), as well as all tweets from that Twitter account. This is the most comprehensive set of reach stats for a specific Twitter account.
- Tweets to and about an account – @tweetreachapp
Run a report for a username and include the @symbol. This will return all mentions of an account, but not any tweets from that account. This report will let you know how many people are talking about a certain Twitter account, and the ways they're talking about it (including all retweets, replies, and mentions).
- Tweets to an account – to:tweetreachapp
Run a report using the to: operator and a username. Do not use the @ symbol. This report will return only direct replies to that account (where the username is the first word in the tweet). This reports is useful for learning more about how people talk to that account.
- Tweets from an account – from:tweetreachapp
Run a report using the from: operator and a username. Do not use the @ symbol. This report will return only tweets from that account. This reports is useful for measuring the reach of an individual Twitter account, and for learning more about the kinds of tweets that account is posting.
Date filters
You can filter your search results to a particular time period by adding the since: and until: operators to your search query. Use these date filters to narrow down your results. And since you can access up to 1500 tweets per query, if you run a report for each day of a campaign using date filters, you can find more total tweets. For example:
social media since:2011-09-24
@mashable until:2011-09-26
You can use one or both filters in a query. These dates correspond to around 12:00 a.m. UTC, so since filter dates will include tweets from that date, but until filter dates will include tweets up until that date. And no matter what, snapshot reports can only go back about a week, so you still can't use these filters to access tweets older than a week.
You can exclude certain keywords from your search by adding a minus sign (-) before the keyword. This will filter out all tweets that include that keyword. This is particularly useful if your company/brand/client/product has has a common name and want to exclude mentions of others with that name.
And more…
These are some of our favorite filters and operators, but here's the full list of advanced search operators if you're interested in more. One word of advice – Twitter handles fairly simple queries really well, but tends to break with longer and more complex queries. We recommend that you only add in a few advanced operators per query and try to limit the total number of keywords and characters in a search query. Keep it under 5-8 words and 60 characters and you should be fine. And definitely run free TweetReach reports to test out your more complex queries and see what kinds of tweets they find.
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Caught On Camera: 6 Year Old Girl Nearly Gets Crushed By Car Crash!
SUNNYSIDE, WA - A 6-year-old girl in Washington State is lucky to be alive after an out-of-control car nearly crushed her.
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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Another WesFest Success
WesFest 9, the ninth annual benefit concert in support of the Wes Wehmiller Endowed Scholarship Fund at Berklee, took place at the Baked Potato on March 16, 2014. The concert series serves as the centerpiece of a continuing fundraising drive for the scholarship fund, which honors the legacy of Wehmiller, a 1992 Berklee graduate and highly accomplished bassist, athlete, and photographer who died of thyroid cancer in January 2005. This year's concert had an intimate family feel in the legendary Studio City club where numerous renowned music legends have performed. WesFest 9 was a superb musical celebration for a packed house that helped raise $23,000.
This year's headliner was Grammy-winning bassist John Patitucci who has performed and recorded with greats such as Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, B.B. King, Bon Jovi, Queen Latifah, Sting, Carly Simon, Carole King, and countless others. He was accompanied by keyboardist John Beasley (Miles Davis, Chaka Khan) and drumming phenom Jonathan Pinson '11 (Herbie Hancock). Their set featured amazing solos, an ensemble energy that was world-class, and a spirit that was consistent with all that Wes Wehmiller represented.
In typical WesFest tradition, the 2013 Wehmiller Endowed Scholarship winner, bassist Max McKellar, performed onstage with Danny Mo & the Exciters, showing the capacity crowd exactly what they were supporting. McKellar laid down a deep pocket together with legendary drummer John "JR" Robinson '75 (Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Madonna, Eric Clapton). Led by Wehmiller's Berklee bass professor and friend Danny Morris '78 and also including vocalist/keyboardist Kira Small '93 (Peter Frampton, Martina McBride), saxophonist Scott Gilman '80 (Foreigner, Alice Cooper), vocalist Krysta Youngs '05, and assistant professor Marty Walsh on guitar. The soulful band engaged the crowd and filled the room with love and music.
In a unique WesFest performance, special guest Steve Bailey (chair of Berklee's Bass Department) joined McKellar and John Patitucci on stage for a bass trio treatment of the Michael Jackson tune "I Can't Help It." John "JR" Robinson who had played drums on the original Jackson recording of the song, accompanied them. It was a memorable moment for McKellar to play with three world-class musicians, and demonstrate his impressive musicianship and strong sense of groove.
The event began with a fun set by Joe Travers & Friends, featuring alumni Joe Travers '91 (drummer for Zappa Plays Zappa), guitarist Griff Peters '93, and vocalist Colin Keenan '93. All the group members were close friends with Wehmiller and the sense of connection flowed through their performances.
Paula Wehmiller, Wes's mother, summed it up by saying WesFest 9 took her to "a life-giving, spirit-soaring, love-abounding place of resonance with the universe." Everyone at the Baked Potato that evening would agree.


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Tilting at Slot Machines
You sense it first: the hint of salt in the air, the widening, flattening of the horizon, the glimpse of marshland. You know it's just east of where you are, two hours and 125 miles south and east of New York City. But as the expressway turns and the welcome signs appear, you do not see the expanse of a magnificent ocean; no, you see a dozen high-rise buildings that block the water's view: Trump Taj Mahal, Bally's, Caesars, Harrah's, while your approach is lined with billboards of near-pornographic promise ("Loosest Slots!").
It is fitting that our first look at Atlantic City is not of the ocean that was once its central attraction, but of the hotel-casinos that have been dominating the city's landscape and economy for the last quarter century.
For my wife and I have come here not to gaze in wonder at the Atlantic, nor to sample the simple pleasures of the Boardwalk, whose charm survives even in the face of Burt Lancaster's comment in the film Atlantic City: "You should have seen it in the old days."
No, Dena and I are here...on a mission.
A really, really stupid mission. Like the Gallant 600 in Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade," we have chosen to ride into the Valley of Financial Death. We are risking all—or to be more precise, all that this fine publication has agreed to pay me—by challenging the iron laws of mathematics and a century of experience of millions of gamblers.
We are going to see whether we can make money at the single least gambler-friendly form of wagering known to man: the slots.
Now it's not as if I don't know that I am embarking on a foolhardy mission. In talking with renowned mathematician John Alan Paulos about my plan, he says, "It's a very dumb thing to do. In fact, I think it's dumber than playing the lottery—but at least the lottery has the psychic payoff of allowing you to daydream for a week, imagining who you're gonna tell off."
I don't need a mathematician's mind to tell me how dumb Paulos thinks this is, because he rewards me with Voltaire's observation that "the lottery is a tax on stupidity."
Dumber than stupidity...hmmm.
Joe Winert, a journalist who covers the gaming industry, gives me some perspective. He says the once lowly slot machine was offered in casinos in bygone days primarily to occupy the spouse or very special friend of a high-rolling craps shooter or blackjack player. Now it accounts for 75 percent of casino revenue—and that's 75 percent of the nearly $5 billion that gamblers left in Atlantic City hotels in the last fiscal year. (Nationally, according to The New York Times Magazine, casinos took in some $30 billion from slots.)
So what the hell am I doing?
For one thing, I don't know how to do anything else. When I find myself in a casino—almost always when I'm in Las Vegas to give a speech or cover a large media convention—I gravitate to the slots out of fear or ignorance. I can't remember the rules for craps; the cards at blackjack are dealt so quickly that I break out in a cold sweat after three or four minutes; and I am about as able to maintain a poker face at poker as Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher is at keeping calm when a Steelers touchdown is nullified by a holding call.
Moreover, I am the victim of the worst thing that can happen to a clueless, very occasional gambler: I once won big.
As steel-trap-minded Cigar Aficionado readers may remember, the first time I traveled with my wife-to-be Dena—to Vegas, for speechifying—we walked into the New York, New York casino, put two quarters into a slot machine, and won $1,600. This not only convinced me that I had indeed met my soul mate; it also imbued us with a kind of arrogance: "Odds? We don't care about no stinking odds. We're winners!" And over the years we have done a little better than even, according to our own, highly suspect calculations. (Once Dena hit a $250 win on a quarter "Wheel of Fortune"; less than a minute later, at an adjoining slot, so did I. Such memories are the stuff of which foreclosures are made.)
So when the memory of a decades-old New York magazine piece began to stir in my memory, it fired the blood. That writer had taken his fee and agreed to invest it in a range of lottery tickets: pocketing the profits and absorbing the losses. (If memory serves, he lost.)
My proposal was similar: Cigar Aficionado would front the $2,500 fee: I agreed to risk it all on the slots, ranging from quarter machines to the $25 slots (Venturing into Bill Bennett territory would make no sense; the $500 level could wipe out the stake in less than five seconds.) How did I define "risk"? The way my wife does: put in a bill, and if you win enough before the bill runs out—more or less double your investment—you cash out that bill and put in another. Whatever I lost was my loss; anything I won over the original fee would be split 50-50 between me and charity.
Before our journey, we armed ourselves with all sorts of information, reliable and otherwise. We went online to get the slot percentages for every level of machine at every casino in Atlantic City. For example, the Sands pays out 93.1 percent on its quarter slot, while the Taj Mahal pays out 89.5 percent. Caesars pays out 99.9 percent on its $25 slots, while Resorts pays out 94.8 percent). We bought a quartet of books that offer advice on beating the slots: if a machine doesn't pay out after six pulls—or 10 pulls—move on. Don't play slots near the table games, because those players don't like the distracting bells and whistles. Play in the early morning, after the losers have filled up machines during the night.
("It doesn't make any difference," John Alan Paulos patiently explained to me. "Every spin is independent of every other spin. It's unlike, say, blackjack.") And we learned of the special appeal of "cherry dribblers," those machines that seem to provide no end of chances to win, with extra spins and bonus wheels, with huge payoffs that always seem to elude the player by just this much, but which, of course, are programmed by a Random Number Generator to create just that illusion. These, of course, are the games we're most attracted to.
And so, on an overcast afternoon, we pull into the parking garage at Caesars, walk through the faux-marble entrance, check into our room on the XXXIVth floor, and walk into 131,000 square feet of instant riches a fingertip away. Rows of slot machines greet us—3,100 by the casino's count. Most make the simple three-reel device invented by Charles Fey in the late 1890s seem like a diversion from caveman days. "Wheel of Fortune"—the billion-dollar-a year breakthrough game that fused America's lust for gambling with its obsession with television—has now been joined by "The Price Is Right," "Jeopardy" and other games featuring the images and voices of long-dead media stars from Lucille Ball to Elvis. There are penny slots, nickel slots and every other conceivable denomination; off to the left are the high-limit slots, set off from more plebian ventures by a red velvet rope.
Later for that; we're starting modestly, with quarters. At 3:30 p.m., I insert my first $20 bill into a "Wheel of Fortune." Six minutes later, after playing three-credit spins that produce only two "wins" (a single cherry, giving back two credits, thus equaling a loss of 25 cents for each "win"), and without the blessing of a single "Spin," the $20 is gone. Dena, meanwhile, is playing "Bonus Frenzy," a three-reel game replete with fiery "7"s. She hits a "100" pay icon; a few minutes later, she cashes out with a $10 profit on her first twenty. So we're down $10; no problem, we'll make this up in volume.
I take note of the woman sitting next to me, who is blissfully unaware of the workings of the Random Number Generator. She wins a "Spin" on "Wheel of Fortune," and the wheel gives her a paltry 30-credit payout—just one click away from a 1,000-credit ($250) win.
"Oh, just missed!" she moans, and immediately switches from pushing the "spin" button to pulling down the lever, as if this will coax the machine to providing that big payoff she just missed. Foolish woman; she obviously lacks my fine appreciation of these games, which has enabled me to lose with a full understanding of the probabilities.
And indeed, at precisely 4:02, three fiery 7's align themselves on the pay line: 100 credits, twenty-five dollars! Look out, Jaguar dealers, I'm heading your way! At the strong suggestion of my wife, I cash out with $35. So far, we're down $40 after a half hour of play, but I am increasingly sure that it is only a matter of time now.
And it is; two minutes later, I'm down another $25. OK, it's time for a change of strategy: we're moving to the one slot game where a small degree of skill is required: video poker. Here, knowing what cards to hold actually makes a difference. (You know: if you're dealt five spades, keep them). And here, the difference in our fortune is palpable: it takes 15 minutes to lose another $30.
As I mull over the possibilities, I notice that I am behaving exactly the way the makers of these games want me to. For instance, I am gravitating to machines based almost solely on the highest—and rarest—payout lines. This "Double Diamond" pays 4,000 coins if you line up three Double Diamond symbols. This one pays 8,000 coins. Both Dena and I are drawn to the games that provide "Action"—hit the right combination on "On the Money" and the reels go crazy, spinning again, and again, and again, all to the accompaniment of the bizarre sounds of a machine going crazy. The result may be—and usually is—only four or five dollars, but by God, you've done something, you've cracked the machine.
"The slot machine is brilliantly designed from a behavioral psychology context," psychiatry professor Nancy Petry told The New York Times. "The people who are making these machines are using all the behavioral techniques to increase the probability that the behavior of gambling will reoccur."
Of course, as a highly trained journalist impervious to such irrational forces, I now reach a flawlessly rational decision: since I have lost at the quarter level, it's time to move up. Step aside, Michael Jordan; I'm heading to the fifty-cent "Wheel of Fortune" with a hundred-dollar bill.
The change is remarkable: in two minutes, I am down $50. Three minutes later, I'm down to my last dollar, which of course I cash out; God forbid I win a "Spin" on the bonus wheel that I can't play because I've only played one credit instead of three. Clearly another change of strategy is in order: over we go to the dollar slots. Dena bravely agrees to risk $60 on the dollar "Double Diamond" (this is the woman who, on our honeymoon, called a halt to our stopover at the Chumash casino outside of Santa Barbara, California, when we were $12.50 ahead). I'm at the dollar "Wheel of Fortune." She wins $60 quickly and cashes out; I lose the hundred almost as quickly.
I am beginning to feel like Carmine Sabatini, the Marlon Brando character in The Freshman, who says to his stockbroker: "The last stock you sold me went down; I don't like it when my stocks go down." It's one thing when you wander into a casino with a budgeted amount to lose; it's no different from taking your kid to a video arcade, where you're buying fun, a break from the work that has brought you there. But now, this is the work. I've agreed to put every penny of my wages for this enterprise on the line, and I don't care very much right now that the Atlantic City payout rate for slots is over 90 percent. If this luck keeps up when I move to the high-limit slots tomorrow, I am looking at one simple possibility: by the time we leave tomorrow, we will slouch out of Atlantic City with next to nothing, leaving only the sure and certain prospect of public ridicule.
My dark thoughts are interrupted by Dena's frantic beckoning. Back at the "Bonus Frenzy" quarter slots, a "Ten Times" hit has given her 500 credits; along with what was left of her original $20, she cashes out with $135. The euphoria lasts just long enough to watch a succession of $20 bills disappear into "Triple Stars." With that, we pack it in for the afternoon, with a loss of some $350.
And this was just the warm-up.
Like an accused criminal overwhelmed by bad news, we decide a change of venue might do the trick; so we cab over to Borgata, the newest joint in town. It's a sleek two-year-old billion-dollar, 43-story, 2,002-room building for 30-somethings who wait on a line half the length of a football field for the chance to play in Mixx, a nightclub where a skybox view of the dance floor tents out for $1,000 a night, and where a bottle of premium vodka can fetch $300. As with every casino-hotel, there is virtually no way to navigate the place without passing rows of slots, complete with footrests no less; so we leave with $200 less than we came in with.
Our last stop of the night is Bally's, where we find the "Megabucks" game with its giant progressive jackpot, standing now at about $6.2 million. And it's a nickel slot! Well, not exactly! To win the progressive jackpot, with odds of some 45 million to one, you have to play 60 credits—in other words, the same $3 you had to play when it was a dollar slot. You win on just about every spin; it's just that you generally win fewer than 60 credits, which explains what happens to my $100 bill in little more than 20 minutes. We retire for the night some $700 down; the prospect of tomorrow's encounter with the high-limit slots leaves me with the same dread I felt in high school on all those Sunday nights on the eve of a physics exam.
t's 9 a.m. when we venture back down to Caesars' massive casino; the huge floor is largely deserted, and when I make my way over to the high-limit area—after dropping another $100 along the way—the only other people there are a cleaning woman and a casino employee tending to the $500-a-pop machine. I ease my way past the velvet rope—hey, serious player here!—and cautiously approach the $5 machines. I feed in the first $100 bill—only 20 credits?—and I hear a faint whirring sound. It's not one of the slots—it's my grandmother spinning in her grave.
After four spins, I'm up $5. I wimp out and cash it in. (Well, I did risk it, didn't I?) I move to the next machine. After three spins, I'm up $5 again. I wimp out again. Come on—this isn't what you agreed to do. I find the $5 "Wheel of Fortune," where a two-credit play gives you a chance at a bonus spin. All right, if I'm going down, I'm going down with the king of the filler slots.
Six $10 spins bring me nothing. Then, magically, the "Spin" wheel appears, and the machine chants: "Wheel!—Of!—Fortune!" It looks as if this wheel pays off generously; I see no wedge smaller than $100. Round goes the wheel—and stops at $750. With what's left, I cash out at $790.
Aha! It was just a matter of time. As I swagger over to the $25 machines, I see what's coming clearly: the ringing of bells, the wail of sirens as I hit the Big One, the long wait for the casino employee to rush over with a tax form; will I take the tens of thousands in cash or a check? (Check, certainly; otherwise some crook will call ahead to his compatriots, and Dena and I will be hijacked before we ever hit the Garden State Parkway). Which charities will receive the half of this booty—and did I really promise half?
It takes less than two minutes for these thoughts to flash through my head—which is longer than it takes to lose $300 at $25 a shot.
Still, between that one big hit, and a $200 spin at a dollar "Wheel of Fortune," we wrap up our adventure with $1,720 left of our original $2,500 stash. If the fantasy of sudden, unearned cash did not come true, neither did the possibility of working for an hourly wage that would have sent Caesar Chavez rushing to sign me up. And with experience comes an important Life Lesson, one that all of us, particularly those who came of age at a certain time in America, would do well to remember: we are not exempt.
We may have been part of a Youth Revolution, but our hairlines are receding and our waistlines are expanding, just like everyone else's. Our music seems just as dumb and creaky to your kids as Bing Crosby's croonings did to us. If we eat cheeseburgers and fries and chocolate doughnuts, we will get just as fat as everyone else.
And if we gamble at machines that are computer-programmed to relieve us of our money over time, then we will lose money. It matters not how much more vivid the memory of a long-ago win is than the slow, steady losses.
We have paid our tax on stupidity. And we're outta here. (But you know, on that last $25 spin, I was so close...)
Jeff Greenfield is the senior political correspondent for CNN.


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It's like Bridget Jones' Diary, but with a super-powered vigilante.
June 18, 2005
My stupid/brilliant plan
Here's where I'm at: I got hired some months ago to do marketing for special project called QuantumWorks, which I discover is basically the Mother of All Search Engines. Using mysterious proprietary technology, QuantumWorks allows a user to search for any information that has ever been published on the internet ever – even stuff that doesn't exist anymore. It's a "comprehensive historical search engine with total recall," and I think The Company is using dimensional technology to run the thing. As we all know, dimensional technology is highly regulated by the feds. Nobody wants another Pittsburgh Disaster.
Sounds like a big deal, right? The QuantumWorks thing? Like a revolutionary product? The kind of thing you'd hire a whole army of marketing guys for, or outsource it, right? No, there's just little old me. My bitch Chad and I are the entire marketing department for this incredibly important product.
Naturally, I'm a little suspicious from Day One. I'm a superhero, I think everyone's a supervillain. But over time my suspicion ripens into full-on paranoia. I'm not the only one who is leery of the whole thing; the unrequited love of my life Margo Thompson, who was brought in as a project manager, is convinced that something illegal is going down.
The three executives who run the QuantumWorks project stink like supervillains to me. I'm guessing that the enigmatic John Quentin is the idea guy, the project visionary. I hardly see him around, but the dude is smug and handsome in that criminal mastermind way. The day-to-day brains of the operation is Aaron Clarke, a professor-type who I have seen chatting with guys in strange hazmat suits. Clarke doesn't seem dangerous, so of course that means he's the most dangerous of the three. That's the way it works. And then there's Ted Bradbury, The Company's CFO, a big aging jock with a handshake that could warp cold steel. Definitely parahuman. Definitely a patronizing asshole.
These three guys, the QuantumWorks executive team, seem to know that I am The Velvet Marauder, but don't seem to care, which worries me. I bugged one of their conference rooms and picked up some interesting info before they found the bug. Oddly, they didn't seem to care about the bug – they seemed to think I was being "plucky."
The really weird thing? When I got weirded out by their set-up and tried to quit, they just told me to be patient and offered me a huge raise. I took it of course.
But now my stew of mystery has come to a boil and I'm in a position where I have to do something – something heroic. Margo got pictures of the ultra-restricted Nerd Zone on the Ninth Floor, where techies in radiation suits sequester themselves behind security doors to work on God-knows-what. There's some kind of strange high-tech chamber in the Nerd Zone, beyond those security doors that I think is the missing piece of the QuantumWorks puzzle, and I have to find out what it is. I think the Nerd Zone on the Ninth Floor is a tesseract chamber, a pocket dimension that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. You could fit a football field into a broom closet using tesseract technology.
So what's the plan?
I'm going to raid the Nerd Zone tonight and I'm going to prove that, at the very least, these dickheads are using illegal dimensional technology. And then I'm calling my secret weapon –
Silver Striker.
A few months back when I was taking a sabbatical in Costa Rica after (accidentally) killing Parka, Silver Striker himself came down to give me a pep talk. Okay, actually he came down to Costa Rica to determine if I had murdered Parka or if it was a just kill. Striker told me to buck up, get back on the horse, walk it off, etc., and urged me to return to Evergreen City. I was a little concerned at the time about The Malefactors, Parka's crew, taking revenge on me, so Silver Striker gave me a transat phone. Among other features, the custom Nokia phone has a direct line to the emergency operators at Striker Mountain. You just dial 911.
I'm going in there. I'm going to take some pictures of this high-tech chamber in the Nerd Zone, and then I'm going to send them directly to Striker Mountain. Even if I die, at least I will have got the word out. If shit gets hairy, I'll just call in an air strike.
Sure, the smart thing to do would be to call Silver Striker and explain the whole thing and let the pros handle it. I'll admit that I don't have a ton of experience with vast super-conspiracies, and I may be way out of my league, power-wise. But I feel a certain sense of ownership over this whole scenario. It's my problem, right? And what kind of hero would I be if I turned cases over to a big time player every time shit got rough? Plus, I don't want him to get the credit. I know, that sounds really petty, huh? But I'm still trying to establish my brand identity, trying to cultivate the Marauder image – I need big wins like this if I want to keep seeing my name in SuperPeople.
So there you go. That's my plan. And on Monday I'll either be dead or not have a job. Or both.
I guess it's a good thing I sold all my company stock this week.
15 comments:
Right on, Marauder – don't give in to insecurity! The Silver Striker only trusted you with that phone in the first place because he knows you can take care of yourself in the field. This is YOUR turf, and nobody else's.
Hey, you stopped a real live devil from releasing Eeevil into the world – you can definitely take out some parahuman republican creepazoids. They aren't worried about the Velvet Marauder working there because they're underestimating you, and that will be their decisive mistake.
A man needs to mow his own lawn, y'know what I'm saying? Just be careful when you go there, don't forget to prepare an emergency "B" plan in case shit happens, and things will be cool.
Oh, and make sure the transat phone's battery is charged. You do not want a dead phone on your hand if/when things get bad enough to justify calling in reinforcements.
- David Campbell said...
Yes. Now you are speaking my language brother: "A man needs to mow his own lawn." I'm using that.
- Faceless Henchwoman said...
Hey, sometime when you're not about to get yourself killed in a foolish way, how about information on the Pittsburgh Disaster?
You have to go into this thing with the firm belief that you're going to win, VM. Your kung-fu is strong. You will triumph over evil. You have to, because you will never get any sugar from Margo if you don't. Maybe that could be your motto for the mission. The Velvet Marauder: Defending the Defenseless, Protecting Evergreen City, Getting Sweet Lovin'
Hey, of course getting to taste that sugar is an important factor. Why ELSE would heroes wear all that tight spandex and muscled body armors?
Dammit, having fine ladies swooning over you is one of the best parts of saving the world! That, and getting to punch villains in the mouth. Punching villains never gets old. Best stress-relief therapy I've ever had, lemme tell you.
I wish you success, VM.
However, I have two (trivial to your troubles, by all means) questions for you.
1) Sometime next week I am attending a gala, where I am expecting (with enthusiasm, I must admit) supervillain interference. (I am certain of the validity of my sources and am certain that he will not be expecting me) Since, I have no butler, neither a sidekick, nor a partner and do not drive a car nor a bike - what should I do with my suit? Should I wear it underneath my tux? I cannot carry a backpack there, for god's sake.
Surely you would understand my predicament. Please, a word of advice.
2) I am thinking of redesigning my suit. Spandex or nomex? Or something else?
About that grappling hook gun I got from MyGuy - the manual said it featured a tracking device along with a gps unit for the user to track it with. Well, fortunately I ordered it under a fake name and address and had a friend to check it out for bugs. Well, he found it out, plus other 3 bugs. Luckily, he is more than capable in the field of telecommunications and he cleaned the gun.
Watch it with those guys.
PS hammerheart, try kicking evil-doers in the crotch. Many heroes I know have tried it and wholeheartedly recommend it since.
- David Campbell said...
Hmm, I'd definitely go with a kevlar/ballistic nylon ply fabric with a nomex outer shell, but that's just me. Re: your gala - looks like you're going to have to "go commando." I've had luck stashing my suit inside a location beforehand, like in a broom closet or something, and then suiting up at the gala if need be. Tough call.
You are suggesting I sneak in there, stash it somewhere, leave (undetected) and use it later when need arises?
Not my method of choice; perhaps I 'll wear a lighter version of my suit (spandex and a few kevlar pads (not that the full version is anything spectacular)) underneath my clothes.
And I 've always wanted to pull a Bruce Wayne - I hope it doesn't turn into a nightmare from my primary school age.
or: from my primary school days
- Greg Silverman said...
Best of luck, man. Maybe after this, you'll finally be more famous than the Midnight Rambler.
- gorjus said...
Nice recap, Chris Claremont. This kind of talk just worries me, though, as I don't want the 'Striker to come striking in, only to find Velvet Mangle.
Be safe, man!! Come on!
- Dark Blight said...
June 18? and it is now August 23? hmmmm looks like his bosses had done a little preparing for his eventual onslaught, and took him down!!!
now that the coast is once again clear, it may be time for a little havoc reaking!!
mwaa haaa haaa!! *rubs hands menacingly*
i wonder how evergreen city would survive were i to kneecap all the elderly, so they had to ride in those blasted scooter chairs, causing a flood of them on the sidewalks... ooo thereby causing sidewalk and crosswalk gridlock and all the businesses will shut down and people will DIE!!!! HAHAHAAHAHAHA
*ahem* uh nevermind me.. i was just thinking aloud.. at what a terrible thing that would... uh... be.
Arrrgh. I can't take the suspense anymore, y'all! Those alien hallway plants are going to come into play, I just KNOW it. And where is Margo?
- Faceless Henchwoman said...
Does anyone have the number for Stryker Mountain, or whatever it's called? Maybe we can find out from them what happened, if anything....
Should we send flowers, or would the Marauder have liked us to make a charitable donation in his memory? And if so, to whom?


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China in Africa: Assessing the Far East Footprint
On the agenda as China's new leader, Xi Jingping, continues his three-state swing through Africa: loans, BRICS, trade deals and addressing concerns that his country is moving too aggressively on the continent.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... China's President Xi Jinping Mina ceremonies entrance to the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam on March twenty four ... it was his first trip to Africa as leader he Mela the country's president to kayak a quest to ... enter new China's offer of twenty billion dollars in loans to the continent over the next two years ... also on the itinerary of the Republic of Congo and the BRICs conference in South Africa ... she's sure reinforces the idea that Africa has a high Purdy for China ... trade between the two was two hundred billion dollars in two thousand twelve ... that's up almost twenty percent from two thousand eleven ... China looks Africa to feed its need for everything from oil to minerals ... that in his speech he also acknowledged that there are any issues that could strain relations between country and continent in the future ... as China seeks to bolster commerce with many of Africa's fifty four nations ... China's largest trading partners include Anglo South Africa Sudan Nigeria and Egypt ... and trade with the content on the whole has been down just ... for the many countries about extensive natural resources there is significant trade deficits ... China has been improving to the convent building up much needed infrastructure and buildings ... including the two hundred million are African Union headquarters in Ethiopia ... but some of these projects have been built up by Africans by Chinese construction firms with Chinese workers ... there are also concerns merchants on the local level are being edged out and undercut by Chinese vendors ... who can flood the market with cheap or get ... the alleged issue overarching on this is that China is embarking on a new economic colonialism ... by Africa's raw materials and using them to manufacture goods that its NCAA's back to Africa ... isn't she bypassing the Titans industrial sector in the process ... thus far these issues haven't slowed the China Africa turning China's cumulative foreign direct investment in Africa after two thousand eleven ... was sixteen billion dollars ... but some experts think it's significantly higher than that ... in any case it's growing ... China's state-owned firms are doing business in places that would be considered too unstable or conflict prone by Western companies ... it also doesn't impose conditions on its commercial dealings ... it does business with regimes ... that the West decided first human rights violations ... Kerry's Tanzania's stuff she said China will continue to offer necessary assistance to Africa ... with no political strings attached ... that approach is generally lead to more economic opportunities in Africa ... China's impact is literally helped pave the way for the Conn's emerging middle class ... whether it's self interests will continue to match with Africa is in the years ahead is still an open question ... for the law Street Journal this is Mark Scheffler in New York ...


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I've been working as a developer for about 3 years now (straight from uni), I'm wondering, if I take a year or two out would it be impossible to get back into the industry?
I didn't get the gap year thing out of my system after uni, and I'm thinking that I should probably do it before I hit 30 (24 now), my main concern is that if I leave the industry now, I might not get back into it at all and end up working some dead end job.
The way I see things is, that general concepts / design patterns etc remain similar over the years, and it is mostly coding syntax / actual implementation that evolves, so it shouldn't move on dramatically.
Also, women developers (yes there are some out there!) take years out to have kids and still carry on with their career afterwards, so it can't be impossible.
Ultimatum : Would taking a year or two out destroy the (small) career I've built up so far?


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Multiple reports Saturday indicated the University of Maryland basketball team will add a "legacy" player of sorts, as Jonathan Graham (the son of Terrapins legend Ernie Graham) will transfer to College Park.
Graham has played two seasons at Penn State, averaging just 1.9 points and 2.7 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game for the Nittany Lions. Graham had been a very solid player at Baltimore's Calvert Hall College before that, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. There had been disappointment among Terps fans that the school had been more heavily involved in recruiting the 6'8″, 225 pound forward-who had attended many games at Comcast Center with his father. Ernie Graham was one of the great scorers in Maryland history (and also at Baltimore's Dunbar High School), his jersey now hangs in the Comcast Center rafters.
The Washington Post reports Graham will seek a waiver from the NCAA to allow him to play immediately for Mark Turgeon's team. The Post also reports Graham will be on scholarship this season, but it is not guaranteed he will remain on scholarship past this season. With four commitments starting in fall 2014, the Terps have their full allotment of scholarships used. That could change should G/F Dez Wells or F Jake Layman continue their development to the point where they become NBA Draft material.
Should Graham be allowed to play, he would join a frontcourt that includes sophomores Shaquille Cleare and Charles Mitchell, incoming junior transfer (Michigan) Evan Smotrycz and incoming freshman Damonte Dodd.


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The tiny inlet of Maaroom in Queensland's Fraser Coast region is nestled along the spectacular shoreline of the Great Sandy Strait - with stunning views across to the world's largest sand island, Fraser Island.
This tranquil seaside hideaway, just twenty kilometres south of Maryborough along the Cooloola Coast Road, has a caravan park and an all-weather boat ramp with tidal access for fishing.
Down at the water's edge is a pleasant spot to have a picnic with sheltered gazebo and playground.
Maaroom is part of a collection of quaint fishing villages dotted along the water's edge of the Great Sandy Strait - the waterway between Fraser Island and the Fraser Coast Mainland.
Let the pace wind back several notches by following the Great Sandy Strait Discovery Drive to these villages and surrounding national parks to discover coloured sands and sand blows, incredible birdlife, fishing and boating.
Note: Information on listed products and services are provided by the operator and were correct at the time of publishing. Rates are indicative based on the minimum and maximum available prices of products and services. Please visit the operator's website for further information. All prices quoted are in Australian dollars (AUD).


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Joe Budden Apologizes & Reaches Out To Beanie Sigel & Mike Knox + Speaks On Fabolous Ethering Somaya Reece On Twitter! "That Was Some Sucker Shit. Really Immature & Some Of His Jokes Were Not Funny"
Joe Budden clearing the air
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+myConnections: Engage your community - connect to news, events and information you care about. View more information...
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this group is focused about people who have hometown in Lhokseumawe, Aceh. Lhokseumawe is the second largest city in Aceh Special District, in the north of Sumatra, Indonesia. The city covers an area of 181.06 square kilometres. Being between Banda Aceh and the large southern city of Medan, the town is a key regional centre important for the economy of Aceh. http://www.bappedalhokseumawe.web.id/
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Whenever someone asks me how InfoWorld differs from other IT publications, I cite two facts off the bat: Most of our articles are written by experienced, working IT people -- and we're one of the few publications that still does real enterprise product reviews.
The two go hand in hand. The 2012 InfoWorld Technology of the Year Awards provides a showcase, not just for the best products, but for the analytical abilities of our InfoWorld Test Center contributors, including James Borck, Brian Chee, Desmond Fuller, Andrew Glover, Rick Grehan, Roger Grimes, Galen Gruman, Martin Heller, Woody Leonhard, Neil McAllister, Matt Prigge, Keith Schultz, Paul Venezia, Peter Wayner, and Serdar Yegulalp. As you flip through our Technology of the Year slideshow, follow the links to the original reviews and judge for yourself whether this crew knows its stuff.
[ Do not stop, go directly to the 2012 InfoWorld Technology of the Year Awards. | Prefer to look ahead? See "InfoWorld's top 10 emerging enterprise technologies." | Check out all the Technology of the Year winners going back to 2004. ]
A few details may jump out at you, starting with stellar work by developers Peter Wayner and Rick Grehan, who led our intensive coverage of app dev. Several products they reviewed got the Technology of the Year nod: Node.js, the superfast JavaScript server; CakePHP, which simplifies building PHP Web apps; and Web2py, the best Python Web framework we tested. But our code-savvy review crew also observed that app dev is riding a rocket to the cloud: Peter Wayner gave a big thumbs-up to CloudBees, a Java PaaS (platform as a service) coordinated by Jenkins, and Heroku beat Engine Yard in a head-to-head comparison of Ruby PaaS offerings authored by Andrew Glover.
App dev even informed our coverage of mobile -- and it should since mobile platforms offer a vast new frontier for programmers. Sure, game developers will write to the native capabilities of mobile devices, but for enterprise apps we think the write-once, run-anywhere principal should apply. That's why we gave InfoWorld Technology of the Year Awards to Adobe PhoneGap, which lets developers create mobile Web apps using common Web dev skills, and Rhomobile Rhodes, for building data-driven mobile enterprise apps for Android, iPhone, Windows Phone 7, and RIM devices from a single codebase.


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Barbara Kelly
Lowcountry Liberal
On Father's Day morning, I turned on the television and tuned into FOX News. I had become so sick of this channel everywhere I went, from doctor's offices to car dealerships to even my own gym that I thought I would check it out. Usually I don't get my news from television and prefer online newspapers and articles. "FOX and Friends" was on, and the interesting thing to me was the apparel of the commentators. Two men were dressed in jackets, ties, and dress shirts. The one woman looked like she was either on her way to a cocktail party or had not had time to get dressed that morning. Her extremely skimpy red dress was so short she looked a little like someone in an R-rated movie, and so low cut she had to sit very straight between the two men. Well, since FOX News is a cable and satellite company owned by Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corp., Rupert Murdoch's company, perhaps I should not have been surprised.
I knew from a Pew Research Poll of 2009 that it was the most ideological of all channels, and that much of what is presented as news is not accurate, but if you want to advertise yourself as "fair and balanced" it might be a good idea to have a dress code as well. I also knew that during the health care debate commentators got a memo telling them to use the term government option, not public option, because the public was favorable to public options if those words were used.
Rupert Murdoch, a man worth $6.3 billion dollars, came from Australia by way of Britain to the U.S. in 1973. In 1996 he started the FOX News Channel, and in 2007 bought the Wall Street Journal. He believes in complete free markets, unified public policy positions (his), and opposition to his perceived liberal bias in the media. In 2005 he hired Roger Ailes, a consultant for Nixon, George H.W. Bush, and an advisor to George W. Bush after 9/11, who wrote a memo saying the American people would be patient if the harshest possible measures were taken. I don't know if he said that this meant Afghanistan, not Iraq. But we are still living with the consequences of that unnecessary war.
I tuned in again the next day, and the same two well dressed men sat on either side of the woman in another red dress. This one was not quite so revealing, and they were talking about waivers that had been granted to companies about the Affordable Care Act. One of the men said that around 14,000 waivers had been granted, and I knew this number was way off. But for a relentlessly activist 24-hour propaganda channel, who cares? They didn't. About 10 minutes later, one of the men said that the number was actually 1,400, 10 times less than previously stated. A misplaced comma, as he claimed? Or a deliberate attempt to deceive the people tuning in with their morning coffee. Anyone not watching and listening carefully might not have heard the correction. And from what I have seen, people who watch and get their news from FOX News are definitely not discriminating listeners looking for the truth. So this channel provides them with what they want.
Propaganda that fits their world view, strange is it might be.


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Dylan McDermott
Sponsored By
New On CBS Primetime, 'Stalker'"Stalker" is a psychological thriller about Lt. Beth Davis and Det. Jack Larsen (played by Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott), as they investigate stalking incidents.
Top 8 New CBS Shows To Watch Next SeasonCBS revealed its 2014-2015 primetime schedule, announcing a new slate of shows in the drama and comedy categories.
New On CBS Primetime: A Beginner's Guide To 'Hostages'An elite surgeon is selected to operate on the President of the United States. The night before the operation, her family is taken hostage, with the demand that the President dies.


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Illegally parked asshats are the bane of humanity. Well, maybe they aren't but these Russians seemed to think so, which might explain why they're throwing this parked car into a rollaway with giant claw.
This would actually be a great job for someone who was addicted to that arcade machine where you try to pick up stuffed animals with a robotic claw.
(Hat tip to $kaycog!)


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The Senate Is Sitting On A Devastating Report About How The CIA Avoided Oversight Of Unnecessary Torture Program
from the congressional-oversight! deptSo much attention concerning the intelligence community lately has been focused on the NSA. There has been a bit of looking at the FBI as well, but for the most part the CIA has been left untouched -- even though when the Washington Post released details of the US's black budget (thanks to Ed Snowden), it surprised many people to discover that the CIA still has a significantly larger budget than the NSA.
Late last week, the New Yorker's Jane Mayer had a fantastic article revealing some details of a still-classified report put together by the Senate Intelligence Committee which apparently rips the CIA to shreds over its torture program, both in how ineffective the program was, but also in how the CIA tried to avoid any real oversight from Congress.
At its core is a bitter disagreement over an apparently devastating, and still secret, report by the Senate Intelligence Committee documenting in detail how the C.I.A.'s brutalization of terror suspects during the Bush years was unnecessary, ineffective, and deceptively sold to Congress, the White House, the Justice Department, and the public. The report threatens to definitively refute former C.I.A. personnel who have defended the program's integrity. But so far, to the consternation of several members of the Intelligence Committee, the Obama Administration, like Bush's before it, is keeping the damning details from public view.The CIA, apparently, has been "defiant and defensive" in response to the massive report (over 6,000 pages, and which apparently cost $40 million to produce). CIA boss John Brennan has apparently been especially aggressive in trying to challenge the report and in blocking it from being declassified.
As Mayer notes, many of the new details came out due to Senator Mark Udall (who, for years, has been a leader in trying to stop the NSA's bad behavior) first blocking the confirmation of Stephen Preston to become General Counsel of the Defense Department (a position formerly held by Jeh Johnson, who was just nominated to run Homeland Security). Preston, prior to this, had been General Counsel for the CIA. Udall used the opportunity to quiz Preston about both the Intelligence Committee's report and the CIA's angry rebuttal, noting that if Preston stood by the rebuttal, he would be very uncomfortable about confirming him for the Pentagon job.
Preston, in his response, appears to distance himself from the CIA's position, agreeing with some of the findings in the Senate report. In particular, he admits that the CIA "fell well short" of keeping Congress informed and allowing Congress to have oversight over the CIA's torture program.
In fact, Preston admits outright that, contrary to the C.I.A.'s insistence that it did not actively impede congressional oversight of its detention and interrogation program, "briefings to the Committees included inaccurate information related to aspects of the program of express interest to Members."Furthermore, the report apparently notes that rather than actually briefing the entire Intelligence Committee on what it was doing, the CIA only briefed the chairman and vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. In other words, beyond providing enough misleading information to fill a large book, the CIA also made sure that the Senate Intelligence Committee members (outside of the two top members) weren't even informed of the details of what they did.
The contention that the C.I.A. provided inaccurate information to the congressional oversight committees is apparently extensively documented by the report. Udall notes that the report contains a two-hundred-ninety-eight-page section on "C.I.A. Representations on the C.I.A. Interrogation Program and the Effectiveness of the C.I.A.'s Enhanced Interrogation Techniques to Congress."
There's a lot more in the Mayer piece, going through many of the key revelations that can be parsed out from both Udall's questions and Preston's answers, but it's apparent that (1) the CIA had very little real oversight from Congress concerning its torture program, (2) the Senate Intelligence Committee is pissed off about this, and (3) there's a massive report detailing all of this that will eventually see the light of day. It does sound like many on the Senate Intelligence Committee -- including (much to my surprise) Dianne Feinstein -- are fighting to have the report released (I'm sure with many redactions). Udall is pushing strongly for such a declassification:
"My views of the C.I.A.'s response remain unchanged," Udall wrote. "As I told John Brennan during his confirmation hearing, acknowledging the flaws of the C.I.A.'s detention and interrogation program is essential for the C.I.A.'s long-term institutional integrity—as well as for the legitimacy of ongoing sensitive programs. At this point, I do not believe the C.I.A. has sufficiently acknowledged the flaws that the committee has meticulously detailed with thirty-five-thousand footnotes in six-thousand-three-hundred pages."Between the lack of any real oversight of the NSA and now, it appears, the CIA as well, once again we're left wondering how the administration can pretend that these agencies are actually under control and not prone to abuse.
Udall also reiterated his demand to "declassify as much of the committee's report as possible." He added, "Without the right amount of sunshine, some of the problems documented in the study—to include problems that I believe still exist today—will remain uncorrected. The American people have the right to know what the government has done on their behalf."
Filed Under: cia, enhanced interrogation, jane mayer, john brennan, mark udall, senate intelligence committee, stephen preston, torture