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LITTLE ROCK — The ballot petition process has been turned into "an obstacle course" for a businesswoman seeking to place on the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment to allow casinos in four counties, her attorney argued Thursday before the state Supreme Court.
Attorneys for the secretary of state and a casino opponent said the proposed ballot item is legally insufficient and asked the court to uphold the secretary of state's ruling to that effect.
The high court heard oral arguments but did not immediately issue a ruling Thursday in Nancy Todd's appeal of Secretary of State Mark Martin's rejection of her ballot item, which proposes amending the state constitution to allow Nancy Todd's Poker Palace and Entertainment Venues LLC to operate casinos in Crittenden, Franklin, Miller and Pulaski counties.
The measure has been certified for the ballot because of the appeal, but if the court rejects the appeal it could order that any votes it receives not be counted.
Peter Kumpe, attorney for Todd, told the justices the petition process is designed to give the public access to the ballot, but "the sponsors have experienced the process more like an obstacle course."
Kumpe said Attorney General Dustin McDaniel approved the wording of the measure and cleared Todd to gather signatures, but after she submitted more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, an "11th hour challenge" was filed by Chuck Lange, chairman of the group Stop Casinos Now, and McDaniel then reversed himself and advised Martin to declare the measure legally insufficient.
Kumpe said McDaniel sided with Lange in objecting to a clause Todd added to the ballot item stating that her amendment "may" repeal the 2005 state law allowing games of electronic skill at Oaklawn Park thoroughbred track in Hot Springs and Southland Greyhound Park in West Memphis.
Stop Casinos Now is funded by the parent company of Southland Greyhound Park.
Kumpe said Todd only added the clause because it was "solicited by the attorney general and the secretary of state," who he said had complained that the ballot item did not address the potential impact on electronic games of skill.
He argued that there should be no overlap between casino games and electronic games of skill because the Legislature specifically defined electronic games of skill as being different from casino games.
Asa Hutchinson, attorney for Martin, argued that the addition of a clause stating that the proposed amendment "may" repeal the Electronic Games of Skill Act made the ballot item unclear.
"There is nothing clear about the word 'may.' It is shrouded in doubt, confusion and speculation," he said.
Hutchinson also argued that the clause was not in the measure when Todd and her supporters were collecting signatures for it, so the proposal in its current form is materially different from what was presented to the public by signature gatherers.
Steve Lancaster, attorney for Lange, made a similar argument. Justice Paul Danielson pointed out that state law allows proposed ballot questions to be amended to correct deficiencies under certain circumstances.
"It's never going to be the same if it's amended," Danielson said.
Lancaster said the remedy for the situation "would be that they … go back and get new signatures."
Lancaster also argued that the proposed amendment would repeal the Electronic Games of Skill Act because there is "no distinction" between the games operated at the tracks and some of the games that would be played at Todd's casinos. He said voters should be informed of the possibility that passing Todd's amendment could result in the loss of millions of dollars that the racetracks generate through fees for the state and the local communities.
Justice Karen Baker asked Kumpe if telling voters that the amendment "may" repeal the Electronic Games of Skill Act was conveying any actual information.
"People engage in contingent thinking all the time," he answered.
As an example, Kumpe said that if the weatherman says the chance of rain is 40 percent, people planning a barbecue can use that information to decide whether to go ahead with their plans.
"But (the ballot title) doesn't give them the odds," Baker said.
Todd, who moved to Little Rock from Las Vegas earlier this year, told reporters later she believed justice would be served. She attributed the difficulties her proposal has faced to politics.
"I no longer believe I'm fighting against two tracks. I think it's a deeply entrenched political system at work here," she said.
Todd also said her casinos would generate a "substantial" amount of money for the state through construction spending, taxes, fees and the creation of between 1,200 and 1,600 jobs at each facility. The total revenue of the casinos could be as high as $1 billion a year, she said
Hutchinson told reporters, "We're happy with the way the case was presented today and very pleased that they picked up some of the issues that we raised by the secretary of state. I think they're looking at the ambiguity."
Last week, the court heard oral arguments in Texas businessman Michael Wasserman's appeal of Martin's rejection of his proposed constitutional amendment to allow casinos in seven counties. By Thursday the court had not issued a ruling in that case.


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What has changed in our society?
The world stood still on Dec. 14 as it witnessed the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The event has left the world community scratching its collective head, wondering ... why? What has changed over the last 50 to 75 years that would lead to the events in Newtown?

subset: commoncrawl


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When a Non Jew does something it would work according to Halacha, however when a Jew does the same thing it is useless.
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closed as not constructive by Isaac Moses Jun 17 '11 at 21:44
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Negating an avoda zara. If a non-Jew takes an idol and says "I reject this!" and damages it, the idol is no longer prohibited from benefit. A Jew can't do that.
If an animal was mostly slaughtered by a Jew (the majority but not all of the trachea & esophagus were cut) and the animal is not dying, a non-Jew can kill it however he wants and the animal will be kosher. If a Jew shechted the rest of the way, it would be a shihiyah b'miut batra (a pause in the final portion) and the animal is neveila (not kosher). But since the slaughter of a non-Jew is nothing, the majority slaughtered by the Jew is all that counts.
(See Shulchan Aruch YD 23:5)
If a non-Jew does m'lacha for himself on Shabas, a Jew can use the result immediately; not so if a Jew does. (As always, CYLOR.)
A non-jew can taste a mixture of food to tell if the prohibited substance (e.g. milk in meat) inside gave taste.
A non-Jew can run a kosher establishment without the certifiers worrying (as much) about him owning chametz over pesach, toveling all the kelim, etc..


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If you've visited the Secret City site at all in the past month or so, you know how excited we are about today and the release of Plants and Animals' La La Land. Well that's today. The album is available on CD and LP format in stores across North America, or directly from us. And of course it's also available at fine digital stores. The iTunes version in Canada and the USA also features a pretty slamming alternate version of "The Mama Papa".
The band starts their massive North American tour tonight in Toronto with a free show at the Horseshoe. They're hitting a ton of cities across the continent, but regardless of where you are you can tune in tonight at 10:30pm for a live stream of the the show courtresy of LiveStream. We'll be embedding the show here, on plantsandanimals.ca, and you'll be allow to integrate it with Twitter and Facebook as well.
Here are just a few things people are saying about La La Land:
"Psychedelic, amplified and momentous, songs are multifaceted, with a sense of Radiohead importance, Arcade Fire intensity and très cool dirty-basement rock and roll ("American Idol" gets my vote as the missing link between Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street)." - The Globe and Mail
"utterly thrilling while still retaining all the muted joy and gentle perfection of Parc Avenue ... an album for the ages and Plants and Animals' ultimate piece of work thus far" - Under the Radar
"rife with chiming bells, ebullient trumpet blasts, and whistled outros. It's a bewitching record — a mix of soft-rock luster, classic-rock grit, and indie-rock dexterity — a sort of AM Gold for the dark-hearted." - eMusic
""By the time the amps stop ringing, you feel you've travelled through a cohesive, front-to-back, old-fashioned album, one that you probably wouldn't be surprised to learn still got plenty of spins decades down the line." - Blurt
Abonnez-vous à notre liste de diffusion
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. Nous reconnaissons l'appui financier du gouvernement du Canada.


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Your baby's heart will beat quite fast, at between 110 and 160 beats every minute. Even after birth, your baby's heart will continue to beat at this speed. It will be several years before the heart rate is 70 or so beats per minute, the same as an adult.
If you imagine the lung as a tree, then the windpipe or "trachea" is the trunk of the tree. This then forms several branches or "bronchi," which divide several times, like twigs, to then produce the most delicate structures: the alveoli or leaves of the tree. It is within the alveoli that gas exchange will take place.
The alveoli began to develop at 24 weeks but they continue to increase in number throughout the pregnancy. The alveoli contain surfactant-producing cells to keep them open and these now become fully functional.
Maintaining muscular strength, stretching, and doing gentle exercise right up until you give birth will help your posture-minimizing backaches, reducing stress on your skeleton, and making you feel more energized and relaxed.
As long as you feel good and adhere to the guidelines set out on page 18, you can continue with your activities.
Most importantly, at this time you should use common sense and listen to your body. If you're in pain, feel fatigued, or have dizzy spells, see your doctor immediately and stop exercising. You'll be feeling tired carrying around all that extra weight so adjust your activities accordingly. This could mean that you lower the intensity of your exercise and exercise for a shorter time, but if you feel good don't stop exercising entirely.
Look at the routines on pages 90 and 250, but don't do any exercises at this stage that require you to lie on your back.
Toward the end of pregnancy, there are some circumstances when you may need to be admitted into the hospital for bedrest.
Excerpted from Pregnancy Day by Day.
Copyright © 2008 Dorling Kindersley Limited.
Buy this book now!
© 2000-2016 Sandbox Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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7 Movies That Ignored World Changing Discoveries
Writing movies is hard. We're guessing it is, anyway, because there seems to be a lot that can go wrong. For instance, occasionally in a movie the characters will wind up in a jam where they can be rescued only by some new science, device or technology. Then, once they're out of trouble, the tech is usually immediately forgotten.
The problem is, sometimes the device or technology itself should have been far more important than what the heroes were trying to accomplish in the movie. Consider ...
#7. Spider-Man Has Gene-Splicing Spiders
Before teenager Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man, his class goes on a field trip to a genetics laboratory. A tour guide explains that they've genetically engineered 15 superpowered spiders. When one gets out and bites Peter, the venom rewrites his DNA to give him all sorts of weird spiderlike abilities. He stoically accepts the ramifications of being part-spider for the rest of his life.
"I have seen my future, and it involves a pian- oh what the fuck, Sam?"
Hang on a second ...
Uh, Peter, you don't think somebody needs to know about the spiders? You know, the fact that scientists have accidentally created something that can completely and irreversibly rewrite DNA with one bite? That would make them pretty much the most dangerous creatures on the planet. Think about it: At best, the results are unpredictable -- who's to say the next victim won't just turn into a deformed horror instead, or die -- but at worst, the bite victims will gain superpowers and maybe also become deranged or violent. These spiders could easily transform any person into a weapon of mass destruction.
Who wouldn't let this thing bite them?
And clearly the scientists didn't know the spiders could do it -- when Mary Jane pointed out that one had escaped, the lab didn't exactly go into lockdown.
No, only Peter knows, and he doesn't bother to tell anyone. And it's not out of ignorance; it's clear that Peter is some kind of science prodigy, so when he suddenly develops spider-powers immediately after being bitten by a genetically altered spider, it's unlikely he chalks it up to coincidence. It's not like he just developed a rash; a single spider bite rewired his genome. Yet the rest of the film is devoted to Peter's efforts to impress a girl.
You could say that Peter is afraid of getting turned into a human guinea pig or is afraid of divulging his secret identity. But nobody knows Peter got bitten; he can make the announcement as Spider-Man. He can write a letter to the lab on Spider-Man letterhead saying, "Guys, look at the venom of those spiders under a microscope. It's serious shit. And wear gloves when you handle them. Also, enjoy your Nobel Prize."
"For outstanding achievements in giving absolutely everyone superpowers."
#6. Star Trek (2009 version) Has Eliminated the Need for Starships
After young Kirk gets marooned on an ice planet, he enlists the help of Spock Classic and young Scotty (who are there for no adequately explored reason) to teleport aboard the Enterprise.
Hang on a second ...
For about 40 years, smartasses have been saying, "If the transporters have the ability to teleport people from place to place, why do they need ships?" And, through every episode and every film since the 1960s, the show explained it away as the transporters having some basic limitations: namely that they have a relatively short range -- only 40,000 kilometers, max. Essentially, it's useful only for getting on and off the Enterprise without the producers having to acquire the kind of budget they would need to animate the ship actually landing.
Above: Roddenberry's gift to screenwriters.
Now, the 2009 film has a major plot point where Kirk needs to be teleported onto the Enterprise, but the Enterprise is moving at warp speed at the time. Scotty figures out a way to do it, and the movie celebrates this achievement as being the first time anyone has ever been transported to an object moving that fast. But that isn't the point.
The Enterprise is shooting off at Warp 3 just before Scotty and Kirk beam aboard. Warp 3, by the way, is 27 times the speed of light. Or 5 million miles a second. That means that by the time Kirk has finished saying, "I really liked you in Shaun of the Dead," the Enterprise would be out of the solar system. A distance Scotty has no trouble overcoming with his transporter.
So, uh, why do we need spaceships again?
For the same reason we need classic cars and the Beastie Boys.
The characters don't seem to realize that what Scotty has actually done for space travel here is what e-mail did for the envelope industry. Any means of transportation that has more than zero mass and moves slower than literally instantaneously has suddenly become obsolete. We're only halfway through the first film of a new Star Trek franchise, and already we don't need the Enterprise anymore. By the time Picard is born, spaceships will be a relic of an older era.
Basically, they'll be the Star Trek equivalent of Betamax.
#5. Big Has a Machine That Grants Godlike Powers
After getting turned down by both the girl and the roller coaster of his dreams on account of his size, 13-year-old Josh Baskin finds a lame mechanical sideshow called the Zoltar machine, which promises to grant wishes. After wishing to be "big," the kid discovers that he is now multiple Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks.
This leads to a sequence of events that led us to write an entire other article on why the movie is so unintentionally disturbing.
Is Zoltar hinting at something?
Hang on a second ...
The whole "child in the body of an adult" plot is actually kind of its own genre since Freaky Friday set the bar. In the vast majority of these movies, the writers explain away the body-switching shenanigans as some kind of one-off magic trick of God that you're not supposed to think too much about.
But in Big, it's all because of this carnival machine. A machine that somebody built, deliberately, with the express and stated purpose of being able to grant wishes. It doesn't even try to hide that fact. It's an actual, concrete object with the reality-fucking powers of a genie, and it's just sitting there.
Thankfully, the smell of funnel cake provokes amnesia in small children.
So after the initial shock of Hanksification wears off, surely he puts two and two together, right? Well, actually, he forgets about the Zoltar machine altogether, shrugs his shoulders and decides to settle into his new life as an adult by getting a job to pay his bills. After all, shit happens. When life gives you Tom Hanks, you make Hanksinade.
The Zoltar machine doesn't even come back into the story until near the end, when Hanks decides he wants to be a normal kid again and suddenly remembers it exists. Of course, the most powerful device ever created is still just sitting there, waiting patiently for absolutely anyone to give a shit.
Considering that the entire plot of man-child Hanks' adventures as a toymaker rests upon the premise that his boundless imagination and childlike sense of wonder make him the perfect toy designer, it's downright bizarre that he never realizes the potential of a machine that can grant him literally anything he desires. Even when he finally tracks the Zoltar machine down, he just wishes to be small again without adding "with a working lightsaber" to the end of his request.
Making him unlike any other kid on the planet.
So, just to get this straight: There's a machine that grants multiple wishes exactly as you intend them, whose existence and powers have been verified by several people ... and everyone just ignores it. This thing could end world hunger or make you the richest man in the world. Instead, it's just going to get thrown out once the carnival acquires a Pepsi machine.
#4. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Introduces Terminators
In the middle of a movie about giant robots punching each other, it's easy to forget one scene not involving giant robots that, oh by the way, should have changed the entire fictional universe.
At one point, Alice, a sexy blonde with no personality who has been trying to get into Shia LaBeouf's pants for most of the movie, suddenly transforms into a marauding killbot. Megan Fox kills it in order to give her something to do in this film, and everyone forgets about the whole "making out with a robot" thing, probably by mutual consent.
Who doesn't love this charming hunk of orange peels and Brillo pads?
Hang on a second ...
Michael Bay is too busy trying to wedge more explosions into the film at this point to notice that this just became an entirely different kind of movie, because holy shit the robots can look like us now.
Seriously. Fuck everything else. Up until this point, the Transformers were all giant, lumbering golems hitting each other over the head with steel beams. As soon as they learn to convincingly pass off as human, the whole tone of the conflict changes from blunt-force trauma and explosions to paranoia and suspicion, and a movie about giant robots punching each other takes a one-way trip into The Thing territory.
"Wow, Shia, you look a lot less gross right now!"
Worse yet, the Decepticons have figured out that LaBeouf's greatest weakness is T&A, so now he has to be suspicious of any incredibly attractive women who are desperately gagging for his junk, for the rest of his life. Like LaBeouf shouldn't already have been suspicious of that.
"OK, so you don't like kissing."
But in the film, nobody ever mentions the fact that the Decepticons now have access to Terminators, except for an offhand remark by LaBeouf that she tasted like diesel. And though LaBeouf seems willing to trust everyone he sees (including his college roommate, and an actual retired Decepticon) to help him in his quest, the bad guys never see the benefit in perhaps dropping another fake human or two into his merry band of adventurers.
Instead, the giant robots just go straight back to punching each other, and Megatron gets his shit wrecked when the humans bring Optimus Prime to the fight. Good work, buddy -- maybe this is why Starscream keeps trying to steal your job.


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One of our cats is going to pass away soon, what can I do to make my lady feel better?
The is her angel for years. He has suffered multiple injuries and bounced back every time. But age is catching up to him, and he is on his last breaths (if not tonight, it would be tomorrow).
I adore this little guy as well, he must be one of the sweetest cats I have ever met, and I am not feeling so good either.
But the lady is going to get hit hard. What do you think I can do to help her ease the pain a little?
29 Answers answer
@lll0228: Oh, I'm so sorry. Not sure anything you can do or say will make it easier. Eight cats owned me at one time. When each of them died they took a piece of me. I think of them often. So very sad for you and your lady.
Sorry to hear about your cat.
Be there. Not much else to do. Find a way to talk about the good memories. When our first cat died, after a hard fight and fifteen years she might not have had (had to feed her sugar water in an eyedropper the first week, weaned from her mother too early), we took time to remember her and just drove around and sat around talking about Hildy and everything else that cam up for most of the day. It was better not to be home for awhile. We had another cat, who was a bit lonely, but she terrorized him and so he enjoyed alone time for awhile until he started letting us know he was bored.
I was in a similar situation with my wife... you're not going to take away the pain, but you can definitely do little things to make it easier. I made my wife a slide show set to music with some pics of her cat... it's corny, i know, but she feels it helped.. she must have watched it 10+ times over the next week, smiling and crying, and will still play it every now and then whenever she finds it while going through her data.
This post should only be read if she, you, and/or anyone reading this thread have a truly sick sense of humor. I am posting this item ONLY because it was a relevant memory jarred loose by this thread.
That said, the impending death of a pet is a terrible thing, and I'm sorry for the forthcoming loss.
So, what warranted the warning? This:
That's sad. I think being patient and a good listener while she grieves will help. Also, hugs. How thoughtful of you to ask the question. Sorry for your loss.
When my mom had to put down her cat, I suggested to her that she clip a little bit of its fur. She put it in a tiny envelope in a pretty frame with its picture. Nothing can take away the initial sting of losing a beloved pet, but I can honestly tell you that this really helped my mom. So sorry about your sad news.
I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. My husband and I were just talking about this last night. My first cat passed away earlier this year and he was my baby. 14 yrs old and he was awesome. He has been sick a couple times and we almost lost him, but this time he didn't recover. He actually waited for me to get home from work and died in my arms while I was petting him. That somehow made it a lot easier for me to deal with.
My husband just listened and took the lead from me. We talked about Barky when I wanted to. I had another cat at home that also helped me get through it. About a month and a half later I was ready for a kitten. So was my other cat. But I just woke up that day and said "ok, now I'm ready". Don't surprise her with one if she's not ready.
Sorry about what you are going through.
Everyone grieves in their own way so it is difficult to give a good answer to your question.
However, if you ever decide to get another cat please get one from a shelter or rescue group. This way you are saving 2 lives, the cat you are adopting plus you are making room for another cat to be rescued by the shelter.
Just be there.
This may not be the answer you're looking for, but you don't need to say anything or do anything special. Nothing can erase or prevent the oncoming pain of a death of any loved one. Don't pressure yourself with coming up with the magic action or the magic words that remove the pain of losing someone, because it has never been done.
Be there when it happens and afterward. I mean really be present. Don't let your mind wander, just be there in body and mind. Good luck.
I would also suggest on not immediately getting a new pet to help her get over the loss. This might delay the pain or help her suppress it, which I don't think is healthy. She needs to deal with the loss, embrace the pain and accept it.
You can help by not letting others trivialize the loss. You will hear - so, it's just a cat - one too many times. Keep those people away.
The loss is going to hurt. Remembering the funny things that kitty did, or even the bad times that he bounced back from, will help. Talking about him. Not ending the memories just because he has died.
@goatcrapp did a beautiful thing. That would be a nice thing to do.
Gentle hugs to mr. kitty & to you both. Give extra love to the remaining cats. They'll be suffering, too.
My vote is for a scrapbook or collage of your special little critter. If I know cat owners (I am one) your SO probably has taken hundreds of images of their furry friend.
remind her it's just a cat. keep her away from people who act like it's a human, they'll only make it worse. Then remind yourself that you're a MAN, and quit being so girlie.
So sorry to hear about your cat :(
What I did after my dog passed was make a slide show movie of a bunch of picture of her from puppy to old dog. I mixed them up some, but it started with puppy and finished with some pro shots of her taken about six months before she passed. But I had it divided up into sections like lovable dog, water dog, loving the snow, etc and there were both puppy, adult and old girl pics of her in each section (that I had pictures for at least!). I also bought a collage frame to put various pics of her in. It's eventually going on my wall (when I'm no longer living in an attic and the cats can't knock it off the walls) with her tags. I also have pics of her and my kitties who have passed on, on my screen saver, so they will pop up from time to time. It's nice to see them as they once were, lounging and playing! Hugs for everyone! Kitty included.
I agree with waiting for a new kitty, and adopting from a shelter or rescue group.
@kamikazeken: Well, the "cats are slightly above rodents" creep is back. In case you didn't see my previous post - "you must be feeling inadequate, being a rat"
@psaux: I apologize on your behalf to the rest of the caring, feeling human beings on planet earth. On this planet, people try to make others feel BETTER, not worse. Just a heads up.
@kamikazeken: If being a man means one must be devoid of emotions or loving care of other beings; I would rather not be identified as such. By trivializing the death of a being, you have just trivialized the value of human beings' emotions.
I see being a man as a responsibility. A responsibility to take care of all beings around me, including people, animals and plants. That is not "girlie", it is responsible. The strange societal "macho" image does not sit with me well, since most of those actions are just nothing but manifestations of internal weakness and insecurity. I don't need a gun or pretend to act in these ill-conceived and ancient standards to feel macho, or manly.
I do so by taking care of others.
@tooter1952: It's ok. @psaux means no harm, he just meant to bring some smiles to my face in a non-conventional manner. It's ok.
I am a scientist and understand full well the circle of life. Death is inevitable, but it doesn't make the lady feel better to know that a good buddy is gone.
Thank you every one, for the comments and well wishes.
I held the cat all night last night while he was gasping for air. He is still alive, and not in pain. But the end is approaching, almost all of the organs are failing (especially the kidneys and heart), and he has still been behaving very considerately, heading straight to the litter box when he needed to go, even with wobbly legs.
He is in good hands. And most likely we will have the vet come to the house this evening to help him end his suffering. We will see.
Once again, thank you for all the kind wishes.
When my cat passed away, the crematory service people asked if I wanted (to buy) a keepsake, which is his paw print in clay, with his name in block letters. I didn't realize at the time how cool it would be, but I'm so happy that I said yes to that. It's really great.
So that's something to think about after your kitty passes. Sorry for your loss.
@brandie346: Yes, I have a paw print of my cat that lived to be 17, it looks nice in a little shadowbox frame with a picture and her favorite mouse toy. What a great reminder and excellent suggestion.
So sorry for your the kitty loss, by the way.
I fostered a pair of orphaned kittens a year-ish ago and one of them passed away from, I eventually came to terms with, no fault of my own. The untimely death of a kitten is a thing very unlike the death of a well-lived older cat- each different levels of tragic. I always like to pass on @slydon's Limited Cat Theory he told me when I lost the teeny one.
The Limited Cat Theory is basically self-explanatory, it gives context to how cats leave us (sometimes traumatically or suddenly) and yet we'll years later see glimmers of that feline personality in another cat. Your cat may not make it the night, but his cat-soul will live on in another cat-body to mouse and purr again another day! Or, at least it's nice to think so.
When a pet passes away, I like to create a token for them. Plants/trees, stuffed animals that resemble them, just something that I can look at to be reminded of them. I'm very sorry for your impending loss.
If it helps, my full theory is that there are only about eight different cats, and they all keep moving forward and backward in time as they please, inhabiting different bodies. It explains how cats can wander into your life at just the right time or vanish mysteriously to never be seen again. Own enough cats, you'll have met them all throughout eternity.
I am also sorry about your pet.
I love the paw-print idea! Wish I had one from my dog now :(
And, after the surprise death of one of my kitties (only 8!) in October, I'm going to get paw prints from all the living monsters now, so I'll have them later!
@tooter1952: It's your kind of thin-skinned-ness that leads to excess PCness and repressive, nanny-state regimes. I thought from previous posts that @lll0228 might be the type that'd appreciate that, so I took the risk of linking it. I also couched it firmly in warnings so anyone who wanted to avoid it could do so.
I did not mean to be hurtful, but I am also completely unapologetic for my post. If you can't read the clear and simple warning, that's your own problem.
@baybei: I got a paw print from Toysha (her pic was up here a while back). She had a stroke and when I was at the emergency vet they asked if I wanted her paw print. They took it, and I've just got to do something with it.
I don't keep their ashes or anything: just their collars and memories.
@wilfbrim: I don't keep ashes either. With furry ones that enjoy the sound of glass breaking and mommy freaking out, I don't like to keep anything that may end up on the floor. It was why I decided against keeping my dogs ashes, I wouldn't be able to vacuum up her ashes without a total breakdown if my little darlings were to knock them over and make a huge mess out of them. I kept her license and her name tag, and plenty of pictures. That's fine by me! Her memory lives on, the house isn't the same without her, but to this day (just over 3 years) I'm unearthing toys and treats she had (she was very spoiled, her toys are literally everywhere!).
But, I know they sell paw print kits for stepping stones in craft stores, and I never thought I'd want anything like that, but after a pet passes, you kind of do. I'[m hoping to find an ornament kit, or even better just be able to find some kitty safe clay to make their prints.
Thanks again every one.
I think I have a plan to help the lady with this episode.
And here's Swayzie, thanking you for all the kindness (even those who were not so kind, at least you took your time to write, and glad that you are the minority, by far).
You are already doing the most important thing, which is to recognize that her grief is legitimate, and to share it. One of the most difficult elements in the loss of a beloved pet is having to deal with people who have the attitude, "It was just an animal, get over it." People who don't have enough empathy to at least recognize that your pain is genuine and to care that you are hurting, even if they don't understand the depth of the human-animal bond some of us experience. It's terribly isolating to be suffering deeply for the loss of something that those around you felt had no real value. Be patient, some people grieve for a long time. You are being a good friend to her in this time of loss.
Once again, thank you. Swayzie passed away peacefully earlier this evening in our arms.
He will be missed.


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BROOKS, William Emerson "Brooksie" 84, of Steubenville, died Tuesday, November 6, 2012, at Trinity West.
He was born August 15, 1928, in Steubenville, the son of the late William Brooks and Freda Magruder Keith.
Brooksie was retired from the Jefferson County Sheriff Department as a deputy with 30 years of service, was a Catholic and a member of the FOP and the American Legion Post 33.
Brooksie is also preceded in death by his son, William Brooks, his wife, Ernestine Brooks, one brother, Hugey Matthews and one sister, Pearl Smith.
Surviving are one son; Wayne (Paula) Brooks of TX.; four daughters, Renee (Bruce) Brantley of IN., Shari Chavis of Pittsburgh, Candy (Raymond) Nieves of KY and Theresa Brooks of Wintersville, 20 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and his companion, Mary Ann Curfman.
Friends are invited to a memorial mass 10:00 am Friday at Holy Name Cathedral, Msgr. William Cornelius, celebrant.
Offer condolences, www.mostifuneralhome.com


text:
Your Health
Mapping Emotions On The Body: Love Makes Us Warm All Over
Close your eyes and imagine the last time you fell in love. Maybe you were walking next to your sweetheart in a park or staring into each other's eyes over a latte.
Where did you feel the love? Perhaps you got butterflies in your stomach or your heart raced with excitement.
When a team of scientists in Finland asked people to map out where they felt different emotions on their bodies, they found that the results were surprisingly consistent, even across cultures.
People reported that happiness and love sparked activity across nearly the entire body, while depression had the opposite effect: It dampened feelings in the arms, legs and head. Danger and fear triggered strong sensations in the chest area, the volunteers said. And anger was one of the few emotions that activated the arms.
The scientists hope these body emoticons may one day help psychologists diagnose or treat mood disorders.
"Our emotional system in the brain sends signals to the body so we can deal with our situation," says Lauri Nummenmaa, a psychologist at Aalto University who led the study.
"Say you see a snake and you feel fear," Nummenmaa says. "Your nervous system increases oxygen to your muscles and raises your heart rate so you can deal with the threat. It's an automated system. We don't have to think about it."
That idea has been known for centuries. But scientists still don't agree on whether these bodily changes are distinct for each emotion and whether this pattern serves as a way for the mind to consciously identify emotions.
To try to figure that out, Nummenmaa and his team ran a simple computer experiment with about 700 volunteers from Finland, Sweden and Taiwan.
The team showed the volunteers two blank silhouettes of a person on a screen and then told the subjects to think about one of 14 emotions: love, disgust, anger, pride, etc. The volunteers then painted areas of the body that felt stimulated by that emotion. On the second silhouette, they painted areas of the body that get deactivated during that emotion.
"People find the experiment quite amusing. It's quite fun," Nummenmaa tells Shots. "We kept the questions online so you try the experiment yourself." (You can try it here.)
Not everybody painted each emotion in the same way. But when the team averaged the maps together, signature patterns emerged for each emotion. The team published these sensation maps Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The team still doesn't know how these self-reported sensations match with the physiological responses that occur with emotion.
But previous studies have found marked changes in bodily sensations in mood disorders, Nummenmaa says. "For instance, with depression sometimes people have pain in their chest."
And there's even some evidence that when you change your own body language — like your posture or stance — you can alter your mind.
Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, who was not involved in this study, says he's "delighted" by Nummenmaa's findings because they offer more support for what he's been suggesting for years: Each emotion activates a distinct set of body parts, he thinks, and the mind's recognition of those patterns helps us consciously identify that emotion.
"People look at emotions as something in relation to other people," Damasio, who is a professor at the University of Southern California, says. "But emotions also have to do with how we deal with the environment — threats and opportunities." For those, Damasio says, you need your body as well as your mind.
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Backcountry stewards, assistant forest rangers will patrol outdoorsAdirondack Daily Enterprise
Source:...Read more
Huge swath of Angeles National Forest reopensTimes Community News
Source: Beige Luciano-Adams and Jason Wells, Times Community News
...Read more
Environmental science lessons extended outside the classroomWinnisquam Echo
Source: Donna Rhodes, Winnisquam Echo (pdf)
Jesse Teeter and Steven Silvestri of...Read more
Returning vets fight fireCrossville Chronicle
Source: Crossville Chronicle, Crossville, TN. May 22, 2012. Random Thoughts: Returning vets fight fire
By Dorothy Copus Brush
CROSSVILLE — Cemeteries...Read more
Obama Administration to Hire 20,000 Young People for Summer Work on Public LandsUSDA Office of Communications
Vilsack, Salazar, Sutley Announce $3.7 Million in Competitive Grants for New or Expanded Youth Corps
WASHINGTON, and SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS, CA, May 18, 2012 – In response to President Obama's call to expand opportunities for summer employment for young people and connect...Read more
Union Bank teams with SCA to protect California parksSCA
Partnership Includes Volunteer Restoration Project at Chino Hills State Park
(SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA) – May 15, 2012 – California state parks will get some crucial extra hands this summer thanks to a new partnership announced by The Student Conservation Association...Read more
SCA Manchester member awarded Youth Conservationist AwardWildNH.com
Source: NH Fish and Game Dept.
CONCORD, N.H. – Six New Hampshire citizens and organizations were recently...Read more
SCA Alumna featured in Winds of ChangeWinds of Change
This article appears in the American Indian Science and Engineering Society's
Valentina Vavages, Tohono O'odham, grew up surrounded by...Read more
Volunteers clear out wild growth on Belle IsleDetroit Free Press
On the Saturday before Earth Day, a group of students and nature lovers took to Belle Isle, chopping down trees instead of putting them up.
Their target was honeysuckle, the popular plant that's actually an invasive species,...Read more
Statement by Student Conservation Association President Dale Penny on the National Park Service's Green Parks PlanSCA
Thursday, April 19, 2012: SCA applauds the National Park Service for its leadership in adopting and promoting environmentally sustainable practices, and we are confident that the SCA community – field members, alumni, and other active stewards – will welcome the Green Parks Plan as...Read more
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The Student Conservation Association (SCA) is America's conservation corps. Our members protect and restore national parks, marine sanctuaries, cultural landmarks and community green spaces in all 50 states.


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NBody - C++ AMP sample
- Posted: Aug 17, 2012 at 10:42AM
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Hi, I am Daniel Moth
This screencast demonstrates one of our C++ AMP sample apps: NBody. You can learn more about the sample and download the Visual Studio project with all the code from the corresponding blog post.
To learn more please visit the C++ AMP blog, and we encourage C++ AMP questions in the Parallel Computing in C++ and Native Code MSDN forum.
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I have a file called
mod_dav_svn.so. I would like to find out if this is a custom version of the file or a standard one.
I have tried searching Google for the md5sum of the file, but nothing has turned up, suggesting it is a custom compilation.
Is there a way to extract any metadata from this file, such as compilation time/options/etc?


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The log cabin has never looked so good. With the off set design you form circles and with strategic accent strips an celtic flair is added. Several size options are included. Finished quilt sizes include - baby/crib quilt: 45"x57", lap quilt: 66"x70", twin quilt: 66"x84", queen quilt: 85"x94". Designed by Marlous Carter
Item : MD22


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Heart Disease Health Center
Heart Disease and Congestive Heart Failure
In this article
Heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans. Roughly 670,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65.
What Is Heart Failure?
Heart failure does not mean the heart has stopped working. Rather, it means that the heart's pumping power is weaker than normal. With heart failure, blood moves through the heart and body at a slower rate, and pressure in the heart increases. As a result, the heart cannot pump enough oxygen and nutrients to meet the body's needs. The chambers of the heart may respond by stretching to hold more blood to pump through the body or by becoming stiff and thickened. This helps to keep the blood moving, but the heart muscle walls may eventually weaken and become unable to pump as efficiently. As a result, the kidneys may respond by causing the body to retain fluid (water) and salt. If fluid builds up in the arms, legs, ankles, feet, lungs, or other organs, the body becomes congested, and congestive heart failure is the term used to describe the condition.
What Causes Heart Failure?
Heart failure is caused by many conditions that damage the heart muscle, including:
- Coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease (CAD), a disease of the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart, causes decreased blood flow to the heart muscle. If the arteries become blocked or severely narrowed, the heart becomes starved for oxygen and nutrients.
- Heart attack. A heart attack occurs when a coronary artery becomes suddenly blocked, stopping the flow of blood to the heart muscle. A heart attack damages the heart muscle, resulting in a scarred area that does not function properly.
- Cardiomyopathy. Damage to the heart muscle from causes other than artery or blood flow problems, such as from infections or alcohol or drug abuse.
- Conditions that overwork the heart. Conditions including high blood pressure, valve disease, thyroid disease, kidney disease, diabetes, or heart defects present at birth can all cause heart failure. In addition, heart failure can occur when several diseases or conditions are present at once.


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So here i have a couple of defined list that i would like to use:
(DEFINE list0 (LIST 'j 'k 'l 'm 'n 'o 'j) )
(DEFINE list1 (LIST 'a 'b 'c 'd 'e 'f 'g) )
(DEFINE list2 (LIST 's 't 'u 'v 'w 'x 'y 'z) )
(DEFINE list3 (LIST 'j 'k 'l 'm 'l 'k 'j) )
(DEFINE list4 (LIST 'n 'o 'p 'q 'q 'p 'o 'n) )
(DEFINE list5 '( (a b) c (d e d) c (a b) ) )
(DEFINE list6 '( (h i) (j k) l (m n) ) )
(DEFINE list7 (f (a b) c (d e d) (b a) f) )
what i would like to do is create a recursive function for a 'middle' function that would do as such:
MIDDLE: (middle 1st) should return a one-element list consisting of just the middle element of the 1st [or return the empty list if there were an even number of elements in 1st]. That is,
(middle '(a b c d e f g) )
should/would return:
(middle '(s t u v w x y z) )
should/would return the empty string.
(middle '( (a b) c (d e d) c (b a) ) )
should/would return:
( (d e d) )
Note that
( (d e d) ) is a list containing the thing that was in the middle, which happened to itself be a list.
I think that i have to break it into two problems. First is that i need a function that can select the nth term of a list. which i little knowledge on creating it. Second you need a functions to determine the position of the middle term and if there exists a middle term. (which also i have minimum knowledge on how to create it. Then
(define middle
(lambda (L)
(if (middle? L)
(nth-term (middle L) L)
Here is my evens function that i would like to know if there might be an easier way to go about it:
(define evens
(lambda (L)
(if (or (NULL? (cddr L)))
(cons (cadr L) (evens (cddr L))))))


text:
Build your own set and Save 15%.
NFPA Members save an additional 10%.
NFPA 70®: National Electrical Code® (NEC®) is the basis for electrical safety that has saved countless lives.
Adopted in all 50 states, the NEC helps protect people and property from electrical hazards involving wiring and equipment. Comprehensive provisions address electrical installations in virtually all buildings -- including commercial, residential, and industrial occupancies. Revisions to the NEC are industry-driven, based on public proposals and comments. Each editio n of the Code builds on the next, through consensus-based changes that reflect the evolving needs of the field, emerging technologies, and new information about electrical safety.
Interested in other editions of the NEC? Use the drop down menu above to select the edition year you need.
NFPA®'s Redline PDF contains both the current NFPA document and a Redline version of the document which shows changes from the previous edition marked in color. With the Redline you can quickly spot changed sections and tell specifically what has been changed from the previous edition, saving time and confusion.
Sample (NEC® 2014)
411.2411.3 Definition. Low-Voltage Lighting Systems.
(A) General. Lighting Ssystems Ooperating at 30 Volts- volts or Less. A lighting system consisting less shall consist of an isolating power supply, the low-voltage luminaires, and associated equipment that are all identified for the use. The output circuits of the power supply are shall be rated for not more than 25 amperes and operate at 30 volts (42.4 volts peak) or lessmaximum under all load conditions.
(B) Class 2. Listed Class 2 lighting equipment shall be rated in conformance with Chapter 9, Table 11(A) or Table 11(B).
411.3411.4 Listing Required. Lighting systems operating at 30 volts or less shall comply with 411.3(A)411.4(A) or
411.3(B).411.4(B). Class 2 power sources and lighting equipment connected to Class 2 power sources shall be llisted.


text:
I recently bought a new bike. It is a Scott bike with disc brakes. The bike went in for it's service and now it has problems braking. As soon as I pull the brake leavers the front brakes makes a loud squeaking noise. The front brake disc is a blueish color from trying to brake. The back brakes works perfectly. I took it back to the people who serviced it, and they are unable to solve the problem. Do you maybe know what the problem could bee and how to correct it?
Sign up
- Anybody can ask a question
- Anybody can answer
- The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
It sounds like your brake pads are contaminated with detergent or petroleum (oil) products. If so, you need to replace them.
This is a common problem, which can be solved by washing the brake rotors with IPA, and replacing your brake pads. It sometimes happens that a pad will get contaminated by chain lube or other common bike lubricants during the washing process of a bike service, and should be no big deal to fix.
As this is something that any shop worth 2 cents should know, they are either incompetent, or dishonest with you.
There are heaps of posts on the Internet with this problem. As @zenbike suggested, contamination of the pads is the most common cause and replacement is the only real option. Other causes are heat damage to pads (Glazing), warped disks from mechanical or heat damage. In some cases, it's just something that happens for that bike - Juicy 3's are really prone to it it you believe the Internet and all you can do is buy ear plugs.
What you do depends on your budget and skills and spare time. Heres a couple of suggestions
Given it appears that it was fine before going into the LBS and noisy after, the most likely thing is contamination.


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I am trying to open/close the a custom list item with 11500 items but I am getting an error which seems to be a timeout error, i checked the logs and found 'Unable to execute query: Error 0x80131530'. I searched google but there's not much of a help. Any kind of help would be appreciated. Thanks
I usually see this when I exceed the lists throttling limit (default 5000 items). When the number of items in a list exceeds the number SharePoint often locks up list when you try to query/GetItems. Main options are that you can disable throttling, increase the limit, or override the QueryThrottle every query. Disable/Increase may be done to the WebApp as a whole or to just the specific list, I strongly suggest you don't disable throttling on the WebApp.
Personally I usually use PowerShell commands as you can 'Tab' through the list commands and easily see which ones apply.
More Info:
thank you for the replies. I actually managed to resolve this issue. The list being 10,000 items has no bearing whatsoever to the timeout.
Yes I am using SharePoint 2010 and permissions are correctly set since I am also the farm administrator. Resource Throttling is set to 16000 for normal users and 20000 for farm administrators.
The error came from the lookup list, though it is not actually a lookup list but a filtered lookup from codeplex (http://sp2010filteredlookup.codeplex.com/) which is having trouble in querying semi large items. My reference list is only around 4800 items and its already giving me the timeout error.
Since I dont have access to the solution source codes, all I could do is inform the developer. What I just did is limit the view contents since I still could remove some items that are inactive and not belonging to a certain category. However, it wouldn't be a long term solution especially if my list grows again. The best way I can recommend now is not to use these solutions on large lists. It was not designed for it, yet.
Assuming you are using SP 2010 and are not a farm administrator. Your issue might be the fact that you are surpassing the list threshold limit. In SP 2010, when your query result is more than 10,000 items, as an environmental control, SP denies your request. For farm administrators this value is higher; I believe it is 20,000 items.
So your goal should be to modify your query to return less than 10,000 items.
reference: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262813.aspx
To increase this timeout you will need to modify the web.config file for the SharePoint Website. If you are using the default SharePoint configuration, then the web.config file will be found at:


text:
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text:
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
An Introduction to Trading: Cycles and Their Implications
This view of market behavior carries a number of implications and helps explain several common market observations:
1) Chart Patterns Make Sense - The literature of technical analysis emphasizes such chart formations as double tops and bottoms, head and shoulders formations, cups-and-handles, etc. All of these naturally follow from a cyclical view of markets in which momentum peaks and valleys tend to precede price peaks and valleys. Similarly, the technical literature is replete with oscillators and ideas about trading divergences in overbought/oversold; RSI; stochastics; MACD; etc. These divergences also make sense within a cyclical view of price change, as markets lose momentum prior to reversing. Even the formulations of Elliott and Gann theorists make sense as ways of conceptualizing phases of momentum within cyclical patterns.
2) No One Strategy Always Wins - Go back to the idealized chart of cyclical price change from the prior post. During the market moves between price lows and momentum highs and between price highs and momentum lows, trend following strategies will tend to work. During periods between momentum highs and price highs and between momentum lows and price lows, we will tend to see countertrend (reversal) strategies working. During the period between price highs and momentum lows, we'll tend to see volatility expand; during the period between momentum highs and price highs, we'll tend to see volatility dry up. Using the same strategy across all phases of market cycles will result in periods of uneven performance.
3) No Two Cycles Are Identical - Cycles are nested within cycles; as a rule, the larger the time frame, the larger the amplitude of the cycle. Thus, markets will tend to move more (i.e., display greater price variability) over a monthly time frame than over a daily one. Because larger time frames exert influences on shorter ones and multiple time frames are nested, no one cycle is identical to others. Traders looking for precise patterns or timing rules to recur are apt to face disappointment. The goal of the trader should be to try to *identify* cycles that we're in and frame viable hypotheses from this identification. That is very different than trying to predict precise price action from a given cyclical formulation. Once again, I'll be providing examples of this as we move along.
4) Trade Execution and Management - An understanding of cycles will help us differentiate the generation of trade ideas (which occurs at one cycle level) and the execution and management of that trade (which occurs at one time frame lower). This is a very important concept that will guide work on improving our trading performance.
The value of a conceptual framework is its ability to guide our understanding and behavior and organize our observations in meaningful ways. Psychoanalysis is one framework for understanding people; behaviorism is another. Buddhism is one framework for spiritual life; Judaism is another. A useful framework is one that speaks to you and that you can actually apply in constructive ways. In this course, we'll be building one framework that has made sense to me over 30+ years of trading. Your job is to consider it, find what--if anything--speaks to you, and then integrate that information into your own experience and understanding.
The goal of this "Introduction to Trading" is to make you your own guru; to help you sharpen your own views and understandings of markets. The idea is not to follow me, but to lead yourself. My job is to offer a few tools that might be useful in that process.
The Introduction to Trading e-book is a work in progress; it's being written one blog post at a time. The updated contents of the book can be found here.
7 comments:
- Alessandro said...
Thank You again. This reading ar those I am looking for
- SSK said...
- GS751 said...
"The value of a conceptual framework is its ability to guide our understanding and behavior and organize our observations in meaningful ways." - Great line. I believe that traders have to constantly challenge their conceptual framework and look at the conceptual framework (as best you can) that others have adoped, to help trade better. If that makes any sense what so ever.
- Alessandro said...
When I began to study how to trading the first think I did was study market cycles. ( I don't know why).
It was and it is difficult and it will be difficult. I studied many books and I can see now that the introduction of Mr Brett is very excellent and simple.
- The Stock Speculator said...
Brett, I'm a big fan of your site. I've been trading for over 8 years and I am always looking for an additional edge. I find your site to be educational and informative. It's always well done and worth the read. I wish you continued success.
- Firebird said...
Dr. Steenbarger,
Again and again, I have to say that I find this project un-be-liev-able.
The quality of your writings is only matched by your generosity.
Thank you,
- Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D. said...
Thanks again for the tremendous interest and support. My hope is that each post can build upon the ones previous, so that we can have a useful and lasting resource at the end of it all!


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I always get nostalgic thinking about my good old Amiga 500 days and the many games I enjoyed playing on it. I ran the Amiga emulator WinUAE before on a Windows machine, but I have now switched to Ubuntu and wanted to give UAE a try on my new Linux platform as well.
So my question is: how can I install E-UAE on Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)?


text:
Pests of Pests of Blue Willow Trees in a Potentially Warmer World
How does the first and smallest of the three-trophic-level consortium affect the larger two as temperatures rise? Survival and development rate generally increase, thereby reducing the potential for damage in willow trees... Read More
The Reproduction of a Key Arctic Copepod in Low-pH Seawater (12 Feb 2013)
According to the authors of this study, "copepods, as a group, may be well equipped to deal with the chemical changes associated with ocean acidification"... Read More
Coral Microbial Communities Along a Natural pH Gradien (12 Feb 2013)
How low can the pH gradient go ... and coral microbial communities still survive? In this study, all the way down to 7.3, where for the two coral species studied, this "reduced pH does not seem to significantly reduce coral health"... Read More
The Middle and Late Holocene in Central European Russia (12 Feb 2013)
It seems that the more one studies palaeoclimates in various places around the world, the more one begins to appreciate the fact that there is nothing unusual, unnatural or unprecedented about our planet's current level of warmth, especially when it is realized that at these earlier times there was much less CO2 in the air than there is nowadays... Read More
Yellow Sugarcane Aphids in a CO2-Enriched and Warmer World (13 Feb 2013)
As both temperature and CO2 rise, infestations of this serious pest will likely decline... Read More
Modeling the Link Between ENSO and North Australian SSTs (13 Feb 2013)
How much have the CMIP5 models improved over the CMIP3 models? According to the results of this study, not much. In the words of the authors, "gaining a deeper understanding of the physical mechanism behind the strong link between the SSTs in the Niño-3.4 region and to the north of Australia using these models" is "a vital next step" for this work, which they say is required "to elucidate the processes missing from the models that cannot capture the link"... Read More
Drought-Induced Oxidative Stress in Grassland Plants (13 Feb 2013)
How is it impacted if the air's CO2 content and temperature are higher than they are today? Atmospheric CO2 enrichment typically increases the quantity of grassland production, even when plants are stressed for water, while at the same time it additionally enhances the quality of what is produced, as it reduces drought-induced oxidative cell damage and protein oxidation... Read More
Articles By Craig Idso
Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Is Key to Preventing Mass Starvation
Woody Plant Encroachment on the USA's Southwestern Desert
Crops vs. Weeds at the Northern Edges of Their Current Ranges
The Maldives' Corals Seven Years after the 1998 Bleaching Event
A Global Fire History of the Past Century


text:
I am currently playing Minecraft 1.1 and I can't find any sheep! I know that there are sheep in this world because I have seen the same world in videos with sheep. Does anyone have any tips or ideas on what I should do? I simply can't find any sheep at all!
If you can't find sheep for wool (I'm assuming) you can always kill spiders and craft their string into wool.
The best solution is to simply go for a walk and look for them. Bring a sword, food and wheat. I tend to find sheep in open stretches of a "plains" biome devoid of trees. I've also had decent success finding them on the side of hills, again, devoid of trees. They tend to flock in groups of 6 or so.
If you find any sheep simply hold the wheat in your hand and they will follow you around. Use this to corral them into a pen/holding area for future use or to find them again.
Another option is to load up a program like MCEdit and look around the world for entities (small red blocks), select them, analyze (to ensure you have sheep or not other mobs or dropped items), then copy and paste. Not quite as easy as it sounds but can sometimes help.
You can encourage passive mobs like Sheep to spawn by creating a large, flat grassy area. They only spawn on grass blocks, so having a big, open, flat grass field gives you more chances.
Relevant wiki pages:
I had this problem when I first started playing - couldn't figure out how to make bread so just killed everything nearby and ate it. Didn't realise they wouldn't respawn.
Ended up just heading into the next chunk, building a large enclosed area and luring that chunk's sheep into it. Once there it was easy to breed them.
You can always go to another chunk, and just keep running around with wheat until sheep, pigs, cows, chickens, etc start to followe but if your scared to get lost, put lamps down where your trail is, and we getting animals to follow you, you have to keep turning around and making sue they are still folowing or make sure they see the wool, its better to just walk backwards watching them the entire way.
You could move into a village if you find one. Make sure there is a black smith house with some good stuff. Villages are usually located near sheep.
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text:
The 6 Most Important Sci-Fi Ideas (Were Invented by a Hack)
#3. The Phrase "Reverse the Polarity!"
"Reverse the polarity" is what science fiction characters tend to say or shout when they need a science-fictiony-sounding solution to a difficult problem -- it's most often heard in old B-movies like Forbidden Planet (Leslie Nielsen says it there) and classic sci-fi shows like Doctor Who, where "Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" even became a catchphrase for the Third Doctor.
Of course, in all those situations, "reversing the polarity" shouldn't really do shit: Neutrons don't even have an electric polarity, which is why they're called neutrons. It's just meaningless technobabble that hack writers like to use as shorthand for "I can't be arsed to look up some actual science, and I'm hoping you won't notice." Being the hackest of all writers, Serviss didn't just use the exact same term in Edison's Conquest, several decades ahead of everyone else; he also somehow managed to do it multiple times within the same book.
Via Altervista.org
His laziness transcended time.
Chapter II: "... by varying the potential or changing the polarity ..."
Chapter V: "... this charge, it was evident, was opposite in polarity ..."
Chapter VI: "... and reversing their polarities the members of the squadron ..."
Chapter VIII: "... after they had reversed their polarity, and applied their intensifier ..."
Chapter IX: "... instantly reverse polarities ..."
Counting paraphrasing and the like, we found nine instances of "reversing the polarity" in Edison's Conquest, which, according to TV Tropes, is seven more times than it's used in all of the original series of Star Trek. The most shocking part, however, is that the phrase is actually used pretty consistently: According to the book, Edison's ships have the power to change (reverse) their own magnetic charges (polarity), which causes them to be repelled from celestial bodies and thus travel near the speed of light ...
Via Gutenberg.org
SCIENCE: Ribbed for your pleasure!
... which still makes zero fucking sense, but at least he made an effort. The War of the Worlds may be the respected literary classic, but how many meaningless catchphrases did it spawn?
#2. Space Mining
Mining resources in outer space, usually on asteroids or planetoids, sounds like a more recent trope that writers have added to bring some realism to their stories about banging green women with three boobs. We've seen it in Alien, Battlestar Galactica and Avatar, among others -- in fact, we're still waiting for the inevitable crossover film where the Weyland-Yutani Corporation wipes out the blue cat-people of Pandora for their unobtanium by dropping xenomorph eggs all over the jungle.
However, hardcore science fiction fans know that asteroid mining was already present in an Isaac Asimov story from 1944 ... and hardcore fans of shitty knockoff sequels know that Edison's Conquest beat that story by nearly 50 years (and Alien by 80). Just before reaching Mars, Edison's death-expedition (deathpedition) lands on a nearby asteroid that turns out to be made of solid gold. The humans notice that there's a mine on the asteroid, which leads to the following exchange:
Mostly, "HOLY SHIT!"
"This must be the great gold mine of Mars," said the president of an Australian mining company, opening both his eyes and his mouth as he spoke. "Yes, evidently that's it. Here's where they come to get their wealth."
Why did they bring along the president of a mining company, besides for spotting mines in the unlikely event that they ran into some in outer space? Not important. What matters is that gold is being mined illegally by Martian pirates, leading to a short fight where Edison's disintegrators decapitate most of them.
Via Gutenberg.org
"Dude, seriously, you have to stop that."
What follows is a discussion of the practical implications of space mining, like how the asteroid is probably mined seasonally, depending on its proximity to Mars, or how the Martian government must restrict the amount of gold that can be extracted in order to prevent it from crippling the economy. In other words, science fiction was barely a thing yet, and Serviss was already saying, "No, this part needs less laser fights, more boring politics."
At least when Ridley Scott and James Cameron tackled the same plot point, they were considerate enough to throw in some monster rape to keep the audiences entertained.
"Oh, hi there. Don't mind us, we're just talking about Space Congress while playing with our space boobs."
#1. Aliens Building the Pyramids and Abductions
This is another trope we associate with recent-ish movies, usually crappy-ish ones, too: Stargate, Alien vs. Predator, Transformers 2 and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull all reveal that a race of aliens visited ancient Egypt and helped build the pyramids, because there's no way that people back then were able to lift those rocks and stack them up that high. Except of course they were, don't be silly.
Apparently Egyptians were really bad at drawing Predators, so they just made them look like dogs.
The "ancient astronauts" theory was first seriously proposed in 1954, but it turns out that science fiction has been using it since the late 19th century ... more specifically, since Edison's Conquest. That's right, before Alien and Predator, before Transformers and before Indiana Jones, the first sci-fi franchise that resorted to that alien pyramids bullshit in a crappy sequel was Edison's Conquest, which even went so far as to suggest that the Sphinx was actually a monument to the Martian leader.
Via Gutenberg.org
They failed to capture the "eyes popping out of the skull" look, though. Aliens suck at art.
In the book, Edison's men find out that thousands of years ago, the Martians traveled to a "Land of Sand" and were so impressed by the great mountains they saw there that they decided to level them and then build some of their own using "huge blocks of stone." While they were at it, they also built a "gigantic image of [their] great chief." One of the more perceptive members of the Edison entourage shocks all the others by shouting out that the "Land of Sand" they're talking about must be Egypt.
The purpose of these massive space-Lego projects isn't really addressed; the only explanation was that it just seemed like the sort of weird shit aliens would do, you know? Also, it's revealed that the Martians kidnapped people from all the way over in India to do most of the actual pyramid building, for some reason. Those human slaves were then taken back to Mars -- which, yep, means Edison's Conquest also features one of the first-ever mentions of the concept of alien abduction. The heroes even get to meet a descendant of the original slaves, who leads them to a Martian storehouse.
Via Gutenberg.org
"This is where they store the Martians."
So, for over 9,000 years, the humans served as slaves to the alien race, until Edison arrived to change everything -- not by saving them, but by inadvertently getting 99.9 percent of the slaves murdered by the Martians by just going to Mars. Whoops.
Via Wikimedia Commons / US Public Domain
Yes. "Inadvertently."
So there you have it. A good chunk of modern sci-fi actually comes from a book that was ignored in its time for being poorly disguised fan fiction. Hey, who knows, maybe 100 years from now, all movies will look like that BDSM Twilight fanfic novel (but hopefully not).
Cezary Jan Strusiewicz is a freelance English-Japanese-Polish translator, tour guide and writer. Contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com.
For more crappy rip-offs that actually aren't so crappy, check out 6 Famous Characters You Didn't Know Were Shameless Rip-Offs and The 6 Most Psychotic Rip-Offs of Famous Animated Films.


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Formerly SB141
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Youghal, Ireland
Posts: 333
yes, but you fall off after a few seconds, I meant staying on completely, it'd be cool if we could.
easier way to get around without getting attention from the police, and it looks fun too
Sanitation Division
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: New Jersey, USA
Posts: 12,220
Seems a lot of features announced pre-release turn out to be scripted actions designed for particular missions.
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 62
- I don't know if an of you guys have played Postal 2? -But the gas-tank and match weapon. Run around pooring gas and then throw the match down to ignite an inferno. Would probably make for some interesting misson requiring you to burn down a place, make a grewsome excecution or even for just plain crazyness like trapping peds in a circle of fire
- Different seasons, with the addition of terrain vehicles such as snowmachines, snowboards, four-wheelers, argos ETC.
- The return of airplanes, mountains and huge open spaces which make exploring, flying, missions and other crazyness have more depth of variation.
- Maybe some sort of rock climbing and rope climbing abilitys to go with the mountain side terrain and also for sleath tactics / missions.
- As with ohers, vehicle customization but if anything with this one feature ATLEAST: The ability to be able to pick a COLOR out of a list or a palette grapchic instead of repeatedly having to go back in and out for search of an in-peticular color passing a couple of in-game days just to find it.
- Return of the monstertruck and rediculous vehicles, jetpack.
- Maybe have older charcters such as Claude return but with a personality. Say his shyness went away or a storyline before his role in gta 3 maybe ending with him getting caught up with gangsters and them cutting his voicebox up to make sense of the no speaking in GTA 3.
- A simple Speedometer with the option to enable / dsable it within pause menu.
- A freind hangout with adrenaline activitys like skydiving, bungiejumping..Euphoria would love that stuff.
- Maybe an option to be able to see your ragdoll after you get killed in normal speed instead of slowing down beecuse there was sooo many times I wanted to see the continued path of my ragdoll, but to be cut off or slowed down to much by the grey death - Which is nice effect to resemble dying, but I think you know what I mean about wanting to see the Euphoria egine take its toll on that just-right death that causedyou to fly rapidly.
- Expand on trasportation like jetskis,go-karts, skateboarding / ability to hitch to a vehicle, bicycles, a zip-line and or harpoon with a rope attached - sort of deal.
- Mass variations of weapons like a slingshot,, flamethrowers, abilitys to pick up any feasable items as weapons. Ability to store items and or weapons in the trunk of your car.
- Euphoria related activitys
Anyways, a few fun ideas I would love to see played around with in-game.
And yes, I agree with the above post. We should have alot more in-game features rather any any overhyped 1 use features
Last edited by KkevinCrazy; 11-03-2009 at 04:32 PM..
GTA addict since 2001
Regular Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: FL
Posts: 329
Here's a simple tweak, the ability to stand on vehicles without just falling off when they move. The return of car surfing! A certain other GTA clone (which shall not be named) made a whole mini game out of it.
Remember back in the older GTAs when you could stand/crouch in the back of a pickup and just ride around shooting people? I called it the assisted drive by. Shoot the car once and hold on!
It's kind of disappointing now that if you stand on a car and it starts to move you become drunk and just fall off.
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 62
Top Secret
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Canada
Posts: 185
One thing that will really piss me off is if they put mission scoring in the next GTA. (like in TBoGT). I hated that so much!!!!. And so if they put that in a full game I will not buy GTA V or whatever it is called.
Sanitation Division
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: New Jersey, USA
Posts: 12,220
Mission scoring should ONLY stay if it is not required for 100% game completion or for any external rewards (achievements and trophies). I personally loathe the idea of having "scores" in any form in a sandbox game, particularly GTA. It's not a game about competition or doing things in a particular way. The more it gets dictated, the less freedom you have.
The only way I'd really wish to see mission scoring remain in future games is if the only thing achieving perfect scores could potentially do is reward you with in-game stuff (weapon spawns at safe house, etc, something like that, but only convenience stuff, nothing that would near-impossible to acquire in-game otherwise).
That said though, probably would be better IMO to keep it out all together.
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New South Wales
Posts: 3,303
The thing I like about mission scoring is that it gives you the option to go and replay missions that you didn't do too perfectly, allowing you to challenge your old scores. But I agree, if you want to do a mission a different way from the usual, you should be able to (I'm fairly sure I did no mission in GTA III correctly), so I think if it gave you weapons at the hideout or secret vehicles for some of the tougher missions it would be quite good.
Registered Loser
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 173
In the next GTA I'd really like to see the protagonist have more of a personal motive for more missions than in IV. So in other words, a plot that is driven more by the character's personal stake in the situations as opposed to doing everything simply for money. GTA IV was a step in the right direction but you were still very much the middle man with little say when it came down to it.I understand it can be hard to incorporate that into a lot of the missions but if it was possible to make it more propminent throughtout and it would always be a large theme of the game. Niko's search for 'someone' took a backseat throughout pretty much only to crop up every so often.
I'd very much like to see a return to the more rurual side of SA. It this was to be included then wildlife is essential. I think that's a strong possibility since RDR is including wildlife on the same engine so they're already a step there and they did use some RDR wildlife footage in one of the BOGT news videos I believe!
Obvious expansions such as more weapons, cars, side missions/activities.
But I believe that a more personal approach to the story would be the biggest step up for me.
Sanitation Division
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: New Jersey, USA
Posts: 12,220
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Michigan, USA
Posts: 626
A broader array of melee weapons. The knife and the bat just don't cut it, I miss all the fun stuff from SA.
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 62
Sanitation Division
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: New Jersey, USA
Posts: 12,220
Yes dude melee must make a miraculous return, but more like Vice City with the hardware stores and all the tools. I think the best melee for the next GTA would be an extension of how you can pick up trash stuff in the game and throw it at people, except this time would be maybe broken pieces of wood, etc. Anything laying around that could be used as a weapon. PLUS hardware stuffs, especially chainsaws. Chainsaw made GTA seem more "mature" in that, it was like SCARY.
Of course there needs to be also be some incredibly intensely detailed awesome gore if there's going to be chainsaws.
Amateur Intellectual
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 5,229
-Friends should have less importance. I hate it when they call me when i'm about to do a mission.
-The game should be longer.
-There should be more things to do - tanks, planes etc.
-Also, those mission things like car surfing, using the boot etc in GTA IV - we should be able to do them outside of missions. I would love to kill people, put them in my boot, and then take them to the doctors to make some money.
-Taxi missions, police missions.
-I want a territorial game (like SA), or a business kind of game (VC or VCS).
-Give us an option to modify a car. If it's gonna be 80s VC, then the modification should not be heavy. Could just be rims + paint job.
-The ability to swim underwater. Add sea animals, and other easter eggs.
-Give us more options for the storyline. Add so many options, that you could play the storyline several times, choosing different options. And make sure it affects the whole game! Like, if you kill someone, anothe person later on will try to exact revenge for the kill.
-More memorable soundtrack.
-I know that this is a totally different 'world' to the GTA3 world, but I would love to hear some of the radio guest hosts again - Maurice Chavez especially. I ean, we already have Lazlow right?
-Weapons. Weapons were pretty boring in IV in my opinion. I want some silenced guns, a chainsaw, and loads of rare guns which spawn randomly - you would not be able to buy them in Ammunation or underground gunshops either. For example, we could get a very rare Tommy Gun or something.
-Characters; I like the 'international' thing that they're going with. I want a hardball badass englishman, as the protagonist, or the villain.
-Rockstar tried to use less famous voices and music - that NEEDS to be changed. What happened to getting people like Ray Liotta, or Bill Fichtner? If I get a badass englishman as the protagonist, I want Jason Statham. Villain - Vinnie Jones.
- Location; I really don't care. Pretty obvious that they're going to go with Vice City or San Andreas. Most likely Vice City.
grimmy is a gay icon
Last edited by oppar; 11-21-2009 at 05:20 AM..
Newbie Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Bytom, Poland
Posts: 1
I wish some evil badass chick was the protagonist... Like Catalina or Asuka from GTA III. It would be good to see a female main hero in GTA
Maybe a story of what did Asuka Kasen do, before coming to Liberty City, or something...
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12 Feb 2013 8:21 AM #1
JAM component installation issues
I am trying to use and get acquainted with JAM https://github.com/toorshia/jam
I am having some install problems from the get go. I went to the github rep and downloaded the project from the master branch and installed it on my webserver.
trying to load the app yielded the following problems:
1. the sencha libraries were missing - that's ok. I droped them and passed this obsticle.
2. cordova.js was missing - went ahead and downloaded cordova-2.1.0.js (what is it anyway and why do I need it) and skipped that obsticle also.
now everything seem to load (looking at the network tab of the inspector does not show any problems) and there are no errors in the console but the app I see is some kind of a half baked app that does not work. its not the one I see on the JAM example page (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/6211055/PRO...age/index.html)
can anyone help?
12 Feb 2013 9:57 AM #2
I'm having the same problem getting JAM to load in the browser. I can't see the items on the side when you slide out, and the toolbar at the top is just the one button. all I'm trying to use it for is the side out capability, I tried some others first, but this one seems like the code makes the most sense. Only, I can't get it to work...
12 Feb 2013 11:50 AM #3
I've gotten things to show up finally. it looks like there is a problem with the setItems( ) method. To get the menu to show up I deleted the userBar from the setItems in Menu.js. And to get the home screen to show up you can delete the header from the setItems in Home.js, but this makes the header disappear.. If anyone else is trying to implement this functionality and has had more success, please let me know what I'm missing. thanks!
12 Feb 2013 1:32 PM #4
Guys, thanks for your interest in JAM.
I am just writing to tell you I care
Regarding your questions - I am in a vicious circle right know, working round the clock like a maniac.
I'll be back Saturday/Sunday with some help/answers.
12 Feb 2013 1:49 PM #5
13 Feb 2013 12:16 AM #6
13 Feb 2013 12:27 AM #7
there is no "real" reason. from my point of view these are the things:
- back in the day, the original component had problems in android (ICS), the sliding door had many glitches that prevented me from thinking about it as something I can take to production. in all honesty, I re-checked it a few day ago and it seems that the problem was solved
- JAM just seems easier to understand, its small and to the point so the learning curve is a bit better.
- in general, I have to say I did not give the original one another try recently. I am sure its good enough for my needs now and probably good docs.
13 Feb 2013 12:43 AM #8
Ok. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
13 Feb 2013 11:15 AM #9
I'm still trying to implement JAM. My current issue is getting different panels to load in the main container. seems like it should be an easy thing, but I'm banging my head on the wall.
18 Feb 2013 9:09 AM #10
I think what we mostly need is a working github that we can DL and play with the component order to learn what you did. currently it does not seem to be the case.
many thanks.


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I installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on an HP pavilion dv6 laptop alongside Windows 7.
I am not able to connect to internet via Airtel 3G USB dongle. I tried editing the network connection and am still unable to connect to Internet. Apart from that, while installing Ubuntu certain firmware updates we needed and I skipped that step since I couldn't connect to Internet.


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I've heard conflicting reports of how the creation days , יוֹם (yowm), in Bereshit are interpreted in the Jewish community. How do actual Hebrew scholars define day in Bereshit? six 24 hour periods or six long periods of time? Is one view favored over another(By hebrew scholars), does each viewpoint have about equal support, or is there no argument?
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The 'catch all' meaning of the word 'yom' is 'time period'
The precise meaning of yom in tanach has 4 meanings depending on the context.
In Bereshit(Genesis) both the first and second meanings of the word are clearly used and the 4th meaning of the word is arguably used. There is no single opinion agreed upon by everyone as to which meaning is used where.
It is agreed upon by everyone that the word 'Yom' is not used to mean the rising and setting of the sun however, because the sun was not placed in the sky to rise or set until the 4th yom. (though 24 halachic hours is still the pshat, it's just not sun related halachic hours) And the Yom that is light, is defined in the first day. This often leads to understandings that the light of the yom is a spiritual rather than physical light. (see Rashi)
The idea of a yom in bereshit being a very long period of time comes from tehilim, where it is written 'A day in your eyes is like one thousand years'. This then question's as to who's perspective the creation story is told before Adam is created.
Short answer: There are different opinions, each with their own proofs and backings.
Long answer: Avi's answer explains the different meanings of "yom" quite well. It is my understanding that up until recently, most Rabbis agreed that in regard to creation, it meant a 24 hour period. Once scientists came up with theories about the age of the universe many Rabbis began to engage in what has been called "apologetics", explaining that "day" was metaphorical for "eras".
In my experience, whenever something in the Torah isn't meant literally, its always explained in the Talmud. The most famous example of something not meant literally is "an eye for an eye" which the Talmud says quite clearly (Bava Kamma, 83b-84a) that it refers to monetary compensation. There is no such explanation in the Talmud regarding "day" in Bereishis.
You asked for personal opinions so I'll say that I firmly believe that it was 24 hour periods. If it had meant anything else, certainly that would have been part of the oral tradition. Instead, the Rabbis in the Talmud explain what happened in each hour of the sixth day (Sanhedrin 38b). In addition, if it hadn't meant "days" literally, the Jewish observance of Shabbos as the seventh day of the week would be pretty meaningless. In fact, the entire concept of a seven day week would have no point. Also, the addition of "it was evening and it was morning, the _ day" makes it quite clear to me that it was a "day" in the traditional meaning, albeit without the sun.
As a final point, the Lubavitcher Rebbe points out in a letter that there are those Rabbis who don't hold that the six days are literal, and therefore say that the world is older than 5771 years (as of this writing). For these Rabbis there is a serious problem with the text of the "get" or bill of divorce. Halacha is very stringent with the exact text of the bill (here and here), because if the intended meaning is changed slightly - the bill is invalidated, the divorce is not valid, and any remarriage becomes adultery. On the bill of divorce, there must be written a date, and this date must be of the form - "Five thousand seven hundred and seventy one years according to the creation of the world according to our counting here". The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that this would be contradicted by any interpretation of "days" being "epochs" or "eras".
In Genesis 1:5, yom obviously means a regular day. Evening and morning is used, as well as a number.
Now if you look at Exodus 20:9-10 it says "6 days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yhwh your God". Now yom here obviously means a regular, 24-hour day. But if you read on we'll see the reason for the Sabbath.
In Exodus 20:11 it says "For in six days Yhwh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yhwh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy". Now the Sabbath would be meaningless if it was based on 6 indefinite time periods.
And also, this solves the problem with the "indefinite" period between Genesis 1:1,2 and Genesis 3. It says, "For in six days Yhwh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them". Plus, it says Yhwh created everything, therefore verifying that Genesis 1 and 2 are about the same creation.
When you look at the Hebrew bereshit, the first two words in Genesis, most translations say "in the beginning", but actually it means "in the beginning/start of". So if you literally translate the first verse in the Bible from Hebrew, it reads "In the beginning/start of God create the heavens and the earth," Now the Hebrew word for create is bara. You can't tell if it's past, present, or future. English versions always put it in the past tense, but a lot of Hebrew scholars think it is in the present. So therefore it would read, "in the beginning of God's creating of the heavens and the earth",
This makes much more sense, and it agrees with Exodus 20:21. And in Hebrew, Genesis 1:2 is clearly a description of when God was creating in Genesis 1:1. So the first two verses of Genesis should be, "In the beginning of God's creating of the heavens and the earth, when the earth was without form and void..."
This means that the universe is only around 6,000 years old.