text:
Is there any difference between the "Middle Ages" and the "Dark Ages"?
The "Middle Ages" or medieval period generally refers to the entire time span between classical antiquity and the modern era in Western history. The Middle Ages lasted approximately AD 500 - 1500, from the fall of the (Western) Roman Empire to the fall of the Byzantine Empire and the discovery and colonization of the New World. The Middle Ages are often partitioned into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages.
The "Dark Ages" in the context of medieval Europe refers to a period roughly synonymous with the Early Middle Ages, AD 500 - 1000, but exact limits have changed reflecting developments in the related historiography. The centuries immediately following the fall of Rome were marked by barbarian invasions, population decline, cultural and economic deterioration, and (to modern historians) a lack of records, hence the "dark" moniker.
This concept originated with the Italian poet Petrarch in the 1330s and referred the whole medieval period, but has since been pared down. However its use is now the subject of controversy among historians, who increasingly consider it misleading and biased by Renaissance era thought.
Dr. Susan Snyder, my medieval and ancient history professor, argued that the term "Dark Age" was inappropriate for the early Middle Ages because we still have some records from it and some innovation took place. If we said "Dark Age" in class, we had to be referring to the Greek Dark Age, a period with some actual gaps in the historic record. We lose track of almost all connection between pre- and post-Dark Age writing forms, almost as though people lost the ability to write during that period. (Linear B disappeared entirely, Linear A influences later writing in Cyprus.)
Regarding the Middle Ages, Snyder is an enthusiastic Medievalist, thus her offense to the term "Dark" in reference to it. But most people probably mean the early Middle Ages when they say it.
Note that "Dark Ages" is a therm with high ideological charge. Is the manichaean historical vision of the "enlightened" ilustrated from the XVIII century that oposses the Middle Ages (supposedly an age of barbarism) to the movement initiated by the french revolution, as if the Ilustrated Movementet had arisen by spontaneous generation.
The "middle ages" are anything between the collapse of Rome (400 AD) to its re-emergence in Rennaissance Italy (1400). Rennaissance means "rebirth".
The "dark ages" are the period in the middle ages which were relatively undocumented. This would definitely include 400 AD to 700 AD, and some extend it to 900 AD.
The "viking period" is 700 AD to 900 AD. Some authors include that period as the dark ages, others do not.
The "medieval period" is either the time between the dark ages and the Renaissance, 700 AD to 1400 AD, or it is the time between the end of the viking predations and the Renaissance (900-1400 AD), depending on the writer.


text:
Gas stations across the southeastern part of the country are seeing gas prices spike this morning in anticipation of Hurricane Ike's effect on the offshore oil rigs and gas refineries along the Texas coast.
Hurricane Ike is on a path straight toward the nation's biggest complex of refineries and petrochemical plants, and that's raising worries about gasoline supplies.
Exxon Mobil, Valero Energy, ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil are
among the companies that have stopped refinery operations on the
Texas coast.
One convenience store chain is asking customers in 11 states, including Alabama, to limit purchases to 10 gallons.
The Pantry doesn't have any supply problems yet, but it says it's trying "to head off any panic buying."
A spokeswoman says the limit is voluntary and customers have been receptive.
The Pantry owns 1,600 stores, mostly in the Southeast.
People lined up at gas stations across the wiregrass last night after rumors circulated about supply problems and price increases as much as $1.50 per gallon.
Officials say this morning there are no shortages, but that panic buying caused by those false rumors caused some service stations to run out of gas.
They say the supply lines are running normally and service stations will get their normal deliveries of fuel today.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
by Melissa Brunner
When tragedies happen, I suppose it's human nature to ask, "Why?" Certainly, as journalists we're trained to ask the question. It is one of the "Ws," after all. We ask questions until we're sure we understand the various aspects of what happened or is happening so we can clearly explain it to you, our viewers
Confession: Some things I will never understand.
I don't understand how someone could go to an elementary school and unload on classrooms filled with innocent children.
I can't explain why the bullets brushed past one child in the hallway but failed to spare the next.
I don't understand why some families will be planning Christmas celebrations filled with gratitude, while others will be planning funerals, filled with grief.
Who's to say why some of the very educators who protected and warned their students and colleagues paid for their efforts with their lives?
I don't understand how an adult could feel so... desparate? distraught? angry? ... that he (or she) would think harming children was the only outlet through which to express the emotion.
Many people live with mental illness. Many people suffer loss. Many people get frustrated with their families. Yes, many people are given a raw deal in life.
But very few pick up weapons, drive to an elementary school, get through the doors and open fire.
Speculation as to what drove the young man to attack Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday is well underway. We're asking about his background. We're asking how he got the weapons. We're asking about his personality. We're asking about any possible mental challenges, medical disorders or history of violent or erratic behavior.
We are asking why.
But I just don't think I will ever understand.


text:
It's Official: Electoral Votes Are Counted; Obama & Biden Won
Update at 1:30 p.m. ET: The counting is done and as expected, President Obama and Vice President Biden collected all 332 Electoral College votes they earned on Election Day. Their Republican opponents, Mitt Romney and running mate Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, received 206 votes each.
Since it takes 270 Electoral College votes to be elected, the president and vice president have indeed been returned to office.
Next: Taking the oaths of office. They'll do it twice. Because Jan. 20 falls on a Sunday this year, there will be private ceremonies that day. Then on Jan. 21, there will be the public swearing-in outside the Capitol (weather permitting).
Our original post:
President Obama and Vice President Biden are about to be declared winners of the 2012 election.
Electoral College votes are now being counted at a joint session of Congress. If you wish to watch, C-SPAN is webcasting here.
We'll update with the official word when the count is finished. If all votes are cast as expected, there should be 332 for the president and Biden, and 206 for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan.
It takes 270 Electoral College votes to be elected.
You must be signed in to leave a comment. Sign In / Register
Please keep your community civil. All comments must follow the NPR.org Community rules and terms of use, and will be moderated prior to posting. NPR reserves the right to use the comments we receive, in whole or in part, and to use the commenter's name and location, in any medium. See also the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Community FAQ.


text:
Main Content
Show off your devotion for Fox apparel while meeting your racing expectations in this ZZ Moto T-shirt. It features distressed print graphic of the brand name and a wheel on the front and the locations on the back.
- 100% Cotton
- Distressed screen print graphics
- Imported
- Tagless collar
- Twill brand logo tag on hem
- Short sleeve
- Imported
- Brand: Fox
Fox Customers also liked:
Special event items are produced by manufacturers only after the outcome of a game or event. These are advanced sale items and will ship immediately after they are received in our warehouse.
Manufacturer direct items are shipped directly from the manufacturer. These items are not available for international or expedited shipping.
Customized items can be personalized with options such as your name, your favorite number, and/or designs. Some options may be limited by league rules.


text:
Planning for a Field Trip
In This Article:
- If you are visiting a supported site, determine who the coordinator for your trip will be. This person will be very important to you as you plan the trip and during the field trip itself. If you will be managing the field trip on your own, locate any resources about the destination that will help you plan your trip, such as a Web site or information pamphlets.
- Determine the logistics of the field trip, such as the date, start time, end time, and so on. If you are going to receive support from the site you are visiting, the start and end time will likely be defined by your trip coordinator at the site. There might be only certain windows of opportunity you have or there might be special programs or days you will want to take advantage of.
Some destinations require that you have tickets or only have a certain number of "slots" available on any given day. Others will allow field trips only on certain days or for special events. These types of limitations will often be the driving factor when you plan the logistics of a field trip.
When you visit a destination that will provide formal support for your field trip, one important question you need to ask is if there are group sizes that you need to consider. Sometimes, you need a group of at least a certain number to take advantage of special opportunities. In other situations, you can only take advantage of such opportunities with groups less than a certain size. This information will be very important if you intend to invite others to participate in your field trip.
- Plan the itinerary for your field trip, which should include a general schedule of events. Also, think about key learning opportunities that you want to stress.
- If you need to purchase tickets or make reservations for the field trip, do so. (This step depends on how many people will be attending, so you need to decide if you will be inviting others on your field trip before you can do it.)
- Create a document that includes all the information you have collected about your field trip. This will be useful enough for yourself, but if you have involved other homeschoolers in your field trip, this document becomes an essential means for communicating important information to them.
- Decide how much, if any, preparation you want to do for the field trip. For example, if it doesn't closely relate to upcoming lessons that you have planned, you might want to include some special lessons to prepare students for the field trip. If there are books or other information relating to the destination, have your students start reading that material well before the field trip date. (Web sites are usually very good sources of information about field trip destinations.)
- If you are going to want your students to complete some work as a result of the field trip, such as a report or worksheets, prepare the work that you are going to want them to do.
More on: Homeschooling
Reproduced from Absolute Beginner's Guide to Homeschooling, by Brad Miser, by permission of Pearson Education. Copyright © 2005 by Que Publishing. Please visit http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0789732777 to order your own copy.


text:
Some say that testing hours should be less than development hours when estimating a development project. But I don't fully agree with this. (take an example of web application with shopping cart).
Sign up
- Anybody can ask a question
- Anybody can answer
- The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
There's no inherent preset relationship between development time and testing time. And there's no inherent preset relationship between development/test staff ratio, and development/test time ratio.
The time required to test something is contextual - it depends on factors that may have little or nothing to do with how long it took to develop that feature.
Also consider:
As Joe and Lyndon have said, it depends.
Some of the factors that impact how much test time will be needed relative to development time are:
Those are just a few factors that can affect the balance between development and testing time, and one of the reasons I detest the formula approach.
I seem to remember a great blog post about this a few years ago. I just wish I could remember who it was by or where it was.
Typically, testing time is less than development time. A lot of people say 30-40% of development time, but personally, whenever I've received only this much time, I typically feel as though I haven't done as much I should have. The actual time will always vary. Sometimes it ends up being much more than development time. This will also vary greatly depending on the approach that's been taken by the development team as a whole (including testers). If you're on a traditional project, testing time is going to be longer. On agile teams, I've found my testing time to be significantly shorter.
In the end, the answer is, it depends.


text:
The New Berlin Marlins finish third at the Woodland Conference at Greenfield/Greendale on Saturday as Zach Solie had two first-place finishes for the Marlins.
Solie won the 50-yard freestyle (22.08 seconds) and the 100 free (48.41). He was also part of the two second-place relay teams - the 200 medley relay (1 minute, 42.37 seconds) with Taylor Petrauski, Matthew Olenchek and Sam Nigbur and the 400 free relay (3:22.96) with Petrauski, Jackson Wannamaker and Olenchek.
Olenchek took second in both his events, the 200 free (1:47.45) and the 100 backstroke (54.99).
Shorewood took first with 440 points, followed by Greenfield/Greendale (407) and New Berlin (346).
"Our boys had a great meet today," coach Jeremy Walden said. "Almost everyone of them set new personal-best times in their event. They have are working real hard and are ready to have a great showing at sectionals next weekend.
"It is a pleasure to work with a group of guys who works so hard, are fun, energetic and are genuinely a great group to work with. These young men are truly committed to excellence in the pool and out every day and represent New Berlin proudly."
The Marlins next meet is Saturday at Waukesha South for the WIAA Division 1 Sectionals meet.
New Berlin West snapped a seven-game losing streak last week by beating Waukesha North, 55-49, on Jan. 29 at North to begin the week.
Then in a huge upset, the Vikings went to Pewaukee (11-3) and knocked the Pirates out of first place, 53-49, behind crosstown rival New Berlin Eisenhower (11-2).
The beginning of the game gave no indication of what was going to happen as the Pirates coasted to a nine-point first quarter lead.
But a big second quarter pulled West within two (28-26) at halftime.
Pewaukee extended the lead a little (40-36) going into the final period. But West went on a 17-9 run to pull off the upset.
"We wanted to control the tempo," Lewiston said. "We didn't want to race up and down the court with them. We switched from a man to a zone after the first quarter and that worked better for us. We didn't expect to stop them, just slow them down a bit."
Scott Reichel scored 20 points, hitting on 10-of-15 field goal attempts, grabbed a team-leading 11 rebounds and handed out three assists.
Darin Sowinski added 18 points and seven boards and Kevin Marx scored 11 on three 3s and had five assists. Tyler Thompson continues to do the little things, with four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Lewiston had praise for all four of those players.
"Reichel has really come on for us, scoring and on the boards. Sowinski has been doing a great job off the bench the last three games after returning from his concussion," he said. "Marx has also stepped up and Thompson does a lot that doesn't show up in the box score."
The Vikings led each quarter against the Northstars, leading 12-11 after one period and 24-19 at intermission. North barely won the third quarter (19-17), but West still led 41-38 going into the final period and won the final quarter (14-11) for the six-point win.
The Vikings had a big game from the free throw line, hitting 13 for 16.
Austin Fritz had 13 points and Reichel had 11 with each grabbing six rebounds. Marx scored 10 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Thompson scored nine points, hitting 5 for 6 from the free throw line, and Sowinski added nine points.
They travel to Pius XI on Friday and close out the regular season on Tuesday against Greendale at home.
Ike Coach Dave Scheidegger should call New Berlin West coach Jeff Lewiston and thank him for beating Pewaukee on Friday. The Vikings win over the Pirates (11-3) put the Lions into first place (11-2) all by their lonesome.
But first it took an Eisenhower 54-42 win over Greendale (6-8) on Friday at home to assure the Lions of being in first place. And it took them until the fourth quarter to do that.
In fact, the Panthers jumped out to a seven-point lead in the first quarter, before the Lions rallied to take a 28-26 lead at intermission. Even then Eisenhower couldn't pull away, only expanding the lead by one point, 39-36, going into the final quarter.
But then Ike took control with a 15-6 run and coasted to the win.
"They are a good team," Scheidegger said. "Coach (Ryan) Johnsen does good work with them running a team offense. In the fourth quarter we put the onus on them, made them come out of their zone and then they fouled us and we got to the line. It was our best game of the year for our time management at the end."
Reed Timmer led the way with 19 points, hitting 7 for 10 from the free throw line, as the Lions were 16 for 22 compared to Greendale's 9 for 13 from the charity stripe. Mitch Arman scored 10 points, hitting 6 for 8 from the free throw line. Jordan Perez led the Panthers with 18, which included two 3-pointers.
Arrowhead of the Classic 8 (10-7) nipped the Lions, 50-48, in overtime on Jan. 29 at Arrowhead in an exciting nonconference game. The loss snapped a 12-game winning streak.
But then Ike (15-2, 11-1) bounced back with a 59-35 win Friday at Greendale, keeping the Lions 1 1/2 games behind first-place Pius XI (13-0).
In the loss to Arrowhead, after a 23-23 first half, the Lions won the first quarter (11-8) and the Warhawks the second (15-12), the teams dominated each of the next two quarters. Arrowhead came out after half and went on a 10-2 run to take a 33-25 lead into the fourth period, but the Lions tied the game with a 20-12 final quarter sending the game into overtime. The Warhawks won the overtime, 5-3.
Both teams went to the free throw line a total 46 times - Eisenhower was 16 for 25 and Arrowhead was 17 for 21.
The Warhawks were led by Kelly Smith, who poured in 24 points, which included 12 for 13 from the free throw line. Jenny Weiland led the way with 15 points, going 7 for 10 from the free throw line, followed by Sammy Kozlowski with 12 and Katie Lang with 10.
On Friday at Greendale, the Lions didn't fool around, jumping off to a 38-18 first half advantage and then roared out of the intermission with a 19-8 third quarter and coasted into the final period with a 57-27 lead.
Weiland had 20 points, hitting 6-for-8 free throws, while both Erin Ganzke and Lang had 13 apiece.
New Berlin lost a squeaker at Greenfield, 33-32, on Jan. 29 in the final Woodland dual meet of the season.
"We had a couple of opportunities to put the dual away, but were never able to get the big pin we needed or stay off our back and not get pinned," coach Nick Patenaude said. "A couple matches ended with our wrestlers in position to pin but just ran out of time to secure the pin."
The locals received pins from Bailey Roundtree at 182, Alex Rodriguez at 195 and Emilio Guiterrez at 220.
"We needed to pin at the final three weight classes (170, 182, 195) and we only got two pins. Kevin Theissenhussen got a tech fall which we than ended up one point short."
Receiving decisions were Jared Clark in overtime (113), Zac Nordstrom (132) and Ben Clark (heavyweight).
The locals finished fifth (111 points) out of ninth at the Woodland Conference Tournament on Saturday at Pewaukee.
Rodriguez won the 195 championship and scored 20 team points. He won 5-1 over Greenfield's Matt Braatz in the quarterfinal, won 5-1 over Whitnall's Mike Langenohl in the semifinal and 8-4 over South Milwaukee's Brian Chapman in the finals.
Gutierrez at 220 (18 team points), Tony Talatzko at 182 (17), Clark at 285 (14) and Thiessenhusen at 170 (10) all finished third.
Other locals who placed were Nordstrom at 132, who placed fourth (10) and Jarod Clark at 113 (10) and DJ Heinrich at 120 (10), who each took fifth.
The Warriors battled but dropped a 54-48 Classic 8 Conference contest to Waukesha West on Friday night.
They were within three at the half (23-20) and six after three quarters (39-33) but could not pull out the game and fell to 3-7 in the conference and 6-12 overall.
Turner Kehoe tallied 14 points, while Steve Cotton put in 12 points, but the next scorer was Josh Breider at five points.
Muskego visits Waukesha North at 7:30 p.m. Friday, hoping to repeat a 54-51 victory from earlier this season. The Warriors then travel to Waukesha South on Tuesday, again looking for a sweep, as they downed the Blackshirts, 65-57, in the first meeting.
First-place Waukesha West was too much for the Warriors on Friday night in a 56-40 game.
The Wolverines jumped out 16-5 after one quarter and 30-18 at the half, then controlled things from there.
Ashley Colla scored 13 points, Jessica Cattani 12 and Renee Bennett 11, but the Warriors fell to 4-7 in the Classic 8 Conference and 7-10 overall.
They welcome Waukesha North at 7:30 p.m. Friday, looking for a sweep, as they beat North the first time, 45-41. They then visit former Southeast Conference rival Franklin at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Compiled by John Rech and Tom "Sky" Skibosh
- Sport Shorts: June 9
- New Berlin and Muskego Sports Shorts: June 2
- Muskego and New Berlin Sports Shorts: May 26
- Sport Shorts: May 19, 2016
- Sport Shorts: May 12, 2016
- Sport Shorts: May 5, 2016
- Sport Shorts: April 28, 2016
- Sport Shorts: April 21, 2016
- Sport Shorts: April 14, 2016
- Sport Shorts: April 7, 2016
- Sport Shorts: March 31, 2016
- Sports Shorts: March 24, 2016
- Sport Shorts: March 10, 2016
- Sports Shorts: March 3, 2016
- Sports Shorts: Feb. 25, 2016
- Sport Shorts: Feb. 11, 2016
- Sport Shorts: Feb. 4, 2016
- Sport Shorts: Jan. 28, 2016
- Sport Shorts: Jan. 21, 2016


text:
See images from Himawari-8 in the new satellite viewer
This demonstration product is most suitable for people
with fast internet connection and high data allowance.
Low-definition satellite images
Satellite View Selection
10:00 ACST on Monday 25 July 2016 | Cloud/surface composite, Australia
Images from Japan Meteorological Agency satellite Himawari 8 via Bureau of Meteorology.
IDY28000 Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology Bureau National Operations Centre Satellite Notes for the 1800UTC Chart on 24 July 2016 Issued at 6:11 am EST Monday on 25 July 2016 Tropical moisture is being dragged southeastwards from a low pressure trough near Christmas Island. The resulting cloud band stretches across the centre of the continent. A cold front with its associated cloud is moving across the Bight and approaching Victoria and Tasmania. Low cloud is over the southern WA and SA coasts in the wake of the front.


text:
I have been looking for a way to connect to my virtualbox vm guest by a vnc client.
By that I mean, not installing a vnc client/server on the vm, but as an addition to virtualbox; The same way as vps providers do.
I have searched for this, nothing came up.
How do I do this?
I have been looking for a way to connect to my virtualbox vm guest by a vnc client.
I'm having the same problems because the PEUL is not an option for me. From what I can tell VNC is available if you build it yourself and use the
Is vnc a requirement? or are you simply referring to being able to access the "physical screen" of your virtual machine without having to use a network enabled vm?
If so, The Virtual Box way of doing it ,is using Oracles implementation of the remote desktop protocol (RDP) which they call VRDP.
This allows you control of the guest with any rdesktop client.
You can see Oracles instructions for installing the vrdp here
If you really require / prefer VNC , or dont want the proprietary vbox extension you can enable vnc support with some tinkering according to this post
Most other hypervisors (KVM, Xen, VMWare) have built-in VNC servers for the video framebuffer. The commercial version of VirtualBox does not have this capability but there was a GPL-licensed extension added to the Open Source Edition some time back.
If you install virtualbox from the universe repository, according to the changelog it has been enabled since version 3.1.53-dfsg-1 (for "headless" machines).
Unfortunately I don't use VirtualBox so somebody else (or google) would need to help you with how to set up the machine for VBoxHeadless.
In case you want a VirtualBox Headless machine, as in @WillDaniels' answer, here is a howto guide, which explains how to create a headless vm, and connect it to the network via bridged networking.


text:
5 Horrible Life Lessons Learned from Teen Movies
#2. If You Are Good at Sports, You Are a Sociopath
As seen in: The Karate Kid, Heathers, Revenge of the Nerds, 17 Again, Back to the Future, Just One of the Guys
In 80s teen movies, if a character is sporting a letter jacket, it might as well be the letter swastika, because he is going to be committing crimes against humanity. They don't just start fights, harass fellow students and give wedgies like they do in real high schools. During the 80s, being on a school sports team meant that you were willing to rape women, assault people in public and endanger the lives of your weaker victims to a degree bordering on attempted murder.
For 10 short years, nerds were the most persecuted minority in America.
In The Goonies that character is Troy, whom we meet as he's wearing his letterman's jacket while driving down a winding mountain road. When he happens upon Brand (Josh Brolin), who for reasons not worth recounting here is riding a children's bike, Troy proceeds to grab Brand and drag him from the side of his car at dangerous speeds before throwing him off a cliff while yelling, "So long, sucker!"
Really, he had it coming.
The only thing that could have made Troy a more psychotic asshole is if he was played by Billy Zabka, who played the same bordering-on-psychotic jock in all of his movies. In The Karate Kid, he pushes a scrawny kid off his bike and down a steep ravine from the back of a motorcycle and orchestrates a five-on-one beating that ends when the one non-psychopath of the group points out that Daniel can no longer stand up. Wait, no, Johnny yells him down and goes in for what appears to be the literal kill, before Miyagi rescues his 16-year-old friend.
But it's not just Johnny. At the film's climactic karate tournament, Johnny's friends are worked into a murderous frenzy, with fellow athletes yelling things like "Destroy him!" and "Get him a body bag!" At least by this point Johnny is showing some reluctance, although that might just be because following their advice would involve murdering someone in front of thousands of eyewitnesses.
Is that really karate?
Revenge of the Nerds takes this a step further, when Ogre, one of the film's many semiretarded and thuggish jocks, is shown holding a man from his ankles from the roof of a two-story building and then letting him go. His victim plunges head-first and screaming toward the ground before falling eerily silent. Later, presumably after college security has covered up that murder, Ogre tosses another man head-first through a plate-glass window. He apparently faces no punishment, and the acts are never referenced again, as if murder-by-jock is an event so common that everyone just treats it as something inevitable, like jaywalking.
It was probably just a drama student or something.
#1. If You Can't Afford Four Cars and a Swimming Pool, You're the Poor Kid
As seen in: Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, The Karate Kid, She's All That
Conflict between rich and poor has long been a popular source of high school drama. Usually, in teen movies, it plays out the same way: The poor boy or girl falls in love with a rich girl or boy, there's some conflict, both teens learn an important lesson about prejudice, and everyone ends up happily making out next to their cars. It's a great life lesson! That is, until you start looking more closely at these movies' definition of "poor."
For reference, here's a traditionally filthy poor person.
In Pretty in Pink, Andie (Molly Ringwald) is the token poor girl whose father is chronically underemployed and whose impoverishment forces her to make her own clothes for school, where she is relentlessly bullied. When a boy takes her out on a date, Andie is too embarrassed to let him take her home, because she lives in a falling-apart trailer with plastic sheeting instead of windows. And the rich kids all have their own sports cars, while of course Andie has to take the bus to school because she's so poor, and-
Oh, wait. Actually, this is a shot of Andie's home from the film's opening scenes:
What a nauseating shit-sty.
It's a comfortable, clean, two-story place. The pink car out front is Andie's; her father has his own. It's only when you look more closely at the picture that the horrible truth is revealed: The pink car has a dent in it. Obviously this family is hovering dangerously on the verge of starvation.
The reason the movie can get away with portraying Andie's situation as poverty? All the other kids are rich. Filthy, filthy rich. Andie's boyfriend drives a BMW and takes her to a country club. Their parents are always away in Europe, allowing them to have constant house parties with large amounts of good-looking people dressed in pastels. Andie cannot possibly compete, because after all, her father is shown in one scene sitting outside drinking beer.
What is that, a terrycloth robe? Eyurgh.
The same story pops up in Some Kind of Wonderful. Two "poor" friends fall out when one of them, Keith, falls in love with a fellow poor girl who has sold out by hanging around with the rich crowd. The evidence for Keith's poverty? He actually has to work after school to contribute to his own college fund. His friend Watts is similarly poor because she drives a beat-up car at 16, an age when any respectable American should already have a Rolls-Royce polished to a shine by a team of servants. Similarly, in The Karate Kid, Daniel feels rejected by his peers because he does not fit in at their country club dances. His fellow scrappy underdog, Mr. Miyagi, occupies a similarly low-status position as a handyman and lives in a place like this:
Unfortunately, only those with fewer than five classic cars qualify for food stamps.
It didn't die out in the 80s, either. She's All That features another outcast kid with a working single parent, Laney, whom other kids bully by saying things like: "Isn't your dad my pool man?" Laney's house:
The message is clear: If you live in a home that has fewer than 10 bathrooms, you'd better not even bother attending high school and skip straight to screwing hobos for canned goods, because you are clearly too poor for anyone to love you.
For more terrible movie messages, check out 6 Movies With Uplifting Messages (That Can Kill You). Or get your training on with montages, in The '80s Movie Montage Hall of Fame.
And stop by Linkstorm because spending as much time on the Internet is totally healthy for you.
And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get sexy, sexy jokes sent straight to your news feed.
Do you have an idea in mind that would make a great article? Then sign up for our writers workshop! Do you possess expert skills in image creation and manipulation? Mediocre? Even rudimentary? Are you frightened by MS Paint and simply have a funny idea? You can create an infograpic and you could be on the front page of Cracked.com tomorrow!


text:
European Nintendo eShop Update for April 3rd: GBA titles arrive on Wii UWritten by: / / 2 Comments
It's a quiet week on the Nintendo eShop with the only new piece of software per se being Bubble Pop World for the 3DS. This title is described as an "Augmented Reality-based match-three puzzle game" and features a level creator along with eight underwater mini-games.
This week marks the arrival of the first batch of Game Boy Advance titles on the Wii U's Virtual Console platform. The first three games include classics like Advance Wars and Metroid Fusion, with lots more retro goodness confirmed for the next few weeks.
Here's the latest eShop Update in full:
Download Versions of Packaged Software
- Super Monkey Ball 3D (3DS)
Virtual Console
- Advance Wars (Wii U)
- Metroid Fusion (Wii U)
- Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga (Wii U)
3DS Download Software
- Bubble Pop World
Source: Nintendo UK


text:
AKA, Is there anything to be gained by indulging my whiny, emo, future self?
Ugh. Desmond. I can't stand this guy. I've unlocked a few of the Desmond missions, but I've been putting them off. In previous games, the Desmond parts of the game were by far my least favorite parts of the game.
I've considered maybe going and doing one or two of these missions just so I can get them out of the way, and so that I'm not left with just a load of Desmond missions when I finish the game proper.
However, it occurs to me that perhaps there are benefits in the Ezio timeline if I finish the Desmond missions now. Should I prioritize the Desmond missions? Will I go crazy if I do them all at once? Or can I safely ignore them till the game is over?


text:
Members of the media who wish to reach students, faculty, staff, or a spokesperson of the College, please email Media Relations or call 802-440-4399.
Bennington College
Office of Communications
One College Drive
Bennington, VT 05201-6003
Photography faculty member Liz Deschenes has collaborated with Austrian
photographer Florian Pumhösl on an exhibition currently on view at the
Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition, Parcours—a French
word for "route"— is inspired from an unrealized exhibition proposal of
the 1930s by Austrian-born Bauhaus designer Herbert Bayer, according to
the museum.
For more information, click here.


text:
Finally! The Deluxe Warming Tray(Blech) - the ultimate way to keep foods warm without overheating the kitchen! Once you own this elegant, low profile warming tray, you'll wonder how you managed without it. Featuring a brushed aluminum finished frame and a hi-tech tempered glass surface that allows for even heating throughout, the Deluxe Warming Tray is easy to use, easy to clean, and easy to store. This is no ordinary food warmer. This state-of-the-art product enhances the look and utility of any kitchen. Presently this warming tray is available in the 110V North American version.
The laws of preparing and heating food for use on Shabbos are very complex. Please consult your Rabbi about how to use this properly on Shabbos.
Due to the arrangements with the manufacturer, we are unable to ship the Deluxe Warming Tray to an address outside the USA.


text:
Hi all,
Looking at getting an R1 and perhaps a new lens, your advice is most appreciated.
I need to get an additional and more manageable rig for mountain biking and hiking so my thinking was to get a Nodal Ninja Ultimate R1 & a smaller tripod to use with my Sigma 8mm F3.5 EX DG Circular Fisheye/40D. That way I would have a fast, small and light weight rig & my updated NN3 rig (below) for other lenses (until I can get an NN5). Which brings me to a couple of questions:
In the interest of keeping this rig as small as possible, do you think just using the adjustable tripod legs & the large bubble level on an RRS QR lever is adequate for any needed level adjustments (I have always used a ball-head but need to get small and light)?
Would I greatly improve IQ if I picked up a Tokina 10-17mm FE over my Sigma 8mm F3.5 EX DG Circular Fisheye? There are now 40D DXO modules for it, but if its not a significant increase in IQ over the Siggy for 360 panos I can wait.
Are many of you using the Sigma 8mm F3.5 EX DG Circular Fisheye with an R1 & 40D?
Many thanks for your comments!
Mod: edited per request of original poster.


text:
Barn Finds - Hidden Hot Rod TreasuresWritten by Marlan Davis on October 1, 2007 Contributors: Jeff Smith, Bill McGuire, David Freiburger, Rob Kinnan, Randy Lorentzen, Rick Voegelin, Jeffrey Conger, Loren McCombs, Steve Atwell, Mike Kirton, Courtesy Metal crafters, Mike Volz, Budd Davisson Contrary to what some people think, there are still hidden hot rod treasures out there just waiting to be discovered. We scoured the country and undearthed survivors, long-hidden projects and historical hot rods.
The Cragar-laden 'Cuda was found in a barn in Kentucky where it had sat untouched after the trans blew up in the early '80s. Freiburger found it on eBay Motors by searching "barn find" when looking for a cover car for this month's issue. He couldn't pass it up.>
Call 'em barn finds. Call 'em survivors. Whatever, we just refer to the vehicles shown on the next 16 pages as bitchin' hot rods, finally dug out of obscurity for at least enough time to capture them in full photographic glory. Some of them are true barn finds, unearthed after decades of neglect and outright memory loss. Others are still in the care of their original owners or builders but haven't seen the light of day for years. Some are historical, others simply have great sentimental value, a few are running in anger like they used to, and others may never turn a tire under their own power again, but the overall connection is that they are all cool. We hope you enjoy them, and we encourage readers to send us your barn finds, hidden treasures, and survivors. 'Cause this stuff is neat!
Skip Kent's Hemi Deuce
This hot rod story tells itself: a classic '32 highboy covered for 40 years while the kids grow up, tucked away in the back of the barn behind the old tractor and the primered '34 sedan, concealed under an endless series of shrouds. Then one day you realize your boys aren't boys anymore. They are men with their own families. With some coaxing from your lifelong friend Stretch and prodding by your sons Emmett and J.D., you're convinced to fire up that Hemi one more time, "just to hear it run," they say. But you know it means much more than that. Overnight the full-on thrash begins . . . and decades flash before your eyes.
Standing in the pits after the car's first quarter-mile pass in 40 years, Skip Kent's youngest son J.D. candidly exclaims, "I wasn't even born when Dad quit racing, and to have the opportunity to run this car down a strip again, you can't describe the feeling. Especially in a car that Dad raced 40 years ago. I stepped into the exact same car that Dad stepped out of!"
With his big brother Emmett, nervous and excited, rushing over to congratulate him, J.D. continues, "Looking at the controls you think it's a piece of cake. There isn't much to do, but everything happens in a big hurry." Joining the family, Skip recounts his first pass down the strip in the purple coupe. "I hit about 115 mph and I could see the plexiglass bow back in on me, and I kept going for it. I went through the traps and the damn windshield came back in my face. It shattered, but I had that old green crash helmet on. It broke my nose. All I could think was to shut her down and get it off to the side. So I ran it the rest of the season without a windshield."
Anyone can see that the Deuce is full-on old-school. As two college kids living in Bozeman in 1955, original builders Denny Perry and Dick Ettinger used every trick in the book including sheetmetal floorboards, an aluminum dash, and a pressurized Moon tank to reduce the coupe to fighting weight. The purple highboy is easily identified by the hand-painted rendition of Clay Smith's "Mr. Horsepower" logo applied by Ray Brooks after Skip purchased the car in 1961. For four years Skip campaigned a 392 Chrysler Hemi boasting six Stromberg 97s and Jahns high-compression pistons, hooking the horsepower to the tarmac through a bulletproof LaSalle tranny and a 4.11:1 rearend. He added the rose-colored Plexiglas windows, and for the perfect stance he set the highboy atop a pair of American Racing magnesium wheels up front and chrome steelies out back.
Skip laughs as he explains how the race car received its nickname. "We had a motor supply in town with a machine shop, and there was a gentleman whose name was Ben. He was quite an accomplished machinist: He did everything including crankshaft grinding and manifold planing. He did it all. Us pimply-faced hot rod kids would keep dragging our worn-out junk in there to try to get him to fix it. He was a nice guy, but he just hated us kids. Of course we never had any money. So when this car finally got rolling we named the car after him-Benny."
By the summer of 1965, Skip was contemplating racing on a more serious level, but when he watched his newborn son Emmett being carried through the pits by his mother the responsibility of fatherhood took hold. He says, "I looked at the car. Here I am without a steady source of income and I thought to myself, 'You know, I need to make a decision here. Am I going to have superchargers and roller camshafts or am I going to buy Pablum and diapers?' Well, obviously you know how it went. The car went on the trailer in August of '65 and that was the last time it ever ran. But somehow, and in all honesty I don't know how, I managed to keep it all these years."
Skip recounts, "It was always the kids' dream to hear it run, but my response was always no." But last spring his mood changed. Prompted by his two sons and good friend Bob "Stretch" Stredwick, they rolled Benny out of the barn and took him to Stretch's garage for an overhaul. Emmett jumped on the electrical while J.D. handled flushing out all the ancient fluids and replacing all the plumbing. With cousin Kevin Kent running parts, Skip and Stretch kept the technical information flowing. Over the next two weeks all the old stories spilled out onto the garage floor, as the Deuce was taken apart and reassembled.
Then it came time to fire the healthy 392. Oh, what a sound, the perfect rumble of an uncorked Hemi echoing in the evening stillness. Before the Father's Day debut at a private car show, Benny received some final touches including a power wash and fresh coat of wax. "All the preparation and all the things we did were probably some of the best two weeks of my life. There was a real camaraderie," recalls Stretch. Describing Benny's unveiling to the local hot rod crowd: "The interesting thing that happened that day was when we got the car out-there were guys who had tears in their eyes when they saw it!"- Jeffrey Conger
Dennis Sisco's Blue Racer
Fate and luck: They determine which cars somehow manage to survive to the present day just as much as fame, historical importance, or commercial value. This Model A, virtually unknown until now but a true slice of hot rod Americana just the same, belongs to Dennis Sisco of West Branch, Michigan. The retired Detroit-area radio broadcaster recently purchased it from his rodding buddy Dave Crain, who found the car in 2005. It was resting on its framerails under a carport where it had been left to rot sometime in the late '60s. While the harsh Detroit winters have not been kind to the '31 Ford roadster, Dennis intends to restore the car to its original state if he can. Their research has uncovered the following.
The rod was originally built by Ed Burns in 1954, using a '31 roadster body channeled over Deuce rails, with Guide headlamps and what appear to be Nash taillamps. True to its period, the roadster sported cycle fenders, a handmade aluminum dash with full instruments, and a late-model Ford steering wheel. The upholstery was pleated red and white plastic. A chromed '34 axle with split wishbones and '40 Ford brakes carried the front, with a '39 Mercury gearbox and rear axle rounding out the package. With a flathead Merc V-8-legend has it an exceptionally strong one-the roadster was raced on Eckles Road and at Motor City Dragway by Ed Burns and its next owner, Loren McCombs of Dearborn, who purchased the rod in 1959. In Loren's hands the car evolved into a full-time NHRA class racer, running in the B/Street Roadster category with an unlikely powertrain combination even for the early '60s: a Hilborn-injected Ford Y-block with a Mercury three-speed overdrive trans. The car won its class at both the '64 Nationals at Indy and the '66 Springnationals at Bristol. The killer Y-block, built by Motown engine guru Leo Gonzalez, was bored and stroked to 327 ci. Loren remembers that it had so much compression it would barely rotate, so he mounted the largest battery he could find in the trunk. But unfortunately that engine has long since disappeared, and accurately replicating it is just one of the many obstacles Dennis faces in restoring the car to its original state. For example, just where does one locate a decent set of Hilborn injectors for a Y-block Ford? -Bill McGui
It's hard to belive that historically significant muscle still comes out of barns. You'd die just to find a real Six-Barrel Superbird, much less a car that Chrysler gave away to Richard Petty. All the paint and panels are original. Before the car was stripped, the quarter -panels were sketched on CAD to ensure that the lettering can be redone exactly as it was.>
Steve Atwell's Petty Superbird & Sammy Miller Rocket Car
Our friend Steve Atwell is a world-renowned Hemi race-car guy, but in his midlife crisis he's starting to expand his horizons. We guess his new Prudhomme '70 Cuda Funny Car is technically a Hemi car, but he also just bought a Ford lightweight. And even though Steve is technically a Dodge guy, he hasn't been able to pass up a few good Plymouths that came his way. One of them is this interesting Superbird.
When Steve got the call that there was a 'Bird up in Lansing, Michigan, that had been in a garage since 1976, he thought he probably needed it-but knew for sure when he found out it was a 440+6 car with a Pistol Grip four-speed and the Super Track Pak option. The owner had picked it up for $2,500, driven it for a while, then parked it.
Steve bought the thing after seeing it stuffed in the garage, but when it got home, he wondered why "Daytona Winner" was hand-lettered on both quarters. It clearly wasn't a NASCAR race car. The answer came when Mopar Performance's Dave Hakim recognized it. There was also photographic confirmation from Larry Rathgeb, the lead engineer on the Chrysler winged-car program. This was the Superbird that Chrysler awarded to team owner Richard Petty after Pete Hamilton won the '70 Daytona 500 in the No. 40 Superbird. All signs point to the conclusion that Petty wrapped up the publicity photos with the car, then asked Chrysler to sell the car and hand over the cash. Steve has already stripped it for a full restoration.
The wackiest car in the entire Steve Atwell collection is this one: the Slammin' Sammy Miller Spirit of '76 Mustang II rocket Funny Car. Miller is best known for his '78 Vega Vanishing Point rocket car that ran the first 300-mph dragstrip pass, and for his world- record 3.54-second, 386-mph quarter-mile run at Santa Pod in England in 1984 after rocket cars were banned by American sanctioning bodies. (Kitty O'Neil ran the quarter in 3.235 at 412 mph in a rocket dragster at El Mirage dry lake, not a recognized dragstrip; Miller himself ran 396 at Bonneville according to www.dragracingonline.com). He also had a number of other cars, including the Oxygen rocket dragster that ran 247 mph on skis over an eighth-mile on a frozen lake. Miller died in 2002, but miraculously, not as a result of his outrageous racing exploits.
What makes the Spirit of '76 notable is that it is credited as being the first rocket-powered Funny Car; previous rocket cars were dragsters. The 90-pound rocket with 10,000 pounds of thrust that powers the Mustang II Funny Car is reportedly the same engine that came out of the second Pollution Packer dragster. Miller ran the car in the low 5s at 290-plus mph before moving on to the Vega Vanishing Point cars. The Mustang was sold to Funny Car racer Fred Goeske, who campaigned it as the Chicago Patrol car with driver Tom Anderson. It was found in as-raced condition.
Steve doesn't own anything he can't drive. So imagine the future for this rare find -David Freiburger
Rick Voegelin's Super Mod Camaro
In 1974, Car Craft staffer Rick Voegelin built his Super Modified Camaro to back up the magazine's editorial campaign for a heads-up Sportsman eliminator. Pro Modified, as CC called it, was to be a working man's Pro Stock, racing at 10 pounds per cubic inch with unported cylinder heads, steel bodies, and 10.5-inch-wide tires to contain costs. NHRA bought the concept but not the eliminator, introducing the A/Super Modified class in Modified Eliminator at the start of the 1975 season.
Originally thrown together in 30 days and mirroring the antiestablishment insouciance of its builder, Rick's '67 Camaro was the antithesis of the slick magazine project car. Never a threat for a Best Appearing award, it raced in primer and white gelcoat until a friend of a friend took pity and squirted a $75 Lucerne Blue paint job on it in his driveway. But the car had inner beauty: Rick worked his connections with racers and manufacturers unmercifully, as the Camaro received torsion-bar transmissions, short-stroke crankshafts from Chevy's Can-Am program, and palletloads of other trick parts. Editor Rick, future ex-wife Kay, and fellow CC staffer Norman Mayersohn barnstormed the Left Coast with the Camaro for eight seasons, with regular pilgrimages to the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Highlights included a pair of NHRA Division VII Modified titles, eight NHRA national records, and runner-up finishes at the '76 Winternationals and '78 World Finals. Lowlights included setting the car on fire on the return road at Orange County and oiling down Fremont Raceway twice in one day. NHRA eventually added more Super Mod classes, and the Camaro raced in all of them with a variety of small-block and big-block V-8s. For its final combination the Camaro was outfitted with a 90-degree Chevy V-6 to compete in the sparsely populated K/Gas class.
In October 1982, NHRA ignominiously pulled the plug on Modified Eliminator. But instead of chaining himself to the Christmas Tree in protest, Rick simply loaded up the Camaro and hauled it home. It has remained there ever since, a refuge for spiders and field mice, surrounded in its final resting place by racks of engines, transmissions, and other obsolete parts. These days Rick is a bigshot PR professional with high-end clients including the Corvette LeMans megateam. Meanwhile, not once has he considered selling off the blue Camaro. In the barn it will stay. "Over the years, I've thought about turning it into an autocross car, bracket racing it, putting it back on the street, or restoring it," says Rick. "But lying on a cold concrete floor doesn't have the same appeal that it did when I was 25." -Bill McGuire
Al Kirschenbaum's '70 Plymouth 'Cuda
In the mid-'70s, Car Craft came up with the idea of resurrecting basic $400 junkyard musclecar bodies to build what it called a "contemporary all-American GT." (Think of it as early Pro Touring.) With the assistance of his brother Steve, Al Kirschenbaum, a Brooklyn, New York native (and Petersen employee), built the Mopar, a '70 Plymouth Cuda, "East Coast style." It was paired against a California-style '67 Camaro put together by Norm Mayersohn. The Mopar received a 360 small-block, a 727 TorqueFlite, and 2.93:1, 831/44-inch Sure Grip rearend, plus suspension enhancements. It ran in the July, Aug., Sept., and Oct. '76 issues of Car Craft before finally being (more or less) wrapped up in the Sept. '76 edition. Still owned today by Al, the car remained a daily driver through the late '80s before being parked. As Al puts it, "I bought my current California big house and devoted my efforts to it-but the car was too cool to sell." He eventually intends to restore it to its original 440 four-barrel configuration. "It will be worth more that way. I have all the parts, as well as a lot of spare OE stuff, even a rare power-window switch." -Marlan Davis
The car had the flares and fixed headlights when he got it, but Mike Kirton added the sidepipes and meatballs. He's probably shredding on the thing as you read this.>
Mike Kirton's '69 Corvette
Stuntman and moviemaker Mike Kirton was approached by a wealthy farmer who wanted him to direct an infomercial and offered a Corvette in exchange for his services. The guy got the Vette in a trade 11 years earlier and stuck it in a storage container on the farm, having never even driven it, and couldn't even remember what color it was or which of the 62 containers that littered his farm the car was stored in. Mike said, "Container number 32 was the lucky dog." He unburied the 350/four-speed car, trailered it to a shop where it got a new brake caliper, a carb, and a battery, and it fired right up. Since then, Mike has added Vette Brakes suspension and is beating the snot out of the car. He plans on bringing it to Drag Week(tm) as well as any other races he can get to, including Bonneville, open road races, and even some drifting. Spend five seconds on the phone with the guy and you'll learn he has the energy to do it. -Rob Kinnan
Mike Formick's '67 Camaro
Freiburger is convinced that the '70s look is coming back, and based on the reaction to Mike Formick's '67 Camaro on this year's Power Tour(r), he might be right. Mike's car is no pseudo-retro job-it's the real deal. Those lace stripes were shot in the early '70s by the car's original owner, and everything else on the car-except the drivetrain-is just like it was when the car was street-raced three decades ago. The RS/SS 350ci, four-speed car was "a bit of a legend in our town," says Mike, who lives in Streetsboro, Ohio. The Camaro went through two owners before being stuffed in a barn. When it became available, Mike was in the right place at the right time and snapped up the car. He and a buddy rescued it from the barn it had been living in for 25 years, washed it and polished the dish mags, and what you see here is exactly what it looked like. Mike has since put a 10.0:1 496 in it with the original four-speed, stuck a set of 3.08s in the 12-bolt, and hit the road for Power Tour(r).
"The car had 49,000 original miles and hadn't seen rain in over 25 years, and it deteriorated a little bit on the Tour, but it was worth it. My dad and I had a blast," Mike tells us. -Rob Kinnan
Alexander Brothers '66 Barracuda
The OE automakers have used high-profile show cars for years as a way to attract attention to their brand. Though never destined for production, these one-offs suck people into the new-car displays and, hopefully, leave them with a good impression of the latest new cars. Back in 1966, Plymouth's exhibit folks worked with the styling department to pen a relatively subdued (for the day) but still hot-looking version of their new Barracuda for the show circuit. Rather than build it themselves, they enlisted the famous Alexander Brothers, Larry and Mike, and had the car built at the brothers' Detroit-area shop. The guys did a lot of metalwork to the car, including enlarging the rear wheelwells, adding a custom side exhaust that dumps in front of the rear tires, rounding all the corners, pancaking the hood, and creating ahead-of-their-time custom door handles with recessed grip pockets. A clear plastic hood bubble showed the engine (which had fake Weber stacks), and the paint was a bright candy orange. The car was turned into a two-seater with a spare Ansen wheel and tire mounted behind the front seats.
The car's debut was the Buffalo Auto Show in January 1966 and it made the show circuit that year, but we don't have much information on where it went from there. It appears to have lived in Michigan City, Indiana, then finally ended up in Iowa, where Mike Alexander (not "Jr." but son of the original Mike) found it in 2001. Mike was by then working at Metalcrafters in Southern California and was flipping through Hemmings Motor News when he ran across a classified ad for a "'66 Barracuda one-of-a-kind custom show car by Alexander Brothers." Mike called his dad, who advised him, "That's one you might not want to take on." The younger Alexander didn't listen, and now, six years later, the car is fully restored to the former beauty it once was. Keep it in the family, they say. -Rob Kinnan
Tim Holland says; "The car is amazingly complete and original but in pretty rough condition. Platt is being very helpful with the restoration and has a great memory for the smallest details." Dig the original Hilborn Ford FE wedge injection manifold, big-tube Doug Thorley headers, and fiberglass bucket seat. All are original to the car. Stop drooling!>
Hubert Platt's Falcon
We don't have much background information on this last-minute entry, but that's not a big deal because altered-wheelbase Funny Car fanatics and drag race historians alike will instantly recognize the man as Ford drag race legend Hubert Platt and the faded blue Falcon as his 1965 match racer, the Georgia Shaker III. Yes, "Hugh Baby" is alive and well and so is the former FX stormer, which was recently tugged from a barn by Tim Holland of Lawrenceville, Georgia. Steeped in drag racing history-and featured on the covers of the June '65 issue of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated magazine and the Nov. '65 issue of Drag Racing magazine-Hubert's altered-wheelbase Funny Falcon was a solid 9.90/140-mph performer in its day and made life very difficult for the Mopar factory Hemi cars despite being powered by an "obsolete" High-Riser 427 wedge. How the car came to be stashed away nearly untouched for four decades is a story we've got to research. For now, let's just digest the quarter-mile-deep patina of this astonishing barn find and hope the planned restoration is complete soon. Can you smell the rosin? -Steve Magnante
The wagon was a solid but frayed roller when Mike Volz got it. The silver highlights and War Axe logos were added later. At some point before selling the car around 1967, Ron Mandella upgraded the factory steel nose with an aluminum replacement, but it's gone now.>
Mandella's '63 Max Wedge Wagon
Mike Volz of Olympia, Washington, made the discovery of a lifetime by following leads about "some old Mopar station wagon race car." The mystery wagon turned out to be one of only three factory-built Max Wedge station wagons sold in 1963 (two Plymouths, one Dodge). Amazingly, the plus-size body style was what spooked everybody else away. Originally equipped with a low-compression 11.0:1 426 Max Wedge, pushbutton 727 TorqueFlite, AM radio, heater, and steel front end, this six-passenger Belvedere long-roof was originally sold new by the legendary Milne Brothers Chrysler-Plymouth of Pasadena, California, to a young racer by the name of Ron Mandella. Though Ron recently passed away, his brother Phil Mandella-proprietor of PM Race Cars-says Ron campaigned it extensively in NHRA A/SA competition, winning the Indy Nationals in 1964 with a 12.99/108.04 run (he runner-upped there in 1963). When he wasn't chasing national gold, Phil tells us Ron often drove the cross-rammed beast on the street: "He'd be lined up against Dyno Don's 409 Chevy on Colorado Boulevard or Rivergrade Road, then he'd deliver flowers for my parents' flower shop with it the next morning." Today the car is headed for a total restoration back to the way it was when Ron Mandella raced it in the early '60s, complete with hand-brushed lettering, chrome reverse rims, and fenderwell headers. -Steve Magnante
Williams Brothers '28 Roadster
"I don't really own this car. It will always be the Williams Brothers car. I'm simply the caretaker for now."
That's Tom McIntyre describing his stewardship of the most unbelievable barn find we've seen in a long time. Tom's incredible collection includes such drool-inducing rods as the Penske/Donahue '68 Camaro Trans Am race car, the Mickey Thompson- built, Junior Johnson-driven '63 Corvette that was the very first vehicle to get Chevy's NASCAR Mystery Motor, and much more. But as good as those cars are, our favorite is the Williams Brothers Model A. The car appeared in the Dec. '54 HOT ROD after it had destroyed the B/Roadster record at Bonneville with a speed of 159 mph-coincidentally the same number painted on the car. It also did some drag racing and hill climbs, but in '56 they put it away. The car sat in the Williams Brothers shop untouched for 50 years until Tom found it, 100 percent original including the 1956 air in its Firestone Speedway tires and 50 years of accumulated dust on the surface.
Comparing vintage HOT ROD photos to the real thing half a century later reveals not one bit of difference. The residue from masking tape that secured the tonneau to the cowl is still there. The taillight harness that was used when the car was being flat-towed is still curled up behind the seat. Even the water pump belt on the 250ci '54 Dodge Red Ram Hemi is flipped over, as it did every time Ron Williams would zing it up in the revs. Amazing.
Tom has no plans to restore it, drive it, or do anything but let his friends marvel at the history. And we're glad. -Rob Kinnan
Budd Davisson's Model A
"All the nuts and bolts are the same," says Budd Davisson. "Flying is just hot rodding with a third dimension added."
Today Budd is a top aviation writer and photographer who has flown nearly every interesting aircraft in existence and an accomplished novelist as well. But as a teenager in the '50s, he did some of his first flying on the ground-with a Flathead V-8-powered Model A roadster he built himself, starting the project when he was just 15. When he took to the skies his hot rod remained behind, stowed away in the family workshop for over four decades. Now after all these years he has revisited his rod and is prepping it for a return flight, using many of the very same tools that he first used to construct it, including a picking hammer he's owned since he was 12. For Budd, growing up in rural Nebraska in the '50s, tools and machines were part of daily life. "First you learned how to walk, then you learned how to weld, then you learned how to talk," he remembers. Budd bought the tube front axle ('37 Ford V8-60) at a junkyard for $1.50, then took it home wired to the handlebars of his bicycle. Speed parts for the roadster were purchased at Bill Smith's shop in Lincoln, back when Speedy Bill was barely more than a boy himself. The seats in Budd's car are aircraft surplus from a BT-13 Vultee trainer, while he fabricated the header pipes from bedsteads.
"I found among other things, when I started the rebuilding process, that I was an unbelievably crude craftsman when a teenager," Budd writes. "For one thing, it looked as if I didn't own a drill, because every hole was cut with a torch." So this latest project on the roadster might be considered equal parts restoration and completion-putting everything right this time around. The souped-up flathead V-8 stays along with the Ford V-8 driveline, and the body will remain channeled, as it was when Budd first built the low-slung flyer. All the rod's original character will be carefully preserved when the car makes its re-debut, which should be any day now, Budd hopes. To read the full saga of the roadster, told as only Budd can, or to check out his novels and aviation stories, visit his Web site at www. airbum.com. -Bill McGuire
More Photos From This Article View Slideshow
On the tarmac after a 42-year sabbatical, Skip Kent's Hemi-powered five-window Deuce waits to light 'em up again.People are always bringing up photos of the race car. This black-and-white snapped in October 1962 depicts it at a car show at the Bozeman armory. Note the helmet atop the car and the basketball lines on the floor.A rare color snapshot by Bozeman Pacer Club member Don Erickson shows Benny during the summer of 1962 at the local Belgrade airport, taken before Skip Kent installed the signature rose-tinted Plexiglas.It took raw nerve and strength to pilot these old-school racers. Check out the window in the firewall for keeping an eye on the Hemi in case it burst into flames.Utilizing plenty of setback, the 392 Chrysler was one in a series of Hemis that powered Benny. Yep, those are dime-store rubber balls capping the Stromberg 97s.J.D. Kent works with his dad Skip in Stretch's garage to put the pieces of the magneto back together. With support from his brother Emmett, the Deuce was ready for its Father's Day debut.Staging the waking giant, J.D. Kent lines up Benny for its first pass on a dragstrip since August 1965. This was at the Helena, Montana, airport.
Here are Loren McCombs and his roadster after winning the trophy round in B/SR at the '64 Nationals. Note the giant class-winner's trophy- and the giant Hurst shifter in the background.The Burns-McCombs roadster in what is probably close to its original street form: Model A roadster shell channeled over a Deuce frame, built flathead, baby blue paint, Olds triple-flipper wheel covers.For decades now, the notorious blue Camaro has been collecting dust in Rick Voegelin's barn in the California wine country. He swears he'll never part with it.Car Craft staffer and team driver Norman Mayersohn launches the fabulous Super Mod Camaro at Pomona in 1976.The car has served as storage shelving for the last 20 years, but remove all the boxes, peel back the car cover, and it's still pristine except for 20 years of dust and a dent in the left front fender. Al actually drove the car cross-country from Brooklyn to California after finishing it.Originally the car had a 440, but the project's scope called for swapping in a "more realistic" 360 small-block. A hard-core Mopar lover, Big Al tricked the A-motor out with a rare 340 Six-Pak setup-then added cruise control and air conditioning, options never installed on an original 3x2 setup. This required fabbing custom accessory bracket spacers and throttle linkage.
The car was complete but had seen better days. It wasn't repainted over the years, and the original candy orange just faded to this dull gray/black sheen. You can still see the original paint in the trunk jams.We should all be so lucky as to have a shop like Metalcrafters. The Barracuda was completely stripped during its resto.Tom McIntyre was going to leave the dust on the car, as you see it here, but he said people couldn't resist touching it so he had to blow it off.The dash is an Auburn piece but is installed backward (on purpose), while the seat and yellow fuel tank are from a B24 bomber. The steering is shortened '34 Ford with a '52 Ford column bracket and pedals.The Williams Brothers got a new Red Ram Hemi, bored it 0.0625 inch and stuck in a Chet Herbert cam with Harley-based roller lifters before installing it with about a foot of setback. HOT ROD reported that with the Hilborns flowing alky, it made 290 hp at 5,600 rpm.


text:
Coaching Staff
Charlotte Women's Tennis BIO
< Back to Roster page
Natsuko Takayanagi
Selected to the Dean's List ... Was one of two 49ers to participate in all four tournaments … Posted a pair of triumphs in singles action to close the year at the round-robin 49er Invitational ... Knocked off her opponents from USC Upstate and Coastal Carolina in straight sets ... Collected a doubles victory with classmate Lisa Grosselius over their foes from USC Upstate in the same event.
Honored as an ITA Scholar Athlete … Member of the Conference USA Honor Roll … Selected to the Chancellor's List … Recognized as a "Perfect Niner" with a 4.0 semester GPA … Placed second on the squad with nine singles victories … Garnered four wins apiece at the No. 3 and No. 4 slots … Earned triumphs in four of her last five regular-season decisions … Three of the four wins were in straight sets, as she surrendered only a combined five games and blanked her foe from North Carolina Central (April 9) … Included her only three-set triumph of the campaign in the final road match of the season at UNC Greensboro (April 2) to secure the team's only point … Captured a victory by only dropping two games in her Conference USA Championships match versus Southern Miss (April 16) … Started the dual match season with a neutral-site win versus Radford (Jan. 24) … Posted all of her doubles victories at the No. 2 slot, playing with three different partners.
Garnered a spot on the Athletic Director's List … Won her lone dual match, competing at the No. 1 position … Picked up a pair of straight-set victories at the round robin Charlotte 49er Invitational … Dropped a combined three games in the two contests … Added a straight-set triumph over her opponent from North Carolina State at the ITA Carolina Regional … Posted a four-match win streak in doubles, which included a dual match victory … Reached the finals of the Wake Forest Invitational flight after opening with three-straight wins … Started the year with a triumph at the College of Charleston Invitational.
Named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll ... Chosen to the Dean's List ... Tabbed to the Athletic Director's List ... Earned All-Atlantic 10 Second Team accolades … Competed exclusively at the No. 2 slot … Tied for second with 11 dual match singles victories overall … Ended the campaign with three-straight wins, including both Atlantic 10 Championships meetings against foes from Rhode Island (April 18) and Richmond (April 19) … Victory against the Rams clinched the team win … Was triumphant in seven of her final eight matches overall … Recorded three-set decisions during the stretch against opponents from Wofford (March 19) and in the regular-season finale at Davidson (April 12) … Contributed another three-set victory in the spring opener at USC Upstate (Feb. 1) … Played mostly at the No. 2 doubles position … Member of duo that won lone league tournament decision, versus Richmond … Chipped in triumphs in first two decisions of the campaign, at USC Upstate and at Liberty (Feb. 9) … Garnered a win at the No. 1 slot in the lone regular-season Atlantic 10 match against Dayton (March 28).
Selected to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll … Tabbed to the Dean's List … Started the campaign with a flourish, posting victories in 10 of her first 11 singles matches … Rolled through the four dual matches, playing the top-three slots … Clinched a triumph in all three of her contests at the round robin Davidson Invitational, including one three-set win … Marked her only three-set match of the season … Added a four-match win streak in doubles play … Tallied victories in all three dual matches in which she played … Posted a pair of triumphs to close the campaign at the round robin Davidson Invitational … Notched a win at the season-opening College of Charleston Invitational.
Picked to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll … Landed a spot on the Chancellor's List … Named an ITA Scholar Athlete … Garnered All-Atlantic 10 Second Team plaudits … Finished with a team-high 23 overall (fall and spring) singles victories, tying for eighth in program history … Total places her third among freshmen in school history … Registered a season-best five match win streak from against USC Upstate (Feb. 25) through against Western Michigan (March 17) … Included a three-set triumph during the run against Western Carolina (March 15) … Recorded back-to-back three-set victories in Atlantic 10 action at Dayton (Feb. 10) and then at UNC Asheville (Feb. 18) … Tallied final three-set win at Appalachian State (April 10) to stretch streak to three-straight triumphs … Posted an Atlantic 10 Championships victory versus Saint Louis (April 20) … Scored three two-match win streaks during doubles action, including the triumph versus Saint Louis … Win against the Billikens locked up the doubles point … Tandem closed the regular season with a victory at Campbell (April 13) … Collected regular-season A-10 wins over opponents at Dayton and versus St. Bonaventure (March 3).
Placed third in the state for singles … Ranked as high as No. 3 in North Carolina and No. 93 nationally according to the Tennis Recruiting Network.
Born July 23, 1993 … Daughter of Kuniyoshi and Ryuko Takayanagi … Has one sibling, Haruka … A finance major with a minor in economics.
Fukui, Japan
High School:
Northwest Guilford [N.C.] HS
3 Letters
Natsuko Photos:
> View Gallery
Natsuko Videos:
> More Videos
Cross Country
Indoor Track & Field
Outdoor Track & Field
Student Athlete of the Week
Cross Country
Indoor Track & Field
Outdoor Track & Field
Student Athlete of the Week
49er Club
Sponsorship Opportunities
Spirit Groups
Staff Directory
News Feeds (RSS)
Photo Gallery
Live Stats
Online Store
Email Updates
Junior 49ers Club
Copyright © 2016, UNC Charlotte. All Rights Reserved.
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Site Map


text:
Current Tender Opportunities
All opportunities to supply Birmingham City Council with goods and services will only be advertised on www.finditinbirmingham.com, and interested businesses will respond through the website.
Finditinbirmingham is a free web based information service for businesses which includes a supply portal through which registered businesses can access opportunities to supply Birmingham City Council and other organisations.
Forthcoming Contracts
The forthcoming contracts list provides details of contracts that are being planned and are due to be advertised in the next 6 months.
Awarded Contracts
Please see recently Awarded Contracts list by Corporate Procurement Services.
Any queries please call CPS Tel: (0121) 464 8000 or email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
is there a textbooks that explains the maxwell equations in differential form?
What I understood so far is, that the $E$ and $B$ fields can be assembled to a differential 2 Form $F$, and the Maxwell Equations can be written quite nicely with the Hodge $*$ and the exterior deriative $d$. Going further the equations can be derived as an Euler Lagrange (or Yang Mills?) equation from a connection of a fibre bundle.
I am searching for a book that describes how the geometric entities are mapped to the physical entities with a focus on mathematical exactness.


text:
1948 GMC Truck - If GMC Stands For "Give Me A Chance" …Written by on February 24, 2012 … Then This Sixty-Three-Year-Old Pickup Got a New Lease on Life!
When we first met Juan Carlo Ibarra, it was at the benefit show for the late automotive editor, Courtney Halowell, in Clearwater, Florida. There were more than 150 vehicles on display but Juan received the coveted Courtney Pick, earned for the three beautiful classic trucks he displayed at the event. Juan manages multiple rental properties in the Miami area and his cars and trucks are pure hobby, one that he has been enjoying for more than two decades. One of the best examples of his talent is this white '48 GMC. He took the truck in on trade and it was a sad little basket case with a frame and body but no suspension. There was something about the pile of parts, however, that convinced him the automotive antique needed a fresh start.
Juan does all his own work and began the rejuvenation process by C-notching the frame, then welding in an '81 Camaro front clip using 2-inch dropped spindles. The original plan for the rear was to create a simple four-link but sometimes, trucks write their own story and you just become a willing participant. No sooner was the new four-link in position when he realized he would have to create some adjustability in the new front end, a problem he solved with a set of airbags. The lowered front end looked good and, as we all know, one thing leads to another. It wasn't long before the plan changed entirely, with Juan scrubbing the first idea for the rear and creating a new back half to replace the original chassis rails. It incorporated a deeper C-notch and he mounted the four-link upside down to ensure proper clearance now that the truck was resting comfortably on the asphalt. A pair of Viair 480s, mounted left and right on the rear chassis rails, feed the polished five-gallon reserve tank and activate the four Slam Specialties bags through SMC valves. Four Doetsch gas-filled shocks, with multistage valving ensure a comfortable ride on the street while guaranteeing precise handling at speed. Modern Coys wheels got the ancient pickup rolling in new millennium style with 18x7s up front and 20x8s in the rear, all wrapped in Nankang rubber. Juan is a perfectionist when he builds, taking the time to grind all the welds smooth before he sent more than a dozen different chassis pieces to Bulls Eye Powder Coating in Miami. They sent the pieces back covered in a beautiful shade of Copper Pearl. For contrast, the custom-made, 17-gallon aluminum fuel tank was powdercoated Wrinkle Black. All the colors and innovative engineering on the chassis are visible, thanks to a linear actuator that raises the bed floor at the touch of a button, a feature that always wows spectators.
Once the modern suspension components were in place and altitude was under the driver's control, it was time for motive power. The tired original six-banger was made into a planter and a new 350 Chevy was mounted low in the chassis. Upgraded with a Holly 570 cfm carburetor, MSD HEI ignition, and ceramic coated headers feeding twin Magnaflow mufflers, the new V-8 sends 300 hp to the modern Turbo 350 automatic and Camaro 12-bolt rear. As pretty as it is powerful, the engine was accented with custom pieces that include a custom made aluminum air cleaner, a one-of-a-kind triangular accent, and valve covers, all painted to match. The smooth firewall holds the polished Wilwood master cylinder along with the modern A/C connections for the Vintage Air A/C.
Juan wanted to keep the exterior as original as possible, preferring clean and simple lines. "I don't like it when the trucks are overloaded," he told us. "The truck may be resting on the ground but the body looks just like it did in 1948." While all the pieces were in the original overflowing baskets, everything needed a strong dose of tender loving care. The cab, fenders, running boards, and even the original door handles required lots of careful attention to bring them up to modern standards of fit and finish. The truck was originally equipped with a long bed, a rare option that Juan retained. His one main departure from originality was converting the three-window truck into a five-window using custom panels from LMC. While the finishing touches on the sheetmetal were wrapping up, it was time to update the interior.
The bench seat is the original factory version, modernized with new springs, padding, and an elegant combination of Ultra Leather and ostrich hide upholstery. Ostrich trim was added to the door panels, window surrounds, shift boot, and headliner. A chromed Flaming River steering column holds the Billet Specialties wheel and Juan chose a Lokar shifter and pedals. All the original gauges were reworked and modernized to run on 12 volts. Period correct loop pile carpet covers the floor. Carrying the inside theme to the outside, the same ostrich hide is used on the electrically actuated bed floor, now dotted with rows of sharp spikes left over from a Harley build (Load this "Bed of Nails" at your own risk!). William from Bahamas Auto Upholstery in Miami handled the stitch work. The final touch was the smooth Bone White paintjob, with Marlon and George from Auto Spec in Miami accomplishing the metal prep and final finish.
Is Juan happy with the finished truck? Although the initial goal was to create a nicely modernized old truck, the '48 turned out to be an amazingly sophisticated ride and Juan couldn't be happier. "I don't think I've ever said 'This is what I'm going to build and this is exactly what it's going to look like.' The build always writes its own story." Clearly a story with a very happy ending! What's the best part? Juan told us "None of my trucks are trailer queens. I drive them all!" Our kinda guy! CCT
More Photos From This Article View Slideshow
While all the original body lines still show through, no '48 GMC ever had a stance like this one! Painted Bone White and rolling on 18- and 20-inch Coys wheels, the truck gets its lowered profile from a modern air suspension.Mounted low in the late-model Camaro front clip, the modern 350 V-8 creates 300 hp and ensures the vintage truck will effortlessly cruise the interstates. Note the custom air cleaner, valve covers, and hand-formed accents, all painted to match.The bed floor, hinged at the rear, is controlled by a weatherproof Lenco Marine actuator. At the touch of a button, it raises to reveal the amazing engineering innovations on the chassis. The bed floor is upholstered in ostrich and accented with spikes.