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5th in league, top of reserves and 3rd in youth table not a bad season at all so far. Need to tighten defence a bit though
5th in league, top of reserves and 3rd in youth table not a bad season at all so far. Need to tighten defence a bit though
Just noticed that River are paying me £70k/month for the next 32 months for signing ZAkaria Labyad from me even though they haven't.
I have a player in mind for January transfer window, may have to sell to fund it though...
So if anyone is interested in Fulham players in January, let me know!
Also, Rafinha is still out on loan but he should be on loan with me, if that makes sense haha.
Important Notice
The next update is the December update, which means the transfer window will open. However, the announcement for the transfer window opening will be seperate and inbetween will be the announcement of the new rules. These new rules will apply from the January Transfer onwards.
Chairman Super League Season 1 (December Update)
Campionato Super League Table
Straight into the action this month and what a month it has been! The table is starting to take shape and we can now see who the team to beat is, with Malaga running away with 4 points clear of 2nd, 6 points clear of 3rd and a massive 10 points clear of 4th! Well done to the Malaga chairman. Down at the other end, Fulham are pulling slowly further up the table, whilst River are now favourites for dead last. A little mention to Al-Sadd who have dropped several points this month and now appear to be falling down the table. Napoli have pulled themselves together and have put in some decent performances, which means teams will have to watch out when they play this sleeping giant! Finally, a massive mention to the Aston Villa side who looked so formidable despite their position in the league last month, dropping down to 16th and losing their goalscoring touch.
CSL Team Stats
Leeds United seem to be on the rise in form, whilst Napoli have stolen the spotlight for goalscoring. Malaga are still a defensive giant, whilst also having the biggest fanbase, although Al-Sadd have improved yet again since their 10,000 seater upgrade 2 months ago.
CSL Player Stats
Edinson Cavani is still the best player in the league, but has many players close by in the goalscoring department. The Newcastle chairman will be wondering whether he made the right decision in selling Fabricio Coloccini, especially after the outburst from a Newcastle Fan, as he appears to be the best defender in the league. Finally, Marc Albrighton is still the creative force of the league, with 2 more assists than anyone else.
Game Of The Month: Ajax Vs Bologna
Although the statistics were pretty close, Ajax were the better team, but Bologna were more ruthless infront of goal and managed to win this thriller 4 - 2! Ajax were hit for 3 goals within 19 minutes, but despite scoring 2 throughout the match themselves, they were never going to win as Kone added a 4th for Bologna in the 88th minute.
Manager Of The Week
Goalkeeper Of The Week
Defender Of The Week
Midfielder Of The Week
Striker Of The Week
Golden Boy Of The Month
Coppa Titano
Coppa Titano Tree
The Quarter Finals aren't over, but we've reached the halfway point this month with some very interesting results. Anji struggled against Colo Colo who they reckon they should beat easily and this will surely put doubt in Glennuk's mind! Malaga were obviously going to make it difficult for an improving Leeds United side, but it's not over yet! Al-Sadd got revenge for their defeat in the league against Gladbach, with a massive 4 - 1 victory which all but puts them through, although stranger things have happened! Bologna made sure Rangers knew who they were, stunning the high flying Rangers with a 2 - 1 victory.
The second legs will be played during January and there is £1mil up for grabs for each team the qualifies for the Semi-Final, so the stakes are high!
Champions League 1st Round Knockout
This is a massive moment for San Marino as 2 of our teams have reached the 1st round knockout stage! Olympiakos have been paired with FC Bayern, whilst Napoli will face FC Porto! Napoli will probably have the best chance with a very good draw, considering the teams in the round, whilst Olympiakos will be fighting for their life to stay in the competition against a very very strong FC Bayern side.
Europa League 1st Round Knockout
Another massive moment for San Marino as just like the Champions League, the Europa League features 2 San Marino clubs. PSV will face a challenging task against Spartak Moscow, which they will be expected to beat over the 2 legs, whilst FC Twente face a much easier task against FC Vaslui, who they will be expected to beat comfortably!
Champions League U19's
Three of our teams reached the Quarter Final, but Ajax managed to beat PSV, whilst Aston Villa were overrun by Inter Milan. Ajax will now face Inter Milan in the showdown semi, which will prove a massive test for the youth developing side. If they are to reach the Final, they will face either Liverpool or a very daunting task against Barcelona who have smashed their way through the stages.
The File Upload
Here is the file fave as usual, make sure your teams are as they should be. Despite the transfer window not opening immediately, this also gives you a chance to look for potential signings!
8 points from 6 games in December, better than the usual form from Fulham
My planned transfer depends on budgets and also any rule changes made by yourself TM, so I'll PM you with that once the next save is up and rules explained.
Manager Sackings & Appointments
Club Information
- 16th October - Favre quits Gladbach
- 19th October - Stuart Pearce quits HSV
- 22nd October - Malesani appointed Gladbach Manager
- 24th October - Heinemann appointed HSV Manager
- 23rd November - Aston Villa sack McLeish
- 30th November - Laudrup appointed Aston Villa Manager
- 3rd December - Newcastle sack Pardew
- 9th December - Aguirre appointed Newcastle Manager
Chairman: Jpr
Club: Fulham
Manager: Ottmar Hitzfeld
Bank Balance: £9,852,884
Chairman: TWFL
Club: FC Twente
Manager: Steve McClaren
Bank Balance: £5,282,554
Chairman: Glennuk
Club: Anji
Manager: Guus Hiddink
Bank Balance: £2,415,519
Chairman: Ben Evans
Club: Aston Villa
Manager: Michael Laudrup (Clause: Free To Sack Untill End Of Season)
Bank Balance: £2,609,976
Chairman: Yakutz
Club: Gladbach
Manager: Alberto Malesani (Clause: Free To Sack Untill End Of Season)
Bank Balance: £25,826,748
Chairman: Kris0710
Club: Newcastle
Manager: Javier Aguirre (Clause: Free To Sack Untill End Of Season)
Bank Balance: £47,734,683
Chairman: Plobdork
Club: Colo Colo
Manager: Ivo Basay
Bank Balance: £35,566,947
Chairman: Babaginoosh
Club: Olympiakos FC
Manager: Joachim Low
Bank Balance: £28,663,727
Chairman: NathWalker
Club: HSV
Manager: Frank Heinemann (Clause: Free To Sack Untill End Of Season)
Bank Balance: £7,878,194
Chairman: Spurs + Eastbourne 4eva
Club: Malaga
Manager: Manuel Pellegrini
Bank Balance: £13,900,321
Chairman: Ntfbolton1972
Club: Bolton
Manager: Owen Coyle
Bank Balance: £10,594,166
Chairman: Ri916
Club: Leeds United
Manager: Vincent Del Bosque
Bank Balance: £-6,229,858
Chairman: Toonbalmy87
Club: Universidad De Chile
Manager: Jorge Sampaoli
Bank Balance: £19,793,369
Chairman: Kristof1982
Club: Celtic
Manager: Neil Lennon
Bank Balance: £47,799,789
Chairman: EoinMcG
Club: Rangers
Manager: Ducj Advocaat
Bank Balance: £38,908,544
Chairman: Animosama
Club: Ajax
Manager: Andre Villas-Boas
Bank Balance: £28,126,165
Chairman: 18Rabbit
Club: River Plate
Manager: Frank Rijkaard
Bank Balance: £10,286,665
Chairman: B101
Club: Napoli
Manager: Walter Mazzarri
Bank Balance: £25,518,962
Chairman: Jamo456
Club: Bologna
Manager: Stefano Pioli
Bank Balance: £14,006,076
Chairman: The_Greyham
Club: Basel
Manager: Matthias Sammer
Bank Balance: £37,707,937
Chairman: AndyEs
Club: PSV
Manager: Marcello Lippi
Bank Balance: £28,470,855
Chairman: Tactic Master
Club: Al-Sadd
Manager: Alex Ferguson
Bank Balance: £-1,401,510
Willing to sell/trade some players.
Let me know what you guys think
Also waiting for new rules to see whats up
Glad to see i have some cash to spend and buy a good CB, cause im getting killed at the back line conceding so many goals
New rules will be up later on.
Pulling away at the top of the league now. Gotta keep it going though, some good teams coming up behind us. Don't want to blow my own trumpet, but think Steve Mandanda must be one of the signings of the season, keeper of the week so many times. And Hazard comes back from injury and straight away gets Golden Boy award. May have a little change in the window, but we'll see...
We're 4th, have the joint 2nd top goalscorer with a guy I didn't sign and in the Knockouts for the Europa League. Gotta say it but Shteve is doing a good job.
At least Raul's doing a decent job, doesn't look like many of the rest of my Gladbach team are up for the fight. May need some big signings in January.
Damn it Villa! I may need to make a big signing but I have no cash
If anyone is willing to loan me a legit, worthy of starting in EPL, CB for the rest of the year, contact me.
Similarly, if anybody has a midfield general or pacy winger they'd be happy to part with at a reasonable price, let me know.
Rules - Created By Tactic Master
General Rules
1) Be as active as possible and make posts after updates. An active community, creates a fun sign-up.
2) You may set your transfer and wage budgets to whatever you like, but bare in mind you can only change these once during the season and you will not be able to go over your wage budget. If your manager puts you over your wage budget, this wont be a problem.
3) It is up to you to download the save game file from every update and check that your team is correct, transfers, loans etc...
4) Your Facilities can be upgraded once per season, but there is no limit on how much you can spend on them that one time. The cost to upgrade will be as follows...
- £2,000,000 for a minor improvement to Youth Facilities (+1)
- £2,500,000 for a minor improvement to Training Facilities (+1)
- £1,000,000 for a minor improvement to Corporate Facilities (+1)
- £3,000,000 for a minor improvement to Youth Recruitment (+1)
- £1,500,000 for a minor improvement to Youth Coaching (+1)
- £10,000,000 for a 5,000 Stadium Expansion
Manager Rules
1) You can change your manager at any time, but doing this too often can cost you a lot.
2) When a manager is fired, they must be compensated their entire contract, unless you have the free to fire clause.
3) You can hire anybody you want, but if they are at another club, you have to pay compensation to that club in order to hire them.
4) If you want to hire a manager from a domestic club, you must agree compensation with the club manager.
Transfer Rules
The transfer rules will be split into three sections, one for the General Transfer Window, one for the Summer Transfer Window and one for the January Transfer Window. General Transfer Window rules apply to both Summer and January window rules.
General Transfer Window
1) Transfer Values are as follows:
Transfers of players with a minimum fee release clause can be purchased for the value of that clause.
Transfers between clubs in domestic league - Agreed between Chairman.
Transfers between foreign clubs - 2.5x the players current value.
Transfers of youth players from foreign clubs who have not represented their country and have played less than 15 leagues games - 2x the players current value.
Transfers of youth players from foreign clubs who have represented their country or played more than 15 leagues games - 4x the players current value.
Exception occurs if players is available through approach ingame. You will pay the compensation stated ingame.
2) Wage Values are as follows:
Under 17's = 1.25x Wage
18 - 20 = 1.5x Wage
21 - 25 = 2x Wage
26 - 29 = 1.75x Wage
30 - 32 = 1.25x Wage
Over 33 = Current Wage
An exception occurs if the players wage is £140k + per week. The player will demand a £60k wages rise.
3) Loan Transfers will cost a mandatory 10% of the players current value, unless loan listed. If loan listed, the player will be free to loan. You must pay 100% of the players wages.
4) If you wish to sign players from domestic league, you must first discuss the deal with that person and finalise your decisions, then contact me through PM and wait for me to confirm it is ok. Then you must both confirm the deal on the thread.
5) If you wish to sign players from foreign clubs, you must PM me with the player in mind and we will discuss and then you will be able to confirm in the thread.
6) Your control over the sale of players is slightly different. You may post up a transfer list of players in the thread at your own will, but you must contact me directly with requests to transfer list players ingame. You may release players from the club, but they will require full compensation for the duration of their contract.
7) Everything must be confirmed by me before being posted in the thread.
Summer Transfer Window
1) Transfer between domestic clubs are unlimited.
2) Loans between domestic clubs are unlimited.
3) Maximum of 2 foreign transfers.
4) Maximum of 2 foreign loans.
5) Maximum of 3 free transfers.
6) Maximum of 2 youth player signings.
* A youth players is a player ages 17 or under and valued at below £3,000,000 *
January Transfer Window
1) Transfer between domestic clubs are unlimited.
2) Loans between domestic clubs are unlimited.
3) Maximum of 1 foreign transfer.
4) Maximum of 1 foreign loan.
5) Maximum of 1 free transfer.
6) Maximum of 1 youth transfer.
* A youth players is a player ages 17 or under and valued at below £3,000,000 *
FAQ Section
I have had a couple of people ask questions about how to make a loan of a player from abroad. I will handle it by adding the player to your squad for the duration of the loan as there isn't a way to create loans in FMRTE. You will always have to pay 100% of their wages.
As for who you can loan, if it is realistic it will be allowed. So any player who is listed for loan, fine, players who are listed as backup or below, fine, Lionel Messi, not OK!
*Youth Players*
If a youngster is available for a direct contract approach in the game then the cost to sign them will be the compensation that the club requires in the game. E.g. If you approach to sign Bernard Mensah from Watford, the cost of signing him will be £1.21m, as this is the compensation that Watford ask for in game.
*AI Transfers In & Out*
You will be able to block 6 players from being transfered out and will have the ability to cancel any loans in your squad that you wish.
*Transfer Proceedings*
Transfer income from any dealings you make will go straight to your budget unless you state otherwise.
Transfer income from any dealings made by your manager will be determined as it usually would in a normal game, unless you state otherwise.
Important Notice
The transfer window is not yet open, please do not bombard me with messages yet as there is a good chance I wont have time to answer them yet. I plan to open the transfer window tomorrow night.
awesome stuff TM - good to see Napoli are finally sorting it out, and Porto doesn't look like a terrible draw. Have a few targets in mind for the Jan window... exciting times at Napoli
Great form from Leeds! very impressed with Ze Roberto.
Cumon Marcello keep it up, Malaga seem to slowly be creeping away. Like how my PSV team are third in the league but no-one is to be seen in player stats haha, where are all the goals and assists :l
Not too sure about the new manager, not the greatest of starts. Looking forward to having my August signings in my squad now and hopefully the goals will flow.
C'mon Newcastle
The Transfer Window Is Now Open
The Transfer Window Will Close At 5PM GMT+0 on 03/05/2012
The following rules apply...
January Transfer Window
1) Transfer between domestic clubs are unlimited.
2) Loans between domestic clubs are unlimited.
3) Maximum of 1 foreign transfer.
4) Maximum of 1 foreign loan.
5) Maximum of 1 free transfer.
6) Maximum of 1 youth transfer.
* A youth players is a player ages 17 or under and valued at below £3,000,000 *
Universidad De Chile
Transfer Budget £10 Mil
Wage Budget 300k
Darwin Quintero
Patrick Hermann
Breaking News coming for the Al-Sadd camp!
Al-Sadd are today announcing 4 new signings that will join with immediate effect!
Raul Albiol is the first to be announced, with the fee to be believed £4.7mil which is the current asking price with the player on the transfer list.
Lenny Nangis is next to move to Al-Sadd for a fee of £2.8mil and they see him as their future striker and may even make a contribution this season.
Arne Friedrich will join Al-Sadd on a free transfer with the player looking for a club, whilst advertising himself on the free transfers market. His youtube video is apparently what caught the Al-Sadd chairman's eye.
Last, but not least! John Obi Mikel will join Al-Sadd on loan untill the end of the season! He has apparently fallen way down the pecking order at Chelsea and is on the transfer and loan list!
The Al-Sadd Chairman would like to announce that he is on the look out for defenders, defensive midfielders and central midfielders.
Chairman Andy Stewart has announced today an increase in wage budget to 400k and a transfer budget of 18Million.
The Russian To Trust Dick
Today Vladimir Iramov, the chairman of Rangers, released a statement following the opening of the transfer window. Iramov stated that he was 'over the moon' with the current position of the club. Before the season started the media had predicted that Rangers would finish rock bottom of the table and the Russian looked increasingly cocky as the conference progressed. 'All praise must go to the newly appointed manager, Dick Advocaat. He is the master'. Following this comment he made it clear that he would not get involved in any deals in this window, leaving it all to Advocaat. He did however say that both budgets would be increased to £16million transfer and £475k wage.
Eoin McGregor, Ground Sports News
With the club sitting in mid-table and the arrival of some August signings the club are looking to trim the squad size a little. The club refuse to name names not wishing to upset the morale of the team who are facing more upheavel following the rumours of a second manager change in 4 weeks.
The budgets for January is still is be set at a healthy £30m and the wage budget to increase by £100k but the chairman has made it clear the club are not expected to purchase unless players leave.
Two bids rejected in August are set to be made again as the club has already agreed the sale of two players to a rival club, with just the papaerwork left to be completed.
Al-Sadd would like to announce the club will consider any offers on the following players...
Jassem Khamis Mohammed
Kader Keita
Any Reserve Players
Any U18's Players
Please contact the club in the normal way. Offers for any other players not listed above will be considered, but must be serious bids.
Bargain of the Season so far?
Earlier this morning, Napoli's chairman, Gianpaolo Della Torre, convened a press conference to announce the signing of a 'star of the future' in the hope of kick-starting the club's season. In the minutes leading up to the conference, names were circulating like wildfire, with everyone from Pato to Jonny Evans getting a mention. Needless to say, the pundit suggesting Evans has since been let go...
Della Torre: I am pleased to announce that we have kicked off this transfer window early. We have been watching this player for some time, and he has a growing reputation as a flamboyant winger, with many comparing him to a young Ronaldinho. Signing for a fee of £8.75m, on wages of just £16k per week, Douglas Costa
Sun journalist: Douglas, why have you chosen to come to San Marino?
Costa: Well, it is clear that San Marino is on the up, and I really believe in the project here at Napoli.
Sun journalist: It is rumoured that the chairman doubled your wages just to bring you here. Did this play a part in your decision?
Costa: silence
Times journalist: Gianpaolo, many pundits are surprised that you have chosen to bring in another attacking player, when your side is clearly lacking in defensive cover. What would you say to them?
Della Torre: A wise man once said: "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea." I would say to these critics: "You have to have enough ringmasters to be able to control the zoo, but the animals will fend for themselves."
The press conference ends with much scratching of heads. Debate is currently raging all over twitter as to whether Della Torre is a modern day Joey Barton, or just a pretentious moron
HSV Announce Another New Manager
Nathan Walker today have annouced their Third manager of the season after Pearce left the club and now Frank Heinemann has agreed to leave the club.Ex Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez will take over the reigns at the Club. Nathan Walker has said that along with this Change he has decided to increase his Transfer Budget to £50million and increase the wage budget to £2million. This is so that Rafa can bring in his own faces and help take HSV up to table to at least a top half finish this season.
Last edited by NathWalker; 01-05-2012 at 15:29. Reason: Transfer Budgets Announced
Borussia Monchengladbach Announce New Managerial Appointment
Following the departure of Lucien Favre to his national team, Gladbach's board have announced that Malesani's trial period was unsuccessful and instead legendary coach Marcelo Bielsa will be taking charge of the team from now on, in a desperate bid to improve the team's league standing.
The chairman, Dehler, has also announced that the club will have an improved transfer budget of £20m and a £100k increase on the wage budget due to their healthy financial standing.
Bolton Wanderers today announce that any offers will be considered for the following players
Paul Robinson
Ricardo gardner
Sean Davis
Robbie Blake
and any player in the U-18s squad.
Bolton are happy to announce the signings of Kieran Gibbs for 3.9 million.
Kevin on loan from Zaragoza
and Jose de la Cuesta on a free transfer
HSV announce first and second signing of Transfer Window
Nathan Walker and Rafa Benitez are pleased to announce both the first signings in January and the first singings of Rafas reign at the club. The signings are that of Kader Keita from Al-Sadd for a fee of £4million and Flamini from AC Milan for a fee of £2.2million. They have both announced that there will be many more signings of this window as they look to vastly improve the current squad.
Last edited by NathWalker; 01-05-2012 at 19:25.
Anji - Transfers
Anji would like to announce the signings of two new players, with a third expected shortly.
Leandro who was released from Al-Sadd before the formation of the Super League will be joining on a free transfer.
Muslera will be joining for a fee thought to be just under £8million with a high wage. But this should continue to improve the impressive defence of the russians.
Another attacking option will be signing soon on loan, or so the mafia...the club have suggested.
Yet more big business at Stadio de lo Diavolo
Following news of the capture of Douglas Costa earlier today, Della Torre has continued his ruthless attitude at the club, firing manager Walter Mazzari, citing the outgoing coach's persistence with 'a stupid formation that doesn't work' as the main reason behind the contract termination. To replace him, Della Torre has secured world-renowned manager Pep Guardiola, having bought out his 1 year contract from European and World Champions Barcelona. As one of the main exponents of the beautiful game, it is to be hoped that Pep will bring tiki taka football to the Campionato Super League.
These transfer windows are just awesome
And the news keeps coming
Bolton have today secured the loan signing of Olypiakos' Sergi Roberto for the remainder of the season
Newcastle United Announce Major Change
Newcastle United can today confirm that newly appointed manager Javier Aguirre has left is role due to his ego failing to fit in San Marino. In his place comes a young manager known for being a late late scorer in the 1999 Champions League Final.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The former Manchester United forward has been brought out of his contract at Molde for a fee of £650,000 and will link up with Newcastle United straight away.
The first player in during the Solskjaer regin has come from Italy.
Alberto Paloschi
The forward joins from Chievo for a fee of £4.2m with weekly wages around the £40,000 mark.
With a new boss and the firepower of Paloschi, de Jong, Cisse and Schipplock many within the club will expect an instant rise up the table.
Gladbach Bring in Duo from Germany
Following the club's move to San Marino, Gladbach seem intent on bringing in players from the clubs they left behind in Germany, today announcing the signing of Bremen's Sokratis Papastathopolous - a player whom Sammarinese commentators cannot wait to pronounce - for a hefty fee of £13.25m, as well as securing the loan of Borussia Dortmund's Ilkay Gundogan for the rest of the season.
It is thought that this will not be the end of the dealings from Die Fohlen in this transfer window.
Al-Sadd wave farewell to an Al-Sadd Legend
Kader Keita has officially been sold to domestic rivals HSV for a fee of around £4,000,000. Alex Ferguson had spoken to the Al-Sadd chairman on several occasions about the financial side of things are certain players who could be sold, whilst buying others that would improve the squad. Kader Keita unfortunately came into the category of not needed, due to his very large wages. Both agreed that the football use required from Keita was not enough to warrant his £75,000 wages.
Al-Sadd had recently taken John Obi Mikel on loan who also earns £75,000 wages and this is also being reported as a major factor in their decision.
when is window open till?
Transfer Window Announcement
The window closing time has been moved from 5pm to 6pm
Manager Babaginoosh gives his mid season statement regarding Olympiakos saying he is "satisfied with the current position of the team and understands that Jogi has does a good job and will be looking forward to see what moves the manager makes for the remainder of the year to solidify the club for the short term and long term."
Babaginoosh also announces the club has snatched up Italian winger Pasquale Foggia for the remainder of the year on loan.
The chairman is looking to make one or two smaller moves to bolster the teams depth and says he will allow the manager to spend the rest of the budget as he sees fit.
Chairman resets transfer budget to 10m and the remainder in wages.
Edit: i have to admit, this is sooo much fun
Last edited by Babaginoosh; 04-05-2012 at 19:42.
Fulham - buying/selling
I will consider offers on any of my players, though for my key players, you will be expected to offer above the given value.
We are looking for midfielders, a central midfielder is desperately needed, I will consider swap deals. I am also on the prowl for any strikers...
Fulham sign Dedé
Thats right, Fulham are again looking to the future with this signing, the 23 year old Brazilian centre back Dedé from Vasco.
value £4.9m x 2.5 = £12.25m
wage is £9,250 p/w x 2 = £18,500 a week.
A hefty price tag but cheap as chips wages, the only thing holding me back from moving for my first choice target!
His stats already look good and hopefully he develops too:
edit: really loving transfer windows!!
sorry if I reply slowly to any messages by the way, I am drugged up on painkillers and keep falling asleep, it's a wonder I managed to upload and embed an image in my post!
Last edited by Jpr; 01-05-2012 at 21:08.
Anji - Transfers
Anji would like to announce the signing of Jeremey Menez on loan, who found himself a backup player this season. As well as youngster Isco from fellow super leaguers Malaga.
The announcement comes as a shock to some of the current squad who may be fearing for their place as Chairman Glenn Crane has suggested that any offers for players will be thought about and possibly accepted.
He mentioned his email box is empty and ready.
Last edited by glennuk; 05-05-2012 at 02:48.
More stunning news from the Olympiakos camp:
In his promise to maintain relevancy and stay competitive in San Marino and the world, Chairman Babaginoosh has decided to invest heavily into the club by throwing in a whopping 20.5m in all facilities of the club. The move is to keep a promise not only to stay competitive in the short term, but to exceed expectation and maintain a winning culture in the long term.
Upgrades on facilities:
4m in Youth Facilities (+2)
4m in Corporate Facilities (+4)
4.5m in Youth Coaching (+3)
5m in Training Facilities (+2)
3m in Youth Recruitment (+1)
These moves will not only help us attract top quality footballers around the world, but will also help the club develop their own and maintain a culture that produces quality players for all clubs to envy.
Transfer Signings
Marcelo Barovero
Julian Schieber
Thomas Peeters (Toronto FC)
Free Transfer
Muamer Tankovic
Important Notice
For the remainder of this season and next season, prices for facilities will be frozen in place. However, once we reach the third season I will re-evaluate the finances of clubs and probably change the way facilities are upgraded. This is basically just a notice to inform you that now is probably the best time for upgrades, so don't miss out! They could become more expensive in future.
Loan Star Announced
Newcastle United can today comfirm a deal has been agreed to loan Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley until the end of the season. He joins with NUFC paying the £20k per week wages and according to new boss OGS that is the end of the signings for this season.
The club has had 4 bids rejected for three players and will now wait until July.
Last edited by Babaginoosh; 04-05-2012 at 19:43.
1 hour till the deadline passes...
Fulham news
Fulham have announced that they are expanding their 20,000 seater stadium to 30,000 at a cost of £20 million.
we are pleased to announce the arrival of Luiz Adriano from Shakhtar on loan, he was not our first choice after we missed out on Jack Wilshere & Jeremy Menez to other clubs.
Moussa Dembélé has been sold to HSV for a fee of £6m.
We are still looking for a good central midfielder.
Last edited by Jpr; 02-05-2012 at 18:16.
PSV chairman Andy Stewart would like to announce the signing of centre back Nicolas Otamendi to the club for £13M.
Otamendi should provide another force in defence aswell as adding another cb to add to the rotation when yellow cards are accumulated
After a horrible, HORRIBLE start to this season, Chairman and borderline alcoholic Eighteen Rabbit braved the podium today to announce that he had arranged two new transfers in the hopes of plugging up the leaking sieve that was the River back line. As of today the young superstar keeper Ron-Robert Zieler will be joining River from Hannover. Rabbit was quoted as saying, "Man, that kid can DRINK."
Club Atlético River Plate Announce Two New Players
Additionaly, left defender Cristian Llama will be coming to River on loan from Catania for the rest of the season. It was not clear if Rabbit was aware that Cristian was not an actual llama or not as he began giggling uncontrollably when asked about it.
Shortly after making this brief announcement Rabbit belched loudly and then said he had to go "have a lie down" and staggered off stage.
Hopefully for River these two new signings can help turn around this season of horrors.
HSV announce Dembele to the club
Nathan Walker is pleased to announce the signing of Dembele for Fulham at a price of £6million pounds
The Málaga chairman has announce the new transfer budget for the rest of the season, being £35mil. So it looks like they are splashing the cash to secure top spot, and in doing so could put the club in financial danger.
A big chunk of this budget has already been used through two new additions to the team.
Firstly, youth player Nathaniel Chalobah has been signed from Chelsea in a fee of around £5.4mil. But the big news is the signing of striker Neymar from Santos for something in the region of £23mil. The chairman has really shown his intent with this purchase.
As well as them, youngster Muamer Tankovic ahs joined Málaga on a free transfer.
On top of this spending spree, the club can announce they are making improvements to thier facilities. Both their training and youth facilities will be improved by 2 levels, costing the club another £9mil.
On the opposite side of things, goalkeeper Carlos Kameni has been sold to Gladback for £3mil, slightly boosting the clubs finances.
The following players are now available for transfer;
The whole u18 team, apart from Coulibaly and Valenica.
The whole reserve team, apart from Joaquin.
Hélder Rosário
Enzo Maresca
Sebastián Fernández
Great move on Neymar, i was eyeing him for the next transfer window
I'm going to start on sorting out the transfers now.
Anji - Transfers and for sale list
Anji would like to announce the capture of Yohan Cabaye for £12 Million from Newcastle.
This has been funded with the sale of Jucilei for £14million to Fulham.
Also the following players are available
Mbark Boussoufa - £5million
Odil Ahemedov - £3.5Million
Jan Holenda - £250k
Julian Draxler - loan fee of £1.5million
Mateo Kovavic - loan fee of £1 million
Medhi Carcela - £6 million
Important Notice - Free Players
Information on free players contracts are a bit in the dark at the moment, so i've come up with something to confirm what contract will be offered to them. This is as follows...
100 CA or Below = £2,000
156 CA or Above = £15,000
I have reached post 453 in terms of transfer movements. I will finish the rest of tomorrow
Transfer Dealing Information
All PM's must be sent before the 6pm deadline. However, you will have untill 8pm to confirm the deals in the thread. Any deals not confirmed in thread before 8pm will be cancelled. This gives you 2 hours after my confirmation of your PM to confirm your deals.
More Transfer Dealings at Gladbach
Borussia Monchengladbach may be floundering towards the bottom of the league, but their chairman seems determined to turn things around. Having already brought in a new manager and two new players, the Gladbach squad has today been bolstered by the signings of Carlos Kameni from Malaga for a fee of £3m, and Mehdi Carcela from Anzhi for £5m. It is thought that Kameni will offer a bit of experience in goal and take the pressure off the developing Ter Stegen.
To offset these purchases, centre back Dante has been sold to Napoli for £9m, and that will be the end of the chairman's dealings this window. Manager Bielsa will have the £9m from Dante as his budget alongside the remaining wage bill, and may do as he likes with it.
FC Twente Bring in Brazilian CM
After the recent income of money from the sale of De Jong and Brama, Fc Twente have decided to splash the cash on a CM. At a press conference today Fernandinho was announced as the new CM being brought in by van Barthold's team in a deal rumoured to cost £10.5m with wages of just over £30,000k p/w.
Van Barthold also said that he expected little to no movement on the final day of the window.
More news from Olympiakos:
Babaginoosh decided to pull the trigger on one more transaction and brings in midfield youngster Denis Suarez from Manchester City on loan for the remainder of the season
Anji - Transfers and for sale list
Anji would like to confirm the sale of Carcela for £5million
Also the following players are still available
Mbark Boussoufa - £5million
Odil Ahemedov - £3.5Million
Jan Holenda - £250k
Julian Draxler - loan fee of £1.5million
Mateo Kovavic - loan fee of £1 million
Transfer Window Countdown: 2 Hour, 23 Minutes Approx.
The transfer window will be closing very soon, so now is the time to get those last minute bids in! Remember, aslong as your PM has been sent before 6pm, you will have untill 8pm to confirm in thread! I'm very busy today, but I will be taking breaks and using them to answer PM's and close the window.
Leeds United have confirmed they will be listening to offers for all of their players
Al-Sadd Press Conference
Press: Considering it's almost the end of the window, will you be bringing in any last minute signings?
Mike: No I don't think we will do. We made several bids to several clubs in the league, but the prices that were coming back were just too much. I can make the money available if needed, but you have to evaluate every angle when it comes to a bid and sometimes, like with these bids, I just couldn't see how £5mil or £7mil and even £10mil for someone aged 31 or above was reasonable.
Press: What about any possible loans or anything like that?
Mike: I believe that we have a very strong squad now, but we are just lacking a bit of back up. The players who we could possibly loan would probably only be as good as our own backup, so it would be a waste of time and money.
Press: You must be happy with the signing of Raul Albiol and the loan signing of John Obi Mikel?
Mike: I spoke to Sir Alex before we went ahead with the deals and it didn't take long to agree that these were 2 brilliant signings for the club. Raul Albiol is an absolutely fantastic defender and could be one of the best in the league in my opinion, so the price we paid was definately value for money. We did originally look to sign John Obi Mikel outright, but we did have to look at the financial side of things and it was more viable to sign Albiol and loan Mikel, as we would have had to pay a loan fee for Albiol and more wages for Mikel, but doing it the other way round has allowed us a free loan signing and less wages from signing Albiol.
Press: Finally, where do you predict you will finish come the end of the season?
Mike: Well you have to consider the fact that we aren't the only club in the transfer market, looking to improve our squad, so you can't really give an accurate prediction untill a couple of months from now. If I had to give a prediction now, I would say i'd be happy with 10th place, around abouts where we are now. If we got any higher, that would just be a bonus, but we must not go backwards!
Press: Thank you for talking to us Mike and good luck for the second half of the season!
Mbark Boussoufa has to go this window. £4million or trade me a player or 2
Will there be an end of jan update? Or just a league table, as i am thinking about changing manager, but want to see how well i do after the new signings.
There is an update every month
Anji - Transfers and for sale list
Anji would like to confirm the purchase of Hristo popadiyn from Levski. The youngster can play in numerous positions and is tipped as a future star.
The purchase is thought to have cost less than £1million
Also the following players are still available
Mbark Boussoufa - £4million
Odil Ahemedov - £3Million
Jan Holenda - £250k
Julian Draxler - loan fee of £1.5million
Mateo Kovavic - loan fee of £1 million
Transfer Deadline: Approx 21 Minutes
January is always less exciting
Transfer Window Officially Closed!
It has finally closed, but if you haven't yet confirmed your deals that I have given permission on, you still have untill 8pm! At that point, I will be finishing of the rest of the transfers and there is a possibility that we might have a January Update tonight!
Fulham Transfer
We are pleased to announce the arrival of former Anji player Jucilei, who will add to our now two strong Brazilian contingency! The fee is rumoured to be in the region of £14m, again looking to the future.
Juiclei has already been seen hitting the Fulham gym.
Just twenty minutes to confirm signings!!!
After having his phone turned off for the past two days, Ben Evans switches it on to find he has received offers for four of his players. In his laziness, he sends the blanket message of 'NO! **** Off and Get your own players' to everyone, before realising his wife had also sent him a message saying she wishes he would come home from fishing in Samoa. The rest of Aston Villa's transfer budget is subsequently spent on divorce lawyers.
Deadline Officially Closed
Good luck to everyone for the rest of the season!
missed out on confirming 3 deals cos I had to put kids to bed I am sure real life chairmen don't have this problem!


text:
Black Cohosh
Common Names: black cohosh, black snakeroot, macrotys, bugbane, bugwort, rattleroot, rattleweed
This fact sheet provides basic information about black cohosh—common names, what the science says, potential side effects and cautions, and resources for more information.
Black cohosh, a member of the buttercup family, is a plant native to North America. It was used in Native American medicine and was a home remedy in 19th-century America. Black cohosh has a history of use for rheumatism (arthritis and muscle pain) but has been used more recently as a folk or traditional remedy for hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and other symptoms that can occur during menopause. Black cohosh has also been used for menstrual irregularities and premenstrual syndrome, and to induce labor.
The underground stems and roots of black cohosh are commonly used fresh or dried to make strong teas (infusions), capsules, solid extracts used in pills, or liquid extracts (tinctures).
What the Science Says
- Study results are mixed on whether black cohosh effectively relieves menopausal symptoms. An NCCIH-funded study found that black cohosh, whether used alone or with other botanicals, failed to relieve hot flashes and night sweats in postmenopausal women or those approaching menopause.
- Most studies to date have been less than 6 months long, so the safety of long-term use is uncertain.
- NCCIH is funding studies to further understand the potential effects of black cohosh on hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.
- There are not enough reliable data to determine whether black cohosh is effective for rheumatism or other uses.
Side Effects and Cautions
- United States Pharmacopeia experts suggest women should discontinue use of black cohosh and consult a health care practitioner if they have a liver disorder or develop symptoms of liver trouble, such as abdominal pain, dark urine, or jaundice. There have been several case reports of hepatitis (inflammation of the liver), as well as liver failure, in women who were taking black cohosh. It is not known if black cohosh was responsible for these problems. Although these cases are very rare and the evidence is not definitive, scientists are concerned about the possible effects of black cohosh on the liver.
- Some people taking black cohosh have experienced side effects such as stomach discomfort, headache, or rash. In general, clinical trials of black cohosh for menopausal symptoms have not found serious side effects.
- Although concerns have been raised about possible interactions between black cohosh and various medications, a 2008 review of studies to date concluded that the risk of such interactions appears to be small.
- It is not clear if black cohosh is safe for women who have had hormone-sensitive conditions such as breast cancer or for pregnant women or nursing mothers.
- Black cohosh should not be confused with blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), which has different properties, treatment uses, and side effects than black cohosh. Black cohosh is sometimes used with blue cohosh to stimulate labor, but this therapy has caused adverse effects in newborns, which appear to be due to blue cohosh.
- Tell all your health care providers about any complementary health approaches you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.
Search the scientific literature for potential herb-drug interactions
For More Information
NCCIH Clearinghouse
The NCCIH Clearinghouse provides information on NCCIH and complementary and integrative health approaches, including publications and searches of Federal databases of scientific and medical literature. The Clearinghouse does not provide medical advice, treatment recommendations, or referrals to practitioners.
A service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), PubMed® contains publication information and (in most cases) brief summaries of articles from scientific and medical journals. For guidance from NCCIH on using PubMed, see How To Find Information About Complementary Health Approaches on PubMed
Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), National Institutes of Health (NIH)
ODS seeks to strengthen knowledge and understanding of dietary supplements by evaluating scientific information, supporting research, sharing research results, and educating the public. Its resources include publications (such as Dietary Supplements: What You Need to Know), fact sheets on a variety of specific supplement ingredients and products (such as vitamin D and multivitamin/mineral supplements), and the PubMed Dietary Supplement Subset.
Key References
- Black cohosh. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Web site. Accessed at www.naturaldatabase.com on April 10, 2009.
- Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa [L.] Nutt.). Natural Standard Database Web site. Accessed at www.naturalstandard.com on April 10, 2009.
- Black cohosh root. In: Blumenthal M, Goldberg A, Brinckman J, eds. Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs. Newton, MA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2000:22–26.
- Borrelli F, Ernst E. Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) for menopausal symptoms: a systematic review of its efficacy. Pharmacological Research. 2008;58(1):8–14.
- Borrelli F, Ernst E. Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa): a systematic review of adverse events. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2008;199(5):455–466.
- Mahady GB, Low Dog T, Barrett ML, et al. United States Pharmacopeia review of the black cohosh case reports of hepatotoxicity. Menopause. 2008;15(4 Pt 1):628–638.
- Newton KM, Reed SD, LaCroix AZ, et al. Treatment of vasomotor symptoms of menopause with black cohosh, multibotanicals, soy, hormone therapy, or placebo: a randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2006;145(12):869–879.
- Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Black Cohosh. Office of Dietary Supplements Web site. Accessed at ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/BlackCohosh-HealthProfessional/ on April 4, 2012.
This publication is not copyrighted and is in the public domain. Duplication is encouraged.
This page last modified April 20, 2016

subset: commoncrawl


text:
MCB "Jewels" opening tonight...anybody going...?
Posted 12 October 2007 - 10:16 AM
anybody else...?
Posted 12 October 2007 - 04:33 PM
Posted 12 October 2007 - 05:47 PM
Posted 13 October 2007 - 09:25 AM
Posted 13 October 2007 - 10:51 AM
I'm going tonight...!
Please post your review if you have the opportunity to go!
Posted 13 October 2007 - 11:23 AM
The rehearsal clips of Jewels are still up at the Miami Herald website, at least as of Friday the 12th.
Many thanks for the link, Quiggin!
Watching the video, I'm reminded of when Suzanne Farrell described working in the studio on Vienna Waltzes, and then getting her dress -- she said that all of the little steps she'd been practicing were lost under the satin and ruffles. Seeing Emeralds in rehearsal clothes is like seeing the skeleton of the movement, before the tulle.
It was great to see the dancers that bart and Jack Reed have been describing for us these past years!
I hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to hearing your impressions.
I'm going tonight...!
Posted 16 October 2007 - 01:47 PM
But I would like to point out, especially for those who may not be able to see the video but who can get the two still pictures: The first picture has an erroneous caption. Those are Deanna Seay and Isanusi Garcia-Rodriguez, rehearsing Diamonds. The second picture is vaguely captioned; in the middle is Andrea Spiridonakos with two girl and two boy corps members -- I can't quite place the dance. Somewhere in Rubies. And while I'm at it, Jordan Levin, the Herald's dance critic, is credited at the end of the video clips, and may have been their instigator. All this is clear enough if you can play the video.
So, Helene! Now you've glimpsed them, what do you think?
Posted 16 October 2007 - 04:07 PM
I'm not sure exactly what I liked so much......if I had to pick something, I'd pick the word "lyrical".
Posted 16 October 2007 - 05:13 PM
Posted 17 October 2007 - 10:52 AM
I'm going tonight...!
Please post your review if you have the opportunity to go!
The NY Times gave Jewels a glorious, outstanding review. How wonderful that MCB had Violet Verdy, Patty McBride (my fav) and Suzanne Farrell as coaches.
Posted 17 October 2007 - 10:59 AM
Posted 17 October 2007 - 12:00 PM
Posted 17 October 2007 - 08:42 PM
So, Helene! Now you've glimpsed them, what do you think?
I've watched the tape over and over, and what I like is the crispness of the movements, the knife blade flashes of the hands and feet, and the full realization of the counterpoint, especially in Diamonds with the series of brilliant and passionate leaps in the background. It's so different from Farrell and Martins in the PBS tape, which now seems a bit slow and muted and overly distended--like a mannerist painting.
I completely agree with Quiggin on all points. Diamonds was a revelation of an alternative performing universe.
The movement quality of the lead men is particularly pliant and juicy, which I love.
I'm still at a loss with Emeralds, because I cannot translate in my head what this will look like in costume. while both Diamonds and Rubies are immediately translatable. But not at enough of a loss to stop me from wanting to see these dancers in person and to solve the mystery with my own eyes!
Posted 18 October 2007 - 01:41 PM
Posted 18 October 2007 - 02:30 PM
To find the review, go to the Miami Herald website. At the top of the page, click the radio button to the left of "Archives," type "miami city ballet jewels" in the text box, and click the "go" button.
You should be able to find the review by Jordan Levin, published originally on 10/13/07.
Any link you create will expire in less than a day. I don't know how long this will be up, but I do know that from the nl.newsbank.com site, to read the article would cost $5.15.
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text:
Directions to Opera HotelAddress: Str. Brezoianu nr. 37, Bucharest, Romania
Average rating: 0%
Rooms from: US$ 0
Directions to Opera Hotel
From Otopeni airport: Take DN1 - toward Bucharest, keep streight till Victoriei Square. In Victoriei Square take 3rd exit onto Lascar Catargiu Bvd, keep steight untill Romana Square, continue to Magheru Bvd and reach University Square. Turn first exit to the right, keep streight and at the second traffic light turn right on Brezoianu str. and after 200 m you'll reach Opera Hotel on the right hand side. by bus - from airport bus 783 to University Square and change to any bus towards Cismigiu Garden bus station. Get off and from there there's a walking distance to Opera Hotel, on Brezoianu str.


text:
OK, so it's a "WWII What If" question, I have searched on here and cannot find an example of this being asked before, which I find surprising. Maybe my searching abilities aren't very good.
Anyhow, it's an interesting question that bears some thorough investigation, so humour me.
There are dozens of reasons why the Axis lost the war, but what if the planning and execution and just plain luck had been different?
For example:
Hitler had assumed Chamberlain would have been in charge of Great Britain and would have surrendered once France fell. Because of this he hadn't bothered to equip the Kriegsmarine with any landing craft. This meant that Operation Sealion was never a feasible option. What if he had foreseen this situation and prepared his forces accordingly?
Germany spent a lot of resources building naval forces that were never effectively used, several battleships, aircraft carriers (although none were completed two keels were laid down). What if this resource had been spent on more submarines so the Germans had twice as many in operation early in the war.
From what information I've read, Germany scaled back a lot of research and development around 1940/1941 as the war was going so well. For example their jet fighter programme on the ME262 was almost stopped for over a year, they had a prototype of this flying before the war started. Had they not been so over-confident and continued their R&D would this have affected the outcome of the war? Specifically regards the ME262 they could have had these flying in large numbers in 1943 while air-superiority over Europe was still in the balance and before the Allies could have seriously damaged their oil production facilities.
The Germans were so arrogant that they thought the ENIGMA machine could not be cracked, what if they'd been a little more humble and kept producing new encryption devices?
What if Hitler had allowed his generals to be generals rather than interfering all the time with his "no retreat" orders etc.
What if Hitler had ordered his forces to concentrate on capturing Moscow right from the start and launched Barbarossa a few weeks earlier rather than wasting time helping the Italians in the Balkans?
Hitler could have used his influence with Franco to allow German forces to transit Spain and then capture Gibraltar.
The German arms industry organised in such a way that while the competition amongst itself was healthy, it led to a situation where the German weapons, especially tanks were very over-engineered. On paper the Tiger was better than the Russian T32 in a one-on-one fight but the Russians could produce far more tanks than the Germans partly due to the way their arms industry was organised and also due to their over-engineered solutions.
What if Germany and Japan had been more coordinated, with R&D and actual combat - Japanese second front against Russia, or at least a reasonable threat of it.
What if the attacks on Pearl Harbour had been a few days earlier/later when the US carriers were in port?
Are there any WIDELY DISCUSSED theories about how the Axis might have won World War II?


text:
Environmental assessment available for Historic Harrisville dam
In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's regulations, 18 CFR Part 380 (Order No. 486,52 FR 47879), the Office of Energy Projects has reviewed the application for exemption from licensing for the Cheshire Mills Hydroelectric Project, to be located on Nubanusit Brook, in the town of Harrisville, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, and has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA). In the EA, Commission staff analyzes the potential environmental effects of the project and concludes that issuing an exemption for the project, with appropriate environmental measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.
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text:
The new Coptic papyrus: another puzzle piece
A couple days ago, I posted my initial thoughts on the new Coptic papyrus from an unknown early Christian text. I did some media interviews yesterday -- it turns out there aren't enough Coptic papyrologists to go around! -- and further honed my thoughts about what the new fragmentary papyrus does and does not tell us. I put those thoughts together for the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post today. That piece is here, and here's the lede:
Trying to do ancient history is like assembling an enormous jigsaw puzzlebut we only have a small percentage of the pieces, these are mostly middle pieces, and there is no box lid to provide a model of the completed puzzle. Every once in a while, a new piece comes along with such a clear, vivid picture that we are able to reorient the puzzle and gain a new perspective on the whole.This is not one of those moments.
It's been a really fun week. Sorry I didn't join in the combox of the previous post, but things have been unusually busy. Back to normal now, until the next discovery...
About the Author
Michael Peppard is associate professor of theology at Fordham University, author of The World's Oldest Church and The Son of God in the Roman World, and on Twitter @MichaelPeppard.
19 comments
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- Editor Featured
What? This cannot be a comment on the article!
Hope Commonweal also will not have to resort to 'captcha's for comments, as America is already doing.
Michael, do you find that, for you, the artifact itself is important, no matter how prosaic or cryptic the message? It's like an echo of a voice, a whiff of human presence that you can see in letters that are uneven, or places where brush strokes overlap. I always found things like runakefli and the marginalia of monks (especially Irish monks), the scraps and bits of thoughts, fascinating in a very human way.
Jean --The thing about the physical qualities of the scrap is that they are plain, graspable, not dependent on interpretation. On the other hand, I have to wonder if the principles of graphology (handwriting analysis) apply to the writing. As an old amateur calligrapher and graphologist i was struck by the N's in this text. Unlike the other letters, they are often brutal, as if the writer was bashing the reed/pen into the papyrus when making just those letters. But some of the other letters are extremely faint, and the combination of faint-and-strong could be indicative of a mind and hand which at the oment were highly disturbed by something, something perhaps subconsciously associated with the letter N.I'd love to see a professional graphologist's analysis of the piece.
That's interesting, Ann. I was inspired by a paleographer decades ago at the WMU Medieval Conference. He was reporting on having been called in to examine manuscripts long held in storage by the USSR that were finally being brought to light. He was able to identify area of origin for many of the MSS using a variety of evidence. I found it interesting that he seemed able to identify specific scribes due to little ticks like the one you mentioned, which would help them date and place documents. I think that trying to figure out the origins of the scrap Michael Peppard has been writing about is a wonderful human story in itself, and I'm sorry that so much of the discussion seems to be about what it says (or not) rather than the fact that it exists at all.
Thank you for these posts. If I had had to reply on, oh, say the AP, to learn what this is all about, I would be incredibly misinformed by now.
Michael P. ==What sort of writing implement would you think the scribe used for this? At times the lines are very thick, at times they're very thin, but mostly they don't seem to be the work of a broad edge implement. What did the Copts typically use? The great variety of lines here intrigues me. In some cases a line is obviously written over a second time, which thickens it, but that doesn't seem to be the case always.
The academy ought to stay in the academy and out of the newspapers.
The text refers to the mystic marriage of Jesus and St. Catherine of Alexandria and also foretells the establishment of the Monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai.
David Smith: Feel free to stay out of our comment threads.
Ann,Gnosticism is a modern description with a lot of problems. Docetism, a NT era predecessor, is characterized by believing Christ only seemed to have a body. This attempt to avoid a suffering God merges with Greek dualism to create body hating sects, or perhaps sects that looked that way. OTOH Mani is counted as influenced by dualistic Zoroastrianism, where the body was evil. Zaehner is good on that.There is some discussion of writing style in Karen King's article, most important of which is probably this paragraph:The overall character of the handwriting is functional, neither a formal literary hand nor a purely documentary script. It is legible, but not regular, let alone elegant.14 Indeed, based on viewing low resolution photographs, the third reviewer described that hand as clumsy and labored. Bagnall, too, when he first observed the script judged it to be an unpracticed, messy hand, perhaps even by a modern forger, but on further observation and reflection concluded that the problem was the pen of the ancient scribe. In our initial conversation, he suggested that it appears to have been blunt and not holding the ink well, resulting in the wide letter and thick strokes that appear. With this kind of tool, the copyist may have aspired to imitate the so-called thick and thin style, the type of uncial handwriting used for biblical manuscripts, yet succeeded only in the thick effect, with no thin strokes.
There's been a lot of online discussion on this among NT scholars. There's a round-up of what they're weiting with links at the bottom of this post by James McGrath ... http://www.patheos.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/2012/09/is-the-gospel-of...
JIm McK. ==Are you sure you're not thinking of the Manichees' dualism? The Zoroastrians were dualists in that they believed there were two gods, the good one, Mazda, and his opponent, the evil Ahriman. But Ahriman was not body. He was the evil spirit of death and destruction and all things wicked. The good God was the creator of the world and according to the Zoroastrians it is good.What intrigues me about the notion that the body and matter are evil is that it isn't something that all people believe, so it's not some necessary construct of human nature. The notion that body/mattr is evil seems to be indigenous to Mediterranean peoples. So what was its origin? OR were there a number of origins or some historical phenomenon that impelled people to think like that. It certainly has been persistent. I don't think you can simply blame the Greeks. Plato thought the body was a distraction from the world of the Good and even a "prison-house" that prevented the soul from ascending to the Good, but he certainly didn't hate this world.
Ann,I agree that you cannot simply blame the Greeks. But the platonic body/soul divide plays a role. The docetic denial of Jesus' suffering was aggravated by that body/soul dualism, resulting in negative attitudes toward the material world where suffering takes place. Mani was Persian, or of Persian descent. He counts Zoroaster as a prophet who influenced him, alongside Jesus and Buddha. That influence includes an identification of Ahriman with the material world, normal in Zoroastrian circles even if it was not necessary. Zaehner occasionally was exasperated by the inconsistency that derived the 'cold and dry' world from the 'hot and moist' divinity even as it identified the 'cold and dry' with the eternal evil of Ahriman.The real problem is that most of this, including the definition of who was a Gnostic, was done by Westerners who were influenced by their own dualisms, esp. Christianity=good/ everything else = evil. The Infancy Gospel of St Thomas is very different from the Gospel of St Thomas, but Gnosticism was defined so as to include both. What do we say then when we find something that is like both, but different enough to not fit with Gnosticism?
Jim McK. ==I realize that there were many strains in early Christianity, and some of them weren't schools or cults or movements but more like themes that kept reappearing. But I still wonder about where anyone would get the idea that the body/matter was evil, much less that Jesus taught that. It just seems so foreign to the rest of what He (and the OT) taught. Maybe there are some western Caucasian genes that incline some of us to feel that way. Or maybe it is the later Greeks' fault for distinguishing matter and spirit in the first place. (The early Greeks didn't distinguish matter and spirit.) But the notion lingers and it's part of that noxious stereotype of "the Christian" that can poison understanding of Christ's teachings.
This has definitely turned out to be a situation where the text itself is significantly less interesting than the response. Schweitzer has an oft-quoted observation concerning the 1st generation of historical Jesus scholars that basically points out that people will discover a Jesus made in their own image. I think that something like this has been happening with respect to this fragment. From the beginning, I noted that, while this fragment has nothing to do with the historical Jesus, the loudest buzz would be totally about the historical Jesus. And so we have seen a near-frantic burst of responses (a number of them from academics) who felt a huge need to man the ramparts and point out to the public that this doesnt change anythingbut weve also seen a real push for recognition of this fragments potential to, well, change everything, but without much indication as to why that is so. Neither group seems to be ready to just think about what the text, in context, really has to offer. One thing that hasnt really been picked up here is that significant objections have made to the authenticity of this fragment. These objections have been readily seized upon by people who, for whatever reason, feel threatened by the existence of this scrap of papyrus, and so the public hashing of these objections have been near worthless (and this includes discussions on academic biblical studies blogs). I do not have the expertise to comment on the objections, though I could say a lot about how people are responding to them. I will say that I was pretty surprised by how King approached this fragment in terms of publicizing it. Its one thing to present a preliminary paper to a conference discussing the potential significance of the find, but its another to organize a documentary production and contact the NYT when the damn thing hasnt even been subjected to more rigorous analysis. And now the Harvard Theological Review has publicly stated that it isnt publishing any of her work on it until that analysis takes placewhich, of course, is a no-brainer, but it just makes it embarrassingly clear how pre-emptive much of this was. All in all, this is probably a freaking lesson about the scholarly method as much as anything else.
Why some historials refuse to use the traditional BC and AD to note epochs is beyond me. BCE and CE are soo lame - and show the ignorance, not to mention the tediousness, of the user.
I had a constructive reply for you--the sort I'd give to a student in a classroom--but then I remembered that you're not a student in a class, you're a troll on the interwebs. So here is a more constructive reply: stfuadiaf.


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GEARY COUNTY, Kan. -- The man accused of killing a Junction City woman in front of her toddler has asked for an expert to help work on his case.
Nathaniel Lewis Jr. appeared in Geary County District Court Tuesday morning for a pretrial hearing.
Lewis has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 24-year-old Jennifer Pigg at her Junction City apartment last summer.
On August 14th, 2011 at 1:30 AM, Junction City Police officers were dispatched to the Green Park Apartments on North Calhoun Street, in reference to a woman suffering from a gunshot wound.
They found Pigg dead from a single gunshot wound to her upper torso.
Witnesses identified Lewis, an Illinois man, as the shooter. Police would not discuss how Lewis and Pigg knew each other but said they were not in a relationship.
Lewis turned himself to Junction City police the same day as the deadly shooting.
Junction City Police Chief Tim Brown said Lewis had been living in Junction City for a year at the time of the shooting but had no address, calling him "homeless."
After Lewis' arrest, Chief Brown would not reveal what police believe happened inside Pigg's apartment. The motive and circumstances surrounding the deadly shooting are still unknown. Lewis waived his preliminary hearing and evidence in the case has not yet been presented in court.
Brown told WIBW that there were five adults in the room in Pigg's apartment when she was murdered: her, Lewis and three witnesses as well as Pigg's two-year-old child.
Jennifer Pigg's child is now being cared for by her parents.
Lewis maintains that the shooting was an accident and that he did not know the gun was loaded.
On Tuesday, his attorney received authorization to obtain a firearms expert to review the case.
Geary County Attorney Steve Opat says he is working with members of the KBI and Junction City Police Department. He considers them "eminently qualified firearms experts," he told the court.
Lewis is scheduled to appear in court again Aug. 2, 2012 at 11:30 AM for a status hearing.
A trial date has not yet been set.


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My understanding about touchscreen-friendly is that the controls are not too small so that they can be tapped by the finger. Are there "touchscreen-friendly" user interface standards? Or is there even a word (touchscreen-friendly)?
Yes, and it's called finger-friendly.
Small touch targets are very hard to hit, and users sometimes need to zoom in (if possible) to press the correct target. Not particularly useful and an issue one need to address. Also hitting a target is difficult. You could touch the target with your finger and at the same time hide the object to press. Alternatively, you could use your fingertip making the object to push visible – but you have to rearrange your finger to get it to work.
If one don't implement enough white space between buttons or links, the effect may be that the user accidentally push the other non-intended button, and end up somewhere else. Imagine the frustration when that happens.
The concept of "Finger friendly" may not be as big yet, but it will probably grow fast.
Images from Smashing Magazine: Finger-Friendly Design: Ideal Mobile Touchscreen Target Sizes
This is a pretty broad question, but if you're looking for some resources, here are a few I would suggest:
The difference between touch and mouse is much deeper than just the size of the controls. It requires another way of thinking:
• Swipe rather than scroll (which requires you to rethink the role of scrollbars)
• Pinch rather than click to zoom.
• Cursor remains invisible (because under your finger). This makes operations much more direct but also less precise.
• No hovering (where does that leave tooltips?)
• Less room for chrome on smaller devices.
I've seen the term finger-friendly used before, which is pretty succinct. An interface may be fine for a mouse and keyboard, but may not suit finger taps, slides, etc. Either create a dedicated interface for the purpose (such as a smartphone or tablet app) or adapt the one design to suit both use cases.
There's also more to finger-friendly interfaces than control sizing...There's also spacing between controls, and careful use of hover effects, which work best with a mouse.
Consider Fitts' Law, which is thusly described:
It comes down to there being a trade-off between speed and accuracy, where targets are smaller and/or further away.
We developed some very early touch screen apps starting back in the 1970s and 1980s, and have learned a lot of lessons and developed our own set of guidelines over the years.
(Please note that we did our work with full screen size terminals, long before the existence of handheld devices like tablets and phones.)
First, we had to understand our users. Will they be members of the general public, or trained employees? Will they be using this for 4 hour shifts, or just occasionally? Will they always be in a controlled environment, might the system be used out of doors, or might the users be standing next to exterior doors where wintry winds can chill them, tempting them to put on gloves? Will the users be in a food service area where constant cleaning of the equipment with cleaning solutions is required, or where they may be wearing plastic gloves? These questions helped us determine the choice of touch screen technologies.
Next, is the application constantly changing the positions and types of the buttons? Or are the buttons fairly consistent, and located in a relatively static area? Restricting the buttons to a set of fixed locations on the screen helps users who perform repeat activities. Making buttons appear everywhere slows them down. We usually set up a kind of frame, with navigation buttons consistently located in certain positions.
We required our touchable buttons to encompass a minimum of 1/2" on each side, with the guidance that the larger the touchable area, the better.
We required immediate responsiveness to the user that their touch was accepted, although the processing didn't have to complete immediately. We did it by inverting the entire touch area for that button, causing it to be highlighted beneath their finger while they were touching it. This also teaches the user the full extent of the areas as they touched them.
We used large fonts, and advised that the button labels should convey only a few words at most.
We never provided for drag and drop, draggable selection boxes, multi-touch, or gestures. (Again, this was 20-30 years ago, before such things were even invented, let alone as common as they are today.) If a user touched an unwanted area, they could drag their finger out of the area. We triggered on the release of the finger, not the initial touch point. They learned that on a mistake they could drag their finger to a non-touch area of the screen to release.
I don't know how many of these lessons still apply to today's iPad literate population. With touch capabilities native in the operating systems and the GUI frameworks, the applications no longer need to manage nearly so many details. And our goals were "easy but very limited", not "fine motor control required for the details and full capabilites."
Besides the other answers, any functionality that relies on being able to hover the mouse cursor over an area is inherently finger-unfriendly. Right clicks are not impossible but they're annoying since they require a tap-and-hold, and there's no standard way to indicate visually that an area is right-clickable.
It's important to note that the size of tapable areas alone doesn't make a interface touch-friendly. In this piece by Josh Clark, the writer focuses on the placement of important elements on various touch-devices (Smartphones,Tablets,Hybrids).
It looks like the other answers have touched on many of the interface considerations you might need to consider, but since you asked about "touchscreen" instead of "mobile", I'm going to make an educated guess that you're designing for something other than a standard mobile device.
If that's the case, you need to be aware that not all touch screen hardware devices are made equal (or even close to equivalent). Modern mobile touch-screens are designed around very high quality, mutual-capacitance project capacitive touch (PCT) panels, and often are multitouch (support more than a single point at once). Many large form-factor touch panels (as used in kiosks) use infrared touch (a vastly simpler technology than capacitive touch, but generally limited to single-point touch or multitouch with significant "ghosting" issues) or inferior self-capacitance PCT.
You can read all about how PCT works in detail in this rather academic paper by Gary Barrett and Ryomei Omote (PDF link).
I've also written at length about some of the main design considerations of large-format touch screens (especially on kiosks) on the following questions:


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Are there infinitely many composites $n$ of the following form $n = 2 p_{k_1} p_{k_2} \cdots p_{k_n} + 1$?
In other words are the infinitely many composite numbers constructed using any choices of primes for Euclids proof?
P.S.: Modified the original question to include $2$; without $2$ it was trivially true. Apologies to those who gave answers.


text: I know for a fact that there is a ton of Doctor Who fans that come to Dragoart because I get countless requests to make lessons on some of the character from the show. I not only get asked to make tutorials on some humans, but I also get asked to make tuts on aliens. Having said that here is "how to draw Slitheen", step by step. From what I understand the Slitheen are a villainous alien family from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius. They are chunky looking creatures that have big bodies, long arms, and big glossy round black eyes. They disguised themselves with skin suits and are always making threats to destroy Earth. It's up to the good Doctor to keep the Slitheen family at bay because if he don't they will succeed in their quests. I know you folks will enjoy drawing Slitheen because I know it is an alien species from the series that some of you have been waiting for. Peace folks and enjoy.


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What are the pros / cons of the three?
closed as not constructive by Nicol Bolas, Maik Semder, Josh Petrie♦, Sean Middleditch, Trevor Powell Jan 5 '13 at 17:39
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coderanger is right about HLSL targeting DirectX, GLSL targeting OpenGL and CG being available with both interfaces.
However there are other things to consider (learned on the OGRE forum) :
So, if you're not using the lastest shader features, CG seem a good choice. GLSL seem a beter one if you're going full OpenGL. HLSL if you're going exclusively on Microsoft platforms.
Now first developping in HLSL for windows to use DirectX and then convert to GLSL for linux and mac could be the better solution to be sure of performance and have the larger set of shader features available. It might however be a lot of work (didn't do it myself so I cannot tell). OGRE graphics engine (and other engines) allow to use any API (DirectX or OpenGL or others) so it helps, but there is still shader code to convert if you go this way.
That's all the information I gathered while choosing my shader language (I've not made my decision yet).
Update: Valve did a conversion of one of their game to OpenGL and found no way to make the DirectX version faster than the OGL one. So keep in mind that the state of driver implementation, API quality, etc., all that change too much each year for you to totally rely on raw performance as an argument to choose one or the other. With this in mind, choose OpenGL/GLSL to simplify your life when working (or having plans or hopes to work) with other platforms than Windows, use DirectX/HLSL if you really want to use only Microsoft platforms and focus and maybe have some good API faster than OpenGL (this is reversing now, so don't count on it); use CG if you want to provide both possibilities to the user, but if you have the work force (and tools) to do it, using both GLSL and HLSL might be a viable solution too.
Update (2012): It is important to note that CG has been discontinued, and is no longer supported or actively worked on by Nvidia. Nvidia recommends that all users switch to a combination of GLSL and HLSL, or a newer library such as nvFX (on github). This is because it was too difficult to maintain feature-compatibility between GLSL and HLSL.
I can only talk about CG vs HLSL because those are the 2 I have used so far.
Cg is not the same as HLSL.
In Cg, NVIDIA did an excellent job in creating a very clean shader syntax. Its very similar to HLSL.
But, tie-together with D3D9/D3D11 (init code, shader compilation code) is much cleaner on HLSL than Cg. -1 Cg. Cg has a nasty bit of start up code that you don't even need to have for HLSL over D3D.
In Cg, you have to "cgGetNamedParameter" for every
In HLSL, this ends up being much cleaner - just one line, and you don't have to maintain that
In the above,
Before I started using HLSL, I used to look at this code and actually get jealous.
Although NVIDIA did their best to make a common interface for Cg between OpenGL/D3D, practically speaking its not that way, and you have
Further I have recently had a bad experience with Cg/ATI cards, which I'm pretty sure isn't my bad. (Someone else try it out?). I think it may be true that NVIDIA doesn't completely test ATI cards, as Klaim claims. Or that ATI doesn't test on Cg. One way or the other, there's a mismatch there and some sort of conflict of interests. -3 Cg.
All in all I preferred Cg. Its shader code syntax and naming is clean, sweet, and tidy. Its too bad its got these other problems.
My very basic understanding is that HLSL is only for DirectX and GLSL is only for OpenGL. Cg is basically the same language as HLSL, but can be used with either DirectX or OpenGL (though via different runtime code).
Another crucial difference between HLSL and GLSL (I don't know CG so I can't speak for it) is that with HLSL Microsoft provide the shader compiler as part of the D3D runtime whereas with GLSL your hardware vendor provides it as part of their driver.
This has advantages and disadvantages on both sides.
With the GLSL method the vendor can tune the compiler to the capabilities of their hardware. They know their own hardware best, they know what to do and what not to do. On the other hand the disadvantage is that - in a world where there are multiple hardware vendors - you have a situationwhere there can be inconsistencies between shader compilers, and the vendor also has complete free reign to screw up.
With the HLSL method Microsoft control the compiler. Everyone is on a consistent tech base, and if a shader compiles successfully in one place then it can be reasonably supposed to compile everywhere. The same shader will produce the same compiled output irrespective of vendor (all other things being equal of course). On the other hand the HLSL compiler has to be a "works consistently on everything" thing, so it's not able to pull any special vendor-specific tricks to get the last few drops of juice out of the tank.
If this comes across as though I have a preference for the HLSL view of the world it's because I do. I've been bitten badly before by wildly inconsistent behaviour on different platforms, and in one case even ended up having to roll a load of GLSL back to ARB ASM just to get a baseline that worked. NVIDIA's GLSL compiler can be viewed as particularly notorious here - it will even accept HLSL syntax and keywords, meaning that if you're not careful you can end up producing shaders that will only work on NVIDIA and nothing else. It is a jungle out there.
You might want to look into the RTSS (Run Time Shader System) that comes with Ogre as well. It is fairly new, but you basically write shaders in code rather than external files. I have not implemented it yet, but definitely plan to use this when the time comes.
Here is a huge series of tutorials on the Ogre wiki as well for writing shaders. http://www.ogre3d.org/tikiwiki/JaJDoo+Shader+Guide
As for your original question, like Praetor said, its not really a matter of pros/cons, it is a matter of what rendering system you want are going to use. Since using DX/OpenGL with Ogre is just a matter of loading the plugin, you will most likely want to use .cg format.
I have been using both, I started with glsl and moved to hlsl only because the project demands it. Given the choice, it's glsl all the way. glsl feels very slick and hlsl feels like it came out off an engineer's hobby bench.


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Otoe County Board Chairman Steven Lade closed a public hearing regarding the sale of the Duff's mansion and county-owned nursing home buildings five seconds after it was opened Tuesday.
Lade opened the hearing asking if there was anyone to speak in favor or against selling county-owned property in the Prairie City and Nebraska City Proper additions.
There was no response and the hearing was declared closed.
After a public hearing, the county is authorized to proceed with a sale of property within two months.
Commissioners said the property will likely be offered at an auction at the county courthouse. It will be subject the current lease on the property and the county could reserve any or all bids.
About 10 of Nebraska's 227 nursing homes are county-owned.
Earlier this month, Roy Schneider of Duff's Friendship Villa, said the company intends to continue to operate the nursing home.
The nursing home is located in county-owned buildings separate from the Duff Mansion, which has been vacant since the state Department of Health and Social Services moved out.
County commissioners earlier agreed to seek bids on demolition of the house and later set the public hearing regarding sale of the house and the other buildings.
Location, ST | website.com


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The 5 Most Badass Movie Scenes That Happened in Real Life
Action movies have always been in an arms race to outdo each other. Stunts and effects get bigger, louder, and stupider. There's no time for realism when they're too busy showing us Vin Diesel ramping a car over a train while both are simultaneously exploding. But sometimes, real life does in fact resemble a Michael Bay movie, only minus the giant robots (usually). That's why in the real world we've seen ...
#5. Ski-Racing an Avalanche for Fun
This is one of those scenes too stupid for a James Bond movie: Our hero is skiing or boarding down a mountain when an avalanche thunders behind him, and he races ahead of it before he can be crushed under a thousand tons of snow. What was too ridiculous for Bond was not too ridiculous for Vin Diesel in xXx, however:
Or Call of Duty: Black Ops:
Or the animated feature Hoodwinked!
Yes, it's so ridiculous a stunt that two of our three examples were a cartoon and a video game. And the other one was Vin Diesel.
Who, in a St. Elsewhere twist, turned out to be playing a video game.
The Reality:
Matthias Giraud and Stefan Laude are both experienced skiers used to zooming around on mountaintops. But their love of skiing was lacking one thing: enough danger. That's right: They actively looked for an avalanche to race. After finally finding one, they both strapped on their cameras and got down to the business of defying death:
At the start of the video, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Then at around the 1:15 mark, Giraud jumps off a cliff and deploys a parachute. Only then do they turn the camera around for the big reveal: There was a monster avalanche chasing them the whole way down.
"You hear something?"
If that giant snow debris field strikes you as being dangerously close, you're not dreaming. The avalanche actually beat Giraud to the edge, meaning he was mere seconds away from being buried under the crushing weight of tons of snow. Snow that he purposefully wanted chasing him down the slopes, just for the adrenaline rush. Note the lack of CGI on that shit.
#4. An Aerial Battle in a Canyon
It's easy to call BS on everything that happens in Independence Day. The moment we saw Jeff Goldblum hack an alien mothership with a 1995-era laptop, we knew they weren't exactly going for realism. But there is one scene even sillier than that.
In what universe would Bill Pullman be elected president? Really.
In the first battle between the alien fighters and the U.S. Air Force, every U.S. fighter is destroyed except for Will Smith's because he does something no pilot should ever do: He takes the duel down into a canyon. With the alien ship chasing him, he goes dodging around rock formations with inches to spare, until the alien ship crashes. Needless to say, taking a real aircraft into that situation would be a fiery death sentence, even if no one was pursuing you.
Also, in the real world, that dog would be extra well-done.
The Reality:
On November 13, 1966, Israeli Air Force pilot Ran Ronen was flying a mission with three others to intercept hostile Syrian aircraft that were firing on Israeli troops. When they arrived, however, they found eight Syrian Hawker Hunter fighters. Not giving a damn about being outnumbered 2-1, they promptly engaged in a majestic ballet of gunfire and aerial maneuvering.
The two sides proved so well-matched that after several minutes, neither had shot anyone down. The other three Israeli pilots bugged out, but Ronen wasn't done yet. He quickly singled out a Hunter, piloted by Muwaffaq Salti, and, yes, pursued him into a freaking canyon.
"This will be great practice for our attack on the Death Star."
The Syrian pilots had been trained by the Royal Air Force, and Salti proved more than a match for Ronen as the two zoomed through the canyon, skillfully dodging walls and hills while still trying to kill each other.
Eventually Salti made a grave error when he pulled too far off of a crest, and Ronen managed to shoot him down. Oh, and he did it without crashing his own aircraft, making him a bit more badass than Will Smith.
Moskowitz Prize
"Yeah, it probably would have been easier if I hadn't been texting."
#3. A Couple of Pirates Stealing a Huge Ship With Some Elaborate Ruse
In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Captain Jack Sparrow finds himself lacking a ship after his first one comically springs a leak. Following a prideful entrance riding his mast into the harbor, Sparrow sets his sights on a small but fast British warship called the HMS Interceptor.
Recruiting the help of a strangely well-groomed blacksmith, he succeeds in stealing the warship. How? By duping the dock authorities in an elaborate scheme that involves pretending to steal another ship, then swinging over to the HMS Interceptor while everyone else is searching the first ship for the elusive Captain Jack Sparrow.
"We'll pull the old rely-on-the-antagonists-being-blithering-idiots trick!"
It's the sort of thing that works in these Bugs Bunny-esque movies where every bad guy is a naive buffoon. Stealing a real vessel worth millions of dollars with one or two guys takes a little more than wacky misdirection and pirate shenanigans.
The Reality:
Unless you're Max Hardberger, that is. And we're not talking about one incident of stealing a single ship via flamboyant deception. Hardberger, a former high school history teacher, has made his career stealing ships. Not just little dinky yachts, but full-size gigantic freighters.
"Captain, pirates have boarded the bow! They'll be here any day!"
Throughout his super-pirate career, Hardberger has stolen around a dozen ships from ports around the world for his clients. See, shipping companies have problems with foreign nations using legal loopholes or forged documents to trap their ships in their ports. Companies thus turn to Hardberger (since he is the only person in the world insane enough for this profession) to steal back their ships for them. And the schemes Hardberger uses are as crazy as they come.
Like the time in Haiti when he hired a voodoo priest to scare the guards, paying the guy $100 to threaten them with a curse if they called for help while he and his men stole the boat. Another time in Greece, he simply waited until a holiday and made sure several cases of liquor were sent to the coast guard office overlooking the port. When he sailed away, no one was in any condition to stop him.
"OK, girls, who wants to play 'Thar she blows?'"
He has never failed to get a ship. Not even when warships were hunting him down. How did he best a warship? By sailing into the middle of storm so they couldn't see him on radar.
Hardberger is still working today as a sort of one-man A-Team up for hire by anyone who needs their ship back. So if you have a ship currently held illegally by another nation and you are reading this article, you're welcome.
Max Hardberger via Time
He's also available for striking awesome poses in front of large ships.
Speaking of laughably stupid maritime stunts ...


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Exclusive Blazin' Aces Q&A with designer Duncan Bell discusses mobile development and homegrown talentWritten by: / / 1 Comment
Last week Johannesburg based indie outfit Red Dot Lab released its first mobile game Blazin' Aces. Naturally we were keen to learn more about the project and the challenges associated with developing and publishing a mobile title in South Africa so we set up a Q&A with the game's designer Duncan Bell.
You can read the full Q&A below where we talk to Duncan about the South African game development scene, what initially inspired him to become a developer, and much more besides:
How difficult is it to break into the mobile gaming industry as a South African developer? Are there any blueprints for success from our local developer community, or any South African titles that have been a great success worldwide?
From what I've seen it's rather difficult. At the end of the day, you're competing globally. South Africa game development has been picking up some great momentum lately, so it's always exciting to see when our games get international press.
The studio that stands out the most for me is Free Lives in Cape Town. They've had such a great impact in the international scene, and they're really passionate about what they do. Their latest game BROFORCE is an absolute blast to play, and it deserves every bit of attention it gets.
What's your history as a game developer? Did you release any games prior to the freeware version of Blazin' Aces?
I initially started with game development back in 2000. I started off creating player models for games such as Half-Life and Quake II. I messed around with that for a couple of years and as time went on, I felt more of an urge to create original games.
I stumbled across Game Maker when it was still in a very early stage, and from there created many games that were mostly copies of games I enjoyed. I made all types of games from platformers to athletics to top down tank games.
They were all small projects so that I could get a good understanding of how to use Game Maker.
Blazin' Aces was the first "finished" project I had made. I challenged myself to complete a game, so that I could move on. As my skills increased, I thought that I could give the game a complete overhaul since I felt the gameplay mechanics were strong enough.
What first inspired you to become a game developer and how did you go about achieving that goal once you knew you wanted to make games?
I've always had an interest in tinkering with games, seeing how they are made. To me it's always been the ultimate form of entertainment, as you are directly engaged with what is happening.
I love the collaborative process of everyone making one final awesome product.
How long did it take to develop the mobile version of Blazin' Aces and were there any major obstacles you encountered along the way?
It took roughly two years to develop, all done in my spare time after work. One of the larger issues was deciding what platform to target.
At rAge 2013 I was showcasing a Desktop version with Xbox controls. Although that worked much smoother, I ended up targeting mobile, mainly because of how easy it was to distribute worldwide.
What are the main features of Blazin' Aces that you think players will enjoy?
I think the formula of the game works well with the platform. Most mobile games are short bursts of play, and the game fits well in with that.
By adding the skirmish option, it also allows for more re-playability where players can test their skills.
For all the budding game developers out there in South Africa – what's involved in getting your game on one of the major app stores? How complicated is the application process and what is the cost involved?
Interestingly enough – it's not too difficult to submit a game to the mobile app stores. The biggest deterrent for me was the technicality that goes into it. Once you understand the requirements, the process is pretty straightforward across all platforms.
Another small issue was the fact that all three platforms require an upfront fee that you pay as a developer. As a sole developer it can become costly, it's roughly $350 a year for all mobile platforms.
Blazin' Aces was slightly delayed on Android due to Google Play not allowing for South Africans to set up a merchant account. When can we expect the game to appear on the platform and what was the process behind getting a publisher on board for the Android release?
Yes, it was rather frustrating for me as Android was the first platform I had fully tested and completed development.
Luckily, a friend of mine who is also a developer in SA, has a UK business set up. This will allow us to publish worldwide through the Android store without having to go through a publisher.
Blazin' Aces is out now on the Apple and Windows Phone app stores, with an Android version due soon. Head over here to visit the game's official website and let us know if you've had a chance to play the game since its release last week.
Tags: blazinaces, duncanbell, interview, qanda, reddotlab, southafrica


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This question is about a puzzle from the book of Raymond Smullyan: The Lady or the Tiger?
The description of the puzzle starts in Chapter 8, p. 103 which I do not repeat here as the whole book is accessible at the above link for those who do not know it. Smullyan provides a key of length 10 on p. 163, however, this is not the shortest, I know a key of length 8. Is this the shortest?


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Brandon Southall
Dr. Brandon Southall is President and Senior Scientist for Southall Environmental Associates, Inc. based in Aptos, CA and a
Research Associate with the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). He is currently involved in research projects to measure behavioral responses of free-ranging marine mammals to various human sounds, including military sonar, and hearing and the effects of impulsive noise on hearing in seals. He also serves as a technical advisor to international organizations related to understanding and mitigating impacts of conventional and alternative offshore energy development.
Brandon has an extensive technical background in laboratory and field research, as well as direct involvement in the application of science in national and international policies and collaborations. He has published over 35 peer-reviewed technical papers and reports, and has given hundreds of presentations on related subjects to scientific, regulatory, Congressional, and general public audiences internationally. His interest in biology and acoustics came about from an early fascination with bird songs and was directed to the ocean by studying sea turtles in Hawaii. He has three children, all of whom love to live near and be on the ocean.
Collaborator Contributions
Many animals depend on their eyes to navigate, find food, locate mates, and for other important activities. But marine mammals often rely on sound—sometimes far more than sight—for such critical daily tasks. Increasingly...


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I have the code to open a serial port using C++ but i was wondering if it would be better to send info via parallel port? Can someone please guide me. I am sending information from a microcontroller and i was able to see it with the serial port code, but it is kind of slow...is there a code for the parallel port?
Last edited by Andres; 4Mar2009 at 22:10..