text:
What if - WHAT IF!... Everyone gets the questline, but you can only get the first form of the legendary if your in LFR/normal/heroic (the quest items or whatnot could drop in all difficulties), but the next forms require items/credit from Normal/Heroic difficulty?
My Nintendo FC is 2208-5726-4303.By Blizzard Entertainment:
Part of the reason is that Battlegrounds are like ducks.
Also a full LFR geared player with a legendary and a full Heroic geared player with a legendary will still be insanely far apart stats-wise.
Last edited by mistahwilshire; 2013-06-19 at 02:16 AM.
Sulfuras wasn't awesome because you got it with luck, it was awesome because you got it from Ragnaros.
Glaives wasn't awesome because you got them with luck, they were awesome because you got them from Illidan.
Thori'dal wasn't awesome because you got it with luck, it was awesome because you got it from Kil'Jaedan.
I don't mind the current time/commitment based model, but I do feel that the 'legendary' feeling of acquiring it is lost on certain segments of the playerbase. Unless you as a heroic/normal raider are able to completely separate yourself from LFR as option, the legendary is simply a chore and set of motions to go through to gain greater power, rather than being gated behind any actual challenge. If you are an LFR raider who doesn't really care about the lore anymore since you've killed the bosses and mostly use it as your source of character progression, it is once again a chore and a set of motions to go through to get an extra bit of power. The only people who would still get a kick out of the legendary chain are people like me who still get giddy over things like getting the blessing of all of the Celestials, every other person doing the blessing quests at the same time as me just simply went and clicked their gong without waiting, or simply spoke to Wrathion and flew off, it doesn't look like they're having fun to me.
Blizzard's challenge with accessible PVE raid content now is to be able to keep it engaging and rewarding to all kinds of players:
- Hardcores & Casuals
- Heroic, normal, flex & LFR raiders
- Lore nuts & power nuts
- mixes of the above (Casual Heroic raiders do exist, so do hardcore LFR raiders, I view casual vs. hardcore as more a measure of time)
How do you keep a legendary quest engaging and rewarding for all of these player groups while keeping it accessible to all player groups?
- should difficulty of content translate to differences in the legendary chain/rewards?
- could they provide more solo/group challenges which are as rewarding/difficult/possible to people with 500 ilvl as those with 540 ilvl?
- what kind of balance do we need in regards to RNG/Time/Effort/Commitment?
- what needs to happen so that NO players feel like legendaries are a chore?
- what needs to happen so that players no longer feel that their legendaries aren't trivialised/overshadowed by people below/above their level of progression and play?
It's not a simple problem. Difficulty needs to come with more incentive without letting people miss out.
Not advancing a bit can be stressful but where's a challenge without stress? I like challenge personally.
Once (and if, I'm a casual heroic raider) I finish the tier I'll enjoy a job well done then get ready for blizzard's next delivery of content.
And lastly, I don't think many people enjoy archiving things, many people enjoy achieving things though!
Last edited by Radio; 2013-06-19 at 02:36 AM.
I don't mind LFR players getting it, but could we get a higher drop chance the higher difficulty it is? It's dissapointing putting in so much more effort (don't say it's not, heroic raiding IS more effort than lfr) yet still getting 1 secret a week on heroic modes.
Something like:
Heroic - 35% chance
Normal - 30% chance
Flex - 25% chance
LFR - 20% chance
My Nintendo FC is 2208-5726-4303.By Blizzard Entertainment:
Part of the reason is that Battlegrounds are like ducks.
The game is a pale, shallow imitation of what it once was; and we can thank Blizzard's attempt to cater to mainstream casuals for that.
*~To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly.~*
Progression has also typically been over and on farm by the time the majority of the legendaries were actually obtained, with the exceptions of the BT Glaives and Dragonwrath which were actually still useful in the next tier. Vanilla legendaries are a bit of a different case since there wasn't as much artificial week to week gating on them with collection aspects.
This is really the first time Legendaries have been realistically obtainable and useful for progression. That alone outweighs everything from my perspective. I have never ever not cleared a raid tier in WoW before it was outdated and this is the 2nd time anyone in my guild has actually had legendary items during progression and not after it.
What do you care? It's a game with a bunch of strangers. Doesn't matter at all in real life. Get your priorities straight.
Every system of legendaries has had some form of weakness.
All legendaries pre-Wotlk had the issue of "only one player can get them at once, and they take forever to get, and very few players will end up with them before they're irrelevant to progression".
When Valanyr came about, blizzard tuned up the accessibility knob a tad and generally someone with 30 fragments was someone who could kill Yogg+1, but you could still only work on one healer at once and if they quit the game or left the guild you were in trouble.
Shadowmourne was the next experiment, while still similar to Valanyr it segmented the collection process so that you could have multiple people working on different stages at once. It also varied up the RNG with a few static collection/boss challenge based requirements. Tarecgosa's staff and the Fangs of the Father both used similar systems. The problem was these legendaries stopped working so well in the age of LFR and accessibility, and there was still the issue of guild politics, classes/players feeling left out in general.
So in MoP, they make legendary collection a massive expansion wide quest chain with mixes of RNG collection, static collection and solo challenges, and they made it accessible to anyone and everyone who was willing to put the time in.
Pros of this system:
- everyone can get a legendary if they want
- no problem with guild politics and preference
- mix of completion requirements
- long-term player investment
- lore tie ins
- useful and relevant to progression guilds
Cons of the system:
- can create rifts in progression guilds with players who are behind
- rewards such as the stats gem and prismatic socket lack a legendary feel, the meta gem is a lot better in this regard
- some weird requirements such as the PVP quests to get the prismatic socket, feels very forced and for some players frustrating
- over-use of RNG, needs more balance
- solo scenario that doesn't make it completely and utterly clear that it may not be your gear that's failing you
- can feel more like a chore than a legendary quest (once you're onto your third RNG collection quest...)
- no tie-ins to raid difficulty, unlike non-legendary gear
Some suggestions that I think would improve the legendary quest for everybody:
- every reward has some kind of proc or visual benefit which goes beyond "500 agi"
- let players nurture their legendary rewards for the entire expansion instead of having to drop them
- make them independant to individual gear slots so that they aren't added to the gear acquiral/maintenance budget
- let players improve the power of their rewards by completing certain raid difficulty milestones AND/OR make the acquisition of the legendary rewards noticeably faster based on difficulty
- make rewards have some procs and/or benefits that are class specific and some that are role specific
- if the quest is going to be RNG, give a guaranteed drop mechanism somewhere so that players know there's an ending, unlike pre-fix secrets, runestones and sigils
- give some kind of a way for someone who's finished to help a guildie catch up faster (this will be harder though)
I'm open for discussion.
The quest chain is so grindy that I wonder, maybe the sane people are the people who don't finish it.


text: I am a recently qualified teacher (CELTA) living in southern Spain. I taught for two years some time ago, during and just after university. I am finding it very difficult to find work in the Malaga area and I would like any help or advice that might point me in the right direction. I have sent countless e-mails and CV as well as speculative letters to prospective employers.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Computer security professionals have the toughest job in the world. We have to be as smart and creative as doctors and engineers, but our field changes even faster.
Each month, I read 20 security-related magazines and one or two books; each day, I check out at least an hour or two of security-related news or blogs. I read computer security articles not only in the bathroom, but also while getting my hair cut and waiting at traffic lights in my car. I take any free opportunity to learn more about my field. I know I'm not alone. Heck, if you're reading this, you may be a security geek yourself.
[ Get expert advice about planning and implementing your BYOD strategy with InfoWorld's 29-page "Mobile and BYOD Deep Dive" PDF special report. | Also check out our "Cloud Security Deep Dive." | Keep up with key security issues with InfoWorld's Security Central newsletter. ]
The hardest part of being a computer security professional is figuring what you have to know for the next phase of your career. You're only as good as your last two years, and in two years another technology always comes alone to replace the one you know all about. You need to re-invent yourself and your career every 24 months.
The question then: Where does security go from here? Well, when it comes to the big paradigm changes, the writing on the wall has been visible for a while.
Like, you know, the cloud -- for better or worse, many companies are searching for "cloud security experts." At the very least, security pros need to bone up on the cloud architectures employed by the big three: Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. How do they work? How does their security work? What are the weaknesses? Diving deep into this area can go a long way. Help your company with the security side of the cloud transition, and you'll long be remembered. For an indispensable resource, check out the Cloud Security Alliance, which even offers certifications.
If you're programmer, make sure you become expert in all the hot languages in our Web-focused world. Figure out which scripting languages are likely to be running on most of the world's Web servers. Will Java still be around in 10 years? How about C (and all its derivations), Python, PHP, Ruby, and Perl?
If you're a programmer, but behind the curve on your SDL (security development lifecycle) skills, get up to speed now. Microsoft's SDL website is an excellent source, containing thousands of pages of free documents and tools. The Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute offers world-class training and education on SDL and many other programming topics. If it were up to me, I'd also make sure that I'm using only languages that make it easy to incorporate SDL to create mobile-centric applications -- which leads us to our next topic.
How much do you know about mobile security on the mobile platform you expect to take over the world? Do you know a little bit or are you a master? Most computer security pros I know can secure the hell out of a desktop or server, but can't tell you the basics of how security -- or the lack thereof -- functions on today's most common mobile platforms. Don't wait any longer to understand mobile security and forensics. The time is now.


text:
'"Everybody knows what is at stake – a trip to the Finals," said Carolina head coach Peter Laviolette. "Now our back is up against the wall. (The game) is in our building, which is where we want it to be, and we're going to be able to use the energy from our building and our fans."'
Buffalo 2, Carolina 1 (OT)
May 31, 2006 Submitted by
Via: The Sports Network


text:
Oregon Topics: Land Use - Overview
Oregon's statewide land use planning program was created in 1973 when the Legislative Assembly passed the Oregon Land Use Act (Senate Bill 100). Under that program all cities and counties have adopted comprehensive plans that meet mandatory state standards. The standards are 19 statewide planning goals that deal with land use, development, housing, transportation, and conservation of natural resources. The passage of Measure 37 in November 2004 showed the potential for profound changes in the implementation of land use laws. The Legislative Assembly subsequently fashioned a compromise bill, which was passed by the voters in 2007 as Measure 49.
Program mission:
Conserve farm land, forest land, coastal resources, and other important natural resources; encourage efficient development; coordinate the planning activities of local governments and state and federal agencies; enhance the state's economy; and reduce the public costs that result from poorly planned development.
State responsibilities:
Set the statewide planning goals that apply to local and state agencies (Land Conservation and Development Commission- LCDC).
Develop suggested guidelines for meeting goals (LCDC).
Review city and county comprehensive plans (LCDC).
Review appeals of land use decisions (Land Use Board of Appeals- LUBA).
City and county responsibilities:
Research, write, and adopt a comprehensive plan. Each plan has two main parts. One is a body of information, often called the inventory, that describes a community's resources and features. It must address all of the topics specified in the applicable statewide goals. The other part, the policy element, describes the community's long-range objectives and the policies by which it intends to achieve them.
Develop and implement land use zoning and land division ordinances that are coordinated with the goals expressed in the comprehensive plan.
Issue permits for variances, conditional uses, subdivisions, land partitions and related land use actions.
Answers to questions:
For specific questions related to development or land use actions within a particular city or county (e.g., Can I build on my land? What permits do I need? Can my neighbor block my view of the mountains?), contact the appropriate city or county planning department. This department will have the local comprehensive plan, zoning and land division ordinances, permit applications, and other necessary resources.
To read the legal basis for the statewide land use planning program, refer to the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) and Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR).
For a general understanding of the goals, guidelines, and other state resources, refer to the Land Conservation and Development Department.
To review appeals cases and precedents related to land use issues in Oregon, refer to the Land Use Board of Appeals.
To find out the positions of interest groups related to land use issues, refer to the links in this guide.
For a broader national perspective on land use planning, refer to the general resources links in this guide.


text:
Knitting Podcast
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text:
Note: This is the first of a three part series on the critical nature of the product owner's role within the agile software enterprise. In Part I, I'll describe why software vendors need to adopt a nuanced, rather than off-the-shelf, approach to this role; one which empowers both Agile Product Managers and Agile Product Owners to drive the enterprise to meet its objectives. In Part II, Responsibilities of the Agile Product Owner in the Enterprise , I'll provide some specific guidance for the attributes and activities of the Product Owner in this larger and more challenging, enterprise context. And finally, since staffing the Product Owner role in the emerging agile enterprise creates its own set of issues, I'll provide some case studies of how real enterprises are addressing this challenge in Part III, Seeding the Agile Product Owner in the Enterprise .
Recently, I've had the opportunity to assess progress in a number of large scale agile transformations, touching hundreds and in some cases, thousands, of new agile practitioners. Most typically, these involve comprehensive Scrum training for team members along with training for some number (10-100s) of ScrumMasters. Less typically, they include training for agile product owners, some XP-like technical practices (peer review , pair programming experimentation, TDD pilots, etc) and such enterprise extensions (lean requirements, agile release train, lighter weight governance models, etc.) as have been brought to these companies by enterprise agilists such as myself.
Happily, I can report three common and positive findings:
- Productivity is going up
- Time to deliver new features to the market is going down
- Morale is higher, often times MUCH higher
Not one entity I've encountered has any interest in returning to their former practices. So all in all, these enterprises efforts to date are an emerging success and many are now redoubling their efforts to achieve the next level of productivity and quality possible with agile methods. To achieve this, we often assess current results and accomplishments - strengths and weaknesses - and then make specific recommendations for ongoing improvement.
During this process, it strikes me that the critical role of the agile Product Owner is often near the top of the list - though unfortunately it appears most often in the "areas we need to improve" rather than on the other side of the ledger! This finding causes me to reflect on the bigger picture of the agile movement as it "crosses the chasm" to the enterprise and to record my thoughts about the nature of the Product Owner role in the enterprise, along with some specific guidance and recommendations for improving these practices.
In this, Part I of this series, I'll describe why I believe software vendors need to adopt a nuanced, rather than off-the-shelf, approach to this role; one which empowers both agile Product Managers and agile Product Owners to drive the enterprise to meet its objectives.
The Product Owner in the Enterprise Context
First, it is important to note that I write this whitepaper from my own experiences in the larger enterprise context. While I have also been involved in a number of highly agile, smaller projects, it is in the context of the really large enterprise that the challenge is greatest. It is there that some of the standard, off-the-shelf Product Owner practices and trainings break down, and the otherwise successful oversimplifications that drive agile success ("what is the simplest thing that can possible work") simply do not scale to the enterprises challenge. The principles remain the same, but the practices must be extended.
The Product Owner in Scrum
It is to Scrum that we


text:
Which is the best for an all around handgun? For both home defense and the range.
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Which is the best for an all around handgun? For both home defense and the range.
There is no best - period. You should look for the largest caliber/heaviest bullet that YOU can fire quickly and accurately. That may change over time as you get more used to shooting and can handle more - or less as you get older and parts start to wear out. With the new crop of bullets out there the 9mm is no longer too small. Many people (I'm one of them) don't like the .40 S&W because the recoil is too sharp, and on me the pain is debilitating in my wrist area, I shoot a .45 ACP or .38 Super and I do A LOT more practicing with a .22 conversion kit on either gun than I ever did in the past. Do what works for you, not what someone else says is the best for them.
I have both a 9mm and a .40
Go 9mm. More capacity, cheaper ammo, low recoil... What more can you ask for?
The 9mm has been around a long time. It did not have a good reputation as a SD round, real or imagined, mainly due to the availability of decent SD ammo.
With today's modern offerings it is on par with anything else.
The .40 caliber came about after the FBI had developed and started using the 10mm but found the guns to big and the recoil to sharp for many of their agents. S&W then came up with shortening the 10mm case and it would fit into a 9mm size gun. It offered a bigger bullet and was on par with 9mm magazine capacity and it took off from there.
It has been touted as the perfect self defense cartridge simply because it is bigger than a 9mm and smaller than a .45 so it should be right for everyone. There have always been two basic camps in regards to SD pistol calibers. Those that prefer small lightweight, fast moving bullets (9mm) and those that prefer bigger and heavier, slow moving bullets (.45). Over the years 9mm bullets have gotten bigger and slower like the 147 grain and .45 bullets have gotten lighter and faster like the 165 grain.
The .40 caliber fills the void, if there really is one, between the two. I think, someone please chime in here, the lightest .40 caliber bullet is 135 gr and the heaviest is 180 to 200 grain range. I don't follow the .40 caliber so not sure on that. Generally both the 9mm and .40 operate in the same pressure ranges. Recoil is "sharper" than a 9mm as has been stated but not uncontrollable by any means.
There are many criteria that people use to determine what is the best SD caliber. Bullet weight, recoil, magazine capacity, ballistics and so on. To me where you place the bullet is king no matter what the caliber is. Yes the bullet must be effective enough to penetrate to a depth to reach vital organs but the size of the bullet, again to me, does not make that much difference as long as it is at least a service caliber bullet.
Manufactures of SD ammo like any other company selling something always come up with new designs stating that their bullet is better than X because it is shiny, has grooves in it and has a deadly new name. In reality enough of any good modern soft point or hollow point put in the right spot will accomplish the job.
9mm ammo can be had for cheaper practice but also keep in mind that some .40 caliber pistols can be converted to 9mm for cheaper practice.
Pretty good summary, above. I'd only add two things:
- Prior to developing the .40 cartridge, the FBI had requested the full-power 10mm ammunition be reduced slightly to make it more controllable, giving rise the the so-called "FBI Lite" 10mm load (180-200 grain bullet at about 950-1000 FPS). It was this reduced-power 10mm load that S&W decided they could squeeze into a shortened case, making it possible to use it in 9mm-sized guns. The .40 S&W will always be significantly less powerful than any full-throttle 10mm ammo (giving rise to any early nickname that 10mm shooters applied to the .40 cartridge -- the .40 Short & Weak).
- The .40 S&W was primarily designed as a police cartridge, to address several police-centric problems. One, as said above, was to fill the gap between the "lottsa little high-speed bullets" 9mm fans, and the "manstopping hunka-chunka lead" big-bullet .45 fans. Several other concerns were that .45 fans weren't particularly fond of the hi-capacity DA/SA wondernine guns; most police administrators didn't want cops walking around with cocked-and-locked 1911 autopistols on their belts (which was the most common .45 bullet delivery system available at the time); and all the .45 guns (and some of the 9mm DA/SA guns) had large frames/grips that were hard for small-statured officers to manage. The new crop of .40 caliber Safe-Action Glocks, or DAO modifications of various S&W autopistols, gave administrators an "out" that didn't require one side to win-out over the other. Everyone got new (supposedly safer/easier-to-use) guns that fit the hands of the smaller officers much better; the .45 fans got a bullet that still started with a ".4", and weighed nearly as much as the lightweight .45 JHPs; and the 9mm fans still had nearly the same magazine capacity (10 to 15 rounds of .40, vs. 14 to 17 shots in 9mm) that they liked and wanted to keep.
To answer the original poster's question, I'm generally a fan of the 9mm first and foremost, but I have several .40s as well. Lower recoil and lower ammo costs are both important for new shooter development, and I personally don't think the .40 offers any real advantage when you include the increased costs (both the monetary cost of "fewer bangs for the buck", and less accurate shooting due to this reduced amount of practice/training), along with slower followup shots (also made worse by the reduced practice/training time/shots investment).
I shoot the .40 well, but I shoot the 9mm better, and faster. Confidence is hard to put a set value on, but more is better.
Oh boy, the caliber wars. The venerated 9mm, .40S&W, and .45ACP are and remain the most widely used semi-auto calibers out there. So which is best. Strictly speaking, one should chose the most powerful caliber and load with which one can reliably, consistently, and confidently deliver rounds to target, time after time. Now far as capability of these calibers, keep in mind that the factors which are paramount in stopping a deadly attack are singly or in combination; blood loss, central nervous system disruption, or major bone structure damage. In order to do any of these things, a bullet must be able to penetrate deep enough into a body to effect the necessary damage. The next time you are out in public, find a rather large young man and imagine him taking a round to his chest. That bullet has to penetrate clothing, possibly bone, muscle, and then still have enough energy to get well within the chest cavity to do damage to blood vessels, vital organs, and perhaps the spinal column. A difficult job for a pistol cartridge.
Next, do some research and read and watch what medical professionals have to say about this topic. I have done this and the ones I found all indicated that the larger and heavier bullets tended to fair quite a bit better than the smaller and lighter ones. I viewed X-rays, wound photos, and read many pages of reports and comments about this subject. So what do I carry and train with?
I prefer the .40S&W in a premium law enforcement loading out of one of my gen3 Glock 23's. However, I also carry from time to time a premium law enforcement 9mm load when I deem it to be in my interests at the time. I train with both and an proficient with both. The bottom line is what I wrote above. Pick the caliber and load with which you can consistently and confidently deliver rounds to target. If that happens to be a 9mm, then so be it. If it is a .40 or a .45, then so much the better. In any of these calibers, make sure your SD ammunition is top drawer and proven on the street.
Both are good. I'll go with an earlier post and say that the one you can put hits on target with, effectively, is the one for you.
I have changed all of my firearms over to .40 in the last year.........shoot with what you enjoy to shoot........forget the caliber wars, accuracy, etc.......
Berettabone. Did you stay with one brand or model or different types?
Inox great guns. Never shot one of the Rugers.
One thing to remember: In a SHTF senerio, the 9mm is a nato round. ( availablity to get ammo ) Used through out the world. IMO this is the only advantage the 9mm has over the .40
I have both - both are fine if you can put rounds on target, when attacked.
I prefer .45 ACP, because I just like 'em. But ask anybody who is experienced with gunshot wounds and they will tell you that they are all devastating to major organs, the pulmonary system, and the central nervous system, and that all are probably survivable, if fired into most other locations.
Thanks for all the posts. I believe I'm going with the 9 mostly for the economic reasons and there isn't that big of a difference when it comes to stopping power if you know where to hit them.
I have both and can shoot well with them. I think it all comes down to shot placement. If you can't hit the bad guy you may as well be throwing stones at him or her. Get what ever you can shoot the best and feels good to you in your hand.
I prefer a .357 Magnum revolver as my defense gun. I keep my Ruger GP100 beside the bed and I use my Ruger SP101 as my CCW gun. There is nothing like a.357 magnum loaded with Hornady Custom .357 Mag 158gr HP/XTP for self defense.


text: Is anyone using a Fobus C21BA ankle holster with a PM40? Many websites claim that it will fit the PM40, but when it arrived I found that the pistol only seats half-way in to the holster. If the C21BA isn't the correct model then I'll use it for my Kimber UCII, but I'd like something as comfortable as the fobus for my new PM40. Any ideas?


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Planning to get the x12 model.
Planning to get the x12 model.
Gaming headsets are generally really poor value for money, speaking purely from a sound quality perspective. If people desire to pay more for gaming headphone features, then that's absolutely their choice, and doesn't immediately seem like a wrong one to me.
There are some neat features and aesthetics of gaming headsets, and I don't mean to sound like I'm ripping on people for spending money on them.
However, at $47, it's not really going to matter, I can't think of any headphones for around that amount which will get any significant increase in sound quality over Turtle Beaches, at price you're buying for features, and accepting reasonable quality.
So, for that price, it's absolutely a good idea.
Some models can tend to be a little on the heavy side. I recommend checking on the weight before buying. I bought a set of Z2s last year. Great sound quality in and out but I couldn't wear them for over 5 minutes without getting a nasty headache.
What's the point of getting headsets with surround sound when there are software like the Razer surround.


text:
The Atonement
One of the reasons Islam is able to gain a hearing is because of humanity's natural tendency toward self-sufficiency. We think that we are able to pay our debt and to do what needs to be done to save ourselves. ...Read More
The Necessity of Grace
The Islamic idea of salvation is not all that different from most other religions. In Eastern thought, a person is reincarnated into a higher social status if his good deeds outweigh his bad. In popular movies and cartoons, it is ...Read More
Man, the Sinner
In the Qur'an, God is deemed holy only twice. Also, Muslims believe that God's commands have no intrinsic relation to His holy character because this character remains hidden. The depth of sin can therefore be easily discounted. Today's passage reminds ...Read More
The Trinity
Many Christians misunderstand the doctrine of the Trinity. It is therefore vital that we understand it in order to confess it rightly. It preserves God's independence, meaning He did not need to create the world in order to be in ...Read More
God Our Father
The misunderstanding of the love and fatherhood of God that is so prevalent in our culture makes it hard for us to speak of these concepts and be heard rightly. As we seek to emphasize other biblical concerns like God's ...Read More
The Birth of Islam
Mohammed did have contact with some Christian groups whose orthodoxy was questionable on matters like the person of Christ. Is it just possible, looking at things from a human perspective, that Islam would never have been established if someone was ...Read More
Opposing Foundations
The attacks of Islam on the orthodox Christian view of God, man, Christ, and the Bible are not necessarily unique to this world religion. Though the specific attacks may vary, these are the points at which all non-believers level assaults ...Read More
His Annointing
The apostle Paul tells us that there are many varieties of gifts but one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4). While the Holy Spirit dwells in all Christians, His various gifts show that He does not manifest Himself the same way in ...Read More
From the Beginning
As Christians we must ever be aware of the old, fleshly nature that is always trying to draw us away from life in the Spirit. One of the ways this happens is through doubts about Jesus and the authority of ...Read More
The Liar and Antichrist
One cannot truly acknowledge Jesus as the "Christ" unless this title is defined biblically. In our day, many continue to sing praises to the Christ but deny essential truths about His person and work, including His deity and the necessity ...Read More


text:
The return of the Queen of Clean and Green
November 15, 2012 , 5:07 PM by Patrick Mitchell
It's been a long and dirty wait and we've received dozens of callers filthy about her absence...but the 'domestic detective' is back.
Shannon Lush returned to the airwaves this afternoon, solving the cleaning woes of listeners.
She tackled super glue on a laminated bench top, musty-smelling books, a t-shirt with nail polish on it, a jumper with a sticker stain and how to keep cats off outdoor furniture.
If you have a cleaning conundrum for Shannon, tune in next Thursday at 3pm and give the station a call! (1300303468)
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while only 7% of breaches involve a database server, they account for a whopping 96% of compromised records and 98% for larger organizations. (Full study is here: http://tinyurl.com/btrasnu).
I have also observed that organizations who rely on mainframes tend to have much cleaner security and housekeeping rules, even around things like change control. The irony of it is that those systems are also much harder to breach! How many hackers do you know who can write assembler code? The clients I work with (who shall rename nameless) vary in their approaches and level of controls used. At one end of the spectrum, I had a former client who used the same password for all DB2 instance owners across all systems. That password was also shared by a large number of DBA's and developers both. Very convenient, yes.... also very risky! At the other end, is a company who has completely segregrated the DBA work from any systems work. Even creation of the database is completely locked down. Good controls, yes, though they did slow us down for a couple of days while we waited for the database creation request. This organization is also in the process of rolling out Database Activity Monitoring across the enterprise as well as Data Privacy (Masking) for Test Data. On top of that, they have very strong support for Information Governance from the executive level on down. That company, I might add, had previously experienced a major breach, actually two, so are now actively engaged in ensuring proper controls are implemented.
Breaches can be expensive, embarrassing, and costly in terms of corporate and brand reputation. Just like with physical security, there is also no silver bullet or single way to implement database security. Case in point- a jewelry store. A high end jewelry store will employ many methods to secure its valuable assets. First, perimeter security- making sure there are no hiding places, shrubbery, or easy access methods like open windows or roof vents; Second, one or more alarm systems or motion detectors around the permises, or even on specific items or cases. Third, security personnel at the door, and inside the store. Forth, security practices such as having the salesperson only take out a certain number of items at a time. Lastly, security cameras to record activity. If you think of database monitoring in this way, you can see that multiple methods and practices must be employed.
In a recent article entitled "Establishing a Strategy for Database Security Is No Longer Optional", Jeffrey Wheatman of Gartner brings database security to prime time. In this paper, he does a good job of laying out the different aspects of database security, along with some basic best practices recommendations. I especially appreciated how he defines the different categories: Administrative Controls, Preventive Controls, and Detective Controls ( though I would rename Detective to Investigative Controls). If you would like a copy of this paper, follow this link: https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/signup.do?lang=en_US&source=sw-infomgt&S_PKG=500021641&S_CMP=Guardium_Gartner_data_security_not_optional_analyst_lib .
One area that Wheatman did not cover, which would seem obvious and critical, is the need for process controls, even extending to hiring practices and sharing of credentials. We all like to think that IT personnel are law-abiding citizens. However, there has been more than one case where DBA's and other personnel with criminal records went and 'borrowed' sensitive customer data, incuding credit cards and account numbers. The good news is there is now a certain level of maturity in the database marketplace to provide the needed multiple levels of security for organizations to lock down their valuable data assets. Most every RDBMS now supports roles and privileges, auditing, non-administrative installation, as well as column/row level security. Combined with preventive controls such as encryption and masking, investigative controls such as database activity monitoring, and process controls, organizations can now design and implement a stringent database security practice that meets the needs of business and regulatory requirements.
More reading:
Data Security: http://www.darkreading.com/
Database Privacy and Masking: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/optim/protect-data-privacy/
Database Monitoring, Security, Encryption: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/guardium/
Next, do you know where your sensitive data is located?


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Miss NH fails to make top 15 in Miss America competition; Miss New York wins
By PAUL FEELY
New Hampshire Union Leader | September 15. 2013 11:04PM
Nina Davuluri, 24, of Syracuse, N.Y. , is crowned Miss America Sunday night in Atlantic City, N.J. (MISS AMERICA ORGANIZATION)
Russo was not chosen as one of the top 15 finalists in the competition, and was eliminated during the first cut.
On Saturday, Russo took part in the Parade of Shoes, opting for a baseball theme because of a personal connection with Holman Stadium in Nashua. Her shoes were white and bedazzled with red to look like baseball stitches, with the heels made to look like miniature baseball bats.
After being crowned Miss New Hampshire, Russo was awarded a $13,500 scholarship, which went toward paying off her student loans.
Russo was vying to become the first New Hampshire woman to win the title of Miss America.
* e-Edition subscription required


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Cooking Temps: When to Cook Hot & Fast, When To Cook Low & Slow, And When To Do Both (Reverse Sear)
"Speed kills, but beauty lives forever. Speed thrills, but beauty knows your name." Smashing Pumpkins
We cook too hot and too fast. Yeah, I know we like fire and we like to put the pedal to the metal, but your food is already dead. You don't have to kill it again.
OK, I'll admit, sometimes hot and fast actually is the best way to cook, but most of the time low and slow is better, and more often still, a combination of both methods, and a vital technique called reverse sear, is best of all. Let's discuss when to use each method, and how.
Cooking the exterior and the interior separately
The goal in most outdoor cooking is to get a nice dark exterior enriched with the countless complex flavors caused by the Maillard reaction and caramelization, and an interior that is cooked from edge to edge as close to the temperature that is optimum juicy and tender. This is true on both meats and vegetables. See my award-winning Food Temperature Guide for more about ideal temperature targets.
To accomplish this it is important to understand that heat from outside the food cooks the exterior, but it is the exterior of the food that cooks the interior. The hot air molecules inside the cooker transfer energy to the molecules in the exterior of the food and they pass their excitement along to the interior, like a bucket brigade of heat. So we must look at the exterior and interior as two separate projects. For more on how this works, read my article on the thermodynamics of cooking.
When to use hot and fast
Rule of thumb: The thicker the meat, the lower the cooking temperature. The thinner the meat, the higher the heat.
Hot and fast works for thin, skinny foods like skirt steaks (shown here), asparagus, and shrimp because skinny foods cook quickly. If you want a good dark brown sear (and you do) you need high heat to make that sear without overcooking the interior.
To cook hot and fast, you need to get the food directly above the heat source so infrared radiant heat can go to work on it. I call this cooking at Warp 10. This is when you crank your grill to "Give 'er all she's got, Scottie". In the Star Trek series this was about as fast as any starship could go. You won't find the expression used in a culinary context anywhere but here, so don't ask a chef for steaks cooked at Warp 10. She won't know what you want. Then again, she might...
When cooking at Warp 10 you usually want the lid up so heat is being applied only to the bottom surface, and you want to turn the food often, like a rotisserie, so the hot side cools quickly, to keep the serious direct radiant heat focused on the surface and not allow weak reflective heat to cook the top and thus overcook the center.
Here's a trick for skirt steak and other really skinny pieces of meat: Put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes to get it cold. The extreme high heat of an infrared burner on a gas grill or charcoal lifted close to the cooking surface will thaw the exterior rapidly and brown it. But the heat takes time moving inward and the cold center will heat more slowly and won't overcook. Just make sure you don't freeze the meat because the ice crystals can puncture cell walls and liquid will escape making the surface wet and impede browning.
When to use low and slow
Hot and fast will carbonize (burn) thicker meats and make thick foods and tough cuts of meat into jawbreakers.
Water is a good insulator so heat slogs slowly through the watery interior of foods, especially meats which can be up to 75% water. Large foods, more than 1" thick, like beef brisket, prime rib, turkey breast, or baked potatoes need a lot of time to get warm in the center. Turning up the heat loads up the outer layers with heat before it can be transmitted to the center and as a result you get a rainbow of temperatures. On the outside edges, the meat may be more than 200°F, just below the surface 180°F, just below that 170°F, and so on.
Look at this table and drawing based on an experiment by the AmazingRibs.com science advisor Prof. Greg Blonder. He took two pork loin roasts about 4" wide and 3" tall and roasted one at 325°F and the other at 225°F. By the time the center of the meat hit the desired temp of 145°F, the outer layer of the one cooked at the higher temp was a parched 170°F while the one cooked at the lower temp was a still moist about 160°F. That means that the one cooked at the higher temp had a lot more overcooked dry meat in the outer layers of the meat. Now imagine what would happen to a thick prime rib?
But if you lower the temp and lower the lid, the heat has time to move to the center, the buildup of heat in the exterior is less, so more of the meat is cooked to the target temp.
Low and slow is also essential for tough cuts like beef brisket, pork shoulder, and ribs. These cuts are too tough to eat at medium rare, 130 to 135°F, the optimum temp for most other cuts of beef and pork. They have lots of tough connective tissue. But if they are cooked long enough to a mind boggling 203°F or so, magic happens. Fats melt and the tough stuff softens up like Marshall Dillon in Miss Kitty's arms (now you know how old I am).
There is another very good reason to cook low and slow. It is easier to hit the bullseye of a slow moving target. You stand a better chance of getting the food done to the proper temp without overshooting the mark. You widen the window on perfection. Food can go from succulent to sucky in a hurry at high heat.
Also, when you cook low and slow, you give salt time to migrate towards the center seasoning the meat throughout. That's because if you salt or brine meat, even if it sits in a brine overnight, the salt takes its time moving towards the center and stays mostly at or near the surface. But when meat heats up, the salt moves faster as demonstrated in this original research for AmazingRibs.com by Dr. Blonder.
You also give the food more time to bathe in smoke. On a steak, for example, if you sear it first and cook it quick, you don't get much chance for smoke to flavor the meat. Starting low and slow give you more smoke flavor.
So how do you cook low and slow?
You cook low and slow with warm convection air instead of cooking directly over radiant heat. To do this, you need to master the single most important technique for the backyard cook: The 2-zone setup.
The short explanation of the 2-zone setup is this: You need a hot radiant "direct zone" where you can put the food directly above the heat, and a warm convection "indirect zone" off to the side where the warm air circulates around the food in a convection flow. The illustration above is for a gas grill. On a charcoal grill you push the coals to one side. Your exact setup will differ if you have a different type of grill. My article on 2-zone setup has links to pages devoted to different setups for different cookers.
You need to experiment with your grill so you can stabilize the indirect zone at about 225°F and 325°F with the lid down. These are two special numbers and almost all the recipes on this site are pegged at one or the other, with occasional calls for Warp 10 in the direct zone for searing.
At 225°F you can roast low and slow with indirect convection heat, perfect for making tough cuts with lots of connective tissue, like brisket, tender and juicy. This is also a great temp at which you can slowly and gently rise the interior temp of thick steaks and roasts, maintaining their moisture. At 325°F you can crisp chicken and turkey skins better than at 225°F if you are roasting whole birds. You need to practice hitting these marks in your cooker in different weather conditions without food. Cold weather, rain, and wind can significantly impact the temp inside your cooker.
The challenge: Cooking the interior and exterior separately
If you are cooking tough cuts like pork butt, beef brisket, or ribs, you must cook them up to 203°F or so, a temp at which fats melt and connective tissue gelatinizes (read my article on meat science). Getting these cuts cooked to such a high temps can take up to 12 hours or more at 225°F, so there is ample time for the crust to develop (see my article on bark). The problem with low and slow is, if you are cooking something like a thick steak, which you remove at a lower temp so it cooks much faster, you don't get a dark crust.
The solution for thick steaks, chicken, even potatoes, is to combine both methods, low and slow plus hot and fast.
Consider a special occasion meal, a 26 ounce, 2" thick, bone in, prime grade, ribeye steak to be shared with someone special. These babies can cost about $60 each. You don't want to screw this up.
OK, so maybe that's a bit rich for you. Let's say you have a really plump fresh pastured chicken that you got from the grower at the Farmer's Market. Or even a mass produced turkey breast. Same challenge.
The challenge is to get the outside dark and crispy, yet not overcook the interior. We know that meats are best when crispy and GBD (Golden Brown and Delicious) on the outside, and tender and juicy on the inside, yet warm enough to kill all microbes.
That's because the Maillard effect converts amino acids on the surface to a rich flavorful crust. The Maillard Effect really kicks in as you get up over 300°F.
The problem is that if you take a 2" steak and just plop it down over high heat, you can get that dark mahogany crust, but just below it is a band of meat that is brown, then a band that is tan, then a band that is pink, and finally, a band in the center that is medium rare, reddish pink, the temperature at which steak is juiciest and most tender. Same thing with the chicken. If you yank it before the skin starts to burn, the center is usually raw.
So the challenge is to cook both the interior and the exterior perfectly, and to do that, you need to cook them differently, you need to master two stage cooking.
So let's consider an indoor cooking technique where you can always get the interior perfect every time: Sous vide. Sous vide was invented in the 1970s and is now catching on as home sous vide machines come down in price. Here's the idea: It's hard to catch a moving bus. In a hot grill or oven, if you want to cook your steak to medium rare, let's say 135°F, you have a small window of time at which the meat is the perfect temp. As a cook, you have to jump on a moving bus because the temp is steadily rising inside the steak. Then you have to worry about carryover, because the thermal mass, the energy trapped inside the meat, continues to cook the meat even after you take it out of the heat, and the temp can rise another 5°F on thick cuts, creeping up to overcooked.
Sous vide stops the bus. To cook a steak sous vide, you place the steak in a plastic bag and suck out the air. Then you slip it into a water bath with a precision digital controller set for precisely 131°F. The meat slowly rises to 131°F and stops. It cannot get any warmer. You can leave the meat in there for hours, even a day if you wish. At 131°F in the center, enough bacteria are killed in about two hours that it is safe. Even a hamburger. Yes, you can cook a burger to medium rare and be perfectly safe. There is another benefit.
Remove the bag, cut it open, and the interior of the meat is the perfect color from edge to edge. There is only one problem. It is repulsive on the outside. The exterior is pale gray and totally unappetizing. So sous vide cooks take the meat out of the bag and throw it in a scorching hot pan or on a grill for a few minutes per side, and you get all that magnificent Maillard color and flavor. It is now a two step process, one for the interior, one for the exterior. So when you cook sous vide, you no longer have to run to catch the moving bus. It just sits there at the bus stop waiting for you at whatever temp you pick.
The problem is sous vide machines cost about $200, the food takes hours to cook long enough to be pasteurized and tenderized, and frankly, not all foods benefit from the process.
So what's this got to do with grilling? Well, you can cook sous vide and throw the meat on a grill, even a cheap hibachi, and get a pretty good sear. A lot better than just tossing it on a scorching hot pan. And the steak is awesome! Works for chicken, turkey, pork chops, you name it. We call it Sous-Vide-Que. Click here for more.
Redneck Soo Veed, a.k.a. Reverse Sear, to the rescue
Redneck Soo Veed as my grilling buddy John Dawson of PatioDaddioBBQ.com dubs it is the solution. Other folks call it reverse sear or sear in the rear, and it is pretty simple.
If you have experience cooking indoors, you know a lot of recipes call for you to brown meat in a pan before finishing in the oven or in a pot. Two steps. Two temps. Sear over high heat, finish at low heat. This is the recipe for pot roast (brown in a hot pan, braise slowly in a covered pot), even for pan roasted chicken (brown in a hot pan, slow roast in the oven). So it is deeply embedded in chefs and cookbooks that the order of things is brown, then finish.
But that approach is backwards as demonstrated by the sous vide cooks! When you start with high heat, you load up the exterior, and by the time you are done you have a thick band of overcooked meat. If you reverse the order, start the food in the indirect zone at a lower temp, warm everything until it is close to uniform on the inside, and then hit it with Warp 10, you get both a better interior and exterior. That's reverse sear, and this is another technique you should master. It is the best approach for many foods.
Start by setting up your grill for 2-zone cooking. Try to get the indirect zone down to as close to 225°F as you can with the lid on. Put the meat on the indirect side, toss a little hardwood on the flames, close the lid so the meat will roast slowly with smoky convection air. The bus is not stopped, but it is moving slowly. Roast it slowly until the center temp is about 10 to 15°F below your target temp. You absolutely positively need a good instant read digital thermometer like the Thermapen for this. Flip it once or twice while it is slow roasting. You may have to experiment with technique to keep the temp down. Here's how I do it on a Weber Kettle. The meat is under the pan.
So when your steak hits 115°F in the center, take it off and put it on a plate for a moment. You are done working on the center. Now go to work on the exterior. If you are cooking chicken or turkey, take it up to 150°F because your finished target is 165°F. Pork chops or roasts, 130°F for a finished temp of 145°F.
Take the lid off, and crank up the heat on the other side as hot as you can get it. If you have a charcoal grill where you can adjust the height of the coal bed, get the coals right below the cooking surface. If you want, dump more pre-lit coals on the direct side of the grill. Or set up a hibachi with a thick bed of hot coals. If you have a gas grill, turn the burners to high or turn on your sear burner. Whatever you do, get to Warp 10.
Put the meat on the hot side and leave the lid off. Just like hot and fast cooking, we want all the heat focused on one surface at a time. We don't want any heat reflecting off the lid down onto the top of the steak further cooking the interior. You want to cook the surface until the moisture steams off and it turns deep and dark bourbon brown, but not black. You do not want carbonized protein or fat, but take it right to the edge because it is at that edge when dazzling things happen.
Flip often and move it around a bit so the grates, which are going to be searing hot, don't make black grill marks. Grill marks may look pretty, but we want the entire surface as dark as the grill marks. If you started with high quality meat, when you are done, you will have finally produced a restaurant quality steak at home. Reverse sear is the best way to get edge to edge medium rare on a thick steak without that thick band of battleship gray meat under the crust, Check out the incredible method of reverse sear used at Stripsteak in Las Vegas in my article on extreme steak.
Here's a video of me demonstrating both methods.
What about other foods?
Let's look at chicken breasts. Fatty skin on one side, lean meat on the other. If you start over high heat, there's a good chance you'll blacken the skin before the inside is cooked. You could cook it skin side up, but then the meat on the bottom gets overcooked and dry, and the skin stays rubbery.
The better strategy is to cook the meat in the indirect zone, flipping it occasionally, with warm convection air and smoke, bring it close to the desired temp, and them move it over direct radiant heat, skin side down, to crisp it. Then you can serve tender, juicy meat, and crispy skin! Check out my update of the classic Cornell Chicken recipe to see the concept in action.
It even works for prime rib and other roasts. Start low and slow, and never have that 1" band of overcooked meat again. I have a whole article on that subject too. Even baked potatoes are best when reverse seared.
In fact, many things reach perfection outdoors with 2-zone cooking, and reverse sear. Master these techniques.
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Discussion in 'The Trash Can' started by caseyedwards, Jul 9, 2010.
Knapp makes interesting points in regard to the other sports, and about the football/ DWTS connection. However, from reading what she has to say about figure skating, she obviously doesn't know fs or fs athletes well enough to mix them into her discussion. It may be a good thing whenever figure skating is mentioned in the American sports pages, particularly in the same breath with other sports, however, I wish sports journalists in this country would bone up on their knowledge of fs to actually know whereof they speak.
"Lysacek beat a Russian [Plushenko] who then accused him of being too artistic." NOT! I don't think anyone in the skating world has ever accused the hard-working Mr. Lysacek of "being too artistic." And anyway, is it possible for any skater to ever be "too artistic"?
Plushenko actually complained about other competitors not sucking it up like real men to lay down quads. Not performing quads in fs, doesn't translate to mean you're too artistic, Ms. Knapp. The quad conundrum in figure skating is much more complicated than that. Like Shakespeare's Hamlet, male skaters often ponder "To quad, or not to quad, that is the question. Whether tis nobler to try and master it, take the chance and suffer disaster, or to play it safe and win gold in the end..." Even that analogy is an oversimplification of the quad's difficulty and impact on the sport.
"Evgeni Plushenko was no proper heir to Baryshnikov." Hmmmm, arguably true, I suppose especially in the latter part of his career. However, by just doing a little research, Ms. Knapp would discover that in the early part of his career, Plushenko was considered state-of-the-art in male fs, and the gushing about his talent (even if sometimes over-the-top) probably did include comparisons to Baryshnikov.
"Plushenko was to put it kindly, a hack ... no speed ... a one-tool player." NO, NO, and NO. It took guts, athleticism, and chutzpah for Plushy to even try to come back for a third Olympics. Yes, the men's field and the rules had changed in his absence, but his rep preceded him, and he still demanded respect. And amazingly, he still had the jumps and the charisma -- yes he faltered slightly in the lp, as nerves and age caught up with him. And maybe he received too much respect from the judges in the eyes of many skating fans. Still I don't think anyone in skating would even consider calling Plushy "a hack." Evan's certainly no Baryshnikov, nor would I call him a hack either, but if you're throwing that term around Ms. Knapp, I think it lands closer to Evan than it does to Plushenko.
In the end, Plushy fell on his own sword, done in by his own admission of having "no transitions." Plus, the judges hadn't spotted him a 10-point lead in the sp, like they did at 2006 Olympics over second place Johnny Weir's iconic The Swan performance. Now that's a performance that will live for the ages. I think we can scrap most of the 2010 Olympic male fs performances (except for a brilliant Daisuke Takahashi, and a resilient Johnny Weir, none of the others bear much repeated watching).
"In the late 80's, U.S. male figure skaters fell into a rut." Really??? Am I reading that right? Wasn't that the time of Boitano, Bowman, Wylie, or am I just hallucinating?
+ 1 to aftershocks
Very insightful and articulate. Did you send a copy to the writer of the article? I hope you didn't just waste the effort by placing it just on this discussion board.
What a bizarre column. I guess I see what she's trying to say (seeing US football players on DWTS might open the door to seeing US athletes as more artistic ... and then they can be stronger in soccer? ), but I have no idea what on earth Plushenko v. Lysacek has to do with any of that other than Evan being on DWTS.
Yeah, thanks. Maybe it would be helpful for the writer to see a critique. Seems like working under deadline, she just threw a hodge-podge together that doesnt hold up. She kinda seems to want to talk about male athletes getting in touch with their softer side which again is a bit mixed up in her terminology and the way she presents it, especially with throwing comparisons and inaccurate information about figure skating in the mix. Knapp actually misses a golden opportunity to really talk about gender stereotyping in sports, using figure skating as a prime example.
I've always respected Gwen Knapp, especially since during the SLC scandal she was one of the few sportswriters who didn't cry wuzrobbed for S&P and made an effort to explain the judging criteria . However, she is off-base here, and I've never been much of a Plushenko fan
Why isn't anyone entertaining the possibility that Takahashi deserved to win? Who cares about blah vs blaher.
There are a corp of columnists at the Chronicle that work in the same fashion. Some have really made fools out of themselves. It's like throwing darts blind-folded. Sometimes you hit the bulls-eye, most of the time you don't. In the case of the latter, in a few days it's old news, off the pages, and all is forgotten.
I am not familiar with Gwen Knapp, but I would also say go ahead and send this to her!
Not by many who've seen Baryshnikov. For one thing, they had completely different body types. (Stojko was closer in body type to Baryshnikov than Plushenko.) For another, Baryshnikov was almost equally excellent at everything-- jumps, turns, pirouettes, petite allegro, grand allegro -- with the possible exception of partnering, and Plushenko was not. Baryshnikov was Mariinsky. There was nothing Mariinsky about early or late Plushenko.
I wouldn't compare Plushenko positively to any of the great Bolshoi men, like Vasiliev, either: he's not a classicist.
Respect for the comeback, getting to the point that he did in Vancouver, sure. Faltered "slightly"? He was in the bottom half of the field for power and speed -- the North Korean skater who just missed the Free Skate was equally fast -- and he had faults on his jumps that would have been scored more harshly had he not had a reputation. His spins, which were significantly improved in the SP -- two of three had speed among the best -- were back to slow in the FS. This was all very evident in the arena. There was little charisma to compensate, without the power and with the pandering choreography.
At the time? The coverage at least made an issue of "the top three are within fractions of a point! It all comes down to tonight!" POST-Lp, I don't think Takahashi really gets considered as wuzrobbed for gold because he had a massive splat on the quad while Evan skated clean and Plushenko only wobbled a bit, not fell. PERSONALLY, I feel Takahashi wuzrobbed of silver, as with the fall I can't really justify him winning but the REST of it was better than Plushenko's fall-free but otherwise wobbly and uninspired program. If he'd landed the quad, though, I think he would have won and no one would have argued the point, assuming Lysacek and Plushenko skated exactly as they did (and would have been silver and bronze, respectively.)
The way I look at the "was robbed" talk is like this. Evan beat Evgeni by 1.31 points. Let's say for the sake of discussion that Evgeni won by 1.31 points. Would anyone be saying that Evan was robbed? Possibly. But the fact is, their performances were so close that there is no way to objectively tell whose was better.
I think there definitely would have been call of wuzrobbed if Plushy had won with that performance. There were just one too many tilted jumps with abrupt landings in his program, whereas Evan's was smooth as buttuh in a program filled with transitions.
You might be right. But why did Evan's "smooth as buttuh" performance just win by 1.31 points? Just one judge, looking from a slightly different angle, could have tipped the scale in a different direction. The judges did not see Evan as clearly superior to Evgeni.
Do you really want to start that discussion?
I agree with some of your points. Let's remember tho' that Plushenko is not trained as a dancer, and the moves you mentioned in comparison are ballet moves, which would be different in any case when performed on ice. Yes, I agree that Baryshnikov had superb technique and unequalled artistry as a dancer, and Plushenko is definitely unpolished and not in that same mold of a classicist with beautiful technique, line and artistry. However, Plushenko is a bravura jumper/ athlete and a dynamic competitor -- he has been a real force in the sport. He also has an undeniable Russian flair, and even though I'm not enamored of his pretty posing and his poor posture (hunching forward on jump landings), he does command the audience to watch. In any case, I would have placed Plush 3rd or 4th in sp at 2010 Olympics -- with Dai in 1st after sp, Weir in 2nd, and Evan in 3rd or 4th.
In regard to Gwen Knapp's statement: "Plushenko was no proper heir to Baryshnikov ..." I said that's arguably true. I do feel that Plushenko is more of a male Slutskaya, and not in the mold of Russian skaters such as Alexander Abt, Alexei Urmanov, and Ilia Kulik. Again, Plushy is not in that mold largely because he doesn't have the beautiful line nor the intricate choreography and aesthetic sensibility of a true artist. In any case, the only "proper heir" to Baryshnikov, IMO, should be a Russian ballet dancer, not necessarily a Russian ice skater. I'm not understanding your reference to Stojko having same body type as Baryshnikov. I totally disagree with that. Stojko has a unique body type and a completely unique style as a figure skater which suits his unusual body type.
In reviewing some past videos of some of the skaters mentioned above, and also vids of Alexei Yagudin, I must say that both Yagudin and Plushenko are actually fairly similar in their more athletic approach to skating (which was traditionally associated more with North American skaters such as Dick Button). I think Yagudin did progress artistically under the influence of Tatiana Tarasova (more than Plushy did under Mishin). TAT, of course, also helped Kulik harness his athletic and artistic powers to win 1998 Olympics. Kulik was still young and also still a bit rough around the edges, but having won the ultimate prize he retired from eligible competition (maybe just as well, because he might have suffered injuries if he'd stayed in during the quad-obsessed years). Kulik mastered the quad, but even his skating shows how much mental and physical energy it takes from a program in the attempt to master the quad. For me, the interesting thing is that Alexei Yagudin's Winter sp at 2002 Olympics has choreography reminiscent of Russian folk dance, and it reminds me of similar choreo that Plushy has performed. However, Yagudin just seemed more polished than Plushy by 2002, but still just as athletically rather than artistically inclined. After 2002, Yagudin succumbed to injury* and began to further explore his budding artistry in the professional ranks. *Hint: quad-induced injuries.
In fact, IMO, the emergence of the quad in men's figure skating has actually limited the focus on artistry, because skaters have been forced to put their energy and attention toward mastering quads and preparing mentally and physically to try and perform them consistently (plus CoP has adversely affected artistry as well). The rash of injuries and the mental energy expended by placing quads in programs (plus the inherent inconsistency associated with performing quads -- unless you are Joubert or Plushenko), has led to the past three World champions and the past Olympic champion not performing quads, and still being able to win.
I think I'm in love with Alexander Abt, and I can't resist posting the below links to some of his programs. Abt definitely wuzrobbed of gold at 2002 Europeans (the win there for Yagudin was definitely a result of Yags being the up-and-comer, politically preferred skater). Abt's career was hampered by injuries (could it have been injuries sustained in practice while trying to perfect the quad?) Abt did have a beautiful quad, but I don't think he needed one, because it took such a toll. If the quad hadn't been so necessary in those quad-obsessed years of the sport, and had Abt been able to focus on his gorgeous triples and on his artistry instead, maybe he might have been able to win more championships. It was a small window for him -- and he was usurped by the emergence of Plushy and Yags.
Love Abt's long legs, drop to ice in modified split, and what looks like triple death drop sequences:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdgAIamDJgg '02 Europeans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQH8EnPS9uI&feature=related '02 Olympics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex-6HoVIcKI&NR=1 '99 COR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcLVLNpVvrQ sexy superb fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDXuXU0TODc&feature=related Hip Hop Russian style
Takahashi didn't actually do the quad flip. So you do have to add him. I mean no one knows what would happen to a Takahashi program if he landed a quad. So you have the model of Buttle Lysacek and Takahashi. But if you ignore the gold medalist and look at the past two silver medalits it is Patrick Chan and he has never done a quad and gets hudge marks for aritistry. So with Patrick Chan beating Joubert all the time for that silver medal-that says something. Abt sans quad would do totally well now if his hurdle was his undoing. Also quad consistency comes from doing one so this idea of putting one in free skate and expecting to do it seems far fetched. I mean as of right now I can't think of a skater who can do great quads in Long programs only. This is totally a down time for quads. The best young ones now don't do one. I mean only Chan is considered great artistically of the ones who don't do one. Then you have the skaters like Brezina and Rippon and name? LOL.
But then again, maybe the skater in below links is the "proper heir", in terms of skating, to Baryshnikov.
The below program is not only gorgeous, it's practically perfect -- no mistakes, but alas, he was in 14th place going into it. Enjoy!
Are you new in figure skating? Never heard of reputation??? Plushenko was an Olympic champion and silver medalist plus 3-time WC-champion, skaters with that kind and even lesser reputation are getting better scores than they deserve (don´t you remember that in WC 2008 Joubert´s PCS was higher than that of Butler!!!). As in Vancouver Plushenko got way too high scores e.g. for his non-estisting choreography and transititions, LOL. That is why the difference in scores between Lysacek and Plushenko was not bigger. It should have been bigger, but, well, this is figure skating....
I thought the whole context of that discussion was jumps. I don't see how with Plushenkos's jumps negative GOE coud have been any more than what a lot of the judges gave him which was -1. I mean he is not going to get a -2 when that is reserved for step outs or two foots and -3 is only given for falls really.
Takahashi has performed quads before (perhaps the cause of injury he suffered and had to come back from). Since coming back, I don't think he has performed quads in his programs. Dai is a dynamic skater both artistically and athletically, but he doesn't have a "classic" style. I think his style is more modern and edgy.
You say that now is a "down time" for quads, which is actually the point I was making. Because of the mental and physical energy expended and the necessity to perfect quads in practice, in order to be consistent in competition, which is difficult for many skaters, we are not seeing them performed as often. In fact, it was Johnny Weir circa 2007-2008, who questioned the insistence upon the necessity to perform quads in order to win. Thereafter, the trend has been against having to perform them to win, and I hope that trend continues.
Patrick Chan has gorgeous edges and musicality, but he still needs to grow artistically and athletically, plus he also needs to mature as a person. I know judges and fans love his skating, and I was intrigued when he came on the scene, but right now he's not one of my favorites. I like Rippon, Kosuka Takahashi, Amodio, Ten, Schultheiss, Gonzalez (even Kevin Reynolds of Canada seems to be growing artistically and athletically -- he has always been a good, if not consistent jumper). Brezina is beloved by judges and some fans, but I don't like his skating -- still too amateurish, old-fashioned, and jump-focused, but he has good potential. Of the veterans, I like Dai, Verner (and I have a sentimental feeling toward Joubert, but let's face it, men's skating underwent a sea change when Johnny Weir came on the scene, thus Joubert did not become the uncontested heir to Yags and Plushy -- the crown was shared by the more artistic Lambiel and briefly by Buttle who miraculously found his 3axel and skated perfect programs at 2008 Worlds). Lysacek is a hard worker who tries hard, competes well, has solid, if boring programs, loving fans and is supported politically, and that combined has garnered him wins -- he's just not part of the "artistic" conversation.
Since Evan isnt that great a skater. And his performance wasnt even that great. He has skated better than that atleast 5 times I reckon. Someone like Takahashi skating his best if judged fairly would have probably beaten the Vancouver version of Plushenko by alot more. Or even Lambiel had he somehow landed all his jumps cleanly (even without a triple axel).
Got to love 'em both. Both so beautiful to watch. Savoie, I just want to hug. Abt, I want to hug very tightly, and then some... yummy
"Evgeni Plushenko was no proper heir to Baryshnikov."
Plushenko never wanted to be a heir to Baryshnikov. Yes, he likes ballet, but when he had to choose between being ballet dancer at Mariinsky and figure skater he preferred figure skating. I know he enjoyed very much his "Tribute to Nijinsky" but he is an actor, an entertainer not a classical dancer. He likes to be sometimes Nijinsky, sometimes a dumb stripper, sometimes a seductive girl, etc. That´s his style, if people expect him to be Nureyev on ice just because he is Russian, they will always be disappointed.
Judges were corrupt in Vancouver end of story. Watch SP again, TT said Plushy must be ahead about 4-5 points.
Tak needs to do good jumps to win, some his jumps in Vancouver questionable. He is lucky to be third, it was Lambiel medal anyway.
But great karma outcome, more to come!
There are so many beautiful and funny gems of posts on this page of the thread that I'm tempted to print and frame it. aftershocks, judgejudy27, senorita, and ciocio!
I didn't realize that Plushenko was accepted into the Vaganova school and that he chose figure skating over ballet. Thank you for the information.
I somehow doubt that Knapp expects all figure skaters to look like John Curry or Baryshnikov, nor do I think that Plushenko aspires to a classical style. I doubt she's seen him in exhibition where the dance quality he does have -- generally not classical, although he can be delicate and graceful -- comes out much more than in his competitive programs, and certainly more than in his Olympic programs.
People who say "He's no Baryshnikov (or Nureyev)" usually mean that he lacks grace, finish, and impeccable overall technique (in their own field, if they are not ballet dancers). They're hardly expecting him to do seven revolution jumps with his toe pointed, but they are expecting very good posture, pliant back, stretched knees, neat blades, and the perfect coordination of arms and legs for which Vaganova schooling is known. (Although Najarro in his Absolute Skating interview points how a dancer doing seven pirouettes is extraordinary, while a skater doing seven revs in a spin is not.)
The funny part is that Mishin and other people said that when Plushenko came to train in St. Peterburg he didn't impress throug his jumping abilities or strengh but throug flexibility, posture, elegance,artistry, that's why they tried to convince him to quit FS and prepare for a ballet dancer career. I don't understand why did he neglect this part of his olympic programs, because in his past interviews (2003, 2004) he was always saying how important is to improve constantly the presentation.
My opinion is that he prepared everything in a hurry, that's why his olympic SP was so bad. I didn't like the long either, but it was better.